A Title Game For The Ages

Instead of writing up my usual recap of the Xavier game, for this year's 3A championship I thought I'd do something a little different. And a little less time-consuming. You see, for every Xavier game I take the play sheet I keep during my broadcast and write up quick summary, drive-by-drive, just for myself and for posterity. Ha!

Since I went into a little more detail for this game than usual, I thought it would work to simply copy and paste it here. So here you go - what I call the Gametrax for the 2018 Iowa Class 3A championship game, an epic for the ages.

Western Dubuque one of only two 3A programs to ever defeat Xavier. Xavier defeated WD 35-0 in a storm-interrupted game October 5.

FIRST HALF

Western Dubuque wins the toss and receives. They start at the 24. A drive ensues, the likes of which has never been achieved on Xavier this season. Calvin Harris throws to Drake George for 24; Harris runs for 19 on 3^rd and 9; Harris goes for 8 on 4^th and 8; another pass to George converts on 3^rd and 5; finally, on 4^th and goal at the 4, a reverse ends up with the ball in George’s hands and he sweeps in. A bad snap on the extra point and the try fails. Sixteen (!) plays, 76 yards. 6-0 Western Dubuque, 6:05, 1^st quarter.

Western Dubuque kicks off, and Xavier starts at the 17. On 3^rd and 2 Quinn Schulte finds a crease over the left side and bursts free, finally forced out of bounds after a 36-yard run. Two plays later, Schulte throws deep to a wide-open Derrick Skala inside the 5. He appears to get the ball across the goal line as he comes to the ground, but the officials indicate down at the 1, a 38-yard play. Schulte carries it in from there. The extra point is good. Six plays, 83 yards. 7-6 Xavier, 3:45, 1^st quarter.

Xavier kicks off, touchback. Western Dubuque at the 20. Another drive, but a quicker one – on the third play Harris catches Xavier in a blitz and flips a screen pass to Jake Hosch, who outruns missed tackles and poor angles for 65 yards down to the 13. Two plays later Harris takes it in from the 1. The extra point is good. Five plays, 80 yards. 13-7 Western Dubuque, 1:46, 1^st quarter.

Western Dubuque kicks off, Xavier ball at the 20. The ground game starts pounding, with Braden Stovie carrying END 1^st QUARTER four straight times followed by two Schulte carries. With 4^th and 2 at the 39 and the punt unit in, Coach Duane Schulte calls for the fake. As Mitch Willey pretends the snap goes over his head, the ball goes to an up back, who hands to Carter Hartman coming across from the slot. Hartman gets to the 42 for the 1^st down. Three plays later, Schulte faces a Bobcat blitz and finds Matt Jordebrek down the seam. Jordebrek catches the ball as he eludes one Bobcat, then outruns everyone for a 56-yard TD. The extra point is good (66 extra points on the season for Ben Conrad ties the school record, as well as his 120 career extra points). Ten plays, 80 yards. 14-13 Xavier, 8:36, 2^nd quarter.

Xavier kicks off, touchback. Western Dubuque at the 20. Here we go again: a defensive holding penalty gives the Bobcats one first down; then Harris runs for 11 to get another; another Harris scramble on 3^rd and 5 picks up 20 yards. Harris then fires a perfect pass down the right side to Payton Quagliano, who makes a fingertip catch over Pat McGinn and takes the ball in for a 26-yard score. The extra point is good (just the fourth made extra point against Xavier all year). Eight plays, 80 yards. 20-14 Western Dubuque, 4:33, 2^nd quarter.

Western Dubuque kicks off. Xavier ball at the 31. Schulte connects with Stovie for 13 yards, then runs for 19, then Stovie runs for 18 down to the WD 19. On 3^rd and 6, Schulte throws to Nick Banowetz along the left sideline. He crosses the 10 before he’s pushed back and out of bounds – but the official inexplicably marks it at the 10, a yard short of the 1^st down. Xavier lines up to go for it (and looks like they would have made it), but is whistled for a false start. Conrad kicks the 32-yard field goal (his 13^th field goal of the season, a new Xavier record). Seven plays, 54 yards. 20-17 Western Dubuque, 2:35, 2^nd quarter.

Xavier kicks off, touchback. Western Dubuque at the 20. Xavier holds them to a three and out, using their time outs. Punt.

