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Saint Xavier University

Official Athletics Website of the Saint Xavier University Cougars

Football
55
Winner Saint Xavier (IL) SXU 2-1
13
Madonna MADONNA 0-4
Winner
Saint Xavier (IL) SXU
2-1
55
Final
13
Madonna MADONNA
0-4
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
SXU Saint Xavier (IL) 14 17 10 14 55
MADONNA Madonna 3 0 10 0 13

Game Recap: Football |

Team Effort Guides No. 11 SXU to 55-13 Win over Madonna

Livonia, Mich. – Seven different players scored a touchdown, including graduate student wide receiver Julian Smith (Glenwood, Ill./Jackson State/Calumet New Tech) who finished the game with 168 all-purpose yards from two receptions for 59 yards and two kick returns for 109 yards to help lead the No. 11 ranked Saint Xavier University football team (2-1, 0-0 MSFA Midwest) to a 55-13 road victory over Madonna University (Mich.) in a Mid-States Football Association (MSFA) crossover contest Saturday afternoon on the campus of Franklin High School in Livonia, Mich. The SXU offense amassed 517 total yards and averaged 10.1 yards per play on 51 plays while not punting once on the afternoon.
  • Fifth-year senior quarterback Stuart Ross (Springfield, Ill./Springfield Southeast) was 10-for-14 for 182 yards and he threw a pair of touchdown passes.
  • Junior quarterback Dominic D'Ambrosio (Oak Forest, Ill./Andrew) completed six of his seven pass attempts for 128 yards and a touchdown. He also had four carries for 18 yards.
  • Junior wide receiver Adam Alcantar (Chicago, Ill./Oak Lawn Community) caught two passes for 84 yards, including a long of 67 yards.
  • Junior running back Tyreese Lee (Chicago, Ill./Moraine Valley/Eisenhower) led the ground game for the Cougars, rushing for 49 yards on six carries.
  • Senior running back Jessi Plunkett (Evergreen Park, Ill./College of DuPage/Brother Rice) ran seven times for 40 yards and a score.
  • Graduate student kicker Peyton Benes (Tinley Park, Ill./Andrew) was 2-for-2 on field goal attempts and he was 7-for-7 on extra-point attempts.
  • Freshman kicker Ayden Sheppard (Spring Grove, Ill./Grant Community) had 10 kickoffs for 539 yards.
  • Junior linebacker Chris Swayne (LaSalle, Ill./LaSalle-Peru Township) led the Saint Xavier defense with 12 total tackles (six solos) with 2.0 tackles for loss for five yards.
  • Freshman defensive back Zach Norred (Manteno, Ill./St. Rita) collected nine stops (eight solos).
  • Junior linebacker Terry Elias Jr. (Monee, Ill./Crete-Monee) came away with seven tackles (four solos) with 1.5 tackles for loss and a pair of pass breakups.
  • Graduate student linebacker Ryan Fitzgerald (Tinley Park, Ill./Andrew) was credited with five solo tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss for three yards and he had an interception
  • Redshirt freshman defensive lineman David Burton (St. Louis, Mo./Parkway West) also had five tackles (three solos), 2.0 tackles for loss for 13 yards and a sack for 12 yards.
  • After receiving the opening kickoff, the SXU offense used seven plays to travel 55 yards that resulted in a seven-yard rushing touchdown by Plunkett.
  • Madonna responded with a seven-play, 46-yard drive that ended with a 28-yard field goal at the 9:20 mark of the opening frame.
  • Redshirt sophomore running back Mario Price (Chicago Heights, Ill./Calumet New Tech) put the Cougars up 14-3 with a three-yard touchdown run. Smith set the drive up at the MU 12-yard line after an 80-yard kickoff return.
  • Early in the second quarter, Ross found Smith for a 23-yard touchdown pass to give Saint Xavier a 21-3 advantage with 13:42 left in the half.
  • Graduate student wide receiver Brandt Hixson (Machesney Park, Ill./Harlem) made it 28-3 midway through the period when he caught a six-yard touchdown pass from Ross with 8:00 minutes to go that ended a nine-play, 50-yard drive.
  • Benes drilled a 24-yard field goal to wrap up a six-play, 71-yard drive with just under a minute left in the quarter to put SXU up 31-3 at halftime.
  • With 7:40 left in the third period, Benes nailed his second field goal of the game, this time from 28-yards out to push the lead to 34-3.
  • The Crusaders booted another field goal on their next drive from 28-yards out at the 4:39 mark.
  • Redshirt freshman running back KJ Devine-Woods (Chicago, Ill./Morton West) scored his first collegiate touchdown after rumbling 43 yards on the first play from scrimmage on the next possession.
  • Just before the end of the third period, MU capped an 11-play, 75-yard drive with a two-yard touchdown run with just nine seconds left to make it 41-13.
  • Senior wide receiver Xavier Bryant (Rockford, Ill./Boylan Catholic) hauled in a pass from D'Ambrosio and took it to the end zone for a 54-yard strike on the following drive.
  • Redshirt freshman running back Jacob Fisher (Medora, Ill./Southwestern) scored from a yard out for the final tally of the game with 8:26 remaining in the fourth quarter. 
No. 11 Saint Xavier (2-1, 0-0 MSFA Midwest) returns to Bruce R. Deaton Memorial Field to host Concordia University-Ann Arbor (Mich.) in an MSFA crossover contest on Saturday, September 28. The game is set for a 6:30 pm kickoff in Chicago, Ill.
 
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