Xavier closed out their regular season last Friday with a convincing 37-6 win over Marion. That was about as expected - while Marion came into the night with a 7-game losing streak, they'd kept most games close with their defense. Turnovers and injuries had been a huge problem for Marion. Well, four turnovers in the second half against Xavier certainly added to the Saints' point total.
Xavier showed some new wrinkles on offense. Instead of the jet sweep to Nick Stark that had been featured all year, they put Stark in motion, then handed off inside to a running back. Later they showed the same look, but Stark bubbled behind the tailback position for an old-school end around play (it didn't work, but it was different). On a couple of occasions both running backs motioned out of the backfield to a split position, and the Saints tried an outside screen pass to Jay Kortemeyer with Nic Ekland blocking right in front of him. Xavier also went deep, which we haven't seen a whole lot this year. I can think of three times in the second half; one was just a bit too far for Joe Welch, while the other two were completed to Welch for 45- and 26-yard touchdowns.
Xavier's defense continued to be solid. Marion's only points came right after the second-half kickoff, which took a bounce that fooled Matt Downey. He stumbled a bit trying to recover, thought maybe the ball would go out of bounds, then didn't get to it in time as a Marion player recovered at the Xavier 2. The Indians got a touchdown a couple of plays later, but that was it. Marion only crossed midfield on one possession the entire game, and that was helped by a (truly bogus) pass interference penalty.
(Seriously. I'm not one to be too hard on high school officials - I umpire myself, and had thoughts about football officiating a few years back - but this was a hugely blatant offensive pass interference call. The Marion receiver almost yanked Downey down to the ground by his jersey. But the call went against Downey. Seriously, guys.)
So the Saints win their district in their first year as a 3A school. They did not, however, blow through the season with ease, as so many pundits assumed they would, finishing with a 6-3 record (5-1 in the district, and if you want to be coy about it, 6-1 against 3A competition). Two of those three losses were to defending state champions (Dowling and Regina), but the other one, the district loss to Western Dubuque, came as a bit of a surprise and a wakeup call. Xavier was able to get the district crown on a points tiebreaker, as their record put them in a three-way tie with the Bobcats and Solon.
On to the playoffs. Xavier's first round opponent will be the Comets of Charles City, who finished fourth in a very tough District 3. That district came within 3 points of a five-way tie for first last Friday - Charles City lost to Waverly-Shell Rock by 2 and Decorah lost to West Delaware by 1. If those two games came out the other way ... mass hysteria. Anyway, the Comets are a good, solid team. They lost three games in their district, by a total of 10 points. They defeated a good Decorah team convincingly. It appears their offensive attack is centered around two players - QB Levi Blaine has thrown for over 1000 yards and 12 touchdowns, and also is Charles City's leading rusher. Brian Foster has rushed for 587 yards (8.5 yards a carry!) and 8 touchdowns, and has also caught 13 passes. Those two guys are key for the Comets.
I feel better about Xavier's chances of advancement into the playoffs after seeing their performance against Marion. As I mentioned last week, they're really good on defense, which can carry you a ways, but the offense perked up some and I think that's a very good sign as the playoffs begin. Not to look ahead - Charles City will be tough - but the second round opponents are likely to be either Waverly-Shell Rock or Washington. Waverly-Shell Rock finished second in that tough District 3, while Washington was second in the state last year and has been playing really good football for the past month. Also possible, with some first-round upsets, are Davenport Assumption, Newton or Fairfield, but those are all expected to lose Wednesday night.
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