Weekly wrap up from GCL website.....
Crusaders Unable To Get Offense Untracked In Saturday Afternoon Game
Perennial state football power St. Ignatius made the trek down from Cleveland early Saturday, showing no signs of fatigue from the lengthy drive as the Wildcats’ defense held Moeller to four first downs and 88 total yards in a 38-7 victory at Princeton High School in this annual meeting between the two football teams. The loss was the fifth straight for Moeller, which has been held to single digits in six of eight games – including three shutouts.
St. Ignatius (4-4), which jumped out to a 21-0 lead at the end of the first quarter, did not allow Moeller to convert on third or fourth down. The Crusaders, whose lone touchdown came on a 55-yard run by junior Bryan White (six carries for 72 yards) in the second quarter, were 0-of-10 on third down and 0-of w2 on fourth down. St. Ignatius stays in the GCL South to host St. Xavier at 2 p.m. Saturday at Byers Field in Parma.
The schedule doesn’t get any easier for Moeller (1-7), which travels to Northeast Ohio next to face defending Division I state champion Lakewood St. Edward – which is again a contender for the state title. Kickoff is 4 p.m. Saturday at Lakewood High School. St. Edward beater Catholic League South Division member and current co-leader Elder, 42-25, in NE Ohio earlier this season. The Eagles have reeled off seven consecutive wins since a 29-28 loss to unbeaten and top-ranked Mentor in the season opener back on August 30.
St. Edward has dominated the series this decade, winning nine straight meetings – including wins against the Crusaders in 2012 and 2013, when Moeller won back-to-back DI state championships. The Crusaders’ last win came in 2009, a 40-10 triumph in NE Ohio. Senior quarterback Andrew Hendrix went 15-of-20 passing for 251 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the victory. St. Edward won last year’s meeting, 29-22, at Lockland Stadium on a late TD after Moeller had claimed a 22-21 lead with 3:27 remaining on an 18-yard field goal by Kevin Thibodeaux.
Early Lead, Late Stand Leads La Salle Over St. Xavier
Posted on 10/19/2019 at 2:35 p.m.
Big Night From Elder’s Luebbe Leads Panthers To Third Straight Win
Junior quarterback Zach Branam tossed two first-half touchdowns to junior Devonte Smith to help La Salle build a 22-7 halftime lead, and the Lancers’ defense came up with a huge defensive stand on the final possession of the game to negate a potential fourth-quarter rally and earn La Salle a huge road victory at St. Xavier in the lone Greater Catholic League South Division game Friday night. The win sets up a winner-take-all meeting for the league championship between Elder and La Salle in the final regular-season game on Friday, November 1 at La Salle’s Lancer Stadium.
Elder stepped out of GCL South play last night and traveled to talented Winton Woods, a Division II state semifinalist last season and winner of three of the last four meetings in the series. This time, it was another big game from Elder senior quarterback Matthew Luebbe – who accounted for 403 yards of total offense and four TDs to lead Elder to an exciting 42-37 win. Elder has now won three consecutive games after its lone loss to defending DI state champion Lakewood St. Edward in Northeast Ohio.
La Salle (7-1, 2-0 GCL South was coming off its first defeat of the season, a lopsided 27-7 setback at unbeaten and highly regarded Covington Catholic. In that game, the Lancers were unable to get their offense untracked against a CovCath defense that has five shutouts in nine games. La Salle started fast at St. Xavier, putting up 17 unanswered points in the second quarter after the Bombers had taken a 7-6 lead on a 3-yeard scoring run by senior Kellen Newman. But, 15 seconds later, Branam and Smith hooked up on a 75-yard TD connection to give La Salle a 13-6 advantage. Senior kicker and Ohio State University commit Jake Seibert nailed a 32-yard field goal to make it 16-7 with just over three minutes remaining in the first half and, with just 22 seconds left, Branam and Smith teamed up again, this time on a 13-yard TD pass, to put La Salle in front, 22-6, at halftime.
