There's a double meaning in my title for this blog. First, the fact I've been falling behind in posting. That's on me (of course - who else would it be on?). With a trip out of state immediately following the Xavier-Waverly/Shell Rock game on the 7th, and the necessities of life piling up over the following week, well ... I didn't get to this.
So let's quickly go over the Waverly/Shell Rock game. It looked like perhaps Xavier's toughest game of the season, and almost certainly their toughest game in District 3. The Go-Hawks had the district's toughest defense (giving up fewer than 35 passing yards per game!) and a balanced offense featuring the district's leading passer in John Stensland and one of the leading rushers in Gabe Santioemma. Waverly/Shell Rock needed a win to keep hopes of a top-two finish in the district and a playoff spot.
So, naturally, the game turned out to be almost a carbon copy of Xavier's dominating win over the last-place Independence Mustangs the week before. Actually, Xavier set a record by allowing the fewest yards in a game ever (just 22 yards from the Go-Hawk offense, including -1 on the ground) as the Saints cruised to a 42-0 victory. Xavier's defense harassed Stensland all night, and stopped the ground game cold. Maliki Wilson, the state's leading rusher in Class 3A, ripped his way to a new career rushing mark and Bryce Schulte threw for nearly 100 yards.
On to the second meaning of my title. Xavier rolled into Friday's home game against a 2-5 Vinton/Shellsburg squad on a pretty high note; coming off two straight shutouts, the offense setting records, an undefeated season continuing with a playoff spot assured. The Vikings, on the other hand, were struggling with one of the district's poorest season performances - although they were coming off a shutout win of their own, a 39-0 blanking of poor Independence. It looked like another mismatch on the Saints' road to a deep playoff run.
Vinton/Shellsburg took the opening kickoff, and used their deceptive single-wing/wing-T offense to immediately rip off a 12-yard gain on the first play. On the fourth play, fullback Wes Edwards took a handoff up the middle, burst through the line, and found a wide-open field. He didn't stop until reaching the end zone 71 yards later. The Vikings went for two, and Xavier trailed 8-0. It's the first time the Saints had fallen behind (Aha! There it is!) an opponent since the third quarter of their game against Linn-Mar all the way back on September 2.
Okay, so, big play, big deal. Xavier would certainly respond, as they had scored on their opening possession of the game all seven times this season. They'd outscored opponents 122-6 in first quarters over the year, shutting out everyone except Iowa City Regina in the opener. So the Saints rolled out for their first possession and ... went three and out. On their second possession, they drove 47 yards, but missed a field goal try. On their third possession - hold on now, we're in the second quarter already? And still trailing 8-0?
The Saints realized they had their hands full. Vinton/Shellsburg, led by former Cedar Rapids Jefferson coach Jim Womochil, was prepared and fired up. While their offense slowed down a little after breaking the big-play TD run, defensively the Vikings were on top of nearly everything Xavier tried to run. Wilson was trapped at or behind the line of scrimmage multiple times. Screen passes to the slot receiver were stopped at the point of the catch. Option plays had a man on both Schulte and Wilson.
Finally, midway through the second quarter, Xavier got their heads in the game and buckled down. It started after the Vikings drove to the Saints 20-yard line after a personal foul penalty. Edwards ran for 5 to the 15, Tanner Davis ran for 1, Will Edwards was tackled for a loss of 1, then Blake Bohnsack's 4th down pass fell incomplete. Xavier took over on downs and started a 9-play, 85-yard drive. A clutch 15-yard pass from Schulte to Brett Burns on 3rd and 8 was a big play, then Schulte found his brother Quinn down the middle between two defenders, with a nice throw and a nice catch combining for a 37-yard TD. Wilson took the ball to try for the two-point conversion, but was stuffed. Xavier still trailed 8-6 with 3:15 left in the first half.
Still in the bank for Xavier's defense was their turnover ratio. Over the season the Saints had forced 16 turnovers, while turning the ball over only twice themselves. Nine of those 16 turnovers led directly to points, with the Saints getting 59 points from turnovers in the first seven games. So, here, with less than 3 minutes left in the half and trailing 8-6, it was the perfect time for Josh Gerke to nab Bohnsack's overthrown pass for an interception inside Vinton/Shellsburg territory.
