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emu
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Darius is doing very, very well this year considering St. X has absolutely no passing game. They didn't have a single completion last night in the second half. Darius and fellow junior Luca Romeo are very good backs considering defenses know they're getting the ball every play.
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Buckeyecty4
Hall of Fame
Im so impressed with this kids feet and lower body strength... He's not one of those small backs that goes down easily... he can break a tackle, has the spin move, and can grab an extra 2-3 yards even after u think he is caught..
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X Buckeyes07 X
Heisman
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs....=z/erUi/9Oub5YFe5/gxA4vhPTDKo+Kn0iGyhfA/yGcE=
Rested Bombers shut out St. Iggy
St. Xavier 17, St. Ignatius 0
St. X's offense kept to the ground game and was led by junior running back Darius Ashley, who had 22 carries for 103 yards and one touchdown.
This performance brings him to 990 yards on the season with the Moeller game still to go. He had 997 in the regular season last year (before reaching 1600 in the playoffs), so he should have no problems surpassing that.
Rested Bombers shut out St. Iggy
St. Xavier 17, St. Ignatius 0
St. X's offense kept to the ground game and was led by junior running back Darius Ashley, who had 22 carries for 103 yards and one touchdown.
This performance brings him to 990 yards on the season with the Moeller game still to go. He had 997 in the regular season last year (before reaching 1600 in the playoffs), so he should have no problems surpassing that.
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St. X rains trickery on Moeller
St. Xavier 21, Moeller 0
BY TOM GROESCHEN | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER
A shivering Darius Ashley blinked back raindrops in the misty aftermath of St. Xavier's 21-0 win over Moeller on Friday night, which featured Ashley's debut as a passer.
The standout junior running back threw a 45-yard halfback pass for a touchdown. Ashley also rushed 19 times for 95 yards and another TD as St. X clinched its third straight Greater Catholic League-South championship.
A sellout crowd of 6,000-plus watched at St. Xavier's soggy Ballaban Field, with some empty seats after nearly two straight days of rain.
Ashley, smiling, tried to keep his teeth from chattering while doing postgame interviews.
How about that TD pass, a floater to wide-open junior wideout Jon Scheidler that gave St. X a 7-0 lead in the first period?
"We ran it in practice and it worked," Ashley said. "If it didn't work tonight, we'd probably never run it again."
Ashley said it was the first pass he'd thrown since his days as a Pee Wee league quarterback, "Back in the day."
On a night best spent indoors, the surprise pass was the biggest play on a night that saw Moeller's strong passing game mostly neutralized (61 yards passing). Moeller also was held to 54 yards rushing on 23 carries.
Moeller QB Ross Oltorik was 7-for-16 passing for 61 yards and two interceptions. Patrick Blanks carried 14 times for 41 yards rushing for Moeller.
St. X (8-1, 3-0 GCL South) played ball control, rushing 49 times for 191 yards. Junior running back Luca Romeo backed Ashley with 18 carries for 70 yards and a TD.
St. X senior quarterback Ryan Morris was 3-for-5 passing for only 10 yards, but the Moeller transfer did his job - no turnovers - in beating his old school.
"I'm just happy for my teammates," Morris said. "Our first goal was to win the league, and that's the main thing."
Both teams are projected to make the playoffs, regardless of Friday's outcome. St. Xavier will host a first-round game and Moeller probably will have a road game, with pairings to be made Sunday.
St. Xavier, the reigning state champion, is ranked No. 2 in both the Enquirer and state Division I polls and No. 9 nationally by USA Today.
"If you had told me we'd go 8-1 against our schedule, I'd have said you were crazy," St. X coach Steve Specht said. "We're getting better, and that's what I'm happy about. I'm so pleased for our seniors to win the league in their final year."
Moeller (5-4, 2-1) is ranked No. 4 in the Enquirer poll.
Both teams played nine-game regular-season schedules, with St. X having one open date and Moeller having one game canceled by weather.
Moeller coach Bob Crable said he is pleased his team appears to have another game left, but obviously was not pleased to get shut out.
"We didn't tackle, and they're a very fundamental team that did all the fundamental things right," Crable said.
The rain slackened early in the game to a fine mist, then picked up again in the third quarter.
