Canton's playoff run comes to sudden end
CANTON - For 10 weeks, the Canton High School football team was nearly unstoppable, averaging more than 44 points in lopsided victory after lopsided victory.
That trend, and the Chiefs' season, ended Friday night with Novi's 20-0 win in a Division 1 district championship game. It is the first time Canton has been shut out since a 35-0 loss to Farmington Hills Harrison in 1999.
Not that the Chiefs didn't have their chances. Twice in the first half, Canton faced fourth down plays in the shadow of the end zone. Twice Novi came up with goal-line stands to preserve a 14-0 halftime lead.
"Football is such a game of momentum, who knows what happens if it's 14-14 at halftime," Canton coach Tim Baechler said. "(Novi) played great defense, but we just didn't get it done inside the 5-yard line."
With Novi leading 7-0, Canton drove to the Novi 2-yard line before quarterback Shawn Little bobbled the snap on fourth down and was buried behind the line of scrimmage as the first quarter expired.
The Wildcats (9-2) responded with a 12-play, 97-yard scoring drive that ended with quarterback Kevin Cislo's 13-yard touchdown run. Cislo, who finished with a game-high 94 yards on 19 carries, had earlier connected with Chris Dalton on a 50-yard touchdown pass.
On the Chiefs' ensuing possession, they again marched deep into Novi territory. This time, on fourth down at the Wildcat 1-yard line, Canton halfback Julian Smith went wide but was brought done by Novi linebacker Josh Wood short of the goal line with 18 seconds remaining in the half.
"We were fortunate to make those big goal line stops and even more fortunate to get some big plays against (Canton)," Novi coach Tab Kellepourey said.
Faced with a rare deficit, Canton was forced to turn to its rarely-used passing game in the second half. Little completed 2-of-11 attempts and was intercepted twice. The second Novi interception, by Woods, gave Novi a short field and led to its final points - a 1-yard run by Cislo late in the third quarter.
Novi moves on to face Kensington Valley Conference rival South Lyon next week. The Chiefs will pack up their gear for the final time and bid farewell to a senior class that was 21-2 in its two years of varsity play.
"We had our chances. I have no regrets," Baechler said. "I'm certainly not ashamed to lose to that team. I just feel bad for our seniors. They were a great group, and we had so much fun."
Rich Rezler can be reached at rrezler@annarbornews.com