A penalty on the return moved Xavier back to their 49, where Schulte found Schulte for 11 yards on 3rd and 10. A Wilson 15-yard run got into the red zone, and after another penalty, Schulte found Burns beating his defender for a 25-yard TD pass. The two-point conversion failed again, but Xavier had retaken the lead at 12-8 with 31 seconds to go in the half.
Remember that note about Xavier scoring on their opening possession every game but this one? Similarly, the Saints had scored on the opening drive of the second half every game but Linn-Mar. They took the kickoff, had a great return up to the 43, but found themselves facing a 4th and 1 at the Vinton/Shellsburg 48-yard line. Now fullback Erik Rodriguez stepped up. Rodriguez put the team on his back all night, with nice lead blocks and terrific efforts every time he touched the ball, whether it be on a screen pass reception or, as in this case, he gets the carry up the middle. This time he blasted his way for the first down ... kept his feet driving ... broke a couple of tackles and got loose ... split two more tacklers downfield ... headed for the pylon ... and dove for the end zone as he was caught from behind. The ball broke the plane as Rodriguez finished an incredible 48-yard run that put Xavier up 18-8.
Now the Xavier defense stepped up again, as well. A three-and-out for the Vikings set up Xavier at the Vinton/Shellsburg 38, where a play later Wilson ran away from everyone for a 34-yard score. The next Viking play was a fumble; their next possession another three and out. Late in the third quarter Will Edwards ripped off a 22-yard run, but that was followed by a loss of a yard, a sack, and an incompletion (Vinton/Shellsburg would complete zero passes on the night, save for their two-point conversion).
The Saints weren't doing much with the ball either, with a series of three-and-outs taking us into the fourth quarter. A terrible shanked punt by Ryan Jasper gave the Vikings the ball at midfield, where Will Edwards took off on another long run to the Xavier 15. On third and 10, Bohnsack looked for his tall tight end, Nate Struve, and fired a good pass about shoulder high. It bounced off Struve, though, high into the air and intercepted by Nolan Butkowski at the goal line. Butkowski ran it back to the 27.
And Xavier applied the coup-de-grace (can I put French into this blog? Doing it). An 11-play, 73-yard drive, eating up nearly all the rest of the quarter, featuring yet another "I'm not going down, y'all" 22-yard run from Rodriguez among five first downs on the drive, ended with a 2-yard scoring pass from Schulte to Schulte. It was 32-8 and that's how it would end.
You look at the final score, you think another smooth win for Xavier. You were there to watch, you think, that was a tough win that might have exposed some things for future opponents. The Saints still have some work to do, even at 8-0 with the district title in hand.
Sunday, October 16, 2016
Friday, October 7, 2016
Outgunned, outmanned
That was Independence last Friday night. The Mustangs came to Saints Field already suffering from a rough season (only one touchdown in five games), but they arrived with about a quarter of their roster missing practice for at least part of the week and their top rusher (Ethan Holt) and receiver (Cyrus Butters) both in street clothes.
It went about as you would expect. Xavier rolled to a 45-0 victory (so still just one touchdown for Independence on the year) behind two TD runs from Maliki Wilson, two TD runs from Bryce Schulte, and two TD passes from Schulte. The Saints defense held Indee to negative yards rushing, about 40 yards total offense, and gave up one first down (that came in the last half of the fourth quarter).
This week Xavier moves on to Waverly-Shell Rock, as the playoff picture starts to emerge. The Go-Hawks are in a tie for second at the moment with a 3-1 district record (along with Benton and Charles City). Waverly-Shell Rock has already lost to Benton, and the Bobcats play Charles City this week. Basically, wins by Xavier and Benton Friday almost certainly mean those two teams finish atop District 3 and earn playoff spots (Xavier has 1-5 Vinton-Shellsburg next week and finishes with 3-3 South Tama; Benton plays 0-6 Independence and finishes with Vinton-Shellsburg).
So Waverly-Shell Rock is in a must-win situation. They already lose a head-to-head tiebreaker with Benton, so dropping the head-to-head with Xavier almost guarantees they can't get into the top two spots. The Go-Hawks are no Independence, by the way - they feature the saltiest defense in District 3 (giving up 146 yards per game on the ground and a crazy 38 yards per game passing, for under 185 yards per game total), and while they're in the middle of the pack offensively, John Stensland is the leading passer in the district with 886 yards and 10 touchdowns.
