CANTON — It won't win any beauty competitions but Canton coach Tyler Sechrist will take grit and grind oany day of the week as the Warriors gutted out a 14-6 win over Wellsboro in NTL football action Saturday.

"It wasn't pretty but we'll take that win," Sechrist said. 

The Warriors were flagged 15 times for 133-yards, 90 of those coming in the first half off 11 flags, while they had two turnovers.

But their defense never wavered. After giving up an opening drive touchdown they allowed no more points and held the Hornets to just 73 total yards.

Four different players registered sacks on the day, and they held Wellsboro to minus-8 rushing yards.

At one point Wellsboro went two quarters without a first down and had just three first downs in the second half.

"We had a really good defensive game plan in this week, and the guys really executed it and were confident in it," said Sechrist. "I feel like they played a little faster, a little more confident, and I think that helped us."

Offensively the Warriors massed nearly 300 yards, usually being their own worst enemy when things went wrong on that end.

"I feel like we should have won that one by a couple more scores," said Sechrist. "We've made some mistakes, a lot of mistakes that we need to clean up, but it's a big step forward for us if we want to play some district football this year."

Owen Moore was strong in the pocket, throwing for 210-yards on 12-for-18 passing with one touchdown, and one interception.

"It feels great," he said about the win. "Last year we made a lot of mistakes. I threw five interceptions, and we got killed, and to come out and win this football game a year later, it's a lot. It's a very, very good feeling to get that under our belt."

Rylan Wesneski was his top target, hauling in seven passes for 121-yards.

"He's a great receiver," Moore said. "He has great hands, he's one of them guys where, if we need a big catch, we got to Rylan. He's one of those very reliable receivers."

Bailey Gardner had two catches for 58-yards and a touchdown, while Monte Whitehead (one catch, 15-yards), Aaden Dowling (one catch, 9-yards), and Jaiden Ortiz (one catch, 7-yards) also got in on the air attack.

Gardner also poured out 61-yards on 13 carries with Ortiz adding 26-yards on six rushes. Moore had the team's lone rushing touchdown.

Wellsboro was hit by the injury bug in the first quarter as starting quarterback Griffin Morral went down for the game during the opening drive.

He was 3-for-5 for 22-yards throwing the ball, while rushing for 12-yards on two carries.

"It's tough with Wellsboro's quarterback going out," remarked Sechrist. "All teams go through that. We went through that a lot last year. We've got to be able to capitalize things like that, and we did."

Derrick Blasz stepped in, going 6-for-16 for 51-yards with a touchdown, and an interception.

Reed Richardson (eight carries, 12-yards) tied Morral for Wellsboro's top rusher on the afternoon.

Max Mascho hauled in three catches for 31-yards, and a score as one of six Hornet receivers to record a reception on the day.

It was a methodical opening drive by Wellsboro, who went 82-yards on 15-plays that took up 7:38 on the clock.

Blasz hit Mascho for a 26-yard scoring strike up the middle of the field on third-and-5.

A fourth down conversion on a 3-yard Richardson run to get a new step of downs. The Hornets converted another fourth down with a Morrall 4-yard run.

A bad snap kept Wellsboro from adding the point after and it was 6-0 with 4:13 left in the opening frame.

Canton wasted no time getting down field in their ensuing drive as on the first play from scrimmage Moore hit Wesneski for a 22-yard pick-up.

To plays later Moore found Weseneski for a 17-yard gain to get down inside the Hornet Red Zone. A 15-yard run from Ortiz set up the Warriors at 1st-and-goal down to the Wellsboro 8-yard.

That's when things got bogged down, partially from Wellsboro's defense - Moore was sacked on second down - and also from penalties as a holding call backed Canton up to the 14.

The Hornets stymied Canton on the next two downs to get a turnover on downs.

However, two plays into Wellsboro's ensuing drive a bad snap led to a Brayden Tucker fumble recovery, giving Canton the ball back at the Wellsboro 9-yard line.