The game’s lone score in the second half came with 3:07 remaining in the third quarter, a 20-yard TD pass from Bombers’ senior quarterback Matthew Rueve to junior wide receiver Liam Clifford to narrow the margin to 22-15. St. Xavier (5-2, 1-2) would get a final chance to tie the score late in the fourth quarter, taking over in its own territory and driving to the La Salle 6 with 23 seconds left. But the Lancers’ defense would hold to preserve the win and capture the King of the Road trophy. Branam led La Salle in rushing, with 34 carries for 135 yards while also completing 10-of-17 passes for 163 yards, two TDs and two interceptions. Smith had five receptions for 112 yards and the two TDs. Defensively, a host of La Salle players had big nights in total tackles – led by junior Max Roberto-Bailey with 10, sophomore Gi’Bran Payne and junior Issa Jarmon with eight each, senior Luke Thiemann with 7, and senior Cole Hildebrand with six.
Rueve had another strong performance for St. Xavier, completing 25-of-48 passes for 261 yards, one TD and one interception. He has thrown for 21 TDs with just three interceptions. Senior tight end and Northwestern University recruit Marshall Lang had a career night, with 13 receptions for 150 yards to give him 60 catches for 765 yards and seven TDs this season. He has been in double-digits in receptions each of the last three games, totaling 34 catches for 368 yards and three scores during that stretch. Lang’s big night moved him one reception ahead of teammate Clifford for the GCL South lead. Clifford now has 59 receptions for 866 yards, most in the GCL South, and nine TDs – tied for the league lead.
Luebbe has been the GCL South’s top two-way threat all season for Elder (7-1), which entered the trip to Winton Woods coming off consecutive league wins against St. Xavier, 31-28, and Moeller, 42-6. Luebbe, the GCL South leading rusher and second-leading passer, did not disappoint in both categories against the Warriors – rushing 17 times for 168 yards and one TD, a 53-yard run in the fourth quarter to give Elder a 46-23 lead at the time. His longest run from scrimmage was 67 yards. Luebbe also completed 21-of-31 passes for 235 yards and three TDs. Luebbe now has 98 carries for 893 yards, an amazing 11.5-yard per attempt, and 11 TDs. He has passed for 1,498 yards with 16 TDs and just four interceptions. With two games remaining, Luebbe has a chance to combine for more than 3,000 yards total offense in the regular season.
Senior Evan Vollmer and sophomore Drew Ramsey each had seven receptions against Winton Woods (6-4). Vollmer had 96 yards receiving, include a 13-yard TD catch in the third quarter to give Elder a 28-23 lead. Ramsey had 68 yards receiving, while senior tight end and Ohio State University commit caught four passes for 61 yards, one for an 11-yard TD to give him a league-tying nine scoring receptions. The Elder defense did a solid job on Warriors senior speedster Miyan Williams, an Iowa State commit, who finished with 15 attempts for 68 yards and one TD.
Elder and La Salle will now meet in two weeks for the league championship. La Salle won its last GCL title in 2016, finishing with a perfect 3-0 league mark that season and going on to finish 13-2 and win the third of three straight DII state championships. Elder last won the GCL South crown in 2015, earning a share of the title with St. Xavier after both teams posted 2-1 league marks. St. Xavier was the GCL South champ in 2017 and Moeller won the title last fall. Moeller (1-6) looks to snap a four-game losing streak this afternoon when the Crusaders host Cleveland St. Ignatius (3-4) at 2 p.m. at Princeton High School. St. Ignatius defeated Moeller, 32-7, a year ago in NE Ohio – which is where Moeller travels the following week to face St. Edward on Saturday, November 26.
According to Joe Eitel, whose website joeeitel.com projects the Harbin computer ratings used by the Ohio High School Athletic Association to qualify teams for its state playoffs, both Elder and St. Xavier have clinched playoff berths in DI, Region 4. Fairfield is expected to be No. 1, followed by Elder and St. Xavier when the OHSAA releases its latest ratings at noon next Tuesday. Fairfield, which posted a 31-3 win against Sycamore on Friday, is Cincinnati’s long unbeaten DI team after eight weeks. La Salle, according to Eitel, controls its own destiny in DII, Region 8. The Lancers, expected to be No. 3 behind Turpin and Harrison in the upcoming ratings, host Winton Woods and Elder in their final two games – needing a victory in one of those games to ensure a postseason berth and first-round home game.
