JOLIET, Ill. --- Two costly second-half turnovers resulting in ten points and missing out on five of seven scoring opportunities spelled defeat for the University of St. Francis football team as it opened up its 2020-21 campaign with a tough 19-12 defeat at the hands of neighboring rival Saint Xavier University at a frigid ATI Field at Joliet Memorial Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
 

The contest was the 22nd meeting between the two teams all-time and the ninth time in the series that seven points or less decided the game.
 

USF struggled to find its offensive game throughout the afternoon. Of its 14 possessions on the day, ten did not yield a first down, including two in the first quarter when the Saints started drives at the Saint Xavier 33- and 27-yard lines. Both times USF was forced to punt.
 

Despite the offensive shortcomings, St. Francis still had the chance to head into the break with a three-point lead. USF's longest drive of the afternoon (17 plays, 58 yards), however, left the Saints without points when they had a 39-yard field goal attempt fall short with under a minute to play in the second quarter. That left the two teams tied 9-9 at the intermission.
 

The fourth scoring opportunity, which would again have given head coach Joe Curry's club the chance to produce their first lead of the game, came late in the third quarter after Saint Xavier turned a St. Francis interception into a field goal and a 12-9 lead. The Saints would get as close as the Saint Xavier three-yard line before a second Saint Xavier interception thwarted the bid.
 

The third turnover of the game for the Saints came on the next possession with Saint Xavier recovering at the St. Francis 26-yard line. Three plays later, quarterback John O'Sullivan (22-of-30, 161 yards, 1 int.) registered Saint Xavier's second rushing touchdown of the afternoon (19 yards) to extend the Cougars lead to ten points (19-9) with 12:03 to play in the game.
 

St. Francis made it a one score game on Brian Maday's (FR/Orland Park, Ill.) second field goal of the contest (19 yards) with 5:08 left and then set itself up for one more scoring chance and a potential third tie of the day.
 

The Saints stopped Saint Xavier on its next possession and then picked up a 29-yard punt return from Scott Tumilty (FR/Villa Park, Ill.) to set themselves up at the Saint Xavier 25-yard line with 3:49 to play. But for the tenth time of the game, USF would end its final drive without a first down - four straight incompletes - and Saint Xavier then ran out the clock to gain the victory.
 

The loss overshadowed an incredible debut for Tumilty, who provided USF's lone touchdown on a 55-yard punt return and finished the day with 212 all-purpose yards (103 kick returns, 109 punt returns), a team-high 13 tackles, one sack and one tackle for loss.
 

Rio Strama (SR/Shorewood, Ill.) tied Tumilty with the most tackles and also collected one tackle for loss and a key interception in the Saints' end zone.
 

Keenan Hailey (SO/Joliet, Ill.) also had a solid first game as a Saint, averaging 5.2 yards per carry and accounting for 62 of USF's 66 ground yards on 12 carries.
 

Saint Xavier's Vance McShane led all rushers with 112 yards on 21 carries, including 58 on the Cougars' second drive to open the scoring. He helped SXU outgain the Saints 400-149 in total offense.
 

Saint quarterback Eric Maffie (SO/Coal Valley, Ill.) was 10-of-33 for 83 yards with two interceptions in his first go as the Saints' signal-caller. He was also sacked four times.
 

The two teams combined for six turnovers on the day – three each – and only once netted a touchdown in eight red-zone opportunities. Saint Xavier was 3-for-5 in the red zone with two field goals, while the Saints were 2-of-3 with the two field goals.
 

The contest marked the second coldest game in USF history with a real-feel temperature of 1 degree at game time and 14 degrees on the thermometer.
 

St. Francis is back at ATI Field at Joliet Memorial Stadium next Saturday (Feb. 13) to host Roosevelt University in a 1 pm kickoff.  It will also be another non-conference affair despite both teams being members of the Mid-States Football Association Midwest League.