STAFF WRITER

Some coaches spare their team the agony of watching game films of particularly humbling defeats.

Livonia Franklin coach Chris Kelbert is going to make his team watch every minute of film from Friday night's 49-0 loss to Canton.

"They're going to watch the film because I want them to see what it takes to become a good football team," said Kelbert, whose team fell to 0-3 (0-1 in Western Lakes Activities Association's Western Division). "Canton executes to perfection. Their offensive line is the most impressive part of their team. They have some talented skilled players, too, but it all starts with their line."

Canton (3-0, 1-0) couldn't have played much better than it did in the first half. Offensively, the Chiefs scored on every possession and defensively they forced four Franklin turnovers.

"I'm sure we'll find a few mistakes when we watch the film, but overall we played very well," Canton coach Tim Baechler said. "We knew Franklin was a tough and scrappy team, but our kids came out and executed tonight."

Canton senior running back Julian Smith enjoyed a career night, accounting for 133 yards in total offense and four of the Chiefs' seven touchdowns - all in the first half. Smith ran for 53 yards on five carries and hauled in two Shawn Little scoring passes of 46 and 34 yards.

Canton fullback Chuck Schumacher also turned in a stellar effort, grinding out 95 yards on eight carries.

The Chiefs amassed 357 yards in total offense in the first half compared to Franklin's 58. Canton managed just seven yards in offense in the second half, but its first-string offense was on the bench.

Things went from bad to worse quickly for the Patriots, who were off-sides on the opening kick-off. It turned out to be a bad omen for Franklin, which moved the ball back five yards, and re-kicked it into the hands of Smith, who returned the ball 65 yards to the Franklin 17.

Seven plays later, Smith scored from 2 yards out. Collin O'Shaughnessy converted the first of his seven extra points to make it 7-0.

The Chiefs made it 14-0 three minutes later when Andy Rossow dashed 33 yards to paydirt.

Canton's third and fourth TD's were the result of one-play drives: a 51-yard up-the-middle sprint by Schumacher and a 46-yard pass from Little to Smith with 1:59 to go in the first quarter. The Little-to-Smith TD pass was set up by the first of two David Neu interceptions.

Little scored on a quarterback keeper on the first play of the second quarter to make it 35-0.

Smith closed out the scoring with a 6-yard TD run with 8:37 to go in the half and a 34-yard TD reception with 2:52 remaining.

The 35-point MHSAA mercy rule kicked in at the start of the second half, which flew by with no scoring. Franklin threatened on its final possession, driving to the Canton 6 against the Chiefs' second-string defense, but a fourth-down pass into the end zone fell incomplete.

"We wanted the shutout, but we didn't do anything to save it at the end," Baechler said. "We played all our kids in the second half, and they did a great job. I was especially proud of the way we stopped them on the final four plays at the end."

Franklin mustered just 16 yards on 27 carries. It fared much better through the air as quarterbacks Matthew McCullough and Eric Pacifici combined to complete 12 of 21 passes for 123 yards.

Patriot receiver Brian Aneed caught six passes for 63 yards.

The most deceiving stat of the night was the first-down battle, which Franklin won, 10-5.

More importantly, the Patriots lost the touchdown battle, 7-0.