And Zack Butcher gets a great one, forcing Schulte to let the ball drop and watch it roll for a 55-yard kick all the way to the 17. Stovie runs the ball three times to run out the clock – and on the last carry, apparently turns his ankle. He will not return.

END HALF. 20-17 WESTERN DUBUQUE. It’s the first time Xavier has trailed at the half since the 2016 semifinal against Pella.

SECOND HALF

Western Dubuque kicks off, touchback. Xavier at the 20. No Kyle Moeder (injured in the first-round Pella game), no Josh Volk (hurt on the opening drive against Lewis Central last week), no Braden Stovie. Schulte runs for 15 yards on the first play, then three plays later fakes the option, keeps the ball and connects with Nate Skala for 50 yards, down to the 5. Two consecutive penalties result in 1^st and goal at the 24, and three plays gain only 8 yards. Conrad nails the 33-yard field goal, and we are tied (Conrad now has the exact same career numbers as Ryan Persick – 120 extra points, 23 field goals, 189 kicking points). Eight plays, 64 yards. 20-20, 8:29, 3^rd quarter.

Xavier kicks off, touchback. Western Dubuque at the 20. On the second play, Harris scrambles for 8 yards and a first down, but apparently takes a hit to the head (or bounces his head off the turf, I couldn’t tell). He’s slow to get up, and he will not return. Sam Goodman replaces him, with 4 pass attempts and 4 rushing attempts on the season. The Saints stop two running plays for losses and force a punt.

And it’s another tremendous kick by Butcher, forcing Nate Skala inside the 10 where he’s tackled immediately at the 9. Now, remember the 18-play, 90-yard drive Xavier opened the Lewis Central game with? Wouldn’t that be nice here?  The Saints think so, too. Schulte and Patrick Chambers lead the way, with Chambers twice picking up 1^st downs on pitch sweeps to the left. Chambers runs for 3 on a 3^rd and 2, then Schulte carries END 3^rd QUARTER six consecutive plays, pounding up the middle for 21 total yards and two more 1^st downs. On 2^nd and 10 at the 33, Schulte appears to start up the middle again, then pulls back and throws to an open Chambers sneaking out of the backfield. Chambers makes the catch and takes it in for the score. The extra point is good (putting Conrad in the school record books for career extra points and kicking points). Fifteen plays (!), 91 yards. 27-20 Xavier, 10:12, 4^th quarter.

Xavier kicks off. Western Dubuque starts at the 17. On the first play, Xavier comes after Goodman, and he’s sacked at the 1. George’s carry on the next play barely gets outside the end zone. On 3^rd down Goodman is in trouble again, but gets the pass away for a 9-yard gain. Punt.

Finally a short kick, fair caught by Xavier at the Western Dubuque 42. A Schulte 10-yard run on 3^rd and 5 gets one first down, but on 3^rd and 8 the double-pass trick play fails when McGinn’s throw is just short of an open Nate Skala. Conrad attempts the 45-yard field goal, but is short and to the right.

Western Dubuque takes over at the 20, trailing by 7. Goodman runs for one 1^st down, then connects with George for 21 yards. Two plays later he throws a beautiful pass to Jeff Thiesen for 31 yards, down to the 18. Four times Goodman goes to the air, once off an outstretched hand of George – then on 4^th down, the throw to George in the corner of the end zone falls incomplete, with Jakob Forslund and Bryson Bastian on tight coverage (perhaps Bastian held George early in the pattern, I don’t know).

Xavier takes over on downs at the 18 with just under 2 minutes left. On 2^nd and 9, Schulte runs the option left, keeps the ball, and breaks free into the secondary. His legs are too tired to outrun Will Burds, but Schulte rolls for 74 yards all the way to the 7. Schulte keeps the ball on the next four plays, running down the clock, and finally scoring from the 1. The extra point is good. Six plays, 82 yards. 34-20 Xavier, :30, 4^th quarter.

Xavier kicks off, squib kicking. Western Dubuque starts at the 34. On the second play, Goodman finds George again, who breaks several tackles and evades Saints all the way down to the 17 (a 49-yard play). Goodman throws one incomplete, then with 2 seconds left his pass is intercepted by Schulte at the goal line.

END GAME. 34-20 XAVIER.

 Xavier’s second straight Class 3A championship and 26^th consecutive victory.

The Saints allowed 73 points scored, a new record (previously 88 points, 2006).

