A Couple of Rounds

Falling behind, yes, I'm falling behind again ... I blame the musical theatre (since I'm rehearsing for "Annie" currently. Between that, my regular job, and this football-on-the-radio thing, I've been doing little but chasing my tail for a month).

First off, I'm usually better at keeping up on new Xavier records each year, but I actually missed a couple this season. While it did not pass unnoticed that Xavier's 62 points against South Tama was a new school record, Ben Conrad kicked eight extra points in that game. That tied a school record from 2014, when Dallas Klein kicked eight extra points in a game against Central DeWitt (the previous record for points scored). Conrad actually missed one in that South Tama game, too, so he had a chance to take the record all by himself.

Conrad also tied a school record for field goals in a game, when he kicked three against Independence. That record has stood since 2006, when Joe Bedard kicked three against Iowa City West. So congratulations to Ben Conrad, whose season isn't done yet (and should be back next year kicking for the Saints again).

On to the playoffs: Xavier faced Oskaloosa in the first round, one of the two wild-card selections in Class 3A (Decorah was the other). The Indians had been led by Seth Howard, who racked up some serious yardage numbers both on the ground and through the air as the Osky quarterback. But as the game started, Howard lined up at the slot receiver position and 6-foot-8 junior Cole Henry stepped in at the QB position. I can only speculate that Howard suffered some sort of injury, maybe to his throwing arm or hand - I can't come up with any other explanation for your leader on offense all season to be moved out to receiver for a playoff game (talk online was that Oskaloosa played both Henry and Howard at the same positions for their last regular season game against West Burlington/Notre Dame, giving the injury speculation a little more substance).

Oskaloosa and Henry came out throwing on a miserable, wet, windy, cold night, often with an empty backfield. Henry then was intercepted by McClain Burger on Osky's second possession, leading to a Quinn Schulte TD run and a 7-0 Xavier lead. The Indians responded with a nice drive, capping it with a 31-yard field goal by Aaron Blom to make it 7-3.

Then the Xavier offense got going, with the big-play lightning strikes we've seen quite a bit of this season. Braden Stovie (going all the way at running back in place of an injured Jax Junge) ripped off a 58-yard touchdown run. One possession later it was Schulte's turn, dashing for a 72-yard score. Stovie came up with another 30-yard run on the next possession, setting up a possible TD pass from Schulte to Jared Brown, but Brown couldn't hang on to the wet ball. Conrad kicked the field goal from 35 yards out and it was 23-3 Xavier at the half. Oskaloosa had run just ten plays since their field goal, with only one first down.

Things didn't go much better for the Indians in the second half. Xavier scored on their first drive of the third quarter; Stovie had another long run, a 49-yarder, for a TD on the next drive; then Burger got his second interception of the night on a deflected pass and ran it all the way back for a 43-3 lead with still better than 3 minutes to play in the third.

And then we got to see Howard at quarterback for Oskaloosa. He still wasn't able to do much - the Indians did score a touchdown with 6 minutes to play after a blocked punt - and Xavier rolled to a 43-10 victory.

That took the Saints to the second round and a date with Davenport Assumption, the second-place finisher in District 4. Assumption had lost a non-district game to Class 4A Bettendorf (Bettendorf's only loss was to West Des Moines Valley) and lost in overtime to D-4 champion West Delaware; meanwhile the Knights had defeated 4A North Scott for the Lancers' only loss of the year. Once again the Saints faced an athletic dual-threat quarterback in Jayce Levy, who had an impressive year for Assumption.

The teams looked pretty even in the early possessions, and it was an obvious hard-hitting, physical game. But sometimes the big plays and the breaks can make a difference, and this first half was no exception. Stovie returned a punt about 75 yards for score late in the first quarter to put Xavier ahead. Assumption responded, as Levy broke loose over the right side and just outran everyone for a 66-yard score to tie the game. Xavier answers back, with a four-play drive (Stovie for 18, Schulte for 24, Schulte for 2, Schulte for 19) to get in the end zone again and go up 14-7.

Levy was having none of this. He fielded the ensuing kickoff at about his 5, got through the first line, evaded the kicker Conrad, then raced down the far sideline with only Justin Schneider in pursuit. Schneider couldn't quite catch up, and Levy's kickoff return TD tied things up at 14. Xavier took the punch and hit back, again. Facing a 4th and 1 at Assumption's 35, Schulte faked a handoff and tossed a pass to a wide-open Jacob Hines, going right down the middle from his tight end position. Hines took it into the end zone for the 21-14 lead, and Xavier would never trail again.

Stovie popped up for yet another punt return TD, this time for 62 yards, to make it 28-14 late in the half. Assumption kept fighting, putting together a drive into Saints territory - then Coach Wade King opened up the playbook. At the 40, wide receiver Nick Gotilla went in motion. Levy handed off to him on the jet sweep, but Gotilla then dropped back and heaved up a left-handed pass deep downfield to Ryan Wohlers. Wohlers outjumped the Xavier defender and fell across the goal line for a touchdown, making it 28-21 Xavier at the half. This turned out to be one of the very few times (if not the only time) this year that Xavier had been outgained at the half.

That didn't extend past halftime, though. Assumption received the third-quarter kickoff and went three and out. The Knights' second possession started at the 8 and ended in a punt. The next possession was three and out, followed by a solid 70-yard scoring drive by Xavier to make it 35-21. Assumption would end up with only about 30 yards of offense in the second half, and Xavier added fourth-quarter scores by Stovie and a safety when Levy was sacked in the end zone to make the final score 44-21.

So, another postseason win, and Xavier rolls on to the semifinal round in the UNI Dome for the fifth time in the past six years. Xavier made it all the way to the Class 4A championship game in 2012 and 2013, then reached the 3A semifinals in 2014 and 2016 (losing to Pella both times). This time around, Solon awaits. The Spartans and the Saints are the only two undefeated teams remaining in 3A, and Solon has been absolutely ridiculous on defense: In their first ten games, they allowed only 23 points, total - single touchdowns to Oskaloosa (and Keokuk and West Burlington/ND in garbage time), plus a safety to Decorah in the first round playoff game. West Delaware managed to score two touchdowns on the Spartans, but Solon was already ahead 35-0 by that time. This is going to be the toughest test for both of these teams for the entire season, and it'll happen on the big stage of the UNI Dome in the semifinal round.