St. Xavier Shuts Out Colerain
By Tom Groeschen
St. Xavier players stormed the field happily after surprising Colerain 16-0 on Friday night, as 10 months of offseason anxiety melted away.
The Bombers, coming off a 4-6 season and generally unheralded this preseason, beat the favored Cardinals before an estimated crowd of 10,000-plus at UC’s Nippert Stadium.
Sophomore running back Conor Hundley announced himself with 18 carries, 161 yards and two touchdowns, in the marquee game of the annual Skyline Chili Crosstown Showdown.
Colerain is rated highly in several national polls, including No. 13 by USA Today. Locally, Colerain is ranked No. 1 and St. Xavier is No. 5 in the Enquirer Division I coaches’ poll.
St. Xavier coach Steve Specht seemed as elated as he ever has been after a win, with a resume including Division I state titles in 2005 and ’07. Specht was bear-hugged by several assistant coaches and St. Xavier fans after Friday’s game ended.
“We got that nasty taste out of our mouth from last year,” Specht said. “I couldn’t be prouder of our seniors, because they’ve heard the naysayers. Some new faces, some old faces, and they did the job.”
Friday, the St. Xavier defense consistently executed its assignments against Colerain’s meal ticket, the triple-option.
Colerain likes to spread defenses out, but St. Xavier filled the gaps and generally gave the Cardinals little space to run.
“We just played team ball, and everyone did their job,” St. Xavier senior defensive lineman Nigel Muhammad said. “It’s great to win this one, after the way last year went.”
Specht said the goal was to key on Tabar, who directed Colerain to a 13-8 win over the Bombers in last year’s season opener.
“We wanted to take Tabar out of the game, because he hurt us last year,” Specht said.
Then there was Hundley, who filled in for injured senior Tanner Vidal. Vidal, who has a groin injury, suited up and could return soon, Specht said.
“Conor’s gonna be a special player, and when Tanner gets back it just makes us that much better,” Specht said.
The speedy Hundley, 5-9 and 180 pounds, simply ran away from Colerain defenders on second-half TD runs of 57 and 31 yards.
“I can’t take any credit, it’s all my O-line,” Hundley said. “I was a little nervous coming in, but everyone has welcomed me with open arms.”
St. X totaled 195 yards rushing. Senior quarterback Luke Massa was 9-for-15 passing for 77 yards.
Colerain rushed for 153 yards and, per usual, did not throw much. Tabar was 3-for-9 for 26 yards, with one interception.
