Six Weeks And Counting ...

Actually, from today (Saturday, July 15), it's now less than 6 weeks until high school football takes to the field.

The Xavier Saints will be defending their Class 3A District 3 title, although with just one starter back on offense and four starters back on defense, it's anything but a foregone conclusion. The Saints have taken the district title in all three seasons in Class 3A, and advanced to the 3A semifinal game in two of those three seasons. The 2016 season ended in heartbreaking fashion when Pella scored a last-ditch touchdown with no time remaining to defeat the Saints 34-30 in what turned out to be a classic high school football game.

Once again, every game of the Xavier football season will be broadcast on KMRY radio, 1450 AM and 93.1 FM in Cedar Rapids. You can also hear worldwide on kmryradio.com, or with the TuneIn app on your mobile device. I'll be bringing you the play-by-play, and Mike Winker will be alongside with the analysis for his 20th consecutive season of Xavier Saints football on KMRY. Here's the 2017 schedule (times subject to change):

• Friday, August 25: Xavier at Iowa City Regina (tape delayed after Kernels baseball)
• Friday, Sept. 1: Linn-Mar at Xavier (tape delayed after Kernels baseball)
• Friday, Sept. 8: Benton at Xavier (game time TBA; possible Kernels playoff game)
• Friday, Sept. 15: Xavier at Charles City (pregame 7:10)
• Friday, Sept. 22: Decorah at Xavier (pregame 7:10)
• Friday, Sept. 29: Xavier at Independence (pregame 7:10)
• Friday, Oct. 6: Waverly-Shell Rock at Xavier (pregame 7:10)
• Friday, Oct. 13: Xavier at Vinton-Shellsburg (pregame 7:10)
• Friday, Oct. 20: South Tama at Xavier (pregame 7:10)
• Friday, Oct. 27: First round playoff game (kickoff 7:00)
• Friday, Nov. 3: Second round playoff game (kickoff 7:00)
• Thursday, Nov. 9: Semifinal playoff game, UNI-Dome (kickoff 5:36 or 8:06)
• Thursday, Nov. 16: 3A Championship game, UNI-Dome (kickoff 7:36)

As for a quick overview of last season: 

• Xavier and Regina have played three classics in the last three seasons; Drew Cook led the way in a close Regina win in 2014, Xavier came back from a 35-7 hole at halftime to win 38-35 on the final play in 2015, and Xavier's early goal-line stand and Maliki Wilson's school-record 291 yards rushing keyed a 35-26 Xavier win last year.
• In 2016 Linn-Mar became the first local, public 4A program to play Xavier since the Saints entered Class 3A in 2014 (West Des Moines Dowling played Xavier in 2014, and were on the 2015 schedule before lightning canceled that matchup). The Lions played a solid game and led Xavier 17-14 in the third quarter, but a combination of forced turnovers and an offense gone wild led to 31 unanswered points and a 45-17 Saints victory.
• The Saints handled Benton after a thunderstorm delay in Van Horne in 2016, jumping to a 41-0 lead and cruising to a 47-14 win. Benton ended up second in District 3 with a fine season overall, and return several playmakers from last year's squad.
• Xavier again jumped out on Charles City, leading 35-0 before finishing with a 35-7 win. The Saints also defeated Charles City in a first round playoff game in 2014.
• Decorah actually ended Xavier's season in 2015 with a surprising second-round 30-21 playoff victory at Saints Field. Xavier turned the tables on the Vikings last year, with Wilson going over 200 yards again in a 38-6 win at Decorah.
• Independence was coming off two strong seasons in 2014 and 2015, but the bottom fell out for the Mustangs in 2016. They'd scored just one touchdown in the five games leading up to the Xavier game, and failed to score then as well, with the Saints winning 45-0.
• Xavier had two hard-fought playoff victories against Waverly-Shell Rock in their first two years in 3A (33-20 in 2014 and 14-7 in 2015), and expected a strong district challenge from the Go-Hawks in 2016. Surprisingly, the Saints defense shut down Gabe Santoiemma and the rest of the Waverly-Shell Rock squad, allowing a school-record low 22 total yards and shutting out the Go-Hawks 42-0. Waverly-Shell Rock finished third in the district, and made the playoffs as one of two at-large entrants, winning their first round game and facing Xavier again in the second round. The Saints again jumped out to a 24-0 lead on their way to a 38-14 victory.
• Vinton-Shellsburg came into the Xavier game toward the end of a disappointing season, but the Vikings got out in front on their first possession and actually led the game until 31 seconds remained in the first half. Xavier got things going in the second half to win 32-8.
• South Tama re-entered Class 3A in 2016 after a strong couple of years in 2A, and had high expectations for the season. Their record wasn't strong, though, as they finished the season facing Xavier. The Saints went out to a 41-0 lead and coasted to a 48-12 win.

The Saints set a bunch of school records last year. In addition to his school single-game record, Wilson ended up with record rushing totals for the season (2054 yards) and his career (3327 yards). He also set the regular-season scoring mark with 123 points, including 26 points in the Linn-Mar game alone. Bryce Schulte set career marks for pass attempts, pass completions, passing yards (4347), passing touchdowns (58), and total yards (5103). The team set school records in rushing yards and total yards (for all seasons with less than 14 games - the 2012 squad had more total yards).

Coming up next: a look ahead at District 3.