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.
Monday, September 26, 2016
Thursday, September 22, 2016
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.
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.
Sunday, September 11, 2016
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.
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.
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.
Sunday, September 4, 2016
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.
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.
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