Mohawk Warriors/Northern 10 Athletic Conference News

Mohawk Needs Better Start

Click here to listen to an interview with coach Paul Dunn

          Mohawk plays at home against Wynford in a division VI sectional game on Friday night.

          These two teams just played last Friday in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game and the Royals (6-16) hung on to win (63-56) in the end.

          Coach Paul Dunn says they have play better early in the game.  “It's kind of a weird circumstance and how that played out.  Some definite familiarity with both teams.  The game last Friday, kind of similar to honestly how we played the first game.  Didn’t start off well.  Credit to Wynford, they came out and played really well right off the get go.  So, that's going to be one of our focuses for sure going into the game this Friday is a much better start, much more aggressive start for ourselves,” he said.

          Dunn says Wynford has some kids that can score and they can get on a roll.  “It's a credit to Wynford.  They're very young, very talented team.  I think Drew Stanek, if he's not one of the most prolific scorers in our league this year, he's going to be for sure the next two years.  He just possesses a huge threat.  You try to focus on him, but then they've got three guys around him that can fill it up from the outside.  So, I think we've got to come out with much more aggressive offensive.  I think if we can find a way to get ourselves going on that end of the floor and kind of get ourselves settled in.  I think we were down in first game was 12-2 and last game was 11-0.  So, anytime you start off like that that's a tough hole to come out of,” said Dunn.

          Earlier in the season, Mohawk (10-12) rallied from 25 down to beat Wynford (59-58) on January 9.

          Dunn says they also had some defensive issues they need to clean up.  “That was another problem for us.  A lot of live ball turnovers that led to them getting some easy transition buckets.  Defensively, we didn't do a great job of getting back in transition and stopping the ball and finding the guys,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night,  “It was a multitude of things that we've been really working hard on.  Our kids understand it.  We've talked about it.  We watched the whole film Saturday and tried to zero in on the things that we can control.  They're a good team, they're going to score their points, but there's things that we can improve upon to give ourselves a better chance against a team like that.”

Published 2/26/26

© Swankonsports.com

Tune in for a special edition of

“Out of Bounds”

Saturday night at 10 PM

“Your First Source for All Things Sports”

Mohawk Making Some Momentum

          Mohawk hosts two Northen 10 Athletic Conference games this weekend with Upper Sandusky on Friday and Buckeye Central on Saturday.

          They just played Buckeye last Friday, holding on to win (44-39) in New Washington.

          Coach Paul Dunn says they were able to make the plays at the end to get the win.  “Going into Buckeye Central we let Hunter Caudill kind of catch fire there and it made it hard to kind of corral him the second half.  I thought they did a great job of exploiting their size against us and pounded it inside and we didn't rebound the ball great.  We found a way to hang on.  Some of our leaders made some free throws there down the stretch to put the game away, which is good for us to see.  We have really been put in that situation a ton this year where you have got to finish the game late like that.  So, happy with our kids ability to do so,” he said.

          Mohawk (8-10,3-7) is at home for Upper Sandusky (7-12,6-6) on Friday night.  The Rams lost (49-37) to Seneca East last Friday.

          Dunn says they have to get out and defend shooters.  “Their guard play, the talent that they have with those guards.  With Josh Heilmam is leading the charge along with the younger guards that are freshman and sophomores that have gained a lot of experience they're starting to kind of step into their own,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “Their ability to shoot from the outside when they're on is scary.  There's some of the best shooters in the league, so we have got to respect that.  We have got to do a great job of defending the three-point line no matter what defense we're in.  That's got to be a focus for us.  So, we definitely respect the ability of those guys have.”

          The Warriors have won four of their last five and Dunn says they want to continue to build momentum.  “That's kind of what we've been talking about second half of the season and you want to hit your stride the best you can going into the tournament play and this next week's our last week to stack some wins together if we can to give yourselves a good draw at least and see what can happen.  So, I think the kids understand that.  We’ve got three more days of practice to really hone in on that and kind of sharpen things up and make sure we give ourselves the best chance here going into the home stretch,” said Dunn.

Published 2/10/26

© Swankonsports.com

Your first source for all things sports

“Out of Bounds” Fridays 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Mohawk Playing Well

          Mohawk takes a three game winning streak into a game at Buckeye Central in Northern 10 Athletic Conference action on Friday night.

          Coach Paul Dunn says they have made a few changes when it comes to individual players responsibilities and it seems to be working.  “We've made a couple of some just minor adjustments trying to simplify the offense.  Honestly, move some guys maybe off the ball that I think is going to benefit them in the long run.  It has allowed some other guys too maybe handle it a little bit more and allow them to just kind of be in the flow.  I thought our guys really battled especially Tuesday night against New Riegel.  It was a packed house.  It was a tight game really all way down to the wire.  Guys had to figure out how to win a game late.  I thought they did a good job of executing the things we asked them to do.  I’m happy for the kids to finally see some fruits of the labor kind of coming into the light here,” said Dunn.

          They smoked Bucyrus (58-29) in a “N10” game last Friday.

          Mohawk (7-9,2-7) plays at Buckeye Central (2-13,2-7) on Friday night.  The Bucks lost their last conference game (61-40) to Wynford last Thursday.

          This is the first meeting of the year between the Warriors and Bucks.

          Dunn says they have been besieged by injuries this year, but they still offer some concerns led by point guard Hunter Caudill.  “With the cancellations this year definitely a little bit different.  They are a team that had a lot of expectations I know for this senior class.  I feel terrible with some of the injuries they've had to face.  They've got a kid in Hunter Caudill that can essentially light the scoreboard up,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday evening, “Their size is absolutely something we have got to be worried about.  They've got two guys that are 6’5” or taller and have got some strength to them as well.  So, we're going to have to respect the rebounding ability of those guys and make sure that we keep Hunter in front of us and then do our best to make it really difficult for him.”

          Mohawk plays Hopewell-Loudon (8-8) in a non-conference game on Saturday.

          Dunn says they have some bigs and some shooters.  “A team that lost some of their guard play last year, but brings back the (Ashton) Miller kid, who's very talented scorer.  They too have some true size that's going to make it a challenge for us.  They have some guys that can really shoot from the outside.  They're well coached.  Coach (Roger) Jury has been doing it now for it feels like forever, but they have got a got a system of kids buying into what they're doing.  They know their roles.  It's always a tough matchup playing a team like Hopewell,” he said.

Published 2/06/26

© Swankonsports.com

Follow our scoreboard for

Constant updates on Friday nights

At www.swankonsportshosting247.com

Your first source for all things sports

Mohawk With a Couple Tests

          Mohawk plays two games in the Northern 10 this week as they play at Carey on Thursday night and at home against Bucyrus on Saturday night.

          Last Thursday, they lost (66-26) to unbeaten Colonel Crawford.

          Coach Paul Dunn believes they competed better than the first time they played them.  “They're if not the best team in the state, then one of the best two or three teams in the state.  You have got to be at your best for them.  I thought our kids underneath the circumstances of that wild night played hard.  It’s 7-7 in the first quarter and Crawford went on a 30-4 run, so that's the first half.  They're just a really good team,” he told Swaankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “Holt and DeGray, I don't know if they missed early or even the second half.  So, our kids competed though.  I thought offensively did a better job the second time around against them of finding ways to at least attack the basket.  We just missed some layups early in the game that you just can't miss if you want to try to hang around.”

          Mohawk (4-8,1-6) plays at Carey (6-6,6-1) on Thursday night.  The Blue Devils beat Wynford (68-54) on Saturday in an “N10” game.

          Dunn says they are physical and skilled.  “It's a typical very athletic team, very physical team.  With their point guard coming back into the fold here in the last week or two it just kind of brings them some continuity on offense.  They've got somebody that can put everybody else back in other positions and allow those guys to be who they are.  That kid just runs the point guard position really well for them.  They attack the basket, they've got some size inside that we are going to have to box out.  They're physicality and athleticism is something that we're going to have to honor on both ends of the floor,” said Dunn.

          A rematch with Bucyrus (2-11,1-7) comes Saturday.  The Redmen won the first game (62-55) on December 19.

          Dunn says they look forward to playing them again.  “That's a team that’s had some changes there recently.  Some players in and out.  That was the game early in the season.  Our kids, I don't know if we weren't ready to play with intensity.  We allowed Floyd to kind of get hot and couldn't stop him.  That's a game for sure we're looking forward to having another chance.  That's a nice thing about playing a double round robin, you play everybody twice and see how we've improved and what's changed over the course of the last few weeks,” he said.

Published 1/29/26

© Swankonsports.com

Your first source for all things sports

“Out of Bounds” Fridays 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Mohawk Must be at its Very Best

          Mohawk is at Northern 10 Athletic Conference leader Colonel Crawford on Wednesday night.

          The Warriors were down 25 at the half to Wynford last Friday and rallied to win (59-58) in a conference game.  On Saturday night, they were smoked (66-37) by Gibsonburg.

          Coach Paul Dunn says they just couldn't take that momentum to the next night.  “We found a little magic there against Wynford.  I tried to talk to kids about trying to replicate that the next night and kind of the aggressive play that we had.  We just didn’t do it consistently against Gibsonburg, that’s a very good team.  They out rebounded us, we turned it over too many times and they took advantage of it.  That's kind of been our Achilles heel this year.  We don't take care of the ball.  If we don't rebound, we're putting ourselves in a tough spot no matter who were playing,” he said.

          Mohawk (3-5,1-3) is at Colonel Crawford (8-0,5-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com coaches poll in the large school division, on Wednesday night.  This is a makeup from earlier in the season.

          Dunn says the Eagles have all of the elements of an outstanding team.  “They were a balanced team last year when we were able to compete with them.  I think they're better this year.  I think they had guys that were younger and they got good playing time last year that I've stepped into these positions and might provide even more to this team.  Now, you've got two of the best seniors, not just in our league, but I think in the State of Ohio in (Brayden) Holt and Payne DeGray.  They're two of the best at their positions,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “Holt controls the ball so well and controls the team and Payne just works so hard.  He's a kid that you don't want to go against, but he's easy to root for because he plays basketball the right way.  The rest of the guys around just play great defense.  They know your team strengths and they take your strengths away. Those kids have brought into the roles that coach (David) Sheldon wants them to play.”

          Dunn says they have to do enough very good things to hang around in this game.  “That's got to be the goal.  We have got to come out we have got to take care of the basketball.  We have got to be physical in the paint and do the best we can to keep them off the glass.  To be honest our kids have got to step up and we have got to make shots.  We have had some guys at times this year that has stepped into that, but we just need more guys that have that confidence that when the ball comes to them and they're open, they've have got to believe it's going in when they let it go and kind of build that confidence on the fly here if we're to have a chance to compete with the team like that,” said Dunn.

Published 1/14/26

© Swankonsports.com

Your first source for all things sports

“Out of Bounds” Fridays 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Mohawk Taking Steps

          Mohawk is at home for Wynford in play in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference on Friday night.

          They travel to Gibsonburg of the “SBC” River on Saturday.

          The Warriors lost (49-43) to Upper Sandusky in conference play last Saturday.

          Coach Paul Dunn saw some improvement in his players.  “I thought we played a lot better.  Obviously, there's no moral victories.  That's what I told the kids afterwards, but I thought our effort from that game compared to what it was against Calvert 10 days prior was much, much better.  The reason we hung around that game was because we played hard. We had a lot of turnovers, a lot of them very much unforced.  Just throwing the ball out of bounds and stuff like that, which we have got to learn from.  I was at least pleased with our ability to kind of hang the team like that some pretty good talent,” said Dunn.

          Mohawk (2-4,0-3) will host Wynford (3-6,2-3) on Friday.  The Royals were blitzed (65-47) by Marion Pleasant on Tuesday night in non-conference action.  They beat Bucyrus (56-53) in a league game last Saturday.

          Dunn says, like Mohawk, and a number of other schools in the “N10”, Wynford is young.  “It's kind of an interesting league in the sense that a lot of teams are very similar.  Their two sophomores that are two best players, kind of similar to what we see with Upper and other teams in our league,” he said.

          Dunn adds that the Royals have a couple of sophomores on their roster that are explosive scorers.  “Drew Stanek I think is going to be one of the best players, if not this year, for the next couple of years in the “N10”.  He just such a potent scorer and the guys around him I think are really good offensively,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “They do a good job of getting the ball in his hands.  He can score in a lot of different ways.  So, defensively we have got to be able to stop him and Reed Johnson.  Hopefully, offensively find a way to take care of the ball of the better and manufacture some points.  If we can get it off the defense that'd be the best way for us.”

Published 1/07/26

© Swankonsports.com

Your first source for all things sports

“Out of Bounds” Fridays 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Mohawk Has to be Better at Both Ends

          Mohawk is looking to find itself as they play down the road at Upper Sandusky on Saturday night in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.

          They were thrashed (65-20) by Tiffin Calvert in their last outing last Tuesday.

          Coach Paul Dunn says they didn’t play up to their standards at either end of the floor.  “Our major issue right now is valuing the ball and taking care of it.  We did a terrible job of that the entire night against Calvert.  Just didn't do a good enough job trying to maximize our opportunities.  The part that probably was most frustrating for me is if we are going to be that bad on offense we have got to try to find a way to better on defense.  Defensively, I thought we gave up to two scores late in end of the quarter situations.  We didn’t do a good enough job finding their best shooter on the floor.  So, if we're going to struggle on one end you try to be better on the other.  That's kind of our focus the past week,” said Dunn.

          Mohawk (2-3,0-2) is at Upper Sandusky (2-6,2-2) on Saturday night.  The Rams lost their last conference game (56-50) to Seneca East on Saturday.  They fell to Old Fort (48-41) in a non-conference game on Tuesday.

          Dunn says they are young in a lot of cases, but they can play.  “Their schedule has been probably tougher than ours, on paper by far.  They played some tough non-league components.  Found themselves in some tough games early, but obviously they're a young team.  Two of their best players are freshmen and you have got the (Josh) Heilman kid there that's played a lot of varsity basketball,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “They pose a huge threat for us in terms of the ability to score from the outside.  We'd like to be able to play some zone, that's probably fits our scheme a little better this year.  Against them you have to get out and guard and a man to man and prevent their easy shots.  So, we're going to have to do a good job and hope the three-point shots are not falling as easily for them.”

          The schools are right around the corner from east other and Dunn says there is a rivalry feel to this game.  “It less than 15 minute drive to both schools.  So, a lot of our kids know each other.  We have got some cousins that are a part of both teams that are close family members.  So, it means a lot to our community.  They're much bigger school than us in that sense.  It's always a challenging game for us,” he said.

Published 1/01/26

© Swankonsports.com

Your first source for all things sports

“Out of Bounds” Fridays 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Mohawk Wants to Get Back at it

          The boys’ basketball season began the day before Thanksgiving and the Mohawk Warriors have only played twice.

          They are scheduled to play at Bucyrus in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Friday night and at Lucas in a non-conference game on Saturday.

          Coach Paul Dunn says man they want to play.  “I definitely want to see our kids out there.  Our kids are at that point where they want to get out there and do something besides practice.  You kind of go through that long process of preseason with practice and now you try to get the games and kind of being short on some games right now it feels like,” he said.

          Mohawk (1-1,0-1) plays at Bucyrus (1-1,0-1) on Friday night.  The lost (42-35) to Buckeye Central last Thursday in an “N10” game. 

          Dunn says they present some issues with the athletes they have.  “They bring back two of the more talented kids on their roster from last year.  Unfortunately, with the injury to Munn-Page, but with the (Georgie) Floyd kid, he's always a tough guard for us as a point guard,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “We're going to have to make sure we're focused on him.  They've got some younger guys that are seeing more playing time right now.  Obviously, the Floyd kid and the (Dylan) Coppler kid are our main focus.  Offensively we're going to have to be able to build an attack.  They play a couple different kinds of zones that we're hopefully going to shoot well against.”

          Lucas (0-3) was smoked (72-29) by Crestview in a non-conference game on Tuesday night.

          Dunn says this is a team that’s going to give great effort.  “They were obviously a very young team last year.  With coach (Corbin) Toms being down there now and taking over the reins they're going to play with a lot of energy for him.  So, that's definitely going to pose a challenge.  Going on the road on the back-to-back having not played for a couple of weeks will be a challenge for our kids as well,” he said.

Published 12/17/25

© Swankonsports.com

Your first source for all things sports

“Out of Bounds” Fridays 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Mohawk Needs to be Physical

          Mohawk entertains rival Carey in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference basketball game on Saturday night.

          The Warriors (1-1,0-1) began the season last week with a (61-56) loss to Seneca East in an “N10” game on Friday and a (50-22) win over Cory-Rawson on Saturday in non-league play.

          Coach Paul Dunn says they definitely got better as the weekend progressed.  “We kind of knew going into the start of the season was going to kind of be a lot of unknowns for us.  I think early in that game against Seneca East I think some of our nerves kind of showed themselves and we dug ourselves a 13-2 hole.  I thought our kids really fought back and I was proud of effort that we gave and gave ourselves plenty of chances.  Credit Seneca East, Luke Mason kind of put the game away from the free throw line for them,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday evening, “I was proud of our resolve and going into the next night against Cory-Rawson I thought our kids did a better job of fixing the things that we did wrong the night before.  I thought we played pretty good defense.  Offensively, it was a struggle, which I think this year is going to be kind of a thing for us never knowing who's going to score for us.  It's going to be different guys each night, but I thought our kids at least learned and grew from the first game.”

          Carey (1-0,1-0) played their first game on Thursday night and beat Upper Sandusky (73-63) in a league game.

          Dunn says they are poised to be good.  “They are a team that’s almost kind of a year ahead of we're at right now.  They played a lot of young guys last year and they went through growing pains with them.  That's going to benefit them this year a lot.  They have got a lot of great athletes.  They have still have got Kyler Boes, who has played four years of varsity basketball and is one of the best shooters in the league.  The athletes they have like Tripp Phoenix, who was one of best quarterbacks in the conference.  The (Brayden) Kitler kid I think last year kind of stepped into the role that they needed as a true point guard and he's going to be a tough guard for us no matter what we play well defensively,” said Dunn.

          Dunn says they have to compete physically to stay in the game.  “They're always great athletes, they're always very physical.  Carey’s tradition is they get better as the year goes on, kind of like us.  They have got a bunch of football kids out there that kind of get into the basketball routine by mid to late January.  Their physicality and athleticism is going to be a challenge for us.  If we don't play solid defense and box out, that’s going to be the M.O. for us going into that game Saturday night,” he said.

Published 12/12/25

© Swankonsports.com

Follow our scoreboard for

Constant updates on Friday nights

At www.swankonsportshosting247.com

Your first source for all things sports

Mohawk Trying to be Simple

          Mohawk opens plays with a double weekend as the Warriors play at Seneca East in an “N10” game on Friday then host Cory-Rawson for their home opener on Saturday in non-league play.

          Coach Paul Dunn says they are trying to make sure their young guys know what they’re doing.  “A lot of coaches might look at it differently, but early in the season I think for me, we're obviously worried about the other team too, but we're just so worried about making sure that we've got everything installed, make sure that our kids are comfortable with the sets that we have.  We haven't installed everything.  We'll add stuff as the year goes on,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “We're just trying to make sure it's simple enough so the kids can go out execute at a high rate, feel comfortable and confident, because we've got a really young team.  We're going to have a lot of first game jitters on Friday night.  So, simplifying it as best we can.  Just making sure kids have that confidence in what they're doing is the most important thing.”

          Last year, the Warriors played eight seniors, who have since graduated.  Dunn says it would be nice to have a few veterans.  “It'd be nice to have one or two guys coming back to at least be locker room guys to give the kids some calm down medicine or whatever you need to give them.  It’s handling the ball handler, handling the pressure.  We are facing adversity.  We are facing a team that's got a kid in Luke Mason that can drop 30 points in a given night.  So, we're going to have to prepare for those runs they're going to go on and see how we react to them,” he said.

          Seneca East won their opener (64-51) over South Central on Saturday.

          Luke Mason is one of the better guards in the area and Dunn says they have to keep him out of the lane.  “His brother and him are similar and in the sense of how they played, but Luke is just so crafty with the ball.  He is not as tall as Isaac was, but that might make him harder to guard.  He is more shifty and very athletic and can find ways to get through cracks and crevices and get his floater off.  He is a very good three point shooter.  So, definitely part of our mindset is trying to prevent his ability to get in the paint and try to make it tough on him as much as we possibly can and try to make other guys with their team do things with to the ball,” said Dunn.

Published 12/03/25

© Swankonsports.com

Your first source for all things sports

“Out of Bounds” Fridays 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Mohawk Learning on the Run

          Mohawk had 10 seniors on their basketball roster last year and this year they are kind of starting from scratch, but with talent.

          Coach Paul Dunn says they have a lot of kids that are learning the game at the varsity level.  “We've got a lot of turnover.  I have zero players coming back with varsity experience.  A couple guys that if we maybe did not had such a large senior class definitely would have got some decent minutes last year.  We've got a huge learning curve to make up in terms of jumping from the JV level to the varsity level,” said Dunn.

          Dunn says they have some kids that can be very good players and hopefully they can find their game at the varsity level very quickly.  “We have some players that I think can really, they're going to have to speed up the process, but they could be some really good players for us.  I'm hoping to take that step and kind of speed that process up, but we're going to go through growing pains for sure early in the season, but hopefully lessons are learned and we can be improving as we go,” he said.

          Mohawk plays its first game of the season at Seneca East, in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game, on December 6.

          Dunn says their kids have to get used to the speed and physicality of the varsity game.  “That's the thing that our kids are going to have to learn.  We’ve had two scrimmages now and we've talked a lot about that in terms of you almost have to play a play, a pass ahead and see the next pass before it's obviously there,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “The physicality right now that's one thing that we kind of challenged our guards (Wednesday).  We have got to be better at that.  We've been blessed the last nine years with guards that every night could get off the dribble and create for others.  Right now, we don't have that.  We need that because we've got some post players that I think could benefit from it and be able to be good scorers for us, but the guards have got to kind of really improved in that aspect.”

Published 11/20/25

© Swankonsports.com

Your first source for all things sports

“Out of Bounds” Fridays 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Mohawk to Play Leipsic Again

          Mohawk travels to Leipsic to meet the Vikings on Friday night in a regional quarterfinal in division VII.

          They opened the tournament last week with a (41-6) win over Montpelier on Friday night.

          Coach Eric Daniel called it a good comeback win after a loss to Seneca East (50-19) in the final regular season game.  “The kids responded very well post week 10 and did everything that we asked of them and going in the right direction.  We got a little bit of confidence back and just doing things the right way in preparation and taking things seriously and not taking anybody lightly.  That has continued this week, so just really, really happy with how they bounce back as young men,” said Daniel.

          Leipsic (9-1) was the runner-up in the Blanchard Valley Conference.

          Daniel says like usual they have talent all over the field.  “They are unbelievably talented.  They are very athletic, probably the most athletic team that we've seen yet this year, just holistically.  They do a great job stretching the field.  They have got a receiver that led the “BVC”.  He's kind of their dude,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “The quarterback does a great job of distributing the ball.  They also have a slot guy that is very explosive.  Tey have got weapons everywhere, which is the reason they are 9-1 in the “BVC”.  Certainly have got a lot of respect for them.  They've had our number the last couple of times we've played them.  So, really excited to just get over there and get after it.”

          Leipsic beat Mohawk in the playoffs in 2018 and 2019 and Daniel says they are well aware of the tradition the program has.  “Every year different and these kids don't even remember playing them.  So, it's a program that we are well aware of for sure.  We've met a couple times.  They have got great football tradition over there and they do a great job.  Coach (Joe) Kirkendall is a guy that I respect a lot,” he said.

Published 11/06/25

© Swankonsports.com

Your first source for all things sports

“Out of Bounds” Fridays 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Mohawk Has to be Disciplined

          Mohawk will be at home for Montpelier in a division VII first round playoff game on Friday night.

          A win last week would have given the Warriors (8-2) a share of the Northern 10 Athletic Conference title, but they were whipped (50-19) by Seneca East.

          Coach Eric Daniel says they made way too many mistakes, but they have to learn from that and move on.  “We picked a bad night to have bad night.  We had more turnovers in one game then we had the previous nine combined.  It started from the get go.  We had to punt and not a great snap. It rolled between our legs and we gave them the ball on I don't know on the 15 or 10 yard line and it was kind of on from there.  Momentum's a weird thing in high school football and once you lose it it's really you have to fight like heck to get it back.  Just felt like we could never get our feet underneath us.  Credit to them, they’re a solid program and they played really well and showed up well and we did not do ourselves any favors.  So, just having a short term memory and working past it, learning from it, not dwelling on it, and treat it like a teachable moment that’s part of the journey,” said Daniel.

          Daniel says what the need to do Friday is go out and play football like they did the previous nine weeks.  “We don’t want it to affect our kids confidence either.  It's like don't start playing timid.  Learn from it, flush it, move on and do the things that got you there and got you in that situation.  Play clean football, disciplined football, minimize the penalties we could control and play hard and play physical and we will be just fine.  So, that's kind of been our message to the guys.  Get back to doing what we do correctly and do it at 100% and let's get this bad taste out of our mouth,” he said.

          Montpelier (6-4), way up in the corner of Ohio and its border with Michigan and Indiana, has scored a boatload of points this year.

          Daniel says they have kids that a capable of making plays when the play breaks down.  “They have got some really, really nice athletes.  They're big up front and they come off the ball.  They're a similar division VII program in terms of depth.  They have got about 15 kids that, they have 40 some on the roster, but 15 or so play, so they're not particularly deep, similar to us.  So, it's going to kind of come down to your conditioning and can you execute in key situations,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday evening, “We have to be disciplined because they do a lot of freelancing.  They scramble around while they're quarterback creates well.  They're receivers scramble drill well.  So, our back end needs to be better tacklers.  We need to be sound in our back end.  We have just got to win at the line of scrimmage.  Offensively just it felt so clunky last week.  A lot of penalties and stuff like that they really held our drives.  We're a yard and half from going up 14-3 and we get called for a hurdling call.  Instead of being first and goal on the two-yard line, it's second and 25. If we can minimize that stuff and stay in front of the sticks we will be just fine.”

Published 10/31/25

© Swankonsports.com

Follow our scoreboard for

Constant updates on Friday nights

At www.swankonsportshosting247.com

Your first source for all things sports

Mohawk Will Have to be at its Best

          Mohawk has an opportunity to win back to back Northern 10 Athletic Conference titles.  They must beat Seneca East at home Friday night to get it.

          They put themselves In this position with a thrilling (29-28) overtime win over Carey last Friday.  They share the lead with the Blue Devils and Colonel Crawford.

          Coach Eric Daniel says that was great, but they must move ahead.  “We're doing everything possible to kind of turn the page for our kids and get them refocused.  We let them enjoy it this weekend and then on Monday we told them it's time to get back to work.  The job is not done, so that's kind of been the theme of the week is to finish,” he said.

          Mohawk (8-1,5-1) is at Seneca East (7-2,4-2) on Friday night.  The Tigers are coming off a (62-14) thrashing of Bucyrus last week.

          Daniel says they are a team with a lot of weapons.  “They’re a really good football team, an excellent football team.  They're good up front.  Extremely physical on both sides of the ball really.  An excellent quarterback and he just makes plays all over the field.  A really physical running back.  They're just sound,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “Their receivers, I think they start two or three freshmen and they are really, really improved throughout the year.  They have a couple kids back in the receiving corps that make plays and the freshmen have really stepped up.  So, I don't see really any glaring weaknesses and just really good overall football team that's going to take our best to beat them.”

