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.