Xavier High School - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

No.2 Little Hawks smash No.7 Saints, 52-24

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."

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O'Connell bracing Xavier's defense for No.2 City High

Jim O'Connell is getting cranky, but it has nothing to do with Xavier's big football game with Iowa City High Friday night.

O'Connell is Xavier's defensive coordinator, but he's also a local farmer with 1,000 acres of corn, beans and stock cows on the west side of Cedar Rapids.

It's getting closer to harvest time. That means more work and longer hours on the farm, in addition to his duties of running a high school defense that has not allowed a point all season.

"I'm getting a little crankier," O'Connell said before practice Tuesday afternoon at Xavier. "The kids understand, the later we go, the crankier I get. I don't get as much sleep."

O'Connell, 45, puts in long days. He doesn't shirk his duties on the farm or on the football field.

"I just got done filling a grain bin up," he said. "I came here, go to practice. From here I'll go back and go to 10 or 11 (p.m.), then watch film until 12:30 or 1 o'clock, then go to bed and get up and do the same thing."

O'Connell was not complaining. In fact, he described his day with a smile.

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She's a Saint in school, but a Warrior in pool

McKenzie Asplund lives in the Linn-Mar district, attends school at Xavier and swims for Washington.

"It's different," she acknowledged Tuesday.

It makes sense, once you know the story.

Xavier High School does not have a swim team this year, so that was not an option, but Xavier has an agreement with Cedar Rapids Community Schools that allows its students to swim for Kennedy, Washington or Jefferson if they want.

Xavier does not have an agreement with Linn-Mar High School, so Asplund could not swim for the Lions. And since she lives closer to Washington than Kennedy or Jefferson, she swims for the Warriors instead of the Cougars or J-Hawks.

Asplund wasn't exactly sure of all the rules and regulations, but her mother figured it out. "My mom told me I was swimming for Wash," she said. "It's good. I love it."

Molly Snow also attends Xavier and swims for Washington. She lives in the Washington district, so that was easy to decipher.

Kennedy has three Xavier students on its team, so the Xavier swimmers competed against each other Tuesday night when Kennedy and Washington met in a dual meet at Kennedy.

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Xavier pitches 3rd straight shutout

DUBUQUE – It was just another day at the office for the Cedar Rapids Xavier defense.

The Saints, who have not allowed a single point this season, kept the streak alive Friday with a 34-0 drubbing of winless Dubuque Hempstead at Dalzell Field.

Xavier (3-0), ranked No. 10 in Class 4A, posted its third shutout in as many games. The Saints limited Hempstead (0-3) to only 188 yards of total offense and eight first downs.

Xavier linebacker Jack Boland credited the team’s defensive line for allowing the second-level defenders opportunities to make plays.

"It makes it a lot easier for us as linebackers,” Boland said. “They got a great push up front.”

Boland and his first-string teammates were also pulling for the Saints’ scout team late in the fourth quarter.

The backup Saints held strong and kept Hempstead off the scoreboard, much to the delight of defensive coordinator Jim O’Connell.

“The scout team is the backbone of our program,” O’Connell said. “It’s good to see them rewarded for the hard work they put in.”

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