Despite an offense that did not score until the fourth quarter Saturday, the No. 5-ranked Saint Xavier Cougar football team defeated the No. 22-ranked University of Saint Francis (Ill.) Fighting Saints 37-25.
In the teams’ 14th meeting, Saint Xavier has now reached a 13-1 record against the Fighting Saints. With the loss, Saint Francis dropped to 2-2, while Saint Xavier improved to 3-1.
This one did not come easy, however, and Saint Xavier was prepared before the game to see all that Saint Francis could muster.
“I expect their best game of the year. We’re always their Super Bowl,” said head coach Mike Feminis.
This is due in large part to the fact that the two teams recruit roughly the same geographical area. In addition, there are some personal ties between the two schools.
“Half my staff played there, coached there or did both,” said Feminis. “A lot of these [players] know each other from playing against each other in high school,” he added.
The motivation on each side was evident, but Saint Francis also had the skill to be competitive with the Cougars.
“I think although we’re probably in a different place as a program—playing at the national level—they’ve definitely improved over the last few years,” said Feminis.
A big part of the improvement for Saint Francis was on the offensive side of the ball.
“They’ve got skilled guys on offense. They can definitely give you problems. They’ve got a quarterback that is a running threat and a throwing threat,” said Feminis.
That quarterback is E.J. White, who before the game against Saint Xavier was leading the NAIA in passing yards per game (363.7) and total offense per game (437.7). His passing numbers will only go up after his 421-yard night in the passing game. He was 34-of-52 on pass attempts and threw for two touchdowns in a strong effort.
Despite giving up so many yards through the air, the Cougars were able to make White one-dimensional. He officially lost four yards on the ground. That came after leading the Fighting Saints in rushing yards through their first three games.
The Cougar defense was not able to get to him for a sack, but they did a good job maintaining pocket integrity and not allowing White to escape for big gains.
The player of the game for Saint Xavier was undoubtedly senior placekicker/punter Spencer Nolen. He hit two booming punts that rolled into the end zone for touchbacks, but Nolen also tied a school record with a perfect five-for-five night in field goal attempts (his kicks were good from 43, 32, 39, 46 and 30 yards).
Combined with his two made extra points, Nolen accounted for 17 points, five more points than the 12 for which the offense was directly responsible.
Nolen helped make up for the fact that the offense did not score until there was 8:43 left in the fourth quarter, but he was not the only special teams player to make a huge impact.
Senior linebacker/part-time fullback/part-time punt returner Dave Marciano put the Cougars up 10-0 when he received a punt, ran to his left, shook defenders, shifted to his right and outran everyone for a school record 81-yard punt return.
Another helping factor is that Saint Xavier also did not allow a touchdown until the fourth quarter. The Fighting Saints only scored then because receiver Troy Torrence had a breakout second half. In fact, he broke the Saint Francis record for most receiving yards in a game with 243.
To open the fourth quarter, White and the Saints offense had the ball at their own 33-yard line. After driving down to the Saint Xavier 19, White dropped back to pass on third-and-14 and found Torrence in the right side of the end zone. White threw the ball up and Torrence made a highlight-reel, one-handed catch to cut the deficit to 19-13 in favor of the Cougars.
When the Saints scored another touchdown on a 73-yard catch and run by Torrence, the Cougars had to answer with an offensive touchdown of their own.
From his own 49-yard line, redshirt freshman quarterback John Rhode heaved a deep pass to junior receiver Nick DeBenedetti, who was finally stopped at the Saint Francis seven-yard line.
After the DeBenedetti reception, Rhode found some running room and picked up four yards. And finally, after a full three quarters and part of a fourth without an offensive touchdown, Rhode rushed up the middle for a three-yard touchdown and the 30-19 lead following a blocked extra point.
DeBenedetti had displayed some hidden talents earlier in the game to set up a Nolen field goal. DeBenedetti got the ball in the third quarter on an end-around. Rather than run with it, he saw freshman receiver Ryan Carroll down the field and zipped the ball to him. Carroll caught the ball and was brought down in Saint Francis territory, but not before picking up 45 yards.
The Cougars regained possession again with just over eight minutes remaining. On a second-and-12 play from their own 30-yard line, Rhode found freshman receiver Stephen Simms over the middle for a 48-yard gain. Simms led all Saint Xavier receivers with 119 receiving yards on seven catches.
On the very next play, the handoff went to senior tailback Nick Pesek, who got to the right edge of the line and accelerated down the field for a 22-yard touchdown and a 37-19 lead after the extra point.
The scoring would conclude with a six-yard touchdown run by White. The ensuing two-point conversion attempt was failed and the score would remain 37-25 until the final whistle.
Saint Francis looked good in defeat, especially on offense. The prediction that Coach Feminis made that the Fighting Saints would play their absolute hardest proved to be true. White was as good a quarterback as this Saint Xavier team has faced, even though the Cougars were able to take his ability to run with the football out of the equation.
This Saturday is the homecoming football game for the Cougars. Saint Xavier will try defend its home field advantage when the No. seven-ranked Vikings of Grand View University come to visit.
Grand View is the only team ranked ahead of Saint Xavier in the Midwest League of the Mid-States Football Association (MSFA). The Cougars are riding high after two straight wins, but this will be their first test against league opponents.
This will likewise be Grand View’s first game against a Midwest League opponent. The Vikings are also feeling good, as they are coming off a 23-7 victory against the University of Saint Francis (Ind.), who were ranked No. 2 in the NAIA prior to the loss.
Grand View will travel from Des Moines, Iowa, to Chicago and they will not want to have made that trip in vain. The game on Saturday should be a tough homecoming challenge, and the Cougars will need the stands at Bruce R. Deaton Memorial Field to be packed by kickoff at 5 p.m.
Tim Carroll
Senior Sports Editor
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