UPDATED: Tigers hold on for 1-point victory over Northwest

It was a tale of two halves for the McClain Tigers, as they outscored the host Northwest Mohawks 14-0 in the first two quarters Friday night, only to see Northwest score two unanswered touchdowns in the second half. Thanks to strong defensive play by the Tigers, though, McClain held on for a 14-13 victory over Northwest.

Both of McClain’s touchdowns came in the second quarter, beginning with a 19-play, 10-minute scoring drive that ended with quarterback Drake Stapleton finding an open Kaden Penwell in the end zone for a six-yard score. The PAT attempt was blocked by Northwest’s Connor Lintz, but McClain took a 6-0 lead with 8:48 left in the second.

Following a three-and-out by Northwest, McClain (2-0) scored on their second straight drive, this time with a 26-yard rush by Andrew Potts. Potts finished with over 100 yards rushing for a second straight week, totaling 118 yards on 23 rushes, plus four catches for 26 yards, to lead the Tigers in Week 2.

Max Eikenberry then caught a three-yard pass from Stapleton for the two-point conversion, putting the Tigers ahead 14-0 with 4:31 left in the second.

Late in the third, Northwest (1-1) got on the scoreboard with a five-yard rushing TD by quarterback Jake Brown, with the Tigers leading 14-7 with 1:38 left in the quarter.

The Mohawks then threatened to take the game away near the end of regulation, after a three-yard rush by Colton Campbell put them down 14-13 with 1:27 left in the fourth. But in what head coach Keith Penwell called the “biggest play of his life so far,” sophomore Andrew Roeder brought Brown down as he attempted to make the two-point conversion pass, keeping the Tigers’ lead intact for what was the final 14-13 score.

“How about Andrew Roeder, man,” Penwell said. “I told him that’s the biggest play of your life so far. We went into that huddle on that timeout, and we kind of had an idea. We were prepared for that one.

“I think Andrew is getting better and better and better. He doesn’t do anything flashy or anything like that, but he gets the job done. He just gets it done. I was real proud of him. This was his best game.”

The defensive play of the Tigers stepped up in big moments throughout the game Friday, including in Northwest’s opening drive of the second half. Starting on their own 35, the Mohawks put together a 16-play drive, and on fourth-and-goal Brown was sacked by Cohen Six.

In the second quarter, Penwell also forced a fumble that was recovered by Riley Cummins.

Penwell finished with seven tackles for MHS, including the forced fumble and a sack. Cade Sponcil had 6.5 tackles for the Tigers.

Conner Frazier, Cam Medley and Roeder followed with four tackles each, and Jayden Allison had three.

“We had some people step up and make really big plays,” Penwell said. The tackle, the hit on the quarterback to cause a fumble. Cohen Six sacking the quarterback on fourth down. There were some big plays, a lot of people stepped up and I was super proud of them. Our offensive linemen, they were bringing them.

“We made some nice plays and moved the ball just enough and ended up squeaking one out.”

Penwell also spoke about the play of his defensive backs.

“Cam [Medley] is a hitter, a player and not afraid of contact,” Penwell said. “TD [Matesic] got sucked in one time, but he’s all energy, all the time. He’s been doing a real nice job for us. He’s not very big, but he’s not afraid to get up in there. Eli [Douglas] has been that way and had a heck of a play. That was a pure hustle play.

“Riley [Cummins] came in, and I gave Riley a big task tonight. His task was to shut down [Lintz], and he did what he was supposed to. Max [Eikenberry] played center field for us and just captained the whole thing. Cade Sponcil made some big plays. He’s a leader out there on the defensive end. Our tackles played hard, our ends played hard and we had some big plays. I’m exhausted, but it was fun.”

McClain’s first scoring drive began with their second possession of the game, taking over with 6:46 left in the first quarter. Starting on their own 25, the Tigers picked up gains of six yards and two yards from Potts, then one yard by Penwell. On fourth-and-1, the Tigers caught Northwest off guard by going for it, with the handoff to Potts resulting in a gain of five yards.

