St. Xavier has proven to be a solid top-15 football team in the country in NAIA play, but the Cougars need a little more work when playing with top-5 opponents.
Cougars coach Mike Feminis didn’t sugarcoat things when he said his team took “a good old-fashioned butt whipping from an outstanding team,” after the visiting Cougars, ranked 13th in the nation by the coaches, lost 39-7 to No. 4 Indiana Wesleyan on Oct. 5 in a Mid-States Football Association crossover.
The Cougars (3-2) mustered just 95 yards of offense and gave up 535. The only score for the Cougars came when fifth-year senior Kevin Countryman returned a fumble for a touchdown.
Locally, punter Joe Poselli, a St. Rita grad, had four of his seven kicks land within Wesleyan’s 20 including a punt that made it to the 1, which led to Countryman’s score.
SXU hosts Defiance (Ohio) in another crossover game at noon Oct. 12.
“I have faith in our guys,” Feminis said. “We’ll lick our wounds and be ready for Defiance next week.”
Swinging to sectionals
Several area boys and girls golfers from the area advanced to this week’s sectional play after doing well in regionals last week. The state tournament takes place Oct. 11-12 at various sites in the Bloomington and Decatur areas.
Marist’s boys won the Class 3A Homewood-Flossmoor Regional with a 320 at Ravisloe Country Club in Homewood.
Marist’s Thomas Hollowell and Ryan Soch tied with Crete-Monee’s Terrence Blevins Jr. for first with 78s.
Lyons took the Class 3A Elk Grove Regional at Fox Run with a 299 as Anderson Palm finished second with a 73, Charlie Forrest was third with a 74 and Garrett Pohl was fifth with a 75.
At the Class 3A Payton Regional, Argo’s Zechariah Davila finished in a three-way tie for first with a 75.
St. Rita won the Class 2A Brother Rice Regional at Old Oak Country Club with a 326, while Brother Rice was second with a 331 and St. Laurence third with a 348.
Mustangs senior Richie Glenke was the medalist with a 76 while Joe Macis tied for fourth with an 81.
St. Laurence’s Matthew Suchecki was second with a 78.
Matthew Hynes of Brother Rice was third with an 80 and teammate Thor Hock tied for fourth with an 81,
At the Class 2A Montini Regional, Nazareth took third with a 329 as Sam Wilda tied for fourth with a 78.
In Class 1A, Chicago Christian senior Joey Charleston won the Class 1A Beecher Regional with a 75 and the Knights finished third with a 342 at Lincoln Oaks to advance.
In girls golf, Sandburg won its sixth straight title with a 362 – one shot better than Lockport – Oct. 1 at the Class 2A Andrew Regional at Odyssey in Tinley Park.
Brooke Adams finished second for the Eagles with a 77 and Katie Wehlus was third with an 84.
Mother McAuley won the Class 2A Shepard Regional with a 345 at Lincoln Oaks, while Marist was second with a 381 and St. Laurence third with a 383.
Reavis’s Emily Tralewski won the individual title with a 77, while McAuley’s Delia Sullivan and Maeve Howley followed at 82 and Avery Simpson carded an 85. Sofia Panatera finished fifth with an 89.
At the Class 2A Hinsdale Central Regional, it was a heartbreaker for Lyons as it missed the cut of making it to sectional by one stroke with a 356 for a fourth-place finish.
In Class 1A, Nazareth won the Providence Regional with a 338.
Maryssa Zielinski was the individual champ with an 80 while teammate Anna Bukovac was second with an 82. Gabriella Giangrande tied for fifth with an 86 for the Roadrunners.
Super seeds
The boys soccer postseason seeds are out and several teams from the area earned top-four seeds.
In Class 3A, Morton, Mount Carmel and Reavis drew the top three seeds at the Reavis Sectional.
In Class 2A, St. Laurence, De La Salle and Solorio earned the top three seeds in the St. Laurence Sectional.
Brother Rice drew the second seed at its own sectional.
In Class 1A, Chicago Christian drew the second seed in the Sub-Sectional B portion of the Manteno Sectional and Catalyst-Maria was seeded third.