Defense will decide Division II state title

Both the Cardinals and Irish must play it well Friday in Massillon.
By JOE SCALZO
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
Forget what your dictionary says. There is a "D" in championship.
"I haven't seen all the teams that are playing this weekend, but I gotta believe they all have great defenses," said Canfield High football coach Mike Pavlansky.
The Cardinals' next opponent certainly does. And, if you ask Pavlansky, Toledo Central Catholic's defense looks awfully familiar.
"They remind us of us as far as how fast they are," he said. "Certainly, they're the best defense we've faced all year."
Played well in big games
Canfield's defense has played its best in the biggest games, giving up just 3 points in the first three playoff games before holding a high-powered Tallmadge offense to season-lows for points and yardage in last Friday's 17-14 state semifinal victory. For the season, Canfield is giving up 8.3 points per game and has five shutouts.
The Cardinals (14-0) will need to play even better to beat the Fighting Irish (13-1) in Friday's Division II state final at Massillon Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.
"Absolutely," Pavlansky said. "They pretty much had their way with Avon Lake [in the regional final] and then last week against a very good Dayton Carroll team they found themselves down three different times in that ball game and had the intestinal fortitude to come back.
"I think that says wonders for what coach [Greg] Dempsey has done and the type of kids they have."
Like Canfield, the Irish are playing in their first state final. They won the Toledo City Athletic League for the first time since 1982 and have not lost since falling to Fremont Ross 20-14 in week two.
"We had a lot of talent returning from last year," said Dempsey. "We thought if we got better every week, we'd have a chance of going pretty far."
Dominated Avon Lake
The Irish dominated the state's top-ranked team, Avon Lake, two weeks ago in a 35-14 victory. The Shoremen won the 2003 state title and lost in the state final to Columbus Brookhaven last year.
"Avon Lake has been the kings of Division II football as of late," said Dempsey. "They're such a great program and we were very focused heading into that game. We were able to cause some turnovers and make a few big plays."
Central Catholic then rallied to beat Dayton Carroll 24-21 last Friday on a 22-yard field goal by senior Brodie Wagener with 30 seconds remaining.
"They were a very physical team with a great defense," Dempsey said of Carroll. "We showed a lot of character in that game.
"We only led for 30 seconds but it was the right 30 seconds."
Pavlansky said the Central defense also reminds him of Louisville, which lost to Canfield 7-0 in the regional final. Both teams are fast and physical and both have proven themselves against good teams. For the year, the Irish are giving up 14.4 points per game.
Not bad on offense either
Offensively, the Irish have good balance with a 1,400-yard runner (Chris Willis), an 1,800-yard passer (Kevin Jansen) and a 1,200-yard receiver (Dane Sanzenbacher).
The Cardinals played at Paul Brown in the regional semifinals when they beat Columbus Watterson 7-3. When asked if that gives him team an advantage, Pavlansky laughed.
"Are they going to put points on the board for us?" he said. "Having that familiarity is an advantage but the Toledo kids have certainly played in stadiums like this in the past.
"The field is still 100 yards long and 50-some yards wide and that's all that's going to matter on Friday evening."
scalzo@vindy.com