People are beginning to take stock again in the Canton football program.

The Chiefs were upgraded to blue chip status Friday after demolishing previously unbeaten Livonia Stevenson, 30-0, on the Spartans' home turf.

Both teams are now 4-1 overall and 3-1 in the Western Lakes Activities Association.

Following a 46-21 loss in Week No. 2 to WLAA leader Westland John Glenn, Canton has reeled off three lopsided victories, including a 35-0 blanking of Walled Lake Western and a 56-12 pounding of Wayne Memorial.

"We're not turning the ball over, that's the difference,'' said Canton coach Tim Baechler, whose team played error-free football while outgaining the Spartans, 384-106, in total yards. "We moved the ball against Glenn, but we made six turnovers.

"When you're fumbling the ball or getting holding calls, you're not going to win many games.''

Against Stevenson, Canton put 20 second-half points on the board to put the game away, but it was a late first-half touchdown that broke the Spartans' back.

After Ankit Kachhal booted a 38-yard field goal with 9:23 left in the half to give Canton a 3-0 lead, Stevenson marched the ball down to the Chiefs' 10-yard line.

Faced with a fourth-and-1 situation with 2:21 remaining, the Spartans' Brian Alpert tried a quarterback sneak, but he momentarily lost his footing and was stopped short of the first-down marker thanks to the efforts of Canton sophomore linebacker Jake Powers and 315-pound nose guard Derek Johnson.

"We knew they (Stevenson) had a huge tendency to quarterback sneak in those situations,'' said Baechler, whose Chiefs had 17 first downs to Stevenson's six. "They had been getting 3-4 yards on those kind of plays and we just said, 'There it is.' ''

Canton then took the ball 90 yards in only in seven plays capped by quarterback Dave Nicoloff's clutch fourth-and-11 pass to a wide open Devin Thomas, the TD going 18 yards, with only 40 seconds left.

Meanwhile, Stevenson coach Tim Gabel was second-guessing himself for going with the sneak.

"It was a bad call on my part,'' he said. "We didn't execute it. We went from 10-0 down instead of being up 7-3.

"High school football is a game of momentum. It seemed their offense took over the game from that point on, from their own 10. We let one or two plays go against us that really affected us.''

Ironically, the TD pass was Nicoloff's only completion in three attempts.

A 31-yard keeper by Nicoloff followed by a 43-yard run by Reggie Joyner (15 carries for 119 yards) helped set up the score.

"We don't let our quarterback throw a lot, but Dave (Nicoloff) is starting to calm down and get his confidence,'' Baechler said. "He's playing better and starting to make plays.''

Stevenson's defense seemed deflated in the second half as Canton began to wear down the Spartans, led by the blocking of guards Jeff Sartor and Mark Kersten, with their precision Wing-T attack.

"Our guards are athletic, I don't like them too big,'' Baechler said. "We want quick athletes who are strong.''

Canton took the opening drive of the second half and marched 66 yards in 10 plays, capped by Corey Rutledge's 5-yard TD run to make it 17-0.

Canton added another TD in the third quarter on a 15-yard run by Rutledge (11 carries, 78 yards) set up by a 43-yard Thomas run.

Ahead 24-0 entering the final period, Canton scored again with exactly 10 minutes left on Joyner's 27-yard TD.

"We melted down in the second half after getting stopped in the red zone,'' Gabel said. "We still think we're a pretty good team, but obviously Canton is very good.

"We got down so fast, it changed what we wanted to do. We had to go for bigger plays instead of running our normal stuff in the second half.''

The Spartans played for the second straight game without senior tailback Matt McCowan, who had racked up 560 yards in Stevenson's first three victories. He did not dress because of an ankle sprain.

But Gabel refused to make excuses.

"I thought we'd battle better in the second half,'' he said. "They played four quarters and we didn't. That's why they're a good team.''

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