article St. Xavier Tigers Notebook

Last Week[/b

St. X 28 Manual 7

Record

6-3

Recap

Coming off a loss to Male, the Tigers looked to rebound with a win over Manual. It has been a long time since Manual has knock off the Tigers and many thought this was the year the Crimsons would be able to walk off the field with a victory over the Tigers; it may have been a new year, but it was the same outcome.

The Tigers started quick, which has been key to their success in their district wins, and the defense played with the same intensity and execution they have displayed all season. Senior QB, Noah Houk lead the Tiger offense to 313 total yards. He was 8-10 for 105 yards passing and 2 TD, in addition to 45 yards on the ground and 1 score. The Tiger offense rushed fro 208 yards in a collective effort, but leading rusher for St. X was senior running back Taijon Smith, with 74 yards. Manual penalties and the St. X defense allowed great opportunities for the St. X offense to score early and often, when these opportunities have presented themselves it has lead to the Tiger offense being very effective and efficient.

The Tiger defense did what they have done all year. They limited the Manual offense and created turnovers. St. X allowed Manual to gain only 236 yards and Manual scored their only points late in the contest. Manual is the fourth opponent the St. X defense has held under 10 points this season. St. X was not only limiting Manual in the yards they could pick up, they were also being opportunistic. The Tiger defense forced 4 turnovers, interceptions by Jackie Arnold and Michael Ervin, and Clark Campbell and a host of Tigers recovered the fumbles.

The third phase of the game that often gets overlooked is special teams, and the Tiger's special teams played great with field goals (Michael Bennett), returns, and blocks. When all three phases are playing together great things happen!

Next Up

Bye

The Tigers finished 2-1 in district play, which is good for 2nd place. Finishing second guarantees at least one home playoff game.

A needed break at the end of the season should help the Tigers get back to fundamentals and an opportunity to heal up before the Tigers travel to Cincinnati to take on the Bombers of St. Xavier.

I like their chances to win it all in 6A.

I like the fact they don't have to see Male/Trinity until the 3rd round if they can get there.

Thanks LTR for the recap. Would like to see the offense start to put up some impressive numbers ( over and above where they are at now... ). Should be a very exciting 6A Playoff. I look for good things ahead!!!!