Chiefs outrun Wayne Memorial, 49-14

  Canton defeated Wayne Memorial, 49-14, Friday night in a Kensington Lakes Activities South Division football game played at Wayne Memorial.

  "Our defense created a few turnovers, but I was disappointed in the number of yards we gave up," said Canton coach Tim Baechler. I thought our offensive line played well."

  The pivotal play in Baechler's estimation unfolded with the Chiefs leading 14-7 and Wayne Memorial kicking off late in the first quarter. Sophomore Kevin Buford caught the ball at the 19-yard line and raced 81 yards for a touchdown to increase the Chiefs' lead to 21-7.

  Canton added another first-quarter TD and never looked back.

  The Chiefs picked up 398 yards in total offense, 332 of which came on the ground. Wayne's veer option attack amassed 372 yards, the most Canton has yielded this season.

  Senior fullback Adam Payter enjoyed another successful night, picking up 172 yards on just seven carries. One of his two TD's was an 85-yarder.  Junior running back Davion Stackhouse gained 71 yards on five runs. One of his two scores was a 35-yard TD run.

  Buford also scored on his only run from scrimmage when he scampered 28 yards to paydirt.

  Canton senior quarterback Kevin Delapaz was on the money, completing 3 of 5 passes for 66 yards, including a 32-yard TD strike to Ryan Powell. Powell hauled in two passes for 46 yards.

  Defensively, the Chiefs were led by junior linebacker Garrett Bryden, who racked up 11 tackles. Powell was credited with nine stops; he also picked off his second interception of the campaign.

  Other key defensive standouts for the Chiefs were Alex Dixon (nine tackles), Ryan Dunleavy (eight), Buford (six), Ben Poirer (six), Tyler Hult (six) and Jake Underwood, who had five stops.

  Conner Shennan booted three extra points while Alex Dixon added two.

  Canton led 35-14 at the half and 49-14 after three quarters. The final quarter was played with a running clock due to the MHSAA's mercy rule.

  Wayne actually controlled the time of possession, 30:17 to 17:43. Canton won the first-down battle, 10-8.