The high school football opener between Pioneer and Canton finally ended, more than 15 hours and one complete momentum shift after it started.
When play resumed at 10 a.m. Saturday at Hollway Field, Canton continued the second half dominance it started before play was suspended because of lightning Friday night. A final morning touchdown gave the Chiefs a 26-6 victory.
"It was a little slow going when we first got here, but we got them going," Canton coach Tim Baechler said.
The same could be said of the entire game.
Turn the clock back to 7 p.m. Friday night. The host Pioneers looked sharp on their opening possession, an 11-play, 68-yard scoring drive capped by a 4-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Mike McCoy to tight end Robbie Thornbladh. McCoy was 4-for-5 on the drive, including a 21-yard hook-and-lateral executed by Alex Seyferth and Richard Franklin on the game's first play.
Early in the second quarter with Pioneer still leading 6-0, a McCoy pass was tipped in the end zone by Canton linebacker Jake Powers and intercepted by David Neu.
"If we don't throw that pick and go up 14 on (Canton), it puts them in a very difficult situation," Pioneer coach Chuck White said.
Instead the Pioneers took a 6-0 lead into halftime after holding the Chiefs' full house offense to 71 yards of rushing.
The second half - all three distinct segments of it - belonged to Canton.
First, sophomore Deshon McClendon took the second-half kickoff back 79 yards for a touchdown. Late in the third quarter, Canton's Julian Smith intercepted a McCoy pass and returned it 30 yards for a score. An Erik McKee extra point gave Canton a 13-6 lead with 3:53 remaining in the third quarter.
The plays are not quite how Canton halfbacks McClendon and Smith expect to reach the end zone, but Baechler wasn't apologizing.
"My wife asked me (during the overnight postponement) if I was nervous because we were winning but had scored on those two returns," Baechler said. "I told her we practice those things hard, too. It's all part of the game."
Canton took that lead into the game's first stoppage of play, a 1-hour, 22-minute delay that ended just past 10 p.m. Three plays later - a 26-yard run by Andrew Rossow, a 4-yard touchdown run by Rossow and an extra point by McKee - the game was postponed with Canton leading 20-6.
Most of the fourth quarter was completed Saturday. Canton held Pioneer without a first down while capping its own scoring with a 19-yard keeper by junior quarterback Shawn Little.
Rich Rezler can be reached at rrezler@annarbornews.com