Scott SpringerCincinnati Enquirer
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In a Skyline Chili Crosstown Showdown matchup in front of a packed house at RDI Stadium, Moeller High School punched in a couple of fourth-quarter touchdowns courtesy of junior Jordan Marshall to beat St. Xavier 20-17.
St. Xavier led at halftime 10-6 and by the same score at the end of the third. Moeller's Marshall then lived up to his billing and eventually was able to hush the Bombers fans with his final touchdown, which came with five minutes left. The much-heralded recruit has 29 offers and was the game's MVP running for 134 yards and a score while catching the go-ahead 29-yard touchdown pass from fellow junior Luke Dunn.
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"It's crazy, I'm just really trying to tune it out right now and be here with my team," Marshall said of Division I offers. "It's great this environment here. This team's a great team. We're a great team. This is one of the most fun environments I've been in. I'm just happy to be here."
Dunn was 7-of-14 passing for 118 yards with touchdowns to Marshall and Tennel Bryant.
It was Moeller's first win at St. Xavier in four years. The Crusaders won in 2018 at RDI Stadium when Bengals Director of Coaching Operations Doug Rosfeld was coaching his alma mater. That was also the last year Moeller won the Greater Catholic League-South. St. Xavier has won the last two titles. St. Xavier had been 6-0 in GCL-South contests the last two seasons before Friday's loss.
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"What a game," Moeller coach Mark Elder said. "Great performance by them, great performance by our guys. It's a shame somebody had to come out a loser. Boy oh boy, I'm proud of these guys coming from behind. We didn't lose our focus, lose our belief that we would prevail in the end."
Jack O'Malley finished 21-of-30 passing for St. Xavier for 230 yards with a touchdown to Jamaal Sharp. Moeller's defense sacked him five times with Brandon Martin doing the honors twice.
Junior Steven Napier led the St. Xavier ground game with 129 yards.
Moeller came in No. 1 in Ohio Division I, Region 4 and No. 2 in the state media poll behind Lakewood St. Edward. St. Xavier defeated the Crusaders last season at the University of Cincinnati's Nippert Stadium, 49-16. This time with Bengals coach Zac Taylor and UC coach Luke Fickell on the sidelines, it was revenge ending with coach Elder drenched in celebratory water.
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"This is game No. 4 against them in my time here and it hasn't been close," Elder said. "They ran away with us three times. This is a good game. This is a game where you walk the halls and you talk about it all day every day. I'm glad our guys played with emotion and didn't lose their heads today."
The famous coaches were joined by Bengals running back Joe Mixon, Reds' Joey Votto and Tyler Stephenson and former Moeller greats Deuce McBride (New York Knicks) and Jeremiah Davenport (UC Bearcats). Mixon spoke with Marshall after the contest.
"I saw him," Marshall said. "I heard some whispers he was going to be here today so I had to show out for him."
Moeller was on the board within two minutes of the start as senior speedster Bryant took the opening kickoff 65 yards. Dunn would hit him from the 11 to opening the scoring but the extra point was blocked.
That would end Moeller's first-half scoring. Jake Cengia's 36-yard field goal got St. Xavier within a field goal, then just before half O'Malley hit Sharp on a pass at the 1-yard line. O'Malley was shoved in from there and the Bombers held their first advantage at the break, 10-6.
Moeller gambled at the end of the third quarter on 4th and six near midfield with Dunn completing a pass to Josiah Love to keep a drive going. Eventually, Marshall rumbled in from the 2-yard line for a 13-10 Moeller lead only to see it quickly answered by St. Xavier's O'Malley on a 22-yard pass to the elusive Sharp.
Moeller again rolled the dice on fourth down on the St. Xavier 29 in the fourth with Dunn delivering to Marshall for the final Moeller lead. On St. Xavier's last drive, senior Matt Seliga knocked away a pass and the celebration was on for the blue and gold.
"Jordan had a fantastic day," Elder said. "He's a 'Johnny Consistent' guy. You know you're going to get an 'A' effort and 'A' performance from him week in and week out."
As for upcoming recruiting visits, Marshall has none planned but one he is eyeing in November.
"I think I'm just going to wait and go to the Ohio State vs. that team up north," he said.
Moeller is now 5-0 with St. Xavier dropping to 2-3. The Bombers have now gone toe-to-toe with two of the top teams in the area and state in Moeller and Lakota West (16-13 loss in week one).
"That's a GCL-South battle," St. Xavier coach Steve Specht said. "Either team could have won that. It was tooth and nail. They made some plays, we made some plays and ultimately they made a couple more plays than we did in the end. They're a really good football team. We're getting better. We've got a ways to go but we're getting better."
The GCL-South menu of mayhem continues for both schools as Moeller's Crusaders visit La Salle next Friday, while St. Xavier takes the road to face Elder at the Pit.
Moeller vs. St. Xavier
MOELLER 6 0 0 14 20
ST. XAVIER 0 10 0 7 17
M - Dunn 11-yard pass to Bryant (kick blocked)
StX - Cengia 36-yard FG
StX - O'Malley 1-yard run (Cengia kick)
M - Marshall 2-yard run (Mitchell kick)
StX - O'Malley 22-yard pass to Sharp (Cengia kick)
M - Dunn 29-yard pass to Marshall (Mitchell kick)
