Dowling Catholic erases 14-point deficit to defeat Ankeny Centennial in dramatic fashion

We should have known we’d be up for a wild game with the harvest moon in the sky on Friday night, but nothing could have prepared us for what we saw between Ankeny Centennial and Dowling Catholic under the bright orange globe shining down upon Ankeny Stadium.

Trailing 24-17, Centennial faced a fourth-and-goal from Dowling’s 2-yard line. With just a few seconds left, it was the final play of the game. Trenton Smith dropped back to pass and was looking to throw near the closest pylon to his right.

Dowling’s senior defensive back Kenyi James stepped in front of the ball and took it to the end zone to give the Maroons a 30-17 win and maintain their undefeated record.

There was almost a bit of hesitation from James when he initially caught the ball, an uncertainty on whether he should take advantage of all the green grass in front of him or just slip out of bounds.

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But ultimately, he soaked in the moment and ended the night in style.

“I was debating whether I should just stop or score, but I just had to,” James said. “It’s just a thing that had to get done.”

Dowling was slugged in the mouth to open this game, trailing 14-0 at the end of the first quarter, but the Maroons ground out a win in regulation.

Here are three takeaways from Dowling’s gritty win on the road:

Centennial owns line of scrimmage in first half, provides a wake-up call for Dowling

Ankeny Centennial was up to the test from the first whistle, with a heavy dose of Elijah Porter and Braedon Jackson in the run game to score back-to-back touchdowns in the first quarter and take a 14-0 lead.

Porter scored both of those touchdowns, but Jackson’s efforts gave a thunder-and-lightning situation for the Jaguars throughout.

Dowling's Ra’Shawd Davis has been exposing front sevens all season long. However, the Jaguars were able to largely limit Davis in the early going. And even though he scored three touchdowns Friday night and was the star once again, every yard he gained was an absolute grind.It was an unexpected turn of events to see Centennial win on the line of scrimmage in the first half, but Dowling eventually slowed the Jaguars’ run game to inch its way back into the game.

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“We fight hard,” James said. “It’s a four-quarter game. At halftime, we were not worried. We knew we were going to get back in this game."The early deficit was certainly a wake-up call, but one that Dowling coach Tom Wilson can use to teach his team some lessons and show they can overcome adversity.

Ra’Shawd Davis continues to make defenses pay

It tough sledding all night long for Davis, but he took down the Jaguars four, five and six yards at a time on his way to rushing for about 200 yards and three touchdowns.Wilson said the game plan was to use Davis to wear down Centennial’s defense. Down 14-0, he stuck to that plan and it paid off even though the Maroons could have easily started to chuck the ball around.

“It was going to be a physical game, part of the goal was to wear them down,” Wilson said. “I was worried we weren’t going to get that opportunity just because they got out fast.”

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Wilson made the right choice by keeping the game in the hands of Davis. Particularly in the second half, Davis touched the ball on nearly every down to close the gap and eventually take the lead and the win.

And there was almost an extra sense of hunger from the running back tonight. He showed a lot of raw emotion on the field, and was even demanding the ball late in the first half when Dowling was trying to score quickly to end the first half.

“Even when we only had one timeout left at the end of the half and we had to throw the ball, he was mad because we weren’t running the ball,” Wilson said.

A tip of the hats should go to Dowling's offensive line, which despite having a tough assignment against a strong Centennial front gave Davis running lanes all night long. Centennial’s secondary proved to be a difficult puzzle to solve for the passing game, but this offensive line with Davis behind it provided enough juice to make a comeback possible.

Behind this offensive line with Division I talent and a star running back navigating his way through, Dowling is in a strong spot as the postseason nears.

Centennial suffers third heartbreaking loss of season but shows it can hang with the best

It was Ankeny in Week 1, then Southeast Polk and Dowling Catholic after that, providing crushing blows to Centennial late in games.

One thing is clear: Centennial is a very good football team. The Jaguars have some dynamic offensive players with the running backs and a dynamic duo with Trenton Smith and Max Snyder in the passing game.

The secondary with guys like Connor Welsch is in a great spot as well. They can measure up to just about anyone with that unit. And Friday showed they can also hang with the best of the best on the offensive and defensive lines.

If the Jaguars can find a way to keep their foot on the gas through all 48 minutes of a game, watch out for Ankeny Centennial to surprise some people in the postseason. They've got the guys to make something special happen.

Eli McKown covers high school sports and wrestling for the Des Moines Register. Contact him at Emckown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @EMcKown23.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Dowling Catholic erases 2 touchdown deficit to beat Ankeny Centennial