The St. Xavier Bombers (1-0) had the late game on Saturday at Nippert Stadium,but the game was over early as St. X dominated Springfield (0-1) in a 30-7 mismatch.
The St. Xavier defense was ferocious all night against the Springfield offense. The Wildcats only earned four first downs the entire game and could only muster 11 yards of total offense. In fact, the Bombers defense scored the first points of the game. Senior linebacker Nathan Gerbus laid a crushing hit on Springfield quarterback Chris Wallace in his own end zone to record a safety.
The Bombers kicking game helped give St. Xavier excellent field position the entire game. Robert Reis, who returned five punts for a nearly 12 yard average, setup a score when he returned a punt to the Springfield 15-yard line. Five plays later, quarterback Griffin Dolle sneaked the ball to pay dirt for a one-yard touchdown run.
GAME PHOTO GALLERY
VIDEOS:
--Postgame: Griffin Dolle, St. Xavier
--Postgame: Steve Specht, St. Xavier
On the next possession, Dolle threw a perfect 34-yard hitch-post pass to junior wide receiver Trey Kilgore for a touchdown to make the score 16-0.
Kilgore, who led all receivers with 70 yards through the air, caught a 33-yard pass from Dolle to set up yet another score. On the next play, running back Connor Hundley scored on a seven-yard scamper. This gave the Bombers a 23-0 halftime lead.
Dolle went 9-for-15 passing and totaled 142 yards and two touchdowns. The second passing touchdown came early in the fourth quarter on a 34-yard strike to senior Evan Ballinger.
Springfield finally got on the board in the fourth quarter with 71-yard interception return by Titus Montgomery off one of the St. Xavier backup quarterbacks that saw mop duty late in the game.
St. Xavier will travel to Pickerington Central on Saturday and face a Tigers squad that lost to Moeller 14-0 in Saturday’s first game at Nippert Stadium.
Article by: Brady Laber (Multimedia Journalist) for TriStateFootball.com
