The defense of Moeller and St. Xavier was on display Friday night at Ballaban Field. The teams went the first thirteen possessions of the game with neither team scoring, but on the Crusaders sixth possession of the game, Nathan Arthur picked off Mitch McKenzie at the Crusaders thirty-yard line and returned it to the end zone for a touchdown to give the Bombers a 7-0 lead with 3:17 left to go in the first half.  This proved to be the only scoring in the first twenty-four minutes of the game as neither team could get much going offensively. The teams combined for only 145 yards in the first half.

The lack of offense continued as both teams traded possessions to begin the second half, until the Bombers botched a snap on a third and six from their own 14. This mistake led to a short field for the Crusaders as they would capitalize. The Crusaders used a heavy dose of Chrystopher Watkins and would drive 36 yards on five plays in 1:56 that ended in a 1-yd touchdown run by Mitch McKenzie to tie the game at 7-7 with 1:40 remaining in the 3rd quarter. The Crusaders made another big defensive play on the following  St. Xavier possession as Ryan Mullaney stripped Wyatt Hudepohl and recovered the fumble on the St. Xavier 26 yard-line.

The Crusaders took advantage of the Bomber turnover by converting it in to three points on a 29-yard field goal by Kevin Thibodeaux to give the Crusaders a 10-7 lead with 10:29 left in game. The Crusaders forced another punt by the Bombers on the following possession which lead to another field goal by Thibodeaux from 44 yards out to extend the lead to 13-7.

The Crusaders forced the second turnover by the Bombers on the following possession as BJ Hendrix picked off Wyatt Hudepohl and returned it 45 yards for the touchdown to push the lead to 19-7 with 3:50 to go.

After forcing the Crusaders to a three and out, St. Xavier answered with an eight play, 84 yard drive that took 56 seconds off the clock and ended on a 27 yard touchdown pass from Hudepohl to Marshall Lang with 1:51 left to make it 19-14.

St. Xavier attempted and recovered the ensuing onside kick, but it was determined that the ball had only traveled nine yards on the kickoff before being recovered, which gave the ball to the Crusaders to seal the win.

Moeller moves to 4-1 and 1-0 in the GCL South with the win.

FOR THE RECORD

The win for the Crusaders marked the first over St. Xavier since the 2014 Regional Semifinal at Mason, a game the Crusaders won, 21-0. It was also the first win at St. Xavier for Moeller since the 13-7 week five win in 2014.

The Crusaders now lead the all-time series 42-20-1

The Crusader win also continued the trend of the teams alternating victories during the last five meetings at Ballaban Field (Moeller wins 2010, 2014 & 2018; St. Xavier wins 2012 & 2016)

Up Next
The Crusaders will travel to the west end of North Bend road to face the La Salle Lancers next Friday night. Kickoff is set for 7:00 PM at Lancer Stadium.