The Decorah Vikings reached the 2004 Class 3A state championship, facing the Harlan Cyclones in the title game. The Vikings found themselves outmatched that day in Cedar Falls, dropping a 42-7 decision. For 13 years after that, Decorah proved to be one of the top programs in the state, never losing a game by anything like five touchdowns.
Until last Friday in Cedar Rapids. The Xavier Saints ran over, around, and through the Vikings, striking by land, air, and special teams, as Xavier rolled to a SIX-touchdown win, 45-3. Braden Stovie ran for 198 yards, converting 3rd-down plays over and over again, while Quinn Schulte passed for 138 yards and 3 TDs.
The game started like many expected, looking like a defensive slugfest in the first quarter. Decorah has some huge dudes along the line of scrimmage, and with senior leadership everywhere on the field, the Vikings looked determined to show they weren't afraid of the defending state champions. The Vikings were coming off a solid 24-20 win over Waukon, the defending Class 2A state champions, so they were full of confidence. Each team traded a possession early, then Xavier's Wyatt Johnson blocked a Cameron DeLong punt after a bad snap, giving the Saints decent field position. Unfortunately, soon after that Nate Skala fumbled after catching a Schulte pass, and the Vikings took advantage, driving into Saints' territory and setting up DeLong for a 35-yard field goal, driven by a strong south breeze. Decorah led 3-0.
Xavier responded. Boy, did they respond - a 14-play, 80-yard drive, every play on the ground, with Stovie and Schulte running seven times each. Schulte finished that drive with a 6-yard scoring run to put Xavier in the lead, and they never gave it up again. It was almost like the Vikings were hit by the hammer of Thor, over and over again - Decorah went three-and-out; Skala and the Xavier punt return team struck with a 69-yard return, down to the 17, where Schulte tossed a scoring pass to Matt Jordebrek. (That wasn't the last we'd see from the punt return team, by the way). Another Viking three-and-out was followed by a five-play drive; incompletion, incompletion, 15-yard Stovie run, a gorgeous 50-yard pass to Jordebrek, followed by a 5-yard TD pass to Jordebrek again.
Decorah's one bright spot in this onslaught came after that score, when Kailer McCabe took the kickoff return, blasted through the Saints kickoff team, and dashed down the far sideline with Aaron Larson in hot pursuit. It looked like it might be a touchdown return ... until McCabe lost the handle on the ball and dropped it out of bounds at the Xavier 40. The Saints held tough, even after a pass interference penalty, and all the promise of the big kick return ended with a missed field goal attempt, short and to the right. On the ensuing possession, Stovie took the handoff on a sweep after being lined up in the slot, dashing down the field with three Vikings on his heels, finally dragged down at the five by Drake Shelton after a 69-yard run. It was Decorah's turn to hold tough here, and Ben Conrad nailed a 27-yard field goal to make it 24-3 at halftime.
The second half was more of the same. Even after a Stovie fumble on the first series of the half, Decorah could get only one first down in the third quarter. Meanwhile the Saints put together another 80-yard drive, with a perfectly placed 33-yard pass from Schulte to Derrick Skala setting up a 10-yard TD throw to Nate Skala. After another Viking three-and-out, the punt return team rose to the occasion again, clearing the field and opening the way for Nate Skala to go 65 yards for the touchdown as the third quarter expired. It was 38-3, and the continuous clock would run for the rest of the game. Decorah was able to drive into Xavier territory on their next possession, but the drive ended when Jace Johnson picked up only a yard on fourth and two. Then the Saints scout team offense, just as they did against Regina the week before, put together a nice series and rolled deep into the opponent's territory, keeping the ball for eleven plays behind Patrick Chambers and Christian Klein (plus a 5-yard pass from Tyler DuPont to Drew DuPont). Klein slammed into the end zone from the 2 with 44 seconds left, and it was 45-3 - Decorah's worst defeat in over 14 years.
While we've gone over the tremendous success of Xavier's offense and special teams during this game, the defense came to play as well. Decorah rushed for 142 yards, resulting in total team offense of ... 142 yards. The Vikings had zero pass completions on the night, and just seven first downs, scoring their only points after a Xavier turnover and coming up with nothing after a huge kickoff return into Saints territory. So, yeah, things are meshing pretty well for this Xavier team in their first two games.
This week comes Davenport Assumption, who lost to Rock Island Alleman in week one before shutting out Dubuque Wahlert 37-0 last week. The Knights are another good, solid football program, perennial playoff contenders in Class 3A led by coach Wade King (who has won 120 games since 2002). In recent years Assumption's player numbers have been dropping; from what I saw they had just 22 varsity players dressed the first week and only 24 against Wahlert - but the guys on the field are good, tough, athletic football players, and they've always given Xavier a tough game.
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