          Daniel says on defense they are aggressive and they get to the football.  “Probably their unsung heroes are their defensive line.  They cover a lot up, box a lot in.  They do a great job eating double teams and frees up the Cornwell and (Jackson) Gayheart and their linebackers flow to the ball extremely well.  They're just incredibly physical.  They run through blocks.  They're sideline to sideline.  The Gayheart kid flies around man and he is an absolute bull in the box.  So, they're really good at stopping the run.  They've been good stopping the run all year,” said Daniel.

          Daniel says they understand they are going to have to go out and play very  good football to win.  “They're 45 seconds away from beating Carey, so we're not ignorant enough to think that that we've got it in the bag or anything.  We know that it's going to be an incredibly big challenge.  They got a lot to play for and we're going to get their best,” he said.

Published 10/22/25

© Swankonsports.com

Your first source for all things sports

“Out of Bounds” Fridays 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Mohawk With a Chance

          Mohawk is at Carey on Friday night in a huge game in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference. 

          A win by Carey gives them no less than a share of the conference title and if Mohawk comes out on top it will create a tie for the lead with a week to play this regular season.

          Mohawk coach Eric Daniel says it should be just a tremendous game.  “It should be a great game.  We're really excited about it.  It doesn't matter what the records are the kids always get excited for this week.  They always bring it on both sides.  We're going there, which is one of the cooler small school football environments that in the in the State of Ohio in my opinion.  So, it's a great place to play it should be a great challenge,” he said.

          Mohawk (7-1,4-1) is at Carey (5-3,5-0) on Friday night.  Last week, the Blue Devils handed Colonel Crawford their first loss of the season (24-14) meanwhile Mohawk handled Upper Sandusky (31-6) last Friday.

          Daniel says they realize the importance of this game, but they are not going to blow it out of proportion.  “We're not trying to make the game bigger than it is.  It's kind of like our week one mentality.  We just talked to them, don't make it bigger than what it is.  It's a great rival.  They're a great football team, but you get to the point where you get so hyped up that you play tense and play tight or you try to play outside of yourself or your scheme and that's not really what we're looking for,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “It just another step in the journey.  It's going to be a great game, it’s going to be a great test for our guys and that's really what we're looking forward to.  Just being a part of a great football game, a great rivalry, and watch our kids get tested and see how they respond.”

          When it comes to Carey, Daniel says they have big backs that are also very fast.  “They're extremely, extremely, extremely physical.  That's not outside the norm for them.  They lose their best running back arguably our conference and they replaced him with another kid that’s an absolute stud.  The Puckett boys are two monsters in the backfield.  The (Carter) Bame kid, my God, they’re all 200 some pounds and they all run like deer, it's just incredible.  So, I don't know if it's something in the water over there, but they've got some really nice players in their backfield.  The (Tripp) Phoenix kid has been to the state a couple times in the 100, he's their quarterback and they're good up front.  So, it's certainly a great challenge for our defense and should be a great football game,” said Daniel.

Published 10/17/25

© Swankonsports.com

Follow our scoreboard for

Constant updates on Friday nights

At www.swankonsportshosting247.com

Your first source for all things sports

Mohawk Gets its Share

          Mohawk smoked Upper Sandusky is three straight sets on Thursday night to earn a share of the Northern 10 Athletic Conference volleyball title.

          They beat Upper Sandusky (25-12, 25-15, 25-9) on Thursday.  Biz Klopp had 12 kills and Reese Hoover had 30 assists.

          They share the title with Buckeye Central, who beat Seneca East (25-9, 25-18, 25-16) on Thursday.

          Mohawk coach Eric Hoover says winning the league is always one heir goals.  “Every team is new, it's a new season and every group is different in their own way.  We all have goals at the beginning of the year and this is one of ours.  We want to put ourselves in a situation where we can compete for our league title year in and year out.  So, this is one of our one of our main goals, even though we shared, it's great to get a piece of it and not a bad team to share it with Buckeye’s got an outstanding team this year too,” said Hoover.

          For the Lady Warriors it’s their fourth straight title.  They won it outright the previous three years.

          They got to this position by beating Buckeye (16-25, 25-20, 25-19, 25-22) on Tuesday to move into a share of the lead.  Emerson Gurney had 25 digs.

          Hoover it was a very good win for them.  “We've had a good rivalry back and forth here over the years.  They got us at our place in the first round of our league.  A game that we had chances to win and didn't get done.  I'm sure they felt the same way on Tuesday.  Everything was always back and forth with us and we've had a lot of close ones.  So, this being kind of the last year of the “N10” as we know it.  Us and them have really you won a majority of the titles in the “N10” in volleyball.  So, I guess for us to share is kind of fitting,” said Hoover.

          Mohawk (18-4), the second seed in its division VII district, will play host to Hopewell-Loudon in a sectional final next Wednesday.

          Hoover says they have great potential for tournament success. “We’re going to be a tough team to beat, so I think we have got a good chance of a run here.  We have got a very talented team that has good experience in not only volleyball, but good tournament experience in softball as well,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win Thursday night, “I think when it comes down to tournament time its survive and move on.  You have got to be able to handle those clutch situations.  We've had a lot of close matches this year.  We've had a lot of five set matches, so we've been in those situations a lot that hopefully will really help us.  You're going to end up probably in that situation at some point throughout the tournament, so that will help us to succeed in those situations.”

Published 10/10/25

© Swankonsports.com

Follow our scoreboard for

Constant updates on Friday nights

At www.swankonsportshosting247.com

Your first source for all things sports

Mohawk Wants to Start Quick

          Mohawk, a game back in the “N10” standings, visits rival Upper Sandusky on Friday night in a conference game.

          Last week, they were tied at halftime, but blew out Wynford (50-14) in the end.

          Coach Eri Daniel says they couldn’t get off the field on defense in that first half.  “We had started out slow, and that's probably the understatement of the world, especially defensively.  Offensively, we're fine.  We kind of shot ourselves in the foot with a bad snap on the first play of the game that got us in second and 28.  So, we lost that possession and scored on our other two possessions.  We couldn't get off the field.  They had a great game plan and it was three yards and a cloud of dust.  It could have been third and short or fourth and short and they would convert.  They put together a couple of seven to eight minute drives and kept our offense off the field.  So, then we finished the first half with a turnover trying to score, to just get some quick points when we got the ball back with 35 seconds.  So, the ball control gave us fits last week in the first half,” said Daniel.

          Daniel says the second half was much better.  “We certainly challenged our kids at halftime.  We were not happy with our pace to play, our intensity, our effort, our sidelines were dead, but a huge flip between the second half in the first half.  The kids responded, but we can't start like that as we move forward.  It'll cost us the game if we're not careful, so we've got a lot to get right,” he said.

          Kaden Bish scored five touchdowns for the Warriors last week.

          Mohawk (6-1,3-1) plays at Upper Sandusky (3-4,2-2) on Friday.  The Rams smoked Bucyrus (49-14) last week.

          Daniel says this a team that has show great improvement.  “The quarterback has gotten better every week to the point where now he's a very good passer, good athlete, and puts the ball on the money the receivers.  All of them have gotten better.  They've gotten better up front.  So, just seeing a lot of improvement from week one to week now eight,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “I give a lot of credit to their coaching staff and their kids for kind of staying the course.  They're dangerous.  They knocked us off last year.  We're not taking them lightly I can assure you that.  This is a pretty good rivalry game for our kids and something that our community cares deeply about.  We want to get out the gate starting fast, playing with emotion with good intensity right off the get go.  We're not going to wait.”

Published 10/06/25

© Swankonsports.com

You first source for all things sports

“Out of Bounds” Fridays 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Mohawk Must be Physical

          Mohawk entertains Wynford in a game in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference on Friday night.

          Right now, the Warriors (5-1,2-1) trail Colonel Crawford and Carey by a game.

          Last week, they rocked Buckeye Central (48-0) in a league game.

          Coach Eric Daniel says they executed pretty well.  “Our kids started fast, executed our game plan well and had success on both sides of the ball, which kind of feeds to the other side of the ball.  So, I'm just proud of them.  Defense pitched its first shutout of the year, so it's a good team win,” he said.

          Quarterback Andon Clouse threw for two touchdowns and ran for another.  He leads the “N10” in passing yards and is fifth in rushing yards.

          With Carey and Seneca East left on their schedule, Daniel says they must continue to improve their play.  “It will really tell over the next four weeks.  Our schedule continually gets harder from here on out.  It's going to be very telling and then these close games coming up, these conference games, rivalry games, this is where how comfortable you are begins to show.  How disciplined you are, do you play within our scheme, do you handle adversity because we haven't had a lot of that since Crawford game.  So, every game is different and teams change over the course of the year so we're just hoping and praying and doing everything we can to make sure we're changing for the better,” said Daniel.

          Mohawk plays host to Wynford (1-5,0-3) on Friday night.  The Royals were destroyed (58-7) by Carey last week.

          Daniel says they have been leaky on defense, but the Royals are still physical.  “Well, they've given up some big plays, some chunk plays, but what I see is a real physical football team, they're traditional Wynford.  They're good in the trenches.  They've got a top two or three running back in our in our conference in the (Bryce) Locker kid.  I think he has the most yards per game in the conference,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “If they can establish the run and win in the trenches their in every game.  The biggest thing for them is they've kind of shot themselves in the foot at times or give up a big play for touchdown that really kills momentum.  So, our job is to not give them momentum and we got to win in the trenches, hopefully get some big plays and if they become available.”

          Daniel says they have remained focused and play the game that is on the schedule on Friday night.  “We have told our kids all week this could be another Ayersville or anything else.  They've kind of fallen on hard times over the last couple of weeks.  Their record might not be indicative of how good of a football team they are.  We're not that far removed from being in a game halfway through the third quarter against Ayersville.  So, we just try to remind our guys not to underestimate any opponent, Cyle (Skidmore) does a great job over there, their staff does a great job over there.  They will be ready to play and they're going to come out and punch you right in the mouth and you have got to match that physicality with your own physicality or else you're set yourself up for a long night,” said Daniel.

Published 10/02/25

© Swankonsports.com

You first source for all things sports

“Out of Bounds” Fridays 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Getting Better the Goal at Mohawk

          Mohawk, a game back in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference race, is at home for Buckeye Central in an “N10” game coming up on Friday night.

          They demolished Bucyrus (62-7) in league play last week.

          Coach Eric Daniel says they did a lot of good things, mostly their approach to the game.  “Our kids had a great week of practice and that's usually indicative of how your game is going to go.  I was really proud of them for taking last week very seriously and improve on some stuff we need to continue to improve upon.  Starting fast, not underestimating an opponent.  Just proud of how they rebounded and have continued to do so.  We had a good day of practice (Monday), so just proud of them and encouraged on the trajectory that we're on,” he said.

          Mohawk (4-1,1-1) is at home for Buckeye Central (3-2,1-1), a (42-8) loser to Colonel Crawford last week.

          Daniel says the Bucks made great strides for a year ago and are a team that they need to respect.  “They put together an eight minute drive one on Crawford to start the game.  So, they're certainly capable.  They have lost to very good programs.  Fairport is undefeated, and I think they're ranked in the state if I'm not mistaken, and I know Crawford is.  So, their two losses are probably labeled as good losses or respectable ones,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “One of them to an opponent we already lost too.  So, it's not something that we're overlooking and we are going to give them the respect they deserve.  Coach (Jordan) Phillips is doing a great job over there.  They look better than they did a year ago in every aspect.  They have their quarterback back, who's a player.  They've just improved everywhere, so we just need to bring our “A” game and be focused and continue to do what we can do.”

          More than anything this week, Daniel says they need to continue to get better.  “We have that one game at a time mindset.  Our kids are understanding that goal.  We want to create momentum going into the playoffs.  Certainly, one step at a time, but in order to reach those bigger goals we need to improve everything.  That keeping it really stupid simple for ourselves.  We have picked things out from the Bucyrus game that we need to work on.  Every week you can find quite a bit that maybe we won't get away with as the competition continues to stiffen throughout the back half of our season that we need to get fixed.  So, that constant strife and not being satisfied,” said Daniel.

Published 9/23/25

© Swankonsports.com

You first source for all things sports

“Out of Bounds” Fridays 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Mohawk Ready to Win Again

          Mohawk, coming off a tough loss last week, plays at Bucyrus in a game in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference on Friday night.

          The Warriors (3-1,0-1) lost (24-21) to Colonel Crawford in an instant classic game last week.

          Coach Eric Daniel says they gave it all they had.  “I am proud of our kids, no failure, no feedback.  They had a lot of adversity throughout the game.  I think there were six lead changes.  They returned a kickoff for a touchdown as soon as we took the lead in the fourth frame. We get a three and out and score again and get a three and out.  We had a muffed punt.  So, there was just huge swings in momentum and it told me a lot about the character of our kids and our team because they just kept swinging,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “We got down inside the 10 at the end of the game and went for it to win the football game.  So, I was just really proud of our kids and their character.  Half the teams Ohio last week lost, so if you learn from it and grow from it, it's not a bad thing.  It kind of set us up for the second half of the year.  All our kids have one or two plays that we'd like to have back and that's kind of what our focus is this week is fixing the little things and the rest will take care of itself.”

          Daniel says the players have responded this week like he was hoping they would.  “They were upset, which I expect, and honestly that's kind of what we want to see.  We don't want you to be happy or okay with losing, but they handled themselves really well.  Over the weekend, we let them maul it over and think about it and come Monday it's wipe the slate clean and focus on the things we talked about on Saturday and our film sessions and let's move forward to get better.  They responded accordingly, so just really proud of them,” he said.

          Bucyrus (1-3,0-1) lost (34-13) to Buckeye Central in their “N10” opener last week.

          Daniel says the Redmen are going to try to spread them out on defense.  “Well, they make you defend the whole field.  They're going sideline to sideline.  So, just open field tackling with good angles, taking good leverage on the defensive side.  Offensively, they’re an even front.  We anticipate them probably trying to take away the run.  So, we just have got to take what they can give us and continue to be multiple on offense and make plays when our number is called and win up front.  So, again focusing on what we can control and becoming a better football team over the course of our 10 weeks, that's our goal,” he said.

Published 9/18/25

© Swankonsports.com

You first source for all things sports

“Out of Bounds” Fridays 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Mohawk Needs Great Effort

          Mohawk hosts Colonel Crawford in a key early season game in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference on Friday night.

          The Warriors are the defending league champions.  They are (3-0,0-0) this year.

          They stepped it up in the second half last week and beat Ayersville (40-15) in a non-conference game.

          Coach Eric Daniel says they responded.  “We got things straightened out and challenged our kids at halftime and they responded exactly how we needed to.  The one positive out of that is it was good to get tested a little bit and face a little adversity through the first half and kind of dig down and link up together work through it the second half which our kids did,” he said.

          Colonel Crawford (3-0,0-0) hammered East Knox (42-18) last week.

          Daniel says they are good all over.  “They're good everywhere.  They’ve got the returning defensive player of the year in Payne DeGray, who is an incredible football player.  They're good all around him.  Their front seven is excellent.  They flow to the ball well.  They're really good tacklers.  The back end of their defense is incredibly athletic,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday morning, “Offensively, they have got the leading receiver in the “N10”.  They have got the (Conner) McMichael kid, who was been top two or three in the “N10” in rushing the last three years.  They have got two really good quarterbacks and they're great up front.  So, certainly a big challenge.  They're definitely one of the top schools in our league.  They're an excellent football team, very well coached, Jake (Bruner) does a great job over there, so we've got our work cut out for us for sure.”

          The Eagles run a two quarterback system and Daniel says both are talented.  “They're both good.  The (Brayden) Holt kid, who came in last year.  He does a great job scrambling around and creating and throws a beautiful ball.  Then the (Peyton) Baker kid, a little more physical, a little more thrown together.  He also throws an incredible ball.  I think there are two of the top four passes right now in the “N10” on the same team, so that's a pretty impressive feat.  You don't see that very often in high school football.  The fact that they can make that work says a lot about those two young men, their character, and just how they could share the ball and probably support each other.  I give a lot of credit to Jake for making that work and playing to their strengths,” he said.

          Last year, Mohawk won (35-7) in North Robinson.  Still, Daniel says its’s good to be home.  “Well, we had a couple long road trips there, so it certainly feels good to be back and get up in front of our home fans and get back into a little bit more of a routine.  Ayersville is almost a two hour drive by the time we got on the bus and drove there and got off, so it's good to be back.  The kids back into their routine a little bit.  We won't be traveling that far again, which is really nice.  Our kids play a little harder at home and it means a little more.  We have military night (Friday) night and that means a lot to our community and our kids.  On a day like this, it just hits home a little bit more.  We want our kids to understand that they're playing for more than just themselves or their community and what being in those camo jerseys really means,” said Daniel.

Published 9/12/25

© Swankonsports.com

Follow our scoreboard for

Constant updates on Friday nights

At www.swankonsportshosting247.com

Your first source for all things sports

Mohawk Playing Outstanding Defense

          Mohawk makes the long trip to Defiance County on Friday night to take on the Ayersville Pilots in a non-conference game.

          The Warriors (2-0) drilled Cardington (37-8) last week.

          Coach Eric Daniel says they played well on both sides of the ball.  “I bet you we held that Denny kid to 25 yards until the fourth quarter when we started kind of subbing some of our guys once we secured the running clock a little bit.  So, I was really proud of our starters on how much we bottled up what was the KMAC player of the year.  So, I'm really proud of our kids.  They were coachable all week and they got hungry and hungrier and just impressed with their defensive performance on how we performed.  Offensively, we won the line of scrimmage up front and really established the run and that kind of set up the pass the second half,” said Daniel.

          Daniel says defense is some they take pride in at Mohawk.  “That’s something that we certainly want to hang our hat on.  It's kind of been a part of the Mohawk identity since before I was even in school.  Our kids have really, really, really taken to that.  They wear it like a badge of honor.  If you're on our defense it matters a little more.  That's certainly nothing to take away from the offensive side of the ball.  A lot of those kids are playing on both sides.  If you can't stop anybody you can't win a game, but if you could stop people, you can win any game.  So, it’s certainly an important thing and something that could lead you to a league championship,” he said.

          Mohawk won the “N10” last year.

          Ayersville (0-2) lost (41-0) to powerhouse Patrick Henry last week.

          Daniel says they are excellent up front in the trenches.  “Anybody that plays Delta and Patrick Henry back to back probably is going to struggle.  Those are two perennial teams, specifically Patrick Henry.  They're very physical up front.  They're good up front and I would say that's the strength of their team,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “They got a nice receiver they try to target five to six times a game.  Their backs are a little bit bigger than normal, probably about 220 or so.  We've just got to again win the line is scrimmage, plug our holes, be sound on the back end and make them try to put long drives together and try to win first down and we'll be alright.  Then offensively, we just want to maintain that balance.  Take what Ayersville is going to give us and kind of go from there.”

Published 9/03/25

© Swankonsports.com

You first source for all things sports

“Out of Bounds” Fridays 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Mohawk Must Keep Focus

          Mohawk takes its act to the road on Friday night as they travel to Cardington to meet the Pirates in non-conference action.

          Last Thursday, they destroyed Tiffin Calvert (39-6) and coach Eric Daniel says they played very well all of the field.  “I was very proud of our kids.  We had a complete team effort.  Offensively, our offensive line and running backs really carried us and then when our receivers numbers were called, they made the plays and the quarterback did a great job taking care of the ball.  Defensively, we were able to limit them.  They had a really good All-Ohio receiver that we were able to limit and minimize.  So, just good tackling, good pursuit, good angles,” he said.

          Yes, a very good performance last week, but Daniel says they must focus on getting better.  “We did not have a good Monday practice.  We were not satisfied with our effort and our focus and we're just working to get our guys to understand that we are entitled to nothing.  We've got to earn every day and earn every win and stack good practices on top of each other.  That’s a challenge when you play a big rival week one sometimes it can lead to complacency in that let down week,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “That's kind of what we're fighting.  So, we're kind of leaning on our leadership.  Leaning on the guys that are hungry still and keeping us focused.  We need to demand a lot more out of each other and ourselves and be consistent.  So, we're just really trying to fight that that week two let down and really trying to fight that complacency this early in the year.  So, that's a huge focal point for our kids this week.”

          Cardington got past Wynford last week (32-27) and they have a tremendous back in Wyatt Denney and Daniel says they are going to have to know where he is at all times.  “He is special, he would play for anybody in Ohio, he's that good.  You have to know where he's at all times.  They're smart, they're giving him the ball 25, 30 times a game.  I think anybody was crazy if they didn’t.  He's going to force miss tackles, it hurts when you tackle him sometimes, but we have to get hats involved, we have got to take proper leverage, we have got to take good angles and we have got to know where he's at.  They're quarterbacks is a heck of a player as well.  So, they are much improved over the course of last year to this year.  They were very junior laden last year, so they have got a lot of good seniors.  They present a very good challenge for us.  We are certainly not underestimating them and we're not going to disrespect opponent like that and we're giving them our best and will prepare our best,” said Daniel.

Published 8/26/25

© Swankonsports.com

You first source for all things sports

“Out of Bounds” Fridays 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Mohawk With Big Test From Calvert

          Mohawk is the defending champion of the Northern 10 Athletic Conference and they open the season this year on Thursday night at home against Tiffin Calvert of the Sandusky Bay Conference River Division.

          Of course, next year, this becomes a league game when Calvert joins the “N10”.

          Coach Eric Daniel says the bunch he has this year has improved during the preseason.  “Very proud of the kids.  They’ve really, really gotten better.  They've been sponges, they've soaked stuff up.  They're playing hard and playing for each other.  I have loved what we've seen in our scrimmages.  Made a big jump between scrimmage one and scrimmage two.  So, checking all those boxes just hoping it culminates on the beginning of our ten week journey.  I'm really excited about Thursday,” said Daniel.

          Coming off the success of last year, Daniel says the players know what is expected of them.  “They kind of know the expectations and where we're at.  We have ramped everything up.  We treated last week like it was game one, we called it game zero and really got after it.  Did everything, prepared like we were doing a game and trying to work out some of those butterflies,” he said.

          Daniel says that Calvert will be a very strong opponent with excellent personnel.  He says they will have to play very well to win.  “They're very good.  They're excellent up front.  They have got a great running back.  The quarterback shifty and really good, skilled receivers, just very good all around,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “I'd say their strength as their back end and their front end.  They're safeties defensively are very, very fast and fly around and their defensive front does a great job of building walls and their linebackers fit very well.  They're an excellent team.  They're going to be a playoff team and probably win multiple games in the playoffs.  So, we know the test in front of us.”

Published 8/19/25

© Swankonsports.com

You first source for all things sports

“Out of Bounds” Fridays 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Mohawk Looking for Leadership

          Mohawk is the defending champion in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference and they should be competitive again this year.

          Coach Eric Daniel says they will be experienced up front and have some playmakers too.  “We've got 13 seniors.  So, we're very grateful that we bring back a lot of experience up front.  A lot of guys that are very capable of replacing the ones that we had up front.  So, we certainly think that we've got a strength up there.  Our starting quarterback played tight end for us last year and the game has slowed down for him quite a bit over the last couple of months.  He's putting an exorbitant amount of work in and doing a really nice job.  We bring back our starting tailback.  So, we certainly have a good chunk of our pieces back.  We bring back all but one of our front seven defensively,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon. “We lost a lot of skill guys and a lot of great senior leadership.  We had a 5,000 yard thrower that was our quarterback and honestly two 1,000 yard receivers, two of the best receivers I've coached.  Like I said, you can't put a price on their leadership.  They were absolutely fantastic leaders.”

          Daniel says getting good leadership is going to be a key in their success this year on the field.  “That's a void that we're kind of working with these now to be seniors on taking over that leadership role.  Looking at the blueprint that really works and kind of giving them some ownership because in my opinion, in my experience, the best teams and most successful teams we've had have always been player led, so that's kind of what we're looking for right now,” he said.

          Mohawk will host Fredericktown in a scrimmage on Saturday and Norwalk St. Paul August 14.  They open the season on Thursday, August 21 against Tiffin Calvert.

          Daniel says they have the ability to be good, but it will depend on what they do when things get tough.  “They know what it takes to win.  They know it requires a lot of payment in advance to even put yourself in that situation and a lot of things have to go right.  You have to be healthy and you have to execute at a high level and be good teammates and they saw that.  So, I'm very encouraged by that blueprint that our exiting senior class kind of helped lay the foundation for.  These guys have taken it and ran with it and done a really nice job.  So, we won't know everything until we get these scrimmages and we get into the games to where they have a little bit of controversy and adversity that they have to overcome.  They're very tight knit.  We have a plethora of seniors.  Like I said, we'll see if they can lean on each other when stuff gets hard and kind of overcome it,” said Daniel.

Published 8/05/25

© Swankonsports.com

You first source for all things sports

“Out of Bounds” Fridays 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Mohawk Drills South Central

          The Mohawk Warriors are headed to the regional tournament as they smoked South Central (9-1) in a division VII district final on Saturday afternoon at Galion High School.

          They will play Russia in a regional semifinal next Wednesday at Cedarville University.

          Mohawk coach Zach Hawkins says they were able to check off another goal.  “As coaches we knew we had some expectations and this was one of our goals along with the league.  Our kids have been awesome every time we tell them to do something,” said Hawkins.

          Mohawk scored twice in the bottom of the second inning when Andon Clouse reached on an error, Kaleb Bish singled and Elias Magallanes delivered a two run single.

          South Central would make it (2-1) in the top of the third as Cole Frankart singled a later scored on an error.

          Mohawk responded with a five spot in the bottom of the inning to take a (7-1) lead.  Ben Bogner reached on a force play and Kaden Bish walked.  Lance Frankart singled to drive in a run.  Then three of the next four hitters, Clouse, Kaleb Bish and Magallanes had RBI singles.  Another run scored on a throwing error and it was (7-1) Mohawk after three.

          The Warriors (22-6) would score single runs in the fourth inning on an RBI single by Frankart and in the sixth on a run scoring single by Kaden Bush.

          South Central stranded seven runners and coach Nick kirk says they couldn’t come up with the big hit.  “It seemed like we were able to get baserunners on just about every inning, but we weren't able to capitalize.  Hats off to their pitcher.  He was able to keep us off balance and weren't able to get the hit when we needed to,” he said.

          Hunter Haynes started and went the distance for the Warriors walking none and striking out five.

          Hawkins says he was able to stay ahead of the batters and make good pitches.  “He's been one of our workhorses all year.  Between him, Kaleb, Elias and Andon, they're all ones to me.  We wanted to go with the senior.  I trust anyone of those guys, but Hunter was spectacular,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “He pounded the zone for the most part, other a couple hit batters.  We played good defense behind him too.  I think our pitchers understand that if I throw strikes our defense is going to make plays.”

          Mohawk banged out 11 hits on the day, and there were six for 13 with runners in scoring position.

          Hawkins says they had a good approach going to the box.  “We knew that they had the (Wes) June kid on the mound.  We knew that he was around the plate.  We knew that he lived on the outside corner, so our approach was to go the other way and how many times did we do it.  So, the kids were just being extremely coachable.  Doing what we tell them and it's leading to success so I'm very proud of the kids,” said Hawkins.

          Haynes also had three hits and Frankart had two.  Everyone in the lineup expect one had at least one hit.  “We've kind of been like that all year.  We've got some pretty gaudy numbers one through nine.  Again, I trust every single guy that we put up there at bat,” added Hawkins.

