DUBUQUE – In searing humidity on Opening Night of a season of great expectations and state championship predictions, Quinton Scholer looked like the most comfortable prep football player in the state of Iowa on Friday night. He couldn’t have been more relaxed if he was snoozing in a hammock on a Saturday afternoon.

If Scholer was feeling any pressure in his first start since taking the reins of the Cedar Rapids Xavier offense from graduated all-stater Reggie Schulte, he wasn’t showing it. Iceland isn’t this cool.

A razor-sharp Scholer drove the Saints offense like a smooth-running Mercedes and the Saints returned to the gridiron with a rousing, telling reminder of why coaches from Sioux City to Muscatine have pegged them as Iowa’s 4A team to beat in 2013.

Scholer, who made more interceptions playing defensive back last year (three) than he had pass attempts as Schulte’s backup, made himself completely at home behind center.

Scholer passed for 112 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another 99 yards and two scores as Xavier opened with a business-like 35-7 punch-out of a green Dubuque Hempstead team at Dubuque’s snazzy new $9 million Dalzell Field.

Scholer said he didn’t have to do much except let his offensive line and running backs like lead ground man Brendan Miller make plays.

“I’ve got a great supporting cast,” the 6-foot-3, 205-pound Scholer said. “I can just stay calm because the offensive line and running backs are making plays.”

After being stopped at the Hempstead 35-yard line on their opening drive of the season, Scholer directed Xavier to five consecutive scoring drives and had the clock running continuously by the start of the third quarter.

The only force that could delay the Saints’ march to the blowout opening night victory was a 38-minute lightning delay that struck with 1:20 left in the second quarter. By that point, Xavier had a 28-0 lead and Scholer had produced 180 yards of offense.

Forget his big numbers Friday night, Scholer was just happy to be lining up against a defense other than his own.

“It felt great to be playing and hitting another team,” Scholer said. “Everyone was hungry for a game.”

Scholer’s four-star debut as Saints’ signal caller included a 9-yard first-quarter scoring run off a QB option, a deceptive 34-yard QB option breakaway that came off a brilliant fake to tailback Jay Kortemeyer that nearly the entire Mustangs’ linebacking and defensive line corps bit on, a 32-yard touchdown pass to Bryce Grimm, and a 30-yard TD connection to Colin O’Connell.

“We needed to do a better job against the quarterback and the option,” Hempstead Coach Bob McIntyre said.

But Xavier Coach Duane Schulte seconded Scholer’s assessment that he didn’t deliver his dazzling performance alone.

“I’m glad he credited his running backs and offensive line because he wouldn’t have gotten anything without them,” said Schulte, who notched his 100th career victory at Xavier. “Quinton’s been under the bright lights before as a starting safety and knows what to do. You’ve got to do the job, and he did that tonight.”

Meanwhile, Xavier’s defensive juggernaut that muzzled opponents to 8.6 points per game while propelling the Saints within a touchdown of state championship in 2012 delivered a lockdown opening night performance.

The young Mustangs, aiming for a rebound season after a winless 2012 campaign, couldn’t gain any kind of traction against an unbending Xavier defense. Netting forward progress and positive yardage were challenges for the Mustangs, who were stuffed for zero or negative yards on 13 of their first 22 offense snaps. The Saints’ defense came within four seconds of a shutout. Only Bailey Paulsen’s late 12-yard scoring pass to Adam Clendenen enabled the Mustangs to avoid being blanked in their first game in their dazzling newly renovated stadium.

Hempstead netted just 134 offensive yards on Xavier.

But Schulte wasn’t about to allow his sky’s-the-limit team get too comfortable after one game. He pointed to Xavier’s at-times sloppy execution and 45 yards of penalties as proof his club is still rough around the edges.

“We’ve got a lot of things to do and clean up,” Schulte said, “but we’re happy to get a win.”

While most everyone is already talking about the Saints making a return trip to the UNI-Dome come November, Scholer and his teammates are only talking about next week’s metro showdown with Cedar Rapids Jefferson.

“We’re just working one game at a time,” Scholer said. “We’re focusing on next week and not really thinking about a state title.”

XAVIER 35, HEMPSTEAD 7
CRX      DH
First downs       12      10
Rushes-yards    28-146  28-69
Passing yards     112     68
Comp-Att-Int    8-10-0 6-11-0
Fumbles-lost      0-0     2-1
Punts-avg.      3-33.  6-29.5
Penalties-yards  4-45    6-45

Xavier         7  28  0  0  - 7
Hempstead  0  0  0  7  - 7

Scoring plays

CRX – Quinton Scholer 9 run (Ryan Persick kick)
CRX – Bryce Grimm 32 pass from Scholer (Persick kick)
CRX – Scholer 34 run (Persick kick)
CRX – Colin O’Connell 30 pass from Scholer (Persick kick)
CRX – Kortemeyer 4 run (Persick kick)
DH – Adam Clendenen 12 pass from Bailey Paulsen (Chris Francis kick)

Individual Statistics

Rushing
Xavier – Quinton Scholer 8-99, Brendan Miller 9-15, Jay Kortemeyer 5-24, Dylan Eller 4-3, John Hovda 1-3, Adam Steffensmeier 1-2.
Hempstead – Paulsen 9-25, Matt Zenner 12-19, Adam Clendenen 2-18, Carter Daack 4-12, Cole Brayton 1-(-5),

Passing
Xavier – Scholer 8-10-0-112.
Hempstead – Bailey Paulsen 6-11-0-77.

Receiving
Xavier – Bryce Grimm 3-43, Colin O’Connell 3-33, Matt Nelson 2-17. 
Hempstead – Zenner 3-37, Mitchel Hammel 1-19, Chase Bushaw 1-9, Adam Clendenen 1-12.