Crunching Some Numbers, v 1.0

With three football games left in the regular season, somebody with too much time on their hands (me, I guess, although I don't feel like I have much time) can run through the possibilities left and start to figure out how the high school playoffs might align. I'm not sure why I think it's more apt to do it with three games left instead of four; four just seems like way too many variables, while three is just a bit too many.

Anyway, here's a look at how I think things might shake out in Class 3A. All predictions are tentative. Many of the teams I list as "out" of the playoffs already might technically still have an outside shot, should they get in a multiple-team tie that has to go to the points tiebreaker. I might also still win the Powerball someday. Please, no wagering!

DISTRICT 1

1. Sergeant Bluff-Luton       7-0
2. Heelan, Sioux City           5-2  (head-to-head over Storm Lake)
3. Storm Lake                        5-2
4. Spencer                              4-3
5. Spirit Lake                         3-4
6. Algona                               2-5 (head-to-head over Humboldt)
7. Humboldt                          2-5
8. Le Mars                             0-7

Le Mars has been eliminated from the playoffs. Several teams can be counted out based on this coming Friday's results: A Heelan win over Algona eliminates Algona; a win by SB-L over Humboldt eliminates Humboldt; the loser of Spirit Lake at Storm Lake is also out. 

BIG GAMES LEFT: Spirit Lake at Storm Lake this week; Spencer at Storm Lake Oct. 13; Storm Lake at SB-L Oct. 20.

DISTRICT 2

1. Dallas Center-Grimes        7-0
2. Boone                                  6-1
3. Webster City                        5-2
4. Ballard                                 4-3
5. Perry                                    2-5  (head-to-head over Gilbert)
6. Gilbert                                 2-5
7. Greene County                    1-6
8. Iowa Falls-Alden                 0-7

Perry, Greene County, and Iowa Falls-Alden have already been eliminated (Gilbert still has a slight chance, as they still play DC-G, but they are eliminated this week if DC-G defeats IF-A). A Boone win over Ballard this week eliminates Ballard.

BIG GAMES LEFT: Boone at DC-G Oct. 13; Webster City at Boone Oct. 20.

DISTRICT 3

1. Xavier, Cedar Rapids            7-0
2. Waverly-Shell Rock               6-1
3. Decorah                                   5-2
4. Benton                                     4-3
5. Independence                          3-4
6. Charles City                            1-6
7. South Tama                             1-6
8. Vinton-Shellsburg                   1-6

Bentonis already out of playoff contention (they'd lose every possible tiebreaker). Any loss by Independence takes the Mustangs out. A Waverly-Shell Rock win over Xavier Friday knocks out Charles City, while a Xavier win eliminates Vinton-Shellsburg and a Decorah win over South Tama knocks out South Tama.

BIG GAMES LEFT: Waverly-Shell Rock at Xavier this Friday could decide the district champion.

DISTRICT 4

1. West Delaware                       7-0
2. Assumption, Davenport        6-1
3. Wahlert, Dubuque                   5-2
4. Marion                                     4-3
5. Clear Creek-Amana                 3-4
6. Center Point-Urbana               2-5
7. Central DeWitt                        1-6
8. Maquoketa                               0-7

Central DeWitt and Maquoketa are out of the playoffs. An Assumption victory over CPU this Friday will end CPU's playoff hopes.

BIG GAMES LEFT: Wahlert at West Delaware this Friday; West Delaware at Marion Oct. 13, Marion at Assumption Oct. 20.

DISTRICT 5

1. Solon                                    7-0
2. Oskaloosa                            6-1
3. Washington                          5-2
4. Mt. Pleasant                         4-3
5. Ft. Madison                          3-4
6. West Burlington/ND            2-5
7. Fairfield                               1-6
8. Keokuk                                0-7

Everybody here is still technically alive for the playoffs, but who's a technician when it comes to football (plus Ft. Madison, Fairfield, and Keokuk are all so far behind with point differentials that they pretty much have no hope at this time)? The loser of the Fairfield at Ft. Madison game Friday is done; Ft. Madison is done even if they win out, should Oskaloosa defeat Washington Oct. 13. A Solon victory over Mt. Pleasant Friday mathematically eliminates Mt. Pleasant, while an Oskaloosa win over Keokuk eliminates Keokuk.

