Paye'd in full First-year player leads Chiefs to 42-3 triumph

BY ED WRIGHT
STAFF WRITER

On Thursday night, four days before Labor Day, Canton's football team observed Paye Day.

It turned out to be anything but a holiday for Westland John Glenn.

Led by first-year senior linebacker/quarterback Steve Paye and a take-no-prisoners defensive effort, the Chiefs buried the mistake-prone Rockets, 42-3, in a Western Lakes Activities Association cross-over game played on John Glenn's Irma E. Kionka Field.

The victory improved Canton's record to 2-0 (1-0 in the WLAA). Glenn slipped to 1-1 and 0-1, respectively.

Of the several pivotal plays Paye was involved in, the biggest came with 11:39 left in the first half when his jarring sack separated Rocket quarterback Justin Reid from the ball. Canton senior linebacker Chris Hasse scooped up the loose pigskin in full stride and sprinted 55 yards to the end zone. Colin O'Shaunessy followed with the first of his six extra points to put the Chiefs ahead, 7-0.

"It was third down, we needed to make a play and I was just thinking about getting a sack," said Paye, replaying his game-changing effort. "The quarterback turned towards me and I hit him. I was looking for the ball, but then I saw Hasse pick it up and run."

"That play was huge because it was the one that let us draw first blood, so to speak," said Canton coach Tim Baechler. "It got us believing in ourselves and it put the momentum on our side of the field."

Paye also shined offensively when he was pressed into action at quarterback mid-way through the second quarter after starter Ben Vaughn suffered an apparent leg injury. Paye led the team on five scoring drives, including a three-play possession late in the third quarter that was capped by his perfectly thrown 38-yard spiral to junior running back Dalton Walser.

"Steve did a phenomenal job tonight," Baechler said. "Here's a kid who doesn't play football his freshman, sophomore or junior years, but he comes out this year and learns two key positions very quickly. To come out and play quarterback the way he did tonight after not playing since little league is amazing."

The Rockets played toe-to-toe with the Chiefs throughout the first half and held a 105-45 advantage in total yards at the intermission. However, Canton scored on four of its five second-half possessions to put the game on ice.

"Mistakes did us in tonight, but give Canton credit -- they forced the mistakes," said John Glenn coach Todd DeLuca, referring to his team's four lost fumbles and one botched snap on a punt. "I thought we played with them in the first half, but you can't turn the ball over as many times as we did against a team like Canton.

"If it wasn't for the turnovers, the score would have been a little closer and we would have walked out of here with our heads up, but the bottom line is Canton's a good football team and we won't be the last team to lose to them this season."

Canton threatened on its opening drive, moving the ball to the Rocket 10 before Glenn's Jerry Smith pounced on a Chief fumble. Fueled by Smith's 42-yard run on a reverse, the Rockets drove to Canton's 35 before their drive stalled.

Both teams' defenses excelled during the opening half. The first offensive TD came with 49 seconds left before halftime when senior running back Deshon McClendon scored on a 6-yard run to make it 14-0. The five-play, 27-yard drive was set up when senior offensive lineman Nick Dunleavy recovered a fumbled punt return with 3:34 on the clock.

Glenn's lone scoring play of the night -- Andrew Hein's 32-yard field goal with 8:29 left in the third quarter -- was set up four plays earlier when Antonio Smith recovered a Canton fumble at the Chief 19.

The Chiefs scored on their next four possessions. A 40-yard dash by Walser with 5:28 left in the third quarter made it 21-3. Less than three minutes later, the Paye-to-Walser TD pass put the visitors up, 28-3.

Canton closed out its third-quarter barrage on McClendon's 25-yard TD run with 22 seconds left in the stanza. Paye's TD pass was set up by his own recovery of a Rocket fumble. McClendon's score came three plays after Donnie Laramie jumped on a loose ball at the Glenn 28.

Nick Moores put an exclamation point on the Chiefs' big second half with a 1-yard scoring plunge with 3:34 left.

Junior Justin Scott accounted for the Chiefs' fourth fumble recovery.

Canton outgained the Rockets, 274-114, in total yards. The Chiefs also dominated the first-down battle, 14-3.

Moores finished with 78 yards on 12 attempts while McClendon picked up 72 on 15 carries. Walser gained 57 on seven runs.

Glenn's most productive offensive player was Smith, who had 41 yards rushing. Senior tailback Blayre McCormick was limited to 29 yards on 10 carries. Reid hit 3-of-6 passes for six yards.

Originally published September 3, 2006