Chiefs rock Rockets in key grid win

By Richard L. Shook
Special Correspondent

It's not your classic league rivalry yet. But the Canton and Westland John Glenn football programs are working on it.

It isn't a classic rivalry yet because the Chiefs haven't been a league power long enough. But Coach Tim Baechler's squad is working on that.

Canton showed Friday night why it's emerging as a league power and a state playoff contender with a 20-7 victory over long-time league and state power John Glenn.

"That," said Rockets coach Chuck Gordon, "is a good football team. A very good football team."

Runs of 57, 48 and 4 yards by fullback Chuck Schumacher accounted for all of undefeated (2-0)

Canton's scoring. John Glenn (1-1) was denied the feel of the end zone until Matt Smitherman slipped in from the 1-yard line with 1:41 to play.

The Chiefs did it with a 'Three Yards and a Cloud of Rubber' offense on its own brand new artificial surface, which is the latest version of phony grass but with a generous sprinkling of ground up rubber that typically sprays up when players are sprinting and cutting.

The Rockets went with that time-tested offense, too. It's just that the Chiefs executed theirs a little better.

It was a lot more than the new power trying to usurp the throne of the old. At stake was the early edge in the Western Lakes Activities Association.

"When I first came here," Baechler said, "Walled Lake Western, John Glenn and Farmington Harrison were the bullies on the block. That's where we wanted to be. Well, now that we're one of the bullies, I'm not so sure.

"We do feel that hopefully tradition is coming for us. Our freshmen team and our junior varsity team both win.

"So our kids are expecting to win when they come here to us. Our freshmen coming in are excited to play football."

John Glenn missed starting junior quarterback Vinnie DeLuca, who is out with a broken foot. Junior Jon McCahill did a nice job filling in but Canton relied on its backs to cover Glenn's receivers - and they did. This allowed the Chiefs to load up on the line and keep Smitherman under some measure of control.

Smitherman gained a game-best 171 yards - but it took him 31 rushes to do it. Schumacher gained 161, but on 16 carries.

"The way he can cut is amazing," Baechler said of Smitherman. "We knew he had a sore ankle coming in. Our kids did a good job of not giving up any long runs."

The Rockets loaded up in front of the line, too, but sophomore quarterback Shawn Little was able to connect on 4-of-7 passes for 69 yards, three resulting in first downs.

Loading up to stop the run worked - except for Schumacher's two long touchdown runs. Both times he went through the middle, broke a tackle or two and burst past defenders into the clear.

"I thought we played really hard," Gordon said. "But we've got to play better and get better. But we'll get back at it. That's what we'll have to do."

Both teams played like the entire field was four-down territory. There were only three punts total and both teams gave up the ball on downs three times.

Canton's third possession resulted in Schumacher's 57-yard TD run, giving the team a 7-0 halftime lead.

John Glenn missed a 30-yard field goal try on the first possession of the second half and Schumacher reeled off his second long run two Canton possessions later. The Chiefs put the game out of reach on their next possession on a 68-yard drive that made it 20-0 with 4:16 left.

And a good rivalry took another step toward becoming a classic one.