Valley escapes Dowling’s grasp to earn trip back to the Semi’s

BILL NEIBERGALL/THE REGISTER On a play that was called back because of a penalty, West Des Moines Valley's #4 Tyus Mason, left, broke to the outside to elude Dowling Catholic's #23 Michael Sherinian, right.

Trey Lewis‘ number was called for a simple play that set the tone for the 63rd meeting between Valley and Dowling Catholic in Friday’s Iowa High School Football Playoffs.

Lewis broke a couple of tackles and ran the ball 80 yards for a TD in the battle for West Des Moines. Valley never looked back rolling to a 45-20 win to advance to the semi-finals and improve to 12-0.

Dowling first possession was four plays, moving only 11 yards. That too felt like the tone, but upon further review, it wasn’t the entire story.

The Valley Tigers would follow the good defensive stand to run 20 plays, converting on three 3rd downs and two 4th down conversions. The 71 yard drive would only net a 32 yard FG by Nick Galles, but you started to get the sense Valley was in control.

BILL NEIBERGALL/THE REGISTER Dowling Catholic's #15 Amara Darboh went into the end zone as he scored Dowling's first touchdown on a long pass.

The Maroons would go back to the air, only needing one play to find the endzone. Dan Hartlieb would find Amara Darboh for the first of three TD passes between the two. This one went 78 yards to pull DCHS within 3 just before the end of the 1st quarter. Darboh ended with 9 catches worth 180 yards. A great finish for the recruit of Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin, Florida and Nortre Dame. The wide receiver was covered well Friday night, but he’s got a few more football games in his future. Hartlieb ended with 309 yards passing on 33 attempts and 20 completions.

BILL NEIBERGALL/THE REGISTER West Des Moines Valley's #4 Tyus Mason got up and stepped up and over Dowling Catholic's #2 Michael Gillotti after Mason scored his team's third touchdown.

The Tigers would come right back to their second quality back in Tyus Mason. The sophomore had two runs to get warmed up. His third carry went 70 yards, again breaking tackles, to get into the endzone. He would finish with 20 carries and 129 yards.

Ben Goaley followed with his only carry of the first half, a 12 yard gain. Reed Flood would catch a pass for 14 yards, but the Maroon drive would stall on the Valley 43.

Another sustained drive for the Tigers followed, highlighted by a 32 yard pass to Clint Boffelli from Jeff Pullen. The TD would come on the legs of Lewis. He would finish with 15 carries for 161 yards and not play in the second half. That made it 24-7 Valley.

Then the Tiger defense pitched a three and out. The offense came back out and another pass to the unlikely target of FB Brandon Ellingson. It was a 51 yard score. Dowling would not run enough time off the clock on the ensuing drive and Valley would get the ball back with less than 45 seconds before half. The Tigers would not sit on the ball, but go to the air again, this time to Tanner Hinkle to put Valley up 38-7 at the break.

The Tigers had 428 yards of offense in the first half. The Maroons totaled 158, with 78 of them coming on the Darboh TD catch. DCHS only had 13 yards rushing on 7 attempts.

The Maroons came out to run a sustained drive to start the second half riding the legs of senior Ben Goaley. But the drive would get to the Valley 10 and the Maroons would get as close as the five. Goaley ended with 14 carries and 91 yards.

Three quick Valley plays went nowhere and the Maroons got the ball back. Darboh would catch a pass to make it a 38-14 game.

More good Dowling Defense, but another drive would stall in the red zone, with the Maroons being stopped at the Valley 3.

Darboh would score again in the 4th, but it would not be enough as the Maroons end their season at 9-3 with a 45-20 loss.

KWKY booth with a great view of the action.

Also, thanks to my on-air partners of Dave Marcoulier and Brian Morris, these two make doing games easy. And we also must thank Mark Amadeo for the opportunity.

And our broadcast producer Mike Peters with help from Matthew Phelps and Tim Burrow. Guys, thank you. See you next time. 

Second season begins in defense of a title

Lee Navin / Special the Register Dowling Catholic senior linebacker Sam Herold (#49) puts the pressure on Johnston junior quarterback Michael Kinning (#1) as the Johnston Dragons (4-2) battle against the tenth-ranked Dowling Catholic Maroons (5-2) in a CIML Central Conference Class 4-A game at Drake Stadium in Des Moines. Dowling won 27 to 14.

