BUCKLAND — The Smith Vocational football team came out flat against Mohawk Trail Regional in a Tri-County contest Friday.
The Vikings mishit the opening kickoff as the ball traveled just 1 yard, setting the Warriors up with strong field position. The kickoff summarized the Vikings’ energy throughout the contest, as they fell to the Warriors, 37-6.
“We had nothing,” Smith Vocational coach Keith Lebeau said. “We laid an egg. That’s been our MO for the last couple years. We come out flat, we had nothing with us. I’ve never seen anybody on a kickoff miss a ball. That was the sum up of the game.”
Smith Vocational turned the ball over five times and struggled to move the ball after quarterback Cayden Guimond injured his leg in the first quarter. Guimond hobbled throughout the first half before sitting out the final 24 minutes of action.
“A lot of our runs, we hand the ball off and (Guimond’s) bootlegging outside trying to get them to bite on it,” Lebeau said. “As soon as he couldn’t move, we couldn’t go to the pass.”
Warrior quarterback Shawn Davenport had it going through the air and on the ground, finishing 8-for-18 for 160 yards, three touchdowns and an interception, while rushing for 26 yards and a pair of scores.
The Warriors jumped out to a 20-0 lead.
Davenport had 153 yards and the three passing touchdowns by halftime.
Jaden Whiting was on the receiving end of two touchdown passes, while running back Evan Shippee carried the way for 98 yards.
Smith Vocational’s running game never got going, as Eric Leet finished with 11 carries for 21 yards. Chevron Wall, who replaced Guimond at quarterback, finished with five carries for 51 yards.
The Vikings trailed 13-0 and had a chance to score before the half.
Mohawk fumbled the ball on fourth-and-18 to give Smith Vocational possession on its own 41.
Instead, Guimond threw a pass that was picked off by Whiting, and a penalty for a blindside hit put the ball on the Vikings’ 12-yard line. On the next play, Davenport found Whiting wide open for a touchdown with 25 seconds left in the half.
“That was really the key, the turnovers we had,” Lebeau said. “We’ll have to work on that part of it. Throwing an interception is the worst thing there.”
Wall led the lone scoring drive for Smith Voc while under center. The junior pulled off a 33-yard scamper, setting the Vikings up just outside the red zone, where he found a cutting Jonathan Castro, who broke through for the lone Smith Voc score of the game.
The Vikings went for the two-point conversion, but Wall’s pass was picked off by Levin Prondecki.