The Xavierite
It would have taken Nostradamus himself to predict the tight ship St. Xavier football ran against UIndy on Saturday.
The Cougars opened their home schedule with a rousing 19-14 win over the University of Indianapolis, the No. 15-ranked team in NCAA Division II.
St. Xavier’s defense picked up against the Greyhounds where they had left off with the Marian Knights—stifling nearly all scoring opportunities.
UIndy had put up 51 points against the Cougars in last year’s contest, which was played in Indianapolis. The Cougar defense was prepared to ensure it would not happen again.
St. Xavier did not allow the big play. The Greyhounds had just two drives the entire night during which they picked up two or more first downs.
That control of UIndy’s offense stemmed from the Cougar defense keeping plays in front of them.
“They’re tackling really well,” said head coach Mike Feminis of his defensive unit. “We’ve got some sure tacklers on that side of the ball.”
One of those sure tacklers was junior safety Doug Ruggles, who has made his presence felt in his first two games since transferring from junior college.
Ruggles was the leading tackler for the Cougars. He was in on 13 tackles, including six solos, and he also forced a fumble that led to a Cougar field goal before the end of the first half.
Freshman linebacker Chris Friend also forced a fumble and senior defensive back Danny Lombardo had an interception for the second consecutive week.
Although St. Xavier’s defense would not wind up with a sack over the course of the game, they got enough pressure on opposing quarterback Connor Barthel with six quarterback hits, and they otherwise controlled the line of scrimmage with two tackles for loss.
“I challenged [the defensive line] before the game. I thought last year they dominated us on the line,” said Feminis. “They took it to heart and we were a year older and a year stronger.”
Feminis said he also challenged the offensive line to get the job done against the Greyhounds. That unit had struggled to open up holes in the running game against Marian, but the UIndy game was a different story.
Shifty senior running back Khary Ferguson had the big runs of the night. He took a handoff in the first quarter and started up the middle, cut back toward the right hash, then cut to the sideline to score from 29 yards out and give St. Xavier the early 6-0 lead.
After an offside call went against the Greyhounds and put SXU at the UIndy 5-yard line, Ferguson again found himself with plenty of room to run. This time he went right up the gut and capped the St. Xavier scoring to make it 19-7.
While Ferguson had the flashy plays, bruising junior Joshua Hunter consistently picked up critical first downs in short-yardage situations.
“They’re a great combination,” said Feminis. “It’s kind of like a thunder-and-lightning thing. Josh is going to be the physical one and Khary’s going to be the little scat back and maybe hit some home runs for us.”
Hunter and the offensive line were best when the Cougars took the ball with 6:18 remaining and a five-point advantage.
“We think we have a pretty good offensive line,” said Feminis. “There were times where we thought we could push them around a little bit and get them tired. We held onto the ball for the last six minutes and that was huge.”
Hunter handled the ball five times and was responsible for two of the four first downs on a drive that would milk the clock to zeroes and ensure victory.
Outside of the running game, all the points came from field goals off the foot of freshman kicker Abdul Mahdi. His two second-quarter field goals put the Cougars ahead 12-7 before the half.
The passing game, which is usually the lifeblood of the Cougar offense, was not its usual self. Sophomore quarterback John Rhode threw for 124 yards on 19 completions, but he avoided costly mistakes and did not turn over the football.
Expect some different totals as they travel to Robert Morris this Saturday. Rhode had 243 yards and a touchdown in that same contest last year.
Listen to all the action Saturday at 1 p.m. on WXAV 88.3 FM Chicago and wxav.com.
Tim Carroll
Senior Sports Editor