Thomas' catch sends Canton to 49-27 win over Glenn

November 2, 2002

BY MICK MCCABE
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER

Early Friday afternoon, Canton halfback Devin Thomas saw assistant coach Jake Houser and had a prediction for Canton's opening Division 1 playoff game.

"If the ball comes my way, my butt is coming down with it," Thomas said.

In a game in which Canton ran for 458 yards, Thomas' 26-yard reception on fourth down was the play of the night and helped Canton to a 49-27 victory over Westland Glenn.

Canton (9-1) was in control most of the game but Glenn battled back to tie the score midway through the third quarter. The Chiefs had the ball on Glenn's 27 when Dave Nicoloff lofted a fourth-down pass that looked like it was about to be intercepted. Somehow, Thomas came down with the ball at Glenn's 1 and Reggie Joyner scored two plays later to put the Chiefs ahead for good.

"When I saw the ball up there, I knew it was my chance," Thomas said. "Dave put it up there for me. I told myself I had to go get it to give us a chance."

Joyner was spectacular, running for 213 yards and three touchdowns on 20 carries. He set the tone for the game on the third play from scrimmage when he took a handoff, raced around left end and sprinted 66 yards for the opening score.

"I was running to the outside and I saw two crack back blocks," Joyner said. "I turned the corner and I saw the biggest hole. I'll give that first touchdown to the offensive line."

Corey Rutledge's eight-yard TD run gave the Chiefs a quick 13-0 lead, but Glenn (8-2) scored when receiver Jerret Smith fired a 70-yard TD pass to De'Anthony Granberry. Smith then returned an interception 30 yards to set up Vinnie DeLuca's three-yard TD pass to Granberry for a 14-13 Glenn lead with 8:01 left in the second quarter.

"When that happened, I was disappointed," Canton coach Tim Baechler said. "I was hoping they would say: 'You know what, we're better than they are.' "

Three plays later Thomas took an inside handoff and raced 74 yards for a 21-14 halftime lead.

DeLuca, who was subbing for injured starter Brian Ceckiewicz, was running for his life when he fired a 56-yard touchdown pass to Smith to tie the score at 21 early in the third quarter. But Thomas made his big catch and the Chiefs rolled to the win, avenging their 46-21 loss to Glenn in the second week of the season.

"Obviously, we didn't turn the ball over tonight," said Baechler, whose team had five turnovers in the first meeting. "We executed and made plays when we had to make plays. Reggie just wanted the ball tonight."

Joyner enjoyed a night few backs have against Glenn's defense.

"We knew they were going to be stunting a lot," Joyner said. "All week in practice we worked the offensive line and they came through. I think we did good a good job in the offensive line."

Glenn never got its running game going and couldn't stop the Chiefs.

"You're playing catch up so the running game was out of the equation," Glenn coach Chuck Gordon said. "They play power football and they come at you with a lot of different formations, plus they've got some speed. They're a good football team; they're going to make a run at it."

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