With an abundance of offensive weapons, the Ankeny football team doesn’t always have to rely on the same playmakers.
On Friday night, it was time for Devan Goode and DJ Tate to shine.
Goode rushed for three touchdowns, Tate caught three scoring passes, and the fourth-ranked Hawks held off a furious rally by No. 13 Waukee to post a 43-37 victory in the opening round of the Class 5A playoffs at Ankeny Stadium.
“It feels amazing,” said Goode, who ran for a season-high 152 yards on 21 carries. “It feels really good.”
Ankeny (8-2) extended its lead to 43-17 when Tate scored on a 6-yard pass from quarterback Mason Machan with 1 minute 6 seconds left in the third quarter. It capped a 10-play, 80-yard drive that included a 47-yard scamper by Goode.
“We had schemed a lot of stuff all week for me,” said Tate, a sophomore receiver who had scored twice during a 40-second span in the second quarter. “I knew I was going to be a big part of this game.”
Waukee (5-5) started its comeback when Therston Nebo returned the ensuing kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown. The Warriors failed on a two-point conversion, but then recovered an onside kick to keep their rally going.
“We showed flashes tonight of being really good, but then that kick return kind of threw us for a loop,” said Ankeny coach Jeff Bauer. “Special teams were not good for us tonight, and we have to get better. Usually you don’t get a blocked extra point, give up a kickoff return and give up an onside kick and still win.”
The Warriors pulled to within 43-30 when TJ Sleiter tossed a 12-yard touchdown pass to Myles O’Connor on fourth-and-goal with 8:36 remaining. Ankeny cornerback Nolan Bennett deflected the pass, but the ball fell right into the lap of O’Connor–who was lying on his back in the end zone.
“Sometimes they just don’t end up your way with those 50/50 balls,” said Bennett. “You’re going to get it sometimes, and other times you’re not. You’ve just got to keep playing the next play. That’s what my coach told me.”
Waukee’s AJ Ritzman picked off a pass from Machan on Ankeny’s next possession, setting up another score. The Warriors then drove 52 yards in 10 plays and closed the gap to 43-37 on a 6-yard pass to O’Connor on another fourth-and-goal play.
Sleiter completed 22-of-36 passes for 246 yards in the loss.
“We knew they were a lot better team than they were earlier,” Bauer said of the Warriors, who had dropped a 14-10 decision at Ankeny on Sept. 4. “I didn’t want to have to play Waukee. I was hoping to get somebody else from the CIML, but we got them.”
With 3:02 left to play, the Warriors elected to try another onside kick–even though they still had two timeouts remaining. Jamello Cooper pounced on the ball for the Hawks, who took over at their 46-yard line.
Machan then ran for 9 yards on third-and-8 to pick up a crucial first down. Goode followed with a 10-yard run on the next play to seal the victory.
“It’s great to move on. We didn’t have the outcome last year that we wanted, so we came back this year and really worked,” Bennett said. “We want to get to the Dome. That’s been our goal all along.”
Ankeny outgained Waukee by a 374-280 margin, despite running 12 fewer offensive plays. Machan went 9-of-17 through the air for 159 yards, completing passes to four different receivers.
“I’m proud of our offense,” Bauer said. “I thought our offense was really moving tonight. Mason was moving the ball around, and the offensive line was tremendous. Coach Kluver and coach White do a great job with the offensive line.”
The Hawks won the battle of field position early on to set up the game’s first touchdown. A 59-yard punt by Clayton Gardner pinned Waukee back at its 8-yard line.
After forcing a three-and-out, Ankeny regained possession following a 20-yard punt from Braylon Blackford that went out of bounds at the Warriors’ 34. Four plays later, Goode made a nice cut to avoid a tackler and dashed 13 yards to the end zone.
Goode has shared playing time in the backfield this season with Caleb Alhussaini, Cooper McDowell and Dawson Whitinger. The senior was asked to take on a heavier load Friday to allow Whitinger, who is nursing a sore ankle, to focus on his linebacking duties.
“Last game I did really well, and we’ve been running a lot with Dawson this year in those (short-yardage situations) where we really needed the first down,” Goode said. “And they told me I’d take his spot on those tonight.”
Waukee then answered with an eight-play, 79-yard drive to tie the game. O’Connor caught a 10-yard pass for the first of his three touchdowns.
The junior receiver had four catches for 62 yards on the drive. He finished with 11 receptions for 157 yards.
The Warriors recovered a fumble by Alhussaini on the ensuing kickoff, but they were unable to capitalize and had to punt. Then, three plays later, Tate fumbled the ball away after catching a short pass from Machan.
Waukee then took a 14-7 lead on a 1-yard run by Sam Heinrich with 8:51 to go until halftime. Heinrich rushed for 49 yards on 18 carries.
The Hawks responded with a 4-yard touchdown run by Goode about 3 minutes later. The PAT attempt was blocked.
On its next possession, Ankeny needed just three plays to go 80 yards for the go-ahead touchdown. Cooper turned a short pass into a 52-yard gain, Alhussaini ran for 5 yards, and then Machan connected with Tate for a 23-yard score over the middle with 2:19 left in the half.
Cooper then passed to Machan for a two-point conversion after taking the ball on a reverse.
“We had a ton of momentum,” Goode said. “And we had a ton of confidence as well.”
After Ankeny’s Logan Wirtz intercepted a Sleiter pass on Waukee’s next possession, Machan immediately tossed a 24-yard touchdown pass to Tate with 1:39 to go. Tate caught four passes for 58 yards.
Kicker Canden Ganahl then ran for a two-point conversion on a trick play to give the Hawks a 29-14 advantage at halftime.
“It was the same route,” Tate said of his first two touchdowns. “It feels great to get the win. We’ve been working all season for this.”
An interception by Bennett on the second play from scrimmage in the third quarter set up Ankeny’s next touchdown. He caught the ball after it was tipped by a Waukee receiver.
Goode then scored on a 2-yard run six plays later to make it 36-14.
“We go out there and we want to make a play for our offense,” Bennett said. “We want to change the momentum of the game. That’s how you get momentum. Make a big play on defense and give it to your offense, and then they’re ready to go.”
The Hawks scored 29 unanswered points before Blackford kicked a 30-yard field goal to pull Waukee within 36-17 with 5:26 left in the third quarter. That set the stage for Ankeny’s final touchdown and the Warriors’ late rally.
“It’s a lot better than last year obviously, so we got past this (first game),” said Bauer, whose team lost to Southeast Polk in the opening round of the 2025 playoffs. “I’m proud of them, but there’s a lot of things that we’ll need to work on this week.”
Ankeny will host No. 12 Iowa City Liberty (7-3) in the quarterfinals on Friday at 7 p.m. The Lightning advanced with a 28-14 win at No. 5 Indianola.
The Hawks dropped a 21-13 decision at Liberty in the quarterfinals two years ago.
“They’re coached well,” Bauer said of the Lightning. “They’ll spread the ball around, kind of like us in a way. They’ll be a tough offense to corral.”
