A familiar foe, St. Xavier had come into the game starting senior quarterback Chase Herbstreit, son of Ohio State football quarterback Kirk Herbstreit. Herbstreit had been the starter in the Bombers’ win over the Firebirds last year, in which the defense of St. X completely shut down Freshman quarterback Jackson Smith and the Firebirds offense. However, Lakota West went into the season with a different starter at QB, Sam Wiles, who took over last season in week three and led the Firebirds to a deep playoff run.
Both offenses struggled early in the game, with West’s opening drive stalling over a holding penalty, costing them a potential Sam Wiles’ long touchdown run. About midway through the first quarter, St. Xavier got a massive punt block on punter Joe Marquardt. This led to a Chase Herbstreit touchdown run which put the Bombers up early 7-0.
The second quarter opened with a bang, as Lakota West got a punt block of their own, which set up great field position. Sam Wiles made some magic and used his legs to pick up a first down, which then led to Wiles running again into the endzone to knot up the score at 7-7.
After forcing another three and out from St. Xavier and with the help of a great return by Rece Mason, Lakota West was set up with great field position once again. On third down, Sam Wiles made a Deshaun Watson-esque play where he somehow avoided a sack, escaped the pocket, and found wide receiver Trey Barnette for a massive gain to set up 1st and goal. Penalties forced the Firebirds to fall back on 3rd and goal from the 22, where Sam Wiles would use more of his magic to run around and find wide receiver Trey Barnette once again in the endzone where he made a miracle tip drill catch. The Firebirds would go into halftime up 14-7.
The third quarter would open up with St. Xavier starting with the football, looking to draw even. However, West forced another tough three and out, and the Firebirds would get the ball back in great field position once again thanks to Rece Mason. Kofi Adubofuor would knock through a 42-yarder with ease, putting West up 17-7.
From that point on, the Firebirds’ defense would hold strong. It wasn’t until there was about a minute left in the 4th quarter that the Bombers would get more points on the board. RB Daniel Volmer used the wildcat formation to run in for a one-yard touchdown, and the PAT would get blocked, leaving the score 13-17.
Unfortunately for St. Xavier, the score was too little too late, as the Firebirds recovered the onside kick and kneeled it out for a gutsy 17-13 win. The Lakota West Firebirds will look to keep their energy going into this week’s home game against Hamilton.
