CANTON 14, SOUTH LYON 10: One-two punch safeguards Chiefs' lead

November 4, 2006

BY MICK McCABE

FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER

The South Lyon offense was rolling and the Canton defense was reeling when South Lyon's Ian McGee broke into the clear at Canton's 15-yard line, trailing Canton by four points with less than two minutes to play.

But Canton cornerback Chris Bogdanski and safety Deshon McClendon delivered the best one-two punch of the season.

"I went low and he went high," Bogdanski said. "I put my head on the ball, and I got cut a little bit. The helmet slid down a little and cut me."

McClendon threw McGee aside and recovered the fumble.

"Boggie head-hit it, and I jarred him," McClendon said. "The ball came loose, and I scampered on it."

McClendon's recovery enabled Canton to survive an error-plagued game and record a 14-10 victory over South Lyon on Friday night in a Division 1 district championship game at Canton.

The victory moves Canton into next Friday's regional championship against Saline (9-2) at Canton.

Until McClendon's recovery, Canton (11-0) had five possessions. Two ended in touchdowns, and the other three ended with fumbles.

"The three turnovers absolutely killed us," said Canton coach Tim Baechler. "I thought we should have had 28 points on the board. Hell, we finally got a break on that last drive, and they turned it over for us."

Canton quarterback Steve Paye's only pass of the first half was a fourth-down 18-yard completion to William Turner with 9:25 left in the second quarter.

South Lyon (9-2), which managed only four yards in the first quarter, used 21 plays to eat the next 9:24 off the clock before Tyler Hockey kicked a 20-yard field goal with one second left in the first half to cut the lead to 7-3.

The Lions took the second half kickoff and put together an 11-play drive before junior quarterback Arik Habay, whose outstanding play kept South Lyon in the game, scored on a seven-yard bootleg for a 10-7 lead with 5:47 remaining.

"He made plays on those fourth-down conversions," Baechler said of Habay. "Hell, we had some films on him and we didn't see that -- it was non-existent. They're probably saying the same thing about our quarterback."

Trailing by four, Canton answered with an 84-yard drive, highlighted by Paye completions of 37 and 13 yards before Nick Moores scored on an eight-yard run with 46 seconds left in the period.

For the game, Paye was 4-for-4 for 84 yards.

"I think I'd only thrown 16 or 17 passes all season," Paye said. "But we needed them tonight to help mix it up on them."

Canton's third lost fumble gave the Lions the ball on their 15. Habay then completed three passes before McGee broke into the open.

"I saw him and I thought: 'Oh, man, just get it there," said South Lyon coach Mark Thomas. "He's one of the fastest kids in Oakland County. We had them on the ropes at the end, there's no doubt. They were panicking a little bit, and we started making plays and passing the ball more. I think our quarterback grew up on that series."

Contact MICK McCABE at 313-223-4744 or mmccabe@freepress.com