Extremely physical. I feel beat up after just watching it. I figured Pella would have a tough time against Xavier's defense, but Pella's defense really showed up tonight, too. Pella didn't even try to run the ball, threw it 53 times for about 225 yards - Aaron Downs, the sophomore receiver, caught almost everything in his zip code in the first three quarters, even with Xavier defenders hanging on him. Xavier never really got a steady running game going, as Pella's defensive front was not allowing a push from Xavier's line.
Xavier missed a couple of chances (Ben Conrad missed a 36-yard field goal, which never happens; Schulte had a shot at maybe a TD pass in the 2nd quarter that was intercepted on a good play by Gustafson; some really badly timed penalties hurt a bunch) but Pella wasn't making it easy on them. The defense forced two Xavier fumbles (the Saints had three turnovers tonight, after having only five all year). Meanwhile Xavier kept Pella out of the red zone until the final 5 minutes or so.
Xavier's scores came on big plays - Schulte hit Kyle Moeder for a 51-yard TD in the first quarter (must have been busted coverage, because nobody was near Moeder) and then they ran the double-pass that they used against Pella in the championship last year, with Schulte throwing a long lateral pass to Bryson Bastian, who then threw to Moeder down the sideline for a 72-yard score with 8 minutes left. Pella responded after that with a 15-play drive and scored on a halfback pass, but they burned all their time outs (and also failed on the extra point after a bad snap).
Pella forced a fumble near midfield three plays after their touchdown to give them a chance, and they were able to drive inside the 10 (converting two 4th downs on the way, although one was by a Xavier penalty), but a loss on a draw play and three incomplete passes gave Xavier the ball back with 33 seconds left.