Xavier scores late to topple Assumption, 14-7

CEDAR RAPIDS - The wait was worth it for Cedar Rapids Xavier, though barely.

'This whole offseason, it was Dowling, Dowling, Dowling,” said Xavier's Blake Whitten, after the Saints brushed past Davenport Assumption, 14-7, Friday night at Saints Field. 'But you can't get caught up in that. If you get caught in that, you are just going to overlook Assumption. We couldn't pout about not being able to play last week.”

Xavier's season opener against two-time defending Class 4A champ West Des Moines Dowling was cancelled last Friday night because of bad weather. As Whitten said, that was a letdown.

The Saints had to wait another week to play and suddenly flip the switch and get ready for another parochial rival. After a slow start and what looked like some rust, they perservered.

Running back Malaki Wilson's 10-yard run with 6:42 left was the winning touchdown. Whitten intercepted an attempted pop pass inside the 10-yard-line, and Caleb Billick pounced on a fumble after that as Xavier held on.

'We practiced all summer for Dowling,” said Wilson. 'But when they cancelled the game, we couldn't think about them. Definitely Assumption is a very good team. Fast and strong.”

'We had some first-game jitters,” said Xavier Coach Duane Schulte. 'You could tell Assumption had played a game, and we hadn't, especially that first quarter. Then we kind of settled down.”

Xavier had minus-three yards of offense in the third quarter, but went to a power, three tight-end formation on its winning drive. The Saints went 75 yards in seven plays, with five of those plays Wilson runs.

He finished with 130 yards on 25 carries.

'We just had to give it something extra in the end,” he said. 'It all worked out.”

'We've had it as a package before,” Schulte said. 'I just had a gut feeling to go with that one, and that's what we did. We did practice it over the last couple of weeks. Just something hit me to go with that one, so we did.”

Assumption (0-2) stormed to an immediate lead, thanks in part to a 52-yard return of the opening kickoff by Elijah Williams. That put the ball at the Xavier 48, and the Knights took just five plays to cover that yardage.

Quarterback Joe Argo was a menace to the Saints, passing for seven yards and running for 28, including a 7-yard touchdown run on a sweep right out of the shotgun. The extra point made it 7-0 just 2:04 in.

Xavier's first offensive possession was an absolute disaster. There was a holding penalty on the first play, an illegal procedure on the second play and a fumble on the third, with Argo recovering at the Saints 17.

But Argo faced pressure on a play-action pass on the ensuing play and threw an ill-advised pass into double coverage, with Whitten intercepting near the end zone and returning it near midfield.

Xavier went three-and-out, with Argo back at it, running for 45 yards on three carries and taking Assumption to the Saints 15. But a fumble and sack were followed by another pick in the end zone, this one by Nick Stark.

The Knights had five turnovers, three interceptions and two lost fumbles.

'You can't expect to turn the ball over five times and expect to win,” said Assumption Coach Wade King. 'We came out ready to play football, but you just can't turn the football over. We had, what, three turnovers inside the red zone, inside the 20? You don't win games that way.”

The first-half momentum finally flipped on Xavier's next offensive series. Wilson ran for 10 yards and caught a short pass from quarterback Bryce Schulte and turned it into a 23-yard gain.

Schulte then dropped by and threw an absolutely gorgeous ball down the right sideline to Stark, who hauled it in for a 47-yard TD. Dallas Klein's extra point tied it late in the first quarter.

'We just kept fighting,” said Whitten, who caught a huge 22-yard pass in the decisive final drive. 'We started out slow, but we kept going. That's what Xavier football has always had. You can't give up and go away. You always have to keep fighting.”

Argo finished with 131 yards rushing on 25 carries for Assumption and threw for another 63 yards. Xavier - which overcame 10 penalties, including a slew of false starts - plays at Solon next week.

'False start, and it's 1st-and-15, they can pin their ears back and come get you,” Coach Schulte said. 'It's hard to call plays when it's 1st-and-15 or 3rd-and-30. There aren't a whole lot of plays in the playbook for those situations.”

l Comments: (319) 398-8259; jeff.johnson@thegazette.com