Soph Massa, St. X take the next step

At least one person has crowned St. Xavier the state champion.

"No one is going to beat (St. Xavier) this year," said an exasperated Centerville coach Ron Ullery following his team's 31-6 loss to the Bombers in the Division I regional semifinals Saturday in front of 6,500 fans at Paul Brown Stadium. "Go ahead and give them (the state championship) trophy."
Colerain might have something to say about that.

St. X's win over the Elks sets up a playoff rematch against Colerain next week with a berth in the state semifinals on the line. The two teams, both 12-0 this year, have met in each of the last three postseasons. "It has turned into a great playoff rivalry," St. Xavier coach Steve Specht said. "It's going to be a heck of a show."

Colerain eliminated the Bombers from last year's playoffs with a 24-7 win in the region finals. St. X ousted the Cardinals from the 2005 postseason during the Bombers' title run. Luke Massa watched the latter game from the stands at Paul Brown as an eighth-grader. He'll have a more active role this time around.

The St. X sophomore is 4-0 since taking over the starting quarterback job after senior John Hurler was lost for the season with a knee injury. Massa posted the best numbers of his brief tenure against the Elks, completing 18 of 19 passes for 212 yards and two touchdowns. All but one of those completions came in the first half as St. X pulled ahead 31-0 at the break.
"We don't ask him to win us football games. We ask him to manage the football game and take what the defense is giving him," Specht said. "The last four weeks he's made a lot of improvement. A few years down the road, he's going to be a special player."

The Bombers scored on five of their first six possessions and compiled 331 yards of total offense in the opening half compared to 54 yards by the Elks (9-2), who punted four times and tossed an interception before the break.
Centerville runs a triple option attack, making St. Xavier's early lead all the more daunting for the Elks.
"(Getting ahead early) was the difference in the game," Specht said. "As explosive as (Centerville) is, when you're running that offense, you are going to grind clock."

St. X opened the game with an 11-play, 72-yard scoring drive and led 17-0 by the first minute of the second quarter.
After not starting the game, St. X senior running back Darius Ashley accounted for the Bombers' second score with a 13-yard touchdown run. Ashley finished with 85 yards on 14 carries and was out of the game by halftime, snapping a five-game streak of 100-yard efforts. Centerville avoided the shutout with a 1-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter. St. X has held seven different opponents this season to seven or fewer points.