CANTON – In what figures to be a wide open race for supremacy in District 4 Class A this season, there’s no telling how a Week 1 game between two very young teams could end up making a difference come the end of the season.
And while there’s still nine more weeks to determine its significance, at the very least, Canton came away with a close win that it feels can build some momentum going forward.
In a game that featured a grand total of just eight seniors between the rosters of both teams, Canton got a big second half from tailback Bailey Gardner, and combined that with a +3 turnover margin to top Northwest 17-6.
“I think a lot of it was conditioning. I told them, even on the line, you could see it, we were a little better conditioned. They wore down and we still had some gas in the tank,” said Canton coach Tyler Sechrist. “Bailey Gardner ran really well in the second half. He was cramping a lot so he really didn’t play a lot after that first drive but he ran hard all night.
“I think this momentum is really going to carry over and help us next week and having that momentum from a win. It would have been tough to bounce back from a loss but it gives you a little wind in your sails getting a win in Week 1.”
After being held to just 37 rushing yards in the first half, Gardner racked up 62 yards on Canton’s first three plays of the second half, the last of which was a 16-yard touchdown run to extend Canton’s one-point lead, and he would finish the game with 154 yards on the ground.
The Warriors also forced three Northwest turnovers on the Rangers’ final three possessions of the game, which although didn’t directly lead to any points for Canton, effectively killed any chance of a possible comeback as Northwest trailed by 11 entering the fourth quarter.
“Our guys were flying around and I appreciate them for laying their hearts out on the line, but we shot ourselves in the foot,” said Northwest coach Stephen Nestorick. “We fumbled the ball a few times, dropped some wide open passes. You clean that up and it’s a way different game.”
It was the first Northwest turnover of what would be four on the night, though, that did lead to Canton’s only first half score, as well as a missed opportunity. Leading 6-0 after the first quarter, Mason Bilby picked off a Rylan Wesneski pass deep in Northwest territory, giving the Rangers the ball at their own 8-yard line at the 10:14 mark of the second quarter.
But two plays later, Noah Arnett hauled in a short screen pass but fumbled as he attempted to make his way up the field, and it was recovered by Canton. Three plays after that, Gardner took a handoff at the goal line but fumbled before he was able to break the plane. But offensive lineman Daniel Inman recovered it in the end zone for a touchdown, giving Canton the 7-6 lead.
“It’s hard to stop that kind of thing when you fumble inside your own 10. You just have to have good ball security,” said Nestorick. “With the kids being so young, that stuff will come in time, so if we clean that stuff up, I think we’ll be formidable.”
“We put the keys to win tonight up in the locker room and those were win the turnover margin, win the big-play margin – make more big plays – and we did both of those, and the third one was don’t have many missed tackles,” said Sechrist. “I’m proud of the way they came out. We made a lot of mistakes, some of that was first-game jitters. It wasn’t clean in the first half but we really picked it up in the second half.”
That lead was extended less than a minute into the second half after Gardner ripped off runs of 31, 13 and 16 yards consecutively to make it 14-6.
On Canton’s next possession, the Warriors drove 57 yards in seven plays, which included a 38-yard pickup by Gardner after which he left the game with a cramp, but that still helped set up a 30-yard field goal by Alexis McRoberts to make it 17-6 at the 6:34 mark of the third quarter.
Northwest, meanwhile, was held to -13 rushing yards in the second half, and just 55 yards overall in the second half. This came after a first half in which the Rangers amassed 122 yards, including a couple of chunk plays.
Arnett found Christopher Martinez for a 55-yard reception on a trick play that flipped the field early in the first quarter. But that drive ended with a missed 27-yard field goal.
Shane Hempel ripped off a 19-yard run on the first play of Northwest’s next drive, and Martinez hauled in another pass, this one for 13 yards from Bilby, for a first down. Both plays helped set up the Rangers deep in Canton territory, and they would take advantage as Loegan Diltz punched it in for an eight-yard touchdown run in the final minute of the first quarter.
But from that point forward, Northwest would only manage to gain 53 offensive yards the remainder of the game. They had a 60-yard touchdown run by Diltz later in the second quarter called back due to a holding penalty.
“It’s encouraging – some of the plays on offense – you saw Loegan Diltz take a sweep down the sideline that got called back on a hold, so we have to clean that up,” said Nestorick. “That was sort of our MO last year – fumbles and penalties – and it came up again tonight, so we just need to hammer down on those little things. I said that all of last year, and I’m saying it again right now, which is a bit frustrating, but we’ll get there.”
Canton 17, Northwest 6
Northwest (0-1) 6 0 0 0 – 6
Canton (1-0) 0 7 10 0 – 17
First quarter
:53 – (N) Loegan Diltz 8-yard run (pass failed), 6-53, 1:27
Second quarter
8:10 – (C) Daniel Inman fumble recovery in end zone (McRoberts kick), 3-8, 1:20
Third quarter
11:15 – (C) Bailey Gardner 16-yard run (McRoberts kick), 3-60, :45
6:34 – (C ) Alexis McRoberts 30-yard field goal, 7-57, 3:36
Statistics
NW C
First downs 10 14
Rushes-net yards 26-36 52-202
Passing yardage 141 95
Passing 7-2-10-2 4-9-0-1
Fumbles-lost 5-2 4-0
Penalties-yards 6-58 9-66
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Northwest: Loegan Diltz (9-24-1), Shane Hempel (6-27), Ben Bonham (5-22), Mason Bilby (4-(-36)), Noah Arnett (2-(-1)); Canton: Bailey Gardner (21-154-1), Rylan Wesneski (16-44), Owen Moore (7-(-11)), Brayden Tucker (6-17), TEAM (2-(-2))
PASSING: Northwest: Mason Bilby (6-18-86-0-2), Loegan Diltz (0-2-0-0-0), Noah Arnett (1-1-55-0-0); Canton: Rylan Wesneski (4-8-95-0-1), TEAM (0-1-0-0-0)
RECEIVING: Northwest: Christopher Martinez (2-68), Wyatt Orlowski (2-60), Loegan Diltz (2-13), Noah Arnett (1-0); Canton: Monte Whitehead (2-79), Bailey Gardner (1-12), Ryder Route (1-4)