Coleton Beasler-Weber’s 2 punt return touchdowns highlight Cedar Rapids Xavier’s win over Oskaloosa

CEDAR RAPIDS — Coleton Beasler-Weber knows a thing or two about returning kicks.

The Cedar Rapids Xavier senior had a 97-yard kickoff return for a score in the Saints’ win over Lewis Central in last year's Class 4A state title game. Beasler-Weber did that one better in Friday night's game with Oskaloosa.

He returned a pair of punts for scores and added a third on a 24-yard run as No. 6 Xavier rolled to a 42-0 homecoming win over the Indians on a blustery night at Saints Field.

“To be a good kick returner, you have to have good vision and see the guys in front of you,” Beasler-Weber said. “When they are making their blocks like they did tonight, it is pretty easy to take it to the house.”

Coach Duane Schulte’s Saints (4-2) dominated from the start, pushing the game to continuous clock status midway through the second quarter.

Beasler-Weber needed just over two minutes to get the Saints on the board. After stopping Oskaloosa (3-4) on three plays, a punt pushed Beasler-Weber back to his own 24 where he took off up the field, then made a cut to break free on a 76-yard scoring jaunt.

On Xavier's next possession, Beasler-Weber scored on a jet sweep from 24 yards out. Then it was a Noah Schimberg 38-yard scoring run and a 20-yard TD pass from Ronan Thomas to Carter Hoffman.

That set the stage for Beasler-Weber’s second scoring return. He let the ball bounce past him, then raced back and picked it up and weaved through Oskaloosa defenders for a 70-yard score.

“He's got natural ability,” Schulte said of Beasler-Weber’s kick returning prowess. “He's got good awareness of his surroundings and he also has some good guys blocking for him.”

A safety and another Thomas-to-Hoffman scoring strike, this one from 23 yards out, pushed the lead to 42-0 at the break. Schulte was able to give his reserves playing time in the second half.

After last week's emotional, come-from-behind win over North Scott, Schulte said it was an intense week of practice leading into Friday's game

“We challenged them to come out focused tonight,” he said. “I thought they did that from the get-go.”

Beasler-Weber agreed with his coach.

“We just needed to keep the same mentality to stay on this level,” he said. “We've been hitting a lot more in practice to keep the same intensity and it carried on to this week.”

It’s no surprise, however, that Schulte believes his team can continue to improve.

“We still have plenty of things we need to work on,” Schulte said. “We had some miscues on some stuff tonight that we have to get better at. It's the same old thing every week.”

The Saints play their final two games on the road, beginning next Friday at Clear Creek Amana before ending the regular season at Burlington. Oskaloosa will play host to Burlington next Friday.

Cedar Rapids Xavier 42, Oskaloosa 0

(At Saints Field)

O CRX

First downs 5 14

Rushes-yards 18-37 28-180

Passing yards 73 118

Comp-Att-Int 7-15-1 10-12-0

Punts-Avg. 4-30.0 1-32.0

Fumbles-lost 1-1 2-0

Penalties-Yards 4-35 6-50

Oskaloosa 0 0 0 0 — 0

CR Xavier 21 21 0 0 — 42

CRX — Coleton Beasler-Weber 76 punt return (Brady Kruse kick)

CRX — Beasler-Weber 24 run (Kruse kick)

CRX — Noah Schimberg 38 run (Kruse kick)

CRX — Carter Hoffmann 20 pass from Ronan Thomas (Kruse kick)

CRX — Beasler-Weber 70 punt return (kick blocked)

CRX — Safety, Parker Lewis tackled in the end zone

CRX — Hoffmann 23 pass from Ronan Thomas (kick failed)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Oskaloosa: AJ Walker 4-23, Kayne Boender 3-(minus 2), JT Baker 7-18, Trey Parks 3-16, Team 1-(minus 18). C.R. Xavier: Noah Schimberg 11-103, Coleton Beasler-Weber 1-24, Grant Helmle 1-2, Carter Hoffmann 1-4, Brady Brueck 9-32, Dane Melchior 3-15, Brady Quinn 2-0.

PASSING — Oskaloosa: Kayne Boender 7-15-1-73. C.R. Xavier: Ronan Thomas 5-6-0-88, Dane Melchior 5-6-0-30.

RECEIVING — Oskaloosa: Jamar Cisse 1-3, Max Roach 2-3, Heavon Knox 2-57, AJ Walker 1-6, JT Baker 1-4. C.R. Xavier: Coleton Beasler-Weber 1-34, Carter Hoffmann 4-54, Mason Meyer 3-31, Ivan Fomin 1-0, Dylan Holub 1-(minus 1).