Ankeny rides the ‘gun’ to a 6-0 start

Joel Lanning in action against Indianola. (DM Register photo)

Ask Jerry Pezzetti to pick ten of the best 352 coaching wins in his career is like asking someone to pick a favorite among their of their children.

“They are were special and memorable,” said Pezzetti earlier this week. The Ankeny football head coach says there’s a strand of hard work and determination in all of those wins spread over 50 years of coaching.

But the game does evolve. Just like offenses.

Gone is the constant, where-is-the-ball running style and here is a shot-gun approach to offense. As Coach Pezzetti says, you want the ball in your best players hands as often as possible.

Who could blame him? Joel Lanning has done everything coaches ask. He’s a threat to throw the ball and run it. More accurately, run you over. Through six games, Lanning is 43-74-700 yards passing with 0 interceptions and 6 touchdowns. His rushing line is 64 carries for 353 yards and 2 TDs which if 1/4 of the team’s 1436 rushing yards and second best on the team.

The Hawks are 6-0 while the Maroons are 4-2.

The Hawks’ leading rusher is Trever Egli. The senior has 51 carries for 462 yards. Ryan Wendt has 20 rushes for 170 yards.

Ankeny's Marshall Clark tries to catch a pass as SE Polk's Brandon VanHeeswyk and Jordan Coates defend in the second quarter during their game in Ankeny Friday night. Clark was unable to make the catch. (Justin Hayworth/The Des Moines Register)

The passing target is Marshall Clark, a sophomore with 16 catches worth 264 yards, 4 TDs and a season-long of 47 yards. The biggest passing play of the season was to Cole Meyers who has a 75 TD in his scrapbook to pump his season total to 112 yards and 5 catches. RB Trevor Egli and TE Drew Lindamen also catch passes in the offense.

The defense has carried the team this season allowing only 6 points per game versus the 35.5 points per game the offense is scoring. They also had the majority of the returning players including key positions in the linebacking corps and secondary. Jorden Studer and Ty Ash are back. The duo lead the team in tackles with 47 each. The Hawks will play 5 up front. Coach Pezzetti says this defense has played well. They may be small, he says, but they do what is asked of them by the coaching staff. Drew Carlson and Jordan Bauer also have significant amounts of tackles for the Hawks.

The secondary features twins Cole and Cory Meyers. The duo also are basketball players who have already committed to play that sport at Truman State.

Turnovers forced against Urbandale lead to 3 touchdowns in the first half for the Hawks, but after that, the offense was hard-pressed to move forward. They J-Hawks took control of the second half, forcing Ankeny to punt on nearly every second-half possession. Urbandale outgained Ankeny by a 333-187 margin.

Ankeny lost both meetings with Dowling Catholic last season. One was a lopsided affair, but the other was a great, football game in the semi-finals of last year’s playoffs.

These teams are different. So are the Maroons. Standout receiver Amara Darboh was injured in the game’s 3rd play of the game in a 27-9 loss to Southeast Polk. What will the game-plan look like in trying to stop the Maroons?

Coach Pezzetti says it doesn’t matter who plays, the Maroons are always good and always ready to play the game. He’s reminded his players that the Maroon sophomore program was undefeated without Darboh, so the remaining players know how to win.

This is homecoming for the Maroons. The game will be at the great venue for HS sports, Drake Stadium. Our pregame show begins at 6 on 1150 KWKY, KWKY.com and back for a home game DowlingWebCasting.com

We’ve got some fun things cooked up for this game, including right off the bat for the newest member of the Hall of Fame, Mr. Mark Amadeo.

Injury causes strategy adjustment in 27-9 Maroon loss

Dowling Catholic star wide receiver Amara Darboh sits on the bench after leaving the game with a shoulder injury Friday night at Southeast Polk. (Christopher Gannon, Des Moines Register.)

West Des Moines Dowling Catholic football coach Tom Wilson heard chirps of “you’re not involving Amara Darboh enough in the offense,” or “Darboh is too much of your offense.”

Those birds found out what 2011 Maroon football looks like without one of the best football recruits in the state of Iowa who posses offers from the likes of Iowa, Wisconsin, Florida, Notre Dame and Michigan.

Darboh was hurt on Dowling’s first touch of the football Friday night at Southeast Polk. The Rams scored first on a quick, 79-yard TD pass from Kyle Starcevich to Tyler Donels. It was a footrace the Rams would win and the game, 27-9.

