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.
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