Posts

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.

Maroons Host Roughriders for Home Finale

DMRoosevelt_logo dsm-dowling-ia

On the west side of Des Moines, Roosevelt High is hungry for a post-season berth. They have not made the playoffs since 1996. They’ll have a chance to not only inch towards that goal, but to also spoil Dowling Catholic’s senior night.

The Roughriders and the Maroons will meet for a Class 4A District 2 game Friday night as the CISN Game of the Week, presented by CenturyLink.

Dowling (6-1 overall, 3-0 district) has a 1-game lead in the district race over Johnston and Lewis Central, both at 2-1. Roosevelt is tied with Sioux City East at 1-2. The next two weeks for the Roughriders (3-4, 1-2) are crucial. A win against Dowling and Lewis Central will build their case for the 4th playoff spot from District 2. But that is all contingent on Sioux City East losing one or both of their final games (vs. Des Moines North and at Johnston).

Running back Martavian Hall (136 rushes, 735 yards, 9 touchdowns) and receiver Jordan Johnson (28 receptions for 451 yards and 3 touchdowns) lead the Riders. Quarterback Michael Settle is 70-120 for 907 yards, have thrown for 5 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. Prince Krah, Harley Davidson, and Logan Hoile lead the Riders’ defense with a combined 50 tackles between them.

Dowling looks to close out their home portion of the season undefeated and send out senior stars Ryan Boyle, Max Morris, Jo Jo Jok, and others with a bang. Sophomore Cole Deskin and senior Max Kasap has kept the Maroons’ rushing game in sync with Boyle after replacing an injured Isaiah Patton. Kasap has rushed 31 times for 233 yards and Deskin carried the ball 51 times for 288 yards.

The Dowling defense hasn’t missed a beat, even with Max Morris being out for the last two games, giving up a combined 16 points.

Can the Roughriders “Cowboy Up” and get a program-defining win over Dowling, or will the Maroons send their 39 seniors out in style with another dominating performance?

Who:  Des Moines Roosevelt (3-4) at #3 West Des Moines Dowling Catholic (6-1)

Where: Valley Stadium, West Des Moines, Iowa

When: Friday, October 17, 7:30 pm kickoff (freshman play first)

The Facts: Last week, Dowling defeated Johnston 50-13, while Roosevelt handled Des Moines North, 51-0. Roosevelt and SC East are tied for third in the District 2 race at 1-2. This will be the first meeting between both teams since September 18, 2009, when Dowling defeated Roosevelt, 63-0.

Things to watch:

  • Will Roosevelt put it all together for a program-building win?
  • Will Dowling have a let down or ease off the pedal for Senior Night?
  • Speed makes a difference and will the Rough Riders run past the Maroons?
  • 39 Dowling seniors have only lost once the last two years on varsity.

Des Moines Roosevelt – Project Starting Lineups

Offensive starters – QB Michael Settle, RB Martavian Hall and Zayne Smith, WR Jordan Johnson and Daniel Luckett, TE Luke Donnelly, T Sunday Deng and Brock Stillmonks, G Jack Rollison and John Hawkins, C Anderson Ruble

Defensive starters – Luke Donnelly DE, Victor Wong DT, Nick Ballard DT, John Hawkins DE, Tanner Murray OLB, Chance Slinger LB, Nathaniel Bolden LB, Dane Vobrich OLB, Prince Krah DB, Daniel Lucket CB, Logan Hoile S.

Special Teams: P Luke Sutherland, K Caleb Shudak, KO Return Caleb Shudak and Main Thomas

Dowling Catholic – Projected Lineups

Offensive starters – QB Ryan Boyle; TB Max Kasap, FB Gray Gochenour; SE Eric Fardal; FL Charlie Schulte; C Cole Wymore, G Joe Brett and Kevin Vaughn-Carber, T Elijah Swehla and Conner McPhee, TE Ben McNeal

Defensive starters – FS Nick Wilson, CB Dante Campero and Michael Zachary, LB Kevin McMurray, Ross Otte, Rodney Harris, and Gray Gochenour; DE Brawnte Wells and Jo Jo Jok; T Ross Carpenter; NG Quinn Sonntag,

Special Teams- P/K Nick McLellan, Holder Frankie Mauro, LS Quinn Sonntag, PR Michael Zachary, KR Joe Gorsche

We’ll go on the air live on Central Iowa Sports Network (centraliowasportsnetwork.com) with the pregame at 7p CDT and the kickoff at 7:30 pm.

Join Paul Yeager, Taylor Bennett and Jim Kirby for the call of the game.  You can follow us on Twitter @CISportsNet for game updates throughout the evening

Our Scheels Audio Game of the Week is a great one with Dar Danielson calling the Valley Tigers traveling to Ankeny Centennial for a match up with the Jaguars.   Our partners at High School Cube will have the live online stream of other area games of interest and we’ll be offering links to games in eastern Iowa as well through QC Sports Net.

CenturyLink_logoScheels_logo