Van Meter ends Monticello’s special season with 35-21 victory in Class 2A state football semifinals

CEDAR FALLS — The journey was memorable and special.

Monticello reached new territory, taking the hallowed turf at the UNI-Dome first time. The Panthers wanted to prolong their stay at the high school football mecca, but Van Meter brought the trek to an end.

The second-ranked Bulldogs received four touchdowns from running back Ben Gordon, including two in the final 14 minutes of the game, and upended No. 4 Monticello, 35-21, Saturday in a Class 2A state semifinal. Van Meter will vie for a third straight state crown Friday at 10 a.m. after winning 1A titles in 2021 and 2022.

“It’s been fun,” Monticello senior quarterback Preston Ries said. “We have a great group of guys, like 17 seniors. It’s a great group. To do this for the first time in school history is great.

“It’s obviously not what we came for. We came to win it, but it happens.”

Actually, this is the third semifinal appearance for the Panthers, who made the final four in 3A in 1972 and lost in the 1977 3A semifinals. Those were long before the UNI-Dome hosted this round.

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Photos: Monticello vs. Van Meter in Class 2A semifinals

The focus changed from just getting here to making the finals for the first time.

“We fought hard all season,” lineman Dylan Monk said. “Our goal was to make it to the Dome. As soon as we got there, we wanted to take it a step higher. We didn’t. We ended up falling short, but we still had a great run.”

A moment of silence was held before the game to honor Aaron McAtee, an employee at the Monticello Fareway Grocery who was shot and killed earlier this week.

McAtee had three sons — Tyler, a Monticello graduate and former Panther football player, Kaden, a junior at the school, and Mason, who plays basketball and football in eighth grade.

“I want to give our condolences to Kelly McAtee and her family,” Panthers Coach Wes Wilson said. “We went through a pretty rough spot this week, losing Aaron. Our thoughts and prayers are with the McAtee family this week.”

Wilson said he tried to emphasize there are more important things than football in light of the murder. It posed a challenge, balancing preparation with the community’s loss.

“It was a tough week at school,” Wilson said. “You do your best. You grieve the way you grieve and kids grieve differently. At the end of it, we had to come out and play our best this week. We tried to get what we could done and still support their family.”

Ries, the state’s all-time leader in yards from scrimmage, was a big factor in the opening drive for a 7-0 lead within the first three minutes.

Monticello (10-2) drove 77 yards on eight plays with Ries contributing to every yard. He passed twice for 51 yards and added 26 on the ground, scoring on a 4-yard run.

“We put a good drive together, the first one,” said Ries, who passed for 264 yards and rushed for 92. “It’s too bad we couldn’t have done that a few times after that and got a bigger lead. We had our shots. We just didn’t execute.”

The Bulldogs received a boost from Gordon’s 74-yard TD run on third-and-1, breaking through the first level of defenders, shedding a tackler’s hand and speeding away to tie it, 7-7, with 2:20 left in the first quarter.

Gordon finished with 208 yards and had a key 33-yard fourth-down reception that set up his 4-yard TD for a 28-21 lead with 1:46 left in the third.

“We were punching it up the middle,” Gordon said. “You have to hit it up there and the long runs will come with it, too.”

Van Meter (12-0) took advantage of a couple turnovers and prime field position, scoring 17 total points on drives that started on the Panthers’ 26, 20 and 43.

Two of those were second-quarter interceptions that resulted in 10 points.

“We had two turnovers that were big,” Wilson said. “We gave them good field position and they capitalized. You take those away and maybe we have a better shot in the fourth quarter.”

The Panthers responded with an 80-yard scoring drive on 12 plays, melting 4:25 off the clock. Ries scored on a 7-yard run with 52 seconds left to cut Van Meter’s halftime lead to 20-14.

The grinding rush attack took to the air in the third, connecting on a 94-yard scoring strike to Peyton Schilling. Ries rolled left and cut back right. He floated a deep pass and Schilling ran underneath it, making the catch and zipping down the open sideline.

“Preston made a really good play scrambling,” Schilling said. “I ran off my route and got open. Just made a play, but props to Preston and our (offensive) line.”

Monticello led 21-20 until Gordon’s 4-yard score. The Panthers only had one drive in the fourth, turning the ball over on downs at the Bulldogs’ 15.

“It was a great year,” Ries said. “We didn’t get what we wanted to accomplish but it was a great group of guys.

“It was a heck of a run but fell just a little bit short.”

Ries had another huge performance, amassing 356 total yards The Unviersity of Iowa signee increased his career total to 12,984 yards from scrimmage. Ries will be missed for his exploits as a player and a person.

“He’s a guy you just don’t replace,” Wilson said. “He’s leaving a pretty big mark for our program for what he’s done the last four years. Everybody sees all the stuff he’s done on the field and all his stats. We’re lucky enough to see what he does off the field. How he interacts with younger kids (and) what he does in our community. Just an unbelievably great kid. We’re going to miss him just as much off the field as on the field.”

Van Meter 35, Monticello 21

AT UNI-DOME

MONT VM

First Downs 15 15

Rushes-yards 30-109 45-259

Passing yards 264 83

Comp-att-int 14-28-2 7-16-0

Total yards 373 342

Fumbles-lost 1-0 0-0

Punts-avg. 5-36.0 4-43.5

Penalties-yards 5-29 4-25

Monticello7770 -- 21

Van Meter71387 -- 35

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

MONT – Preston Ries 4 run (A.J. Phelps kick)

VM – Ben Gordon 74 run (Katie Lindsay kick)

VM – FG Adlai Lounsbury 36

VM – Gordon 8 run (Lindsay kick)

VM – FG Lounsbury 32

MONT – Ries 7 run (Phelps kick)

MONT – Peyton Schilling 94 pass from Ries (Phelps kick)

VM – Gordon 4 run (Austin Baumhover pass to Cael Trudo)

VM – Gordon 15 run (Lindsay kick)

RUSHING – Monticello: Ries 26-92, Conner Jordan 4-17. Van Meter: Gordon 33-208, Baumhover 11-53, Team 1-(-2).

PASSING – Monticello: Ries 14-28-2-264. Van Meter: Baumhover 7-16-0-83.

RECEIVING – Monticello: Schilling 3-111, Jordan 3-58, Brady Gogel 3-21, Ty Tallman 2-53, Easton Prull 2-15, Carson Lambert 1-6. Van Meter: Caleb Moore 3-14, Trudo 2-35, Gordon 1-33, Rhett Pleggenkuhle 1-1.

Comments: kj.pilcher@thegazette.com