Throw the records out the window, it is time for the second season.

The Iowa High School Football playoffs begin Wednesday night across the state. And on-cue, the weather is about to make things interesting from Decorah to Red Oak with a cold snap.

Who will ‘shock the state’ with an upset or who will be put to pasture to get ready for basketball and wrestling?

West Des Moines Dowling Catholic begins, in earnest, their defense of the 4A football crown. The Maroons finished the regular season 7-2 with losses to top-seeded West Des Moines Valley and 3 seed Southeast Polk. They last played 13 days ago in a 21-7 victory at Indianola. They 10-week schedule of 9 games gave the Maroons a bye last week to heal and prepare for the stretch run.

Wednesday’s 7p kickoff at Williams Stadium at East High School should see the return of super-prep Amarah Darboh. The 6′, 200 pound senior FL missed the last 4 games with a shoulder injury suffered in that loss at Southeast Polk. The Maroons went 3-1 in his absence with the season’s signature win against Ankeny.

The KWKY pregame show begins at 6p Dave, Brian, Paul and Romelle. You can hear the game on 1150 KWKY or KWKY.com.

Even with missing 4 games, Darboh still leads the team in receptions (30) receiving yards (442) and receiving touchdowns (6).  Brandon Ogden is second in catches and yards by going 25-366.

How much does Darboh get used Wednesday night? That is up to Coach Tom Wilson and how well that shoulder holds up. Darboh was in street clothes against Indianola, but was playing catch with teammates in warm-ups.

Another injured senior who could be ready for the second season is Matt Merfeld. The 5’9″, 185 pounder was injured in the Des Moines East game back on September 2nd. He missed the final 6 games of the regular season. Merfeld also contributed with 23 tackles, which is still 9th best on the team.

LEE NAVIN/FOR THE ANKENY REGISTER & PRESS CITIZEN Ankeny senior defensive end Ryan Woods (#37) sacks Ames sophomore quarterback Sam Straub (#4 ) as the Ames Little Cyclones (1-0) battle against the fifth-ranked Ankeny Hawks (1-0) during Week 2 in a CIML Conference Class 4-A game at Northview Middle School in Ankeny. Ankeny won 45 to 7 and will play the North High Polar Bears next week in Des Moines.

Ames is 4-5 and has seen their share of injuries. Receivers Adam Maher, Luke Wandling and Bo Brammer have been sidelined. Safety Jake Mills went out earlier in the season as well. Plus, QB Sam Straub, who missed 2 starts because of a broken thumb, injured his leg in last week’s 26-0 loss in their regular season finale against Waukee. According to that same Ames Tribune article Mike Mayberry played QB in Straub’s spot before giving way to freshman QB Matt Flummerfelt. The sophomore starter, Alex Brammer was unavailable to be used because he played 4 quarters of the sophs game earlier that night.

Mayberry is the team’s leading receiver with 32 catches worth 518 yards. He and his second cousin Nick Mayberry were featured earlier this year in an Ames Trib story. Both are juniors. Mike has 4 TDs in the leading receiver spot. His career night came against Marshalltown when he had 171 yards in 9 catches.

Overall the Little Cyclones rushing stats are 232 carries for 1,032 yards and 15 TDs. The passing game, is 121-268 for 1,298 yards, 15 INTs and 8 TDs. The offense has been sputtering a bit, only scoring 19 points in their last 3 games while allowing 123 in that same span. They’ve lost 4 straight to Waukee (26-0), Marshalltown (56-19), Valley (41-0) and Ft. Dodge (28-20). Coach Bruce Vertanen‘s last victory came on September 16th against Mason City. They started the season 4-1.

LEE NAVIN/FOR THE ANKENY REGISTER & PRESS CITIZEN Ankeny senior safety Cory Myers (#9) makes the open field tackle on Ames senior running back Hanson Breitling (#28) as the Ames Little Cyclones (1-0) battle against the fifth-ranked Ankeny Hawks (1-0) during Week 2 in a CIML Conference Class 4-A game at Northview Middle School in Ankeny. Ankeny won 45 to 7 and will play the North High Polar Bears next week in Des Moines.

