(Story by Stephen McDaniel)
Braeden Jackson felt pretty good when he woke up on Friday, and that turned out to be the worst possible news for the Iowa City Little Hawks.
Ankeny Centennial’s standout running back delivered an historic performance as he amassed 372 all-purpose yards and six total touchdowns to lead the seventh-seeded Jaguars to a 52-28 victory over No. 10 Iowa City in the opening round of the Class 5A football playoffs.
“I felt really good waking up, and I felt really good about the game plan,” Jackson said after the win. “So putting those two factors together, I knew it was going to be a big night for me and my team.”
Jackson had a bit of a shaky start when he fumbled the ball on the second play of the game, which put the Little Hawks’ offense out on the field in Jaguar territory.
But Centennial’s defense was ready to answer the call and forced Iowa City High to turn the ball over with senior Cael Woods in coverage on the Little Hawks’ fourth-down incompletion.
With a second chance at getting off to a good start, the Jaguars’ offense marched the ball down the field with Jackson going untouched up the middle from 2 yards out for his first score of the game.
He wouldn’t have to wait very long for his second touchdown.
Senior Malachi Curvey punched the ball out on the ensuing kickoff and recovered it, which gave Centennial (8-2) a first down at Iowa City High’s 20-yard line. One play is all it took for the Jaguars to go up 14-0 with Jackson taking a pitch outside and scampering in untouched for his second touchdown in the span of 20 seconds.
“(Jackson)’s outstanding,” said Centennial co-head coach Ryan Pezzetti. “He’s one of the better kids in the state and one of the better kids we’ve coached. We’re happy to have him on our team. He’s a great leader, and he’ll be the first one to give credit to his offensive line.”
In Centennial’s nine regular season games, Jackson recorded multiple touchdowns in six of those with five of them being three-touchdown games.
But unlike any of those other games, it took just one quarter for him to tally three touchdowns against the Little Hawks after scoring on a 6-yard rush during the offense’s fourth drive of the quarter.
Iowa City High (6-4) tried to steal some momentum back right before halftime with sophomore Dawson Kahl scoring from 23 yards out on a third-and-long, but it was all for naught when Jackson took the ensuing squib kick and returned it 68 yards for his fourth touchdown of the half.
After putting up three scores on the ground and another on special teams, Jackson added a pair of touchdowns through the air in the second half on nearly identical screen plays.
The first one went 44 yards and answered an Iowa City High touchdown drive to open up the second half. The second came in the fourth quarter and went for 69 yards, pushing Centennial over 50 points for the second time this season.
“That’s a really talented team that has a good history,” said Jackson, who ran for 133 yards on 20 carries and caught three passes for 140 more. “To be able to come in and execute like that, it means everything to us to keep building.”
Quarterback Chase Kluver threw for three touchdowns on the night. His first scoring pass came in the second quarter, when he found senior Isaac Bruhl for a 34-yard connection on third down.
Ryan Bendezu split the uprights from 29 yards out on his lone field-goal attempt and was perfect on his point after attempts.
Iowa City High’s offense averaged over 35 points per game during the regular season. The Little Hawks were held to their fourth-lowest point total of the season by Centennial’s defense.
“They have a great offense,” Pezzetti said. “Our defense held up when they had to. When you get to this point of the season, it’s always difficult, but our kids responded and our coaches had a great week of practice. You saw it tonight how our kids were prepared.”
Centennial’s defense forced three turnovers on downs with the first coming on Iowa City High’s initial offensive drive.
Isaiah Bassett recorded a big sack on Iowa City High quarterback Bobby Bacon to stall a Little Hawk drive in the third quarter. Bassett almost recorded a second sack on fourth down, but Bacon threw the ball incomplete before getting brought down.
On a fourth-and-seven from Centennial’s 27-yard line during the fourth quarter, Jackson Reed broke up a pass on a comeback route to put the Jaguar offense back on the field, which ultimately led to Jackson’s final touchdown of the game.
The Jaguars will get a chance to avenge one of their only two losses of the season as they advance to the state quarterfinal round. They will head to Mediacom Stadium in Des Moines to face No. 2 Dowling Catholic (9-1) on Friday at 7 p.m.
When they met in the regular season on Oct. 4, then-No. 1 Dowling overcame a 21-3 halftime deficit to beat then-No. 6 Centennial, 41-35, in triple overtime.
“We’ve just got to be balanced on offense,” Jackson said. “We know we want to run the ball, but we also have the ability to pass it and keep teams honest. Our defense just has to keep playing like they’ve been playing.”
