HOLMES TOWNSHIP — Wynford High School held its Homecoming game Friday night and King Cooper Jury and Queen Brianna Westrick watched a battle of two physical football teams.
Mohawk, however, was a little more physical.
The Warriors rushed for 232 yards and used a 17-play 78-yard drive in the fourth quarter to lock down a 31-13 win over the Royals.
The league-leading Warriors improved to 4-0 in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference and 6-1 overall. Wynford, on the other hand, fell to 0-4 in the conference, 1-6 overall.
Mohawk quarterback Ben Bogner rushed for 173 yards in 23 carries, and passed for two more scores as the Warriors did a good job of running the football between the tackles.
“We wanted to establish that with our kids,” Mohawk coach Eric Daniel said of his team’s physical nature. “The last couple of games were lopsided. We wanted to get them tested. And by God, they did a really good job up front of stopping some stuff.
“At some point, it’s just a battle of wills and toughness in football,” Daniel added. “We challenged our guys up front. The coaches were on them all week about ‘we’re going to lean on you,’ and we did. Kaden Bish ran the ball hard and Ben ran the ball hard. But they were getting it done up front.”
Wynford coach Cyle Skidmore felt that the Warriors’ physical nature was something they expected.
“When you think of Mohawk, you think of a tough, physical team,” Skidmore said. “That was very obvious tonight. They attacked us up front and they did a good job.”
The Warriors struck first early in the game when halfback Kaden Bish scored from 10 yards out.
But Wynford responded immediately, getting a one-yard run from sophomore quarterback Landon Miller, tying the game at 7-7 after the first quarter.
“Landon Miller is getting better,” Skidmore said. “He’s extremely coachable, he listens, and he does everything we asked him to do.”
Early in the second period, Mohawk struck when Bogner hit wideout Owen Patrizi from 19 yards away, giving the Warriors a 14-7 lead.
But the biggest play of the game occurred late in the first half.
Mohawk punted the ball down to the Wynford eight-yard line with less than a minute to go. Instead of just taking a knee to go into the locker room down seven points, Skidmore decided to run a play.
Miller, however, fumbled the football and Mohawk recovered it at the Wynford 10, stopping the clock with just 1.4 seconds left in the half.
From there, Brant Kirian booted a 28-yard field goal, giving the Warriors a 17-7 lead at the break.
“We should have let the clock run out,” Skidmore said. “At the moment, sometimes you think about scoring and make something happen and it just got the best of us.”
Mohawk got the ball to begin the second half and quickly moved 72 yards in seven plays. Bogner, who battled the cramps most of the second half, hit Kaleb Bish from 20 yards out. At that point, Mohawk held a 24-7 lead.
“(Bogner) was hobbling around the entire second half,” Daniel said. “But the kid’s a competitor. He wanted to be out here, and he wasn’t going to let anyone else take his reps. He’s gonna drag his carcass out here and get it done. He did that on that last drive. It takes that toughness to get it done.”
Wynford cut into that lead late in the third quarter, moving the ball 72 yards in five plays. Miller ended the march with a 54-yard scoring pass to tight end Jake Stover. Stover ran a crossing pattern and broke three tackles en route to the end zone.
The Royals trailed 24-13, heading into the fourth quarter.
Wynford was still in the game at that point, but Mohawk’s 17-play scoring march ended those hopes.
Bogner hit four straight passes early in the march, and the Warriors’ ground game took over the rest of the way. Kaleb Bish ended the seven-minute march with a two-yard run.
Anthony Evans led the Royals with 84 yards in 21 carries. Miller completed six of 12 passes for 139 yards and a score.
“Our guys fought from start to finish,” Skidmore said. “They never tapped out. Hopefully, we can build on that this next week and get ready for Bucyrus. We just have to get better, particularly up front.”
Box score
Score by quarters
Mohawk 7 10 7 7 —31
Wynford 7 0 6 0 — 13
Scoring summary
First quarter
M — Kaden Bish 10 run (Brant Kirian kick), 7:57.
W — Landon Miller 1 run (Victor Arellano Cazares kick), 4:38.
Second quarter
M — Owen Patrizi 19 pass from Ben Bogner (Kirian kick), 10:13.
M — Kirian 28 field goal, :00.
Third quarter
M — Kaleb Bish 20 pass from Bogner (Kiran kick), 7:56.
W — Jake Stover 54 pass from Miller (kick blocked), 5:44.
Fourth quarter
M — Kaleb Bish 2 run (Kirian kick), 3:02.
Individual statistics
Passing
Mohawk: Ben Bogner 8-14-0 85; Wynford: Landon Miller 6-12-1 138.
Rushing
Mohawk: Ben Bogner 23-173, Kaden Bish 10-47, Braxton Frisch 2-12, Kaleb Bish 1-2; Wynford: Anthony Evans 21-84, Bryce Locker 6-20, Gage Massey 2-6, Landon Miller 1-(-2).
Receiving
Mohawk: Kaleb Bish 2-36, Owen Patrizi 3-25, Drew Woodland 1-15, Andon Clouse 2-9; Wynford: Jake Stover 3-94, Anthony Evans 3-44.
Team statistics
M W
First downs 14 9
Rushing 35-232 31-108
Passes 8-14-0 6-12-1
Yards passing 85 138
Total yards 317 246
Fumbles-lost 3-1 0-0
Punts 3-33.6 3-34.6
Penalties 1-5 9-58