(Story by Stephen McDaniel)
With a trip to the UNI-Dome on the line and facing a team that ended its season two years ago, the Ankeny football team had more than enough reasons to win its Friday night Class 5A quarterfinal matchup against visiting Iowa City Liberty.
But a terrifying moment with 5 minutes left to play gave the Hawks even more incentive.
Ankeny assistant coach Greg Schoon suffered a medical emergency late in the fourth quarter that required CPR from first responders. A fist pump before being loaded into an ambulance provided some fuel for the fourth-seeded Hawks to close out their 51-29 victory at Ankeny Stadium.
“It puts things into perspective,” said Ankeny coach Jeff Bauer. “We’re just thankful that there were good people here to save (coach Schoon’s) life. We’re very thankful for them, and hopefully he recovers.”
Schoon, the current defensive line coach and a former head coach at Des Moines East, was trying to help the Hawks secure a trip back to Cedar Falls when he collapsed midway through the final period.
Local police officers and the athletic training staffs from Ankeny and Iowa City Liberty were quick to respond on the sideline, where CPR and an AED were applied to Schoon.
By the time Schoon was getting stretchered into an ambulance, he was able to give a fist pump that ignited a spark on the Hawks’ bench.
“It’s just crazy to think stuff like that can happen so fast,” said senior linebacker and running back Dawson Whitinger. “I’m really close with coach Schoon, and it made me feel a different type of way. I was sad and emotional, but you’ve got to pick up the guys and make sure we’re still going (afterwards). It just proves that you can never take anything for granted.”
“We love coach Schoon, and we love all of our coaches,” added senior defensive back Logan Wirtz.
A short warmup period was provided for both squads before the Hawks (9-2) closed things out for their coach.
Senior quarterback Mason Machan capped off the drive that got put on hold by finding sophomore receiver DJ Tate for a 2-yard touchdown pass.
The defense responded by forcing its fourth interception of the second half shortly thereafter, when Wirtz picked off Liberty quarterback Emerson Berner near the Ankeny sideline.
“I dropped down into the flat and read the quarterback well,” Wirtz said. “I know who he likes to throw it to, I felt right behind me, and I just grabbed it right there and made sure I had my feet in.”
From there, Ankeny burned off a good chunk of the remaining clock and then closed out the game by forcing its fifth turnover on downs before Machan and the offense lined up in victory formation.
The first half was a rollercoaster ride for the Hawks.
Ankeny’s defense opened the game by forcing a turnover on downs, which led the offense to putting up the first points of the game on the back of a Whitinger rushing touchdown from 2 yards out.
A punt forced on the following drive put the offense back out on the field, and Machan gashed the Liberty defense with a 65-yard scamper to the end zone.
“All year we’ve been so explosive,” Machan said of the offense. “Again tonight and even the last couple of weeks, we’ve had so many guys make so many big plays.”
Things took a nose dive for the Hawks following a deep shot from Machan that got intercepted by Liberty’s Pryor Reiners and allowed the No. 12 Lightning to answer on a 26-yard screen pass to Adrian Clerry for a touchdown with a successful two-point conversion following.
Then Liberty (7-4) surprised the Hawks with an onside kick that the Lightning recovered. That led to Liberty running back Brody Beaver scoring from a yard out to give his team its only lead of the game at 15-14.
Ankeny got things turned back around when the defense responded after a lost fumble by forcing a turnover on downs in Hawk territory, which saw the defense shut down a trick play for a big loss.
“We know on the offensive and defensive sides, you’re going to face adversity and that’s just how football is,” Whitinger said. “When you get better is when you battle through that adversity and overcome it.”
Machan and the offense got the Lightning to bite on a fake to Tate, and he found senior tight end Garrett Bauer all alone down the field for a 45-yard touchdown.
Ankeny forced another turnover on downs following a trick play that backfired on the Lightning, and it gave the Hawks the ball inside Liberty’s 20-yard line. Machan then fired a 17-yard scoring strike to junior receiver Jamello Cooper.
Senior kicker Canden Ganahl later connected on a 48-yard field goal to give Ankeny a 30-15 lead at halftime.
“We’ve just got so many playmakers, and our offensive line was moving people all night,” Machan said. “(Senior center) Dalton Elliott is a leader on that offensive line, and he gets everybody in the right spot and everybody was doing their job.”
The Hawks went from trailing by a point to threatening a running clock as they tacked on two more scores in the third quarter with a second Whitinger rushing touchdown and a 43-yard connection from Machan to Cooper following a Wirtz interception.
Liberty tried to rally back in the fourth quarter with a 6-yard touchdown from Clerry and another onside kick recovery leading to a 68-yard scoring toss from Berner to Reiners. Berner completed 26-of-47 passes for 309 yards and three touchdowns, but he was also intercepted four times.
Nolan Bennett came up with one of his two second-half interceptions to halt Liberty’s comeback.
“(Liberty) is a good football team, and they play so unconventionally,” Bauer said. “Onside kicking all the time and going for it on your own 20 and 25. They’ve got a good offense, they throw it around and they blitz all the time, so it’s a lot of pressure. We had some ups and downs, and we had some mistakes.”
Bauer took the Hawks from their own 2-yard line down to Liberty’s 31 on a similar play to the one that he scored on. It was shortly thereafter when the game was halted for Schoon’s medical emergency.
This was the second time in three seasons that the two teams played for a trip to the UNI-Dome. The win allowed Ankeny to avenge a 21-13 loss on the road in the 2024 quarterfinals.
“It feels so good, especially for the guys that graduated,” Wirtz said. “I always wanted to have their backs like they had mine when I was a sophomore. Shoutout to those guys playing in college, I love them all.”
“A lot of us were there in Iowa City when we lost that game, and we remember seeing our seniors down that their season and high school career was over,” Machan added. “We wanted to pay it back to them and those seniors we played with once and get the win for them.”
Ankeny has a bit of a chip on its shoulder as it heads to the UNI-Dome for the Class 5A semifinals.
All of the top seeds advanced on Friday, making it an all-CIML Conference final four. The Hawks will play No. 1 Johnston (10-1) on Friday at 4 p.m., with No. 2 and defending champion Dowling Catholic (10-1) facing No. 3 Southeast Polk (10-1) at 7.
Ankeny will be looking to avenge a 27-0 loss at Johnston on Oct. 2. The Hawks were outgained by a 335-75 margin and were held scoreless for the first time since the 2018 season.
Whitinger is looking forward to a rematch against the Dragons, who advanced to the semifinals with a 21-7 win over No. 8 Valley.
“Since my sophomore year it’s always been my dream to make it to the Dome,” Whitinger said. “I’m beyond blessed and all glory to God.”
