Warriors fall victim to youth, injuries and Riverside
Mohawk (7) vs. Riverside (35)
Written: Sep 10, 2011
By Kayleen Cubbal
New Castle News
NORTH SEWICKLEY TOWNSHIP — The combination of youth and injuries are making for a rough start for the Mohawk High football team.
The Warriors, with several key starters missing, dropped a 35-7 Midwestern Athletic Conference decision on the road to Riverside last night.
Mohawk fell to 0-2 in the conference and 0-2 overall. The Panthers are 1-1 and 1-1.
Warriors’ senior quarterback Tim Glass went out with an arm injury in last week’s 57-7 loss to Beaver Falls and starting running back John Fleck also is out with an unspecified injury. First-year Warriors coach Joe Lamenza said other players were sidelined as well, but declined to give specifics.
“I’m proud of the effort,” Lamenza said. “We have a very young football team to begin with, on defense we started four sophomores and a freshman because of injuries and it was very similar on the offensive side.
“Games like this, you find out what your kids are made of. Riverside made many, many big plays, but our kids were still fighting at the end.”
With Glass unable to go, junior Vince Menichino came in to run the offense. He scored the lone touchdown for the Warriors, on a 21-yard run in the second quarter following a 50-yard punt return by Levi Feezle. Marcus Gurgiolo’s kick accounted for Mohawk’s final point.
Menichino led the Warriors in rushing with 27 yards on four carries.
Mohawk ran six plays for a net gain of 2 yards in the first quarter and finished with just 55 yards net rushing and 66 yards of total offense. Riverside had 428 yards net rushing and 439 yards of total offense.
Tom Mansfield paced the Panthers’ attack with 166 yards on 18 carries and touchdown runs of 3, 2 and 63 yards. Bobby Gould (65-yard run) and Evan Hart (6 yard run) accounted for the winners’ other TDs, while Luke Noschese added all five point-after kicks. Quarterback Devin Kelosky chipped in with six carries for 91 yards.
“The future looks bright,” Lamenza said. “It’s bad now when you’re playing ninth- and 10th-graders, but it gets better later. They just have to grow up fast.”
(Sports correspondent Gaylord Muny contributed to this story).
(Email: kcubbal@ncnewsonline.com)
MOHAWK RIVERSIDE
5 First downs 17
55 Net Rushing 428
7 Passes Attempted 5
2 Passes Completed 2
0 Passes Intercepted 0
11 Yards Passing 11
66 Total Yards 439
0-0 Fumbles-Lost 3-3
7-34 Punts-Average 2-32.5
3-27 Penalties-Yards 8-72
MOHAWK 0 7 0 0— 7
RIVERSIDE 14 7 7 7—35
Scoring plays
RIVERSIDE — Tom Mansfield, 3-yard run (Luke Noschese kick).
RIVERSIDE — Bobby Gould, 65-yard run (Noschese kick).
MOHAWK — Vince Menichino, 21-yard run (Marcus Gurgiolo kick).
RIVERSIDE — Mansfield, 2-yard run (Noschese kick).
RIVERSIDE — Evan Hart, 6-yard run (Noschese kick).
RIVERSIDE — Mansfield, 63-yard run (Nochese kick).
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