CHIEFS SHINE DOWN THE STRETCH TO CLIP ZEBRAS
NOT TO BE DENIED
By brad emons
STAFF WRITER

All-State Insurance should hire Canton quarterback Adam Powers.

That's because when the ball's in his hands, good things happen.

The 5-foot-11, 190-pound senior put up modest numbers in Friday night's 35-22 football win over visiting Wayne Memorial Ð eight rushes for 75 yards and 5-of-7 passing for 64 yards.

But it seemed every time the Chiefs needed a big play, Powers delivered with either a key scramble or clutch throw, as Canton kept its postseason state playoff hopes afloat by improving to 4-3 overall and 3-2 in Western Division of the Western Lakes Activities Association.

Wayne forged ahead 22-20 with only 10:03 left in the game when senior quarterback D.J. Freeman scored on 1-yard run on fourth down followed by his two-point keeper.

But Canton answered when Ryan Neu returned a short Wayne squib kick to the Zebras' 44. Six plays later and helped by a pass interference call, the Chiefs went ahead for keeps on Nick Sweda's 5-yard touchdown run with 6:48 remaining.

The Chiefs' defense then stiffened as Wayne couldn't pick up a first down on fourth-and-3 at their own 44.

Canton put the game away with 2:47 remaining on Sweda's 2-yard TD run set up by Powers' scampers of 18 and 6 yards.

"Our defense did a great job the second half playing against the run,'' Canton coach Tim Baechler said. "And our offensive line played their guts out. The second half we started to finish our drives.''

Trailing 14-13 at halftime, Canton took the lead with a 10-play, 55-yard drive kept alive when Powers took off and ran toward the left side of the Wayne defensive front out of punt formation for 16 yards. He added a 24-yard gain after momentarily losing the ball behind at the line of scrimmage. He then rolled out and took it in from 2 yards out on another keeper to make it 20-14 with 5:05 left in the third quarter (following Daniel Stoney's extra point).

"Offensively we were confident, but you've got to make some plays, it's a matter of executing,'' Powers said. "I just saw how the (Wayne) defense was reading it (the semi-fake punt) and I reacted. I saw it was open. It was not designed. Coach (Baechler) doesn't get mad Ð as long as it works.''

Baechler had no problem with Powers' improvising.

"Adam Powers is a player,'' the Canton coach said. "The fake punt was not my call. He just saw it and took off. Just make sure it's a first down and I won't be upset. It takes guts to see that was open and he had the smarts to go.''

Wayne's playoff hopes took a severe hit with the loss. The Zebras are now 3-4 overall and finish 2-3 in the Western Division. "Their quarterback runs their offense extremely well,'' Wayne coach Craig Hnatuk said. "He's a football player. And they're so solid fundamentally. They block and tackle. It's not one of their faster teams, but they trust each other.''

With Sweda (21 rushes for 89 yards) carrying a bulk of the load, Canton's second possession of the first quarter resulted in a 15-play, 78-yard TD drive that consumed 7 minutes and 30 seconds of the clock. Powers' clicked on consecutive 7-yard passes to tight ends Todd Turfe and William Tidwell, the latter on fourth-and-goal as time expired to end the first quarter.

Wayne, however, came right back on just six plays, marching 64 yards in only 3:11 capped by Alan Freeman's 13-yard TD run. D.J. Freeman added the two-pointer on a run to put the Zebras ahead, 8-7.

Wayne, using its spread offense with five wideouts, scored again when Alex Bledsoe recovered a Canton fumble on the ensuing kickoff at the Chiefs' 26. The elusive and speedy D.J. Freeman scored five plays later Ð with 5:33 left in the first half Ð on a 3-yard keeper, but the Zebras failed to convert the two-pointer, leaving the count at 14-7.

Powers then went to work again just before the half, orchestrating a nine-play, 70-yard drive connecting on a pair of passes to the lanky Tidwell, one going for 13 yards and the other for 37 yards and a TD with only 0:47 to go

But the point-after failed and Canton still trailed, 14-13, at intermission.

And when the Zebras went ahead on Freeman's early fourth-quarter TD and two-pointer, it appeared Canton was on the ropes.

But just like in setbacks to Jackson, Livonia Franklin and Walled Lake Western, the Zebras couldn't hold onto their second-half leads.

"The score was not an indication of the hitting in the game,'' Hnatuk said. "They (Canton) had to execute their passing game after they had to get out of the T-formation. They threw our coverage out the window.

"And if we hit a couple of passes when we had guys open, the score might have been closer and the game might have been more interesting.''

bemons@oe.homecomm.net (734) 953-2123

Originally published October 7, 2007