          All 11 Mohawk hits on the day were singles.  Kirk says they are a very fundamental baseball team.  “They don't overpower you.  They just get base hits, base by base, and that's what great baseball teams do.  We kind of folded there in the third inning and had a lot of errors that they were able to capitalize on and get five runs.  We just put ourselves in a hole and that’s not going to be any good in any baseball game,” said Kirk.

          Led by their senior class, Mohawk won the Northern 10 Athletic Conference in football, finished second in boys’ basketball and shared the title in baseball.

          Hawkins says he wants to hang onto these guys for as long as he can.  “I don't want to see them go, so I'm glad we get to make it a little bit more of a run with these guys.  I was also a football coach, so I got to enjoy that run.  They are just spectacular in terms of leadership, talent, they have just got it all.  I very lucky I get to coach them,” he said.

Published 5/31/25

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source for All Things Sports

“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Mohawk Rocks Plymouth

          Mohawk, the Northern 10 co-champion, dominated Plymouth (11-1) in six innings on Thursday in a division VII district semifinal at Galion High School.

          They will face South Central in Saturday's district final.

          Coach Zach Hawkins says they had a good approach at the plate on Thursday.  “Our goal was to put together good at bats.  That's our goal every game.  We knew with the kid that Plymouth had on the mound that we were going to have to put good at bats together and from the first inning we did that.  We worked the counts and drew a lot of walks and then we got a lot of timely hits too that kind of extended the game, especially in the first inning there.  We had the bases loaded and Lance Frankart stepped up and hit a two run double to allow us to play with the lead, which was huge, especially for Kaleb (Bish) on the mound.  He was able to settle in and just go from there.  As the game went on, we continued to have good at bats and we slowly added on.  The kids played pretty darn well.  I don't want to discredit that kid from Plymouth.  The (Jarrett) Burrer kid, he's a nice pitcher for sure,” said Hawkins.

          Hawkins believes the first inning was key for them.  “In that first inning they had guys on second and third their four hitter came up and had a double and Kaleb got out of that jam.  I knew that was huge for that game because instead of playing from 2-0 if the next kid gets a hit.  We came back out and we put three on the board at first.  So, just those little things.  Those at bats where you minimize damage and you come up and you get a big hit, those are huge.  Say what you want but as a pitcher the pressure and the relief when you're pitching from in front it's just way easier to do.  A little bit more free.  You're not pressing as much and then things like that.  So, that's always our goal is to play from in front.  It doesn't always happen that way, but that's always our goal,” he said.

          South Central (16-10) beat Buckeye Central (4-3) on Thursday.

          Hawkins says the Trojans, a district champion last year, will be a challenge. “We stayed and watched them.  They have got a nice lineup one through nine.  They put the ball in play from what I saw.  They faced the Jarvis kid (Thursday), who was a pretty good pitcher.  They seemed to hit him hard all day.  We're going to have to be ready to play some defense that's for sure,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “From what I understand they did not pitch their ace in the game (Thursday), so we'll get to see him.  I don't know anything about him really.  I've heard a couple of things and I know he's got some pretty good stats.  Our approach is going to be the same as it's been all year.  Go up there have good at bats and do what we have got to do to manufacture some runs and play good defense and throw a lot of strikes and let everything else fall where it may.”

Published 5/30/25

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source for All Things Sports

“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Mohawk Still Alive

          Mohawk is one win away from sharing the Northern 10 Athletic Conference baseball title after beating Buckeye Central (8-1) in a league game on Thursday evening.

          They are tied with Upper Sandusky in loss column, but Upper has completed its conference schedule.  The Warriors must finish a game with Wynford on May 22. 

          Thursday night, coach Zach Hawkins says they got an outstanding effort from senior Kaleb Bish, who gave up no hits, and struck out eight in going the distance.  “We had Kaleb Bish on the mound.  Ever since he came back from, he had some arm issues early on, ever since he came back, he's been fairly dominant on the mound.  So, I'm glad to have Kaleb back.  Had some pretty good at bats.  We didn’t have too many strikeouts and put a lot of pressure on the defense.  Overall, pretty good game.  Our goal was to get to get to this Wynford game and give us a chance to win the league.  We've done that, so I'm definitely happy with the progress and hopefully we can get that one done too,” said Hawkins.

          Mohawk banged out 15 hits, Kaden Bish and Ben Bogner both had three, and Hawkins says they had a consistent night at the plate.  “We got our number two hitter on in the first inning and their catcher made a really nice play and threw him out at second base and that squandered any chance that we had to score there in the first inning, but after that we had guys the base every inning.  We had got a couple of nice two out hits, which was nice to see because that was kind of a struggle of our team early on in the year.  I know Kaden Bish had a nice two out two run single for us to kind of, not blow the game open, but kind of got it in a spot where we felt fairly comfortable.  That allowed Kaleb to just kind of settle in and he did his thing he pounded the strike zone and we played pretty good defense behind him,” he said.

          It will be a week before they play Wynford, but Hawkins believes they stay sharp.  “About a week ago I would have said it did concern me because this was our last scheduled game, but we picked up some games.  We picked up Calvert, we picked up Elmwood, we picked up Galion.  We picked up some pretty good baseball teams in the area just to kind of keep us fresh going into that Wynford game and going into the tournament,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “I told our kids I picked up these games for you because I have got high expectations for you and I totally expect us to go and compete in these games and hopefully pull out some victories as well.  That Wynford game is our main focus at this point, winning the league. I don't think, this is only my second year, but I don't think that we have ever won the “N10” in baseball, so that would be a pretty cool feat for these kids and a great way for these seniors to go out.”

Published 5/16/25

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source for All Things Sports

“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Mohawk Gets Big Win Over Wynford

          Mohawk stayed in a share of first place in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference with a (10-1) pounding of Wynford in a league game on Wednesday evening.

          They are tied with Upper Sandusky for the lead.  The Royals are two games behind the leaders.

          Coach Zach Hawkins likes the approach he saw at the plate by the Warriors on Monday.  “We played them on Monday and they had the (Brayden) Campbell kid pitching and we didn't get the whole game in.  We got about five innings in there was 0-0 and I wasn't overly thrilled with our at bats and our approach.  That was kind of our focus at practice (Tuesday).  (Wednesday) we came out and put together some really nice at bats, drew some walks and found some gaps and actually hit a home run, so the at bats were much better,” said Hawkins.

          Plus, Hawkins says they got an outstanding effort on the mound too.  “Hunter Haynes went out there for us, another one of our senior leaders, and did a heck of a job on the mound and I just looked and he threw, it was either 82 or 84 pitches, 64 of them were strikes.  So, he was pounding the zone.  We played pretty good defense behind him.  Usually when you do that type of stuff good things happen and we had a good win,” he said.

          Mohawk (14-3,8-2) plays at Seneca East (10-8,6-5) in the league game on Friday.  Upper (11-3,9-2) plays winless Bucyrus on Thursday and Buckeye Friday.

          Hawkins says he thinks his team is a lot better when they can get on the scoreboard early.  “I try to tell our kids when we play from in front we're pretty difficult to beat.  I don't know for whatever reason this year seems like those first couple innings it takes us a little bit of time to settle in and (Wednesday) night it didn't,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “We put up, I think we had four in the first couple innings and once we play in front our kids getting that confidence and our pitchers can settle in and relax.  That's what we did (Wednesday) and we had it on as the game went on and the kids did really well.  I'm very proud of them.”

Published 5/08/25

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source for All Things Sports

“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Mohawk Back in a Share

          Mohawk bounced back and beat Upper Sandusky (6-2) on Wednesday evening to move back into a share of first place with the Rams in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.

          Coach Zach Hawkins says they got some great leadership and Kaleb Bish was outstanding on the mound.  “After (Tuesday) night.  They have got a really nice pitcher and he kind of shut us down.  The message to the team was the great thing about baseball is we get to play these guys again (Wednesday).  I've talked about multiple times about our senior leadership.  We gave the ball to Kaleb Bish and he hasn’t a pitch for a couple weeks.  He had some arm issues and we gave him the ball and he went out there and did an amazing job and gave us a good chance to win,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “He kept them at zero for a long time and we were able to build the lead.  Super proud of the kids.  Made the adjustment and put us right back where we need to be in terms of the league.  So, I'm very happy with the guys.”

          Hawkins says they put together some better at bats than they had in the (5-0) loss to the Rams on Tuesday.  “Both the Heilman brothers are their one and two.  We made some adjustments (Wednesday).  To be honest with you (Tuesday) night the conditions, with the wind and things, it didn't really benefit either team.  We had a little bit nicer of a night (Wednesday) night and put some better swings and put some better at bats together and the kids did a really nice job,” he said.

          Hawkins says Upper has had their number the last couple of years and that made Wednesday’s win even more special.  “I'm just really proud of the kids bouncing back.  It was not easy after to be honest with the last couple of years against Upper Sandusky kind of handled us.  We obviously probably had that in the back of their minds and they responded and again I'm very happy with them,” said Hawkins.

Published 5/01/25

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source for All Things Sports

“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Mohawk Makes Big Plays; Beats Buckeye

          Mohawk beat Buckeye Central (10-1) in eight innings in Northern 10 Athletic Conference action in one of the more unique baseball games this reporter can remember on Monday evening.

          The Bucks (7-5,3-3) led (1-0) scoring on an RBI hit by Jeremiah Fishpaw in the bottom of the fourth inning.  Mohawk would tie it on a home run by Lance Frankart in the top of the seventh.  The Warriors would then score nine runs in the eighth inning.

          Mohawk coach Zach Hawkins says they made some big plays when they had to.  “Their pitcher did a really nice job keeping us off balance and we didn't really get much going against him.  We had the bases loaded in the first inning.  He walked three of us and we didn't convert on that opportunity and he kind of settled in.  From there it took Lance Frankart to step up with a huge senior at bat and hit a home run for us in the seventh inning to tie it up.  Elias Magallanes, who was our starting pitcher, did an awesome job keeping it at 1-0 for the whole game giving us a chance,” said Hawkins.

          The Mohawk coach says it the eighth inning they took advantage of some opportunities.  “The (Cayden) Jarvis kid got to his pitch max and they and they to bring in somebody else and the wheels just kind of fell off for them there.  Credit to our guys for taking advantage of that, but also credit Buckeye Central, especially the Jarvis kid.  He pitched the heck of a game,” he said.

          Buckeye coach Chad Jensen says his kids gave it all they had.  “The final score doesn’t tell the story.  Our kids left it on the field and we were one bang bang play from winning it.  We will continue to get better and be ready to go (Tuesday) against Mansfield Christian,” he said.

          The Bucks were thrown out at home in the bottom of the seventh in an attempt to score the winning run.

          Mohawk (12-2,6-1) shares first in the “N10” with Upper Sandusky.

          Hawkins says they made the plays at the right time on Monday.  “I kept telling the kids (Monday) to keep plugging away and keep getting guys on base and eventually good things will happen.  Luckily for us, it was a home run that that got us where we needed to be,” he told Swankonsports.com on after the win on Monday evening, “In the bottom of the seventh inning, they had a base hit with two outs and a guy on second base and we basically threw him out at home.  So, we stepped up and made some plays where we needed to make plays.  I wasn't too overly happy with some of our at bats, but can never complain about a win, so I'm not going to complain too much.”

Published 4/22/25

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source for All Things Sports

“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Mohawk Hammers Crawford

          Kaleb Bish drilled two home runs and the Mohawk Warriors blasted Colonel Crawford (11-1) in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference opener for both schools on Tuesday night in North Robinson.

          Coach Zach Hawkins says it was a good way to get the league schedule started this year.  “You never know until you get into the league play how it's going to go.  Those non league games early on you're usually not seeing the other team's best pitchers.  When you get into league play you're definitely going to get their best.  So, our kids responded very, very well (Tuesday) and very pleased with how they came out.  Anytime you can start off with an 11-1 league game I'm very happy as a coach,” said Hawkins.

          Bish, a senior, went deep in the second inning and Hawkins says that set the tone for the rest of the day.  “Talking to Coach (Eric) Hoover, who is still on staff, he said that was the first time we've hit a home run in three years and he had two of them.  So, he got it started in the second inning with a home run that put us up 1-0.  I think that just kind of set the tone and gave us the momentum that we needed and we ended up getting 12 hits.  So, I'm very happy with our swings early on in the season,” he said.

          Mohawk (4-0,1-0) is scheduled to host Colonel Crawford (2-1,0-1) on Wednesday.

          Hawkins says they felt good with the bats on Tuesday and they have been able to get very good pitching this year too.  “Hitting is contagious they always say that.  So, when you see your buddy going up there and doing something like that and it gives the other kids confidence,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “To kind of piggyback off of that, our pitching in the first four games has been awesome.  Our top four pitchers have all pitched in these four games that we've only given up one earned run.  So, as of right now, we're doing very well right now.  Our message to them is this isn't our goal is to peak right now.  We've got to continue to get better and better and then it can be a pretty special team.”

Published 4/02/25

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source for All Things Sports

“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Expectations High At Mohawk

          Mohawk is the preseason favorite for the baseball title in the competitive Northern 10 Athletic Conference.

          They have a loaded senior class that helped lead the Warriors to a football title last fall and a runnerup finish in basketball.

          Coach Zach Hawkins says they want to be confident, but not over confident.  “We have to try to not get too high right at the beginning.  Take it one game at a time.  We have a pretty special senior class that's going through.  They were very successful in football, in basketball, they had a very good wrestling season as well.  So, there's some there's some underclassmen that are contributors as well, but as senior class is kind of leading the way.  If people take their leadership they're in pretty good hands.  So, we are very excited about what is to come here in the next couple weeks to start the season,” he said.

          Hawkins says they know they are going to get everyone’s best this season, so they have to be ready.  “We had a talk a couple days ago.  A couple of years ago we didn't have the greatest season and then last year I think we kind of snuck up on some people and we won almost won 20 games last year,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “That was kind of my message you're not sneaking up on anybody anymore.  Everybody knows who you are and knows you have got a pretty nice senior class and a good group of kids.  So, we're going to get the best out of everybody that that we see and we're excited about that challenge and upping our game a little bit and getting ourselves ready for a league run and hopefully a run in the tournament as well.”

          The Warriors first game is March 29 against Margaretta.  They open play in the “N10” on April 1 and 2 versus Colonel Crawford.

          Hawkins says they have looked pretty good in the preseason.  “Because of the success of basketball and wrestling we got a handful of our players late, so we're just trying to knock some of the rust off right now.  We actually already had our fourth scrimmage (Wednesday) night.  We challenge the kids.  We had scrimmaged two schools that are much bigger than us in Norwalk and Edison and we kind of took our lumps there, but hopefully we can learn from that.  We had two other scrimmages where we did pretty well, including (Wednesday) night. So, some good. some bad, but that's expected this early on in the year.  Overall, I'm pleased with the kids for sure,” said Hawkins.

Published 3/20/25

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source for All Things Sports

“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Mohawk Looking to Beat the Press

          Mohawk meets Maumee Valley in a division VII district final at Old Fort High School on Friday night.

          The Warriors (21-2) held off Toledo Christian (62-54) in a Wednesday night semifinal.

          Coach Paul Dunn says his kids responded to some adversity.  “They posed a tough challenge.  They have one of the better players we've seen all year, the caliber of Brayden Holt in Carter Coaster.  I thought early we did a good job and were up 17 points in the first half, but any team like that has got a program like they do you know they are going to make a run on you and they made one of the third.  In the fourth we're up 10 and I think our kids, and even myself kind of, had flashbacks of some games this season where we just didn't do a good job of handling pressure,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “Our kids did enough, they cut it to four there and we got a stop on defense and then went down the next time and made some free throws to kind of get that six point lead back up there and that settled us down. So, I'm proud of our kids for kind of showing that resiliency and learning from our past experiences.”

          Maumee Valley (16-8) downed Hopewell-Loudon (49-40) in their semi at Old Fort.

          Dunn says they feature a lot of young kids with talent.  “They're really young team.  They start four sophomores and freshmen, but they're a team if you watch them, just the progression of watching their films throughout the season, they keep getting more and more confidence.  They've have got a guy in Stokes that's averaging 23, 24 a game.  A transfer they got four or five games into this year from St. John's is averaging an 18, then they have got almost a seven footer down there in the block that poses some challenges.  So, all five of those guys can do different things really, really well,” said Dunn.

          A key for them, according to Dunn, is be able to beat the press and score off of it.  “We're going to have to be strong with the basketball full court.  You can't have live ball turnovers, that's what they did a lot (Thursday) night against Hopewell-Loudon watching that game.  We've got to take care of the ball full court and take advantage of their press and try to score in those transition moments if we can,” he said.

Published 2/28/25

© Swankonsports.com

There will be a special edition of

“Out of Bounds” this Saturday night

10-11 PM

Mohawk With Wakeup Call

          Mohawk, the runner-up in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, will host Woodmore, of the River Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference, Friday night in a division VI sectional final.

          The Warriors chose to play the semifinal game and beat Northwood (68-48), but coach Paul Dunn says their execution was a little lacking.  “As a coaching staff I think we're glad that we did that.  We didn't have practice Monday with the weather again, so I thought we came out a little sluggish, a little bit of going through the motions, but my kids kind of shook the rust off there in the second quarter and found some things positive that we can look.  Also, it's a good opportunity for us to kind of challenge the kids and show them this is tournament time and nothing's going to be handed to you.  They don't care what you're seeing is, what your records, you have got to be able go out and take it.  So, hopefully a little bit of a wake up call for our kids,” said Dunn.

          Mohawk (19-2), #4 in the final Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coach poll in the small school division, entertains Woodmore (7-15) on Friday night.

          Dunn says they can score.  “They’ve got a returner from last year that has got almost 1300 points in Brady Thatcher.  Then they have got a kid that's new to the program this year, but scores 13 a game.  So, they have got some players that can really fill it up.  They've got eight or nine guys that play,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “They play fast and one thing that's maybe a positive from playing Northwood on Tuesday is that's how Northwood plays.  So, hopefully that speed, that getting back on defense that we saw Tuesday we're hopefully going to learn from that and be able to utilize that (Friday) night.”

          Much like Tuesday night, Dunn believes that defense will be important, and it has to be better.  “The transgression of my time going at Mohawk we really tried to focus on you know how do you win games like this at this point season.  You have got to be able to play man too man defense, you have got to be able to execute half court offense.  I think our kids, they understand that.  They know that they weren't their best probably on Tuesday, just the little things that we weren't doing well.  The stuff that we harp on every day.  So, kind of clear the brain a little bit, get back to doing the little things right and hopefully that's what we do (Friday) night,” he said.

Published 2/21/25

© Swankonsports.com

There will be a special edition of

“Out of Bounds” this Saturday night

10-11 PM

Mohawk Has to Take What’s Given

          It’s Mohawk hosting Colonel Crawford in a showdown in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference on Wednesday night.

          With two games left in conference play, Crawford leads the Warriors by game.  The Eagles play Wynford on Friday.  Mohawk plays Seneca East.

          Mohawk (17-1,11-1), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, has not lost since Colonel Crawford (17-1,12-0), #3 in our poll, beat them in overtime on January 10.  That’s 10 straight wins.

          Coach Paul Dunn says their defense has been solid all year and their play on offense has been improving.  “Defensively, I thought we've done a pretty good job for the most part this season on that end of the floor.  Then offensively the last two weeks it's been good to see some of our kids that maybe at times this season we're struggling shooting the ball.  I feel like they've kind of found a little rhythm here at this point in the season and started to see the ball going through the net.  So, that's always a good thing at this time of year,” he said.

          Colonel Crawford junior Brayden Holt is the leading scorer in the “N10” at (17.9 ppg) and assists (5.8) per game.

          Dunn says they must at least control Holt.  “At the beginning the season that's probably a little feeling out period for him trying to get used to his teammates, but you can see that they're fully comfortable now at this point 18 games into the season with kind of how he plays, the shots he takes.  He's got more freedom now, more freedom to shoot some tough shots.  His ability to knock them down is unparalleled,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “Having a hand up in his face at all times, critical to know where his is at, communicate well on guard to guard screens and then post to guard screens.  We've got to be on our toes for that.  Our kids understand the kind of player he is.  You’re not going to stop him but try to control him and not allow him to have a monumental night on us.”

          Crawford beat Mohawk (53-50) in OT the first time.  Mohawk had an eight point lead with 2:30 to go.

          Dunn says they have to be a little more patient.  “I think our kids the first game I thought they were pressing a little bit trying to make things happen that maybe didn't need to be made.  I thought it forced our kids to shoot some bad shots and got some of our kids in foul trouble that were a little too amped up.  If we can come out and just have that even keel mindset and just take what comes in the game and not try to force things that's going to be a big part of kind of what let's settle into the game and then try to avoid that's all foul trouble issue we had the first time,” said Dunn.

Published 2/11/25

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source for All Things Sports

“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Mohawk Staying Focused

          Mohawk, a game back in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, will be at home for Wynford in a conference game on Friday night.

          On Tuesday night, the Warriors kept pace with a (50-38) win over talented Upper Sandusky.

          Coach Paul Dunn says they had to grind it out a little bit.  “Upper is always a tough team to play.  Just how they play and how physical they are and just the energy they play with, they always pose a tough challenge.  I thought we came out early and did a good job offensively to kind of give ourselves a little bit of cushion.  Then on defense I thought we did a good job,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “Upper made it tough on us pretty much the whole night offensively.  I don’t think we hit on all cylinders.  I told the kids that's how you have to play games like that at times.  It's going to be tough and you have got to find ways to win and we did just enough.”

          Mohawk (16-1,10-1), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, play at home against Wynford (3-14,2-10) on Friday night.  The Royals beat Bucyrus for the second time this season (54-51) on Saturday.

          The Warriors blew out Wynford the first time (62-26) on December 27.

          Dunn expects the Royals to play with a lot of pride.  “Our senior class and their senior class they had all kinds of battles all through junior high and coming up through high school here the last few years.  So, we kind of challenged the kids it’s going to be their last chance to play these guys.  I want them to go out and play at their best potential.  You definitely can't look at the records, it’s Wynford.  It’s Wynford basketball and they play with a lot of pride.  They've got a lot of seniors on that team that they know what they’re playing for,” said Dunn.

          Mohawk trails Colonel Crawford by a game and they play next Wednesday at Mohawk.

          Dunn says they can’t let that enter their mind.  “That's kind of been our moto here the last month or so.  We have just got to take one game at a time if we want to give ourselves a chance to stay in the league hunt and give us the chance for that battle then you have got to take care of everybody at stands in front of us the night of the game,” he said.

Published 2/06/25

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source for All Things Sports

“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Mohawk Still Working on Getting Better

          Mohawk plays at Hardin-Northern in a non-conference game on Tuesday night and they at home for Buckeye Central in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Friday.

          Right now, they trail Colonel Crawford by a game in the conference standings.  The rematch with the Eagles is February 12.

          They won two conference games last weekend in beating Bucyrus (82-37) on Friday and Carey (68-38) on Saturday.

          Coach Paul Dunn says on Saturday they responded to an early challenge by the Blue Devils.  “I thought our kids offensively did a great job Friday and then Saturday the score might not tell the whole story in that game.  I thought Carey played really well early and did a lot of things that made it tough on us.  Our kids kind of weathered the storm were able to find something going into halftime and then third quarter our kids really started to play better and kind of pull away,” said Dunn.

          Mohawk (12-1), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, plays at Hardin-Northern (5-11) on Tuesday night.

          The Polar Bears have lost five in a row, but Dunn expects a solid challenge from them.  “They are similar in the sense that they start five seniors like we do.  Coach (Aaron) Rich we're close friends, acquaintances, so kind of got a chance to know him pretty well.  I know he's new to coaching, but he's done a good job getting those guys, they play hard for him,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “They have some kids that have come back the last couple of years and have played a lot of varsity.  So, they're going to be tough.  They struggled here as of late, but I know they got talent and we have to be ready to play.”

          Buckeye Central (6-9,3-7) also has a sub .500 record.  The Warriors beat them (76-37) on December 14.

          Dunn says they can’t overlook these teams and they must continue to work on getting better.  “At this point in the season you get to late January you know every coach wants to start seeing the improvement continue.  You're trying to get to that point at the end of the season when you’re running on all cylinders.  That's the mindset and we talked about that at practice every day that we've got to find a way to do something today to get better.  It could be as small as just getting better ball handling, whatever it is, but we have got to find something that we can improve upon,” said Dunn.

Published 1/28/25

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source for All Things Sports

“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Mohawk With an “N10” Double Weekend

          Mohawk, in second place in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, has two conference games this weekend as they are at Bucyrus on Friday and at Carey on Saturday.

          They continue to trail Colonel Crawford by a game.

          Last Saturday, they blasted Carey (72-36) at home.

          Coach Paul Dunn says thy made some quality adjustments.  “I thought our kids did a good job.  The first quarter was back and forth, but we made some slight adjustments kind of working on getting through screens differently.  I thought our kids were attentive to that second quarter and did a good job of offensively kind of getting back to who we have to be to be successful at that end of the floor,” said Dunn.

          Mohawk (10-1,6-1), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, plays at Bucyrus (1-13,1-8) on Friday night.  Bucyrus beat Buckeye Central (56-44) last week to get their first win.

          Dunn says they are improving.  “They're one of the teams that just continue to improve.  They've got three players that pose a challenge.  Two guys that get you off the dribble and create for themselves and knock down jump shots,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday evening, “Anytime you get a 6’5” guy that can make plays like they have in (Dylan) Coppler that poses a challenge.  Defensively, we have to make sure that we know what they want to do and try to deter them from that and try to make it as hard as possible.”

          They play Carey for the second time in a week on Saturday.

Dunn says that can be an issue.  “Definitely seeing a team that quickly they obviously know exactly what we did.  The play calls will be fresh in their head and kind of the feel of the game.  You have got to be aware of that.  They had some good spurts and that's going to be something they’re going to look to build on the things they got us with.  We have got to make sure we tighten that up in practice and make sure we're aware and try to not let them get to that too often,” he said.

Published 1/24/25

© Swankonsports.com

Follow our scoreboard Friday night

For constant updates beginning with the tip

At www.swankonsportshosting247.com

Mohawk Needs to be Smart Physical

          Mohawk, the second place team in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, will be at home on Saturday night for the rival Carey Blue Devils in a conference game.

          The Warriors trail Colonel Crawford by a game in the conference standings after losing (53-50) in overtime to the Eagles last week.

          Of course, they play them again February 12, this time at home.

          However, coach Paul Dunn cautions these other league games are just as important.  “As coaches we know that and as players you know we've tried to convey that to them and they understand.  It's an older group they understand what's in front of them.  Every game is important and in this league everybody knows everybody and it's a physical league.  When you play in a league like that anything can happen on any night, especially in a game with Carey.  It's a rivalry game, these kids it means a lot to both sides, so I got to be ready to play,” said Dunn.

          Mohawk (9-1,5-1), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, hosts Carey (3-8,3-3) on Saturday night.  The Blue Devils lost (60-51) to Upper Sandusky last Friday in a league game.

          Zach Bame is a first year coach at Carey, but Dunn says this team has a lot of elements we familiar with when it comes to Carey.  “With a new coach coming in they're figuring out some new stuff.  They have got some carryover coaches that kept some of the continuity of their form.  They're improving, that's one thing you can notice on film when you look at the games they played recently,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “They're taking steps in the right direction and with Carey you're always expecting an extremely physical team, extremely athletic team and they definitely fit the bill with that.  They pose a lot of problems with their physicality and we're going to have to really handle the ball.  Defensively, we have got to keep them in front.”

