OSUBasketballJunkie
Never Forget 31-0
It's No. 1 vs. No. 2 for the second straight year in the Skyline Chili Crosstown Showdown today, with Colerain again the team to beat.
The Cardinals, ranked atop the Enquirer Division I coaches' football poll and No. 13 nationally by USA Today, face St. Xavier, No. 2 in the Enquirer poll, at 4:30 p.m. at the University of Cincinnati's Nippert Stadium. It is the marquee game of the eighth annual season-opening event.
Last year, Colerain and Elder were ranked 1-2 in the area when they met. Colerain won 21-3, and the Cardinals went on to win the 2004 state title.
"There's tremendous excitement again, but you're always on pins and needles when you play a GCL team," Colerain coach Kerry Coombs said.
The GCL is the Greater Catholic League South division, which along with Colerain's Greater Miami Conference has produced the last three state champs (the GCL's Elder in 2002 and '03, Colerain in '04).
Colerain pounded its GCL opposition last year, beating Elder 21-3 in the opener and then 38-3 in the playoffs, plus a 35-7 regular-season win over La Salle and a 34-6 playoff win over Moeller.
Coombs is more apt to remember the 2002 season, when Colerain was upset by Moeller in a Showdown opener. The Cardinals are 49-1 in the regular season since 2000, with the '02 Moeller loss the lone blemish.
St. Xavier coach Steve Specht knows some have predicted his team will upset the Cardinals, but he said Colerain is the favorite until proven otherwise.
"It's going to be a barnburner," Specht said. "We feel pretty good about what we're doing, but I look at Colerain and I see they're still big, fast and athletic."
Colerain senior linebacker Cobrani Mixon, who has committed to Michigan, is questionable with a knee injury. Otherwise all the major players seem to be in place, including Colerain offensive lineman Connor Smith (committed to Ohio State) and St. X all-area running back Chris Cionni.
The Cardinals, ranked atop the Enquirer Division I coaches' football poll and No. 13 nationally by USA Today, face St. Xavier, No. 2 in the Enquirer poll, at 4:30 p.m. at the University of Cincinnati's Nippert Stadium. It is the marquee game of the eighth annual season-opening event.
Last year, Colerain and Elder were ranked 1-2 in the area when they met. Colerain won 21-3, and the Cardinals went on to win the 2004 state title.
"There's tremendous excitement again, but you're always on pins and needles when you play a GCL team," Colerain coach Kerry Coombs said.
The GCL is the Greater Catholic League South division, which along with Colerain's Greater Miami Conference has produced the last three state champs (the GCL's Elder in 2002 and '03, Colerain in '04).
Colerain pounded its GCL opposition last year, beating Elder 21-3 in the opener and then 38-3 in the playoffs, plus a 35-7 regular-season win over La Salle and a 34-6 playoff win over Moeller.
Coombs is more apt to remember the 2002 season, when Colerain was upset by Moeller in a Showdown opener. The Cardinals are 49-1 in the regular season since 2000, with the '02 Moeller loss the lone blemish.
St. Xavier coach Steve Specht knows some have predicted his team will upset the Cardinals, but he said Colerain is the favorite until proven otherwise.
"It's going to be a barnburner," Specht said. "We feel pretty good about what we're doing, but I look at Colerain and I see they're still big, fast and athletic."
Colerain senior linebacker Cobrani Mixon, who has committed to Michigan, is questionable with a knee injury. Otherwise all the major players seem to be in place, including Colerain offensive lineman Connor Smith (committed to Ohio State) and St. X all-area running back Chris Cionni.
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