Bulldogs overcome early Vikings assault, ascend to 5-1 on season with 37-28 triumph
By Keno Sultan
C-Town Radio announcer and statistician
NORTH CANTON--In a matter of a minute and 25 seconds, Canton McKinley went from being up 7-0 to facing a 14-7 deficit in front of a capacity crowd at North Canton Memorial Stadium.
Everything was going the way of the host North Canton Hoover Vikings and signs were pointing toward another adversarial challenge for the Bulldogs. The recipe for a Vikings victory was in front of them and momentum clearly was on their side.
However, Canton McKinley has witnessed it all the last three weeks as they were down 14-0 to Dublin Coffman and 27-7 to Green recently. Friday night was no different as the Bulldogs rode the running tandem of backs Stephon Thomas and Nino Hill and three touchdown passes from senior quarterback Keaton Rode as the Bulldogs outscored the Vikings 30-14 after the first quarter to depart Memorial Stadium with a 37-28 victory in front of a near capacity crowd of 10,000.
Since losing a 28-7 decision to Avon in the second week of the season, McKinley has located their identity that has translated into a three-game winning streak and they are now one of two undefeated teams remaining in the Federal League with Lake being the other. The Bulldogs are now 5-1 on the season, 3-0 in league play.
A key to the Bulldogs victory was the tandem of Hill and Thomas. McKinley had three scoring drives that ended in touchdowns on plays that spanned 10 plays or more. Those drives eventually wore down a Hoover defense that was competitive for a second week in a row but eventually surrendered chunks of long yardage to the bruising Bulldog backs in the second half.
"Both did a great job. Our offensive line and our blocking backs did a good job especially in the second half. Hat's off to Hoover, they came in with a great game plan and kept us on our toes," McKinley mentor Antonio Hall said. "Our special teams was abysmal tonight. We had to overcome adversity tonight but we got the win."
Special teams was the calling card for the Vikings. Immediately after Thomas capped McKinley's first possession with a one-yard touchdown run to start the scoring, North Canton struck like lightning in the form of a Mason Ashby 97 yard kickoff return touchdown in which he went up the middle untouched to tie the score at 7-7.
It got better for the Vikings when McKinley failed to recover a short kick that ended up in the hands of a Vikings player and five plays after the Bulldog miscue, running back Kyler Miraglia scored on a tough nine-yard touchdown run and the hosts had McKinley looking up at a 14-7 deficit swiftly.
Ashby's touchdown reminded ninth-year Hoover boss Brian Baum Sr. about former Vikings return specialist David Forrest, who six years earlier returned a kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown against the Bulldogs.
"They both are great athletes. To go out there and watch them do that is a joy. Forrest was a very good receiver and Ashby is just a jitterbug. He has speed, he runs good routes," Baum said.
The turning point of the contest came in what ended up a big second quarter for the visitors. Facing a third-and-7 from the Hoover 10 yard line, Rode eluded a sack and found Thomas all alone in the middle of the end zone for the first of three touchdown passes in the quarter. After a Vikings three-and-out, Rode needed one play for his second touchdown strike, a 51-yard completion to Keith Quincy in which he got behind the secondary and scampered into the end zone to issue McKinley a lead they made sure not to relinquish this time.
After another Hoover possession ended with a three-and-out, Rode eluded another Vikings blitz and sprinted for a 26-yard gain to the Vikings 13-yard line and the connected to Dayor Ferguson for a 13-yard touchdown run and McKinley closed the quarter out with a 21-7 advantage, not before senior QB Carson Dyrlund answered with a 15-yard touchdown bullet to John Collins to put a tourniquet on the bleeding and give the Vikings much needed momentum going into the intermission down 28-21.
Hall was pleased with the performance of Rode, who showed no ill effects from his five interception night against Green.
"He's a competitor. I knew he would bounce back in that fashion. Like I said, those five interceptions weren't on him. Offensively we did a good job tonight collectively. But we have to improve a lot more if we want to get to where we want to be," he said.
Hoover climbed back into the contest once again when Dyrlund went to the bread and butter of their offense in Ashby, who turned a short gain into a highlight reel 47 yard catch and run to tie the game at 28-28 in the third quarter.
McKinley immediately turned to their running game and that is where Hill took over from there. Another 10 play drive ended with Hill scoring on a two-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter but Cooper Westfall blocked the extra point, still keeping the Vikings in striking distance before Rode's 28-yard field goal concluded the scoring for the evening and sending North Canton to 3-3 on the season (0-2 Federal).
When asked if this game was a carbon copy of a 2017 thriller that ended with McKinley winning 42-35 amid a controversial missed pass interference call in the end zone that will have benefitted the Vikings at that time, Baum conceded that this game was just like a variation of that battle and then shifted his sights to Perry.
"This game was very similar to that. You are 100 percent right about that. We just have to make that next play. Both games we just had to make that next play," he said "We are just one play away from it going in our favor. "Practice effort carries over to game effort. It's a total different attack. We're going to continue to play hard and fight like Vikings."
For McKinley, their road becomes a bit arduous with Lake arriving to Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium with first place on the line in the league. It's only fitting that the two schools who shared the crown last year will once again clash to determine supremacy in the league and the winner will take that step toward an outright title.
Lake (5-1, 3-0 Federal) defeated Jackson at press time 19-7. Hall knows what is in store for his team when the Blue Streaks arrive for this highly anticipated showdown.
"Lake is a team with a tough program. I respect the (heck) out of the program and their head coach (Dan DeGeorge). They do it right over there. We're going to be geared up and ready to go. We have to clean up a lot of things in practice this week and be ready to go out there and do our thing next week," he said of his legion of Bulldogs.
In a matter of a minute and 25 seconds, McKinley found themselves down 14-0. But a 30-14 scoring edge was enough to send McKinley home from North Canton Memorial Stadium as winners for a third straight week.
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