LACONA – If the Montezuma Braves were allowed a “do-over” against the Southeast Warren Warhawks, you figure they’d have to play an error-free game, just to give themselves a chance.
Southeast Warren is good. Very good.
The Warhawks beat the Braves 52-20 Friday evening, Sept. 23 in a cross-district battle of 4-1 teams.
“It was a tough night against a physical football team,” said Montezuma Coach John Beck. “However, there were a lot of things we did do well (separate story). It came down to penalties, turnovers and being committed to tackling,” the coach said.
The Warhawks displayed a powerful ground attack in building a 16-0 first quarter lead. The margin went to 24-0 when the Warhawks connected on a long touchdown pass with 3:26 left in the first half.
You’ll recall that the Braves caught up with and passed BGM by scoring the final 32 points of a 54-50 victory earlier this season.
But Southeast Warren ADDED 20 points after intermission to ensure the Braves didn’t steal a win at the finish.
Still, Montezuma made it interesting during a wild final 47 seconds of the half.
Montezuma quarterback Owen Cook found tight end Cruz De Jong with a 22-yard scoring pass, then Marty Knox ran a two-point conversion, and it was 24-8 with those 47 seconds still up there.
Some 14 seconds later, Southeast Warren connected on a 65-yard touchdown pass, so now it’s 32-8 with 33 seconds left.
The Braves were undaunted. Cook passed long to Garrett Watts, then Watts made a spectacular catch for a touchdown on the next play.
The Braves were down 32-14, with 13 seconds left to halftime.
Landon Morrison recovered Cook’s onside kickoff with 10 seconds left, and the Braves were back in business.
There’s nothing like 8-man football, is there?
Cook threw another rainbow for Watts, but the ball fell off his hands as time ran out.
Crucial penalties in key first half situations hurt the Braves almost as much as Southeast Warren’s quick defense.
The Braves made a promising drive to open the second half, but lost a fumble.
Southeast Warren converted for points with 5:11 left in the third quarter, making it 38-14.
Cook and Watts clicked again, and it was 38-20 with 2:45 left in the third.
Could the Braves pull off the improbable again?
Southeast Warren scored to make it 44-20 with 1:06 left in the third quarter, then Montezuma lost another fumble.
The Warhawks scored again with 3:43 left to play to seal the deal at 52-20.
Why did I mention a “do-over” near the top of the story?
Well, this was a non-district game, the result of which would not hurt either team’s playoff chances.
Both teams are unbeaten in their districts, and are strong contenders for playoff spots in Class 8-man.
Could these two meet again? I’m not saying they well . . .but they could, which means improvements the Braves can make over the next three games will be pretty important.
“Overall, we just need to do the little things better,” Beck said. “Tackling, blocking, being more disciplined and take care of the football will be our focus this week.”
Montezuma is 4-2 overall. (The other loss was a non-district defeat by Iowa Valley.)
Southeast Warren is 5-1.
UP NEXT – Montezuma is at Twin Cedars on Friday, Sept. 30.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Montezuma 0 14 6 0 – 20
Southeast Warren 16 16 12 8 – 52