BIG GAMES LEFT: Oskaloosa at Washington Oct. 13 will probably decide second place. They are very evenly matched, it appears; I give a very slight edge to Oskaloosa.

DISTRICT 6

1. Pella                                7-0
2. Norwalk                          6-1
3. Carlisle                            5-2
4. Nevada                            3-4  (head-to-head over Bondurant-Farrar)
5. Bondurant-Farrar            3-4
6. Grinnell                           2-5  (head-to-head over North Polk)
7. North Polk                       2-5
8. Knoxville                        0-7

Knoxville, Grinnell, and Bondurant-Farrar are out of the playoffs. Either a Pella win or a North Polk loss eliminates North Polk.

BIG GAMES LEFT: Norwalk at Pella this Friday probably decides the district title; Norwalk at Carlisle Oct. 20 could be a game for second place.

DISTRICT 7

1. Harlan                            7-0
2. Glenwood                      6-1
3. Winterset                        5-2
4. Denison-Schleswig        4-3
5. Carroll                            3-4
6. Atlantic                          2-5
7. Creston OM                   1-6
8. ADM                              0-7

ADM, Carroll, and Creston are all out of playoff contention. A Harlan win or Atlantic loss eliminates Atlantic.

BIG GAMES LEFT: Harlan at Winterset this Friday; Winterset at Glenwood Oct. 13; Denison-Schleswig at Winterset Oct. 20 (yep, Winterset really has control of their destiny).

PLAYOFF QUALIFIERS: District champions SB-L, DC-G, Xavier, West Delaware, Solon, Pella, Harlan; Second place finishers Heelan, Boone, Waverly-Shell Rock, Assumption, Oskaloosa, Norwalk, Glenwood.

WILD CARD POOL: The 5-2 teams - Storm Lake, Webster City, Decorah, Wahlert, Washington, Carlisle, Winterset. Using the 17-point differential as it currently stands, that would put Winterset and Carlisle in as wild-card teams (Carlisle and Wahlert have the same differential, but Carlisle would get the alphabetical order).

FIRST ROUND POSSIBLE MATCHUPS:

• Glenwood at Sergeant Bluff-Luton
• Waverly-Shell Rock at West Delaware
• Carlisle at Xavier
• Assumption at Solon
• Oskaloosa at Pella
• Winterset at Dallas Center-Grimes
• Norwalk vs. Boone

Passing The First Test

Last Friday was a truly big game in Class 3A in the state of Iowa, with undefeated Xavier taking on undefeated Decorah in a District 3 battle. Xavier was ranked generally at the top of the various state high school football rankings, with Decorah generally around number 8. Of course, the polls don't really mean anything. They're just the opinions of various sportswriters and people who pay a little attention to high school football - and since it's impossible to have an in-depth knowledge of all the teams in the state, most pollsters go by records, last year's record, and what they hear from other sportswriters.

The real tale of the tape is on the field, and you don't often get a matchup between two highly rated undefeated teams in the third week of district football. Xavier had gotten to 5-0 mainly with their defense; while they had given up a good number of yards in a couple of early games, they had closed down the ground game of pretty much everyone they'd played. The Saints gave up a score in the closing seconds of their game at Regina, with the backups on the field; shut out Linn-Mar; held Benton scoreless through the first half before the Bobcats threw the ball around the field to pick up 3 TDs; and shut out Charles City. Quinn Schulte was pretty effective at quarterback (6 for 6 at Charles City, only one interception in the first five games) and Jax Junge and Braden Stovie picked up good yardage out of the backfield.

Decorah was also strong defensively, although not quite as stout as Xavier. The Vikings' success rode on the backs of the line and the ground game, with Jake Muhlbauer and Kailer McCabe rolling for big yards on the ground. Decorah had a lot of tradition coming in, as well - the Vikings were consistent 3A playoff qualifiers, had captured a state championship in 2012, and gave Xavier their last loss at Saints Field in a second-round playoff game in 2015 (ending the Saints' season at 9-1).

