Saints stop Washpun, blank City

CEDAR RAPIDS -- Dan Sabers has seen a lot as a high school football coach at Iowa City High.

A lot of wins. A handful of losses. But he's never seen a defense like this.

"It's the best I've ever gone against," Sabers said after third-ranked Cedar Rapids Xavier made the Little Hawks its seventh shutout victim of the season, 34-0, in a Class 4A second-round playoff football game Monday night at Saints Field. "They're tough, they're well-coached and they're disciplined. If you get behind them, you're in trouble. They're a superb team, and they're going to be really tough to beat."

For Xavier (10-1), the win sets up a 42nd Street quarterfinal showdown Friday at home against Cedar Rapids Kennedy (8-3).

The Cougars upended No. 7 Davenport Assumption, 35-12, Monday.

"They're a really tough team. They're playing really well right now," said Matt Nelson, the anchor to that dynamite defense. "We've got to get back to work (Tuesday)."

Xavier beat Kennedy, 24-0, on Sept. 27 at Kingston Stadium.

Even for the always-stingy Saints, this was a special defensive effort. City High's Xavier Washpun entered the game as the second-leading rusher in 4A with 1,775 yards.

Monday, he managed just 21 yards on 15 carries.

"(Defensive coordinator Jim) O'Connell watches so much film. He gets us in position to make plays," said Nelson, who posted a pair of wicked sacks on City High quarterback Mitch Wieland.

City High (8-3) tried a fake punt in the first half and an onside kick to start the second. Both of those special-teams plays worked, but very little did on offense.Burdened with poor field position all night, the Little Hawks' furthest advancement was to the Xavier 28 on their second possession of the game. That ended with a missed 45-yard field goal attempt by Drew Cornwell, the most prolific scoring kicker in state history.

They wouldn't get close again.

After a scoreless first quarter, the Saints embarked on the first successful drive on their second possession.

Xavier marched 80 yards in 12 plays, with Quinton Scholer connecting with Wes Gardner for a 14-yard touchdown pass with 8:17 left in the half.

Ryan Persick converted on a 29-yard field goal at the 2:49 mark, and Xavier took a 10-0 lead into the locker room.

"After the first drive we were kind of able to get a feel for their defense," Scholer said. "We got some great blocks up front to get our running game going, and then that opened up the pass."

Brendan Miller ran for 133 yards on 28 carries, and Scholer completed 7 of 11 passes for 72 yards.City High opened the second half with a successful onside kick, but three plays resulted in minus-10 yards. After a short punt and good return gave the Saints the ball near midfield, they went almost exclusively to Miller on a drive that ended with the back-breaking touchdown, a 1-yarder by Miller that made it 17-0.

Then it was Scholer to Frank Hill on a 9-yard scoring pass, another Persick field goal and a 4-yard scoring jaunt by backup Christopher Ball.

It was a impressive performance. But, according to Xavier Coach Duane Schulte, imperfect.

"The coaches will find some things we need to work on," he said. "It's a short week, so we'll enjoy this for a few minutes and get back to work."

City High doubled its win total from a year ago, when it struggled to a 4-6 mark.

"This was one of the most gratifying years I've had," Sabers said. "Our numbers were down, some kids bailed on us. But we had a core group of about 15 guy that I'll remember forever."

CR Xavier 34, IC City High 0

AT SAINTS FIELD

TEAM STATISTICS

IC City High

CR Xavier

First downs

7

14

Rushes-yards

30 - 35

43 - 200

Passing yards

90

72

Comp-Att-Int

6 - 18 - 0

7 - 11 - 0

Total yards

125

272

Fumbles-lost

0 - 0

1 - 0

Punts-average

5 - 25.4

2 - 30.0

Penalties-yards

3 - 30

7 - 51

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing:  IC City High – Xavier Washpun 15-21 , Bryson Runge 3-17 , Bryce Frantz 3-11  CR Xavier – Brendan Miller 28-133 , Jay Kortemeyer 5-28 , Christopher Ball 4-20 , Quinton Scholer 4-17 , Wes Gardner 1-3

Passing:  IC City High – Mitch Wieland 6-18-0-90  CR Xavier – Scholer 7-11-0-72

Receiving:  IC City High – Jason Jones 3-76 , Ivan Diaz 1-8 , Runge 1-3 , Washpun 1-3  CR Xavier – Bryce Grimm 2-33 , Frank Hill 2-21 , Gardner 2-12 , Kortemeyer 1-6

SCORE BY QUARTERS

IC City High

–

CR Xavier

10

14

10

–

34

SCORING SUMMARY

CRX - Wes Gardner 14 pass from Quinton Scholer (Ryan Persick kick)

CRX - FG Persick 29

CRX - Brendan Miller 1 run (Persick kick)

CRX - Frank Hill 9 pass from Scholer (Persick kick)

CRX - FG Persick 25

CRX - Christopher Ball 4 run (Persick kick)