FeedsCanton closer to a playoff spot
The Canton Chiefs are one step closer to securing a playoff slot with a 49-34 victory over host Livonia Franklin on Friday night.
The two teams combined for almost 900 yards and 12 touchdowns in the shootout.
The Chiefs accounted for almost 500 of those yards with 428 of them on the ground. All three of the Canton running backs surpassed the 100-yard mark. Kiere Daniels led the way with 170 and three touchdowns. Adam Payter added 108 and two scores and Ron Gaudi notched 103.
“That was the first time that has happened,” said Canton Coach Tim Baechler. “The offensive line is playing a lot better. I’m very pleased with that.”
Canton was on the board first with a 19-yard run by Daniels with 8:26 left in the first quarter. Less than two minutes later Franklin knotted things up with a two-yard run by Mike Baungardner.
The teams traded scores again. Payter ran one in from 22 yards out and Franklin answered with a 63-yard pas by Mark McRobb to Mike Gadsby just 49 seconds later. With 1:52 left in the quarter Daniels busted loose for a 51-yarder to make it 21-14.
The Chiefs separated themselves with the only two scores in the second quarter.
Half way through the frame, junior quarterback Kevin Delapaz ran in from three yards out for a 28-14 advantage. Then Delapaz tossed a 23-yard pass to Satish Subramanian to extend the lead, 35-14, with 22 seconds left in the third.
The Patriots got back in the game with a nine-yard run by Chris Vantyul about 6:49 into the third. The Chiefs had an answer for everything Franklin threw at them. On their next drive Daniels found room to run and scampered 58 yards to pay dirt to double Canton’s lead, 42-21.
Franklin scored on a four-yard run by Vantyul and Canton scored on Payter’s one-yard push to make it a 49-28 game with 6:03 left to play. McRobb found Gadsby for a five-yard score to cap off the scoring.
“I was a little disappointed with the defense,” Baechler said. “After the first three weeks I thought that our defense was back-it looked real good. Then we played terrible against Glenn and now Franklin. A lot of it is ‘scheme’ stuff. We’re not blaming the kids-they’re not screwing up on purpose; we’re looking at us as coaches.”
The Chiefs are one game away to earning a post-season seat with a 5-1 record.
“We want to get it done as soon as possible,” Baechler said of reaching the 6-3 mark for a playoff seed. “The sooner the better.”
With three games left Canton should earn their spot.
The Chiefs host a 2-4 Churchill for a homecoming at 7 p.m. on Friday. A win earns them the first Kensington Lakes Activities Association South Division crown and pits them against the Central Division winner-possibly Novi-for the Kensington Conference championship. Canton rounds out the regular season with a cross-campus match with a 1-5 Salem.
