A 21-0 halftime deficit proved insurmountable on Friday night as Norwalk was defeated by Cedar Rapids Xavier 35-14 in the first round of the Class 4A football playoffs. The game was heard live on 94.3 KNIA and the KNIA3 stream.

The Saints opened the game with a 56-yard screen pass touchdown from Cash Parks to Dusty Cook and later added a 63-yard score on a Parks-to-Aiden Miller curl route. The Warriors, meanwhile, failed to capitalize on first-half fumble recoveries by Kolton Borcherding-Johnson and Tyler Stanford and were stopped on downs twice near midfield in the first half.

Norwalk’s third defensive takeaway – a leaping one-handed interception by Eli Robbins, set up James Hatlevig’s 17-yard screen pass TD to Dominic Tigner in the third quarter. Xavier went up 35-7 before the Warriors’ late 80-yard scoring drive was capped by a Hatlevig-to-Brady Schmitz 10-yard touchdown.

Tailback Carter Hoffmann was a constant source of rushing yards for the Saints, who improved to 7-3 and will play at North Polk in next Friday’s quarterfinal round. Norwalk finished the season 6-4 overall, earning a District 6 championship along the way. Coach Paul Patterson tells KNIA/KRLS Sports that the Warriors were outplayed on Friday, particularly on both sides of the running game, and they did not take advantage of Xavier’s mistakes.

“They were very efficient in what they did, they executed extremely well and they were physical,” Patterson said of the Saints. “When we were (winning) five games in a row, those were the things that we were doing, and tonight we did not get that done, even though we did have some good opportunities there in the first quarter with the turnovers that the defense generated.”

Patterson added that he will remember this year’s team for the growth that they made, turning a 1-3 start into five consecutive wins in district play. The Warriors will graduate nine senior starters off this year’s squad.