High School Football
St. X knocks out Knights again
Six years ago, Lexington Catholic rang up one of the biggest victories in its football history when it upset powerhouse St. Xavier 19-14.
Those were the good ol' days for the Knights in a rivalry that has since gone lopsided in favor of St. X.
The Tigers, maybe the class of Class 6A this season, leveled host Lexington Catholic 49-6 Friday night. It was St. X's sixth win in a row over the Knights, who have been outscored 196-22 in the last four meetings.
Lexington Catholic Coach Bill Letton said he was "very disappointed" in his team's lack of "mental focus," reflected in crucial penalties, two key turnovers and a bunch of dropped passes.
"I think we sold ourselves short coming in here," he said. "We played a little tentative. We've got to throw care to the wind and play our game.
"St. X is a great football team and a great football program, but I don't think the score was indicative of what it should've been."
Tigers Coach Mike Glaser, meanwhile, couldn't have been happier with his team's performance.
"We've got a long way to go, but I'm pleased with what I've seen so far," he said. "We still need to find out what we want to do on offense, but our defense is pretty well set."
Brian Buehner, whose dad, Rick, quarterbacked St. X to a pair of state titles in the mid-1970s, is running the offense.
Showing a deft passing touch, Buehner completed five of nine passes for 129 yards and two touchdowns.
Jermiah Neal ran for two TDs and caught a scoring pass. Jeont'a Hayden had a 90-yard TD run that helped the Tigers pile up 446 yards in three quarters, before the running clock clicked in under the mercy rule.
"We've got a great defense, and we've got a lot of weapons on offense," Buehner said.
"We have a big game with Cincinnati St. X next week, and that'll really show us where we're at."
Lexington Catholic, considered a state title contender in 4A, did nothing to help itself, especially in the first half when it fell behind 28-0.
After the Knights lost a fumble at their own 16 on the game's first snap, St. X scored three plays later on a short run by La'Mont McMurry.
The Tigers had an 87-yard scoring drive that was helped along by pass interference and two other flags against the Knights.
Lexington Catholic had to punt from its end zone after quarterback John Sam Steele was sacked for a 21-yard loss at its 1.
The Tigers took advantage of the short field, with Jermiah Neal scoring to put the visitors ahead 21-0.
The Knights threatened late in the half when they drove to the St. X 16. But Nic Ward's pass was intercepted at the 3 by Will Warren. The Tigers then drove for another score, this one coming on a nifty 19-yard pass from Buehner to Neal that made it 28-0.
On St. X's first possession of the second half, Buehner connected on a 50-yard pass to Alec Jury, followed two plays later by a 38-yard TD strike to Lincoln Goodwin that made it 35-0.
The next time St. X got the ball, Hayden raced 90 yards for a score.
The Knights had 204 yards against St. X's defense. Most of it came on Ward's passing. He completed 14 of 26 for 172 yards and a TD pass to Lee Ramsey.
St. Xavier 7 21 21 0—49
Lexington Catholic 0 0 0 6— 6
X—La'Mont McMurry 5 run (Wyatt Gray kick); X—Jermiah Neal 5 run (Gray kick); X—Neal 2 run (Gray kick); X—Neal 19 pass from Brian Buehner (Gray kick); X—Lincoln Goodwin 39 pass from Buehner (Gray kick); X—Jeont'a Hayden 90 run (Gray kick); X—McMurry 78 pass from Luke Brohm; LC—Lee Ramsey 17 pass from Nic Ward (kick blocked).
Records—St. Xavier 2-0, Lexington Catholic 2-1.
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