Canton, John Glenn will hit ground running

Thursday, November 6, 2003

Players and coaches on the Canton High School football team know all about their opponent in Friday night's second-round playoff game.

This will be the fourth game in the last two years between Canton (10-0) and Westland John Glenn (9-1), two teams who annually battle for the Western Lakes Activities Association title.

"(That's) a lot of football against each other," said Canton coach Tim Baechler, whose team lost in the 2002 regular season to the Rockets, but recorded wins in the 2002 playoffs and in the second game of this season.

Friday's game figures to be a game won or lost on the ground. John Glenn's running attack is led by All-State candidate Matt Smitherman, who rushed for 225 yards in his team's 28-26 defeat of Saline last week.

Canton splits the running among three backs: Halfback Travis McKinney (865 yards), fullback Chuck Schumacher (990 yards) and halfback Devin Thomas (927 yards of total offense), who also serves as the primary pass-catching threat.

Baechler expects the game to come down to the running backs.

"Third downs are key," he said. "We've got to make plays and keep them off the field."

Which is exactly what happened Sept. 5 in Canton's 20-7 victory over John Glenn, a game that saw the Rockets commit several drive-killing turnovers.

"Neither team played particularly well," Baechler said. "Offensively, it was 'blah.' "

But the coach admits his team received a huge psychological boost with the victory - possibly just what his players needed to achieve the first undefeated regular season in school history.

"It showed our kids that we have a pretty good team," he said. "They started feeling really confident in what they are doing."

Rob Hoffman can be reached at (734) 994-6814 or rhoffman@annarbornews.com