District play got started Friday night in Iowa (at least in most classes; 4A still has a couple of non-district weeks to go), and Xavier headed down the road to Benton Community for their first district game of the season. Xavier had outfought the top team in 1A (Regina) and came back from behind against a 4A team (Linn-Mar) in their first two games, while Benton had whipped 2A Oelwein and then got thumped by a top 2A team in Union-La Porte City.
Both teams featured pretty good ground attacks. Xavier's Maliki Wilson was the leading rusher in the state coming in, with 554 yards and 6 touchdowns on the ground. Maurice Williams and Spencer Touro had combined for over 300 yards for Benton, but Touro apparently had been hurt in the Union game. That also meant Luke Wiebel would be quarterbacking for the Bobcats. Defense has not been Xavier's strongest point this season, which is atypical for the Saints - they actually ranked last among all 8 District 3 teams in yards allowed after the first two games.
The weather was the main focus throughout the day. The forecast was for periods of heavy rain and thunderstorms moving through eastern Iowa in the afternoon and evening. While rain would just be uncomfortable and an impact on the passing game (Bobcat Stadium features a nice Field Turf field, so no mud to deal with), any lightning meant an automatic 30 minute delay. There were indeed periods of torrential rain in Cedar Rapids during the early afternoon, but the radar indicated that area wasn't too large. What was worrisome was a large swath of red and orange returns in central Iowa bearing down on us. Benton announced they were shortening the quarters of the preliminary game to 8 minutes instead of 10, and then hoping to get the varsity game started right on the heels of that game.
As I drove west to Van Horne at around 5:30, I could see the wall cloud, or leading edge of the stormy area, stretching from north to southwest and heading eastward. Just as I turned off Highway 30 to head the last 3 miles north to Van Horne, the storm hit. Strong, gusty winds and downpours of rain were everywhere, but I did not see lightning or hear any thunder. Okay, then. Reaching Van Horne the rain had lessened, so it seemed to be just steady precipitation. At the field, they had suspended the preliminary game (which actually turned out to be a sophomore game for Xavier, vs a combined freshman/sophomore team for Benton) just because of the torrential rain, and coaches were discussing how to move forward. The sky appeared to be much less dark to the west by now.
As I got to the press box to set up, the sophomore teams headed back out to the field to restart the game. Immediately, there was a flash of lightning, and the teams basically just turned around and headed back to the locker room. Even though the storm had passed and was moving away, there was enough periodic lightning to keep resetting that 30-minute clock. The decision was made to call the preliminary game (it had made it to the 3rd quarter), and hope to start the varsity game as soon as the lightning ended. Which it did, around 6:20 or so, meaning warmups started about 6:50 and the game got underway very near the expected start time.
It turned out to be a fairly pleasant evening, as the rain let up and the storms did not return. Xavier just went out in a workmanlike fashion and picked up their initial District 3 win, rolling to a 47-14 decision thanks to some big plays, turnovers, and special teams play. Nothing huge on offense, fairly steady on defense. Benton played solidly, but made some mistakes and Xavier certainly cashed in on those.
Special teams played a role early, as Xavier's first punt return of the game saw Josh Gerke return it 30 yards to the Benton 25. The Saints took five plays to run it in, with Erik Rodriguez getting the TD. Benton's next possession saw them pushed back by penalties, then the snap on the punt play went over Riley Pfiffner's head. He got to it, tried to kick it, but only booted it about five feet straight up. Xavier recovered at the 3, and Wilson ran it in on the next play. Benton then got some offense going, but Wiebel threw an interception on Xavier's side of the field. Bryce Schulte returned the favor by throwing an interception on the next play, deep in Benton's end.
Special teams again. The next Benton punt saw Wilson cut in front of Gerke to steal the return at the Xavier 40. The Saints set up a nice wall along the right sideline, and Wilson was finally caught at the 4 yard line. Schulte ran it in from there, and Xavier held a 21-0 first quarter lead.
Things settled down in the second quarter as the teams traded a couple of possessions. Late in the quarter, though, Benton fumbled near midfield. Xavier immediately made them pay, as Schulte dropped a perfect pass into the hands of Nolan Butkowski for a 33-yard gain, then directed Butkowski to the middle of the end zone before zipping a 21-yard TD pass.
Xavier came right out in the second half still fired up. It only took three plays, as Wilson took a pitch to the left, spun away from one tackler, picked up his blockers and ran 49 yards for the score. The Xavier coaches sent out junior Nick Koechner for the extra point (Shane Scott had been doing the kicking previously), and he pulled the kick wide right. That meant the lead was 34 points instead of 35, so the continuous clock did not go into affect.
On Benton's next possession, they again picked up yards behind Williams on the ground, moving out toward midfield. Then Wiebel rolled left, looked back right to pass, and threw it to Saints linebacker Jack Lemke. Lemke had a wide-open field ahead, taking it back 49 yards for the TD. Koechner booted this extra point through, and it was 41-0 with the continuous clock now rolling.
