Canton ready to face state power CC

This is all about control.
You have two coaches who would like nothing more than to be in complete control of the game they're playing. Since their teams are going against each other, someone's bound to be disappointed.

At 7 p.m. Friday, Canton will host Redford Catholic Central for the championship of Division 1, Region 3 in the state football tournament. Canton is unbeaten (11-0), boasting its best record in school history; CC is 10-1 and pursuing another state title (the Shamrocks have won five of them since 1995, including the last two and 15 of its last 16 playoff games).

Both CC's Tom Mach and Canton's Tim Baechler would like to pound the ball on the ground, using four running backs to punish their opponents. Long scoring drives would make both coaches happy - as long as it was their team doing the driving.

So Friday's game comes down to defense; who's team can stop the other's.

Last year, when these teams met in the second round, CC kept Canton out of the end zone, made a couple of key plays, forced a couple of mistakes and ground out a 24-7 win.

"I thought we competed with them, they just made more plays than we did," said Baechler. "They deserved to win. It seemed we moved the ball between the 30s but then bogged down.

"Last year they made the plays - I've got to give them credit. But we made a lot of mistakes."

For Canton, adjusting to those mistakes made in last year's game is a key component to beating CC on Friday. As Baechler noted: "As (Florida State coach) Bobby Bowden says about the game of football, 'Most games are lost, not won.'"

Translation: make mistakes and you lose.

Mach knows how important this game is, but refuses to get caught up in the hype of two Observer-area teams facing each other.

"Going into each game, we prepare exactly the same way as we always have," said Mach. "This might get more billing because it's a local game, but we're constantly playing big games throughout the entire year. The next game you play is always the biggest one to worry about."

What the Chiefs bring to the table is, obviously, a perfect record - something CC hasn't faced in this year's playoffs. The Shamrocks have faced running teams like Canton's; question is, were they as good as the Chiefs?

"I'd say they have three real solid backs and they make big plays and go right at you, grind it out," said Mach, referring to Canton's Chuck Schumacher, Travis McKinney and Devin Thomas. "I think ball control is something we have to be concerned about. We have to try and get it back once they have it.

"That's always a concern when a team runs like they do."

Of course, Baechler could say much the same thing about the Shamrocks. "They have so many options," he said. "Obviously there's Derek Brooks, they run two fullbacks effectively, (Darnell) Tyson will get the ball a few times a game, and their tight ends can run and catch.

"They've just got a neat package. Just look at what they do and it seems simple, but it's not so simple to stop. We've got to try and stop everything, put them in third-and-5 (yards) or more and then make them punt."

Which brings into focus the key elements of any game: making big plays and keeping mistakes to a minimum. Both are pivotal; both are intertwined.

One thing Baechler learned from last year's game was don't preach perfection. When a team has won as many championships as CC has, an opponent often times beats itself psychologically. The Chiefs, Baechler believes, did that by believing they had to be perfect to win.

"That's just not going to happen," Baechler said. "You're not going to play a perfect game. You're going to make mistakes."

How a team handles mistakes is more important. Four 12-minute quarters leaves no time for despair.

Certainly, CC is the type of team to both dish that out and handle it. Against South Lyon last Saturday, the Shamrocks found themselves in an early 14-0 hole and clambered out to go up 17-14 in the third quarter. Then they lost that lead after a turnover and, midway through the third period, they were down 20-14.

Yet CC knew what to do, eventually winning 40-20.

Asked what he thought this game hinged on, Mach responded, "I think defense, which team is able to stop what the other is trying to do, which puts them in a bind and keeps them from playing control football.

"Like all great seasons and great games, it comes down to defense in the end."

Canton's biggest advantage might be the home field, playing on a Friday night (CC usually plays on Saturday afternoons) on artificial turf.

But the Shamrocks have played on that type of turf, too. And they've been in more close games than Canton - that could be a factor. And never discount their string of championships.

It looks to be an interesting match-up, and will likely be decided by a factor both coaches abhor, simply because they have little control over it: intangibles, a generalization that puts such elements as missed tackles, penalties and blown blocking assignments together with fumbles, dropped passes and interceptions.

What fun.