The kickoff was taken by Darboh to the Dowling 49, but during the tackle, his shoulder would pop out and his night was done.

The Maroons would finish the drive with a 2-yard TD by Ben Goaley. He would finish with a 26-109 night.

After that, the Rams started to put more defenders in the box and running the ball for Maroons was a lot harder of a task. The threat of Da

Southeast Polk's Jordan Beem (5) runs against Dowling Catholic's Alex Heckman (29). Dowling Catholic at Southeast Polk football. (Christopher Gannon, Des Moines Register photo)

Starcevich would throw ball effectively in the first half and finish the game 6-13 173 yards. But it was the running game that dictated the pace of the game in the second half. Jordan Beem would be the workhorse rushing the ball 25 times for 119 yards.  The Maroons would hang tough for the game, but without a downfield passing threat, the offense struggled to move forward. Coming into the final series of the game, Dowling Catholic only had run 16 offensive plays in the second half. One of those was a fumble that would put the already tired defense back on the field.

The Maroons would be held to a season-low 42 yards passing.They would only tally 156 yards of total offense to the Rams’ 286.

Quarterback Dan Hartlieb was sacked 3 times on a good Ram defense. Linebackers Mike Pavon and Tanner Donelson were in the backfield many times during the night.

The prognosis for Darboh is up in the air. Coach Wilson told KWKY’s Brian Morris the post-game show that Darboh would be examined Saturday morning. The Des Moines Register reported Sunday that Wilson will take a wait and see approach the situation.

Wilson was quoted as it would doubtful Darboh would be back for Friday’s homecoming game with Ankeny at Drake Stadium.

Rams ‘bye’ a week to heal

Last season, the Southeast Polk Rams were a blocked extra point away from making a CIML game very interesting. Instead, the kick fell to the turf and the Dowling Catholic Maroons held on to win and eventually a state championship.

The Rams try to improve their 3-1 record hosting the 4-1 Maroons for homecoming. Dowling comes off a 47-7 win last week at Fort Dodge. Pregame begins at 6p on 1150 KWKY and KWKY.com. Kickoff follows the sophomores or close to 730p.

Year in and year out, the Rams are known for tough linebacker play and a good passing game. They return Tanner Donovan and Mike Pavon in the linebacking corps. Also coming back is returning QB Kyle Starcevich. The junior signal caller continues to improve and amaze. He’s now a year older, an inch taller and a few pounds of muscle heavier.

SE Polk's Kyle Starcevich tries to get away from Ankeny's Drew Carlson in the first quarter of their game in Ankeny Friday night. (Justin Hayworth/The Des Moines Register)

He burned the Maroons last season for 261 yards going 20-35 with those completions going all over the field. His arm is strong and can move if needed. Two of his three targets return this year. Cody McCoy had 7 catches for 111 yards and Zach Warren scored a key touchdown in last years 24-23 Maroon win. Gone is big TE Austin Pinegar, who walked on at Iowa State.

The new TE is Tyler Donels. At 6’2″, 210, the senior will likely be a significant part of the offense. He has the ability to jump out of the gym. The Drake Relays high jump champ cleared 7’2″ and has many athletic skills in his toolbox.

The Rams last played two weeks ago in a 12-7 loss at Ankeny. Coach Denny Muller says RB Dalton Sanford was out with injury and RB Alec Kilby was injured on his first play against the Hawks. WR Brock Daniels played, but with a 103 degree temperature. So, you could make the case the Rams were not at full speed.

A bye week allows teams to do what they’ve not been able to do in years past during the season, heal. Coach Muller says his team went back to basics, almost a camp-like approach. There were some evaluations that came after the loss, but overall a fun time away from game competition. Last year, Southeast Polk used the time to install a new defense. So, it may be a safe bet this week off wasn’t all beaches and tanning for the Rams.

Coach says their offense is based on the run, even with a potent passing game in the chamber. The main running threats are Jordan Beem (51 carries, 293 yards), Kilby (31-196) and even WR Daniels (10-96) will rush the ball on from time to time. Overall, SEP has rushed the ball 120 times for 689 yards and 10 TDs. The rushing game of Jake Sargent last season was hard to stop by the Maroons.