          Dunn says they want to be physical and aggressive, but they don’t want to be in foul trouble.  “You can't pick and choose the fouls.  You try to tell the kids you got to kind of feel out how the games being called and be aware and be smart.  In a physical game you really have got to intentionally avoid the really, really silly fouls.  Unfortunately, in the games that we struggled we didn't avoid those and we put ourselves tough spots then we actually did pick up legitimate fouls that was the second or third.  So, you have got to be smart and kind of feel the game out in that sense,” he said.

Published 1/17/25

© Swankonsports.com

Follow our scoreboard Friday night

For constant updates beginning with the tip

At www.swankonsportshosting247.com

Mohawk Has to Make the Plays

          First place is on the line when Mohawk plays at Colonel Crawford on Friday in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.

          The two schools share the lead right now.

          Mohawk coach Paul Dunn says it’s a key game.  “I think both teams understand what's at stake.  Both teams coming in undefeated.  They have got a couple more league games under their belt than we do.  It's a critical matchup.  I think both teams the few three years we’ve had some back and forth battles.  I think we got an understanding of what each team could do well and it's going to lay it all out there on Friday night,” he said.

          The two teams split their games last year and ended up being two of the four schools to share the title.

          Mohawk (7-0,5-0), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division has 10 seniors on its roster.  Crawford (9-1,6-0), #4 in our poll, also returns a lot of talent, plus have a very good point guard in Brayden Holt that transferred from Wooster Triway.

          Dunn says both teams are very disciplined.  “It's year after year with coach (David) Sheldon they're just so disciplined.  One thing we talked about to our kids all times playing disciplined basketball well.  You're about to see two of the teams that I think play very disciplined,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “Crawford's been doing it for longer than we have, so they've got an understanding of what they need to do defensively to make scoring tough.  Offensively in coach Sheldon’s system everybody's got a roll and they execute those roles at a high level every night seems like.”

          Dunn says their guys have to want the ball in crunch time.  “In these kinds of matchups they're going to force some players that maybe on our team don't take certain shots.  It's going to be our goal going the other way.  I've told our guys when those opportunities come to be ready for them.  You have got to want them.  It's not just being ready, you've got to want that ball when the on the clock is running down or whatever it is and really relish that opportunity and take advantage of it,” said Sheldon.

Published 1/09/25

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source for All Things Sports

“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Mohawk With Another Challenge

          Mohawk, the Northern 10 Athletic Conference co-leader, plays at Seneca East in a conference matchup on Saturday night.

          Mohawk has not allowed more 37 points to be scored on them this year and in five of their six games they have scored at least 54.

          Coach Paul Dunn says they play great man to man defense.  “As the head coach with my staff on Saturday we kind of had to talk.  I have got to be smarter as a coach because the last few years we've always kind of been a team that had to come out and try to start their own energy by pressing and trying to get our guys going, which gets the team flowing.  We've done it the last two games and each time we do that we give up you know 10, 12 points in the first quarter until we realize that we're just pretty good in the half court and just go back to our man to man defense.  So, we're kind of evolving as a coaching staff to kind of to understand that better for our kids.  Our kids love playing on that end of the floor for sure,” said Dunn.

          Mohawk (6-0,4-0), #5 in the Swankonsports.com coaches poll in the small school division, plays at Seneca East (8-3,4-2) on Saturday night.  The Tigers edged New London (52-46) in a non-conference game on Thursday night.

          Dunn says Seneca East has two of the best guards in the area.  “They've got two of the better scorers by far the league.  Guys that can put in 30 points in the night with Bordner and Mason.  They both pose different kinds of threats.  Luke is a pure shooter from anywhere on the floor and Lucas is one of the better, probably athletic kids in our league, he can score in a lot of different ways.  He has a great pull up jumper.  So, those guys are scary on any night,” he said.

          Dunn says this is another game they better be ready to be at their best.  “That's something we talk a lot about in the preseason, even the summer, having expectations.  Obviously, people have expectations, but our kids have expectations for themselves,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “They know the standard that they need to play too, they know what we as coaches expect them to play too.  That's got to be our mindset.  We focus on that in practice every day and make sure that we're getting better.  We respect every opponent that we play because we know our league is deep and talented and we have got a lot of really good players and you can't go into any night not expecting to have to play your best.”

Published 1/03/25

© Swankonsports.com

Follow our scoreboard Friday night

For constant updates beginning with the tip

At www.swankonsportshosting247.com

Mohawk Must Has Focus

          Mohawk, the Northern 10 Athletic Conference co-leader, will be at Wynford for a conference game on Friday night.

          They smoked Upper Sandusky (56-30) in conference play last Friday.

          Coach Paul Dunn says they were outstanding on defense.  “That's a tough place to go and play and offensively they always make it tough on you, but I thought our kids really showed up on the defensive end of the floor and they made difficult for them as much as possible.  I thought our big guy inside the Conner Flood, I think he ended up with right around eight blocks and finished with 18 rebounds as well.  So, he did a tremendous job controlling the paint for us and really making anytime they did get in the paint difficult,” he said.

          Mohawk (4-0,3-0) is at Wynford (1-5,1-4) on Friday night.  The Royals dropped (59-40) decision to Seneca East in conference play on Saturday after beating Bucyrus (66-56) for their first win on Friday.

          Dunn says it has been a difficult year at Wynford, but they still have some players.  “Their senior class they're missing a couple kids with KJ (Kotalik) not playing another couple of kids choosing not to play this year, but that class is always gone head to head with our group of seniors as well.  They lost him twice in junior high.  So, it's always been a very competitive group,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday evening, “They've got some seniors that are still very capable basketball players with Prenger and Johnson and some others.  They're starting to show some youth.  They’ve got some younger guys, some freshmen, kind of getting into the fold as well.  So, I'm sure coach (Adam) Guinther, he's trying to find that right mix.  They've got talent there and not a not a team that you can look at their record and think differently.”

          It being Christmas week and playing a one win team, Dunn says they are stressing focus.  “To be honest, as coaches we talked about it in the first day of practice this week how that you have got to bring some of the focus to the kids and make sure that they're conscious of as coaches were conscious of making sure we have good energy at practice.  You are practicing in the morning compared to afternoon and all of that stuff.  Then we talked about at games that it might be a lighter crowd depending on the situation and you have got to bring your own energy and be your own cheerleaders on the bench and make sure that they are as engaged are possible with the game as it's going along,” said Dunn.

Published 12/27/24

© Swankonsports.com

Follow our scoreboard Friday night

For constant updates beginning with the kick

At www.swankonsportshosting247.com

Mohawk With Test With Upper

          Mohawk is down the road at Upper Sandusky in a good matchup in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference on Friday night.

          Both schools figure to be factors in the conference race this year.

          On Monday night, Mohawk beat defending “SBC” River champ Hopewell-Loudon (42-28) in a non-league game.

          Coach Paul Dunn says they reacted well to the physicality of the game.  “It's always a tough match up between us and Hopewell.  We're very similar schools, similar size, and I think our kids have appreciation for the contact of each other.  Overall, I thought our kids really played well.  They were physical on defense.  They make it tough on us.  I thought our kids handled that.  We were down a little bit and had to fight back, but our kids showed some poise.  We hadn't been in that situation yet this year, so I was proud of them for showing that,” said Dunn.

          Mohawk (3-0,2-0) is at Upper Sandusky (4-1,2-1) on Friday night.  The Rams blasted Seneca East (52-34) in a “N10” game last Saturday.

          Dunn says the Rams do a lot of things well, but most notably they play really sound defense.  “They are doing a lot of the things they were doing last year.  They're one of the hottest teams in the “N10” as the season progressed and they really started to figure each other out.  They're showing that again this year,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “They've got some really athletic guards that not only can get to the basket and knock down shots from the outside, but one thing they really do well, and coach (Jeff) Winslow takes a lot of pride in, is they play really good defense.  They make it really hard.  They have faced a couple of really good scores this year thus far and they shut them down.  So, our guards have got to be ready for that physicality and be able to handle that kind of pressure.”

          Dunn says they have to match that physical play without getting into foul trouble.  “That’s key and we tell our kids that all the time.  Be able to play physical without fouling.  I’ve yet to see a current trend with the new foul situation.  If we're shooting more or less in the last year or two, but you definitely don't want to put yourself in a situation where you have got foul trouble or they're shooting the double bonus for an extended period of the quarter.  So, you definitely have to be aware of that,” he said.

Published 12/19/24

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source for All Things Sports

“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Mohawk to Open Season

          Mohawk, one of the favorites to win the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, opens the season this week with two conference games at home with Bucyrus on Thursday and at Buckeye Central on Saturday.

          Coach Paul Dunn says they are excited to start the season.  “Especially for the kids that have that have been there since day one kind of waiting for the football kids to get there.  It's been a long preseason to say the least.  I think we're all kind of getting tired of practice.  We're just looking forward to a chance to get out there and compete and kind of get this thing started,” he said.

          Bucyrus (0-3,0-1) lost (68-50) to Seneca East in their league opener last Friday.

          Dunn says the Redmen have some guys that can make plays.  “They've got a couple of guards that can cause problems with the (George) Floyd kid the (Demaris) Munn-Page kid.  Two very capable guys that get to the basket.  The Floyd kid likes to shoot.  They have got a 6’5” kid.  He's only a junior this year, the (Dylan) Coppler kid, but he's been there playing the varsity basketball and he's very athletic, rebounds the ball well.  So, we always seem to play tight games with Bucyrus.  I mean they are always ready to play and they play really hard for coach (Brian) Hargis,” said Dunn.

          Buckeye Central (3-0,1-0) is off to a very good start.  Dunn says they are playing with a lot of confidence.  “They're back to full health with both the Phillips kids, they're back together and obviously the new one the (Cayden) Jarvis kid, he's averaging about 13 a game right now,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “They started the season off well and you get that confidence boost with that come from behind win against Wynford kind of gets the ball rolling forward.  So, I'm sure they're feeling well and they rightfully should be, so definitely going to be a tough challenge for us going over there and compete with them.”

Published 12/11/24

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source for All Things Sports

“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Mohawk Loaded for Good Year

          Mohawk was one of four teams to win a piece of the Northern 10 Athletic Conference title last season and it looks like they should be right there at the top this year too.

          Mohawk’s football season just ended last Friday night.

          Coach Paul Dunn says they had to do some adjusting to their preseason plans.  “It’s been a slow start, a different start that’s for sure.  It's been a while since our football teams had this kind of success and that's great for our school and those kids.  We had to kind of adjust.  The first couple of weeks we were mostly eight or nine kids each day.  As last week kind of came through we had a couple kids that we were coming in later in the evening.  (Wednesday) was really, (Wednesday) and (Tuesday) were the first days that we had our football kids.  (Wednesday) they were full go, so it was nice to kind of have the band back together and have that competitive nature that those kids just naturally bring with them.  Having that back in the gym was nice,” said Dunn.

          Dunn says their football guys have brought physicality to the gym.  “When you have got nine kids and then you're bringing another 15 to 16 football kids and they've already got that camaraderie so they kind of carry that from that locker room to our locker room.  There is a different type of physicality and aggressiveness that they might have to tone down just a little bit here early in some scrimmages to kind of get back into that basketball mode.  It's nice to have that back in practice,” he said.

          Mohawk indeed is senior laden and Dunn says this group is really outstanding.  “We might be one of the few teams that has 10 seniors in the area, but that's a nice thing to have.  We've got some kids that have been playing a lot of basketball.  This group of kids when I came to Mohawk, they were in third grade and my JV coach and myself and some other guys we put a lot of time there to help this group.  Seeing them progress and that’s what we got right now on varsity, just those 10,” he told Swakonsports.com on Wednesday night, “I'm excited to see kind of how they progress throughout the season as they get into the flow here.  The nice thing is they all kind of understand what they're good at, they understand their roles.  They've probably almost been defined in their roles since seventh grade and that that makes it easier for myself.  I don't have to try to pull kids back or tell kids that’s not your shot.  They kind of know where they fit and they know what they can do well for us.”

Published 11/21/24

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source for All Things Sports

“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Mohawk Must Battle

          Mohawk tangles with unbeaten Columbus Grove in a division VII regional semifinal at Fostoria High School on Friday night.

          Last week, they contained a big time run game and beat McComb (20-13) in a regional quarterfinal.

          Coach Eric Daniel says their defense was outstanding.  “They had one big chunk play and outside of that play we really contained them.  They had a 65 yard touchdown run.  When you lead the “BVC” in rushing, they’re an excellent football team, they're going to pop one here and there.  So, overall we were able to keep them under 200 yards rushing, which we were tickled pink about, really under 200 yards total offense.  So, I thought defensively our kids played really well.  We were kind of scrambling there in the second half, had a couple injuries, and threw a pic and they were driving and our kids buckled down and stepped up big time.  So, couldn't have been more proud of our kids,” he said.

          Mohawk (10-2) will play Columbus Grove (12-0) on Friday night.  The Bulldogs hammered Lima Central Catholic (38-6) last week.

          Daniel says there are no weaknesses with this team.  “They're good everywhere.  When you get to this point in the year everybody's good and our kids understand that.  Their kids are tough, they're physical, they're well coached, they know their scheme, they keep everything in front of them on the back end and they're excellent tacklers and fly to the ball.  Then offensively they've got probably one of the best backs in Ohio and they're very good up front,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “Certainly a great challenge for us.  We're excited about it, our kids are excited and not intimidated, which is a big thing.  We're going over with the intention to win the football game and we're training this week with that intention.  We get another week with our kids, which we're very grateful for.  Like I told you last week, we're just constantly thanking God and praying for another week and we're just taking it one week at a time and keep coaching them up.”

          Columbus Grove has been a state semifinalists the last two years.

          Daniel says their goal Friday night is to win and they are going to enter the game with confidence.  “I haven't seen them get intimidated yet this year.  Our challenge to them is don’t be the first to blink.  They're going to be physical, we're going to be physical, they're going to get you on some plays, you're going to get them on some plays. The biggest key is keep battling, keep your head down, be good teammates to each other, pick each other up.  If they get a good play, shake it off, tackle them on the back end and live to fight another day.  Just keep battling and good things will continue to happen.  So, we don't have a lot of kids that bicker amongst themselves or anything.  I think that's a big part of it is having good team chemistry.  It allows you to kind of fight through the adverse moments of a football game, which every team experiences, even the great ones.  So, we're going to lean on that, lean on our senior leadership and we'll have our boys ready to go,” said Daniel.

Published 11/12/24

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source for All Things Sports

“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Mohawk Must be Physical

          Mohawk, champion of the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, plays host to McComb on Friday in a regional quarterfinal in division VII.

          They walloped Edgerton (49-14) in their playoff opener last week.

          Coach Eric Daniel says they put it away by scoring four straight times.  “We started kind of slow but then really picked it up there the last five minutes of the first half we scored 21 unanswered and then we scored coming out of the half.  So, took it from 7-7 to 35-7 in six minutes, so it made a heck of a difference,” he said.

          Mohawk (9-2) hosts McComb (8-3) on Friday night.  The Panthers beat Edon (28-14) in week one playoff action.

          Daniel says this is a team that wants to be physical and run the football and they are very good.  “They’re tough, they’re very big up front.  They have two 1000 yard backs that are both excellent.  One is their quarterback and one is their tailback and they're both exceptionally tough and run hard.  They can throw the ball too, but they've got that Carey mindset where they're come in and knock your block off,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday evening, “If they're getting four or five yards a carry they won't stop.  They have a hall of fame coach.  Chris Alge, he's done it, he's won state and he's won every year.  I don't think they've had a losing season in 30 years.  So, they're definitely a perennial, not only a playoff team, but like regionals and then state semis and that type of deal.  So, it's a great program.  It's a good opportunity.”

          Daniel says to have a chance to win on Friday night, they have to match that McComb physicality.  “It's huge this week.  We've really challenged our offense and defensive line.  We're very familiar with McComb we were able to scrimmage them, so it's kind of you know we've seen them, they've seen us type of deal, but both teams have gotten better throughout the year.  I would say the strength of their team is up front and they're running backs.  Certainly not to take away from any of the other ones, but they definitely like to run the ball and they're extremely physical.  Very similar to like a Carey mindset.  So, it's going to take our best effort up front on both sides of the ball to match that physicality,” said Daniel.

Published 11/08/24

© Swankonsports.com

Follow our scoreboard Friday night

For constant updates beginning with the kick

At www.swankonsportshosting247.com

Mohawk Has to Fix Mistakes

          Mohawk, the winner of the Northern 10 Athletic Conference this season, plays host to Edgerton on Friday night in a first round playoff game in division VII.

          They beat Seneca East (21-13) last Friday in what was a conference title game.

          Coach Eric Daniel says they made a lot of mistakes, but they were able to make enough plays.  “Just happy to get out with the win.  We didn't play particularly the best, but we were able to turn them over and create some short fields, flip field position and we did enough and came away with our first come championship in quite some time.  So, I was really proud of the kids but we had a lot to clean up this week, a lot to get fixed and to tighten up if we want to make a playoff run, which we have every intention of doing,” said Daniel.

          It was Mohawk’s first “N10” title since 2018.

          Mohawk (8-2) entertains Edgerton (6-4) on Friday night.  The Bulldogs lost (24-0) to Tinora last week.

          Daniel says they have a lot of weapons.  “They are really good up front, very big, physical.  They've got a really nice quarterback, he’s like the (Nichols) Parks kid from Seneca East.  Not overly big, but shifty, quick, tough and throws the ball really well and then they got a couple really nice receivers and a stud running backs.  So, I would liken them to Seneca East, very talented and certainly one we are not underestimated. especially with the lack of knowledge that we have with them,” he said.

          Daniel says their goal is to make a long run, but they have to be much better than they were last week.  “They're very multiple, lot of lot of formations. a lot of motion and they do some eye candy stuff to get you off your keys.  So, there's a lot of good prep for what we're going against in week 11.  I think it kind of gets you sharp.  Seneca East did a good job moving the ball against us and there's some things that that we need to take care of and tighten up,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “Fortunately, you're able to do that after a win, but nonetheless that needed fixed.  So, there's a lot of stuff that we got on our guys this week in film and coached them hard and had a lot of expectations for them to tighten it up.  We made a lot of mistakes that we hadn't made all year in week 10, so definitely a lot of stuff to get fixed and stay hungry.”

Published 10/31/24

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source for All Things Sports

“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Mohawk Excited for Opportunity

          Mohawk is at Seneca East on Friday night and to the winner go all of the chips and the outright title in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference this year.

          The Warriors (7-2,5-1) put themselves in that position with a (27-14) win over three time defending champion Carey on Friday night.

          Coach Eric Daniel says they were able to get a lead early in the game and that was key for them.  “Our kids executed got up on them early, similar to Crawford game, and got them playing from behind, made him rush a little bit more, made some key stops in the second half, kept a two score cushion going into the fourth quarter.  So, that helped immensely because Carey is an exceptional team, their hardnosed and they put together eight, nine 10 minute drives.  When you're down two scores it makes it harder you feel a little bit more rushed and we were able to kind of keep them off schedule in that regard, especially later in the second half.  We were able to build up that lead early, so that was that was really important.  I was really proud of our guys,” said Daniel.

          Seneca East (6-3,5-1) hammered Bucyrus (59-6) last week in “N10” play.

          Daniel thinks these teams have a very similar makeup.  “They are a great football team man.  They are honestly very similar to us in my opinion just in regards to they can make chunk plays.  They have two exceptional athletes on the perimeter.  In my opinion, I would say that we probably between the two of our teams have four of the best receivers in the league.  They have two and we have our two.  So, they're explosive, we're explosive, they're good up front, we're good up front,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “They've got a quarterback that's thrown for more yards than our quarterback, so he's a really nice player as well and does a really good job distributing the ball.  It's certainly a challenge.  In my opinion we're very similar teams athletically, physically, so it's going to come down to turnovers, penalties, execution in the second half, the first two minutes of the second half, ad the last two minutes of the first half, that type of thing.  So, it's going to be a really good football game.”

          Mohawk won it’s only “N10” title in 2018.  Seneca East shared it with Wynford in 2019.

          Daniel says it is exciting to play in a game of this magnitude.  “We told our guys at the beginning of the week, this is what you train for.  This is what two a days are for, this what four days a week in the offseason are for.  Just grateful to be able to play in this meaningful of a game this late in the year.  Playoff implications, league titles, big rivalry, it's got everything.  We don't need a lot of motivation.  This it's very similar to last week.  It’s laid right in front of them, all their goals are right in front of them and it's there for the taking,” he said.

Published 10/22/24

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source for All Things Sports

“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Mohawk Has to be More Physical

          Mohawk hosts Carey on Friday night in a game between two of the tri-leaders in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.

          The Warriors had been all alone in first, but they lost (13-6) to Upper Sandusky last week.

          Coach Eric Daniel says his kids have responded this week in practice.  “We've been fighting the injury bug a little bit, so we had some young guys that we tried to get ready and get to step up.  I was proud of our kids for fighting through some very adverse situations and stuff.  There was a lot of growth even though the outcome wasn't what we're looking for.  So, a lot of positives that we could draw from it.  Last time we lost was the Calvert loss (week one) and our kids responded.  They've done a nice job this week responding and kind of get that same feeling of linking together and not splintering and doing the right things practicing hard, holding each other accountable and stuff.  We're only getting healthier, so that's a good thing for as we work through this final stretch,” said Daniel.

          Mohawk (6-2,4-1) is at home for Carey (4-4,4-1), the three-time defending league champion, on Friday night.  The Blue Devils beat Colonel Crawford (19-10) last week.

          Daniel says this is a typical Carey team, they are just very physical.  “They're incredibly hardnosed, incredibly physical, which is very typical of Carey.  Those terms go synonymous with them.  So, smash mouth football.  They've got a really good, athletic, big quarterback and they got a couple absolute hammers in the backfield that are about 225, 230 pounds apiece and they run well.” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday evening, “We have got to be able to slow them down.  You're not going to completely stop them, just slow them down, prevent the big chunk plays and get them behind the sticks if you can.  They're incredibly well coached, they're very sound on defense, they do a great job flying around.  So, it's just like I said it's a very hardnosed, old school football team and they do a great job.”

          On Friday night, Daniel says they have to me the most physical team.  “You have got to match it and we've always said that.  For the most part in the years past, we haven't beat them, but physically we've been able to hang in there a little bit.  It's like guys you can't just hang in there, you have got to out physical them.  You have got to kind of beat them at their own game and get after them and meet them in the hole on iso and you have got to get hats to the ball on defense, offensively you have got to stick on your blocks and do all the little things right with some tenacity and toughness extra than maybe what you would do in the other weeks.  It takes all that in some to be able to match their physicality, they're just tough kids over there,” he said.

Published 10/18/24

© Swankonsports.com

Follow our scoreboard Friday night

For constant updates beginning with the kick

At www.swankonsportshosting247.com

Mohawk Expects Challenge from Upper

          Northern 10 Athletic Conference leader Mohawk will host rival Upper Sandusky in a conference game on Friday night.

          The Warriors (6-1,4-0) lead Carey, Colonel Crawford and Seneca East by a game.

          Last week, they beat Wynford (31-13) in “N10” play.

          Coach Eric Daniel likes what they did late in the game.  “It was a good game, probably much closer than what people realize.  I mean 24-13 and they had the ball on the fourth quarter there, early in the fourth quarter.  So, it was not a blowout I can assure you that.  Like I said, our you needed it.  I like the fact that we drove down the field there to end the game and scored, that was a really good character drive for our kids, so we appreciated that and loved seeing that as well,” he said.

          Upper Sandusky (3-4,2-2) belted Bucyrus (56-12) last week.

          Daniel says their film review and scouting report calls the Rams a solid team.  “I think they're better than even last year.  I think they're much better than last year. I think they're better up front.  I think their record can be very deceiving.  You go play Northmor, Galion, Carey, and Seneca East and I guarantee you a lot of records would look like that.  We're certainly not underestimating.  All we had to do was turn on the film for our kids and they see what kind of team they are.  They're very well coached, they're very athletic, they're massive up front and they've got one of the best middle linebackers and running backs at the conference.  So, they're an extremely dangerous team,” said Daniel.

          With Carey and Seneca East weeks nine and 10 this could be a trap game, but Daniel says they have too much respect for Upper for that.  “I don't think our kids are overlooking them.  They took Seneca East to the ringer.  We know what they're capable of and they're a very good football team.  We told our kids anticipate a four quarter battle, anticipate it being one score game because you can bet your sweet behind that's what you're going to be looking at, especially if we don't do all the right things all the little things right,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “I don't even look at it like a trap game to be honest with because I have got a lot of respect for Upper and (coach) Russell (Hall) and I know how much better they are even this year than last year and last year they beat us.”

Published 10/09/24

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source for All Things Sports

“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Mohawk Has to be Physical

          Mohawk will be over at Wynford this week to do battle with the Royals in Northern 10 Athletic Conference action.

          Mohawk shares first in the league with Seneca East.

          They punished Buckeye Central (48-0) last week.

          Coach Eric Danel says they were focused on the Bucks.  “We came out and our kids were ready to go and did a nice job executing our game plan and playing hard.  We know that the test is … records can kind of be deceiving, but the test is going to get tougher this week and we anticipate that,” he said.

          Mohawk (5-1,3-0) plays at Wynford (1-5,0-3) on Friday night.  The Royals were pounded (49-14) by Carey last week.

          Daniel says he isn’t fooled by the Royals record.  “They've had some critical turnovers in their losses where they're really close.  When they're rolling and they're playing clean football, they're a very good football team.  Their record is not indicative of what they're capable of because when they played a clean football game against Western, heck at one point they were up like 33-7.  Western is 5-1 I believe and really good,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “It just kind of tells you what they're capable of when they put it together.  So, we're anticipating their best game.  It’s they're Super Bowl right now because if they beat us they're probably going to make the playoffs and if they lose their likelihood goes down substantially.  So, we know we're going to get their best shot.”

          In order to be successful against Wynford, Daniel says they have to be a physical football team.  “We've told our kids all week they're extremely physical, they're smash mouth, they come right at you and we need to match that physicality and be ready for that intensity.  The last couple of weeks we haven't had those close games.  I think Wynford out of the last how many weeks I could count before us they are by far the most physical team that we've played.  So, I don't want us getting in a lull, and don't want us getting complacent, and don't want us want getting entitled, to where we think that everything's going to be easy,” said Daniel.

Published 10/01/24

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source for All Things Sports

“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Mohawk Not Looking Past Buckeye

          Mohawk, the “N10” co-leader, takes the bus to Buckeye Central to play the Bucks in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Friday night.

          They hammered Bucyrus (63-0) in a conference game last week.

          Coach Eric Daniel says they were ready to play.  “Our kids were dialed in and they've been even better this week in terms of taking stuff seriously.  So, very proud of their growth and kind of where they're trending and excited to get back on the field with them in a couple of days here,” he said.

          Daniel says this is a group that wants to have success and is willing to work to achieve it.  “We had a tough loss that Calvert game and exposed a lot, but it also was a great opportunity for our kids to kind of get better.  We challenged them, they could either take it and that could have been the best they played all year and they could start to splinter of the group and not be accountable and coachable or they could take coaching work on the little things that ultimately decide big games.  They chose the ladder.  They've done a really good job of like taking what we call a 10 week journey this year, that's kind of our theme.  Not one game makes or breaks you, but as long as you're constantly trying to improve and be coachable and have a good attitude, which they all have.  This is a special group of kids that that we've been able to coach with and it's good to see them have success and continue to want more because I do feel ultimately that they're trending in the right direction they're getting better,” said Daniel.

          Mohawk (4-2,2-0) visits Buckeye Central (2-3,1-1) on Friday.

