Saturday, October 22, 2011
By John Rozum
Canfield
A wild fourth quarter that saw the teams combine for 30 points, ended with the Niles Red Dragons scoring in the final minute to defeat Canfield, 29-28, in an All-American Conference Red Tier game on Friday night.
Niles (5-4, 2-2 AAC) trailed 28-16 with 6:22 to play, but coach Brad Yeager’s team was able to score on two TD passes of 89 and 44 yards from quarterback Zack Bailey to wide receiver Darius Harris.
“Darius had a little coming out party there and caught the balls he should catch all the time,” said Yeager. “There may have been a little bit of doubt, but you just got to let the kids play and call what we do well. The kids executed it to the best of their ability.”
Bailey threw for 327 yards on 16 completions, averaging over 20 yards per completion.
However, the Canfield defense was able to stall some of the Red Dragons’ drives when backed up inside their red zone early on.
“Our defense all year long has played extremely well for us. They answered the bell tonight for the majority of the party and the two interceptions by Joe Tuchek,” said Canfield coach Mike Pavlansky. “Credit Niles, they may one more play than we made.”
Tuchek, a WR-DB, also led the Cardinals with four receptions for 83 yards in addition to picking off Bailey twice.
Canfield’s offense was once again led by senior QB Jordan Italiano who compiled 140 yards on just 15 attempts and scored two TDs.
“We don’t face a Italiano every week. Hats off because he was injured out there and he kept playing and playing,” said Yeager. “You can’t prepare against that type of person through the week. Our defense played well, but they just had an athlete that made us look bad at times.”
Canfield compiled 280 rushing yards, with Ben Angelo adding 96 yards.
