Dowling 4-peats, knocks off Iowa City West, 23-10, in Class 4A title game

CEDAR FALLS — Football can be a complicated game, but sometimes it's kind of simple.

You have an offensive line that averages 276 pounds tackle to tackle, and you're going against a four-man defensive front that averages 205. Your running back weighs 220, more than three of your opponent's four linemen and as much as the other.

Be the play caller here. Run the football, right?

West Des Moines Dowling ran it a lot, getting 194 yards and two touchdowns from Jacob Zachary to quell Iowa City West, 23-10, Friday night at the UNI-Dome in the Class 4A state championship game. That's a four-peat for the Maroons (12-1), something no other big school ever has accomplished.

'It's unbelievable, almost a fairy tale,' said Dowling Coach Tom Wilson. 'There have been doubts each year, really. It's going to end sometime, but these kids were determined it wasn't going to be now.'

Make it a seven-peat in 4A now for Central Iowa. The script has been the same for approaching a decade now: Eastern Iowa's biggest schools taking a loss in the big game.

Back to the 'big' theme here. Having only a six-point lead at halftime, Dowling stopped West (10-3) offensively to begin the second half, then rode their hosses up front to eventually get an 8-yard TD run from sophomore Jayson Murray and a two-score spread.

Zachary did most of the work, running the first four plays of the five-play march for a total of 37 yards.

'We got into a rhythm, we were pushing our linemen, our linemen were blocking their butts off,' Zachary said. 'We just got it going.'

'I just think they figured out our weakness on defense,' said West linebacker Max Brown. 'They definitely had a lot of size on us. I don't know, they got it clicking, they got it going. We tried to rely on our speed (defensively), knowning that if we got locked up with any of those guys, that they would bring us to the ground. We emphasized beating them off the ball, just trying to play sound defense. Yeah, they're scary dudes.'

The Trojans got into the red zone twice offensively in the final half without coming up with any points. After Murray's TD, they drove 93 yards on 15 plays to the Dowling 2, but a screen pass from quarterback Evan Flitz was thrown behind running back Devontae Lane, causing a five-yard loss.

West lined up with three players out far left, three out far right and three in the middle, trying to fool the Maroons, but it didn't work. The Trojans got as far as the Dowling 15 in the final couple minutes but ended up turning the ball over on downs.

'They threw a lot of things at you,' Lane said. 'You never knew what they were doing each play, you could never pick up on who was coming when, what the linemen were doing, whether they were twisting or dropping back in coverage. You just never knew. I credit their defensive coordinators, their defensive players for executing the way they did. They just threw a lot of things at you, one after another. Then when guys would get tired, new guys would come in. They're just a solid team.'

Dowling had safety help over the top of the cornerback covering West star receiver Oliver Martin the entire game, which limited Martin to two catches for 26 yards. QB Evan Flitz completed 22 of 29 passes for 196 yards.

'We didn't quit at all,' West Coach Garrett Hartwig said. 'I'll take this team anywhere.'

A la the start of the second half, Dowling took the opening kickoff of the game and battered its way downfield with Zachary. He had eight carries, accounting for 53 of the drive's 61 yards, including a 1-yard touchdown.

It was special teams that took over for both teams after that.

West got a first down on its initial offensive possession but ended up having to punt from its own 45. That proved problematic when Dowling's Atlias Bell crashed through to block Evan Hermiston's punt, the football flying high and sideways, directly to Dowling's Willie O'Hara, who returned it 28 yards to the West 2.

Zachary busted over from there for his second TD. Dowling went for two points after West was called for encroachment on the extra-point try, but Zachary was stacked up just shy of the goal line.

Momentum then fully swung toward the Trojans when Martin fielded the ensuing kickoff at the 15-yard line at the numbers and broke free untouched for an 85-yard touchdown. The extra point made it a 13-7 game with 3:05 left in the quarter.

Dowling then went three-and-out, West taking over at its own 32 after a Maroons punt. The Trojans methodically moved downfield with runs and passes, having a 1st-and-goal at the 8, only to lose two yards on three plays and settling for a 26-yard Lucas Karwal field goal.

The 16-play drive took a whopping seven minutes and 17 seconds off the clock, making it a 13-10 game with 5:55 until the half. Karwal's ensuing kickoff deflected off one of Dowling's up men, with West's Brennon Keen recovering at the Maroons 41.

The Trojans appeared in solid shape to take their first lead, but tight end Dillon Doyle fumbled at the Dowling 13 after catching a 15-yard pass from Flitz over the middle. Dowling then used the pass successfully for the first time all night, driving to the West 6 with 13 seconds remaining.

Three incompletions by quarterback Ben Wilson followed, and Dallas McCarthy stroked through a 23-yard field goal as the half expired, Dowling leading, 16-10.