The teams pushed back and forth in the early going, although Decorah was able to pick up just one first down in the opening quarter. Xavier got some yardage on a couple of drives, but ended up having to punt. Finally, near the end of the first period, Gabe Lux got a terrific punt return down to the Decorah 40. A couple of plays later, Schulte threw to Nate Skala, who took the ball down inside the 20 - but then fumbled. The Vikings recovered, but still couldn't get the ball moving.

The game remained scoreless well into the second quarter. The Saints got a drive going from their 37, mostly on the ground, and two big running plays finished it off - Stovie ran for 20 yards to the Decorah 24, and Schulte outraced everyone to the far corner of the end zone for the TD and the 7-0 lead with less than 4 minutes left in the half.

Decorah quickly responded. Starting their drive at the 37 as well, the Vikings picked up yards piecemeal across midfield. On 4th and 1, McCabe pounded out a 2-yard gain to the Xavier 41. On the next play, Brannan Hogan threw to Dawson Holkesvik on the left side. Justin Schneider went for the ball and mistimed his move. Holkesvik had no one else to stop in and ran the ball in. Lucas Sweet, however, banged the extra point try off the left upright, so Xavier held on to the 7-6 lead with just a minute to play.

After the kickoff and a Junge run went nowhere, it appeared Xavier was going to just run out the clock. But then - Stovie found room to run and dashed for 40 yards to the Decorah 48. Coach Duane Schulte quickly sent in a deep pass play, and as Quinn Schulte threw towards his receiver, he got tangled up with a Decorah defender. The call was against Decorah, and the Saints had the ball at the 33 with one untimed down to play.

Xavier called time out, then sent in Ben Conrad to try a 50-yard field goal. Decorah called time out to ice Conrad. Then - wait a minute - Xavier called time out again. What are they doing? Suddenly the offense came back onto the field, although lining up at quarterback wasn't Schulte, but linebacker Jack Lemke. Apparently he had a bigger arm, as he took the snap and hurled the ball into a crowd in the end zone for the stereotypical Hail Mary play. Jack Scott got leverage in front of a couple of Viking defenders, went up, and caught the ball. Touchdown with no time remaining, and the crowd went nuts. Xavier led 14-6.

The third quarter was more of the early game sameness. Decorah fumbled; Xavier missed a field goal; Decorah couldn't get a first down in the third period; Xavier couldn't get the ball moving either. Finally the Saints put together a drive at the end of the third period and beginning of the fourth, helped by good field position after a shanked Decorah punt, and Schulte ran in from 5 yards out to make it 21-6.

After another three-and-out forced by the Saints defense, Xavier put together another nice drive, moving the ball 53 yards in 9 plays. On fourth and 8 at the 23, Schulte was harrassed and hit when he threw, making it incomplete and giving the ball to Decorah on downs. The Vikings finally got something going - 10 plays, all passes by Hogan, moving steadily downfield. Hogan converted a fourth and 1 with a 15-yard completion to Tye Anderson, then connected with Holkesvik for 21 yards on third and 13. But the clock kept running down. Hogan next passed to Holkesvik again from the 24, with the receiver finding open space in the middle of the field and taking it into the end zone - but the time expired on the play. Xavier took this huge battle of unbeatens, 21-13, in a game not quite as close as the final margin.

So the Saints go to 5-0, and travel to Independence. The Mustangs got an extra game this season (a game added to help another team that lost a game when a couple of school districts ended their athletic sharing agreement and dropped out of 3A football before the season started), and that seemed to kick-start their year. While just 3-3 so far, Independence is rolling up some high-powered offensive numbers, scoring 47 points a game in the 3 victories. Unfortunately, the Mustangs can't really stop anybody, either, giving up close to 380 yards per game as the worst defense in District 3.

Decorah, meanwhile, gets another undefeated district foe in Waverly-Shell Rock, who will then come to Saints Field in a week. By the first week of October, the District 3 race could be clear as day, or (should Waverly-Shell Rock lose to Decorah and then beat Xavier) muddied into incomprehension.

