First impressions

Opening-play touchdown launches Chiefs to convincing 49-7 victory over Wildcats

  Adam Payter is not generally a superstitious person -- until it comes to football.
  "I have certain rituals I do before the games," he said Friday night. "The night before the game I always eat pasta. Then when I get home from school on game days, I eat cheeseburgers, then I take a nap."
  The past two weeks, his final ritual on game days goes something like this: dash and dart for 200-some yards and score at least a couple touchdowns.
  Payter was the most explosive force in what turned out to be an offensive fireworks display in Canton's 49-7 triumph over Plymouth Friday night at the PCEP varsity football stadium.
  The 5-foot-9, 175-pound fullback ripped off 203 yards in the first half alone, including a game-opening 80-yard up-the-gut breakaway that put the Chiefs on the board 13 seconds into the highly anticipated contest.
LET'S DO IT AGAIN
  Less than a minute later, after teammate Garrett Bryden recovered a Plymouth fumble at the Wildcat 30-yard line, Payter dash 17 yards to paydirt to enhance the Chiefs' advantage to 14-0.
  "I couldn't believe we scored on the first play," said Payter. "It's the greatest feeling in the world when you break through the line and there's nothing in front of you. You can hear your sideline getting really loud and the other sideline getting really quiet."
  The Wildcats' sideline came to life on their next drive when they structured a time-consuming 17-play drive that culminated with quarterback Victor Hicks' 9-yard touchdown scamper. Kyle Brindza's extra point cut the Chiefs' lead in half, 14-7.
  Hicks TD produced the first points Canton had surrendered this season following shutouts of Brighton and Lakeland.
COMEBACK TRY
  Following a Canton four-and-out, Plymouth was on the verge of deadlocking the game at 14-all when it drove to the Canton 37. However, Canton safety Ryan Powell closed fast on a wide open Jake Morris, who was sprinting down the sideline following a pump-and-go fake by Hicks and intercepted the pass on the 4-yard line. 
  "That was a huge play," Baechler said, referring to Powell's pick. "Because we turn around and drive 96 yards to go up 14."
  Following a 13-yard Kevin Delapaz keeper that got the ball out to the 17, Payter carried four straight times for 80 yards. Ron Gaudi capped the drive with a 2-yard TD plunge. Connor Shennan's third of seven extra points made it 21-7 with 6:29 left in the half.
DELAPAZ-TO-BOUDREAUX HOOK-UP
  Canton padded its first-half lead to 28-7 when Delapaz lofted a perfect spiral into the arms of Arron Boudreaux, who juked a Wildcat defensive back at the 15 before cruising into the end zone for a 44-yard TD reception.
 Delapaz all but put the seal on the win  two minutes into the third  quarter when he sprinted 53 yards for a touchdown to up the Chiefs' bulge to 35-7.
  Davion Stackhouse capped the scoring with a pair of fourth-quarter scores. On his second end zone-finding jaunt, Stackhouse broke four tackles between the 10-yard line and the goal line.
  Canton outgained Plymouth, 449 to 119 in total yards.
"We just didn't get off the football tonight," Plymouth coach Mike Sawchuk lamented. "We didn't practice good all week. Some of the kids get it and some of the kids don't get it. I'm going to have to be a better coach. It was obvious that I didn't coach them up enough.
  "Canton was the better team tonight. They were more physical. My hat's off to them."
  Payter led the Chiefs' dominant ground game by averaging 18.9 yards a carry. Delapaz completed 4-of-7 passes for 75 yards and a score. Stackhouse picked up 53 yards on six attempts.
CALDWELL CONTAINED
  Plymouth's Jernarian Caldwell, who ripped off 178 yards last week against Brighton, was limited to 38 yards by Canton's swarming defense.
  Wildcat quarterback Victor Hicks completed 7-of-15 passes for 54 yards and ran 13 times for nine yards.
"our defense did a great job tonight," said Baechler. "I was so worried about their speed and the plays their running back and quarterback were capable of making. The guys did a great job of swarming to the ball."
  Dakota Dark Bird, Tyler Hult and Garrett Bryden had huge games for the Chiefs' defense. Dark Bird was credited with 16 tackles while Hult registered seven solo stops, including two behind the line of scrimmage.

Ed Wright can be reached at [email protected] or (734) 453-1980.