[Stardust]

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20090...rinity+13+

What started a showdown between perennial powerhouses in Ohio and Kentucky turned out to be one lopsided St. Xavier win.


The Bombers rattled off 27-first quarter points in a 43-13 defeat of Louisville Trinity, Friday in a St. X home opener.

How one-sided was it? Trinity allowed the most points in a half (43) in school history, surrendered 40 points in a game for the first time in two years, and narrowly avoided a first shutout since 1998.

St. X scored as many points in the first two quarters as it collected in its last two games combined. A match-up that appeared solid on paper disintegrated behind Trinity miscues and a St. X defense that held it to 37 first-half yards.

Bombers Steve Specht wasn’t sure how to encapsulate the win.

“Wow,” Specht said. “I’m kind of speechless right now because I thought in the first half that our kids couldn’t have played any better than they did. I want to say we’ll continue to get better, but I thought offensively obviously we were clicking. Defensively we got some key turnovers and it snowballed from there.”

The Bombers capitalized on a fumble recovery, interception, and three touchdowns in the game’s first seven minutes and held on for a second straight victory over a Kentucky team.

It downed Louisville St. Xavier 24-7 last week before trouncing Trinity, the four-time defending big-school state champ and owner of 19 state titles.

The Bombers, ranked 19th in USA Today’s Super 25 and No. 2 in the Associated Press Division I poll and the Enquirer coaches’ poll, improved to 4-0 against a Shamrocks team that dropped to an uncharacteristic 1-3.

St. X rolled up 307 yards to Trinity’s 175, and 206 of the Bombers’ yards were on the ground. University of Cincinnati-bound Luke Massa was 6-of-8 passing for 101 yards and three touchdowns in the first half but retired to the sidelines before the break as Specht began subbing liberally.

Trinity coach Bob Beatty led a somber group of Shamrocks off the field after the game.

“It’s my job as a coach to find the young men that have the desire to play the game. Right now we have a group that doesn’t. So it’s my job to find out who that is,” Beatty said.

“It’s painful right now, but that’s part of the process. They’re the ones that – as well as I am – we to live with that little piece of history there. And hopefully we’ll learn from it.”

Nothing seemed to click for the Shamrocks in the return of junior Brad Kragthorpe. The quarterback, son of University of Louisville football coach Steve Kragthorpe, missed the two previous games with turf toe.

He fumbled on Trinity’s second play, which triggered a series of events that started the St. X onslaught. Jake Rumpke scooped up the ball at the Shamrocks’ 16-yard-line, advanced to the 15, and running back Conor Hundley scampered in for a touchdown less than a minute into the game.

The PAT hit the upright and failed, but the Bombers didn’t waste time making up the difference. Massa found Will Carroll on a 60-yard touchdown pass and Carroll cruised into the end zone with two Shamrocks players trailing.

St. X led 13-0 with 9:35 left in the first quarter. The Bombers extend the advantage to 20 shortly thereafter when linebacker Sean Duggan picked off a Kragthorpe pass.

“I got lucky, I guess. He threw the pass right to me,” Duggard said.

The Bombers started on the Trinity 17, inched to the 5-yard line, and capitalized on a penalty that put them at the 1. Nigel Muhammad punched in the next touchdown.
Kragthorpe was yanked after his fumble and interception.

“It’s called turning the football over. You can’t do it,” Beatty said.

With 27 second left in the first quarter, Massa hit Jeff Kraemer with a 16-yard TD pass that gave St. X an insurmountable lead.