For the first half of the 2018 campaign, Xavier Prep was very much looking like the team to beat once more when the 6A postseason eventually rolled around. The Gators were coming off a state championship the previous season and had lost just once to an in-state opponent en route to finishing the year 40-3.

However, after going 17-2 in its first 19 matches this season – the only two setbacks being to highly-ranked Mater Dei and Redondo Union at the Durango Fall Classic – Xavier hit a full-on funk. The Gators lost three of their next four outings. While two were at the tail end of the Nike TOC, the third was suffered against conference foe Perry.