The Saints allowed (unofficially) 696 yards rushing; the previous 13-game record was 909 yards (2006).

Quinn Schulte finishes his career with records of 43 rushing TDs, 48 total TDs, and 288 points scored. He also has 5183 total yards (rushing and passing), a new school record. With his receiving yards added in, he has 5765 yards.

Ben Conrad had 68 extra points this season (68 for 68) and 14 field goals, both new school records (the 68 extra points actually ties with Ryan Persick in 2012, but that was over 14 games). He extended his season kicking points record to 110. He also set career records for extra points (122) and kicking points (191), and tied the career record for field goals (23).

An-ti-ci-paaaa-tion

Xavier and Lewis Central were the top two teams in every Class 3A poll since the football season began. Xavier was the defending state champion; Lewis Central had been a 4A program the past two seasons with a playoff win over West Des Moines Valley in 2017. The Titans also had Max Duggan, a top-notch athlete who had been highly recruited by Division I football programs, and who had committed to play at TCU next fall. Every 3A football fan in the state was looking forward to a playoff matchup between these two, and many lamented a bit when it turned out to be a semifinal contest instead of the championship game. Would it live up to the hype?

Turns out, Xavier's game plan was too much for the Lewis Central defense as the Saints rolled to a 37-13 victory. The key to not letting Duggan beat you, it so happens, is to not let him get on the field. Xavier's offense was able to control the ball and grind out first downs against the Titan defense, scoring on all but one of their eight possessions, with only an exchange of fumbles in the third quarter marring a near-perfect offensive game. The Saints had three drives of 87 yards or more, with a first-quarter possession that took about seven minutes off the clock.

Duggan showed his skills when he got in the game, with some tremendous deep passes, but Xavier's pass coverage clamped down hard after the first quarter. Playing from behind, Lewis Central didn't try to do much on the ground, and Duggan only had a couple of good runs (after rushing for more than 11 1/2 yards per carry during the season).

Xavier opened the scoring, after forcing a punt on the Titans' first possession. Starting at the 10 (and losing 2 yards on the first play), Xavier put together an epic 18-play drive marching to the 6. During this opening drive (I believe), Xavier's big offensive tackle Josh Volk went down with a leg injury and didn't return. Kyle Krezek replaced him on the offensive line - the point being, this wasn't even Xavier's top 5 linemen in the game controlling the line of scrimmage and maintaining a ridiculous amount of ball control throughout this game. On 4th down with the field goal unit in, Coach Duane Schulte got tricky. The formation shifted, with the line all moving to the far left side of the field and holder Bryson Bastian standing up to receive the snap in the shotgun. As kicker Ben Conrad went in motion to the right, Mitch Willey snapped the ball to Bastian, then sneaked into the end zone and caught the 6-yard TD pass.

Lewis Central responded, with a huge play coming on 3rd and 24 at their own 34. Duggan launched a monster pass deep downfield to his favorite receiver Josh Simmons, who just got behind the Saints defender to make a tumbling catch at the Xavier 8. Two plays later Duggan fired a dart to Simmons in the end zone, and the game was tied. (The extra point is just the second successful extra point against Xavier all season, going all the way back to Regina's extra point in the first game.)

Special teams have been big for Xavier all year, and Aaron Larson returned the kickoff to the Xavier 45. The Saints broke off several good running plays into the teeth of the Lewis Central defense, leading to Conrad's 39-yard field goal and a lead the Saints would never relinquish. After forcing another punt, Larson had an incredible 50-some-yard punt return, but a holding penalty called it back and Xavier started at their 42. Another time-consuming drive, this time with some well-placed passes from Quinn Schulte, and Xavier got inside the 10 with the clock running down. With 5 seconds remaining, Conrad booted a 25-yard field goal, and Xavier led 13-7 at the half.

A scary moment for the Saints in the third quarter, as Xavier fumbled on a shotgun snap Schulte wasn't expecting on the third play. Lewis Central recovered at the 21 with an excellent chance to take the lead. On the next play, though, as Brady Miller carried up the middle, Schulte came up from his safety spot and nailed Miller with a shot that knocked the ball loose. Xavier recovered at the 13. And here comes another Saints drive; a 43-yard pass from Schulte to Bastian streaking down the seam from the tight end position was the big play, and then runs by Schulte and Braden Stovie got the ball down to the 1. Schulte took it in over the left side from there, making it 20-7.

