As a cold front moved in, Bomber nation bounced back from a tough loss to rival Elder by beating an athletic and physical team from Football North. Football North, coming off a thrilling last second touchdown pass to beat Cleveland St. Ignatius two weeks earlier came into Ballaban field with the hope that they could find two quality victories over Ohio powers. The Bombers had other ideas.
The game opened with St. Xavier kicking off to North. North took over on their own 18 yard line and promptly completed a 46 yard vertical pass from standout senior quarterback, Quincy Vaughn to Braden Miserri. Undaunted, the Bomber defense held on the next three plays to force North's first punt of the evening. The Bomber offense took over on their own 26 only to be hit with a quick procedure penalty that moved them back five yards. The Bombers followed up with a six play drive that stalled on the North 40 yard line and on fourth and four, the Bombers elected to punt. North took over on their own 22 yard line, converted a first down but then threw and incomplete pass and found two procedure penalties pushing them backward 10 yards. On 2nd and 20, Vaughn dropped back to pass and was immediately swarmed under by junior linebacker, Matt Devine for a nine yard loss. On 3rd and 29, North elected to run the ball for a seven yard gain and then punted. The Bombers took over on their own 16 yard line where senior quarterback,
Matthew Rueve was sacked for a 10 yard loss back to the St. Xavier six yard line. After two plays of minimal gain, the Bombers punted and North started over with great field position at the St. Xavier 45 yard line. From there it only took North five plays to log the first touchdown of the night on a two yard pass from Vaughn to senior wide receiver, Nathan Demontagnac. The point after was blocked and North held a 6 - 0 lead. The Bomber offense struggled on the ensuing series and as the first quarter came to a close, Canada held on to a 6 - 0 lead.
The second quarter opened with a Bomber punt back to North. After six plays, the Bombers held and forced another North punt. The Bomber offense seemingly back on track put together a 10 play drive culminating in a beautiful catch and run by senior tight end,
Marshall Lang on a fourth and two play form the 18 yard line. Sophomore
Mason Rohmiller's point after was true and the Bombers took the lead for good, 7 - 6. The Bomber defense played tough and held North to a quick three and out. Armed with great field position on their own 45 yard line, the Bomber offense mounted a quick, five play drive ending in another touchdown pass from Rueve to Lang good for 23 yards. The kick was good and the Bomber lead grew to 14 - 6.
With 1:06 left in the half, the North offense put together a drive that took them into St. Xavier territory at the 39 yard line. With :07 left to play, Vaughn dropped back and scanned the field. The Bomber defense, electing to rush only three defenders, saw senior defensive end,
Jacob Duborg break free from the left side of the line and strip Vaughn only to find senior linebacker,
Noah Taylor, scoop the fumble and dash 59 yards for another Bomber touchdown. The extra point was solid and the Bombers carried a 21 - 6 lead into halftime.
The second half started with momentum seemingly on the Bomber side. They took over on their own 20 yard line but immediately lost four yards to a fumbled snap. Two plays later, the Bombers had to punt the ball back to North. The Bomber defense, energized by the Taylor touchdown, forced a quick three and out. Not to be out done, the North defense followed suit and forced a quick three and out as well. On the next possession, North found themselves with a fourth and one on their own 39 yard line. On a running play to the right side, senior running back Omarion Martin tried to slice to the right side of the line only to be stoned by Duborg for no gain. North was penalized 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct and the Bomber offense took over on the North 24 yard line. Taking full advantage of the great field position on the second play from scrimmage, Rueve found junior wide receiver,
Liam Clifford down the left hash mark for a 17 yard touchdown strike. Add a Rohmiller extra point and the Bomber lead grew to 28 - 6.
The Bomber defense, continued playing their suffocating defense as North mustered only four plays before Vaughn scrambled in the pocket on a third and 12 play only to lose a handle on the football. He fumbled and the ball was recovered by senior defensive end,
Hayden Bailey at the North 45 yard line.
Once again, the Bomber offense opened a drive with great field position. Senior running back,
Ben Bracken took over the drive by ripping off a nich counter run for 33 yard to the North 12 yard line then hauling in a 12 yard pass from Rueve for another Bomber touchdown. The kick was good and at the 3:28 mark of the third quarter, the Bombers led 35 - 6.
The Bomber defense came up big again and forced another three and out by North. Not to be outdone by the the offense or defense, the special teams got into the act as
Tucker Hundley blocked his fourth punt of the year that was recovered by sophomore,
Eli Kirk and returned for a Bomber touchdown. Senior,
Joe Sullivan converted on the point after and the Bomber lead grew to 42 - 6.
The rest of the game was an opportunity for a large number of Bomber football players to see some Friday night action. Both teams traded a number of punts during the fourth quarter until the Bomber defense came up with yet another big play. After a beautiful 59 yard punt by Taylor down to the North one yard line, the Bomber defense brought junior linebackers,
Tommy Longano and
Andrew Collins off their respective edges only to meet at the North quarterback deep in the end zone. Longano was credited with a sack and the Bomber defense recorded their first safety of the year. With that the scoring ended and the Bombers found themselves 44 - 6 victors.
Back on track with a victory, the Bombers now await the LaSalle Lancers for the yearly "King of the Road" battle! At Tom Ballaban field.
