RON MALY HAS BEEN WATCHING THE PARADE GO BY FOR A LONG TIME. THIS IS ONE OF HIS WEBSITES.

Saturday, November 8, 2014

Unfortunately, Both Gary and I Were Right

 

By RON MALY

Yesterday at about noon, I called a guy I know from Urbandale. 

From now on in this column, I'll refer to the guy as Gary because that's his name. 

Gary and I have talked often throughout this football season because he has a grandson who played for Ankeny High School, and I have a grandson who played for Valley. 

I used the past tense because the season ended last night for Gary's grandson and mine. Ankeny lost to Dowling of West Des Moines, 48-14, in the quarterfinal round of the class 4-A playoffs, and Valley lost to Waukee, 12-0. 

As a result, Dowling and Waukee will tee it up at 7 p.m. next Friday in the semifinal round at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls. 

Cedar Rapids Washington and Bettendorf are the other two semifinalists, and they'll play at 4 p.m. Friday in the dome. 

I've decided that Dowling and Washington will win next weekend, and Dowling will repeat as the 4-A champion by defeating Washington the following weekend. 

Gary and I decided yesterday that both Ankeny and Valley would have trouble winning in the quarterfinal round. 

Unfortunately, we were both correct. 

I knew how good Dowling is because I witnessed its only loss of the season--a 24-21 setback at Valley. 

And I also knew how good Waukee is. 

The Warriors crushed Valley, 28-6, in the first week of the season way back in August. 

Valley, which didn't score a touchdown in eight quarters of football against Waukee in 2014, ended the season with a 10-2 record--pretty darn good at any level of competition. 
Gary Swenson

But Gary Swenson has set the bar extremely high in his long tenure as Valley's coach. 

So anything less than a 4-A championship is disappointing. 

Swenson has won five 4-A titles as the Tigers' coach. 

Ankeny closed with a 9-3 record, and there's certainly nothing embarrassing about that. 

Gary and I will likely be talking again next week. 

Probably about basketball.