Xavier and St. John the Baptist are an even 5-5 against one another since October of 2014, but not for long. The Xavier Knights will head out on the road to face off against the St. John the Baptist Cougars at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday. Xavier will be looking to extend their current three-game winning streak.
Xavier put the finishing touches on their third blowout victory of the season on Friday. They blew past Kennedy Catholic 34-7 on the road. With Xavier ahead 27-0 at the half, the contest was all but over already.
It was another big night for Mehdi Merah, who rushed 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.
Meanwhile, St. John the Baptist earned a 25-12 victory over Xaverian on Friday. 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.
Xavier is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five games, which provided a nice bump to their 5-3 record this season. As for St. John the Baptist, the win makes it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 4-3.
Xavier lost to St. John the Baptist on the road by a decisive 21-7 margin when the teams last played back in October of 2022. Thankfully for Xavier, Elijah Alvarez (who rushed for 113 yards and two touchdowns on only 15 carries, and also picked up 119 receiving yards and a touchdown) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
