Cedar Rapids Xavier pulls away from Cedar Rapids Washington with huge 2nd half

CEDAR RAPIDS — It’s safe to say Xavier’s football players received the message from their coach at halftime.

The message: “Get to work and do your job,” Xavier Coach Duane Schulte said.

Message received.

Thanks to a 28-0 third quarter run, third-ranked Cedar Rapids Xavier (10-0) defeated Cedar Rapids Washington, 44-7, in a Class 4A opening-round playoff matchup Friday night at Saints Field.

Heading off the field at halftime, Xavier carried just a 16-7 lead.

“To be honest, we didn’t go into the locker room until about two minutes before we came back out here,” Schulte said. “We walked in and just told them, here are some of the plays we think we’re going to run and you have to execute them.

“That was it. There wasn’t any screaming or yelling or rah-rah stuff.”

Coleton Beasler-Weber returned the opening second half kickoff to Washington’s 18, a 66-yard return.

“It was amazing to get the team fired up and get the offense going,” Beasler-Weber said. “It felt great, especially with how close the game was.”

Michael Cunningham ran it in on the next play, extending Xavier’s lead to 23-7 just 20 seconds into the third quarter.

Following a quick Washington three-and-out and a nice punt return, Xavier started its next possession with the ball at the Warriors’ 23.

On the fourth play of the drive, Beasler-Weber punched it in from 9 yards out.

“We started off a little slow, I’ll admit that,” Beasler-Weber said. “But as soon as we got out of halftime, we were fired up. We locked in.”

Grant Helmle was next in line to score for the Saints.

Facing a third-and-1 near midfield, Helmle burst through an opening and sprinted home for a 51-yard score, extending Xavier’s lead to 37-7 with 2:59 to go in the third.

Washington fumbled the ensuing kickoff and the Saints recovered at the Warriors’ 23. Three plays later, Beasler-Weber was at it again, this time with a 12-yard TD run giving Xavier a 44-7 lead, which started the continuous clock.

“Fly and follow my blockers,” Beasler-Weber said. “They open the doors for me, they’re the only reason I can do what I can do.”

Beasler-Weber was efficient with his carries, running the ball just three times, two resulting in scores.

Cunningham led the Saints with 112 rushing yards on 18 carries and two touchdowns.

“We just have to come out and play at the level we know we can play at,” Cunningham said. “But overall, it’s hard to win any game. We just have to keep getting better every week.”

The Saints defense didn’t give up a first down in the second half and held Washington (5-5) to minus-4 yards of offense in the second half.

“It was the kickoff return to start the third quarter, that was huge,” Schulte said. “We score on the next play. Those two plays were huge to help set the tone for the second half.”

Xavier will host No. 8 Indianola (7-3) next Friday in the 4A quarterfinals.