On the Xavier records front, Maliki Wilson is just 122 yards away from breaking Brendan Miller's career mark of 2498 yards rushing. Considering Wilson is averaging 184 yards per game, that mark should fall this week. He's also just 4 rushing TDs away from Will Martin's 9-game season record of 17, set in the championship year of 2006, and 22 points away from Martin's 9-game record of 114. Bryce Schulte (who already this season set school career marks in total TDs and pass attempts) is 39 yards away from his brother Reggie's career record of 4092 total yards, 4 TD passes away from Reggie's career 49, 35 completions from Reggie's 265, and 543 passing yards away from Reggie's 4002. The only one of those that should fall this week is the total yardage record, but a big game could get him the passing TD mark as well. The career completions mark should be Bryce's by the time the season is over ... the passing yardage mark might take a good playoff run (or a huge passing night) before Reggie gives that up.
It went about as you would expect. Xavier rolled to a 45-0 victory (so still just one touchdown for Independence on the year) behind two TD runs from Maliki Wilson, two TD runs from Bryce Schulte, and two TD passes from Schulte. The Saints defense held Indee to negative yards rushing, about 40 yards total offense, and gave up one first down (that came in the last half of the fourth quarter).
This week Xavier moves on to Waverly-Shell Rock, as the playoff picture starts to emerge. The Go-Hawks are in a tie for second at the moment with a 3-1 district record (along with Benton and Charles City). Waverly-Shell Rock has already lost to Benton, and the Bobcats play Charles City this week. Basically, wins by Xavier and Benton Friday almost certainly mean those two teams finish atop District 3 and earn playoff spots (Xavier has 1-5 Vinton-Shellsburg next week and finishes with 3-3 South Tama; Benton plays 0-6 Independence and finishes with Vinton-Shellsburg).
So Waverly-Shell Rock is in a must-win situation. They already lose a head-to-head tiebreaker with Benton, so dropping the head-to-head with Xavier almost guarantees they can't get into the top two spots. The Go-Hawks are no Independence, by the way - they feature the saltiest defense in District 3 (giving up 146 yards per game on the ground and a crazy 38 yards per game passing, for under 185 yards per game total), and while they're in the middle of the pack offensively, John Stensland is the leading passer in the district with 886 yards and 10 touchdowns.
On the Xavier records front, Maliki Wilson is just 122 yards away from breaking Brendan Miller's career mark of 2498 yards rushing. Considering Wilson is averaging 184 yards per game, that mark should fall this week. He's also just 4 rushing TDs away from Will Martin's 9-game season record of 17, set in the championship year of 2006, and 22 points away from Martin's 9-game record of 114. Bryce Schulte (who already this season set school career marks in total TDs and pass attempts) is 39 yards away from his brother Reggie's career record of 4092 total yards, 4 TD passes away from Reggie's career 49, 35 completions from Reggie's 265, and 543 passing yards away from Reggie's 4002. The only one of those that should fall this week is the total yardage record, but a big game could get him the passing TD mark as well. The career completions mark should be Bryce's by the time the season is over ... the passing yardage mark might take a good playoff run (or a huge passing night) before Reggie gives that up.
Monday, September 26, 2016
Flooding the Zone
Okay, a little tacky with the title this week. Yes, it's a football term, but with the Cedar River about to crest at around 23 feet in Cedar Rapids - and with flooding all over northeastern Iowa over the weekend - perhaps not in the best of taste.
Speaking of which, what the heck? We just went through a 500-year flood a scant 8 years ago. Now we're expecting the second-highest flood in history? In September, no less? What's going on here? You might want to look at this for a notion of what might be going on ... just sayin'.
On to football things. Xavier rolled to 5-0 on the season and 3-0 in District 3 with a convincing 38-6 win over Decorah. The Saints got a little bit of payback for being outplayed and outscored by the Vikings last November in the playoffs, but this was mainly a case of Xavier just doing their thing and rolling down the field. On the Saints's first three possessions, they had drives of 12 plays, 13 plays, and 8 plays, amassing over 200 yards and scoring three touchdowns. It's hard to do any better than that.
