Naylor leads Ankeny to upset of Johnston
By JOHN NAUGHTON • jnaughton@dmreg.com • October 18, 2008
Ankeny's Ross Naylor shifted his role from bulldozer to breakaway threat. The 190-pound fullback raced for 233 yards and three touchdowns to lead No. 8 Ankeny to a 48-7 win at previously unbeaten No. 4 Johnston on Friday before about 6,000 fans. He shredded Johnston's defense for an average of 12 yards a carry, including runs of 64, 46 and 44 yards. "Usually, I'm not the one that's doing that," Naylor said. "I'm usually getting short yardage."
Ankeny rushed for 527 yards and shut down a Johnston team that scored 62 points last week. The CIML Central Conference showdown set the stage for another wild Friday. Johnston, Ankeny, Southeast Polk and Dowling Catholic are all 3-1 in the conference. Johnston (7-1) plays Dowling and Ankeny (7-1) tackles Southeast Polk next week. "It's a four-way tie and all the teams play each other head-to-head next week," Johnston coach Brian Woodley said. "That's fun."
Naylor and Jared Goforth drove Ankeny's offense on Friday. Naylor scored on touchdown runs of 44, 2 and 1 yards to help Ankeny take a 34-7 halftime lead. Goforth, who ran for 154 yards, raced for scores of 46 and 62 yards in the second half. Goforth also intercepted a pass, one of five Johnston turnovers. The dominant performance gave his team confidence. "Are we the team to beat? Yeah, definitely," Goforth said.
Naylor gained most of his yards up the middle, on a play called the 51-52 ride. "We just ran it hard," Naylor said. "Really, the offensive line was doing all the work."
Johnston's Aaron Schultz passed for 251 yards and a 24-yard touchdown. Ankeny scored on all six of its first-half possessions. "They stuck it to us early," Woodley said. "We couldn't get them stopped." Naylor ran 44 yards for a touchdown with 8:59 left in the first quarter. He added a 2-yard score about 6 minutes later.
Johnston scored its only touchdown on the next possession. Schultz threw a 56-yard pass to Tyler Kubik to the Ankeny 24-yard line. On the next play, Schultz hit Blake Skartvedt in the corner of the end zone for the score.
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