MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Morgantown has struggled down the stretch, having lost back-to-back games to Riverside and John Marshall. But the Mohigans still have a good chance at the playoffs — win or lose in the MoHawk Bowl.
“It’s still there,” said Morgantown coach Matt Lacy of a playoff spot. “We can reach it but we have to refocus coming off back-to-back losses. We showed we could do it last year, losing back to back and still getting into the playoffs.
“This game couldn’t come at a better time for us,” Lacy continued. “We are banged up but the kids don’t need any extra motivation because it is University.”
The timing is not good on the injury front for MHS. Among the players out for this game is leading rusher Ty Konchesky who had his season come to an end due to a knee injury.
Konchesky leads the team with 790 yards and nine rushing touchdowns. He is also the second leading tackler on the team with 51 stops from his linebacker position. Junior lineman Jaden Wolfley is also out for the season with a foot injury.
Friday’s MoHawk Bowl between Morgantown and University has been tabbed as the 2017 WVSSAC October Classic and will have live video streaming at the MetroNews Channel of WVMetroNews.com
“We’ve had some guys move around and really help out because they are versatile,” said Lacy. “We’ve had Marcellus Marshall slide over and play a couple of positions on the offensive line. Javohn Moore has played multiple positions. Alajuan Robinson has moved from receiver and is now one of our primary ball carriers.”
Among healthy players, the senior Robinson leads the team with 535 yards rushing and eight touchdowns coming into the MoHawk Bowl. Robinson is also the second leading receiver.
“They are playing for the ‘perfect’ season,” Lacy said. “We have an opportunity to spoil that. It adds a little motivation. But the most important thing is us. We can get to the .500 mark for the season and still get into the playoffs.”
University is seeking its first 10-0 regular season since 1999.
“Our season will not be defined by one game,” said head coach John Kelley. “Certainly, we want to go 10-0 but we’ve calculated that win or lose we will still finish second or third for the playoffs.”
The potential for a perfect regular season means a lot for a group of University seniors that played on a 2-8 team just two seasons ago.
“It means more to them and it means more to me,” Kelley said. “We knew we were going to take a major hit (in 2015). We prepared for that. I thought we were a little ahead of schedule last year with an 8-2 team, but we all expected it to come together this year and it has so far.”
The players anticipate having a great time on the field.
“No matter what anyone says this is the biggest game of the year,” said University junior receiver and defensive back Amir Richardson. “This is the most anticipated game of the year. This is the one you think about at Christmas. This is the one you think about in the spring and in the summer. It’s finally here as this season has just flown by.”
The Hawks have dominated defensively of late as they come into the MoHawk Bowl with 30 sacks on the season. Lineman Hayden Starcher, Dalton McDaniels and Ben Gribble have 18 1/2 sacks between them.
Offensively, senior Robert Sanders has taken over as the primary ball carrier as he has rolled up 389 of his team high 582 yards in the last three weeks.
The Hawks have spread out the wealth in the passing game as well as six different receivers have caught at least one touchdown pass. Senior quarterback Clay Bailey has already set career highs with 121 completions, 1.696 yards and 19 touchdowns.