Ohio City - Saturday's annual Week 9 encounter between the Wildcats and the Bombers of St. Xavier matches two perennial powers who met in last season's Division I State Championship Game, won by St. Xavier, 27-20, in double overtime at Ohio Stadium in Columbus.

 Saint Ignatius and St. Xavier also met in the big-school State Championship Game in 1992 and 2001, with the Wildcats coming out victorious in both of those matchups, 24-14 in '92 and 37-6 in 2001.

Ryan Franzinger '02, Saint Ignatius' outstanding Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers Coach, was a Captain and a two-way MVP stalwart for the State Champion Wildcats of 2001. Ryan was recently inducted into the Wildcats' Athletic Hall of Fame.

On the strength of last December's state-title game victory by Coach Steve Specht's Bombers, St. Xavier holds a 13-11 lead in its gridiron series with Saint Ignatius.  That state championship nail-biter over the Wildcats was one of three postseason victories that the Bombers secured in overtime. St. Xavier, which finished 10-5 last year, became the first Ohio school to win a state football championship with five losses. The 2001 State Champion Wildcats finished 11-4.

 In another first from last season, St. Xavier became the only Catholic/Private School to defeat Saint Ignatius in the OHSAA postseason. The Wildcats have a remarkable 70-16 record in the playoffs. Those other 15 setbacks were to Glenville (four times), Mentor (three times), Solon (twice), Canton McKinley (twice) and Austintown Fitch, Lima Senior, Warren Harding and Hudson.           

 The Wildcats have won the past two regular-season encounters with the Bombers, 34-20 at Byers Field in 2015 and 31-14 on Tom Ballaban Field in St. Xavier Stadium last year.

 Saint Ignatius and St. Xavier enter Saturday's game as the  No. 1 teams in the OHSAA's Region 1 and Region 4 Computer Playoff Rankings, respectively. The record 11-time State Champion Wildcats have already clinched an Ohio-best 28th big-school playoff appearance and the three-time State Champion Bombers not only have secured their 24th playoff appearance, but also have locked up a home game for the first-round Regional Quarterfinals.

Under the OHSAA Harbin playoff format, the top eight teams in each of the state's regions at the end of the regular season (Saturday night, Oct. 28) qualify for the Regional Quarterfinal Playoffs. The top four teams in each region are awarded a home game in the Regional Quarterfinals.

While the National Rankings and the writers' and broadcasters' Associated Press State Poll are very flattering, the only rankings that count come via the OHSAA.

 That said, this corner tips its cap to St. Xavier for being ranked 24th this week in USA Today's Super 25 "Expert" National Poll, third in USA Today's Super 25 National Computer Poll and fourth in USA Today's Midwest Poll. The Bombers, who are on a 14-game winning streak that goes back to last year's 6-0 finish, are ranked No. 1 in Ohio by the Associated Press and Saint Ignatius received a sixth-place state ranking from the AP poll voters this week. St. Xavier's last defeat was the 2016 regular-season setback to Saint Ignatius.    

*NOTE:  If you can't make it to Saturday's game, the Saint Ignatius Broadcast Network will bring it to you live from Byers Field and the game is also part of the Spectrum Sports live coverage over Channel 311 in Northeast & Southwest Ohio and Channel 314 in Central Ohio.

 Before this old gridiron grinder takes a further look at the 2017 Wildcats-Bombers area and state headliner, I would like to congratulate Saint Ignatius' 12 City Championship Teams, who will be recognized and honored as part of Saturday's game.

 As someone who grew up and lived a good portion of my young adult life in Saint Ignatius of Antioch Parish, I spent most of my fall weekends as a young boy in the 1950s and early '60s at legendary West Tech Field, where I had the privilege to watch many of the powerful City Championship Teams of the late, great John. J. Wirtz. Coach Wirtz was inducted into the Saint Ignatius Athletic Hall of Fame in 1986.

 I've said it many times before and will repeat it in this report, the 10-0 1964 City Champion Wildcats of Coach Wirtz, who were inducted into Saint Ignatius' Athletic Hall of Fame in 1991, stand among the greatest area high school football teams I have ever seen. And that includes the storied 11 State Championship Teams from Saint Ignatius, all 11 of whom I had the honor to cover and report on during my 37-year career at The Plain Dealer and 10 years with the Wildcats' Athletic Department.