The Bobcats responded with a fine 10-play drive, covering 76 yards in all. Xavier did have mostly replacement players out on the field, getting real-time game experience, but it was still an impressive drive. Williams got the score to cut it to 41-7, stopping the continuous clock.
Benton's next possession - another turnover, this time a fumble at the 3 yard line. After a loss and a penalty, Jack Scott, the third quarterback of the game for the Saints, ran it in from 10 yards out. Shane Scott was back for this extra point, and he missed (maybe so Koechner wouldn't feel so bad? I kid, I kid). Still, 47-7 was the edge, and back to the continuous clock we go.
Benton responded with another 10-play scoring drive, making it 47-14 with just over 6 minutes to go, but there was nothing left in this game but three consecutive three-and-outs.
A basic performance by Xavier, going on the road to pick up that first district win, keeping it on the ground almost the entire game and using special teams and turnovers to pretty much control field position for three quarters. Special teams (especially punt returns) have been huge all year so far for Xavier, and the turnover advantage has been significant - Xavier has 12 takeaways to only 2 turnovers, and they have converted 8 of those 12 takeaways directly into points). Next week the Saints are back home to face Charles City, a team that didn't look to do that much this season, but who did defeat a tough South Tama squad in overtime on Friday.
Sunday, September 11, 2016
Sunday, September 4, 2016
Gut Check - Answered
The Xavier Saints finished up the non-district part of their schedule on Friday with a blast from the past - a matchup with a former MVC opponent in the Linn-Mar Lions. This would be Xavier's first game against a 4A school since the state championship game in 2013. There's a really long story involved, with the MVC basically becoming meaningless for football when the state instituted districts, and Xavier electing to play 3A football since that's the size they were and there wasn't really an MVC for football, and all the metro-area 4A coaches saying, "You know, we'll just play other 4A competition and not Xavier, thank you very much." Yeah, it's actually a longer story than that, but you get the gist.
So Linn-Mar stepped up to be the first metro 4A to add Xavier to their schedule. Linn-Mar was kind of boxed in, as far as travel goes - to get other 4As in their non-district schedule, they would have had to reach out to schools in Dubuque or Epworth or the Quad Cities. Picking up Xavier meant a pretty solid, traditionally tough opponent, without the mess and bother of traveling outside of town.
Xavier had picked up a tough win over Iowa City Regina in their first game, behind Maliki Wilson's school-record 291 yards rushing, while Linn-Mar had played Iowa City High tough for three quarters before giving up multiple scores late in their opener. The Lions had only been able to get two field goals against the Little Hawks, so they were looking to get into the end zone against the Saints.
Things did not start out the Lions' way. Neme Siaway lost a fumble on the second play of the game, and Xavier turned that around and marched downfield, scoring on a 7-yard pass from Bryce Schulte to Wilson. After the Saints held Linn-Mar on their next position, Josh Gerke fielded the Kirby Kerr punt at the Xavier 45, headed to the right sideline behind a wall of blockers, and got all the way to the three-yard line after a 53-yard return. Two plays later Schulte dived in over the right side, and Xavier looked to be in control with a 14-0 lead.
On Xavier's third possession, though, the tide turned. Wilson fumbled near midfield, giving the ball to the Lions. Now Linn-Mar got their offense started, driving inside the 10. The Saints defense held firm and forced an Austin Cochrane field goal, but whether the teams and the crowd knew it or not, the momentum had switched sides. After a Xavier three-and-out, Linn-Mar put together another strong drive, twelve plays long, this one ending with a 3-yard TD run by Brennan McGaffee for the Lions' first touchdown of 2016. Now the Xavier lead was cut to 14-10.
That's how the half ended, although Xavier missed on a wide-open sure TD pass down the middle, and a couple of penalties stymied the Saints later in the second quarter. Still, Linn-Mar was feeling pretty good.
Both sides went back-and-forth to begin the third quarter with little success, until Siaway broke things open for the Lions. Apparently catching the Saints' defense in a stunt or formation with nobody back on the side he ran to, the Linn-Mar back burst over the right side and found nothing but open field ahead. His 68-yard scoring run put Linn-Mar on top 17-14 with just under 5 minutes to go in the third quarter, the first time Xavier had trailed in this young season. The Saints offense had done next to nothing in the last six possessions, since Wilson's fumble in the first quarter. They were in some trouble, and it was time to look inside and take a serious gut check.
That check wasn't really answered on the next possession. A sack put the Saints behind the sticks, then a well-timed double pass fell incomplete when Nolan Butkowski wasn't able to connect with Gerke. The Lions got the ball back with the lead and time running out in the third quarter.
Again a big play lifted the Lions. Reese Phillips found Aaron Pistulka behind his defender down the left sideline, picking up 67 yards down to the Xavier 23. Were the Lions about to go up by two scores?
Here comes the gut-check answer. Butkowski made the interception of a Phillips throw, returning it to the Linn-Mar 37. The Saints were able to pick up a couple of first downs, then capped the drive with a 24-yard field goal by Shane Scott to tie the game at 17. Xavier's defense gave up one first down on the ensuing Linn-Mar possession, then forced the punt.
