Everyone who prematurely awarded the Class 3A football title to the Xavier Saints this year received a cold slap in the face Friday night.

So did the Saints.

The Western Dubuque Bobcats stole a page from Xavier's defensive playbook and stunned the top-ranked Saints, 7-6, in a chilly homecoming game at Saints Field.

Xavier reached the Class 4A championship game in 2012 and 2013, and when the Saints dropped to Class 3A this year a lot of folks thought they'd breeze to a state title against inferior competition.

Xavier had rolled by four Class 3A opponents this season by a combined score of 166-15 heading into Friday night, but Western Dubuque had other ideas about becoming cannon fodder for the hosts.

"First of all, we've got the toughest kids in the state of Iowa," proclaimed Western Dubuque Coach Justin Penner, emotional in victory.

Four Western Dubuque freshmen - all football players - were killed in a horrific traffic accident in August by a 24-year-old man who has been charged with four counts of vehicular homicide (operating while intoxicated).

Penner said the tragedy has had a profound impact on everyone in the Western Dubuque community, including his football team. Ryan Kenneally, a senior on this year's club, lost his younger brother in the disaster.

"What they've been through, the tragedy, losing our four players," said Penner. "They're so resilient, and that shows up on the football field every Friday night. I'm so proud of these guys.

"Understand the dynamics of our community," he said. "Everybody is related. These are cousins, brothers, best friends. It's a special community."

It was a special effort by Western Dubuque, which took over the Class 3A District 4 lead with a 3-0 mark. The Saints fell to 3-1 in the district.

Xavier Coach Duane Schulte has warned all along about the high level of play by some teams in Class 3A and was not totally surprised by the outcome.

"No, not at all," he said. "If you watch them on film, they play good football. They have a good coaching staff.

"Anybody that knows football knows they're a good football team and they demonstrated it tonight."

The Bobcats held the Saints to 146 yards of total offense, all of it coming on the ground. Xavier quarterback Bryce Schulte failed to complete a pass all night in tough conditions that saw the wind-chill plummet into the mid-30's.\

Western Dubuque finished with only 177 yards, but the hard-nosed visitors from Epworth got a 22-yard touchdown pass from Nolan Baumhover to Mitchell Kramer in the third quarter and Jordan Perry kicked the PAT for the decisive point.

Xavier took a 6-0 lead on a 54-yard fumble return by Nic Ekland in the second quarter, but the Saints botched the PAT. The Saints also missed a 35-yard field goal in the fourth period that would have given them a 9-7 lead and they a 66-yard punt return for a touchdown by Matt Downey negated by a penalty.

Xavier had terrific field position in the first half when it got the ball in Western Dubuque territory at the 43, 40, 49 and 48, but the Saints did nothing with it.

Xavier got the ball at the Western Dubuque 21-yard line in the fourth quarter following an 18-yard punt return by Downey, but the Bobcats stiffened again and the possession ended with Dallas Klein missed the 35-yard field goal to the left.

The Saints would have had a final chance to snatch victory from defeat, but Camden Stovie mishandled a bouncing punt and Western Dubuque recovered the ball at the Xavier 45-yard line with 65 seconds left in the game.

The Bobcats celebrated heartily on the Xavier field.

"It was a crazy game," said Baumhover, the Western Dubuque quarterback. "The defense played really well. That's all we have to do is thank the defense."

Everyone who prematurely awarded the 3A state title to Xavier did not count on the Bobcats coming to town and pulling a stunner.

"We came out and we thought it's just another game, it's nothing special," said Baumhover. "All these 4A schools come in to play 3A and they think they're not in for a fight or anything. And then you come out and you throw the first punch and we get them on their heels."

Western Dubuque linebacker Alex Wernimont, who missed four games this season with a sprained ankle, led the defensive surge for the Bobcats. Xavier quarterback Schulte was sacked five times and rarely had time to  find a receiver.

"He's our leader in every way, shape and form," said Coach Penner. "We're blessed to have him back."

Wernimont said the defense read its keys and attacked the Saints.

"We just wanted it more," he said. "We played with a lot of heart. A team effort. We believed it from the start. It's an exciting feeling right now."

Both teams finished the night with 4-2 overall records, but the Bobcats now have the inside track for the district title. The top four teams in the district will make the playoffs, so the Saints are still in good shape.

Xavier tailback Jay Kortemeyer carried the ball 31 times for 107 yards, but most of them were short gains and he averaged just 3.45 yards per try.

"Give all the credit to them," said Coach Schulte, saluting the Bobcats.

Dylan Eller intercepted two passes for Xavier, giving him five interceptions for the season.

WESTERN DUBUQUE 7, XAVIER 6

WDUB      XAV

First downs 9 11

Rushes-yards 36-79    56-146

Passing yards 98 0

Comp-Att-Int 9-20-2   0-7-0

Fumbles-lost 2-1      2-1

Punts-avg. 6-36.8   4-37.5

Penalties-yards 3-33     3-20

Western Dubuque     0  0  7  0 - 7

Xavier              0  6  0  0 - 6

Scoring plays

CRX - Nic Ekland 54 fumble return (kick failed)

WD - Mitchell Kramer 22 pass from Nolan Baumhover (Jordan Perry kick)

Individual Statistics

Rushing

Western Dubuque - Burds 19-63, Hoefler 5-13, Baumhover 9-12, Perry 1-minus 7, Team 2-minus 2.

Xavier - Kortemeyer 31-107, Ekland 6-28, Schulte 8-minus 27, Stark 3-11, Murphy 7-48, Team 1-minus 21.

Passing

Western Dubuque - Baumhover 9-20-2, 98 yards.

Xavier - Schulte 0-7-0, 0 yards.

Receiving

Western Dubuque - Burds 2-22, Yoder 1-11, Pothoff 2-24, Hogan 1-10, Hoefler 1-2, Meyer 1-7, Kramer 1-22.

Xavier - None.