Yes, The Playoffs Are Coming

In past seasons, I've usually been excited to put out my playoff predictions and prognostications as we roll into the final weeks of the high school football season. While I've done my work and posted it on the Iowa Preps message board, I have fallen short by not putting it up here for all my blog followers. All ... there's one or two of you, I know.

So now there's only one week left, and things are almost set as far as qualifiers go. What's not decided, though, are those pesky at-large spots, which causes a lot of uncertainty as far as bracketing and possible playoff opponents go. In the past two seasons, you knew a fourth-place district finisher would have to play a district champion in the first round, with a third-place team at a second-place team. The options were limited. It's different now ... you'll have seven district champions and seven second-place teams, with two at-large, so the at-larges will be at district champions, and five of the second-place teams will be at district champions, with two second-place teams facing each other, with geography driving the decisions, not to mention we can't know the at-large teams until after Friday night's games ... no wonder the state is going to have a televised playoff bracket show this Saturday morning.

Anyway, let's look at what we've got at the moment:

DISTRICT 1

• Storm Lake and Sergeant Bluff/Luton are in the playoffs. They play each other Friday to decide the district champion.
• Sioux City Heelan can get to 5-2 in the district and make the at-large pool with a win over Spirit Lake.

DISTRICT 2

• Boone is in the playoffs. They'll win the district if they beat Webster City.
• Webster City wins the district if they beat Boone. They are in the playoffs unless they lose and Gilbert beats Dallas Center/Grimes, and even then they're in the at-large pool.
• Gilbert is in the at-large pool at least if they win. If Webster City also loses, they finish second and are in for certain.
• Dallas Center/Grimes can make the at-large pool by beating Gilbert.

DISTRICT 3

• Xavier has won the district.
• Benton will finish second.
• Waverly-Shell Rock can get in the at-large pool with a win over Charles City.

DISTRICT 4

• West Delaware wins the district if they beat Maquoketa. If they lose they are at worst in the at-large pool, and that only if Davenport Assumption beats Marion and Clear Creek/Amana beats Central De Witt. In that case, Assumption and Clear Creek/Amana are the top two finishers and West Delaware is in the at-large pool; in all other cases, West Delaware is in at least a tiebreak for an assured playoff spot and would likely get first or second.
• Davenport Assumption is in if they beat Marion or if West Delaware loses. They'd still be in the tiebreaker pool with a loss and a West Delaware win.
• Clear Creek/Amana is in at worst a tiebreak situation if they win and West Delaware loses. They're in the at-large pool with a win and a West Delaware win.
• Marion is in if they beat Davenport Assumption.

DISTRICT 5

• Solon has won the district.
• Oskaloosa will finish second.

DISTRICT 6

• Pella has won the district.
• The winner of the Norwalk-Carlisle game will finish second. The loser will be in the at-large pool.

DISTRICT 7

• The winner of the Creston/OM-Carroll game wins the district, the loser will be second.
• Glenwood can get into the at-large pool with a win over ADM.

To recap: ASSURED PLAYOFF SPOTS

• Storm Lake
• Sergeant Bluff/Luton
• Boone
• Xavier (district champion)
• Benton
• Solon (district champion)
• Oskaloosa
• Pella
• Creston/OM
• Carroll

ASSURED AT LEAST AT-LARGE CONSIDERATION

• Webster City
• Davenport Assumption
• Norwalk
• Carlisle

IN AT-LARGE POOL (at least) WITH A WIN

• Sioux City Heelan
• Gilbert
• Dallas Center/Grimes
• Waverly-Shell Rock
• Marion (in playoffs for certain with a win)
• Clear Creek/Amana
• Glenwood

So, your likely district champions are Storm Lake/Sergeant Bluff-Luton, Boone/Webster City, Xavier, West Delaware (probably), Solon, Pella, and Creston-OM/Carroll.

Likely second-place finishers are Sergeant Bluff-Luton/Storm Lake, Webster City/Boone, Benton, Davenport Assumption (likely), Oskaloosa, Norwalk/Carlisle, and Carroll/Creston-OM.

Here's the issue with matchups: the state is going to bracket. They can't have more than two district champions in any of the four brackets, for balance. We'll likely have Xavier/Solon/West Delaware all grouped in the east. One of those three will have to be bracketed with Pella, most likely (perhaps Boone instead of Pella, depending on how things shake out) - which means if it's Xavier (which is the westernmost team of those three) you're looking at a potential matchup of 10-0 teams facing each other in an elimination game in the quarterfinals, with one of them not even making the Dome. Sad!

(Note of interest: if that Pella-Xavier matchup did happen, it would be at Saints Field. Playoff sites between teams of equal district records/finishes is based on the alphabet, starting with the letter "J" for 2016. The team LAST alphabetically is the host team; Pella comes after "J,", and Xavier, Cedar Rapids comes after that, so Xavier would be the home team. Should the state put Xavier in a bracket with Boone instead, and those teams met in the quarterfinals, that would be at Boone.)

Falling Behind

There's a double meaning in my title for this blog. First, the fact I've been falling behind in posting. That's on me (of course - who else would it be on?). With a trip out of state immediately following the Xavier-Waverly/Shell Rock game on the 7th, and the necessities of life piling up over the following week, well ... I didn't get to this.

So let's quickly go over the Waverly/Shell Rock game. It looked like perhaps Xavier's toughest game of the season, and almost certainly their toughest game in District 3. The Go-Hawks had the district's toughest defense (giving up fewer than 35 passing yards per game!) and a balanced offense featuring the district's leading passer in John Stensland and one of the leading rushers in Gabe Santioemma. Waverly/Shell Rock needed a win to keep hopes of a top-two finish in the district and a playoff spot.

So, naturally, the game turned out to be almost a carbon copy of Xavier's dominating win over the last-place Independence Mustangs the week before. Actually, Xavier set a record by allowing the fewest yards in a game ever (just 22 yards from the Go-Hawk offense, including -1 on the ground) as the Saints cruised to a 42-0 victory. Xavier's defense harassed Stensland all night, and stopped the ground game cold. Maliki Wilson, the state's leading rusher in Class 3A, ripped his way to a new career rushing mark and Bryce Schulte threw for nearly 100 yards.

On to the second meaning of my title. Xavier rolled into Friday's home game against a 2-5 Vinton/Shellsburg squad on a pretty high note; coming off two straight shutouts, the offense setting records, an undefeated season continuing with a playoff spot assured. The Vikings, on the other hand, were struggling with one of the district's poorest season performances - although they were coming off a shutout win of their own, a 39-0 blanking of poor Independence. It looked like another mismatch on the Saints' road to a deep playoff run.

Vinton/Shellsburg took the opening kickoff, and used their deceptive single-wing/wing-T offense to immediately rip off a 12-yard gain on the first play. On the fourth play, fullback Wes Edwards took a handoff up the middle, burst through the line, and found a wide-open field. He didn't stop until reaching the end zone 71 yards later. The Vikings went for two, and Xavier trailed 8-0. It's the first time the Saints had fallen behind (Aha! There it is!) an opponent since the third quarter of their game against Linn-Mar all the way back on September 2.

Okay, so, big play, big deal. Xavier would certainly respond, as they had scored on their opening possession of the game all seven times this season. They'd outscored opponents 122-6 in first quarters over the year, shutting out everyone except Iowa City Regina in the opener. So the Saints rolled out for their first possession and ... went three and out. On their second possession, they drove 47 yards, but missed a field goal try. On their third possession - hold on now, we're in the second quarter already? And still trailing 8-0?

The Saints realized they had their hands full. Vinton/Shellsburg, led by former Cedar Rapids Jefferson coach Jim Womochil, was prepared and fired up. While their offense slowed down a little after breaking the big-play TD run, defensively the Vikings were on top of nearly everything Xavier tried to run. Wilson was trapped at or behind the line of scrimmage multiple times. Screen passes to the slot receiver were stopped at the point of the catch. Option plays had a man on both Schulte and Wilson.

Finally, midway through the second quarter, Xavier got their heads in the game and buckled down. It started after the Vikings drove to the Saints 20-yard line after a personal foul penalty. Edwards ran for 5 to the 15, Tanner Davis ran for 1, Will Edwards was tackled for a loss of 1, then Blake Bohnsack's 4th down pass fell incomplete. Xavier took over on downs and started a 9-play, 85-yard drive. A clutch 15-yard pass from Schulte to Brett Burns on 3rd and 8 was a big play, then Schulte found his brother Quinn down the middle between two defenders, with a nice throw and a nice catch combining for a 37-yard TD. Wilson took the ball to try for the two-point conversion, but was stuffed. Xavier still trailed 8-6 with 3:15 left in the first half.