          Daniel says the Bucks are going to be fundamentally sound.  “They're fundamental and there's not like one aspect where they wow you, like athletically or up front, but they're very fundamentally sound.  They're well coached, they know what they're doing, they don't blow assignments often and their coaches do a great job putting them in the right spots.  They do have like some nice athletes #7 and #5 both good athletes that they move around.  Their quarterback does a great job buying time and scrambling around and making things happen.  They've done a great job of getting a couple wins,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening “We're certainly not overlooking them.  We are taking them seriously.  I think it's disrespectful to not take an opponent seriously.  They're out there prepping doing all the right things and it shows immensely.  So, it's the least we could do to take them seriously get our guys locked in and treat it like the biggest game of the year because it is because it's right in front of us.”

Published 9/26/24

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source for All Things Sports

“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Mohawk Must Keep Going

          Mohawk entertains Bucyrus on Friday night in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game.

          The Warriors (3-1,1-0) pretty much dominated Colonel Crawford (35-7) in last week’s conference opener.

          Coach Eric Daniel says they got a lot of big plays and they were outstanding on defense.  “Our best players made big plays and they executed in key situations.  Came up with stops defensively.  They have got a really good running game, really good offensive line.  We were able to slow them down, get them behind the sticks a little bit and get them a little bit more predicable and a little more uncomfortable offensively.  When you have got all that going and you can build up a lead.  It makes everything a little bit easier,” said Daniel.

          Daniel says, yes, it was a very good performance last week, but they can’t stand still.  “You never get too high, never get too low type of deal.  It's never as good as it seems and it's never as bad as it seems type of deal.  So, it's like we wanted our guys to enjoy it.  It was a big win for us, but it's not the win.  We've got our sights set on bigger stuff.  We want to stay hungry.  We want our guys to expect to win, but most importantly prepare to win and with the intent to win,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “There's a lot of aspects to it.  We haven't had a lot of success the last couple of years.  It doesn't mean we're going to the Super Bowl just because we won one game.  You've got to stay humble and stay hungry.”

          Bucyrus (0-4,0-1) was smoked (42-24) by Buckeye Central in a conference game last week.

          Daniel says they must have focus on Friday night.  “They're not without talent, but it's like one of those deals where they haven't put it all together yet.  They have got a really good running back and some nice skill kids.  Their quarterback runs hard and he throws well.  So, we're not good enough to take anybody lightly and I'm not going to disrespect an opponent and take them lightly.  We want our guys to prepare whether we're playing Crawford or Bucyrus or anybody in between with these same intensity and focus,” he said.

Published 9/17/24

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source for All Things Sports

“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Mohawk Knows it will be Tough

          Mohawk will be at Colonel Crawford on Friday night for a huge game between candidates for the championship in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.

          The Warriors (2-1) belted Margaretta (36-14) in a non-league game last Friday.

          They are actually one point away from being unbeaten and that was a (28-27) loss to Tiffin Calvert on the opening week.

          Coach Eric Daniel says this team has a lot of chemistry.  “We don't let one game make or break our season and that's kind of what we challenged our kids with after week one.  We had a pretty disappointing loss to Calvert.  In the years past, maybe we let it affect our next game and affect our attitudes and our effort.  This is a special group, it's been a fun group, and they only bounded together and we challenged them to bring that same intensity and focus every week and good things were going to happen.  I knew we were on to something with our guys you know they don't blink through that Calvert game,” he said.

          Daniel says they continued to battle that first night.  “We had a lot of adversity.  We had a turnover coming out of half.  They scored on the next play inside the 10.  Then we went three and out and then they returned a punt and our kids never blinked.  So, one offensive play and we give up 14 points.  Go from being up seven to down seven and our kids never blamed anybody.  They weren't pointing fingers.  They encouraged each other and it's like then we rallied back.  So, from there I knew we were on to something with this group, which we already kind of knew just in terms of good leadership and kids getting brought in and working together and playing for one another,” said Daniel.

          Dainel says they were able to take some momentum into weeks two and three.  “We had a lot of focus the week after and got right into Cardington got on them early and we're able to kind of finish and get the momentum.  Then took that momentum and with Margaretta, a very talented 0-3 team.  They had some injuries at positions.  Had a couple kids back, a couple of kids not, and we were able to take advantage of some stuff in the passing game and get up on them early and finally got a running clock on them midway through the third quarter there.  We come out healthy for a big one this week,” he said.

          Colonel Crawford (3-0), #4 in the first Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, shutout East Knox (33-0) last week. 

          Daniel says at Crawford they don’t just have a good team, they have a solid program.  “They are incredibly well coached.  Jake (Bruner) does a really good job over there.  He's got it going on and they've had it going on for the last how many years.  “Teg” before him did a great job planting seeds and establishing that program and kind of bringing them back from being maybe middle of the road middle tier to they're at the top of the league every year.  Jake's done a great job of taking that and running with it.  The kids are very bought in.  They play incredibly hard, they're very deep, it looks like they have got 65 kids on their roster.  So, they've got a lot of guys not going two ways, but one way,” said Daniel.

          When it comes to X’s and O’s, Daniel says the Eagles bring a lot to the table.  “They are incredibly tough because they're very deep and they're very talented, they're very physical, they can run the ball inside now between the tackles and banging out if they need to or they can get you on the outside.  They have got a nice transfer quarterback as well.  He does a really nice job as well.  They have got a couple nice quarterbacks.  So, they're very well-rounded offensively.  Defensively, they're very sound and they don't give up points very easily.  I think they're averaging about four points a game.  So, we know what the test is looking like in front of us,” he said.

Published 9/11/24

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source for All Things Sports

“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Seneca East Holds Off Mohawk

          Seneca East built a six run lead and then had to hold on for dear life to edge Mohawk (8-7) Wednesday afternoon in a division IV district semifinal at Galion High School.

          They will play South Central, a (12-3) winner over Plymouth in the night cap, on Friday evening in the district final.

          Caden Fritz went the distance of the Tigers to get the win on a day when he was not at the top of his game.  “Sometimes you don't have your best stuff and he didn't have his best stuff (Wednesday), but he's our ace and we're going to go with him.  There toward the end, he just kind of bent down and said hey I'm going to do this and we got it done,” said Seneca East Coach Rick Bowerman.

          The Tigers had six stolen bases and Mohawk had five errors and at least four wild pitches or passed balls.

          Bowerman says they were able to take advantage.  “It was good early in the game we put some runs on the board early.  We were aggressive on the base paths and took advantage of some mistakes they made and played some good defense, but then the middle innings our defense kind of let us down.  We dropped fly ball, we don't communicate another fly ball and we give them four easy runs and shouldn't have,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “When you get to this point in the tournament you are going to face good teams.  The last time Fritz threw against them I think they had three hits.  They made adjustments and he doesn't have his best stuff, so that’s when the other players have to step up.  We did just enough to get the win,”

          Seneca East (16-13) scored twice in the top of the first on an RBI single by Fritz and a run scoring double by Nathan Parks.  Then added two more in the second when Jackson Geyheart reached on an error, Blake Foos singled and stole a base, putting runners on second and third and lead off hitter Aiden Hines delivered a two run single.  It became (7-1) after two a half when the Tigers got three more.  There was a hit batter, two walks, and a two run single by Foos.

          Mohawk coach Zach Hawkins says they got themselves behind with some mistakes, but he says they never gave up.  “We put (Brayden) Chester out there.  I wanted my senior leader out there and he didn't have his best stuff and then the defense behind him definitely didn't help out.  If we catch a flyball and we probably limit a couple of those runs and then our catcher didn't have his best up behind the plate, but the kids absolutely rallied.  It's really easy there down 7-1 to pout and quit and they didn't allow that to happen you know off of Fritz who's got a 1.00 ERA all year long.  They battled and put good at bats together all day long and gave themselves a really good chance there at the end to tie it up or take the lead.  So, I'm extremely proud of their fight it would have been easy to quit there for sure,” said Hawkins.

          The Warriors (19-7) got the tying run on base in the seventh inning, but couldn’t get him in.

          Bowerman says they were aggressive and that led to some runs for the Tigers.  “Our plan is we want to be aggressive on the base paths and we did that and put pressure on them and led to some runs for us,” he said.

          Bowerman says their start to the game over those first four innings turned out to be the difference.  “The key to the game was our start.  Being able to score each inning for those first four innings put the pressure on them.  Then they got some momentum going there toward the end and put some runs together and make it a close game, but we were able to close it out,” said Bowerman.

          Mohawk really got busy in the bottom of the third when they got four singles from Owen Patrizi, Hunter Haynes, Travis Geary and Chester to cut it to (7-3).  Patrizi singled and Kaleb Bish reached on a dropped fly ball.  Haynes sent them home with a two run single and it was (8-5) after four.  They added two more in the fifth when Kaden Bish was hit by a pitch and Chester walked.  Then Braylan Mullholand drove them home with a single and it was (8-7) Seneca East.

          They was a key moment in the game there in the bottom of the fifth when nobody out an two runners on when Lance Frankart hit a line shot that was caught by Hines at short and then he picked off Mullholand who had strayed too far off third for a double play.

          Hawkins says kids did everything that he could ask to give themselves a chance.  “That’s what we told them all the time.  We knew with Fritz being in there and that we were going to have to be on it.  We've been prepping for that for weeks after we saw him in the in the league a couple weeks ago and then we knew we probably were going to see him here in the district.  So, we've been prepping for it and I'm proud of our kids.  I feel like we were peaking there at the end at the plate.  So, that's all you can ask and we put up seven runs against a pitcher like that I can't be mad at them,” said Hawkins.

Published 5/23/24

© Swankonsports.com

“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Your First Source for Everything Sports

Mohawk Holds off Seneca East

          Mohawk hung on to beat Seneca East (7-6) in a game in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference on Monday evening.

          They share second place in the “N10” with Wynford, two games behind Upper Sandusky, who clinched at least a share of the conference title with a (19-0) win over Buckeye Central on Monday.

          The Warriors (13-6,9-4) took a (7-4) lead into the bottom of the seventh.

          Coach Zach Hawkins says it wasn’t easy, but they found a way.  “It seems like it's never easy.  Getting those last three outs are always the hardest.  We ended up having to use two different pictures there in the seventh inning,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “Elias (Magallanes) gave us a really good start.  He went five solid innings.  Then Hunter (Haynes) came in and got through the sixth and the beginning of the seventh.  Then Brayden Chester came in and closed it out.  Left the tying run on second base and struck out one of their best players.  So, it was pretty exciting and big win for us.”

          Mohawk scored two in the fourth and three in the fifth and Hawkins says those runs were critical for them.  “It was a kind of a back and forth game.  We went up (2-0), they went up (4-2) and then we had a bigger inning there in the in the middle and added on a couple and took a three run lead.  We've had a couple games like that.  So, I just kept stressing the kids let's keep adding.  They had good at bats, some really good situational hitting, got some sacrifices down and kids did a good job,” he said.

          The Warriors were the top seed in their division IV district.  Hawkins believes they are playing well.  “We started off the season very well.  We were undefeated there for a while and then we got into some of the tougher teams in our league.  That's part of baseball.  We've lost some baseball games,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “I feel like we're kind of back up on the upswing and that was our goal here in the last week or so to get back to playing how we know how.  We can play and we're excited here for the next couple weeks that's for sure,” said Hawkins.

Published 5/07/24

© Swankonsports.com

“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Your First Source for Everything Sports

Mohawk Outlasts Wynford

          Mohawk keeps a share of the lead in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference as the Warriors edged Wynford (3-2) in a conference game on Tuesday evening.

          They share first place in the “N10” with Upper Sandusky and Seneca East.  All three gave two losses.  The Warriors (11-4,7-2) have five league games to play over the next 10 days.  They host Wynford (11-7,7-4) on Wednesday, have a showdown with Seneca East (8-9,8-2) on Friday and next Monday.  They play makeups with Bucyrus on Saturday and Buckeye Central next Wednesday.

          Coach Zach Hawkins says Tuesday they got a great effort on the hill from senior Brayden Chester.  “It was a big game for us.  We started off the year 10-0 and dropped the last four.  So, went to one of my seniors (Tuesday) night in Brayden Chester.  Told him we needed a big start and had all the confidence in the world in him.  He went out there and did a great job.  Kept them scoreless through the first six innings and then he hit a batter, walked a batter in the seventh, they got a bloop hit and the next thing we know it's 3-2.  Luckily, we got that final out with two guys on base.  So, it was a big win for us and Brayden pitched an awesome game,” said Hawkins.

          Hawkins says they got a big clutch hit from Ben Bogner in the sixth.  “I kept telling them it was 1-0 and we needed more.  Let's get some insurance runs and in the sixth inning they finally did it.  Ben Bogner stepped up.  He had bases loaded, hit a line drive down the right field line and scored two runs that was a huge double with two out.  It came back to be huge for us because that was the difference in the game,” he said.

          Last week, the Warriors were smoked in back to back games by Upper and Hawkins was impressed by how they responded Tuesday.  “That's what I told you guys.  We're a division IV school and three of our four losses has have come to two division II schools.  We're playing pretty good competition.  Upper Sandusky is a very good team, but you know when you get beat 12-2 and 12-0, or whatever it was, it takes a little bit out of you, especially when you're undefeated,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “The kids to respond was huge (Tuesday).  It keeps us in the league race and that's what I've been harping on him.  The good thing about baseball is it's not like football where you have to sulk on a loss for an entire week before you get to play again.  We got to play day after day and finally (Tuesday) a couple things went our way.  I just kept telling the guys, keep chugging along and our luck is going to change and finally it did.”

Published 5/01/24

© Swankonsports.com

“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Your First Source for Everything Sports

Mohawk Beats Carey; Stays in First

          Mohawk continues to share first place in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference after a (6-3) win over Carey at home on Wednesday evening.

          They are tied for first with Seneca East, who beat Bucyrus (7-0) on Wednesday.

          First year coach Zach Hawkins is pleased.  “I mean anytime you can start the “N10” season off beating Colonel Crawford twice and beating Carey is a good thing, especially seeing Carey knock off Upper Sandusky last week, they're a fairly solid team.  So, getting that win and continuing our successful start of the season is always a great thing for sure,” he said.

          Hawkins says early they left a lot of runners on base, but later in the game they came up with some big hits.  “The first three innings we stranded eight guys.  So, there were multiple times we had bases loaded, two guys on, guys in scoring position, less than two outs and we just couldn't get the big hit.  I continued to tell our guys if we continue to get guys on base, we'll start getting them to fall,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “To be honest the hits we got late in the game, a couple of them were bloopers that got us the lead and secured the win.  So, that's just baseball, that's part of it.  You get guys on base and good things will happen.  It didn't happen early on, but later on in the game it ended up working out for us.”

          Mohawk (4-0,3-0) also got a strong pitching performance from freshman Kaleb Bish.  Hawkins says he gave them a chance to win.  “With that being said Kaleb Bish. We were down 3-0 early on.  I think they scored three in the second inning.  He kept it at that three number all the way through six innings and gave us a chance to continue to chip away at it and did an amazing job.  So, him keeping us in the game and giving us that confidence that it's still within reach gave us some confidence and he did a great job on the mound as well,” said Hawkins.

Published 4/04/24

© Swankonsports.com

“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Your First Source for Everything Sports

Mohawk Downs Crawford in “N10” Opener

          Mohawk gave up only two unearned runs in downing Colonel Crawford (4-2) in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Tuesday at Mohawk.

          First year coach Zach Hawkins says they got outstanding pitching on Tuesday.  “Hunter Haynes started for us.  Defensively, we had kind of a rough inning to start.  We gave up two unearned runs, but he settled down and the next four innings after that first inning he threw, I want to say a total of 35 pitches, and I think they only had a couple of base runners in the four innings, so he did a great job,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “Then after that in the sixth inning we brought in Brayden Chester and he retired all five batters that he saw as well.  So, very pleased early on with those two guys.  (Monday) we had some good pitching as well beating New Riegel, so far very pleased with the guys on the mound.”

          Hawkins says Haynes did a very good job of mental discipline on Tuesday, considering some of the defensive mistakes they made.  “We had a couple opportunities to get out of that first inning with you know no runs given up and it just didn't happen.  Instead of putting his head down and you know sulking he got himself together and he gave us a good outing.  Gave us five and a third innings gave us a great chance to win and Brayden came in close it down,” said Hawkins.

          Hawkins added they got some timely hitting and played some good fundamental baseball against Crawford.  “We had some really timely hitting as well.  Did a really good job moving runners and getting guys in from third with less than two outs and some good RBI groundouts.  Just kind of chipped away.  We got one run in four different innings.  So just kind of got guys on, moved them around, and got them in and got the job done,” he said.

Published 3/27/24

© Swankonsports.com

“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Your First Source for Everything Sports

Mohawk Talking Defense

          Mohawk, co-champion of the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, plays host to Woodmore, of the River Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference, in a sectional semifinal in division IV on Wednesday night.

          The Warriors beat Colonel Crawford (52-38) last Friday to earn a share of the “N10” title.

          Coach Paul Dunn says he likes the depth they have shown lately.  “I think our kids definitely at this point of the season kind of understand who they are and where they fit in the scheme of the team.  We had some guys really start to play kind of above their level that they've shown throughout the season, which is awesome to see stepping up we had some foul trouble on Friday.  So, hopefully that kind of stuff will carry into the tournament.  You're always going to need somebody to step up when needed.  There's going to be a kid that's going to maybe not be on that night.  So, showing our depth a little bit on Friday really gives me confidence going to the tournament,” said Dunn.

          Mohawk (16-6), #5 in the final Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, has won nine of its last 10.

          Woodmore (5-17) finished in the bottom half of the River Division.  They lost (65-62) to Lakota in a division game last Friday.

          Dunn says they like to get up and down the floor.  “They like to play fast when you watch them on film.  They've got two guys that are averaging 15 points a game or more.  So, we've got to do a really good job of understanding that we can't let them leak out.  We can't let them get full heads of steam in transition, so we got to make sure we're getting back,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “Defensively, they've shown man to man, they showed some 2-3, so I imagine they're going to mix it up.  No matter what they're in, it's a very aggressive style of defense trying to speed the game up.  So, we got to take care of the ball and make sure we're valuing possessions not letting them get easy layups.”

          Dunn says they understand the importance of defense, especially in the tournament.  “That's one thing that I think our kids have really understood the last couple of years.  I think our kids really enjoy playing on that end of the floor.  They know if you're going to win tournament games this time of the year you really have got to buckle down and play on that side.  I think our kids enjoy it and I think our kids look forward to the challenge,” he said.

Published 2/28/24

© Swankonsports.com

Don’t miss a special “Out of Bounds”

This Saturday night 10 PM to 11 PM

Your First Source for All Things Sports

Mohawk Plays For a Chance

          You want to be playing meaningful games the last week of the season and this is the case for the Mohawk Warriors.

          They play at Colonel Crawford on Friday night and a win could bring them a share of the conference title.  Right now, they trail Crawford and Carey by a game.  Carey plays Upper Sandusky and Seneca East meets Wynford, the Tigers are also a game back.

          They kept themselves in the race with a (34-29) win over Seneca East last Friday.

          Coach Paul Dunn says they kept grinding and found a way to win.  “It was a battle.  We talked about Seneca East and their defense, it's obviously not man, but it's the toughest defense that we face that's not typical defense and it was a challenge for us.  Our kids, we did our best, but we struggled to find the shots, but defensively we did a great job on that end as well.  So, we kept ourselves in the game down two at halftime and found ways in the second half to make the plays we needed to take a lead there late in the game and put it away with free throws,” he said.

          Mohawk (15-6,9-4), a winner of the eight of its last nine, is at Colonel Crawford (16-5,10-3) on Friday night.  The Eagles beat Wynford (48-42) last Friday to remain in a share.

          Dunn this year defense has been at the forefront of the “N10”.  He says when you play Colonel Crawford you not only have to be physically tough, but mentally tough.  “Our entire league, if you look at it, especially the first six teams, they're all unbelievable at defense, so every night we're challenged in that sense.  Crawford does a great job and they're obviously leading in that sense in terms of making every game a half court game and you have got to grind out possessions offensively and defensively.  We talked about it (Monday) at practice you have going to be physically tough against their stuff, but you have got to be mentally tough to be able to play defense for a minute and maybe play offense for a minute and they're going to take the ball from you and be able to handle that next possession and not make it two bad possessions in a row,” said Dunn.

          Colonel Crawford won the first meeting (38-27) at Mohawk on January 12.

          Dunn says this is going to be another game that comes down to the end.  “This league is challenging every night and we've had to play a lot more half court games this year.  You look at other leagues and the league scorers in those leagues are averaging 18 points a game.  In our league, it's a lot less.  It's just how the game has been played for all eight teams,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “You'd love to maybe speed them up, but at the same time I think both teams are comfortable playing a half court game.  If it's a game in the 30s, nobody's going to be surprised by it, but it's going to be a well played game by some teams not to play defense and can grind it out,” said Dunn.

Published 2/20/24

© Swankonsports.com

Don’t miss a special “Out of Bounds”

This Saturday night 10 PM to 11 PM

Your First Source for All Things Sports

Mohawk Still in it

          Mohawk is like a warrior undercover, you don’t know they are there until it’s too late.

          They trail the Northern 10 Athletic Conference tri-leaders by just a game going into their game at Seneca East, one of those tri-leaders, on Friday night.  They play Colonel Crawford, another of the leaders, next week.

          On Tuesday night, they beat New Riegel (56-50) in a non-conference game.  It was their seventh win in eight games.

          Coach Paul Dunn says they made a great comeback to get the win.  “New Riegel is such a tough opponent for us, it's such a close opponent, old rival, and it's always tough to play there and it’s a Tuesday night game and you have got to get yourself up ready to play.  I thought we did so early and New Riegel, as they always do, made it tough.  In the middle quarters, the second, third quarter they really took it to us.  I was proud of our kids, we went down five or six there, late third, early fourth and started to really pick up our intensity.  We started to do things right and it's good to see that our kids kind of take punches like that and hang around and still find ways to get back in the game and finally walk out of there with a win,” said Dunn.

          Of course, Mohawk is still in the race and Dunn says they have been taking these games one game at a time.  “It's funny because a month ago you look at where we're at and we kind of told the kids at this point it’s one game at a time and see what happens with district seeding and try to get yourself in a good spot.  As things kind of go on our league is by far the deepest it's been since I have been coaching at Mohawk.  Crazy things happen and at this point now we've have got a chance, it's a slim chance, a lot of things have got to go well.  We have got to take care of obviously what's in front of us, but I’m excited for our kids and I think our kids are looking forward to the challenge on Friday,” he said.

          Mohawk (14-6,8-4) plays at Seneca East (15-4,9-3), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, on Friday night.  The Tigers came up with a huge win last Friday when they beat Colonel Crawford (53-44) to move back into a share of the lead.

          In their first meeting, Mohawk smoked Seneca East (54-30) on January 6.

          Duun says really Seneca East has a very talented lineup.  “In a lot of ways they're similar to us in the sense, a seven man rotation, they have got one to two bigs. They have got some guys that can shoot from the outside and they've got some really good athletes.  A team that defensively can kind of impose their will.  They post two really good challenges with their guards Bordner and Mason, two of the quickest guys in our league and two of the better shooters and shot creators,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday evening, “We've got definitely a challenge in front of us.  The guys around those guys are extremely talented and playing well.  Blake Foos, watching them play against Crawford in that film, he was unbelievable all over the floor making effort plays and doing everything for them.  So, they're playing really well right now.  Coach Anthony Langhurst as got them dialed in, so it's going to be a tough match up for sure over there in Attica.”

Published 2/16/24

© Swankonsports.com

Our scoreboard updated every five minutes

On Friday night at www.swankonsportshosting247.com

Mohawk Plays Athletic Wynford

          Mohawk travels to Wynford to face the Royals in a game in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference on Friday night and they host “SBC” River Division leader Hopewell-Loudon in a key non-league game on Saturday night.

          Last Saturday, they beat rival Upper Sandusky (41-33) in a league game.

          Coach Paul Dunn says after a slow start they got it done.  “We started the game off, Upper is up 8-2 on us and it didn't feel like it was going the right direction and brought some guys off the bench that I thought really brought a lot of energy made some effort plays there in the second quarter and kind of turned the tide for us.  Then in the second half we were kind of hanging on to the lead and forced to really take care of the basketball.  Then the fourth quarter had another guy off the bench for us and score 11 in the fourth and really carry us at the free throw line.  So, put our kids in tough spots, so we had to make free throws, we have to take care of the ball and then really get big stops.  So, I think it's a great time to have games like that in the season,” said Dunn.

          Mohawk (12-5,7-4) plays at Wynford (13-5,6-5) on Friday night.  The Royals lost (63-49) to Carey last Thursday and beat Bucyrus (82-73) on Saturday night in league play.

          Dunn says Wynford is just outstanding on offense.  “By far they have two of the best scoring guards from inside and out quickness wise with Prenger and McGuire and then the rest of the guys around them are just knock down shooters.  It puts your defense in a tough spot.  We've been thinking all week about what the approach is going to be and the matchups that we can try to make successful.  It’s tough, they pose a challenge in every spot.  We have got to really make sure we're doing a good job guarding the three point line with their talent out there, but also respect the fact that they can drive to the basket and finish in there as well,” he said.

          Hopewell-Loudon (15-2), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, is having a great season and this could be a district tournament preview.

          Dunn says that have all of the elements of a great team.  “This has always been a game going back to the “MAL” when we played all the time, so it's always a fun game.  Everybody knows each other and at this point we have played each other at least once or twice each of the last two or three seasons, so they pose a great challenge.  They pretty much bring everybody back from last year that made it to the district finals,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening,” So, they have inside with Evan Kreias and (Donavan) Elmore and then outside they've got three really talented guards that you have got to respect.  They're going to put a lot of pressure on you defensively.  So, very tough weekend for sure for us Friday and Saturday, but at this point in the year you want to start playing your best basketball and you want to really play tough competition and we've got that in front of us for sure.”

Published 2/07/2024

© Swankonsports.com

“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Your First Source for Everything Sports

Mohawk Must Have Focus, Patience

          Mohawk, a winner of six of its last seven, plays at Buckeye Central on Thursday and at home against rival Upper Sandusky on Saturday in games in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.

          Last Friday, they blasted Bucyrus (75-35) in a conference game.

          Coach Paul Dunn says they followed the game plan pretty well.  “I thought going to that game we knew we had I had to worry about Malachi Bayless and another challenge for us was Noah Burke, he really killed us the first game, I think he had a double double.  I thought our guys did a really good job of focusing on those two, making it hard on them, and rebounding the basketball is key for us.  They have got two 6’7” kids and I thought we did a really good job competing and fighting for those rebounds, that really helped us,” said Dunn.

          Mohawk (10-5,5-4) plays at Buckeye Central (3-10,0-9) on Thursday night.  The Bucks were smoked by Colonel Crawford (59-25) in a conference game last Friday.  Mohawk has the best of the Bucks in the first game, winning, (64-29) on December 16.

          Dunn says he respects Buckeye a lot.  “They're a very young team.  Obviously, they've had some injury issues with their kids this year and that makes it tough.  Anytime you go over to Buckeye Central, we always seem to find ourselves in a game.  That's a proud program, proud tradition.  They're going to play hard and we know that.  They've got some firepower.  The (Jack) Phillips kid is more than capable of putting a lot of points on the board.  So, we have got to make sure that we're focused and do what we have to do to win that game,” he said.

          Upper Sandusky (9-6,4-5) beat Mohawk (50-46) on December 22.

