Recapping all the best action from Week 13 of Greater Cincinnati high school football
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St. Xavier breaks losing streak to Moeller with last-minute comeback win
St. Xavier had lost seven straight games to Moeller, all over the past four years, with three of them coming in the playoffs the last three seasons.
No more, as the Bomber players picked up their first win over the Crusaders in their varsity history, beating Moeller 17-13 in an OHSAA Division I, Region 4 semifinal at Welcome Stadium.
“Moeller’s been the team that’s beat us in years past,” said senior Daniel Vollmer. “To get over that hump and fight for each other. We were fighting hard. We stayed in the moment and fought for each other.”
Said St. X senior Brayden Reilly: “We haven’t beat them my whole high school career and it feels so good, especially my senior year.”
St. X took over with six minutes left after the Bombers stopped the Crusaders on fourth and 1 at their 9, trailing 13-10. Moeller elected to go for it and Matt Ponatoski’s pass went incomplete.
On fourth down, St. X kept the ball in a huge moment when Moeller committed a pass interference penalty, giving them the ball at the Crusaders 44.
The next play, quarterback Jackson Frey completed a pass to Vollmer for a 19-yard gain to the 25. Later, Frey completed a pass to Alex McClatchey to the 2-yard line. Vollmer went around the left side and ran it in for the score from there with 58 seconds left.
Frey, a transfer, is in his first year as Bombers quarterback.
“Jackson Frey took us down there,” Vollmer said. “I got the last two yards but he really stepped up. Especially coming in first year. You could tell he was meant for the Long Blue Line, St. Xavier football. It was one of the better drives of the season. We’re all really proud of him.”
The Bombers held the Crusaders to one touchdown, a 78-yard pass from Matt Ponatoski to Landen Adams in the first half. St. X also blocked a field goal, from senior John Vieth for a key defensive play.
Ponatoski, in his final game, had 193 yards in the first half, but few big passes other than the TD.
“Bend don’t break,” Reilly said. “If they get a big play, get over it and keep going. If they get a big pass, get a sack after.”
St. Xavier plays Elder in the regional final after Elder’s crazy 32-30 comeback win over Princeton. Elder won 23-13 at RDI Stadium Sept. 26.
Indian Hill gets revenge on Taft, advances to Division IV regional final
When Taft beat Indian Hill in the 2024 regional semifinals, the Senators ran out to a 22-7 lead. In this year’s edition, it was the Braves who made an early statement stand for a 25-19 victory.
But that’s not the whole story. This was one of the wackiest games of the season.
With Indian Hill leading 3-0, Joey Jernigan picked up a fumble and was headed for the end zone before he tripped and fumbled the ball back to Taft. On the next play, Monsana Torbert ran for a 98-yard touchdown.
After Indian Hill quarterback Devlan Daniel threw an interception and a penalty backed Taft up inside its own 10-yard line, a safety made the score 6-5 in favor of the Senators. That was just in the first 13 minutes. Oh yeah, there were also seven procedural penalties in the first quarter.
Indian Hill took a 25-6 lead on the second play of the second half when Dylan Hartman returned his eighth interception of the season for a touchdown.
“We had to put the pressure on and we thought we had to rattle the quarterback and see how many times we could get to him. Our philosophy was, we didn’t want to let the quarterback plant his feet,” Indian Hill head coach John Rodenberg said.
But the Senators never backed down. An 87-yard catch-and-run by Eddie Holloway gave then their third play of the game of more than 10 yards. Eight minutes later, an 11-yard pass from Torbert to Lorenzo McMullen cut the lead to 25-19.
“The game’s not over until the fat lady sings is what our coaches like to say,” Devlan Daniel said.
While Indian Hill’s offense couldn’t run out the clock, the defense provided the game-winning play.
Taft began its final possession at its own 32-yard line with 3:35 on the clock. On a 3rd and 33, Torbert connected with Nijia Hill for a 51-yard pass play to the Indian Hill 5 with 1:06 left. But one play later, Hill fumbled at the goal line, the Senators’ fourth turnover of the game. It was recovered by Jaxson Frye and the Braves ran out the clock to advance to the fourth round of the playoffs for the first time ever, according to athletic director Brian Phelps.
“I’m so emotional because we’ve worked so hard and seeing these guys fight in the last seconds, it’s something else. These are my best friends and I’m so grateful we get to play another game,” Daniel said.
Indian Hill will play Germantown Valley View in the DIV, Region 16 final on Nov. 21.
Anderson holds off La Salle in DII regional semifinal
LaSalle was the first to score and the last to score, but the Anderson Raptors had 35 points in the second quarter, which was what they would need to beat La Salle's Lancers 35-28.
After Colin Wooldridge scored to start the second frame, Anderson had a Mike Madden punt return, a Jordan Davis scoring run, a long touchdown scamper from quarterback Owen Scalf, a Scalf to Tysin Weaver bomb and a Jerod Lindsey pick six off of a tipped ball by Ace Alston.
With 52 seconds left in the first half, Anderson led 35-7.
They would not score again.
La Salle's Avier Carter got a quick pre-halftime score aided by a pass interference call. In the second half he had touchdown passes to Jack McLaughlin and Drew Dipzinski and with 6:38 left, the Lancers trailed by just seven.
