St. Xavier (1-0) vs. Lexington Catholic (1-0)

St. Xavier finished 14-1 last season and captured the Class 4A Championship.  Although the Tigers show some inexperience at certain positions, Coach Mike Glaser's squad is still considered to favorite to capture another title.  5-8 172 pound Jr. RB Victor Anderson ran for 1,039 yards and scored 27 touchdowns last season.  St. Xavier also returns a seasoned QB in 6-0 179 pound Sr. Brent Curley.  The Tigers also return some large offensive linemen in 6-5 298 pound Sr. OT Justin Jefferies, 6-2 300 pound Sr. OG Derrick ELder, and 6-6 309 pound Jr. OT Corey O'Daniel.

Lexington Catholic finished 10-2 last season and Coach Bob Sphire's Knights should again be among the top Class 3A teams in the state this season.  6-3 191 pound Sr. QB Justin Burke will be back to trigger the high-octane offense.  Burke completed 142 of 248 passes last season for 2,289 yards with 24 touchdowns and seven interceptions.  He also added 419 yards and seven TDs on 75 carries.  WRs Cornell Burbage and Wes Caldwell pulled down 29 and 27 receptions respectively last season.  6-0 220 pound Sr. A. J. Neltner is expected to anchor the offensive line. 

St. Xavier's Tim Dougherty kicked a 29 yard field goal with four seconds remaining on the clock to give the Tigers a 37-34 victory over Lexington Catholic before an overflow crowd.  The overflow crowd plus a TV audience were treated to a thrilling game in which Lexington Catholic trailed 27-7 before rallying for a 27-27 tie.  The Knights fell behind 34-27 and rallied again to tie the score 34-34 with 6:10 remaining on the clock.

Each team traded possessions and were forced to punt with the Tigers getting the ball again on their own 48 yard line with 49 seconds remaining on the clock.  Lexington Catholic was later charged with pass interference which moved the ball 15 yards to the Lexington Catholic 19 yard line.  St. Xavier ran one more play to the 12 yard line and after a series of timeouts, Dougherty delivered the winning field goal.  Coach Mike Glaser reached a milestone tonight as he notched his 250th career coaching win.

Lexington Catholic held a 479-393 yard advantage in total offense and led St. Xavier in first downs 24-19.  The Knights were penalized five times for 35 yards while St. Xavier was flagged six times for 50 yards.  Lexington Catholic lost two fumbles, had one pass intercepted, missed an extra point, and had a punt and field goal attempt blocked.  The blocked punt was recovered by St. Xavier for a touchdown.  St. Xavier had one pass intercepted for the evening.

Victor Anderson led the St. Xavier ground game with 171 yards on 18 carries.  Michael Mattingly added 91 yards on 14 carries including scoring runs of 18 and 32 yards.  Brent Curley completed five of 13 passes for for 94 yards and with one TD pass and one interception.  Victor Anderson caught two passes for 41 yards including a 26 yard scoring reception.  5-11 214 pound Sr. LB Chris Dornbrook led the Tiger defense with 11 solo tackles.

Shane Israel led the Lexington Catholic ground game with 113 yards and a two yard scoring run on 19 carries.  Justin Burke added 50 yards on 10 carries.  Burke also completed 21 of 41 passes for 289 yards with four TD passes and one interception.  Wes Caldwell caught six passes for 109 yards including scoring receptions of 76 and seven yards.  Cornell Burbage also added six receptions for 70 yards including a 10 yard TD reception.  5-11 175 pound Jr. LB Jacob Locknane led the Knight defense with seven solo and seven assisted tackles.

Scoring Summary

St. Xavier

37

Lexington Catholic

34

School	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Final
St. Xavier	24	3	0	10	37
Lexington Catholic	7	7	13	7	34

SX	- Michael Mattingly 18 yard run (Tim Dougherty kick)
SX	- Dougherty 35 yard field goal
LC	- Truitt Donnelly 18 yard pass from Justin Burke (Brian Behr kick)
SX	- Victor Anderson 26 yard pass from Brent Curley (Dougherty kick)
SX	- Michael Horrell rec. blocked punt in end zone (Dougherty kick)
SX	- Dougherty 28 yard field goal
LC	- Cornell Burbage 10 yard pass from Burke (Behr kick)
LC	- Shane Israel 2 yard run (Behr kick fails)
LC	- Wes Caldwell 76 yard pass from Burke (Behr kick)
SX	- Mattingly 32 yard run (Dougherty kick)
LC	- Caldwell 7 yard pass from Burke (Behr kick)
SX	- Dougherty 29 yard field goal

 
  Selected Statistics
 

St. Xavier						Lexington Catholic
Rushing	No.	Yds.	Avg.	Long		Rushing	No.	Yds.	Avg.	Long
Victor Anderson	18	171	6.5	76		Shane Israel	19	113	5.9	22
Michael Mattingly	14	91	6.5	32		Justin Burke	10	50	5.0	20
Brent Curley	13	37	2.8	10		Truitt Donnelley	2	21	10.5	9
						Dan Vogelsang	1	5	5.0	5
						Wes Caldwell	1	1	1.0	1
Passing	A-C-I	Yds.	TD	Long		Passing	A-C-I	Yds.	TD	Long
Brent Curley	13-5-1	94	1	37		Justin Burke	41-21-1	289	4	76
Receiving	No.	Yds.	TD	Long		Receiving	No.	Yds.	TD	Long
Victor Anderson	2	41	1	26		Wes Caldwell	6	109	2	76
Colt Totten	2	16	0	12		Cornell Burbage	6	70	1	33
Doug Hunter	1	37	0	37		Pat Schwendemar	4	41	1	13
						Truitt Donnelly	2	51	1	33
						Shane Israel	2	12	0	15
						Zack Jeter	1	6	0	6

Acknowledgements

A special thanks to WL Stats for the comprehensive stats provided for tonight's game. 

Other Games of Interest

Please see Week 2 in Review.

Please send your comments and questions to Ron Harrison at prepgridiron@yahoo.com.

Ron Harrison’s reports on this and other football events appear on https://www.angelfire.com/ky2/prepgridiron.