Three in a row for Mohawks
Off the hop, it looked as though the Hat High Mohawks’ graduating class would be forever chasing perfection in their dreams.
A nightmarish start left the Mohawks staring down a 3-0 deficit while the contending Strathmore Spartans looked primed to steal an upset in Friday’s Rangeland Football Conference championship game at the Methanex Bowl. Then the tides started to turn. The Mohawks answered a pair of early turnovers with a blocked field goal attempt, then quarterback Sanjay Grover found Blake Carriere-Smith streaking down the left sideline for a 92-yard catch and run touchdown a few minutes later. The Mohawks found life with the drive, and in the quarters that followed, they found perfection.
“It just shows how our hard work is paying off,” said Grover, who completed his three-year RFC career with three championships and an undefeated record in conference play thanks to Friday’s 29-5 victory. “We just keep grinding and keep working hard to achieve our goals.”
“It’s honestly amazing. I couldn’t ask for a better group of brothers to come play this out with,” added Carriere-Smith, who connected for two touchdown catches on the evening, spanning 162 yards on the pair of plays to cap off a perfect two-season career with the Mohawks. “Last year I was just a kicker, so to come out and get many touchdowns as I have, it’s been amazing.”
Mohawks head coach Quinn Skelton says nine of the team’s graduating players officially clinched a perfect high school career in the RFC with three championship rings. It didn’t come without its hurdles though, and Carriere-Smith says Friday’s final test ranks among the tallest. “It was definitely up there for sure,” he said. “The morale was kind of low but we talked it up and worked ourselves up at half time.”
A fumble on the opening kickoff led to a Spartan field goal, then a blocked punt put Strathmore right back into the red zone. But when Spartans quarterback and kicker Isaac Wegner lined back up for another shot at the uprights, the Mohawks seized the moment, blocked the kick and began to march.
“That was the turning point I think. As soon as we got that we knew we could do it,” said Grover, who went on to find Carriere-Smith twice as well as Carter Schlenker and Tanner Winter for individual touchdowns to erase the early tension and cruise to Hat High’s thirdstraight title. “It was a shaky start but we’re resilient and we got over it. We got our offence going pretty quick and we just took over from there.”
Hat High’s season will continue in provincial playoffs starting next Friday at 7 p.m. against either Chinook or Catholic Central.