Xavier Football

Cook's little Regals upend Saints

Marv Cook never backed down from a challenge during his All-American career with the Iowa Hawkeyes, and when the Xavier Saints called last winter he gladly accepted their offer to play even though the Saints are a much bigger school with twice as many players.

Cook and his spirited "little" squad from Iowa City Regina showed Friday night they can compete with anybody on a football field - big, small or anywhere in between.

The Regals knocked off the Saints, 21-7, in an All-Catholic showdown that saw the No. 1 club from Class 1A take care of the No. 5 team from Class 3A in a classic David vs. Goliath confrontation at the Saints Field.

The Regals have won four state titles in a row in the small-school category, but Cook relished a chance to play on a bigger stage against a traditional state power.

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Saints host Regina in premier battle

All of the Class 4A football teams in the Metro area refused to play Xavier when the Saints dropped to Class 3A this year, so the Saints had to get creative and find some willing partners.

They succeeded beyond anyone's wildest imagination.

Xavier will host Iowa City Regina Friday night at Saints Field in an intriguing showdown of state powers.

The Saints reached the Class 4A finals in 2012 and 2013 before the advent of district play in Eastern Iowa allowed them to drop safely into their proper enrollment bracket in Class 3A. The Regals, meanwhile, are the premier program in Class 1A and have won four straight state titles under Coach Marv Cook.

Regina saw its 56-game winning streak come to an end against Solon - a Class 3A club - in the season opener this year, but the Regals have won six straight games since then and are averaging 43.4 points per game.

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No.5 Saints roll by Wahlert, 41-12

DUBUQUE – The Cedar Rapids Xavier football team is not invincible, a point Western Dubuque drove home a week ago while pulling arguably the season's biggest Class 3A upset on the Saints' home turf.

But when the Saints are on their game and themselves, they're a migraine headache even Excedrin won't stop, a point Dubuque Wahlert will confirm after Friday night.

An angry Xavier team rediscovered its identity by returning to what it does best: Dominating the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, establishing its electric running game and controlling the game from first quarter to fourth.

Jay Kortemeyer trucked for 207 yards and three touchdowns on 20 carries and the Class 3A No. 5-ranked Saints rolled off 41 unanswered points while bouncing back with a 41-12 statement stomping of Wahlert at Loras College's Rock Bowl.

The past week may have been the lost collective week of Saints players' lives.

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Winless Cougars can still make playoffs

The Kennedy Cougars have stumbled to an 0-6 record this season with a couple of near-misses and blown leads along the way, but all is not lost in Cougar Town.

Kennedy actually has a decent shot at making the Class 4A playoffs with victories over the Waterloo schools this month. You can thank - or blame - the Iowa High School Athletic Association and district football for that.

Four of the six teams in Kennedy's district will make the playoffs. Cedar Falls and Linn-Mar, which meet in a showdown Friday night, are in good shape with 2-0 district records. Jefferson looks like a good bet at 1-1, which leaves one more playoff berth up for grabs.

Kennedy could grab that spot by beating Waterloo East in Waterloo this Friday night and topping Waterloo West in the last game of the regular season Oct. 24 at Kingston. Under that scenario, the Cougars can lose at Cedar Falls Oct. 17.

Yes, that's right. Kennedy can make the playoffs this year with a 2-7 overall record.

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