Duane Schulte’s 200th victory at Xavier is a rout of Washington

CEDAR RAPIDS — Duane Schulte allowed his mind to wander through the misty final minutes at Kingston Stadium.

“I was kind of thinking about all the former players we’ve had,” he said. “They all helped us get to this point.

“And I’m happy for the current guys that can say they were here for this moment. It’s not my win, it’s Xavier’s win.”

Xavier’s win; Schulte’s win. For the last 25 years, they’ve been one and the same.

Two hundred and the same, actually.

Class 4A third-ranked Cedar Rapids Xavier whipped Cedar Rapids Washington on both sides of the ball in a 38-0 Class 4A District 4 football rout Friday night.

For Xavier — and for Schulte — it is the 200th victory in the program’s 25th year, 200-70 to be exact.

That’s an average of eight wins a year. That’s a quarter-century of consistent excellence.

“It starts with the players,” said Schulte, whose career mark is 225-84 (he coached at Cedar Rapids LaSalle before becoming Xavier’s first head coach in 1998). “You’ve got to have players willing to do what you ask them to do, and families that support them. And assistant coaches ... football is a sport where you have to have great assistant coaches.

“I know it’s a cliche, but the guys did their jobs tonight.”

And did them extremely well.

Xavier (5-0 overall, 1-0 district) outgained Washington (2-3, 0-1) by a margin of 315 yards to 42, and the Warriors were below zero yards against Xavier’s first-string defense.

The first eight possessions could succinctly be explained as thus:

Washington three-and-out, punt.

Xavier touchdown.

Washington three-and-out, punt.

Xavier touchdown.

Washington three-and-out, punt.

Xavier touchdown.

Washington three-and-out, punt.

Xavier touchdown.

Quarterback Ronan Thomas capped the Saints’ first drive with a 1-yard scoring sneak, then Michael Cunningham did the honors on the next three scoring drives.

Cunningham got loose for a 28-yard TD run off tackle, then rambled for a 37-yard score. His third touchdown came on a fourth-and-3 from the 10.

“The O-line did a great job,” said Cunningham, who finished with 124 rushing yards on nine carries.

“They opened some huge holes. On those touchdown runs, I was untouched.”

Xavier’s fifth touchdown of the half came on Thomas’ 12-yard scoring strike to Grant Helme, and the Saints took a 35-0 lead into the locker room.

The entire second half was played under a continuous clock, and the final minutes were moistened by light rain.

Cunningham was asked to comment on Schulte’s — and Xavier’s — legacy of consistent greatness.

“Coach really cares about all of the players,” Cunningham said. “The time he puts in with the players and assistants ... the culture he built here ... the game plans he puts together ... a great coach.”

The Saints host Pella next week; Washington is at Clear Creek Amana.

Cedar Rapids Xavier 38, Cedar Rapids Washington 0

AT KINGSTON STADIUM

TEAM STATISTICS

First downs: CRX 17, CRW 6

Rushes-yards: CRX 43-274, CRW 21-12

Passing yards: CRX 41, CRW 30

Passing: CRX 5-8-0, CRW 5-17-1

Total yards: CRX 315, CRW 42

Fumbles-lost: CRX 1-0, CRW 0-0

Punts-average: CRX 2-20.5, CRW 6-35.7

Penalties-yards: CRX 5-45, CRW 7-48

SCORING SUMMARY

C.R. Xavier 21 14 3 0 — 38

C.R. Washington 0 0 0 0 — 0

CRX — Ronan Thomas 1 run (Kale Christensen kick)

CRX — Michael Cunningham 28 run (Christensen kick)

CRX — Cunningham 37 run (Christensen kick)

CRX — Cunningham 10 run (Christensen kick)

CRX — Grant Helme 12 pass from Thomas (Christensen kick)

CRX — FG Christensen 31

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing

Xavier: Michael Cunningham 9-124, Aidan McDermott 5-43, Noah Schimberg 11-37, Ronan Thomas 8-33, Coleton Beasler-Weber 6-18, Grant Helme 3-15, Charlie Bostwick 1-4. Washington: Will Barnes 4-33, Alex Taylor 10-14, Stephen Cain 1-(minus 3), Watts McBride 3-(minus 4), Malik Epps-Keller 2-(minus 14), Montarious Beard 1-(minus 14).

Passing

Xavier: Thomas 4-7-0-36, Adam Cook 1-1-0-5. Washington: Epps-Keller 5-12-1-30, Cain 0-4-0-0, McBride 0-1-0-0.

Receiving

Xavier: Helme 1-12, McDermott 1-10, Grayson Hartman 1-7, Brogan Zahn 1-7, Bryce Kramer 1-5. Washington: J’Quari Willis 1-13, Josiah Wickum 1-10, Miles Thompson 1-5, Brock Davis 1-4, Taylor 1-2.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com