Friday will likely mark the 2011 debut of Dalton Sanford. The junior running back has been held out of competition this season. He is likely the fastest member of the team in terms of track speed. How will that translate to football and following an injury? That will play out in front of us on KWKY Friday night.

Back to the passing game now. Starcevich is 43-63 for 645 yards, 9 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. His favorite targets are McCoy (13 receptions, 244 yards), Daniels (8-181) and Donels (8-113). As a team, the Rams are 44-65 for 657 yards and 9 TDs. That’s mostly Kyle’s stat line.

Ankeny's Joel Lanning lets go of a pass before SE Polk's Chris Schaffer and Tanner Donovan can get to him in the second quarter during their game in Ankeny Friday night. (Justin Hayworth/The Des Moines Register)

Tanner Donovan is the team’s leading tackler with 33 stops, 16 of those done solo. He is 6’1″ 225 and as his coach describes, has a knack for knowing where the football is always. You can’t teach that in most guys. If anything, he plugs the middle and prevents teams from going up the gut for yards. Muller said Ankeny and DM Lincoln both struggled to run the ball up the middle and he credits Donnovan with making life miserable for fullbacks and interior lineman. I’m sure Mr. Marcoullier will brief us on the importance of interior lineman in our Ask the Announcer segment in our pregame show.

Coach says look out for Jacob Miller, a transfer who did not play last season against Dowling Catholic, Evan German at CB and Jordan Coates at safety. These three, according to Muller are playmakers. Coates leads the team in interceptions with 4.

Maroon Notes: The DCHS rushing attack is now over 1k mark with 1,197 yards on 189 carries. The first 12 yards passing will put the Maroons over 1,000 for the season.

We go on the air at 6p in Pleasant Hill on 1150 KWKY and KWKY.com. We look forward to hearing from you.

One month down of 234

Noah uses tats to get through school.

My Noah is growing up quickly. After his first day of 2340, it has been non-stop action.

This week he used the word thorax correctly. His kindergarten class is in the middle of an insect unit. We had to collect a bug, study it, write down observations and give it to his teacher.

They do math, writer’s workshop and many other, “big kid” things in his room.

I’m sure I didn’t do this much when I was in kindergarten. But he is a sponge and is eating it all up. He’s worn out at the end of the day, hungry and ready to go back the next day.

Don’t take my word for it, here’s Noah with a recap of one month of school.

What will be next for our little learner?

Maroons air attack knocks out the Fort (Dodge)

Cool evening at Dodger Stadium in Ft. Dodge.

The West Des Moines Dowling Catholic Football team has a reputation for running the football. Last week in a 30-14 win at Urbandale, they used Ben Goaley37 times.

This week it was 4 touchdown passes from QB Dan Hartlieb that led the Maroons to a 47-7 thumping of Fort Dodge Dodgers.

Senior flanker Amara Darboh scored a pair of those from 10 and 20-yards out. Matt Haack had one and Brandon Ogden had the other.

The KWKY crew expected a lot of passing, but from Ft. Dodge. Afterall, they had the second-best passing attack coming into the game. Dodger QB Sam Edwards was running most of the night, just trying to get away from the Maroon defense. Edwards finished 15-26 for 223 yards, 1 interception and 1 touchdown pass. He was also sacked 9 nine times.

Again, the Matt Miller-led squad struggled to run the football for positive yardage. The Dodgers rushed it 34 times for only 17 yards.

The Maroons controlled the game from the first series of the game going 88 yards on 12 plays capped by the Darboh pass from Hartlieb.

KWKY analyst Dave Marcoullier said during the broadcast that film review after Urbandale showed other receivers were wide open when defenses would give double coverage to Darboh. This week in practice, the senior signal caller worked on looking to other receivers on those plays. The drills paid off as Hartlieb located a wide-open Matthew Haack on the right side for a 29-yard scoring play, 14-0 Maroons with 1:48 remaining in the first quarter.

The second quarter started sloppy with a sack, fumble and an interception by Alex Heckman. The Maroons regained composure to find Darboh again, this time for a 20-yard play to put Dowling Catholic up 21-0.

Just before half, coach Tom Wilson‘s team worked on the 2-minute drill, mostly looking for Brandon Ogden. He would get his first TD with :55 left before half to make it 28-0.

Dan Hartlieb would score on a 5-yard run to get the continuous clock going just before the end of the 3rd quarter. Hartlieb finished with 13-21 passing and 197 yards passing.

