September 30, 2000

Mohawk trounce Tigers

By Matt Steiner
Sports Writer

SYCAMORE -- The Warriors were looking for rejuvination after last week's heartbreaking loss to Carey. Mohawk got its wish, and then some, scoring 52 points before North Baltimore could get on the scoreboard.

The end result was a 60-20 trouncing of the Tigers.

"It was definitely a team effort tonight," Mohawk coach Shane Jacoby said. "The big thing was we were able to come out and shed Carey and just get on with the season. It's behind us now."

It didn't take the Warriors long to get their Midland Athletic League leading offense into high gear. They took the opening kickoff and, five plays later, were in the end zone. The drive was highlighted by a 21-yard T.J. Marcotte to Brandon Brause pass and a counter play, which Tyler Beckley ran for 29 yards.

Kyle Roush put Mohawk on the scoreboard with an 8-yard run.

After a North Baltimore punt, the Warriors used just four plays to go 61 yards, capping the drive with a 0-yard run for a Brause score. Roush ran in the conversion and it was 14-0.

The Tigers quarterback Nate Krassow fumbled the ball on the second play of NB's second possession. Alex Carper jumped on it, giving Mohawk the ball on the Tiger 35 and setting up another Brause touchdown.

"We knew coming in that this was a very good team," Tiger coach John Kloepfer said. "They're a lot better in person than they look on film. You can't take anything away from them. They're a great team and they just beat us. Anything we did offensively or defensively, they just beat us."

The Warriors put the ball in the end zone on their next four possessions and on four straight possessions, forced North Baltimore to punt or turn the ball over on downs.

Jacoby went to his bench early bringing in a slew of sophomores and freshman in the second quarter. The experience should pay dividends in the future.

"It's important for later in the year and later in their careers," Jacoby said. "Playing under the lights and playing in front of the crowd, there's now way to get that experience except do it."

The experience of the underclasseman may be needed sooner than Jacoby would like. In preparation for the game, Mohawk's leading rusher and the MAL's fourth best, John Stansbery, went down with a pulled hamstring. He didn't dress against the Tigers. Then, less than halfway through the first quarter, wide receiver Dave Peck left the game with an injured ankle.

"In a game like this, one big thing is to stay healthy and that didn't happen," Jacoby said.

Roush did a bang-up job filling in for Stansbery. The Sophomore controlled the ball and the game for the Warriors in the first half, gaining 203 yards on 11 carries and finding the end zone four times before the intermission.

He added three 2-point conversions to give him a 30 point tally for the night. Roush's longest run came on an 87-yard touchdown on the first play of Mohawk's sixth possesion, making the score 44-0.

North Baltimore did get on the scoreboard in the first half. With the score 52-0, the Tigers put together a 72-yard drive, beginning at the 6:09 mark of the second quarter and ending with a 13-yard pass from Krassow to Troy Perez for the touchdown. The drive took 5:04 off the clock.

Krassow later ended the game's scoring with a 25-yard TD pass to Mike Spangenberg. Spangenberg also scored on a 3-yard run.

If the Tigers had one bright spot, it was the passing game. Krassow ended the night 16-of-29 for 251 yards and no interceptions.

Spangenberg was Krassow's favorite target, making seven receptions. James Ankney gained the most yardage with 124 yards on six catches.

The running games for each team landed on opposite ends of the spectrum. Mohawk averaged more than 10 yards per carry, finishing with 424 yards on 42 attempts. In contrast, North Baltimore ran the ball 28 times and compiled just 4 yards.

The Warriors made 17 first downs and the Tigers had 11.

Kloepfer said that the play up front made the biggest difference in the game.

"Our line has a lot of young kids," Kloepfer said. "They're learning. Physically (Mohawk) is so much stronger than us. We can't compete with a team like this. Their lines just beat our lines."