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On Saturday, September 12, the #4 ranked Saint Xavier football team traveled to Ave Maria, Florida to battle against Ave Maria University. This game was a thrilling football contest that saw the heavily favored Cougars barely make it out of this game with a win.
The first quarter saw very little action, as neither team could get into the end zone. Ave Maria looked like they were going to be the first team to score. However, the Cougars’ defense stopped them from converting a 4th and 6 that could’ve possibly resulted in Ave Maria scoring on their first drive.
Near the end of the first quarter, the Cougars had success driving on the field thanks to two long third down conversions and a 23 yard catch by wide receiver Stephen Simms to put the Cougars at the five yard line.
However, the Cougars would not be able to punch it in and settling for a field goal to give them a 3–0 lead. They took this lead into the second quarter. The very first play of the second quarter was not a good one for the Cougars, as AMU completed a 39 yard pass to go down into Saint Xavier territory.
The Cougars then allowed AMU to rush into the end zone from the Saint Xavier 10 yard line to take a 7–3 lead early in the second quarter.
It would not take the cougars long to put themselves in a great position to answer this touchdown as wide receiver/kick returner Randall Wells returned the ensuing kickoff 62 yards to the AMU 22 yard line.
The Cougars’ quick hitting offense scored seconds later after quarterback John Rhode tossed a 25 yard touchdown pass to Simms, giving the Cougars a 10–7 lead. AMU once again drove down the field, this time thanks to a roughing the kicker penalty by Saint Xavier.
However, the Cougars’ defense made another play on fourth down and once again stopped another drive that could have threatened the Cougars’ lead. After a couple of drives where neither team could effectively move the ball, the Cougars got the ball with 3:22 left in the half.
From their own 20 yard line, Saint Xavier drove down the field getting themselves all the way into field goal position with 16 seconds left on the clock. However, kicker Abdul Mahdi missed his 38 yard field goal attempt wide left. After a kneel down by AMU’s quarterback, the Cougars went into halftime leading 10–7.
AMU started third quarter in great field position after a 33 yard return set them up at their own 49 yard line. With the great field position, AMU drove down the field until they reached the Saint Xavier 23 yard line and had a 3rd and 4.
At this point, the cougars committed a costly pass interference penalty that gave AMU first and goal from the eight yard line. They eventually tossed a five yard touchdown pass to put the Cougars down 14–10.
The Cougars were once again down in this game. Yet, they responded well to adversity as they drove down the field.
The key play on this drive was a 3rd and 8 from the AMU 19 yard line. On 3rd and 8 from the AMU 19 yard line, Rhode, once again, found Simms open for a 10 yard completion to continue the drive.
Two plays later, Rhode found wide receiver Dennis Villmek in the endzone for a nine yard touchdown to retake the lead at 17–14. With 3:36 left in the third quarter, AMU drove down the field getting all the way to the Saint Xavier 23 yard line.
When it seemed like the Cougars would once again give up their lead, linebacker Dan Fitzgerald made a fantastic play, intercepting an AMU pass to keep them off the board. However, the Cougars’ offense was not able to capitalize off the turnover and actually committed a turnover on downs at their own 45 yard line to start the fourth quarter.
AMU drove down the field and would once again threatened the Cougar lead. Yet, the Cougars’ defense made another fourth down stop, this time from their own seven yard line to prevent AMU from scoring.
However, the offense would again put the defense in a tough spot as Rhode threw an interception on the very next play after the stop.
Despite being in that tough spot, The Cougars’ defense held AMU’s offense to just a field goal attempt. AMU’s kicker luckily missed his 30 yard attempt which allowed the cougars to keep their 17–14 lead with just 8:27 left on the clock.
After two on promising drives, one by each team, the Cougars’ quick hitting offense would once again strike as Rhode completed a 60 yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Dan Ladd to extend the Cougars’ lead to 24-14 with just 3:39 left in the game.
After another defensive stop and after Saint Xavier wasted some clock, AMU got the ball back with just 2:21 left in the game.
On this drive however, the Cougars’ defense was not able to stop AMU’s offense as they drove all the way down the field and score a touchdown to cut the Cougars’ lead to 24–21 with 45 seconds left in the game.
With AMU forced to kick an onside kick, this game surely seemed to be in the grasp of Saint Xavier. However, the Cougars inexplicably were not able to recover the onside kick giving AMU new life and striking fear into the hearts of all Saint Xavier fans.
With the game on the line and with all the pressure on the defense, the Saint Xavier defense, like so many times in this game, made a play as defensive back Robbie Brindley sealed the game with an interception and allowed the Saint Xavier coaches and fans to rest easy and to give the Cougars a 24–21 lead.
Despite the win, one area that they will need to work on in practice is running the ball. Even though the Cougars are not a running team, running the ball 22 times for -1 rushing yards is not going to get them victories against much tougher opponents.
Another key area to work on would be the pass protection as they allowed Rhode to be sacked four times in this game. Rhode had a good game throwing for 382 passing yards while throwing three touchdowns and two interceptions.
Simms also had a good game, proving himself to be Rhodes’ go to guy as he had seven receptions for 126 receiving yards and a touchdown. Ladd proved to be the deep threat in this game with four receptions for 105 yards and the game-winning touchdown.
With the win, the #4 ranked Saint Xavier Cougars’ record moved to 2–1. Their next game is on Saturday, September 9 against Webber International.
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John Romando
Senior Sports Editor