Wilson picked up 5 yards on first down, giving him a hard 30 yards in 12 carries on the night (remember, he had 291 yards a week ago). Another gut-check answer: Wilson exploded through the line, much like Siaway in the third quarter, finding nothing but empty space ahead and no Lion defenders able to run him down. The 70-yard run put Xavier up 23-17 after a rough snap botched the extra point.
Linn-Mar drove near midfield before being forced to punt, and this time pinned Xavier all the way back at the 2. Schulte dived for a yard on first down. On second down - nearly a carbon copy of Wilson's previous carry. He burst over the right side, raced down the Xavier sideline, and tied another Xavier school record with a 97-yard scoring run. The Saints picked up the two-point conversion, and it's now 31-17.
That gut check has been answered pretty well, right? Well, Quinn Schulte intercepted Phillips on the next Linn-Mar play, and two plays later ... it's kind of like a broken record for Maliki Wilson. This time he's chased down the sideline by Trot Carey, who stayed with him up to about the 10 before fading away, and Wilson racked up a 66-yard scoring run. Another school record falls to Wilson, with 26 points on the night (three TDs rushing, one receiving, and the two-point conversion). Take note of this: Wilson had his hard 30 yards rushing three possessions ago. Since then, he's carried the ball four times for 234 yards and three scores. His six touchdown runs on the season? In order of length, 31, 62, 66, 68, 70 and 97 yards. Ridiculous.
Yet Xavier is not done. Phillips, who threw an interception on Linn-Mar's previous play, fumbled the ball away on their next. Three plays later Brian Lang ran it in from 17 yards out, and the Saints took the game 45-17. A game in which Xavier trailed with about 9 minutes to play turned out to be a four-touchdown margin of victory.
Next week district play begins, with Xavier facing Benton Community in a Class 3A District 3 opener. The Bobcats blew out 2A Oelwein in their first game, but then dropped a 23-point decision to Marion, giving the Indians their first win in two years. Benton features a strong ground game with juniors Maurice Williams and Spencer Touro, who've rushed for 305 yards and 5 touchdowns. Looking ahead in the district: Decorah was trounced by North Fayette Valley (one of the state's top 2A teams) before pulling out a late win over Crestwood; South Tama hammered Grinnell, then lost to Williamsburg by a point when they failed on a late two-point try; Waverly-Shell Rock beat Crestwood easily but put only 3 points on the board against NFV; Vinton-Shellsburg cruised over Center Point-Urbana but were blasted in a shutout by another top 2A team, Union-La Porte City; Charles City lost to a couple of 2A schools; and Independence has yet to score a point.
So Linn-Mar stepped up to be the first metro 4A to add Xavier to their schedule. Linn-Mar was kind of boxed in, as far as travel goes - to get other 4As in their non-district schedule, they would have had to reach out to schools in Dubuque or Epworth or the Quad Cities. Picking up Xavier meant a pretty solid, traditionally tough opponent, without the mess and bother of traveling outside of town.
Xavier had picked up a tough win over Iowa City Regina in their first game, behind Maliki Wilson's school-record 291 yards rushing, while Linn-Mar had played Iowa City High tough for three quarters before giving up multiple scores late in their opener. The Lions had only been able to get two field goals against the Little Hawks, so they were looking to get into the end zone against the Saints.
Things did not start out the Lions' way. Neme Siaway lost a fumble on the second play of the game, and Xavier turned that around and marched downfield, scoring on a 7-yard pass from Bryce Schulte to Wilson. After the Saints held Linn-Mar on their next position, Josh Gerke fielded the Kirby Kerr punt at the Xavier 45, headed to the right sideline behind a wall of blockers, and got all the way to the three-yard line after a 53-yard return. Two plays later Schulte dived in over the right side, and Xavier looked to be in control with a 14-0 lead.
On Xavier's third possession, though, the tide turned. Wilson fumbled near midfield, giving the ball to the Lions. Now Linn-Mar got their offense started, driving inside the 10. The Saints defense held firm and forced an Austin Cochrane field goal, but whether the teams and the crowd knew it or not, the momentum had switched sides. After a Xavier three-and-out, Linn-Mar put together another strong drive, twelve plays long, this one ending with a 3-yard TD run by Brennan McGaffee for the Lions' first touchdown of 2016. Now the Xavier lead was cut to 14-10.
That's how the half ended, although Xavier missed on a wide-open sure TD pass down the middle, and a couple of penalties stymied the Saints later in the second quarter. Still, Linn-Mar was feeling pretty good.
Both sides went back-and-forth to begin the third quarter with little success, until Siaway broke things open for the Lions. Apparently catching the Saints' defense in a stunt or formation with nobody back on the side he ran to, the Linn-Mar back burst over the right side and found nothing but open field ahead. His 68-yard scoring run put Linn-Mar on top 17-14 with just under 5 minutes to go in the third quarter, the first time Xavier had trailed in this young season. The Saints offense had done next to nothing in the last six possessions, since Wilson's fumble in the first quarter. They were in some trouble, and it was time to look inside and take a serious gut check.