Straub is a sophomore and so is Spencer Shane. He’s had to learn the varsity speed of the game early, grabbing 7 catches for 137 yards. For the season he’s got 10 grabs and 170 yards. Hanson Breitling has 25 catches for 145 yards. His primary role is to run the ball. He’s the team’s leading rusher with 149 attempts for 730 yards and 10 TDs.

Defensively the top tackler is Ryan Griffith with 44 stops. Tom McClelland is next with 43 tackles followed by Dean VanEvery‘s 38.

The defense that’s allowed 30.75 points per game will be put in the hot seat agains the Maroons who’ve been averaging 21 points a game the last four contests.

The winner of this contest plays the victor of the week 9 rematch of DM Lincoln hosting DM East. That game will be Monday night.

Amara who? Don’t ask Ankeny

Dan Hartlieb in action against Ankeny. (Des Moines Register photo)

West Des Moines Dowling Catholic Head Coach Tom Wilson found out what life is like without Amara Darboh on his team last week in a loss at Southeast Polk. He lived the real-time adjustment of a football game plan.

Fast forward a week and Wilson had a full seven days of preparation of a new 2011 offense to throw at unbeaten and 4th ranked Ankeny.

Dowling Catholic came out and threw multiple formations, personnel and plays at the Ankeny defense en route to a 28-16 win Friday night at Drake Stadium.

Dan Hartlieb started the game and got a workout running from the huddle to sidelines as freshman Ryan Boyle came in to run an offense that looked a lot like the 2010 offense, one that featured among many things, running quarterback Connor Bravard.

The Maroons’ first play from scrimmage was a pass to TE Jon Wisnieski, but a chop block penalty would bring it back. DC would see this happen a few times during the course of the night, a big play wiped out by penalty.

But new wrinkles would be stopped on a 4th and 1 on a great defensive play by Cole Myers in the opening drive.

Ankeny would have a short field but would be forced to punt.

Brandon Ogden scored on 2 pass plays for DCHS. (Des Moines Register Photo)

Hartlieb’s strength is throwing the football. He found SE Brandon Ogden who made a move to get the ball, then a juke to the outside and he was gone for a 75-yard TD run for the game’s first score. Ogden would add another TD pass reception on the second half. Hartlieb was 8-12 passing for 139 yards and 5 of 35 rushing. Ogden had 6 catches over 123 yards and 2 TDs for his stat line Friday night.

Dan Hartlieb would cap a drive with a touchdown set up by Ben Goaley’s 63 yard run to put the Maroons up 14-3 with 9:51 to play before halftime. Goaley had 100 yards at half, finishing with 126 yards over 23 carries for the game.

Ankeny would start possessions on their 49, 41, 42 and 45 and only get 9 points coming on the leg of kicker Cole Netten. Those drives featured a few big pass plays to Marshall Clark, but Joel Lanning was limited in his effectiveness against the Maroon defense all night. He would finish with 15 carries and only 29 yards. His passing stats were a little better going 20-41 for 203 yards.

Lanning engineered a drive that went 72 yards in 8 plays he would cap on a 3 yard run. The drive took very little off the clock.

Coach Jerry Pezzetti elected to kick the ball deep and not go for the on-side kick trailing 21-16 with 2:51 to play and no timeouts. The strategy worked as the Maroons were forced to punt from their own endzone after going three and out.

Alex Heckman didn't hear the "get down, get down" yells. He just kept running for the endzone. (Des Moines Register photo)

Lanning came into the game having thrown no interceptions. That stat changed late in the second half when Alex Heckman stepped in front of a Lanning pass and cashed in his pick six card to put the final tally on the board and the game in the win column for Dowling.

The Dowling Catholic win muddies up the CIML Central with three teams now on top with only 1 loss, to each other. Ankeny beat Southeast Polk, the Rams beat the Maroons, you get the idea. DCHS is now 5-2 overall with Ankeny falling to 6-1.

Freshman QB Ryan Boyle had 6 rushes for 36 yards. Chase Dowell would have 5 carries and 29 yards. The Maroon rushing effort finished with 222 yards over 41 carries. The passing game was worth 139 yards on 8-13 passing. That’s 361 total yards of offense to the Hawks’ 302.

