Yes, I know, I have been remiss in keeping this updated. Iowa's compressed playoff schedule is partly to blame - you go from the regular season finale on a Friday, to the first round the next Wednesday, to the second round the following Monday, then the third round the Friday after that. Teams advancing to the quarterfinals play four games in two weeks. It's borderline insane.
Anyway, Xavier is one of those quarterfinal teams. Even though the state threw out the "sister district" concept for this year, where two districts would be paired up for playoff matches through the first three rounds, it didn't make any difference to the Saints. All three of their playoff opponents so far hail from District 3.
In the first round, Xavier took on Charles City. The Comets finished fourth in D-3, but suffered their three district losses by only 10 points total (falling by 6 to West Delaware and only by 2 each to Independence and Waverly-Shell Rock). Charles City came in with a pretty good quarterback in Levi Blaine, who led the team in both passing and rushing, and quite the top receiver in Shane Feller.
Xavier picked up where they left off the season, though. Remember how they forced four turnovers against Marion in the second half? Well, they forced four more in the first half here, making it eight turnovers in the span of four quarters. Bryce Schulte threw for three touchdowns in the half as Coach Schulte decided to keep forcing the ball downfield against a defense stacking the line of scrimmage.
In the third quarter, the Saints ran it to 35-0, including a school-record 97-yard TD run by Nic Ekland, before Charles City was finally able to get on the board. The Comets got their score on a 47-yard pass where the Saint defender gambled on undercutting the play to try for the interception, but missed, allowing Dallas Nehls to run it in the rest of the way. The final tally was 35-6 Xavier.
On to the second round, this time facing Waverly-Shell Rock, the second-place team in D-3. The Go-Hawks had lost only to West Delaware and Class 2A #1 Clear Lake, and averaged over 330 yards per game coming in. Xavier didn't pile up more of the turnovers in this game, but still came firing out of the gate for a big first quarter. On the second possession, Kortmeyer carried all but one play on a 52-yard scoring drive to make it 7-0. After forcing a three and out, Schulte completed passes to Noah Clasen and Ekland for a quick 42-yard TD drive. After another three and out, Nick Stark's 41-yard end around run set up Schulte for another TD pass to Ekland. This one was a beaut, floated between two defenders right into Ekland's hands at the 4, where he took it the rest of the way. It was 21-0 early in the second quarter.
But for those noticing, there's been a little trend developing in playoffs. Charles City put together three strong drives in their loss, turning the ball over on downs at the 7 and the 4, then throwing an interception inside the 16 after a 14-play drive. Waverly-Shell Rock begins the first of four long drives of their own, this one aided by a dumb personal foul penalty on Xavier near midfield. The Saints still hold, forcing a 4th and 6 at the 7 yard line, when Jake Velky makes like Fran Tarkenton. The Go-Hawk QB escapes the Saints rush, retreating all the way back to the 40, then crosses the field from right to left. He finally buys enough time to find Jay McNally in the end zone for the score to make it 21-7. That caps an 11-play, 79-yard drive.
A couple of possessions later Schulte's 52-yard pass to Stark sets up Dallas Klein for a 29-yard field goal, which makes the halftime score 24-7. Some key things happen in the second half. It becomes apparent Ekland - starting fullback and linebacker - is out of the game, unlikely to return. About five plays into the third quarter, Kortemeyer - starting tailback - also hobbles out of the game. It's time for next man in, as Sean Murphy takes over at tailback and rips off a 48-yard run on the way to a 76-yard scoring drive.
Waverly-Shell Rock answers, in nearly a carbon copy of their first scoring drive. This time it's an offsides penalty on Xavier on 4th and 4 that helps the Go-Hawks, then Velky has another scrambling, running, twisting play before finding McNally at the 1. Andrew Ragsdale pounds it in (just the second rushing TD Xavier has allowed against 3A teams all year), and suddenly it's a two-possession game at 30-14. Waverly-Shell Rock's onside kick try goes out of bounds, Xavier capitializes with another field goal to make it 33-14, the Saints intercept Velky on the next drive, and the Go-Hawks are pretty much out of chances.
Waverly-Shell Rock does add two more looooong drives in the fourth quarter - a 12-play drive ends when Velky slips on the rainy grass on 4th down, and an 11-play drive goes 77 yards for the score (on a tipped pass reception by Ryan Sprain) with only 4 seconds left. Xavier takes it 33-20.
A couple of fun notes: Xavier is plus-15 in turnover differential.That's after being minus-1 after three games, so the Saints have dominated in takeaways 18-2 in their last eight games and 9-1 in their last three. Also, Waverly-Shell Rock went for two on their last touchdown and failed, which means the Saints have faced five two-point tries this season and stopped them all.
The quarterfinal opponent is a tough, tough West Delaware team that won the D-3 title. The Hawks' only loss was a 10-0 game to Independence, on a night when West Delaware's quarterback and running back were unable to play. The running back, Coy Roussell, actually missed three games, I think, with mono - and has still run for over 1300 yards. The Hawks average close to 440 yards a game - 440!- which leads the state in Class 3A. The tandem of Roussell and QB Brent Lammers have scored 31 touchdowns on the ground, and Lammers has passed for 11 more. This is a fearsome offensive team, and the Xavier defense, as good as they are, are going to have their hands full.
Not to mention the injury side of things. There's no telling if Ekland or Kortemeyer will be able to play for Xavier. Ekland is a huge loss, both as a blocker and receiver on offense and a hard hitter at the linebacker position. Both guys have contributed tremendously in Xavier's playoff wins. Ryan Williams and Murphy stepped up in the second half Monday night, but they will have to step up even more to give Xavier a chance to move on to the semifinal round in the UNI Dome.
Time will tell, but this is a really tough challenge for Xavier.
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