It can be tough for a football team to get a rhythm going, to stick with a game plan and operate smoothly and efficiently, when the game keeps getting stopped by penalties. That's what happened at Independence last Friday night, where the Xavier Saints rolled to a 37-0 shutout of the Independence Mustangs, but the game didn't really feel like a continuous-clock blowout. Mainly that was due to the 11 accepted penalties on the Saints (along with at least 3 more that were not accepted) that kept the game in a herky-jerky, unrhythmic mess.
Xavier's defense rode to the fore, again, picking up their third shutout of the year. The Mustangs could only muster 39 yards on the ground and 40 through the air - disappointing numbers for an offense that came in as one of the most prolific in District 3. Sophomore QB Logan Schmitt was hounded all night, sacked perhaps 4 times, and unable to run for much positive yardage on his planned runs. Schmitt did find his favorite target, Zach Snyder, 5 times for 31 yards, but that was pretty much the entire offensive output for Independence.
Meanwhile, Xavier turned to an old standby play - the quick pass out to a flanker with two blockers split out wide in front of him. Essentially a long handoff to the outside, Quinn Schulte threw that pass to Gabe Lux 5 or 6 times, generally picking up good yardage (including a 20-yard TD pass to open the scoring in the 1st quarter). Schulte also had a couple of key long passes to Jack Scott and Jacob Hines at important points during the game, which was helpful considering the middle of the Independence defense actually played the run pretty well. The Saints were able to amass 142 rushing yards, but half of that came from just two long runs by Braden Stovie. Without those runs, Xavier averaged only 2.8 yards per carry.
Points are what really matter, though. Xavier got on the board with the pass to Lux, then recovered a fumble and used the long pass to Scott to set up a short Schulte run. On the next possession, the Saints used another long pass to get in the red zone, and Jax Junge ran the ball in from 19 yards out. It was 21-0 Saints, still in the first quarter.
The second quarter found Xavier in much worse field position, plus a fumble of their own, until the final drive. Starting at their 35, the Saints put together an impressive 43-yard drive (overcoming 35 yards of penalties as well), and finished with a 39-yard field goal from Ben Conrad to make it 24-0 at the half.
In the second half, Independence had only one drive that included a first down before the final minutes (Xavier stopped the Mustangs for a 3-and-out seven times on the night). The Saints used Stovie's two long runs to get close, and Schulte appeared to run it in from the 5 - but yep, another yellow flag on the field negated the score. Conrad booted his second field goal, this one from 31 yards out, to make it 27-0. The next Xavier possession got down to the red zone, but a muffed snap and incompletion brought up a 4th down at the 24. Conrad came in again, and had exactly enough leg, as his 41-yard field goal try hit the crossbar and bounced over for a 30-0 lead.
Xavier got to the continuous clock after a huge Lux punt return all the way to the 9, after which Schulte tossed a swing pass to Joey Drahozal out of the backfield and Drahozal spun past a tackler and dove into the end zone. That made it 37-0 and started the continuous clock.
The win took Xavier to 6-0 on the season and 4-0 in District 3. Which brings them to this week - a homecoming matchup against similarly 6-0/4-0 Waverly-Shell Rock. The Go-Hawks have the top offense in the district (348.7 yards per game), and both of the top two rushers (Luke Velky and Gabe Santioemma); they also boast the top overall defense in the district (169.5 yards per game, just 34 points allowed). Xavier is no slouch, with the district's best rush defense (65.8 ypg) and a servicable balanced offense averaging almost 190 yard rushing and 115 yards passing per week.
The winner is guaranteed a playoff spot, and gets in the driver's seat for the district title. The loser can't clinch anything yet, but is in pretty solid position for at least second place and a playoff spot as well. Should be a dandy (which is what I thought last year, too, before Xavier rolled to a 42-0 win; i honestly don't expect that this time).
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