Tears fell on Friday Night as Moeller was stunned by Olentangy Liberty in the State Championship. What would’ve been a perfect cap to a historical season ended in an upset for our Crusaders. While the season ended in defeat, let us not forget the incredible season this team had. This was the most memorable season in a long time for Moeller Football.

The story all year was this team’s explosive offense. This was the greatest offense in Moeller history, averaging forty points per game. With Mr. Ohio Matt Ponatoski behind center and the most elite receiver core in the state, the passing game seemed effortless at times. This passing game had targets all over the field. While Jovan Love and Matt Fogler were Ponatoski’s favorite two targets, there were plenty of touchdowns to be shared. Landen Adams, Roman Mason, and Carson Khayo all had multiple touchdowns. That is just the receiving core. Tight Ends Sam Hamilton and Cooper McCutchan combined for twelve touchdowns through the air as well. This air raid offense was a well-oiled machine all year that was incredible to watch.

This team was shattering records every time they stepped foot on a field. At quarterback, Matt Ponatoski broke numerous records. With 4200 yards and fifty-seven touchdowns, he broke every single season passing record. Not only single season records, but he is also now the holder of most career passing yards and most career touchdowns in Moeller history. He won a well-deserved Mr. Ohio award and Gatorade POTY for this performance. Another record that will stand for an exceptionally long time is Matt Fogler’s single season touchdown record. He had sixteen touchdowns. To put this into perspective, the team only played sixteen games. He was averaging a touchdown every game. At receiver, that is unheard of. Matthew was not the only receiver to break records this year. His counterpart, Jovan Love, broke the record for the longest touchdown in Moeller History. This play came against Centerville. The offense was on the one-yard line, Jovan caught a five-yard pass and ran the length of the field to the opposite endzone. Jovan is a very impressive receiver who will no doubt succeed in college next fall.

Another notable point about this team is that they did not have a true home field. In ten regular season games, they played in ten different stadiums. I have never heard of a team that has had to do that. Every week, they had to get accustomed to a new locker room and a new field. This was a piece of adversity that went unlooked but may have made a difference. It completely eliminates any home field advantage that this team could have benefited from.

This team was full of road warriors. Playing in ten different stadiums goes hand in hand with traveling a lot. This team traveled A TON. Notable trips included Muskegon MI, Fort Wayne IN, Ironton, Cleveland, and Canton. With all these round trips totaled up, these guys traveled about 2600 miles in bus in sixteen weeks. This is the equivalent of driving all the way to California. Sometimes this team struggled getting hot after these long bus rides, but typically, they came out with wins.

Throughout the season, there were storybook matchups. It seemed as if there were scriptwriters planning out the season to make it as entertaining as possible. To open up the season, they go to Princeton to play in the most storied high school football rivalry of all time. They win on the road there to start the season off right. They blow through weeks two and three. In week four, the Crusaders lose an overtime thriller to Mallard Creek out of North Carolina. Many players on the team have described this game as a turning point and a wakeup call. Right after, they have to go into RDI Stadium to play St. X. This is one of the hardest places to go into and win, and they did it. This was a very entertaining and high scoring matchup that went down to the wire. Both offenses were on fire. Next week was the “rain bowl.” Moeller shuts out LaSalle, playing on a field full of puddles. Heading into the GCL Championship at Nippert, this team was feeling great. They continue this momentum with a Homecoming weekend win against Elder to clinch their third straight GCL title. The next big game after this was St. Ed’s, the three-time defending state champions. In the last two matchups before this year, The Eagles got the best of Moeller. Moeller flipped the script with a huge win in another shootout. This sent a message to the entire state of Ohio.

After this tough regular season, the Crusaders got a much-deserved break of close games. This stretched all the way until the regional semifinals, which happened to be King of The Block Part two. Princeton jumped out to an early lead, but Moeller proved to be too much to handle. This set up a rematch between X and Moeller in the regional championships. What else could be better? A bitter rivalry game to advance to the final four. It began snowing during warmups and energy was at an all time high. The Bombers led early, but Moeller grabbed a lead late. It came down to a goal line stand, where the Moeller Havoc Mob stood tall and ended Xavier’s playoff hopes. This was the most dramatic game I have ever seen, considering the stakes and buildup. This advanced Moeller to the state semifinal, which they had not fared well in the past. The score speaks for itself, as they clobbered Centerville 49-10. The Crusaders were hotter than ever going into the State Championship. Unfortunately, this momentum died out as they hit Canton. The loss to Liberty in the state championship was unexpected. However, this team still had a great season.

Christian Harris with a late comeback effort in Canton.

With this senior class graduating, let us list some of their achievements throughout their career at Moeller. They have never lost to a Cincinnati team. They won three straight GCL titles. They are undefeated in the GCL, winning twelve straight games. They won three straight regional titles. They swept all the all-boys catholic schools in the state. This class, simply put, was dominant. With them graduating, many would think that the program is in trouble. This is not the case. This past year, they became the first school ever to be undefeated against the GCL, St. Ignatius, and St. Edwards on all three levels. We have a lot of untapped young talent that will continue to lead this program to success. It will be exciting to see how far this program goes in the coming years.

Moeller Football Season Recap

An Unforgettable Season