Still in the bank for Xavier's defense was their turnover ratio. Over the season the Saints had forced 16 turnovers, while turning the ball over only twice themselves. Nine of those 16 turnovers led directly to points, with the Saints getting 59 points from turnovers in the first seven games. So, here, with less than 3 minutes left in the half and trailing 8-6, it was the perfect time for Josh Gerke to nab Bohnsack's overthrown pass for an interception inside Vinton/Shellsburg territory.

A penalty on the return moved Xavier back to their 49, where Schulte found Schulte for 11 yards on 3rd and 10. A Wilson 15-yard run got into the red zone, and after another penalty, Schulte found Burns beating his defender for a 25-yard TD pass. The two-point conversion failed again, but Xavier had retaken the lead at 12-8 with 31 seconds to go in the half.

Remember that note about Xavier scoring on their opening possession every game but this one? Similarly, the Saints had scored on the opening drive of the second half every game but Linn-Mar. They took the kickoff, had a great return up to the 43, but found themselves facing a 4th and 1 at the Vinton/Shellsburg 48-yard line. Now fullback Erik Rodriguez stepped up. Rodriguez put the team on his back all night, with nice lead blocks and terrific efforts every time he touched the ball, whether it be on a screen pass reception or, as in this case, he gets the carry up the middle. This time he blasted his way for the first down ... kept his feet driving ... broke a couple of tackles and got loose ... split two more tacklers downfield ... headed for the pylon ... and dove for the end zone as he was caught from behind. The ball broke the plane as Rodriguez finished an incredible 48-yard run that put Xavier up 18-8.

Now the Xavier defense stepped up again, as well. A three-and-out for the Vikings set up Xavier at the Vinton/Shellsburg 38, where a play later Wilson ran away from everyone for a 34-yard score. The next Viking play was a fumble; their next possession another three and out. Late in the third quarter Will Edwards ripped off a 22-yard run, but that was followed by a loss of a yard, a sack, and an incompletion (Vinton/Shellsburg would complete zero passes on the night, save for their two-point conversion).

The Saints weren't doing much with the ball either, with a series of three-and-outs taking us into the fourth quarter. A terrible shanked punt by Ryan Jasper gave the Vikings the ball at midfield, where Will Edwards took off on another long run to the Xavier 15. On third and 10, Bohnsack looked for his tall tight end, Nate Struve, and fired a good pass about shoulder high. It bounced off Struve, though, high into the air and intercepted by Nolan Butkowski at the goal line. Butkowski ran it back to the 27.

And Xavier applied the coup-de-grace (can I put French into this blog? Doing it). An 11-play, 73-yard drive, eating up nearly all the rest of the quarter, featuring yet another "I'm not going down, y'all" 22-yard run from Rodriguez among five first downs on the drive, ended with a 2-yard scoring pass from Schulte to Schulte. It was 32-8 and that's how it would end.

You look at the final score, you think another smooth win for Xavier. You were there to watch, you think, that was a tough win that might have exposed some things for future opponents. The Saints still have some work to do, even at 8-0 with the district title in hand.

Outgunned, outmanned

That was Independence last Friday night. The Mustangs came to Saints Field already suffering from a rough season (only one touchdown in five games), but they arrived with about a quarter of their roster missing practice for at least part of the week and their top rusher (Ethan Holt) and receiver (Cyrus Butters) both in street clothes.

It went about as you would expect. Xavier rolled to a 45-0 victory (so still just one touchdown for Independence on the year) behind two TD runs from Maliki Wilson, two TD runs from Bryce Schulte, and two TD passes from Schulte. The Saints defense held Indee to negative yards rushing, about 40 yards total offense, and gave up one first down (that came in the last half of the fourth quarter).

This week Xavier moves on to Waverly-Shell Rock, as the playoff picture starts to emerge. The Go-Hawks are in a tie for second at the moment with a 3-1 district record (along with Benton and Charles City). Waverly-Shell Rock has already lost to Benton, and the Bobcats play Charles City this week. Basically, wins by Xavier and Benton Friday almost certainly mean those two teams finish atop District 3 and earn playoff spots (Xavier has 1-5 Vinton-Shellsburg next week and finishes with 3-3 South Tama; Benton plays 0-6 Independence and finishes with Vinton-Shellsburg).

So Waverly-Shell Rock is in a must-win situation. They already lose a head-to-head tiebreaker with Benton, so dropping the head-to-head with Xavier almost guarantees they can't get into the top two spots. The Go-Hawks are no Independence, by the way - they feature the saltiest defense in District 3 (giving up 146 yards per game on the ground and a crazy 38 yards per game passing, for under 185 yards per game total), and while they're in the middle of the pack offensively, John Stensland is the leading passer in the district with 886 yards and 10 touchdowns.

On the Xavier records front, Maliki Wilson is just 122 yards away from breaking Brendan Miller's career mark of 2498 yards rushing. Considering Wilson is averaging 184 yards per game, that mark should fall this week. He's also just 4 rushing TDs away from Will Martin's 9-game season record of 17, set in the championship year of 2006, and 22 points away from Martin's 9-game record of 114. Bryce Schulte (who already this season set school career marks in total TDs and pass attempts) is 39 yards away from his brother Reggie's career record of 4092 total yards, 4 TD passes away from Reggie's career 49, 35 completions from Reggie's 265, and 543 passing yards away from Reggie's 4002. The only one of those that should fall this week is the total yardage record, but a big game could get him the passing TD mark as well. The career completions mark should be Bryce's by the time the season is over ... the passing yardage mark might take a good playoff run (or a huge passing night) before Reggie gives that up.

Flooding the Zone

Okay, a little tacky with the title this week. Yes, it's a football term, but with the Cedar River about to crest at around 23 feet in Cedar Rapids - and with flooding all over northeastern Iowa over the weekend - perhaps not in the best of taste.

Speaking of which, what the heck? We just went through a 500-year flood a scant 8 years ago. Now we're expecting the second-highest flood in history? In September, no less? What's going on here? You might want to look at this for a notion of what might be going on ... just sayin'.

On to football things. Xavier rolled to 5-0 on the season and 3-0 in District 3 with a convincing 38-6 win over Decorah. The Saints got a little bit of payback for being outplayed and outscored by the Vikings last November in the playoffs, but this was mainly a case of Xavier just doing their thing and rolling down the field. On the Saints's first three possessions, they had drives of 12 plays, 13 plays, and 8 plays, amassing over 200 yards and scoring three touchdowns. It's hard to do any better than that.

Jake Muhlbauer was a highlight for Decorah. Okay, he was the highlight for Decorah. He ran for 104 yards, got the Vikings' only score of the night, had multiple kickoff returns for good yardage, and was all over the field on defense (11 tackles, I believe). The Vikings had no turnovers on the night, so that was a plus, but they did have both an extra point and a field goal attempt blocked.

Maliki Wilson was huge once again for Xavier, rushing for over 200 yards and picking up his 10th and 11th rushing TDs of the year, the last a 76-yard burst through a wide-open hole on the right side of the Saints' offensive line. Bryce Schulte threw for 171 yards (including two deep throws to Nolan Butkowski) and a touchdown, as the Saints rolled up more than 400 yards of offense. Shane Scott even got in on the fun, nailing a 44-yard field goal in the fourth quarter. I got all excited, calling it "perhaps the second-longest field goal in Xavier history," (the record is a 48-yarder by Taylor Lynch all the way back in 2004) but a little after-the-fact research found three field goals longer than 44 yards just since 2011 (all by Ryan Persick).

And speaking of records, Wilson is closing in on Brendan Miller's school career rushing record of 2498. He already broke Miller's single-game record back in Week One, and now with four regular-season games remaining, Wilson is less than 300 yards from the career mark.

And then there's playoffs! No, Xavier has not locked down a spot, not yet, but they are the current prohibitive favorites to take the District 3 title. Before the season Decorah was a strong co-favorite, but they already have 2 district losses. Waverly-Shell Rock looked to be stepping up next, but they dropped a 2-point decision to Benton on Friday. South Tama, another contender, has already lost to Charles City. Benton defeated Decorah and Waverly-Shell Rock in back-to-back weeks, already has a loss to Xavier (for tiebreaking purposes). So right now, Xavier is at 3-0. South Tama, Waverly-Shell Rock, Charles City, and Benton are all at 2-1. Waverly-Shell Rock and South Tama have yet to play Xavier and Decorah, as well as each other.

Then there's Independence, this week's Xavier opponent. The Mustangs improved steadily each of the past four years, finally reaching the playoffs in 2014 and posting an 8-1 record last year. In both cases, however, they dropped their first round playoff game. And this year ... well, they're struggling. They've scored just one touchdown all year, late in a blowout loss to South Tama. That's 19 scoreless quarters, out of 20 quarters played (Xavier has scored in 16 of their 20 quarters). They've rushed for only 396 yards (less than 80 yards per game) and passed for 365 yards (with 13 interceptions). It's been a rough year.

