Mohawk flirts with upset of New Brighton
Mohawk (27) vs. New Brighton (42)
Written: Oct 25, 2014
By Kayleen Cubbal
New Castle News
For a time last night, the Mohawk High football team was right where it wanted to be.
The Warriors jumped out to a 14-0 lead on playoff-bound New Brighton and, by the half, still was ahead 27-21.
The Lions, though cranked out four unanswered touchdowns in a 42-27 Midwestern Athletic Conference home field win.
The Warriors closed out their season at 2-6 in the conference, 2-7 overall. New Brighton moves on at 6-2, 6-3.
“We came up short, but nobody can disagree that we got better,” Mohawk coach Joe Lamenza said. “We had the opportunity to beat one of the best teams in the MAC. A few weeks ago, nobody would have thought we would have been able to do that.”
Spencer McConahy got things started for the Warriors with a 4-yard run after Jaydon Johnson intercepted New Brighton quarterback Payton Fath on the first play of the game. Quarterback Ricky Malutic went in from 23 yards out to extend Mohawk’s lead. John Zagotti added both point-after kicks.
Fath scored on a 26-yard run for New Brighton in the second quarter, but he was ejected at the 5:04 mark of the period after being flagged for a flagrant foul. He will have to sit out next week’s playoff game as well. Blaine Williams came in at quarterback for the Lions.
Cayne Yakubik gave Mohawk breathing room with a 48-yard run and McConahy added a 5-yard burst to extend the Warriors’ lead to 27-14.
The Lions caught fire with Fath out of the game, though, led by running back Scott Florence, who rushed for 257 yards on 30 carries, including 187 in the second half. Florence also caught three passes for 80 yards.
Yakubik, a sophomore, rushed for 133 yards on 12 carries for Mohawk, including 119 yards on six carries in the first half.
“Cayne is a special player and he’ll just get better,” Lamenza said.
Malutic finished with an 11-of-22 night for 117 yards. McConahy caught seven passes for 51 yards, setting a single-season record for receptions in the process.
“We’re disappointed with our record, but we have nothing to be ashamed of,” Lamenza said. “Our kids gave it all they had.”
(Correspondent Gaylord Muny contributed to this story)
MOHAWK NEW BRIGHTON
13 First downs 14
206 Net Rushing 376
22 Passes Attempted 13
11 Passes Completed 5
1 Passes Intercepted 1
117 Yards Passing 95
323 Total Yards 471
1-1 Fumbles-Lost 0-0
4-27 Punts-Average 1-53
7-62 Penalties-Yards 4-43
MOHAWK 7 20 0 0 — 27
NEW BRIGHTON 0 21 14 7 — 42
Scoring plays
MOHAWK — Spencer McConahy, 4-yard run (John Zagotti kick).
MOHAWK — Ricky Malutic, 23-yard run (Zagotti kick).
NEW BRIGHTON — Payton Fath, 26-yard run (kick failed).
MOHAWK — Cayne Yakubik, 48-yard run (Zagotti kick).
NEW BRIGHTON — Scott Florence, 1-yard run (Blaine Williams run).
MOHAWK — McConahy, 5-yard run (kick failed).
NEW BRIGHTON — Florence, 53-yard pass from Williams (Gavin Pritchard kick).
NEW BRIGHTON — Williams, 3-yard run (Pritchard kick).
NEW BRIGHTON — Florence, 34-yard run (Pritchard kick).
NEW BRIGHTON — Williams, 8-yard run (Pritchard kick).
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