Dowling Catholic advances to Iowa high school state championship game with win vs Valley

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CEDAR FALLS — History did not repeat itself, at least not for Dowling Catholic.

Dowling took on West Des Moines Valley in the Class 5A state football semifinals on Nov. 14, with the Maroons facing the same team that handed them their only loss of the year in the season opener.

But the Tigers couldn’t come out on top twice, as Dowling pieced together offense and defense in the second half to take down Valley, 14-10.

“They don’t just give you a free pass to a championship,” Maroons coach Tom Wilson said about Valley. “(Our team) made enough plays against a really, really good team to get there.”

For Dowling, there needed to be impressive performances on offense and defense. The Maroons delivered. Joey Nahas completed eight passes for 151 yards and two touchdowns; Ian Middleton’s 125 rushing yards didn't tell the full story of his contributions.

“He is that guy,” Wilson said. “When we needed a first down, there wasn’t anyone else that was going to carry the football and get us what we needed. He’s a four-year varsity player. He was all business all week, and it just means a lot to him.”

Dowling finished on top, but the Tigers set the tone early, bookending the first drive of the game with a 22-yard kick return from Jayden McGregory and a 29-yard touchdown run from Blake Dorenkamp.

And then the action stalled.

Both teams struggled to get past the opposing defense and downfield, and Dowling and Valley punted five times combined before the end of the first quarter. The Tigers punted on the first possession of the second quarter as well, and they wouldn't get another chance to score before halftime.

The Maroons got the ball back with just under 10 minutes on the clock, and Dowling marched 77 yards downfield on 21 plays. Valley made the stop and then made it again, blocking the Maroons’ field-goal attempt with 18 seconds remaining in the first half. Valley led 7-0 at halftime.

After a slow-moving first half, the third quarter gave the high school football fans in the UNI-Dome some exciting action.

The Maroons punted on their first drive of the second half after Sam Drexler’s 39-yard touchdown was negated by an illegal-formation penalty. But Jeremiah Roberson intercepted Valley quarterback Drake DeGroote on the Tigers’ following possession, and a few plays later Joey Nahas connected with Jimmy Nahas on a fourth-down touchdown pass for Dowling’s first points of the game.

After a couple of punts, Valley settled for a field goal to take a 10-7 lead, but that advantage didn’t last long. On the next drive, Joey Nahas found a wide-open Jeffrey Roberts, who kicked it into high gear for a 69-yard touchdown that gave the Maroons their first lead of the game, 14-10.

And that lead held through the end of the game, as both teams exchanged punts. Dowling’s defense came up big once again, stopping Valley on a fourth-down conversion attempt to claim a spot in the Nov. 21 state title game.

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

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Dowling Catholic beats Valley in Iowa high school football semifinals

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