Mohawk Too Much for Riverside

Tagged under: District 7, Gameday Hub, News

Phil Myers | September 16, 2023

After a slow start, Mohawk kicked it into high gear and pulled away from Riverside 45-0 Friday night at Riverside’s stadium in Ellwood City.  Riverside was shorthanded as 4 starters were missing from the line-up, but the Panther defense played especially well early on.  The Warriors of Mohawk only led 3-0 after the opening period of what looked like would be a good, close game, but then they took advantage of some Panther miscues and scored 28 points in the second quarter to up their halftime lead to 31-0.

Mohawk was led by QB Jay Wrona who threw for 196 yards and 4 TD tosses.  He also scored a rushing touchdown of 19 yards on a scramble situation when Riverside pressured him when he dropped back to pass.  WR Bobby Fadden caught 7 balls thrown his way for 92 yards and a touchdown.  He also intercepted a pass and had a long kickoff return to begin the second half.  The Warriors chalked up almost 300 yards of offense.

Jay Wrona inside the 10 on his way to a 19-yard touchdown run. (Photo by Roger Myers.)

Josh Wilkins is another Warrior weapon who needs to be mentioned.  The Mohawk placekicker not only went 6 for 6 on extra points, but he banged home a 37-yard field goal to open the scoring in the first quarter that would have been good from over 50 yards out.  In addition, 7 of 8 Wilkins’ kickoffs went for touch backs, including one which bounced off the right side upright and went between the two goal post uprights.

Josh Wilkins #15 booting one of his six PATs. (Photo by Roger Myers.)

The Warrior defense played especially well also as they limited the Panthers to less than 100 total yards and negative rushing yardage while the first team ‘D’ was in the game.  They also forced 3 turnovers on the evening.  Riverside finished with 108 yards of offense, 46 rushing and 62 passing.  Brockway Oliastro, a converted lineman due to injuries, was the leading rusher for both teams with 66 yards on 16 carries, but much of that was against the second team defense of Mohawk.

Riverside’s Brady Newman finds little room against the Mohawk Warrior defense. (Photo by Roger Myers.)

Mohawk upped their record to 3-1 for the year and play host to 0-4 New Brighton next week.  Riverside drops to 0-3 with the loss and visits 1-3 Freedom next week.

Score by Quarters:

Mohawk – 3 28 14 0 – 45

Riverside – 0  0  0  0 – 0

Scoring Summary:

First Quarter:

M – Josh Wilkins 37-yard FG, 1:40

Second Quarter:

M – Jay Wrona 19-yard run, (Wilkins PAT), 11:34

M– Justin Boston, 1-yard run, (Wilkins PAT), 5:43

M – Blake Logan 15-yard pass from Wrona, (Wilkins PAT), 1:23

M – Boston 5-yard pass from Wrona, (Wilkins PAT), 0:37

Third Quarter:

M – AJ Verdi 6-yard pass from Wrona (Wilkins PAT), 10:18

M – Fadden 17-yard pass from Wrona, (Wilkins PAT), 1:09

Fourth Quarter:

No Scoring

Follow Phil Myers on Twitter : @Protime_PFN

Follow PA Football News on Twitter @PaFootballNews