The Ankeny Centennial football team got off to a promising start in its season opener on Friday.
The Jaguars scored a touchdown on the game’s first possession and trailed visiting Southeast Polk by just 21-18 at halftime after Noah Manning kicked a 42-yard field goal with 4 seconds left in the second quarter.
But the Rams then totally dominated the second half.
Southeast Polk scored four unanswered touchdowns, racked up 451 yards of total offense and cruised to a 56-25 victory over the Jaguars.
“Anytime you’re playing one of the bigger CIML teams and it gets to be a shootout, it’s tough with our limited depth,” said Centennial co-head coach Ryan Pezzetti. “We know we need to keep the score down and keep it as competitive as we can. We know what we have to do to get better for Linn-Mar (next week).”
Southeast Polk relied on a punishing ground attack to wear down Centennial’s defense. Stanley and Adrian Cooper combined for 371 yards rushing and six touchdowns.
Stanley, a senior, ran 20 times for 281 yards and four scores. Adrian, a junior, added 90 yards and two touchdowns on eight carries.
“Southeast Polk is big, strong and physical,” Pezzetti said. “That’s their game, and they do a great job. (Brad) Zelenovich is an outstanding coach–he takes a lot of pride in what he does. We knew they’d come in here and attempt to run the ball, and they sure did.”
The Jaguars lost despite a prolific game from quarterback Brekken Miller and a talented group of receivers. Miller passed for 382 yards and three touchdowns.
Luke Mitchell caught scoring passes of 27 and 84 yards. Illinois recruit Cade Newman had 10 catches for 104 yards and a touchdown.
“They’re an explosive offense,” Zelenovich told CISN after the game. “Those tight ends are really good, and the quarterback is a really nice player. And we just do what we do on offense.”
Centennial opened the game with a 10-play, 80-yard drive. A 39-yard pass to Hunter Derby set up a 6-yard scoring pass to Newman three plays later.
“We do have some offensive talent and some new faces, and it was nice to see them perform there in the first half,” Pezzetti said. “It was really encouraging. We just need to put more drives together going forward, and I think we’ve got something to work with.”
Southeast Polk responded with a 7-yard touchdown run by Stanley Cooper to tie the game. Quarterback Boston Bailey kept the drive alive when he passed to Brennan Swanson for 7 yards to the Centennial 20 on fourth-and-5.
After the Rams forced a punt, Stanley Cooper broke loose along the left sideline for an 89-yard touchdown to put his team ahead, 14-7, with 9:18 left until halftime. Cooper was penalized 15 yards for taunting as he raced to the end zone, setting up a short field for Centennial on the ensuing possession.
The Jaguars then closed the gap to 14-13 when Miller found Mitchell in the corner of the end zone to cap a nine-play, 58-yard drive. The PAT attempt was blocked.
After Centennial forced a three-and-out, the Jaguars took a 15-14 lead when the snap from center John Adams II went over the punter’s head and rolled out of the end zone for a safety with 4:06 left in the half.
However, the Rams then recovered a fumble on Centennial’s next play from scrimmage, setting up the Rams’ go-ahead touchdown. Stanley Cooper scored on an 11-yard run with 1:06 left to make it 21-15.
Owen Gasperi made a one-handed catch for 23 yards to set up Manning’s career-long field goal right before halftime, but Southeast Polk then quickly took control of the game in the second half.
Stanley Cooper scored on a 58-yard run before Adrian dashed 43 and 13 yards for two more scores to make it 42-18 with 1:45 to go in the third quarter. Cody Winegar later intercepted a pass from Miller to set up a 3-yard scoring toss from Bailey to Aaden Levy in the final period.
The Jaguars’ offense bogged down in the final two quarters until Mitchell got behind the Southeast Polk secondary for his second touchdown catch late in the game.
“I thought we were mixing it up well enough at that point in time to make a game out of it,” Pezzetti said of his team’s three-point halftime deficit. “But you’ve got to be more consistent on the ground, and we weren’t. We’ve got to make sure we do a better job going forward.”
Centennial running back James Naert was banged up early in the game. He was replaced by Owen White, but the Jaguars finished with just 17 yards on the ground.
“It was just next man in at that point, and we went with what we had,” Pezzetti said.
Centennial will try to rebound on Friday when it travels to Linn-Mar to face the Lions (0-1), who opened their season with a 23-21 loss to Cedar Rapids Prairie.