Dowling closes out the regular home season against Johnston Friday night at Drake Stadium. Our KWKY pregame show begins at 6p. This game will also be on DowlingWebcasting.com

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 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?

Tigers turn the tables and tame the Maroons, 28-21

BILL NEIBERGALL/THE REGISTER West Des Moines Valley's #2 Trey Lewis, right, bounced off Dowling Catholic defenders, kept his balance and stayed in bounds as Lewis scored the winning touchdown on a long run.

Every football coach tells his players turnovers are one major difference maker in a football game. Tom Wilson is in that camp.

For a team that committed only single digit turnovers over 14 games, West Des Moines Dowling Catholic almost committed their season’s allotment in one night at Drake Stadium. An interception, a fumble and a turnover on downs contributed to the 28-21 loss to West Des Moines Valley in the 2011 season opener for both teams.

Just ask Tiger head coach Gary Swenson about turnovers. Fumbles and interceptions lead to losses to the rival Maroons the previous 3 meetings. This time the turnovers helped propel the West Des Moines Valley Tigers to victory in Week Zero.

The Maroon miscues in the 4th quarter resulted in the game-winning touchdown run by Valley’s Trey Lewis. The second turnover ended the chances of Dowling Catholic keeping their 14-game winning streak alive.

But the Maroons from West Des Moines kept even with the Tigers, even after losing a key player on the first play of the game. Michael Palme was injured on the opening kick-off. Palme was listed as the Rover linebacker and backup tailback and didn’t get to see more action in front of the 9,000+ fans.

That injury shuffled Coach Tom Wilson’s strategy in a hurry. The Maroon’s first offensive series featured two quarterbacks and several formations. The drive was briefly kept alive by a fake punt by Matthew Haack but would eventually stall on the Valley 18.

Valley has a tradition of a big offensive line, strong running backs and excellent linebackers. All of those are visible in this 2011 Valley team. Trey Lewis ran all over the field behind the offensive line for 24 carries and 198 yards. He started to find his groove midway through the first quarter and scored the game’s first points on the third play of the second quarter from 2 yards out.

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

Dowling Catholic would deploy Ben Goaley left and right for a good series that included a nice catch by super prospect Amarah Darboh for 25 yards. Dan Hartlieb would follow a great seal block by Goaley to get his first varsity touchdown from 20 yards out to even the score with 7:53 to play in the 2nd.

The Dowling D responded with a sack and a couple of back of forth series before TJ Palme fell on a fumble. 2 plays later, Hartlieb would hit Darboh from 42 yards out for the score and the Maroon’s first lead of the game.

The Tigers would strike before halftime on the legs of Trey Lewis for a score to tie it at 14.

Alex Heckman, seeing more defensive playing time because of an injury to starting safety Jacob Stacy, would be in on special teams and block a Valley punt. The Maroons would cash that chip in for 6 points on a 7 yard TD run by Ben Goaley.

Later in the quarter, Hartlieb would have to leave the field on an injury, forcing tight end Jon Wisnieski under center. He would throw the interception which the Tigers would later score the touchdown to tie the game at 21. But that Valley drive featured back up tail back Tyus Mason. The sophomore’s fresh legs helped beat back a weakening Maroon defense before QB Jeff Pullen snuck behind his huge offensive line for the score.

Then things got interesting. Dowling was moving the ball behind Goaley’s legs before a blitz by the Valley linebackers disrupted the timing in the backfield and forcing a fumble.

Valley would turn to Mason for a 13 yards, Lewis for 12 before calling on the senior on 4th and 2. He would convert and extend the drive. Then Lewis put on the real show on the next snap, darting left, great cut back right into the endzone with 2:23 remaining in the game. Lewis’ third touchdown of the game came from 24 yards out.

A great kick-off return by Brandon Ogden set Dowling Catholic up for a shorter field. But, a quarterback sneak by Hartlieb was stuff and for the first time in 645 days, the Dowling Catholic Maroons were on the losing end of the scoreboard.

The Maroons ran the ball 31 times for 130 yards, passing was 11-21 for 143 yards for 273 yards of total offense.
The Tigers had 41 carries for 304 yards, 9-13 passing for 65 yards and 369 yards of total offense.