Jake Muhlbauer was a highlight for Decorah. Okay, he was the highlight for Decorah. He ran for 104 yards, got the Vikings' only score of the night, had multiple kickoff returns for good yardage, and was all over the field on defense (11 tackles, I believe). The Vikings had no turnovers on the night, so that was a plus, but they did have both an extra point and a field goal attempt blocked.
Maliki Wilson was huge once again for Xavier, rushing for over 200 yards and picking up his 10th and 11th rushing TDs of the year, the last a 76-yard burst through a wide-open hole on the right side of the Saints' offensive line. Bryce Schulte threw for 171 yards (including two deep throws to Nolan Butkowski) and a touchdown, as the Saints rolled up more than 400 yards of offense. Shane Scott even got in on the fun, nailing a 44-yard field goal in the fourth quarter. I got all excited, calling it "perhaps the second-longest field goal in Xavier history," (the record is a 48-yarder by Taylor Lynch all the way back in 2004) but a little after-the-fact research found three field goals longer than 44 yards just since 2011 (all by Ryan Persick).
And speaking of records, Wilson is closing in on Brendan Miller's school career rushing record of 2498. He already broke Miller's single-game record back in Week One, and now with four regular-season games remaining, Wilson is less than 300 yards from the career mark.
And then there's playoffs! No, Xavier has not locked down a spot, not yet, but they are the current prohibitive favorites to take the District 3 title. Before the season Decorah was a strong co-favorite, but they already have 2 district losses. Waverly-Shell Rock looked to be stepping up next, but they dropped a 2-point decision to Benton on Friday. South Tama, another contender, has already lost to Charles City. Benton defeated Decorah and Waverly-Shell Rock in back-to-back weeks, already has a loss to Xavier (for tiebreaking purposes). So right now, Xavier is at 3-0. South Tama, Waverly-Shell Rock, Charles City, and Benton are all at 2-1. Waverly-Shell Rock and South Tama have yet to play Xavier and Decorah, as well as each other.
Then there's Independence, this week's Xavier opponent. The Mustangs improved steadily each of the past four years, finally reaching the playoffs in 2014 and posting an 8-1 record last year. In both cases, however, they dropped their first round playoff game. And this year ... well, they're struggling. They've scored just one touchdown all year, late in a blowout loss to South Tama. That's 19 scoreless quarters, out of 20 quarters played (Xavier has scored in 16 of their 20 quarters). They've rushed for only 396 yards (less than 80 yards per game) and passed for 365 yards (with 13 interceptions). It's been a rough year.
Speaking of which, what the heck? We just went through a 500-year flood a scant 8 years ago. Now we're expecting the second-highest flood in history? In September, no less? What's going on here? You might want to look at this for a notion of what might be going on ... just sayin'.
On to football things. Xavier rolled to 5-0 on the season and 3-0 in District 3 with a convincing 38-6 win over Decorah. The Saints got a little bit of payback for being outplayed and outscored by the Vikings last November in the playoffs, but this was mainly a case of Xavier just doing their thing and rolling down the field. On the Saints's first three possessions, they had drives of 12 plays, 13 plays, and 8 plays, amassing over 200 yards and scoring three touchdowns. It's hard to do any better than that.
Jake Muhlbauer was a highlight for Decorah. Okay, he was the highlight for Decorah. He ran for 104 yards, got the Vikings' only score of the night, had multiple kickoff returns for good yardage, and was all over the field on defense (11 tackles, I believe). The Vikings had no turnovers on the night, so that was a plus, but they did have both an extra point and a field goal attempt blocked.
Maliki Wilson was huge once again for Xavier, rushing for over 200 yards and picking up his 10th and 11th rushing TDs of the year, the last a 76-yard burst through a wide-open hole on the right side of the Saints' offensive line. Bryce Schulte threw for 171 yards (including two deep throws to Nolan Butkowski) and a touchdown, as the Saints rolled up more than 400 yards of offense. Shane Scott even got in on the fun, nailing a 44-yard field goal in the fourth quarter. I got all excited, calling it "perhaps the second-longest field goal in Xavier history," (the record is a 48-yarder by Taylor Lynch all the way back in 2004) but a little after-the-fact research found three field goals longer than 44 yards just since 2011 (all by Ryan Persick).