Charles City Was NOT In Charge

Yes, I know. It's Thursday. Almost an entire week since Xavier got to 4-0 with a 35-7 win over district opponent Charles City. What can I say? This week got away from me. What with buying a new (well, new to us, anyway) car on Tuesday after test driving it on Monday, and setting up two interviews on Wednesday and Thursday, and then actually, you know, going to work every day ... there's only so much time.

Anyhoo, here we are. The Saints rolled up nearly 400 yards of offense and sacked Comet QB Drew Mitchell five times as they rolled over Charles City. Once again, Xavier got off to a hot start, scoring touchdowns on their first three possessions to take a 20-0 lead after one quarter. Maliki Wilson picked up his 9th rushing TD of the year on a 43-yard run, while Bryce Schulte had scoring passes to Brett Burns and Nolan Butkowski, while the offense pretty much moved the ball at will. The Saints have outscored opponents 62-6 in the first quarter this year, giving up their only points to Iowa City Regina in the opening game.

Xavier picked up another score in the 2nd quarter, when Schulte threw to his wide-open brother Quinn for a 36-yard TD. The Saints then put together a 12-play, 73-yard drive on their first possession of the second half, going up 35-0 on Schulte's 4th TD pass of the game and starting the continuous clock. By this point Xavier's drives had ended TD-TD-TD-punt-TD-kneeldown-TD. Charles City's drives? Punt-punt-punt-punt-punt-turnover on downs, and then two plays after falling behind 35-0 they fumbled. It's tough to come back from 35 down on anybody, but it's really tough against a team like Xavier that was hitting on all cylinders.

Now, the Comets did get some things going. Mitchell was the most prolific quarterback in District 3 coming in - in fact, Charles City had attempted the 4th most passes in the state in Class 3A. The ground game went nowhere, thanks to the Saints' prowling linebackers, but Mitchell ended up throwing for 172 yards, and a 3rd quarter TD that turned off the continuous clock. That came against Xavier's scout team, but it was still a great deep pass down the right sideline to Jaden Foster, who took it the rest of the way for an 83-yard score. With 1:40 left in the 3rd, it was 35-7.

Not much happened in the remaining 13:40, though. Xavier got two first downs on their next three possessions, while Charles City got just one the rest of the game.

This week, it's a trip to Decorah for the Saints. Decorah beat Xavier soundly last November in the second round of the playoffs, right on Xavier's home field. I can't say "revenge" is really something the Saints team thinks about, but there's no doubt they haven't forgotten that game. The Vikings were expected to be one of the top District 3 contenders, but over the first four games they've only really proven they can't put teams away. After losing to a very good 2A squad in North Fayette Valley, Decorah trailed late against Crestwood before putting up a late touchdown to win 13-12. They did pretty much the same thing the next week against Vinton-Shellsburg, giving up a late score to trail 6-0 but then coming back to score in the last minute to win 7-6. Last week the Vikings had a fourth-quarter lead on Benton, but the lead changed hands a few times in the last 12 minutes before going to overtime. Benton intercepted a Decorah pass to end that possession, then kicked a field goal to beat the Vikings in OT.

Decorah really isn't standing out in anything so far, they just seem ... mediocre. Offensively they rank around 6th in the district, defensively they're 5th against the run, against the pass, and overall. Their defense is salty, and they have some really large folks on their lines, which is just what you expect out of a Decorah team. Xavier, meanwhile, has one of the most potent rushing offenses in the state, with a capable yet not flashy passing game. Defensively, the Saints rank 6th in the district overall and against the pass, but have moved up to the 2nd stingiest defense on the ground.

It's a long trip, and that can have an effect, but as we say - it's a much nicer bus trip home when you win. After this Decorah game, the Saints host Independence for homecoming; Independence finally scored their first touchdown of the season last week, but are a rather low-energy 0-4. The big game shaping up is October 7, when Xavier goes to Waverly-Shell Rock. That looks like it could be the deciding game for the district title, depending on how WSR-Decorah plays out next week.

An Early Look At District 3

Just a quick take on Class 3A District 3 after three games, and the first week of district competition.

The teams I expected to contend are Xavier and Decorah, with Waverly-Shell Rock, South Tama and perhaps Independence in the mix. I figured Benton might be somewhere in the middle, and didn't think Charles City or Vinton-Shellsburg would have much to say about the district standings when it was all finished.

I never said I was Nostradamus. And this is why you play the games, right? It's only three weeks in, but there have been a few surprising instances here.

Xavier, obviously, stands at 3-0 (1-0 in the district) and at this point appear to be the team to beat. The Saints have shown some weaknesses defensively, which is surprising, but the running game, special teams, and turnover margin (12-2!) have been terrific.

Decorah (2-1, 1-0) have put themselves into a good challenging position, but the way they've done it! The Vikings suffered a 3-TD loss to North Fayette Valley (a top-notch 2A team), then had to score late to pull out one-point wins against both 2A Crestwood and Vinton-Shellsburg, neither of which is exactly the New England Patriots, if you get my drift. Still, wins are wins, one-point or no.

Waverly-Shell Rock (2-1, 1-0) is right where I expected. They easily defeated Crestwood, lost to North Fayette Valley by 11, then trounced Independence. While score-comparing is a fraudulent art, you can directly compare WSR and Decorah with common opponents:

                         WSR vs Crestwood:       won 31-14          vs NFV:        lost 14-3
                         Decorah vs Crestwood:  won 13-12          vs NFV:        lost 28-7

Hmmm.

Charles City (1-2, 1-0) already got a district win, which is something of a surprise. After losing to a couple of 2A teams (New Hampton and Osage), the Comets welcomed South Tama and took the Trojans to overtime. Charles City won by a point, 28-27. I don't know if South Tama missed the extra point, or if they went for two and the win and failed, but either way, it's a victory for Charles City.

Speaking of South Tama (1-2, 0-1), they've already had two nailbiting one-point losses. After opening with a big win over Grinnell, the Trojans scored late against Williamsburg and decided to go for the win with a two-point try. That failed, and Williamsburg won 14-13. Then the one-point overtime loss to Charles City came last week. The Trojans were one of the state's top 2A teams the last couple of years, so they should be a tough team this season in the district.

Vinton-Shellsburg (1-2, 0-1) just didn't look like they had the personnel to do much this season. They do have one player who has been recruited by a Big 12 program (Kansas State), but I don't know if there's much else there. The Vikings did handily defeat Center Point-Urbana in their opener, then got shut out by Union-La Porte City before giving up the last-minute score in the heartbreaking one-point loss to Decorah. Playing Decorah close makes me think maybe V-S could get something going; on the other hand, we're not sure how good Decorah actually is.

Benton (1-2, 0-1) rolled over 2A Oelwein in the opener, then suffered a tough defeat at Marion (for Marion's first victory in two years; the Indians did win again last week in the mud pit formerly known as Thomas Park, so perhaps Marion is better than advertised). The Bobcats had the toughest assignment of all in their district opener with Xavier, and made enough mistakes to drop the 27-point decision. They do have some players, though, and ought to be somewhere in the middle of the district when all is said and done.

Finally, Independence (0-3, 0-1). This is the big surprise of the year so far, I think. Indee made a lot of noise the past two years, with I think 2 regular season losses in 2014 and just one loss last year. Their roster did indicate they graduated a lot of playmakers from those teams, however, with very little experience coming back. Perhaps the success the past two years were from a class or two of solid players who have now moved on. It appears that way, at this point, because after three weeks of football, Independence has yet to score. Yep, they've been shutout three times, and all solid thumpings (48-0 by West Delaware, 26-0 by Clear Creek-Amana, 54-0 by Waverly-Shell Rock). Independence goes to South Tama this week, which shouldn't be any easier. Could be a long season.

Just A Little TCB

District play got started Friday night in Iowa (at least in most classes; 4A still has a couple of non-district weeks to go), and Xavier headed down the road to Benton Community for their first district game of the season. Xavier had outfought the top team in 1A (Regina) and came back from behind against a 4A team (Linn-Mar) in their first two games, while Benton had whipped 2A Oelwein and then got thumped by a top 2A team in Union-La Porte City.

Both teams featured pretty good ground attacks. Xavier's Maliki Wilson was the leading rusher in the state coming in, with 554 yards and 6 touchdowns on the ground. Maurice Williams and Spencer Touro had combined for over 300 yards for Benton, but Touro apparently had been hurt in the Union game. That also meant Luke Wiebel would be quarterbacking for the Bobcats. Defense has not been Xavier's strongest point this season, which is atypical for the Saints - they actually ranked last among all 8 District 3 teams in yards allowed after the first two games.

