CANTON -- Thanks to its efforts in the trenches, Canton
earned an easy 63-34 victory over Detroit Cody in a Division 1
district final on Friday night.
With the victory, the Chiefs (9-2) advance to face the winner of
today's Detroit King-Detroit Mumford matchup in a regional final
next week.
The Chiefs were led by junior halfback Deshon McClendon, who had
177 yards and three rushing touchdowns and added a 35-yard
interception return in the third quarter that helped to stave off
the stubborn Comets.
But most of the damage that Canton inflicted came on the ground,
where the Chiefs amassed 333 yards.
"Our offensive line really stepped up," Canton coach Tim Baechler
said. "We thought that there was an opportunity to run the football
and the way that they would try and stop it would be by blitzing
us."
Besides McClendon, Canton's Matt Sweda had 103 rushing yards,
including a 3-yard TD run and Andrew Rossow had 68 yards rushing and
two touchdowns (a 32-yard catch and a 27-yard run). Running back
Chris Woudstra and quarterbacks Shawn Little and Corey Nicoloff each
scored TDs for the Chiefs, who led the entire game.
"They won the game up front, that's the bottom line," Cody coach
Vernon Brown, Jr., said. "We couldn't do anything with them in the
trenches."
Cody (7-4) was led by quarterback Allen Adams, who was 13-of-21
for 333 yards and three touchdowns. He also scored on a 1-yard run.
Comets wide receiver Andre Pettway had five catches for 168 yards
and three TDs (35, 46, and 61 yards), while running back Louis Beal
managed just 42 yards rushing and one TD.
After a nine-play, 65-yard scoring drive capped by Woudstra's
score, the Chiefs led comfortably, 21-0, with 8:24 left before
halftime.
Canton threatened again, but fumbled and Eric Terry's return
moved ball from deep in Comets territory to the Chiefs' 2-yard line.
On the next play, Beal scored and added a two-point conversion to
slice Canton's lead to 21-8.
Canton's next possession ended when Comets defensive back Jalen
Fluker intercepted Little and three plays later, a 35-yard TD
reception by Petway brought Cody within 21-14 with 17 seconds left
before halftime. After McClendon's long kickoff return, Rossow's TD
catch on the last play of the second quarter gave the Chiefs a 28-14
lead that it wouldn't relinquish.
"We were looking like we were ready to close it out, but the kids
from Cody didn't stop fighting," Baechler said.
Early in the third quarter, Pettway's second and third scores
closed the Comets to 28-20 and 35-26, respectively. However,
McClendon scored consecutive TDs and increased Canton's lead to
49-26.
Eric T. Pate is a free-lance writer.