And speaking of records, Wilson is closing in on Brendan Miller's school career rushing record of 2498. He already broke Miller's single-game record back in Week One, and now with four regular-season games remaining, Wilson is less than 300 yards from the career mark.
And then there's playoffs! No, Xavier has not locked down a spot, not yet, but they are the current prohibitive favorites to take the District 3 title. Before the season Decorah was a strong co-favorite, but they already have 2 district losses. Waverly-Shell Rock looked to be stepping up next, but they dropped a 2-point decision to Benton on Friday. South Tama, another contender, has already lost to Charles City. Benton defeated Decorah and Waverly-Shell Rock in back-to-back weeks, already has a loss to Xavier (for tiebreaking purposes). So right now, Xavier is at 3-0. South Tama, Waverly-Shell Rock, Charles City, and Benton are all at 2-1. Waverly-Shell Rock and South Tama have yet to play Xavier and Decorah, as well as each other.
Then there's Independence, this week's Xavier opponent. The Mustangs improved steadily each of the past four years, finally reaching the playoffs in 2014 and posting an 8-1 record last year. In both cases, however, they dropped their first round playoff game. And this year ... well, they're struggling. They've scored just one touchdown all year, late in a blowout loss to South Tama. That's 19 scoreless quarters, out of 20 quarters played (Xavier has scored in 16 of their 20 quarters). They've rushed for only 396 yards (less than 80 yards per game) and passed for 365 yards (with 13 interceptions). It's been a rough year.
Thursday, September 22, 2016
Charles City Was NOT In Charge
Yes, I know. It's Thursday. Almost an entire week since Xavier got to 4-0 with a 35-7 win over district opponent Charles City. What can I say? This week got away from me. What with buying a new (well, new to us, anyway) car on Tuesday after test driving it on Monday, and setting up two interviews on Wednesday and Thursday, and then actually, you know, going to work every day ... there's only so much time.
Anyhoo, here we are. The Saints rolled up nearly 400 yards of offense and sacked Comet QB Drew Mitchell five times as they rolled over Charles City. Once again, Xavier got off to a hot start, scoring touchdowns on their first three possessions to take a 20-0 lead after one quarter. Maliki Wilson picked up his 9th rushing TD of the year on a 43-yard run, while Bryce Schulte had scoring passes to Brett Burns and Nolan Butkowski, while the offense pretty much moved the ball at will. The Saints have outscored opponents 62-6 in the first quarter this year, giving up their only points to Iowa City Regina in the opening game.
Xavier picked up another score in the 2nd quarter, when Schulte threw to his wide-open brother Quinn for a 36-yard TD. The Saints then put together a 12-play, 73-yard drive on their first possession of the second half, going up 35-0 on Schulte's 4th TD pass of the game and starting the continuous clock. By this point Xavier's drives had ended TD-TD-TD-punt-TD-kneeldown-TD. Charles City's drives? Punt-punt-punt-punt-punt-turnover on downs, and then two plays after falling behind 35-0 they fumbled. It's tough to come back from 35 down on anybody, but it's really tough against a team like Xavier that was hitting on all cylinders.
Now, the Comets did get some things going. Mitchell was the most prolific quarterback in District 3 coming in - in fact, Charles City had attempted the 4th most passes in the state in Class 3A. The ground game went nowhere, thanks to the Saints' prowling linebackers, but Mitchell ended up throwing for 172 yards, and a 3rd quarter TD that turned off the continuous clock. That came against Xavier's scout team, but it was still a great deep pass down the right sideline to Jaden Foster, who took it the rest of the way for an 83-yard score. With 1:40 left in the 3rd, it was 35-7.
Not much happened in the remaining 13:40, though. Xavier got two first downs on their next three possessions, while Charles City got just one the rest of the game.
