Waukee Northwest wins defensive battle over Cedar Rapids Kennedy, 9-0

CEDAR RAPIDS — This was not your typical 5-4 football team.

No, Waukee Northwest’s record wasn’t great by any stretch. But consider the schedule the Wolves had to play.

Ankeny, West Des Moines Dowling and Southeast Polk, three of the top four ranked teams in Class 5A? Check, check, check.

Another top-10 team in Johnston? Yep, played it, too.

Three other playoff qualifiers in West Des Moines Valley, Ankeny Centennial and Sioux City East? Oh, yeah, played them all.

“This game was a testament to our schedule,” running back Brady Grisham said, after his club knocked off Cedar Rapids Kennedy, 9-0, in a 5A first-rounder at Kingston Stadium that was played in a tad under two hours. “This was a really good team we played, and they came out and punched us in the mouth. It helped. Our schedule has benefited us a lot.”

Grisham rushed 33 times for 215 yards here. Kennedy’s defense did a great job virtually the entire game bottling him and the Northwest offense up, but his 63-yarder on the first play of the second half set up a field goal, and four effective runs after a Kennedy turnover at midfield set up quarterback Sam Johnson’s 2-yard touchdown sneak late in the third quarter.

That was it. Kennedy missed a field goal and turned the football over three times in the second half, including an interception in the end zone early in the fourth quarter.

“Play fast and play hard,” said Kennedy’s Ryker Stelling. “We made some mistakes, and (Grisham) got some big runs. Otherwise, we were able to man up and stop him. Sometimes. Sometimes we didn’t. But I thought we played a hell of a game.”

Kennedy Coach Brian White agreed.

“They played their butts off,” he said. “They played tough. And you know what, Waukee (Northwest) played a grinder of a schedule. Easily the toughest schedule in the state.”

This was a grinder of a game the entire way. There were 117 combined yards in the first half, 379 total.

Kennedy (7-3) just could not get anything going rusing, the Cougars held to 46 yards on 30 attempts. Quarterback Vincenzo Gianforte was harassed all night, even on throws he completed.

Gianforte suffered an ankle injury in the fourth that knocked him out of the game.

“Proud of these kids,” White said. “It just didn’t happen tonight. It didn’t happen.”

This game continued the absolute dominance of suburban Des Moines schools over their Eastern Iowa counterparts. Other first-rounders Friday night saw Iowa City High lose to Johnston in overtime and previously undefeated Pleasant Valley fall to West Des Moines Valley.

Only Cedar Falls was able to pick up a win for the eastern part of the state, and that was just 14-10 over Ankeny Centennial. The suburban Des Moines teams have a definitive facilities and resources advantage over most everyone over here, leading White to make a strong comment about a bond issue that will be voted on by Cedar Rapids residents that would, among many other things, enhance athletics facilities for the three public schools in town: Kennedy, Jefferson and Washington.

“I will tell you point blank, we’ve got a vote coming up to invest in the Cedar Rapids Community School District, and it’s going to get shot down,” he said. “And those same people who will vote against it are going to ask ‘Why can’t you beat the Des Moines (suburban) teams?’ Period. Because it’s true.”

Waukee Northwest 9, Cedar Rapids Kennedy 0

AT KINGSTON STADIUM

Waukee Northwest 0 0 9 0-9

C.R. Kennedy 0 0 0 0-0

Team Statistics

First Downs - Waukee Northwest 10, Cedar Rapids Kennedy 6. Rushing-Yards - Waukee Northwest 44-192, Cedar Rapids Kennedy 30-46. Passing - Waukee Northwest 5-10-1-29. Cedar Rapids Kennedy 9-22-1-112. Total Yards - Waukee Northwest 221, Cedar Rapids Kennedy 158. Punts-Average - Waukee Northwest 6-26.7, Cedar Rapids Kennedy 11-34.2. Penalties - Waukee Northwest 1-10, Cedar Rapids Kennedy 3-20. Fumbles-Lost - Waukee Northwest 0-0, Cedar Rapids Kennedy 2-2.

Individual Statistics

Rushing - Waukee Northwest: Brady Grisham 33-215, Team 3-(minus) 4, Sam Johnson 8-(minus) 19. Cedar Rapids Kennedy: Donovan Slick-Driscoll 18-37, Dominic Mann 1-3, Anthony Franklin 4-2, Vincenzo Gianforte 6-(minus) 4, Jace Scott 1-(minus) 8.

Passing - Waukee Northwest: Sam Johnson 5-10-1-29, Cedar Rapids Kennedy: Vincenzo Gianforte 10-20-1-112, Jace Scott 0-2-0-0.

Receiving - Waukee Northwest: Isaiah Moody 2-13, Grant Carder 2-9, Jackson Adams 1-7. Cedar Rapids Kennedy: Cyrus Courtney 4-56, Grant Mather 1-27, Ryker Stelling 1-10, Michael Mulherin 1-7, Jordan Twitty 1-6, Calvin White 1-6.

Comments: (319)-398-8258, jeff.johnson@thegazette.com