The St. John the Baptist Cougars missed an extra point against the Xavier Knights on Saturday and it came back to haunt them. St. John the Baptist was just a hair shy of victory and fell 14-13 to Xavier. The match was a 7-7 toss-up at halftime, but St. John the Baptist was just barely outscored by Xavier in the second.
St. John the Baptist's lost despite a true team effort on the offense, the best among them being Andrew Simmons IV, who rushed for 69 yards and a touchdown on only eight carries.
Xavier had a senior duo take command as Sean Kull rushed for 114 yards and a touchdown on only 15 carries and Mehdi Merah rushed for 121 yards and a touchdown. Kull's longest rush was for an incredible 75 yards.
St. John the Baptist's loss was their third straight at home, which dropped their overall record down to 4-4. Those losses could be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they only averaged 4.3 points per game. As for Xavier, the win (which was their fourth in a row) raised their record to 6-3.
Both teams are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. St. John the Baptist will take on Christ the King at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. Christ the King comes in on a streak of failing to score more than eight points in their last eight games, a trend the squad is of course eager to reverse. As for Xavier, they will be playing in front of their home fans against St. Joseph-by-the-Sea at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.
