As Eric Czerniewski was watching footage of the 2005 Montgomery County football team playing in the Class 2 state championship game in St. Louis next to Jim Blacklock Field on Oct. 24, he couldn’t believe he was a part of a team that did something special.

“It’s hard to put it into words,” Czerniewski said. “It doesn’t feel like 20 years old.”

Czerniewski was the quarterback of a MCHS squad that finished 11-2 and reached the state championship game for the first and only time in program history. He went on to compete at the University of Central Missouri and was later inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.

Czerniewski was one of 14 players who attended the 20-year anniversary reunion of the 2005 team. A one-hour meet-and-greet event was held near the concession squad. Later, the players were honored during a ceremony at halftime of the 2025 Wildcats’ game against Louisiana.

“As someone who grew up here and played here and had the honor of serving as athletic director for past 14 years, I can tell you that the legacy of the 2005 team is alive and well and is still a pivotal driving force for our teams, not just today, but the next year and the next year and the next,” said MCHS athletic director Adam Falloon, who was the emcee of the ceremony.

The other players who attended were Jared Andrews, Zac Boedeker, Tanner Brandenburg, Ed Cope, Zac Czerniewski, Clint Elmory, Greg Gaines, John Harris, Trey Hoffman, John Love, Stephen Schmidt, Cody Tucker and Kenneth Turner. 

Hoffmann, who now lives outside of Baltimore, Md., and works for cybersecurity for the government, said he was happy to make the trip back to the Midwest to reunite with his old teammates.

“It’s great to see everybody,” Hoffmann said. “I don’t get to come back to Montgomery very often.”

The Wildcats lost to the Cameron Dragons 64-18 in the championship game, which was held at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis. Czerniewski said his team got strong support from the Montgomery County community on the day of the championship game.

“It felt like the whole town was there supporting us that day,” he said. “To be there with these guys and to be back with these guys is awesome. Unfortunately, we ran into a better team than we were that day, but we had a lot of fun and it was quite the memories and experience, that’s for sure.”

Ben Blank took over head coaching duties of the 2005 team. He recently passed away from cancer.

“He was a ball of fire,” Hoffman said. “He was the most enthusiastic and energetic person I met. He was always keen with everything. He was nothing but heart.”

Falloon said during his speech at the ceremony that he was reached out by Blank in March, requesting that a reunion of the 2005 team takes place sometime this fall so the team can get recognition for its accomplishments.

“Coach Blank cared deeply about this group,” Falloon said. “He wanted to make sure that their efforts didn’t go unnoticed.”

Offense was one of the big factors in the Wildcats’ successful season. MCHS averaged 44 points a game and scored 40 points or more eight times.

Czerniewski, Hoffmann and Harris were among the key leaders in the Wildcats’ offense. Czernewski threw for a school-record 4,407 yards, Hoffmann caught for 1,333 yards in 89 receptions and Harris played a key role on the offensive line. All three of them were named to the all-state team.

Ben Longstreet, Bobby Warren, Clint Elmore, Jeremy Mahaney and Marcus Huenefeld also earned all-state honors for the Wildcats.

MCHS won its first five games, including a 54-28 victory over North Callaway. In that contest, Hoffman’s grandfather, Bob, was honored as honorary captain. He passed away days before the game.

“My grandpa passed away on Sept. 10 during that season,” Hoffman said. “It was just a touching moment. I knew at that moment that we needed to do what we needed to do to get as far as we could. The team came together.”

After suffering their first loss of the season to Osage in Week 6, the Wildcats bounced back with six wins in a row. They beat South Callaway 56-22 to clinch the district title, Blair Oaks 40-39 in the sectional game and Cardinal Ritter 42-7 in the semifinals. The win over Cardinal Ritter advanced the Wildcats to the title game.

There were 12 seniors on the team and six of them – Czerniewski, Cope, Boedeker, Harris, Hoffmann and Tucker – were in attendance at the reunion. Czerniewski said he was thrilled to wrap up his high school football career by playing for the most successful MCHS team in program history.

“It was quite the vibe,” he said. “It was all about football. It was all about this team. Everybody at the school and everybody in the community rallied around us. Just looking back at the memories of that and getting the police escorting us out of a little town that we grew up in, to do that as a group was pretty special. There were things that all of us will remember for the rest of our lives.”

Players from the 2005 team shook hands with the 2025 team, which wrapped up its regular season at 7-2 and is the top seed of the Class 2, District 2 tournament.

“It was cool that they came back and were recognized and got to see us,” MCHS senior Cameron Knapp said. “Hopefully, we can follow their footsteps and do the same.”