Dowling 38, Cedar Rapids Kennedy 21: Ra'Shawd Davis scores five TDs in Maroons win

Dowling Catholic and Cedar Rapids Kennedy football took the field for a matchup between two top-10 teams — No. 2 versus No. 6 — in Class 5A on Saturday, and didn’t disappoint.

In an action-packed matchup, the Maroons came out on top, defeating Kennedy, 38-21.

The Cougars managed to stay in the game, getting within a field goal of Dowling's lead on multiple occasions. But the Maroons responded each time, and that secured the Week 1 win for the team from central Iowa.

Now, the question is: Does this make Dowling the early team-to-beat this year?

“We always have a target and that’s OK,” Dowling coach Tom Wilson said postgame. “Our schedule is so challenging that it can humble you itself. We can get a heck of a lot better than what we were tonight and we’re gonna have to, but it’s a good first step for us and then we’ll go from there.”

Know the name Ra’Shawd Davis from Dowling

It is no surprise, at this point, when the Maroons’ feature several stars on offense.

But the thing with stars is that, sometimes, one shines brighter than the others.

That was the case Saturday, when Dowling running back Ra’Shawd Davis put the scoring load on his back. He was the first, between both teams, to put points on the board, with a touchdown in the final five minutes of the first quarter.

Davis added another touchdown off a kickoff return, and then finished out the second quarter by running in another score. Dowling scored three touchdowns and a field goal in the first half, and all three of the touchdowns are credited to Davis.

That's not where things ended for him. He added two more touchdowns in the second half to seal the victory for the visiting team.

“I thought our offensive line did a really nice job,” Wilson said. “But I think Ra’Shawd made some plays by himself too, and the fullbacks and receivers, at times, blocked really well for him. It was fun to see.”

Even on non-scoring plays, he was a player to watch. His on-field vision is superb, he has a knack for finding a Davis-sized gap, and even when gaps occasionally close, he refuses to make the defense’s job easy, often requiring multiple defenders to take him down.

There are lots of pieces that contribute to Dowling’s offense. But Davis was the showstopper in the first game of the year.

Kennedy’s offensive line cohesive, despite struggles against Dowling

With 6-foot-8, 385-pound recruit Nick Brooks on the offensive line, it’s easy to see why all eyes are on this part of the Cougars offense.

And Brooks lived up to the hype.

He is agile and moves well, especially for his size, and he’s the type of player who flattened opponents and then offered them a hand up. Brooks will certainly be one to watch this season and next.

But the offensive line as a whole connected well. Brooks — along with Austin Raue, Logan Johnson, Braylon Edwards and Andrew Moser — understood how to move as a unit and gave quarterback Vincenzo Gianforte plenty of opportunities, both in the air and on the ground when he kept the ball.

“They’re a good group of kids and physically, they’re as good as any offensive line in the state,” Kennedy coach Brian White said. “We have three seniors and two juniors on that O-line.

“They are a really cohesive group, and we’re gonna have to put the saddle on and ride those five offensive linemen in the future. That’s the ticket to our success offensively.”

There still were some mistakes — and Dowling's offense proved to be too much of a matchup in the first week — but those errors should be ironed out as the season goes on. If or when that happens, Kennedy will be a team to watch.

Alyssa Hertel is the college sports recruiting reporter for the Des Moines Register. Contact Alyssa at ahertel@dmreg.com or on Twitter @AlyssaHertel.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Ra'Shawd Davis leads Dowling football past Cedar Rapids Kennedy, 38-21