Whoa Baby: State Champs again

Dowling Catholic 38, City High 31. (image by Paul Yeager)

“Whoa Baby.”

That’s the way my broadcast parter Dave Marcoulier described Friday’s Class 4A football final that saw West Des Moines Dowling Catholic lay claim to their 3rd State Football title. It was the 10th time in the finals for DCHS. Prior to 2000, the Maroons were 0-7. Now they’ve won the last three championship games they’ve played in.

The “Whoa Baby” came after the 4th and goal pass from the line of scrimmage at the 19 was intercepted by Eric Lee. At that moment the City High players, who had outgained the Maroons until the last frame, and up until the third play of OT, left the field in defeat. Their 27 game win streak was snapped, but they played in one whale of game. (live blog review)

City High was very successful in running the ball in the first half. They were also able to run it very well for most of the second half as well, racking up 238 yards on 49 carries.

Justin Hayworth/The Register Dowling quarterback Connor Bravard runs away from Iowa City City High's Ryan Kroeze in the first quarter during the Class 4A Championship football game at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls Friday night. (Justin Hayworth/The Des Moines Register)

Dowling came close to that by the end of the game, but it just didn’t feel that the Maroons gained 208 yards on 38 carries. It was the passing game that put Dowling in the championship round of the 4A playoffs and it was the passing game that coach Tom Wilson called on several times for key catches in the 4th quarter with Connor Bravard throwing for 269 yards passing on 25 attempts and 18 completions. Bravard would have 20 carries for 153 yards or 422 total yards (Passing + Rushing). The Maroons would win the total yardage game 477-400.

The big target for the Maroons was their go-to receiver, Amara Darboh. His 6 catches for 94 yards came mostly in the 4th quarter in clutch situations. Darboh was get open just enough to warrant a throw. We’ll get to Darboh’s other big play later in this story.

Justin Hayworth/The Register Dowling's Ben Boesen jumps over Iowa City City High's Andrew McNulty and into the end zone for a second quarter touchdown during the Class 4A Championship football game at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls Friday night. (Justin Hayworth/The Des Moines Register)

Ben Boesen was the earlier target for Bravard, as Boesen, the senior TE caught 2 touchdowns in the first half, both well-executed plays. Boesen finished the game with 75 yards, 2 TDs over 5 catches.

But the real big catch was made by Andrew Pick in the overtime frame. Bravard rolled to his right and round Pick on a simple out route. It was his only catch of the game, but those 9 yards set the table for Dalton Parrott to put his head down and get his 3rd touchdown of the game. I was pulling for Pick to get his first TD of the season, but he’ll have to settle for knowing his catch set up the win.

The play call to Pick seemed to be stolen from City High’s play sheet as Andrew McNulty found fullback Adam Prybil 2 times for 32 yards. Not big in yards, but big in situations. Prybil also ran the ball 6 times for 22 yards and a score in the 3rd quarter that gave the Little Hawks a 21-13 lead with 8:06 remaining.

City High’s biggest weapon was Cedric Readus. The senior running back finished with 171 yards rushing yards and a TD catch. The receiving grab put the Little Hawks up at half 14-13. Readus gained 76 yards on a right haymaker to DCHS. The Maroons has just tied the game behind a 7 yard TD run by Parrott that was set up by huge runs by Bravard of 16, 9, 6 and two passes of 15 and 18. Dowling seemed to have the swagger back, but then Readus ran wild to the south endzone making the score 28-21 City High.

The Maroons went 3 and out and followed up with a 14 yard punt by Bravard. The Maroons bit their own lip on the drive.

But then the defense held City High on a short field and three plays from ten before Drew Cornwell kicked a 27 yard field goal to give the Dan Sabers bunch their biggest lead of the game with :33 left in the 3rd Quarter.

Dowling’s defense was on the field twice as long in the first half, but made ground up by putting the City High D on the UNI-Dome turf for most of the 3rd quarter. That to me and Mr. Marcoulier would be a telling tale.

Crowded House at the UNI-Dome. The visiting team was getting nervous.

The Maroons were driving on the first series of the 4th quarter behind All-State quarterback Connor Bravard. But a fumble at the 10:39 seemed to have many Maroon and White faithful grabbing for air.

The defense forced City High to punt after 3 plays.

Then Bravard found Darboh for passes of 21 and 15 yards. Bravard run of 11, Parrott for 16 and maroons were again marching to the goal line. When Parrott scored at the 6:03 mark the score was 31-28.

