Jeff Theisen
October 23, 2008
Reprinted with permission of the Novi News
Canton was almost perfect on offense in a 38-21 victory Friday night at Novi to sew up the Kensington Conference championship.
The Chiefs pounded the ball early and often with the run, scoring on all six of their possessions to put a damper on Novi's Homecoming weekend.
"Congratulations to coach Tim Baechler," Novi head coach Tab Kellepourey said. "They are a good squad and deserving of the championship. We say hats off to them."
The score got a little out of hand late. Novi scored a pair of touchdowns less than a minute apart early in the fourth to pull within 24-21. Canton didn't panic.
The Chiefs took the next possession 80 yards to go up 31-21 with 6:38 remaining.
The defense held and got the ball back deep in Novi territory.
Kiere Daniels scored the final touchdown of the night with 2:54 left, and the game was out of reach.
"We won four (titles) in our 11 years (in the WLAA)," Canton head coach Tim Baechler said. "We had kind of a downer year last year at 5-4. It's good to get back on track and get another championship."
Canton started the night with an 80-yard drive, all on the ground. Davion Stackhouse rumbled in from the four to put the Chiefs up 7-0.
The lead grew to 14-0 following a pick by Bryan Gerst.
The Chiefs offense mowed down 85 yards in nine plays, again all on the ground. Adam Payter took a handoff up the middle from 20 yards out with 1:03 remaining in the opening quarter.
"That's what we do. We want to establish the run and pound it, pound it and pound it," Baechler said. "Just like it's concrete. Hopefully, it breaks or cracks or then you can go over the slab, and we were able to do that, too."
The Wildcats got on the board with a long drive that ate up more than seven minutes when Paul Favorite scored on a 14-yard run.
The Chiefs added a 31-yard field goal by Daniel Stoney and took a 17-6 lead into the half.
Novi stalled out on the opening drive of the second half, and Canton fired right back down the field.
Daniels scored from the five and Canton had its biggest lead of the game at 24-6, and things looked bleak for Novi.
But how quickly things can change in high school football.
Favorite finished off another long drive for Novi with a six-yard run, and the Wildcats completed a two-point pass to get within 24-14 with 10:54 left.
Dan Kilger knocked an onsides kick straight forward and actually recovered the ball after it bounced off a Chief player.
Two plays later, Novi was within three when quarterback Chris Bellamy hit Brandon Bradford with a 26-yard score.
But to the Chiefs credit, they went right back to the run to get deep into Novi territory before quarterback Kevin Delapaz found Todd Turfe wide open in the end zone for a 16-yard score.
The defense held and the offense put the game away.
"They're going to put points up," Kellepourey said. "We knew we had to answer with points ourselves.
"We're a good team and we're going to be all right. We've just got to recover from this Homecoming loss."