When the whole districts/4A-3A/rearranging of high school football went down last winter, lots of prep football fans in Iowa were quick to jump to the conclusion that a team like Xavier was only moving down to 3A to clean up with championship hardware. Voices were heard far and wide that the private schools were taking over, that Heelan and Xavier (and Davenport Assumption) were going to have a stranglehold on the title game for years, that 3A teams just couldn't compete with a former 4A powerhouse that had played in the state 4A championship the last two years.
I wasn't positive about such talk. Sure, Xavier has had a great 4A team the past couple of years. The 2012 team was one of the most exciting teams to watch I've ever seen, and last year's defense was just nuts (who has 8 shutouts in 14 games? Seriously?). But still, all but 4 of last year's starters graduated. Every year is a brand new year, and there were a lot of uncertainties about how good the Saints might actually be this year ... plus, consider the different competition in 3A football is probably going to affect participation in the Xavier program in a couple of years. Throw in a crazy non-district schedule (Dowling? Really? Plus Assumption and Regina? Who else plays two defending state champions in the same year?) and nothing should be taken for granted.
Okay, I may have been wrong with my caution. After a dominating shutout of Solon last week, the Saints absolutely annihilated a Central DeWitt squad that 1) was averaging about 300 yards per game on the ground with their option attack; 2) had crushed a 4A Clinton team by 5 touchdowns; and 3) was itching for a district fight at home after dropping a last-second game to Wahlert last week. Xavier mashed the pedal down from the get-go and didn't let up until the continuous clock ran in the second half.
And from the get-go, that's just what I mean. Sean Murphy took the opening kickoff back 99 yards for a touchdown (I see the newspaper gave him 96 yards ... um, I thought it might have been a touchback with his foot in the end zone watching it live, how it that 96 yards?). After a Sabers three-and-out, Xavier drove 81 yards in 14 plays (picking up 6 first downs!) to score again. After another three-and-out, a 49-yard run by Bryce Schulte set up another touchdown. Then Central DeWitt fumbled, and the Saints went to the halfback pass they trotted out last week against Solon to rack up another score. It was 28-0 before the Sabers offense realized the game had started.
Xavier added another kickoff return touchdown in the second quarter, along with a 70-yard punt return to set up a field goal. Meanwhile, the Sabers could only sputter their way to four first downs in the first half and trailed 45-3. Even the Xavier second team got in on the scoring, with two more touchdown runs in the fourth quarter. The final - 59-3, and if anything, it wasn't that close.
This is definitely a new look of things for Xavier as they enter 3A football. Most of these schools don't have the bench to run a whole team of backups out there, should they be ahead or behind late in games. They also have plenty of guys playing both ways. These other teams are going to get worn down by a physical, relentless Xavier squad that, this year at least, still has a 4A mentality.
So, for right now, most of those voices were right. Xavier looks to cruise through District 4 (arguably their two toughest tests, Solon and Central DeWitt, are already behind them with a cumulative score of 87-3). Next week's opponent, Maquoketa, is a bad 0-4 team. Western Dubuque and Dubuque Wahlert are, if anything, similar to Central DeWitt. Marion is racked by injuries and probably a couple of notches below those three anyway. The non-district game with Regina October 17 is still incredibly interesting, but with the Regals' winning streak stopped by Solon in the opening game, quite a bit of the luster is gone. And it doesn't look like the 1A Regals are really going to match up against Xavier, although we'll see.
So, will the Saints be able to hold their focus now? Most of their toughest games came early, and now we are going to expect a lot more 50-point blowouts and continuous clock games. Unless they start taking things for granted, of course. But to be honest, anybody with a reasonable point of view has to at least start thinking about playoff matchups. Xavier will almost certainly win District 4, which means at least two home playoff games. What kind of matchups are possible? Assumption looks to do well in their district, but Xavier has already handled them easily. West Delaware has a salty team. Decorah is down this year, but could be an early-round opponent. Washington is good, as well as Pella. Otherwise ... I need to take a look at some of the other districts around to see what's what. But considering a district winner plays a fourth-place team in the first round, and then either a second- or third-place finisher in the second round, Xavier looks to be shaping up as a solid favorite to reach the quarterfinals at least.
But that's fan talk, not team talk, putting the cart way before the horse. I know for a fact the Saints coaching staff is having no such thoughts - the challenge is focusing the players on one week at a time, so they don't start having these daydreams of future games either.
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