Churchill stymies Chief gridders, 20-7
Canton’s football team’s
chances of qualifying for the Division 1 state playoffs for the ninth straight
year took a serious hit Friday night when it was upended by Livonia Churchill, 20-7,
in a Western Lakes Activities Association cross-over game played on the
Chargers’ home turf.
The setback dropped the
Chiefs to 4-4 heading into Friday’s season finale against
The last time
The Chargers improved to
7-1.
In a contest dominated by
both teams’ defensive units, the Chiefs held a 7-0 advantage through the first
two-and-a-half quarters thanks to a 10-yard scoring pass from senior
quarterback Adam Powers to junior running back Nick Sweda.
The play, which was followed by Dan Stoney’s extra
point, came at the 7:48 mark of the second quarter.
The Chargers knotted the
game at 7-7 with 6:59 left in the third quarter when a pair of Ryans — Whittum
and Dolan — made a momentum-altering defensive play. Whittum’s
hit on Powers forced a fumble, which Dolan picked up and ran to pay dirt. Whittum’s ensuing extra point made it 7-all.
Whittum gave the Chargers the lead for good with a 32-yard
field goal on the first play of the fourth quarter. The multi-talented senior
tacked on a 30-yard field goal with 7:25 left to up Churchill’s lead to 13-7.
The Chargers sealed the
deal on Jeff Ricketts’ 39-yard TD run with 3:45 to play.
Matt Kowalis
paced the Chargers offense with 105 yards on 26 carries. Churchill quarterback T.J. Tilley completed 4-of-8 passes for 57
yards.
Sophomore Alex Dixon was
the Chiefs’ top ball-carrier, picking up 51 yards on 13 attempts. Sweda added 37 on 12. Powers was 3-of-6 through the air for
29 yards.
Churchill’s defense, which
stopped Canton on four fourth-down plays, was led by Devin Moynihan (20
tackles), senior linebacker Darius Miller-Wells (eight tackles and two sacks)
and Eliot Sylvester, who was in on 11 stops.
Powers led all
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953-2108
Originally published October 14, 2007