If you wanted to hear me - a guy who's done football play-by-play for years, but only watched basketball once in a while - try to do basketball on the radio, well, you missed your chance.
I had to step in on KMRY to fill in for Morgan Hawk a few times this month, first for a regular-season girls' game at Prairie, and then three postseason tournament games. My schedule won't allow me to do any more (even though both the boys and girls are still alive in tournament play), so if you didn't hear - too bad.
I don't think I was terrible, but I was only okay at best. I think I did get better by my fourth try, the boys' district final at Mt. Vernon. Basketball is a lot different from football, as far as play-by-play goes, and statkeeping is tricky.
Enough about me on the radio. How about those Xavier basketball teams? The girls rolled into the tournament on an eight-game winning streak, then came from behind at halftime to beat Clear Creek-Amana handily in the regional semifinal (the Saints scored 40 points in the second half. Forty!). Xavier then took on a tough Waverly-Shell Rock team in the final, and freshman Caitlynn Daniels scored a layup with less than a minute left to break a tie, then stole the ball to ensure a win. The Saints are back in the girls' state tournament (not unusual for an odd-numbered year - Xavier has missed going to state in an odd year only once since 2005, with eight appearances and three state titles in that stretch). Xavier takes on Grinnell Tuesday night in their opening game in Des Moines (Grinnell knocked Xavier out of the postseason last year, so maybe the girls are looking for a little payback).
The boys, meanwhile, were just 10-11 in the regular season. Remember, though, they lost their last six games of the regular season in 2016, then caught fire and won the state 3A championship. They started out their defense of the title in a district semifinal at Mt. Vernon Monday against Central DeWitt, and the Saints ran away from the Sabers with a 70-30 win. Nolan Butkowski sank 4 three-pointers to lead the way with 16 points. In the district final on Thursday, Jackson Joens had 19 points and Butkowski, Matthew Mims, Quinn Schulte and Max Techau all scored in double figures to lead Xavier to a win over Mt. Vernon. The Mustangs held an 8-point lead in the first quarter, but Xavier turned it on and led by as much as 17 before winning by 8 themselves. The Xavier boys face Dubuque Wahlert Monday night at the US Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids for their chance to return to the state tournament - Wahlert lost the state championship game to the Saints last year, but had a rebuilding season this year (only 5 wins in the regular season). Wahlert then upset Solon and top seeded Davenport Assumption in district play to advance to this substate final.
Saturday, February 25, 2017
Wednesday, February 15, 2017
Two Roads Diverged
I've been a bit cautious about using this blog much as a personal blog; I guess I figure people who want to know about Iowa high school football and the Xavier Saints squad may not be all that interested in my battles with appliances and yardwork. So, I've come up with a solution.
I will keep this blog going as a Xavier-focused outlet. It will be a way to cover the Saints football season, get my playoff predictions out there, and just blow off some sports-related steam in the late summer and fall. For commentary of a personal nature, I'll try to get that going on another blog, Walking And Talking And Yelling At Trees, if you are so interested.
Thanks a bunch for checking in, and if I don't see you over at WATAYAT, I'll see you here in a few months!
I will keep this blog going as a Xavier-focused outlet. It will be a way to cover the Saints football season, get my playoff predictions out there, and just blow off some sports-related steam in the late summer and fall. For commentary of a personal nature, I'll try to get that going on another blog, Walking And Talking And Yelling At Trees, if you are so interested.
Thanks a bunch for checking in, and if I don't see you over at WATAYAT, I'll see you here in a few months!
Am I Still Here?
Yes, I am. Not that you could tell by the blog ... it appears I dropped off the face of the earth sometime between Xavier's victory over Vinton-Shellsburg and their season finale game against South Tama. Sorry about that ... there was plenty to talk about with the Saints' undefeated season and their playoff run up to the state 3A semifinal. And then that semifinal! Whew!
So okay. Xavier rolled over South Tama 32-8 to finish a 9-0 regular season, taking the District 3 title and a playoff spot. In the first round, they welcomed Davenport Assumption to Saints Field, and dispatched the Knights 52-20. In the quarterfinal round, it was a rematch against district foe Waverly-Shell Rock, third-place finishers in the district who got into the playoffs as one of the two at-large teams. The Go-Hawks upset West Delaware in the first round to advance, only to see a Xavier squad that had blown them out at Waverly earlier in the season, with a Saints defensive effort that set a school record for fewest yards allowed. This game wasn't quite that much of a mismatch, but Xavier did roll to a 38-14 win.
Then on to the Dome, against Pella. Very likely a matchup between the two top teams in 3A, but in the state semifinal. Xavier's defense absolutely shut down the Dutch running game (all but one play, a long TD run by QB Nick Finney), but weren't able to slow down the Pella passing game that much. Conversely, Pella's defense confounded Xavier QB Bryce Schulte into a spotty passing performance (only 46 yards on the night), but the offensive line and Maliki Wilson racked up massive yards on the ground for the Saints (385 yards rushing total, 249 by Wilson).
