Laurel keeps playoff hopes alive
Laurel (31) vs. Mohawk (7)
Written: Oct 10, 2015
By Ron Poniewasz Jr.
New Castle News
The Laurel High football team entered Friday night’s matchup against Mohawk in a must-win situation.
Jake McDougal made sure the Spartans took care of business.
McDougal rushed for two touchdowns and threw for two more to propel Laurel to a 31-7 Midwestern Athletic Conference road victory over the Warriors.
The victory vaults the Spartans to 2-3 in the MAC and 3-3 overall. Laurel sits in fifth place in the conference; the top four teams qualify for the WPIAL playoffs in Class AA. The Spartans are a game behind fourth-place New Brighton (3-2, 3-2), but lost the head-to-head matchup with the Lions earlier in the season.
“Obviously, that was a huge game for us,” Laurel coach Brian Cooper said of the win over Mohawk. “We are who we are right now. We can’t change the past. We’re still in a position to be playing for the playoffs.
“It always could be better, but it always could be worse, too. We’re focusing on the opportunity we have and we’re going to keep pushing toward being a playoff team.”
McDougal, a 5-foot-10, senior quarterback/defensive back, was 12 of 31 for 197 yards with two touchdowns and a pair of interceptions. He rushed for 64 yards on 15 scampers. McDougal’s two TD tosses were to Jake Wilson.
“I had a good night throwing the ball,” McDougal said. “I struggled a little early. I had some ups and downs here and there, but we finally got into a rhythm. It took some time to figure out what they were coming out in. It was more of a prevent defense and we had to work around it.”
McDougal feels the team is in place to keep battling for a postseason berth.
“I think that we’re in a good position,” he said. “We’re all finding ourselves and we have a lot of younger guys. We’re all coming together. By this point, I think that we’re a whole unit and we’re really working together as a team.”
Laurel got on the board with a pair of first-quarter rushing touchdowns by McDougal. The first came on a 3-yard tote with 7:58 to go in the opening frame and the second was on an 11-yard dash with 3:15 to go in the opening period. Zach Morrison made the first conversion but failed on the second as the Spartans held a 13-0 buffer.
The Spartans’ first touchdown came on a fourth-and-goal play, while the second drive was extended by a fourth-and-3 conversion by McDougal on a four-yard rush.
“The ball was in a situation where you really aren’t losing that much if you go for it,” Cooper said. “I thought Jake made a couple of great plays early on running the football to keep extending the drive. Those were huge.”
Laurel pushed the lead to 21-0 through three quarters. The Warriors broke the shutout with a nine-yard scoring run by Jesse Wolfe early in the fourth quarter.
The task gets tougher next week for Laurel when Beaver (3-2, 4-2) invades for a 7 p.m. matchup Friday on the Spartans’ home field.
“It’s a big showdown next week and we have to be ready,” Cooper said. “Beaver is a great football team. We have to be ready to move the ball.”
Mohawk (0-5, 0-6), which lost its seventh straight dating back to last season, returns to action at 7 p.m. Friday at Ellwood City Lincoln (1-4, 2-4) for a conference clash.
(Email: rponiewasz@ncnewsonline.com)
LAUREL MOHAWK
23 First downs 10
225 Yards Rushing 224
19 Yards Lost 16
206 Net Rushing 208
31 Passes Attempted 17
12 Passes Completed 7
2 Passes Intercepted 0
197 Yards Passing 43
403 Total Yards 251
2-0 Fumbles-Lost 1-0
0-0 Punts-Average 4-28.7
10-90 Penalties-Yards 12-103
LAUREL 13 0 8 10 — 31
MOHAWK 0 0 0 7 — 7
Scoring plays
LAUREL — Jake McDougal, 3-yard run (Zach Morrison kick).
LAUREL — McDougal, 11-yard run (kick failed).
LAUREL — Jake Wilson, 24-yard pass from McDougal (Jordan Dantico pass from McDougal).
MOHAWK — Jesse Wolfe, 9-yard run (Mehmet Iclek kick).
LAUREL — Morrison, 34-yard field goal.
LAUREL — Wilson, 26-yard pass from McDougal (Morrison kick).
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