Conor Hundley leads St. Xavier over St. Edward

Like in so many games throughout his career, St. Xavier (Cincinnati) senior running back Conor Hundley came up big Saturday afternoon against a significant opponent.

Hundley went over the 100-yard mark for the fourth time this season with 22 carries for 160 yards and two touchdowns to lift St. Xavier to a 17-10 win over visiting St. Edward (Lakewood, Ohio) at Ballaban Field.

It was a season high in yards for Hundley, whose previous season high was 157 yards against Pickerington Central in the Kirk Herbstreit National Kickoff Classic on Sept. 4.

"Conor is the type of back that kind of grinds on you," St. Xavier coach Steve Specht told the Cincinnati Enquirer. "You get late into the third quarter and into the fourth quarter and he's tough to bring down."

And despite a two-loss season, it's tough to ignore the accomplishments thus far of St. Xavier (6-2), which is  No. 12 in the MaxPreps Freeman national rankings presented by the Army National Guard.

The squad's only losses were very close games against Trinity-Louisville, Ky. (17-7) and Archbishop Moeller-Cincinnati (27-24), which entered the week ranked No. 2 and 3 nationally respectively. Moeller, however, was upset Friday night by Cathedral (Indianapolis).

St. Xavier further validated a very strong season with the win on Saturday.

"The key was how we could do up front against their offensive line and our guys answered the call today," Specht said. "I thought they played very hard. They played inspired and they played fast. That's a good football team. That's a big win."

On a very windy fall day in the Queen City, the host Bombers took advantage of the conditions in the third quarter and were constantly in St. Edward territory.

Hundley scored on a 48-yard touchdown run with 8:27 left in the fourth quarter to give St. Xavier a 17-7 advantage.

The Bombers put the game out of reach about two minutes later when senior linebacker Nathan Gerbus forced a fumble and the Bombers recovered at 6:29 to put the game out of reach.

Gerbus, who is verbally committed to Miami University, has a team-high 10 sacks. He also has three forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and an interception.

"It was a smart call by St. Xavier to take the wind offensively in the third quarter," St. Edward coach Rick Finotti said. "They capitalized on it and we didn't capitalize on it in the fourth quarter."

St. Xavier improved to 6-1 against the Eagles in the all-time series. Specht said earlier in the week that playing at home would be key on Saturday.

"Anytime you don't have to travel and have the comfort of your own locker room, it's an advantage," Specht said. "The normalcy can only help."

St. Edward's only official win in the series between the two schools was in 2010 in northern Ohio.

Saturday was a second straight loss for St. Edward (6-2) this season. The Eagles, tied for No. 3 in the AP state poll, are the defending Division I state champions.

St. Edward held an edge in yards (237 to 212) but also had eight penalties.

Anthony Young had a 64-yard touchdown run with 5:45 left in the first half to give the Eagles their only lead at 7-3.
St. Edward has logged several miles this month. The Eagles arrived in Cincinnati Saturday after it lost to host Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, N.J.) 38-7 on Oct. 8. Don Bosco Prep is No. 1 in the Xcellent 25 rankings.

The schedule doesn't get any easier for either team heading into next week. St. Edward hosts Moeller (7-1) at 2 p.m. Oct. 22, while St. Xavier travels to St. Ignatius-Cleveland (6-1) the same time and day.

St. Xavier 17, St. Edward 10

St. Ed 0-7-0-3—10
St. X 0-3-7-7—17

SX–FG Roemer 40
SE–Young 64 run (Wilhelm kick)
SX–Hundley 1 run (Roemer kick)
SX–Hundley 48 run (Roemer kick)
SE–FG Wilhelm 33
Records: St. Xavier 6-2, St. Edwards 6-2.