Mohawk’s problems prove glaring in loss to Center
Mohawk (7) vs. Center (35)
Written: Sep 05, 2009
  By RON PONIEWASZ JR.
rponiewasz@ncnewsonline.com
Nothing seemed to work for Mohawk High last night.
The scoreboard was malfunctioning before the game. The public address microphone had its issues. And then there was the Warriors football team.
While the other issues got resolved before kickoff, Mohawk’s football problems never did.
The Warriors made just three first downs and Center cruised to a 35-7 Midwestern Athletic Conference victory on the Warriors’ field.
The woes started immediately for Mohawk. The Trojans’ Ben Cobb returned the opening kickoff 90 yards for a 6-0 buffer just 18 seconds in.
“That kickoff showed how we were going to play all night,” Mohawk coach Jason Long said. “We were just poor all night, fundamentally.
“They have a good football team with good skill players. The big difference was they absolutely mauled us up front on both sides of the ball.”
Center didn’t get a great deal of work on its special teams in the preseason, but it didn’t show on the season’s first kickoff.
“You need to know when to go on the field and when to come off the field and all of that. They did well that first kickoff,” Trojans coach Larry Taddeo said.
Mohawk finally recorded its first first down with two minutes to go in the third quarter.
“Yeah, I knew we didn’t have any first downs,” Long said. “Their defense was all over us.
“Our quarterback couldn’t take a three-step drop; we’re bad up front. We have offseason issues, some of that is practice habits. Some of it is obviously Center. Some of it is a pride issue.”
The Warriors took a 7-6 lead when Colin Bredl scooped up a Preston Dawson fumble and raced 61 yards for a score. Dawson was trying to elude a rush and lost the ball. Bredl picked up the loose ball and rumbled untouched.
“It was certainly the only highlight of the night,” Long said of Bredl’s score. “We had the right call defensively.
“I thought Colin did a nice job to keep his balance and get that ball in the end zone.”
Center wasted no time in recapturing the lead for good. On the Trojans’ ensuing drive, they marched 70 yards in seven plays. Dawson finished the march with a one-yard sneak and then found Joshua Garrett for a two-point conversion and a 14-7 lead with 2:40 left in the first frame.
Mohawk had -4 total yards in the first half and never got past its own 35 in the opening 24 minutes.
“I felt our defense did really well,” Taddeo said. “I think both sides of the ball, we have a lot of work to do.
“We had a lot of first-game mistakes.”
Taddeo had to counter a tough defensive scheme from Mohawk. It worked as Dawson was 11 of 17 for 203 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
“Preston has good poise and he had a lot of heat on him,” Taddeo said. “In the two scrimmages (Mohawk) played, they didn’t run a 3-5 look and tonight they came out with a 3-5.
“I worked on that just in case. Until you see it live and in a game situation, it’s hard up front to pick up blitzing linebackers. I thought we adjusted well to that.”
Backup quarterback Tim Glass led the Warriors in rushing with 24 yards on three carries — all of which came late in the game.
Mohawk travels to New Brighton for a conference contest at 7 p.m. Friday.
CENTER MOHAWK
14 First downs 3
136 Yards Rushing 100
56 Yards Lost 43
80 Net Rushing 57
17 Passes Attempted 8
11 Passes Completed 3
2 Passes Intercepted 1
203 Yards Passing 9
283 Total Yards 66
2-1 Fumbles-Lost 2-1
1-38 Punts-Average 6-25.3
3-20 Penalties-Yards 7-56
CENTER 14 21 0 0 — 35
MOHAWK 7 0 0 0 — 7
Scoring plays
CENTER — Ben Cobb, 90-yard kickoff return (kick failed)
MOHAWK — Colin Bredl, 61-yard fumble return (Jon Kline kick)
CENTER — Preston Dawson, 1-yard run (Joshua Garrett pass from Dawson)
CENTER — Dawson, 22-yard run (Luke Campos kick)
CENTER — Cobb, 51-yard pass from Dawson (Campos kick)
CENTER — Garrett, 23-yard pass from Dawson (Campos kick)
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