Xavier High School - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Saints drop rematch to No.1 Dowling, 24-2

WEST DES MOINES - The season-opener between Xavier and Dowling Catholic played out much differently than last year's state championship game in the UNI-Dome, but the end result was very much the same as the Maroons put a stranglehold on a new-look Saints offense throughout a 24-2 victory.

Although the Saints owned more than a five-minute edge in time of possession and first-year starting quarterback Bryce Schulte got plenty of reps against one of the best defenses in the state, the sophomore threw a pair of costly interceptions to Dowling's Dante Campero and Xavier never really threatened against the Maroon defense.

It was a marathon day for a Saints team that traveled two hours to central Iowa, only to deal with an hour-long rain delay late in the second quarter.

"They're a well-coached team with great players, but I think our kids battled hard," said Xavier Coach Duane Schulte. "They had to go to school all day, get on a bus and come down here with the weather the way it was. They tried to stay focused and play the number-one ranked team in the biggest classification."

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Saints drop rematch to No.1 Dowling, 24-2

WEST DES MOINES - The season-opener between Xavier and Dowling Catholic played out much differently than last year's state championship game in the UNI-Dome, but the end result was very much the same as the Maroons put a stranglehold on a new-look Saints offense throughout a 24-2 victory.

Although the Saints owned more than a five-minute edge in time of possession and first-year starting quarterback Bryce Schulte got plenty of reps against one of the best defenses in the state, the sophomore threw a pair of costly interceptions to Dowling's Dante Campero and Xavier never really threatened against the Maroon defense.

It was a marathon day for a Saints team that traveled two hours to central Iowa, only to deal with an hour-long rain delay late in the second quarter.

"They're a well-coached team with great players, but I think our kids battled hard," said Xavier Coach Duane Schulte. "They had to go to school all day, get on a bus and come down here with the weather the way it was. They tried to stay focused and play the number-one ranked team in the biggest classification."

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Lindwall takes honors at MVC golf

Cedar Rapids Washington sophomore Frank Lindwall fired a 2-under-par 34 Thursday to claim medalist honors at a Mississippi Valley Conference golf meet at Twin Pines.

Sean Fernholz of Cedar Falls placed second with a 35.

Trevor McCann of Linn-Mar and Nile Happel of Jefferson shot even-par rounds of 36 to tie for third place with Matt Bauman of Cedar Falls.

Linn-Mar, Cedar Falls and Washington all finished with four-man scores of 148. They finished 1-2-3 in the team standings, respectively, based on the fifth-score tiebreaker.

TEAM STANDINGS

1. Linn-Mar 148, 2. Cedar Falls 148, 3. Washington 148, 4. Jefferson 161.

LINN-MAR: Trevor McCann 36, Ben Greif 37, Owen VanderVelden 37, Max Thrune 38, Brent Larson 39, Jordan Bohannon 39, Andrew Wood 41.

WASHINGTON: Frank Lindwall 34, Jake Patterson 37, Will Jackson 37, Joe Slattery 40, Alex Slattery 41, Evan Jankwietz 41, Jabe Gonder 44.

JEFFERSON: Nile Happel 36, Reid Griffeth 41, Kelen Brown 42, Connor Hammons 42, Adan Van Oort 44, Carter Schmitz 44, Dawson Gage 47.

Big openers on tap for Metro gridders

There was no grand design. Nobody sat down and tried to fill the opening night of the 2014 high school football season with intriguing matchups, but that's how it turned out.

No matter where you look, all of the eight Metro teams will have an interesting battle on their hands when they open the campaign Friday night.

You've got the ancient rivalry of Washington vs. Jefferson at Kingston Stadium, with the Warriors looking to build on last year's momentum and the improved J-Hawks looking to accomplish big things this year with newcomer Jesse Furrow at quarterback.

You've got Linn-Mar at Prairie, where the Lions are hoping to rebound from a couple of sub-par campaigns and the Hawks are looking to improve upon a .500 season behind 300-pound lineman Bryce Meeker, a future Iowa State Cyclone.

There's Kennedy at Iowa City West, where both teams have new head coaches who were promoted from within the program.

There's Marion at Mount Vernon, where the Indians will be tackling the start of a demanding schedule.

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