Caden Henkes and the Ankeny football team got a much-needed win on Friday night.
Henkes ran for two touchdowns in the first half and the Hawks went on to beat visiting Iowa City West, 38-22, in their district opener. The homecoming victory raised Ankeny’s record to 2-3, keeping its playoff hopes alive.
“We needed that one,” said Ankeny coach Jeff Bauer. “I’m proud of the kids. They practiced hard all week, and we changed some things up and it helped.”
Henkes played a key role in the win. After rushing for 1,126 yards a year ago, he entered Friday’s game with just 76 yards on 25 carries.
But Henkes didn’t need long to surpass that total. The senior running back broke loose for a 41-yard touchdown to give the Hawks a 10-0 lead, then added another scoring run from 29 yards out.
“We didn’t have things working offensively like we needed to as far as blocking up front,” Bauer said. “We knew we needed to get Caden going, and it just seemed like things weren’t clicking for him. But we focused on that this week, and he practiced really well and so did the offensive line. We knew we had to get him in space, and when we can do that, he’s obviously fast and can explode. We needed him.”
Henkes also had a long kickoff return to open the second half, setting up a short touchdown run by Daniel Larmie. Larmie also had a scoring run in the first half, helping his team to a 24-7 advantage at the break.
“We treated it as a playoff game,” said Henkes, who ran 19 times for 143 yards and three scores. “The biggest difference for me was how hard we practiced as a team this week. We really pushed ourselves every practice to get better as a whole.”
Ankeny quarterback Luke Anderson completed 8-of-19 passes for 155 yards. Evan Irlmeier had four receptions for 60 yards.
Ryan Harrington added a 25-yard field goal for the Hawks, his seventh of the season.
“It was a good win,” Bauer said. “Our defense played really well against a good offense. They had been averaging about 44 points a game.”
Iowa City West (2-3) got on the board with a 2-minute drive at the end of the half. The Trojans then scored two late touchdowns after falling behind, 38-7.
West quarterback Jack Wallace completed 23-of-38 passes for 292 yards and three touchdowns. Mason Woods caught eight passes for 162 yards and two scores.
Ankeny will host Cedar Rapids Prairie (2-3) on Friday before closing out the season against Iowa City Liberty (4-1), Valley (4-1) and Cedar Rapids Washington (2-3). Prairie has lost two in a row since posting a 30-20 win over Southeast Polk on Sept. 13.
“We have no breathers,” Bauer said. “But if we could get two of these next three, I’d feel pretty good about our chances (to make the playoffs). I think with our schedule five (wins) would get us in.
“You just have to get in the dance. I think there’s a lot of good teams, but on any given night, anyone can beat anybody. It doesn’t matter if you’re the No. 1 seed or the No. 16 seed,” he added.
