Northern Tier Sports Report

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NTL FOOTBALL: CANTON FALLS LATE TO ATHENS IN THRILLER (2024-09-08)

BY CHRIS MANNING
Northern Tier Sports Report
CANTON — It was one of those games kids always dream of being in, a back and forth thriller, but one team has to come out on the losing end of those, and, unfortunately for Canton, it was them this time as they fell 48-42 to Athens in NTL football action Saturday.

“It was exciting,” said Canton coach Tyler Sechrist. “We ended up on the wrong end of it, but that’s the way football games go. We made too many mistakes, I did a poor job as a defensive coordinator. When you give up 50 points you’re not going to be able to win a football game, most likely, but I’m proud of the boys. They gave themselves a shot, we had a legit chance down there to win the game, and it just shows that they don’t quit.”

It came down to the final play, a Ben Fitch pass into the end zone that hit his receiver in the hands, but an Athens defender stripped it to preserve the Wildcat win.

The Wildcats out gained them 449-284 yards but Warriors kept things even with their big special teams plays. The Warriors had four one play drives that ended in touchdowns set up by big kick-off or punt returns, but they didn’t have an answer for Connor Davidson.

The sophomore quarterback ran for 202 yards and four touchdowns on 34 carries while going 9-for-17 for 183-yards with two touchdowns, accounting for all six of his team’s offensive touchdowns.

Athens ran for 266-yards on 53 carries as a team, with Lucas Persun adding 52-yards on 13 touches. They gashed Canton time and again up the middle all game long.

After a slow start throwing the ball - Davidson completed just two passes on his first eight drop backs - he went 7-for-9 the rest of the way, hitting six different receivers on the day. Gage Marmor had two catches for 60-yards, as Sean Peters caught two passes for 42-yards plus a score. Keegan Congdon had 41-yards receiving and a touchdown on two receptions, while Persun had a big 35-yard reception off a screen during the game winning drive.

“The guys kept battling back,” said Sechrist. “Every time it looked like they might start to take control the guys fought back. It stinks to lose, it does, but you’re going to lose, and you’ve got to learn how to deal with it. Athens has got a good football team, and that Davidson kid is a lot of trouble. We tried to set some stuff for him - we had (Dawson) Burgess out, but there’s no excuse - defensively things were mixed up a little bit. He just creates a lot of problems.”

Canton had some impressive numbers in their own right, with Bailey Gardner rushing for 110-yards and three scores on 18 carries, while Ben Fitch had eight rushes for 44-yards and two touchdowns. Fitch was also 11-for-17 for 110-yards with a touchdown.

Aydin Holcomb was his top target, hauling in six catches for 79-yards and a score, while Zach Colton had two catches for 24-yards.

The Wildcats set the tone early as Canton took the opening kick-off only for Davidson to catch Holcomb behind the line of scrimmage for an 8-yard loss on the first play from scrimmage.

The Warriors ended up punting with Athens taking over on the Canton 45-yard line. They needed just eight plays to get to pay dirt as Davidson punched it in from a yard out with 6:54 on the clock.

A 30-yard run from Davidson on the second play from scrimmage set up that touchdown, as Adam Kemp hit the point after for the 7-0 lead.

Holden Ward gave Canton great field position for their next possession, returning it to the Athens 30-yard line off the ensuing kick-off. However, the Wildcats forced them to turn it over on downs.

After being called for holding on the first play from scrimmage the Wildcats would go 85-yards on six plays to get to the end zone. A 45-yard pass play from Davidson to Marmor down the left side of the field put them at the Canton 40.

Three plays later, on third-and-1, Davidson found a hole up the middle, then raced the Canton defensive backs to the pylon for a 31-yard touchdown run. Kemp’s point after was good, and Athens led 14-0 with 1:28 left in the quarter.

Canton got another back return on the ensuing kick-off, this time by Gardner, starting at the Athens 37-yard line.

This time they made good use of it, driving into the end zone off of six plays as Gardner ran it up the middle for an 8-yard score to finish things off. The extra point was no good, but Canton was on the scoreboard, 14-6, with 10:31 left in the half.

Athens’ ensuing drive ended in a botched punt off a fumbled snap, giving Canton the ball back on the Wildcat 26-yard line.

Gardner needed just one play to hit pay dirt, running up the gut, breaking tackles along the way, for a 26-yard score. Alexis McRoberts added the point after to make it 14-13 with 8:06 on the clock.

The Wildcats would get down inside the Canton 30-yard line on their next drive, but three incompletions over four downs gave the ball back to the Warriors.

After a holding penalty backed Canton up to their own 14-yard line they got their offense going as Fitch would hit Holcomb on back to back passes to out to the 39.

After chipping away in the run game for the next four downs Gardner rumbled for 17-yards to get inside the Athens 30. On the next play Fitch hit Colton for a 14-yard gain to get inside the Wildcat 15-yard line.

Three plays later Fitch went up the middle on a quarterback keeper for a 2-yard score, ending the 12-play, 86-yard drive. McRoberts’ kick was good and Canton led 20-14 with 1:12 left to play.

“They kind of regrouped on the fly,” Sechrist said about his team battling back from the 14-0 hole. “They’re going to face adversity, so they might as well get punched in the mouth and see how they react to it, and I was happy with the way they reacted. Then they kind of settled in, and we kind of got going.”

The Warriors would stop Athens on their ensuing drive, thanks to a sack from Michael Beers. After the punt Canton took over inside their own 10-yard line with 22.3 seconds left in the half.