          Dunn says this time they have to rebound and make some tough shots.  “I think both teams have progressively gotten better as the season has progressed here.  In order to win that game, it's a similar formula.  We have got to make sure we do a better job.  We got beaten in transition many times against them the first time.  We didn't rebound the basketball very well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “Offensively we have got to do better of making plays out of sorts.  Upper is going to make you play maybe not at the heart rate you want to play out there and make you speed up.  We have got to make plays and guys have got to move the basketball and they when they get open they have got to make the jump shots when they're there.”

Published 1/31/2024

© Swankonsports.com

“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Your First Source for Everything Sports

Mohawk Finding it

          Mohawk is becoming a very good basketball team entering the final month of the regular season and they play host to Bucyrus in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Friday night.

          Last Saturday, they won their biggest game of the season when they knocked off “N10” leader Carey (47-46) in a thriller.

          Coach Paul Dunn says they did it at both ends.  “I thought our kids did a great job.  We started the game well, started up 9-0.  Carey spotted well and they made it tough on us and really ratcheted down on defense.  We had big foul trouble, we have three starters on the bench in the second quarter and that was really proud of our bench guys.  We had some guys that hadn’t scored more than two or three points a game step up and had one kid scored nine for us, so it's huge.  We finally made like we talked about a lot the winning plays,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “Brayden Chester had a huge up and under layup there to tie it up and the fourth and then we were down two Hunter Haynes came down made a huge three to put us up one there late.  So, the guys have really been preached at it and they finally stepped up in the moment, so really proud of them.”

          They have won five of their last six and Dunn says they have found their groove.  “I think really after that first stretch of games there I think our kids kind of didn't really figure out what we what we were.  I didn't think we were playing the best defense at that time and it's kind of been us the last few years and I thought our kids really started to focus on that.  Then offensively, it's been slower than usual, but we're starting to really see the guys that need to step up and be more aggressive for us they're starting to do that and that really takes the pressure off of some other kids in our team that maybe aren't as offensive minded.  So, I'm really proud to see that the kids are starting to see their roles and fulfill those roles,” said Dunn.

          Mohawk (9-5,4-4) plays host to Bucyrus (3-9,1-7) on Friday night.  The Redmen lost (67-46) to Seneca East last Saturday.

          Dunn says they have to be ready to play.  “They have got one of the most prolific scorers in our league and Malachi Bayless.  Watching their film against Seneca East it was a close game throughout most of the game there until late.  So, you have got to be ready to play.  They play hard and when they see some shots go in they play even harder, like anybody does.  If we don't find Malachi and the other guys around are making shots it's a really tough matchup for us,” he said.

Published 1/24/2024

© Swankonsports.com

“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Your First Source for Everything Sports

Mohawk Has to Make Plays

          Mohawk plays at Northern 10 Athletic Conference leader Carey on Saturday night.

          They went to Fort Loramie and beat the Redskins (45-21) in a “MLK” game on Sunday.

          Coach Paul Dunn says it all kind of came together for them.  “It was a very frigid ride down.  I thought our kids did a good job of kind of understanding this the second year I would've played a special like this.  We like to do it because it kind of puts our kids in that turn our mindset, kind of forces us to kind of get ready without a JV game before you.  I thought our kids did a good job.  Defensively we're flying around.  We gave them a lot of different looks defensively.  Offensively, I thought we finally started to do some things that we haven't done in games that we've lost this year.  So, it was a good day for us and hopefully I can kind of push us through here in the second half of the season,” he said.

          Mohawk (8-5,3-4) plays at Carey (9-3,7-0) on Saturday.  The Blue Devils are coming off a (53-48) win over Upper Sandusky in a conference game last Friday.

          Dunn says they are just very good on defense.  “Well, just like a couple of other teams here at the top of our league right now, their defense is just suffocating at times.  They're physicality for us.  I thought we did a lot of good things the first time we played them, we just we didn't make enough winning plays.  Carey, credit to them, they're a senior laden team, they weathered the storm of some of our runs and were able to deliver some blows back to us,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “We've got to be able to handle their physicality on the perimeter and be able to create shots for ourselves.  Make those plays that we didn't make the first time around, whether that's making the layup, getting the defensive rebound, or making the free throws.  We've got to do that I think our kids kind of see that now.”

          Carey won the first game (46-34).

          It’s a rivalry game and Dunn says, yes, play with emotion, but you have to be careful.  “In basketball that's one sport where you have got to kind of walk that fine line.  Too much emotion cannot be good for you at times.  So, you have got to be able to control your heart rate, especially on different ends of the floor.  Offensively, you have got to have a little more composure and defensively crank it up and play with more excitement and energy.  That they usually translates a little better.  Our kids have the understanding, and Carey does too.  It's a big game for both communities being 15 minutes apart.  So, we look forward to it every time we play.  It's a tough matchup, another matchup, it's going to just make us better as the tournament time gets closer and closer,” Dunn said.

Published 1/17/2024

© Swankonsports.com

“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Your First Source for Everything Sports

Mohawk Must be Physical

          Mohawk plays Ridgeway Ridgemont in a non-conference game on Wednesday and then faces Colonel Crawford in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Friday night.

          They hammered Seneca East (54-30) in a “N10” game on Saturday night.

          Coach Paul Dunn says there were outstanding on both ends of the floor.  “I thought our attention to detail, all year we've been shooting ourselves in the foot, whatever defensively not getting the opportune stops or guarding correctly, being attentive to how we needed to guard kids.  Then offensively we just didn't take care of the ball enough.  I thought Saturday night that we did all that.  We took care of the ball, we did a great job of trying to control and contain their two really good scores and I thought our kids really shared the ball well offensively and we just had a good flow on both ends of the floor,” said Dunn.

          Dunn says Ridgemont (7-4) is going to want to make Wednesday night's game quick paced.  “In their conference, I would consider them one of the best two teams in their league.  They lost the USV last week by a couple points.  They're very a young team.  They've got one senior.  They put a lot of points on the board.  They just knocked off Riverdale by 30 points this past weekend.  They've got three or four guys on the floor that could score 15 to 20 points on any given night.  They want to get out and play an up and down game.  So, I think it's going to be a battle of who can control and play the game to their tempo and to I guess put their hands on it more and that's going to be our focus,” he said.

          Mohawk (6-4,3-3) hosts Colonel Crawford (8-3,4-2) on Friday night.  The Eagles beat Wynford (65-53) on Saturday night in a conference game.

          Dunn says they have to be the more physical team on Friday night.  “It's going to be a physical game.  You look at the guys they have got playing for them.  They've got a bunch of kids that are well put together and they're going to make it a grind on both ends of the floor.  Offensively, they're going to maximize their possessions.  They're not going to be in a rush,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “Defensively they're going to try to be up in our face and make it a physical game.  If we can handle the physicality that's going to be a huge test for us.  If we don't it's going to be real tough game.  So, that's going to be our challenge for our kids whoever the team that comes out and handles the physicality and gives more the physicality is going to have better chance Friday night.”

Published 1/10/2024

© Swankonsports.com

“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Your First Source for Everything Sports

Mohawk Still Looking for that Key Play

          Mohawk needs to make some big plays when they host Seneca East in Northern 10 Athletic Conference action on Saturday night.

          Last Friday, again they had a chance to win and didn’t falling to Wynford (66-55) in a conference game.

          Coach Paul Dunn says did not cash in when could and Wynford did.  “As a team we've been we've been missing those opportunities to make the plays that we have got to make at the right time.  Whether that's good rebound, making layups when they're critical.  We just didn’t do that enough against Wynford.  I thought we played a great game for the most part in a lot of categories.  I think we did a lot of good things.  We got there in the in the fourth quarter.  We kind of got relaxed and we didn't we didn't take care of all enough,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “We got turnovers and they got the free throw line.  When a team makes 29 free throws to your six, it's going to be hard to win that game. That's credit to them, they did a good job of making the plays when necessary.  I think they hit a buzzer beating three at the end of the third quarter and they had a couple huge threes in the second quarter that kind of took the wind out of our sails at times when I thought we were playing pretty good.”

          Mohawk (5-4,2-3) entertains Seneca East (6-2,4-1) on Saturday night.  The Tigers beat Colonel Crawford (46-40) in their “N10” game last Friday.

          Dunn says the Tigers do a lot of good things on both ends of the floor.  “You look at them coming to the season you had the idea they would be talented team.  They have got some really nice pieces.  You have got Lucas Bordner and Luke Mason, two kids that are two of the best scorers in the league.  Then have got guys around them that are just good athletes and know their role and do a good job.  Their defense has been giving teams fits.  They kind of run a 1-3/2-3, almost like a hybrid of a defense and it's been causing teams a challenge.  So, we're going to have to really work on that and make sure we're taking care of the ball and be able to make those shots on the outside if they're there,” said Dunn.

          Dunn says they still need to be able to make big plays at key times.  “We're dying for one of those plays to be made for us.  We've got kids that have put a lot of time and effort into being the players they are.  We just have got to have got to step up at the right time and make the play that we need.  We're primed for that, our kids just like to play.  I think our kids are ready, it's just when the occasion arises, you got to do it,” he said.

Published 1/03/2024

© Swankonsports.com

“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Your First Source for Everything Sports

Mohawk Needs Confidence

          Mohawk is at home for Wynford in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Friday night.

          They need a win to get back in the conference race.

          They lost (50-46) to Upper Sandusky last Friday in a conference game.

          Coach Paul Dunn says they couldn’t get anything going consistently.  “That was a frustrating game.  Upper did a great job, can't take anything away from them.  They had a great game plan.  They were more physical than us.  Defensively, they made it hard for us.  We're searching right now for that guy, or couple of guys to step up and kind of be our leaders on the floor when we need it.  We've made runs at times and gotten ourselves back in games, just like we did against Upper, and we just haven't done it enough to continue that that push and take a two point lead or a four point lead.  We get back even with a team and then we allow that to get back on top.  So, we've got to find a way to kind of sustain those pushes that we're making and be able to play at a higher level for more minutes of the game,” he said.

          Mohawk (4-3,2-2) entertains Wynford (7-1,3-1) on Friday night.  The Royals blew out Bucyrus (79-48) last week.

          Dunn says they are going to have to work hard on defense to stop them.  “Offensively, they are the most talented team in the league by far.  They've got four guys at all times we can shoot it from the outside.  They've got a big guy in McMillan that can score from the outside and he's very athletic going to the basket.  So, they present a lot of challenges for any team that's going to guard them.  We'll have to do a good job of contesting the three-point line and making sure that we have a hand up on every closeout,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “We have got to do a better job.  Upper beat us in transition probably four or five times and Wynford is going to do the exact same thing if we don't do a better job getting back.  So, we have got to be ready to play defense and offensively we have got to find a little rhythm.  We have got a lot of guys that can score the basketball well, but we seem to be out of sorts right now, so we're kind of searching for some identity there on that side of the floor.”

          Dun says they need more confidence shooting the ball.  “As coaches we get frustrated because kids play better when they make shots, well it's just the way of life and the way of basketball.  So, we have got to find ways to create early.  We’ve had chances to get some.  We had a couple chances early with wide open shots and we either dropped the ball or the shots didn't go in.  So, we're creating opportunities.  It starts with our kids believing that thing is going to go in when it leaves their hand.  Right now, as coaches we have got to instill that they can do it.  So, that's our job.  Our kids are willing and able to do it just have got to believe they can do it,” he said.

Published 12/28/23

© Swankonsports.com

“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Your First Source for Everything Sports

Mohawk Taking Steps

          Mohawk is hanging around the lead in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, a game behind the leaders, and they play at Upper Sandusky in a conference game on Friday.

          First, they host Hardin-Northern in a non-league game on Wednesday.

          Last week, the Warriors beat a couple of teams in Bucyrus (69-48) on Thursday and Buckeye Central (64-29) on Saturday.

          Coach Paul Dunn says Saturday was a better overall effort.  “It was a progression.  Our biggest thing right now is we've been preaching to the guys offensively to allow the game to come to them and defensively to make sure we're boxing out.  Early against Bucyrus we didn't do a great jog.  We allowed them to get some easy buckets with Malachi Bayless just made shots.  We kind of figured it out as we went through halftime there and did a much better in the second half, but against Buckeye Central we came out and did those things early and it allowed us to kind of settle in by halftime.  So, hopefully it's something our kids continue to see the importance as we progress through this season,” said Dunn.

          Hardin-Northern (1-3) comes calling on Wednesday and Dunn says they are going to be physical.  “Coach (Jared) Thomas been there quite a few years now he's got his kids buying into the brand of basketball to play.  They are hardnosed and physical.  They're going to get after you and if you don't come out ready to go they're going to be up in you and it's going to be a dog fight.  That's kind of basketball they want to play, scrappy.  So, we have got to make sure we take care of the ball, we have got to know that we have got to make sure we're physical on defense and not allow them to bully us and make sure that we're ready to play.  Offensively, if we can take care of it, I like how we playing when we do that, we have got to just make sure we're taking care the ball and value each possession,” he said.

          Upper Sandusky (1-4,0-3) has struggled to get wins, losing to Wynford (66-57) on Thursday and Seneca East (49-37) on Saturday.

          However, Dunn says he knows they are going to be tested.  “Honestly playing Hardin-Northern is a great precursor to playing Upper Sandusky.  You're going to play a physical game Wednesday night and then you know two nights later you're playing a team that you know is going to play the kind of basketball coach (Jeff) Winslow wants them too.  They're going to be up in the passing lanes, they're going to try to speed your heart rate up and make you have to make decisions,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “I think they better understand this year what they can and can't do.  They've got guys that can score the basketball for them, they are physical.  (Holden) Daris has been there forever and he's a guy that I think every coach would love to have on their team with how he plays, the leadership that he brings and now they have got guys around they can knock down open shots this year as well.  So, they are a much improved team and have shown in stretches that they could be a very, very talented team.  So, you can't look at their record from last year or this year you have got to throw that out of the book for sure.”

Published 12/20/23

© Swankonsports.com

“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Your First Source for Everything Sports

Mohawk Has to be Ready

          Mohawk is preparing for a pair of games in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference this week as they visit Bucyrus on Thursday and host Buckeye Central on Saturday.

          In their league opener, they lost (46-34) to defending conference champion Carey last Friday.

          Coach Paul Dunn says they couldn’t put a long enough run together.  “Yeah, obviously going to that game we knew we were going to have to be physical.  One of the things we talked about was having a quick start.  It always seems like in games like that with two rival teams the one that gets a better start settling quicker and we just couldn't get over the hump emotionally on offense.  We couldn't go on that run that we needed.  Every time we're hanging around, we just we came up one possession short I felt like every time,” said Dunn.

          Mohawk (1-2,0-1) travels to Bucyrus (1-3,0-1) on Thursday night.  The Redmen were routed (80-47) by Cardington in a non-league game on Tuesday night.  They lost their conference opener to Seneca East (76-53) last Friday.

          Dunn believes new coach Brian Hargis has the Redmen fired up.  “Yeah, a new coach.  He did a great job last year, he actually filled in for the previous coach and we saw him on JV’s.  He's got those kids playing hard and they believe in him.  They're playing tough basketball right now,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “They have played a couple of league games and I know Malachi Bayless is one of the best scorers in the league.  So, we've got to make sure we're on our toes defensively and offensively we have got to find a way to execute.”

          They also have a new coach at Buckeye Central in Chris Moyer.  They won their first game on Tuesday night when they beat Crestline (71-57) in a non-conference game.

          Dunn knows the Bucks will be ready to play them.  “That's kind of the next puzzle for us.  We have got to figure out who they’ve got.  I know they have got a couple injuries, but they're a team that's going to be playing inspired basketball.  Anytime you get a new coach, I feel like he gets those kids to buy in and hopefully they’ll put it out there for you.  We know Buckeye has got some talented players and we have to be ready to go,” he said.

Published 12/13/23

© Swankonsports.com

“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Your First Source for Everything Sports

Mohawk Trying to Settle in

          Mohawk plays a non-conference game on Wednesday and a tough opener in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference on Friday as they play host to Riverdale and Carey this week.

          The lost Saturday (50-45) to Lucas in their first game of the season.

          Coach Paul Dunn says they were playing too fast.  “We definitely came out and had the first game, I want to say jitters.  Our M.O., unfortunately the last few years, to come out and almost be overly aggressive.  That showed up on defense we got in foul trouble in the first half.  Then offensively, we watched film (Monday) night and our kids admitted how they felt like they were pressing, they were trying to go too fast and trying to play offense at a speed they can't play.  So, I think our guys are hopefully going to take a breath after that game and kind of learn from it and be ready to go for this week,” he said.

          Riverdale lost (66-23) to Carey last Friday, but they beat Upper Scioto Valley (54-51) on Saturday.

          Dunn says they have a couple of players.  “They have got a decent amount of kids back that have got experience.  They have got a couple of players that I've seen on film that are pretty talented.  The Jack (Dusseau) kid and the Reeder kid are two very good athletes.  I know coach (Drew) Hobsensack is the second year, so we kind of at least have an idea defensively now what they're doing.  Last year, they gave us some different things to look at, some different zone pressures, so I we are a little more prepared for what they might roll out as this year,” he said.

          After a good start Carey (1-1) got smoked (62-43) by Old Fort on Saturday night.

          Carey beat Mohawk in the final game last year to win the league title and Dunn knows they are headed for a battle.  “Well, if you're looking before the season, obviously Carey is the returning champion until and somebody proves otherwise.  They're an extremely talented team.  Coach (Jamie) Young has a ton of seniors there.  They played two games this past weekend and they have got another two this weekend.  I think coach Young has got the toughest December schedule in the State of Ohio right now,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “They're extremely talented team, they're physical, they're long, they're athletic, they know how to play.  They've got kids like Brayden Young and Carter Smiley that are just complete matchup nightmares.  Then you have got kids like (Nic) Putnam.  So, it's a tough matchup.  It's a backyard rivalry game for our kids, it’s going to be a fun one and it's going to be a heck of a challenge for us early this season.”

Published 12/05/23

© Swankonsports.com

“Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Your First Source for Everything Sports

Mohawk Opens With Tough One in Lucas

          Mohawk travels to Lucas for a very interesting non-league game that serves as they opener for both schools on Saturday night.

          The Warriors, runners-up last season in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference and regional qualifiers, have been rounding into shape over the last week, according to coach Paul Dunn.  “We've slowly, but surely, having some guys with some injuries from football. The last scrimmage or two we've had everybody able to get on the floor together and started to really see some cohesiveness between the guys,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday evening, “We've got a really large junior class using a lot of varsity minutes this year and then just one senior in the mix with another one hurt.  So, these guys are used to each other and they know how to play together.  So, I'm excited with what they've done so far throughout practice and preseason.”

          Dunn says Lucas is outstanding led by Logan Toms and he says they are going to a physical team.  “Well, they are a very physical team, I know that's kind of their calling card.  They're going to be physical offensively and defensively.  They play extremely hard.  Coach (Taylor) Iceman's got a good system going there and the kids, just watching them play they, know what they're doing and they know what’s expected of them.  They don't try to do too much.  When you have got a kid like Logan Toms kind leading the charge for you they're going to be a very, very special team this year in my opinion with a player of his caliber,” said Dunn.

          Dunn says Lucas is going to be a tremendous challenge and they have got to be at their best.  “As coaches we were talking over the last few years this could possibly be one of the tougher opening games we've had recently here.  They're a team that's been to quite a few district finals and regionals.  We're going to have to be ready to go and we told the kids that.  You can't just expect to walk onto their floor and get anything easy especially in a game of this caliber,” he said.

Published 12/01/23

© Swankonsports.com

Our scoreboard updated every five minutes

On Friday night at www.swankonsportshosting247.com

Mohawk off to Good Start

          Mohawk, the runner-up in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference last season, has some pieces back to put together another solid team this year.

          Coach Paul Dunn says they have some kids that have played basketball at the varsity level.  “We graduated three seniors that played a lot, but we've got a lot of experience coming back honestly.  We have two seniors that got a lot of playing time, one especially in Brayden Chester, and then a junior class that’s well seasoned for their age and they've played a lot of basketball together.  Two of our top six or seven guys are still coming back from injury, so we're still kind of working the kinks out trying to get some guys in some spots they're probably not overly comfortable with, but we're working our way towards hopefully a product that's going to be ready to go on December 2nd,” said Dunn.

          The way the calendar falls this year there is an extra week for basketball teams to prepare for the season, which begins the first week of December.

          Dunn says that’s a good thing.  “It's nice and unfortunately our team didn't make the playoffs this year in football, but it's just nice to for the kids to not feel like they're rushed in some sense to get there.  As a coach, not to feel that anxiety of getting our kids on the floor sooner rather than later even if they're just a few days out of football.  So, it gives our kids the time that they need.  I think as a coach it gives us some more time to make sure that we're taking our time and put stuff in correctly and not trying to rush through things,” he said.

          Dunn says a real key to November is making sure the kids are in basketball shape before the season starts.  “I'm sure every coach loves that Friday, Saturday kind of a quick start there going into the weekend and give your kids a day on Sunday to kind of catch their breath and maybe ice down a little bit because those first two days are hard on the kids for sure,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “It's long practices and getting those legs back in shape.  Trying to get some muscles that for some kids haven't been used for a while, especially if you don't do football, if you're doing golf or cross country, you're not using those quick switch mussels for a while.  So, you're using muscles haven’t been used, so these kids definitely need to get back in shape and it's a slow process, but we're working our way towards it one day at a time.”

Published 11/10/23

© Swankonsports.com

Our scoreboard updated every five minutes

On Friday night at www.swankonsportshosting247.com

Hamilton Gets Stronger; Leads Crawford Past Mohawk

          Brennan Hamilton retired 15 of the last 19 batters he faced and Colonel Crawford edged Mohawk (4-2) in a division IV district semifinal played at Galion’s Heise Park on Wednesday.

          They will play Seneca East (15-12), also of the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, on Friday evening.  The Tigers beat Lucas (2-1) in the district nightcap.

          Mohawk would score two runs in the top of the second inning on a two run single by nine place hitter Hunter Haynes.  They loaded the bases in the third, but didn’t score.  Coach Dan Gorbett says Hamilton found his rhythm and really carried the team.  “He was in a jam in the first inning too on those kind of swinging bunts, they're base hits and there's not much you can do it just falls in there.  He got out of that with just one run.  Once he got out of that third inning jam, he turn it up and a notch.  He’s that four year lettermen, senior that you want in a pressure tournament game again.  He put the team on his back and that carried us through,” said Gorbett.

          Mohawk (10-16) left nine runners on, six in the first three innings, and coach Eric Hoover said that led to their downfall.  He says Hamilton made clutch pitches when he had to.  “We knew it was going to be a close game.  Coming in I thought probably four runs would win the game.  We had chances to score big early.  We got popouts and strikeouts.  We get runners in scoring position and obviously that's like the worst case scenario.  There are lot of other ways to get runs out and that's not one of them,” he told Swankonsports.com, “I mean (Hamilton’s) good, he does a great job on the mound and makes it tough.  We watched too many strikes.  That’s not the first time first time.  We have talked about it and worked at it.  He did a good job of finding that outside corner a lot and hitting the catcher’s mitt and making it tough on us in those situations in battling out of it.  He could have folded or got angry or started complaining about balls he thought he should have got or whatever, but he didn't.  He was mentally tough and he showed zero emotion out there on the mound whatsoever and that's how you get through tough times on the mound.  You have got to do that as a pitcher and he did a good job with most situations.”

          Mohawk played some solid defense too, ending the first and fifth innings with double plays.  Hoover says that helped to keep them in the game.  “We haven't turned any double plays all year, maybe just a couple.  We have been working a lot at it, so I'm glad to see them get that done.  I thought defensively we made plays we had opportunities to do so, which has been a struggle for us a lot.  He have been giving up six, seven runs and we were able to hold them down,” said Hoover.

          Colonel Crawford (15-12) scored in the first on an error, a hit by pitch, a walk and an RBI single by freshman Van Wintersteller.  They added two in the third on two walks, another RBI single by Wintersteller and a perfect sacrifice bunt by another freshman Nate McCartney.  The final run came in the fourth on Hamilton’s RBI single.

          Gorbett praised the plays made by those young kids with the bats.  “A freshman Wintersteller went three for three.  We got a nice safety squeeze by another freshman there.  We just found ways to get some runs.  Friday we're going to have to hit the ball better.  That was some good situational baseball that we did there.  We didn’t strike out very many times.  I haven’t checked the book out, but we put the ball in play,” he said.

          Micah Thomas, the regular shortstop, was ill and not available against Mohawk, but Gorbett says they had a number of other kids step up.  “They have really been amazing.  Our starting shortstop is our best hitter and he was throwing up at noon, so he didn't play.  So, our center fielder hasn't played shortstop all year is at shortstop.  There were some plays and stuff like that I'm getting upset when like well okay he hasn’t played there all year, so I have to expect that.  That's how we've been with them all year.  We moved our third baseman to centerfield.  They just say okay coach, they don't question it, they don't oh I can't do that coach.  They're freshmen that act like three year lettermen.”

Published 5/25/23

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source For All Things Sports

“Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Mohawk Drills Ridgemont

          Mohawk scored five times in the first inning and never looked back as they destroyed Ridgeway Ridgemont (13-1) in six innings in a division IV sectional championship game on Thursday.

          Ridgemont was the #4 seed and Mohawk #5, but coach Eric Hoover says getting on the board early gave them some confidence.  “I think they had 12, 13 wins on the year, so they had a good record.  Their pitcher was good, so we knew going in that he was going to be good and he had like 75 strikeouts on the year.  We were able to come out and get on them early and kind of just build some confidence.  Our leadoff batter gets a hit right away and I think that builds confidence throughout the rest of the team and we put some runs up,” said Hoover.

          Freshman Brant Kirian had four hits on the day and scored two runs.  Catcher Travis Geary had three RBI.

          Hoover says he told the Warriors after the game that scoring first was key.  “I told the guys after the game tournament games lot of times when your seeded close together they are going to be close games and it's important to score first, it's important to get on the board first and put that pressure on them and maybe you can get some mistakes out of them and just help build confidence within yourself.  So, it was really huge for us to go out early and especially to get that many, to get five was a was a big deal,” he said.

          Mohawk (9-15) will play Colonel Crawford (14-11) in a district semifinal next Wednesday in Galion.  They played twice this year in Northern 10 Athletic Conference action.  Crawford won both games (8-2) and (5-2) this spring.

          The Eagles beat Buckeye Central (11-1) on Thursday.

          Hoover says they have seen Colonel Crawford’s pitchers.  “We knew it was going to be obviously one of our league opponents and we've played twice.  So, we battled with them, they got us twice, but we at least have seen their pitchers,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “We know what we're in for and I think that familiarity will help give us a little more incentive and a little more motivation to get them back after them getting us twice and hopefully build some confidence that you can do better against them this time.”

Published 5/19/23

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source For All Things Sports

“Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Mohawk Edges Carey

          Mohawk scored four times in the fourth inning and they held on to beat Carey (6-5) in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Monday evening.

          They have lost a lot of one, two runs games this year and coach Eric Hoover says Monday they were able to find a way to win one.  “Carey is a solid team and they have I don't know 12, 13 wins, I think.  We had a close game with them on Friday that kind of came down to the wire that day too.  So, it's good we came out on top this time.  We've been struggling to get a win and we’ve had some close ones and been right there, but we finally got it done,” he said.

          This spring Mohawk just seems to have played in a lot of close games, wins or losses, and Hoover says they were to get some clutch hits on Monday.  “That's a good thing in a way, but you like to come out on top in more of them.  It's just we'll give up a big inning here or there and end up losing by a run or two.  We just have to be more consistent in making plays.  We were able to make enough of them (Monday) night to get the win.  Finally got you know a couple clutch hits when we need it when we had runners in scoring position.  We've been struggling a little bit to get hits with runners in scoring position and leaving a lot of guys on base,” said Hoover.