This week, it's a trip to Decorah for the Saints. Decorah beat Xavier soundly last November in the second round of the playoffs, right on Xavier's home field. I can't say "revenge" is really something the Saints team thinks about, but there's no doubt they haven't forgotten that game. The Vikings were expected to be one of the top District 3 contenders, but over the first four games they've only really proven they can't put teams away. After losing to a very good 2A squad in North Fayette Valley, Decorah trailed late against Crestwood before putting up a late touchdown to win 13-12. They did pretty much the same thing the next week against Vinton-Shellsburg, giving up a late score to trail 6-0 but then coming back to score in the last minute to win 7-6. Last week the Vikings had a fourth-quarter lead on Benton, but the lead changed hands a few times in the last 12 minutes before going to overtime. Benton intercepted a Decorah pass to end that possession, then kicked a field goal to beat the Vikings in OT.
Decorah really isn't standing out in anything so far, they just seem ... mediocre. Offensively they rank around 6th in the district, defensively they're 5th against the run, against the pass, and overall. Their defense is salty, and they have some really large folks on their lines, which is just what you expect out of a Decorah team. Xavier, meanwhile, has one of the most potent rushing offenses in the state, with a capable yet not flashy passing game. Defensively, the Saints rank 6th in the district overall and against the pass, but have moved up to the 2nd stingiest defense on the ground.
It's a long trip, and that can have an effect, but as we say - it's a much nicer bus trip home when you win. After this Decorah game, the Saints host Independence for homecoming; Independence finally scored their first touchdown of the season last week, but are a rather low-energy 0-4. The big game shaping up is October 7, when Xavier goes to Waverly-Shell Rock. That looks like it could be the deciding game for the district title, depending on how WSR-Decorah plays out next week.
Anyhoo, here we are. The Saints rolled up nearly 400 yards of offense and sacked Comet QB Drew Mitchell five times as they rolled over Charles City. Once again, Xavier got off to a hot start, scoring touchdowns on their first three possessions to take a 20-0 lead after one quarter. Maliki Wilson picked up his 9th rushing TD of the year on a 43-yard run, while Bryce Schulte had scoring passes to Brett Burns and Nolan Butkowski, while the offense pretty much moved the ball at will. The Saints have outscored opponents 62-6 in the first quarter this year, giving up their only points to Iowa City Regina in the opening game.
Xavier picked up another score in the 2nd quarter, when Schulte threw to his wide-open brother Quinn for a 36-yard TD. The Saints then put together a 12-play, 73-yard drive on their first possession of the second half, going up 35-0 on Schulte's 4th TD pass of the game and starting the continuous clock. By this point Xavier's drives had ended TD-TD-TD-punt-TD-kneeldown-TD. Charles City's drives? Punt-punt-punt-punt-punt-turnover on downs, and then two plays after falling behind 35-0 they fumbled. It's tough to come back from 35 down on anybody, but it's really tough against a team like Xavier that was hitting on all cylinders.
Now, the Comets did get some things going. Mitchell was the most prolific quarterback in District 3 coming in - in fact, Charles City had attempted the 4th most passes in the state in Class 3A. The ground game went nowhere, thanks to the Saints' prowling linebackers, but Mitchell ended up throwing for 172 yards, and a 3rd quarter TD that turned off the continuous clock. That came against Xavier's scout team, but it was still a great deep pass down the right sideline to Jaden Foster, who took it the rest of the way for an 83-yard score. With 1:40 left in the 3rd, it was 35-7.
Not much happened in the remaining 13:40, though. Xavier got two first downs on their next three possessions, while Charles City got just one the rest of the game.
This week, it's a trip to Decorah for the Saints. Decorah beat Xavier soundly last November in the second round of the playoffs, right on Xavier's home field. I can't say "revenge" is really something the Saints team thinks about, but there's no doubt they haven't forgotten that game. The Vikings were expected to be one of the top District 3 contenders, but over the first four games they've only really proven they can't put teams away. After losing to a very good 2A squad in North Fayette Valley, Decorah trailed late against Crestwood before putting up a late touchdown to win 13-12. They did pretty much the same thing the next week against Vinton-Shellsburg, giving up a late score to trail 6-0 but then coming back to score in the last minute to win 7-6. Last week the Vikings had a fourth-quarter lead on Benton, but the lead changed hands a few times in the last 12 minutes before going to overtime. Benton intercepted a Decorah pass to end that possession, then kicked a field goal to beat the Vikings in OT.
