Junior Mohawks end with a win

The Piggott Junior Mohawks ended their season with an exciting 20-14 win at Corning last Thursday night, as the Tribe finishes at 7-2 overall. Cody Mantz had another big night for the Mohawks, scoring on two rushing touchdowns and getting the third Piggott score by stripping the Bobcat runner and taking it 41 yards to paydirt on a kickoff. Coach Michael Harrell's defense also rose to the occasion, making several big plays down the stretch to seal the victory.

With a driving rainstorm approaching, the Mohawks took the opening kickoff from the Bobkittens but were unable to score despite a long drive. The Corning squad also found difficulty moving the football early, and the score remained 0-0 at the end of the first quarter.

In the second quarter Mantz scored his first touchdown with 3:30 to go, and added the two point conversion to make it 8-0. On the ensuing kickoff he stripped the Corning return man and ran the ball in from the 41 to make it 14-0. The freshman workhorse was then stuffed on the two-point conversion attempt.

On the next Corning drive the Bobcats fumbled the ball back to the Tribe, and Mantz made them pay with a 58 yard touchdown run to make it 20-0. Again the Mohawks went for two, but Kain Haywood came up just short.

In the second half the Bobcats got their running game going, despite a driving rain that continued the remainder of the contest. Ty Pratter got the Bobkittens on the scoreboard with an 11 yard run with 1:33 left in the third, and the two point conversion made it a 20-8 ballgame. He added a five yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, although the two point conversion attempt was no good, and that set the final score at 20-14.

But that didn't mean there weren't tense moments for the Tribe, as they were unable to score again and had to depend on a big defensive stand to seal the win. Down the stretch Luke Brewer, Collin Benbrook and Parrish Mantz all came up with big plays and the final Corning effort was ended by two big tackles by Nick Haywood.

The Tribe ended their season at 7-2, and were 5-2 in 3A-3 conference play. Thursday night's win was also the second of the season against their cross-county rivals, as they had beaten the Bobkittens at Piggott in a non-conference game to open the campaign.