Wolverines fight in first half, but come up short

The Wolverines fought hard Friday night as they traveled to Bessemer to take on the Mohawk Warriors. Holding the Warriors to just two touchdowns in the first half while giving up over 250 yards on offense, the Wolverines seemed to be hanging around with the Warriors. Unfortunately, 7 points would be the closest the Wolverines would be on the night as Mohawk outscored Ellwood City 18-6 in the second half to prevail 32-13.

On a red sky night, Friday night football seemed just right. The Wolverines battled in the first quarter, keeping the bend but don’t break mentality in check as the only score came from Mohawk at the 1:44 mark of the first quarter. RB #26 Sam List finished off a long drive for the Warriors from 3 yards out while K #15 Josh Wilkins added the extra point to make it 7-0 late first quarter.

Wolverines didn’t take long to answer, just 5 minutes later of game time at the 7:40 mark as Elijah Palmer-McCaine scored from 5 yards out with the PAT attempt by K #19 Caitlen Kreitzer good to even the score at 7-7.

Both teams went back and forth mid 2nd quarter, but the physicality of the Warriors just seemed to wear down the Wolverines defense. At the 1:02 mark right before halftime, a 26 yard dime pass from QB #4 Jay Wrona beat both defensive backs on the play, reaching WR #3 Bobby Fadden in stride for the touchdown. PAT was good by Wilkins as the air seemed to come uncorked for the Wolverines right before the lockers.

That air quickly went away on the second half kickoff as the Warriors went with an onside kickoff and was able to retrieve the ball. Consequently, the Warriors added points to the board as Fadden received another TD pass from Wrona, this time from 53 yards out to make the score 20-7. The PAT attempt snap was botched, but was quickly picked up and completed to WR #9 Dante Retort for the two point conversion. Headed to the fourth quarter, the scoreboard read 22-7.

With the offensive yards 413 to 220 on the night in favor of the Warriors, the big bright side for the Wolverines was the splash plays from RB #2 Elijah Palmer-McCaine. The running back for the Wolverines added his second score of the night at the 11:36 mark as he took the handoff from QB #12 Chris Smiley and scampered 43 yards into the endzone. The two point conversion pass was no good, making the score 22-13.

The Warriors would quickly answer with one of their own splash plays as Bobby Fadden added his second score of the night, this time from 60 yards out from Wrona. The PAT was good as the Warriors built their lead to 29-13.

The final score of the night came at the 4:32 mark of the fourth quarter as the reliable Wilkins kicked a 20 yard field goal to make the final score read 32-13 in favor of the Warriors.

With the victory, Mohawk improves to 2-2 (2-1) on the season while the Wolverines drop to 1-5 (0-3) on the season. The Wolverines were led by Palmer-McCaine who finished with 17 carries and 130 total yards rushing. Quarterback Chris Smiley finished 11-21 with 105 passing yards and 1 interception.

Up next for the Wolverines is a trip to New Brighton as they will take on the winless Lions 0-6 (0-3) as the Wolverines will be looking to snap their 26 section game losing streak while picking up their second victory on the season. Live stream coverage will be presented by ECS at 7:00 PM.