CANTON: Bucking up for title run

August 8, 2006

By Mick McCabe

FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER

The last time Deshon McClendon played in a football game, he was on the biggest stage in the state.

"I remember losing," McClendon said Monday morning as he and 151 other Canton football players began practice. "I used to think about that game every day. Now I think about it once a week. When somebody gets out the DVD and watches it, I'll stay for the first half and then go to my room."

Despite McClendon's 89 rushing yards and two touchdowns, Canton lost to Rockford, 31-21, in the Division 1 state championship game.

That loss motivated McClendon, who was 5-feet-6, 163 pounds last year. He is now 5-6 3/4 , 185, with muscles budging everywhere.

Last season McClendon rushed for 2,003 yards, and he believes he can improve on that this season.

"I'm really confident in my center, Jeff Phillips," McClendon said. "He's coming back from an injury and he'll make a difference. I competed with him in the weight room. I've got him in the legs -- I can squat 550 -- but he's got me in the bench -- he does 365."

McClendon also looks for improvement in the defense, on which he will play safety.

"I'm really confident in our linebackers," he said. "Danny Wanshon is up from the JVs, and he's good. Colin O'Shaughnessy is our middle linebacker, and he was good last year, Chris Hasse is another starter and he's one of our horses.

"Right now we've got a little cockiness about us. ... We say we're going back to the finals and finish the job.

"If we don't do it, it means we just weren't good enough."