Warriors win at SE, claim 1st N10 title since 2018

ATTICA — Mohawk earned the outright Northern 10 Conference title Friday night against Seneca East, 21-13. The Warrior defense picked off five passes as they won their first N10 title since 2018.Seneca East received the opening kickoff and marched 80 yards on 13 plays for a touchdown drive that lasted a little over six minutes."It ended how we thought it would: one score," Mohawk coach Eric Daniel said. "Our defense's backs were against the ropes and they stepped up."On the second play from scrimmage, Tiger quarterback Nicholas Parks threw a deep pass to Bryler Beamer for 35 yards. Parks then kept it for six yards on a third-and-five to move the chains.The Tigers then were in a third-and-11 situation when Parks kept it on a draw play for a 23-yard gain to get to the Mohawk 7-yard line. Parks found Ayden Zack for a two-yard TD pass on fourth-and-goal. Seneca East missed the point-after-try but were up, 6-0.Mohawk drove the ball down to the Tiger 15 on their ensuing drive, only to turn the ball over on downs when QB Ben Bogner's keeper up the middle was stuffed short of the first down marker on fourth-and-three. The drive was highlighted by Bogner pass over the middle to Kahne Hayman, who then took the rest of the way for a 38-yard reception.The Warriors forced Seneca East to punt, and started their next drive with great field position at the Tiger 44.Mohawk's Bogner hit Hayman for a couple ten-yard passes to help get the Warriors in the red zone. Unfortunately, they came up short again as Bogner's deep toss over the middle went out the back of the end zone for another turnover-on-downs for the Warriors.Seneca East was able to move the ball toward midfield, but was forced to punt by the Mohawk defense.Once the Warriors did have the ball back, Bogner scrambled for a 14-yard gain. Then, on third-and-four, Bogner again scrambled to the right side. This time it was for a 12-yard pickup to move into Seneca East territory.The next play, Bognor chucked a deep pass down the middle of the field as fellow senior Kaleb Bish ran underneath it to make a 43-yard TD catch. Brant Kirian's PAT was good, and Mohawk led 7-6 with 4:07 left in the first half.Late in the half, Seneca East's Parks threw an interception to Kaleb Bish to give the Warriors the ball back at their own 40-yard line with 45 seconds remaining in the half.A Bogner screen pass to Kaleb Bish netted 33-yard to get to the Tiger 27. Two plays later, Bogner connected with Andrew Woodland for 22 yards to get down to the Seneca East one-yard line. A false start penalty backed up the Warriors to the six-yard line, and two incompletions later, Mohawk sent the field goal unit out to add points with just six seconds to go in the second quarter.Kirian's field goal missed just to the left, and the score remained 7-6 at the break.Seneca East was able to come out and force Mohawk to punt to start the second half. From there, their offense was able to pick up four first downs on their way to the red zone thanks to passes from Parks to Taylor Young of 13, 14, and 21 yards. On first-and-ten from the Mohawk 17, Parks rolled right and threw an interception to Kaden Bish, who returned it 83-yards for a touchdown.Mohawk elected to attempt a two-point conversion to go up by two scores. The Warriors ran a play action that saw Bogner roll right and find sophomore Andon Clouse to make it a 15-6 lead for Mohawk in the third quarter.After a short run by Young for Seneca East on the next drive, Parks threw his third interception of the night to linebacker Garrett Reinhart. The Warriors started their next drive at the Tiger 17.A holding call moved the Warriors back ten yards, and they just couldn't get right from there as they turned the ball over on downs on a fourth-and-seven.The Tigers drove to midfield before Parks' deep pass to the right was intercepted by Hayman.When Seneca East did get the ball back though after a Warrior punt, they went 46 yards in 12 plays for TD drive that lasted a little over four minutes.Parks kept it for just enough yardage to get the first down on a third-and-six scenario. Parks kept it again on third down-and-two, this time for a four-yard run. On a third-and-one at the Warrior 13, Jackson Gayheart bulled ahead for five yards to make it first-and-goal. Three plays later, Parks hit Gayheart on a pot pass over the middle for the five-yard score. The PAT was good to keep the score at 15-13 in favor of Mohawk with 6:08 to go in the game.That's when Bogner took the game into his own hands. On the first play on the following drive, the senior took a keeper up the middle and was met at midfield by Tiger defenders. Bogner was somehow able to spin both players off of him and take it the rest of the way for a 63-yard touchdown trek. The PAT was wide left, and it was still a one-score game, 21-13."It was the first time we ran that play all game," Mohawk QB Ben Bogner said. "I kind of saw a couple of black jerseys coming at me then a hole up to my right. Somebody hit me, and I spun off of it; and I think my O-lineman like clipped him a little bit. I just spun off of it and from there I was like 'I got to score'. I was running as hard as I could.The Tigers went all the way down to the Mohawk 23 before turning the ball over on downs when Parks' pass over the middle was broken up by Kaleb Bish with 1:56 left in the game.Seneca East was able to force a punt and received the ball back with only 23 seconds off of the clock. A 20-yard pass from Parks to Branson Finnell got the Tigers into Warrior territory.Two plays later, Parks passed to Zack for a 17-yard advance to the Mohawk 10. On third-and-goal from the nine, Parks' pass was intercepted by Hayman, and the Warriors N10 Conference championship celebration began."It's very gratifying to see kids that put a lot of time-in get rewarded," Coach Daniel said senior leadership on his N10 championship team. "They do things the right way, and I cannot say enough about this group of young men. They are they're leaving a lasting legacy and they've totally turned around our program."Mohawk gained 314 total yards with 178 through the air and 136 on the ground.Bogner completed 11-of-23 passes for 178 yards and a passing TD while also rushing for 119 yards on 14 carries with a rushing TD on the day.Seneca East had 352 total yards to outgain the Warriors overall. The Tigers rushed for 193 and passed for 159 yards.Parks threw 12-of-25 completed passes for 159 yards and 93 rushing yards on the evening.