November 5, 2005
BY TOM LANG
FREE
PRESS SPECIAL WRITER
In high school football, momentum swings and big plays are major factors in determining the outcome.
Canton's 63-34 win over Detroit Cody in the Division 1 district final was such a contest.
Cody kept the game close midway through the third quarter on big plays, but host Canton swung the momentum on back-to-back touchdowns by Deshon McClendon. He scored on a six-yard run with 5:10 left in the third.
Then on Cody's first play in the next series, McClendon returned an interception 35 yards for his second TD in less than 20 seconds.
"After trading all those touchdowns, the turning point came with that interception," said Canton coach Tim Baechler.
Canton grabbed an early 21-0 edge on touchdowns by Matt Sweda (two yards), Andrew Rossow (five yards) and Chris Woudstra (13 yards), the latter with 8:29 left in the half. But a 67-yard fumble return by Cody's Eric Terry to the Canton 2 was the first of several big plays that brought Cody back.
After Cody's Louis Beal scored, Jalen Fluker intercepted Canton and to set up a 35-yard TD pass from Allen Adams to Andre Petway, closing the margin to 21-14. But Canton scored on a 32-yard pass from Shawn Little to Rossow as time expired in the half, making it 28-14.
Petway added TD receptions of 54 yards and 61 yards in the third quarter, with a Canton score in between to make it 35-26, but the Chiefs controlled the ball and pulled away. Little, Rossow and Corey Nicoloff added TD runs for Canton.
Adams finished with 362 yards passing, but was sacked three times. McClendon finished with 168 yards rushing.