The Saints forced another punt, then drove 34 yards before Conrad kicked his third field goal of the game to make it 23-7. That tied the school record for field goals in a game, and Conrad's 12th field goal of the season and 98th kicking point of the year also tied school records.

Lewis Central and Duggan weren't done. The Titans put together a quick seven-play drive, including passes of 19 and 30 yards (that one converted a 3rd and 17) to get inside the Xavier 30. That's when Coach Jim Duggan got tricky, with a double-reverse to Simmons ending in a pass from Simmons to Duggan for a 26-yard TD. The two-point try (which would have made it a one-score game) wound up out of bounds, and Xavier led 23-13 with under 10 minutes to play.

And then, here come the Saints. Another long 10-play drive, all on the ground, eating up nearly 5 minutes of the clock. Schulte finally squirted up the middle for a 5-yard score to make it 30-13 - that's his 40th rushing TD of his career, a new school record. Conrad's extra point made it 99 kicking points for him on the season, also a school record.

With Lewis Central down by 17 and time running out, Duggan started to pick up some yards with his feet. The Titans drive down to the Xavier 11, where Duggan dropped back to throw. A Xavier defender comes clean up the middle and hit Duggan as he throws, and another Saint tips the pass up into the air. Jakob Forslund snatched the interception in wide-open space on the right side near the 10 yard line, and it looked like he'll return it all the way. Duggan, though, got back up after being knocked down and used his impressive speed to catch Forslund at the Lewis Central 16. Two plays later Schulte walked in from 12 yards out, making it 37-13. Schulte's 41st rushing TD, 46th total TD and 276th point scored are all Xavier records, while Conrad's extra point gave him 100 on the season.

So the Saints go on to the 3A championship game for the second year in a row, hoping to add another state title and a 26th consecutive victory to their total. They'll face Western Dubuque, an opponent right out of their own District 4, a team Xavier shut out 35-0 in a lightning-delayed game at Saints Field on October 5. The Saints got touchdowns in all four of their first-half possessions against the Bobcats that night, before the storms arrived, and held a potent WD offense to 156 yards. The Bobcats have won five in a row since that night, scoring close to 50 points a game, and notching road wins over an undefeated Solon and gaining revenge for an earlier 1-point loss against North Scott. WD used two kickoff return touchdowns to pull away from Sergeant Bluff-Luton in the other semifinal game, winning 35-18 to secure their spot in the championship game.

Second Verse, A Lot Like The First

Xavier won their first-round playoff game, an epic struggle against a powerful Pella squad, which earned them a spot in the quarterfinal round against Decorah - a team Xavier had handily defeated 45-3 back in August. Decorah, though, was rolling into the second round on a seven-game winning streak, with a defense that had improved tremendously over the past month and a ground game rolling up the yards. I was expecting a much closer contest than that first meeting.

Just shows what I know. Xavier jumped out early and never looked back, leading 28-0 at halftime and cruising to a 42-6 win at Saints Field. Braden Stovie, who ran for 198 yards in the first game, gained 150 yards and two scores in this one. Quinn Schulte completed 10 of 16 passes for 180 yards and a score (also by Stovie, on a 75-yard catch and run). The Xavier defense faced a Vikings team that ran for 330 yards against Clear Creek-Amana in the first round and shut them down for only 32 yards rushing. I suppose you could say the Xavier pass defense showed cause for concern - in the August meeting they didn't allow Jace Johnson to complete a pass. In this playoff game, Johnson did get a completion. One. For one yard. He was also sacked four times.

There are a few things to remark about in this game. On the "oops" side, Ben Conrad missed his second consecutive field goal try. After barely missing on a kick from the left hash in the Pella game, his attempt from the right hash from 39 yards out was just mis-hit, making him 9 of 12 for field goal attempts on the year (he's still 3 behind the all-time Xavier season record). Schulte also threw an interception for the second straight game, after having only one all season long. Xavier gave up their first third-quarter points of the season, when Kailer McCabe returned a kickoff 98 yards for a score (so still not technically against the first-team defense that's allowed 15 points scored all year).

