St. Xavier beats Pickerington Central in Herbstreit Classic

COLUMBUS, Ohio — St. Xavier (Cincinnati) coach Steve Specht is of the opinion that the college that decides to grab senior running back Connor Hundley will be getting a special player.

He got all the evidence he needed to support that belief during his team's 38-21 victory over Pickerington Central (Ohio) in the first game of the Kirk Herbstreit National Kickoff Classic Sunday at Ohio Stadium. Listed at 5-foot-11, 206 pounds, Hundley according to Specht has received interest from mostly Mid-American Conference schools.

Against Central, Hundley rushed for 156 yards and four touchdowns on 24 carries to help the Bombers overcome four turnovers. St. Xavier came in at No. 16 in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National Football Rankings.

"He's as good as anybody I've ever coached," Specht said. "Somebody's going to get a great back."

St. Xavier used an experienced offensive line, a big passing play near the end of the third quarter and a defense that forced five turnovers to overcome a sloppy first half.

Pickerington Central took a 7-0 lead with 7 minutes, 12 seconds left in the opening quarter when Nick Jensen-Clagg hit Ohio State recruit Roger Lewis for a 43-yard touchdown on third-and-20. The score came after an interception by the Tigers' Addison Clopton on the preceding drive.

St. Xavier tied it at 7-all with 11:36 to go in the first half when Hundley ran in from 3 yards.

Central and St. Xavier then combined for four turnovers during the remainder of the second quarter and went into halftime tied at 7.

St. Xavier committed no second-half turnovers, however, and the result was an offense that was difficult for the Tigers to stop. St. Xavier finally seized control for good with 10 seconds to go in the third quarter when quarterback Griffin Dolle hit Evan Ballinger for a 60-yard touchdown pass to make it 24-21.

One interception apiece by Miami University-recruit Nate Gerbus and Sam Burchenal during the fourth quarter and a pair of late touchdowns by Hundley iced the victory.

"We fought and battled the entire game," Specht said. "When you still score 38 points and turn the ball over that many times, you have to feel pretty good. (Central has) a good football team."

Pickerington Central's coach felt his team still took some positives away.

"(The turnovers were) uncharacteristic for them and for us," Tigers coach Jay Sharrett said. "Most of them were unforced fumbles just because of being loose with the ball. We had a size disadvantage on them and they were very good run stoppers. We had three scores and we could have gotten a couple more, but we gave up two field-position scores. But we have nothing to hang our heads about."

On the second play of the third quarter, Billy Eakins broke for a 78-yard touchdown run to give Pickerington Central a 14-7 lead.

St. X responded on the ensuing drive, however, with a 2-yard run by Hundley to tie it at 14. St. Xavier made it 17-14 on a 37-yard field goal by Nick Roemer with 2:41 to go in the third quarter but Central answered on the next drive with a 39-yard touchdown reception by Lewis.

Pickerington Central was forced to wait through a 35-minute lightning delay for the extra point before taking a 21-17 lead.

St. Xavier then went back ahead on Ballinger's touchdown, a toss over the middle that he took the distance. Hundley added touchdown runs of 13 and 10 yards for the Bombers.

"At halftime we all just said that we believed in each other," said Hundley, who was a first-team all-state player in Division I last season. "I thought our offensive line did a great job and had a great push. It's every kid's dream to play in the 'Shoe.'"

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