Winless Mohawk makes strides against Aliquippa
Mohawk (0) vs. Aliquippa (42)
Written: Oct 22, 2011
There were plenty of fireworks before the Aliquippa-Mohawk game, but not many during the contest.
The fireworks were to celebrate Senior Night at Mohawk High School’s stadium and the pyrotechnics were spectacular. The action in the Class AA Midwestern Athletic Conference contest didn’t come close to equaling the pre-game sky blast.
As expected, Aliquippa, which is ranked No. 1 in the WPIAL in Class AA by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, cruised to a 42-0 victory last night before a sparse crowd. The Quips, who are now 8-0 in conference and overall, had already locked up the conference title and didn’t have much to play for.
Mohawk dropped to 0-7 in the conference and 0-8 overall and had trouble moving the football. But first-year Warriors coach Joe Lamenza liked the spark with which his defense played.
“Obviously, the score is no indication of this but the people at the game would agree this was the best defense we’ve played all year,” Lamenza said. “When it was still 15-0 late in the first quarter we forced them to punt and then in the second quarter we forced them to go three-and-out, stopping them on fourth down.
“We had a nice stop and we haven’t been able to do that all season.”
Aliquippa held a 29-0 lead at the half, scoring on a 5-yard run by Tyrik Hayes with 1:45 left in the second quarter. That touchdown was set up by the Quips recovering a Mohawk fumble at the Warriors 26.
The Quips moved 41 yards in five plays midway through the third quarter to go on top 35-0 and put the mercy rule into effect. The clock ran almost continuously after that and Aliquippa used its second- and third-string players the rest of the way. The Quips did not throw a pass in the second half.
“We did what we were supposed to do,” Aliquippa coach Mike Zmijanic said. “I thought the Mohawk kids played hard. It’s Joe’s first year here and it takes time to build a program.
“This was a hard game (for us) to play but a good hard game to play. We were coming off two big games against Ellwood City and Beaver and just did what we had to do.”
Mohawk never did move into Aliquippa territory and managed just 31 yards total offense on the night. The Quips finished with 331 total yards with running back Dravon Henry, a 5-foot-11, 185-pound sophomore, doing most of the damage. He rushed for 143 yards on 18 carries and scored on a 4-yard run in the first quarter.
Still, Lamenza saw some things he can build on.
“We’ve come a long way since week one. No question, we’ve grown up a lot,” he said. “We’ve continued to get better each week and that’s what you want from your football team.”
He likes the fact Mohawk is in the MAC, arguably the toughest Class AA conference in the WPIAL.
“I wouldn’t trade our conference for anything. I want to be in this conference,” he said. “If you want to get to that level (of an Aliquippa) you have to play those teams. Tonight was another barometer for our kids to tell them what they have to do physically and mentally to compete with the best in the WPIAL.”
Mohawk plays at Laurel, which lost to Beaver last night, this coming Friday in a MAC contest with nothing more than pride on the line.
(E-mail: ncsports@ncnewsonline.com).
ALIQUIPPA MOHAWK
16 First downs 3
269 Yards Rushing 36
4 Yards Lost 26
265 Net Rushing 10
10 Passes Attempted 7
5 Passes Completed 5
0 Passes Intercepted 0
66 Yards Passing 21
331 Total Yards 31
1-0 Fumbles-Lost 1-1
2-30 Punts-Average 5-26.6
6-68 Penalties-Yards 4-17
ALIQUIPPA 15 14 6 7 — 42
MOHAWK 0 0 0 0 — 0
Scoring plays
ALIQUIPPA — Dravon Henry 4 run (Terry Swanson run)
ALIQUIPPA — Devon Walker 1 run (Robert McPherson kick)
ALIQUIPPA — Desmond Hardy 3 run (McPherson kick)
ALIQUIPPA — Tyrik Hayes 5 run (McPherson kick)
ALIQUIPPA — Walker 4 run (kick failed)
ALIQUIPPA — Anthony Barton 8 run (McPherson kick)
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