The Ankeny Centennial football team likely needed to pull off a huge upset in order to keep its fading playoff hopes alive.
Unfortunately for the Jaguars, it didn’t happen.
Defending Class 5A state champion and fourth-ranked Dowling Catholic racked up 280 rushing yards and posted a 37-10 victory over Centennial on Friday at Ankeny Stadium. The Jaguars dropped to 2-6 on the season with their fifth consecutive loss.
Centennial was 24th in the Class 5A RPI rankings prior to the game. The Jaguars will play at Sioux City North (0-8) in their regular-season finale on Friday, and a win over the Stars probably won’t be enough to earn one of the 16 large-school postseason berths.
Centennial simply didn’t have an answer for Dowling’s potent rushing attack. The Maroons (7-1) amassed a 343-215 advantage in total yards, despite running 21 fewer plays from scrimmage.
Running backs Henry Smid and Grayson Pennington both rushed for more than 100 yards while averaging better than 10 yards a carry. Smid ran 13 times for 136 yards and surpassed the 1,000-yard mark for the season, while Pennington added 116 yards on 10 attempts.
Centennial, meanwhile, struggled to get its ground game going. The Jaguars rushed for just 35 yards on 26 carries.
Quarterback Brekken Miller provided most of Centennial’s offense. He completed 21-of-36 passes for 180 yards, including a 28-yard toss to Hunter Derby for the Jaguars’ lone touchdown with 18 seconds left in the game.
Tight end Cade Newman caught 10 passes for 97 yards in the loss. Derby added four catches for 56 yards.
Smid had seven carries for 51 yards on Dowling’s opening drive, setting up a 21-yard field goal by Liam Mahmutagic with 6 minutes 58 seconds left in the first quarter. Mahmutagic later converted field goals of 23 and 34 yards in the second half.
Pennington replaced Smid on the Maroons’ second possession and had three consecutive carries for 25 yards, leading to a 4-yard touchdown pass from Ethan La Cava to Max Blankenhagen. It was the first catch of the season for Blankenhagen.
Centennial had a chance to respond, but the Jaguars turned the ball over on downs in Dowling territory on each of their next two possessions.
The Maroons then drove 61 yards in just three plays to extend their lead. Smid dashed 42 yards for a touchdown with 7:27 to go in the half, then Jack Corson ran for a two-point conversion to make it 18-0.
An interception by linebacker Dylan Ducharme ended Centennial’s next drive. Then, after Pennington ran three times for 25 yards, Beau Williams turned a short pass from La Cava along the left sideline into a 34-yard touchdown.
The Jaguars got a 48-yard return by Matthew Nichols on the ensuing kickoff. They then drove to Dowling’s 4-yard line before Noah Manning kicked a 21-yard field goal on the final play of the half to cut the Maroons’ lead to 25-3.
Miller completed passes of 18 and 13 yards to Newman in the fourth quarter to set up another field goal try by Manning, but his 33-yard attempt was blocked by Dowling’s Levi Chulu. The ball was then scooped up by Luke Iverson, who raced 73 yards to the end zone to give the Maroons a 37-3 advantage.
Centennial answered with a nine-play, 77-yard drive that was capped by Miller’s fourth-down pass to Derby for the touchdown. It was Miller’s 15th scoring toss of the season.
The Jaguars’ defense allowed just 128 yards and did not give up a touchdown in the second half. They also created a turnover on the first play of the fourth quarter, when Rilynd Pezzetti forced a fumble by La Cava that was recovered by Kiefer Reed.
