Lyon tamers
Late defensive heroics clinch Chiefs' 2nd straight District grid title; Hornets next

BY ED WRIGHT
STAFF WRITER

Almost every time Canton's football team faced a gut-check situation during Friday night's Division 1 District title game, the Chiefs responded by knocking the wind out of South Lyon.

In the end, Canton survived a frantic late drive by the Lions and a slew of red-zone turnovers to earn a classic 14-10 triumph.

The tense victory catapulted the 11-0 Chiefs into Friday night's Regional final when they will host 9-2 Saline. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. South Lyon, which finished 9-2, leveled Saline, 41-0, two weeks ago.

Friday night's Sportscenter highlight for the Chiefs came with 1:30 left and South Lyon facing a 2nd-and-10 on the Canton 34. Lion running back Ian McGee broke free on a draw play and seemed headed toward paydirt until Canton's Chris Bogdanski and Deshon McClendon separated him from the ball with a jarring tackle at the 15.

McClendon pounced on the pigskin at the 17, igniting a New Year's Eve-like celebration in the Canton stands.

"Their running back broke outside, Boggy (Bogdanski) came up and contained him, hit him low and I tackled him high," recalled McClendon. "When I hit him, I felt the ball go out and then I jumped on it as fast as I could."

The Chiefs salted away their 15th consecutive home win by running down the final 90 seconds thanks to a clinching 17-yard run by McClendon that was one shoe-string tackle away from finishing in the end zone.

"We've talked all year about cobra-ing up when the rubber meets the road and things get tough," said Canton coach Tim Baechler. "You can either slide away and hide or you can cobra up, get after it and make something happen, and that's what the guys did tonight.

"We tell them a lot that they don't have to be perfect -- they just have to make a couple more plays than the other team come playoff time. When they know they don't have to be perfect on every play, it takes the edge off and they don't play scared or tight. Luckily tonight, we made a few more plays than they did."

Arguably, the Chiefs' second biggest play of the night came with 2:30 left in the third quarter when quarterback Steve Paye connected with running back Nick Moores on a 32-yard, 3rd-and-7 pass that put the ball on the South Lyon 24. The drive-extending play was extra-significant because the Lions had grabbed their first lead of the night -- 10-7 -- two minutes earlier on quarterback Arik Habay's 7-yard keeper.

It was the first time Canton had found itself on the short end of the scoreboard since the second quarter of its Week 5 game against Livonia Franklin on Sept. 22.

"On the pass to Nick, they gave us a coverage we liked and we thought we could pop one open on it," said Baechler. "But to their credit, their defensive back turned and ran with Nick. Nick got a few steps on him and Steve made an absolutely perfect pass."

Four plays after the Paye-Moores hook-up, Moores swept around left end, broke a tackle at the four and scored from 8 yards out to put the Chiefs ahead for good, 14-10.

South Lyon drove the ball to the Canton 18 on its next drive before setting up for a 35-yard Tyler Hockey field goal attempt. Fortunately for Canton, a delay-of-game penalty moved the ball back to the 23 because Hockey's 40-yard effort on the ensuing play fell short by two yards with 9:36 left.

Canton followed with a time-consuming, 14-play possession that appeared to be the final nail in the Lions' coffin. However, the Chiefs lost their third fumble of the night at the South Lyon 15 with 2:44 left, setting up the Lions' last-ditch, just-short effort.

"We were in it the whole way and we had our chances," lamented South Lyon coach Mark Thomas. "They helped us out in the first quarter by fumbling once and then we stripped the ball away another time. If they go on and score on those possessions, who knows what happens.

"Defensively, I thought we played very well. The kids were physical and aggressive and they kept us in the game. Canton is very, very good. Their offensive line is big and talented. On some of their big plays, they only created a small hole for their backs, but, hey, that's all it takes sometimes."

The Chiefs set the tone early by piecing together a 13-play, 49-yard grind-it-out drive that moved the ball from their own 34 to the South Lyon 17. However, they relinquished the ball after their first fumble of the night was recovered by South Lyon's Chris Groth.

After a fumble ended Canton's second possession at the South Lyon 25, the Chiefs struck on their next drive when Paye lofted a 17-yard TD to Billy Turner on a 4th-and-3 flag pattern with 9:25 to go in the first half. Colin O'Shaunessy booted his first of his two extra points to make it 7-0.

The Lions countered with a titanic 20-play drive that consumed 9:20 and ended with Hockey's 21-yard field goal to make it 7-3 at the half. McClendon prevented a sure touchdown on the previous play when he took Marty Rochowiak's legs out from under him for a two-yard loss on a 2nd-and-goal sweep from the Chiefs' 1.

Led by Moores' 128 combined rushing (96) and receiving (32) yards, the Chiefs outgained the Lions, 320-232. McClendon finished with 80 yards on 16 attempts while Antwaun Hawkins picked up 47 on 11 carries.

Paye was flawless in the passing department, going 5-for-5 for 99 yards and the TD to Turner.

McGee churned out 81 yards for the Lions. Rochowiak finished with 47 on 15 rushes.

Like he's done all season, McClendon played with a variety of aches and pains, including a stiff back and sore ankle.

But he wasn't complaining as he admired the District title trophy moments after the game.

"I feel 100 percent healthy right now," he said, smiling. "But I'm sure I'll be sore in the morning."

ewright@hometownlife.com | (734) 953-2108

Originally published November 5, 2006