100-pound Cards win defensive battle

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A trio of Canfield Little Cards players make a tackle during last weekend's 100-pound game against Struthers.

100-pound Cards win defensive battle

The Canfield Little Cards 100-pounders improved to 3-0 with a 6-0 shutout victory over Struthers last weekend at Bob Dove Field. The Cards’ defense was stout, piling up quarterback sacks, including by Broc Lowry and the duo of Dominic DeDonato and Xavier Rowbottom.

Defensive coordinator Sam Orr was pleased with the aggressive play of the entire defensive line, including Nathan Myers, Landon Beidelschies, Christopher and Dominic DeDonato, Dominic Marzano, and Evan Perry. The Wildcats were denied a single first down and were held to negative yards.

Canfield scored the game’s only points when quarterback David Altiere Jr., followed key blocks by Ian Hull, Christopher Altiere Jr. and Broc Lowry into the end zone. The conversion failed.

The Little Cardinals travel to Hermitage to take on the Hickory Hornets this weekend.

120-pounders shut out Struthers

The Canfield 120-pounders (3-0) remained undefeated by blanking Struthers 26-0 last weekend. Canfield’s defense limited Struthers to no first downs until late in the contest. The offense, meanwhile, was clicking. Andre Crump led the charges with three touchdowns, including a 6-yarder, 1-yarder and 27-yarder. Ethan Fletcher scampered 22 yards for a TD to give Canfield a 6-0 lead.

Crump’s 1-yard TD and a Fletcher to Pat Guerrieri conversion pass padded the Cards’ advantage to 20-0 at the half. Crump led all rushers with 88 yards in 10 attempts. Fletcher added 44 on four carries and Santino Marrucci chipped in with 26 on four attempts. Offensive line standouts included David Noday, Cameron Tarashawty, Anthony Orr, Alex Smyczynski and Seth Hull.

The defense was keyed by Fletcher, Marrucci, Mario Mavar, Peyton Kostelic, Michael Gonda, Logan Torok, and Jake Kowal.

Canfield 140s beat Mathews 48-0

Vinny Fiorenza had one offensive touchdown and returned two interceptions for scores to lead the 140-pound Canfield Little Cards to a 48-0 shutout win over Mathews.

Paul Brienz opened up the scoring on Canfield’s first play from scrimmage going off tackle for a 24-yard touchdown. Glenn Griswold added the two-point conversion.

On Canfield’s next offensive play, Fiorenza went off-tackle left and 30 yards to the end zone. Paul French added the two-point conversion to give Canfield a 16-0 lead . On Mathews next possession, Fiorenza picked off a Mustang pass and ran it 65 yards for another Cards score. Nick Crawford added the two-point conversion.

Colin Hritz capped off another Canfield drive with a two-yard touchdown. Matt Zaremski scored the two-point conversion and the Cards led 32-0 at halftime. Richie Herrera opened the second half by scoring on a 37-yard touchdown. Joe Marzano added the two-point conversion.

On Mathews’ next possession, Fiorenza closed out Canfield’s scoring with a 38-yard interception return for a touchdown. Marzano added the two-point conversion.

Earlier in the week Canfield’s 140-pound JV team won a close game against Poland’s JV, 14-12. Richie Herrera had a late score to tie the game at 12-12, then Colin Hritz ran in the two-point conversion to seal the victory. Canfield’s defense held Poland from completing a game-winning drive in the final seconds.

CLC 120 JV squad evens season record

The Canfield Little Cardinals 120-pound JV squad evened its record at 1-1 with a 42-12 win over the Boardman Little Spartans. Canfield struck first when Nathan Fiorenza raced 50 yards around left end for a 6-0 lead. After Boardman knotted the game at 6-all, Chase Lowry took a reverse 43 yards to paydirt and following Luke Holland’s conversion run, Canfield led 14-6.

Canfield widened the margin to 20-6 when Fiorenza scored from 36 yards out, following an interception by Conor Hritz. Boardman scored in the waning moments of the first half to cut the margin to 20-12.

Canfield scored on the opening possession of the second half when Fiorenza raced 46 yards to paydirt. Logan Torok darted 7 yards for the touchdown on the Cards’ next possession and Holland added the conversion for a 34-12 Canfield lead. Conor Hritz finished the scoring when he scored on a 16-yard run, Nick Cavoulas added the conversion for the Cards.

Defensively, Canfield got strong efforts from Brent Herrman, Andrew Morchak, Alex George, Luke Morrel, Michael Crawford, Robbie Coonce, Race Mingus, Paolo Papalia and Jeff Shaughnessy. Coach Donadee cited the offensive line play of Brendan Beil, Daniel Gibson, Evan Beistel, Joe Warren, and AJ Wise.

Cards 120-pounders post second straight shutout

The Canfield Little Cardinals 120-pounders improved to 2-0 with a 36-0 victory over the host Mathews Little Mustangs.

A week after using a dominating run game to defeat Poland, Canfield went to the air early and often. Andre Crump hooked up with Greg Karas on a 22-yard scoring strike on the Cards’ first possession for a 6-0 advantage.

Ethan Fletcher darted 40 yards on the first play of the second quarter to paydirt and Crump raced around right end for the conversion and a 14-0 Canfield lead.

The Cards struck again before half when Santino Marucci hauled in a Crump pass in the left flat and rumbled 10 yards to make it 20-0 at intermission.

Fletcher swept around left end, cut back to the right and outran the Mustang defenders 60 yards for the score, Crump added the conversion for a 28-0 Cardinal advantage. Nathan Fiorenza rounded out the scoring when he raced 26 yards over right tackle for the touchdown. Logan Torok added the conversion and final margin.

Fletcher led all rushers with 100 yards on two carries, while Crump was 3-of-6 through the air for 87 yards and two touchdowns and added another 55 yards on the ground. The Cards’ defense posted its second straight shutout with the aid of stellar performances from Mario Mavar, Peyton Kostelic, Seth Hull and David Noday.

Offensively, Alex Smycynski, Gavin Tareshawty, Angelo Cestone, Anthony Orr and Patrick Guerrieri were standouts.

100-pounders improve to 2-0 in 2012

The Canfield Little Cardinals 100-pound squad traveled to Vienna and beat the Matthews Mustangs 38-6 to improve to 2-0 on the season. Cards’ defensive end Landon Beidelschies stormed into the backfield to sack the Mustang quarterback for a 10-yard loss to start the game. Two plays later, Christopher Dedonato sacked the quarterback, ending the Mustangs’ drive.

Taking their first offensive possession at the Mustangs’ 35-yard line, the Little Cards advanced the ball to the 12-yard line. Christopher Altiere, Jr. took a pitch to the left and darted into the end zone to put the Little Cardinals on the scoreboard first. Quarterback, David Altiere, Jr., completed the two-point conversion to make it an 8-0 game.

The Cardinals’ defense didn’t let up. Dominic Marzano had two tackles for loss with assistance from fellow defenders Christopher Dedonato, Xavier Rowbottom and Nathan Shaw.

Excellent blocking by Xavier Rowbottom, Ian Hull and Christopher Altiere, Jr., created the lane David Altiere, Jr. needed to run 45 yards for his first touchdown of the game. On the ensuing play, Hull broke four tackles on his way to the end zone to give the Cardinals a 16-0 lead at the end of the first half.

The Cardinals wasted little time starting the second half. Ian Hull took an option to the right side and navigated 65 yards to tack on the third touchdown for Canfield. Xavier Rowbottom added two more points on the conversion, making it a 24-0 contest.The Mustangs finally scored to cut the deficit to 24-6, Canfield tacked on two more touchdowns to complete the rout.