The biggest series of the season saw City High move the football 14 yards and the drive appeared to have stalled out. City High was facing a 4th and 8 from their own 49. With some confusion on 4th down, City took a time out. McNulty rolled to the right on a fake punt looking for Connor Alberhasky. Incomplete. Dowling takes over on downs 49 yards short of the endzone with 2:30 to play. If you punt the football, the Maroons are likely having to drive, at the best case scenario, 80 yards with 3 timeouts and under three minutes to play.

Bravard again put the team on his shoulders all the way to the City High 5. On 3rd and 3, Bravard is tackled for a one yard loss on the right hash. Out comes Mac Chapman with a hard angle field goal attempt from 23 yards out. The line drive somehow sneaks inside the left goal post and we’re tied at 31 at the end of regulation.

Justin Hayworth/The Register Dowling Dalton Parrott slips past Iowa City City High's Jeremy Johnson to score a touchdown in overtime during the Class 4A Championship football game at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls Friday night. (Justin Hayworth/The Des Moines Register)

The Maroons had seen overtime before, against Valley when the Maroons rallied in the 4th quarter to push the extra time. But City High won the toss, sent their defense out first, which had been on the field for 21 plays. Pick would get that catch and Parrott the TD set up City High’s chance.

Jason McMurray would take a shot on a play and would be forced from the game. The Maroons call time out, put in Amara Darboh, but with the TO keep #15 in and bring back in McMurray. Darboh lined up at right DE on the 3rd down play and team with Josip Juric for the sack.

Justin Hayworth/The Register Iowa City City High quarterback Andrew McNulty kneels dejected on the turf as Dowling celebrates their 38-31 overtime victory during the Class 4A Championship football game at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls Friday night. (Justin Hayworth/The Des Moines Register)

The season came down to a 4th and goal from the 19 and McNulty’s pass came left and Eric Lee stepped in front for the INT and set the celebration motion.

You could make a case that the close games to SE Polk, Valley and Ankeny in the semi’s may have helped build this team. But conditioning may have helped this squad as well. City High had been in that close of a game but once this entire season.

But maybe the demons hanging over the team from the semi-final loss to Marshalltown in 2009 also were waiting to exhale. This time, the Maroons were on offense late and in control and not as tired.

The defensive night for Matt Eganhouse and McMurry were huge. The two had 7.5 tackles and Tommy Miller had 7 with Mathew Formanek with 6.5 and Ty Flood and Luke LaWarne getting 4.5.

Zach Swehla had 8.5 tackles to lead City High. Todd Turney had 8 and Ryan Kroeze and Amos Lavela had 5 tackles each.

Justin Hayworth/The Register Dowling head coach Tom Wilson accepts the championship trophy as his team starts to celebrate their 38-31 victory over Iowa City City High during the Class 4A Championship football game at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls Friday night. (Justin Hayworth/The Des Moines Register)

The state title was the first for Tom Wilson. His three previous trips ended in defeat. It also was the first for Dowling since the 2000 and 2001 campaigns, neither Wilson, or coaching legend Jim Williams were around for.

One fun view for me was see the Dowling team rush the field, including assistant coach Craig McClain do a somersault to midfield.

Dave let the Whoa Baby fly and we were in business for a happy post game show. Thanks to Brian Morris for chasing down the players and coaches from the tunnel and bring than back into microphone range.

The Maroons set a school record for wins at 14.

They open against Valley on August 19 to start the 2011 campaign. We’ll worry about that later. These 31 seniors went out on a big note.

Here’s a look at the No, Its Iowa blog post of the game. Good video by Jesse Gavin and the hoisting of the trophy.

IowaPrepFanatic.com posted this story including some post game interviews as well from this epic battle.

As always, huge thanks to Romelle Slaughter for all the work on Twitter.com/KWKYSports and the in-game stats and spotting. He truly is the man.

Return trip for unfinished business

The UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls.

Since about 7:15p on November 13th, 2009, underclassmen players of the West Des Moines Dowling Catholic football vowed to be on the same UNI-Dome turf a year later and take that final step to the championship game and win the title.

Gentlemen, your opportunity is here. What will you do with it?

There’s a team sharing the same route to the UNI-Dome from the CIML Central, the Ankeny Hawks.

The same Hawk team in name the Maroons clobbered back on October 1st, 42-0. That game featured a great performance by the Tom Wilson coached bunch.

