Luke Franken had three sacks to lead the Cardinals past Canton South.

By CHUCK HOUSTEAU

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

CANFIELD — Canfield defensive lineman Luke Franken said his line coach promised to treat him to breakfast if he got three sacks on Canton South quarterback Matt Trissel.

Franken said he’ll be at Sheets this morning enjoying his breakfast after the junior led a five-sack charge with three of his own to totally shut down the Wildcats in a 27-7 home victory.

The win avenged a tough defeat on the road last year at Canton South and propelled the Cardinals to their second victory of the season.

The Cardinals (2-0) followed up an impressive defensive effort in their opener against East with maybe an even better one against the Wildcats.

“The defense set the tone of this game early,” said Canfield coach Mike Pavlansky. “Our defenders were really getting good pressure and getting after it pretty good out there.”

Sack-happy

Franken used his quickness from his tackle position to get a 10-yard sack on Trissel on the Wildcats’ second play of the game and that eventually led to the Wildcats punting from their own end zone.

Franken then got another 6-yard sack on Canton South’s second series and that forced another three-and-out.

“We were just having fun out there and the plan was to attack their quarterback as much as possible,” Franken said. “After I got two sacks, coach [Matt] Campbell said I’d get a breakfast if I got a third one.

“That was more than enough motivation for me,” Franken said smiling. “I like Sheets’ breakfast so that’s where I’ll be.”

Franken got plenty of help from defensive standouts Dan Banna, Colin Hoezel, Jordan Graham, Tommy Durban and Andy Angelo to totally shut down the Wildcats’ offense for all but one breakdown that led to a 48-yard score by Jamil Robinson.

Offensively, the Cardinals played smash-mouth football from the first play of the game to the last play with junior varsity replacements.

Leading the way

Banna led the way with three touchdowns and 105 yards rushing on 15 carries. He was complimented by tailback Christian Smith who gained 93 yards on 15 carries. The Cardinals ran for an impressive 273 yards on the ground.

“I was happy with the way our offense responded tonight after last week,” Pavlansky said. “Football hasn’t changed that much in all the years and if you control the line of scrimmage you are going to win the ball game.

“We did that tonight and our backs ran hard.”

Canfield scored on their first possession of the game marching 60 yards on nine plays before Banna burst in from a yard out.

The Cardinals got an important touchdown right before halftime that gave them a 14-point cushion at the break as Banna again found the end zone from 13 yards out to conclude a 9-play, 45-yard drive.

After Canton South (1-1) scored early in the third quarter on Robinson’s 48-yard scamper, Canfield responded and put the game away.

Canfield scored on a Mark Carrocce 15-yard touchdown pass to Jimmy Hudson with 2:50 left in the third quarter and put the game away on another Banna 5-yard run late in the contest.

Canfield’s defense shut down Trissel totally. They limited the junior quarterback to 7 completions in 17 attempts for just 85 yards.

Canfield’s Neil Sorice and Pat Fening also picked off two of Trissel’s passes in the second half to turn back South’s threats.