The Dodgers would find the end zone on a Edwards to Isaac Lehman 36-yard passing play.

Then backup QB Anthony Denkinger would run the boot for 80-yards and a touchdown. Then Ethan Grace would get his first varsity touchdown to end the game’s scoring at 47-7.

The Maroons finished with 262 rushing yards, 197 passing for a 459 total. That put the Maroons over the 1,000 yard mark for rushing yards, but just 27 shy of 1,000 passing.

Ben Goaley still carried the ball 13 times for 92 yards. Haack, Darboh and Ogden all had 4 catches in the victory.

The Maroons put on the road jerseys again next week at Southeast Polk who was idle Friday night. The Rams lost last week at Ankeny and carry a 3-1 mark. The Maroons sport a 4-1 record.

The Dodgers play Ames next week to open CIML conference play with a record of 1-3.

We go on the air at 6p on 1150 KWKY and KWKY.com.

Maroons try to Dodge more injuries on road trip

Every football season is different. Some years no player sustains a major injury. Other years, you can’t seem to keep the trainer off the field.

During the West Des Moines Dowling Catholic football team’s championship run in 2010, there were some sprains and a few broken bones, but few dramatic ends to the season for any one player. Backup quarterback Dan Hartlieb was one of the few not in uniform during the final against City High.

This year, the season wasn’t even a play old when Michael Palme was lost for the year with a knee injury. A few plays later Jacob Stacy would have almost the same thing happen to him. He’d come back in a couple of games, but his season likely ended last week in a 30-14 Maroon win against Urbandale.

This week, more of Tom Wilson‘s Maroons will likely be unavailable because of injury. Fort Dodge Coach Matt Miller told me earlier this week, he’d be okay if  Coach Wilson left some players back in West Des Moines.

Fort Dodge quarterback Sam Edwards throws a pass in the fourth quarter during their game against East at Williams Metro Stadium Friday night. (Justin Hayworth/The Des Moines Register)

Coach Miller’s 2011 squad has seen its fair share of dinged up players. The Dodgers have been in physical contests this season which begin to take their toll during the season on wrists, ankles and knees. They opened with a win at Des Moines East (28-19) before back-to-back losses to Urbandale (25-14) and Sioux City North (37-21). Nose guard Gavin Thomas will get his first start of the season after sitting out much of season trying to recover from an injury.

The Dodgers made the playoffs last season and were hoping to get back to the postseason this year. They begin district play next week at Ames. The Dodgers close out the season by hosting West Des Moines Valley.

Last season’s team featured a strong running game that helped QB Levi Peters settle into his role on his new team. This year, the running game behind Sam Edwards is still trying to find its identity. The Dodgers have rushed it 74 times for a 68 yards. Austin Anderson has the most carries and yards (39-104). Tommy Halligan, the starting fullback has no carries this season. Wesley Castro has a couple of touches, but Coach Miller admits the running game is a work in progress.

Fort Dodge's Isaac Lehman grabs a pass over East's Colby Carmicheal in the first quarter during their game at Williams Metro Stadium Friday night. Lehman scored on the play. (Justin Hayworth/The Des Moines Register)

Senior quarterback Sam Edwards has turned to the air, a lot.

He’s 66 of 90 for  879 yards,  7 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. That’s good enough for second best passing offense in 4A. His main targets are Isaac Lehman (22-461), Tommy Halligan (15-171) and Wesley Castro (10-103). Look for Tyler Vaughn (4-38), Jaydan Bruhl-Lara (2-31) and Austin Anderson to get some attention for the senior signal caller.

To recap those offensive stats:

Fort Dodge Passing: 61-102, 887 yards, 8 TDs 4 INTs
Fort Dodge Rushing: 74 attempts,  68 yards, 1 TD

By comparrission:

Dowling Passing: 50-84, 776 yards, 6T (need 224 for 1,000) 1 INT

Dowling Rushing: 160 attempts, 951 yards, 13 TDs (need 49 for 1,000)

The Dodgers use a 3-5 defense and like to blitz. Three players coming it not enough, look for as many as 5 or 6 every play. Coach Miller uses players from all over the field to rush the action. But they did give up 371 rushing yards to SC North last week.

Look for linebackers Dillion Christiensen, Cole Jarrard, Jalen Mosley and Adrean Johnston to make the majority of the tackles. They are the team leaders in this category, but also are in the middle of most plays. The stunting puts them in position to make plays.