The Maroons forced 4 turnovers, 2 on special teams and could do no wrong, while the Hawks struggled to move the football gaining only 76 yards rushing and 73 yards passing.

But things are different this time.

Ankeny had a chance to heal key players, fix what went wrong and beating a team for the second time in a season is always tough.

Sure, some of that is coach speak, but much of it true.

Coach Jerry Pezzetti told me earlier this week they know what mistakes they made the first time around. They know they have some holes to fix and they’ve addressed them. There’s also some new players in new positions, but in reality, Ankeny football has gone back to being Ankeny football, which means they are running it the ‘ole Ankeny way, misdirection.

Pezzetti is in his 49th year of coaching with a career record of 349-139-1. He’s won 289 games at Ankeny. Tom Wilson is in his 19th year as a head coach with the last 6 at Dowling Catholic. His career record is 149-51 and 58-11 wearing the Maroon and White.

Justin Hayworth/The Register Ankeny's Joel Lanning tries to elude Urbandale's Jordan Augustine in the first quarter during their Class 4A playoff game at Frerichs Filed in Urbandale Friday night. (Justin Hayworth/The Des Moines Register

Ankeny running back Rob Myers suffered an injury during the season and the post-season, but he’s back in the starting line up both on offense and defense. He’ll be the first one through with the speedy Carter Brandt right behind, and if those two don’t get the ball, look for QB Joel Lanning to keep the ball. Lanning has been the team’s leading rusher (Johnston 10-68 and Ottumwa 11-53) but had 19 carries against Urbandale with Carter Brandt getting 96 yards on 13 carries.

Also look for more carries by Joe Bredice, another senior pushed into double duty to get the job done.

Justin Hayworth/The Register Ankeny's Carter Brandt slips by Urbandale's Gabriel Moreno for a touchdown during their Class 4A playoff game at Frerichs Filed in Urbandale Friday night. (Justin Hayworth/The Des Moines Register)

One thing that is consistent in the Ankeny offensive scheme since the Dowling drubbing is even number of carries among players. Against Johnston, Lanning had 10 carries, Brandt, Trevor Egli and Jordan Studer all carrying the ball 8 times. Rob Myers was right there with 6 touches.

Coming into the Week 6 matchup, Ankeny ran the ball an average of 41 plays and passed it 12 times a game. Since Dowling, the average dropped to 36 carries and 9.4 passes per contest. Not a big change in offense, just fewer offensive plays.

The Hawks are 4-1 in the game following the Dowling Catholic matchup with a win over Johnston and close loss to Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln before beating Ottumwa (5-4), Waukee (4-6) and Urbandale (5-6) in the road to the Dome. Waukee and Urbandale were 3-6 going into the playoffs.

The Maroons beat Marshalltown (3-6), 7-3 WDM Valley and 9-2 Ames to get back to the campus of the University of Northern Iowa’s sports complex.

If the Hawks win, they’re back in the title game for the first time since being runner-up in 2007. A Dowling win puts the Maroons back in the title game for the first time since 2001 when they completed back to back championships.

Coach Pezzetti told his players this week they have a shot and need to commit fewer errors if they want to win this game. He says his team has a different attitude since that last matchup and know how quickly the game can change.

This time, they hope they are on the side the game that puts them in control.

Our pregame show on AM1150 begins at 6p Friday night. There is no internet streaming of the game, per IAHSAA rules. We will do our best to update drives, scoring and stats on our Twitter feed at http://www.Twitter.com/KWKYSports. Kickoff is set for 730, but we are following the City High (Iowa City) and Bettendorf playoff game. The winners play next Friday in Cedar Falls.

A couple of storylines to follow Friday night: QB Connor Bravard is 98 yards short of 1,000 rushing yards for the season. Dalton Parrott is 55 yards short of 1,000 for the 2010 campaign.

Also, Bravard’s cousin is Ankeny’s big tackle, Cameron Griffith.

For Dave Marcoulier, Brian Morries, Romelle Slaughter and Tim Burrow, I’m Paul Yeager, thanks for reading and listening.

Dome-Bound with authority

You got the sense Friday night that West Des Moines Dowling Catholic had something to prove Friday night in their quarterfinal football game with Ames High School.

This was the same team that escaped in overtime against arch-rival West Des Moines Valley just five days before on the same Williams Stadium field turf. This time there was little doubt who the better team was on Friday.

By Nirmalendu Majumdar/The Tribune Ames defensive back Luke Swalla wraps up Dowling wide receiver Eric Lee during the first quarter Friday in Des Moines.