The weather was the main focus throughout the day. The forecast was for periods of heavy rain and thunderstorms moving through eastern Iowa in the afternoon and evening. While rain would just be uncomfortable and an impact on the passing game (Bobcat Stadium features a nice Field Turf field, so no mud to deal with), any lightning meant an automatic 30 minute delay. There were indeed periods of torrential rain in Cedar Rapids during the early afternoon, but the radar indicated that area wasn't too large. What was worrisome was a large swath of red and orange returns in central Iowa bearing down on us. Benton announced they were shortening the quarters of the preliminary game to 8 minutes instead of 10, and then hoping to get the varsity game started right on the heels of that game.

As I drove west to Van Horne at around 5:30, I could see the wall cloud, or leading edge of the stormy area, stretching from north to southwest and heading eastward. Just as I turned off Highway 30 to head the last 3 miles north to Van Horne, the storm hit. Strong, gusty winds and downpours of rain were everywhere, but I did not see lightning or hear any thunder. Okay, then. Reaching Van Horne the rain had lessened, so it seemed to be just steady precipitation. At the field, they had suspended the preliminary game (which actually turned out to be a sophomore game for Xavier, vs a combined freshman/sophomore team for Benton) just because of the torrential rain, and coaches were discussing how to move forward. The sky appeared to be much less dark to the west by now.

As I got to the press box to set up, the sophomore teams headed back out to the field to restart the game. Immediately, there was a flash of lightning, and the teams basically just turned around and headed back to the locker room. Even though the storm had passed and was moving away, there was enough periodic lightning to keep resetting that 30-minute clock. The decision was made to call the preliminary game (it had made it to the 3rd quarter), and hope to start the varsity game as soon as the lightning ended. Which it did, around 6:20 or so, meaning warmups started about 6:50 and the game got underway very near the expected start time.

It turned out to be a fairly pleasant evening, as the rain let up and the storms did not return. Xavier just went out in a workmanlike fashion and picked up their initial District 3 win, rolling to a 47-14 decision thanks to some big plays, turnovers, and special teams play. Nothing huge on offense, fairly steady on defense. Benton played solidly, but made some mistakes and Xavier certainly cashed in on those.

Special teams played a role early, as Xavier's first punt return of the game saw Josh Gerke return it 30 yards to the Benton 25. The Saints took five plays to run it in, with Erik Rodriguez getting the TD. Benton's next possession saw them pushed back by penalties, then the snap on the punt play went over Riley Pfiffner's head. He got to it, tried to kick it, but only booted it about five feet straight up. Xavier recovered at the 3, and Wilson ran it in on the next play. Benton then got some offense going, but Wiebel threw an interception on Xavier's side of the field. Bryce Schulte returned the favor by throwing an interception on the next play, deep in Benton's end.

Special teams again. The next Benton punt saw Wilson cut in front of Gerke to steal the return at the Xavier 40. The Saints set up a nice wall along the right sideline, and Wilson was finally caught at the 4 yard line. Schulte ran it in from there, and Xavier held a 21-0 first quarter lead.

Things settled down in the second quarter as the teams traded a couple of possessions. Late in the quarter, though, Benton fumbled near midfield. Xavier immediately made them pay, as Schulte dropped a perfect pass into the hands of Nolan Butkowski for a 33-yard gain, then directed Butkowski to the middle of the end zone before zipping a 21-yard TD pass.

Xavier came right out in the second half still fired up. It only took three plays, as Wilson took a pitch to the left, spun away from one tackler, picked up his blockers and ran 49 yards for the score. The Xavier coaches sent out junior Nick Koechner for the extra point (Shane Scott had been doing the kicking previously), and he pulled the kick wide right. That meant the lead was 34 points instead of 35, so the continuous clock did not go into affect.

On Benton's next possession, they again picked up yards behind Williams on the ground, moving out toward midfield. Then Wiebel rolled left, looked back right to pass, and threw it to Saints linebacker Jack Lemke. Lemke had a wide-open field ahead, taking it back 49 yards for the TD. Koechner booted this extra point through, and it was 41-0 with the continuous clock now rolling.

The Bobcats responded with a fine 10-play drive, covering 76 yards in all. Xavier did have mostly replacement players out on the field, getting real-time game experience, but it was still an impressive drive. Williams got the score to cut it to 41-7, stopping the continuous clock.

Benton's next possession - another turnover, this time a fumble at the 3 yard line. After a loss and a penalty, Jack Scott, the third quarterback of the game for the Saints, ran it in from 10 yards out. Shane Scott was back for this extra point, and he missed (maybe so Koechner wouldn't feel so bad? I kid, I kid). Still, 47-7 was the edge, and back to the continuous clock we go.

Benton responded with another 10-play scoring drive, making it 47-14 with just over 6 minutes to go, but there was nothing left in this game but three consecutive three-and-outs.

A basic performance by Xavier, going on the road to pick up that first district win, keeping it on the ground almost the entire game and using special teams and turnovers to pretty much control field position for three quarters. Special teams (especially punt returns) have been huge all year so far for Xavier, and the turnover advantage has been significant - Xavier has 12 takeaways to only 2 turnovers, and they have converted 8 of those 12 takeaways directly into points). Next week the Saints are back home to face Charles City, a team that didn't look to do that much this season, but who did defeat a tough South Tama squad in overtime on Friday.

Gut Check - Answered

The Xavier Saints finished up the non-district part of their schedule on Friday with a blast from the past - a matchup with a former MVC opponent in the Linn-Mar Lions. This would be Xavier's first game against a 4A school since the state championship game in 2013. There's a really long story involved, with the MVC basically becoming meaningless for football when the state instituted districts, and Xavier electing to play 3A football since that's the size they were and there wasn't really an MVC for football, and all the metro-area 4A coaches saying, "You know, we'll just play other 4A competition and not Xavier, thank you very much." Yeah, it's actually a longer story than that, but you get the gist.

So Linn-Mar stepped up to be the first metro 4A to add Xavier to their schedule. Linn-Mar was kind of boxed in, as far as travel goes - to get other 4As in their non-district schedule, they would have had to reach out to schools in Dubuque or Epworth or the Quad Cities. Picking up Xavier meant a pretty solid, traditionally tough opponent, without the mess and bother of traveling outside of town.

Xavier had picked up a tough win over Iowa City Regina in their first game, behind Maliki Wilson's school-record 291 yards rushing, while Linn-Mar had played Iowa City High tough for three quarters before giving up multiple scores late in their opener. The Lions had only been able to get two field goals against the Little Hawks, so they were looking to get into the end zone against the Saints.

Things did not start out the Lions' way. Neme Siaway lost a fumble on the second play of the game, and Xavier turned that around and marched downfield, scoring on a 7-yard pass from Bryce Schulte to Wilson. After the Saints held Linn-Mar on their next position, Josh Gerke fielded the Kirby Kerr punt at the Xavier 45, headed to the right sideline behind a wall of blockers, and got all the way to the three-yard line after a 53-yard return. Two plays later Schulte dived in over the right side, and Xavier looked to be in control with a 14-0 lead.

On Xavier's third possession, though, the tide turned. Wilson fumbled near midfield, giving the ball to the Lions. Now Linn-Mar got their offense started, driving inside the 10. The Saints defense held firm and forced an Austin Cochrane field goal, but whether the teams and the crowd knew it or not, the momentum had switched sides. After a Xavier three-and-out, Linn-Mar put together another strong drive, twelve plays long, this one ending with a 3-yard TD run by Brennan McGaffee for the Lions' first touchdown of 2016. Now the Xavier lead was cut to 14-10.

That's how the half ended, although Xavier missed on a wide-open sure TD pass down the middle, and a couple of penalties stymied the Saints later in the second quarter. Still, Linn-Mar was feeling pretty good.

Both sides went back-and-forth to begin the third quarter with little success, until Siaway broke things open for the Lions. Apparently catching the Saints' defense in a stunt or formation with nobody back on the side he ran to, the Linn-Mar back burst over the right side and found nothing but open field ahead. His 68-yard scoring run put Linn-Mar on top 17-14 with just under 5 minutes to go in the third quarter, the first time Xavier had trailed in this young season. The Saints offense had done next to nothing in the last six possessions, since Wilson's fumble in the first quarter. They were in some trouble, and it was time to look inside and take a serious gut check.

That check wasn't really answered on the next possession. A sack put the Saints behind the sticks, then a well-timed double pass fell incomplete when Nolan Butkowski wasn't able to connect with Gerke. The Lions got the ball back with the lead and time running out in the third quarter.

