Well, That Was Something

Do you remember the Cardiac Kids of Xavier? The guys who needed four turnovers - two in the end zone - to hold on to a 7-point win over Davenport Assumption? The ones who came back from a two-touchdown deficit in the 4th quarter to take the lead over Solon, then sealed it with another interception inside the ten? Those guys?

Turned out they aren't gone. They just took a month off.

The Saints stormed back from a 35-7 halftime deficit to score 31 unanswered points - the final 3 on a Dallas Klein field goal as time expired - as Xavier knocked off defending 1A state champion and undefeated Iowa City Regina last Friday. This after four straight games of taking big leads by halftime and coasting to continuous-clock victories in District 4. That's partly why I didn't file a blog for the Dubuque Wahlert game two weeks ago; it was a near carbon copy of the games against Central DeWitt, Maquoketa and Western Dubuque.

(Does anybody even know what a carbon copy is any more? Is it going to just live on as a saying? If so, when will people not really know what it's supposed to mean?)

The Regals and Saints traded touchdowns on their first possessions, but after that, it was all Regina. Nick Phillips was unstoppable, dashing through the Saints for over 200 yards and 3 TDs in the first half. Phillips zipped through small cracks in the offensive line time after time, finding himself 12 yards downfield before the Saints seemed to react. Nathan Stenger was also proving extremely difficult to tackle, as he added a couple of scores on the ground himself. Meanwhile, the Saints were having trouble getting any offense going, as the Regina defense was very quick to react to Xavier's trusty counter plays, and Bryce Schulte (unlike his huge passing day against Regina last year) was misfiring on his throws.

The one bright spot, if there was any, was the fact that Stenger was having difficulty finding his receivers as well. He completed just one pass in the first half. Another event that loomed much larger about an hour after it happened was Emilio Tover's first field goal miss of the year. Tover had kicked 47 extra points and 5 field goals in the previous 7 games for Regina, only missing one extra point and with a long field goal of 39 yards. As the first half drew to a close, the Saints finally held the Regals out of the end zone (for the first time all game), forcing a field goal try from the 8 yard line. Tover, a left-footed kicker kicking from the right hash, actually missed the 25-yarder wide right. At the time, this seemed only to make the difference between 35-7 and 38-7 at the half - but those three points would be huge at the end of the game.

Xavier took the kickoff to start the second half and settled on a steady diet of Maliki Wilson. The junior running back finished the game with 33 carries (two fewer than the school record) and nearly 150 yards. While the Saints mixed in a few fullback dives and short passes, the Regina defense appeared to start bending. Xavier scored on the opening drive to make it 35-14. Mainly, observers thought, this would help the Saints' morale as they prepared for their final game in another week. Perhaps the defense could make another stand and help the morale on that side of the ball as well.

The defense did stop Regina, after one first down, and Xavier got the ball back. Schulte threw an interception on the next play, but the defense stood up again. Phillips and Stenger were being shut down. Stenger's throws, to open receivers many times, were off-target or dropped. Xavier also turned to the option play, which the Regals seemed unable to defend. The Saints scored again with about a minute left in the third quarter, and now it was just 35-21. That's only two touchdowns. Xavier has been down by two touchdowns in the fourth quarter before; this is familiar ground now.

Regina continued to struggle moving the ball, and the Saints continued to roll up yards on the ground. Schulte scored on an option keeper with about six minutes left; then, after a short punt returned to the Regina 33, he scored on another. With 3:22 to play, the Saints had come all the way back and, incredibly, tied the game.

Now Marv Cook and his men knew it was time to dig deep and find that intestinal fortitude to turn this collapse into a convincing win. Regina had not lost in regulation since the 2009 playoffs. Their only loss of any kind since then was an overtime loss to an inspired Solon team at the beginning of the 2014 season. The Regals were five-time defending state champions, running roughshod over Class 1A with multiple wins over Class 3A competition (including Xavier last year). A tie game in the fourth quarter? We can handle that.

Stenger started putting together a drive. He finally connected on a couple of big pass plays, and those (along with two big 15-yard penalties against Xavier) got the ball nearing field goal range. Still a big outside that, at the Xavier 21 with right about a minute left, Stenger dropped to pass, looking to put this game away with 6 points. He looked to the right, threw down the seam -

And Xavier's Blake Whitten stepped in front of the receiver at the goal line and picked it off. Just like the big interceptions at the end of the Assumption and Solon games, the Saints' defensive backfield came through when they needed it most. Whitten raced down the far sideline, nearly breaking it all the way before being brought down at the Xavier 42.

Still, 58 yards were between the Saints and victory, and less than 60 seconds were on the board. Xavier did still have two time outs, and that was huge. Schulte found Nick Stark along the sideline to pick up 13 yards into Regina territory. As the clock stood at 10 seconds with the ball at the Regal 48, Regina looked for a pass play that would get the Saints into field goal range.

Instead, Coach Schulte called the fullback dive, a quick-popping play that had worked for decent first-down yardage throughout the game. This time it broke big, as Sean Murphy raced down the middle of the field to the Regal 18. Immediately Xavier called time out with 3.3 seconds remaining. In came the field goal unit. Mike Fettkether made the snap, Whitten set the ball on the grass, and Klein booted it right down the middle as the scoreboard read all zeroes. The 35-yard kick was Klein's longest of his career, and just the third of this season (he'd had nine last year).

The Saints had come all the way back, keeping their record perfect at 8-0 and handing Regina a stunning loss.

All of this in a non-district battle that had no impact on postseason play. Yet, a thrilling, exciting, well-played battle between two strong, well-coached programs that was fun to watch and lasted the full 48 minutes.

Speaking of postseason; both these teams are in the state high school playoffs already. Xavier actually clinched the District 4 title the week before with their win over Wahlert; Regina could still end up in a three-way tie for their district, but that would take a loss to a 1A opponent (which actually hasn't happened ever since the Regals dropped to 1A in 2012). Xavier could wrap up an undefeated season with a win at Marion this week (8-0, true, but zero losses is zero losses). They will host a first-round game at Saints Field on Wednesday, October 28. Still some things could happen this week to change qualifiers around the edges, but I think Waverly-Shell Rock is a likely first-round opponent. The Go-Hawks will finish fourth in a tough District 3, and they'll prove to be a pretty darn good fourth-place team. Another possibility, should Fairfield knock off Clear Creek-Amana this week, is the CCA Clippers. That squad is from just down the road, and would prove an intriguing opponent should they match up against Xavier in the first round.