Panthers bottle up Betker as time runs out on Hawks

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Myhre scores three times in 37-31 season-opener loss to Pekin

BY JOHN BOHNENKAMP
PCC SPORTS

DONNELLSON - Chuck Banks paced the Central Lee sideline, telling his team the same message over and over.
Bend, he would say. Don’t break.
He had that same message after Friday’s 37-31 loss to Pekin — bend with this defeat, but don’t let it break you.
In a season in which every team will make the playoffs, this loss would still hurt, Banks said. But put that away as soon as possible, because there was a full season ahead.
Still, Banks said, he understood the pain.
“As an old-school coach, there’s one thing about life in general,” he said. “The one thing I hate more than anything is losing. It is what it is, right? Our kids are going to be able to battle back. They’re strong kids.”
The Hawks fell inches short. Jaedon Betker was stopped on a run inside the 1-yard line as time ran out, ending what looked to be an impressive final drive.
Central Lee had two fourth-down conversions, the second one coming on a Betker 4-yard run on fourth-and-1 from the Pekin 5. Out of timeouts, the Hawks were able to spike the ball to run one final play.
It was Betker up the middle, but he fell just short.
“At the end of the day, you hate to lose,” Banks said. “But we competed. That’s a heck of a Pekin team.”
Pekin had 454 yards of offense, all but four on the ground. Michael Jones rushed for 220 yards and Mason Juhl had 164.
It was Juhl who provided the two crushing touchdowns. He scored on a 10-yard run with under five minutes to play. Then, after Pekin recovered an onside kick, the Panthers drove for the eventual game-winner, a 15-yard run by Juhl with 1:50 left.
The Hawks struck to open the game when Kade Myhre returned an interception 40 yards for a touchdown on the opening series. It was one of three touchdowns for Myhre, who also caught a 20-yard touchdown pass from Dylan Stuecker in the third quarter and a 14-yarder in the fourth.
Central Lee lost quarterback Mason Schau to an injury in the first quarter, but Stuecker took over for the rest of the game and threw for 270 yards.
“We got a lot of momentum (from the Myhre interception), but it hurt when Mason went out,” Banks said. “Dylan came in and played well. We have two great senior leaders at that spot.”
The Hawks play Van Buren next Friday.
“I know we’ll be ready,” Banks said.

central lee, football, high school, John Bohnenkamp, Pekin, Pen City Current, sports

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