Xavier High School - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

5 Saints make All-Metro football team

Bryce Schulte, Maliki Wilson, Sam Meyers, Max Johnson and Josh Gerke from the Xavier High School football squad have been named first team All-Metro after leading the Saints to the semifinals of the Class 3A playoffs.

Xavier led all Metro schools with five first-team berths.

Devin Lansing, John Rocca, Quinn Schulte and Nolan Butkowski from Xavier were named second team All-Metro. Erik Rodriguez, Lucas Miller, Ryan Jasper, Jack Lemke and Zach Barish received honorable mention for the Saints.

FIRST TEAM ALL-METRO

XAVIER: Bryce Schulte, Maliki Wilson, Sam Meyers, Max Johnson, Josh Gerke.
WASHINGTON: Drew Dostal, O'Rien Vance, Rane Weiland, Ben Nassif.
PRAIRIE: Joe Meyer, Cam LaGrange, Calvin Hynek, Levi Usher.
KENNEDY: Johnson Mator, Jackson Coker, Nick Duehr.
MARION: Blair Brooks, Alex Whalen, Caleb Wagner.
LINN-MAR: Josh Gassmann, Reese Phillips.
JEFFERSON: Tavian Rashed.

Maliki Wilson picked for bowl game

Xavier High School tailback Maliki Wilson has been selected for the River Battle Bowl that will be played in Council Bluffs next Saturday, Nov. 26.

The River Battle Bowl matches an all-star team from Iowa against an all-star team from Nebraska. The kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.

Wilson rushed for 2,054 yards and 20 touchdowns for Xavier this season and broke all of the major school records. He led Class 3A in rushing and helped the Saints reach the semifinals of the state playoffs.

No. 1 Pella stuns No. 2 Saints on final play

CEDAR FALLS - They called it the semifinals of the Class 3A playoffs Thursday night, but don't be fooled by that.

Top-ranked Pella and second-ranked Xavier arguably played for the state title Thursday night in the UNI-Dome in one of the greatest and most dramatic playoff games in state history.

Pella quarterback Nick Finney threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Van Wyk on the final play of the game as the Dutch stunned the Saints, 34-30, in a terrific contest between the two best Class 3A football teams in Iowa.

"That WAS the state championship," declared Xavier tailback Maliki Wilson, who scooted for 240 yards and cracked 2,000 for the campaign. "Back and forth, going like that.

"You don't have No. 1 and No. 2 on the same side of the bracket," he said.

Unfortunately, the Iowa High School Athletic Association put Pella and Xavier in the same bracket and prevented them from officially playing for the Class 3A crown. The Dutch (12-0) will face Webster City (11-1) for the official title next Thursday, but Pella will be heavily favored to win its third state title in a row.

Webster City topped Glenwood, 6-3, in the other semifinal Thursday night.

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Saints spiked by May & Wahlert

The Xavier Saints loved playing in the Class 4A state volleyball tournament this week and they plan to be back next year and do even better.

With a young team, they have every reason to think they'll be able to return to the U.S. Cellular Center in 2017.

And if they make it back to the state meet next year, they won't have to face Mackenzie May again. The Dubuque Wahlert All-American will be playing for UCLA by then.

May was as good as advertised Thursday as Wahlert topped Xavier, 25-20, 25-21, 25-15, in the semifinals of the state tournament in downtown Cedar Rapids.

The 6-foot-3 phenom blasted kill after kill against the Saints, collecting 27 for the match. And for good measure, she finished the contest with two ace serves.

"Our coaches always say she's one of the best-known players in the country. She's very good," said Xavier star Charlotte Richards. "She has a lot of skills."

Xavier Coach Austin Filer helped tutor May on the Adrenaline club volleyball team last year and knew what the Saints would be facing in the semifinals. Short of having one of his players get into a fight with May so both of them would be ejected (just kidding), there's not much anyone can do to stop her.

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