Again a big play lifted the Lions. Reese Phillips found Aaron Pistulka behind his defender down the left sideline, picking up 67 yards down to the Xavier 23. Were the Lions about to go up by two scores?

Here comes the gut-check answer. Butkowski made the interception of a Phillips throw, returning it to the Linn-Mar 37. The Saints were able to pick up a couple of first downs, then capped the drive with a 24-yard field goal by Shane Scott to tie the game at 17. Xavier's defense gave up one first down on the ensuing Linn-Mar possession, then forced the punt.

Wilson picked up 5 yards on first down, giving him a hard 30 yards in 12 carries on the night (remember, he had 291 yards a week ago). Another gut-check answer: Wilson exploded through the line, much like Siaway in the third quarter, finding nothing but empty space ahead and no Lion defenders able to run him down. The 70-yard run put Xavier up 23-17 after a rough snap botched the extra point.

Linn-Mar drove near midfield before being forced to punt, and this time pinned Xavier all the way back at the 2. Schulte dived for a yard on first down. On second down - nearly a carbon copy of Wilson's previous carry. He burst over the right side, raced down the Xavier sideline, and tied another Xavier school record with a 97-yard scoring run. The Saints picked up the two-point conversion, and it's now 31-17.

That gut check has been answered pretty well, right? Well, Quinn Schulte intercepted Phillips on the next Linn-Mar play, and two plays later ... it's kind of like a broken record for Maliki Wilson. This time he's chased down the sideline by Trot Carey, who stayed with him up to about the 10 before fading away, and Wilson racked up a 66-yard scoring run. Another school record falls to Wilson, with 26 points on the night (three TDs rushing, one receiving, and the two-point conversion). Take note of this: Wilson had his hard 30 yards rushing three possessions ago. Since then, he's carried the ball four times for 234 yards and three scores. His six touchdown runs on the season? In order of length, 31, 62, 66, 68, 70 and 97 yards. Ridiculous.

Yet Xavier is not done. Phillips, who threw an interception on Linn-Mar's previous play, fumbled the ball away on their next. Three plays later Brian Lang ran it in from 17 yards out, and the Saints took the game 45-17. A game in which Xavier trailed with about 9 minutes to play turned out to be a four-touchdown margin of victory.

Next week district play begins, with Xavier facing Benton Community in a Class 3A District 3 opener. The Bobcats blew out 2A Oelwein in their first game, but then dropped a 23-point decision to Marion, giving the Indians their first win in two years. Benton features a strong ground game with juniors Maurice Williams and Spencer Touro, who've rushed for 305 yards and 5 touchdowns. Looking ahead in the district: Decorah was trounced by North Fayette Valley (one of the state's top 2A teams) before pulling out a late win over Crestwood; South Tama hammered Grinnell, then lost to Williamsburg by a point when they failed on a late two-point try; Waverly-Shell Rock beat Crestwood easily but put only 3 points on the board against NFV; Vinton-Shellsburg cruised over Center Point-Urbana but were blasted in a shutout by another top 2A team, Union-La Porte City; Charles City lost to a couple of 2A schools; and Independence has yet to score a point.

Running Down A Dream

The Xavier Saints' 2016 season kicked off under overcast skies, in temperatures not usually seen in late August in Iowa. Considering Xavier's last three season openers had to deal with weather delays of one form or another - including last year's complete cancellation thanks to nonstop lightning - this pleasant Friday evening was a delightful change of pace.

Not so pleasant, though, was the opponent for this non-district opening game - the rather daunting Regals of Iowa City Regina, coached by former Iowa Hawkeye and NFL player Marv Cook, winners of six consecutive state championships. losers of only two games in the past six seasons. These Regals came to Saints Field needing to replace most of their ball handlers from last year's 13-1 squad, but returned three big 270-pound linemen in the middle of both the offensive and defensive lines.

Xavier, meanwhile, returned their entire backfield (quarterback Bryce Schulte, fullback Erik Rodriguez and tailback Maliki Wilson) along with three offensive linemen who had received all-district honors in 2015 (Sam Meyers, Max Johnson and Ryan Jasper). While the Saints' defense was a little less experienced, Xavier certainly had the horses to try to improve on last year's second-round playoff exit.

This matchup turned out to be all that anyone expected. Xavier took the early lead on their second play, a 68-yard run by Wilson (the first of many long runs for the speedy senior - he ended up breaking the school's single-game rushing mark with 293 yards) and never trailed, but Regina had an answer for every Saints touchdown to keep within dangerous striking distance. The Regals answered Wilson's long score with a 70-yard TD run by Brady Bigley, but the tying extra point was missed.

In the second quarter, a blocked punt set up Regina in the red zone, and with 1st and goal at the 4 it looked like the Regals would be able to take the lead. The Xavier defense stepped up big time, with a tremendous goal line stand that kept Regina out of the end zone, with Schulte capping it off by bringing down Jake Phillips for a loss on 4th and goal from the 1. Xavier took over and put together perhaps the drive of the game, moving all the way downfield, the big play a 32-yard pass from Schulte to Brett Burns. Schulte finished off the drive from 3 yards out to put Xavier up 14-6.

Remember when I said Regina always had an answer? Three plays later, Tommy Rapp found Isaac Vollstedt open downfield, and Vollstedt evaded tacklers and outraced everyone for a 53-yard touchdown. Coach Cook elected to go for two and the tie, but Xavier's defense (still feeling their oats after that goal line stand) stopped the try, keeping it 14-12.

Regina threatened again late in the first half, moving from their 31 to Xavier's 20, but a Rapp pass into traffic in the end zone was intercepted by Josh Gerke.

The second half started much like the first. On Xavier's fourth play, Wilson ran over the right side, found a little room, then saw Bigley in his way in the defensive backfield. Wilson lowered his shoulder and charged into Bigley, standing him straight up before shucking him away and dashing the rest of the 31 yards to the end zone. Xavier was up by 9, 21-12.

That didn't last long. Again, three plays later, Regina answered. And again, it was a big play from Rapp to Vollstedt. This time Vollstedt got a fantastic block downfield just after catching the pass, springing him down the left sideline and resulting in a 47-yard score. Back to two points, 21-19.

The teams exchanged possessions the rest of the third quarter, but the big concern for Xavier came after a 20-yard Wilson run. It looked like he might break free for another score, but a Regina defensive back went low and took out his legs. Wilson did not get up, even after some minutes of attention from the trainer and Xavier coaches. Once he got up, he got to the sideline only with plenty of assistance, barely putting any weight on either leg. I got to tell you, it looked really bad.

While Wilson was being worked on on the Xavier sideline into the fourth quarter, Regina got the ball back and moved into Xavier territory. Remember when the Saints stopped the threat late in the first half with an end-zone interception? This time Rapp tried to set up a screen, but McClain Burger sniffed it out, stepped in front of the receiver and picked off the pass near midfield. This turnover resulted in another strong drive from Xavier. Wilson even got back into the game (apparently only suffering from muscle cramps: I say "only" knowing they were no doubt very painful, but not something to lose a season over), but Rodriguez was leading the charge this time. Schulte finished it off once more with a 10-yard TD run, and the Saints were back up 28-19 with only 3:50 left to play.

Once again, you need to remember things from earlier in this game. Because once again, Regina responded. This time with a 7-play, 76-yard drive (the key play a 36-yard pass from Rapp to Jack Jensen down to the 4) and put the ball into the end zone to cut it back to two points again, 28-26, with 1:55 on the clock. Of course Regina was going to try the onside kick, and it nearly worked - except the Regals were really, really offside on the attempt. After the penalty, they went with the pooch kick, but Xavier was able to make the catch.

And then, Maliki Wilson. He carried for three yards, then for one. Then he swept to the right, broke through the front seven, and dashed down the Xavier sideline. Michael Conlon gave chase, looking to have a good shot at pushing Wilson out of bounds around the 20. Wilson extended a rather powerful stiff arm, stopping Conlon in his tracks and breaking him free for what turned out to be a 62-yard TD run to make it 35-26 with 50 seconds left. It was Wilson's third score of the game and put him over Brendan Miller's school mark of 271 yards set in 2013.

Regina tried to throw their way back downfield (once again, again) but Nolan Butkowski intercepted a Rapp pass with only a few seconds left to finish things off.

Not particularly a well-played game in every facet - Xavier ended up with several penalties, Regina had several great opportunities for big pass plays that were either dropped or just off-target - but a very entertaining matchup and a tremendous test for both squads as they head into the 2016 season. Next week the Saints face an old MVC foe, Linn-Mar, as the Lions turn out to be the first metro 4A team willing to put Xavier on their schedule since district football came to eastern Iowa in 2014.

