CINCINNATI – The Braxton Miller Show was in full effect during the first half of Sunday night's Wayne (Huber Heights, Ohio) versus Archbishop Moeller (Cincinnati) game.
Yet, it was Moeller senior running back Tucker Skove who stole the show at the end of the game in front of a nationally-televised cable audience.
Skove, who is 5-foot-11 and 195 pounds, rushed for four touchdowns and caught a 12-yard touchdown pass to lift Moeller past Huber Heights Wayne 35-28 in the final game of the Skyline Chili Crosstown Showdown at St. Xavier High School.
Skove scored on a 1-yard touchdown run with five seconds remaining in the fourth quarter for the decisive points.
"The touchdowns aren’t really too important to me," Skove said shortly after the game. "All that matters is the victory."
Skove carried the ball 32 times for 151 net yards and erased what had been an electric performance by Wayne’s Miller in the first half.
Miller, who is rated the nation’s top quarterback in the 2011 class, had 212 net rushing yards and three touchdowns. Miller, who is verbally committed to Ohio State, gave Wayne a 28-14 in the first half with three rushing touchdowns, including a 75-yarder in the first quarter.
Miller set a career-high in rushing yards Sunday night. His previous career high was 176 rushing yards in a game against Centerville on Oct. 23, 2009.
"We had that little spurt going," Miller said of the first half. "Everybody thought we had (the game) in the bag."
Skove gave a halftime speech to his teammates and lifted their spirits despite a two-touchdown deficit.
"Tucker is a leader," Moeller coach John Rodenberg said. "He is such a great presence on this team."
Moeller scored three unanswered touchdowns in the second half. Skove tied the game with a 12-yard reception with 4:25 left in the third. Senior quarterback Charlie Fiessinger was 14-of-24 passing for 221 yards in his start.
"I told them not to look at the scoreboard or the clock and just keep playing," Rodenberg said.
Moeller had 461 yards of total offense to Wayne’s 295.
"It stings because it shows we should be right up there playing those guys," Wayne coach Jay Minton said of competing against Cincinnati-area opponents. "In order to be right up there, you have to beat them."{
Moeller, ranked No. 4 in the Cincinnati Enquirer Division I coaches’ poll, next plays host to Hamilton at 7 p.m. Saturday.
Wayne, ranked No. 2 in the Dayton Daily News ratings, next plays Canton McKinley at 3:30 p.m. Sunday at Ohio Stadium in yet another nationally-televised game.
Our Lady of Good Counsel (Olney, Md.) 21, St. Xavier (Cincinnati, Ohio) 6
Good Counsel chose a significant time to change the momentum in what had been a defensive struggle for three quarters Sunday afternoon. The Falcons scored all 21 points in the fourth quarter, including two touchdowns in less than a minute to defeat host St. Xavier.
Good Counsel, No. 14 in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 national rankings, traveled more than 500 miles to Cincinnati on Saturday. The school sold about 180 tickets for the game and faced an overwhelming pro-St. Xavier crowd on Sunday. About 7,500 people were in attendance for the doubleheader of games at St. Xavier’s Ballaban Field.
"We got here two hours before the game and the parking lot was full," Good Counsel coach Bob Milloy said. "I was thinking, 'are we at a (Washington) Redskins game here?' (The Showdown) treated us first class. It's an experience our kids will never forget."
The Falcons will never forget the fourth quarter on Sunday afternoon. Good Counsel went ahead 21-6 when junior Stefon Diggs intercepted St. Xavier senior quarterback Nick Albers and returned it 50 yards for a touchdown with 4:21 left.
Three plays earlier, Good Counsel senior Michael Jefferson returned an interception 58 yards for a touchdown to give the Falcons a 14-6 lead with 5:05 left. Good Counsel trailed 6-0 at halftime and had to wait to make its rally in the fourth quarter.
"Coach brought us together (at halftime) and said, 'we can win this game,'" Diggs said. "And from there, we kind of picked our heads up and came together as a team. …We had the determination and we had the drive. The light came on."
Diggs, who has scholarship offers from schools that Maryland, Pittsburgh, UCLA, Virginia Tech, North Carolina and Rutgers, had two interceptions for a total of 50 yards. St. Xavier threw four interceptions overall and Good Counsel converted that to 118 yards and two scores.
Diggs was also Good Counsel’s leading receiver – he had five receptions for 91 yards.
"He is a talent," Milloy said. "He was part of our game plan. We knew we had to get the ball to him 10 to 12 times to give us a chance to win and he ended up winning the game for us."
St. Xavier (0-1) held the advantage on the scoreboard for three quarters and was strong defensively. St. X held Good Counsel to 70 yards rushing. St. Xavier senior linebacker Steven Daniels, one of Ohio’s top players in the 2011 class, had a game-high seven tackles and his named was called on several occasions throughout the day.
"I told (Daniels) after the game that I have never seen a better performance," Milloy said. "We actually started running all our plays away from him."
Good Counsel held the total offensive advantage with 215 yards to St. Xavier’s 211.
"We got the breaks at the end and they didn’t," Milloy said. "Playing them next week could be the exact opposite. I don’t want to play them next week, I will tell you that."
St. X held a consistent advantage on both sides of the ball in the first quarter.
The Bombers went ahead 6-0 when junior running back Conor Hundley ran 11 yards for a touchdown with 8:45 left. It was part of a drive that took five plays and 70 yards and took 1:40. St. X missed the extra point wide right.
Hundley was the Bombers’ leading rusher with 15 carries for 60 yards.
Albers, who was 10 of 31 passing for 108 yards, connected with Kilgore for a 43-yard completion on the fourth play to set up Hundley’s touchdown. Kilgore led St. X in receiving with five catches for 91 yards.
"I think you're always disappointed when you come up on the short end of the scoreboard, but as I'm going to tell (the team), I thought we battled," St. X coach Steve Specht said. "We turned the ball over six times and we still had a chance. But the interceptions for touchdowns kill you. Fumbles kill you. We've got to get better."
St. X, ranked No. 2 in the Cincinnati Enquirer Division I area coaches’ poll, plays host to Indianapolis Cathedral (Indianapolis, Ind.) at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Ballaban Field. Good Counsel (1-0) next plays at Gilman (Baltimore, Md.) on Saturday.
NOTES: Sunday marked the first time St. X played a true home game in the Showdown. It was the first non-league defeat at home since October 2008 to Cleveland St. Ignatius. …St. Xavier last lost a season opener in 2008 to Colerain. …Good Counsel junior tailback Wes Brown suffered a calf pull in the game, according to Milloy. Brown finished with six carries for 11 yards. "I don’t think it’s real serious," Milloy said of the injury. …Diggs said the St. Xavier cheering section was influencing the game early on. "We came out here with a chip on our shoulder with something to prove. We had to execute. It was tough."
