CANFIELD Balanced Cardinals top Wilson

Canfield tailback Tom Rogers scored twice.
By BOB ROTH
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
CANFIELD -- The Canfield High football team's balanced offense led the Cardinals to a 27-8 victory Friday over Wilson.
The Cardinals rushed for 246 yards and passed for 111.
The Canfield (3-1) offense sputtered on two early drives but had a wake-up call from 5-foot, 9-inch, 155-pound junior tailback Tom Rogers.
Rogers, a backup to Tim Dewberry, keyed a pair of drives and scored two touchdowns on runs of 6 and 9 yards to ignite the Canfield offense.
Scoring: He came on the field after two drives had stalled in Wilson territory and collected eight carries for 47 yards on a 62-yard drive to score from the 6. That made it 6-0. In the third quarter, Rogers capped a 65-yard drive with a 9-yard touchdown to make it 21-0.
Rogers finished with 102 yards on 10 carries.
"I've been spelling Tim," Rogers said. "Tonight, I got a little more work and things started to happen for me, thanks to some great blocking."
Late in the game, Rogers sealed the victory with an interception and a 30-yard return.
With 3 minutes, 7 seconds remaining in the half, Canfield took possession deep in its territory. A Leo Sorice pass to Jake Wargacki covered 12 yards for the touchdown and a 14-0 halftime lead.
A 25-yard run by Dewberry set up that score.
Sorice hit on 9-of-16 passes for 111 yards and ran for 38 yards.
"In the first quarter, I made some mistakes," Sorice said. "Then we settled down and we all stepped it up offensively."
Dewberry had 82 yards on 12 carries.
"I was pumped up for this game," Dewberry said. "Once I got going, I was in the offensive flow."
Defense: Canfield had many defensive standouts, including linebacker Chaz Carrera.
He had 11 total hits, including six solo tackles.
"Tonight you had to have your head on a swivel to keep up with their speed," Carrera said. "But, we were always on a pursuit angle to make hits."
Canfield coach Mike Pavlansky said, "I think this was our best performance to date. It has been a good four weeks for us, but we must improve because things will get tougher from here."
Canfield had more first downs, 17-12. Wilson (0-4) had 79 yards on the ground and 157 passing.
Shawn Lane passed for 104 yards for Wilson and ran for 57 more.
Wilson QB: The final drive was keyed by Wilson junior Carlton Sims, who completed four passes for 53 yards and then ran 25 yards for a touchdown.
"Canfield is a quality team and has an outstanding offensive line," Wilson coach Mark Lyden said. "We were able to move the ball more effectively than in the past."
Just after the break, Sims caught a 58-yard pass from Lane that went to the Canfield 16, but penalties ended the threat.