Federal governance on the line between powers McKinley and Lake

 Federal governance on the line between powers McKinley and Lake

By Keno Sultan

C-Town Radio announcer and statistician

CANTON--The federal government in the United States may be headed for a shutdown.

Such is not the case between the Canton McKinley Bulldogs and Lake Blue Streaks. 

However, governance in the Federal League in the form of sole possession of first place will be at stake Friday night at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium as the Bulldogs and Blue Streaks for a second straight year will duel for the top position and a step closer to an outright crown with a kickoff time of 7 p.m. 

Last season in front of a sold out crowd at Lake Blue Streak Stadium, the onus was on Lake as they attempted to carve a path toward an outright league title and at the time were possessing an undefeated record. Unfortunately it ended with a 36-26 setback that allowed McKinley to move into a tie and eventually led to the two schools sharing the league crown with identical 5-1 records. Lake ended up winning a league crown for the first time in 25 years although they would have preferred to be the sole possessors of the crown.

This time the script has flipped and it is McKinley at 3-0 with a chance to take a two-game lead with three contests remaining and put added pressure on Lake to catch them with a win Friday night. McKinley head coach Antonio Hall knows that this contest will be one where points will likely be scarce.

"Lake is a very physical bunch. They execute well, they scheme well and they have a lot of guys that jump off the screen and stand out. They have a caliber of All-Ohio guys playing with a lot of momentum," he said.

Both teams arrive into their contests with winning streaks. McKinley has seized four in a row while Lake has won five in a row after a season opening loss to Alliance. However their hands will be full against a Lake defense that has been severely naughty to their first two opponents in league play.

GlenOak and Jackson found out first hand. Both the Eagles and Polar Bears both scored just seven points. Technically Lake has only surrendered a single offensive touchdown to GlenOak but the other came from a Jackson defensive touchdown scored by Polar Bears defensive back Anthony Fuline. The Blue Streaks defense has caused quagmire through two league contests and is a very attacking and opportunistic one according to 11th year Lake boss and Akron Hoban graduate Dan DeGeorge.

Lake also has several family lineages, two of them most noticeable on the roster and that is something which may be a benefit as well.

"Our defense has been strong. We play our best players on one side of the ball so we don't have many going both ways, DeGeorge said. "We want to keep our best players fresh on defense. McKinley's offensive line is balance and fast. We will have to play our best and keep them in front of us."

Let's not forget the family. It doesn't seem like a long time ago that Steve Lippe and Matt Christopher were Blue Streaks standouts on a defense that led Lake to the first of multiple state football championship games under veteran Blue Streaks head coach Jeff Durbin.

Both the elder Lippe and Christopher continued their careers at West Virginia and Ohio State respectively. Their sons, Ryan Lippe and Charlie Christopher have been terrorizing entities at defensive line and linebacker respectively and carry their father's names on each tackle.

Knowing their fathers is an asset DeGeorge takes pride in along with the way their sons play as well.

"I have known them for a long time through their fathers. And it's good to have that kind of company. Both of them play very hard and they are only juniors. They are leaving their own legacy and it is great that they wanted to not just stay here but play here as well," he said.

McKinley's running game and offense will be tested immensely. One player who has made himself noticeable is junior running back Stephon Thomas. The last two weeks he has complimented junior tailback Nino Hill and allowed them to form a formidable backfield. Quarterback Keaton Rode continues to thrive and for a second time in three weeks led the offense to a perfect night protecting the ball last week by virtue of three touchdown passes in a 37-28 win over North Canton Hoover.

The Bulldogs have been dominant on the road but at home it has been a different story. If this is the time for them to have a breakout performace at home, the time is now according to Hall.

"We haven't played well at home but well on the road. That has to change," he said.

Lake wants to rewrite history as well. Since McKinley's arrival into the Federal League, they have only recorded four wins out of 19 contests with their last win coming in DeGeorge's second year, a 25-22 victory at home. The Blue Streaks have come close at times but have been unable to traverse the final step translating to victory.

A loss Friday night unless barring a McKinley setback will all but eliminate them from winning a second straight league title. When asked if his team is feeling the pressure to win based on McKinley's 3-0 league record compared to their 2-0 record, DeGeorge shot down the thought of his team facing added adversity.

"I have not even thought about that. We are just trying to find a way to be 1-0 every week. McKinley is a team that is in our way and that is where our focus is," he said. "We have to put togeher long drives and flip field position and can't let them have a short field."

Whereas both teams have proven they can score points on offense, this is one of those contests where either a defensive or a special teams touchdown may be the difference in what may be a low scoring contest. Both teams have the top two defenses in points allowed with McKinley yielding just 20.3 on average while Lake is ahead of them by allowing just 14.

McKinley's defense has been solid for the most part and has held up when it had to. Lake will look to construct plays spanning 10 or more in an attempt to wear them down over the course of the contest, something Avon was able to accomplish over five weeks ago. 

Hall has seen Lake's toughness first hand and knows his defense will have to stifle the offense and not be on the field for long stretches Friday night.

"Lake likes to run the ball. They have a three-headed monster with two running backs and a quarterback that can run. We have to contain them," he said. "We have to be ready and get a hat-on-hat with them and do our jobs."

The federal government may be headed for a shutdown but there is no such thing when it comes to Federal League governance between the McKinley Bulldogs and Lake Blue Streaks.

Canton McKinley players huddle up before Friday's contest against North Canton Hoover at North Canton Memorial Stadium. (Keno Sultan/C-Town Radio)

BLITZING BLUE

Lake's defense ratcheted up an astonishing eight sacks in their 19-7 victory over Jackson last week. Not only that, the Polar Bears offense was never in a position to score That was a stat which caught the attention of Hall. "I saw dominance. They got after them from the first snap and they were doing a lot of blitzing and even getting their with their front four. They also were getting back there without blitzing their front four," he said. "We have to be prepared for their blitz packages."

NOT ALWAYS A HILL TO CLIMB 

Teams have been always quick to key in on Nino Hill. But with Stephon Thomas also getting heavily involved in the run game, he presents a problem for opposing defenses with his speed. "Stephon always stays the course and is a solid back for us. He always comes to work every day," Hall said.

RESPECT FOR COACHES 

Although he has been the head coach at his alma mater for only three years, Hall has developed a great deal of respect for DeGeorge based on his 11 seasons replacing Durbin and DeGeorge the same for Hall. "Dan has had success no matter the situation it is. Lake will always play tough and that is a testament to their kids. He's a (heck) of a coach." DeGeorge also said the same of Hall in that aspect as well. "They are well coached and it will be a difficult battle. He really has them getting after it. We can't have any self-inflicted wounds, no missed tackles or breakdowns against them."

MEMORY LANE

Lake had two victories that stood out against McKinley. On September 3, 2004, McKinley played their first Federal League football contest against Lake at a sold-out Blue Streak Stadium. Lake emerged victorious with a 14-7 decision that had fans storming the field. Three years later in the first and only Saturday football game in their program on September 1, 2007, Lake dominated McKinley in a 24-6 victory at Fawcett Stadium. That 2007 season was Brian Cross's last year as Bulldogs coach after five seasons. Durbin coached another five seasons before retiring as Lake's coach.

Keno Sultan can be reached at 330-445-4575 or KenoSultan@hotmail.com.