Battle of W’s - Warriors prevail 38-14

Week 5 in MAC-action spotted Ellwood City playing host to the Mohawk Warriors from Helling Stadium. Mohawk was looking for their 6th straight victory against the Wolverines along with holding onto the top spot in the MAC conference. Meanwhile, the Wolverines were looking to lean on the shoulders of the WPIAL leading rusher #2 Elijah Palmer-McCane and company to slow down the Warriors pass attack so far on the year.

Mohawk started as the aggressor as they won the coin toss and elected to receive. The aggression continued for the Warriors as on their first drive, they also decided to go for it on 4th down and 9 from the Ellwood side of the field. A great stop by the Wolverine defense had the Warriors pay for the early aggressive calls.

Wolverines first drive featured an amazing catch that SR #8 Michael Walters pinned against his right glove and was able to keep the ball off the ground for a 36 yard reception. Not to be outdone on the drive, another great catch was made by #1 Domenik Hogue with a solid pickup as it looked like the Wolverines would strike first.

The Wolverines then leaned on the shoulders of Palmer-McCane, who got down to the Warriors 1 yardline. Unfortunately, a roll out play-action pass by QB #12 Chris Smiley was intercepted by #24 Justin Boston to give the ball back to the stingy defense of Mohawk.

After that play, the rest of the game was history. Mohawk drove 96 yards to put up the first points of the game as WPIAL passing TD leader QB #4 Jay Wrona made a great throw to the endzone to elite WR #3 Bobby Fadden. PAT kick was good by #15 Josh Wilkins to make the score 7-0 Mohawk after quarter one.

Penalties and negative plays by the Wolverines on the next drive gave the ball back to Mohawk early 2nd quarter. Wrona and company marched down the field and even completed a big crucial first down play to Boston coming out of the backfield being left wide open. Just a couple plays later, another TD pass by Wrona was caught by Fadden once again, this time on a hard fade to the left corner from 7 yards out as the entire backfield for the Wolverines were caught watching the quarterback make the throw. PAT was good by Wilkins made the score 14-0.

Down 14-0, the Wolverines knew they needed to get a score before halftime with the passing game of Wrona and company. The Wolverines were able to drive the ball down the field once again, but a 2nd down pass with pressure from Smiley was picked off by the Warriors defense to end the drive before halftime. Down in out were the Wolverines while the Warriors were just one play from ending the game before halftime.

A quick pass out to the close side of the field went off the receiver’s hands and landed into the hands of Palmer-McCane who returned the interception back to the Warriors 2 yardline. As the fans cheered the Wolverines on, the offense fed the man - EPM - who got them the ball from 2 yards out for the rushing touchdown. PAT kick by Kaitlyn Kreitzer was wide left to make the score 14-6.

Wolverines fans had to feel somewhat better knowing they were only down by a touchdown even with all the miscues on offense. Unfortunately, that was not the case. After a quick scramble up the middle by Wrona, the Warriors had to scramble to line for a weird, wacky, and broken play with no timeouts left from the 16 yardline. Sure enough, the snap was low and went through the wickets of Wrona, but was able to pick up the ball and scramble to the far side to look for one last pass. Most of the players on the field didn’t know what was going on and was looking at the ball wondering what had happened.

Just two seconds later, the pass to the endzone by Wrona was caught by #5 Blake Logan 16 yards out as time expired. Everyone in the stadium was in awe as Wrona made something out of nothing. The PAT kick was good by Wilkins to make the halftime score 21-6.

After the last second score, the Wolverines seemed to be out of sync moving forward, as third quarter action saw a score via the pass - the fourth on the night by Wrona - to #9 Dante Retort 7 yards out. The PAT kick was good by Wilkins to make the score heading to the fourth quarter 28-6.

The Warriors added more points to the board, but had Wrona shut down for the most part in the fourth quarter, leaning on the legs of Wilkins and RB #26 Sam List. Wilkins finished off an early 4th quarter drive with a 21 yard fieldgoal while List had a great 30 yard rushing touchdown up the middle of the Wolverines defense. The PAT kick was good by Wilkins, making the late 4th quarter score 38-6 Mohawk.

As the rest of the subs came in for both teams, a bright moment was had by the Wolverines as RB #7 Anthony Barberio finished off a late drive with a 1 yard rushing touchdown. The 2PT conversion was also good by #23 Richard Cureton to make the final score read 38-14 in favor of the Warriors.

For most of the game, the Warriors had the leg up on the scoreboard, but the early turnover from the 2 yardline in the first quarter by the Wolverines just seemed to fall right into the hands of the Warriors for the rest of the night. Mohawk outgained the Wolverines 430 yards to just 286, with both teams combining for a total of 446 yards passing.

#24 Justin Boston led the Warriors with 14 rushes - 62 yards, while Wrona finished 21-39 for 271 yards, but more importantly 4 passing touchdowns. EPM led the Wolverines rushing attack, with 11 carries - 34 yards. The Wolverines had 4 rushers all over 20 yards each - EPM, #26 Dante Pierce, #28 Ethan Patterson, and Cureton. Chris Smiley finished 12-24 for 175 yards, but had 2 interceptions thrown on the evening.

On the season thru 6 games, EPM officially has 153 carries for 813 yards and 6 touchdowns, averaging 5.3 per carry. Meanwhile, Smiley is 63-122 for 802 yards and 7 passing touchdowns. Michael Walters had another efficient game, now giving him 24 catches on the year for 324 yards, and a good total of 5 receiving touchdowns.

The Wolverines will fall to 5th place in the standings, the last spot as of right now for playoffs. But the season is still young and the Wolverines will have work to do this coming Friday as emotions will be high for them to get back into the win column while it is Homecoming night from Helling Stadium. Ellwood City (3-3) will take on the winless (0-6) New Brighton Lions. Ellwood City will be favorited on the night, but the Lions have had the upper hand in recent games, including the all-time series (32-28-5). Live coverage of Homecoming from Helling Stadium on Friday will begin around 6:30 PM with the live stream by ECS.