The Maroons picked off the second pass of the game and cashed it in for points 4 plays later and never looked back sprinting to a 48-10 win. Eric Lee made the big first play against and Valley and against Ames, he stepped in front of a Kyle Anderson pass to get the first turnover of the game.

The Maroons would be in the end zone just four plays later after the hero of Monday’s game, Dalton Parrott into the house. The 4 play, 55 yard drive was one 8 scoring drives for the boys in Maroon and White.

The defense came up big again on the next series forcing a punt after only 6 positive yards over 5 plays. Two of those plays were running, the first to Hansen Breitling, the other, a sack of QB Anderson. The Little Cyclones would only rush the ball 3 times in the first half. The third ‘rush’ was another sack of Anderson. KWKY Analyst Dave Marcoulier kept saying how rare that was in high school, let alone any level to not be running the football anymore than that. Ames would finish was 12 rushes for 21 yards, but 9 of those came in mop up duty in the continuous clock of the 4th quarter.

Not only was the rush defense working, but the pass defense came to play. Anderson was looking at all his receivers, but none could break free. 5 Ames receivers all caught multiple passes with Nathan Cruise, Adam Maher and Bo Brammer all catching 5 passes. But only Thomas McKiernan found the end zone for his team. Anderson would finish with 24-42 passing for 244 yards and 2 INTs. The Little Cyclones only had 21 rushing yards to push their total offense to 265 yards.

BILL NEIBERGALL/THE REGISTER Dowling Catholic's #27 Dalton Parrott, right, gave a stiff arm to Ames' #16 Jake Mills, left, after Parrott escaped from Ames's #8 Ryan Griffith, on the ground in second half action in Class 4-A football quarterfinal playoff game at Williams Stadium on Friday night, Nov. 5th.

The saying goes a great defense is a great offense, and the Maroons used that theme Friday night using sustained drives to keep the Ames offense off the field. The second offensive series covered 51 yards in 9 plays (Connor Bravard 1 yd TD run), 7 plays, 75 yards (Bravard to Dalton Parrott 45 yard TD run) to end a 21-0 first quarter.

Then the Maroons used 13 plays to cover 68 yards capped by Dalton Parrott’s 2 yard run. But that was made possible by a 20 yard pass catch by Andrew Pick. Dowling would go to the locker room leading 28-10.

BILL NEIBERGALL/THE REGISTER Dowling Catholic's #46 Andrew Pick, left, broke away from tackle attempt of Ames' #25 Jordan Best, right.

The big play machine came out in the 2nd half as it only took 4 plays to get back into the end zone as Parrott scampered 28 yards for the score. But one of the most exciting plays of the game was a great scramble by Bravard and the line holding blocks and then downfield blocks as Parrott caught the safety valve pass and then went 64 yards for the score. In reality, he ran about 84 yards as Bravard was almost back to his ten when he got rid of the ball. That fifth touchdown of Parrott’s got the continuous clock running and Bravard would end the scoring on a 5 yard run late in the 3rd quarter.

BILL NEIBERGALL/THE REGISTER Dowling Catholic quarterback #10 Connor Bravard, center, pick up big yards on a run against Ames.

Bravard would finish 13 of 18 passing for 228 yards and take 13 carries for 94 yards and two scores. Parrott has 21 carries and 151 yards. Eric Lee caught 5 of those passes for 83 yards.

Take out a couple of runs for losses late in the 4th quarter and the Maroons would have finished with 500 yards total offense.

So, for the second straight year, the Maroons go marching to the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls with a 12-0 record and a date in the semi-final game. This time, it is Ankeny that awaits. The Hawks escaped the upstart Urbandale J-Hawks. Ankeny and Dowling met in week 6 (game 7) and it was not pretty for Ankeny as Dowling rolled to a 42-0 win. Turnovers were a big part of that game.

But things are different right now. The Hawks are healthy, they’ve abandoned much of the passing game and gone back to the great rushing attack they’re historically known for. Ankeny lost to Indianola, Dowling Catholic and Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln this season. It is their first trip to Cedar Falls in two seasons. They know the way, the lights, the heat, the intensity and what is at stake, date in the finals with either City High of Iowa City or Bettendorf. Either the Little Hawks or Bettendorf are also familiar with the UNI-Dome.

Friday’s 730p game will not stream on KWKY.com, but will only be heard on AM1150 in Des Moines. That is an association rule, not KWKY.