But those things had no effect on the outcome of the game itself. Conrad was perfect on all six of his extra points, giving him 60 on the year (6 back of the season record). Schulte ran for a touchdown in the third quarter, giving him a school-record career total of 43 TDs and 258 points, breaking Will Martin's record from 2005-06. Schulte's 38 rushing TDs are just one behind Martin's school record. The defense had another first-half shutout (still only 9 points allowed in the first half this year), and just as an oddball statistic, the streak of unsuccessful extra points continued when Decorah had a terrible snap on their try. The only successful extra point scored on Xavier this year came in the Regina game in the season opener; since then teams have scored five touchdowns without making the extra point (Xavier blocked one kick at West Delaware, bad snaps ruined tries by Pella and Decorah, and Wahlert's kick was no good; the other TD by West Delaware resulted in a two-point try, which was stopped by Xavier).

So Xavier moves on to the semifinal round in the UNI Dome, their sixth trip in the past seven years. They face a formidable opponent in Lewis Central, the only other undefeated 3A program, and the team ranked right behind number one Xavier in the polls all season long (or right above them, if you look at the Radio Iowa poll). This collision of the top teams in the east and the west has been anticipated and expected since the season got started in August, and now the meeting is actually happening - but it's not in the championship game.

The state athletic association is trying something different this season. For the past many years, the semifinal/championship rounds have been divided basically east and west; one set of brackets was built on each side of the state, with the top two teams on each side meeting in the semifinal creating an east-west championship. Of course, this didn't always result in the best possible matchup in the final game, as sometimes there were better teams on one side of the state as compared to the other (2016 would be a good example, with the Xavier-Pella semifinal a much more compelling game than the Pella-Webster City final; 2006 in 4A is another good one, with the Xavier-Bettendorf semifinal a much better contest than Xavier-Southeast Polk in the championship). This year, though, the state developed the RPI system to help them select playoff teams and seed the brackets, in an attempt to get what ought to be the best four teams to the semifinal round and the best two in the championship, regardless of what part of the state they were from.

As far as selecting playoff teams, RPI did pretty well in 3A and 4A, maybe less so in some of the other classes. But there's an oddity at the top - Sergeant Bluff-Luton, the District 1 champion, has held the top spot in RPI all season long, and by a pretty significant margin. They stayed there despite having a loss, a loss to undefeated Lewis Central, a 42-14 loss that had the continuous clock running for part of the second half. Even so, SBL stayed at the top of the RPI list, ahead of the 9-0 team that beat them, ahead of the 9-0 teams in the east ... and as SBL won their first two playoff games, they got the top seed in the semifinal round, matching them with the 4th-best remaining RPI (Western Dubuque, with two losses). The game matching the 2nd and 3rd place RPI semifinalist turns out to be undefeated Lewis Central vs undefeated Xavier, in a game that could be the de facto championship a week early.

To be honest, it doesn't matter that much when this game takes place. It's a good thing that it is, as these two squads have been on an anticipated collision course for the entire season. The offensive statistics are pretty close; Lewis Central has more yards rushing and passing, but it's only a difference of about 60 yards per game. Xavier is far better on the defensive side, giving up only 40 points all season and right about 130 yards per game. Both teams' leading rushers are right about at 1200 yards; both teams' quarterbacks have thrown for 23 TDs and 3 interceptions or fewer. It would appear, though, that Xavier is a bit more balanced on offense (Lewis Central goes through quarterback Max Duggan, who is also their leading rusher and has accounted for 2/3rds of all their offensive yards this season). Lewis Central's defense, while giving up about 100 yards more per game than Xavier, still hasn't allowed more than 14 points in any game (while the offensive is scoring almost 50).

This should be a fantastic game (of course, I expected a defensive slugfest in last year's Xavier-Solon semifinal, when Solon had a defense that simply didn't allow points at all - then Xavier put up 35 in the first half, so what do I know?). We will find out pretty late on Thursday night who is the better team.

Some More RPI Thoughts

Just random musings about RPI and how it's affecting the playoff setup this year ...

First off, it's become apparent that there's little a team can do about the records of their opponents. With opponents' winning percentage being an equal part in the RPI formula to your own winning percentage, it really makes a difference how well your opponents do over the course of the season. But how can you count on that ahead of time?

Let's look at Xavier. Their non-district schedule included Iowa City Regina (a 1A powerhouse that had made it to the championship game for, like, a decade straight), Decorah (a solid 3A program), Davenport Assumption (another perennial playoff qualifier), and West Delaware (a constant presence in the 3A playoffs and one of the most consistently winning 3A programs in eastern Iowa). On paper, that looks like a recipe for an outstanding RPI.