That check wasn't really answered on the next possession. A sack put the Saints behind the sticks, then a well-timed double pass fell incomplete when Nolan Butkowski wasn't able to connect with Gerke. The Lions got the ball back with the lead and time running out in the third quarter.
Again a big play lifted the Lions. Reese Phillips found Aaron Pistulka behind his defender down the left sideline, picking up 67 yards down to the Xavier 23. Were the Lions about to go up by two scores?
Here comes the gut-check answer. Butkowski made the interception of a Phillips throw, returning it to the Linn-Mar 37. The Saints were able to pick up a couple of first downs, then capped the drive with a 24-yard field goal by Shane Scott to tie the game at 17. Xavier's defense gave up one first down on the ensuing Linn-Mar possession, then forced the punt.
Wilson picked up 5 yards on first down, giving him a hard 30 yards in 12 carries on the night (remember, he had 291 yards a week ago). Another gut-check answer: Wilson exploded through the line, much like Siaway in the third quarter, finding nothing but empty space ahead and no Lion defenders able to run him down. The 70-yard run put Xavier up 23-17 after a rough snap botched the extra point.
Linn-Mar drove near midfield before being forced to punt, and this time pinned Xavier all the way back at the 2. Schulte dived for a yard on first down. On second down - nearly a carbon copy of Wilson's previous carry. He burst over the right side, raced down the Xavier sideline, and tied another Xavier school record with a 97-yard scoring run. The Saints picked up the two-point conversion, and it's now 31-17.
That gut check has been answered pretty well, right? Well, Quinn Schulte intercepted Phillips on the next Linn-Mar play, and two plays later ... it's kind of like a broken record for Maliki Wilson. This time he's chased down the sideline by Trot Carey, who stayed with him up to about the 10 before fading away, and Wilson racked up a 66-yard scoring run. Another school record falls to Wilson, with 26 points on the night (three TDs rushing, one receiving, and the two-point conversion). Take note of this: Wilson had his hard 30 yards rushing three possessions ago. Since then, he's carried the ball four times for 234 yards and three scores. His six touchdown runs on the season? In order of length, 31, 62, 66, 68, 70 and 97 yards. Ridiculous.
Yet Xavier is not done. Phillips, who threw an interception on Linn-Mar's previous play, fumbled the ball away on their next. Three plays later Brian Lang ran it in from 17 yards out, and the Saints took the game 45-17. A game in which Xavier trailed with about 9 minutes to play turned out to be a four-touchdown margin of victory.
Next week district play begins, with Xavier facing Benton Community in a Class 3A District 3 opener. The Bobcats blew out 2A Oelwein in their first game, but then dropped a 23-point decision to Marion, giving the Indians their first win in two years. Benton features a strong ground game with juniors Maurice Williams and Spencer Touro, who've rushed for 305 yards and 5 touchdowns. Looking ahead in the district: Decorah was trounced by North Fayette Valley (one of the state's top 2A teams) before pulling out a late win over Crestwood; South Tama hammered Grinnell, then lost to Williamsburg by a point when they failed on a late two-point try; Waverly-Shell Rock beat Crestwood easily but put only 3 points on the board against NFV; Vinton-Shellsburg cruised over Center Point-Urbana but were blasted in a shutout by another top 2A team, Union-La Porte City; Charles City lost to a couple of 2A schools; and Independence has yet to score a point.
Saturday, August 27, 2016
Running Down A Dream
The Xavier Saints' 2016 season kicked off under overcast skies, in temperatures not usually seen in late August in Iowa. Considering Xavier's last three season openers had to deal with weather delays of one form or another - including last year's complete cancellation thanks to nonstop lightning - this pleasant Friday evening was a delightful change of pace.
Not so pleasant, though, was the opponent for this non-district opening game - the rather daunting Regals of Iowa City Regina, coached by former Iowa Hawkeye and NFL player Marv Cook, winners of six consecutive state championships. losers of only two games in the past six seasons. These Regals came to Saints Field needing to replace most of their ball handlers from last year's 13-1 squad, but returned three big 270-pound linemen in the middle of both the offensive and defensive lines.
Xavier, meanwhile, returned their entire backfield (quarterback Bryce Schulte, fullback Erik Rodriguez and tailback Maliki Wilson) along with three offensive linemen who had received all-district honors in 2015 (Sam Meyers, Max Johnson and Ryan Jasper). While the Saints' defense was a little less experienced, Xavier certainly had the horses to try to improve on last year's second-round playoff exit.
This matchup turned out to be all that anyone expected. Xavier took the early lead on their second play, a 68-yard run by Wilson (the first of many long runs for the speedy senior - he ended up breaking the school's single-game rushing mark with 293 yards) and never trailed, but Regina had an answer for every Saints touchdown to keep within dangerous striking distance. The Regals answered Wilson's long score with a 70-yard TD run by Brady Bigley, but the tying extra point was missed.