Cashing In

Charles City wasn't expected to be one of the District 3 contenders for this season. With only about 12 seniors on the roster and 8 players going both ways, the Comets were going to struggle against the stronger teams. But when Xavier traveled up US 218 last Friday night, not even the Saints expected quite as many gifts as they received, helping them roll up a 50-0 win.

Charles City fumbled on their third play of the game. They fumbled again on the first play of their third possession. They fumbled twice more in the second quarter, and Xavier turned all four of those turnovers into touchdowns on their way to a 43-0 halftime lead. Most of the Comets' troubles came on the center-quarterback snap exchange, which was terribly unfortunate, and the rash of fumbles meant Xavier's average starting field position in the first half was the Charles City 35. Take away the time the Saints took over at their 20 after a missed field goal, and the average moves to the Comet 28. Four times Xavier started at the 30 or closer, and twice inside the 15.

But turnovers and field position don't mean anything if you don't turn them into points, and Xavier did that almost flawlessly. After the first fumble, Jax Junge carried the ball five straight plays, finishing with an 11-yard TD run. After forcing a punt deep in Comet territory, Quinn Schulte ran for a 31-yard TD. Following the Comets' next turnover, Schulte threw a TD pass to Junge from 8 yards out on the next play. The two second-quarter turnovers resulted in drives of 30 and 12 yards, then throw in a seven-play, 80-yard scoring drive after Charles City missed a field goal (just to prove the Saints still knew how to sustain a long drive) and it was Katy-bar-the-door. Xavier almost added another score before halftime when Nate Skala ripped off a 52-yard punt return, all the way to the 10, but the clock ran out after the next play.

Xavier's scout team added a TD in the third quarter - a 42-yard pass from Bryson Bastian to Michael Gundacker was the big play, then Skala ran in the jet sweep from 10 yards out - but that turned out to be the last time the Saints got the ball. With the continuous clock running swiftly, Charles City's offense moved down the field, running 16 plays and covering 77 yards, only to have time run out with the Comets at the Xavier 5.

Schulte had a great night, running for two scores and throwing for three more while going 6-for-6 through the air. Xavier didn't run up a lot of yardage, what with the short fields and the continuous clock, but the defense held firm in putting up their second shutout of the year. If it hadn't been for a muffed punt extending a Charles City drive in the second quarter, the Comets never moved the ball past their 37 yard line in the first half. Xavier now has a ridiculous 13-2 edge in turnover margin (if you don't count two muffed punt returns, which aren't technically turnovers but might as well be) with 7 interceptions and 6 fumble recoveries already.

Coming up this Friday is another tough test from a strong district contender. The Decorah Vikings come to Saints Field, in what's going to be a battle between two undefeated squads. Decorah has rolled up the points, averaging over 37 points a game, and has a terrific rushing attack led by Jake Muhlbauer. And don't forget, the last time Decorah visited Xavier, the Saints were undefeated then as well - in fact, they were 9-0 and rolling into the second round of the 2015 playoffs. Decorah was just 5-5, but they completely outplayed Xavier on their way to a 30-21 win. This year's seniors were sophomores for that game, and many of them were on the sidelines. I can't help but think there'll be some memories of that for some of these guys.

These next three weeks should decide how the top of District 3 will go. You've got undefeated Xavier against undefeated Decorah this week, along with undefeated Waverly-Shell Rock against Benton in what's become a must-win for the Bobcats (if they fall to 0-3 in the district, their playoff hopes are shot). Next week Decorah and Waverly-Shell Rock face off, and in two weeks the Go-Hawks come to Xavier. So the playoff contenders will sort themselves out a lot by September 29, and probably even more clearly by the first week of October. 

A Tale of Two Halves

District play kicked off Friday night, and Xavier got a good one to start in District 3, taking on a Benton Bobcats team that hadn't lost a regular season game since falling to Xavier one year previously. The Bobcats had put up some flashy passing numbers and impressive defensive numbers in their first two games (leading all D-3 teams in rushing yards and total yards allowed). Xavier wasn't about to let go of their stranglehold on the District title, though, especially not at home.