But as the year went along ... Regina limped to a 5-4 record and missed the playoffs. West Delaware did the same. Assumption actually ended up with a losing record (4-5). Now, could this have been foreseen? The last time Regina had more than 3 losses was 2002; the last time they won fewer than 9 games was 2006. Assumption hadn't had a losing season since 2008. West Delaware's last season with fewer than 7 wins was 2007. It had been TEN YEARS or more since any of these three programs had a record like this year ... AND IT HAPPENED TO ALL THREE OF THEM this season. What are the odds?

Even with the unexpectedly poor performance by three of Xavier's four non-district foes (Decorah won their district with a 7-2 record), the Saints still ended up with the third-best RPI statewide. The issue with that, though, is should Xavier make it to the semifinals in the UNI Dome, the state will re-seed the four remaining teams, with number 1 playing number 4 and number 2 playing number 3. Xavier is at number 3; the number 2 team is Lewis Central, the undefeated leader of the west side in 3A, the team that most observers figured would make a logical championship opponent for the Saints. But ... now they're possibly slated for a semifinal match, making any championship game rather anticlimactic.

So this is where we can look to Xavier's schedule and what they expected to get from their opponents. If either Regina or West Delaware had won one more game, making their record 6-3, Xavier's RPI would have been raised above Lewis Central's into the number 2 spot. Oddly, though, even if all three of Regina, Assumption, and West Delaware had each won another game, that probably would not have been enough to get Xavier into the number 1 spot. That spot is held by Sergeant Bluff-Luton, which brings us to another kind of head-scratcher. You see, Lewis Central is undefeated. Xavier is undefeated. Solon (at number 4) was undefeated. Sergeant Bluff-Luton has lost a game, their season opener ... to Lewis Central. Not only did they lose, they lost handily (49-14, I believe) with a running clock in the second half. Yet their RPI remained high enough to them to hold the top spot above every undefeated 3A program in the class. (It had to do with their opponents' winning percentage; SBL's opponents won 55 of their 81 games, which is crazy ridiculous. Decorah's opponents won 53 games, but nobody else had opponents with over 50 wins. Lewis Central, Xavier, and Solon all had exactly identical opponents' records, leaving the opponents' opponents' winning percentage to sort out those three.)

But ... the quarterfinal round isn't over at the time I write this. Should Spencer knock off Sergeant Bluff-Luton on Friday (and SBL only won 24-20 last time they played), that would make Lewis Central the top remaining seed, and Xavier in the second spot. In that event, Lewis Central would play Spencer in one semifinal (unless Western Dubuque upsets North Scott, in which case the Bobcats would be Lewis Central's opponent). Xavier would take on North Scott (or Spencer if Western Dubuque should win), setting up the potential championship that everybody has been looking for since August.

But we shall see how things shake out Friday night.

Into the Second Round

Yes, I'm a tad behind. Let me catch you up ...

In the final game of the regular season, Xavier rolled over Marion 51-0 to complete their fourth straight undefeated regular season, their 22nd consecutive win, and their 36th consecutive regular season win. The roof fell in on Marion right from the start ... Isaac Cechota and Mitch McAllister had confusion about who was going to field the opening kickoff, which they muffed at about the 1. Cechota finally picked up the ball, then stepped back into the end zone and took a knee, thinking it was a touchback. That's actually a safety, and Xavier was up 2-0 seven seconds into the game. Quinn Schulte ran for a score on the next possession following the free kick, and the Saints were off to the races.

Then it was the playoffs. The state was trying something a little different this year, attempting to seed (via their new RPI toy) right from the first round. With Xavier sitting at the number 3 RPI statewide, it seems they ought to get a break with their opponent (seed number 14 would be optimal in a true seeded bracket).

Instead they got the 12 seed - which turned out to be Pella. One-loss Pella, only a one-point loss in overtime Pella, defeater of Xavier in the playoffs two of the last three years Pella, state 3A champ three of the past four years Pella, last year's state runner-up Pella. Admittedly, there wasn't a break to be had on the east side of the state, as the teams that had to travel were Pella (8-1), Clear Creek-Amana (8-1), Waverly-Shell Rock (8-1), and Western Dubuque (7-2, but as a district mate of Xavier's the state wouldn't pair them in the first round).

