A rivalry renewed: Moeller travels to St. Xavier Friday night for WCPO 9 Game of the Week

SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP, Ohio — A classic Greater Catholic League South division rivalry will be renewed Friday night to highlight the midway point of the high school football regular season.

Moeller (3-1) plays at St. Xavier (3-1) in the GCL South opener for both teams this season.

“It’s special – it really is,” said St. X coach Steve Specht, a 1986 St. X graduate. “Being a Catholic kid from the west side of Cincinnati – this is how you grew up. So it never gets old. It’s always exciting. It’s always fun. And they’re always great games.”

Moeller, which leads the all-time series 46-24-1, is No. 3 in the Division I, Region 4 computer points standings. St. Xavier is No. 5 in Region 4. The top eight seeds host first-round playoff games starting Nov. 1.

Friday night will be the third time these teams will have played since Sept. 15, 2023. Moeller defeated host St. X 10-7 in the first round of the playoffs last season.

“It’s going to be another great GCL matchup,” Specht said. “Any time you get into the GCL competition it’s special.”

St. X has won three consecutive games since a season-opening road loss to Lakota West.

Senior quarterback Chase Herbstreit has thrown for five touchdowns and rushed for two scores over the past two weeks. Junior linebacker Kobe Clapper has 30 tackles this season to lead the defense. Senior defensive back Lucas Bishop had two interceptions in a 31-7 win over visiting Withrow last week.

Junior Daniel Vollmer rushed for 69 yards and two touchdowns last week and had two receptions for 48 yards and a touchdown.

“We’re growing, we’re getting better,” Specht said. “I think you look for incremental improvement every week. And if you can find that in a team – we tell the kids if you can get a little bit better every day you’re a success regardless of what the outcome is. We’ve grown. Our offensive line has gotten better. Our defensive line has gotten better. It’s just a collective. If we can continue to do that we’re going to be OK.”

Moeller had its three-game win streak snapped to Mallard Creek (Charlotte, N.C.) in a 21-14 overtime loss in Ironton last weekend.

“We just need to bounce back,” Moeller coach Bert Bathiany said. “It is not fatal or anything. It’s big-time football. I was proud of our fight.”

Bathiany said St. X is a well-coached, physical team. The Crusaders don’t want to give up any big plays and are trying to be prepared for any trick plays during Friday night’s game.

Bathiany, in his second season with Moeller, said it doesn’t need to address the obvious rivalry storyline this week with the Crusaders.

“We don’t talk about it,” Bathiany said. “We talk about passion over emotion.”

Several players have stepped up for Moeller. Last week, it was junior Ricky Thomas, who had two interceptions, along with senior defensive lineman Thomas Gerke with six tackles and 1.5 sacks, and junior defensive lineman Christian Harris who had five tackles and 1.5 sacks. Senior linebacker Jonah Hayes also had eight tackles.

Junior quarterback Matt Ponatoski has thrown for 1,105 yards and 13 touchdowns this season. He has 44 touchdown passes for his career. He is two touchdown passes away from tying the program record set by Tim Koegel, a 1977 graduate.

Ponatoski has thrown for 4,638 yards in his career. He needs 288 yards passing to break Ross Oltorik’s school record for career passing yards (4,925 career passing yards). Oltorik is a 2007 graduate.

Specht has been impressed with Moeller on film this week. This is the 28^th time Specht has competed against Moeller since becoming the St. X head coach in 2004.

“They’ve got a great offense, they’ve got a great defense – they’ve got a great kicking game,” Specht said. “It’s going to be another great GCL matchup. After 30 years of doing this, it never gets old.”

GMC showdown

Another game worth noting is when undefeated Middletown (4-0) plays host to Lakota West (3-1) in a Greater Miami Conference matchup Friday night at Barnitz Stadium.

Middletown has a 4-0 record for the first time since the 2011 season. The Middies haven’t been 5-0 since 2010.

Middletown is trying to defeat Lakota West for the first time since 2011.

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