All roads to the UNI-Dome start with success during the playoffs. This proved true for the Xavier Saints football team.

The Saints played Davenport Assumption on October 28 in the opening round of the playoffs. Davenport took an early 6-0 lead. Xavier rallied back on a 4-yard touchdown run by senior tailback Maliki Wilson, after a 68-yard pass from senior quarterback Bryce Schulte to senior running back Josh Gerke. On the following drive, Schulte threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to senior receiver Nolan Butkowski. Wilson added a 69-yard touchdown run and Schulte hit Butkowski again for a 65-yard touchdown pass, putting Xavier ahead 28-6 at the end of the first quarter.

Senior running back Erik Rodriguez ran in a 1-yard touchdown. Wilson followed with a 7-yard touchdown run. Senior kicker Shane Scott added a 19-yard field goal to give the Saints a 45-6 lead at half. Wilson ran in a 62-yard touchdown in the second half. Schulte broke his older brother, Reggie Schulte’s, previous passing record of 4,002 yards with 4,061.

“Honestly, I didn’t even know I broke Reggie’s record until someone told me on the sideline and I was like ‘Oh, okay that’s pretty cool!’” Schulte said.

Xavier won 52-20 and advanced to the quarterfinals.

The Saints played Waverly Shell-Rock on November 4 for a trip to the Dome. This was the second match-up between these two teams this year after Xavier won 42-0 earlier in the season. Scott started the scoring with a 19-yard field goal in the first quarter. Schulte then threw 3 long touchdown passes of 44 and 84 yards to Butkowski and 48 yards to sophomore receiver Quinn Schulte in the second quarter to give the Saints a 31-6 lead at half. Bryce Schulte also added an 8-yard touchdown run. Wilson ran for 133 yards and has 1,800 yards this season, which broke the old record for single season rushing yards of 1,702 set by Will Martin in 2006.

“It’s always harder to beat a team two times, especially in football. We have to stay focused and cannot overlook any team that we play,” Wilson said.

Xavier won 38-14 and will face No. 1 ranked Pella (11-0, 7-0) tonight for a chance to play for a state title.