In the second quarter, a blocked punt set up Regina in the red zone, and with 1st and goal at the 4 it looked like the Regals would be able to take the lead. The Xavier defense stepped up big time, with a tremendous goal line stand that kept Regina out of the end zone, with Schulte capping it off by bringing down Jake Phillips for a loss on 4th and goal from the 1. Xavier took over and put together perhaps the drive of the game, moving all the way downfield, the big play a 32-yard pass from Schulte to Brett Burns. Schulte finished off the drive from 3 yards out to put Xavier up 14-6.
Remember when I said Regina always had an answer? Three plays later, Tommy Rapp found Isaac Vollstedt open downfield, and Vollstedt evaded tacklers and outraced everyone for a 53-yard touchdown. Coach Cook elected to go for two and the tie, but Xavier's defense (still feeling their oats after that goal line stand) stopped the try, keeping it 14-12.
Regina threatened again late in the first half, moving from their 31 to Xavier's 20, but a Rapp pass into traffic in the end zone was intercepted by Josh Gerke.
The second half started much like the first. On Xavier's fourth play, Wilson ran over the right side, found a little room, then saw Bigley in his way in the defensive backfield. Wilson lowered his shoulder and charged into Bigley, standing him straight up before shucking him away and dashing the rest of the 31 yards to the end zone. Xavier was up by 9, 21-12.
That didn't last long. Again, three plays later, Regina answered. And again, it was a big play from Rapp to Vollstedt. This time Vollstedt got a fantastic block downfield just after catching the pass, springing him down the left sideline and resulting in a 47-yard score. Back to two points, 21-19.
The teams exchanged possessions the rest of the third quarter, but the big concern for Xavier came after a 20-yard Wilson run. It looked like he might break free for another score, but a Regina defensive back went low and took out his legs. Wilson did not get up, even after some minutes of attention from the trainer and Xavier coaches. Once he got up, he got to the sideline only with plenty of assistance, barely putting any weight on either leg. I got to tell you, it looked really bad.
While Wilson was being worked on on the Xavier sideline into the fourth quarter, Regina got the ball back and moved into Xavier territory. Remember when the Saints stopped the threat late in the first half with an end-zone interception? This time Rapp tried to set up a screen, but McClain Burger sniffed it out, stepped in front of the receiver and picked off the pass near midfield. This turnover resulted in another strong drive from Xavier. Wilson even got back into the game (apparently only suffering from muscle cramps: I say "only" knowing they were no doubt very painful, but not something to lose a season over), but Rodriguez was leading the charge this time. Schulte finished it off once more with a 10-yard TD run, and the Saints were back up 28-19 with only 3:50 left to play.
Once again, you need to remember things from earlier in this game. Because once again, Regina responded. This time with a 7-play, 76-yard drive (the key play a 36-yard pass from Rapp to Jack Jensen down to the 4) and put the ball into the end zone to cut it back to two points again, 28-26, with 1:55 on the clock. Of course Regina was going to try the onside kick, and it nearly worked - except the Regals were really, really offside on the attempt. After the penalty, they went with the pooch kick, but Xavier was able to make the catch.
And then, Maliki Wilson. He carried for three yards, then for one. Then he swept to the right, broke through the front seven, and dashed down the Xavier sideline. Michael Conlon gave chase, looking to have a good shot at pushing Wilson out of bounds around the 20. Wilson extended a rather powerful stiff arm, stopping Conlon in his tracks and breaking him free for what turned out to be a 62-yard TD run to make it 35-26 with 50 seconds left. It was Wilson's third score of the game and put him over Brendan Miller's school mark of 271 yards set in 2013.
Regina tried to throw their way back downfield (once again, again) but Nolan Butkowski intercepted a Rapp pass with only a few seconds left to finish things off.
Not particularly a well-played game in every facet - Xavier ended up with several penalties, Regina had several great opportunities for big pass plays that were either dropped or just off-target - but a very entertaining matchup and a tremendous test for both squads as they head into the 2016 season. Next week the Saints face an old MVC foe, Linn-Mar, as the Lions turn out to be the first metro 4A team willing to put Xavier on their schedule since district football came to eastern Iowa in 2014.
Not so pleasant, though, was the opponent for this non-district opening game - the rather daunting Regals of Iowa City Regina, coached by former Iowa Hawkeye and NFL player Marv Cook, winners of six consecutive state championships. losers of only two games in the past six seasons. These Regals came to Saints Field needing to replace most of their ball handlers from last year's 13-1 squad, but returned three big 270-pound linemen in the middle of both the offensive and defensive lines.
Xavier, meanwhile, returned their entire backfield (quarterback Bryce Schulte, fullback Erik Rodriguez and tailback Maliki Wilson) along with three offensive linemen who had received all-district honors in 2015 (Sam Meyers, Max Johnson and Ryan Jasper). While the Saints' defense was a little less experienced, Xavier certainly had the horses to try to improve on last year's second-round playoff exit.
