The margin for error has been eliminated for the Ankeny football team.
Following Friday’s 28-20 loss at second-ranked Iowa City Liberty, the No. 12 Hawks are now 3-4 on the season and could drop out of the top 16 in the Class 5A RPI rankings this week.
Ankeny will likely need to win its final two games against No. 4 Valley (6-1) and Cedar Rapids Washington (2-5) to make the playoffs.
“We have our work cut out for us,” said Ankeny coach Jeff Bauer. “We have to beat Valley in order to get in. We just have to pick ourselves up and get back at it again.”
Liberty (6-1) overcame a 17-14 halftime deficit to earn its fourth consecutive victory. All four wins have come by eight points or less.
The loss, meanwhile, ended Ankeny’s two-game winning streak.
“It’s the same old story. It’s been the same thing all year,” Bauer said. “All seven games we’ve been ahead or tied at halftime. We just aren’t finishing.”
The Hawks extended their lead to 20-14 on a 36-yard field goal by Ryan Harrington in the third quarter. He also connected on a 30-yard field goal at the end of the first half.
“We settled for field goals a couple of times when we shouldn’t have,” Bauer said. “And we fumbled a snap on another field goal (in the first quarter).”
Liberty took a 21-20 lead on a 7-yard touchdown run by Owen Drapeaux, then recovered an onside kick to set up another score. The Lightning got a 4-yard run from quarterback Reece Rettig on fourth-and-3 to keep the drive alive, allowing them to build a 28-20 advantage.
“The onside kick was big,” Bauer said. “They couldn’t really stop us, but we did have a fumble in the fourth quarter. We let them stick around, like we’ve done too many times. They ran it and kept the ball and kept it away from us.”
Liberty missed a 35-yard field goal with 1 minute 40 seconds left that could have sealed the victory. With no timeouts left, Ankeny then drove down the field in an effort to tie the game.
After three straight incompletions, Luke Anderson fired a 19-yard pass to Evan Irlmeier for a crucial first down. Daniel Larmie then dashed 26 yards into Liberty territory in the final minute.
However, Liberty junior Logan Laubenthal intercepted a pass a couple plays later to halt the Hawks’ rally.
“We had over 400 yards of offense,” Bauer said. “We just had a few mental mistakes that cost us.”
Anderson completed 24-of-35 passes for 210 yards and a 29-yard touchdown pass to Andrew Brandhorst, who had seven catches for 80 yards. Irlmeier added seven receptions for 77 yards.
Larmie ran 12 times for 111 yards, including a 7-yard touchdown for the first points of the game. Caden Henkes added 57 yards on 12 carries.
Liberty answered Larmie’s early score with a 15-yard run by Drapeaux to the end zone. Rettig later tossed a touchdown pass to Sutton Koller to tie it again at 14-14.
“They’re a good team,” Bauer said of the Lightning. “They play hard, and they’re well-coached. They’ll be the 1 or 2 seed, because they won’t lose in their last two games.”
Ankeny will host Valley in its home finale on Friday. It will be Senior Night for the Hawks.
The Tigers are coming off a 49-0 win over No. 3 Waterloo West. Quarterbacks Drake DeGroote and Ethan Stemler went a combined 9-of-13 through the air for 101 yards and four touchdowns.
