Class 5A West Des Moines Dowling roughs Cedar Rapids Kennedy ... and its coach, 34-0

CEDAR RAPIDS — When your head coach gets smoked on the sideline by an opposing player on the very first drive of the game, that might be an indication your team is going to have a bad night.

But truth be told, it was West Des Moines Dowling that had everything to do with Cedar Rapids Kennedy’s 34-0 loss Friday night at Kingston Stadium. The Class 5A third-ranked Maroons are just that good.

Dowling (5-1, 2-0 in District 2) showed off a highly balanced offensive attack and a defense that gave up virtually nothing. Kennedy (3-3, 1-1) never reached Maroons territory in the game, got only as far as its own 43.

“We could never get any rhythm on offense,” said Kennedy Coach Brian White. “It was their defensive line. The three games that we have lost, we have played against really good defensive lines. Waukee, a very good defensive line. Prairie, a good defensive line. This one, probably one of the best lines I have seen in a long time.

“We struggle to sustain blocks right now. To be fair, we are down two offensive linemen who started last year with season-ending injuries. That hurts. But you’ve still got to line up and play, figure out a scheme to move the ball around.”

White had minor surgery on the right outside of his neck earlier this week and was wearing a large bandage because of it. Then Dowling running back Ian Middleton takes a sweep run right and is run out of bounds by a couple of Kennedy defenders, right on the sideline, right at White.

The coach hit the artificial turf hard and stayed down for a few moments. He eventually was walked over to Kennedy’s team bench and given a once or twice over by school trainer Lynn Groth.

She put a new bandage on his neck, and White was ready to go back in, so to speak.

“I’m hurting,” he said. “Took the kid’s facemask right in the neck. Thankfully no stitches popped.”

Dowling scored 17 points in the second quarter for a 17-0 halftime lead. Sophomore running back Grady Pennington scored a touchdown from 15 yards out, and Sam Drexler caught a 57-yard sideline fly pattern for score from quarterback Joey Nahas.

Ryan Kuhn kicked a 28-yard field goal as well, adding a 37-yarder in the second half. Jeffrey Roberts also had touchdown catches of 53 and 16 yards in the second half.

He’s a transfer from Ames who has committed to play for Iowa State.

“I thought we started out like we took a two-hour bus drive,” Dowling Coach Tom Wilson said. “But to he honest with you, against Kennedy you have to expect that. Because they are going to come out and be tough, they are going to come out and be physical. They’re not going to be scared of anybody.

“We had to make the plays to be successful.”

Middleton finished with 112 yards rushing to lead Dowling, which had 243 overall. Nahas completed 13 of 22 passes for 211 yards, five throws each to Roberts and Drexler.

Kennedy was limited to 113 total yards, including 61 yards rushing on 32 attempts.

“I feel bad because our defense played great. They really did,” White said. “But you can’t keep going three and out against a team like that because you’re going to get tired. I saw us get tired. Where we were smoking the run, pretty soon they were getting chunks of six, seven yards. You could just see it melt away.”

West Des Moines Dowling 34, Cedar Rapids Kennedy 0

(At Kingston Stadium)

West Des Moines Dowling 0 17 11 6 — 34

Cedar Rapids Kennedy 0 0 0 0 — 0

Team Statistics

First Downs — Dowling 22, Kennedy 8. Rushes-Yards — Dowling 42-243, Kennedy 32-61. Passing — Dowling 14-24-0-227, Kennedy 9-17-1-52. Total Yards — Dowling 470, Kennedy 113. Punts-Average — Dowling 2-42.0, Kennedy 7-32.0. Penalties-Yards — Dowling 6-60, Kennedy 5-41. Fumbles-Lost — Dowling 1-0, Kennedy 1-0.

Individual Statistics

Dowling — Rushing: Ian Middleton 20-112, Grayson Pennington 8-54, Henry Smid 11-54, Joey Nahas 3-24. Passing: Joey Nahas 13-22-0-211, Ethan La Cava 1-1-0-16, Team 0-1-0-0. Receiving: Jeffrey Roberts 5-92, Sam Drexler 5-81, Leyton Oldfield 2-29, Preston Hofbauer 1-16, Jimmy Nahas 1-8.

Kennedy — Rushing: Damarian Orr 20-72, Jack Hayes 1-4, Louis Smith 3-(minus) 2, Will Woodring 8-(minus) 15. Passing: Will Woodring 9-17-1-52. Receiving: Thierry Boyd 2-13, Deacon Kucera 2-12, Dawson Dougherty 1-9, Atley Gloede 1-9, Brayden Peck 1-5, Lawson Neighbor 1-4, Damarian Orr 1-0.

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