 HERE IS A LOOK AT THE 2017 ST. XAVIER BOMBERS FROM SAINT IGNATIUS' NATIONAL FEDERATION HALL OF FAME HEAD COACH MR. CHUCK KYLE '69, WHO WAS A STANDOUT TAILBACK UNDER COACH WIRTZ, A SAFETY/LINEBACKER AND A MEMBER OF THE WILDCATS' 1967 CITY CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM AND 1968 CITY CO-CHAMPIONS (WITH JOHN F. KENNEDY).

 From Coach Kyle: "If you look earlier in the year, we didn't have too many turnovers either," said Coach Kyle, as he and this corner were discussing the fact that St. Xavier comes into Robert M. Boulton Stadium on Saturday with just three turnovers as a team - two fumbles lost and one interception thrown by standout senior quarterback Chase Wolf. A Wisconsin recruit, Wolf has completed 113 of 193 passes this season for 1,492 yards,18 touchdowns and just the one pick.

 "That's one of the problems we had last week, we played a bad football game, it happens," continued Coach Kyle of the key turnovers and penalties in a 41-20 loss to nine-time state champion Archbishop Moeller at Otterbein University. "We got off the bus and obviously weren't ready to play against a team that was very motivated. It was a very important win for them (vaulting now 4-4 Moeller from sixth to third place in the OHSAA Region 4 Computer Rankings). When you play teams from the Cincinnati Catholic League, you don't look at the records. They're all very good football teams."

 Coach Kyle said it is quite clear that Wolf is having an exceptional year and that the young man is blessed with some good receivers.

 "They're good, they run very disciplined routes, they catch the ball and they have some speed," Coach Kyle said of a Bombers' receiving corps that features big-game tested seniors Cameron Specht, Andrew Wittrock and Nicholas Shamsi, and junior Jared Kreimer.

 Specht, a son of Coach Specht, is a class young man before, during and after the game. Cameron will take 46 receptions for 370 yards and four touchdowns into Saturday's encounter and supports those numbers as one of the top special-teams punt/kick return specialists that the Queen City has to offer.

 Wittrock, who came up with what was the winning touchdown reception in last season's state championship game, has 29 receptions for 481 yards and seven touchdowns, Kreimer has hauled in 27 passes for 300 yards, and Shamsi has 13 catches for 138 yards.

 St. Xavier's rushing attack has been a solid complement to the passing game, as senior Matthew Fox has rushed for 481 yards and six touchdowns on 102 carries. Sophomore Kellen Newman has totaled 202 yards and six touchdowns on just 38 carries, and junior Chris Payne has produced 65 yards and a TD off only 10 carries. Fox is also a very capable receiver with 15 receptions for 204 yards and three touchdowns, and Wolf has rushed for three TDs. 

 "Their defense is always good," said Coach Kyle of a Bombers unit that is under the direction of Coach Specht. Coach Specht was Coach Kyle's Defensive Coordinator in the summer of 2009, when Coach Kyle directed Team USA to the International Federation of American Football Junior World Championship at Canton's Fawcett Stadium, now Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium.

 "Steve always puts together a great defensive game plan," Coach Kyle said of a man he obviously has great respect for. "So it's really a big challenge this week and I think the kids sense it. They realize we have to play our A game. Last year we went down there (to Cincinnati) and really played a great game against them. We hit three big pass plays when we played them in the regular season. Maybe that turned their season around, when you look back at it."

 Coach Kyle was quick to point out that his Wildcats will have to pick up the blitz packages that Coach Specht is known for. Coach Specht is 127-44 in what is his 14th season as his alma mater's Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator.  

 "The twists and the blitzes are always timed up well with his (Coach Specht) pass coverage," said the man who has also guided his Wildcats to two state runner-up finishes (1996 and 2016), three national titles (1989,1993 and 1995) and a national runner-up in 2008. "Their safeties play a very aggressive style. If they read run, they're coming."

 Among St. Xavier's key defenders are senior lineman Bobby Jefferson II (38 tackles, five sacks and two forced fumbles); senior linebacker Will Childs (38 tackles and two sacks); senior defensive lineman Sean Mesue (33 tackles, two fumble recoveries and a forced fumble); junior linebacker Thomas Kiessling (44 tackles); senior defensive back Grant Kirby (34 tackles and two forced fumbles) and senior linebacker/defensive end Blake Bacevich (30 tackles, four sacks and an interception).

