Maroons Ride Special Teams and Defense to 51-10 Win
At the beginning, it appeared that Dowling Catholic was still dealing with the hangover from last week’s loss to the Valley Tigers.
The Maroons’ defense and special teams had other plans on this night.
The Maroons blocked a punt, got a safety, ran an interception and a punt return back, and forced a fumble for touchdowns as they reeled off 37 unanswered points to defeat previously unbeaten Lewis Central Titans, 51-10, at Valley Stadium for Homecoming.
Lewis Central scored first with a 13-play, 76 yards drive that ended with quarterback Austin Simmons plunging into the endzone from 1 yard out.
Dowling’s offense continued to sputter and the defense struggled to stop Simmons and his receivers Brian Rew, Michael Brinkman, and Conner Hanafan.
After trading drives, the Titans went three-and-out and was forced to punt on 4th and 7. That was all the Maroons needed to jump-start themselves. Dowling’s Bryan Bisenius blocked Caleb Shudak’s punt and recovered it in the endzone to tie the game 7-7. On the ensuing drive, Simmons was chased out of the pocket and was sacked in the endzone for a safety by Max Morris.
Dowling finally got their offense to score some points on the next drive, going 9 plays 65 yards as Max Kasap took the hand-off from Ryan Boyle for a 12 yard score, going up 16-7. Things went from bad to worse for Council Bluffs Lewis Central as Simmons’ pass was tipped and intercepted by Dante Campero. Campero raced into the endzone for a 42 yard touchdown. After another 3-and-out, Michael Zachary fields a Titans punt and bolts for a 54 yard punt touchdown return.
Dowling forced a fumble and capitalized again, with Cole Deskin’s 5 yard scoring run for a 37-7 lead.
One bright spot for Lewis Central was Caleb Shudak ending the 1st half scoring with a 54 yard field goal for the Titans, as the Maroons took a 37-10 lead into the locker room.
However, DCHS head coach Tom Wilson was quick to point out after the game that penalties were an area for improvement.
The Maroons improve to 4-1 overall and a 1-0 record in the district. Dowling Catholic will stay at home next week for a Class 4A District 2 match up with Sioux City East (5-0).
The Titans (4-1) will host Des Moines North (0-5) in another 4A District 2 contest next Friday.