Valley travels to Ottumwa and the Maroons host Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson. Last season, Dowling Catholic crushed the Yellow Jackets 69-0. TJ dropped their opener to cross-town rival Abraham Lincoln by a similar 28-21 score.

Thanks to those of you who watched the webcast on DowlingWebcasting.com You can see 4 more Maroon home games, including this week’s game. We’ll also be on the radio on the official home of Dowling Catholic Sports, 1150 KWKY. We also stream the audio at kwky.com

Turnovers you can take to the bank

STEVE GIBBONS/SPECIAL FOR THE REGISTER Dowling's Luke LeWarne recovers a fumbled kickoff during Friday's game at Ankeny.

The West Des Moines Dowling Catholic 2010 football team keeps on making teams pay for turnovers. That’s just what good teams are supposed to do.

Friday night the Maroons cashed in Ankeny Hawk turnovers for big-time pay. Two times the Maroons forced a fumble on a kickoff that resulted in a Dowling touchdown. Plus the Maroons scored a TD following an interception en route to a 42-0 win at Ankeny.

The Hawks could not find any offense. The Dowling defense deserves a lot of credit, but the Hawks just didn’t seem to click any level. They misfired on passing and rushing worked on a few plays, but was abandoned. Coach Jerry Pezzetti told me before the game that they’ve scored fewer points when they’ve tried to pass the football, a statement in a nod to pressure to throw the football more because of good athletes at key positions.

Sophomore quarterback Joel Lanning was frustrated the entire night. He made one long pass to top receiver Greg Raney, but that was the Hawks’ biggest play of the game. Lanning was held to 75 yards passing and 30 yards rushing.

STEVE GIBBONS/SPECIAL FOR THE REGISTER Dowling quarterback Connor Bravard throws a pass toward receiver Amara Darboh during Friday's game at Ankeny.

The Connor Bravard Show was back on the main stage running in full slash and dash style, with 9 of 32 rushing and 2 TDs plus 17 of  22 passing for 195 yards and 1 TD through the air. He was contained last week against SE Polk, but was back to his old ways. Which has been a big reason for the Maroon’s success. That and nearly every other part of the team is excelling. That just makes it that much more fun.

STEVE GIBBONS/SPECIAL FOR THE REGISTER Dowling receiver Amara Darboh hauls in a 50-yard pass from quarterback Connor Bravard during Friday's game at Ankeny.

One of the most exciting offensive plays of the night was a deep pattern pass to Amara Darboh. The junior receiver had one long pass slip through his hands, but he caught a pass worth 50-yards in the 2nd quarter. Darboh finished with 4 catches and 80 yards. He really was a big part of the offense Friday night. So was Eric Lee who had 7 catches and 65 yards. Ben Boesen was more of an offensive player again this week as he had the ball thrown to him on a couple of screens. Boesen grabbed 4 catches for 41 yards and one touchdown.

Dalton Parrott made one of his longest runs on the season (36 yards) to get a score in the 2nd quarter. He finished with 11 carries for 91 yards and a score.

Ty Flood did great short yardage duty again for a score and a couple of other great pack runs where he just kept the feet moving. Ben Goaley, Steven Licktieg, Alex Heckman and Jake Yacinich also got a chance to run the ball in the second half during the continuous clock.

The Maroons tallied 162 yards rushing on 36 carries with 195 yards passing.

Special teams also made noise with a blocked FG.

The Maroons are now 7-0 and have won 19 straight regular season games. The Hawks fall to 5-2 with both losses coming in the conference. A good measurement game will be their regular season finale at Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln.

STEVE GIBBONS/SPECIAL FOR THE REGISTER The Dowling fans pack the visitors' bleachers for Friday's football game at Ankeny.

It was just one of those nights were everything weird was happening, including behind the scenes. Traditionally, there’s only one press box and it is on the home side of the stadium. But at Ankeny Stadium, visiting radio is sent to the visiting side and also is next to the visiting coaches in a tiny, dark, hard-to-get-to box. Getting to the box, you have to crawl over 20 people, and I do mean crawl over. Our broadcast sounded like we were in the middle of a QuikTrip dumpster while being driven by a flat-bed diesel fired truck without mufflers. That’s putting it nicely. It would have been better if we were surrounded by the Ankeny Marching Band, at least then we would have had good tone. We were broadcasting off the cell phone and something just doesn’t seem to be working correctly. There is a phone line, but that was not live Friday night. I spent the second half holding my cell phone and just talking into it. Good thing we had a continuous clock, otherwise Dave was getting a little tired of the situation.