This matchup turned out to be all that anyone expected. Xavier took the early lead on their second play, a 68-yard run by Wilson (the first of many long runs for the speedy senior - he ended up breaking the school's single-game rushing mark with 293 yards) and never trailed, but Regina had an answer for every Saints touchdown to keep within dangerous striking distance. The Regals answered Wilson's long score with a 70-yard TD run by Brady Bigley, but the tying extra point was missed.
In the second quarter, a blocked punt set up Regina in the red zone, and with 1st and goal at the 4 it looked like the Regals would be able to take the lead. The Xavier defense stepped up big time, with a tremendous goal line stand that kept Regina out of the end zone, with Schulte capping it off by bringing down Jake Phillips for a loss on 4th and goal from the 1. Xavier took over and put together perhaps the drive of the game, moving all the way downfield, the big play a 32-yard pass from Schulte to Brett Burns. Schulte finished off the drive from 3 yards out to put Xavier up 14-6.
Remember when I said Regina always had an answer? Three plays later, Tommy Rapp found Isaac Vollstedt open downfield, and Vollstedt evaded tacklers and outraced everyone for a 53-yard touchdown. Coach Cook elected to go for two and the tie, but Xavier's defense (still feeling their oats after that goal line stand) stopped the try, keeping it 14-12.
Regina threatened again late in the first half, moving from their 31 to Xavier's 20, but a Rapp pass into traffic in the end zone was intercepted by Josh Gerke.
The second half started much like the first. On Xavier's fourth play, Wilson ran over the right side, found a little room, then saw Bigley in his way in the defensive backfield. Wilson lowered his shoulder and charged into Bigley, standing him straight up before shucking him away and dashing the rest of the 31 yards to the end zone. Xavier was up by 9, 21-12.
That didn't last long. Again, three plays later, Regina answered. And again, it was a big play from Rapp to Vollstedt. This time Vollstedt got a fantastic block downfield just after catching the pass, springing him down the left sideline and resulting in a 47-yard score. Back to two points, 21-19.
The teams exchanged possessions the rest of the third quarter, but the big concern for Xavier came after a 20-yard Wilson run. It looked like he might break free for another score, but a Regina defensive back went low and took out his legs. Wilson did not get up, even after some minutes of attention from the trainer and Xavier coaches. Once he got up, he got to the sideline only with plenty of assistance, barely putting any weight on either leg. I got to tell you, it looked really bad.
While Wilson was being worked on on the Xavier sideline into the fourth quarter, Regina got the ball back and moved into Xavier territory. Remember when the Saints stopped the threat late in the first half with an end-zone interception? This time Rapp tried to set up a screen, but McClain Burger sniffed it out, stepped in front of the receiver and picked off the pass near midfield. This turnover resulted in another strong drive from Xavier. Wilson even got back into the game (apparently only suffering from muscle cramps: I say "only" knowing they were no doubt very painful, but not something to lose a season over), but Rodriguez was leading the charge this time. Schulte finished it off once more with a 10-yard TD run, and the Saints were back up 28-19 with only 3:50 left to play.
Once again, you need to remember things from earlier in this game. Because once again, Regina responded. This time with a 7-play, 76-yard drive (the key play a 36-yard pass from Rapp to Jack Jensen down to the 4) and put the ball into the end zone to cut it back to two points again, 28-26, with 1:55 on the clock. Of course Regina was going to try the onside kick, and it nearly worked - except the Regals were really, really offside on the attempt. After the penalty, they went with the pooch kick, but Xavier was able to make the catch.
And then, Maliki Wilson. He carried for three yards, then for one. Then he swept to the right, broke through the front seven, and dashed down the Xavier sideline. Michael Conlon gave chase, looking to have a good shot at pushing Wilson out of bounds around the 20. Wilson extended a rather powerful stiff arm, stopping Conlon in his tracks and breaking him free for what turned out to be a 62-yard TD run to make it 35-26 with 50 seconds left. It was Wilson's third score of the game and put him over Brendan Miller's school mark of 271 yards set in 2013.
Regina tried to throw their way back downfield (once again, again) but Nolan Butkowski intercepted a Rapp pass with only a few seconds left to finish things off.
Not particularly a well-played game in every facet - Xavier ended up with several penalties, Regina had several great opportunities for big pass plays that were either dropped or just off-target - but a very entertaining matchup and a tremendous test for both squads as they head into the 2016 season. Next week the Saints face an old MVC foe, Linn-Mar, as the Lions turn out to be the first metro 4A team willing to put Xavier on their schedule since district football came to eastern Iowa in 2014.
Sunday, August 21, 2016
I Apparently Forgot Math
Yep, seems I forgot how to add. That's got to be the only explanation for how I could mess up the numbers for the Xavier school records that might fall this year in my earlier post about them. Thank goodness Excel does the math for you; a quick little formula for a couple of cells and suddenly I realize I'm thankful I don't have to ever take the ACT again.
