Riders Swing But Maroons Hold Firm, Score Knockout

Dowling Catholic took every punch the Roosevelt Roughriders gave them. In the end, the Maroons were still standing with a convincing 70-21 win in their regular season home finale at Valley Stadium Friday night.  But, the Maroons had to be tired after racking up 730 yards of offense, 452 on the ground and 279 via the air.

Dowling raced out to a 7-0 lead with a 9 yard touchdown run by Gray Gouchenour, with a little over a minute into the game. After a pair of 3 and outs from both teams, Max Kasap (16-144)would hit paydirt for the first of his three touchdowns from 7 yards out. The Maroons were knocking on the door again with 1:15 left in the first quarter, leading 14-0, when Ryan Boyle fumbled the ball on the Riders’ 1 yard line. Roosevelt’s Logan Hoile picks up the ball and ran it 99 yards for a score. The extra point was blocked.

Boyle (21-25, 279 yards, 1 TD) would make up for the fumble early in the second quarter when he dashed for a 21 yard score, and then tossed a 56 yard strike to Joe Gorsche. Gray Gouchenour would score again to push the Maroons lead to 35-6. Charlie Schulte led the Dowling receiving corp with 10 receptions for 110 yards, and Eric Fardal with 6 catches for 98 yards.

Martavian Hall’s 1 yard touchdown plunge cut the lead to 35-14 for the Roughriders (3-5). Max Kasap’s second score would make it a 42-14 halftime lead for the Maroons.

Kasap tacked on his third touchdown of the night with 4:50 left in the third quarter to go up 49-14. Roosevelt would score once more when quarterback Mikal Settles finding receiver Blake Obe for a 69 yard touchdown pass.

Dowling would have their reserves in for most of the third and all of the fourth quarters. Danny Denkinger, Kurt Walding, and Christian Cavan would score three more touchdowns for the Maroons, who are ranked #1 in Class 4A Sports Spotlight poll.

Maroons coach Tom Wilson was excited to see the younger players get onto the field in the second half and play well.

DCHS finishes the regular season on the road next week at Des Moines North, who lost to Sioux City East, 63-2. Then they’ll await playoff pairings. Roosevelt will host Lewis Central, who rallied late to defeat Johnston,  31-28, Friday night.

Our next video game will feature Valley and DM Lincoln. Valley defeated Ankeny Centennial 28-3, while Lincoln scored a mild upset of Hoover, 49-35.