Wolverines earn easy win over Mohawk
Ellwood City (48) vs. Mohawk (6)
Written: Oct 16, 2015
 By Andrew Koob
New Castle News
Justin Baney had an idea.
With the Ellwood City Lincoln High football team already leading by three possessions coming out of the halftime break against visiting Mohawk, Baney approached Wolverines coach Don Phillips about adjusting the kick return scheme to open the second half.
Whatever Baney said worked, as Nick Ioanilli returned the second-half kickoff 84 yards for a touchdown, the first of three third-quarter scores in a mercy rule-driven 48-6 Midwestern Athletic Conference victory at Helling Stadium.
“I’ve learned many times, listen to what your kids tell you,” Phillips said. “They know, they see things and have a feel for the game. When we came out for the second half, (Baney) said ‘let’s just take it, we have a plan.’ I asked them if they were better served with it and they responded well.
“I’ll give them the credit, they made the suggestion on the kickoff, I liked what they had to say. Obviously they hit it square on and that was a good adjustment.”
Ellwood City (2-4 MAC, 3-4 overall) took advantage of a poor Mohawk first half that featured five penalties and a snap that went over Warriors quarterback Jaydon Johnson’s head. Ioanilli hit paydirt twice, from three yards and 24 yards.
The Wolverines kept the ball on the ground for most of the night, amassing 222 total yards and three scores. D.J. Barrett led the way with 102 rushing yards and one of the touchdowns.
“(Ioanilli and River Kelly) give us a great tandem, not only inside but outside,” Phillips said.
“D.J. did what he does, you saw that touchdown late in the game and he made some great runs for us. Those are three great kids right there, and I don’t discount Norm Ballard. He doesn’t touch the ball as often as they do, but they all do a great job when called upon. With all four of those kids, we feel that we have some kids that can run the football.”
Barrett’s only completion of the night came on a 33-yard touchdown pass to Alex Kinney, who juggled the ball over Mohawk cornerback Cayne Yakubik before securing it and falling over the goal line.
Mohawk (0-6, 0-7) had trouble getting anything going offensively. The Warriors finished three yards shy of the century mark for total yards and committed four turnovers.
More telling for the Warriors, however, was the nine penalties, four of them personal fouls, for 92 yards in a game where the Warriors continued to move backward.
“(The penalties are) very concerning, especially considering the amount of time we spent addressing it,” Mohawk coach Tim McCutcheon said.
“We’ve been plagued with 15-yard penalties all year and we’re simply not good enough to overcome those penalties. Some of them have been on types of action that I don’t condone. So it makes it tough.
“We played poorly, the coaches coached poorly. That was one of the most frustrating football games I’ve ever been a part of.”
(Email: AKoob@ncnewsonline.com)
MOHAWK ELLWOOD
3 First downs 9
109 Yards Rushing 227
46 Yards Lost 5
63 Net Rushing 222
8 Passes Attempted 4
2 Passes Completed 1
2 Passes Intercepted 0
34 Yards Passing 33
97 Total Yards 255
3-2 Fumbles-Lost 3-3
4-25 Punts-Average 1-15
9-92 Penalties-Yards 4-40
MOHAWK 0 6 0 0 — 6
ELLWOOD CITY 14 14 20 0 — 48
Scoring plays
ELLWOOD CITY — Nick Ioanilli, 3-yard run (Justin Baney kick).
ELLWOOD CITY — Ioanilli, 24-yard run (Baney kick).
ELLWOOD CITY — Toby Kelly, 18-yard blocked punt return (kick failed).
MOHAWK — Cayne Yakubik, 4-yard run (kick blocked).
ELLWOOD CITY — Alex Kinney, 33-yard pass from D.J. Barrett (Ioanilli pass from Barrett).
ELLWOOD CITY — Ioanilli, 84-yard kick return (Baney kick).
ELLWOOD CITY — Barrett, 12-yard run (kick failed).
ELLWOOD CITY — Norm Ballard, 5-yard run (Devin Cortez kick).
|