CINCINNATI — It's that time of year again — high school football is officially back in the Tri-State.
Elder defeated Withrow 28-6 in their Thursday season opener, the first meeting between the two programs since 1998.
On Friday night, legendary Princeton coach Pat Mancuso and Jerry Faust Jr., son of former Moeller coach Jerry Faust, were honorary captains for the WCPO 9 Friday Football Game of the Week, Moeller at Princeton.
In the first regular-season meeting between the storied programs since 2008, Moeller QB Matt Ponatoski threw for a career-high 415 yards and four touchdowns to get the Crusaders the 38-21 win.
St. Xavier and Lakota West faced off in another opening-week classic. Bombers QB Chase Herbstreit ran one touchdown in to give St. X the lead, but the Firebirds tied things up in the second quarter and never let go of the lead, winning 17-14.
Colerain and La Salle faced off in a classic West Side rivalry, with both teams hoping to improve from last season. It was the Lancers who came out with a win, cruising to a 20-7 victory.
Coming off a dominant season last year, Cincinnati Country Day looked to keep the success going, taking down Summit Country Day 65-27.
Winton Woods got their first points of the season via safety, and continued the scoring with a blocked punt returned for a touchdown. They defeated Springfield, 16-6.
Anderson QB Justice Burnam led his team to a 51-6 win over South Oldham.
Taft started the season locked in, defeating Pleasure Ridge Park (Louisville) 43-0.
Wayne took down Fairfield in a palindrome, 31-13.
On the other side of the river, Covington Catholic visited Ryle, whose offense got them the 30-14 win.
Simon Kenton powered their way to a 50-35 win over Dixie Heights.
Bengals cornerback D.J. Turner was at the Lexington Catholic vs. Highlands game to cheer for his former coach, Bob Sphire. He must have been good luck because the Bluebirds won 17-7, continuing their success from last season.
Conner is returning from Lexington tonight with a 42-15 win over Paul Laurence Dunbar.
In Indiana, back-to-back state champs East Central hosted rival Lawrenceburg. It wasn't too much of a fight, with East Central winning 24-3.
Submit your pick for the high school football player of the week below. Scores for this week's games can also be found below.
