Xavier Football

Xavier, Ankeny fans rocked the UNI-Dome

CEDAR FALLS - The Xavier Saints unhappily accepted their state runnerup trophy Friday night after falling to Ankeny, but the hardware was sitting all by itself at the 40-yard line while the Saints met as a group for a final time.

Finally, junior Daniel Vega came over and gave the trophy a light caress, just to get a feel for what their 13-1 record got them this year.

A few minutes later, quarterback Reggie Schulte hoisted the trophy off the ground and displayed it to the thousands of Xavier fans who packed the east side of the UNI-Dome. The fans responded with a nice ovation, but the Saints and their loyal followers left the Dome without the trophy they craved.

Ankeny beat Xavier, 23-17, in the Class 4A finals in a game that could have gone either way.

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Confusion mars Xavier's loss to Ankeny in state finals

CEDAR FALLS - In all those backyard games with his pals, Reggie Schulte imagined he was Brett Favre as he led his team to a dramatic victory in the closing seconds.

But in all those games at his house, there was never anyone who messed up the down box and told everyone it was first down when it was really fourth down.

Bedlam and confusion plagued the final seconds of the Class 4A state championship game Friday night as the underdog Saints suffered a heartbreaking 23-17 loss to top-ranked Ankeny before a boisterous crowd of more than 12,000 fans in the UNI-Dome.

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Saints seek 2nd state title in 6 years

The Xavier Saints have a little football game to play in Cedar Falls Friday night.

It's for something called the Class 4A state title, but Coach Duane Schulte claims he hasn't talked to his guys about that.

It's against a team that is ranked No. 1 in the state and has three times as many students as Xavier, but Schulte says he isn't talking about that either.

The Saints are the underdogs, even though they are ranked No. 3 in the state, boast the stingiest scoring defense in Iowa and have won 13 straight games.

Underdogs? Not a word.

"Well, we haven't said anything to our kids about it," Schulte said Thursday before practice. "We haven't really thought about it.

"We're just going to play who they tell us to play."

The opponent is called Ankeny. Powerful offense. Big kids. Second-largest enrollment in the state.

"We haven't said a word about anything," Schulte maintained. "Here we go."

How about a fiery pre-game speech? Something to get the Saints all fired up for the finals? Anything about shocking the world?

"We're not going to say a word about it," he said. "We're just going to treat it like any other game. That's cliche, but that's what we're doing."

It's worked before. Schulte followed the same formula in 2006 when the Saints shocked the world by escaping Bettendorf in the semifinals and whipping Southeast Polk in the finals. That wasn't supposed to happen, but it did.

Chances are the Saints know what they're up against Friday night. They've taught these kids to read and write over at Xavier, so they've probably seen a few things in the newspapers and websites about the Ankeny Hawks.

One of the Saints was impressed with how big Southeast Polk looked last week when the Rams faced Ankeny in the UNI-Dome in the semifinals. The only problem was, Ankeny was bigger.

For the record, Xavier and Ankeny will start knocking heads at 7:06 p.m. Friday in the UNI-Dome. And rest assured, the Xavier coaches know all about tonight's opponent and have given the Hawks special consideration, even if they don't want to frighten the children.

"They're big," Schulte said. "They have impressive numbers, they're fast. Heckuva quarterback. That No. 3 is fast.

"There's really no weak spot," he said. "They're just all-around solid. They're a heckuva team. They're No. 1 for a reason."

And Xavier is No. 3 for a reason. The Saints can play a little football, too.

Xavier has an excellent QB of its own, a couple of talented tailbacks, several excellent receivers, an impressive offensive line, a rock-solid defense, a superb place-kicker, an experienced coaching staff and great chemistry.

And the Saints are underdogs.

"Realistically, we probably have to stop them on defense, because they're so elusive," Schulte said. "And then we've got to be able to move the ball and score at least enough to beat them. Whatever that is.

"We'll find out," he said.

O'Connell says Ankeny looks like college team

Jim O'Connell has seen just about everything during his 19 years as an assistant football coach, but he's been scratching his head a little this week as he studies the Ankeny Hawks.

O'Connell is the defensive coordinator for the Xavier Saints, who will play No. 1 Ankeny Friday night for the Class 4A state title in a premier matchup of 13-0 clubs.

Ankeny does a little of everything on offense and the Hawks do it well. They use spin backs, an old-fashioned ploy from the 1930's, and they use a spread offense with four and five wide receivers, which is the hot offense some 80 years later.

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