By: Nathan Bloechl — sports@kilj.com
Dowling Falls, Other State Football Finals:
Arland Bruce picked off the final pass of overtime as the Ankeny Hawks took down Dowling Catholic 31-24 in a double overtime thriller at the UNI Dome last night.
The win for Ankeny moves the Hawks into next week’s Class 4A State Championship — also ending Dowling’s string of consecutive State Title appearances.
The Maroons tied the game in regulation at 17 with just over :45 seconds to play, and while Ankeny drove into field goal range, kicker Max Pelham missed from 44 yards to move the game into extras where the Hawks would prevail.
Ankeny quarterback Jase Bauer was 9-of-15 for 123 yards and two scores while adding another 90 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
Iowa recruit Arland Bruce carried the ball just 12 times but totaled 133 combined yards with one score.
Dowling’s Jaxon Smolik, just a sophomore, ended his night 9-for-15 for 105 yards and two touchdowns.
Ankeny will take on Southeast Polk in next week’s 4A State Championship.
Here’s a look at the full scoreboard from a busy day in Cedar Falls yesterday:
Class A State Semifinals
Regina Catholic 49, Saint Ansgar 28
Grundy Center 34, St. Albert 6
Class 4A State Semifinals
Southeast Polk 50, Pleasant Valley 10
Ankeny 31, Dowling Catholic 24 — 2 OT
Another Busy Day at the UNI Dome Ahead, Today:
Today marks the third and final installment of the semifinal round at the UNI Dome in Cedar Falls.
Here’s the matchups going on today:
Class 1A
9:00—Van Meter vs. South Central Calhoun
12:30—OABCIG vs. Sigourney-Keota
Class 2A
4:00—Central Lyon/George-Little Rock vs. Camanche
7:30—Waukon vs. PCM
The winners will meet next week in the Class 1 and 2A State Championship.
Iowa Rolls Past Minnesota; Iowa State Off:
Tyler Goodson rushed for 142 yards and two touchdowns, and Iowa rolled to a 35-7 win over Minnesota on Friday night in Minneapolis.
Jack Koerner and Riley Moss both had interceptions for the Hawkeyes, which finished with four sacks, including three by Zach VanValkenburg.
Spencer Petras managed to complete just nine passes for 111 yards and a touchdown to Ihmir Smith-Marsette to move to 2-2 and bring the Floyd of Rosedale back to Iowa City.
Iowa will be back in action next Saturday when they travel to Happy Valley to take on Penn State — kickoff time is to be determined.
Meanwhile in Ames, the Iowa State Cyclones will have the weekend off — still sitting atop the Big 12 standings.
Iowa State will host Kansas State next weekend — that game will kick at 3:00 p.m.