St. Xavier scored 24 unanswered points in the second half Friday night to overcome a two-touchdown deficit and defeat Indianapolis Cathedral 41-37 in high school football. It was the third game for the Fighting Irish in Cincinnati in the last four weeks. Previously, Cathedral had beaten Archbishop Moeller, while losing in overtime at Elder.
The Bombers kicked a field goal to start the game, but Cathedral answered with touchdown passes from Orin Edwards to Camden Jordan of 88 and 59 yards to take a 14-3 lead. St. X pulled to within 14-10 in the first quarter on a 9-yard TD run by quarterback Matthew Rueve.
Cathedral’s Christian Alerding kicked a career-long 34-yard field goal early in the second quarter. Rueve then tied the score 17-17 with a 36-yard touchdown pass to Liam Clifford. Five plays later, Irish running back Daylen Hall scored on an amazing 57-yard run to put Cathedral ahead 24-17. St. X thwarted an Irish scoring drive in the final minute of the half by intercepting a 6-yard Edwards’ pass in the end zone.
Cathedral received the second half kickoff. Edwards ran 54 yards for a touchdown to extend the margin to 31-17. St. Xavier countered by scoring on its next four possessions, including two more TD passes by Rueve, to forge ahead 41-31. Edwards completed a 20-yard touchdown pass to Jordan on the game’s final play to conclude the scoring.
Cathedral rolled up 595 yards of total offense to just 338 yards for St. Xavier. Field position was a factor as Cathedral started offensively on average at its own 22-yard line, while St. X began its possessions on average at its own 46. Four of the Bombers seven scoring drives started in Irish terriftory.
Edwards completed 18 of 34 passes for a career best 348 yards. It's the third game of his career in which he has passed for more than 300 yards. The senior quarterback also rushed for 112 yards. Hall rushed for 117 yards on 10 carries for his third career outing of more than 100 yards rushing. Jordan caught seven passes for a career best 219 yards.
St. Xavier has now beaten Cathedral in 17 of 19 meetings between the two schools. The Ohio Division I second-ranked Bombers improve their record to 4-0, while the Fighting Irish fall to 3-2 on the season. Cathedral will host Jeffersonville next Friday at Arsenal Tech for homecoming. The Red Devils have a 1-4 record this season and have never defeated the Irish in three previous games.