Wed - 24 Oct
Written by Mike Koolbeck
Xavier's first game in the Class 4A football playoffs Wednesday night looked a lot like its other nine during the regular season.
Another rout.
Senior quarterback Reggie Schulte threw a school-record five touchdown passes to lead the No. 3 Saints past Iowa City High, 48-10, in a first round game at Saints Field.
Xavier (10-0) advances to play Waterloo East (6-4) in a second-round game Monday night at Xavier. The Trojans beat Davenport Assumption, 33-14, Wednesday night.
Xavier and East, both members of the Mississippi Valley Conference, did not play during the regular season.
Xavier's average margin of victory during the regular season was 34 points.
The Saints scored 27 points in the second quarter and held a 34-10 lead at halftime.
Schulte completed 7-of-9 passes for 233 yards in the first half, and also ran two yards for a touchdown. He finished completing 11 of 14 passes for 305 yards. He threw touchdown passes of 66 and 69 yards to Corbin Woods, 8 and 15 yards to Matt Nelson, and 22 yards to Bryce Grimm.
"I don't really know what to say except a lot of credit goes to the receivers for making great catches and to the line for giving us time," said Schulte, who threw four touchdown passes in three games during the regular season. He boosted his season total to 33 and that also is a Xavier record.
"Reggie was delivering passes all night. All I had to do was run down underneath them," said Woods, who caught three passes for 148 yards. Woods has caught 41 passes for 915 yards and 14 touchdowns. He beat City High cornerback Tony Perry twice on the same sideline-and-go pattern in the second quarter, helping the Saints to a 27-3 lead.
"Corbin did a great job of running the routes and catching the ball," Schulte said of his long-time buddy. "I guess we thought we'd just try to take a shot."
Xavier Coach Duane Schulte, Reggie's father, had to put on figurative double-billed cap after the game.
"You can only do what the defense gives you, but at the same time I'll put my coach hat on and my dad hat on and say I'm very proud of him," Coach Schulte said of his son. "He's a great leader and he led us to a great win."
The Saints handed City High (4-6) its fifth straight loss and cemented the Little Hawks' first losing season since 1987.
With tradition like that, it's no wonder City High Coach Dan Sabers and his staff had a few wrinkles ready for Xavier.
The Little Hawks stacked the middle of the field and blitzed early in the game, trying to keep the Saints' running game and passing game off balance.
It worked on the first drive, when Xavier was stopped on a fourth-and-11 attempt from the Little Hawks' 31.
A 41-yard burst by Max Morris moved the ball to the Xavier 23. A sack and two losses pushed the ball back to the 32 where on fourth down Drew Cornwell was sent in to attempt a 49-yard field goal.
He never got the chance.
The snap bounced right off the hands of holder Tyler Stika to Xavier junior Miles Sullivan, who scooped it up and ran 63 yards for a touchdown that put the Saints ahead, 7-0.
City High ran the ball well in the first half, piling up 189 rushing yards, more than any foe had gained in a game against the Saints this season.
"They were big up front, typical City High when it comes to running the ball and blocking," Coach Schulte said. "We had a hard time figuring out what was going on."
And the Saints missed some tackles at the line of scrimmage that led to big runs. The Little Hawks had seven runs of 15 yards or more, including a pair of 41-yard jaunts.
"They have a great offensive line and their running backs run hard," Xavier senior linebacker Craig Murtha said. "We need to play a lot better. We have a lot of work to do."
The Saints played better defense in the second half, holding the Little Hawks to 32 rushing yards.
"We just told them to wrap up," Coach Schulte said of his halftime talk to his defense.
Xavier snapped a two-game losing streak in playoff games, winning a first-round game for the first time since 2009.
"Every year is a new year. We didn't even bring it up getting ready for tonight," Coach Schulte said.
The Saints now have four days to prepare for Waterloo East and multi-talented quarterback Desmond Van Arsdale, a dangerous runner and passer.
"We're taking it one game at a time and we're going to get right back to practice tomorrow," Woods said.
XAVIER 48, IOWA CITY HIGH 10
First downs -- ICH 14; CRX 13
Rushes-yards -- ICH 38-221; CRX 23-113
Passing yards -- ICH 55; CRX 305
Comp-att-int -- ICH 6-16-0; CRX 11-14-0
Punts-avg. -- ICH 3-38.3; CRX 2-42
Fumbles-Lost -- ICH 3-2; CRX 0-0
Penalties-yards -- ICH 2-15; CRX 5-40
Iowa City High 3 7 0 0 -- 10
Xavier 7 27 14 0 -- 48
CRX - Miles Sullivan 63 fumble return (Ryan Persick kick)
ICH - FG Drew Cornwell 39
CRX - Reggie Schulte 2 run (Persick kick)
CRX - Corbin Woods 66 pass from Schulte (Persick kick)
CRX - Woods 69 pass from Schulte (kick failed)
ICH - Amos Lavela 4 run (Cornwell kick)
CRX - Matt Nelson 8 pass from Schulte (Persick kick)
CRX - Nelson 15 pass from Schulte (Persick kick)
CRX - Bryce Grimm 22 pass from Schulte (Persick kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
ICH - Bryson Runge 8-70, Amos Lavela 10-54, Xavier Washpun 4-47, Max Morris 1-41, Matt LaMarche 2-17, Sid VanderWoude 1-11, Bo Olson 2-6, Tony Perry 4-2, Sam Dennis 1-0, Eric Kenney 1-(-1), Kevin Buell 1-(-10), Tyler Stika 2-(-11), Team 1-(-5)
CRX - Brendan Miller 9-71, Nick Steingreaber 3-18, Reggie Schulte 4-16, Luke Hammerberg 4-10, James Krouse 1-0, Wes Gardner 1-(-1), Zach Brown 1-(-1)
Passing
ICH - Stika 6-16-55
CRX - Schulte 11-14-0-305
Receiving
ICH - Runge 2-23, Cory Lindsey 1-17, Conner Danielson 1-13, Perry 2-2
CRX - Corbin Woods 3-148, Matt Nelson 3-60, Bryce Grimm 2-49, Miller 2-24, Matt Thorsteinson 1-24
Last Updated on Wednesday, 24 October 2012 22:53
