Male vs. St. Xavier Predictions/Updates (6A State Championship) ***Upset Alert***

[Tigerpride94]

#1 Male (13-0) advances to the Class 6A Championship to take on #2 St. Xavier (13-1). Male defeated Trinity 48-21 in semifinals while St. X defeated Madison Central 31-21.

Previous meeting:

Male 28-21 earlier this season.

Male enters the game in familiar territory as they have played in the championship the last 3 years last winning in 2018. Male has plenty of weapons on offense with QB Daniel Schutte (2282 yards, 28 TD passes), RB Daniel Swinney (1377 yards, 23 TDs), WR Vinny Anthony (912 yards, 12 TDs), WR Max Gainey (509 yards, 8 TDs), and TE Andrew Vrbancic (234 yards, 2 TDs). They also have a senior laden great offensive line. Male on defense is led by LB Elijah Manning (84 tackles), LB Noah Thomas (55 tackles, 16 for a loss, 7 sacks), DE Chad Carroll (26 tackles, 13 for a loss, 7 sacks) and DT Selah Brown (26 tackles, 2 for a loss, 1 sack).

St. X enters the championship for the 1st time since 2017 and last winning the Championship in 2009. St. X is led on offense by QB Jack Sivori (1906 yards passing, 23 TDs, 1038 yards rushing, 20 TDs), WR Mekhi Smith (706 yards, 7 TDs, and WR. Michael Duddy (462 yards, 8 TDs).  The St. X defense is led by LB Ben Marks (89 tackles), LB Brandon Shaffner (78 tackles), LB Luke Saner (67 tackles, 7 for a loss, 6 sacks), and DE Thomas Tafel (25 tackles, 3 for a loss, 8 sacks).

Male looks very strong and will be tough for ST. X to pull the upset. St. X has turned the ball over frequently the last two games and can't afford to turn the ball over to have a shot at beating Male. Can St. X pull the upset or does Male add another Championship to their storied history?

[Tigerpride94]

Hard to believe fact!

[Roundsteak]

For years STX & Male were in the same district since they are about 6 miles apart. Should be an interesting game. 

[Tigerpride94]

 

[Bac2369]

14 hours ago, Tigerpride94 said:

Hard to believe fact!

I agree thats crazy.

[Paul Dean]

Male.  Clearly the best team.

[LongTimeReader]

It’ll be tough, but St. X has been the only team all year to make Male continue playing heading into the 4th quarter. There is probably some confidence the Tigers can compete with the Bulldogs. 

[Tigerpride94]

Just now, LongTimeReader said:

It’ll be tough, but St. X has been the only team all year to make Male continue playing heading into the 4th quarter. There is probably some confidence the Tigers can compete with the Bulldogs. 

St. X had 5 starters out on defense that game and 3 of those played last night which were Jaxon Panariello, Kanon Williams, and Matthew Donhoff. Will take a great effort to pull the upset. Vinny Anthony just a tough matchup for any team and Wisconsin getting a good one. Very balanced with one two punch of Daniel Swinney & Vinny Anthony.

[LongTimeReader]

What St. X did really well defensively in the first matchup was keep Swinney in check. That is key to at least controlling the Male offense, because if both Swinney and Anthony are having days there isn’t anything a defense can do. 

[BEChargers]

About a month ago I thought this would be the final and I liked St. X's chances in a rematch.  The last 2 or 3 weeks has caused me to change my mind.  I think Male wins by 3 scores. 

[Xtiger69]

28-21 Tigers! Defense wins the game!

[Kanaka Kahakai]

X pulls out an epic upset.

[SHAMROCK69]

St. X defense cannot stop the Male attack running and passing. Plus Male defense is better too. Male has athletes all over the field on both sides. Their QB is the best I have seen all year. Male is so much better now than at mid-season. Male on a different level. I wish Alabama Larry could se me praising Male. Go Dawgs!!!!!

[Tigerpride94]

 

[LongTimeReader]

Sivori had a big game running the ball in the first matchup, so I'm sure the Male defense will be ready to make someone other than Sivori beat them running the ball. Male doesn't do anything "fancy" on offense; they're going to establish the run game and then take their shots to the number of skilled WRs. Tiger defense can't stop everything Male does, but this will be the best front 7 the Bulldogs will face in the playoffs. This has been a game the Tigers have been working towards since September, we'll see what they got.