It was a back and forth game, with no one able to get ahead by more than 7 points. Pella led 21-17 at the half, but Xavier scored on the opening drive of the third quarter to take a 24-21 lead. Pella answered right away to go up 28-24, then two Saints drives in the fourth quarter ended in field goals to put Xavier up 30-28. A Josh Gerke interception of a Finney pass with just over a minute left looked like it could ice the game for Xavier, but the Saints were unable to pick up a first down and had to punt. The Dutch had 45 seconds and 56 yards between them and victory, and somehow ... the biggest play came on 3rd and 2 at the Xavier 48, with the clock running. Finney dropped back to throw, with a Xavier blitz coming at him hard. Two Saints rushers got to him as he threw the ball, seemingly just trying to get rid of it and avoid the sack. Instead Ryan Van Wyk made an incredible catch on the sideline at the 20 for a first down with about 9 seconds left. On the next play, Finney was able to connect with Drew Holterhaus in the end zone for a game-winning touchdown as the clock ran out.
The Saints set a ton of records on the season. I mentioned that school record for fewest yards allowed in a game at Waverly-Shell Rock (22); also Wilson set records for rushing yards in a game (291 vs. Regina), a season (2054) and a career (3327). Schulte set career marks for passing yards (4347), pass attempts (489), pass completions (287), total yards (5103), and total touchdowns (90). And he ended up with a total of 10 interceptions in three complete seasons as a starter (plus 6 attempts as a freshman)!
A lot of losses face the Saints as they head into the 2017 football season, with seniors like Schulte, Wilson, Gerke, Erik Rodriguez, Nolan Butkowski, Shane Scott, John Rocca, Ryan Jasper, Lucas Miller, Sam Meyers, Zach Barish, Max Johnson and others moving on. Will it mean a rebuilding year, with a new quarterback for the first time since 2013, not to mention a backfield that had been the same since 2015, and rejiggering most of the offensive line? Some good experience is coming back on defense, though. We'll go more into the outlook for the Saints come late summer.
So okay. Xavier rolled over South Tama 32-8 to finish a 9-0 regular season, taking the District 3 title and a playoff spot. In the first round, they welcomed Davenport Assumption to Saints Field, and dispatched the Knights 52-20. In the quarterfinal round, it was a rematch against district foe Waverly-Shell Rock, third-place finishers in the district who got into the playoffs as one of the two at-large teams. The Go-Hawks upset West Delaware in the first round to advance, only to see a Xavier squad that had blown them out at Waverly earlier in the season, with a Saints defensive effort that set a school record for fewest yards allowed. This game wasn't quite that much of a mismatch, but Xavier did roll to a 38-14 win.
Then on to the Dome, against Pella. Very likely a matchup between the two top teams in 3A, but in the state semifinal. Xavier's defense absolutely shut down the Dutch running game (all but one play, a long TD run by QB Nick Finney), but weren't able to slow down the Pella passing game that much. Conversely, Pella's defense confounded Xavier QB Bryce Schulte into a spotty passing performance (only 46 yards on the night), but the offensive line and Maliki Wilson racked up massive yards on the ground for the Saints (385 yards rushing total, 249 by Wilson).
It was a back and forth game, with no one able to get ahead by more than 7 points. Pella led 21-17 at the half, but Xavier scored on the opening drive of the third quarter to take a 24-21 lead. Pella answered right away to go up 28-24, then two Saints drives in the fourth quarter ended in field goals to put Xavier up 30-28. A Josh Gerke interception of a Finney pass with just over a minute left looked like it could ice the game for Xavier, but the Saints were unable to pick up a first down and had to punt. The Dutch had 45 seconds and 56 yards between them and victory, and somehow ... the biggest play came on 3rd and 2 at the Xavier 48, with the clock running. Finney dropped back to throw, with a Xavier blitz coming at him hard. Two Saints rushers got to him as he threw the ball, seemingly just trying to get rid of it and avoid the sack. Instead Ryan Van Wyk made an incredible catch on the sideline at the 20 for a first down with about 9 seconds left. On the next play, Finney was able to connect with Drew Holterhaus in the end zone for a game-winning touchdown as the clock ran out.
The Saints set a ton of records on the season. I mentioned that school record for fewest yards allowed in a game at Waverly-Shell Rock (22); also Wilson set records for rushing yards in a game (291 vs. Regina), a season (2054) and a career (3327). Schulte set career marks for passing yards (4347), pass attempts (489), pass completions (287), total yards (5103), and total touchdowns (90). And he ended up with a total of 10 interceptions in three complete seasons as a starter (plus 6 attempts as a freshman)!
A lot of losses face the Saints as they head into the 2017 football season, with seniors like Schulte, Wilson, Gerke, Erik Rodriguez, Nolan Butkowski, Shane Scott, John Rocca, Ryan Jasper, Lucas Miller, Sam Meyers, Zach Barish, Max Johnson and others moving on. Will it mean a rebuilding year, with a new quarterback for the first time since 2013, not to mention a backfield that had been the same since 2015, and rejiggering most of the offensive line? Some good experience is coming back on defense, though. We'll go more into the outlook for the Saints come late summer.
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