Decorah really isn't standing out in anything so far, they just seem ... mediocre. Offensively they rank around 6th in the district, defensively they're 5th against the run, against the pass, and overall. Their defense is salty, and they have some really large folks on their lines, which is just what you expect out of a Decorah team. Xavier, meanwhile, has one of the most potent rushing offenses in the state, with a capable yet not flashy passing game. Defensively, the Saints rank 6th in the district overall and against the pass, but have moved up to the 2nd stingiest defense on the ground.
It's a long trip, and that can have an effect, but as we say - it's a much nicer bus trip home when you win. After this Decorah game, the Saints host Independence for homecoming; Independence finally scored their first touchdown of the season last week, but are a rather low-energy 0-4. The big game shaping up is October 7, when Xavier goes to Waverly-Shell Rock. That looks like it could be the deciding game for the district title, depending on how WSR-Decorah plays out next week.
Sunday, September 11, 2016
An Early Look At District 3
Just a quick take on Class 3A District 3 after three games, and the first week of district competition.
The teams I expected to contend are Xavier and Decorah, with Waverly-Shell Rock, South Tama and perhaps Independence in the mix. I figured Benton might be somewhere in the middle, and didn't think Charles City or Vinton-Shellsburg would have much to say about the district standings when it was all finished.
I never said I was Nostradamus. And this is why you play the games, right? It's only three weeks in, but there have been a few surprising instances here.
Xavier, obviously, stands at 3-0 (1-0 in the district) and at this point appear to be the team to beat. The Saints have shown some weaknesses defensively, which is surprising, but the running game, special teams, and turnover margin (12-2!) have been terrific.
Decorah (2-1, 1-0) have put themselves into a good challenging position, but the way they've done it! The Vikings suffered a 3-TD loss to North Fayette Valley (a top-notch 2A team), then had to score late to pull out one-point wins against both 2A Crestwood and Vinton-Shellsburg, neither of which is exactly the New England Patriots, if you get my drift. Still, wins are wins, one-point or no.
Waverly-Shell Rock (2-1, 1-0) is right where I expected. They easily defeated Crestwood, lost to North Fayette Valley by 11, then trounced Independence. While score-comparing is a fraudulent art, you can directly compare WSR and Decorah with common opponents:
WSR vs Crestwood: won 31-14 vs NFV: lost 14-3
Decorah vs Crestwood: won 13-12 vs NFV: lost 28-7
Hmmm.
Charles City (1-2, 1-0) already got a district win, which is something of a surprise. After losing to a couple of 2A teams (New Hampton and Osage), the Comets welcomed South Tama and took the Trojans to overtime. Charles City won by a point, 28-27. I don't know if South Tama missed the extra point, or if they went for two and the win and failed, but either way, it's a victory for Charles City.
Speaking of South Tama (1-2, 0-1), they've already had two nailbiting one-point losses. After opening with a big win over Grinnell, the Trojans scored late against Williamsburg and decided to go for the win with a two-point try. That failed, and Williamsburg won 14-13. Then the one-point overtime loss to Charles City came last week. The Trojans were one of the state's top 2A teams the last couple of years, so they should be a tough team this season in the district.
Vinton-Shellsburg (1-2, 0-1) just didn't look like they had the personnel to do much this season. They do have one player who has been recruited by a Big 12 program (Kansas State), but I don't know if there's much else there. The Vikings did handily defeat Center Point-Urbana in their opener, then got shut out by Union-La Porte City before giving up the last-minute score in the heartbreaking one-point loss to Decorah. Playing Decorah close makes me think maybe V-S could get something going; on the other hand, we're not sure how good Decorah actually is.
Benton (1-2, 0-1) rolled over 2A Oelwein in the opener, then suffered a tough defeat at Marion (for Marion's first victory in two years; the Indians did win again last week in the mud pit formerly known as Thomas Park, so perhaps Marion is better than advertised). The Bobcats had the toughest assignment of all in their district opener with Xavier, and made enough mistakes to drop the 27-point decision. They do have some players, though, and ought to be somewhere in the middle of the district when all is said and done.
