Notes from week seven of high school football

MANCHESTER - Forget about the Xs and Os or any big game-to-game adjustments. West Delaware's tremendous defensive performance in their 29-3 upset Friday night over Waverly-Shell Rock was due to something kind of simple.“The biggest thing is we didn't give up the big play,” WD Coach Doug Winkowitsch said Saturday. “In our two losses, we gave up the big play. Last night, we didn't.”Waverly-Shell Rock came in 6-0, ranked ninth in Class 3A and averaging 44 points per game. But the Go-Hawks left Manchester with their first loss and a much lower scoring average.Running back Brandon Domeyer had 152 yards rushing for West Delaware (5-2) and threw a 7-yard halfback pass for a touchdown to Trey MacTaggart.“Not the prettiest thing,” Winkowitsch said. “But it worked.”West Delaware's win jumbles District 4. Decorah is 5-0, with WD and Waverly right behind at 4-1. Decorah, which beat West Delaware a couple of weeks ago, travels to Waverly-Shell Rock this week.West Delaware is at Independence and hosts 3-2 Oelwein to end the regular season. The top four teams in the district qualify for the postseason.“We're just taking the same approach every week,” Winkowitsch said. “Every night is a big night. The biggest game is the next one.”

XAVIER GOES TURNOVER CRAZY - The funny old sports dig “I've seen less turnovers in a Hy-Vee bakery” fit Friday night for Cedar Rapids Xavier.The Saints intercepted four passes and picked up a pair of fumble recoveries in a 49-6 pasting of Waterloo East in Waterloo. Xavier (5-2) has rebounded from back-to-back losses to Iowa City High and Cedar Falls by outscoring its opponents in its last two games, 89-6.The Saints got a David Kopecky 20-yard touchdown run on the opening possession of the game, rolling to a 21-0 lead after a quarter.

THIS AND THAT - Hard to imagine a better all-around performance than what Lisbon's Tait Simpson had Friday night. He threw for 127 yards and rushed for four touchdowns, including the game winner in overtime that gave the Lions a 28-22 victory over Lone Tree.Simpson also had a game-high 16 tackles, 12 solo.- Iowa City High won its 21st straight game Friday night, 35-7, over Dubuque Wahlert. North Fayette (20), Marion (22) and North Tama (29) have significant regular-season win streaks. Around the state, Harlan smashed Red Oak on Friday night, 63-7, for its 54th consecutive district victory.- Five unbeatens were beaten Friday night, dropping the number of teams without a loss to 34. In the area, that includes Marion and La Porte City Union in Class 3A, Linn-Mar and Iowa City High in 4A, North Fayette, Iowa City Regina and Sigourney-Keota in 2A, Starmont, North Cedar and West Branch in 1A and North Tama in A. The rank of the undefeateds will drop again this week, considering Linn-Mar plays at City High and Union is at Marion.- West Liberty shutout Columbus Junction on Friday night, 35-0, despite a time of possession differential that heavily favored CJ. The Wildcats had the ball 36 minutes to West Liberty's 12, running 61 offensive plays to the Comets' 35. Erik McKillip had two touchdown runs and two TD passes for West Liberty.- Griswold and Aubudon played a Class 1A game Friday night that probably shorted out the scoreboard and gave team statisticians writer's cramp. Griswold picked up a 74-48 victory in a game that featured over 1,200 of total offense.- Staying in Western Iowa, Coon Rapids-Bayard's Michael Schwenk set a state record with nine touchdown passes in his team's 85-13 win over Charter Oak-Ute in an Eight-Player game. He has a state-record 103 career TD passes, fifth best on the National Federation of High Schools' all-time list.