It’s all top-ranked Cedar Rapids Xavier in 34-0 romp over ninth-rated Decorah

CEDAR RAPIDS — They went three and out offensively on the opening possession of the game Friday night. Then they gave up a 59-yard run on the opponent’s first play.

But the stuff after that? Ah, it was pretty good.

District championship good. Top-ranked-team-in-the-state good.

The Cedar Rapids Xavier Saints scored a touchdown in every quarter and rolled past Decorah, 34-0, in a matchup of top-10 football teams at Saints Field. Top-ranked Xavier (8-0) wrapped the District 2 title in Class 4A with the win, one that was dominant in every phase.

Decorah (6-2) came in ranked No. 9 in 4A.

“I thought our guys played well,” Xavier head coach Duane Schulte said. “They executed pretty good and got a win against a very good football team.”

“I really thought that we just fed off the defense,” Xavier quarterback Cash Parks said. “We played great complementary football. It led to a shutout against the number two team in the RPI, and that’s great. So thanks to our defense. We just executed on offense like we did all week in practice.”

Parks had TDs three different ways in this one. He threw a 5-yard scoring pass to tight end A.J. Evans late in the first quarter, scored on a 1-yard sneak in the third.

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Then there was his touchdown on the very first play of the second quarter. On second-and-goal from the 6, he pitched right to running back Carter Hoffmann, who took a few steps, then pulled up and fired a pass back across the field to Parks, who was wide, wide open.

The junior threw for 204 yards in the game (including a two-point conversion pass), ran for 37 and had that one catch. Xavier expertly mixed its play calls, keeping Decorah completely off balance with an even run-pass attack.

The Saints finished with 452 yards: 242 on the ground and 210 in the air. Owen Vasquez added first-half field goals of 27 and 39 yards for Xavier.

“We ran that play last year against North Scott, too, and it worked,” Parks said of his scoring grab. “We work on it about every week in practice. We’ve done it so many times, I’m used to it. Every day in practice, the quarterbacks have to catch a bunch of balls, so it’s nothing new.”

Parks doesn’t play defense, as Xavier has the luxury of no two-way guys. That Saints ‘D’ was impenetrable after Trevor Kuennen’s long run up the middle on Decorah’s initial offensive play took the ball to the Xavier 8.

Kuennen was tackled for a 2-yard loss on the ensuing play, then there were two incomplete passes and a 27-yard field-goal attempt that was blocked. Decorah didn’t get a first down the rest of the first half, as Xavier ran to a 20-0 lead.

“I think that definitely was a wake-up call on their first play,” Xavier defensive back Michael Bean said. “It was good to stop them. That held their momentum to a minimum. To be able to stop them was a good momentum shift, especially for our offense.”

Decorah was limited to 206 total yards. It went into Friday averaging 40.9 points per game.

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Cedar Rapids Xavier 34, Decorah 0

Decorah 0 0 0 0-0

C.R. Xavier 7 13 8 0-34

Team Statistics

First Downs — Decorah 7, Xavier 21. Rushes-Yards — Decorah 26-139, Xavier 35-242. Passing — Decorah 8-14-0-67, Xavier 17-25-0-210. Total Yards — Decorah 206, Xavier 452. Punts-Average — Decorah 5-42.6, Xavier 2-38.0. Penalties — Decorah 2-10, Xavier 8-75. Fumbles-Lost — Decorah 1-1, Xavier 1-0.

Individual Statistics

Decorah — Rushing: Trevor Kuennen 10-76, Tommy Sexton 5-40, Tanner Caddell 7-8, Landon Quandahl 4-5. Passing: Tanner Caddell 8-19-0-67. Receiving: Tommy Sexton 2-25, Noah Milburn 2-23, Trevor Kuennen 2-13, Kade O’Hara 1-4, Will Larson 1-2.

Xavier — Rushing: Carter Hoffmann 9-105, Dustin Cook 5-46, Cash Parks 5-37, Dawson Doyle 10-30, Ryan Kelly 4-28, Sam Leuck 1-(minus) 2, Team 1-(minus) 2. Passing: Cash Parks 16-23-0-204, Carter Hoffmann 1-1-0-6, Sam Leuck 0-1-0-0. Receiving: Ryan Kelly 8-105, Carter Hoffmann 3-49, Dawson Doyle 2-24, Ty Weiss 1-14, Sam Leuck 1-7, Cash Parks 1-6, A.J. Evans 1-5.

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