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St. Xavier survives with 14-6 win over Elder

CINCINNATI, Ohio – It was a classic Greater Catholic League – South slugfest at Ballaban Field. The St. Xavier Bombers defense came up with a huge defensive stop to hold off the Elder Panthers, remaining undefeated in the process with a 14-6 win.

Elder took over with 2:05 left in the game, trailing by eight points. The Panthers needed a touchdown plus a two-point conversion to remain alive.

Elder quarterback Michael Bittner connected with his top two receivers Kyle Trischler and Danny Faillace on back-to-back plays reaching the 10-yard line.

That’s when the Bombers defense, who had made big plays all night long, came up with one final stand.

Thomas Kiessling, who led the Bombers with 10 tackles, sacked Bittner to force 4th-and goal at the 15-yard line. Bittner still had one last shot, completing a pass to Trischler in front of the goal line. St. Xavier defensive back Chris Payne kept Trishler out of the end zone with a great tackle and the Panthers came up one yard short with less than one minute to play.

“That’s what GCL Football is all about,” said St. Xavier head coach Steve Specht. “It doesn’t matter what the records are. It doesn’t matter what happened last year. It’s going to be hard fought and a battle and that’s exactly what tonight was.”

Proof of that was Elder holding most of the statistical advantages in the game despite not scoring a touchdown during the contest. The Panthers won the total yardage (313-197) and first downs (20-12) battles but that did not equate to the scoreboard.

The Bombers took the game’s opening kickoff, going on an impressive 11-play drive, consuming 4:26 off the clock. Chase Wolf threw a four-yard fade pass to the corner of the end zone and Cameron Specht made a one-handed catch for the game’s first score.

The spectacular catch was similar to plays that New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham, Jr. has made routine in recent years.

“I came out of my break and saw that Chase (Wolf) had already let go of the ball. It was in the air and it was above my head,” Specht said. “I was going to go up with two hands. That was my plan, but it was a little outside my body so I reached up with one hand and came up with it.

Specht scored his second touchdown with some more extra effort. With 3:16 left in the third quarter, the senior wide receiver made the catch and was fighting for extra yardage toward the end zone. With his back towards the goal line and reaching over his shoulder, the ball crossed the plane of the goal line for the touchdown.

“We always talk about in practice (about) second effort because effort is a big thing. Our receivers coach, Coach (Robert) Klotz says one of our rules in not to get tackled inside the five (yard line),” said Specht.

Cameron’s father and head coach Steve Specht, was very complimentary of his son who is also the Bombers leading receiver on the season.

“He might not have the numbers everyone is looking for but he makes plays, that’s all he does and he has done it his whole life,” said the elder Specht.

Elder definitely was not phased by falling behind 7-0 before having a chance to possess the ball. Elder kicker Sam Harmeyer countered with a 21-yard field goal early in the second quarter to make the score 7-3 in favor of St. Xavier.

Midway through the second quarter, Elder starting quarterback Danny Nieman was knocked to the turf and stayed on the ground. Nieman did walk off the field under his own power and returned to action on the next drive.

On Elder’s next possession, Michael Bittner came into the game at quarterback for Elder at the 4:08 mark of the second quarter. Bittner lead the Panthers down the field thanks to a pair of scrambling runs.

Mistakes hampered both teams during the drive starting with Bittner throwing an interception that was called back thanks to pass interference on St. Xavier. That was followed by a second pass interference call on the very next play against the Bombers. Elder also was charged with a holding penalty for good measure.

The St. Xavier defense made a pair nice defensive plays to keep Elder out of the end zone. B.J. Ferguson breaks up a pass in the end zone followed by a sack by Bobby Jefferson.

Elder settles for a 32-yard field goal with 21 seconds left in the half by Harmeyer, cutting the St. Xavier advantage to 7-6 at the intermission.

Despite not being able to score a touchdown on the night, Steve Specht was impressed with the effort from Elder during the 98th all-time meeting between the two schools.

“They are tough, hard nosed kids that leave everything on the line and my hats off to them,” said Specht.

There were many different defensive heroes for the Bombers lead by Johnny Marrocco. The senior defensive back had an interception in the end zone, killing a Elder scoring threat late in the third quarter. Marrocco was also credited with three pass breakups and five tackles.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Elder 0-6-0-0 – 6

St. Xavier 7-0-7-0 – 14

SCORING PLAYS

X – Specht 4-yard TD catch from Wolf (Stock kick).

E – Harmeyer 21-yard field goal.

E – Harmeyer 33-yard field goal.

X – Specht 7-yard TD catch from Wolf (Stock kick).

RECORDS: Elder (3-3, 0-1); St. Xavier (6-0, 2-0)

UP NEXT: Elder vs. Moeller (3-3, 0-2); St. Xavier vs. LaSalle (5-1, 1-0)

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