There is no margin for error left for the Ankeny Centennial football team.
The Jaguars dropped to 3-4 on the season with a 17-6 loss at Waukee Northwest on Friday. They may have to sweep their final two games–against No. 3 Southeast Polk and Des Moines East–in order to make the Class 5A playoffs.
Northwest (4-3) and Centennial entered Friday’s game sitting in 15th and 16th place, respectively, in the Class 5A RPI rankings. Those rankings will be used to determine the 16 qualifiers for the postseason.
“We’ve got to get better in a hurry,” said Centennial co-head coach Ryan Pezzetti. “We’ve got to win the last two to make the postseason–that’s the way it is. Unfortunately, we’re in that position, and we’ve got to do something about it.”
Centennial could not get its offense untracked against Northwest’s stingy defense. The Jaguars trailed at halftime, 17-0, after being limited to 41 total yards in the first half.
Centennial went three-and-out on four of its first five possessions. The Jaguars had just three first downs in the half and also committed two turnovers that led to 10 Northwest points.
The Wolves have now won four straight games after opening their debut season with losses to Valley, Dowling Catholic and Southeast Polk.
“They’ve got good kids,” Pezzetti said. “Their team speed is phenomenal. We had some runs that I thought we could have broke, and we just couldn’t. They’re a good team. They were 3-3, and that just shows how tough this league is.”
Northwest quarterback Carson Renken completed just 2-of-8 passes for 24 yards and was intercepted twice by Beau Gerke and Keegan Andriano. But he ran 18 times for 78 yards and two touchdowns.
Brady Grisham added 70 yards on 10 carries for the Wolves, who drove 54 yards on eight plays to take a 7-0 lead early in the second quarter. Renken capped the drive with a 1-yard sneak.
Centennial tried to answer, but then fumbled the ball away after driving into Northwest territory. Ben Reiland recovered for the Wolves, who then got a 41-yard run from Grisham to set up another 1-yard scoring sneak by Renken with 31 seconds left until halftime.
On the Jaguars’ next play from scrimmage, Northwest forced another fumble that was recovered by Harry Leinen. That led to a 27-yard field goal by Andrew Cork with 3 seconds left.
Centennial opened the third quarter with a 10-play, 67-yard drive. However, the drive eventually stalled, and the Jaguars then botched a field-goal attempt.
Centennial finally got on the scoreboard in the final period, driving 97 yards in 11 plays for its lone touchdown. Quarterback Peyton Goode started the drive with a 22-yard run, then later completed a 31-yard pass to Trey Porter to Northwest’s 28-yard line.
Three plays later, Goode fired a 26-yard scoring pass to Isaiah Sterns with 4 minutes 14 seconds left. Sterns made a juggling catch as he battled a Northwest defender for the ball as he crossed the goal line. The PAT attempt was blocked.
Goode ran 18 times for 57 yards and completed 4-of-12 passes for 84 yards. He was helped off the field following the Jaguars’ final play from scrimmage with 17 seconds remaining.
Carter Cahill rushed for 60 yards on five carries. He had runs of 27 and 23 yards for the Jaguars, who finished with 233 total yards.
Zach English led Centennial’s defensive effort with 8.5 tackles. He had five solo stops.
