SOUTH DEERFIELD - Frontier Regional shook off a first-half scare to score 13 unanswered points in the second half Wednesday night in its Intercounty League Thanksgiving Eve showdown against Mohawk Trail.

That was enough to give the Red Hawks (9-1, 6-1 Intercounty) a 13-6 win over the Warriors (4-6, 2-5 Intercounty).

Frontier avoided losing to Mohawk for the first time since 1988 thanks to a big play by senior quarterback Erik Abramson.

Trailing 6-0 at halftime after the Warriors scored on their opening drive of the game, the Red Hawks took the second-half kick and drove 65 yards in eight plays to reach the end zone.

After chipping off small gainers to move from their own 35-yard line down to the Mohawk 42, Abramson called his own number on a draw play. He slipped a tackle and cut to his right where he sprinted for a touchdown to tie the game with 6 minutes, 26 seconds left in the third quarter.

Abramson then made the extra-point kick after it was moved back five yards for Frontier having too many men in the huddle to put the Red Hawks on top for good.

"They came out playing great," Warriors senior captain Cody Underwood said of the Frontier team after the break. "They were fired up and they played their hearts out in the second half. Plus we were starting to wear down a little bit."

The Red Hawks will definitely play next week, and Mohawk still has a chance at the postseason.

Frontier is in the Western Massachusetts Division 3 Tournament as the No. 2 or 3 seed. The Red Hawks will play in the semifinals Tuesday night at Mahar Regional in Orange against an opponent yet to be determined.

The Warriors are still in the running for the fourth seed in the Western Massachusetts Division 4 Tournament, depending on the outcome of Thanksgiving Day games. Should Mohawk clinch the spot, it would take on top-seeded Pioneer Regional Tuesday night at the Roberts Complex in Holyoke at a time to be determined.

After Frontier took the lead Wednesday, its defense responded by forcing the Warriors to punt after a three-and-out. That set the stage for a defensive battle over the next 10-plus minutes.

Mohawk took over on its own 13 with 5:59 left in the game, trailing by one point. After moving the ball to their own 46, the Warriors faced a third-and-four.

A direct snap to running back Matt Zalenski (20 carries, 98 yards) was low and went through his legs for a loss of 13 yards. When Mohawk attempted to punt on the next play, the snap went high over the head of Underwood and stopped on the Warrior's 4. Underwood (eight carries, 31 yards) picked up the ball and attempted to throw it away, but he was flagged for intentional grounding, leading to a loss of down and giving Frontier the ball on the Mohawk 4.

Two plays later, Conor Johnston, an offensive lineman playing fullback, ran in from 1 yard out to give the Red Hawks a 13-6 advantage with 2:05 left. "You can't make those mistakes," Underwood said. "They always kill you, every game."

The Warriors took over with one final try, but on the second play from scrimmage, quarterback Kendall Schneider was intercepted by Austin Watroba to seal the win for Frontier.

Abramson (nine carries, 52 yards) said that continuing the winning streak started by the Red Hawks in 1989 was on the minds of the players.

"We've never lost that trophy ever since we've been playing, and that's been the thing we've focused on all week," he said. "We didn't want to be the seniors to lose that trophy and we really stressed that at halftime."

Mohawk looked primed to end the streak early as it took the opening kick and went 89 yards in 13 plays to take a 6-0 lead. Zalenski was key on the drive, gaining 64 yards on eight carries, including a 2-yard run for the touchdown with 2:54 left in the first quarter.

"That was a great first drive," Frontier coach Scott Dredge said. "They came out in that four backfield set, and I think that surprised our defense a little. Once we made our adjustments, I think we figured it out and did a better job against it."

While the defense did a better job in the first half against the Warriors, the Red Hawks' offense struggled, turning the ball over on its first two possessions. Four plays after the Mohawk touchdown, Frontier had the ball on the Warriors' 36, but a pitch on an option play by Abramson missed Watroba (15 carries, 63 yards) and was recovered by Mohawk tackle David Thayer.

The Red Hawks' next possession moved to the Warriors' 30 but was halted when Abramson was picked off by Ryan Billiel at the 10. Frontier ran only one more play the rest of the half and gained just 52 yards on 12 offensive plays before the half.

That mattered little in the end as Abramson led the Red Hawks' offense to the two second-half scores.

Abramson won the Tim Dash Award as the top senior on the Frontier team, while Underwood was given the Mike Gaffigan Award as the top Mohawk senior.