Mohawk outlasts Freedom
Mohawk (36) vs. Freedom (21)
Written: Sep 20, 2008
SPECIAL TO THE NEWS
Mohawk and Freedom combined for 57 points and 668 yards of offense last night — so let’s talk defense.
Sounds strange, huh? That in a Class AA Midwestern Athletic Conference game littered with big offensive plays, a defensive gem should warrant a headline — but that’s football.
Mohawk, which walked away with a 36-21 home-field victory, came up with the defensive stop early in the fourth quarter. The Warriors had scored on a 9-yard run by workhorse running back Travis Schubert at 1:46 of the third period to take a 30-21 lead. But Freedom, with the help of a 50-yard pass and a 12-yard run by Scott Freeman, had set up shop with first-and-goal from the 4.
Two running plays by the Bulldogs gained nothing and Joe Ermi picked up just a yard on third down. The fourth down play was an inside counter with 6-foot-3, 200-pound Nick Pertile carrying the ball. There was a hole in the middle for a split second, but it closed quickly.
Matt Vogel and Stephen Cowher where in on the tackle early and were soon joined by a host of teammates. Ermi got a yard, but didn’t get into the endzone.
“I thought they were going outside and then I saw him (Ermi) come in and just reacted,” Vogel said. “I guess maybe I was the first one (to hit him) … I’m not sure. Steve was in on it, too.”
“We had a lot of guys in there on that play,” Cowher said. “We had all the linebackers in there … it was just a total team effort on that one.”
Mohawk punched the ball out to the 30, but that’s where Schubert, who rushed for 138 yards on 22 carries, fumbled after a 7-yard gain. It was one of three turnovers Mohawk committed.
Freedom recovered the loose ball and two plays later the Bulldogs were first-and-goal at the 4. A holding penalty pushed them back to the 13 and then quarterback Jeremy Herzog, who gave Mohawk fits with his scrambling ability, was sacked by Evan Degaton for a 6-yard loss. After an incomplete pass and a running play by Herzog that gained nothing — Tyler French had that stop — Josh Cantella’s 36-yard field-goal attempt was short.
Mohawk took possession with 4:02 left and put the game away when Colin Bredl went 69 yards on a reverse around right end for a touchdown.
“We didn’t do a very good job of stopping them until our backs were against the wall,” Mohawk coach Jason Long said. “That was a big stop in a lot of ways because it allowed us to take some time off the clock even though we fumbled.”
What bothered Long was the 298 yards of offense Freedom, which had been shut out the previous two weeks, was able to accumulate. A lot of it came on passing plays at crucial times, like the 17-yard connection from Herzog to Pertile on a fourth-and-16 play and set up a touchdown in the third quarter that cut Mohawk’s lead to 24-21 with 2:11 left.
Fortunately Freedom had a tough time containing Mohawk sophomore Johnny Beatty who retuned the ensuing kickoff 58 yards to the Freedom 17. Schubert scored two plays later.
Beatty also played some quarterback and scored on runs of 29 and 8 yards. He finished with 79 yards rushing on seven carries, doing most of his damage on quarterback keepers around the end.
“John can handle most of the offense,” Long said. “He’s just a good athlete and we were able to get him out on the edge. I don’t know how fast he is, but he has that second gear where people aren’t going to catch him.”
The win upped Mohawk’s overall and conference records to 3-1. Freedom dropped to 1-3.
“We still have things we have to shore up and we need to stay healthy. It seems like we get somebody back and then someone else goes down (with an injury),” Long said. “We had a lot of patchwork out there and it showed, but it’s a win and we’ll take it.”
FREEDOM MOHAWK
14 First downs 18
122 Yards Rushing 315
7 Yards Lost 0
115 Net Rushing 315
15 Passes Attempted 6
9 Passes Completed 3
2 Passes Intercepted 0
183 Yards Passing 55
298 Total Yards 370
3-1 Fumbles-Lost 3-3
2-22 Punts-Average 0-0
5-39 Penalties-Yards 5-57
FREEDOM 0 14 7 0 — 21
MOHAWK 16 0 14 6 — 36
Scoring plays
MOHAWK — Johnny Beatty, 29-yard run (Evan Degaton run).
MOHAWK — Michael Henry, 23-yard pass from Seth Powell (Chuck Trott run).
FREEDOM — Scott Freeman, 2-yard run (Joe Ermi pass from Jeremy Herzog)
FREEDOM — Ermi, 3-yard run (run failed).
MOHAWK — Beatty, 8-yard run (Travis Schubert run).
FREEDOM — Freeman, 4-yard run (Josh Cantella kick).
MOHAWK — Schubert, 9-yard (run failed).
MOHAWK — Colin Bredl, 69-yard run (kick failed).
|