Canfield does it with 'D'

The Cardinals stuffed Salem's high-powered offense en route to a 38-9 win.
By JOE SCALZO
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
CANFIELD -- Canfield senior Angelo Babbaro was midway through a speech about how, at the beginning of the year, the Cardinals had circled the Salem game on their calendars and, after winning that game on Friday, they were in the driver's seat for the Metro Athletic Conference championship.
Then Joe Rosko interrupted him.
"We still have three tough teams to play in the MAC," Rosko said.
"Calm down, I'm getting there," Babbaro said "Now where was I?"
"It's just that I don't like bulletin board material," Rosko said. "Our next three games are hard."
"I know," Babbaro said. "Just stop, OK? You're messing with my train of thought."
The conversation was funny, but the truth is, Rosko may have been the only person to stop the speedy Babbaro on Friday as the unbeaten Cardinals rolled to a 38-9 win over Salem.
The Quakers haven't beaten Canfield since 1990.
"We haven't had a defeat like that since my first year here," Salem's fifth-year coach Doug Phillips said. "[Canfield's] defense is the best I've seen here."
Defense dominates
The Quakers (4-2, 2-1) entered the game averaging more than 350 yards per game. They finished with 82.
Running back J.J. Johnson entered the game averaging 196 yards per game. He finished with 34.
Add in three Salem turnovers and it's not hard to see why Phillips gave Canfield's defense so much credit.
"Our defense just keeps rising to the challenge," said Canfield coach Mike Pavlansky, whose team entered the game giving up just 141 yards per game -- 90 yards less than the next-best team in the MAC. "Everyone has been playing to the best of their ability."
Of course, as good as Canfield's (7-0, 2-0) effort was, it's clear the Cardinals coaches deserve a lot of credit.
The blitz-heavy Cardinals defense -- led by Rosko, a senior linebacker -- repeatedly timed Salem's snap count and seemed to know where each play was headed.
That's not an accident. In addition to heavily scouting the Quakers, the Cardinals noticed an interesting habit of Salem quarterback Tom Jesko: Just before the snap, Jesko tended to lift his shoulders.
"There were certain things they did on film that we felt like we could take advantage of," Pavlansky said. "But it becomes a guessing game. We tried to time up our blitzes and that worked out for us tonight."
Salem's lone bright spot was senior kicker Bryan Wright, who broke his own school record with a 51-yard field goal in the first quarter.
Cardinals roll
Canfield's offense, meanwhile, moved the ball almost at will, rolling up 413 yards, including 297 on the ground.
Babbaro, who entered the game with 887 yards rushing, carried 25 times for 175 yards and two touchdowns as Canfield took a 35-3 third-quarter lead.
"It's nice to have a guy like [Babbaro], knowing he can break one at any time," Pavlansky said. "But you can't overlook our offensive line and guys like [fullback] Kyle Banna and [quarterback] Frank Ross.
"I think people saw tonight that we're not a one-dimensional football team."
Ross completed 7 of 10 passes for 116 yards and two touchdowns -- a 15-yarder to Banna and a 20-yarder to Pat Bellish for the Cardinals, ranked fifth in Division II in the state AP poll and second in the Region 7 computer ratings. (Salem was eighth in Div. III, Region 11.)
Babbaro, meanwhile, was equally good on defense. He forced a fumble, stuffed a botched extra point attempt and had a 64-yard interception return for a touchdown -- perhaps the game's biggest play.
No one's handing the MAC trophy to Canfield yet, but it's hard to imagine the Cardinals losing another game in the regular season.
(Just don't tell Pavlansky.)
"What does this game say for us? It says we've won seven games," Pavlansky said. "That's not good enough to get us the league title and it's not good enough to get us to the playoffs.
"The season is far from over."
scalzo@vindy.com