CINCINNATI, OH - The Saint Ignatius Wildcats (4-5) made the trip down to Cincinnati this past Friday on a cold and rainy night, looking to get back on track. They would have to do it against another 4-4 team in the St. Xavier Bombers (5-4), who were looking for some consistency, as they had yet to string together back-to-back wins all year, and had an opportunity to do so in Friday night's action. This would be the fourth rendition of the Paul Lammermeier Cup, with St. Xavier winning the first three and holding a three-game winning streak over Saint Ignatius, including a 41-7 win last year.

St. Xavier got the ball first and got to work right away, staying ahead of the sticks and getting some chunk plays as well, before Aidan Newdigate punched it in from two yards out, giving St. Xavier an early 7-0 lead. Saint Ignatius had an answer, however, as they would go down and lead a scoring drive of their own. Jacob Mikin found a wide array of targets on the drive, including Trey Haddad, who originally had a long touchdown called back due to a penalty, but this would prove to be a moot point as Mikin capped off the drive by finding Haddad in the end zone from 16 yards out to knot the game up at seven. After one quarter of action, the score was tied 7-7. 

To start the second quarter, both teams had promising second drives that stalled out at the end. St. Xavier's drive stalled out on the Saint Ignatius side of the field, as James Conrad, the newest Ohio State commit, made his presence felt with a sack that put St. Xavier behind the sticks, and ultimately forced a punt. However, on the Cats' second go around, the punt from Griffin Roberts got blocked by Graham Uran and rolled all the way into the Wildcat end zone, where Charlie Googins picked it up for St. Xavier for a Bomber touchdown, making it 14-7. 
Saint Ignatius had an answer, however, as their next drive wasn't pretty, courtesy of penalties, but the Cats got the job done. Most notably, when Mikin connected with Haddad again, this time for 54 yards, on third-and-20 to give Saint Ignatius the football at the Bomber 11-yard line. The drive was eventually capped off by Dane Donovan, who scampered for a six-yard score to tie the game at 14 a piece with less than a minute to go in the first half. St. Xavier got the football back and made a crucial mistake, as Thomas George tried to throw to the outside, but CJ McLean jumped the route and intercepted George and took it back 32 yards for a pick six, giving Saint Ignatius a 21-14 lead, which they took into the locker room after St. Xavier elected to kneel on the football to end the half. 

St. Xavier won the toss and received, so that meant it would be Wildcat football to start the second half. Unfortunately, the second half was not too generous to the Ignatius offense. The second half started with three straight punts, including two from Saint Ignatius. However, on the fourth drive of the half, St. Xavier's second, Aiden Graham, the junior running back for the Bombers, who had a nice night, particularly in the second half, ran it in from 25 yards out to tie the game at 21 late in the third. The next Saint Ignatius drive worked into Bomber territory, but ran out of gas, and the Cats had to punt again. After three quarters, it was St. Xavier football, and the game was tied at 21.

St. Xavier came through when it mattered most to start the fourth. Despite constantly falling behind the sticks, the Bombers were able to make it work, picking up a third-and-ten to jump-start the drive, picking up a third-and-nine after Thomas George was intercepted by Anthony Anghilante, but it was called back due to pass interference, and most importantly, while in "no man's land," St. Xavier was able to pick up a fourth-and-12 all the way inside the 20. 

Newdigate then finished off the drive, improvising on second-and-goal from seven yards out, and getting into the end zone for the second time in the ballgame, giving St. Xavier a 28-21 lead with seven minutes left. The next drive would end up being the final drive for Saint Ignatius, time-consuming and penalty-filled, but with legs. Donovan picked up a crucial fourth-and-one to keep the drive moving into St. Xavier territory, and a nice 15-yard run by Tyler McMillon, who had a solid day on the ground for the Cats, put the Cats in a great spot to try and tie this game. However, on third-and-seven from about the Bomber 23, Mikin was looking for Brandon Paull and got intercepted by Alex Walker, sealing the Cats' fate with less than a minute to go. St. Xavier went into victory formation, and that was that. The Cats were shut out in the second half and dropped a tough one to St. Xavier, 28-21.

Saint Ignatius played a solid game of football in the Queen City but ultimately fell just short against a good St. Xavier team, which has now won back-to-back games for the first time all year. On the Saint Ignatius side of things, they have now dropped three in a row, all coming against some very high-quality opponents. The Cats will be back in action this Friday for one last tune-up before the postseason, which starts the following week, as Saint Ignatius returns to Wasmer for the third time this year to take on Football North-Clarkson (ONT). Kickoff will be at 7:00 p.m., and the SIBN will have live coverage of the final regular season match-up.