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.