 CATS STATS: Showing the way for Coach Franzinger's defense are junior linebacker Tommy Eichenberg (39 tackles, 10.5 for -minus 53 yards, three sacks for -minus 22 yards, five quarterback hurries and three pass breakups); senior linebacker Logan Joyce (44.5 tackles, 18.5 for -minus 57 yards, three sacks for -minus 16 yards, six quarterback hurries, two fumble recoveries and a forced fumble); senior nose tackle Aidan Gill (16.5 tackles, six for -minus 35 yards, 4.5 sacks for -minus 33 yards and four quarterback hurries); senior middle linebacker Andrew Keirn (27.5 tackles, seven for -minus 20 yards, two sacks for -minus 11 yards, a forced fumble and four quarterback hurries); senior safety/Captain/Penn recruit Justin Sands (21 tackles, two for -minus nine yards, a sack for -minus eight yards, two interceptions and four pass breakups); senior safety Matt Vinacourt (25.5 tackles, five for -minus 12 yards, a fumble recovery, an interception, two pass breakups and a quarterback hurry); senior cornerback Cam Toppin (among the area's leaders with five interceptions totaling 29 yards, including two picks in the end zone for touchbacks, 26.5 tackles, four pass breakups and a blocked kick); junior safety Danny Scelza (22.5 tackles, five for -minus 11 yards, two interceptions totaling 26 yards, four pass breakups and a fumble recovery) and junior cornerback Jett Elad (18.5 tackles, one for -minus three yards, an interception return for a touchdown of 26 yards and three pass breakups).

 KICKING/PUNTING GAME: Standout senor Matthew Trickett is 12-for-17 on his field goal attempts with a school-record 59-yarder versus GlenOak and a 55-yard effort in The Pit at Elder that at the time tied the school record. Matt has kicked off 52 times for 3,070 yards, has 39 touchbacks and carries a punting average of 38.9 yards.

GROUND CONTROL TO COACH FERGUS: Veteran Running Backs Coach Terry Fergus '72 has watched his 1-2 punch of senior tailback Mark Bobinski (142 carries for 577 yards and six touchdowns, 12 receptions for 59 yards) and junior tailback Jahadge "Bo" Floyd (67 carries for 463 yards and four touchdowns, including a 72-yard TD burst, two receptions for 51 yards) show the way.

 AIR CATS: Senior quarterback Danny Alexander is 36-for-64, totaling 638 yards, nine touchdowns and four interceptions, and Danny has rushed for 172 yards and three TDs on 63 carries.  Senior quarterback Kyle Hall has thrown for 848 yards and six touchdowns.

 Senior Sammy Snyder is among Northeast Ohio's top receivers with 43 receptions for 781 yards and nine touchdowns and he has returned 13 punts for 84 yards. Senior Connor Kennedy, who had a big regular-season game on both sides of the ball at St. Xavier last year, has five receptions for 154 yards and two touchdowns, senior Max Pike has 100 yards and a touchdown on nine receptions, senior Michael Drobnick has grabbed 11 passes for 187 yards and two touchdowns, and junior Nigel Drummond II has 131 yards on seven receptions, including a 67 touchdown reception versus Archbishop Moeller last weekend.

 This corner applauds Mr. Andy Schroer for his outstanding work with Saint Ignatius' Varsity Football Statistics.

PLEASE NOTE: That Thursday's Freshmen Football Game versus Erie (Pa.) Cathedral Prep will kickoff at 5 pm on Wasmer Field, not 6 pm as originally scheduled. The Freshmen 'Cats are hotter than my tuxedo for Cathedral Latin School's 1968 prom. Get out to Wasmer and give Coach Rodney Gallaway's young 'Cats your support.  

 Have a great rest of the week and weekend, and this corner will see you at the Freshmen Game on Thursday evening, Saturday's 10 AMJunior Varsity Game versus St. Xavier on Wasmer Field and, of course, the Jesuit School Varsity matinee headliner versus St. Xavier on Saturday at 3 pm on Byers Field in Parma's Robert M. Boulton Stadium.