Ankeny opens strong, beats Waukee
By DAN McCOOL • dmccooldmreg.com • August 30, 2008
His name is Goforth, and based on his rushing effort Friday night, he lived up to it.
Jared Goforth ran for 137 yards and one touchdown on 10 carries as Ankeny opened its football season with a 27-15 victory over No. 10 Waukee at Ankeny Stadium.
Ankeny began Waukee's season the way it ended it last fall. The Hawks posted a 55-7 victory in the opening round of the playoffs last year.
Ross Naylor added two touchdowns as the Hawks showed they can still run their misdirection offense well, even after losing to graduation many talented players on last year's squad that was second in Class 4-A.
"We're never rebuilding," Goforth said. "Ankeny's always bringing up new people. Our coaching staff works so hard in the off-season to get ready for the next season. We're not rebuilding, we're ready to go. We're ready to get back to that state championship game."
The Hawks didn't look inexperienced to Waukee coach Scott Carlson.
"I don't care what anybody says about Ankeny losing all of their starters," Carlson said. "I'll take their starters. They're going to be a great football team."
Bottom line, Carlson said, is Ankeny was a better team.
Waukee gave the Hawks a quick alertness test as quarterback John Peters opened with a 47-yard float pass up the right sideline to Jake Knott. Five plays later, Peters and Knott teamed again, this time on a 17-yard scoring pass.
A two-point pass from Chad Owens to Knott finished the opening effort.
If Ankeny was stunned, it never let on. The Hawks had a 10-play drive that was capped by Zeb Miller's 23-yard field goal, the first of two field goals for Miller, who also is a standout for the Hawks' soccer team.
Waukee got hurt by some plays that might have gone a long way if they were finished, and by an opportunistic Ankeny group. After the opening touchdown, Waukee had trouble getting close to the red zone until Walker Woods scored on a 5-yard run with 3 minutes 5 seconds left in the third period.
That score was set up by a fumble recovery at the 5, just a few plays after Waukee fumbled the ball away.
Naylor said it took a little time for the new Ankeny faces to adjust to the large crowd, the music and the livewire atmosphere of the game.
"We didn't come out right from the start ready to play," Naylor said. "It just takes a little time to get into a rhythm and fighting hard. That will win you a game if you're fighting hard."
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