The first half appeared to bear that out. After intercepting Spencer Touro (the Saints' 5th interception of the year already), Xavier used a dandy 48-yard run by Quinn Schulte on their second possession to set up a TD and go up 7-0. After muffing a punt near midfield and giving the ball back to Benton, Xavier picked off Touro again (at this point, Benton turnovers - 2; Benton first downs - 0). That led to a 12-play, 90-yard drive finished with a 20-yard TD pass from Schulte to Joey Drahozal (on 4th and 1). The Saints made it 21-0 with 5:14 to go in the half after another 12-play drive, with Schulte running for his second score of the game. Benton's best play of the half, a 26-yard scramble by Touro, ended with Touro's fumble recovered by Xavier.

The Saints came out roaring in the second half, with Justin Schneider making a terrific kickoff return all the way to the Bobcat 17. Xavier couldn't get a first down, though, and Ben Conrad made it 24-0 with a field goal. Both teams exchanged possessions the rest of the third quarter, as Benton's defense started to toughen.

Late in the third, the tide began to shift. The Bobcats took over at their 17 after a Xavier punt, and Touro starting flinging the ball around Saints Field. A 14-play drive covered the distance downfield, with a 30-yard connection to Koal Marshall the key play, and Matt Davis scored from 1 yard out - the first points allowed by Xavier's starting defense. Touro completed his throw on the two-point attempt, and it was 24-8 Xavier with 9:55 to play.

Xavier fielded the kickoff, but a holding penalty forced a punt, and the Bobcat offense went back to work. A roughing the passer penalty on Xavier moved the ball near midfield, and even after Touro was sacked on 4th down to give the ball back to the Saints, the Bobcat defense held and then blocked Casey O'Connell's punt, setting up Benton at the Xavier 34. Now a pass interference penalty got the ball inside the red zone, and a couple of plays later Touro found Marshall again, with the receiver slipping a Xavier tackle and diving into the end zone for a 30-yard score. Xavier stopped the two-point try this time (which would have made it a one-score game), holding the lead at 24-14.

Obviously all the momentum had turned to Benton, but with only 3:27 left, the clock was in Xavier's favor. Still, the Saints needed to burn some clock to hold on in what had become an interesting battle. Once again, Xavier faced a 4th and 1, this time at Benton's 44. Once again, Coach Duane Schulte decided to go for it. This time it was the quick fullback dive, with Drahozal hitting the line hard up the middle. Benton was selling out to stop the run, but a crease opened up, and then there were no defenders left beyond the line of scrimmage. Drahozal took it all the way for the clinching TD, making it 31-14 with 2:48 left.

The Bobcats didn't give up, but they continued to get some help via penalty. Touro hit Marshall on a 31-yard pass, but a roughing penalty was tacked on to move the ball into Xavier territory. A couple of plays later, another pass interference penalty goes against the Saints - Xavier had been penalized once for 10 yards in the first three quarters; in the fourth they are whistled six times for an additional 75 yards. As a personal note, I can't argue the pass interference calls; there was definite contact, and I think the calls were justified. The roughing penalties, I never saw what happened, so I can't quibble with those, either.

But then ... Touro, from the 16, looked to Nathan Michels in the right corner of the end zone. Michels grabbed the defender, Gabe Lux, by the jersey and threw him towards the back of the end zone as the ball headed his way - he quite literally took hold of the jersey and used Lux' momentum to toss him away. Michels catches the ball, the officials signal touchdown, and there's no call at all. Okay, it didn't have a bearing on the game, but come on, man ... you can't let that go!

That final score came with 1:44 left, making it 31-21 Xavier, and since Benton had used all their time outs, once the Saints recovered the kickoff they could just run out the clock. In a game that Xavier dominated throughout the first half, and completely shut down Benton for three quarters, it somehow oddly felt like the Saints had just held on for dear life to pull out a win, in a half they never led by fewer than 10 points.

