St. X hits BIG TIME with game on ESPN

The St. Xavier-DeMatha (Md.) high school football game will be televised nationally on ESPN on Sunday, Sept. 2, at noon, an ESPN spokesperson confirmed Tuesday.

The game, at the University of Cincinnati's Nippert Stadium, is the marquee attraction of the Burger King Kirk Herbstreit Ohio vs. USA Challenge. St. Xavier is No. 1 and DeMatha No. 3 in the preseason PrepNation.com poll. The USA Today poll comes out Aug. 23.

"We are planning to televise the (St. Xavier) game," ESPN spokeswoman Tilea Coleman said. "We are just working out final details."

St. Xavier will be the first Cincinnati-area high school football team to play on the main ESPN network. Colerain played on ESPNU in September 2005, beating Tyler (Texas) Lee 27-12 in the inaugural Herbstreit event.

"What a neat opportunity for a high school kid, to play on live TV on ESPN," St. Xavier coach Steve Specht said. "From an educational standpoint, it's something they're going to remember the rest of their lives."