Comeback attempt falls short for Colonel Crawford against Mohawk

NORTH ROBINSON – Mohawk is getting healthy at just the right time.

The Warriors turned to its running attack, led by senior Kaden Bish, as they remained undefeated in Northern 10 play. But they had to hold off a strong Colonel Crawford rally for a 31-27 win Friday night at H.J. Gary Field.

Bish ran for 138 yards and scored three times as Mohawk (7-1, 6-0) enhanced its chances at a share of the league crown and a high seed in the OHSAA playoffs; the Warriors came in ranked fifth in Division VII, Region 26.

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“I said I thought it would be a hard-fought game and it was,” Mohawk coach Eric Daniel said. “You’re never at ease when you have playmakers on the other side. They beat us over the top several times, which is uncharacteristic of us. We lost some eye discipline in the second half.”

Bish, who had been limited earlier this season, got things going early with a 15-yard touchdown pass from Andon Clouse and then a 12-yard run as Mohawk built a 24-7 halftime lead.

He added an 8-yard run in the second quarter, set up by a 41-yard burst play earlier.

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“He’s running hard, he’s one of our war daddies … we go the way he goes,” Daniel said. “When he’s running hard and he’s engaged because he’s a captain, he creates a lot of our own luck just through his physicality.”

Colonel Crawford (4-4, 3-3) struggled to move the ball in the first half, amassing only 117 total yards, with 80 of those coming via a Parker Weithman touchdown grab.

“Mohawk’s a great football team,” Colonel Crawford coach Jake Bruner said. “Our kids never gave up. We made some mistakes with penalties and some of our actions … but I’m proud of our toughness and grit, and the fortitude that our kids had.”

Crawford used a trick play with Weithman taking a handoff from Stratton and then throwing a 72-yard pass to Tyler Lash, who got open in the Warriors secondary early in the third quarter.

That cut the score to 24-14 and, following a Mohawk punt, the hosts struck again. This time Gabe Stratton connected with Carson Rader from 42 yards to make it a 24-20 contest with 3:02 left in the third quarter after missing the extra point.

“We’ve got nine seniors and they’re all playing, but we’ve got a lot of young kids,” Bruner said. “Obviously, they need that leadership and that spark — and they got that tonight.”

Stratton capped off a 10-play drive with a three-yard burst that gave Colonel Crawford a 27-24 lead with 5:16 left. Several questionable pass interference calls on both teams took place in the fourth quarter, but one in particular coupled with an unsportsmanlike conduct on the Eagles gave Mohawk an opportunity.

The Warriors took full advantage it as Clouse capped off a drive with the winning score from a yard out with 1:59 on the clock.

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A Chance Collene interception ended the Eagles’ final drive in the red zone at the 10-yard line after pass completions to Will Saum and Kyle Smith got the ball to the Mohawk 29 with under a minute to play.

“We tell our kids that losers pout and winners respond,” Daniel said. “It was a tough second half and our kids responded. We need tough games like that and we’ve got another one next week.”

With Roen Thew (hand) out, Bruner has used a combination of players — Stratton, Weithman, Gabe Stratton — at quarterback.

“They all did some really good things at times,” Bruner said. “I thought Gabe did a good job in the second half of trying to bring us back. He was gutsy at times.

“When you switch quarterbacks in the middle of the year, it’s transition time.”

Colonel Crawford travels to Seneca East while Mohawk hosts county rival Carey next Friday.

“We’re still not totally healthy and had guys starting for the first time tonight,” Daniel said. “I’m incredibly proud of our guys stepping up.”

On their final drive, Daniel told his team — “We’re going down and scoring.”

“You’re not going to do it if you don’t believe it. We scored and we got a turnover. They listened, that’s the sign of a resilient football team.”

With just seven returning letterwinners, Mohawk may have surprised some.

“There were some question marks,” Daniel said. “I don’t think anybody guessed that we’d be where we are. That’s a credit to a lot of great young men in our program.”

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Comeback attempt falls short for Colonel Crawford against Mohawk