St. Xavier is making its eighth straight playoff appearance despite losing five games, which Krause said just goes to show how tough the Bombers’ schedule was.
“We talked about that with our players, the fact they have one of the toughest, if not the toughest, schedules in Ohio,” Krause said. “They play a high level of competition night in and night out, so 5-5 is not indicative of the caliber football team they are. At the same time, we didn’t play a soft schedule by any means, so we feel we’re prepared and we’re excited to be hosting a playoff game Friday night.”
The Bombers’ losses were against St. John Bosco (Calif.), which is No. 4 in the USA Today Super 25 computer rankings, national No. 7 Colerain in overtime, two-time defending Division II champion La Salle by three, No. 12 Warren Central (Ind.) by one and No. 22 Cleveland St. Ignatius.
St. Xavier has quite literally hobbled through that tough schedule and still managed to be competitive.
“Everyone has injuries, but it’s been a rough road for us,” Bombers coach Steve Specht said. “This has been just a bizarre season with the rash of injuries we’ve had. Some we lost for the season even before it started.”
Senior quarterback Sean Clifford, a three-year starter who is committed to Penn State, is among the wounded and remains questionable after working back from a foot sprain only to tear a hamstring in Week 8. Junior Chase Wolf has performed admirably in his place, completing 121 of 201 passes for 983 yards and 11 touchdowns to go along with Clifford’s 758 yards in parts of six games.
“They both are very good quarterbacks,” Krause said. “I think Clifford runs a little better and more, whereas Wolf wants to stand in the pocket longer. We’re preparing for both those things, and we need to be aware of which one is in, but we have to just stop the St. X offense, regardless of what quarterback is commanding that.”
Specht said he is comfortable using Wolf in a playoff situation if Clifford isn’t ready to go, but it doesn’t help, especially in a pass-oriented offense, that No. 2 receiver Micah Farrar also is questionable after missing last week’s win over Louisville St. Xavier.
Fairfield’s stingy defense won’t make it any easier for the Bombers either. Specht said junior defensive end Malik Vann, who leads the team with five sacks, is “a difference maker you have to scheme for” and senior cornerback Josiah Scott, who has five interceptions and two fumble recoveries returned for touchdowns, “is as good a corner” as St. X has seen, but that’s just two key players.
“I see an aggressive group of kids, and they play fast,” Specht said. “They are a talented group defensively. I don’t know if there are any weaknesses top to bottom. Their offense is explosive, and they are very good on special teams – I like the punter and place-kicker. Normally, you can find a weakness to exploit, but I can’t say that about Fairfield.”
The Indians have been led offensively by senior quarterback Aaron Carmack, who is completing 60 percent of his passes for 1,739 yards and 14 touchdowns with four interceptions. However, the running game also has shown some improvement behind James Mitchell’s 499 yards and four touchdowns, and Chico Robinson has caused some headaches out of the slot.
Fairfield will need some balance to be successful against the Bombers’ 3-3 stack defense.
“They are very good against the run,” Krause said. “We have to find a way to move the ball. We have to find opportunities to take advantage of, and if we get in the red zone we have to finish with points.
“At this point, everyone is very fundamentally sound, so it’s going to come down to executing. For us, it’s going to be a big crowd, a lot of excitement, so we have to handle the atmosphere and get off to a good start. We can’t afford not to if we want to be playing again in Week 12.”
The Fairfield-X winner will face either Colerain or Springboro next Friday at a neutral site.
Friday’s game
What: Division I, Region 4 quarterfinal, St. Xavier (5-5) at Fairfield (7-3), 7:30 p.m.
Where: Fairfield Stadium, Ohio 4 and Stadium Drive, Fairfield
St. Xavier playoff history: 36-20 record in 22 appearances (1981, 1987, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015)
Fairfield playoff history: 5-6 record in seven appearances (1985, 1986, 1999, 2000, 2005, 2013, 2015)
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