Xavier Football

Saints dig deep for trip to UNI-Dome

The condensed playoff schedule had taken its toll on Xavier physically, with three games in 11 days on the calendar.

Mentally, the Saints were strong but there wasn't much left in their bodies as they battled West Delaware in a Class 3A quarterfinal Friday night at Saints Field.

With its starting backfield of Jay Kortemeyer and Nic Ekland out with injuries, Xavier turned to some lesser-known players to build a 17-0 lead and held off a determined charge from the visiting Hawks to win 27-17 before an overflow crowd.

Next up for Xavier (9-3) is a semifinal date on Thursday against top-ranked Pella in the UNI-Dome. The Dutch advanced with a 31-14 win over Washington, Iowa.

West Delaware finishes at 10-2.

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Warriors, Saints look to keep rolling

The Cedar Rapids Washington football team is loaded with lots of good players.

Everywhere you look - offense, defense, special teams - there's a talented player is a little bigger, stronger and faster than the other guy on the other team.

It's one of the reasons the top-ranked Warriors are 11-0 and favored to defeat Iowa City West (7-4) in the quarterfinals of the Class 4A playoffs Friday night at Kingston Stadium (7 p.m., KGYM).

The Xavier Saints (8-3) are not quite as loaded with talented athletes this year as they were the last two seasons when they reached the championship game of the Class 4A playoffs, but they've enjoyed another good year and will try to keep advancing when they host sixth-ranked West Delaware (10-1) in the Class 3A quarterfinals at Saints Field (7 p.m., KMRY).

Washington and Xavier are the only two Metro teams still kicking as we move toward the final stages of the 2014 playoffs.

Remarkably, 14 different players have scored touchdowns for the Warriors this season. They do not have a 1,000-yard rusher (yet) or a 1,000-yard passer, but they have plenty of weapons, a powerful running attack and a stout defense.

Washington blanked Iowa City West, 28-0, in Game 3 of the season Sept. 12, holding the Trojans to 101 yards through the air and 99 on the ground. The trick Friday night will be keeping Iowa City West quarterback Aaron Bleil under wraps.

Bleil has passed for 2,254 yards and 17 touchdowns. His favorite target is Oliver Martin, who has 59 catches for 747 yards and five touchdowns. The Warriors have a strong pass rush and talented defensive backs, so it will be interesting to see how that battle turns out.

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Saints top Waverly-Shell Rock

The Go-Hawks of Waverly-Shell Rock found out right away Monday night that they had nowhere to go against Xavier’s stout defense.

They were held to one first down and forced into quick punts the first four times they had the ball in a second round Class 3A playoff game on the Saints’ rain-soaked field.

Xavier, meanwhile, had a missed field goal and three touchdowns to show for its first four possessions.

With a 21-0 cushion barely into the second quarter, the Saints (8-3) soared 33-20 and advanced to the quarterfinals Friday night at home against West Delaware.

“We knew they had a good running game,” said Xavier Coach Duane Schulte. “So the first thing you want to do is stop the run. And we did that, for the most part, by playing some sound fundamental football.”

For the game, the G-Hawks managed just 78 yards rushing on 32 carries.

“We were just flying to the ball and making gang tackles,” said Saints linebacker Thomas Ickes.

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Saints handle Charles City in playoffs

Xavier co-captains Jay Kortemeyer and Nic Ekland have been waiting for a night like this for a long time.

“The two of them have been pals in the weight room together since the sixth grade,” Saints Coach Duane Schulte noted Wednesday night after his team dispatched Charles City, 35-6, in the opening round of the Class 3A playoffs.

“They have been preparing ever since for their high school football career.“

Xavier will host Waverly-Shell Rock in the second round Monday night.

Kortemeyer, used mostly as a blocking back last year who didn’t touch the ball much, reached the coveted 1,000-yard rushing milestone for the season on his second carry Wednesday.

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