The St. Xavier Tigers head to Price Hill to take on the undefeated Elder Panthers. Elder is coming off a 35-0 shellacking of GCL rival, LaSalle. X had a bye last week and the week before the Tigers beat Male 37-7.

X is hard to figure, after a season opening embarrassing lost to Owensboro, the Tigers beat both Bowling Green and Male.

Elder looks to be a typical, very good Elder team. Elder dominated CovCath two weeks ago, 56-20.

Elder beat X 26-24 in 2025, 17-15 in 2024, 31-21 in 2023, and 24-13 in 2022.

St. Xavier beat Elder 31-21 in 2021 and X went on to win the 2021 6A State Football Championship.

Who wins this game? Will X find a way to win or will Elder keep rolling?

Elder by 28, possibly a running clock!

How is X's passing game? Elder's DB's are the weak link.

The X QB (whomever it might be) will struggle vs the Elder D and the awesome environment at The Pit. Elder easy.

The Tigers have leaned on the running game against Bowling Green and Male. In their lose to Owensboro, the Tiger offense put the ball in the air a lot and I don't think that's the formula for this year's team. If they can have some success running the ball, I think they can hang with the Panthers. If they struggle and abandon the run it will be a long night in The Pit for the Tigers.

The Tiger defense has played well early, and the Elder QB will be a big test for that side of the ball.

X has beaten 2 struggling teams. The Owensboro loss now appears to be an even worse loss. I don't think X's OLine will hold up in the run or the pass against Elder's Defense. Elder's quarterback is tough to contain. I think Elder by a comfortable score.

14 hours ago, LongTimeReader said:

The Tigers have leaned on the running game against Bowling Green and Male. In their lose to Owensboro, the Tiger offense put the ball in the air a lot and I don't think that's the formula for this year's team. If they can have some success running the ball, I think they can hang with the Panthers. If they struggle and abandon the run it will be a long night in The Pit for the Tigers.

The Tiger defense has played well early, and the Elder QB will be a big test for that side of the ball.

If that's the case, it will likely be a long night for the Tigers. I doubt X's run game is as good as East Central's out of Indiana and Elder shut them down.

I honestly hate to do this but,

Elder- 42

St. X- 7

The most points the St. X defense has given up this season is 10 pts. The least amount of points Elder has scored is 35. I think it would be a moral victory if they could hold Elder under 35 which would be tough to do. I think the St. X offense will struggle to keep up with Elder's scoring plus playing at the Pit is always tough. I think Elder wins and possibly with running clock unless the St. X defense can slow the Elder offense to avoid the running clock.

21 hours ago, NLTanker1 said:

I honestly hate to do this but,

Elder- 42

St. X- 7

Massey ratings say Elder 42-14 so you could be right Tank.

Will Te"Are Wilson Towns play for St X? Hearing he may be out.....This is a huge blow for X if he still isn't Healthy.

41 minutes ago, THUNDERBIRDS said:

Will Te"Are Wilson Towns play for St X? Hearing he may be out.....This is a huge blow for X if he still isn't Healthy.

I haven't heard updated status but when he was hurt the thought was maybe back by Trinity game.

Elder #62 in the Nation and #1 in Ohio in MaxPreps ratings.

From: https://yappi.com/

2026 Division I Poll (Week 4)
1 Elder (Cincinnati) (4-0) (234) [20]
2 St Edward (Lakewood) (4-0) (184)
3 Princeton (Cincinnati) (4-0) (180) [3]
4 Lakota West (West Chester) (4-0) (173) [1]
5 Gahanna Lincoln (Gahanna) (4-0) (130)
6 Archbishop Moeller (Cincinnati) (2-2) (70)
7 St Ignatius (Cleveland) (2-2) (69)
8 Hudson (Hudson) (4-0) (51)
9 Perrysburg (Perrysburg) (4-0) (48)
10 St Xavier (Cincinnati) (2-2) (36)

Not sure how much a difference it makes but St. X has had two weeks to prepare for this game.