It took only 15 seconds for the Ankeny football team to grab the lead for good in Friday’s game at Wickersham Stadium.
Owen Fischer returned the opening kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown, and the sixth-ranked Hawks went on to rout Council Bluffs Lincoln, 61-0, in the regular-season finale for both squads.
“They blocked it up really nicely,” Fischer said of his teammates.
Ankeny built a 28-0 lead by the end of the first quarter, extended the margin to 35-0 at halftime and then added four more scores in the second half despite a running clock.
Star running back Daniel Larmie watched the final two periods from the sideline after scoring two of the Hawks’ first three touchdowns. He entered the night with 203 carries on the season.
“It was really nice being able to chill in the second half and watch everybody else do their thing,” said Larmie.
Ankeny (7-2) will now await the release of the playoff pairings on Saturday morning. The Hawks moved up to fifth in the final Class 5A RPI rankings and will likely host No. 12 Southeast Polk, the four-time defending state champion, in Friday’s opening round.
“It’s possible that they could move some teams around a little bit (due to geographic concerns),” said Ankeny coach Jeff Bauer. “But we’ll just have to wait and see how it all shakes out.”
Council Bluffs Lincoln (4-5) entered Friday’s game ranked 21st in Class 5A and needed to pull off a massive upset to have any chance at a playoff berth. Fischer’s electrifying kickoff return put the Lynx in an early hole that only grew bigger as the game progressed.
“We knew that they would come out hard, and we’d have to fire back if we were going to win this game,” Fischer said. “That’s what we did.”
After Daniel Frazee intercepted a pass, Larmie scored two plays later on a 24-yard run. Andrew Brandhorst then passed to Fischer on a trick play for a two-point conversion that gave the Hawks a 14-0 cushion.
“We felt the stress of trying to play better. We just want to keep getting better each week, and we still had some issues on some extra point stuff,” said Bauer, whose team had missed its first PAT. “But other than that, it was a pretty good night.”
On Ankeny’s next possession, Larmie caught a screen pass from Kael Roush and dashed 45 yards for another score with 4:19 left in the first quarter. Lincoln put on a heavy rush on the play, allowing Larmie to essentially waltz to the end zone.
“That was a great pass that was in a great spot from Kael,” Larmie said. “I don’t know if it would be the easiest (touchdown I’ve scored) because really I don’t think any touchdown is easy, but I guess it was a little bit easier than others.”
Roush fired a 74-yard scoring strike to Brandhorst on the final play of the opening period. Landon Hepp then ran for the first of his two touchdowns midway through the second quarter.
Caleb Alhussaini raced 32 yards for a touchdown with 2:21 remaining in the third period. Joey Sandvig scored on a pick-6 later in the quarter, then La’Marious Clark returned a punt for another score early in the final period to make it 55-0.
“Mars was kind of sick this week a little bit,” Bauer said. “He dropped a couple of interceptions that he usually just soaks up, but that was a great return on the punt.”
Hepp later found the end zone again before time expired and the Hawks got back on the bus for the long ride home.
“It’s funny with that running clock,” Bauer said. “I wanted it so we could get out of there quickly, but then our second offense didn’t get to run very many plays.”
