Hawks end solid year with playoff loss

Good season

It means everything for these guys, these seniors, who have worked their tails off. Being able to roll off three (wins), that’s big.”

Chuck Banks, Central Lee Head Coach

MONTICELLO — Chuck Banks held an envelope in his hands as he addressed his Central Lee High School football team for the last time this season.
As he spoke, the coach pointed to the envelope, which contained the banner for the Hawks commemorating their appearance in the Class 2A state playoffs.
This banner, Banks said, can’t be taken away from you.
Behind the team burned the final score — Monticello 62, Central Lee 0.
The Hawks had gotten a ninth game this season, a chance to play in the postseason after two seasons in which the program did not have a win.
Central Lee finished 3-6, but it was about making progress for the Hawks this season.
“It means everything for these guys, these seniors, who have worked their tails off,” Banks said. “Being able to roll off three (wins), that’s big.
“Even when we were down tonight, we were pulling each other up. That hasn’t been like years past, and that’s been something I’ve preached all year.”
The Hawks have seen some of the state’s best teams this season. Williamsburg is No. 1 in Class 2A, while Monticello and Centerville received votes in this week’s Associated Press poll.
These are teams, Banks said, that can only be matched with hard work.
“I told our guys, this is why we need 30 or 40 guys in the weight room, not eight or 10,” he said. “That’s something we have to push going forward, especially if we want to compete against teams like this.”
Monticello (7-2) scored on all nine of their possessions. Quarterback Preston Ries ran for four touchdowns and threw for two more. The Hawks were down 42-0 at halftime.
“We panicked,” Banks said. “We panicked early and before we knew it, we were too far behind.”
Ries had a 2-yard touchdown run and an 11-yard scoring run on Monticello’s first two possessions. Then, after an interception by Gage Guilford on Central Lee’s third possession of the game, Ries threw a 46-yard touchdown pass to Peyton Schilling on the first play. It was 21-0 with 2:48 left in the first quarter.
The Hawks did have a couple of big plays. Cory Jones completed a 25-yard pass to Bo Erdrich on a third-down play late in the first half, and James had an 11-yard completion to Blake Bergman in the fourth quarter to keep Central Lee’s final drive going.
It wasn’t going to be enough against talent the Hawks have seen plenty of this season.
That, Banks said, is a good education moving forward, to see the standard of other programs as the Hawks try to continue their progress.
“These guys mean so much to me, and I know how hard they worked,” he said. “I hated to see this end the way it did.”