Valley beats Dowling in Iowa high school football playoffs Class 5A semifinals

Posted by Admin November 16, 2024 Football

CEDAR FALLS — It was the Battle for West Des Moines, just in Cedar Falls this time.

Dowling and Valley faced off in the state semifinal round of the Iowa high school football playoffs Friday, and the Tigers came out on top.

Thanks to a second-half comeback — including an interception by Jayden McGregory and a go-ahead touchdown from an injured Zay Robinson — Valley beat Dowling, 28-21, and advanced to the championship game.

“We got off to a slow start, and then it took a big play by McGregory on the pick to really get the momentum swung back to our side,” Valley coach Gary Swenson said postgame. “We just gutted it out there at the end. I’m really proud of our kids because that was a hard-fought game.”

Defense led both teams in the first quarter.

Neither squad found paydirt in the first 12 minutes, and when Valley managed to get close, the Maroons’ defense ended the trip to the red zone early.

The Tigers drove to the 18-yard line – after catching a punt in Dowling teritory – but when Drake DeGroote attempted a 17-yard pass toward the end zone, Dowling’s Will Barreto intercepted it instead.

Dowling took over from its own 17-yard line and drained the remaining 37 seconds of the first quarter off the clock. The scoring drought ended midway through the second quarter when Ra’Shawd Davis spun around one defender and pushed another into the end zone for a 12-yard rushing score.

The Maroons led, 7-0, with 7:26 remaining in the first half.

Dowling’s defense stopped Valley on its next possession, and the Maroons got the ball back on the Tigers’ 42-yard line. On the first play of the drive, Davis rushed 10 yards but absorbed a hit out of bounds – a penalty that tacked an additional 15 yards onto his run.

A few plays later, quarterback Joey Nahas took the ball four yards for another Dowling touchdown and the Maroons took a 14-0 lead with 4:09 left in the half.

Valley’s dynamic receiver group didn’t want to go to the locker room down two touchdowns, though. DeGroote completed two deep passes to get the Tigers in scoring position: a 24-yarder to Jayden Brown and a 35-yard pass to Jayden McGregory, who Dowling’s Parker Pearson tackled at the one-yard line.

Bowling ball running back King Coleman punched in Valley’s first touchdown on the next play, and the Tigers edged closer, cutting Dowling’s lead in half, 14-7.

The scoring was much less spread out in the second half.

Valley picked up the pace on the first possession, with Coleman rushing for 32 combined yards on the first three plays. DeGroote and McGregory connected on several lengthy passes, but it was Brown who finally found his way into the end zone thanks to a trick play. Running back Darius Mason took a toss in the backfield from DeGroote, stopped on a dime and threw an 11-yard strike to a wide-open Brown for the game-tying score.

Dowling recaptured the lead on their ensuing possession, marching 72 yards on eight plays and capping the drive with a 42-yard touchdown pass from Parker DePhillips to Jakob Skau. The Maroons held a 21-14 advantage with 3:13 left in the third quarter.

But that didn’t last.

Coleman scored his second touchdown of the night on a 10-yard run, tying the game with 33 seconds remaining in the third frame.

Then, the Tigers did something they hadn’t done all game: took the lead.

The Maroons drove down to the Tigers’ 12-yard line, but a pass from Nahas intended for Trey Wilson was picked off by McGregory. He broke loose – and juked one Dowling defender – on a 98-yard return before he was taken down at the one-yard line for the second time.

“He’s a playmaker, and he made some tonight for us,” Swenson said.

Two plays later, DeGroote completed a pass to Robinson in the end zone. Valley was on top, 28-21, with 10:14 left in the fourth.

The Tigers’ defense showed a lot of life on the next drive, despite not having much of a break after the short scoring drive by its offense. Valley forced a three-and-out, and the Tigers’ offense got the ball back on their own 36-yard line.

The teams traded punts yet again after that.

The Tigers’ offense was back out with 2:31 remaining in the fourth and a seven-point lead intact after Valley’s Jarome Horn sacked DePhillips and forced Dowling to punt on fouth-and-18.

Valley ran out the rest of the clock and advanced to the Class 5A championship. The Tigers will take on either Southeast Polk or Iowa City Liberty in Friday’s state title game.

“It means everything,” Swenson said about what making the title game means to the seniors. “You can’t win one if you don’t get to the game. Our goal was just to get there, and we’ll be happy to come back next week.”

(This story was updated to add new information.)

Alyssa Hertel is the college sports recruiting reporter for the Des Moines Register. Contact Alyssa at ahertel@dmreg.com or on Twitter @AlyssaHertel.