Following two consecutive losses to teams ranked No. 4 at the time, the Saint Xavier University Cougar football team finally got back on track Saturday with a 37-21 win at Waldorf College.
Coach Mike Feminis told the team after their loss to the University of Saint Francis (Ind.) last week that the Waldorf game would be the first of five “playoff” games that the Cougars have to win in order to make it to the real NAIA playoffs. And the pre-playoff run started with a huge first quarter against the Warriors, a boost the team sorely required.
When the Cougars started their first offensive possession of the game at Waldorf’s 41-yard line, they took just three plays and 0:45 to find the end zone.
Following a first-down pass from quarterback Joe Gill to receiver Nick DeBenedetti and an eight-yard run by Joshua Hunter, Gill found sophomore receiver Austin Feeney for a 23-yard score.
This was a display of the quick pace at which the Cougars are accustomed to running their offense. As a result of that pace—which the Cougars kept for most of the game—Gill finished the game 33-of-51 for 353 yards and four touchdowns, two each to DeBenedetti and Feeney.
DeBenedetti caught just four passes. Those went for 88 yards, including a 60-yard score that capped the first-half scoring. He did not play the full game, however, because he was dealing with a turf toe issue.
Feeney likewise caught four balls for 62 yards. Junior John Frederickson and redshirt freshman Ryan Carroll tied for the team lead with seven catches apiece for 66 and 46 yards, respectively.
Freshman Stephen Simms, coming off a big game against USF, caught five balls for 52 yards against the Warriors. He added 21 rushing yards on five handoffs. Feminis has been impressed with the numerous tools Simms brings to the table.
“He gives you a dimension from that slot position that frankly we haven’t really had in a while,” said Feminis. “To be able to utilize him in the running game puts that much more pressure on a defense and certainly could open up other things, whether it’s with the running backs or in the passing game.”
The backs did indeed find some running room. Hunter, a sophomore, ran for 79 yards on 19 carries and two touchdowns. Junior running back Khary Ferguson saw limited time in the backfield—he carried the ball just three times—but he was effective, picking up 24 yards for an average of eight yards per carry.
The strong mix of run and pass allowed the offense to continue to move the ball quickly. Feminis said before the game that he expected the team to exhibit a quick pace Saturday.
“Waldorf is a program that has struggled for a long time and they’re obviously [trying] to get a win,” said Feminis. “I would think you’re going to see a little bit more of our normal type of pace.”
The sense of urgency against Waldorf ran in stark contrast to the way the offense moved the ball a week before in Fort Wayne, Ind.
“As a staff, we felt that in order to beat [Saint Francis], we needed to shorten the game. That’s why we played a slow-down game, which we haven’t played in a long, long time,” said Feminis.
The Cougar offense kept the quick pace going against the Warrior defense. After senior linebacker Zach Dolph forced a fumble and sophomore defensive lineman Alex Hamilton recovered the ball, Gill and the offense drove down the field from their own 31-yard line in 1:29. The drive ended on a 16-yard Gill pass to DeBenedetti for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead.
On the next offensive series, which took 2:02 to go 60 yards, Hunter carried the ball five times, including a one-yard touchdown that put Saint Xavier up 21-7.
The offense got the ball back quickly when senior safety Jacob Ghinazzi, playing in his return from a suspension, picked off Waldorf quarterback Oscar Robles and returned the interception 22 yards to the Saint Xavier 40-yard line.
If the other drives were quick, this one was lightning fast. With 1:54 remaining in the first quarter, Gill dropped back to pass on the first play and threw short to his left to DeBenedetti, who picked up a couple of key blocks and rambled 60 yards to the house.
Plackekicker Spencer Nolen made up for a missed extra point earlier in the game with a third-quarter field goal from 37 yards out, handing his team the 30-7 lead. He would have a look at a 38-yarder in the fourth quarter, but that attempt was blocked.
Feeney picked up his second score of the game two possessions after the made field goal when Gill found him for an 11-yard touchdown and the 37-14 lead.
The team was also good on the defensive side of the ball, with the exception of three key plays that resulted in Waldorf touchdowns.
Waldorf cut the lead in half at 14-7 in the first quarter on a one-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. The handoff went to junior running back Emmanuel Osuchukwu, who saw some daylight and outran Ghinazzi for the score.
Following the made Nolen field goal, Robles and the Warrior offense got the ball back at their own 35-yard line. Robles passed to receiver James Lloyd on the first play and the senior receiver went all 65 yards to diminish the Cougars’ lead to 30-14.
The next Waldorf score was a two-play, 62-yard drive that took just 0:43. After a Hamilton sack of Robles, the senior quarterback completed a 69-yard pass to junior receiver Lashawn Chapman in the third quarter. The touchdown ended the game’s scoring with the Cougars up 37-21.
These three big plays ultimately did not put the Cougars in jeopardy of losing the game. But they are still a cause for concern, especially because this was a Waldorf team who had lost to William Penn University a week earlier by a final score of 65-0.
The Cougars were able to get pressure on Robles all game, sacking him four times. Defensive linemen Josh Perkins, Andrew Holden and Hamilton each picked up a sack, and Greg Hayward and J.D. Barchard combined for another.
While the defensive linemen were the ones who were credited with sacks, pressure was coming from the second level as well. This extra pressure factored into the Warriors’ ability to come up with the long touchdowns.
In the fourth quarter, things looked bad when the team lost senior linebacker Dave Marciano to an apparent left leg injury. Marciano had picked up three tackles for loss prior to getting hurt, but the severity of the injury and how long he will be out remains to be seen.
His leadership and that of the other senior players will be required this coming Saturday when the William Penn University Statesmen travel to Chicago to take on the Cougars at 1 p.m. at Bruce R. Deaton Memorial Field.
And yet again, it will be a must-win game. One “playoff” game down, four more to go.
Tim Carroll
Senior Sports Editor
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