Metro Sports Report

Oh, brother! Schulte breaks Metro record

Somewhere in Ohio, Reggie Schulte was smiling Friday night when he heard about what his younger brothers and the Xavier Saints did in their football game against Vinton-Shellsburg.

Bryce Schulte passed for three touchdowns and snapped Reggie's old Metro record for career TD passes as Xavier topped Vinton-Shellsburg, 32-8, to claim its third Class 3A district title in a row at Saints Field.

Reggie Schulte collected 49 touchdown passes during his all-state career at Xavier in 2011 and 2012, but Bryce zoomed past him Friday night with the 48th, 49th and 50th of his career.

And to keep it all in the family, Bryce Schulte's record-setting 50th touchdown pass was caught by his brother Quinn in the fourth quarter for a 2-yard score.

Reggie Schulte likes to attend as many Xavier football games as he can, but he was in Ohio Friday night with the University of Northern Iowa Panthers as they got ready for Saturday night's game against Youngstown State.

"He does Twitter, so I'm sure he's getting updates from somebody," said Duane Schulte, the Xavier coach and their father. "I'm guessing he already knows what happened."

Bryce Schulte knew he was getting close to Reggie's school and Metro record, but was not aware when it happened. He was too busy.

"I was so focused on the game and just worrying about scoring on that last drive that I didn't really notice it," he said. "And then someone said something on the sideline and I was like, 'Oh, OK. That's pretty cool.'"

Bryce and Quinn were not sure if they'd hear from Reggie after the game or not. Bryce figured that Reggie, a back-up quarterback for UNI, was probably studying film for Saturday's game.

Schulte brothers share love of football

Reggie, Bryce and Quinn Schulte used to tumble out of their house in southwest Cedar Rapids when they were younger and play pickup games in the backyard, where the two older boys sometimes pulled rank on their younger brother.

"Quinn being the little kid, sometimes he got picked on just a little bit," Bryce admitted Tuesday. "We were always outside and if we were playing whiffle ball and something wrong happened and Quinn would complain a little bit, Reggie and I would say, 'Well, it doesn't matter. We're bigger than you and we're older than you, so we get to call it.

"But it was always fun," he added, smiling.

Well, the three Schulte boys have come a long way since those days, although they'll still gather to toss the football around and talk about the game they love.

Reggie Schulte, 22, is a quarterback at the University of Northern Iowa following his all-state career at Xavier High School. Bryce Schulte, 18, has been the starting quarterback for the Saints the past three years and is on the verge of breaking more of Reggie's records. And Quinn, approaching his 16th birthday, is a starting wide receiver for the Saints and one of Bryce's favorite targets.

Quinn Schulte leads the Saints with 27 receptions in seven games heading into Friday night's home game with Vinton-Shellsburg.

Saints cannot serve up win against Cougars

The serve appears to be the simplest shot in volleyball, but the ball can get a little heavy and the nerves can get a little tight in a big match against a quality opponent.

That seemed to be part of the problem for the Xavier Saints Tuesday night when they lost to Kennedy, 23-25, 25-15, 25-23, 25-19, in a battle of Mississippi Valley Conference heavyweights at Xavier.

The Saints gave away too many points at critical parts in the match with service errors when they either hit the ball out-of-bounds or slammed the ball into the net. All the Cougars had to do was stand there and see another point posted on their side of the scoreboard.

And at the same time, the Saints had a few problems when they tried to return Kennedy's tough serves.

"I think our service pressure and our serve receive were probably not at the level it needs to be," said Xavier Coach Austin Filer. "We put a lot of emphasis into our defense, and I thought our defense was better and I thought we did a lot of nice things there.

"But the ability to serve receive is probably the highest skill and the most important skill, and we didn't do as good a job tonight as Kennedy did.

"It always kind of stinks when it's crunch time and you're scoring and all of a sudden you hit one out-of-bounds or into the net and it's tough," said Filer. "It's part of playing sports."

The Saints, who are ranked No. 4 in Class 4A, fell to 26-7 for the campaign. The Saints began the year with 18 straight wins, but they have posted a modest 8-7 record in their last 15 matches against stiff competition.

Kirkwood stars join MSR softball league

Taylor Nearad and Maddie Hansen will probably play more than 60 games for the Kirkwood softball team next season and finish the campaign at the national tournament.

When the season ends, they'll take a few weeks off and then dive into the new Metro Sports Report summer league for another 20-game campaign.

That tells you everything you need to know about much the two Kirkwood All-Americans love the game.

Nearad, a fleet center fielder from Solon, enjoyed a phenomenal season for the Eagles last season when she hit .602 with 30 home runs and 129 RBIs and was named the Junior College National Player of the Year.

Hansen, a rock-solid catcher from Cedar Rapids Jefferson, hit .455 with 20 homers and 93 RBIs last season when the Eagles compiled a 58-6 record and finished fifth at the national tournament.

Nearad has accepted a scholarship to play at Iowa State after she's finished at Kirkwood next season. Hansen originally planned to play at Ball State this season, but changed her mind and returned to Kirkwood for her sophomore campaign.

Nearad and Hansen joined the Metro Sports Report summer league during the last week. Bria Lenten, a shortstop from Cedar Rapids Washington and Loras College, also joined the league this past week. So did Tawny Menster, a pitcher and outfielder from Anamosa High School and Mount Mercy University.

(CLICK HERE TO REGISTER)

Ten players have joined the league, which has been formed for all players at Iowa colleges and all Iowans who are playing at out-of-state schools. There's no other league like this in Iowa and the response from players, coaches and softball enthusiasts has been very high.