I Apparently Forgot Math

Yep, seems I forgot how to add. That's got to be the only explanation for how I could mess up the numbers for the Xavier school records that might fall this year in my earlier post about them. Thank goodness Excel does the math for you; a quick little formula for a couple of cells and suddenly I realize I'm thankful I don't have to ever take the ACT again.

Anyway, let's get things set the way they oughta be. First of all, I had overlooked Bryce Schulte's freshman passing stats in adding up his current career totals, which left out 5 completions, 6 attempts, 82 yards and (importantly) 2 TD passes. I also hadn't included his single TD reception that he got against Central-DeWitt in 2014. Throwing those stats into the mix, as well as discovering a previously overlooked Xavier school record, shows Bryce is TIED with his brother Reggie for the school mark for total TDs (rushing, passing, and receiving). Both the Schultes have a total of 54, with Bryce looking at another season to play.

Bryce is 921 total yards off the school record, as well as 1253 passing yards, 63 pass attempts, and 13 TD passes. Reggie currently holds all those records, which Bryce has an excellent shot to surpass this fall (he's averaged 160 attempts, 1333.5 passing yards, 1476.5 total yards, and 17 TD passes the past two seasons). Bryce is also 89 pass completions away from Reggie's school-record 265, which is reachable (although Bryce has yet to complete more than 87 passes in a season).

So, yeah. I'm pretty sure those totals are now correct (I earlier had Bryce needing less than 900 total yards to pass Reggie, but I have no idea how I came up with that number. I then corrected that to over 1000, which also turned out to be wrong, because I added wrong AND I didn't include his freshman numbers. Arrgh).

We are less than a week away from the kickoff of the 2016 season! Check back here each week to keep up with the Xavier Saints and what else is happening in 3A District 3 (I see the Gazette picks Charles City and Vinton-Shellsburg to finish high in the district, with Waverly-Shell Rock picked to finish last. Huh. Not what I was thinking, but who knows, right?).

Freshmen on Friday?

Eventually, I suppose, things had to change with Xavier becoming a 3A football school. All those MVC traditions, with games at Kingston and rosters filling both sidelines and all those other trappings of 4A football, you know they couldn't last. Turns out that includes the sophomore football game being played on Fridays immediately before the varsity game.

The state has some rules about the amount of competition a football player can take part in over the course of a week, which is good for players' health, of course. Players can play in a maximum of two games in a week, with a one-day maximum of five quarters. Now that Xavier finds itself matching up with 3A schools - many of which have considerably smaller rosters than you may be used to seeing - these rules are coming into play. Particularly, a school like Charles City or Vinton-Shellsburg may need to use a significant number of sophomores to play in their varsity games. Trouble is, if those sophs play a full game, they can only play one additional quarter in the varsity game (five quarters per day).

We noticed an effect from this at last year's Regina game. Quite a few of the Regal players from the evening's sophomore game also played in the varsity game, and the Regina coaching staff had to do some well-planned substitutions to make sure nobody played more than five quarters. Well, in 2016, too many of Xavier's opponents found those restrictions too tough to handle while still allowing adequate rest/rotation/playing time for everybody.

So - we are only going to see one sophomore game for Xavier on a Friday night this year, October 2, when the Saints play 4A Linn-Mar. For all the following weeks, the Xavier freshman team will take the field on Fridays at 5:00 pm to warm things up for the following varsity game at 7:30. It's just different, that's all - the sophomores will end up playing Monday evenings most of the season (although it does appear Charles City is not mounting a sophomore/JV team this season, so there's only 8 sophomore games on the schedule).

For most of these 3A teams, it can be a challenge to put together a full freshman and a full sophomore squad. Back in my day, at a 2A school, we only had junior varsity and varsity. I imagine some of Xavier's opponents this year might be stretching a bit to have three full teams (which does explain the moving of the sophomore or JV game away from Friday, since many of those kids are going to have to fill roles for the varsity as well).

Anyway, a quick look at the season:

VARSITY (all Fridays, of course, except semifinal and championship)

August 26                      Iowa City Regina              H               7:00
September 2                   Linn-Mar                          A                7:30
September 9                   Benton Community          A                7:30
September 16                 Charles City                     H                7:30
September 23                 Decorah                            A                7:30
September 30                 Independence                   H                7:30
October 7                       Waverly-Shell Rock         A                7:30
October 14                     Vinton-Shellsburg            H                 7:30
October 21                     South Tama                      A                 7:30
October 28                     First-round playoff           TBA           7:00
November 4                   Second-round playoff       TBA           7:00
November 10                 Semifinal                         UNI Dome   5:36/8:21
November 17                 Championship                 UNI Dome   7:06

SOPHOMORE

Thur August 25             Iowa City Regina              H               6:00
Fri September 2             Linn-Mar                          A               5:00
Mon September 12        Benton Community          H               6:00
Mon September 26        Decorah                            H               6:00
Mon October 3              Independence                    A               6:00
Mon October 10            Waverly-Shell Rock          H               6:00
Mon October 17            Vinton-Shellsburg             A               6:00
Mon October 24            South Tama                       H               6:00

FRESHMEN

Thur August 25              Iowa City West                 A               6:00
Thu September 1            Linn-Mar                          H               6:00
September 9                   Benton Community          A                5:00
September 16                 Charles City                     H                5:00
September 23                 Decorah                            A                5:00
September 30                 Independence                   H                5:00
October 7                       Waverly-Shell Rock         A                5:00
October 14                     Vinton-Shellsburg            H                 5:00
October 21                     South Tama                      A                 5:00

A Look At The 2017 Schedule

I thought I might take a moment to look over Xavier's opponents for the season, maybe see what players those teams have coming back and how those teams have been trending. Then I thought, I shouldn't just do that for myself. Maybe I'll post it online.

How about that? Here we go.


IOWA CITY REGINA

Last year:      13-1, 1A state champions
Since 2012:    54-2 (six straight state championships)

Last meeting with Xavier: Last October, Xavier trailed 35-7 at the half and had no answer for Nick Phillips. Phillips got hurt, though, and barely played in the second half as the Saints stormed back to tie the game at 35-all in the 4th quarter. Regina drove to the Xavier 20 with about a minute left, when Blake Whitten intercepted Nathan Stenger's pass and returned it near midfield. Dallas Klein's 36-yard field goal as the clock ran out won the game for Xavier 38-35.

Returning contributors from 2015:

• Jared Brinkman  (72.5 tackles, 6 sacks)
• Michael Conlon  (114 yards, 1 TD rushing; 157 yards, 1 TD passing; 11 catches for 145 yards, 1 TD; 32 tackles, 5 INT)
• Thomas Rapp      (393 yards, 3 TDs passing; 23 catches for 259 yards, 2 TDs; 35.4 punt avg)
• Isaac Vollstedt    (210 yards, 2 TDs rushing)
• Mason Simpson  (154 yards, 2 TDs rushing)
• Jack Johnson      (20 catches for 263 yards, 2 TDs)
• Trae Rogers        (47.5 tackles)

Regina always plays a lot of players at several different positions, which they can do when they get so far ahead of so many of their opponents all the time. While they've lost quite a few great players (Nick Phillips, Nathan Stenger, Justin Hunter) they've got great players still out there. You know a six-time state champion football team is going to be really, really good.

LINN-MAR

Last year:      4-6, lost in 1st round 4A playoffs
Since 2012:   18-21 (won their 4A district in 2014)

Last meeting with Xavier: Linn-Mar is a former MVC partner of Xavier, prior to the Saints moving to 3A when districts came to 4A in 2014. They met in the last game of the regular season in 2013, when Brendan Miller set a Xavier school record with 271 yards rushing in a 44-14 Saints win.

Returning contributors from 2015:

• Reese Phillips   (1587 yards, 13 TDs passing; 188 yards, 3 TDs rushing)
• Brennan McGaffe (463 yards, 3 TDs rushing; 18 catches for 173 yards)
• Josh Gassman    (25 catches for 321 yards, 3 TDs)
• Kirby Kerr         (15 catches for 348 yards, 1 TD; 31.9 punt avg)
• Joshua Strauss   (50 tackles, 4 INT)
• Neme Siaway    (208 yards, 5 TDs rushing; 31 tackles)
• Alex Striecher    (43 tackles, 2 sacks)
• Jace Meyers       (38 tackles, 2 sacks)
• Austin Cochrane (7-9 extra points, 3-3 field goals)

Linn-Mar returns a lot of experience from last season. I would expect they should post a better record than last year's 4-6.

BENTON

Last year:      5-5, lost in 1st round
Since 2012:   10-27

Last meeting with Xavier: Despite their stadiums being about 20 miles apart, these two teams have never met.

