Saint Xavier (2-0, 0-0), who avenged a 24-21 loss to the Saints last September 11 in Chicago, got on the scoreboard with less than five minutes played in the game when Jeremy Rhodes fielded a St. Francis punt at his own 23 yard line and worked his way through several USF coverage men before breaking loose for a 77-yard touchdown on the runback.

On the ensuing kickoff, the Cougars' Tom Lynch hit a short high kick that USF could not handle and SXU recovered on the Saints' 39 yard line. It took the Cougars only six plays to cover those 39 yards and quickly find themselves ahead by a 14-0 score with 7:42 left in the opening quarter.

The Saints (0-0, 0-0) did bounce back and responded with their best offensive drive of the evening. Senior quarterback John Goolsby (Morris H.S./Morris, IL) completed all six of his passing attempts for a total of 83 yards on the drive and he punctuated the possession with a 13-yard scoring pass to senior wide receiver Jason Fiske (Belvidere H.S./Loves Park, IL). Freshman Patrick Wright (Providence Catholic H.S./Lemont, IL) kicked the extra point and the Saints had cut the SXU lead in half at 14-7 with 4:38 left in the first period.

Saint Xavier, though, would not let the Saints get any closer.

The Cougars scored four touchdowns on their remaining six possessions of the first half and stopped USF's best remaining threat of the opening half with an interception in the end zone as SXU raced to a 42-7 lead at the intermission.

SXU showed no signs of letting up in the third quarter as it garnered a field goal and another touchdown on its first two possessions to push the margin to 52-7.

The Saints came back to score on a 3-yard touchdown run by freshman Connor Krisch (Joliet Catholic Academy/Plainfield, IL) late in the third quarter and a 3-yard scoring pass from Goolsby to senior receiver Ponce Palmer (MacArthur H.S./Findlay, IL) with 2:55 left in the game to account for the final scoring of the game.

Saint Xavier finished the game with 648 yards of total offense and 183 return yards. USF notched 303 yards of offense, with 285 of it coming through the air.

Goolsby completed 26-of-51 passing attempts for those 285 yards and had a pair of touchdown tosses. Senior Mike Anthony (Carl Sandburg H.S./Orland Park, IL) led the Saints' receivers with a career-best 7 catches for 71 yards. Fiske grabbed 5 balls for 79 yards and the one score, and Palmer also had 5 receptions for 30 yards along with his one touchdown. Senior Markus Hood (Bolingbrook H.S./Bolingbrook, IL) caught4 passes for 62 yards, while junior running back Javon Stewart (Bolingbrook H.S./Bolingbrook, IL) made 3 catches covering 12 yards.

The Saints' ground game was stifled by a strong SXU defense that limited USF to just 18 net yards on 23 carries. Stewart topped the club with 27 yards on 12 attempts.

Junior linebacker Brenton Valentine (Morris H.S./Morris, IL) topped the USF defense with 11 total tackles, including 7 solos. Sophomore linebacker Wade Ferm (Lincoln-Way Central H.S.) also contributed 11 tackles on the evening. Senior safety Mike Vazquez (Bolingbrook H.S./Bolingbrook, IL) added 9 tackles.

Saint Xavier junior quarterback Anthony Kropp completed 17-of-26 passes for 229 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Kropp found eight different receivers in the game, with junior Mike Maher leading the way with 7 receptions.

The Saints are off for nine days before opening Mid-States Football Association/Midwest League play at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa on Sept. 12. It will also be USF's first road game of the season.