Schulte gets comfortable fast; Xavier rips Kennedy, 28-0 (w/ video)

CEDAR RAPIDS -- He's been around a football field all his life.

"It kind of feels like home," said Cedar Rapids Xavier quarterback Reggie Schulte.

And he made himself at home at Kingston Stadium, throwing three touchdown passes as Class 4A 10th-ranked Cedar Rapids Xavier blanked Cedar Rapids Kennedy, 28-0, Friday night.

This already looks like a typical Xavier team. Disciplined. Hard-hitting and stingy defensively.

Xavier (1-0) outgained the Cougars, 431 yards to 147, and defeated their 42nd Street rivals by four touchdowns in the opener for the second straight year.

"They reached game speed earlier than we did," said Kennedy Coach Tim Lewis, whose team came on late and beat Xavier in the playoffs last year. "They stayed there, and we never got there."

Reggie Schulte is a junior and the son of Xavier Coach Duane Schulte. He's spent many days on the practice field, waiting for this day.

Friday, he made the most of the opportunity, throwing for 178 yards on 8-of-13 passing. That, and a 253-yard output by the ground game, made for a winning combination.

So, Coach, how about that effort by your son?

"He had some great teammates helping him," Coach Schulte said.

Xavier took command immediately. Kennedy (0-1) won the flip and deferred, and the Saints chose to receive. The result: a 10-play, 82-yard march -- all on the ground before Reggie Schulte connected with Kevin Hosch for a 2-yard touchdown.

"We wanted to set the tone early," Reggie Schulte said. "The line did a great job of blocking."

Schulte and Jordan Hoffman hooked up twice in the second quarter, on TD passes of 26 and 43 yards.

The Cougars did little with the ball until late. Kennedy had just 24 yards in the first three quarters, including minus-4 on the ground.

"Kennedy's a good team, and we were able to tackle them," said Jack Boland. "Everybody did a good job, every play."

Coach Schulte said, "After coaching with (assistants) Jim O'Connell, David Sullivan and John Tursi for 20 years, I just turn a lot of the defense over to them."

Matt Hansen scored Xavier's final touchdown on a 3-yard run with 9:43 left.

Xavier's Carter Valentine rushed for 150 yards before departing with a leg cramp.

The Saints host Cedar Rapids Prairie next week; Kennedy travels to Linn-Mar.

TEAM STATISTICS

CR Xavier

CR Kennedy

First downs

18

10

Rushes-yards

49 - 253

24 - 47

Passing yards

178

100

Comp-Att-Int

8 - 13 - 1

13 - 30 - 1

Total yards

431

147

Fumbles-lost

2 - 1

2 - 1

Punts-average

3 - 28.3

6 - 36.8

Penalties-yards

11 - 84

4 - 20

Rushing:

 CR Xavier –

Carter Valentine 22-150 ,

Matt Hansen 13-54 ,

Cal Stovie 7-22 ,

Nick Ball 1-20 ,

Jordan Weber 1-21 ,

Nick Hazelton 2-0 ,

Reggie Schulte 2-(-13)

 CR Kennedy –

Trevor Heitland 10-43 ,

James Lizarraga 4-14 ,

Josh Jahlas 2-(-3) ,

Alexander Hillyer 8-(-7)

Passing:

 CR Xavier –

Schulte 8-13-1-178

 CR Kennedy –

Lizarraga 13-30-1-100

Receiving:

 CR Xavier –

Corbin Woods 3-50 ,

Jordan Hoffman 2-69 ,

Kevin Hosch 2-17 ,

Weber 1-42

 CR Kennedy –

Jahlas 4-40 ,

Hillyer 3-15 ,

Shane Williams 3-13 ,

Cody Whitham 1-6 ,

Benjamin Struss 1-0 ,

Heitland 1-26

CR Xavier

7

14

7

–

28

CR Kennedy

–

CRX - Kevin Hosch 2 pass from Reggie Schulte (Chad Gilmer kick)

CRX - Jordan Hoffman 26 pass from Schulte (Gilmer kick)

CRX - Hoffman 43 pass from Schulte (Gilmer kick)

[gallery columns="2"]

CRX - Matt Hansen 3 run (Gilmer kick)