By Kyle Williams
Photo Editor

In yet another matchup of one of high school football’s biggest rivalries, the St. Xavier Tigers handily defeated the Trinity Shamrocks 32-7 in front of 26,614 fans who made the trip to Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium.
St. Xavier was fueled by its impressive defensive play throughout the game. The Tigers were able to sack Trinity quarterback Brad Kragthorpe five times, pick off one of his passes, and hold the Shamrocks to under 70 yards rushing. St. Xavier was then able to expose many weaknesses in the Trinity defense, scoring 32 points, three of those touchdowns coming on the ground.
Following a scary injury to the Tigers’ Lucas Tutwiler, the Shamrocks started off slowly as costly penalties prevented a touchdown, which then led to a missed field goal attempt.
St. Xavier’s Jermiah Neal scored on the following play on an 80-yard touchdown run to put the Tigers on the board first, 6-0.
“That run gave us all the confidence we needed,” Neal said.
The Tigers struck again in the second quarter as Brian Buehner completed a 50-yard pass to Bryan Noltemeyer for a touchdown to extend the St. Xavier lead to 13.
“We felt really good about our offensive game plan,” St. Xavier head coach Mike Glaser said.
Towards the end of the half, Kragthorpe was able to convert on fourth down, leading to a Darick Nix touchdown reception to make the score 13-7.
With 33 seconds left in the half, Trinity’s Andrew Schmitt picked off Buehner; however, Nick Robertson could not convert on the field goal, keeping the score at 13-7 going into halftime.
Following a Trinity fumble, St. X’s La’Mont McMurry ran in another touchdown for the Tigers, making the score 19-7 after a missed extra point.
The Tigers then added two more scores coming from Michael Montano’s rushing touchdown and Daylen Hall’s 99-yard interception return for a touchdown to complete their rout of the Shamrocks.
“We got beat tonight,” Trinity head coach Bob Beatty said. “A new season starts on Monday.”
“Trinity will be back,” Glaser said. “We’ve got to find a way to beat them again.”