King Philip too much for Bulldogs in home opener

The final score was 21-0 in favor of King Philip, but the Canton High football team more than held its own against a very formidable and undefeated Warrior team in Canton’s home opener Friday night.

The stands were filled with hundreds of spectators, including many CHS seniors commemorating Senior Week and nearly all of the Pop Warner football players, as each team and their cheerleaders were introduced at halftime.

Despite a strong showing, the Bulldogs were unable to take advantage of their scoring opportunities while the Warriors capitalized on their balanced passing and running attack, led by quarterback Jake Cox.

KP opened the scoring late in the first quarter on a 10-yard run by Chris Cacciola, and soon thereafter pounced on a Canton fumble at the Bulldogs 15-yard line. Four plays later, Cox ran for a two-yard touchdown as KP led 14-0 with 8:22 remaining in the first half. KP would add an insurance touchdown early in the third quarter as Cox hit receiver Alec May on a 10-yard scoring pass.

Canton had two good scoring opportunities, but could not convert deep in Warrior territory.

On the team’s second possession, a combination of runs by Jon Vaughn and Anthony LaRose put Canton at midfield, but a fourth-down play was stopped by less than a yard.

In the second quarter, Vaughn had a 23-yard run, followed by a LaRose run of 13 yards, which set up the Canton offense at the KP 30-yard line. But the Warrior defense stood tall and did not allow any further yards on the series.

In the second half, the Canton offense opened up a bit. Ryan Conrad, who had an impressive game playing receiver, halfback, quarterback, and linebacker, caught two passes from quarterback Josh Matt, while LaRose had two good runs to set the offense up at the KP 20-yard line. The drive ended on the next play, however, when the Warriors intercepted a Canton pass attempt.

A few plays later, Conrad intercepted a Cox pass and returned it to the KP 38-yard line. With Conrad now playing quarterback, Vaughn and Conrad alternated runs to the KP 19, but the drive stalled there.

KP head coach Brian Lee said he was impressed with Canton’s overall play. “We knew going in that this would be a hard-nosed, tough ballgame, and it was,” Lee said. “Give credit to Canton. They played us tough and they never gave up. The difference was a few running and passing plays and that we could get ahead and control the lead.”

CHS head coach Jim Goff said Friday’s game was a big improvement over the previous week’s 41-12 loss to Quincy. He said all three phases of the game vastly improved, but acknowledged there is still a lot of work to do.

“Our defense began to click and our offense showed some new things,” Goff said. “We are getting better each week. The kids played very hard to the end and I appreciated their efforts. This was a good effort against a very good football team.”

Canton (0-3) will next face Hockomock newcomer Attleboro tomorrow night at 7 p.m. at Attleboro High School.

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Posted by Mike Berger on Sep 30 2010. Filed under High School, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.