Bulldogs cruise past Sharon to stay unbeaten
By Mike Berger
The CHS football team runs onto the field in front of an exuberant crowd at their home opener. (Mike Barucci photo)
See this week’s Canton Citizen for complete photo coverage of Friday night’s home opener courtesy of Mike Barucci.
In its first home game of the season, the Canton High football team rode a strong second-half performance on offense, defense, and special teams to pull ahead of Sharon 26-7 Friday night for its third consecutive win. The Bulldogs are now 3-0 and in first place in the Davenport Division — their best start in six years.
The only downside of the game was a serious ankle injury to power back and senior captain Kevin Wing, who was carted off the field and taken to the hospital for possible surgery.
The Bulldog offense continues to improve behind senior quarterback Brian Hagan, who led an option offense and kept the Sharon defense guessing all night. Hagan gained 105 yards on the ground with two touchdowns while passing for another 97 yards and two scores, including picture-perfect touchdown strikes of 25 yards each to the Harris brothers, Derrick and Michael. On almost the exact same play, each receiver out-fought and out-jumped a defender to catch the ball in the end zone.
Another key factor in the game was the Bulldog defense, led by junior linebacker Jake Ragusa with 12 tackles and a sack, junior linebacker Joe Bires (11 tackles), and senior lineman James Bourikas (3 tackles, sack). Defensive coordinator Jeff Eckler made key adjustments in the second half, using Derrick Harris and senior Timmy Gutowski to blanket Sharon’s leading receiver Bryce Smith, who hurt the Bulldogs in the first half with several catches, including a 23-yard touchdown grab from Eagle quarterback Kevin Byrne.
After a scoreless first quarter, Sharon struck first on the touchdown pass to Smith, but Canton countered with 14 points in the second quarter on the two touchdown passes to the Harris brothers.
In the second half, Canton took advantage of great special teams play, set up by punt returns from Anthony Ross and Derrick Harris to give the Bulldogs excellent starting field position. Hagan kept the Eagle defense guessing with great fakes and scored twice himself on runs of 25 and eight yards. Running back Sterlin Garvin had 45 yards on the ground, and Jahron Reynolds, who was hurt for much of the game, returned to add another 15 yards.
After the game, Sharon coach Dave Morse praised the Bulldogs for playing well, earning the win and taking advantage of Sharon mistakes. “Canton made less mistakes than us,” he said. “They earned their win. We should have either tied the score or been up more at the end of the half. The difference in the second half was our mistakes.”
CHS head coach Dave Bohane said Sharon is always tough to play because they are so well prepared. “I am glad we settled down and played better,” he said. “We made the necessary adjustments and played our game. Our offensive line continues to improve and Brian Hagan had a great game for us.”
The Bulldogs are off this week on a bye and will prepare for a road game with Milford on Thursday, October 2, at 7 p.m.
Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=26965
Posted by Mike Berger
on Sep 25 2014. Filed under High School, Sports.
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