Returning contributors from 2015:

• Riley Pfiffner  (848 yards, 7 TDs rushing; 783 yards, 9 TDs passing; 52.5 tackles, 3 INT)
• Spencer Touro  (58 tackles)
• Sam Maresh    (234 yards, 2 TDs rushing; 34.5 tackles, 3 sacks)
• Vance Bartlet  (20-22 extra points, 2-3 field goals)

Benton has had a tough go of things over the past several years, but was able to squeak into the playoffs with a fourth-place district finish in 2015. The Bobcats find themselves in a much tougher district this year, however, and with not a lot of returning experience, this could be another long year.

CHARLES CITY

Last year:      3-6
Since 2012:    8-26

Last meeting with Xavier: The Saints defeated Charles City 35-6 in a 1st round playoff game in 2014.

Returning contributors from 2015:

• Drew Mitchell    (1027 yards, 10 TDs passing)
• Jaden Foster      (25 catches for 461 yards, 3 TDs; 38 tackles, 5 INT; 30.6 punt avg)
• Tyreaque Baker (321 yards, 1 TD rushing; 2 INT)
• Alex Koehler     (161 yards rushing; 42 tackles, 1 sack)
• AJ Maloy           (29 tackles, 2 sacks)

An experienced quarterback-receiver combination is back for the Comets, but not a lot else.

DECORAH

Last year:      6-6, lost in quarterfinals
Since 2012:   36-11 (state 3A champions 2012)

Last meeting with Xavier: Decorah ended Xavier's undefeated season in the second round of the playoffs in 2015, beating the Saints 30-21 while outplaying Xavier in almost every facet of the game.

Returning contributors from 2015:

• Dawson Meyer      (13 catches for 148 yards, 1 TD; 1 INT)
• Shawn Sindelar     (11 catches for 186 yards, 1 TD; 56.5 tackles, 1 INT)
• Andy Lillegraven  (49 tackles)
• Adam Hovden       (44 tackles)
• Jacob Roher           (141 yards, 1 TD rushing)
• Brendan Numedahl (114 yards, 3 TDs rushing)
• Dominic Mueller   (28 tackles)
• Cade Klimesh        (31.4 punt avg)

In the post-mortems of Xavier's loss to Decorah last November, I heard some talk about how young Decorah was and they were about a year ahead of schedule as far as their football success. Looking at the stats, however, they really don't bring back much experience on offense. Plenty of good defenders coming back, though, and they might have some experienced linemen - that's always hard to tell from looking at stats.

INDEPENDENCE

Last year:      8-2, lost in 1st round

Since 2012:   21-17 

Last meeting with Xavier: Never met.

Returning contributors from 2015:

• Isaiah Miller      (45.5 tackles, 1 sack)
• Mason Wood     (108 yards rushing; 33 tackles, 4 INT)
• Cyrus Butters     (3 INT)

Indee sort of rose from the dead the past few years, making the playoffs for the first time in school history in 2014 and then making it two years in a row last season (with a second-place finish in their district behind West Delaware). Looking at the stats for returning players, though, it looks like they've graduated a huge number of contributors to those two playoff teams, and there's not a lot coming back. Attitude makes a big difference, though, and once players get a taste of success they can achieve it again.

WAVERLY-SHELL ROCK

Last year:      6-4, lost in 1st round (to Xavier)

Since 2012:   26-16 (in playoffs all four years)

Last meeting with Xavier: Xavier has played the Go-Hawks in the playoffs in both 2014 and 2015, with the Saints winning a second-round game 33-20 in 2014 and then holding on for a hard-fought 14-7 win in the first round last year.

Returning contributors from 2015:

• Joey McNally  (28 catches for 450 yards, 2 TDs; 24.5 tackles, 5 sacks)
• Jacob Norton   (22-25 extra points, 1-3 field goals)

Again, like Independence and Benton, there's not a lot of experience coming back for Waverly-Shell Rock (although, there could be solid returnees on the offensive line that don't show up in the stats). This program has established itself as a perennial playoff contender, though, so they should be in the mix for the top of the district.

VINTON-SHELLSBURG

Last year:       3-6

Since 2012:   10-26

Last meeting with Xavier: Never met.

Returning contributors from 2015:

• Will Edwards      (78 tackles; 78 yards rushing; 56 yards passing)
• Wes Edwards      (71 tackles, 1 sack, 1 INT; 6 catches for 52 yards)
• Drew Wiley        (60.5 tackles, 3 sacks)
• Tyler Bartz          (11 catches for 232 yards, 2 TDs; 35.3 punt avg)
• John Betterton     (23.5 tackles, 1 sack)
• Nathan Struve     (54 yards rushing, 1 TD)
• Tanner Davis       (39 yards rushing)

Some solid defenders for the Vikings - Wiley was second team all-state in 2015 - but the offensive ball-handling positions are going to be fairly untested. Vinton-Shellsburg has never made the playoffs in their history. Former Cedar Rapids Jefferson head coach Jim Womochil is the head coach for the Vikings.

SOUTH TAMA

Last year:      11-1, lost in 2A semifinals

Since 2012:   31-13  (8 or more wins in 3 of last 4 seasons)

Last meeting with Xavier: Never met.

Returning contributors from 2015:

• Clayton Rosenberger     (794 yards, 3 TDs passing)
• Isaac Judge                    (44 tackles, 2 INT)
• Kolbie Clark                  (192 yards, 3 TDs rushing; 4 catches for 111 yards)
• Lane Koch                     (141 yards, 2 TDs passing)
• Nathan Weiss                 (44-51 extra points, 3-3 field goals)

South Tama had some success in Class 3A a few years back, then dropped to 2A where they also were very strong. 2016 finds them back in 3A. Again, not a huge number of experienced players coming back, but this is a solid program with a very good head coach (Jay Hoskey was the Class 2A Coach of the Year last year). The Trojans will be another contender for the district crown.

Remember, for the 2016-17 cycle the state has expanded the districts to 8 teams instead of 7, and cut the playoff qualifiers in half (to 16 rather than 32). This means only the top two finishers in each district are guaranteed to make the playoffs. By comparison, in the last two seasons just three teams per district did not qualify for the playoffs. This year six teams in each district aren't getting in (well, there's kind of a caveat there with the two "wild card" teams to fill out the 16 team bracket, but for all intents and purposes ...). The top contenders in District 3 this year, in my opinion, appear to be Xavier, Decorah, and South Tama, with Independence and Waverly-Shell Rock also in the mix. I doubt that Benton, Charles City or Vinton-Shellsburg will be in the running for a playoff spot this season.

But that's just one guy's thinking. In about a month the players will get out on the field and start making things count. 

Keeping the Old Gang Together

I thought I'd get this out publically and officially, in case anyone happened to be wondering. Mike Winker will continue to be part of the KMRY broadcast team for Xavier football this fall.

Winker stepped down as Activities Director at Xavier in June. He had been the school's first and only AD since classes began in 1998, having served earlier as AD at Regis High School (which joined with La Salle High School to become Xavier). For those 18 seasons, Winker had filled the commentary role for KMRY's broadcasts of Xavier football, missing just three games in all Xavier's history.

With Mike moving on to other roles, it was an open question whether he might elect to stay on with KMRY to do the football broadcasts. After all, there's travel to exotic spots like Decorah, Waverly, Independence and Tama coming up this year. But he did decide to stay on, with Scot Hughes (that's me) handling the play-by-play for his seventh season.

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I also wanted to mention some of last season's football honors, at least so far as some of the returning players for Xavier in 2016. Of course the offense will return the entire backfield (QB Bryce Schulte, FB Erik Rodriguez and TB Maliki Wilson) along with a couple of linemen. The defense returns two or three players who may not have been starters all season, but contributed a lot and were practically starting players by season's end. So there's a decent amount of experience coming back from what turned out to be a 9-1 Saints squad in 2015.

The players returning who were honored as Class 3A All-District 4 first team players include Schulte, who was District Player of the Year; Wilson; and offensive lineman Sam Meyers. Second team honorees who will be back this year include linemen Max Johnson and Ryan Jasper (Jasper also punted for the Saints last year).

NUM3ER5

Yeah, not so good at the leet-speak. What can I say, I'm an old guy ...

When it comes to sports, there are numbers everywhere. You can practically see them floating in the air above each player's head. Every action that takes place on the field or the track or the court causes numbers to change - batting averages, completion percentages, scoring, race times, minutes played, the list goes on. While these numbers are practically infinite (and no one tracks them all, but plenty of people track lots of different ones), when the totals start to mount up to something greater than anyone from that team, or school, or conference, or state has ever accomplished before, that gets some attention.

