Xavier Football

Playoffs feature 1,000-yard rushers

There are certain milestones in sports that elevate an athlete to elite heights, such as rushing for 1,000 yards during a football season.

The Metro area has three of them this year and they'll be on display when the Class 4A playoffs begin Wednesday night.

Two of the 1,000-yard runners - Miles Moa of Kennedy and Mitch Christensen of Prairie - will match skills when the Cougars (6-3) and Hawks (5-4) battle in the second game of a playoff twinbill at Kingston Stadium at approximately 8 p.m.

The third 1,000-yard runner - Brendan Miller of Xavier - will try to help the sixth-ranked Saints (8-1) take care of Clinton (4-5) in a Class 4A game at Xavier at 7 p.m.

Read more...

Schulte 'not against' Class 3A for Saints

The Xavier Saints have rolled up an 8-1 record this season in the Mississippi Valley Conference, outscored their opponents 272-61 and pitched five shutouts on their way to the Class 4A playoffs.

Imagine what they might accomplish next season if they drop to Class 3A.

It could happen if the Iowa High School Athletic Association puts all the Class 4A schools in Eastern Iowa into districts next year and abolishes the Mississippi Valley Conference as a football league. If that happens, Xavier could elect to compete in Class 3A based on its enrollment.

"I'm not against it," Xavier football coach Duane Schulte said Monday. "I don't know if I'm for it, but we haven't really sat down and talked about it as a school.

Read more...

Saints climb to 6th in Register poll

The Xavier Saints climbed another spot to No.6 in the Class 4A football rankings by the Des Moines Register Sunday.

The Saints (8-1) finished the regular season Friday with a 44-14 victory at Linn-Mar. Xavier will host Clinton in the opening round of the Class 4A playoffs Wednesday night.

West Des Moines Dowling is No.1 in the Class 4A rankings, followed by Pleasant Valley, Ames, Waukee and West Des Moines Valley.

Read more...

Miller sets records as Saints top Lions

Xavier High School tailback Brendan Miller fumbled the football the first time he touched it Friday, but it was the only thing the 5-foot-9, 175-pound senior did wrong all night.

Miller broke one school record and tied another as the eighth-ranked Saints rolled into the Class 4A playoffs with a 44-14 conquest of the Linn-Mar Lions on a chilly night at Linn-Mar Stadium.

Xavier (8-1) will host Clinton (4-5) in the first round of the playoffs Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Miller carried the ball 27 times for 268 yards and scored four touchdowns on gallops of 48, 43, 8 and 6 yards as Xavier gabbed a share of the Valley Division title in the Mississippi Valley Conference.

Read more...