Xavier Football

Stovie suffered torn ACL; out for year

Xavier High School tailback Cal Stovie sustained a serious knee injury against Prairie Friday night and will not play again this year.

Stovie injured his knee when he was tackled after a 55-yard run on his first carry of the second half against the Hawks.

"Unfortunately, not good news for Cal," Xavier Coach Duane Schulte reported Monday morning. "He tore his ACL and is done for the season."

Stovie was off to a strong start for the sixth-ranked Saints (3-0) this season. He carried the ball 48 times for 488 yards, a healthy average of 10.2 yards per carry, and scored five touchdowns in three games.

Stovie had four punt returns for a 28.5-yard average and caught three passes for 56 yards. He carried the ball 23 times for 223 yards and two touchdowns against Prairie.

Stovie was walking around after the game Friday and thought it was only a minor injury.

"It's just a little tweak in my knee," he said at the time. "I'll be fine."

Xavier hosts Dubuque Wahlert this Friday night.

Saints climb to 6th in Register poll

The Xavier Saints climbed from No. 7 to No. 6 in the Des Moines Register's Class 4A football rankings Sunday morning.

The Saints (3-0) walloped Prairie, 48-14, Friday night in a battle of unbeatens.

Ankeny replaced Cedar Falls atop the 4A poll. The Tigers are second, followed by Dowling, Bettendorf and Iowa City West.

CLASS 4A
1. Ankeny (3-0), 2. Cedar Falls (3-0), 3. Dowling (3-1), 4. Bettendorf (3-0), 5. Iowa City West (3-0), 6. Xavier (3-0), 7. Pleasant Valley (3-0), 8. Urbandale (3-0), 9. Iowa City High (2-1), 10. Southeast Polk (2-1).

CLASS 3A
1. Decorah (3-0), 2. Creston/Orient-Macksburg (3-0), 3. Harlan (3-0), 4. Heelan (3-0), 5. Norwalk (3-0), 6. Lewis Central (3-0), 7. Grinnell (3-0), 8. Lemars (3-0), 9. Boone (3-0), 10. ADM (3-0).

Polished Saints belt Prairie, 48-14

No high school team has ever played a perfect football game, but the Xavier Saints came pretty darn close Friday night at John Wall Field.

There were A's and A-pluses all over the place.

The seventh-ranked Saints excelled in all facets of the game and belted the Prairie Hawks, 48-14, in a Mississippi Valley Conference battle of unbeaten clubs.

You name it, and the Saints did it well.

Offense, defense, special teams. It was all Xavier, all night.

"They're a good football team. They're a VERY good football team," said Prairie Coach Mike Morrissey. "I think they're going to have a lot of success this year."

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Jelinek Bowl? Nope, just Saints vs. Hawks

Craig Jelinek does not want Friday night's big football game between the Xavier Saints and Prairie Hawks to be about him in any way, shape or form.

It looks like he'll get his wish.

Jelinek, 60, compiled a 106-96 record in 21 years as Prairie's head football coach. He retired after the 2010 campaign, but returned to the sidelines this season as a volunteer assistant for Xavier.

The Saints visit Prairie Friday night, which means Jelinek will stand on the visitor's sideline and will head into the visitor's locker room at John Wall Field after spending all those years as head coach of the home team.

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