By Dean Eversole
MaxPreps.com
The story might be getting old, but the truth is big school football is and has been dominated by teams from Ohio Region 4 (the Southwest District). Among the schools lumped into the region by the OHSAA is Cincinnati St. Xavier, Colerain, Elder, and Moeller. A school from Region 4 has won the state four of the last five years and it could happen again in 2007.
In the 1970's and early 1980's it was Moeller, led by coach Jerry Faust, who set the pace. The Crusaders dominated the football world, winning seven state titles in 10 years.
After Faust made the unprecedented jump from the high school ranks to Notre Dame, a vacuum was created and in the early part of this decade, Elder took over. The Panthers brought titles home in 2001 and 2002. Colerain continued the Cincinnati run in 2003 and St. Xavier joined in 2005. The Bombers, tabbed as the nation's top team already this fall by one media outlet, look poised to bring the title back to the Ohio River in 2007.
St. Xavier returns 15 starters from last year's 10-2 squad and seven lettermen from the 2005 state championship squad. Walking through the Bomber locker room, it is almost impossible to not run into a college-ready athlete.
According to St. Xavier coach Steve Specht he currently has six players being recruited by or already committed to Division I schools, he believes that even more could compete at the Division II level. With so much talent and, more importantly, experienced players, it is easy to see why the Cincinnati school is not only considered one of Ohio's best, but one of the nation's best teams.
Under Specht, a 1988 Xavier graduate, the Bombers have always been about defense and that isn't about to change this fall. Specht is entering his fifth year as the Bombers' head man and the defensive-minded coach starts with defense and goes from there. It is a recipe that has worked well for Specht in his four years at X. His record at St. Xavier is 42-6, including a perfect 15-0 run in 2005, capped with the schools' first football title.
The 2007 Bombers are led by three distinctive stars, running back Darius Ashley and linebackers Fred Craig and Nick Schneider. They make up a core of players that have been battled-tested and emerged as stars.
Last season the 5-8, 185-pound Ashley ripped through opponents with his explosive running style. Boasting a 4.4 time in the 40, Ashley compiled 1,500 yards rushing and scored 20 touchdowns. That followed a 1,633 yard, 28 touchdown sophomore season.
Defensively, St. Xavier swarms the ball, led by Schneider and Craig.
Craig is a 6-2, 210-pound linebacker/safety and uses his speed to dominate the line of scrimmage. This summer he gave a verbal commitment to Stanford.
Schneider is the inside backer and the backbone of the Bombers' blue swarm defense. At 225 pounds, he is a more traditional linebacker than his teammate Craig and has been recruited by Boston College, North Carolina State and a the usual Big Ten suspects in Ohio State, Michigan and Illinois.