As an aside, I can speak to this angle personally. Sort of. I wasn't a tremendous athlete in high school, I'll admit, although I was a two-year starter in football and earned two letters in track and one in baseball. I got to play quite a bit, is what I'm saying. although it was a smaller school (class 2A in football at the time, anyway. They've now dropped to A). My junior year we had a track meet at Keota, which at that time still had a 440-yard cinder track, after almost every other school had gone to 400-meter tracks. Our coach, Bob Gerard, made sure to tell us that since this could be the final time our school ever competed on a 440-yard track, we had the chance to set some school records that would never be surpassed. That stuck with me. If I recall correctly, the 4x440 relay team I was a part of that day did indeed set the school record, so somewhere in a dusty book where all the numbers are recorded, my name is included in that list and it will never be erased. So that's pretty cool. (It might have been the distance medley relay team, but I don't think I ran in that until I was a senior. And it might have even been the 4x880 relay. Look, it was a long time ago and there's been a lot to stick in my brain since then, like the lyrics to Kesha's "Tik Tok" or the "Nationwide is on your side" jingle. Priorities, man!).

This is a long introduction, but what I'm getting to is that, barring injury, several Xavier school records are likely going to fall this football season. So let's take an advance look at the probabilities (so we don't miss the moment when and if it comes).

RUSHING

We'll start with some rushing records. Xavier has had a lot of great feature backs in their history, but Will Martin and Brendan Miller stand out. Martin was a key part of the 2005-06 Saints squad and helped lead the team to the 2006 state title. His scoring records still stand. Miller (2012-13) broke Martin's yardage records, after stepping up to replace Cal Stovie when he was injured in the third game of the 2012 season (unfortunately for Cal, who was on a ridiculous early pace of over 10 yards a carry and 163 yards per game).

Maliki Wilson has an excellent shot to surpass Miller's school record for rushing yards. Miller carried 441 times for 2498 yards in his two seasons (both school marks), for an average 5.7 yards per carry. Wilson - who electrified a lot of Xavier fans when he burst on the scene with the sophomore squad in 2014 - had 183 carries for 1273 yards last year, in only 10 games. Some simple math breaks that down to 7 yards per carry and 127.3 yards per game, both really high numbers.

Wilson doesn't even need to rush for more yards this year than last to take over the school record, as he's just 1225 yards away. Remember, too, it took Miller 28 games to set his mark (25 as a starter) and Wilson has only had 10. It's still going to take a great season - 136 yards per game to catch Miller in the 9 games before the playoffs start - but Maliki has an excellent shot.

His chances at the records for carries and touchdowns are most likely out of reach, though. Wilson would need 258 rushes to match Miller (and the school record for a season is 263). He'd also need 27 rushing touchdowns to catch Martin's 39, and again the current season record is 29. So, it's possible, but it would take a nearly historic performance.

PASSING

Again barring injury, a change in these records is pretty much a sure thing. A caveat, though - Bryce Schulte played in five games as a freshman in 2013, and 2016 will be his third year as the starting quarterback for Xavier. No other Saints quarterback has started for three seasons, including Bryce's brother Reggie, who currently holds almost all the Xavier passing records.

Here are the current school records, held by Reggie (2010-12, although I think he played in only one game as a sophomore in 2010, and that briefly. I think he threw two passes and one was intercepted):

• Pass attempts:              389
• Pass completions:        265
• Passing yards:            4002
• Passing touchdowns:     39

And here is where Bryce stands at the start of the 2016 season:

• Pass attempts:              326               (63 to tie)
• Pass completions:        176               (89 to tie)
• Passing yards:            2749               (1253 to tie)
• Passing touchdowns:     26               (13 to tie)

In addition, Reggie holds the school record for total offense at 4092 yards (obviously all but 90 of those yards were passing); Bryce is currently at 3147 (including almost 400 yards rushing) and is 945 yards away from tying the school mark.

Again, Bryce has the advantage of an extra year as a starter, which doesn't diminish his skills in any way (he's a darn good quarterback, makes excellent decisions on the field, throws with good touch and protects the ball very well). In fact, he's played in 28 games total so far (23 as a starter), while Reggie had 28 games as a starter over his career, so comparing totals right now gives you a good comparison of the two. Bryce's averages over the past couple of seasons are 1505 yards in total offense, 160 pass attempts, 85 pass completions, 1333 passing yards and 17 touchdowns, so he could come in with a slightly below average season in 2016 and still surpass his brother's records.

Oh, yeah. There's a third Schulte brother on the way up. Quinn Schulte will be a sophomore this year.

I'll be keeping track of these numbers as they change over the heads of Schulte and Wilson over the course of the season, so if you tune in to KMRY radio on Friday nights, hopefully I can call the moments when and if these records fall.

A Different Way To See Districts

It's been a while since March, hasn't it? I guess this wild world of blogging is passing me by, mostly ... I mean, I read about all these people who are becoming famous and getting movie/media deals for no other reason than they make their own YouTube channel videos, and my mind boggles. My cousin and I used to make fake radio shows and our own version of the Watergate tapes on cassette back in the '70s. Who would've thought that type of activity could make you famous 40 years later?

Anyway, as summer bears on and I start preparations for another season of high school football, I had the notion to break down the Iowa high school districts in a couple of different ways. I don't know why, just had a thought, and a few hours to kill before work. So, let's start out by looking at Class 3A, which is the class I have the most interaction with.

Iowa re-classifies and re-districts every two years, so 2016-17 becomes a new cycle. Several school districts moved up and down in the classifications, as always happens - but this year the state also changed from 8 districts of 7 teams to 7 districts of 8 (in the classes other than 8-player and 4A; those two are special in their own ways). This increases district games from 6 to 7, which coaches wanted, but also presents some problems of geography in trying to group together 8 schools.

First, and by first I mean last winter when the districts were announced, I made a map grouping the districts by boundary lines. I drew lines on a map of Iowa to divide the state between the districts. This is a common way to view this type of construction; a political map showing congressional districts, for example, might look much like this. Here's the 3A map:

Now, while this is easy to read and understand, it's also a little misleading. Vast tracts of open land far from any of the included schools get included in each district area. It's just the way this map works. It does show, for example, how far-flung a district might be (District 7, for instance) or bizarre choices by the athletic association (the boundary between Districts 4 and 5 is just weird), but it doesn't show the district groupings very well.

Hence, my idea for a "web" style map. Here I would connect the schools in each district with lines. If all 8 schools fit in a type of shape, that's all well and good; but if a school remained inside that shape boundary, I would connect it with the others in a type of webby-looking thing. I think this map works a lot better as far as showing exactly how far apart members of a particular district are, as well as highlighting some real oddities in the district design. Behold:

Here you can see that District 7 really isn't all that much more stretched out than District 1, or 3, or 5, as far as travel. Districts 2 and 6 become much more compact than the boundary map shows. Plus, take another look at that mess between 4 and 5; why, oh why on God's green earth did the state put Clear Creek-Amana in 4 and Solon in 5 when they so obviously should have been switched?

Anyway, that was what I did the first part of this week. I know, such a nerd. Here's a look at the other classes (not 4A; that class doesn't work the same way because you have multiple schools in Sioux City, Des Moines and Cedar Rapids that are in different districts. Drawing those boundaries would be a tremendous pain).

8-player boundary map:

8-player web map:

You can see how western Iowa is a hotbed for 8-player schools, to the point where Districts 6 and 7 practically share some teams.


Class A boundary map:

Class A web map:

Class 1A boundary map:

Class 1A web map:

Some really odd things going on here in central Iowa between Districts 5 and 6, and out in eastern Iowa along Interstate 80 between Districts 3 and 4. Not sure if the state could have done a whole lot better, though; it's just an odd distribution of schools.

Class 2A boundary map:

Class 2A web map:

Here you can really see how Central Lee, down in the southeast corner of the state, is practically on an island by itself. Those road trips to Osceola and Monroe are going to be long hauls. Then again, in District 7 you have places like East Sac County and South Central Calhoun having to get all the way to Shenandoah and Clarinda.

Interesting side note about Central Lee: back when I was in high school in the early 1980s, Central Lee was actually a member of the Blackhawk Conference, along with my high school (Cardinal, Eldon) and places like Harmony, Van Buren, WACO, Pekin, West Burlington and Tri-County. Some conference members started complaining about the cost of travel, so after the 1980-81 school year the conference disbanded. While many of those schools found other conference homes, Cardinal had to go independent for my senior year, so we had road trips to places like Brookfield, Missouri (which is a long freakin' way). So allow me some schadenfreude to see Central Lee (who complained about making conference road trips to Thornburg and therefore helped kill the conference) face road trips to Osceola, Chariton and Monroe. Suck it, Central Lee!