SAINT XAVIER HIGH SCHOOL VARSITY FOOTBALL TEAM

Saint Xavier High School was already more than 50 years in old when its football team took the field for the first time in 1917. For the next century plus, the football program has provided an experience that has helped countless young men on their journeys to manhood.

• In 1917 the first Green and Gold football team took to the field under Coach Will Duffy. The 20s, 30s, and 40s established a strong foundation for the “Tradition of Excellence” under the leadership of coaches like Joe Harmon, Joe Guyon, Bob Schumann, and Ray Baer.
• In 1925 Frank O’Bryan became the first of many Tiger football players to be named First Team All-State.
• Coach Johnny Meihaus led the Tigers into the modern era beginning in 1952. He guided the program for 17 seasons, amassing 118 wins and three state championships (1956, 1957, 1962).
• The 1956 and 1957 Tigers posted identical 10-0-1 records to earn the school’s first two football state titles.
• The Kentucky High School Athletic Association began its sanction of the football state championship in 1959, and the 1962 Tigers earned the school’s first KHSAA title with a thrilling 7-6 win over Valley in the mud.
• Coach Leon Dunagan led the Tigers to the program’s first undefeated and untied season in 1969. The 15-0 victory over Butler in the title game capped off a perfect 13-0 season and earned St. X another state championship.
• The 1974 and 1975 Tigers combined to go 25-0 and earn back-to-back state titles for the second time in school history. Coach Bill Glaser left the program after two years and remains the only coach to compile a perfect career coaching record. The ’75 come-from-behind playoff win, 11-10 over Trinity, is remembered as one of the most dramatic finishes in Tiger football history.
• The 1978 Tigers began the season by defeating Thomas Jefferson in the first and last Kentucky State Fair Bowl. Coach Mike Stewart’s team completed the year with a 13-2 record and earned the 4A state championship with a 42-21 victory of Lexington Tates Creek.
• In 1982 Coach Mike Glaser became the 17^th St. X head football coach and began a 31-year run in which the Tigers won seven state championships and were state runner-up four times.
• In 1986, the Tigers defeated Boone County 27-14 in the 4A title game, providing Coach Glaser with the first of his seven championships.
• The 1991 season ended with a heartbreaking loss in the state title game as the Tiger offense was stopped on the four-inch line on the final play of the game. The following year the Tigers returned with a vengeance to complete business. They ended the season with a 14-1 record and defeated Boone County for the 1992 State Championship.
• The rest of the 90s saw the Tigers dominate the football scene with championships in 1995, 1997, and 1999, giving St. X four 4A championships and runner-up finish in the decade.
• The 1997 championship game was played in freezing temperatures, and, for the first time, the Tigers and Rocks were matched in a state title bout. The defensive struggle was decided by a lone field goal as the Tigers prevailed 3-0 in the final St. X/Trinity game to be played in Old Cardinal stadium.
• In 1998 the St. X/Trinity Classic moved to the University of Louisville’s Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium. It annually draws close to 35,000 fans for one of the nation’s biggest rivalry games.
• The 1999 title game was decided in overtime when the Tigers, trailing 31-28, scored the game winning touchdown on a 4^th and goal play from the one-yard line to earn the 34-31 victory.
• The Tigers won both the 2004 and 2009 state titles during season in which they posted identical 14-1 records.
• State-runner up finishes in 2003, 2005, and 2007, along with the championships in 2004 and 2009 gave the Tigers five state title game appearances in the first decade of the 21^st century.
• In 2008, All-State running back Rolandan ‘Duece’ Finch became the first St. X Football player ever to be named Mr. Football in the state of Kentucky.
• 2012 was the final season in 31-year career of Coach Mike Glaser. His record of 336 wins and 78 losses ranks him as the coach with the most wins in St. X football history.
• In 2013 Will Wolford became the St. X Football Program’s 18^th head coach.
• The 2017 Tigers finished the season with an impressive 12-3 record, winning district and regional titles before losing in the KHSAA State Championship game to Trinity by a margin of 38-21. 2017 was also the final season in the five-year career of Coach Will Wolford and the beginning of a new chapter in St. X Football with the hiring of Coach Kevin Wallace.
• In 2020 the Tigers navigated the adversity and challenges of a season altered by the Covid-19 pandemic, eventually returning back to the semi-finals of the KHSAA playoffs.
• The fall of 2021 brought the program’s 13^th KHSAA state title, 15^th overall, and first under Coach Kevin Wallace. The team finished the season 14-1, avenging a regular season loss to Male in the state championship game. Coach Wallace earned his first AP Coach of the Year honor at St. X, while Jack Sivori was named the MaxPreps Kentucky Football Player of the Year.
• The 2023 Tigers finished the season with a record of 10-2, winning a district title and beating arch-rival Trinity.