John Bohnenkamp for Pen City Current Sports
DONNELLSON — Central Lee opened Friday’s non-district football game with Durant with an 8-play, 65-yard touchdown drive that took almost four minutes off the clock.
And the story for the rest of the night had been written.
The control the Hawks had of the line of scrimmage went from the beginning to the end of the 21-7 win.
Central Lee (3-0) had 379 rushing yards. Quarterback Kayden Calfee had 169 of those, running back Chase Johnson had 123.
It was the Hawks’ plan all along.
“I thought we came out and did what we exactly needed to tonight,” Central Lee coach Doug Dodds said. “We wanted to control the ball, we wanted to control the clock.”
Senior offensive lineman Ostyn Moore grinned when he heard the final numbers.
“That is just the greatest thing you can hear is the line,” he said. “I think we were all working hard out there. We were all pushing. And I got to give credit to our running backs, too. They're quick, they're tough. They don't go down easy.”
“I think it shows what we put in the work,” senior lineman Brayton Schneider said. “And I think we have something special on the line.”
Dodds knew what the Wildcats (1-2) had in freshman quarterback Cannon Davis and his receivers, along with running back Tate McKinley, so the goal was to keep them off the field.
“Their quarterback is a young guy, but he can really sling it,” Dodds said. “That No. 2 (receiver Colby Gast, who had six catches for 64 yards) is really fast. So we didn’t want them to have the ball.”
“We were working on that all week,” Moore said. “Coach Dodds was saying, ‘Five yards, five yards, five yards. Every play.’ That’s how we win the game.”
Calfee had the two lightning bolts on the drive — a 16-yard run and a 23-yarder. Johnson, who finished with six carries for 33 yards on the drive, scored the first touchdown on a 6-yard run.
Central Lee’s defense took over from that point for the rest of the half. The Hawks recovered a fumble and intercepted Davis twice in the half, the second time coming on the final play of the half, when Bo Herdrich swiped a tipped pass away and ran 50 yards for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead.
“It was going to be a tight game going into halftime,” Dodds said. “And that pretty much turned the momentum for us. That was just an amazing play by Bo.”
Durant’s lone touchdown came early in the third quarter on a 5-yard pass from Davis to Gus Thoma.
Calfee, though, provided the final margin in the fourth quarter with an 8-yard touchdown run. And one more interception of Davis, this one by Brett Cook, sealed the victory.
Dodds said there has been a solid progression in the Hawks’ play from the opening win over Van Buren to last week’s win at Cardinal to this victory.
Now Central Lee gets ready to open district play next week at Davis County.
“We’ve got to keep getting better,” Dodds said. “This stuff has been great, but it doesn’t mean anything once district play starts.”
“Everybody's working harder, we're having fun out there,” Moore said. “It's just a great time to be out here.”
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