After a false start penalty meant the Tigers were starting at first-and-15, Potts pushed forward for 11 yards, then again picked up a first down on third-and-4. Stapleton faked a handoff and picked up three yards, followed by more gains by Potts for another first down.

Stapleton had seven rushes for 17 yards and was 9-of-17 passing for 41 yards.

The first quarter ended with the Tigers on the Northwest 27-yard line after Penwell gained one yard on third-and-5.

Stapleton’s throw to Max Eikenberry on fourth-and-4 resulted in a first down on the 21 to begin the second quarter, and two plays later, runs by Potts put the Tigers at first-and-goal on the 10-yard line.

Potts gained three yards on first down, then lost three yards on the next play after being swarmed by Mohawks. On third-and-goal, Stapleton passed to an open Penwell, who ran the ball in for the touchdown and a 6-0 lead.

Penwell finished the game with six rushes for 27 yards, two catches for 12 yards and a touchdown.

After forcing a Northwest three-and-out, the Tigers scored for the second time in the quarter — and final time in the game — after just four plays.

Starting at their own 48, Potts had a three-yard run, then a pass resulted in a loss of one yard. On third-and-8, Stapleton had a long run that was called back due to an inadvertent whistle, then ran on the subsequent play to gain the first down.

On first-and-10 on the 26-yard line, Potts managed to break away from Northwest defenders to score the Tigers’ second straight touchdown. Their lead moved to 14 points after Eikenberry caught a three-yard pass for a two-point conversion.

The Tigers forced a fumble on Northwest’s next possession but failed to capitalize, leaving the score at 14-0 at halftime.

In the third quarter, Northwest started on their own 35 and put together the 16-play drive that left them on the 9-yard line before the quarterback was sacked by Six on fourth-and-goal.  

The Mohawks scored on their next possession, taking over at the 2:53 mark of the third quarter after a three-and-out by MHS. A penalty was called on McClain on first-and-10, putting Northwest on the McClain 38. After no gain on the first play, a pass to Lintz resulted in a gain of 29 yards.

On first-and-goal, the Mohawks had a loss of one yard, and on second down Brown connected with Andrew Newman, who was pushed out of bounds by Roeder. They made it into the end zone when Brown faked the handoff on third down and ran the ball five yards for the touchdown and trailed 14-7 after the PAT by Remington Bennet was good.

After three-and-outs by both the Tigers and Northwest, McClain took over at their own 49 with 9:45 left in the fourth quarter. Potts picked up a first down with an 11-yard-run, and then on fourth-and-3 Stapleton connected with Connor McCune right at the marker to pick up another first down. The Tigers were forced to punt on third-and-24, following a penalty on first down.

After another three-and-out by Northwest, McClain started their last possession with gains by Potts, Penwell and Stapleton, but were forced to punt on third-and-9. The punt was blocked by Jaxon Powell, with McDermott taking over in McClain territory with 2:47 left in the game.

Lintz evaded several McClain tacklers to gain seven yards, then a penalty called on McClain on second down resulted in even better field possession for Northwest. A run by Campbell and pass to Carter Runyon put the Mohawks down at the four-yard line, and on first-and-goal, Campbell ran the ball in for Northwest’s second touchdown with 1:27 left in the game.

After calling a timeout, Northwest went for the two-point conversion in an attempt to win the game, but Roeder’s tackle of Brown kept the Tigers’ lead intact, and McClain was able to run out the clock for the 14-13 win.

“Our kids played hard, and so did theirs,” Penwell said. “That was a slugfest. Last year, I think we had some big plays. This year, it was ground and pound and whatever happens in the trenches. There were some big collisions out there. I thought it was going to be that way this time.

“I told our kids this was going to be a slobberknocker, and it was. Andrew [Potts] ran the ball hard, and he gained some tough, tough yards. Our defense played lights out, really. They played a lot of plays, they were physical, and they made some nice plays.”

(Editor's note: Thank you to WVNU 97.5 FM and Charley Roman for assistance and stats for this game.)