Anyway, let's get things set the way they oughta be. First of all, I had overlooked Bryce Schulte's freshman passing stats in adding up his current career totals, which left out 5 completions, 6 attempts, 82 yards and (importantly) 2 TD passes. I also hadn't included his single TD reception that he got against Central-DeWitt in 2014. Throwing those stats into the mix, as well as discovering a previously overlooked Xavier school record, shows Bryce is TIED with his brother Reggie for the school mark for total TDs (rushing, passing, and receiving). Both the Schultes have a total of 54, with Bryce looking at another season to play.
Bryce is 921 total yards off the school record, as well as 1253 passing yards, 63 pass attempts, and 13 TD passes. Reggie currently holds all those records, which Bryce has an excellent shot to surpass this fall (he's averaged 160 attempts, 1333.5 passing yards, 1476.5 total yards, and 17 TD passes the past two seasons). Bryce is also 89 pass completions away from Reggie's school-record 265, which is reachable (although Bryce has yet to complete more than 87 passes in a season).
So, yeah. I'm pretty sure those totals are now correct (I earlier had Bryce needing less than 900 total yards to pass Reggie, but I have no idea how I came up with that number. I then corrected that to over 1000, which also turned out to be wrong, because I added wrong AND I didn't include his freshman numbers. Arrgh).
We are less than a week away from the kickoff of the 2016 season! Check back here each week to keep up with the Xavier Saints and what else is happening in 3A District 3 (I see the Gazette picks Charles City and Vinton-Shellsburg to finish high in the district, with Waverly-Shell Rock picked to finish last. Huh. Not what I was thinking, but who knows, right?).
Anyway, let's get things set the way they oughta be. First of all, I had overlooked Bryce Schulte's freshman passing stats in adding up his current career totals, which left out 5 completions, 6 attempts, 82 yards and (importantly) 2 TD passes. I also hadn't included his single TD reception that he got against Central-DeWitt in 2014. Throwing those stats into the mix, as well as discovering a previously overlooked Xavier school record, shows Bryce is TIED with his brother Reggie for the school mark for total TDs (rushing, passing, and receiving). Both the Schultes have a total of 54, with Bryce looking at another season to play.
Bryce is 921 total yards off the school record, as well as 1253 passing yards, 63 pass attempts, and 13 TD passes. Reggie currently holds all those records, which Bryce has an excellent shot to surpass this fall (he's averaged 160 attempts, 1333.5 passing yards, 1476.5 total yards, and 17 TD passes the past two seasons). Bryce is also 89 pass completions away from Reggie's school-record 265, which is reachable (although Bryce has yet to complete more than 87 passes in a season).
So, yeah. I'm pretty sure those totals are now correct (I earlier had Bryce needing less than 900 total yards to pass Reggie, but I have no idea how I came up with that number. I then corrected that to over 1000, which also turned out to be wrong, because I added wrong AND I didn't include his freshman numbers. Arrgh).
We are less than a week away from the kickoff of the 2016 season! Check back here each week to keep up with the Xavier Saints and what else is happening in 3A District 3 (I see the Gazette picks Charles City and Vinton-Shellsburg to finish high in the district, with Waverly-Shell Rock picked to finish last. Huh. Not what I was thinking, but who knows, right?).
Tuesday, August 9, 2016
Freshmen on Friday?
Eventually, I suppose, things had to change with Xavier becoming a 3A football school. All those MVC traditions, with games at Kingston and rosters filling both sidelines and all those other trappings of 4A football, you know they couldn't last. Turns out that includes the sophomore football game being played on Fridays immediately before the varsity game.
The state has some rules about the amount of competition a football player can take part in over the course of a week, which is good for players' health, of course. Players can play in a maximum of two games in a week, with a one-day maximum of five quarters. Now that Xavier finds itself matching up with 3A schools - many of which have considerably smaller rosters than you may be used to seeing - these rules are coming into play. Particularly, a school like Charles City or Vinton-Shellsburg may need to use a significant number of sophomores to play in their varsity games. Trouble is, if those sophs play a full game, they can only play one additional quarter in the varsity game (five quarters per day).
We noticed an effect from this at last year's Regina game. Quite a few of the Regal players from the evening's sophomore game also played in the varsity game, and the Regina coaching staff had to do some well-planned substitutions to make sure nobody played more than five quarters. Well, in 2016, too many of Xavier's opponents found those restrictions too tough to handle while still allowing adequate rest/rotation/playing time for everybody.
So - we are only going to see one sophomore game for Xavier on a Friday night this year, October 2, when the Saints play 4A Linn-Mar. For all the following weeks, the Xavier freshman team will take the field on Fridays at 5:00 pm to warm things up for the following varsity game at 7:30. It's just different, that's all - the sophomores will end up playing Monday evenings most of the season (although it does appear Charles City is not mounting a sophomore/JV team this season, so there's only 8 sophomore games on the schedule).