With less than two minutes to go the Lancers had the ball back but a sack of Carter had him back by his own goal line, then a midfield Ke'Maury Tye interception gave Anderson the ball back. An option pass from Bradyon Moore to Tegan Jallick gave the Raptors their final first down and Scalf took the victory knee and the seven-point win.
"The defense was huge," Anderson coach Evan Dreyer said. "Playing team football tonight to get a win was spectacular. It was team football tonight, special teams (and) defense. Offense played really well at times and we played poor at times. We're moving on to the regional final."
The junior Scalf was 23-for-33 for 280 yards passing with a touchdown to Weaver and added 73 yards on the ground with a 48-yard TD. Weaver added eight catches for 140 yards.
"First quarter we came out a little bit slow, then we turned it on second quarter," Scalf said. "Third quarter and fourth quarter, we were also kind of slow, but the defense stepped up when we needed it to."
In the loss, La Salle's Carter was 17-for-33 for 145 yards and two touchdowns and had 24 rushing yards with another score. La Salle finishes the fall 9-4.
Anderson at 12-0 moves on to play Trotwood Madison next weekend in the Division II regional final. Trotwood galloped by Harrison 49-0.
Elder roars back from 23-0 hole, downs Princeton in improbable comeback
For more than a half of the Division 1 Region 4 semifinal between the Princeton Vikings and Elder Panthers, Princeton jumped out to a big early lead, in the "The Pit" no less.
By night's end on Nov. 14, Elder had its homefield rocking. The Panthers staged a raucous, 32-30 comeback victory after Princeton opened up a 23-0 lead when the opening kickoff of the second half was returned for a touchdown.
"I've been doing this a long time. I don't think I've been a part of something like that," Elder head coach Doug Ramsey said. "Crazy. You feel bad for their guys because they had it and then we just found a way to make enough plays at the end of the game to pull out the win."
Elder, which entered the night ranked Division 1's No. 1 team, improved to 12-0 and on Nov. 21 will face St. Xavier in the regional title game.
Princeton, Division 1's No. 4-ranked team, ended its season on a 9-3 record.
Panthers quarterback Kaden Estep scored three rushing touchdowns and passed for another late in regulation. He also guided his team to two successful two-point conversions, which helped to knot the game at 23 with 6:31 to play.
After tying the game, Elder's next possession saw it attempt at a would-be go-ahead field goal only to see the kick blocked and returned 75 yards by Princeton's Andrew Wells. That score and the ensuing point-after conversion put the Vikings ahead, 30-23, with 1:16 to play.
Wells also scored the opening touchdown of the game in the first quarter.
When the Panthers responded with a 75-yard catch-and-run by Jackson Ruth on their next play from scrimmage, they eventually went for the potential game-winning two-point conversion but had a run stuffed by the Vikings interior.
Trailing 30-29 with 1:01 to play, Elder successfully executed an onside kick. The resulting drive ended with Adam Re's 22-yard field goal with 12 seconds to play. That score completed the comeback, and the Elder lead would survive to the final whistle.
The kickoff following Re's field goal deflected off a Vikings player and was recovered near midfield by Elder.
Princeton didn't score an offensive touchdown in the second half after running all over Elder in the first half. The Vikings' second half touchdowns came via the special teams unit.
Z'ion Satterwhite scored Princeton's other first-half touchdown. The rest of their scoring came via special teams, including a first-half score by Nate Messer.
Lloyd Memorial last unbeaten standing in Northern Kentucky
The Juggernauts raced past Henry County in a 48-20 playoff win that wasn't nearly as close as the final score suggests. Lloyd Memorial scored 35 points in the first quarter before letting off the gas. The Juggernauts are now 12-0 and have only been seriously pushed once this season, when they squeaked past Bourbon County 22-20 on Oct. 3.
The other undefeated team in Northern Kentucky heading into the night was Holy Cross, which was 11-0 for the first time in school history. Newport finally shut down Holy Cross in a Northern Kentucky playoff showdown, winning 18-3. The game saw three Indians turnovers and nearly as many yards lost to penalties as gained offensively as the Wildcats defense shut down Holy Cross's rushing attack.
Which players posted the top performances in Week 14 of the high school football season?
Dylan Hartman, Indian Hill: His interception return for a touchdown proved to be the game-winner in a win over Taft.
Owen Scalf, Anderson – He completed 22-of-28 passes for 281 yards and a touchdown plus 74 yards on the ground for another score.
Tysin Weaver, Anderson – He had eight catches for 140 yards and a touchdown in a win over La Salle.
Kaden Estep, Elder − The Panthers' signal-caller accounted for four total touchdowns (three rushing, one passing), plus he tossed for two two-point conversions. Estep finished the night with 113 yards on the ground.
Dylan Gaiser, Covington Catholic – The Colonels' running back racked up 144 yards and three touchdowns, including the game-winner, on just five carries to push CovCath past Johnson Central.
Eddie Bivens, Newport Central Catholic – He rushed for all five of the Thoroughbreds touchdowns in a 35-7 win over Bishop Brossart.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Greater Cincinnati high school football 2025 Week 13 recap
