“The perfect ending of my senior season is to win the state championship with an undefeated season, and we did that,” senior Patrick Chambers said. Xavier’s football team beat the No. 8 ranked Western Dubuque in the state championship game at the UNI-Dome on November 15.

Chambers caught a 33-yard touchdown pass for his first touchdown all season, putting the Saints ahead of the Bobcats 26-20 in the fourth quarter.

In an interview, Coach Duane Schulte talked about Chambers, saying “He has the heart of a champion. I cannot say enough about what Patrick Chambers did for this team the last two weeks.”

Chambers felt honored after hearing what Coach Schulte said about him.

“I felt confident that I could get the job done,” Chambers said. “The line did a great job protecting Quinn [Schulte] and giving him time to make that amazing pass. All I had to do was stretch out my hands and catch the ball.”

Senior Quinn Schulte received many honors this year including: Class 3A First Team All-State Team Captain by the Iowa Print Sports Writers Association, The Gazette’s 2018 Area Football Player of the Year, and KCRG’s Athlete of the Week.

“It was amazing to be able to finish our careers on top, and we all enjoyed the memories,” Quinn Schulte said.

Quinn Schulte thinks it was a great experience to play for his dad and brother for the last time, as well as the rest of the coaching staff. “They were amazing and we are glad we ended the right way.”

Coach Duane Schulte knows his son, Quinn, did not just show up to football and have all of his abilities handed to him, and the same was true for his other sons, Reggie (X13) and Bryce (X17).

“I can say, I will miss watching them put in all the extra moments, throwing, catching, studying film, and lifting weights, when no one else is watching,” Coach Duane Schulte said.

Along with Quinn Schulte, seniors, Kyle Krezek, Ben Conrad, Braden Stovie and Wyatt Johnson, and juniors, Ethan Hurkett and Josh Volk were named to First Team All-State. Senior Tanner Wright was named to Second Team All-State and seniors Bryson Bastian, Jon Bell and junior Jakob Forslund were named to Third Team All-State.

“People on the ‘outside’ have no idea what happens on the ‘inside’ to make seasons, like the past two, possible,” Coach Duane Schulte said. “I know how much dedication is required by the boys, their families, their coaches, and their families. I could not be more proud of all of them. They earned it.”

The boys “embraced the grind,” according to Coach Duane Schulte. They cared about their teammates and made themselves available in order to earn this accomplishment.

“It is sad that I will not be playing football again. I will miss playing with the teammates that I have been playing with since flag football,” Chambers said. “Looking back, we did everything we set out to do, and left it all on the field, so there will not be any regrets. I will miss Xavier football. We all will.”