CLINTON, Iowa - Through the final 27 minutes, Austin Krick could only watch.

Consecutive plays in Friday's football Class 4A quarterfinal left him with a concussion and a fluid-filled left knee.

But the Clinton senior kept his hopes high, propped on the back of the bench.

Even if Krick had stayed healthy on the defensive line, it likely wouldn't have mattered.

On this night, Cedar Rapids Xavier had too much going its way. The result was a 28-6 loss for Clinton, ending its improbable season after 12 games.

"I think they had a good game plan," Krick said. "They had their routes down, and they knew what they were doing on offense.

"They hit our weak points."

The River Kings (11-1) struggled to move the ball in a third straight game against a Mississippi Valley Conference opponent.

Clinton finished with 223 yards of offense, but close to 100 of those came after the game was out of reach.

Xavier (10-2) effectively spread its offensive efforts as it has all season. Clinton came in geared up to stop the run, but the Saints tallied 152 yards on the ground.

Xavier quarterback Joe Sayre threw for 203 yards, and even though the Kings twice picked him off, the Saints never appeared rattled.

"They had a really good defense," Saints receiver Colin O'Connor said. "We had to stay low, get off the ball and do our jobs. We just came in more mentally prepared for this game."

Clinton coach Lee Camp losses 30 seniors from this group, which earned the school's first unbeaten regular season since 1985.

David Johnson finished with 94 rushing yards for the Kings and caught a touchdown pass from Jake Mangler in the final minutes. That reception prevented Johnson from being shut out of the end zone for the first time this season.

Xavier advances to the UNI-Dome, where it will meet Iowa City High in a semifinal Friday.

With the Saints' offense sizzling, Clinton admittedly felt pressure to score on every drive.

"We started guessing and gambling," Camp said. "When we did get going, we had a couple mistakes."

Clinton turned the ball over four times, and Xavier twice scored on short fields.

It was the first time this season that Clinton hadn't scored at least four touchdowns.

The loss no doubt will sting for quite some time, but closing their season at home, the Kings weren't too down.

"It's exciting to start something," Krick said. "Hopefully, we'll get some kids out there working hard and they can contend with the Bettendorfs and the Assumptions."