"We knew it would limit their passing game, but you know what, both teams had to play in it," Specht said. "I'm proud of our kids."
After Ashley's TD pass, it became 14-0 when Romeo scored from 12 yards out with 5:49 left before halftime. Ashley then essentially decided it with a 4-yard TD run with 10:02 left in the game, making it 21-0.
St. X junior linebacker Evan Miller had a sack and an interception to lead the Bombers defense.
Both teams had a few key players missing, including top Moeller running back Tim Uecker and standout St. X safety Fred Craig.
Uecker, a junior, was out with a knee injury suffered last week. He might miss another week.
Craig, also a junior, sat out with an eye injury suffered Thursday. He should return next week.
St. X rains trickery on Moeller
St. Xavier 21, Moeller 0
BY TOM GROESCHEN | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER
A shivering Darius Ashley blinked back raindrops in the misty aftermath of St. Xavier's 21-0 win over Moeller on Friday night, which featured Ashley's debut as a passer.
The standout junior running back threw a 45-yard halfback pass for a touchdown. Ashley also rushed 19 times for 95 yards and another TD as St. X clinched its third straight Greater Catholic League-South championship.
A sellout crowd of 6,000-plus watched at St. Xavier's soggy Ballaban Field, with some empty seats after nearly two straight days of rain.
Ashley, smiling, tried to keep his teeth from chattering while doing postgame interviews.
How about that TD pass, a floater to wide-open junior wideout Jon Scheidler that gave St. X a 7-0 lead in the first period?
"We ran it in practice and it worked," Ashley said. "If it didn't work tonight, we'd probably never run it again."
Ashley said it was the first pass he'd thrown since his days as a Pee Wee league quarterback, "Back in the day."
On a night best spent indoors, the surprise pass was the biggest play on a night that saw Moeller's strong passing game mostly neutralized (61 yards passing). Moeller also was held to 54 yards rushing on 23 carries.
Moeller QB Ross Oltorik was 7-for-16 passing for 61 yards and two interceptions. Patrick Blanks carried 14 times for 41 yards rushing for Moeller.
St. X (8-1, 3-0 GCL South) played ball control, rushing 49 times for 191 yards. Junior running back Luca Romeo backed Ashley with 18 carries for 70 yards and a TD.
St. X senior quarterback Ryan Morris was 3-for-5 passing for only 10 yards, but the Moeller transfer did his job - no turnovers - in beating his old school.
"I'm just happy for my teammates," Morris said. "Our first goal was to win the league, and that's the main thing."
Both teams are projected to make the playoffs, regardless of Friday's outcome. St. Xavier will host a first-round game and Moeller probably will have a road game, with pairings to be made Sunday.
St. Xavier, the reigning state champion, is ranked No. 2 in both the Enquirer and state Division I polls and No. 9 nationally by USA Today.
"If you had told me we'd go 8-1 against our schedule, I'd have said you were crazy," St. X coach Steve Specht said. "We're getting better, and that's what I'm happy about. I'm so pleased for our seniors to win the league in their final year."
Moeller (5-4, 2-1) is ranked No. 4 in the Enquirer poll.
Both teams played nine-game regular-season schedules, with St. X having one open date and Moeller having one game canceled by weather.
Moeller coach Bob Crable said he is pleased his team appears to have another game left, but obviously was not pleased to get shut out.
"We didn't tackle, and they're a very fundamental team that did all the fundamental things right," Crable said.
The rain slackened early in the game to a fine mist, then picked up again in the third quarter.
"We knew it would limit their passing game, but you know what, both teams had to play in it," Specht said. "I'm proud of our kids."
After Ashley's TD pass, it became 14-0 when Romeo scored from 12 yards out with 5:49 left before halftime. Ashley then essentially decided it with a 4-yard TD run with 10:02 left in the game, making it 21-0.
St. X junior linebacker Evan Miller had a sack and an interception to lead the Bombers defense.
Both teams had a few key players missing, including top Moeller running back Tim Uecker and standout St. X safety Fred Craig.
Uecker, a junior, was out with a knee injury suffered last week. He might miss another week.
Craig, also a junior, sat out with an eye injury suffered Thursday. He should return next week.
