Catching Up

Yes, I know, I know ... it's been over a week since my last Xavier football post. Heck, the Saints play again tonight, and I'm just getting around to telling you about last week's game. Sorry.

I always had the notion (which was bolstered by the opinions of most other folks) that once our kids moved away and we became "empty nesters," we'd have all sorts of extra free time. No more high school sporting events to go to, no more rehearsals or practices, no more trips to show choir contests, or choral concerts, or college visits ... it would just be me and my wife, filling all this extra free time with spa visits and long vacations and languid hangouts on our deck.

So why does it seem like we have less free time now than we had when our children were here and in school? It makes no sense - it's not that we're doing all sorts of activities (heck, I would love to be involved in a theatre production more than once a year, but that's the most I can seem to handle) but work and errands and everyday life just has seemed to expand to take up all the available hours in a day. It's weird. It's not bad, things are great (we did find time to take in the Beatles tribute band The Fab Four last night, which was a lot of fun), but it's just really unexpected. I mean, there are a ton of movies coming out that I really, really want to see - and I don't know when I'm going to squeeze out the time to see them. Maybe "The Martian" on Sunday or Monday evening. Cross your fingers.

Okay, on to the Saints. Once again Xavier went to the big play - one short pass from Bryce Schulte to Blake Whitten turned into a 75-yard touchdown, and a medium-length throw to a wide-open Maliki Wilson resulted in a 61-yard TD - and they rolled over Western Dubuque 35-12. With the win Xavier clinched a berth in the Class 3A playoffs, with the opening round Wednesday October 28.

Western Dubuque had upset the Saints last season, using a well-crafted defensive gameplan to stymie Xavier's offense (the Saints had zero pass completions and their only score came on a fumble recovery). The Bobcats were struggling much more coming into this game, with their only win a 10-point victory over Class 2A Dyersville Beckman. But coach Justin Penner drew up another tough, gutsy defensive game plan that again slowed Xavier's ground game to a crawl in the first half.

The Saints were much more successful through the air, however. Schulte ended up with 4 touchdown passes, giving him 14 through five games (equaling his TD pass total through all 13 games last year) and racked up 206 yards passing. The Saints used field position and the passing game (mostly) to roll to a 28-0 halftime lead, extending it to 35-0 halfway through the third quarter. Xavier was able to pick up 180 yards rushing, eventually, but had to fight for any of those first-half yards. Western Dubuque, meanwhile, had an excellent scoring chance just before halftime, driving inside the 5 thanks to a couple of 15-yard penalties on Xavier, but Dylan Gotto's last-second pass was too high for his receiver in the end zone.

So after the tight 14-7 win over Davenport Assumption and the thrilling 22-19 comeback vs. Solon, the Saints have been on an offensive roll, beating Central DeWitt 42-6 and leading Maquoketa by 42 points and Western Dubuque by 35 before allowing late scores in both those games. Things are looking pretty good as Xavier heads down the home stretch and into the playoffs.

Tonight's game has some newsworthy points: it's homecoming, just as it was last season when Western Dubuque came in and left with an unexpected victory; it's against a former MVC foe in Dubuque Wahlert; and perhaps most newsworthy, if Xavier wins, they wrap up the District 4 title here in Week 7 (only the winner of tonight's Solon-Maquoketa game could catch the Saints, and since Xavier has already beaten both of them, the title would be in the bag). District champions get some real benefits come playoff time - they are guaranteed home games for the first two rounds, and a district champion can't be paired against another district champion until the third round.

As for Wahlert, the Golden Eagles come in with the top rushing game in District 4 at 173.5 yards per game (Xavier is just behind at 167.0), with Mason Flynn, Lyle Klein and Kelan Dickson combining for nearly 900 yards. They also boast the district's second-best passing defense, only allowing 95 yards per game through the air. The reason for that, though, is nobody throws on Wahlert because they're rolling over them on the ground. The Golden Eagles allow nearly 240 yards per game rushing, which is really not good. Even with their good numbers in passing defense, Wahlert has only the 4th-best overall defense in the district. Another big issue has been injuries - Wahlert is down to their fourth quarterback, sophomore Chris Ripley.

Xavier should have an excellent opportunity for a big win tonight, then wrap up their district schedule in two weeks at winless Marion. The way seems clear for 6-0 district record and their second straight District 4 title. Attention among many, of course, will start turning to Iowa City once we reach the fourth quarter tonight, as Xavier travels down I-380 to face defending Class 1A champion and undefeated Iowa City Regina. At the start of last season, minds were contemplating the clash of Xavier and Regina with the Regals' state-record winning streak on the line, but Solon knocked off Regina in the 2014 opener and Western Dubuque's win over Xavier took some luster off that game (it was still quite a game, tied in the fourth quarter with Xavier shutting down the Regals' top back, until he broke free for a long touchdown run and Regina scored twice late for the win). This year, though, it looks very likely both Xavier and Regina will be unbeaten when they face off in their non-district battle next Friday. Should be fun!

First things first, though.