Friday, November 18, 2011
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Neighbors | Submitted.The Canfield Little Cards 120-pound travel squad won the Ohio Athletic Committee 10U Gold Youth Tackle Football state championship.
The Canfield Little Cardinals 120-pound travel squad ventured to Sandusky, Ohio, Nov. 5-6 and came away with the Ohio Athletic Committee 10U Gold Youth Tackle Football state championship.
Canfield captured the crown with a 45-6 victory over the Bowling Green Little Falcons. The Cardinals, who one week earlier defeated Poland to capture the Youth Athletic Conference championship, finished the season a perfect 10-0.
In the opening game of the tournament, Canfield beat the undefeated Sandusky Little Fliers 53-0 to advance. The Cardinals defense forced five fumbles and the offense scored on every possession.
Canfield’s defense held Sandusky, who earlier in the day defeated Chillcothe 19-7 to reach the semifinals, in check all afternoon.
Six different players scored for Canfield, led by three touchdowns from Jacob Whittenberger. Leading all rushers with 89 yards on six carries, his scoring runs covered 2, 22 and 42 yards.
Santino Marucci added a two-yard TD run and a two-point conversion. Nick Crawford rumbled for a 13-yard score and Andre Crump had a one-yard score and a two-pointer, Mathew Zaremski scored on a 13-yard run and Ethan Fletcher added a 43-yard TD.
Leading the Cards defense with fumble recoveries were Andy Murphy, Whittenberger, Paris Bumgardner (two) and Zaremski.
In the title contest, Canfield again dominated, beating Bowling Green 45-6 at the newly-renovated Fremont Ross Stadium. Canfield’s defense grounded the Falcons aerial attack while the offense piled up more than 300 yards on the ground.
Crawford led a balanced rushing attack with 86 yards on four carries, Crump added 84 yards on six totes, while Whittenberger contributed 65 yards on eight tries.
Coach Tom Donadee cited the outstanding line play all weekend of Cole Morell, Caden White, Jake Donadee, Murphy, Hofus, Giordano, James Warren, Joseph Warren and Bryce Beal.
Defensively, Vince Giordano had three sacks and seven tackles for loss on the weekend. Other defensive standouts included Richie Hofus, Paris Bumgardner, Mathew Zaremski, Jake Kowal, Donnie Syrianoudis and Crawford.
Canfield scored first, but Bowling Green evened the score at 6-all with scoring toss. It was all Cards from there, as they scored 39 unanswered points to pull away.
Canfield’s assistant coaches this season included Jason Marucci, Derick Fletcher, Jeff Kowal, Andre Crump, Rick Zaremski and Gino Morell.