[JohnnyCockfight]

St. X wins another crown

St. X wins another crown
BY TOM GROESCHEN | TGROESCHEN@ENQUIRER.COM

CANTON ? Darius Ashley raced merrily through a winter wonderland here Saturday night, as he led St. Xavier to its second Ohio Division I state football title in three years.


The Bombers throttled Mentor 27-0 on a snowy night as Ashley, a senior running back, carried 36 times for a Division I title-game record 271 yards and two touchdowns.

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A crowd of 12,442 watched St. X (15-0), ranked atop the Associated Press state poll all year, take an early 14-0 lead. That was too much for No. 10 Mentor (11-3), which never came close to scoring.

St. X also was rated anywhere from No. 1 to No. 5 all season in various national polls.

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St. Xavier will go down as one of the greatest teams in Cincinnati prep football history, along with the 2005 Bombers team that also was 15-0 and state champion.
The Bombers this year beat former state champions from Ohio (Elder, Colerain, Moeller, St. Ignatius), Kentucky (Trinity) and Indiana (Chatard), plus national power DeMatha (Md.).

Along the way, the Bombers set what is believed to be a state record for Harbin computer points (45.4), based on strength of schedule.

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St. Xavier and Anderson, which won the Division II state title Friday night, gave Cincinnati multiple state football championships for the first time since 1986, when Fairfield (D-I), Purcell Marian (D-II) and Cincinnati Academy of Physical Education (D-III) all won state.

St. Xavier?s 2007 title win gives Cincinnati its fifth Division I state football championship in the past six years: Elder (2002 and ?03), Colerain (?04), St. Xavier (?05 and ?07).

The Bombers? championship is Cincinnati?s 16th big-school state title in 36 years of Ohio tournament play. The OHSAA began its football playoffs in the 1972 season.

The St. Xavier seniors conclude their career with a 49-2 record. Bombers seniors were 10-0 as freshmen, and the varsity was 39-2 in the three years that seniors including Ashley, WR/kicker Danny Milligan and Craig were starters. Also, the St. Xavier freshman ?B? team was 4-0 when the current seniors were freshmen.

?A lot of people told them they couldn?t do what they did,? Specht said. ?It?s a special group, and I?ll always be proud of them.?


Mentor ? 0-0-0-0--0
St. Xavier ? 7-10-3-7--27

SX ? Milligan 4 pass from Massa (Milligan kick)
SX ? Ashley 27 run (Milligan kick)
SX ? Milligan 23 FG
SX ? Milligan 24 FG
SX ? Ashley 1 run (Milligan kick)
Records: M 11-3, SX 15-0.