Tyler Devine

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – Scoring two touchdowns on fourth-down reverse passes wasn’t the game plan City High football coach Mitch Moore had in mind.

But that’s what happened Friday night in the fourth-ranked Little Hawks’ 21-17 win over perennial power West Des Moines Dowling.

The second of the trick plays came with 1:09 left in the fourth quarter on fourth and two.

City High ran a double-reverse, the ball found its way back into the hands of sophomore quarterback Drew Larson who found a wide open Ben Kueter in the end zone for the game-winning touchdown.

On the ensuing possession, Little Hawk senior Carter Seaton intercepted Dowling quarterback Jake English’s pass to seal the deal.

“It’s not a secret, this isn’t coach talk, this game has been circled since the schedule came out,” Moore said. “If we wanted to put City High back on the map we had to beat the best program in the state. This is what City High football is about, this is what this community is about. This is really special.”

10 different Little Hawks caught passes and junior running back Ronnie Major led the Little Hawks with 46 yards on 14 carries before being helped off the field right before the game-winning touchdown play.

Senior running back Joey Bouska added 32 yards on the ground.

Kueter, a junior tight end and linebacker, led City High with four catches for 40 yards and the game-winning touchdown. Kueter also was a force on defense despite being shaken up a couple times.

“I said it this morning,” Moore said. “Big time players are going to make big plays in big games, and there’s not a bigger player than Ben Kueter.”

City High sputtered on offense to begin the game but midway through the first quarter the Little Hawks forced the Maroons to punt. The snap sailed over Dowling punter John Koll’s head and City High took over at the Dowling 25 yard-line.

City High converted two fourth-down plays on the drive, including its first touchdown of the game, a 5-yard reverse pass from senior receiver Gable Mitchell to Larson with 2:57 left in the first quarter to tie the game at 7-7.

It was Larson’s first catch of the season.

The Little Hawk defense, which had given up five points through its first three games, was stout for the remainder of the first half, only allowing a Dowling field goal early in the second quarter.

Other than a Dowling touchdown drive in the second half and a 47-yard pass from English to Cooper Nicholson in the first quarter, the Little Hawk defense was once again its driving force and got stops when it needed to.

Other than the 47-yarder, the Little Hawks allowed two completions for -1 yard and forced seven Dowling punts.

“They caught us early,” Moore said. “They were in a 12 personnel and they caught us on that long pass early. (Dowling coach) Tom Wilson and that staff, there’s not a better staff in high school football. I think we went toe-to-toe with them tonight.”

City High’s second touchdown came courtesy of a three-yard touchdown run by Bouska.

The touchdown drive was set up by a 47-yard punt by Mitchell that pinned the Maroons at their own 4-yard line. Dowling was forced to punt giving City High excellent field position.

                                       ICH                               DOW

First Downs                 13                                     9

Rushes-Yards              36-103                             34-145

Passing Yards              141                                  46

Total Yards                   244                                 191

Comp-Att-Int               19-30-1                          3-14-1

Punts-Avg.                    5-35.6                            7-31.6

Fumbles-Lost               1-1                                  0-0

Penalties-Yards           2-15                               6-40

Dowling                      7      3    7    0  –  17

City High                    7       7    0    7  –  21

Scoring Plays

WDD – Cam Middleton 1 run (Diego Leon kick)

ICH – Larson 5 pass from Mitchell (Kongalo Mwenemkamba kick)

WDD – Leon 32 kick

ICH – Bouska 3 run

WDD – Middleton 12 run (Leon kick)

ICH – Kueter 20 pass from Larson (Mwenemkamba kick)

Individual Statistics

RUSHING – City High: Major 14-46, Bouska 12-32, Darren Richardson 4-12, Larson 5-8, Mitchell 1-5. Dowling: Middleton 20-90, CJ Philip 11-46, English 1-7, Kellen Shimon 1-2, Nicholson 1-0.

PASSING – City High: Drew Larson 9-15-1, Quinton Tran 8-13-0, Mitchell 2-2-0. Dowling: English 3-14-0.

RECEIVING – City High: Kueter 4-40, John Klosterman 3-28, Jovan Harris 2-18, Akili Mattox 3-15, Major 1-14, Jamari Newson 1-7, Will Larson 1-6, Larson 1-5, Ian Moore 1-4, Mitchell 2-2. Dowling: Nicholson 1-47, Andrew Bliss 1-4, Philip 1-(-5).