Benton did not give up, not even after going down 24-0 with only a couple of first downs. Their defense played outstandingly tough in the second half, and the offense kept going all the way to the end. Xavier's offense was tremendous in the first half, spotty in the second; the defense was again lights out early, but got put back on their heels with the aerial onslaught in the fourth quarter (not to mention those four 15-yard penalties really helped the Bobcats out).

Xavier goes to 3-0, 1-0 in the district, while Benton's record is now 2-1, 0-1 in the district. Xavier travels to Charles City next week (the Comets dropped a 29-20 decision to South Tama, a game they led in the second half) while Benton hosts 3-0 Decorah in what's going to be another key District 3 game - another loss by Benton there could very well be a mortal blow to their playoff hopes.

So Long, Non-District Games! On To What Counts

The non-district part of the season (or, what my son refers to as "exhibition") is over. All the non-4A teams in Iowa have completed their out-of-district games, playing schools of higher or lower or same class, keeping old rivalries or filling schedule spots with somebody not that far away. This week it gets serious. District play gets started.

This is what determines who goes to the postseason. The top two teams in each district make the playoffs, then a point system is applied to the remainder of the teams from all seven districts, with two additional at-large schools selected. Last season, Xavier won District 3 with a 7-0 district record. Benton finished second at 6-1, and Waverly-Shell Rock made it in as one of the at-large selections. The Go-Hawks then won their first playoff game before losing to Xavier in the second round. So what I'm trying to say is, District 3 is a pretty tough district.

Now that everyone has a couple of games under their belt, let's take a look at District 3 as the nitty-gritty gets going this coming week.

XAVIER (2-0, wins over Iowa City Regina and Linn-Mar)

The defending district champions look to be the team to beat again, even after replacing pretty much the entire starting offense from last year. Quinn Schulte, the third Schulte brother to take over as Saints quarterback, has been smooth and efficient in wins over Iowa City Regina and Linn-Mar. Braden Stovie has shown speed and power out of the backfield, and Jax Junge picks up hard yardage when it's needed. It's the defense that's really shining, forcing six turnovers in the first two games. The only points scored on the Saints came in the final seconds of the Regina game against the scout team players.

BENTON (2-0, wins over Oelwein and Marion)

The Bobcats won six straight games after losing to Xavier last September, gaining a second-place district finish and playoff spot, and they've picked up this season where they left off. Spencer Touro has completed almost 80 percent of his passes for 323 yards and 4 touchdowns, and Matt Davis has rushed for 215 yards and 3 more scores. In addition to a rather prolific offense (over 327 yards per game), the Bobcats have been terrific on the other side of the ball, with the top rush defense and overall defense in District 3. Benton is going to be a playoff contender again this season.

WAVERLY-SHELL ROCK (2-0, wins over Crestwood and North Fayette Valley)

The Go-Hawks have a great football tradition, and it's easy to see why. In 2016, with their only district losses coming to Xavier and Benton, Waverly-Shell Rock made it into the 3A playoffs as one of just two at-large teams in the state. They showed they belonged by beating West Delaware in the first round before losing to Xavier again in the second round. The Go-Hawks are tough again this year, pounding out almost 240 yards per game on the ground and once again boasting the district's best pass defense. Luke Velky and Gabe Santioemma have teamed up for 312 yards rushing and 5 TDs. Mosai Newsom already has a couple of sacks in the first two games.

DECORAH (2-0, wins over North Fayette Valley and Crestwood)

There's plenty of tradition at Decorah as well, with longtime coach Bill Post still leading a program that's got a 2012 state championship trophy in the case. The Vikings, as you might expect, have started out strong on the ground (273 yards per game) with Jake Muhlbauer averaging 10.2 yards per carry. Decorah's defense is solid, as expected, giving up just two scores in the first two games.

CHARLES CITY (1-1, lost to New Hampton, win over Osage)

The Comets had a rough year last year, struggling on defense in particular and only accounting for 123 yards per game rushing, but their offense has certainly perked up in 2017. Dylan Koresh is averaging almost 8 yards a carry, and Charles City sports a tidy 262 yards per game rushing average. The Comets haven't looked great on defense again, but the offense threatens to score on just about anybody.

