Recap, Reaction: No. 1 Xavier Rallies Against Newton
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CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - Xavier is headed back to the Class 4A state championship game. After facing Newton in Thursday's semifinals here at the UNI-Dome, the Saints have a great appreciation for what it takes to get there.
Midway through the third quarter, the Cardinals held two-touchdown lead, a deficit Xavier had not faced this season in winning all of its games. The Saints found out they could dig deep, securing a 31-24 victory against a feisty Newton outfit.
"We haven't really faced that much adversity this year," Xavier senior tight end AJ Evans said. "I think we learned that even if we get down, we can come back and win any game. We're taught not to get in our heads. Every half is a new half."
Finn Martin
Finn
Martin
6'0" | 185 lbs | WR
Newton | 2026
IA
's acrobatic touchdown catch early in the third quarter put Newton ahead, 17-3. That seemed to wake up the Saints. They drove down the field in four plays, covering 50 yards, Evans' 20-yard scoring grab from
Cash Parks
Cash
Parks
6'2" | 205 lbs | QB/DB
Xavier | 2027
IA
cutting their deficit to one score. Two and a half minutes later,
Dustin Cook
Dustin
Cook
5'10" | 190 lbs | RB
Xavier | 2027
IA
's five-yard touchdown run tied it up.
After the slow start, Xavier's offense was cooking.
"We just had to settle down a little bit," Parks said. "We stayed level headed the whole time and did our job. We executed in the second half."
A pair of Parks' one-yard touchdown runs proved to be the difference. That, and the defense found a way to slow down Newton and dynamic quarterback
Caden Klein
Caden
Klein
5'10" | 175 lbs | ATH
Newton | 2026
State
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.
"What we did in the second half was figure out how the offense was moving and how to rally to the ball as a team. And that's what we did," Saints linebacker Beau Morio Beau Morio 6'1" | 175 lbs | LB Xavier | 2027 IA said. "That's what led us to getting those stops that we needed."
Carter Hoffmann
Carter
Hoffmann
6'0" | 180 lbs | ATH
Xavier | 2026
State
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rushed 20 times for 130 yards in the win, while Cook finished with 67 yards on four carries. He also caught three balls for 73 yards. Morio's 13 tackles tied
Carson Mahoney
Carson
Mahoney
6'2" | 190 lbs | DB
Xavier | 2028
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for the team lead.
Klein finished a brilliant prep career with 135 yards passing and 171 yards on the ground with two scores. He also tied
Nick Milburn
Nick
Milburn
6'3" | 220 lbs | LB
Newton | 2027
State
IA
for the Cardinal lead with nine tackles, including a stop for loss.
It was a tough way for Newton to end a season. But finishing 10-2 and being one of four teams to reach the semifinals was a great run.
"We proved that we can fight," Martin said of Thursday's performance. "We fought super hard."
Xavier will play Pella in next week's title game.
