Canfield's passing, defense stops Niles

The unbeaten Cardinals rolled to a 38-7 victory over the Red Dragons.
By CHUCK HOUSTEAU
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
CANFIELD -- The Niles High football team did its best to shut down Canfield's successful running tandem of Angelo Babbaro and Kyle Banna.
The Red Dragons, though, had no answer for Canfield's efficient passing game and stifling defense that forced five turnovers which led to two defensive scores in Canfield's impressive 38-7 win.
Canfield (8-0, 3-0) remains tied with Poland atop the Metro Athletic Conference standings with two conference road games remaining, including a Week10-matchup with the Bulldogs.
"Our defense played lights out," Canfield coach Mike Pavlansky said. "What a physical ballgame. Our defense turned two turnovers into scores which is what you need to do in a game like this."
Defensive scores
Canfield, the No. 5 team in this week's Associated Press poll of Division II teams, produced second-half scores when defensive back Justin Wolf returned a Niles fumble 48 yards for one score.
Linebacker Damon Buente sealed the victory in the fourth quarter when he picked off a Joe Razzano pass and raced 55 yards.
But the biggest turnover of the game came at the end of the first half with the game still in contention.
The Cardinals were leading 14-0 when Niles' sophomore running back Nate Ganyard, in for injured starter Tyler Taylor, raced 50 yards to the Canfield 10-yard line with seconds left in the half.
Three plays later, Canfield's Frank Ross intercepted a Niles pass at the 1 yard line with 10 seconds left to stop the Niles threat and preserve the 14-point lead.
"That was a momentum changer," Pavlansky said. "That interception by Ross the turning point. We felt really good about ourselves at that point."
Niles coach Phil Annarella said that his team really needed to score before halftime.
"It could have been a different game if we get a score there," he said. "Five turnovers sums it up perfectly," Annarella said. "We knew we had to come in here and play a flawless game to have a chance and then to just hand it to [Canfield] on a silver spoon on top of everything else -- you just can't do those things."
Penalties to start half
Canfield, the No. 2 team in Region 7 of the computer playoff ratings, was forced to kick off from its own 20 after halftime because of a personal foul penalty on the last play of the first half and then a delay of game penalty because of a long senior night presentation at halftime.
The Cards held Niles (4-4, 1-2) to three plays and out, and Canfield's aerial assault resulted in a score to give the Cards a 21-0 lead.
Ross connected on three passes for 43 yards before being sacked and having to be relieved by Sean Baker. On the first play, Baker threw 12 yards to Mike Hoelzel for a scoring pass.
The two quarterbacks, who usually alternate each series, combined to throw for 148 yards on eight of 13 passing attempts and two touchdowns.
Babbaro still got 91 yards
The two defensive scores and a 25-yard field goal by Wolf put the game away. . Babbaro did manage to rush for 91 yards on 16 carries, mostly in the first half but the Cardinals quickly changed to multiple offensive sets and let quarterbacks Ross and Baker unleash an aerial attack that accounted for two touchdowns.
"We were trying to shake Angelo free as much as possible," Pavlansky said of his versatile running back who has amassed over 1,200 yards on the ground this year. "Niles did a great job against him and forced us to go to other things in our offense."
Babbaro scored a touchdown on a four-yard run in the second quarter after Ross connected with Pat Bellish on a 14-yard, first-quarter scoring play. Those scores gave Canfield an early 14-0 lead.