(Story by Stephen McDaniel)
There was nothing that the Ankeny football players would’ve enjoyed more than being the team to officially end the four-year championship reign of the Southeast Polk Rams.
But one too many mistakes on a cold Halloween night and a go-ahead touchdown in the final minute ended Ankeny’s season well short of what the Hawks were hoping for in a 21-14 loss to the visiting Rams in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs on Friday.
“I’m proud of how we battled in the second half,” said Ankeny coach Jeff Bauer, whose team finished the season with a 7-3 record. “We didn’t play well in the first half. Our defense adjusted after that first drive that took 8 minutes. It is what it is. We didn’t play well enough to win tonight.”
If the 12th-seeded Rams were going to pull off the upset over No. 5 Ankeny, they were going to do it by running the ball.
Southeast Polk (6-4) opened the game by going on a 15-play, 81-yard drive led by running backs Drew Thompson and Stanley Cooper that took much of the first quarter and was capped off by a Cooper touchdown from a yard out.
But as the Ankeny defense started slowing down the Rams’ running game, the Hawks’ offense had issues taking one step forward and two steps back as they missed out on taking advantage of some big momentum changers and a handful of potential scoring drives.
“They battled and it’s not like they didn’t want it, we just made a couple of mistakes,” Bauer said. “We didn’t keep leverage and threw the ball when we probably shouldn’t have. But that’s football, good teams all get into the playoffs and we didn’t get it done tonight.”
Joey Sandvig came up with a big tackle for loss on a third-and-long before Ankeny’s special teams were able to get a hand on a punt by the Rams.
The Hawks drove down to Southeast Polk’s 30-yard line before a pass was just out of reach for Andrew Brandhorst, which resulted in a turnover on downs.
The Rams gave Ankeny another big opportunity when Cooper coughed up the ball, and the Hawks recovered it late in the half.
Roush was able to keep the ensuing drive alive with his legs, but a shot down the field to Owen Fischer was undercut by Southeast Polk’s Jaidyn Perry for an interception and the Hawks went into halftime scoreless.
“They had a good plan and disguised some things well,” Bauer said. “Kael has a lot of talent and lots of ability. He was at a disadvantage when he’s only a one-year starter. When you’re a starter, there’s a lot of things you get to pick up and learn as you go. He has a lot of football ahead of him somewhere.”
One of the top plays the Hawks would want back came on their opening drive in the second half when they got the ball all the way down to Southeast Polk’s 7-yard line.
On a fourth-and-1, Roush went around the massive pile of linemen for what would’ve been a first down until the ball slipped out of his hands and into the end zone, where the Rams were able to wrestle it away from senior tight end Nathan Richmond for a turnover.
Then senior La’Marious Clark gave Ankeny some life with a massive turnover going against the Rams.
Southeast Polk sophomore quarterback Boston Bailey attempted just five passes in the game, and one of them was a deep shot that Clark was able to intercept and return back into Rams’ territory.
Ankeny’s offense took advantage of the turnover, and Roush led a drive that ended with him hitting Brandhorst on a short slant route for the game-tying touchdown.
But two of Ankeny’s biggest missed opportunities soon followed.
The Hawk defense nearly intercepted Bailey for a second time on the ensuing drive and just couldn’t reel the ball in for the turnover. The Rams proceeded to convert on a third-and-long before Cooper scored on a 20-yard scamper.
Things didn’t look bleak for very long as an 85-yard kick return by Fischer lined Ankeny up for another game-tying touchdown with Daniel Larmie powering his way in from 3 yards out.
“You feel bad for the Fischers, the Brandhorsts, the Larmies, the Mars Clarks, I could go on and on,” Bauer said. “We’re better than what we played tonight. Southeast Polk played a physical game that slowed it down and held on to the ball.”
Ankeny needed a stop and got it when Daniel Frazee was able to help stuff a Cooper run on fourth-and-1 from the Hawks’ 26-yard line for a turnover on downs late in the fourth quarter.
The chance for Ankeny to take its first lead to potentially clinch the victory on its home turf took a nose dive when a deep shot on the next play ended up getting intercepted by the Rams.
Southeast Polk burned off most of the remaining clock, converted an almost identical fourth-and-1 in Ankeny territory and took the lead for the third time with Thompson breaking off a 16-yard touchdown run with just 36 seconds left on the clock.
Ankeny’s attempt at a trick play with 22 seconds to go resulted in the Rams’ third interception of the night to seal the outcome.
“It was tough,” Bauer said. “I thought when we stopped them on fourth down, ‘Ok, here we go,’ and we gave it back to them and that was it.”
It’s a heartbreaking way to see the season come to an end for an Ankeny team that was looking to contend for a title after a regular season that saw the Hawks just a couple of plays away from going a perfect 9-0.
A large part of Ankeny’s success came from a deep, talented senior class on both sides of the ball.
Roush only got one year to be the starter under center and passed for over 1,500 yards and 17 touchdowns, Larmie rushed for nearly 1,300 yards with 13 touchdowns, and the pass-catching core of Brandhorst, Fischer, Richmond, Hayden Carlson and Tayzn Lando-Alfafara combined for over 100 receptions, 1,300 receiving yards and 16 touchdowns.
The offensive line in front of Roush was bolstered by a ton of size and talent behind the likes of Owen Liechti, Nathan Lee, Zach Breitbach, Kael Bodin and center Ryan Pruin.
The defense was bolstered by sack leader Tyton Westemeier with five, tackle leader Nathan Becker with 43, and interception leader Clark with five picks on the season.
“They’re not only very good football players, but great men of character,” Bauer said. “That’s why this is hard. Good, young men that you feel deserve a better out than this. That’s part of life, and we’ll have to deal with it. But I couldn’t speak more highly of this senior class and what kind of people they are.”