In the Win Column

The weather forecasters may have been off ... again ... but the Xavier Saints bore down on one of the hottest days of the year and took care of business at Davenport with a 30-6 win over Assumption. (I've got to stop looking at forecasts more than two days ahead, because the NWS keeps predicting wonderful weather on Fridays far out which turns into lightning, hail, and heavy rain by the time Friday actually arrives.)

First off, the Saints appear to have their run blocking clicking. Jay Kortemeyer ran for something around 190 yards, which is just ridiculous. The Saints altogether put up close to 300 yards rushing. Davenport Assumption had no answer for the ground attack. Second, Xavier's defense continued to show that they know what they are doing. After slowing down the state's top 4A team in Week 1, they kept Assumption from even picking up a first down until the 4th quarter. They forced four turnovers, with two interceptions by Dylan Eller, and recovered two kickoffs to boot. (Ha!)

There is still room for improvement. Bryce Schulte got sacked a few times, so the pass blocking could have been better. There was only one really good pass play out of the Saints, a 30-yard play-action down the seam to Noah Clasen. And they absolutely need to work on their missed field-goal return game (more on that later).

A big factor in this game was the injury situation for Assumption. The Knights were already down to their third quarterback when the game started, and ended up playing numbers four and five before the game was through (and frankly, number five seemed to be the most productive). They had something like five or six starters in jeans and jerseys on the sideline. It wasn't a true test of teams at full strength, which is too bad. The Knights have a long history of success as a small school in a 4A conference, and I know they are hoping the move to 3A will be better for them. We'll see how district play works out.

As for the officiating ... at the end of the first half, with Xavier only leading 3-0 due to some mistakes killing several scoring opportunities, Dallas Klein came out to try a 39-yard field goal into the breeze. The kick fell well short, but did make it into the end zone. In high school, a kick that crosses the goal line is automatically dead. However, Will Ontiveros of Assumption was back there anyway. He caught the ball in the end zone, then started running it out. While the Assumption crowd got excited, people who knew the rules were baffled. There was no whistle. No official blew the ball dead. Instead, Ontiveros made his return, Assumption players were blocking, Xavier players were attempting to make a tackle, and he eventually took the ball cross-country to the other end zone. Thankfully, no official signaled touchdown, so they apparently knew that much. After some discussion and delay, they brought the ball back to the 20 for a touchback, which it should have been all along.

Word is Coach Schulte was not impressed (livid might be more accurate), and I can't blame him. If a player from either team had been injured on that play, that's totally on the officials. They can't let something like that play out and let the players continue at full speed when the ball is obviously dead. It was a horrendous brain freeze by the entire crew (they all have whistles!).

Thankfully, nobody was hurt. And Xavier picked up after halftime, putting together three straight scoring drives. In fact, the Saints put 17 points on the board without Assumption running an offensive play. Xavier got a touchdown, and on the ensuing kickoff the ball bounced off a Knight 20 yards back toward the kick team, which recovered. That resulted in another touchdown, and on the kickoff after that, it was short into the wind and a Xavier player was able to outfight an Assumption upback to recover. That ended in a field goal.

So Xavier has to feel somewhat better about their offense, while knowing their defense is top notch. This Friday district play starts. Now the games will count for district standings/playoff qualifying, and Xavier gets the task of starting with the undefeated Solon Spartans. Solon knocked off defending state 1A champion Iowa City Regina in overtime in week one, and beat Mt. Vernon by 20 points last week. They are a good team, with a solid history of recent state championships in both 2A and 3A. This is probably a matchup of two of the favorites in District 4, and it's the first district game of the year.

(Don't sleep on DeWitt-Central, though. The Sabers have rolled up a metric ton of offense in their first two games, and got a win over a 4A opponent by beating Clinton in week one. Guess when the Saints take them on? Yep, week four. A killer first month for Xavier.)