McKinley opens up league play with suffocation of Panthers
By Keno Sultan
C-Town Radio announcer and statistician
PERRY TWP.--Eight words summed up the evening for third year Canton McKinley field general Antonio Hall as he huddled around his team after the Bulldogs opening Federal League contest against Perry.
"Let's go Pups! That is how you play!"
Using an 11-play drive that sapped 4:32 off the clock, McKinley obtained four first downs and ended the drive with a Nino Hill two-yard touchdown run that set the tone early and often for McKinley as the offense picked up where they left off last week against Dublin Coffman and never let the Panthers breathe in a 44-6 suffocation of the hosts at Wakefield Stadium to improve their record to 3-1 (1-0 Federal League) on the season.
McKinley now leads the series 12-11 against the Panthers and this was a complete game from the Bulldogs from point A to point B. The Bulldogs also welcomed back the services of Hill as he was not in the lineup last week due to a personal matter. The offense sprang to life as senior quarterback Keaton Rode threw for 300 yards with two touchdown passes to Dante McClellan and Jordan McElroy in the process, spanning 30 and 26 yards respectively. Rode also converted a one-yard touchdown on a quarterback keeper to close out what was a dominant first half that made the second half only a formality in the form of a running clock.
Rode just missed the record for most yards in a game by a single yard, held by Alijah Curtis, who threw for 301.
In three of the last four games not counting Avon, McKinley has scored a total of 101 points, a staggering average of 33.6. Defensively they are just surrendering 11.3 in that run not to mention recording a safety in the third quarter that activated the running clock rule. Warren Harding, Dublin Coffman and Perry have all scored just a single touchdown against the Bulldogs defense.
Hall was quick to attribute the success of the offensive explosion that occurred tonight with their third game without turning the ball over.
"Coach (Badre) Bardawil and his staff did an excellent job in preparing these guys to play tonight and they had a great week of practice and it carried over tonight. They have now found a rhythm and we have to keep it going," Hall said.
Perry had a legitimate chance to cover ground in the second quarter. Down 14-0 they were threatening to reduce the visitors lead to a single touchdown when quarter Austin Mattox attempted a pass over the middle that was tipped and intercepted by linebacker Shaukeer Hatcher at the two yard line to end their only chance to make the game competitive.
Defensively, McKinley successfully keyed in on bruising running back Ryder Hartshorn. Aside from a 48 yard run and a one-yard touchdown plunge in the third quarter, the Bulldogs defense never let the Panthers utilize their vaunted wing-T offense and it never became a threat.
"Everyone did a good job of reading their keys tonight and following their assignments. That is an offense you have to prepare for and our players did that," Hall said.
For Perry this was a brutal setback that left head coach Zach Slates challenging his players and coaches. How the Panthers respond will likely tell the trajectory that their season is going to take going forward with Jackson on the horizon. Slates hopes that his charges can put this game behind them and get ready for a Polar Bears team that has aspirations of winning the league for the first time in 22 years when Jay Rohr (now the Polar Bears head coach) starred at running back and linebacker under the tutelage of former head coach Phil Mauro, now on the Jackson staff.
Slates did not mince words at the final result.
"We just have to get better, we have to improve, we have to have better heart and we got a lot of young kids playing and they have to play like varsity players and not like sophomores," he said. "We had some mistakes that cost us in the first half, the fumbled punt, the turnover down at the two yard line and gave up big plays and that was huge," he said.
Eight words summed up the evening for Hall and his battalion of Bulldogs and a reason why they departed Wakefield Stadium a happy and victorious team.
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