ADAMS TWP — Coming off a shutout loss last week, Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic entered the Mars Athletic Complex Friday night like a new team.

The Trojans routed the Mohawk Warriors 54-6 to improve to a 1-1 record in the Midwestern Conference.

“I think the kids were geared up for this game, simply because we did not play well last week (a 36-0 loss to Neshannock),” Trojans coach Jason Gildon said. “They were really anxious to come out and see if we can this thing back where we need it to be.”

The Trojans made their statement in the first quarter, scoring on their first two drives.

The first touchdown came from quarterback Ryan Maziarz rushing for 16 yards and the second came from a 65-yard sprint by senior Mario Latronica.

Latronica found the end zone again in the second quarter with a 24-yard rush.

He ended the night with 102 yards on the ground to go with his pair of touchdowns.

“The success of this team this year is definitely going to be on Mario's shoulders,” Gildon said. “I think he came out with that energy we need from him every game.”

Maziarz also took to the air, throwing a 24-yard touchdown pass to Joey Porter Jr. late in the second quarter. Maziarz completed four out of seven passes for 61 yards and also ran for 35 yards.

North Catholic's defense also stood their ground and then some.

The Trojans picked off Warriors signal caller Jaydon Johnson three times and backup quarterback Nick Wheeler once.

Johnson completed nine of 14 passes for 96 yards to go with those two picks.

“They were blitzing a lot of men,” Warriors coach Tim McCutchen said of North Catholic's defense. “They forced us into a passing game. We weren't able to establish a running game.”

The Warriors drove into North Catholic territory on multiple occasions. However, turnovers hindered any scoring opportunity.

Mohawk reached midfield on their opening drive before Johnson was picked off by Trojans safety Keegan O'Shea, which led to Maziarz's touchdown.

Johnson later threw two pick sixes, the first to North Catholic's Tyler Elwood in the second quarter for 75 yards and the second to North Catholic's Nikhai Hill-Green for 35 yards in the third quarter.

“Those were good plays defensively,” said Gildon of the interceptions. “But just being a defensive guy, I know those were a lot of plays I wish they would have made early on.”

Mohawk was on the verge of being shut out by North Catholic until a late fourth-quarter drive led to a 13-yard touchdown run by sophomore Braydon Cameron.

“We had some defensive breakdowns and took some bad angles,” McCutchen said. “We're not built to throw the ball up every play. Unfortunately, that was the only avenue we felt we could take.”

“We actually felt pretty good coming into this game,” he added.

A scary moment happened with about 10 minutes left in the game when Trojans backup quarterback Zack Rocco was tackled hard after getting a first down.

He was taken off the field by stretcher with a leg injury and transported to a nearby hospital via ambulance.

The severity of Rocco's injury was not available as of Friday evening. However Gildon said he was “definitely” in good spirits.

Despite North Catholic's success Friday, Gildon said the team will face tough challenges this season.

“It's not going to be easy,” Gildon said. “We have some tough teams in the conference and some tough non-conference games.

We just need to take it one game at a time and continue to get better as we go.”