#31 St. Xavier beats #22 St. Ignatius in 2 OT’s for Ohio Division I title

St. Xavier footballPhoto from Twitter
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Don’t look at St. Xavier‘s 10-5 record and think this isn’t a team worthy of wining the 2016 Ohio Division I state championship.  Friday night, the Bombers became the first team Ohio high school football history to capture a state title with five losses by beating St. Ignatius 27-20 in double overtime, completing a season that saw St. X play the toughest schedule in the country, according to High School Football America’s proprietary algorithm that creates our national rankings.  St. X entered the game ranked #31 in the nation, while St. Ignatius was #22.

After both teams kicked field goals in the first overtime, St. Xavier took a 27-20 lead when Penn State-recruit Sean Clifford tossed a seven-yard TD pass to Andrew Wittrock.  On St. Ignatius’ possession, the Wildcats had a fourth-and-goal from the 10-yard line, but a pass attempt was incomplete and St. X captured their third state title.  The other two came in 2005 and 2007.

Friday’s night overtime, marked the third time during the 2016 postseason that St. X needed OT to win.

The state championship win also avenged a 31-14 loss to St. Ignatius during the regular season.

How tough was St. Xavier’s schedule?  All of the losses were to teams that are in our National Top 50.

In addition to losing to #22 St. Ignatius during the regular season, the Bombers lost to #7 St. John Bosco (California), #30 La Salle (Ohio) #32 Colerain (Ohio) and #42 Warren Central (Indiana).

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About the Author

Jeff Fisher
Jeff is an award-winning journalist and expert in the field of high school sports, underscored with his appearance on CNBC in 2010 to talk about the big business of high school football in America.Jeff turned to his passion for high school football into an entrepreneurial venture called High School Football America, a digital media company focused on producing original high school sports content for radio, television and the internet.Jeff is co-founder and editor-in-chief of High School Football America, a partner with NFL Play Football.