St. John the Baptist has been on the road for two straight, but on Saturday they'll finally head home. They will take on The Xavier Knights at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday. Both teams come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Last Friday, St. John the Baptist earned a 25-12 win over Xaverian. Given St. John the Baptist's advantage in MaxPreps' New York football rankings (they are ranked 39th, while Xaverian is ranked 161st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
St. John the Baptist relied on the efforts of Maxwell Bowers, who threw for 113 yards and a touchdown, and Andrew Simmons IV, who rushed for 81 yards and a touchdown on only seven carries. Simmons IV really tore up the turf during one magnificent 72-yard run.
Meanwhile, Xavier had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 25.5 points), and they went ahead and made it three on Friday. They blew past Kennedy Catholic 34-7 on the road. The result was nothing new for Xavier, who have now won three contests by 27 points or more so far this season.
Mehdi Merah was his usual excellent self, rushing for 106 yards and three touchdowns on only 13 carries. Another big playmaker for Xavier was Sean Kull, who returned a punt for a touchdown.
St. John the Baptist now has a winning record of 4-3. As for Xavier, their win was their third straight on the road, which bumped their overall record up to 5-3.
St. John the Baptist strolled past Xavier when the teams last played back in October of 2022 by a score of 21-7. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Xavier's Shane Zaletofsky, who rushed for 136 yards and a touchdown. Now that he won't be playing on Saturday, will it be that much easier for St. John the Baptist to walk away with another win? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