Pella still had last year's championship game loss on their minds, and they came out fired up and looking for the upset. The Dutch didn't even try to establish a running game, with Ryan Gustafson throwing 52 passes on the night. Aaron Downs, a sophomore, caught 11 of those throws, many with Xavier defenders right on top of him. Meanwhile, the Pella defense (which had been burned yardage-wise by several opponents this season) matched up evenly with Xavier's offensive line, slowing down the Saints attack and forcing them to earn every yard.

It turned out to be big plays that made the difference. On Xavier's second possession in the first quarter, Quinn Schulte got good protection and found a wide-open Kyle Moeder about 20 yards downfield. Moeder angled for the sideline and outran the Pella defenders to complete a 51-yard score, putting Xavier up 7-0. But that was about it for the rest of the half. Xavier intercepted Gustafson twice, sacking him another time to end a drive, but the Saints couldn't move the ball very well either. After the second interception, Schulte led Xavier inside the 20, but Gustafson (playing safety) managed to return the favor by picking off Schulte's pass near the end zone (only Schulte's second interception of the entire year).

The second half was equally tough and bruising. Xavier fumbled the ball away once, but were able to hold the Dutch on downs. Back and forth the two teams struggled, until in the fourth quarter, where Xavier hit on the big play again. Schulte threw the ball (laterally) to the right flat to Bryson Bastian, who rolled a bit further and then lofted the ball down the sideline to Moeder. Moeder had just gotten behind two defenders, where he caught the ball, angled to midfield, and outran everyone for a 72-yard touchdown. The double pass was nearly identical to one Xavier used for a TD against Pella in last year's championship, except this one was to the right and last year's went to the left. Xavier was up 14-0 with just over 8 minutes left.

Two scores and you could breath easy, right? Nope. Pella responded with one of the great drives ever seen against a Xavier defense. Fifteen plays, all passing plays (including one scramble), covering 80 yards and taking nearly 4 minutes. The drive ended with a halfback option pass, with Gabe Thomas rolling to the right and tossing the ball to Logan Shetterly near the pylon in heavy traffic from 9 yards out. On the extra point try, the snap was bad, causing the holder to try to get two, but failing, leaving Xavier with a 14-6 lead and just over 4 minutes to go.

Now Xavier just needed to run the clock. Jon Bell had two good carries for 20 yards, getting the ball near midfield, but then ... the Saints fumbled again. It's their 3rd turnover of the game, after only having 5 all season long.

Pella had a chance, down by 8 with about 2 minutes left. The Dutch convert on 4th down thanks to a Xavier penalty, then convert on another 4th and 8 with a big 16-yard pass. Pella gets a 1st and goal at the 8; Gustafson throws incomplete. a draw play loses a yard, Gustafson is incomplete near the sideline. On 4th and goal, Gustafson looks for Thomas on the crossing pattern in the end zone, but his throw is off target and Thomas is well covered. The Saints take over at the 8 with 33 seconds left and Pella out of time outs.

It was a thriller of a game between two well-matched, tough, physical opponents. Xavier finally showed they could play a full four-quarter game, and showed they had the guts to hold on when they had to. Pella showed they were far better than a 12 seed in this playoff field, and made Xavier pay for every yard and every point.

So Xavier moves on to the quarterfinals, facing another familiar opponent in Decorah. The Vikings defeated Clear Creek-Amana 17-6 to move on, their 7th straight win. While Xavier rolled over Decorah 45-3 back in August, amassing over 400 yards of offense and nearly 200 yards rushing by Braden Stovie, Decorah's defense has been much better over the past three games. Xavier, though, should have a bit of an edge as the Vikings' main offensive threat comes on the ground, an area where Xavier has been tough as nails (fewer than 50 yards allowed per game).

A couple of things to remember, though. Only three 3A teams have ever defeated Xavier; Western Dubuque in 2014, Pella in the semifinals in 2014 and 2016, and ... Decorah in the quarterfinals in 2015. There have also been just three teams to knock off an undefeated Xavier team in the playoffs; Ankeny in the 2012 championship, Pella in the 2016 semifinal, and ... Decorah, in that 2015 game at Saints Field, where a 4-5 Viking team that barely slipped into the playoffs and won their first-round game came all the way to Cedar Rapids and just flat-out outplayed a 9-0 Saints squad.