SYCAMORE — Mohawk’s defense faced a major test against the top passing team in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference and aced it Friday night.
The Warriors picked off Upper Sandusky quarterback Kaden Holman three times and kept the Rams out of the end zone until the fourth quarter while taking a 28-7 victory at Warrior Field.
Zaiden Fry helped provide enough offense for Mohawk (3-3, 3-0 N10) with two touchdown catches and a touchdown run and was a big part of the team’s success on defense with an interception return for a touchdown. Bryce Hannam and Ethan Gatchel also had picks.
“We knew for sure that they would get theirs,” Mohawk coach Eric Daniel said. “We thought they would pop off some long runs, and they’ve got really good receivers and a heck of a quarterback, and to hold them to seven, I can’t say enough about (defensive coordinator) Trooper (Carl) Daniel and the rest of our staff.”
Fry scored the game’s first points on a 3-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter and ended the half with a trick-play catch for a score just 10 seconds before halftime to give the Warriors a cushion. He added a pick-six in the third quarter and then caught another touchdown.
Upper Sandusky (2-4, 1-2) turned it over four times in total and committed nine penalties for 95 yards. Both have been continued struggles in the team’s losses.
“Mohawk, they executed, but it’s hard to run plays when you’re just not executing,” Upper Sandusky coach Russell Hall said. “Hats off to them, they obviously have a say in that. At the same time, we have to get better. We have to eliminate those mistakes, which anybody at the game can see. We just made too many mistakes. The team that plays the cleaner game is obviously going to win, and we didn’t play clean enough.”
Throughout much of the first half, the Rams moved the ball more, but nonetheless, the Warriors held a one-touchdown lead. Upper Sandusky had a good opportunity to put points on the board late in the second quarter after Gavin Frey’s punt return to just across midfield, but an illegal block downfield on a pass completion negated a positive play, and the Rams wound up punting the ball back to the Warriors with a minute left.
Taking over at its own 18-yard line, Mohawk planned to try to run out the clock but changed its tune when Jace Margraf broke free for a 50-yard gain.
“That was freaking huge,” Daniel said. “Honestly, we were trying to go snail and run out the half unless we got a positive play. Our offensive line got a little seam. Jace Margraf’s one of the toughest kids I’ve ever coached in my life. He’s 160 pounds soaking wet. He’s tougher than an old hog’s snout. He did a heck of a job. He ran between the tackles, and I’m proud to see him have some success. He deserves it.”
Fry gained 12 more yards on a run, and then Ben Bogner completed an 8-yard pass to Margraf to the 18-yard line. Two plays later, the Warriors found just the right play to get into the end zone. Bogner threw behind the line of scrimmage to former quarterback Hannam, and he threw a perfect strike to Fry with just 10 seconds left in the half.
The Rams were still in it to start the second half, but on their first offensive possession, Fry stepped in front of a Holman pass and went 47 yards down the sideline and into the end zone to make it 22-0.
Another successful Upper Sandusky drive ended with an interception, this time by Hannam.
“The DBs played awesome,” Daniel said. “They were kids who wanted it, and they had great reads, and they were jumping stuff and trusting their reads. That’s a good offense. They’re going to get some wins. That’s a good team. I’m really proud of them.”
That led to Fry’s fourth touchdown of the night, a 26-yard strike from Bogner to make it 28-0 late in the third quarter.
Upper Sandusky moved the ball successfully throughout much of the game but could not finish off a drive until early in the fourth quarter when Holman ran into the end zone from 12 yards out.
The Rams’ first drive was stopped at the Mohawk 12-yard line when Holman’s pass to Evan Hill was a yard shy of a first down. After getting the ball back, Upper Sandusky turned it over on downs at the 23.
“We did a great job of moving the ball when we executed, and then all of a sudden, you get a player or two that doesn’t execute,” Hall said. “It doesn’t really matter what you call, if you don’t execute it, it won’t work.”
Mohawk converted two long third downs and a fourth down on its way to the end zone for its first touchdown. One conversion came on a personal foul penalty against Upper Sandusky, and the Warriors also got 25-yard pass that Hannam caught on a deflection on a fourth-and-14 play.
Upper Sandusky’s defense kept it close for much of the game and forced a pair of turnovers, including an Ethan Hill interception of Bogner in the first half and a fumble recovery to stop a Mohawk drive a yard shy of the end zone in the fourth quarter.
Fry finished with four catches for 73 yards and 10 carries for 49 yards. Margraf had 12 rushes for 80 yards. Bogner completed 7 of 14 passes for 115 yards.
The Warriors began the year with three nonconference losses but have bounced back to win their first three N10 games.
“It’s a credit to our senior leadership and our kids,” Daniel said. “We weren’t giving up on them. We told them all year, ‘We’re here for the long run.’ We’ll ride or die with this group, and they’ve been awesome.”
Holman was 19 of 32 for 197 yards and ran 17 times for 45 yards, while Levi Lamb finished with 74 yards on 18 carries. Evan Hill made nine receptions for 98 yards.
“We’ve got to man up and say, ‘Yep, that’s a mistake I made, and I’m going to fix it, and I’m not going to do that again,’” Hall said. “We’ve had players in the past do that, and obviously the team’s a lot better when that happens.”
Upper Sandusky plays at 7 p.m. Friday at Colonel Crawford, while Mohawk hosts Carey at the same time.
Box score
Score by quarters
Upper Sandusky 0 0 0 7 — 7
Mohawk 0 15 13 0 — 28
Second quarter
M — Fry 3 run (Chester pass from Bogner) 11:03.
M — Fry 18 pass from Hannam (Chester kick) 0:10.
Third quarter
M — Fry 47 interception return (Chester kick) 8:18.
M — Fry 26 pass from Bogner (run failed) 1:35.
Fourth quarter
US — Holman 12 run (Flowers kick) 10:45.
Individual statistics
Passing
Upper Sandusky: Holman 19-32-2 197; Mohawk: Bogner 7-14-1 115; Hannam 1-1-0 18; Fry 0-1-0 0.
Rushing
Upper Sandusky: Lamb 18-74; Holman 17-45; Allen 1-(-2).
Mohawk: Margraf 12-80; Fry 10-49; Bogner 15-3.
Receiving
Upper Sandusky: Evan Hill 9-98; Frey 5-27; Ethan Hill 2-32; Francis 2-20; Hart 1-20.
Mohawk: Fry 4-73; Hannam 1-25; Chester 1-14; Gatchel 1-13; Margraf 1-8.
Team statistics
US M
First downs 18 17
Rushing yards 36-117 19-197
Passing yards 197 133
Passes intercepted 3 1
Fumbles-lost 1-1 1-1
Punts 3-40.7 4-40.3
Penalties 9-95 3-35