It certainly wasn't easy. In fact, it was darned difficult. But the Xavier Saints managed to stay undefeated and advance to the second round of the state 3A football playoffs with a hard-fought 14-7 win over Waverly-Shell Rock at cold, wet, windy Saints Field.
And so the playoff grind rolls on. Iowa has a rigorous or insane football playoff schedule, depending on who you ask. Winning teams end up playing four games in two weeks - the final regular season game on a Friday, the first round on the following Wednesday, the second round on the next Monday, and finally, just four days later, the quarterfinal round on that Friday. Four games, 15 days. For a violent, physical sport like football, the injuries really start to mount up under this regimen.
As far as the first round, Waverly-Shell Rock was going to be a tough first round opponent for some district champion somewhere - it just ended up being Xavier. I thought the GoHawks would probably get send to Webster City, with Xavier getting Fairfield, but the district finish situation in southwestern Iowa didn't go the way I thought and the state travel limitations kind of forced this matchup. Waverly-Shell Rock beat two 4A teams to start the season, then lost only to the three teams that finished above them in District 3. So for a fourth-place team, they were pretty good.
They showed that to the Saints, for sure. A bitter wind from the northwest swept across the field during the entire game, turning the football into a wet, hard rock that became almost impossible to catch with cold, stiff hands. The number of dropped passes had to be close to double digits. The usually reliable Xavier passing attack was limited to 24 yards on the night; not only by the weather, mind you, but by a top-notch Waverly-Shell Rock secondary that played tight coverage on the Saints receivers.
Xavier's defense was no slouch, either, holding the GoHawks to only one first down in the entire first half (that coming on the third play of the game). The Saints struggled as well, finally moving the ball some as the second quarter arrived. Bryce Schulte ran an option play - the same play that worked so well against Regina - and kept it over the right side. Then he kept running. And running. And shifting his hips, and cutting to the far side, and cutting back to the middle of the field. Schulte ended up carrying the ball 65 yards downfield (and probably 85 yards total zig-zag distance) for the game's opening touchdown.
Xavier held Waverly-Shell Rock, who then punted and pinned the Saints back at the 3 yard line. Going into the stiff wind, Xavier answered the challenge. Erik Rodriguez had a couple of big runs during an 11-play drive that covered the entire 97 yards. Sean Murphy finished it off with a 14-yard TD run, and the Saints led 14-0 at the half.
Things continued to go Xavier's way to start the third quarter. After being forced to punt, the GoHawk receiver muffed the ball at the 15 and the Saints recovered. Penalties (again, penalties! Thirteen of them on the night) kept Xavier from advancing much ... and then the GoHawks blocked Dallas Klein's field goal attempt.
That seemed to wake up Waverly-Shell Rock. Two possessions later, starting at their own 17, the GoHawks put together one of the most clutch drives you'll ever see. They converted on 4th and short. They converted on 4th and 15 with a 16-yard pass play. They drove inside the 10, then had a touchdown play called back by a penalty. They faced a 4th and goal from the 21 - and converted when Tanner Krueger lofted a fade pass to Cole Havlovic along the right side of the end zone. The drive took 17 plays and used up the end of the third quarter and about half of the fourth, and the GoHawks were back in it at 14-7.
With the help of (yet another) penalty, the energized Waverly-Shell Rock defense held Xavier to three and out. Back came the offense, moving back down the field, picking up four first downs on the way. Inside the 15 yard line, down by 7, threatening to tie or take the lead, looking to be the rare fourth seed that can knock off a district champion in the first round.
The Xavier defense stood up when they had to. First down, Jamiir Moore was taken down for a loss of 3. Second down, Krueger's pass was incomplete. Third down, another incompletion. Fourth down and 13, ball at the Xavier 14, about a minute and half left. Waverly-Shell Rock called their final timeout. Xavier's defensive coordinator Jim O'Connell dialed up a blitz. Krueger dropped back to throw, and linebacker Bryce Charipar came racing in untouched to sack the GoHawk quarterback back at the 23. That finally sealed the game for Xavier, keeping their record perfect at 9-0 while Waverly-Shell Rock ended at 6-4.
Xavier had to fight every inch to pull this one out, but in a weird night in Iowa, it wasn't the strangest first-round outcome. Sioux City Heelan, for example, last year's state runner-up, dropped their game to Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley. Ballard held on over a weak Algona team, winning by just a point. Harlan, winner of District 8, ended up losing to Creston, the fourth-place team in District 8, by 23 points. The 7-2 Washington Demons dropped a 17-14 decision to 5-5 Solon in overtime. When first round matchups usually aren't that competitive (twelve of the 16 winners in 4A scored over 40 points, and five were over 50), a lot of close games highlighted 3A. Xavier was fortunate to escape the upset.
And the quick rounds continue. It's just Monday for the next game, again vs a District 3 opponent, this time the Decorah Vikings. Decorah has a proud program, with some 15 appearances in the playoffs, five times in the title game and a state championship in 2012. The Vikings actually missed the playoffs last year, for the first time in a while, but returned this year and upset an 8-1 Independence team 14-0 to move on. Decorah has a tremendous rushing attack (over 2000 yards), but are frustrating inconsistent to categorize. They've rolled over some teams, and been rolled over by others. They've passed for 144 yards in a game, and they've averaged 47 yards passing in six others. They've given up rushing totals of 389 and 337 yards, and they've held teams to 57 and 90 yards on the ground. They beat this same tough Waverly-Shell Rock team by 3, and they lost to a rather woeful Charles City squad by three touchdowns. They're just weird.
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