          Mohawk (8-12) opens tournament play next week with a game against Ridgemont.

          Hoover says they have become better at making the regular plays.  He says it’s about confidence.  “I mean we have to be more consistent making plays.  Our pitchers are doing their job pitching to contact.  We just have got to have more confidence making plays behind them.  We get a little tight with two outs it seems like.  We just have to continue to be confident making the play every time,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night after the win, “I think we need to build confidence in this week and a half we have a leading up here to the tournament.  It’s going to come down to close plays.  You're going to have close games in the tournament as well.  I think we can win a couple games, we just have to be confident in what we're doing at that point.”

Published 5/09/23

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source For All Things Sports

“Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Crawford Downs Mohawk

          Brennan Hamilton scattered five hits in going to distance as Colonel Crawford beat Mohawk (8-2) in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Thursday evening.

          The Eagles (12-7,8-3) also had no errors and that was big, according to coach Dan Gorbett.  “We hadn't been on a diamond in seven days.  We didn't have a game last Friday, it was prom weekend, so we had the weekend off, we didn't have a game Monday and then we were rained out Tuesday and Wednesday.  We took some grounders in the infield and we had no errors (Thursday) and we only had eight strikeouts, so we had a lot of opportunities,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night after the win, “The defensive star again was Micah Thomas.  I think eight times the ball was hit to him and three of them they were like slow rollers that you had to come up and throw off balance and he made every single play.  That was a big key to the game, all of our defense, but especially his defense.”

          When you set a week and don’t play, Gorbett says rust, especially on defense, is a worry.  “I was concerned because we're a young team and how are we going to respond to being off this long.  Every team's different, but we did an outstanding job of being focused and having good at bats every inning and staying in the game and playing outstanding defense again,” he said.

          Mohawk (7-10,4-7) has struggled a little bit lately and coach Eric Hoover says they had some chances to score, but didn’t take advantage.  “Hamilton had a very good outing on the mound and for the most part they played very good defense behind him.  We missed opportunities to make plays on defense and gave up too many free bases.  We are still trying to figure some things out heading into the tournament,” said Hoover.

          Now, the tournament draw is Sunday and Gorbett says this is the time of the year you want be at your best.  “We have been talking about that.  You need to make sure we're getting better and you know staying focused.  We'll find out you know what our situation is on Sunday and hoping for a nice tournament run,” said Gorbett.

Published 5/05/23

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source For All Things Sports

“Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

“White Knuckle Warriors” Do it Again

          It was yet another seventh inning rally for Mohawk as they scored three times to beat Buckeye Central (7-6) in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Monday evening to remain in a share of first place with Colonel Crawford and Upper Sandusky in the conference baseball standings.

          This time it was Nick Golling with a walk off two run double for the Warriors.

          Coach Eric Hoover says his kids just seem to have confidence in late inning situations.  “That's the second game in a row where we have scored three in the bottom of the seventh.  I could hear them talking before the 7th inning (Monday) night or the before the bottom when we came up, we know we can do it, we just did it.  So, they just use that confidence, use that experience of something happening and stay confident,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night after the win, “We got a leadoff double to start the inning, I think everybody kind of fed off that and just kept hitting the ball.  So, we came with a lot of clutch hits and a good pinch hit from a senior Kaden Stober you know was big to keep the inning rolling and everybody down the line just did their job.”

          Again, the second straight game Mohawk (5-1,4-0) gave up three runs in the first inning, but Hoover says they had the belief they could win the game.  “You have to have confidence, especially in baseball because it’s so hard and you fail so much.  We again put ourselves in a hole getting off to a bad start, letting too many guys on and giving free bases away and digging ourselves a hole to begin with.  So, you have got to be able to brush that off, you have got to be able to forget about it because you know it's a long game and you have plenty of opportunities to get back in there.  So, they did a good job with that and it was different guys (Monday) than it was the other day too, so it's good to see a lot of different guys stepping up,” said Hoover.

          Mohawk has a big one with Upper Sandusky (7-1,3-0) on Tuesday in league play.

          Hoover believes they have some depth in their lineup and that has been key for them this season.  “I think that comes down to helping you win close games when you have a lot of different guy who can do things and doesn't matter so much where you are in the lineup.  Our seven, eight, nine guys get up there and have come in in the clutch in games and giving us leads and helped us win.  So, it's good and everybody has you know confidence in each other and they root each other on and they know everybody can get it done,” he said.

Published 4/11/23

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source For All Things Sports

“Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Three in the Seventh Gives Mohawk the Win

          Mohawk scored three times in the bottom of the seventh inning to upend Plymouth (6-5) in non-conference baseball on Thursday evening.

          Brayden Chester led off the seventh with a single, Bryce Hannam reached on an error and Chester scored on a single by Braylan Mullholand to make (5-4) Plymouth. Nick Golling got on base on another Plymouth error.  The Warriors tied it when Hannam scored on a sac fly by Elias Magallanes.  The game winner came on an infield hit by Drew Woodland, scoring Mullholand.

          Coach Eric Hoover says it was a very good game and they made plays to win it.  “It was a good game overall and it was close the whole time.  We kept kind of going back and forth a little bit.  It was great the kids stayed in it and they got up and supported each other and found a way to win in at the end,” he said.

          Hoover says they kept knocking on the door and they were able to stay confident.  “These guys have had some success in other sports throughout the year and I think that helps.  We've been playing pretty well so far and I think that they were able to stay confident and stay in the game and find a way to get it done,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night after the win, “We have contributions from a lot of guys.  They really stayed positive and kept chipping away at it.  We had other opportunities throughout the game with us ended up leaving quite a few runners on base earlier.  So, I felt they were kind of due to come get it done.”

          Mullholland had three hits and three RBI on the night.

          Chester started the game and went five, giving up no earned runs on five hits.  Hunter Haynes threw two shutout innings.

          Hoover says their pitching hept them in it after Plymouth scored three in the top of the first.  “We've been in that situation a few times already this year where we just didn't field the ball.  Our pitchers were doing a good job.  Brayden Chester started the game for us.  He was doing a good job of getting ground balls and we weren't making plays on them.  So, they were able to put three up early.  It was big that we came back right away and got two in the first also, that was big for our confidence.  We've kind of been in that situation I think three times now already in five games, so they know that it's a long game and you got time to chip away at the lead and we were able to find a way there at the end,” said Hoover.

Published 4/07/23

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source For All Things Sports

“Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Mohawk Rallies Past Bucyrus

          Mohawk rallied from a five run deficit to beat Bucyrus (11-6) on Thursday evening in a game in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.

          Bucyrus scored five times in the bottom of the second inning, but the Warriors would score once in the top of the third and three times each in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings.

          Coach Eric Hoover says they got some key hits in clutch situations.  “They scored five in the bottom of the second all with two outs.  We had two outs and nobody on and couldn't get off the field.  Had some walks and then they had some hits, some good clutch hits with two outs to bring in five.  So, I was pretty happy with how we were able to just start you know chipping away at the lead slowly.  We scored I think every inning after that.  We scored get the lead back and build on it,” he said.

          Mohawk leadoff hitter Drew Woodland had two doubles and scored three times.  Nick Golling had three hits.  Kaden Stober had three RBI.

          Hoover says sometimes when you get behind by a bunch like that, you start pressing, but he says they did a good job of staying patient.  “It's a long game right.  There's a lot of opportunities.  If you get too anxious a lot of time you start swinging at maybe some pitches and you can't do much with and then you end up with outs,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win on Thursday night, “You're not going to score more than one one time.  So, you take advantage of it being a long game chip away at it trying to get one an inning here and there put some pressure back on them, so they're not feeling comfortable with a five run lead.  We were able to do that and turn into a couple big innings.”

          Another key was the solid job in relief done by Brayden Chester.  He went five plus innings allowing only three hits, walking none and striking out six Redmen.

          Hoover says they were able to keep the Redmen off the board.  “We continued to make plays.  We didn't have any errors (Thursday) night.  Brayden Chester came in and kind of shut Bucyrus down the rest of the way.  He did a good job keeping them off balance.  They scattered a couple hits here and there, but the guys did a good job of making plays behind him and he threw strikes and we were able to get out of it with them only scoring one more the rest of the game,” said Hoover.

Published 3/31/23

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source For All Things Sports

“Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Mohawk Seeing Good Things

          Mohawk is still a young team, but one with some good talent on the baseball diamond this year.

          They play at McComb in their first games of the season on Saturday if the weather permits.

          Coach Eric Hoover says he has seen improvement from his squad that has some experience, but is still pretty young.  “I mean we're still a young group.  We only have two seniors and only one of those is a letter winner.  So, we have some work to do, some building to do.  We lost a good group of four seniors last year and we were playing a bunch of freshmen, so now they're sophomores and we'll see how that translates.  Hopefully, some of the experience that some of them gained will help going into this year,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “We had a couple of guys that played varsity also that were underclassmen that decided not to come back, so we're filling them with guys that played JV last year.  We're still athletic competitive group, so I've seen improvement from scrimmage one to scrimmage two, so that's what we're looking for.  We played a lot better defense in our scrimmage (Tuesday) so it's baby steps, but we're working in the right direction.”

          Baseball is the kind of game where you can play almost every day and Hoover says those are opportunities to get better.  “There are definitely a lot more game days, which is good and bad.  You need the practice time, but at the same time there's only so much you're going to do in a practice.  They have improved like I said from one scrimmage to the next, so that game experience is going to help them.  Seeing live pitching is better than anything you're going to get from a machine or a coach's arm.  They just need to continue to see that and improve and working at it and we'll move in the right direction,” he said.

          Mohawk starts play in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference next Tuesday and Wednesday against the Bucyrus Redmen.

          Hoover says the “N10” is going to be really competitive again this spring.  “It's always competitive and everybody's going to have a pitcher or two that are very good and can keep you in a game, so all the games are very close.  I think anybody can beat anybody from top to bottom.  That is generally how it goes because of the pitching aspect of baseball.  I think it will be very competitive.  Upper, I think, is probably has the most returning that are outstanding players, so they would probably be the favorite.  But everybody's going to have a pitcher.   Seneca East has a couple really good pitchers, Carey has good returning pitchers, so the games are always going to be a very competitive,” said Hoover.

Published 3/23/22

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source For All Things Sports

“Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Mohawk Has to Keep Crestview Out of Lane

          Mohawk, of the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, meets Convoy Crestview, at Bowling Green State University in a division IV regional semifinal.

          The Warriors (23-3) beat Hopewell-Loudon (46-45) in a district final last week at Liberty-Benton High School.

          They had a lost their last game of the regular season to Carey, but coach Paul Dunn felt they reacted so much better to the same situations against Hopewell.  “After that game we kind of talked to the kids.  Actually, had a chance to kind of regroup and told them, obviously Carey played a great game that night.  I thought they did a lot of good things to make it hard on us, but at the same time I didn't think our kids really, even thought we were close, gave ourselves a chance.  We're down through five points and I thought our kids just had that look like we're down 15.  We talked about that adversity and we're going to have to face that in the playoffs.  Obviously, the first two games, we didn't probably face that adversity, but we knew as we got closer to Vanlue and then Hopewell, we were going to have to be tested on that side.  We go down four to Hopewell-Loudon there late in the game and that's the same situation we had against Carey.  I thought our kids really responded well, they didn't give in, they didn't get down, they kept pushing, they kept battling and gave themselves a chance there late to finish it out,” said Dunn.

          Convoy Crestview (22-3) beat Ottoville (63-61) in overtime to win their district title.

          Dunn says they have a lot of height and they are going to have to keep them from getting to the basket.  “They are a very solid team.  They're bigger than us at pretty much every position.  They start three guards that are 6’2” and another guard/forward type player that's 6’4” and then a big man that's 6’6” and long and athletic and bring a lot of guys off the bench that have similar physical traits.  They're top three guards are all very good shooters, they can attack the basket, it's got to be key for us we have got to keep those guys in front,” he told Swankpnsports.com on Monday evening, “(Monday) we were really talking about in our man-to-man defense, we've got to make sure we keep them off the straight line drives and then try to flatten out their drives to the basket, make it more difficult for them, make them play side to side.  We're going to have to really box out.  They are big and athletic and if we don't box out we're going to be in trouble.  That's been our emphasis the last two to three days of practice.  I think the kids get it.  We told them at this point there one of 16 teams left.  Everybody that we're going to play is going to do a lot of good things.  I mean I think we do the same thing and it's going to be a challenge, everything's got to be tightened up everything got to be better.”

          Dunn says when they have the ball they have to execute well and get in the paint and kick out for open shots.  “Hopewell made it hard on us.  They were physical with our guards and our guards at times I thought they almost over dribbled.  I didn't think the ball moved quick enough side to side and we made it hard on ourselves.  When we did catch the ball, we were a little too slow to use that that ball movement to attack.  We really emphasized that the last couple of days.  We don't have to try to hide people up and try to go one-on-one, pass the ball, move side to side, it gives us better chances, better driving lanes, if we can just get one or two dribbles down there and that's going to cause a double team and that's going to allow us to get that kick out to our shooters on the outside. Then anytime on the floor, we're going to have four guys that can knock down three ball.  We’ve got to be able to take advantage of that and use that shooting ability to our advantage and try to get those outside shots going for us,” he said.

Published 3/07/23

© Swankonsports.com

There will be a special “Out of Bounds”

Saturday from 10 to 11 PM

First Source for All Things Sports

Mohawk has to Defend Hopewell Guards

          Mohawk, of the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, plays Hopewell-Loudon, of the “SBC” River, in a division IV district final on Friday night at Liberty-Benton High School.

          On Tuesday night, Mohawk (22-3) overwhelmed Vanlue (80-40) in a semifinal game.

          Coach Paul Dunn says they started strong and played well on both ends of the floor.  “We came out and jumped out to a 7-0 lead and Brayden Chester got started there making the first three of the game and I think that kind of calms everybody's nerves when you see that first one goes through.  I thought defensively we didn't give the Jerome Kloepfer too many easy buckets or too many easy looks early, which kind of takes him out of his routine, his rhythm.  I thought once our guys settled in offensively outside and outside shots were there.  You go against 2-3 zone best way to beat it is knock down jump shots and I thought our kids did a great job of that,” he said.

          Hopewell-Loudon (21-4), who shared the River Division title, beat Arlington (51-47) in their semifinal on Tuesday.

          These two teams played way back on December 1 with Mohawk winning easily (63-38) on that night.

          Dunn says the Chieftains are physical and they are athletic.  “I mean looking at their recent schedule they've won 15 of their last 16 and they're playing really, really good basketball.  They're a physical team, they're very, very athletic, and they're going to play really good defense.  They're catalysts on offenses is Evan Kreais and he can do pretty much anything.  He’s a 6’4” wing slash post that can score the 15 footer, take you inside or knock down the three if left open.  Guys around him are very talented also offensively as well.  So, it's really a battle.   I mean it's going to be a challenge.  Obviously, seeing a team twice they know a lot about us seeing each other every single year.  It's going to be a fun one,” said Dunn.

          Dunn says they have to keep Hopewell out of the lane and on offense they have be fundamental and make good passes when they have the ball.  “Well, the biggest things is going to be making sure that we do keep their guards out of the paint.  I thought against Arlington they got to the basket a lot and even if they didn't make them, they got to the free throw line and we've got to keep them off free throw line the best you can.  Evan Kreais is going to pose a huge challenge for us and we'll need to do a really good job of making it hard on him,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “He is similar to Kloepher from the sense that he's very patient when he has the ball and he’ll probe your defense and kind of see what he can do and shot fake you and until he gets you where he wants you knock that shot down.  So, we'll have to do a good job defensively.  Offensively, we have to be strong with the ball.  They're very, very physical at the point of attack and we're going to have to really make sure we're attacking we're strong with it and making accurate, in time passes if we're going to have success and that end of the floor.”

Published 3/03/23

© Swankonsports.com

There will be a special “Out of Bounds”

Saturday from 10 to 11 PM

First Source for All Things Sports

Mohawk Has to be Sound on Defense

          Mohawk takes on Vanlue in a division IV district semifinal to be played ay Liberty-Benton High School on Tuesday night.

          In sectional play, the Warriors (21-3) had a couple easy wins over lesser opponents in beating North Baltimore (61-14) on Tuesday and Arcadia (79-38) on Friday.

          However, coach Paul Dunn says things are going to get more difficult with Vanlue.  “We told the guys you're in that seed not from just the vote there, but obviously what you did all season you put yourself in position by playing tough teams, especially with the RPI that's earned that spot, but at this point now we've got a team in front of us that's got a kid that's playing some of the best basketball and state in my opinion in the (Jerome) Kloepfer, so it's heck a challenge for us to consider last for sure,” said Dunn.

          Kloepfer is the Blanchard Valley Conference player of the year and he had 29 points in a (50-37) upset win over Calvert for the Wildcats (11-13) in a sectional final at Fostoria last Friday.

          Dunn says he is likely the best player the Warriors have faced all year.  “At this point in the year he's played 24 games and he's seen every single kind of defense, whether it's double teams, box and ones, whatever.  He's got a great ability of he's a great shot faker, ball faker, he gets guys to get on their toes and he is able get the get a shot off then.  He's very active searching the ball out and he's just he's found ways to be a shot maker in a lot of different areas of the floor,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “So, he's a challenge, one of the better challenges we've seen.  I can't remember in the “N10” a guy that's of similar caliber.  So, it's going to be a challenge for us to stay focused and to make sure that we know where he's at all times on the floor.”

          Mohawk over the years has been known for its zone, but it the preseason Dunn talked about the want to be an improved man to man defensive team.

          He says that will be tested on Tuesday night.  “We mentioned that (Monday) at practice.  The focus that we've had since November 1 when practice started and we put ourselves in a position here and we've been challenging our kids to take the challenge of playing man to man defense.  We've got some guys on our team that have really taken pride in it.  I like our focus on the floor and we need to do it again (Tuesday) night,” he said.

Published 2/28/23

© Swankonsports.com

There will be a special “Out of Bounds”

Saturday from 10 to 11 PM

First Source for All Things Sports

Mohawk Has to be Ready

          Mohawk gets right back at it as they take on North Baltimore on Tuesday night in a sectional semifinal in division IV at Fostoria High School.

          The Warriors (19-3) are the top seed in the district.

          They lost their final regular season game to Carey (48-31) in a game that if they had won they would have shared the Northern 10 Athletic Conference title with the Blue Devils.

          Coach Paul Dunn says it good to get back on the floor quickly.  “We kind of had a slow end of the season in terms of games.  We played a single game two weeks ago and then a single game this past weekend against Carey.  When you have the opportunity to have the choice to take the bye take and play a play in game and that kind of played into our thoughts,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “We wanted to get the guys on the floor and get any nerves they might have had, get that out of their system as you move into the playoffs.  Last year as a learning experience I think we were a little bit nervous and the sectional semis and then that carried into the sectional finals.  So, hopefully, we can kind of work through any anxiousness we would have as we go into this first game.”

          Dunn says if you don’t come out and play well, your season could well be over and kids have to understand that.  “That's what we been trying to tell the kids that make them understand you know at this point doesn't matter what our record and what their record, it’s 0-0.  We practiced (Monday) and I said guys this could very easily be our last practice if we don't take care of business and show up and play the way that we're capable of playing.  So, you have got to be focused right when get off the bus on the job you have in front of you,” he said.

          Mohawk plays North Baltimore (2-20) in its first tournament game.

          Dunn says the Fighting Tigers are going to play a lot of young kids in this game.  “They're playing 2-3 freshmen and I guess some more young guys.  I think they have one senior on the team.  We have got to make sure that we're ready to go.  They're going to have a carelessness, a freeness about them knowing that they've got nothing to lose going out there and play.  So, if we go out there and let them feel good because we're not focused on what we're doing that's going to make it a game and we have got to make sure we come out ready to play that's for sure,” said Dunn.

Published 2/21/23

© Swankonsports.com

There will be a special “Out of Bounds”

Saturday from 10 to 11 PM

First Source for All Things Sports

Mohawk Has to be Patient

          Mohawk plays at arch rival Carey in a huge game in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference on Friday night.

          A win by the Warriors and they share the conference title with Carey.

          After a (50-29) win over Colonel Crawford last Friday, Mohawk has won its last 11 games.  That streak began when they beat Carey (47-45) on January 7.  So, far they are the only league school to beat the Blue Devils.

          Coach Paul Dunn says they have embraced playing defense.  “Our kids have really taken to the defensive side of the basketball and really honed in on that, really focus on that.  I think that's allowed us to really settle into the games.  We have been starting fast and then playing really good defense early.  Obviously, that takes the other team out of their rhythm and gives us time to get in and find our offensive rhythm.  So, really proud of our guys for focusing on that and I think the results are starting to show,” said Dunn.

          Carey (18-3,12-1), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, also has been playing outstanding defense.  Dunn says the Blue Devils are physical.  “Numbers wise they're the best defense in the league.  They have a wide array of players that can play really good defense, whether it's on the ball or they've got physical guys inside they can make it hard on our post guys.  It's definitely going to be a battle on the defensive end for sure,” he said.

          Mohawk (19-2,11-2), #4 in our poll, has the district 6 Division IV player of the year in senior A.J. Hess.

          Dunn says they must be patient on Friday night, on both ends of the court.  “Carey, they can slow the game down and they can work the offense for 45 seconds to a minute and we've got to be willing to sit down and play defense for that long and then the other side of it we can't rush ourselves into shooting bad shots,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “We've got to do a good job of finding high quality shots and making sure that we're getting the ball in the hands of our guys put the ball in the basket for us and playing good team basketball.  When we share the ball the entire team just starts to click together, so we've got to really do a good job with that.”

          Dunn says games like this with everything riding on the outcome are the fun ones to play in.  “After we got past Crawford and our kids were able to kind of start to focus on this game I think for both teams involved it's is going to be a good experience for everybody.  It’s going to be a packed house there and I'm sure the Carey kids are looking forward and I know we're looking forward to the experience and to the challenge,” he said.

Published 2/16/23

© Swankonsports.com

“Out of Bounds” after Friday night games 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” each week 10 AM to 1 PM

We are Your First Source for Everything Sports

Mohawk Must Execute on Both Ends

          Mohawk, a game behind first place Carey and a game ahead of Colonel Crawford, plays host to the Eagles on Friday night in play in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.

          They play Carey next week.

          Last week, they played very well in beating Wynford (71-55) on Friday and Seneca East (61-30) on Saturday night in “N10” action.

          Coach Paul Dunn says they were very good on defense.  “We played I thought exceptional defense for the most part for both games.  Wynford is a very talented offensive team and then say the same for Seneca East.  They have got some of the most prolific scores in our league and I thought our kids really locked down.  They are really starting to enjoy the challenge of playing good defense and holding teams below their averages and kind of taking pride in that.  So, I'm proud to see that from our kids,” he said.

          Mohawk (18-2,10-2) plays at home against Colonel Crawford (14-5,9-3) on Friday night.  The Eagles played and beat the same two teams as Mohawk last week, Seneca East (61-36) on Friday and Wynford (57-45) on Saturday.

          Dunn says they have to defense the Eagles in the post on Friday night.  “They're a typical Crawford team.  They know what they're good at and they excel at that.  They've got two or three of the best players in our league with Braxton Baker and Jacob Maddy and then (Derek) Horsley leading the way at point guard.  The last time we played them Jacob Maddy really took it to us in the low post.  So, that's going to be our focus.  We've got to try to control the paint and try to win that that area of the floor if we're going to have a chance in this game,” said Dunn.

          Crawford beat Mohawk (58-49) back on December 30, the Warriors have won 10 in row since, and Dunn says this time they would like the pace a little quicker.  “I think if we can increase the amount of possessions for each team I think that's going to probably, maybe, play into our hands a little better.  At the same sense, we've got to be able to play however the game plays out,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “That's been our challenge for the last couple of years trying to get our guys to understand that we've got to maximize possessions and Crawford is a great team of playing at their pace and if we have to play at that pace, then we're going to have to maximize our chances on offense and make sure we're locking in on defense and make sure their positions are challenged.  We don't want it to make it easy for them at any point.”

Published 2/07/23

© Swankonsports.com

“Out of Bounds” after Friday night games 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” each week 10 AM to 1 PM

We are Your First Source for Everything Sports

Mohawk Needs Another Win

          Mohawk continues to trail Northern 10 Athletic Conference leader Carey by a game as they prepare to host Wynford in a conference game on Friday night.

          They kept themselves a length back with a (53-41) win over Upper Sandusky last Thursday.  Then in a tournament setting at Smithville, beat Lucasville Valley (56-52), coming from behind to do it.

          Coach Paul Dunn says was a good win in a different kind of setting for them.  “It was a good experience for the kids.  We told the kids, we're treating it like a tournament style atmosphere and definitely thought like that to get there with no JV game you have got to get yourself ready to go right away.  Lucasville was a very tough opponent.  They put points on the board and in a hurry.  They are averaging about 72 points a game going into that, so it was a good challenge for us to sit down and be able to play defense and I thought our kids got a lot from an experience like that,” said Dunn.

          Mohawk (16-2,8-2) plays at home against Wynford (11-4,7-3) on Friday night.  The Royals beat rival Colonel Crawford (55-53) in overtime last Tuesday and then downed Bucyrus (70-52) on Friday.

          In the first meeting between Mohawk and Wynford, the Royals won (73-69) in double overtime on December 17.

          Dunn says Wynford shoots with a lot of confidence and they have to get back on defense and slow down their break.  “They just play with a ton of confidence offensively.  The big thing for us is we have got to make sure we don't do things that allow them to get to easy confidence.  I thought last time we didn't do a great job in transition.  They really push the ball down the floor and we gave them some easy buckets early and they jumped out to a 10-0 lead on us early and that kind of allows them to really feel comfortable,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “We've have got do a better job of our man-to-man defense.  They ate us up in our man to man and got us inside too much.  So, a lot of things we have got to clean up to give ourselves a chance on Friday.”

          Trailing Carey by a game, and playing them the last game of the season, Dunn says they can’t afford any more losses in the conference.  “We mentioned it's a tough league and Wynford is playing good basketball right now at the right time.  We've got to make sure we do everything we can to make sure that we are locked in on their players that are that hurt us last time and make sure offensively we take care of the ball and maximize our possessions,” he said.

Published 1/31/23

© Swankonsports.com

“Out of Bounds” after Friday night games 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” each week 10 AM to 1 PM

We are Your First Source for Everything Sports

Mohawk Must be Intense

          Mohawk, a game back in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, plays at home against Upper Sandusky in a conference game on Thursday night.

          Last Saturday, they beat Buckeye Central (59-27) to remain in the race in the “N10”.

          Coach Paul Dunn says they were able to get some good looks inside and executed well on defense.  “There are no easy ones in the “N10” this year, that's for sure.  Buckeye, they're going through some injuries and I feel bad for some of those kids that are seniors.  I thought our kids came out we played really good defense early and got our big guy going, got A.J. (Hess) some easy looks early and that kind of led to his outside little bit for him.  Really proud of our guys for executing and then playing the defense that we did.  That's one thing we've been focused on this year and it's been showing up the last couple games, so glad to see that,” he said.

          Mohawk (14-2,7-2) entertains Upper Sandusky (2-14,2-7) on Thursday night.  The Rams are in the mist of a six game slide.