Three plays later Moore punched it in from a yard out to even up the score. Aaden Dowling added the point after, and it was 7-6 Warriors with 10:48 left in the half.

That's when the defenses dug in with the Hornets going 3-and-out. A 14-yard Gardner run to open Canton's next drive was a good start but it got bogged down after a false start call and they ended up punting.

Another Wellsboro drive ended in a punt Canton's ensuing drive went 10-plays but ended in a Christian Main interception, which led to halftime.

Canton got the ball to start the second half and took over at the Wellsboro 48-yard line after a short kick.

It looked like another empty drive but on 4th-and-6 Moore rolled out left, broke two tackles, then hit Gardner down field. Gardner broke a pair of tackles himself en route to a 44-yard touchdown catch.

"I dropped back and I just said a prayer and threw that ball," Moore described. "I got hit really hard, and Bailey Gardner, he's a great athlete. He caught that ball, and made it work. That was very big for us."

Dowling's kick was good and Canton led 14-6 with 10:42 left in the third.

Moore came up big on the very first Wellsboro play as he hauled in an interception. 

That began a stretch of football where neither offense did much but go backwards and punt. Canton did get down to the Wellsboro 24-yard line but turned it over on downs.

Late in the third Wellsboro was finally able to get some things going, getting out to midfield, but Canton forced a punt.

However, the two Warrior punt returners collided when they fielded the ball, and it ended up in the hands of Hornet Sawyer Mead.

Wellsboro took over at the Canton 29-yard line, but went nowhere, eventually turning it over on downs.

The next Warrior drive got down to the Wellsboro 15-yard line before a sack on Moore gave the ball back to the Hornets.

However, The Hornets were forced to punt after back to back sacks by Brayden Dodge and Brooks Wesneski.

The Warriors then went on a time killing drive, with a 54-yard pass from Moore to Rylan Wesneski  on third-and-24 from their own 21-yard line, getting them a new set of downs and changing fields for them.

"That's what football is about," Moore said about the pass. "That's the exciting part."

The Warriors tried to kill the clock, getting down to the Wellsboro 28-yard line, but turned it over on downs with two seconds left.

The Blasz desperation heave was knocked down by Moore, and Canton came away from the game 3-1.

They will hit the road for the first time next week as they travel to South Williamsport.

"They're a different kind of beast," said Sechrist. "We've just got to be physical with them. South always plays physical, heavy run football, but they do have a quarterback who can throw. They're going to be a tough team, and I'm excited about it."

CANTON 14, WELLSBORO 6

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

W - Derrick Blasz 26-yard pass to Max Mascho (kick failed), 4:13

Second Quarter

C - Owen Moore 1-yard run (Aaden Dowling kick), 10:48

Third Quarter

C - Owen Moore 44-yard pass to Bailey Gardner (Dowling kick), 10:42

Individual Stats

Wellsboro 

Rushing

Griffin Morral 2-12, Reed Richardson 8-12, Max Mascho 7-6, Team 1-(-10), Derrick Blasz 6-(-28)

Passing

Derrick Blasz 6-16-51-1-1, Griffin Morral 3-5-22-0-0

Receiving

Max Mascho 3-31-1, Grady Morral 1-12, Colton Hauser, 1-10, Christian Main 2-8, Reed Richardson 1-7, Kody Enck 1-5

Canton

Rushing

Bailey Gardner 13-61, Jaiden Ortiz 6-26, Brayden Tucker 5-4, Owen Moore 14-(-15)-1

Passing

Owen Moore 12-18-210-1-1, Bailey Gardner 0-1-0-0-0

Receiving

Rylan Wesneski 7-121, Bailey Gardner 2-58-1, Monte Whitehead 1-15, Aaden Doling 1-9, Jaiden Ortiz 1-7

Team stats Wellsboro Canton

Rushes/Yards 24/-8 38/76

Passing Yards 73 210

First Downs 9 14

Penalties/Yards 8/64 15/133

Fumbles/Lost 2/1 2/1

Interceptions: Wellsboro - Christian Main, Canton - Owen Moore

— —