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Panthers prey on rival St. Xavier

CINCINNATI, Ohio – Week six of the high school football regular season featured another high-level matchup when the St. Xavier Bombers invaded The Pit for a Greater Catholic League battle with the Elder Panthers. The Bombers were coming off a tough three-point loss to top ranked Moeller and the Panthers squeezed past St. Xavier (Ky.) by a score of 24-13. This was the 106th all time meeting between the two perennial Ohio powers with Elder holding a close 53-46-6 lead in the series. Two well coached and disciplined ball clubs went to battle in front of a great crowd on Friday night and did not disappoint.

Elder quarterback Ben Schoster was a star all night in leading the Panthers to a convincing victory over St. Xavier at The Pit. Schoster scored on touchdown runs of 34, 1, and 3 yards on his way to a big night.  He also threw for another score.

Elder got things going on their second possession after a big screen pass from Ben Schoster got them deep into Bomber territory. The Panthers would strike several plays later when Schoster found Mark Autenreib on another screen pass for a 6-yard score and a 7-0 lead. St. Xavier would respond quickly on their second possession. Jack O’Malley went to the air, hooking up with Joey Wassler on a pair of nice passes to march down the field. Running back Steven Napier would punch one in from eight yards out to tie the game at 7-7 with 1:37 left in the first quarter.

The Panthers returned the next kickoff to their own 49-yard line. Elder went to the run game and it paid off a few plays later when Schoster went 34 yards up the gut for a Panthers touchdown as the home team once again took the lead 14-7. Elder would turn up the defense on St. Xavier’s next possession. The pressure produced a sack fumble that was recovered by Maddox Arnold. The Elder offense was aided immediately by a facemask penalty and Schoster capitalized with a 1-yard plunge into the endzone and a 21-7 lead with 8:42 to go in the half.

The Bombers could not get anything going and went three and out on their next possession. Elder went back on the offensive and Schoster connected on a long pass to Luke Autenreib and Luke Flowers did some work on the ground to set Elder up once again. Schoster again called his own number and dove across the endzone from three yards out and the lead was extended to 28-7.

St. Xavier looked for a jolt and inserted sophomore quarterback Chase Herbstreit into the game. He led the Bombers down the field. Herbstreit found Jamaal Sharp who took a reception 60 yards. Sharp ran across the field, weaving all the way down to the 4-yard line. Elder showed its defensive resolve and stopped the Bombers on four consecutive plays to end the half with all the momentum.

Schoster was a big problem to deal with in the first half. He was 8-11 passing for 120 yards and rushed for 87 yards and three touchdowns. O’Malley and Herbstreit combined to pass for 149 yards in the half for St. Xavier.

Herbstreit came out in the third and led the Bombers all the way to the Elder 16-yard line. He found Wassler several times for receptions during the drive but again the Panther defense turned the Bombers over on downs.

Elder would continue their strong play as Luke Flowers took the first hand off 39 yards into Elder territory. After a big gain through the air, Flowers finished off the drive with a 8-yard scamper for a touchdown. The Panthers extended their lead to 35-7 and would head to the fourth quarter with that lead.

Jake Cengia nailed a field goal for the Bombers to cut the lead to 35-10 early in the fourth quarter and Elder tacked on another score when Justin Re scored on a 7-yard runto secure the 42-10 home victory and 1-0 start in league play.

St. Xavier got strong performances from Steven Napier and Jamaal Sharp on the offensive side of the ball. Napier was tough in the running game and Sharp made several nice catches on the outside. Another bright spot was that of quarterback Chase Herbstreit who performed well in his first varsity action of his career. 

SCORING BY QUARTERS
St. Xavier 7-0-0-3-10
Elder 7-21-7-7-42

SCORING PLAYS

E: Mark Autenreib 6-yard rec TD from Ben Schoster (Max LeMasters kick)

S: Steven Napier 8-yard rush TD (Jake Cengia kick)

E: Ben Schoster 34-yard rush TD (LeMasters kick)

E: Schoster 1-yard rush TD (LeMasters kick)

E: Schoster 3-yard rush TD (LeMasters kick)

E: Luke Flowers 8-yard rush TD (LeMasters kick)

S: Jake Cengia 29-yard field goal

E: Justin Re 7-yard rush TD (LeMasters kick)

RECORDS: St. Xavier (2-4, 0-2 GCL-S); Elder (5-1, 1-0 GCL-S)

UP NEXT: St. Xavier at Trinity (Ky.); Elder vs Moeller (UC)

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