McKinley takes full governorship of league with 29-22 victory
By Keno Sultan
C-Town Radio announcer and statistician
CANTON--The checkered flag isn't in sight yet but the white flag is visible in front of the Canton McKinley football team.
And the rest of the Federal League just might be left behind late in the race.
McKinley took a step closer toward a tenth league title tonight as they scored on their first two possessions and repelled multiple rallies from Lake to come away with a hard-fought 29-22 victory at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in a game that witnessed the Bulldogs take sole governorship of the league with two contests remaining. They are now in a solid position to capture a share of the crown with a victory over Jackson next week and possibly the outright title barring a setback.
The Bulldogs vaulted their winning streak over Lake to nine games but like all other Blue Streak teams, it was another one they had to earn and that was fine with head coach Antonio Hall as he saw his team advance their winning streak to five and ending Lake's winning streak at the same number.
"Hat's off to Lake, hat's off to Lake. They kept fighting. Second half, they had some good schemes especially with the two-point conversion.They just kept battling and our kids did too," he said. "We told them it was going to come down to the fourth quarter and Lake wouldn't quit and I got a lot of respect for coach DeGeorge and I know what he's about but ultimately we got the win."
The first possession of McKinley was a portent of what was to come. On a third down and needing seven yards for a first down, Bulldogs quarterback Keaton Rode threw a perfectly timed pass to senior Alex Vazquez who got behind a Blue Streaks defender on a slant and found the end zone to set the tone for the game. Rode's extra point kick had McKinley on the scoreboard for an early 7-0 advantage.
When junior running back Nino Hill scored on a nine-yard touchdown run 51 seconds into the second quarter, Lake had one foot in the grave. However, the Blue Streaks were determined not to let McKinley potentially close their coffin and throw the dirt on it completely on their third possession when senior quarterback Cale Jarvis found a wide open Ryan Anderson for a 55-yard touchdown that severed McKinley's lead to 14-7 with much of the quarter left to be played.
The defense came up huge when defensive back Benjamin Keith intercepted a Rode pass at the two-yard line to prevent McKinley from going back up two touchdowns midway through the second quarter.
At that point, 11th year Lake general Dan DeGeorge had a reason to feel optimistic about his team's chances. But getting down two scores early did not sit well with the former Akron Hoban and Malone University football standout.
"The first half was ugly. We didn't tackle very well at all. We were very inconsistent offensively with a bunch of penalties. We gave up a safety so that was an ugly first half," DeGeorge lamented. "We challenged them at halftime. Don't look at the scoreboard, just play football, play Blue Streak football and effortwise the tackling, we was a little bit better. But we were just too far behind the eight ball. McKinley is a very good team and they are well coached. They have dudes everywhere. It's a tough one but we have to bounce back."
McKinley shook off the interception and added on two scores in a matter of 3:35. Following a safety charged to Lake via intentional grounding in the end zone, McKinley overcame consective ten yard penalties when Rode completed a pass over the middle to receiver D.J. Britt to cover 24 yards on a third-and-22. Stephon Thomas scored on a two-yard run to put the Bulldogs up 23-7 at the intermission.
The Lake defense kept them in the contest. Recovering a Bulldogs fumble, it only took five plays, all runs from senior running back Nathan Baker ending with a nine-yard touchdown run and then a well-executed two-point conversion catch from Kam'ron Fouty-Koonce with 6:19 remaining had the Blue Streaks within one possession of McKinley with their deficit only eight points at 23-15.
However McKinley repeatedly answered Lake's challenges. In the fourth quarter, Thomas scored on a nine-yard touchdown run and it seemed the game was out of reach.
But Lake received a series of gifts. After the Bulldogs had a potential game clinching interception nullified by a questionable roughing the passer penalty and later losing the football when Lake junior linebacker Charlie Christopher caused a fumble to award Lake one final possession. Baker scored on a four-yard run with under a minute remaining but McKinley recovered the onside kick to put an end to what was another thrilling contest between the two schools.
Lake now will need serious help if they are going to win another league title. The best they can hope for will be a McKinley loss to Jackson. But DeGeorge is not banking on that and feels his team has to just move forward starting Saturday morning as they will prepare for a North Canton Hoover team who at press time defeated Perry 37-34 in overtime.
"We have to bounce back. We play a tough schedule in a tough league. So we have to respond from this and we'll see what kind of team we will have," he said. "Life is full of adversity so we will see how we respond to that."
McKinley will travel on the road for the last time next week in the regular season to face a Polar Bears team who lost to GlenOak at press time 21-16. Aspirations for a league title are within their sights but Hall acknowledged that his team will have to correct multiple deficiencies before making the trek to Robert Fife Stadium with a potential share or outright league title at their grasp.
"We had too many self-inflicted wounds, too many penalties, turnovers and bad snaps but we found a way to win but we have to clean that stuff up," he said.
The league race is not over but the white flag is visible for the Canton McKinley Bulldogs, who are a potential lap or two away from capturing the checkered flag and ending up in the winner's circle by themselves.
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