Friday marks the 5th game of the season for the Maroons. This is the downhill side of the season with the playoff stretch still ahead. If there’s a chance to get starters off the field, look for a lot of different jersey numbers in the game to get playing time for experience against a good team and to keep starters healthy.

We go on the air at 6p from Dodger Stadium in Fort Dodge. We’ll have a surprise for you in our tailgate show and on our sidelines. We’ll be on 1150 KWKY and KWKY.com. I believe there is webcast with video available 24 hours after the game. That is being done by the Fort Dodge school.

Maroons grind out win at Urbandale, 30-14

Markell Coleman juggles a catch and then runs for six. (Image from KCCI.com)

A football game is a series of single plays. Fans will say if just that one goes the other way, we win the game. Many Iowa fans will name you the play that cost them against Iowa State.

But ask a coach what one play determines a win or loss, they’ll point to a series of play and not one snap.

Take away two plays for the Urbandale J-Hawks and you likely take away their 14 points against West Des Moines Dowling Catholic.

Amara Darboh goes in for six against Urbandale. (Image from KCCI.com)

The Maroons scored first on a 9 play, 80 yard drive capped by a 23 yard TD pass to Amara Darboh from Dan Hartlieb.

Then the J-Hawks ran a simple option play to the left side. QB Ben Hurley faked the dive, then went wide, kept running about 7 yards and pitched it to Markell Coleman. The junior running back did the rest, sprinting past the rest of the Dowling D and was in the endzone. Just like that it was tied, the extra point was good and Urbandale had the lead.

Dowling Catholic ran three plays and went nowhere, were in punt formation. Matthew Haack took the snap, rolled to his left and kept running. He saw an opening and went 15 yards for the first down to extend the drive. Darboh would cough up the football after a catch, opening the door for the J-Hawks.

Coach Sam Anderson‘s squad would struggle for yardage before punting the ball away just before the end of the 1st quarter.

Dowling on offense at Urbandale.

Then the meat grinders went to work. A drive that started on their own 5, ended in a 28 yard field goal by Avery Mason. At the end of that series, Amara Darboh had been involved in 12 of 29 offensive plays for Coach Tom Wilson. Maroons led 9-7 with 9:16 to play in the 2nd quarter.

The J-Hawks converted on a third and five with super sophomore Allen Lazard catching a pass. Two plays later, Urbandale went to the air again, Hurley finds Coleman over the middle, a little juggling sideshow and Coleman sprints 62 yards for a score to the put the J-Hawks up 14-9 with 6:25 to go before halftime.

It took the Maroons 11 plays to go 80 yards on a mix of Goaley, Haack and Jon Wisnieski before Darboh ran it in from 1 yard out. Johnny Wiz had 43 receiving yards in two catches on the drive. Darboh would finish with 10 catches and 170 yards, his best performance of the season receiving.

Haack blocked a punt, but the Maroons couldn’t capitalize, as Lazard picked off a Hartlieb pass on the first play from scrimmage of that series that started on the Urbandale 17.

The J-Hawks moved the ball only 21 yards in their opening series of the second half, punting it to Haack who returned the football 33 yards to make it a short 52 yard scoring drive with Alex Heckman getting the call from 5 yards out to put the Maroons up 23-14.

Punter Jack Cronin would pin the Maroons back to their own 3 before the Maroons went 97 yards on 10 plays, 7 of them to Goaley, who finished the drive with a 6 yard TD run to put the boys in maroon and white up 30-14.

Goaley would help run out the clock on my running plays, he had 25 carries in the second half alone, to finish with 37 touches for the game worth 196 yards. Nick Navin got his first carries of the season for 35 yards.

The maroons orchestrated scoring drives of 80, 84, 80, 52 and 97 yards to rack up 530 yards of total offense in a 243/287 pass/rush split. The J-Hawks managed 313 on 140 passing and 173 rushing. Take out the Coleman run and that number is only 102.

The KWKY crew working in the press box.

The Maroons improve to 3-1 overall and 1-0 in the CIML Central. The J-Hawks fall to 2-1 and 0-1 in the conference. They play host to Johnston while the Maroons travel to Fort Dodge.

We’ll be on the air at 6p Friday night in Webster County on 1150 KWKY and KWKY.com. We’ll have the crew on the road for you next week.

