St. Xavier picked the second round of the playoffs to play its most complete game of the season, stunning host Lakota West 51-14 on Friday night in a Division I, Region 4 quarterfinal and avenging a regular-season loss to the Firebirds.
The Bombers set the tone immediately, scoring on a long opening drive to lead 7-0, then adding a field goal for a 10-0 edge, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer’s live coverage of the game. By the third quarter, Aiden Graham’s third score of the night had pushed the St. Xavier lead to 31-7, and the Bombers kept pulling away from there.
The final score was confirmed on the statewide scoreboards published by both the Cincinnati Enquirer and The Columbus Dispatch: St. Xavier 51, Lakota West 14. It was a dramatic reversal of the teams’ first meeting on Aug. 21, when Lakota West beat St. Xavier 20-7 on the same field to open the season…