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Eagles finish regular season 8-1

An unusual thing happened at the Ankeny Christian Academy-Iowa Christian Academy versus Harmony football game Friday at Saydel High School. The Eagles found themselves trailing by a season-high 12 points before they scored any points.

The Eagles knew going into the game that they had secured second place in District 6 of the 8-player division and that they had qualified for the state playoffs. "We started the game very flat and were down 12-0 very quickly. It was a hard game for the guys to get real fired up for. It was nondistrict game and our state seeding was already decided," Coach Steve Olejniczak said.

After a timeout and some inspiring words by their coach, the Eagles snapped to attention and scored the next 56 points, all in the remainder of the first half. Harmony never recovered, although the Rockets scored 22 points in the second half for a final score of 56-34.

Following the timely break by his dad and coach, quarterback Tim Olejniczak quickly took control of the game, carrying the ball 52 yards into the end zone. He then threw three touchdown passes to Jason Cameron, ran for two more touchdowns and threw two touchdowns to Isaac Lopez. The Eagles' other two points came when they recovered a Rockets' fumble in the end zone for a safety.

Tim Olejniczak carried the ball 15 times for 148 yards and completed 10 of 18 passes for 167 yards, all in the first half. Andy Harmsen ran nine times for 42 yards and scored one 2-point conversion. Cameron caught four passes for 83 yards, Lopez caught five for 62 yards, Harmsen caught four for 54 yards and Austin Alessio had one catch for 9 yards.

In the second half, Coach Olejniczak rested his starting quarterback and Cameron completed three of four throws for 29 yards and Ben Howe attempted and completed one for 12 yards.

Harmsen led the defense with 10 tackles followed closely by Alessio and Josh Hall, each with nine. Cameron, Jay Snyder, and Aaron Leonard each tackled seven times. Other tacklers were Howe, six; Joey Reed, five; and Lopez, two. Alessio and Cameron each recovered a Harmony fumble and Howe snagged two interceptions and Lopez one.

"Harmony is a very physical team and finished second in District 5, so they are a good team. I was happy with the way we played the second quarter, but I would have liked to played a little better in the second half when we subbed a little," Coach Olejniczak said.

Ten seniors and their parents were recognized before their last regular-season game. They are Jason Cameron, Ben Howe and manager Jim Swift, all of Ankeny; Joey Reed, Jay Snyder, Josh Hall, and Aaron Leonard, all of Des Moines; Andy Harmsen, Huxley; Aaron McLaughlin, West Des Moines; and Sol Bayless, Norwalk.

The Eagles (8-1) host Melcher-Dallas (4-5) in a substate playoff game Wednesday at 7 p.m. The game will be played at Johnston High School.

 

ACA 14 42 0 0 56

Harmony 12 0 16 6 34