Glad to have you aboard. Send us your questions via Twitter to @KWKYSports. We’ll have our Ask The Announcers segment before 7p Friday night.

I’d say we’d have Dave Marcoulier make a bet about shaving his head, but he’s already got a close cut. Maybe Brian Morris?

All in the family for the J-Hawks

Urbandale High School Sophomore, Allen Lazard placed his name among national record holders on Friday, Augut 26, 2011, in a victory over DM Hoover. The Urbandale Defensive Back had three interceptions for touchdowns in the first half of the J-Hawks 54-8 victory. Lazard scored on interception returns of 35 yards and 17 yards, within one minute of each other in the first quarter, and then again on a return of 50 yards in the second quarter. (Photo from J-Hawks.com)

The Urbandale J-Hawks second leading scorer only has two catches for 48 yards.

It is the defensive side of the ball Allen Lazard thrives on for Coach Sam Anderson.

Allen, one of three Lazard’s with the varsity program as older brother Anthony is a senior linebacker with 20 tackles to lead the team and their father Kevin is an assistant coach. Kevin played collegiate ball at Iowa State University.

Little brother has played big this fall, making 4 interceptions from his safety position. 3 of those pics have resulted in touchdowns. That put his name among national record holders with his scores of 35, 17 and 50 yards on the pick-6′s. This ties the national record of 2 INTs returned for a score in the same quarter. 6 others have accomplished this feat.

The J-Hawks have started the 2011 football campaign with wins over Des Moines Hoover (54-8) and Ft. Dodge (25-14). This week, the real test begins with defending state champion West Des Moines Dowling Catholic comes calling to Frerichs Field to open CIML Central Conference action. Kickoff is slated for 730p with no fresh/soph game beforehand. The pregame show begins on 1150 KWKY and KWKY.com at 6p. This is the Maroons first road game of the 2011 season.

The J-Hawks had to wait out a 60 minute lightning delay at Fort Dodge last week, mounted a 12-7 halftime lead, before the storm hit. Following the delay, Urbandale sprinted to a 25-7 lead on a Ben Hurley touchdown. The senior quarterback has the second most rushing attempts on the team. Hurley is 6-15 for 145 yards passing and 1 touchdown, while is running stats are 16 carries, 79 yards and 3 scores.

QB Ben Hurley exchanges congratulations with J-Hawk teammates. (Photo from J-Hawks.com)

Hurley has plenty of guys to give the ball to in the option-style offense. The J-Hawks will resemble the Georgia Tech offense that lines up two players in the slot position and any one of them could get the ball. Cory Moore is the featured running back with 17 touches for 126 yards and 1 TD. Max Dillenburg has run the ball 4 times for 31 yards and a score and Markell Colemon has topped the centure mark with 163 yards on 12 carries and a score.

The J-Hawk defense is a 4-3 base with little blitzing. Linebacker Braden McGowan is the quarterback of the D. Nick Jepsen is tough up front, along with two-way player Jack Croning. Ben Field and Colby Bragdon round out the front 4. Gabriel Moreno, Anthony Lazard and McGowen are the linebackers. Allen Lazard and Nate Harms are the safeties and Terrence Gaye and Armond Luethens are the corners.

The Maroons look to win their conference opener after beating Des Moines East last week 41-21. Two linebackers, Matt Merfeld and Andrew Clemon will likely be game-day decisions on if they will return this week after exiting early because of injury. We’ll have the word in the pregame show around 7 when we talk to head coach Tom Wilson.

4 goals for Goaley as Maroons roll, 41-21

BILL NEIBERGALL/THE REGISTER Dowling Catholic's #20 Ben Goaley goes to the outside on a run against West Des Moines Valley.

Ben Goaley made Friday night even hotter for the Des Moines East High Scarlets.

The West Des Moines Dowling Catholic senior football player scored 4 touchdowns in a 41-21 win. The heat index at kickoff was in the 90s at kick-off and stayed there for most of the night. The victory put the Maroons at 2-1 for the season while dropping the Scarlets to 0-2.

Goaley scored on rushes of 12, 10, 5 and 23 yards. He finished the night with 14 carries and 132 yards.”I give all the credit to the offensive line,” Goaley told Brian Morris on the KWKY post game show. He said the game isn’t really slowing down yet for him, but that he’s feeling more comfortable in the way he’s playing.

