Glenn takes charge after Canton turnovers, 46-21

September 7, 2002

BY MICK MCCABE
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER

Westland Glenn entered Friday night's Western Lakes opener concerned with Canton's powerful offense.

"With what they do on offense, you've got to get a lot of guys on the line of scrimmage," Glenn coach Chuck Gordon said. "You've got to run stunts and twist and try to blow some plays up before they can form, because they're very good at what they do."

Blow some plays up? Glenn's defense nearly demolished Canton's offense in posting a 46-21 victory.

Glenn (2-0, No. 6 in Division 1) forced Canton (1-1) into five turnovers, which made the game more one-sided than it should have been.

Not to be outdone, the Glenn offense had its way with the Canton defense, marching up and down the field.

"It's all about the blocking," said tailback Tony Davis, who scored four touchdowns and gained 157 yards on 17 carries. "All week we said whoever was the more physical would win. Last week we were physical, but this week we were physical and we used our heads, too."

Davis recovered a fumble on Canton's first play from scrimmage and then carried the ball five straight times, scoring on a four-yard run. Jarret Smith's interception and 16-yard return set up Davis' one-yard TD run for a 14-0 lead with 1:20 left in the first quarter.

Canton regrouped and tied the game early in the third quarter. The Chiefs had the momentum, but they were forced to punt after committing a penalty on fourth-and-two. Matt Smitherman returned the punt 41 yards and then took a pitch and scored on a 26-yard run as Glenn took the lead for good with 2:19 left in the third quarter.

"It was a long punt and I could see the return coming," Smitherman said. "I looked at the 'D' and went up the middle. I cut left and then cut back again."

After another Canton fumble, quarterback Brian Ceckiewicz's short pass attempt was knocked down at the line of scrimmage. On the next play, he faked the same pass, dropped back and fired a 46-yard TD pass to Smith for a 28-14 lead with 11:03 left in the game.

"All week we told our kids, big games are never won in the first or second quarter and rarely in the third," Gordon said. "We had to be there in the fourth quarter. The game just erupted in the fourth quarter. We had several big plays in a row."

Davis added a 23-yard TD run and De'Anthony Granberry returned an interception 62 yards for a score. Davis closed out the scoring on a 91-yard run, the second-longest run in Glenn history.

"We're not used to having people run the ball on us like that," Canton coach Tim Baechler said. "Those turnovers were huge. They got 14 points from the get-go. Luckily we came back, but I'm very disappointed. We didn't play defense like a Canton team."

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