By Tom Nader

Publisher and Editor

Mogadore football is synonymous with excellence.

The Wildcats’ brand of football, though, can also be described as clean.

They don’t make mistakes.

If they do, they are few.

If their opponent makes a mistake, the Cats are always ready to pounce.

The newest example came on Friday night and it brought home the Portage Trail Conference outright championship.

For the Wildcats’ program, it is league title No. 44, with the first coming in 1922.

Mogadore soundly defeated Rootstown, 34-14, in a game that if the Rovers had won, it would have forced a share of the PTC crown.

On Senior Night, Mogadore forced a pair of turnovers, did not turn it over and simply capitalized on plays when it mattered most to improve to 9-0 on the season and 3-0 in the PTC.

For head coach Matt Adorni, the team he led into Week 10 was significantly different than the one he coached in Week 1.

“I am definitely proud of our total effort tonight,” Adorni said. “We sure have come a long way since the first week of the season. We have grown up and tonight we made some big plays.”

Before they could, though, the Cats found themselves trailing 7-0 to the Rovers.

Rootstown converted a pair of fourth downs, including a fake punt, on the game’s first possession and moved the ball 75 yards on 12 plays on a drive that was capped off by a 7 yard pass from Ryan Piscitani to Branden Bobbs at the 6:38 mark.

Piscitani rolled to his right and Bobbs ran a comeback route, sitting down in the front right corner of the end zone. Bobbs snagged a throw that was low and outside, while still keeping his feet inbounds.

Mogadore needed just two plays for its answer.

After a 13-yard run by Collin Lehner, Mason Williams took a fullback dive into the second level and bounced it out toward the right sideline to race 47 yards for the touchdown. Austin Constantine’s extra point tied the score 7-7 with 5:55 to play in the opening quarter.

After the 75-yard drive on its opening possession, Rootstown’s offense could muster only 14 yards the rest of the first half. And only 40 more yards from that first drive through the end of the third quarter.

Meanwhile, Mogadore took and extended its lead.

A pair of second-quarter touchdowns, two more game-breaking plays, put the Wildcats up 13-7 and then 21-7.

The first was another run from Williams (12 carries, 127 yards), this one coming from 21 yards out. The point-after was wide.

On the Cats’ next possession, Zeke Cameron then hit Corey Lehner on a post route across the middle of the field that Lehner took 59 yards to the end zone. The duo connected for the 2-point conversion to get the score back in place at 21-7, which held as the halftime score.

“I was proud of our group and how they rallied early in the game tonight,” Adorni said. “We have played in some really tough games this year, and I think that paid off tonight. We  stayed relaxed and were not shaken by the fact that we had fallen behind 7-0.”

Mogadore’s confidence and assertion only continued to snowball in the third quarter.

Corey Lehner took the second-half kickoff 59 yards to the Rovers’ 28, which quickly set up Williams’ third rushing touchdown of the game. The 6-foot-4, 245-pound back bursted across the line from 4 yards out over the right guard and ballooned the Cats’ lead to 28-7.

The lead grew to 34-7 by the end of the third quarter on an 8-yard run by Collin Lehner.

Rootstown’s final score came with 4:05 left in the fourth quarter on a 59-yard by speedy and shifty junior Dawson Morgan.

While Friday’s result kept the Rovers (7-3, 2-2) from sharing the league championship, head coach Chris Knopick still reflected on his team’s ability to create the opportunity to play for a title.

“We had a tough (Week 7) loss to JFK, and we told our team that we had to go 1-0 for the next two weeks to give ourselves a chance, and we did that. Our team responded and made it happen,” Knopick said. “The kids found ways to win, and I am very proud of them for that. Against Mogadore, though, you can’t make any mistakes or they will capitalize on them. They did that tonight.”

Rootstown senior Cody Coontz rushed for 109 yards on 25 carries. Coontz is now the Rovers’ career rushing leader with 3,104 yards. The previous record was held by Caleb Kaut (2,976 yards from 2014-2017).

Mogadore and Rootstown both clinched a home-field playoff game in Week 11. The Wildcats are expected to finish as the No. 2 seed in Division VI, Region 21. In the same region, Rootstown is locked in as the No. 8 seed. The top 16 qualify for the postseason.