Cedar Rapids Xavier locks up district championship with 35-7 win at Clear Creek Amana

TIFFIN — It’s official.

Cedar Rapids Xavier has booked its ticket to the state football playoffs for the 20th time since 2001.

The fifth-ranked Saints (6-2, 4-0) earned the Class 4A District 3 title with a 35-7 victory over Clear Creek Amana (2-6, 2-2) at Clipper Field Friday night, thus making postseason qualification “official.”

“We just told the guys right here after the game that winning one high school football game is hard to do,” Xavier Coach Duane Schulte said. “So for these guys to end up winning enough to be a district champion is a credit to our kids and all the hard work they put in.”

On a wet night, Xavier went to its ground game early.

Senior running back Noah Schimberg carried the ball on the first nine plays of the game before ceding to Ronan Thomas at the goal line. Thomas capped the opening 12-play, 88-yard drive with a 1-yard TD.

“We were kind of testing the waters there, seeing how the rain would affect how we were carrying the ball,” Schimberg said. “Everybody did their job, had their blocks, and it was a good drive.”

On its next possession, Xavier faced third-and-16 from CCA’s 29. Thomas found Carter Hoffmann open on a post for a 54-yard gain to keep the drive alive. Three plays later, Schimberg took his turn in the end zone, darting in from 7 yards out.

Hoffmann had eight catches for 139 yards.

The Clippers had a chance to get back in it early in the second as their special teams unit recovered a Saints fumble on a punt return in Xavier territory. The Saints defense didn’t budge, forcing CCA into a three-and-out.

Clear Creek Amana had just 12 yards of total offense in the first half.

“The defense came out to play tonight, it was awesome,” Schimberg said. “They had a couple turnovers. That was really key for us.”

Schimberg was at it again on Xavier’s next drive, scoring from 4 yards out, ending a six-play, 82-yard drive early in the second.

Schimberg carried the ball 25 times for 146 yards and two touchdowns, most of his damage coming in the first half.

Thomas added another score from a yard out and the Saints took a 27-0 lead into the break.

Xavier had 138 rushing yards, 151 passing yards and 12 first downs in the first half.

“There’s so many talented guys out here, all around, offense and defense” Schimberg said. “It feels great to be a part of it.”

Thomas found Jack Stevenson on a pop pass for a 10-yard score early in the third. A successful 2-point conversion from Thomas to Grant Helmle prompted the continuous clock as Xavier led 35-0 with 5:44 left in the third.

Xavier’s quarterback completed 13 of 16 passes for 205 yards.

CCA’s Quinton Tran added a 1-yard TD late in the fourth to round out the scoring.

“For our guys to come down here in bad weather and get a win on the road against a very good Clear Creek Amana team ... these guys are good and they have some good athletes,” Schulte said. “We saw them on film play North Scott really hard, and for us to come down here and get a win is a big deal.”

Xavier finishes its regular season next week at Burlington. CCA will close out at Clinton.

Cedar Rapids Xavier 35, Clear Creek Amana 7

AT CLIPPER FIELD

TEAM STATISTICS

First downs: CRX 18, CCA 3

Passing yards: CRX 205, CCA 28

Rushing yards: CRX 154, CCA 49

Comp-att-int: CRX 13-17-0, CCA 4-11-0

Fumbles-lost: CRX 1-1, CCA 1-1

Total yards: CRX 359, CCA 77

Punts-average: CRX 1-38, CCA 6-33.2

Penalties-yards: CRX 2-15, CCA 4-30

SCORING SUMMARY

CRX 14 13 8 0 — 35

CCA 0 0 0 7 — 7

CRX — Ronan Thomas 1 run (Brady Kruse kick)

CRX — Noah Schimberg 7 run (Brady Kruse kick)

CRX — Noah Schimberg 4 run (Brady Kruse kick)

CRX — Ronan Thomas 1 run (PAT no good)

CRX — Jack Stevenson 10 pass from Ronan Thomas (Thomas to Grant Helmle for 2-pt conversion)

CCA — Quinton Tran 1 run (Carson Cecak kick)

Individual Statistics

Rushing - CRX: Ronan Thomas 4-(minus 5), Coleton Beasler-Weber 1-24, Noah Schimberg 25-146, Brady Brueck 2-14, Dane Melchior 5-(minus 13), Team 1-(minus 12). CCA: Quinton Tran 6-4, Jackson Stevens 16-45.

Passing - CRX: Ronan Thomas 13-16-0-205, Dane Melchior 0-1-0-0. CCA: Quinton Tran 4-11-0-28.

Receiving – CRX: Coleton Beasler-Weber 1-31, Carter Hoffmann 8-139, Jack Stevenson 2-17, Jonathon Ramos 1-0, Quinn Oleson 1-18. CCA: Jackson Stevens 1-9, Haiden Hardy 1-7, Sam Pettinger 1-10, Cale Berry 1-2.