Little Cyclones love the air, want redemption

Friday’s weather forecast is a cold one. A night with some wind, some cold and a warm bus ride to Cedar Falls and the UNI-Dome is on the line. Also for DCHS, the shot at a second-straight 12-win season.

Ames comes to East High’s Williams Stadium looking to advance out of the quarterfinals, unlike in 2008 when Ankeny stopped the Little Cyclones. Or last year when West Des Moines Dowling Catholic stopped  the Little Cyclones season in the sub-state game with a 31-27 win. Ames was the 16th seed and had a record of 3-6, Dowling was 9-0 and the top seed in western Iowa. These teams have a strong post season history with Dowling beating Ames in the 1998 semifinals 28-20 and in the 1995 semis, 35-34.

This year, the Maroons are again top seed who barely survived against Valley on Monday night, 23-20 in OT.

By Amy Vinchattle/The Tribune Ames' Kyle Anderson tries to run though a tackle by Sioux City East linebacker Brad Stapleton Monday in Ames.

Again this season the Maroons are perfect, this time carrying a 11-0 record, but the Cyclones are 9-2. Their QB  situation has been consistent all year with Kyle Anderson starting all year, not being a mid-season adjustment.

Just like season, the team clicked with Anderson under center or out of the shot-gun formation. Anderson is big at 6-2, 200 lbs and can throw the football wherever he wants to.  He’s 198 of 324 for 2275 yards passing for 15 touchdowns. He’s not afraid to tuck the ball and run either with 495 yards on 108 carries including a 49 yard touchdown run in the 1st quarter against Sioux City East on Monday night.

By Nirmalendu Majumdar/The Tribune Ames High returning starters, from left, Kyle Anderson, Nathan Cruise, John Elsenbast, Dane Jensen, Luke Swalla, Tony Rush and Darin Blum will lead the Little Cyclones this season, starting with Friday’s season opener at Des Moines North. The Polar Bears were winless in 2009, scoring the leas points (64) in Class 4A and allowing the most (399).

Anderson has a lot of targets to spread the ball to. He’s got 3 receivers with 30 catches in Adam Maher (48-613 6 TDs), Darin Blum (33-437 2 TDs) and Nathan Cruise (31-437 4 TDs). Plus another receiver with 22 catches for 210 yards in Bo Brammer and Corey Thompson the running back with 17 catches and 127 yards plus Thomas McKiernan with 14 grabs and 113 yards. So, this team can throw the football to a lot of targets. Anderson also plays basketball as he was the first guy off the bench during last year’s state title run that included some guy named Harrison Barnes.

Dowling has Amarah Darboh with 35 catches, Eric Lee 27 and Ben Boesen with 15 grabs for a little comparison.

Thompson gets the majority of the work in the backfield with 122 carries and 607 yards and 6 scores. Also look for Hansen Breitling to get significant carries Friday night as he’s run the ball 48 times for 261 yards and 4 TDs.

The offense alone concerns Maroon head coach Tom Wilson a lot, a team that can throw the ball all over the field.

The defense is a 4-2-5 for Ames. They put a little smaller look up front, or as Coach Bruce Vertanen says, a lot of safety bodies put playing outside their size that all love to play football.

The heart of the defense is Nate Cruise. The 6-1, 190 pound senior has 70 tackles and has returned two interceptions for touchdowns this season. Coach Vertanen calls Cruise one of the best he’s coached during his 20 years at Ames High. Cruise will take every snap on defense and about 2 of 3 on offense. He takes most snaps at linebacker but could play anywhere on the field if needed.

By Amy Vinchattle/The Tribune Ames defensive back Davis Dixon runs after making an interception against Sioux City East Monday in Ames.

Safety Davis Dixon had a huge return against SC East that sealed the win for the Little Cyclones.

Coach Vertanen says his team matches up well with Dowling and says the Maroons are a complete team.

The Little Cyclones two losses came against Ankeny (Week 2, 20-7) and Fort Dodge (Week 5, 30-28). They opened the playoffs by beating DM East 51-14 and then disposing of Sioux City East and the Alex Imming show 24-14.

Our pregame begins at 6p on AM 1150 KWKY. This will be the last game we can stream on KWKY.com this football season as IAHSAA rights come into play for semi-finals and finals at the UNI-Dome. Maybe you’ll hear Dave “Wahoo” Marcoulier make another famous call. We hope sideline reporter Brian Morris stays warm and Romelle Slaughter, fresh off his write-up on Des Moines’ Juice for his Twitter abilities, will be active on our feed of Twitter.com/KWKYSports and chasing scores down for the broadcast.