          Dunn says you always have to play hard against Upper because they do.  “Definitely the last few games we noticed on film played some younger guys, mixing up their rotations a little, but it's Upper Sandusky.  Coach (Jeff) Winslow is one of the best coaches in the area and his kids always play hard.  You can't look at their record and just think that's a 2-14 team because they're not,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “They're a team that has been in a lot of games that they've been in recently.  We have got to make sure we're ready to go and ready to meet and match their intensity because they're going play hard and if we come out flat or come out and think that it's any other game that's going to be a tough one because we have got ready to play.”

          Dunn says Upper is dangerous because they have the potential.  “They're a team that nobody wants to see their schedule at this point, especially when they get closer to tournament time.  They're not a team that somebody's going to want to jump into their bracket because they're dangerous.  If they play well, if they're hitting shots on the outside they're going to be tough.  So, especially with the kind of intensity that they play with that coach Winslow expects their kids to play with that's what makes Upper Sandusky so difficult every single time you play them,” said Dunn.

Published 1/26/23

© Swankonsports.com

“Out of Bounds” after Friday night games 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” each week 10 AM to 1 PM

We are Your First Source for Everything Sports

Mohawk Needs Focus

          Mohawk needs a win Saturday night to keep pace in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference as they host Buckeye Central in a conference game.

          Right now, Mohawk shares second place with Wynford a game behind Colonel Crawford and Carey in the standings.

          In their last conference game last Friday they blew out Bucyrus in the second half winning (77-43) on the road.

          Coach Paul Dunn says after some prodding they came out and defended well in the second half.  “Friday night, Malachi Bayless is one of the better scorers in the league and he got going on us there in the first half.  We didn't do ourselves any favors in terms of how we were playing defense.  We kind of challenged the guys at halftime they had to refocus and made some slight adjustments kind of really refocused our attention to Malachi.  I thought defensively did a really good job there in the second half.  When you play good defense it happens to lead to pretty good offense at times too and we were able to do that in the second half,” said Dunn.

          Mohawk (12-2,6-2), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, is at home for Buckeye Central (5-9,1-7) on Saturday night.  The Bucks beat New Riegel (38-35) in a non-conference game on Thursday night.

          Dunn says the Bucks play hard and they are tough.  “Tyler Sanderson it seems like he's out there battling through a leg injury and still putting up the numbers he is it kind of shows you the kind of grit that those kids have. They find ways to make the game slower and they're going to try and really grind out possessions.  We've been talking about that a lot this week in practice and having to make sure we maximize and really do a great job in our defensive end,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “We cannot get lazy and not let them lull us to sleep.  Make sure that we keep those guys in front and really challenge them and finish opportunities so we can push the ball out in transition.”

          Mohawk still has Crawford, Carey and Wynford to play in the second round of the double round robin, but Dunn says if they don’t win games like Saturday those games won’t matter.  “Talking to all of the “N10” coaches this is by far the deepest this league been since I've been back in Mohawk.  There's not a single night that you can walk out there and think you have got a win in the bag, that's just not happening this year.  So, we better be ready.  We have got a lot of games to play this season and nothing's more important than the one right in front of us every night.  So, we have to make sure we're focused every single day of practice for that,” he said.

Published 1/20/23

© Swankonsports.com

Score updates every 5 minutes on Friday and Saturday night

On our scoreboard at

https://www.swankonsportshosting247.com

Mohawk Back in the Race

          Mohawk, now trails in the “N10” leaders by just a game, and they play Bucyrus in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Friday night.

          They handed Carey its first loss of the season (47-45) last Saturday.

          Coach Pau Dunn says they played physical defense.  “We wanted to keep our nose in the race there for the “N10” title and had to get that win to get to do so.  I thought our kids did a really good job and came out and physically played really good defense.  I thought we were locked down on what we had to do.  Offensively, we did just enough to get over the hump there and hang on to lead there at the end.  Playing them is always a tough game.  It doesn't matter what the records are it's always going to be a battle,” said Dunn.

          They followed that up with a (71-53) win over Seneca East in conference play on Wednesday night.

          Dunn says they made a key adjustment defensively in the second half against the Tigers.  “The first half it was 36-33 at halftime.  It was up and down.  I think combined there was I think 11 threes first half.  So, everybody was lighting it up.  In the second half we made a small adjustment,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “We wanted to try to take the ball out of the Mason boys hands a little bit and try to make some other guys on their team be more aggressive.  I thought defensively we did a lot better being locked in and offensively we took care of the ball a lot better too, which made it clean up the game a lot better for us.”

          Mohawk (10-2,5-2), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, plays at Bucyrus (2-9,0-7) on Friday night.  Bucyrus lost (55-50) to Seneca East in conference play last Saturday.

          Dunn says they have to make Malachi Bayless (15.5 ppg) take tough shots.  “They gave us a heck of game the first time, especially early.  Malachi Bayles is one of the best athletes, if not the best athlete, in the league and terms of what he does for them.  He does a lot for him, so we have got to make sure we're keying on where he's at and making sure that our defensive assignments are right and that we're getting a hand up in his face.  He can shoot it from anywhere on the floor so we have got to make sure we are locked in on him for sure,” said Dunn.

Published 1/13/22

© Swankonsports.com

Score updates every 5 minutes on Friday and Saturday night

On our scoreboard at

https://www.swankonsportshosting247.com

Mohawk Must Be Physical

          Mohawk has another tough challenge on Saturday night as they are at home for the first time in nearly a month as they host unbeaten Carey in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game in Sycamore.

          The Warriors are now two games behind the Blue Devils after a dropping a (58-49) decision to Colonel Crawford in “N10” play on Friday night.

          Coach Paul Dunn says they had problems putting the ball in the basket.  “It’s always a challenge.  It seems like most of the time we play there our halftime scores are pretty similar, low teens or high teens and low 20s.  So, overall Crawford is a great team.  They made it hard on us and unfortunately our guys just did so many things to put ourselves in too many bad situations.  As a team, we have to figure that stuff out quickly taking on a team like Carey this weekend.  I'm hoping from today's practice our kids are learning a lot about each other, so hopefully that's something we can put together here before this weekend,” said Dunn.

          Dunn say they can’t let the loss to Colonel Crawford linger because this is a tough conference every night out.  “You are going to take your licks in this league and the longer you sit and think about the last one the harder the next one's going to be.  So, the quicker our kids and the faster we can learn from what we went through on Friday and use that to our advantage going into our next game, the better off we're going to be.  I hope with our senior leadership, and some of the other guys that have a lot of experience, that we could put that one behind us but also make it a beneficial thing for us as well,” he said.

          Mohawk (8-2,3-2) plays host to Carey (7-0,5-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division on Saturday night.  The Blue Devils scorched Upper Sandusky (55-27) on Friday night in league play.

          Dunn says Carey is athletic and play very good defense.  “Carey always seems to have the best athletes across the board one through five on the floor or seems like it.  So, they have really good guard play with obviously with coach Young’s boy leading the charge, they are very talented there.  They are going to play really good defense, that's kind of been their big thing really forever it seems like.  They are going to play really good on the ball defense.  It’s going to make it hard to score again and they're going to be physical,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “So, a couple of things that Crawford did against us I'm sure we're going to see more of this weekend.  So, we've got to be able to handle the physicality and be able to sit down and guard their talent from the outside as well.  They might have more shooting threats this year than they have in the past, which is a scary thing to think about.  We are going to have to sit down and guard those guys and make sure it's a difficult night for them outside if we're going to have a chance.”

Published 1/03/23

© Swankonsports.com

“Out of Bounds” after Friday night games 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” each week 10 AM to 1 PM

We are Your First Source for Everything Sports

Mohawk Must Defend Well

          Mohawk and Colonel Crawford are both a game behind Carey in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference and they face each other on Friday in North Robinson.

          After losing to Wynford in double overtime the on December 17, the Warriors beat Vanlue (72-51) in a non-conference game last Tuesday.

          Coach Paul Dunn says they played a good second half.  “Honestly, we came out of that game I think we're still a little bit dazed from that game, but we talked to half time about everybody had to trust everybody, teammates have to trust teammates, players have got to trust us coaches that were put them in the best positions to be successful.  I thought in the second half we came out and our attention to detail defensively was better and offensively we shared the ball a lot better got back to doing the things that made us successful before that loss.  So, hopefully that can continue on and that’s a learning experience for us,” he said.

          Mohawk (8-1,3-1), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, is at Colonel Crawford (5-2,3-1) on Friday night.  The Eagles lost (56-54) to unbeaten Crestview in a non-league game last Tuesday.

          Dunn says Braxton Baker is tremendous and the players around him know their roles.  “I mean they're a well coached team.  You obviously have got coach (David) Sheldon and they are going to do things the right way and they've got some very talented players.  Braxton Baker is the best, if not one of best players in our league by far.  He poses a huge challenge for us.  He is able to score inside and out,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “I've always been impressed with the coach Sheldon.  He gets the guys around his players like that, whether it's Carter Valentine or Jordan Fenner, he gets those other guys to commit to their roles and be team players and do what the team needs for them to be successful.  So, that's what always makes the Crawford team tough.”

          Dunn says deciding how to defend Baker is a tough choice.  “He poses a challenge for us.  We play a lot more man this year and that that might be something we do.  It might take a wave of defenders to go out, it might not just be one guy.  It's going to be two, maybe three guys, trying to slow him down.  I mean every coach you want to give him every look that he's getting has to be difficult.  We can't lose him, we can't fall asleep, we can't let him get something easy.  It has got to be a conscious effort to make sure everything's hard for him.  The guys around are very talented, but we got to do our best to focus in on him and make sure we do our best to get to their other guys when he does make the pass outside,” said Dunn.

Published 12/27/22

© Swankonsports.com

“Out of Bounds” after Friday night games 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” each week 10 AM to 1 PM

We are Your First Source for Everything Sports

Mohawk Not Looking Past Upper

          Mohawk continues a seven game road trip this week as they travel to Hardin-Northern for a non-conference game on Wednesday night and they have road games at Upper Sandusky Friday and Wynford Saturday in play in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.

          The Warriors beat Buckeye Central (54-36) in an “N10” game on Saturday night.

          Coach Paul Dunn says they were aggressive with the ball and played good defense too.  “I thought that we made some good adjustments from our game Thursday against New Riegel and got back to… when we share the ball and we allow our guards to use their ability to get downhill and beat those double teams and make those big breakouts we make ourselves a lot harder to guard and we did that on Saturday.  I thought defensively it was a good job.   We knew that they had a couple kids that were we're doing really well offensively for them and our kids took that and really wanted to try and keep them and limit them their easy looks.  I thought defensively we did a good job,” said Dunn.

          Hardin-Northern (3-2) has a three game winning streak in play.  The Polar Bears beat North Baltimore (63-37) on Saturday night.

          Dunn says this is a team that are familiar with.  “We saw them twice last year regular season and the sectional semis as well.  Coach (Jared) Thomas does a really good job with that program.  He has really turned them around the last four or five years and he's got those kids they play really hard defense and they play really spirited basketball,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “They are going to play for 32 minutes every night you know that.  They have some really good shooters around.  There's that Wilson kid, he is a really good point guard.  He got 25 points against North Baltimore the other night, so he's always the challenge.  So, we're going to make sure we know where he's at at all times on the floor.”

          Mohawk (5-0,2-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, plays at rival Upper Sandusky (0-5,0-2) on Friday night.  The Rams lost to Seneca East (59-38) in a conference game on Saturday.

          Dunn is certainly not taking a win for granted.  “Well, they still play defense with the same intensity that they always do and they're gonna make it tough on us in that sense.  Offensively they have got players that put it in the basket.  That's a team that is well coached and you know they're going to be hungry and we have got to make sure we go in there and we're focused it's always a battle you know 15 minutes down the road.  So, it's going to be a tough game for sure going into there,” he said.

Published 12/14/22

© Swankonsports.com

“Out of Bounds” after Friday night games 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” each week 10 AM to 1 PM

We are Your First Source for Everything Sports

swankonsports@gmail.com

Mohawk Must Value the Ball

          Mohawk plays at home against New Riegel in non-conference play on Thursday and then at Buckeye Central in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Saturday.

          Their opponents this week are kind of similar in their approach to the game.

          Last Saturday, the Warriors hammered Bucyrus (79-45) in an “N10” game.

          Coach Paul Dunn says defense was the key.  “I think we had high hopes that we would come out and play the way we did the first two games.  I think we did in spurts and we challenged the guys at halftime to get back to playing unselfish basketball.  Defensively, I thought in the second half we did a much better job of locking in on assignments.  The guys kept the driving lanes to a minimum for kids like Bayless.  He was slicing and dicing us in the first half,” he said.

          The Warriors host New Riegel (3-0) out of the River Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference on Thursday night.  The Blue Jackets edged Sandusky St. Mary’s (46-41) in a division game on Tuesday night.

          Dunn says they are going to be patient on offense and tough on defense.  “This is always just a tough game no matter what.  It doesn’t matter what the records are.  It’s a team that is 15 minutes down the road from us.  They are always going to be a team that is a scrappy team.  They are going to play very good defense and play fundamental basketball.  They are going to do what they do offensively and not try and do too much.  It is going to be a plan that we have to make sure that we are locked in defensively and make sure that we find the guys that are scorers for them and limit their easy looks,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “Offensively, we have to make sure we value possessions because they really grind you on defense and they are going to make you earn your points.  Shooting quick and rushed shots is not going to be a recipe.  We are going to have make sure we are executing in the half court.”

          Mohawk (3-0,1-0) plays at Buckeye Central (2-2,0-1) on Saturday.  The Bucks lost their opener in league play to Colonel Crawford (50-35) last week.

          Dunn says they will have the same goals when they play the Bucks.  “It is a good thing that we are playing New Riegel and Buckeye on the same week.  I think defensively and offensively they are very similar.  They are going to maximize their possessions.  Buckeye as done a really good, with coach (Tom) Howell being there, of really slowing the game down and making you really value your possessions.  That is something that is really key for both games, but especially against Buckeye.  That is always just a tough place to play.  They do such a good job over there of making it a tough place.  We have to make sure that offensively we execute and defensively we are willing to get down in a stance for 15 to 30 seconds at a time.  So, it is going to be a tough challenge for sure,” said Dunn.

Published 12/08/22

© Swankonsports.com

“Out of Bounds” after Friday night games 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” each week 10 AM to 1 PM

We are Your First Source for Everything Sports

swankonsports@gmail.com

Mohawk Has to be Ready to go

          Mohawk tips-off the season on Tuesday night on the road against Riverdale in non-conference play.

          Coach Paul Dunn says there is no question his kids are ready to go.  “We are probably one of last teams to start in the State of Ohio.  The kids are kind of comping at the bit to get going.  I have been happy with our kids preparation.  In our scrimmages we progressively got better as the preseason moved along.  I think was looking forward to doing it for real (Tuesday) night and see what we can do,” he said.

          Riverdale (0-3) will host the Warriors on Tuesday night.  They have lost their first three games, including (47-40) to Carey, also of the “N10” last Friday.

          Dunn says they are young, but they do some pretty good things at times.  “They don’t bring a ton of kids back with a lot of varsity experience.  They have a couple.  The McCarthy kid played some last year, but overall they seem to be a fairly new team.  They have some young sophomores starting.  It was pretty impressed seeing them on film.  Their point guard does a nice job controlling their pace and they have some kids that play with a lot of emotion for coach (Drew) Hobensack.  I think they are going to be a tough challenge for us,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “They have three games under their belt.  That is probably the biggest thing that concerns me.  It is going to be the first night with it being for real.  We have to be able to find our flow in the game and get back into that game like feel and we have to do it quickly.”

          Dunn says he wants his kids to be aggressive and play with emotion, but also play smart in their first game.  “I told the kids we have to play with emotion, but we have to keep our emotions in check.  I want our kids to go out there and play with some fire.  Last year, early on in the season we got ourselves in some trouble in some early games.  We got ourselves in foul trouble.  We didn’t adjust to how the officials were calling it and adjust to the game.  So, we have to do a good job when it starts (Tuesday) night of coming out ready to go and kind of feel out how the officials are going to let us play and make adjustments on the fly,” said Dunn.

Published 11/29/22

© Swankonsports.com

Follow our scoreboard for finals on Tuesday night at

https://www.swankonsportshosting247.com

Mohawk Challenging Themselves

          Mohawk, who finished fourth in the tough Northern 10 Athletic Conference last year, has some experience back as they prepare for this year.

          Coach Paul Dunn says they have been dealing with some injuries in the preseason, but that also gives them a chance to take a look at other players.  “We are, I’m sure like most teams, trying to get healthy.  We have a lot of varsity guys right now unfortunately setting on the sideline watching practice.  That kind of hinders us, but it gives a lot of guys, those tweener guys, JV/varsity guys, a chance to show what they are capable of,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “We have some guys that are JV type players that are really showing what they can do with the varsity players that we do have on the floor.  So, we are excited about that.”

          Dunn says they don’t have a lot of seniors, but they do have quite a bit of experience on their roster.  “We have a small senior class, but two of those seniors have played a lot of varsity basketball.  We have a junior class that is kind of new to Mohawk.  In reality they are guys that have some experience.  We have a lot of sophomores that earned a lot of experience last year at the variety level.  We are young I guess you would say by looking at the roster, but overall we have a lot of guys that have played a lot of varsity basketball at a high level, so we are counting on those guys to lead us this year,” he said.

          Mohawk has its first scrimmage on Wednesday with Clear Fork and Willard.  They begin the regular season on November 29 at Riverdale.  They play host to Bucyrus in their first “N10” game on December 3.

          Dunn says they are trying to figure out in the preseason who can play where and do what when the pressure is on.  “Especially the older kids know what to expect from us.  It is our job as coaches, and I try to put them in difficult spots in practice, maybe in positions they wouldn’t be in during a game, and challenge them and see how they would respond and see how the guys around them respond as well.  The more we can get used to those situations they better off we will be when we actually get in those game situations.  So, the more we can do that early and often the better off we are going to be as the season progresses,” said Dunn.

Published 11/09/22

© Swankonsports.com

“Out of Bounds” after Friday night games 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” each week 10 AM to 1 PM

We are Your First Source for Everything Sports

swankonsports@gmail.com

Mohawk Edges Bucyrus

          Mohawk pushed across a run in the bottom of the seventh inning to down Bucyrus (4-3) in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game played on Monday evening.

          Kahne Hayman drew a one out walk in the seventh.  He stole second base and went to third on a single by Travis Geary.  After a strikeout, he scored the winning run on passed ball.

          The Warriors were down (3-1) going to be the bottom of the sixth, but coach Eric Hoover says they got two crucial runs in their half.  “They put two on the board in the sixth and took the lead (3-1).  We bounced back right away and got two and were able to tie it up going into the seventh.  It was good see us get some good at bats and find ways to get runners on and plate a couple to steal the momentum back,” he said.

          Hoover said they found a way in the seventh to get that winning run across the plate.  “We had a little base runner error that they took advantage of.  Our first guy got on and tried to get to second on an error, but got thrown out,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “We drew a walk and got a steal to get to second and base hit to move him to third and were able to score on passed ball.  So, we were fortunate and did what we had to do.  It wasn’t pretty, but we were able to get it done in the end.”

          Mohawk (3-3,1-0) plays at Bucyrus (0-3,0-1) on Wednesday in the second game of the series.

          The Warriors had a chance to win due to the tremendous performance by pitcher Nathan Geary, who allowed only one hit and one earned run while striking out 13 in going the distance.

          Hoover says he had great command.  “Nathan threw a keck of a game.  He did a lot better job of staying around the zone.  He just a had a few walks, but even when he was missing, they were really close.  He had pretty good command (Monday) night.  He had 13 strikeouts and only gave up one hit.  We are going to need that from him to stay in games.  He had a great one (Monday) night,” said Hoover.

Published 4/05/22

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source For All Things Sports

“Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Mohawk Downs McComb

          Mohawk scored three times in the first inning and went on the beat McComb (4-1) in a non-conference baseball game on Thursday evening.

          They added another run in the second and Nathan Geary and Jake Coldiron made it stand up allowing only six hits.  Geary went the first five, striking out seven to get the win.

          Coach Eric Hoover says that fast start offensively was key.  “It is early in the season and we have a lot of young guys.  I think it boosts our confidence to get an early lead.  We are still trying to peace things together and move some kids around and play different positions.  Any kind of lead you can get to build confidence at this point is a really good thing,” he said.

          Mohawk lost (10-4) to Cardington in their opener on Tuesday.

          Hoover says they learned from the loss and get better.  “We talked about some mistakes we made in the first game that we have to correct.  The general demeaner of the team is something that needs to be improved and it was much better (Thursday),” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “We had a lot more focus on what was going on, more communication and getting the older guys to get the young guys comfortable and involved and feeling like they belong.  I think we did a great job of that.”

          Mohawk has six freshmen on its varsity roster this season and Hoover says that chemistry is going to be important.  “That is as important in baseball as it is in anything.  So much of what we do you need to be confident in what you are doing whether you are at the plate or making a play and helping each other along throughout that is very important.  I think the older guys did a much better job of that (Thursday) and the young guys are just ready to help and be there.  It worked in our favor,” said Hoover.

Published 4/01/22

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source For All Things Sports

“Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Mohawk Very Young This Year

          Mohawk, with a solid baseball reputation, will be team that will likely have some growing pains early in this season.

          The start the year against McComb, weather permitting, on Saturday.  They open play in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference on April 4 against Bucyrus.

          Coach Eric Hoover says they are going to be pretty green at the beginning of the season.  “We had our second scrimmage (Thursday) night.  We had some different issues in each one.  We just have a young, inexperienced group.  I graduated seven seniors.  I have two guys that had football and basketball injuries who would be starters that are out and are going to be out all year.  So, we lost a bunch.  I only have three returning lettermen,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “We have great numbers, we have 28 out, which is the most we have had, but 21 of them are freshmen and sophomores.  So, we are young and inexperienced.  There is a lot of potential there for sure.  We have seen a lot of good things.  We just have to get those game at bats.  We just haven’t seen enough varsity pitching and those types of game situations that you run into.  So, we are struggling through that.  It’s a learning experience.  They are athletic and have some baseball skills, so hopefully we can put that together.”

          Hoover says they have to get some experience on the diamond to see who belongs where.  “We were able to get out quite a bit last week and that was good to get on the field and get some good practice in.  With all of these young guys I don’t even know who is capable of what and where they should be playing and everything else.  We have been using that time for that where people might fit best and what all they can do,” he said.

          Weather is always an issue with spring sports, it can be cold as late as early May, and Hoover says they have to show some maturity when it comes to dealing with those issues.  “You have to play games when it is really cold, so you have to get used to that as well.  (Thursday) night it was really cold out and windy and hopefully some of them learned what it is going to be like because they were not prepared for the weather.  I tried to tell them, but I guess they have to learn on their own.  You have to be ready to play games like that.  You can’t let the weather affect your play in the game,” said Hoover.

Published 3/25/22

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source For All Things Sports

“Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to midnight

“Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM

Mohawk Must Execute on Offense

          Mohawk continues to prepare for what they hope is a long run in the division IV tournament as they play Hopewell-Loudon on Tuesday in non-league play and Carey in Northern 10 Athletic Conference action on Friday night.

          They took an early (14-8) led last Friday against unbeaten Colonel Crawford in a “N10” game, but it was all Eagles for the last three quarters in a (73-42) win.

          Coach Paul Dunn says they didn’t have enough firepower.  “We came out in our press.  I don’t know if we surprised them.  We may have caught them off gaud for a few possessions.  We got some steals and got some turnovers and were able to turn them into some points.  Probably should have gotten out of that earlier in the second quarter.  They are a very talented basketball team, senior laden team, and they settled down and were able offensively to get themselves going.  They have a lot of firepower and we weren’t able to keep up with that extended past that first quarter,” he said.

          Mohawk plays host to Hopewell-Loudon (13-7) of the River Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference on Tuesday night.  They beat Fremont St. Joe (43-29) in division game on Friday night and Riverdale (62-59) in a non-conference game on Saturday.

          Dunn says the Chieftains play outstanding defense.  “We talked to the kids after the game on Friday about the defense that Crawford was able to play against us.  We told them than not only did we have a great test that night, but (Tuesday) night against Hopewell and then Friday against Carey playing three teams in a row that play some of the best man to man defense that we are going to see all season heading into the tournament.  Hopewell is definitely one of the best defending teams we have seen over the years.  They are going to try and dictate what you want to do offensively,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “They are going to be physical and they are going to try and take away anything that you are good at and make you play your weaknesses.  We have talked to the kids a lot about that and make sure we are executing what we have to do in the halfcourt and grind our possessions and get points on the board, but they are going to make it tough.”

          Mohawk (14-6,9-4) hosts Carey (11-8,7-4) on Friday night in an “N10” game.  Mohawk won the first meeting (73-57) on January 6.

          Carey has won six of its last eight and Dunn says that is no surprise.  “I think every coach, especially in our league, and the surrounding area, knew it was just a matter of time before Carey hit their stride.  Seeing some of their scores and the teams that they are beating thy are finally hitting that part of the season where they have their basketball legs and the shots are starting to fall for them.  So, they are going to be a force to be reckoned with coming to our place Friday as they go into the tournament.  So, we have a heck of a week, but I think it’s a great challenge for our kids to have these two extremely tough games to prepare us for next week as we start the new season with Hardin-Northern,” said Dunn.

Published 2/15/22

© Swankonsports.com

Your First Source For All Things Sports

There will be a special Saturday night edition of

“Out of Bounds” this week 10 PM to 11 PM

To cover tournament basketball

Mohawk Faces Two “N10” Games

          Mohawk, a team that can do some damage in the division IV tournament, plays two Northern 10 Athletic Conference games this week at Wynford on Wednesday and at conference leader Colonel Crawford on Friday.

          They stand third in the conference standings.

          They beat Seneca East (59-49) last Saturday in an “N10” game.

          Coach Paul Dunn says at times they were a little ragged.  “We came out pretty sloppy, I think both teams did.  It was a physical first quarter and everybody was trying to get their legs back underneath them.  The second quarter we came out and tried to press.  It worked well in the sense that we got our offense going a little bit, but we also put them on the free throw line a lot and put ourselves in some foul trouble.  Overall, I thought our kids competed well and played just well enough in the second half to hold off the Seneca East runs and get out of there with a win,” he said.

          Mohawk (13-5,8-3) plays over at Wynford (4-12,3-7) in conference play on Wednesday night.  The Royals lost (52-51) to Crestline in a non-league game on Tuesday night.

          Dunn says Wynford is playing with more urgency.  “They have a lot of kids that have a lot of varsity experience and watching them in person on (Tuesday) night a lot of those kids are starting to step up.  It might be because of the fact that this is the last run for some of their seniors.  They are putting together some pretty good basketball.  (Jaron) Filliater is one of the best five players for sure in our league.  He presents a lot of troubles for us defensively.  They have guys around them that can score the basketball when they get the ball in the right spots.  So, they present a lot of problems for us defensively and we have to make sure we are sound (Wednesday) night,” said Dunn.

          Colonel Crawford (18-0,11-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, held Mohawk to five first half points when they beat them (57-34) on December 29.

          Dunn says they really want to come out and prove they are more competitive.  “They are one of the best teams in this part of Ohio for sure.  They present a challenge with their two headed monster defensively, but with that they have three or four guys behind them that on other teams in the “N10” would be one of the better scorers.  Then obviously the best thing about them is their defense.  They are just so long and physical and talented on that end of the floor they make everything difficult for you,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “Our kids will be excited when that game comes.  I don’t think we played our best game against them the first time and a lot of that is due to them.  I think our kids will be ready to give it a shot and see what we can do against them.”