St Ignatius paysback St Xavier 37-6

2001 OHSAA DIVISION I STATE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME CLEVELAND ST. IGNATIUS 37, CINCINNATI ST. XAVIER 6 CANTON -- Payback, it's said, is a bitter pill to swallow. For the Cleveland St. Ignatius Wildcats, the taste of revenge was nothing but sweet. Nate Szep threw for 280 yards and three touchdowns to lead St. Ignatius to their state-record ninth state title, a 37-6 victory over previously the unbeaten Cincinnati St. Xavier Bombers Saturday in the Division I state championship Saturday at Fawcett Stadium in Canton. The win avenged St. Ignatius' (11-4) regular season loss to the Bombers in October -- the Wildcats' last loss -- and capped a six-game winning streak to close the season. The 37 points were the second most allowed this season by St. Xavier (14-1), who gave up 41 before that -- in their 42-41 regular season win over Ignatius. St. Ignatius, though, took command of the championship game in the first half, and their defense made it stick. The St. Ignatius defense limited St. Xavier to 127 yards of total offense, including minus-25 yards rushing. The Wildcats scored the first 23 points of the game beginning with Szep's first touchdown pass, a 32-yarder to Tony Gonzalez with 6:10 to play in the first quarter. Gonzalez finished the game leading all receivers, catching seven of Szep's aerials for 144 yards. Szep, meanwhile, completed 18-of-27 passes and was intercepted once. Carter Welo, who rushed for a game-high 126 yards on 27 carries, scored from eight yards out three and a half minutes into the second quarter to put the Wildcats up 14-0. Szep later connected with Tom Christy on a 23-yard pass play late in the first half, and Phil Gibbs added a 27-yard field goal with 35 seconds to play in the second to close out the half. The Bombers picked up their lone touchdown in the third quarter as Matt Vogele capped a six-play, 35-yard drive with a two-yard run, closing St. Xavier to within 17 points, but a Ryan Franzinger touchdown run pushed the Wildcat lead back over 20 points with less than two minutes left in the third quarter. Szep closed the scoring early in the fourth, connecting with Matt Miller on a 24-yard touchdown pass. Marty Mooney and the St. Xavier passing attack provided the lion's share of the Bomber offense. Mooney connected on 11-of-27 passes for 152 yards with one interception. Josh Williams led the team in receptions, catching four passes for 26, but Enye Willingham led St. X in receiving yardage with three receptions for 79 yards. Willingham was shut down on the run, though, gaining just 14 yards on seven carries to lead the rushing attack. SCORE BY QUARTERS St. Xavier.........0.....0.....6.....0..........6 St. Ignatius.......7...16.....7.....7........37 SCORING SUMMARY FIRST QUARTER STI - Tony Gonzalez 32 pass from Nate Szep (Phil Gibbs kick), 6:10. (8 plays, 91 yards, TOP 3:58) SECOND QUARTER STI - Carter Welo 8 run (Phil Gibbs kick), 8:34. (6 plays, 47 yards, TOP 2:28) STI - Tom Christy 23 pass from Nate Szep (kick failed), 2:40. (10 plays, 71 yards, TOP 4:32) STI - FG Phil Gibbs 27, :35. (9 plays, 54 yards, TOP 1:12) THIRD QUARTER STX - Matt Vogele 2 run (pass failed), 7:11. (6 plays, 35 yards, TOP 1:35) STI - Ryan Franzinger 9 run (Phil Gibbs kick), 1:56. (6 plays, 60 yards, TOP 2:19) FOURTH QUARTER STI - Matt Miller 24 pass from Nate Szep (Phil Gibbs kick), 10:06. (6 plays, 40 yards, TOP 2:09) TEAM STATISTICS................STX.............STI First Downs..................................10...............23 Rushes-Yards......................23-(-25).......44-172 Passing Yards.............................152.............280 Comp-Att-Comp.................11-27-1......18-27-1 Total Offense..............................127.............452 Punts-Avg..............................7-33.0.........3-38.0 Fumbles-Lost..............................0-0..............2-1 Penalties-Yards...........................1-5............4-37 Time of Possession...................17:20...........30:40 RUSHING: St. Xavier-Enye Willingham 7-14, Luke Linz 3-12, Matt Vogele 2-4, Craig Sander 1-(-3); Sean Morris 1-(-9); Marty Mooney 9-(-43). St. Ignatius-Carter Welo 27-126, Ryan Franzinger 6-30, Matt Divis 1-9, Blaise Restifo 1-8, Chuck Flanagan 4-7, Dan Ghanma 1-3, Nate Szep 4-minus 11. PASSING: St. Xavier-Marty Mooney 11-27-1-152. St. Ignatius-Nate Szep 18-27-1-280. RECEIVING: St. Xavier-Josh Williams 4-26, Enye Willingham 3-79, Sam McDonald 3-37, Ethan Barnes 1-10. St. Ignatius-Tony Gonzalez 7-144, Tom Christy 3-38, Matt Miller 2-37, Carter Welo 2-25, Cameron Wick 2-21, Ryan Franzinger 2-15. INTERCEPTIONS: St. Xavier-Mike Hurley 1-0. St. Ignatius-Matt Miller 1-0. clecinosu