A lot of McDermott, Cunningham and defense lifts Cedar Rapids Xavier over Dubuque Wahlert

CEDAR RAPIDS — When you’ve got guys like Michael Cunningham and Aidan McDermott on offense, you’ve got a chance.

When you’ve got a defense that played like it did Friday night, you’ve got an even better chance.

Cunningham and McDermott each accounted for three touchdowns, and Cedar Rapids Xavier held Dubuque Wahlert to exactly 1 first-half yard in a 40-7 win at Saints Field.

Fourth ranked in a loaded Class 4A, Xavier (3-0) had no problems disposing of a Wahlert team that also had won its first two games, over West Delaware and Davenport Assumption. The Golden Eagles (2-1) came in ranked sixth in 2A.

Yet this was no contest.

“I think this might have been our biggest jump, from Week 2 to Week 3,” said McDermott. “You’ve got to keep making those jumps because, obviously, later in the season we’ll be starting to play those better teams. We’ve got to keep making those jumps from week to week, and then I think good things will happen.”

Cunningham has the size, speed and toughness you like to see in a tailback. He scored Xavier’s first three touchdowns: on a 21-yard run late in the first quarter, a 10-yard run in the second and then a 34-yard catch.

That latter touchdown came on a pass from McDermott, who’s normally a receiver but who lined up at the quarterback spot a couple of times in this game. McDermott also caught a 3-yard TD pass from Ronan Thomas, then returned a punt 72 yards for a score less than a minute later.

Oh, by the way, Cunningham also had a 2-point conversion run as part of a 27-point Xavier second quarter.

“That’s the O-line doing its job,” Cunningham said. “They’re all continuing to work hard and keep getting better. Getting off the ball better, blocking their man, doing their job. It’s a team effort.”

Wahlert continuously was pinned back deep in its own territory. It would be a long Xavier kickoff and good coverage by the Saints, then three Golden Eagles offensive plays that went nowhere, followed by a punt.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

“We got better during the week, though I don’t know how much improvement we made,” said Xavier Coach Duane Schulte. “I think some of these guys are kind of finding out what their role is. Whether you’re a starter or not. That’s kind of helped.”

Wahlert didn’t get its initial first down until late in the third quarter. By then, Thomas had a 1-yard QB sneak TD that brought forth a continuous clock.

Wahlert scored against Xavier reserves in the final seconds of the third quarter for the final score.

“It all boils down to the line,” Schulte said. “We’ll still have to watch the film, but I think the line made big improvement from last week to this week. No matter what play we call, it the line isn’t doing its job, then it doesn’t matter.”

Cedar Rapids Xavier 40, Dubuque Wahlert 7

At Saints Field

Dubuque Wahlert 0 0 7 0-7

Cedar Rapids Xavier 7 27 6 0-40

Team Statistics

First Downs - Wahlert 5, Xavier 14. Rushing-Yards - Wahlert 28-59, Xavier 36-196. Passing - Wahlert 6-14-1-53, Xavier 8-12-0-120. Punts-Avg. - Wahlert 8-44.6, Xavier 4-32.0. Penalties - Wahlert 3-25, Xavier 8-70. Fumbles-lost - None.

Individual Statistics

Rushing - Wahlert: Michael Bormann 13-58, Kenny Petraitis 5-11, Matthew Nachtman 1-9, Ryan Brosius 4-2, Bryce Rudiger 6-(minus) 19. Xavier - Michael Cunningham 12-91, Coleton Beasler-Weber 4-49, Ronan Thomas 3-37, Noah Schimberg 5-17, Aidan McDermott 2-15, Grant Helme 2-5, Charlie Bostwick 1-3, Brian Foerster 2-3, Will Hacke 2-1, Adam Cook 3-(minus 5).

Passing - Wahlert: Bryce Rudiger 6-14-1-53. Xavier: Ronan Thomas 4-8-0-67, Aidan McDermott 1-1-0-19, Adam Cook 2-3-0-24.

Receiving - Wahlert: Seamus Crahan 3-46, Alex Eisbach 2-7, Jackson Weber 0-0. Xavier - Michael Cunningham 2-53, Aidan McDermott 3-29, Quinn Oleson 1-22, Josef Lemker 1-14, Jonathon Ramos 1-4.

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