The winner of this game will plays either upstart Urbandale or Ankeny. That game is at Frerichs Field. The semi-final game is in Cedar Falls next Friday night.

My name is Paul Yeager, see you at 6 on the radio.

Again, with the Valley talk

Week Zero seems like an eternity ago. That’s because, it was. 72 actually.

Go back to August 20, 2010. That’s the night Dowling Catholic and West Des Moines Valley opened up the 2010 season.

Some coaches, players, fans, media were saying playing this epic battle this early in the season isn’t a good idea.

Lisa Fernandez/The Register Valley makes their way onto the field during their game against Lincoln at Valley Stadium in West Des Moines Wednesday October 27, 2010. This was the first round playoffs for CIML football.

Those who thought it was too early are getting their wish. This time it will be November 1 for the rematch in the second round of the Iowa High School Athletic Association football playoffs. Valley beat Lincoln and Dowling beat Marshalltown 56-14 in the their opening round games.

Dowling dominated the first contest as many questions were looming as the season opened up. How will Connor Bravard do under center? How will the new defense gel? How will Valley respond following a “disappointing” by Valley standards season?

Darboh goes up for the reception in Week 0.

Bravard had a great start to the season with 101 yards rushing and 92 yards passing and he didn’t play much in the 2nd half as the Maroon defense also came to play allowing a single score in the game. Many of Bravard’s yards came on a hail mary play before the half when Amara Darboh grabbed the ball out of thin air. Also special teams were special that night in the 34-7 win for Dowling.

Coach Gary Swenson‘s Tigers used two quarterbacks that night, one the starter (and current starter) Jeff Pullen and backup Connor Blythe. Pullen has been the primary QB the last few weeks. Pullen is 54 of 88 passing for 517 yards, 1 TD and 4 INTs. He’s rushed it 52 times for 18 yards and 2 TDs.

The Tigers come in 7-3 with losses to Dowling (34-7), Ames (24-3) and Fort Dodge (15-12). All three of those teams made the playoffs and only the Dodgers have been eliminated.

Valley put together wins against Ottumwa (playoff qualifier), Indianola (playoff qualifier), Marshalltown (playoff qualifier), SC West, Mason City and Waukee (playoff qualifier). The Maroons also had 8 of 9 opponents make the post season.

The Tigers have outscored their opponents 276-94 or 27.6 to 9.4 points per game. The Maroons have put up 447 points and allowed 60 points per contest.

Lisa Fernandez/The Register Valley #5 Martin Looney dives to gain a few more yards during their game against Lincoln at Valley Stadium in West Des Moines Wednesday October 27, 2010. This was the first round playoffs for CIML football.

Des Moines Lincoln was the first round opponent of the Tigers and this one was close the entire way with Valley running out the clock to win 27-21. Running back Martin Looney is now the clear workhorse of this team with 31 carries for 249 and 3 touchdowns again Lincoln to up his season total to 178 carries for 1307 yards and 10 rushing touchdowns. As a team, the Tigers have gained 2310 yards on 405 carries for 28 TDs. The passing game is less than half that with 158 passes with 81 completions for 917 yards, 5 TDs and 5 INTs.

It is hard to beat a team twice in the same season. But you know the Maroons want to prove they can do it again.

Our broadcast pregame begins at 6p on AM 1150 KWKY or KWKY.com from Williams Stadium. That last fact has been a big talking point about this game as many outside of Dowling Catholic questioned the location. John Naughton of the Des Moines Register blogged this earlier in the week. There’s a good point about not playing Valley at Valley Stadium and being the ‘home’ team, to only have to sit on the visitors side. Drake Stadium is booked. Other options were not options, so this game will be at East High’s stadium. It is good enough for a university team (Grand View). Plus, East has been very accommodating. The press box is indoors and there’s plenty of seating. Kickoff is at 7p.

Tune us in on the drive in and drive home to hear color commentator Dave Marcoulier, sideline reporter Brian Morris and myself get you ready for kickoff and to have post game interviews and analysis. Romelle Slaughter will be active on Twitter.com/KWKYSports and chasing scores down for the broadcast.

The winner of this game will play the winner of Sioux City East and Ames. If Ames wins, the game will be at Williams Stadium. If SC East wins, get the maps out for a road trip to Sioux City on Friday night.

My name is Paul Yeager, see you at 6 on the radio.