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Bill Mullen sat against the wall outside of the Calvert locker room underneath the east stands at Frost-Kalnow Stadium, physically drained but still seeping emotion at the same time.

“It feels like like we just won the state championship,” he said to teammate Zach White, pausing a couple times to catch his breath.

White assured him the Senecas could still win the state championship. But for Friday night, at least, the program’s biggest win in five years is plenty to savor.

Aaron Gassner’s 2-yard sneak with 1:07 left provided the winning points, and Calvert snapped a seven-game losing streak to Mohawk with a 13-10 upset.

Mohawk (3-3, 2-1 Midland Athletic League) started its last chance at the 20-yard line after a bobbled, 5-yard return. After a holding penalty on first down, the Warriors tried a hook-and-ladder play. Ben Burks made the catch, but the attempted pitch to Connor Jump fell to the turf, and Kyle Kwiat recovered to secure the Calvert (4-2, 3-0) win.

“It’s our biggest rivalry,” Mullen said. “It’s so emotional because we’ve never beat ’em, back to junior high.”

The Senecas’ win over a team that whipped them 58-7 just one season ago sets up a showdown next week at top-ranked Hopewell-Loudon for the top spot in the MAL.

Mullen, a senior receiver/cornerback, didn’t touch the ball on the winning drive, but he set it all up with a 27-yard punt return that put Calvert at the Mohawk 32 with 3:17 left.

“I wasn’t fair catching no matter what,” Mullen said. “I had to get the offense in position to score; then our offense did all the work.

“I started outside on the right; they overpursued; and I just cut in the middle. I had great blocking.”

Gassner’s deep ball on first down fell incomplete, but he hit Jake Turner on a crossing route for 11 yards, and Adam Zahner turned a short reception into a 12-yard gain. After Kwiat hit the line for 3 yards to the 12, Gassner hit Zahner on a slant to the 2.

After both teams used their final timeout with 1:12 left, Gassner twice bounced off linemen to the left before stretching into the end zone.

“We knew it would be an inside run; we thought it’d be a sneak,” Mohawk coach Erik Baker said. “Defensively, we hung in there, but we just didn’t get takeaways when we needed to.”

Mohawk did have two takeaways, but Calvert recorded the game’s first one on the second play from scrimmage. David Stine lost his grip on the ball while preparing to throw, and Calvert tackle John Stover cradled the wounded duck at the 27.

Gassner got sacked twice but completed two passes for first downs. On third-and-goal from the 9, he fired one to Zahner on a slant pattern for a touchdown. Spencer Kerr’s extra point made it 7-0 at the 7:27 mark.

Calvert missed two chances to add to the lead before halftime. Two fumbled snaps killed a drive to the 15, and after Mullen hauled in a 41-yard reception, Kerr didn’t get enough leg into a 33-yard field on the last play of the first half.

The Senecas’ defense was more than up to the task, however. They held Brock Kirian, the league’s second-leading rusher, to minus-4 yards on six tries in the first half, and Mohawk totaled just 46 yards on 20 plays.

Keith Zeigler’s interception and return to the Calvert 18 set up a prime scoring chance late in the half, but Stine’s fourth-and-goal pass was too high for Tyler Hogan.

“Their line dominated us on both sides of the ball,” Baker said. “It forced us to commit extra guys on defense to stop the run, and on offense it made us pretty much one-dimensional. It kept us out of rhythm, and offense is rhythm.

“We rallied and played infinitely better in the second half, but you can’t have mental errors in a game of this magnitude.”

After Zahner’s diving fourth-down catch for a would-be touchdown late in the third quarter was ruled out of bounds, Mohawk finally kicked into gear.

Stine found Burks for a 49-yard gain to Calvert’s 28. Five plays later, the pair connected again for an 11-yard score, and Stine’s PAT kick tied the game with 10:33 left in the game.

Following a Calvert three-and-out, Kirian fired a halfback pass to Burks for 41 yards, setting up Stine’s 31-yard field goal with 8:31 left.

“We missed a lot of opportunities to put it away,” second-year Calvert coach Keenan Leichty said. “But our kids persevered, made plays and executed the game plan.

“We just played our spots, playing gap control. Our up front did a nice job and allowed our linebackers to flow and make plays. Everybody defensively played solid. We had a couple breakdowns, but for the most part we were solid.”

Mullen had an interception and Dan Somers a fumble recovery in the third quarter. Turner added a sack, and tackles Zach Seislove and John Stover consistently piled up the middle if they didn’t get into Mohawk’s backfield.

Kirian finished with 30 yards on 13 carries, as Mohawk managed a season-low 39 yards on the ground.

Ridge Clady had two sacks and Marcus Mewhorter one to help limit Calvert to just 43 yards on the ground, but Gassner completed 15 of 32 for 157 yards, and 10 of his completions went for first downs.

Leichty had tried to keep his team’s emotions in check during the practices, but he said he still worried about his team being too hyped up.

“It was a big game, and these seniors haven’t played in big games. We had a big game with St. Paul, but with this rivalry, homecoming, the league implications, playoff implications …

“I don’t think they will [be too hyped for Hopewell-Loudon]. We’re a pretty even-keeled team. They’ve just kept their eye on the prize, and that’s a direct reflection on our senior leadership.”

 

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