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St. Xavier 44, Lakota West 3
Ashley smokes West for 200 yards
BY MARK SCHMETZER | ENQUIRER CONTRIBUTOR
Defense and Darius Ashley helped St. Xavier get started on the road to a second consecutive Division I state championship.
The junior running back gained 200 yards ? three short of his season high ? and scored three touchdowns on 18 carries to lead the Bombers to a 44-3 win over Lakota West Saturday night in the first round of the Division I Region 4 playoffs at St. Xavier?s Ballaban Field.On third-and-three from St. Xavier’s 45-yard line, Ashley took a handoff, spun off one tackler and beat the rest of the Firebirds defense to the end zone for a 55-yard touchdown run.
Ashley, who averaged 120.6 rushing yards per game during the regular season, had 121 yards on 11 carries by halftime.Ashley capped the Bombers’ first possession of the second half by breaking several tackles on his way to a 40-yard touchdown. He added a one-yard plunge on the second play of the fourth quarter to help St. Xavier to a 24-3 lead.
St. Xavier 44, Lakota West 3
Ashley smokes West for 200 yards
BY MARK SCHMETZER | ENQUIRER CONTRIBUTOR
Defense and Darius Ashley helped St. Xavier get started on the road to a second consecutive Division I state championship.
The junior running back gained 200 yards ? three short of his season high ? and scored three touchdowns on 18 carries to lead the Bombers to a 44-3 win over Lakota West Saturday night in the first round of the Division I Region 4 playoffs at St. Xavier?s Ballaban Field.On third-and-three from St. Xavier’s 45-yard line, Ashley took a handoff, spun off one tackler and beat the rest of the Firebirds defense to the end zone for a 55-yard touchdown run.
Ashley, who averaged 120.6 rushing yards per game during the regular season, had 121 yards on 11 carries by halftime.Ashley capped the Bombers’ first possession of the second half by breaking several tackles on his way to a 40-yard touchdown. He added a one-yard plunge on the second play of the fourth quarter to help St. Xavier to a 24-3 lead.
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OmahaBeef
Intergalactic Planetary Planetary Intergalactic
Some free video highlights of Darius can be found here: http://www.stxavier.org/stxavier.aspx?pgID=881
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t's no passing resemblance Glen Este coach sees in St. X the two running teams that beat Trojans
BY MARK SCHMETZER | ENQUIRER CONTRIBUTOR
To Glen Este football coach Zak Taylor, St. Xavier looks a lot like Anderson and Harrison.
That's trouble for the Trojans. Their only two losses this season were at the hands of the Redskins and Wildcats, which creates cause for concern going into Glen Este's Division I, Region 4 playoff against the Bombers.
The fifth-seeded Trojans (9-2) and top-seeded St. Xavier (9-1) meet at 11 a.m. Saturday in the first game of a doubleheader at Nippert Stadium.
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The Bombers, who finished the regular season ranked second behind Colerain in both the Associated Press Division I state poll and the Enquirer Division I coaches' poll, operate a run-oriented offense that uses zone blocking schemes and features 5-foot-9, 180-pound junior back Darius Ashley.
"They all run a lot of zone with a dominant type of back," Taylor said.
Ashley, who set a school record with 1,633 yards while leading St. Xavier to the state championship last season, has gained 1,285 yards in 10 games this season, including 200 in the Bombers' 44-0 win over Lakota West in their playoff opener last Saturday.
"He's special," Taylor said. "He does a lot of things well. The first thing is his strength. It's like trying to tackle a greased pole. You grab hold and slide down him. ... He's got great vision and quickness."
"He's compact," Taylor added. "You don't have a whole lot of hitting space. The key with him is you've got to get to him before he gets started."
Matt Winegardner, Glen Este's 6-5, 230-pound defensive end, is impressed that 85 percent of Ashley's yards have come after contact.
"He's not going to go down by one person," said Winegardner, who blocked two punts in Glen Este's 28-14 playoff-opening win at Clayton Northmont last Saturday. "We have to gang-tackle him and make him not want to run anymore."
Winegardner's blocked punts, both of which led to touchdowns, were the first of his career. Part of the credit goes to Glen Este's coaches for devising a solid defensive scheme, Taylor said.
"That, and I think I had a little bit of a mismatch," Winegardner said. "The kid blocking me was nowhere near my size, and their punter took a three-step drop, so I had plenty of time to get back there."
