SXU Athletics
Football is a game of multiple moving parts.
These parts are human, but the language football personnel use to describe them is often of a mechanical nature. What coach does not want a well-oiled machine?
When even just one cog in the machine does not function properly, the entire mechanism can fail. Such was the case this weekend.
The Saint Xavier Cougar football team suffered its first loss of the season on Saturday against Robert Morris University.
The Robert Morris Eagles, who received votes in the season’s first NAIA top-25 coaches’ poll got the better of the then-No. 10-ranked Cougars in a 27-24 upset at Morris Field in Arlington Heights.
The game came down to the final quarter of play, in which the Eagles shut out Saint Xavier and scored 17 points of their own to earn the victory.
The Cougars were up 24-10 entering the fourth quarter. When they got the ball at the beginning of the fourth quarter, things seemed doomed from the beginning. After a strong kick from punter Josh Techeira, senior receiver and return man Nick DeBenedetti muffed the ball but recovered at the Saint Xavier 3-yard line.
Then the offense seemed to hit its stride, picking up three first downs and nearly reaching midfield before stalling.
On came freshman punter Joe Baily, who had a tough day coming down with high snaps and getting the ball away on time. With Robert Morris bringing the rush, this particular punt went for just 15 yards.
When the Eagles took over at their 37-yard line, the Cougar defense could not make a stop. It took four plays for Robert Morris to reach the end zone, and those four plays went for 16, 17, 21 and nine yards, respectively. After those four plays, it was just a 24-17 ballgame.
Saint Xavier punted on their next possession, forced a punt by RMU on the Eagles’ next possession, then took over with 6:04 remaining in the game. This came just one week after the Cougars ran down the clock from 6:18 remaining against the University of Indianapolis.
But the Saint Xavier run game was not there Saturday as it had been a week before against UIndy. A Joshua Hunter run and a pair of keepers by quarterback John Rhode went nowhere, which brought Baily back on to punt.
Baily took the snap and was surrounded by Eagles before he could get the punt away. It was blocked and Robert Morris recovered in the end zone for a touchdown. 24-24 tie.
With 4:20 left, the Cougars took over. On the second play of the drive, Rhode had junior receiver Randall Wells open, streaking down the right sideline. Rhode delivered the ball, but Wells could not hang onto the ball.
On the very next play, the third play of the possession, Rhode airmailed a pass over the middle that RMU defensive back Jimmy McClinton picked off at Saint Xavier’s 47-yard line.
The Robert Morris offense, led by running back Lamont Wims, drove down to the SXU 23-yard line and kicked the go-ahead field goal with 32 seconds left.
Out of timeouts, the Cougars had to go to the air and get to the sidelines, but the Eagles knew that and took away all routes to the outside. On the final play of the game, Rhode completed a short pass to Wells, who tried for the hook-and-lateral play, but to no avail.
It had been a low-scoring game for both sides during the first half. The Cougars finally took a lead in the second quarter when Rhode found sophomore Stephen Simms for a 36-yard gain to get into RMU territory and then immediately gained another 27 yards on a completion to junior Austin Feeney. The drive ended on a 6-yard pass to Simms.
The first half scoring concluded when freshman kicker Abdul Mahdi made a 45-yard field goal to go up 10-3.
Saint Xavier found offensive success in the third quarter. A targeting penalty on third-and-eight extended a Cougar drive that culminated with a 44-yard touchdown pass from Rhode to Wells.
A good punt from Baily later in the third quarter pinned the Eagles at their own 1-yard line. When Saint Xavier forced a three-and-out, the Cougars got great field position.
Rhode completed an 18-yard pass to DeBenedetti, then freshman running back Mike Ivlow scored from 12 yards out to give Saint Xavier the 24-10 lead they held entering the fourth quarter.
The loss to Robert Morris was a letdown after a huge win against NCAA Division II Indianapolis, but the Cougars will have a chance to prove themselves again this weekend with a contest against No. 14-ranked University of Saint Francis (Illinois).
That game, Saint Xavier’s homecoming, will be Saturday at 1 p.m. The radio broadcast is available over WXAV 88.3 FM Chicago and on wxav.com.
The Cougars better have the mechanism fixed by then.
Tim Carroll
Senior Sports Editor
Twitter
@TimCarroll_XAV