Finally, Independence (0-3, 0-1). This is the big surprise of the year so far, I think. Indee made a lot of noise the past two years, with I think 2 regular season losses in 2014 and just one loss last year. Their roster did indicate they graduated a lot of playmakers from those teams, however, with very little experience coming back. Perhaps the success the past two years were from a class or two of solid players who have now moved on. It appears that way, at this point, because after three weeks of football, Independence has yet to score. Yep, they've been shutout three times, and all solid thumpings (48-0 by West Delaware, 26-0 by Clear Creek-Amana, 54-0 by Waverly-Shell Rock). Independence goes to South Tama this week, which shouldn't be any easier. Could be a long season.
The teams I expected to contend are Xavier and Decorah, with Waverly-Shell Rock, South Tama and perhaps Independence in the mix. I figured Benton might be somewhere in the middle, and didn't think Charles City or Vinton-Shellsburg would have much to say about the district standings when it was all finished.
I never said I was Nostradamus. And this is why you play the games, right? It's only three weeks in, but there have been a few surprising instances here.
Xavier, obviously, stands at 3-0 (1-0 in the district) and at this point appear to be the team to beat. The Saints have shown some weaknesses defensively, which is surprising, but the running game, special teams, and turnover margin (12-2!) have been terrific.
Decorah (2-1, 1-0) have put themselves into a good challenging position, but the way they've done it! The Vikings suffered a 3-TD loss to North Fayette Valley (a top-notch 2A team), then had to score late to pull out one-point wins against both 2A Crestwood and Vinton-Shellsburg, neither of which is exactly the New England Patriots, if you get my drift. Still, wins are wins, one-point or no.
Waverly-Shell Rock (2-1, 1-0) is right where I expected. They easily defeated Crestwood, lost to North Fayette Valley by 11, then trounced Independence. While score-comparing is a fraudulent art, you can directly compare WSR and Decorah with common opponents:
WSR vs Crestwood: won 31-14 vs NFV: lost 14-3
Decorah vs Crestwood: won 13-12 vs NFV: lost 28-7
Hmmm.
Charles City (1-2, 1-0) already got a district win, which is something of a surprise. After losing to a couple of 2A teams (New Hampton and Osage), the Comets welcomed South Tama and took the Trojans to overtime. Charles City won by a point, 28-27. I don't know if South Tama missed the extra point, or if they went for two and the win and failed, but either way, it's a victory for Charles City.
Speaking of South Tama (1-2, 0-1), they've already had two nailbiting one-point losses. After opening with a big win over Grinnell, the Trojans scored late against Williamsburg and decided to go for the win with a two-point try. That failed, and Williamsburg won 14-13. Then the one-point overtime loss to Charles City came last week. The Trojans were one of the state's top 2A teams the last couple of years, so they should be a tough team this season in the district.
Vinton-Shellsburg (1-2, 0-1) just didn't look like they had the personnel to do much this season. They do have one player who has been recruited by a Big 12 program (Kansas State), but I don't know if there's much else there. The Vikings did handily defeat Center Point-Urbana in their opener, then got shut out by Union-La Porte City before giving up the last-minute score in the heartbreaking one-point loss to Decorah. Playing Decorah close makes me think maybe V-S could get something going; on the other hand, we're not sure how good Decorah actually is.
Benton (1-2, 0-1) rolled over 2A Oelwein in the opener, then suffered a tough defeat at Marion (for Marion's first victory in two years; the Indians did win again last week in the mud pit formerly known as Thomas Park, so perhaps Marion is better than advertised). The Bobcats had the toughest assignment of all in their district opener with Xavier, and made enough mistakes to drop the 27-point decision. They do have some players, though, and ought to be somewhere in the middle of the district when all is said and done.
Finally, Independence (0-3, 0-1). This is the big surprise of the year so far, I think. Indee made a lot of noise the past two years, with I think 2 regular season losses in 2014 and just one loss last year. Their roster did indicate they graduated a lot of playmakers from those teams, however, with very little experience coming back. Perhaps the success the past two years were from a class or two of solid players who have now moved on. It appears that way, at this point, because after three weeks of football, Independence has yet to score. Yep, they've been shutout three times, and all solid thumpings (48-0 by West Delaware, 26-0 by Clear Creek-Amana, 54-0 by Waverly-Shell Rock). Independence goes to South Tama this week, which shouldn't be any easier. Could be a long season.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)