BUCYRUS — The Bucyrus defense pitched a shutout last week against Buckeye Central in a 35-0 win.
That same Redmen defense showed up Friday night against Mohawk. However, the offense, which was very efficient, especially on the ground, did not make an en core performance.
Bucyrus forced four Mohawk turnovers and had excellent field position most of the night. But the Redmen were not able to capitalize on any of the turnovers, allowing the Warriors to slog out a 27-0 Northern 10 Athletic Conference win.
“We tried some different things (offensively),” Bucyrus coach Tim Plumley said. “We couldn’t establish the run like we did last week. We’ve kind of determined if we throw it too much, we’re going to make mistakes and we’re not as good.”
The Redmen were held to 88 yards on the ground on 25 carries. Likewise, they only got 97 yards out of the passing game, for a modest 185 total yards.
Mohawk (3-5, 2-3 N10) scored a touchdown in each of the first two quarters, which would prove to be enough to win in the end.
An eight-yard scoring pass from Bryce Hannam to Zaiden Fry capped a 10-play, 73-yard drive at 1:51 of the first period. The Warriors then drove 79 yards on six plays with Hannam taking it in from 26 yards with 7:09 left in the half to make it 14-0, which was also the halftime score.
“They were loading up the box and challenging us to run vertical routes,” Mohawk coach Eric Daniel said. “The first play of the game, we missed a wide-open fade route. We didn’t score on that drive.”
Whatever struggles the Warriors had, Bucyrus had in spades. The Redmen defense forced four turnovers — three interceptions and a fumble recovery — but the offense did not take advantage.
Bucyrus’ Randy Banks intercepted a pass to set the Redmen up at the Mohawk 45. The offense only moved it four yards, forcing a punt. Bryant Pfeifer got a pick to set Bucyrus up at the Warriors’ 47. Bucyrus turned it over on downs at the 38.
Dalton Barker got the third interception at the Mohawk 49 and the Redmen returned the favor with an interception. Bucyrus recovered a fumble at the Mohawk 24 but turned it over on downs at the 19.
“We couldn’t sustain it,” Plumley said of the offense. “The short passing game is hard. Eventually you have to hit a big play. In the short passing game, you have to be confident and hit in that quick window.”
The game was closer than the final score, as Mohawk tacked on two late scores. Hannam ran in from one yard with 4:11 left and Collin Barth scored on a one-yard run with :13 seconds left after Bucyrus (2-6, 1-4) turned it over on downs at the Warriors’ 26.
Eddie Dagher led the Redmen with 67 yards rushing on 18 carries. Malachi Bayless was 11 for 33 passing for 97 yards with two interceptions. Braxton Lewis caught two balls for 24 yards.
Hannam led Mohawk with 113 yards rushing on 17 carries and hit 11 of 19 passes for 158 yards and two interceptions. Kahne Hayman caught four passes for 70 yards and Fry grabbed four for 67 yards.
The Redmen did a good job of containing the explosive Fry.
“They took away Zaiden a lot,” Daniel said. “Their perimeter tackles really well, preventing the big play in the run game. Those kids were playing hard. I tip my cap to them.”
“He was obviously a focal point in our game plan,” Plumley said of Fry. “He’s a fast kid. We wanted to take him away. The kids executed the game plan pretty well.”
“There’s so much to clean up with this group,” Daniel said. “But we’re all in on them. We’re not giving up on them.”
“I told the kids after the game, ‘I’ve got to come up with something,’” Plumley said. “The defense played well. Offensively, we just couldn’t come up with anything.”
Box score
Score by quarters
Mohawk 7 7 0 13 — 27
Bucyrus 0 0 0 0 — 0
Scoring summary
First quarter
M — Zaiden Fry 8 pass from Bryce Hannam (Kahne Hayman kick), 1:51.
Second quarter
M — Hannam 26 run (Hayman kick), 7:09.
Fourth quarter
M — Hannam 1 run (Hayman kick), 4:11.
M — Collin Barth 1 run (kick failed), :13.
Individual statistics
Passing
Mohawk: Bryce Hannam 11-19-2 158; Zaiden Fry 0-1-1 0. Bucyrus: Malachi Bayless 11-33-2 97.
Rushing
Mohawk: Bryce Hannam 17-113, Collin Barth 15-68, Zaiden Fry 13-42. Bucyrus: Eddie Dagher 18-67, Malachi Bayless 6-30, Randy Banks 1-(-9).
Receiving
Mohawk: Kahne Hayman 4-70, Zaiden Fry 4-67, Collin Barth 1-9, Ryan Dietrich 1-7, Nathan Geary 1-5. Bucyrus: Javon Gallardo 4-19, Braxton Lewis 2-24, Randy Banks 1-23, Grady Jackson 2-16, Eddie Dagher 1-9, Mike Wise 1-6.
Team statistics
M B
First downs 19 13
Rushing 45-223 25-88
Passes 11-20-3 11-33-2
Yards passing 158 97
Total yards 381 185
Fumbles-lost 3-1 1-0
Punts-Avg 3-47.7 4-33.0
Penalties 7-75 3-15