This is the second consecutive season Glen Este, the Enquirer's No. 7 team, is meeting the defending state champion early in the playoffs. Last season, the Trojans lost 24-7 to Colerain in the first round.
"We were ready to play last year," Taylor said. "I thought we played well. I was proud of our effort."
Winegardner believes the Trojans are ready to produce the same type of effort against the Bombers.
"If we come to play and do everything right, any team is going to have a hard time beating us, no matter who they are," he said. "We've got to come to play, and we've got to have intensity - all 11 to the ball and playing to the end of the whistle.
"We'll have to just play nasty - go out and have fun."
Even with a morning kickoff?
"We've done it before, and we can do it again," he said.
t's no passing resemblance Glen Este coach sees in St. X the two running teams that beat Trojans
BY MARK SCHMETZER | ENQUIRER CONTRIBUTOR
To Glen Este football coach Zak Taylor, St. Xavier looks a lot like Anderson and Harrison.
That's trouble for the Trojans. Their only two losses this season were at the hands of the Redskins and Wildcats, which creates cause for concern going into Glen Este's Division I, Region 4 playoff against the Bombers.
The fifth-seeded Trojans (9-2) and top-seeded St. Xavier (9-1) meet at 11 a.m. Saturday in the first game of a doubleheader at Nippert Stadium.
OAS_AD('ArticleFlex_1');
The Bombers, who finished the regular season ranked second behind Colerain in both the Associated Press Division I state poll and the Enquirer Division I coaches' poll, operate a run-oriented offense that uses zone blocking schemes and features 5-foot-9, 180-pound junior back Darius Ashley.
"They all run a lot of zone with a dominant type of back," Taylor said.
Ashley, who set a school record with 1,633 yards while leading St. Xavier to the state championship last season, has gained 1,285 yards in 10 games this season, including 200 in the Bombers' 44-0 win over Lakota West in their playoff opener last Saturday.
"He's special," Taylor said. "He does a lot of things well. The first thing is his strength. It's like trying to tackle a greased pole. You grab hold and slide down him. ... He's got great vision and quickness."
"He's compact," Taylor added. "You don't have a whole lot of hitting space. The key with him is you've got to get to him before he gets started."
Matt Winegardner, Glen Este's 6-5, 230-pound defensive end, is impressed that 85 percent of Ashley's yards have come after contact.
"He's not going to go down by one person," said Winegardner, who blocked two punts in Glen Este's 28-14 playoff-opening win at Clayton Northmont last Saturday. "We have to gang-tackle him and make him not want to run anymore."
Winegardner's blocked punts, both of which led to touchdowns, were the first of his career. Part of the credit goes to Glen Este's coaches for devising a solid defensive scheme, Taylor said.
"That, and I think I had a little bit of a mismatch," Winegardner said. "The kid blocking me was nowhere near my size, and their punter took a three-step drop, so I had plenty of time to get back there."
This is the second consecutive season Glen Este, the Enquirer's No. 7 team, is meeting the defending state champion early in the playoffs. Last season, the Trojans lost 24-7 to Colerain in the first round.
"We were ready to play last year," Taylor said. "I thought we played well. I was proud of our effort."
Winegardner believes the Trojans are ready to produce the same type of effort against the Bombers.
"If we come to play and do everything right, any team is going to have a hard time beating us, no matter who they are," he said. "We've got to come to play, and we've got to have intensity - all 11 to the ball and playing to the end of the whistle.
"We'll have to just play nasty - go out and have fun."
Even with a morning kickoff?
"We've done it before, and we can do it again," he said.
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OSU_Buckguy
Head Coach
am i to take from http://scoutingoh.com/Darius_Ashley_St_Xavier.htm that he is a sophomore in these clips? if so, i can't wait to see his clips from this year. if not, i'm still impressed. excellent looking prospect here.
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crazybuckfan40
Head Coach
OSU_Buckguy;675680; said:
Yeah it is. If you check out the game against Colerain you see Tyler Moeller flying around the field after him.
As for the clips, he was playing against the best competition in the state from last year. I really like his film, but just not sure how enthused the staff is going to be with taking another guy this size. He reminds me a lot of Warrick Dunn in the way he hides behinds his blocks and he is real shifty.
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