BuckeyeGrove.com - Posey and LaSalle fall to St. X

October 7, 2007

Brian Snow
Recruiting Analyst

Anytime two teams from the Greater Catholic League get together it is an intense affair. It is even more intense when it is senior night. That was exactly the case for St. Xavier and their 73 seniors. However LaSalle also had something to play for. A win would put them in the playoffs, and also it was last GCL game for superstar wide receiver DeVier Posey.

The St. Xavier Bombers have controlled games all season long by using a ball control offense that doesn't make mistakes and combining that with a stifling defense that is as good as any in the state. On Friday night they played that style to perfection in a 35-7 win over LaSalle.

It did not start well for LaSalle. After the teams both failed to get going on offense, LaSalle had the ball in their own territory facing a third down and medium. That is when St. Xavier safety Fred Craig caused a fumble from LaSalle running back Kendall Owens.

The Bombers recovered and had the ball at the LaSalle 28 first and 10. From there the Bombers star Darius Ashley went to work. He took a handoff around the left side of the line, made a move and then cruised into the end zone for a touchdown.

Another Bomber TD made it 14-0 before the Lancers could even get going. However trailing by two touchdowns is when Posey took over for LaSalle. St. X just couldn't cover the Ohio State bound wide out on a LaSalle scoring drive.

Posey recorded three catches including one clutch third and long on a deep slant pattern between two defenders. Posey would then cash in the drive with a 12 yard pass to cut the lead to 14-7.

Then late in the second quarter LaSalle was driving again, and looking to tie up the game. Posey was once again proving to be impossible to cover, and that put the Lancers on the move. However unfortunately for LaSalle, Posey and LaSalle quarterback Brendan Jones had a miscommunication on a deep pass and that caused an interception that would send the teams to halftime with St. X leading 14-7.

With the stats, and the score, close going into halftime, the Bombers and their head coach Steve Specht decided to ratchet up the pressure in the second half.

"Defensively we felt like we needed to get after the quarterback a little bit more, we gave them too much time to throw the ball in the first half," Specht said. "When you have kids like Kendall Owens and DeVier Posey you can't give them time to throw because those kids will hurt you, and they did that in the first half."

Bring the heat is exactly what they did. Jones was running for his life a lot of the time, and that kept him from being able to find Posey open. Combine that with Ashley getting loose on a pair of touchdown runs, and the lead jumped to 28-7 midway through the third quarter.

With things looking down in the fourth, Posey had one more spectacular play in him. After being shutdown due to a lot of press coverage in the third quarter, he was able to get loose.

Posey took a simple five yard hitch route, made two defenders miss and then streaked down the sidelines for a 45 yard game before being tripped up at the last moment. LaSalle would get intercepted on the drive, but it showed the kind of explosive ability that Posey posses.

When asked why they ran so much press coverage on Posey in the second half, Specht said, "We were trying to jam him in the first also, but they caught us in a few things. When we had a single match on DeVier, he hurt us, so we tried to bring pressure to force them to throw quick or double cover him as much as possible."

The Bombers would add another late touchdown to make the final score 35-7. That win on senior night meant that the 73 seniors would end their four year careers undefeated at home.

For the game Posey led LaSalle with five catches for 98 yards and a touchdown. Owens chipped in with 13 carries for 73 yards. St. Xavier was paced by the ground game of Ashley. He toted the pig 23 times for 170 yards and three touchdowns.

FEATURED PRODUCT