SYCAMORE - Erik Baker admitted that what spectators saw Friday night in Sycamore wasn't exactly the usual from Mohawk football.
"It's rare where I can say [with] Mohawk teams our strength is in our skill kids," the Warrior coach said. "Typically we're blunt force trauma."
Not Friday, though as the 69-8 victory over North Baltimore will attest, the Warriors still have the ability to bruise an opponent. Some may wonder if there were seasons in which Mohawk threw for 216 yards. But Drew Loose did it in the first half alone.
Loose dominated the Tigers. He finished the game throwing for 239 yards and five touchdowns, completing 9 of 11 passes. He wasn't intercepted, and ran for 112 yards on seven carries, adding another TD.
All of this in a steady rain that soaked everything. The only thing that seemed able to stop Mohawk Friday night was lightning, which prematurely ended things with 10:52 left in the fourth.
"Drew, even in bad conditions, that may be the best game I've had a Mohawk quarterback have," said Baker, who is in his 12th season as Warrior coach.
"I put a lot of trust in my receivers to go up and get the ball," Loose said.
Mitch Parker was one of those receivers. He caught two TDs and had 104 receiving yards overall. He also returned a punt 48 yards for a score.
"I wasn't expecting that much receiving, but the line gave Loose the time, and all he had to do was put (the ball) where I could catch it," Parker said. "And all I had to do was catch it."
And while the passing game stole the show, Mohawk's ground game was more than effective, racking up 320 yards. Gunnar Johnson was the Warriors' leading rusher, scoring two touchdowns on the ground and going for 130 yards. Oh, he also caught a 72-yard touchdown pass.
"We just kept working hard, and didn't give up, and kept going," he said.
Eric Maskey caught a first quarter touchdown pass for the Warriors (2-3, 1-1 Midland Athletic League), while Grant Price ran for two touchdowns and Bryan Schube ran for one.
North Baltimore got its only score when Dalton Ishmael reached the end zone from eight yards out in the second quarter.
North Baltimore's longest play from scrimmage was its first, when Lane Bishop went around the right corner for a 52-yard gain down to the Warrior 6.
Three plays later, on fourth down from the 2, Ishmael was stopped short of the goal line.
Mohawk took over.