The Maroons forced three and outs on East for the first four series of the game. It wasn’t until the 5th series, which was in the 2nd quarter, the Scarlets even got a first down. Xavier James and Abu Sama connected on a 13 yard TD pass to make it 21-7 with 4:36 to play before half. That 10-play, 76 yard drive gave the  East defense a chance to rest. They spent much of the first quarter on the field in a hot, muggy night at Williams Stadium.

Besides Goaley’s gallops, Matthew Haack scored on a 63 yard run, sprung by an Amara Darboh block. Darboh had one touchdown Friday on 6 catches for 79 yards for the Maroons. Darboh would score on his own 20 yard pass play in the 3rd quarter.

Take out the 76 yards from the East scoring drive, the Scarlets only had 15 yards of offense in the first half.

The Dowling second team played much of the 2nd half, with offense getting serious playing time against the East first-team defense. Coach Tom Wilson also played his second-team defense which did allow a TD pass from James to Davontae Buckner. James would scamper 28 yards for a score of his own in the 4th quarter.

East finished with 266 yards of total offense, 128 rushing, 138 passing.

Dan Hartlieb had a good night passing going 13-17 for 232. The Dowling Maroons would end the night with 260 yards rushing on 44 carries and 15-23 passing for 249 yards bringing the total to 509 of offense.

Haack was just shy of the century mark on his night going 2 for 98 yards.  Brandon Ogden had 3 catches for 36 yards, but his most impressive part of the night was his blocking.

The heat wasn’t the reason in a couple of Dowling injuries, but the lopsided score didn’t force the hand of the coaching staff. Andrew Clemen and Matt Merfield could return this week.

Dowling will wear their road uniforms for the first time this season in the CIML Central conference opener at Urbandale. Game time is 730. Our pregame show begins at 6p on 1150 KWKY and KWKY.com.

You can guess one player we’ll know well by the end of the night is Allen Lazard.

Head East, young men (East @ DC)

For the second week in a row, the West Des Moines Dowling Catholic Maroons are facing a coach in his second season of a rebuilding project.

Last week, the Maroons beat a much-improved coach Mark Puev Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson team for a 44-7 victory. This week it is Greg Schoon in his second year as the head man in Red and Black of Des Moines East.

Dowling heads to Williams Stadium to face the Des Moines East Scarlets in a home game for the Maroons. Yes, a home game for the Maroons against East in the Scarlets’ stadium. Kick-off is 7:30. Pregame begins at 6p on 1150 KWKY, KWKY.com or watch the game on DowlingWebcasting.com.

The Scarlets are playing in their second game of the season, having their bye in Week 0. They dropped last week’s home opener game against Fort Dodge 28-19. Last year the Maroons took care of the Scarlets 54-7.

East's Xavier James runs with the ball in the first quarter during their game against Fort Dodge at Williams Metro Stadium Friday night. (Justin Hayworth/The Des Moines Register)

Coach Schoon’s crew returns 13 starters, including quarterback Xavier James. The junior threw the completed 22 of 28 passes for 243 yards in the loss to the Dodgers. James has targets of RB Kyler Krogman, WR Abu Sama, WR Davontae Buckner and TE Brandon Long. Look for other receivers Blake Cunningham, Colby Carmichael and Rico Gaffordto get playing time and possibly some touches.2 players are back in the line up: Buckner and RB Brandon Lane. Both were out last week.

James took over the QB job in the first game of the season last year after an injury. His coach says he’s making better decisions under center and is maturing as a player.

Coach Schoon says Dowling will give them a good test to see where they’re at as a football team. As we talked about last week, a team usually makes the most improvements between games one and two.

East's Abu Sama tries to get away from Fort Dodge's Jaydan Bruhl-Lara in the second quarter during their game at Williams Metro Stadium Friday night. (Justin Hayworth/The Des Moines Register)

But Schoon, the former Iowa State University football player says you have to be ready for a Coach Wilson team and the wrinkles they put into each game. His team will do the same as not every play will be a pass. The Scarlets will run it when the opportunity presents itself. Defensively, they are a 4-3 squad with some inexperience at defensive back. Coach Schoon says his defensive backs need to remember they have assignments. Translation: Stay home, a cutback and come at any time.

Dowling notes:
Starter changes for Dowling:
Alex Heckman in for Matthew Haack at RCB
Tackle Matt Dunbar in for TJ Palme

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