McKinley dominates in 21-3 victory
By Keno Sultan
Stark County Prep Press writer
www.starkcountypreppress.blogspot.com
CANTON--Every dog loves a good, well-cooked steak.
For Canton McKinley, the steak has been nothing but savory for them.
Using a key third quarter coming out of the intermission, the hosts asserted themselves with two touchdowns to break open what was a competitive contest against Green and improved their record to 5-1 (2-0 Federal League) with a 21-3 dismantling of a competitive Green football team at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium.
Since joining the Federal League back in 2015, Green has not been able to obtain a victory over their Stark County rival and counting a 34-7 playoff loss to McKinley, they are now 0-12 against them. The closest Green came to that was two years ago when they assumed a 27-7 halftime advantage amid five McKinley turnovers that left their fans booing them off the Benson Stadium field before a 21-0 second half by McKinley stifled Green's bid for that first-ever win against the Stark County school.
Eventually for Green that victory will arrive But on a night where their offense was held out of the end zone and continuous three-and-outs over the course of the evening, the wait for that first ever victory will be prolonged for another season.
After yielding 25 and 24 in their first two contests, the McKinley defense has only surrendered 33 points in their four-game winning streak as they have allowed just four touchdowns and the offense has mustered 121 points along the way. First-year McKinley head coach Renzy Parnell was ecstatic about his team's efforts, especially on the defensive side of the ball, where he doubles as the defensive coordinator, the same title he held for 10 seasons at Akron Hoban, where he was a part of five Division II state title winning teams under the tutelage of Tim Tyrrell.
"We had a good week of practice and executed the game plan and that was our expectation as we shoot for perfection. We were kind of upset there that we didn't get the shutout as they got a big play that should have been an interception and the kid misjudged it but that's OK," he said. "You know that's a good offensive team and to me they are very well coached and I have a lot of respect for that coach (Mark Geis) over there."
Coming into Friday's league contest, four of Green's first five losses were all on the final possession and had any of those games were different, their ledger easily is the reverse of their current record, which is now 1-5 with the only victory being a 42-7 conquest of Tallmadge.
Geis, a North Canton Hoover graduate and former standout wide receiver in his seventh year rued his team's missed opportunities amid the lack of producing scores.
"Credit to McKinley's defense. That's as disciplined and as good of a defense that I've seen. They really did a good job and very athletic. That's what you get when you play McKinley," he said solemnly. "I thought they did a good job of out executing us."
After a scoreless first quarter, the McKinley offense started to make it's move. Spanning eight plays with seven of those being hard-earned runs by sophomore tailback Kyelin West and senior fullback Isaac Brooks, the hosts punctured the scoreboard when quarterback Trent Hayden located Darius Hill over the middle in the end zone and Thomas Mankowski's extra-point kick put McKinley head with 5:35 before intermission.
Green showed a pulse as senior signal caller Tyson Hunka lifted a Hail Mary pass that ended up in the hands of a receiver at the seven yard line. Logan Noirot's 26-yard field goal issued the visitors brief momentum at halftime as they were down 7-3.
But any hope of obtaining a lead was squelched on their third series as the McKinley defense conjured up consecutive sacks and it took McKinley just four plays to find the end zone when Hayden connected to tight end Legacy Lee in the left corner of the end zone to make the score 14-3. West would add on a six-yard touchdown run to conclude the scoring for the evening.
West and Brooks combined to put the Bulldogs over the 100-yard rushing plateau and have only gotten better over the last three weeks.
"They are going to continue to do that. We know Isaac is a good running back and he's also our starting linebacker and we are going to give him a lot of carries and Kyelin is a sophomore. We still got Xion Culver and that punch as well and we'll keep going," Parnell said.
McKinley will now turn their sights to a pivotal road contest against North Canton Hoover, who held off GlenOak 28-21 at Bob Commings Stadium to maintain their undefeated record at 6-0.
Sole possession of first place will be on the line in what will be a capacity crowd at North Canton Memorial Stadium. The Vikings have not defeated McKinley since the 2021 season, a 24-0 shutout at home and have not won a league title since that same season. The winner of that game will be a step closer to at least a share of, if not the outright league title, a recognition McKinley had back in 2023.
Parnell is looking forward to next Friday's tilt, which will truly be the talk of Stark County.
"They are well coached so we are going to get in and watch film and get ready for the Vikings," he said.
Every dog loves a well-cooked steak. And for the Canton McKinley Bulldogs, that steak once against was savory in the form of yet another triumph over their Summit County rivals.
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