If the Iowa Hawkeyes run out of tailbacks this season, maybe they could borrow the kid who plays for Iowa City High.

He's pretty good. So are his teammates.

Ronald Thompson rambled for 209 yards and two touchdowns Friday night as the second-ranked Little Hawks smashed No.7 Xavier, 52-24, on homecoming at Saints Field.

Xavier (3-1) had not allowed a point in three games this season with shutouts of Kennedy, Prairie and Dubuque Hempstead, but the Little Hawks play in a different league.

"We looked forward to putting 52 up on them," City High quarterback Jasper Washington remarked. "We looked forward to letting them know that we are the big dogs in this conference."

Those big dogs barked all night.

"Coach told us this is the hardest team we've played all year and their defense is going to be great," Thompson said. "So we came in with the mindset that we were going to destroy them, and that's what we did."

Xavier pulled within 24-17 in the third quarter on a 76-yard bomb from Reggie Schulte to Corbin Woods, but Iowa City High (4-0) turned on the after-burners. Thompson made it 45-24 with a 75-yard gallop, then Amos Lavela made it 52-24 with a 54-yard dash.

"They're a typical City High team," Xavier Coach Duane Schulte observed. "Big, fast, strong, well-coached. They're the real deal."

The Little Hawks ran the ball 45 times and passed only five times, but two of those passes went for touchdowns from Washington to speedy Jeremy Johnson. The Little Hawks had speed to burn.

"They're a very good team," said Xavier's Jordan Weber. "They run hard. We respect them a lot. They just came out to play. We didn't do our job. They were fast, but we can keep up with them."

Most of the time, the Saints were trying to catch the Little Hawks from behind. It didn't work.

"When you have those kind of athletes, you can hold them for a couple of plays but they can break one at any time," Duane Schulte said. "That's why they're Division I athletes."

None of the Little Hawks have committed to college yet, but Iowa City High Coach Dan Sabers figures he's got a few D-I guys on his club.

"This is just a great group of kids to be around. They have fun together," Sabers said. "Sometimes I have to watch them, they have too much fun together.

"They're messing around in the locker room and things like that, but it's all positive. They really enjoy the game. I think they play with a lot of energy and they get excited out there. Boy, that's fun to be around."

It wasn't too much fun for the Saints, especially in the second half when the Little Hawks exploded for 35 points.

Schulte pointed to all the superior athletes at Iowa City High. His list included City High tight end/defensive end Steve Ferentz, the son of the Hawkeye coach.

"We're trying to play against those guys and we're just not as big, fast or strong," he said.

The teams traded field goals and touchdowns in the first 25 minutes for a 10-10 tie, but the Little Hawks grabbed a 17-10 lead at intermission on a 6-yard touchdown by Thompson. The drive featured a 34-yard run by Washington on a fake punt.

Iowa City High made it 24-10 in the third quarter on an 18-yard touchdown pass from Washington to Johnson, but the Saints answered with the 76-yard touchdown from Schulte to Woods to pull within 24-17.

Johnson caught a 19-yard touchdown from Washington to make it 31-17, then Washington scored on a quarterback sneak to make it 38-17 late in the third quarter.

Schulte found Woods for a 12-yard touchdown pass to make it 38-24 with 10:25 left in the game, but the Little Hawks pulled away on the long touchdown runs by Thompson and Lavela.

Schulte completed 19 of 31 passes for 239 yards and three touchdowns, but suffered two interceptions. Woods caught six passes for 114 yards and Jordan Hoffman caught five for 70 yards.

The Little Hawks stopped Xavier's running game, holding the Saints to 70 yards on 34 tries. Carter Valentine, averaging 147 yards per game, carried 22 times for 44 yards.

The Saints face another stiff challenge next Friday when top-ranked Cedar Falls (4-0) pays a visit.

IOWA CITY HIGH 52, XAVIER 24

ICH     CRX

First Downs             19       17
Rushing                 45-389   34-70
Passing                 3-5-1    19-32-2
Passing Yards           40       239
Punts                   0-0.0    2-33.0
Fumbles/Lost            0-0      0-0
Penalties               7-55     5-40

Iowa City High     3  14  21  14 - 52
Xavier                0  10   7     7 - 24

SCORING PLAYS

ICH - Drew Cornwell 31 FG
CRX - Chad Gilmer 31 FG
ICH - Jasper Washington 15 run (Cornwell PAT)
CRX - Logan Jones 6 pass from Reggie Schulte (Gilmer PAT)
ICH - Ronald Thompson 6 run (Cornwell PAT)
ICH - Jeremy Johnson 18 pass from Washington (Cornwell PAT)
CRX - Corbin Woods 76 pass from Schulte (Gilmer PAT)
ICH - Johnson 19 pass from Washington (Cornwell PAT)
ICH - Washington 1 run (Cornwell PAT)
CRX - Woods 12 pass from Schulte (Gilmer PAT)
ICH - Thompson 75 run (Cornwell PAT)
ICH - Amos Lavela 54 run (Cornwell PAT)

INDIVIDUAL STATS

Rushing

Iowa City High: Thompson 22-209, Washington 11-85, Lavela 7-75, Law 1-8,
Williams 1-8, Barfield 1-2, Stika 1-2, Washpun 1-0.

Xavier: Valentine 22-44, Weber 1-11, Krouse 3-9, Jones 1-4, Brown 1-4,
Schulte 5-0, Team 1-minus 2.

Passing

Iowa City High: Washington 3-4-1, 40; Stika 0-0-0, 0.

Xavier: Schulte 19-31-2, 239; Woods 0-0-0, 0.

Receiving:

Iowa City High: Johnson 2-37, Greer 1-3.

Xavier: Woods 6-114, Hoffman 5-70, Weber 3-5, Hosch 2-32, Jones 2-9,
Valentine 1-9.

Sophomore Game: Xavier 16, Iowa City High 0