(Story by Stephen McDaniel)
All season long, the Ankeny Centennial football team has made a living running the ball.
But on Friday, the Urbandale J-Hawks caught a glimpse of just how dangerous the Jaguars’ passing game can be.
Centennial closed out its regular season and gave its seniors plenty to smile about after recording dominant offensive and defensive performances during a 49-7 blowout victory over Urbandale on Senior Night.
“I’m very pleased with our kids and our staff,” said Centennial co-head coach Ryan Pezzetti. “Urbandale’s got some great individual talent, and we matched that. I couldn’t be happier being 3-0 in the last third of the season going into the playoffs.”
With a running back like senior Braeden Jackson in the backfield, running the ball hasn’t been an issue for the Jaguars. And with the playoffs right around the corner, it shouldn’t present any future issues.
Jackson came into Friday’s matchup with over 1,000 rushing yards and 17 rushing touchdowns. As a team, Centennial had recorded over 1,700 rushing yards and 25 touchdowns.
But a good passing game can help balance out an offense, and Centennial got a nice tune-up ahead of the playoffs on Friday. Senior quarterback Chase Kluver completed 11-of-15 passes for 194 yards and three touchdowns as the Jaguars reached the end zone on seven consecutive drives.
Centennial (7-2) had little issue moving the ball, and senior Isaac Bruhl kicked off the touchdown streak by motioning over and taking the ball 10 yards in for his first touchdown of the night. Bruhl capped off what became a three-touchdown first quarter for the Jaguars when Kluver found him wide open for a 36-yard scoring connection.
“It felt great,” said Bruhl, who ran for 35 yards and caught four passes for 74 more. “It’s crazy because Senior Night came so fast, and this season flew by. But it felt great because it was my first-ever touchdown in high school football. So it felt great to get that first one.”
Kane Brooks had a 31-yard receiving touchdown sandwiched between Bruhl’s two scores. Kluver rolled out of the pocket and found the junior tight end all alone in the end zone.
Centennial’s touchdown streak continued with another trio of scores in the second quarter, which started with Kluver hitting senior receiver Caleb Reed in stride from 32 yards out following a Reed Anderson interception.
Kluver scored on a 13-yard option play on the next drive, and Jackson closed out the first half with an 8-yard touchdown run to put the Jaguars ahead 42-7 at the break.
“We knew we needed to balance out what we’ve had,” Kluver said. “(Jackson)’s last game was incredible–240 yards and three touchdowns (against Waukee Northwest)–and he’s done that multiple times. But we know going into the playoffs, you can’t do that every time. He’s an incredible player, but we’ve got to have balance. We got to have a mix, and we got it done.”
Sam Heither punched in the final touchdown of the night from 4 yards out during the third quarter.
And on the other side of the ball, the Centennial defense matched the same energy radiating from the offense. It took the J-Hawks until the second quarter to start netting positive yardage between penalties and the Jaguars’ defense blowing plays up in the back field.
On Urbandale’s first drive of the game, an illegal formation penalty backed the J-Hawks up. Isaiah Bassett then proceeded to force a fumble and record a sack on back-to-back plays.
The Jaguars forced Urbandale to punt from deep in its own territory four times, helping the offense to start nearly all of its drives from midfield. Anderson came up with the interception to start the second quarter that directly led to Reed’s touchdown catch.
Centennial’s defense didn’t let up in the second half as Bruhl picked off a pass on Urbandale’s first drive of the third quarter. Adis Hambasic forced a fumble and fellow senior TJ Hood recovered on the J-Hawks’ following drive.
“Both of them,” Bruhl said when asked which side of the ball was most impressive. “I can’t choose one or the other. We all work together, we’re a team, and we came out on top. That’s just how it is.”
Even when the Jaguars started subbing starters out, the defense shut Urbandale down. Ben Rotert blew past two blockers for a sack and turnover on downs on fourth-and-7, and fellow sophomore Urban Ingram later had an interception on the final play of the game.
Urbandale’s lone scoring drive came late in the second quarter when the J-Hawks (3-6) broke out a hook-and-ladder play for Elijah Hoyt, who took the pitch from Trey Dahlgren at their 25-yard line and sprinted down the field for an 80-yard touchdown.
Outside of that play, which accounted for nearly a third of Urbandale’s 242 total yards, a dominant victory was the perfect way for Centennial to close out the regular season–especially since the Jaguars were able to get all of their seniors and some younger players onto the field.
“It was great,” Kluver said. “Everyone got their opportunities, and everyone made plays. I mean we’ve been playing together since we were kids. Malachi (Curvey) even started here and came back–he’s a great player. I’ve played with Braeden since like fourth or fifth grade. To get it done on this night, it’s everything.”
Centennial has treated the last few weeks of the regular season like playoff games, and that mentality has paid off. The Jaguars earned the No. 7 spot in the final RPI rankings and will host No. 10 Iowa City High (6-3) on Friday at 5:30 p.m., with No. 8 Ankeny (5-4) meeting No. 9 Linn-Mar (Marion) (7-2) in another first-round game afterwards.
The Little Hawks closed out the regular season with a 42-23 victory over then-No. 1 Bettendorf, handing the Bulldogs their first loss of the season. They were the last remaining unbeaten team in Class 5A.
