Attitude adjustment results in title for Mohawk

In one of Tim McCutcheon’s first games as Mohawk football coach in 2015, he entered the team’s locker room at halftime to find his players, down by a small margin, hanging their heads at halftime.

That was when he realized the Warriors, who had tallied two winning seasons since 2000, needed more of a mental adjustment than a physical one.

“There was a major attitude change that needed to happen, and that’s where we began,” McCutcheon, in his fourth year as coach, said. “It wasn’t an X’s and O’s thing, it was a matter of just changing the culture, trying to get them more competitive and realize although there’s going to be plenty of adversity, we can work through it and come up on the other end.”

Since that season, the

Warriors, who went winless in 2015 and tallied one win in 2016, have come a long way in a small amount of time.

Entering this season, Mohawk had won one conference title in the past 40 years, which came in 2005.

The Warriors can’t say that anymore, even with one more game remaining in the regular season, a 12:30 p.m. matchup Saturday at Summit Academy.

Mohawk, 7-2 overall and 6-1 in WPIAL Class 2A Midwestern Conference, is assured at least a share of this season’s conference title, if not sole possession of it moving forward into the playoffs.

Mohawk went 5-4 last year, falling to East Allegheny, 28-14, in the first round of the WPIAL Class 2A playoffs. This year, though, the Warriors still set their goals high.

“This year, we had high expectations and our first goal was to win this conference, even though we knew that was going to be brutal,” McCutcheon said. “It’s a tough conference up here and there’s a lot of really good football teams. We knew we were a playoff-caliber football team this year and our goal was not to just get in the playoffs, but to win the conference, which we were able to do. We were able to check that box, but now we want to go on a run.”

Moving forward into the postseason, the Warriors will look for a few more steady offensive performances by veteran senior quarterback Nick Wheeler, who has thrown for 1,397 yards and 18 touchdowns, and senior running back Brayden Cameron, who has rushed for 1,318 yard and 11 touchdowns.

Surprise turnarounds

Shady Side Academy enters Friday’s WPIAL Class 2A Allegheny Conference match-up with Avonworth with an 8-0 record and poised for a playoff run. Would it surprise you, then, to learn that the Indians missed the playoffs last year and went winless the year prior?

It’s a similar turnaround tale for McGuffey, which missed the playoffs last year but is 8-1 this year and jockeying for position in the Class 2A Interstate Conference. There’s also Beaver Falls, which went winless in 3A last year (1-8 overall) and this season is 7-2 overall and trails only undefeated Aliquippa in the Tri-County West Conference (5-1).