Valley-Dowling 5A Semifinal Recap, Reaction

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><a href="https://prepredzone.com/2024/11/photo-gallery-dowling-valley-5a-state-semifinal/">PHOTO GALLERY</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><a href="https://www.iahsaa.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/24-5ASF1.htm">BOX SCORE</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBtxDFIHBOw","type":"video","providerNameSlug":"youtube","responsive":true,"className":"wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBtxDFIHBOw </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - </strong>Trailing 14-0 in Friday's state semifinals, West Des Moines Valley couldn't bear the thought of losing to rival Dowling Catholic. With plenty of time left on the clock, the Tigers did something about it. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Valley rallied for a 28-21 victory in Class 5A action here at the UNI-Dome. The Alternative was not acceptable.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"We knew we didn't want to lose this game, right," Valley junior [player_tooltip player_id='283946' first='Jayden' last='McGregory'] said. "We're giving it everything we have. We don't want to lose this game. We don't want to go out losing to (Dowling). We kept saying, "rest later, give it everything you have.""</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>McGregory stood out on both sides of the ball for Valley (10-2). The junior caught six passes for 84 yards. He returned an interception 98 yards to set up the game-winning score in the fourth quarter. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='401870' first='Drake' last='DeGroote'] completed 13 of 17 passes for 158 yards and a touchdown and added 39 yards rushing in the win. [player_tooltip player_id='1524941' first='King' last='Coleman'] carried 24 times for 110 yards and a pair of scores. Michiah LeLaCheur's 7.5 tackles were a team-high. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Tigers avenged a 26-23 overtime loss to Dowling on Sept. 6. They won for just the second time in the last eight meetings with their rival. The other win came two years ago in the state semifinals. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"We just kept fighting," Valley quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='401870' first='Drake' last='DeGroote'] said. "The offense started out not doing great, but we kept fighting. We knew were going to have to score a lot of points." </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Dowling finished up the season at 10-2. [player_tooltip player_id='847998' first='Rashawd' last='Davis'] rushed 25 times for 149 yards and a touchdown. Aidan Ducharme posted a team-best 7.5 tackles, and [player_tooltip player_id='1619297' first='Ryan' last='Bobo'] came up with 3.5 stops for loss and 2.0 sacks. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"It was a great team," Bobo said of the 2024 Maroons. "We really came together as a team, especially tonight. We saw a lot of guys step up."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://youtu.be/NuYnhSD8B-0","type":"video","providerNameSlug":"youtube","responsive":true,"className":"wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://youtu.be/NuYnhSD8B-0 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyU_oaUB_S4","type":"video","providerNameSlug":"youtube","responsive":true,"className":"wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyU_oaUB_S4 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://youtu.be/XSgx4H6MhYs","type":"video","providerNameSlug":"youtube","responsive":true,"className":"wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://youtu.be/XSgx4H6MhYs </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed -->