ECHO

St. Xavier capitalizes on Trinity’s mistakes to win 30-6

Friday, November 14, 2008 By Joseph E. Kauffman, Staff Reporter

A record crowd of 38,872 witnessed the annual football game between Trinity and St. Xavier. Both teams played hard, but Trinity made mistakes that St. X capitalized on, earning them a 30-6 win. “A hungry dog will hunt farther,” Trinity head coach Bob Beatty said. “(St. X) was hungrier.” St. X found ways to produce on offense against Trinity’s defense, putting up 256 yards on the ground and 104 through the air. “We knew we had to keep (Trinity’s) defense off balance,” St. Xavier head coach Mike Glaser said. Throughout the night, St. X’s running backs slipped out of or bulldozed through Trinity defenders and found the end zone twice. The Tigers passing game also found its way to the end zone for two touchdowns. Matt Brutscher passed for the two scores. “There were times where it seemed we were in the wrong (defensive) schemes, but we weren’t. The schemes were right, but we needed to execute,” Beatty said. On the other side of the ball, Trinity’s offense found ways to pick up yards but continually failed to come up with points. “We hurt ourselves,” Trinity quarterback Cameron Smyth said. “(St. X) played tough and made the big plays. We just couldn’t finish (on offense).” Smyth threw Trinity’s only touchdown pass to wide receiver Rob Melillo in the third quarter. The 15-yard Trinity score brought them within four points, 10-6. Mistakes such as three turnovers and nine penalties, however, gave the Tigers the edge they needed to blow the game wide open. “I made bad plays at bad times,” Smyth said. Smyth was part of three turnovers, fumbling twice and throwing one interception. Despite Smyth’s assessment of his performance, when asked who most impressed him from Trinity in the game, Glaser was quick to single out the Trinity QB. “Cameron Smyth was giving us problems on defense,” Glaser said. “He really played a great game, despite the turnovers.” When asked what he wanted the team to take away from the game, Beatty said, “A loss is a loss.You react to a loss in one of two ways: You get better or you get worse. Losses can become education. It hurts, but (the team) can learn from this.”