As the regular season of high school football reaches the end of the season, most teams start to look forward to playoffs. With only one more regular season game remaining, the Saints are trying to take it one game at a time.

“The team and I are just trying to take it week-by-week as of now. I think once the regular season is done we’ll focus more on playoffs, but ultimately we’re just taking it game-by-game,” senior quarterback Bryce Schulte said.

The Saints played at Waverly-Shell Rock on Friday, October 7. Xavier came out firing by scoring on their first five possessions. The first score came after a fumble recovery at the Saints’ 43-yard line, which set up an 8-yard touchdown run from Schulte. On defense, senior linebacker Sam Meyers tackled the Go-Hawks quarterback (John Stensland) in the end zone for a safety.

The following drive ended with a 1-yard touchdown run from Schulte again. Schulte then threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to senior receiver Brett Burns and a 41-yard touchdown pass to senior receiver Nolan Butkowski. Schulte also ran in another touchdown from the 6-yard line, putting the Saints up 36-0 at the end of the first half.

The only points in the second half came from a 1-yard touchdown run from senior running back Maliki Wilson. However, that was not all that Wilson did. He averaged 8.6 yards per carry and ran for 172 yards en route of breaking the school record for career rushing yards.

Wilson broke Brendan Miller’s (2012-2013) record of 2,498 yards by 50 yards. The Saints beat Waverly-Shell Rock 42-0.

“I credit it to everyone that has helped shape me into the person I am today and to all of the great coaches I have had along the way that have taught me how to play the game,” Wilson said.

The following week, on October 14, Xavier played Vinton-Shellsburg at home with the district title at stake. The Vikings struck first with a 71-yard touchdown run within the first 2 minutes of the game, giving them an 8-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

It was not until late in the second quarter that the Saints returned the favor. Schulte threw a 36-yard touchdown pass to sophomore receiver Quinn Schulte. Senior defensive back Josh Gerke caught an interception and returned it to the 49-yard line with 2 minutes left in the first half.

The Saints were able to cash in the Vikings’ turnover when Burns caught a 25-yard touchdown pass from Schulte, putting Xavier up 12-8.

Xavier came out fired up in the second half when senior fullback Erik Rodriguez ran 48 yards for a touchdown on the first drive of the half. Wilson had a 34-yard touchdown run on the next drive after a Butkowski interception, giving Xavier a 25-8 lead. Bryce then threw a 2-yard pass to Quinn, putting the final score at 32-8. Bryce broke his brother, Reggie Schulte’s, previous record for career touchdown passes as he threw for his 50th touchdown pass, which happened to be to his younger brother Quinn.

The 8-0 Saints claimed the 3A district 3 title with the win. They clinched a number one seed for the playoffs and play at South Tama (3-5, 2-4) on October 21 for Xavier’s final regular season game.