Hawks impressive in win over Van Buren

KEOSAUQUA — It took a quarter for Central Lee’s football team to find its rhythm in Friday’s season opener against Van Buren County.
The Hawks then used the next three quarters to take the Warriors apart in a 38-12 win.
Central Lee had 433 yards of offense on a night of big plays, an offensive performance coach Doug Dodds called “exciting.”
“Honestly, I think the coaches all did a great job working together on the sideline,” Dodds said. “We strive to be a triple-option offense, and that looks like a lot of different things to a lot of different people. We've evolved a little bit this year, so that's exciting.”
Quarterback Brett Cook had 202 passing yards and 80 rushing yards, rushing for two touchdowns and throwing for one. Cook, a senior, had just 102 passing yards all of last season, but was 8 of 13 throwing in this game, including a stretch of six consecutive completions.
“Brett’s always been really mature,” Dodds said. “I mean, he's always a competitor and works so hard, and it's always exciting to see him play the way he did tonight. I think he's taken another step in leadership. I mean, he shoulders that responsibility. He bears that burden of being a senior, being a leader, and that's always great to see a person grow up like that.”
Neither team scored in the first quarter.
“I think we just finally were able to settle in a little bit,” Dodds said. “I think there were some jitters.”
Dodds attributed some of that to three players being out with either injury or illness.

“They asked for the starting lineup when I got here, and I'm like, it's still a work in progress,” Dodds said. “So we had to move some guys around to get the lineup out there, and that messed with the defense a little bit. But I think once the game got going, we got settled in. I think that helped a lot.”
Cook’s 9-yard run with 3:41 left in the first half gave Central Lee a 6-0 lead, then Carver Hayes added to that moments later with a 57-yard return of a fumble to put the Hawks up 13-0 heading into halftime.
The lead got to 19-0 early in the second half when Cook threw a 60-yard touchdown pass to Evan Fogarty. The two then connected on a 48-yard pass on Central Lee’s next possession, setting up Cook’s 8-yard touchdown run for a 25-0 lead.
Van Buren scored on the next possession when Will Cocherell threw an 80-yard touchdown pass to Jace Duncan to cut Central Lee’s lead to 25-6.
But the Hawks put the game away in the fourth quarter. Johnny Seyb had a 47-yard touchdown run, then Jaxson Mueller had a 5-yard touchdown run to close the Hawks’ scoring.
Van Buren tacked on a late touchdown, when Carver Goehring scored a 15-yard run with 11 seconds left.
Fogarty had three catches for 122 yards. Carson Morrison had three receptions for 62 yards. Seyb led the Hawks with 83 rushing yards on 12 carries.
Central Lee snapped a five-game losing streak dating back to last season.
“I think our kids are excited,” Dodds said. “You saw how they were on the sidelines. They were happy. They're having fun, and that's what high school sports should be. This was a good win for us.”