As they tried to run out the clock disaster struck with a fumble. Fitch tried to jump on it but it squirted away, and into the hands of Brendan Cooke inside the end zone for the defensive touchdown. Zach Fisher hit the extra point and Athens rallied to take a 21-20 lead into the half.

The two teams traded empty drives to start the second half, with Canton getting the big play on Athens’ second drive of the third when Monte Whitehead blocked a punt, giving the Warriors the ball on the Athens 6-yard line.

That set up Gardner’s 6-yard run up the middle. He added the 2-point conversion and Canton led 28-21 with 7:32 on the clock.

Athens didn’t take long to strike back as they went 61-yards on five plays to get into the end zone on their ensuing drive. This time Davidson did it with his arm, first hitting Marmor for a 15-yard gain on the second play from scrimmage, then finding Congdon for a 35-yard scoring hook-up.

Fisher’s kick was true and the game was tied 28-28 with 4:42 left in the third.

Canton dug into their back of tricks on the ensuing kick-of using a little misdirection as they faked a hand-off twice before Gardner took it down the left side of the field to the Athens 16-yard line. Fitch would go the final 16-yards on the first play from scrimmage as he faked the hand-off on the option and went over the right side into the end zone.

McRoberts added the point after for a 35-28 Canton lead with 4:20 left in the third.

The Wildcats answered on their next drive, going 65-yards on six plays, ending with a 10-yard Davidson run up the middle. He had a 16-yard run just before that to set up the score.

Fisher added the extra point to tie the game once again, this time at 35-all with 1:32 left in the third.

The next two drives ended in punts, but it was Ward coming to Canton’s rescue, again, this time taking the ball all the way back to the Athens 23-yard line.

Canton needed just one play to score as Fitch hit Holcomb in the flat, who then out raced the Athens defenders to the end zone for the 23-yard strike. McRoberts’ kick was good and Canton led 42-35 with 10:57 left to play.

But like a good heavyweight boxing match the Wildcats came back with a haymaker of their own. Starting on their own 45-yard line they went 55-yards on seven plays, ending as Davidson hit Peters on an inside seam for a 25-yard scoring strike.

Davidson was 3-for-3 passing on that drive while also running the ball three times for 25-yards as Fisher’s extra point was good, and the game was tied at 42-all with 7:54 to play.

Canton’s next drive ended in one play, but this time it was an interception by Kemp. Athens couldn’t do anything with it, though, as they turned it over on downs.

Taking over at their own 30-yard line the Warriors got a 20-yard run out of Gardner on the second play from scrimmage to get to the Athens 45. Fitch then hit Holcomb with a lateral for 11 more yards to put Canton in business, first-and-10 at the Wildcat 33.

Athens defense would stiffen, forcing a 4th-and-inches at the 24-yard line. Canton went for it, but the Wildcat defense met Fitch 5-yards deep in the backfield to force the turnover on downs.

With 3:26 left the Wildcats got the ball at their own 29-yard line. Their first three plays were three Davidson runs for 11 yards, then came the big hitter as Davidson hit Persun on the backside screen to get all the way down to the Canton 25-yard line.

“They have a good blitz, they come after you,” Athens coach Shawn Bradley said. “But Coach River made a good call there. I was like, ‘I don’t know about that,’ I wanted to just keeping pounding the ball up the middle, but that was a great call.”

They pounded the ball on the next play with a 17-yard Davidson run to get inside the Canton 10. Two plays later Davidson punched it up the middle for the 2-yard scoring run with 49.8 seconds to play.

The extra point was blocked, though, giving Canton one last chance to win the game.

They took over at their own 35-yard line with Fitch hitting back to back passes of 22 and 10 yards to get to the Athens 33. A 6-yard run to the sideline by Fitch made it 2nd-and-4 with time ticking off.

Athens’ defense came after him on the next play, forcing an intentional grounding call. On third down Fitch’s pass to the end zone was knocked down.

With just two seconds left and on their final down Canton aired it out one more time, with Fitch hitting his receiver in the hands in the corner of the end zone, but the Wildcat defender stripped it out to preserve the win.

“We put our defensive end back there, whose 6-3, and he doesn’t jump,” said Bradley. “I’m like ‘Holy Smokes, dude that’s why I put you back there,’ but Sean Pierce made a great play stripping the football. The kid had the ball in his hands, Sean stripped it out, and we win.”

Sechrist feels this could be good his team’s growth, especially the younger players.

“You learn a lot more from a loss than you do a win,” he said. “I don’t know who said this, but when you win, you’re never as good as you think you are, and when you lose, you’re never as bad as you think you are. Coming out of that South Williamsport game I think we thought we were a little better than what we were, so we got humbled today. And Athens, give them credit, they played hard.”

Canton will hit the road next week as they travel to NP-Mansfield on Friday with a 7 p.m. start.

“We’re going to learn from this and use it going forward,” Sechrist said.

ATHENS 48, CANTON 42

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

A: Connor Davidson 1-yard run (Adam Kemp kick), 6:54

A: Connor Davidson 31-yard run (Kick failed), 1:28

Second Quarter

C: Bailey Gardner 8-yard run (Kick failed), 10:31

C: Bailey Gardner 26-yard run (Alexis McRoberts kick), 8:06

C: Ben Fitch 2-yard run (McRoberts kick), 1:12

A: Brendan Cooke Fumble Recover end zone (Zach Fisher kick), :13