CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — November 11, 2026 — Every underdog story needs a giant, and Thursday night at the UNI-Dome, Western Dubuque has one waiting: Cedar Rapids Xavier, 11-0, ranked No. 1 in Class 4A, the defending state champions, and the favorite to finish a second straight undefeated season with another title.
Western Dubuque is the David in this one. The Bobcats are 10-1, ranked No. 3, and the only team still alive in Class 4A that has lost a game. The Des Moines Register picks Xavier to win Thursday, 21-7, calling the Saints the favorite to claim back-to-back undefeated titles.
But David has been here before — literally. These two teams already met in Week 2, when Xavier beat Western Dubuque 21-13. That eight-point margin was the closest anyone came to the Saints all regular season. The Register noted at the time that the Bobcats gave Xavier its toughest regular-season test. Western Dubuque knows exactly what it is walking into, and it knows the gap is not as wide as the records suggest…