DIVISION II Mistakes foil Canfield in 18-3 loss to Brookhaven

The Cardinals were in a 3-3 halftime tie before turnovers took their toll.
By TODD BELL
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
COLUMBUS -- Playing unbeaten Brookhaven, the second-ranked team in Division II Region 7, was already an uphill climb for the Canfield High football team.
But after a hard-fought first half, Canfield's season came to an end in the second half as a result of five turnovers and minus 4 yards of total offense in the second half.
"You lose the turnover battle in any game, let alone a playoff game against the No. 2-rated team in the state, the outcome is not going to be very happy," Canfield coach Mike Pavlansky said.
The Cardinals lost, 18-3, and Brookhaven (11-0) moves on to play Pickerington Central (10-1) in next Friday's regional semifinal.
The turning point
After playing to a 3-3 tie in the first half, the turning point in the game came on the Cardinals' first possession of the third quarter.
Following a Brookhaven punt that was downed at the Canfield 2-yard line, a second-down pass play turned into disaster when senior quarterback Jamie McNally, dropping back to pass, was blind-sided in the end-zone.
McNally fumbled and the ball was recovered by the Bearcats for the game's first touchdown.
"We thought on a second-and-long that we would try a little play action with one-on-one coverage with our best receiver Jordan Ferns," Canfield (7-4) coach Mike Pavlansky said, "but we just didn't have the time to throw the football and it cost us."
The fumble was the first of five second-half turnovers in eight possessions for Canfield.
Poor field position
Both teams spent the first quarter exchanging punts, which led to very poor field position for Canfield that turned out to be a common theme.
Of Canfield's five first half possessions, the Cardinals' average starting position was their own 25-yard line, and only once in the entire game did they start a possession in Bearcat territory.
Brookhaven broke through first after taking over on the Cardinals 46.
The Bearcats gained a pair of first downs, one on a fake field-goal attempt, to move the ball to the Canfield 20.
Following a third-down sack, Phillip Kamara connected on a 44-yard field-goal to give Brookhaven a 3-0 lead.
Jones kicks field goal
But Canfield bounced right back, mounting a 15-play, 73-yard drive, mostly through the air, that ended in an Adam Jones 27-yard field-goal to tie the score with 4:18 remaining in the second quarter. On the drive, McNally was 4-of-7 for 57 yards.
"We felt at that point of the game we were going to take some shots at them," Pavlansky said. "Jamie made some nice passes, the line protected well, but we couldn't sustain that the rest of the game."
A Canfield punt with 1:46 left in the quarter appeared to hit a Brookhaven receiver, and a scramble ensued that ended with Canfield standing in the end-zone with the football.
Bearcats get the ball
But after a brief conference, the Bearcats were given possession at the 17-yard line where the scramble for the loose ball began.
"Their explanation was that the ball didn't touch their guy first, and that our guy touched it so it was a downed ball," Pavlansky said.
Later, on a third-and-16 play, Brookhaven quarterback Michael McGee connected on a 32-yard scoring strike with Keith Massey, whose diving attempt was first ruled incomplete.
But after a brief discussion, the call was reversed and the 6-points gave the Bearcats a 16-3 advantage with 5:04 left in the third quarter.
The Canfield defense held the Bearcats to 225 yards of total offense .