Canton rushes past King, 48-21

November 12, 2005

BY MICK McCABE
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER

Deshon McClendon took the opening kickoff and weaved his way through the Detroit King defenders for 64 yards to give Canton the ball on King's 24-yard line. Two plays later, McClendon scored on a six-yard run.

"That definitely was a tone-setter because we were able to get it in the end zone on that drive," said McClendon. "It's always good to start out with that great of field position because in our offense, field position is a must."

In Canton's offense Friday night, it didn't matter where the Chiefs took the ball, they were scoring.

Canton scored on its first seven possessions to overwhelm King, 48-21, to claim its first regional championship in school history.

The win sends the Chiefs into next Saturday's Division 1 semifinal game against Macomb Dakota at Troy Athens at 1 p.m.

Canton's ground game was so good out of the tight T-formation, the Chiefs ran for 255 yards -- and that was just in the first half. They totaled 461 yards rushing.

"We played everything," said King coach Jim Reynolds. "We played every imaginable eight- to 11-man front we could play. You have to give them credit -- they can block."

Canton (10-2) was so effective running the ball, the Chiefs didn't have to attempt a pass.

"We were going to throw a pass, we were in a two-play huddle, but Andy Rossow scored so we didn't have to pass all night," explained quarterback Shawn Little. "Our run game was working so we just kept running up the middle and running outside -- don't do anything stupid with the ball."

King (9-3) cut the lead to 13-7 late in the first quarter, but McClendon answered with a 29-yard TD run, and Rossow's 25-yarder made it 27-7 at the half.

McClendon capped a 97-yard drive with a five-yard run for a 34-7 lead on Canton's first possession of the second half.

McClendon finished with 171 yards on 22 carries, and Dalton Walser added 129 yards on 17 carries.

"He's a little water bug kind of guy," Reynolds said of McClendon. "But in order to stop them, the teams that beat them tackled him. That's what we were supposed to be doing, tackling him every time."

King did tackle McClendon on the opening kickoff, but not until he had set the tone for the game.

"That was huge," said Canton coach Tim Baechler. "Last year in the district final, they kicked it to our best kid and he fumbled it and picked it up and we got stuffed on our 15-yard line. He was like: 'Man, I want this ball.' He was going to do something with it."

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