Senior Jim Threatt tore-up the Caruthersville Tiger defense to the tune of 118 yards on 25 carries, and two touchdowns, last Friday night as the Mohawks moved to 1-1. [Click to enlarge]

The Piggott Mohawks have to feel good about their season so far, as they come off their first win of the year Friday night at Caruthersville. In the season opener the Tribe dropped a 6-21 non-conference decision to class 4A Valley View at Parker Field..a game that many feel the Mohawks could have won with just a couple of breaks. The Blazers in turn showed they were no fluke with a 28-0 shut-out of the Corning Bobcats this past Friday at home, marking Corning's first regular season loss since the 2006 season. Meanwhile the Mohawks tamed the Tigers 27-12 in a game that featured nine turnovers.

Leading the Mohawk's potent offensive attack this week was senior Jim Threatt, who carried the ball over two dozen times and led both squads in rushing.

Under perfect game conditions the Tribe made the trip to Hopke Field in Caruthersville, and took the opening kickoff from the Tigers. On the first series of plays the Mohawks mounted a strong drive and began to establish the running game with Threatt, Michael Morgan and Justin Howell. The Mohawks marched the ball downfield and Morgan found paydirt first with a six yard run with 4:38 left in the first. The two point conversion attempt also went to Morgan, but he was short and the Tribe led 6-0.

On the following kickoff the Tigers Perry Middleton fumbled the kick, the first of seven turnovers for the Caruthersville squad, and the Mohawks got the ball back with good field position. The Piggott squad then mounted their second scoring drive, which was capped by a Corbin Chase six yard touchdown run with 1:21 left in the first quarter to make it 12-0. The two-point conversion pass attempt was no good.

Following the Mohawk kickoff the next Caruthersville drive would also lead to their next turnover, and that came as Rob Rice picked off a pass from quarterback Chris Smith with 7:20 to go in the first half. But that Piggott drive would also succumb to the turnover bug, as they fumbled it back to the Tigers with a little over four minutes to play to the halftime break.

That drive would also fall short for the home team, and the Mohawks responded with a scoring drive that was capped by a five yard touchdown run by Threatt with less than a minute to play in the second quarter. Howell added the two point conversion following the touchdown and the Mohawks extended their lead to 20-0 at the break.

The Tigers then began to try to mount a drive, and were able to move the ball downfield, but that drive ended as Piggott's Hayden McMillon picked-off a tipped pass from Smith. Also on the play Smith was shaken up, and would later leave the field. He was replaced by sophomore David Shaw in the second half.

During the second half of play the Tigers began to exploit their speed advantage, and got much of their yardage on the night. Behind Shaw the offense began to find some running room and the Tigers were able to break the shutout as they put together two scoring drives. Instrumental in both drives was Rakeem Sanders, Vohland Fonda and Javon Hageman for the Caruthersville squad.

But the Mohawks would also score again, as Threatt carried the ball in from five yards out with 4:20 to go in the third quarter. The Piggott defense stiffened late in the contest, and the Tigers were unable to pull any closer as time expired.

"You knew the game was never over with the kind of speed that they've got," Piggott head coach Dave Hendrix noted after the victory," but we really hung tough." Hendrix went on to note that he feels the team is getting some valuable experience, "we're winning ballgames now that we didn't win last year, when we do things like that in close ballgames."

Hendrix added that the Tigers, who had lost starting running back Jeremy Williams to injury prior to the contest, gave them a good game, "they finally got away from us, they've got so many fast players, but our kids played well…I made a couple of coaching blunders but our kids played well."

Threatt led the Mohawk attack with 118 yards on 25 carries and two touchdowns, Morgan finished with 72 yards on 12 carries and one TD, Howell had 46 tough yards on nine carries, Chase had four carries for 35 yards and the other Mohawk touchdown, Alek Samples carried the ball three times for 18 yards and quarterback Daniel Baldwin carried six times for 17 yards. Hageman led the Tigers with 94 yards on seven carries. The Tribe had over 360 yards in offense compared to 216 for Caruthersville, and in turnovers it was the Tigers with seven while the Mohawks had two on the game.

Up next for the Mohawks will be the final non-conference game of the year as they travel to Clarendon and take on the Lions. Friday night's game will be Clarendon's home opener for the season as they've lost their first two games on the road. In week one they fell at Brinkley 20-33 and last Friday night they were shut out by the Barton Bears 0-36. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. this Friday night at Clarendon.