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* Contact Metro Sports Report * Jim Ecker, President & Editor jim.ecker@metrosportsreport.com 319-390-4236 |
The Steel Curtain is taken. The defensive line for the Pittsburgh Steelers had that clever nickname in the 1970's when they won four Super Bowls.
Iron Curtain is available, since the Cold War ended 1991, but that's a geo-political term.
So what should we call the Xavier High School defensive unit that has thrown eight shutouts this season en route to the semifinals of the Class 4A playoffs?
Tom Ekland gets up about 5 o'clock every morning, Monday through Friday, and heads to Xavier High School to help supervise the weight room.
He's been doing this for 20 years, first at LaSalle High School and the past 16 years at Xavier since the school opened in 1998.
He loves working with the guys and has played an important role in Xavier's success on the football field - and other sports as well - but there have been times when he's wondered what in the world he's doing so early in the morning.
Xavier girls basketball coach Tom Lilly has modest goals for his team, but they often translate into monumental achievements.
He's won four state titles with the Saints, including a surprising run to the Class 4A crown last year, but it starts with the basics.
"Our goal has always been kind of simple," Lilly said Monday on the first day of practice. "First of all, we want to be competitive. We don't want anyone sitting their starters down in the fourth quarter because we weren't competitive. That's the worst thing in the world as a coach."
Xavier tailback Brendan Miller officially rushed for 92 yards against Kennedy in the Class 4A playoffs Friday night and tied the school record for career rushing yards with 2,483.
Miller has matched Will Martin, who rushed for 2,483 yards in 2005 and 2006. Miller can break the record when the Saints play Bettendorf in the state semifinals Friday in the UNI-Dome.
The Metro Sports Report credited Miller with 93 yards on the ground against Kennedy, which would have broken Martin's career mark by one yard. The official statistics, kept by Xavier, had Miller with 92 yards.
Xavier High School will be selling tickets this week for the Class 4A semifinals between the Saints and Bettendorf that will be played Friday at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls.
Tickets wil be sold in the Activities Office on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 7:45 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day and on Friday from 7:45 a.m. until noon.
Friday's game will begin at 4:06 p.m. All tickets cost $8. Xavier is the visiting team and its fans will sit on the west side of the UNI-Dome.
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