Two wins down, three more to go for the Saint Xavier University Cougar football team in their quest to make the NAIA Football Championship Series.
Sixteen teams will qualify for that tournament, and the Cougars were ranked No. 14 in the NAIA Top-25 Poll when they defeated the William Penn University Statesmen by a final score of 12-6. As of this week’s poll, the Cougars remain No. 14.
It was quite the defensive battle, especially in the first half. At the end of 30 minutes, the score was tied 3-3. During that first half, the Cougars’ offense accumulated just 98 yards on 33 plays, while the Statesmen racked up only 84 yards over 35 plays.
Leading the defense was senior linebacker Zach Dolph, who last week became only the sixth player in school history to pick up 300 tackles (303 at the Waldorf game’s end). He added 23 more tackles against the Statesmen’s triple option offense and also combined for a sack with freshman defensive lineman Josh Hickey. For his efforts, Dolph was awarded the honor of being the NAIA Football National Defensive Player of the Week and MSFA Midwest League Defensive Player of the Week.
The key on the defensive side of the ball was staying disciplined and making sure that all the players at the skill positions were accounted for.
“Everybody’s going to have an assignment on every play,” head coach Mike Feminis said before the game. “Somebody’s going to have the dive back, somebody’s going to have the quarterback and somebody’s going to have the pitch back. If you stick your nose where it shouldn’t be, that’s when problems happen.”
The William Penn defense also largely kept Saint Xavier in check. Senior quarterback Joe Gill completed only two passes out of 11 attempts in the first half.
He came back strong in the second half, though, completing 11 of 17 passes to finish the day 13-of-28 for 91 yards, a touchdown and an interception.
Gill’s touchdown would be the only one of the day and it came at an absolutely critical moment. Tied 6-6 with less than 6:30 remaining in the game, Gill dropped back to pass from the Statesmen’s six-yard line, was rewarded by his offensive line with plenty of time and found freshman receiver Stephen Simms for what would ultimately turn out to be the game-winning score.
On the ensuing extra point attempt, senior placekicker/punter Spencer Nolen pushed the kick wide right. That miss could have meant the ballgame had William Penn been able to score a last-second touchdown and made the extra point, but such was not fate.
Helping Cougar fans to forget about the missed extra point was the fact that Saint Xavier would not have been able to score the game-winning touchdown without a huge contribution from Nolen.
On fourth-and-ten from his own 35-yard line, Nolen went back in punt formation. He sold every bit of a fake, pretending to drop the ball to his foot and completing the kicking motion before taking off toward the first-down marker.
He picked up 16 yards (and a little turf burn) in his effort, which got the Cougars into Statesmen territory. Gill would find Simms in the end zone just nine plays later.
Nolen was also responsible for the first six points that the Cougars scored. He made a 31-yard field goal to tie the game late in the second quarter, then tacked on a 50-yarder in the third quarter that put his team up 6-3.
Those field goals were paramount considering that the offense was unable to put up big plays and big points. Feminis knew that it would come down to smart offensive football over flashy, big-gain football.
“Don’t turn the ball over and put our defense in bad situations,” said Feminis when asked what the key to a Cougar victory would be. “I think if we do that we’ll be OK.”
Even when the Cougar offense did put the defense in difficult spots, they responded by keeping points to a minimum. After a first-quarter fumble by freshman receiver Dennis Vilimek gave the Statesmen the ball at Saint Xavier’s 32-yard line, they drove to the Cougars’ four-yard line before their drive stalled. Kicker Marcus Kerrigan picked up the first points of the game with a 21-yard field goal.
One other turnover was committed by the Saint Xavier offense. Gill threw an interception to sophomore cornerback Cameron Penny. That did not result in any points for the Statesmen, another testament to the high quality of play by the Cougars’ defensive unit.
Next up is probably the most difficult of the final three games ahead of Saint Xavier. This coming Saturday at 1 p.m. will be a tough road test against the No. 13-ranked Saint Ambrose University Fighting Bees.
Saint Ambrose (5-2) is coming off a 35-21 loss on the road to Grand View University, so they will be eager to get back on track at home.
The Cougars, who are just 2-2 away from home this season, will need to muster all they have in order to keep their winning streak going and their playoff hopes alive.
Tim Carroll
Senior Sports Editor
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