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10/8/05

St. Xavier football players hoisted the King Of The Road trophy skyward late Friday night, leaving little doubt who is the current king of North Bend Road.
Not to mention most other Ohio thoroughfares.
St. Xavier, ranked No. 1 in both the state and Enquirer Division I polls and No. 18 by USA Today, thrashed La Salle 28-0 in a huge Greater Catholic League South game.
A sellout crowd of about 8,000 watched on a chilly night at St. Xavier's Tom Ballaban Field.
La Salle, located a few minutes down North Bend Road from St. X, entered with a No. 3 Enquirer ranking and big momentum after having beaten GCL South teams Elder and Moeller the past two weeks.
"We definitely needed to set the tone early," said St. X senior defensive end Alex Albright, who is committed to Boston College. "They had some momentum coming in, and we had to stop that right away."
St. Xavier took care of La Salle's upset hopes with a dominant showing, with the Bombers' defense causing four turnovers before halftime and six overall.
It was 14-0 by halftime, and La Salle never came close to scoring.
The Bombers held La Salle to 119 total yards, and rode a three-touchdown performance from sophomore running back Darius Ashley to victory. Ashley carried 21 times for 128 yards.
"Darius is special," St. X coach Steve Specht said. "You're a good coach when you have good players like this."
St. X fullback Jimmy Hobson rushed 13 times for 76 yards and a TD.
St. Xavier senior Chris Cionni, a 2004 all-city running back who has been plagued by injuries this year, played only sparingly. Cionni, who broke two bones in his back earlier this season, sprained an ankle last week and saw action on only a few plays.
La Salle's defense played relatively well, holding St. X to 236 total yards. But the rushing stats said a lot, with St. X holding a 217-56 edge on the ground.
La Salle quarterback Tyler Sheehan, who has committed to Bowling Green and is considered the area's top quarterback, completed 9-of-23 passes for 63 yards with four interceptions. Sheehan, playing on an injured hamstring suffered earlier this week, rushed 10 times for 13 yards.
"We wanted to stop Tyler running that option, and we needed to take Michael Reed out of the game," Specht said.
Reed, La Salle's standout wide receiver, wriggled free for six catches and 56 yards. His long gain was 17 yards.
St. Xavier's starting defense has not allowed a touchdown in six of its seven games. It was the Bombers' fourth shutout this year, and St. X has outscored its opponents 203-38.
"There's a reason they're No. 1 in the state," La Salle coach Tom Grippa said. "We lost the game because of those turnovers."
St. X as usual had many defensive standouts. Louis Miller had a sack, two quarterback hurries and 2 ½ tackles for loss; Albright was in on six tackles; Tim Fagel had two interceptions and a fumble recovery; Joe Ries had seven tackles and 1½ tackles for loss; Kyle Meyer had 1½ tackles for loss; Fred Craig forced a fumble and had an interception; Frank Morand had an interception and a pass breakup; Nick Schneider recovered a fumble; and Brad Brookbank broke up a pass.
La Salle (5-2, 2-1 GCL-S) was seeking its first outright Greater Catholic League South championship in the program's 44-year history. The Lancers' only previous GCL football title was 1995, a shared championshipwith Elder.
St. X (7-0, 2-0 GCL-S) clinched at least a share of its second straight GCL South title.
St. X will conclude its own three-game GCL South league schedule until Oct. 28, the final week of the season vs. Moeller. That game will be played at Paul Brown Stadium.
<TABLE class=enqtable cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR class=enqtdhead><TD align=left>La Salle</TD><TD class=enqtd align=left>0</TD><TD class=enqtd align=left>0</TD><TD class=enqtd align=left>0</TD><TD class=enqtd align=left>0</TD><TD class=enqtd align=left>- 0</TD></TR><TR><TD class=enqtd align=left>St. Xavier</TD><TD class=enqtd align=left>0</TD><TD class=enqtd align=left>14</TD><TD class=enqtd align=left>7</TD><TD class=enqtd align=left>7</TD><TD class=enqtd align=left>-28</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
X-Ashley 2 run (Milligan kick)
X-Hobson 11 run (Milligan kick)
X-Ashley 1 run (Milligan kick)
X-Ashley 2 run (Milligan kick)
Records: L 5-2 (2-1 GCL-S), X 7-0 (2-0