Xavier High School - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

No.1 Pella crushes Saints in 3A semis

CEDAR FALLS - The tulips in Pella will never look as pretty to Xavier football fans after what happened to their beat-up team in the UNI-Dome Thursday night.

In fact, the Saints might want to skip the next few tulip festivals in the old Dutch town entirely.

Pella and all-star quarterback Noah Clayberg proved their No. 1 billing in the state was no fluke Thursday by handing the 10th-ranked Saints their worst loss of the season, 27-0, in the semifinals of the Class 3A playoffs.

The Dutch held Xavier to a grand total of 49 yards of offense, including minus-2 yards on the ground and a skimpy 51 yards through the air (nearly all of it on one play in the fourth quarter).

Meanwhile, Clayberg rushed for 117 yards, passed for 112 yards, had a 35-yard punt return and executed a perfect 33-yard pooch punt to the 1-yard line.

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Saints face big obstacle in No. 1 Pella

The Xavier Saints were quickly made the early favorite to win the Class 3A football title this season after they dropped from Class 4A following the 2013 campaign.

The Saints (9-3) still have an excellent shot of winning the championship as they head into the semifinals against top-ranked Pella (12-0) Thursday night at 8:21 at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls, but they are no longer the prohibitive favorite.

Creston (10-2) faces No. 3 Sioux City Heelan (11-1) in the other semifinal Thursday at 5:36 p.m.

There have been several twists and turns for the Saints on their way to the UNI-Dome. They lost their season opener to Dowling in a rematch of the Class 4A finals from last year, which was no big surprise. Dowling has reached the Class 4A semifinals again this year and has a powerful team.

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Xavier selling football playoff tickets

Xavier High School will be selling Class 3A football semifinal tickets in the Activities Office on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 7:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. each day.

Tickets cost $10.

The Saints play Pella on Thursday at 8:21 at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls.

Saints dig deep for trip to UNI-Dome

The condensed playoff schedule had taken its toll on Xavier physically, with three games in 11 days on the calendar.

Mentally, the Saints were strong but there wasn't much left in their bodies as they battled West Delaware in a Class 3A quarterfinal Friday night at Saints Field.

With its starting backfield of Jay Kortemeyer and Nic Ekland out with injuries, Xavier turned to some lesser-known players to build a 17-0 lead and held off a determined charge from the visiting Hawks to win 27-17 before an overflow crowd.

Next up for Xavier (9-3) is a semifinal date on Thursday against top-ranked Pella in the UNI-Dome. The Dutch advanced with a 31-14 win over Washington, Iowa.

West Delaware finishes at 10-2.

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