Next week we have a phone line at Johnston, so hopefully you can hear us. We’re on the air at 6p on AM1150 KWKY.

“Home” Domination

BILL NEIBERGALL/THE REGISTER Dowling Catholic's #16 Jason McMurray, center, fired up his team following the game's opening coin flip.

The 2010 home opener for the West Des Moines Dowling Catholic Maroons was the same type of performances as the warm up road shows.

Another game, another continuous clock in the second half, another lopsided win, 52-0 at Waukee Stadium in the Maroon’s 2010 home opener.

This time the Urbandale J-Hawks were on the other side of the scoreboard. Just like against Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson, the J-Hawks didn’t find the end zone against the top rated Maroon football team. But the Valley Tigers and East Scarlets only put seven points on the board in their games with Dowling Catholic.

Urbandale came into this one down their top player, Travis Perry, who broke a foot a week before against Fort Dodge.

BILL NEIBERGALL/THE REGISTER After faking the hand-off, Dowling Catholic quarterback #10 Connor Bravard bootlegged the ball as he would score Dowling's fifth touchdown with 2 seconds left in the first half to make the score 38 - 0 in football game against Urbandale at Waukee High School Stadium on Friday night, Sept. 10th.

The Dowling defense did their part to start the game going three and out. But the offense didn’t need more than 3 plays, scoring on a 36 yard touchdown pass from birthday boy Connor Bravard to Eric Lee.

Mac Chapman would get a chance for a long field goal and he would be true from 48 yards out to put the Maroons up 10-0 with 3:05 play in the first quarter.

Dalton Parrott would then get his first of three touchdowns to close out the quarter. Parrott would score from 36, 6 and 1 yards out Friday night for a total of 66 yards on 10 carries.

BILL NEIBERGALL/THE REGISTER After the pass reception, Dowling Catholic's #15 Amara Darboh, center, sprinted for about a 22 yard gain and first down that would set up Dowling's fourth touchdown in the first half.

But it was the second quarter that provided the most excitement of the night. The Maroons would start a drive on their own 27 and score on a 73 yard touchdown pass to Amara Darboh, but it would be called back because of a penalty. The Maroons would be forced into a 3rd and 22 and would convert on a pass to Darboh for 22 yards. Jake Yacinich would get a huge 38 yard pass play, then another touchdown would be called back before back to back sacks by the Urbandale defense.

Again, the Maroons would call on Darboh to save the drive with a 29 yard catch to the J-Hawk 1. Darboh would be the game’s leading receiver with 5 catches for 123 yards and touchdown.

BILL NEIBERGALL/THE REGISTER On a punt return in the closing seconds of the first half, Dowling Catholic's #6 Jacob Stacy, left, eluded Urbandale's #40 Tyler Schmitt, right, as Stacy would return the ball to the 1 yard line and set up Dowling's fifth touchdown with 2 seconds left in the first half to make the score 38 - 0.

The Maroons would put a late touchdown before half after Jacob Stacy returned a punt to the J-Hawk 1 to put the continuous clock into effect 38-0.

The highlight of the second half was again Darboh with a pretty 58 yard touchdown pass from Connor Bravard.

Ben Goaley found the endzone to cap the scoring for the Tom Wilson-led Maroons, 52-0. Goaley would finish with 56 yards and 8 carries.

The Maroon offense rolled again, this time to 384 yards (219 air, 165 ground) while giving up 166 yards (73 pass, 93 ground). The defense has only given up 14 points all season and those points have yet to come against the first team.

Again, another great performance by the offensive and defensive lines. TJ Palme, Mitchell Woods, Dan Mahoney, Even Barkley and Jacob Hagedorn are the O-line while Evan Barkley, Josip Juric, Tyler Harmeyer and Patrick Greenfield are the D-line guys.

It is homecoming week for Dowling Catholic as the #4 ranked Fort Dodge Dodgers come to Valley Stadium. Pregame at 6, kickoff at 730. Should be a great game.