A fast start ignited the Ankeny Centennial football team to a 14-0 lead over visiting Urbandale on Friday at Ankeny Stadium.
Unfortunately, the Jaguars couldn’t sustain their early momentum.
The J-Hawks closed to within 17-14 at halftime and then dominated the second half to post a 35-23 victory. They scored 28 unanswered points to spoil Centennial’s homecoming.
“We came out and we felt like there were some things we could do offensively, and we were really clicking,” said Centennial co-head coach Ryan Pezzetti. “Our first three drives were touchdown, touchdown, field goal. But Urbandale is a good team, and they showed that in the second half.”
Senior quarterback Landon Rinnan passed for three touchdowns and ran for another to lead Urbandale, which improved to 3-2 on the season. The Jaguars’ record dropped to 2-3.
Rinnan completed 14-of-17 passes for 211 yards. He also ran for 98 yards on 18 carries.
“He’s a four-year starter, and he’s dynamite,” Pezzetti said of Rinnan. “I’ve seen him grow as an athlete and as a quarterback. I believe he’s going to Air Force to play fullback. But he’s an awesome competitor, and he’s fun to watch. He’s one of those kids that is hard not to root for.”
Urbandale scored on a 45-yard pass to Kallen Steverson with 2 minutes 39 seconds left in the second quarter to cut its deficit to three points at the break. The J-Hawks then took the lead for good with another touchdown about 5 minutes into the third quarter.
Urbandale added two more scores in the fourth quarter to extend its margin to 35-17 before Centennial responded.
The Jaguars got a touchdown pass from Brekken Miller to Tate DeRouchey with 3:02 remaining to pull within 35-23. A two-point conversion attempt failed.
Coming off a loss to crosstown rival Ankeny a week ago, Centennial wasted no time getting on the scoreboard. Miller completed a long pass to Cade Newman less than 2 minutes into the game, then used his legs to run 8 yards for a touchdown with 9:57 to go in the opening period.
Miller passed to Newman for a touchdown to make it 14-0 with 2:15 left in the first quarter. It was the duo’s third scoring connection of the season.
Urbandale got its first touchdown with 10:21 to go in the half to close the gap to 14-7.
The Jaguars increased their lead to 17-7 on a 29-yard field goal by Noah Manning with 3:56 left in the half. It was his fourth field goal of the year.
“We were very productive in the first half, we were balanced, and we were happy with that,” Pezzetti said. “Going into halftime, we were super excited with the performance that we had.”
Centennial will try to rebound on Friday, when the Jaguars host Valley at Ankeny Stadium. The Tigers are also 2-3 after dropping a 34-29 decision to Indianola on Friday.
Pezzetti said both teams have had difficult schedules.
“It’s hard from year to year to maintain that high ceiling, especially with their schedule and our schedule,” he said. “But they have a great team, and you can’t take anything away from coach (Gary) Swenson. He’s an awesome coach and an even better human being. We know he’ll have them ready to go against us, and it’s always a fun battle.”
It will be an important game as both squads fight to stay in contention for a Class 5A playoff berth.
“They’re all must wins. We treat them all the same,” Pezzetti said. “We are going to have a very good strength of schedule at the end of the season and that will help our RPI, but we know we need to win some of these games and get some momentum.”
