Colerain rallied in the second half to defeat St. Xavier 35-30 in a wild Division I regional semifinal game Friday before a crowd of 10,000 at Nippert Stadium.

Enye Willingham's head is twisted by Colerain's Doug Monaghan ... | ZOOM |

... Monaghan got a facemask penalty. (Jeff Swinger photos) | ZOOM |

        “What a great football game!” Colerain coach Kerry Coombs said. “Every interception, every fumble recovery and every hit was big. It was a great effort by two great football teams.”

        There were 872 yards of offense — 487 by St.Xavier and 385 from Colerain.

        When it was over, Coombs ran across the field to celebrate with the Cardinals players and fans. Colerain, The Enquirer's poll champions, moves on to play the winner of tonight's Elder-Fairfield in the regional finals.

Colerain's Maurice Johnson lifts teammate Jermaine Johnson while celebrating his first-quarter TD. | ZOOM |

        St.Xavier coach Steve Rasso pointed to turnovers and mistakes as the determining factors.

        “Colerain made the big plays, and our defense didn't come through on the long running plays,” Rasso said. “The four interceptions and dropped passes were the big differences.”

        St.X turned over the ball six times — twice on fumbles and four times on interceptions. Colerain turned over the ball three times on fumbles.

        Dave Monaghan and Adam Meier had two interceptions each for Colerain.

        “The first interception was the big one, because it got us our first points,” Monaghan said. “The second was also big, because it stopped a drive.”

        Monaghan's second interception came at the Colerain 11 with the Cardinals holding a 28-24 lead with 3:31 remaining in the third quarter.

St. X's Brad Greiwe dives for a catch. | ZOOM |

        Trailing 24-13 after St.X scored on its first possession of the third quarter, Colerain wasted no time getting back in the game.

        Taking over on their own 32 following the kickoff, the Cardinals took advantage of a pass interference call move to the St.X 37.

        On the ensuing play, quarterback Sean Jones, who was hit on nearly every play, broke to his left, cut back toward the middle and went 37 yards for the TD. Jones scored the two-point conversion to make it 24-21.

        “I saw the opening in the middle,” Jones said. “The safety got in the way, so I cut back and I just ran and dove into the end zone.”

        Jones referred to several changes made at halftime.

        “In the first half, St.X was overpursuing on defense,” Jones said. “We made some adjustments because the cutback was there and we exposed it.”

        Colerain's defense held St.X on the three plays after Jones' TD, forcing a punt that was returned to the 38.

        On the first play, Maurice Johnson took a pitch from Jones, broke three tackles and ran to the St.X 3. On the next play, Colerain was in the lead after John Mohr scored for a 28-24 advantage.

        On the next series, Monaghan stepped in front of St.Xavier receiver Jeff Buening to intercept the pass at the Cardinal 11.

        Colerain put away the game with 7:18 remaining. Meier intercepted a pass and returned it to the St.X. That set up Maurice Johnson's 11- yard TD run that put the Cards up 35-24.

        “I got a good read on the ball,” Meier said. “Then I just made my break.”

        The Bombers responded and cut the deficit to five at 35-30 with 4:51 remaining when Buening caught a 3-yard pass from Marty Mooney, capping a 29-yard, three-play drive that was set up by a Jermaine Johnson fumble that Blake Jones recovered.

        During the final four-plus minutes, Colerain turned the ball over once on a fumble. St.Xavier fumbled the ball away once, and Meier intercepted a pass.

        St. Xavier ....... 3 14 7 7—30

        Colerain ....... 7  6  8  7—35

        C-J. Johnson 10 run (Crosby kick)

        X-Nolan 18 field goal

        X-Willingham 2 run (Nolan kick)

        X-Greiwe 65 pass from Mooney (Nolan kick)

        C-M. Johnson 3 run (Kick wide)

        X-Buening 22 pass from Mooney (Nolan kick)

        C-Jones 37 run (Jones run)

        C-Mohr 3 run (Crosby kick)

        C-M. Johnson 11 run (Crosby kick)

        X-Buening 3 pass from Mooney (pass failed)

        Records: St. X 8-4, Colerain 12-0.

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