Cedar Rapids Xavier Primed To Repeat In 2026 As Iowa High School Football State Champions

Led by Cash Parks, Cedar Rapids Xavier put together a season for the history books in 2025, going unbeaten and winning the Iowa High School Athletic Association Class 4A State Football Championship.

Now, the Saints are looking to remain atop the mountain as they enter the 2026 campaign.

High School On SI Iowa ranked Cedar Rapids Xavier second in an early release of the Top 25 behind only Class 5A defending state champion Dowling Catholic.

Parks completed 11 of 16 for 143 yards and a touchdown in a 31-6 pasting of Pella to claim the state championship last year. He completed 73 percent of his passes for 2,220 yards and 28 touchdowns, throwing just two interceptions on 172 pass attempts while rushing for another 383 yards and 10 touchdowns.

The Saints will need to replace all-state running back Carter Hoffmann and his 1,300 yards and 19 touchdowns, but have Dawson Doyle and a host of other back in the fold.

Leading receivers Ryan Kelly, AJ Evans and Sam Leuck have also moved on, leaving the void to be filled by Dustin Cook, who averaged 24 yards per catch and scored four touchdowns last year. Ty Weiss also showed skills, catching two TD passes among his six receptions.

Schedule Filled With Several 2025 Playoff Qualifiers For Saints

Just two teams played Cedar Rapids Xavier within one score last year. The first came in week 2 when they topped Western Dubuque, 21-13, and the second was in the semifinals of the playoffs when they rallied past Newton, 31-24.

Outside of that, a 21-point win over Waverly-Shell Rock and the state championship performance vs. Pella were the closest games for the Saints.

The schedule will feature the same teams, as they are put together on two-year rotations. That means North Scott is up first followed by back-to-back road games against Western Dubuque and Clear Creek-Amana.

Cedar Rapids Xavier gets Williamsburg for Homecoming on Friday, September 18 and hosts Cedar Rapids Washington before entering October at Waverly-Shell Rock.

They close out the regular season at home vs. Waterloo East, at Decorah and back at Saints Field to face Mason City in the finale.

Cedar Rapids Xavier Defense Returns Multiple Key Starters

Beau Morio is back to anchor the defense for the Saints after recording 103 tackles with 12 tackles for loss and three quarterback sacks as a junior.

Sam Schimberg, Max Dougherty, Carson Mahoney, Austin Dostal, Rex Komenda, Anthony Trotta, Jackson Owens, Jonathan Odubasa, Zack Borcherding, Deronte Strong and Nolan Wilgenbusch are also back. Wilgenbusch had 10 tackles for loss and two sacks.

Cedar Rapids Xavier forced 23 turnovers, including 16 inerceptions. Mahoney had three of those picks and Strong had a pick-6.

Weiss averaged 36 yards per kickoff return and 17 yards per punt return with a touchdown while also helping out in the kicking game. He made all eight of his extra-point attempts and both of his field goal tries.

2026 Cedar Rapids Xavier High School Football Schedule

Aug. 28 - vs. North Scott

Sept. 4 - at Western Dubuque

Sept. 11 - at Clear Creek-Amana

Sept. 18 - vs. Williamsburg

Sept. 25 - vs. Cedar Rapids Washington

Oct. 2 - at Waverly-Shell Rock

Oct. 9 - vs. Waterloo East

Oct. 16 - at Decorah

Oct. 23 - vs. Mason City

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