For most of these 3A teams, it can be a challenge to put together a full freshman and a full sophomore squad. Back in my day, at a 2A school, we only had junior varsity and varsity. I imagine some of Xavier's opponents this year might be stretching a bit to have three full teams (which does explain the moving of the sophomore or JV game away from Friday, since many of those kids are going to have to fill roles for the varsity as well).
Anyway, a quick look at the season:
VARSITY (all Fridays, of course, except semifinal and championship)
August 26 Iowa City Regina H 7:00
September 2 Linn-Mar A 7:30
September 9 Benton Community A 7:30
September 16 Charles City H 7:30
September 23 Decorah A 7:30
September 30 Independence H 7:30
October 7 Waverly-Shell Rock A 7:30
October 14 Vinton-Shellsburg H 7:30
October 21 South Tama A 7:30
October 28 First-round playoff TBA 7:00
November 4 Second-round playoff TBA 7:00
November 10 Semifinal UNI Dome 5:36/8:21
November 17 Championship UNI Dome 7:06
SOPHOMORE
Thur August 25 Iowa City Regina H 6:00
Fri September 2 Linn-Mar A 5:00
Mon September 12 Benton Community H 6:00
Mon September 26 Decorah H 6:00
Mon October 3 Independence A 6:00
Mon October 10 Waverly-Shell Rock H 6:00
Mon October 17 Vinton-Shellsburg A 6:00
Mon October 24 South Tama H 6:00
FRESHMEN
Thur August 25 Iowa City West A 6:00
Thu September 1 Linn-Mar H 6:00
September 9 Benton Community A 5:00
September 16 Charles City H 5:00
September 23 Decorah A 5:00
September 30 Independence H 5:00
October 7 Waverly-Shell Rock A 5:00
October 14 Vinton-Shellsburg H 5:00
October 21 South Tama A 5:00
The state has some rules about the amount of competition a football player can take part in over the course of a week, which is good for players' health, of course. Players can play in a maximum of two games in a week, with a one-day maximum of five quarters. Now that Xavier finds itself matching up with 3A schools - many of which have considerably smaller rosters than you may be used to seeing - these rules are coming into play. Particularly, a school like Charles City or Vinton-Shellsburg may need to use a significant number of sophomores to play in their varsity games. Trouble is, if those sophs play a full game, they can only play one additional quarter in the varsity game (five quarters per day).
We noticed an effect from this at last year's Regina game. Quite a few of the Regal players from the evening's sophomore game also played in the varsity game, and the Regina coaching staff had to do some well-planned substitutions to make sure nobody played more than five quarters. Well, in 2016, too many of Xavier's opponents found those restrictions too tough to handle while still allowing adequate rest/rotation/playing time for everybody.
So - we are only going to see one sophomore game for Xavier on a Friday night this year, October 2, when the Saints play 4A Linn-Mar. For all the following weeks, the Xavier freshman team will take the field on Fridays at 5:00 pm to warm things up for the following varsity game at 7:30. It's just different, that's all - the sophomores will end up playing Monday evenings most of the season (although it does appear Charles City is not mounting a sophomore/JV team this season, so there's only 8 sophomore games on the schedule).
For most of these 3A teams, it can be a challenge to put together a full freshman and a full sophomore squad. Back in my day, at a 2A school, we only had junior varsity and varsity. I imagine some of Xavier's opponents this year might be stretching a bit to have three full teams (which does explain the moving of the sophomore or JV game away from Friday, since many of those kids are going to have to fill roles for the varsity as well).
Anyway, a quick look at the season:
VARSITY (all Fridays, of course, except semifinal and championship)
August 26 Iowa City Regina H 7:00
September 2 Linn-Mar A 7:30
September 9 Benton Community A 7:30
September 16 Charles City H 7:30
September 23 Decorah A 7:30
September 30 Independence H 7:30
October 7 Waverly-Shell Rock A 7:30
October 14 Vinton-Shellsburg H 7:30
October 21 South Tama A 7:30
October 28 First-round playoff TBA 7:00
November 4 Second-round playoff TBA 7:00
November 10 Semifinal UNI Dome 5:36/8:21
November 17 Championship UNI Dome 7:06
SOPHOMORE
Thur August 25 Iowa City Regina H 6:00
Fri September 2 Linn-Mar A 5:00
Mon September 12 Benton Community H 6:00
Mon September 26 Decorah H 6:00
Mon October 3 Independence A 6:00
Mon October 10 Waverly-Shell Rock H 6:00
Mon October 17 Vinton-Shellsburg A 6:00
Mon October 24 South Tama H 6:00
FRESHMEN
Thur August 25 Iowa City West A 6:00
Thu September 1 Linn-Mar H 6:00
September 9 Benton Community A 5:00
September 16 Charles City H 5:00
September 23 Decorah A 5:00
September 30 Independence H 5:00
October 7 Waverly-Shell Rock A 5:00
October 14 Vinton-Shellsburg H 5:00
October 21 South Tama A 5:00
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