With runners slipping all over the place in mostly monsoon conditions Friday night at Saints Field, Xavier quarterback Bryce Schulte found a way to win through the wet air.

Schulte passed the ball only 10 times but connected on eight of them for 232 yards. And five of those completions went for touchdowns, tying the school’s single-game record set by his older brother Reggie three years ago.

Four of the scores came in the second and third quarters as the Saints broke open a sluggish 7-6 first quarter lead over gritty DeWitt Central and won going away, 42-6, in a Class 3A/District 4 game.

"Give DeWitt credit,” said Saints coach Duane Schulte, father of the two passing phenoms. “They played hard and really challenged our kids. They made it tough on us.”

Except when his gifted junior son spotted receivers in the clear, and they outran Sabers defenders for long-distance scores, that is.

“The line gave me plenty of time,” Bryce Schulte said. “The wide-outs got open and I just threw it to them. And then they made some great plays.”

The first one was almost a gift as DeWitt was held on its first possession and shanked a 19-yard punt.

Three plays after Xavier took over on the Sabers’ 34-yard line, Schulte hit Blake Whitten in the left corner of the end zone from 24 yards. From that point on, it became a tug-of-war as neither team could establish any run game.

“They’ve got some big boys,” Coach Schulte said of the bulky DeWitt line.“And big boys are hard to move in the mud.”

Indeed, they forced two quick Xavier punts on their next two possessions and then stopped them cold on three plays after Bryce Charipar recovered a fumble on the Sabers' 15-yard line.

A 37-yard field goal try by Xavier's Dallas Klein went awry as he slipped on the soggy turf.

The next time Xavier got the ball, punter Ryan Jasper also slipped and DeWitt jumped on his blocked kick at the Saints’ 3-yard line. With six minutes to go in the half, the Sabers scored on asneak by do-it-all quarterback TJ Sikkema. A workhorse all night, the talented senior did most everything on offense in addition to kicking and stopping a slew of runs.

Sikkema stymied the Saints on the next series as he and Xavier receiver Ryan Stulken both wrestled for a pass that was ruled out of bounds. Shortly thereafter, Sikkema unloaded a 44-yard punt that Saints speedster Nick Stark returned 33 yards by juking all over the field.

On the very next play, Schulte found Stark diving in the end zone from 27 yards out. And two minutes later, with just 18 seconds left in the half, Stark was wide open in the middle and ran it in from 33 yards.

“Credit our offensive line,” said Coach Schulte. “They did a really good job of blocking.

“They gave Bryce time to find his receivers. And they made some tremendous runs after the catch to make our offense look good.”

None was prettier than the dance put on by senior running back Sean Murphy after he took a flare pass from Schulte midway into the third quarter. Going this way and that, he shook off defenders from sideline to sideline and rambled 60 yards for a touchdown.

"I just ran to the right and no one was there,” Murphy explained. “Then I sorta did the hokey-pokey and turned myself around.”

According to his quarterback, “It was an unbelievable run.”

Not to be outdone, Whitten on the next possession took a pass from Schulte at the 13-yard line and raced it all the way for an 87-yard score.

The reserves went it at that point in the third quarter, long enough to get their white pants muddy, and second string quarterback Spencer Dempewolf scored on a 20-yard scamper to start the continuous clock for most of the fourth quarter.

For a team that started the season with two narrow wins, the blowout was a way to get well for Class 3A sixth-ranked Xavier (3-0), even if it was against a District 4 opponent that’s now 0-4. And for Bryce Schulte, it was a night to remember.

“Pretty cool,” he said. “It’s an honor to tie a record set by my big brother.”

XAVIER 42, DEWITT CENTRAL 6

.                      DWC      XAV

First downs             4         13

Rushes–yards   29-62     39-72

Passing yards        32        232

Comp-att-int      1-7-0    8-10-0

Fumbles-lost        5-2         1-0

Punts-avg          8-38       5-27

Penalties-yards    3-15       5-35

DeWitt Central   0   6   0 0 – 6

Xavier                7 14 14 7 - 42

Scoring plays

X – Whitten 24 pass from Schulte (Klein kick)

D – Sikkema 1 run (kick failed)

X – Stark 27 pass from Schulte (Klein kick)

X – Stark 33 pass from Schulte (Klein kick)

X – Murphy 60 pass from Schulte (Klein kick)

X – Whitten 87 pass from Schulte (Klein kick)

X – Dempewolf 20 run (Klein kick)

Individual statistics

Rushing

DeWitt Central – O’Connor 8-37, Sikkema 13-22.

Xavier – Wilson 15-89, Miller 8-37.

Passing

DeWitt Central - Sikkema1 1-7-0, 32.

Xavier – Schulte 8-10-0, 232.

Receiving

DeWitt Central – Arensdorf 1-32.

Xavier – Stark 3-56, Whitten 2-111, Wilson 2-5, Murphy 1-60.