Saturday, August 27, 2011
By ERIC CLUTTER
Ravenna Record Courier
KENT
Jordan Italiano rushed for 176 yards and three touchdowns and also threw for two scores as the Canfield Cardinals defeated the Kent Roosevelt Rough Riders 42-21 in a non-league season-opener at Roosevelt Stadium.
The Canfield senior quarterback, who’s has already committed to Kent State next fall, overshadowed the performance of new Roosevelt quarterback Tra Chapman, who was making his first-ever start for the Rough Riders.
“Those were two excellent quarterbacks playing,” said Roosevelt coach John Nemec. “We knew what their kid could do. He is fast and strong. But we are pleased with how our kid played his first varsity game.
“We felt Tra did a very good job.”
Chapman had a pair of TD throws in the first that helped stake the hosts to a 21-15 lead midway through the second quarter.
However, Italiano hit tight end Jimmy Rousher with a pass in the flat that the 253-pound senior turned into a 54-yard scoring play that gave the Cardinals the lead for good at 22-21 with 3:20 to play in the first half.
“That really, really hurt. We were in man coverage and he ran free,” said Nemec. A Rich Graves’ long return on the ensuing kick put the Rough Riders in great shape to take the lead. But an incomplete pass on fourth-and-6 from the Canfield 11-yard line stymied the drive with less than one minute to go in the half.
Italiano and Canfield had their way in the second half, Italiano scoring on a 3-yard run late in the third period to increase the margin to 29-21. Ben Angelo and Anthony Ross each scored TDs in the fourth to finish the scoring.
Canfield needed less than two minutes to get on the board. On first-and-10 from midfield, Italiano scooted up the middle and then used a nice seal block to get to the near sidelines and into the end zone. Rousher then caught a conversion pass to make the score 8-0. Italiano scored on a 17-yard run late in the first stanza to build the Cardinal lead to 15-6.
