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.
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