Field Position For The Win

It wasn't just field position that led to Xavier's 42-0 cruising past Dubuque Wahlert Catholic last Friday night ... but it sure helped. The Saints' first possession started at Wahlert's 36 after a poor punt. Their second started at their 28 after a good punt return by Jaxon Rexroth. Right out of the box, it was 14-0, and the Golden Eagles could do nothing against the Xavier defense.

Wahlert was able to muster only two first downs - that's right, two - and they both came in the first half. Xavier took the second-half kickoff and used 15 plays to roll 66 yards, using up almost half of the third quarter, going up 35-0 and starting the continuous clock. Wahlert's second-half offense? Nine plays, including a lost fumble. Zero first downs.

Xavier was unable to rack up big offensive numbers due to the short field, so it was nothing like the record-setting Maquoketa game. Nick Lemke did run for three TDs (4, 4, and 1 yards) and Carter Diebold continued to be perfect on extra points (26 for 26).

But it was all a table setting preliminary for this week. The District 4 title will almost certainly be decided Friday in Epworth when Xavier takes on Western Dubuque. The Bobcats have been generally ranked first in almost every 3A poll since the season began, with the Saints ranked no lower than 3rd. Stat-wise, it's almost dead even: Xavier leads D-4 in rushing with 205.3 ypg, Western Dubuque is third with 174.8. Western Dubuque leads in passing with 205.3 ypg, Xavier is third with 161.7. In total offense, they're only about 13 ypg apart (WD 380.2, Xavier 367.0).

Defensively it's similar: Xavier has the top defense in the district across the board, Western Dubuque is second. While Western Dubuque is gaining about 13 yards per game more than Xavier, Xavier is allowing about 25 yards per game fewer than the Bobcats (Xavier 165.2, WD 191.0). Xavier's average score is 35-7.6, Western Dubuque's is 35.8-6.5.

The numbers don't get any closer.

And winning the district could be a big deal. District winners get a home playoff game in round 1 (well, eight of the nine district winners, anyway), whereas at-large teams have to travel. While seeding is based on RPI - and both Xavier and Western Dubuque are currently in the top 4 of RPI in the state - that doesn't matter for home field in the first round. So, whoever loses this game will probably end up with a top 8 (at worst) RPI, yet be forced to travel to play a district winner like Independence, or North Scott, or Pella. (Probably not Solon, as they'll have a high RPI and it would be unlikely to punish that with a visit from either of these two teams in the first round.)

This is what makes October football exciting! There's definitely something to play for, and this looks like the game of the year in Class 3A in the entire state.