Justin Yeazell celebrates @SXUAthletics (X)
The Saint Xavier football team claimed victory over No. 5 Marian University over Thanksgiving weekend 31-21.
This win wasn’t just any other win, this was a statement from the Cougars. Playoff football is one of the most competitive times in sports.
The stakes rose from just wanting to win to going big or going home, and on Saturday the Cougars went big and defeated Marian on their own turf.
Last year, these two teams faced off and the Cougars lost to Marian 41-7, which made the stakes even higher.
The Cougars and the Knights also met up once before this season at Marian in which the Knights ended up winning by one score 28-21.
The first quarter seemed to be a stalemate of a game, but the Cougars got on the board first with a passing touchdown from senior quarterback Stuart Ross to senior wide receiver Brandt Hixson from four yards out to make the score 7-0.
Late in that same quarter, Marian got on the board with a rushing touchdown from two yards out to tie the game at 7.
Saint Xavier would get the ball back off a fumble on a short Marian drive late in the first quarter.
The Cougars capitalized on this opportunity with a ten yard passing touchdown from Ross to graduate student Justin Pringle to take a 14-7 lead.
In the Second quarter the Cougars would get the ball again after a wide right missed field goal from the Knights with under five minutes to put together a drive
Just before going into halftime Saint Xavier’s senior kicker Peyton Benes hit a 34 -yard field goal to extend their lead to 17-7.
Early in the third quarter, after a three and out by the Knights, the Cougars took advantage of the quiet Marian offense, scoring another touchdown. Another passing touchdown from Ross to Hixson again made the score 24-7.
There were no more scores in the rest of the third quarter at this point the Cougars were holding Marian the fifth ranked team in the NAIA to only one touchdown
Saint Xavier got the ball back to begin the fourth quarter and began an amazing 14 play drive.
The drive ended with a rushing touchdown from senior running back Amari Venerable to make the score 31-7.
At this point of the game the Cougars had all the momentum and complete control of the game. They scored 24 points consecutively through two quarters and the Knights could not get anything going for them until late in the game.
Marian would score two touchdowns both through the air in under a minute to make the score 31-21. Regardless, it was not enough for Marian to win the game as the Knights came up short in the end.
The Cougars offense had an outstanding game, putting up a great offensive performance with 331 yards of total offense.
Ross had a spectacular game, he threw 19 completions out of 25 attempts for 208 passing yards, three touchdown passes, and an interception.
Ross’s main targets, Pringle and Hixson, both had great games and helped out with this win.
Pringle had seven receptions for 43 yards and a touchdown. That statline was enough for Pringle to become fifth Cougar in Saint Xavier University history to exceed 3,000 career receiving yards.
Hixson had four receptions for 48 yards and two touchdowns on the day.
The Cougar defense played an outstanding game as they held Marian on just about every attempt they made to advance the ball.
Saint Xavier’s defense played the best they have all season. Marian could not get anything going with the ground game, allowing just three total yards of offense on the ground on 35 attempts.
The defense also racked up fifteen tackles for losses, holding Marian to an average of 0.1 yards per run.
Senior defensive lineman Juabarey Anderson had seven total tackles, five tackles for loss, three sacks, and a forced fumble.
Anderson’s outstanding performance on the run stopping had a huge impact and helped lead the Cougars to a win.
Sophomore linebacker Terry Elias also played a big role in this game as he got just about a little bit of every stat with his ballhawking ability.
Elias racked up ten total tackles, two tackles for loss, one and a half sacks, a forced fumble, and an interception.
The Cougars had themselves a game and look to keep playing at this level as they go on to the NAIA Football Championship Series Quarterfinals.
The Cougars will be on the road again as they take on No. 1 ranked Northwestern College (Iowa) in Orange City, Iowa on Saturday, Dec. 2. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
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