Canton's ground attack steamrolls Northville, 41-22

The high school football season is only three weeks old, but Canton's renowned running attack appears to be in mid-season form.

The Chiefs churned out 423 yards rushing Friday night in their 41-22 triumph over host Northville in a game that was delayed twice by lightning.

The victory improved Canton's record to 2-1 (1-0 in the WLAA Western Division) heading into Friday's game against cross-campus foe Plymouth.

Senior fullback Jordan Raiford punished the mid-section of the Mustangs' defense for 202 yards on 17 carries and three touchdowns. Senior Tim Klott (11 carries, 89 yards, one TD) and senior quarterback Adam Powers (five carries, 47 yards, TD) also carried their share of the load.

Canton outgained Northville, 423-273 in total yards.

Northville senior quarterback Aaron Chew completed 7-of-16 passes for 74 yards and a score while their running backs combined for 199 yards on 30 carries.

The Chiefs nearly doubled the Mustangs in first downs, 21-11, as they converted 9-of-10 third-down plays.

The Mustangs jumped to an early 3-0 lead thanks to Max Bojovic's 32-yard field goal with 6:55 left in the first quarter.

Just over four minutes later, Powers gave Canton a lead it would never relinquish when he found paydirt from 24 yards out. Daniel Stoney followed with his first of four extra points to make it 7-3.

Raiford notched a pair of TD's - 25 and 30 yarders - to extend Canton's halftime advantage to 19-9. The Mustangs lone first-half TD came on an 18-yard scoring strike from Chew.

Raiford's 1-yard burst into the end zone five minutes into the third quarter extended Canton's lead to 26-9.

Klott (1-yard TD run) and Jerome Scales (5-yard TD) capped the scoring for the winners.

Senior linebacker Dan Wanshon led the Chiefs' defensive charge with seven tackles. Junior free safety David Wilcox pitched in with five stops and senior linebacker Cam Phelps added four.

Canton led 33-15 after three quarters.

The Chiefs were penalized four times for 27 yards. The Mustangs committed five infractions for 65 yards.

Friday night's Canton-Plymouth game is set to kick off at 7 p.m. at the P-CEP varsity football stadium.