Road to the Dome

CEDAR RAPIDS - The Cedar Rapids Xavier football team overcame injury and tough competition to make it back to the UNI-Dome.

But the Saints, who won their Class 3A district and were rewarded with home field advantage through the first three rounds of the playoffs, saw their dream end with a 27-0 loss to Pella in the semifinals.

'Either way we would've gotten the job done, but home field advantage is nice,” junior linebacker Bryce Charipar said before Thursday's loss.

The Saints beat Charles City, 35-6, on Oct. 29, then took down Waverly-Shell Rock, 33-20, in the second round.

Waverly-Shell Rock, however, took a toll on the Saints by injuring multiple players. Senior running back Jay Kortmeyer a had a season-ending injury when he broke a rib and ruptured his spleen, which caused internal bleeding. He averaged 5.5 yards per carry and had rushed for 1,174 rushing yard and seven touchdowns. Senior fullback/linebacker Nic Ekland fractured his fibula. He was a threat on both offense and defense with 289 rushing yards and 28 tackles on the year.

With two key players on the sideline, the Saints played a 10-2 West Delaware team in the quarterfinals. They had to dig deep into the roster to fill the vacant positions and fought hard to contain West Delaware quarterback Brent Lammers, but the Saints defeated the Hawks, 27-17, on Nov. 3.