SOUTH TAMA (1-1, win over Grinnell, lost to Williamsburg)

The Trojans had a strong run in Class 2A, especially in 2014-15, but the return to 3A coupled with a new coach made it a rebuilding season last year. South Tama does have the potential to make some noise this year, particularly with a defense that's pretty salty against the pass. Colton Vest averages over 7 yards a carry with a couple of scores, and Lane Koch has thrown for 180 yards and two scores.

INDEPENDENCE (1-2, losses to Dike-New Hartford and West Delaware, win over Clear Creek-Amana)

2016 was a disaster for the Mustangs, who finished 0-9 with less than 30 points scored for the entire season. This was quite a fall after back-to-back playoff appearances. This year already looks like a move in the right direction - Independence gets an extra game (one got added to help opponents of Collins-Maxwell-Baxter, who ended their athletic sharing agreement and therefore dropped out of 3A this season), and they've scored 62 points in two games (sandwiched around a shutout loss to West Delaware). Sophomore quarterback Logan Schmitt has thrown for 330 yards and 3 TDs while rushing for 310 more yards. Noah Gall (4 TDs) and Seth House have teamed for 297 yards rushing.

VINTON-SHELLSBURG (0-2, losses to Center Point-Urbana and Union-La Porte City)

I just have the feeling this is going to be a long season for the Vikings. Will Dudley is averaging almost 9 yards a carry, but Blake Bohnsack has completed only 9 of 22 passes and the team has the worst offense and third-worst defense (yardage wise) in the district.

Workmanlike and Efficient

The Xavier Saints finished off their 2017 non-district schedule with a 16-0 victory over the Linn-Mar Lions Friday night, a game that didn't have a lot of fireworks or excitement, but wasn't ever really in doubt, either. Xavier continued to show a pretty solid defense capable of shutting down - or at least slowing down - any type of offense thrown at them so far. The offense once again took advantage of the opportunities the defense (and special teams) gave them.

The Linn-Mar offense only got past the Xavier 47-yard line once, and that in the waning moments of the 4th quarter (with a drive that ended with Xavier's third interception of Trot Carey). The Saints, meanwhile, took advantage of a deflected punt in the 1st quarter, with Quinn Schulte firing a 39-yard TD pass to a wide-open Gabe Lux on the first play after the punt. Field position proved key in the 3rd quarter as well, as the Saints forced a Lion punt attempt out of their end zone that resulted in safety after a bad snap, and then used the short field after the free kick for a 55-yard scoring drive and their second touchdown.

As I said, nothing very explosive or flashy about the Saints offense so far this year. Braden Stovie continues to look good at running back. Jax Junge got a lot of key yards on the last drive to help run out the clock. Schulte has been pretty efficient at quarterback - he did have two long passes on the night (in addition to the scoring pass, another beautiful 39-yard throw to McClain Burger really crossed up the defense and set up the last touchdown).

The defense, though, really looks to be coming together. They held Linn-Mar to negative rushing yards going into the 4th quarter, mostly due to a relentless series of sacks of quarterback Carey. After forcing three turnovers in the opener against Regina, they got three more this week, all interceptions and all nice plays (Schulte cut in front of a receiver on the sideline for the first pick, Lux got the second on a high throw after Carey hesitated on the slant pattern, and Burger finished off the Lions with a tremendous 4th quarter pick, jumping the out route, tipping the ball into the air, and snagging it as he fell to the turf).

So Xavier moves to 2-0 on the young season, continuing their regular season winning streak (now at 20 games, I believe, with the last loss coming to Regina back in 2014). The district opener this coming week will be a good one, as Benton Community comes to Saints Field. The Bobcats had an outstanding season last year (after back-to-back losses to Marion and Xavier, Benton didn't lose another game until the playoffs), finishing second in District 3. They bring back a lot of talent - Spencer Touro at quarterback, Maurice Williams was a beast last season both running and tackling - and are definitely going to be district contenders again. The Bobcats avenged their loss to Marion with a 17-14 comeback win over the Indians on Friday, and you know they've got the Xavier game marked on their calendars as well.