Cedar Rapids Xavier stifles Iowa City Regina in prep football season opener, 23-6

IOWA CITY - Duane Schulte hoped a couple of early missed opportunities would circle back around.

The Cedar Rapids Xavier football coach turned wish into certainty by leaning on two staples of his Saints' program – a bruising run game and a suffocating defense.

Junior fullback Braden Stovie rushed seven times for 105 yards, and his two second-quarter touchdowns helped Class 3A No. 3 Xavier smother 1A No. 1 Iowa City Regina, 23-6, in the prep football season opener for both teams Friday night at Regina High School.

'I thought once we got the jitters out in the first quarter, calmed down a little bit and got a feel for the game, that our guys executed the way they were supposed to,” Schulte said.

The Xavier defense forced a turnover on the first play from scrimmage when senior defensive end Jacob Hines pounced on a fumble by Regina receiver Jayden Kies, which gave the Saints the ball at the Regals' 35-yard-line.

The Xavier offense mustered just five yards of offense and turned the ball over on downs, but forced a three-and-out on Regina's second possession, which ended with a blocked punt by Xavier junior Jonathon Bell.

Starting from the Regina 19. Xavier got as close as the 12 before kicker Ben Conrad missed a 28-yard field goal attempt.

'We were trying to weather the storm and see what happens,” Schulte said. 'We wanted to see how they would react to some adverse circumstances. … Just let the game flow out the way it did.”

Regina punted two more times, Xavier once, before the Saints broke out in the final six minutes of the first half.

Facing a 1st-and-10 at its nine-yard-line, Stovie's first carry of the game was a 70-yard burst through the middle of the Regina line. Two plays later, he scored from four yards away.

'The line blocked really well and (tailback) Jax Junge filled the hole,” Stovie said. 'If the line does their job, we're just going to try and do what we can with it.”

With the scoreboard on their side, the Xavier defense tightened the grip on Regina senior quarterback Michael Conlon. Xavier forced another three-and-out that left the Regals punting from their 15, which gave Xavier the ball at the Regina 37. A 32-yard run by quarterback Quinn Schulte advanced the ball to the five and two plays later, Stovie was in the end zone again. His four-yard TD extended the Xavier lead to 14-0 with 1:22 left until halftime.

'We were just trying to get intensity going,” Stovie said. 'They have some really good players, and we were just trying to match what they do.”

Backed up to his one-yard-line on the next possession, a fumbled shotgun snap sent Conlon scrambling for the ball in the end zone. As he smothered the errant exchange, Hines converged for a safety and a 16-0 Xavier lead.

'I thought the guys came out with a lot of good energy,” Hines said. 'Everyone was doing their job. Regina is a great team. It was not easy at all.”

Schulte added a 1-yard TD in the third quarter and also intercepted a pass on defense. He passed for 63 yards and ran for 80.

Regina - winners of six of the last seven 1A state titles - had scoring opportunties in the second half, but Conlon was intercepted twice (Schulte, Justin Schneider) and the offense turned the ball over on downs on two other occasions.

'We really felt good, we felt like our kids were right there,” Regina Coach Marv Cook said. 'We had a couple of drives in the third quarter to get back in it, but we'd just get to the red zone and stall.”

Isaac Vollstedt carried the ball 18 times for 160 yards for Regina (0-1). Conlon passed for 149 yards and a late 19-yard TD to Patrick Clark.

Xavier (1-0) - a 3A state semifinalist last season - did not commit a turnover as it won for the third year in a row against Regina.

The Saints will host former Mississippi Valley Conference rival Linn-Mar next week, while Regina visits Solon.

Cedar Rapids Xavier 23

Iowa City Regina 6

AT IOWA CITY REGINA

CRX ICR

First downs 7 15

Rushes-yards 36-218 29 - 151

Passing-yards 63 149

Comp-att-int 6-8-0 21-39-2

Punts-avg. 5-30.0 3-37.6

Fumbles-lost 0-0 3-1

Penalties-yards 5-31 6-45

Cedar Rapids Xavier 0 16 7 0 - 23

Iowa City Regina 0 0 0 6 - 6

CRX - Braden Stovie 8 run (Ben Conrad kick)

CRX - Braden Stovie 4 run (Ben Conrad kick)

CRX - Safety, QB tackled in end zone

CRX - Quinn Schulte 1 run (Ben Conrad kick)

ICR - Patrick Clark 19 pass from Michael Conlon (kick failed)

RUSHING - C.R. Xavier: Jax Junge 12-31, Quinn Schulte 14-80, Braden Stovie 7-105, Thomas Tobin 3-2; I.C. Regina:

Isaac Vollstedt 18-160, Michael Conlon 8-(-27), Nick Milder 2-13, Jayden Kies 1-5.

PASSING - C.R. Xavier: Quinn Schulte 6-8-0-63; I.C. Regina:

Michael Conlon 21-39-2-149.

RECEIVING - C.R. Xavier: Jack Scott 2-41, Braden Stovie 1-4, Jacob Hines 2-16; I.C. Regina:

Jacob Phillips 4-30, Isaac Vollstedt 3-18, Alec Wick 5-22, Kieler Brown 3-25, Jayden Kies 1-10, Patrick Clark 4-39.

l Comments: douglas.miles@thegazette.com