Friday brought one of the most anticipated high school football matchups of the year when Iowa City Regina came to Cedar Rapids to take on Xavier. When the schedule came out last February, lots of people circled this date on their calendars. After all, Regina was riding a 56-game winning streak at the end of 2013, and had won four straight state titles (2A in 2010 and 2011, 1A in 2012 and 2013). Xavier was one of eastern Iowa's strongest 4A programs over the past several years, with a state title of their own in 2006 and back-to-back appearances in the championship game in 2012 and 2013.
So then Regina went out and dropped their season opener to Solon (another 3A program taking on the 1A Regals), ending the winning streak and taking some of the luster off this October game. Xavier also dropped their opener, but since it was to defending 4A state champ Dowling, it was pretty much expected. A bigger surprise was the Saints' district loss to Western Dubuque a couple of weeks ago, so both contestants took quite a bit of the hype off this game well before it actually arrived.
And yet ... Regina has been asking bigger programs to play them on the field for years, and with the exception of Solon, has always been denied. After their season-opening loss, the Regals have rolled through the rest of their schedule pretty much unchallenged. Of course everyone knows former Iowa and NFL tight end Marv Cook leads the coaching staff ... he's gone 95-6 over seven-plus years as head coach there (and four of those six losses were to Solon!). His son Drew is the quarterback, a 6 foot 5 inch athlete with good speed and a great touch on throwing the ball. Jake Brinkman is a fantastic athlete at running back and linebacker. Nick Phillips is a speedy receiver/returner who also gets some touches at running back, averaging nearly 18 yards a carry. And Michael Adam is a sturdy linebacker with a great nose for the ball. Three of those four guys would play huge roles in the game against Xavier.
You could tell from the outset it was going to be a well-matched contest. Both teams traded possessions through the first half, with the edge having to go to Regina. Xavier did pick off Cook for his first interception of the season, but were unable to get points on the drive when they missed a 28-yard field goal into the breeze. The Regals got on the board in the second quarter with a seven-play drive; Cook had a great run to get the bulk of the yards, then a great throw-and-catch (by Nathan Stenger) set up Cook for a 2-yard dive for the score. Xavier's defense did stand up Cook on the run - twice - but he kept the legs driving and finally got in.
In the second half, Regina kept moving field position in their favor but the Saints defense kept making the key stops. The Xavier offense finally got a drive going early in the fourth. Starting at the 20, Xavier moved the ball down the field, picking up three first downs as they drove into Regina territory. Facing a 4th and 3 at the 25, the Saints showed a tight short-yardage formation, but Bryce Schulte dropped back and threw to Joe Welch near the left sideline. The Regal defender went for the ball and missed, and Welch took it all the way to tie the game at 7.
Regina responded on the next play from scrimmage. Xavier sent a blitz, which they did a lot throughout the game. Brinkman - who had only 9 yards rushing in the first three quarters - managed to get past the wave of blitzers, then found nobody else left to stop him. He ran 71 yards for the score and instantly put Regina back in the lead.
After the Saints were unable to answer with their next possession, Brinkman started the next Regina drive with a 39-yard run, going from 9 yards rushing to 119 yards in two carries. Cook later found Eric Bracken for 39 yards on the Xavier sideline at the two, with Bracken making a tremendous catch and coming down with the ball even though Caleb Billick was all over him. Cook took it in on the next play, and it was 21-7 Regina. That turned out to be the final score.
The Regal players were humble and effusive in their praise of Xavier afterwards, repeating the fact that almost all the other big schools in the area turned down offers to play Regina. That's pretty easy to do when you go to Xavier and take a win away, but it's a fair point. The fact is, regardless of the class they play in, Regina is a really good team with really good, tough athletes. Adam was all over the field making stops. Stenger and Bracken made some really great, athletic catches, and Brinkman came through when it mattered, even though he'd been completely neutralized for three quarters.
Xavier had some fine performances as well. I was amazed by a couple of catches - Noah Clasen hung on to the ball as he was drilled by a tackler (that was, unfortunately, the drive that ended with the missed field goal). Nick Stark and Thomas Ickes had incredible catches right in front of the Xavier bench. Give credit to Schulte, who threw very well on the night against a pretty sturdy Regina defense.
As we move to the final game of the regular season, a few takeaways from what I've seen so far. Xavier is a good team. Not great, but good and solid. The defense is really, really good. They could make the difference in some of the upcoming playoff games. After giving up 24 points to Dowling (remember, two of those touchdowns came on short fields after interceptions), the Saints have allowed 6, 0, 3, 6, 7, and 12 points before the 21 scored by Regina (and 12 of those points, against Maquoketa and Wahlert, came against the second team defense). They are good.
I have reservations about Xavier's offense, though. They've proven they can dominate teams that don't measure up, with points and yardage explosions against Central DeWitt, Maquoketa and Wahlert. However, they have been less successful against quality defenses, struggling to pick up yards on the ground against Dowling, Western Dubuque and now Regina. Solon is the outlier here, as the Saints did have a pretty good showing offensively, but even then 7 of Xavier's 28 points came via the defense on an interception return.
So can the offensive line get a solid running game going against quality teams once the playoffs arrive? That's the real question I have. Once you get to the third round, or even, possibly, the second this year in eastern Iowa, you're looking at some pretty darn good teams. It's going to be a real challenge for Xavier to step up and make their way to the semifinals in the Dome this year. It's not out of the question, but they'll have to prove they can run the ball against tough defenses.
Xavier plays Marion this week, a Marion squad that is on a 7-game losing streak. The Indians don't get blown out or give up a lot of points, but they have trouble scoring. If Xavier, Solon and Western Dubuque all win on Friday, it's a three-way tie for the District 4 title at 5-1. Should Xavier beat Marion by at least 2 points, there's no way Solon can catch them on the points tiebreaker, so the way looks pretty clear for a district crown for Xavier.
Looking at the rest of the probable playoff field, it looks like Charles City would be a likely opponent for Xavier in the first round on October 29. Charles City are no slouches - they've beaten Decorah this year, and lost to playoff qualifiers West Delaware by 7 and Independence by 2. Should the Saints advance to the next round, they might be looking at Waverly-Shell Rock, or last year's state runner-up Washington, or possible rematches against Western Dubuque or Davenport Assumption, or maybe even Solon. None of those are going to be easy. Getting to the third round means facing another district winner, like West Delaware or Clear Creek-Amana or even Pella, or a team that knocked off one of those titleists (Solon here, maybe - the Spartans are playing really good football right now).
So, folks, like I said earlier this season ... it's not going to be the case for Xavier to stroll their way into Class 3A and walk away with the trophy. If they do happen to win the state title, they are going to have to earn it. The road even to the semifinals looks very, very tough, especially now that the Saints have revealed some offensive weaknesses in this years' team. The next couple of weeks should show just how much grit and determination these kids have in them.
No comments:
Post a Comment