Decorah upsets unbeaten Xavier in second round

CEDAR RAPIDS — If this were a year from now, their season would have been over. It'd have been finished a good week ago.

But the Decorah Vikings are still playing football and better than they have all fall.

They're just a game over .500 overall but find themselves in the Class 3A quarterfinals after taking down second-ranked Cedar Rapids Xavier, 30-21, Monday night in a playoff second-rounder at Saints Field.

You couple this with that first-round upset of No. 5 Independence last week, and these guys are making the absolute most of the IHSAA's final go-around with an expanded playoff field. It'll be 16 teams qualifying per class next season, not 32.

'We all knew we had it in us,' said Decorah's Garrett Wise. 'Once we put it together, we really have something special that a lot of people don't know about. We've surprised a lot of people, which is the best feeling ever. People thinking that we wouldn't even make it close to here and knocking off two top-five teams is something special.'

Look out West Delaware. The third-ranked Hawks (11-0) are Decorah's next opponent, Friday night at Manchester.

'We were predicted not to do anything, and it's great to prove all the people wrong,' said Decorah quarterback Cole Steffen. 'It's just an unbelievable feeling to come out here and win.'

Decorah (6-5) earned this, for sure. You don't rush for 303 yards by accident.

Both Wise and fullback Zach Lea had 100-yard games in the Vikings' Wing-T offense: Wise going for 111 yards and Lea 118 and a touchdown. Owning the line of scrimmage was completely pivotal.

'We knew if our line blocked well, we'd be able to move the ball on them,' Wise said. 'Our coaches talked to the Waverly coaches (which Xavier edged in the first round) and said we'd be able to move the ball well. We all believed, all came together and it worked.'

'We definitely did not take them lightly,' said Xavier's Daniel Richardson. 'They have a lot of big kids. We were ready to play. When it came down to it, we didn't make the right plays at the right time.'

Xavier (9-1) fumbled on the opening kickoff and recovered but wasn't so lucky on its first play from scrimmage. Fullback Erik Rodriguez fumbled after an eight-yard gain, with Decorah recovering on the Saints' 29.

Wingback Marshall Johnson eventually ran a sweep 13 yards for a touchdown. Parker Lane's 27-yard field goal made it 10-0 Vikings after a quarter.

'That made a big, big difference,' Wise said. 'In these last two games, that's been on our side. Throughout the year, it's been on the opposite side. We were the ones fumbling.'

'That wasn't good, led to an easy score for them,' said Xavier Coach Duane Schulte. 'Give them credit because they capitalized. We had to kickoff to them in the second half, too, so it was kind of like kicking off to them twice. But I do give our kids credit because they fought and battled back.'

Xavier responded in the second quarter, with Bryce Schulte hitting Blake Whitten on a 12-yard TD pass and running a quarterback keeper nine yards for a score that put the Saints up 14-10. But Lea broke loose for a 51-yard touchdown off a trap play to put Decorah up at the break, 17-14.

Xavier missed a long field goal on the first play of the fourth quarter, with Decorah taking over and using back-to-back long pass completions from Steffen to make it a two-score game again. First, he hit Shawn Sindelar on a post pattern for 40 yards, then found a wide-open Wise out of the backfield for 36 yards and a touchdown.

Xavier came right back, getting a Rodriguez 3-yard TD run to make it 24-21 with 8:04 left. But Decorah went on a 12-play drive that took over four minutes and was capped by a Steffen 6-yard option keeper for touchdown.

Xavier got to the Vikings 16 on its next drive, but kicker Dallas Klein had a 33-yard field-goal attempt blocked by Johnson with 2:08 left, and that sealed it.

'Everyone played well,' said Steffen, who threw for 115 yards and ran for 60. 'The coaching staff was great, got us prepared very well this week. We all just played a tremendous game.'

Schulte completed 12 of 19 passes for 136 yards for Xavier, with Malaki Wilson chipping in with 118 yards rushing.

'I think, honestly, these last couple of games we didn't come out the way we wanted to,' Richardson said. 'They jumped on top, obviously, with that first fumble. It's obviously tough right now, but it's been a great ride with these guys. I couldn't love them anymore. When we look back on this, we'll be proud of what we did here.'

'Big picture, I'm proud of them,' Coach Schulte said. 'I remember when these seniors were in fifth grade. Bryce was in fourth grade and played up with them. I didn't know if they'd have an undefeated season as seniors, to be honest with you. I didn't know if they had the football moxie in them. But they proved it, went to the playoff semifinals last year as juniors and went undefeated this year. It was a good overall career for them.'

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