Cougars clip Eagles in opener, 31-21

For the second consecutive season, the Canton Eagles opened their season in a rare Thursday night tilt against the Grace Community Cougars in the Azalea Classic played on the campus of Tyler All Saints. After a slow start, Canton eventually slugged its way into the lead in the game only to fall victim to two late Cougar touchdowns in a 31-21 loss.

Canton started Thursday night’s contest on offense, getting just one yard on three plays before being forced to punt the ball back to the Cougar offense. Grace fared better on their opening possession, getting timely completions and first downs courtesy of the right arm of quarterback Christopher Wilhelmi to march deep into Eagle territory. The junior quarterback completed six passes on the game’s opening drive, including two third down conversions and one fourth down conversion to put Grace Community on the doorstep of a touchdown.

Canton’s defense rose to the challenge, holding Grace on three consecutive goal to go situations to force a field goal. Cristian Cooper gave the Cougars the lead on a 19-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead with 5:28 to play in the first quarter.

Senior wide receiver Tre Fitzgerald ensured the Canton offense excellent field position on their ensuing possession, fielding a squib attempt and returning all the way down to the Grace 12-yard line. After no gain on a rush attempt, Canton quarterback Hunter Moore connected with sophomore wide receiver Tanner Moore on a touchdown pass to give Canton a 6-3 lead. Justin Jenkins drove home the PAT, giving the Eagles a 7-3 lead.

The Canton advantage held throughout the rest of the first quarter and into the early stages of the second quarter as Grace Community put together its second lengthy scoring drive of the night. Unlike the first, which ended in a field goal, Grace scored a touchdown on a 5-yard touchdown completion from Wilhelmi to Garrett Tauscher. With the PAT, the Cougar advantage was 10-7 with 10:35 in the half.

Grace managed to grind out another lengthy possession (13 plays) before scoring more points on Wilhelmi two-yard touchdown run to extend their lead to 17-7 with just 3:47 showing on the clock. The first three drives by the Cougars, which all resulted in scores, ran a combined 44 total plays.

Grace Community nearly managed to deliver the knockout punch to Canton’s hopes with just under two minutes showing on the clock, driving down the field quickly for another potential scoring drive. The Eagle defense, however, forced and recovered a fumble to give their offense the ball back with time winding down. Hunter Moore connected with Zach Brown on a slant route, flipping the field position battle by getting the Eagles down to the Grace 40-yard line.

The Canton offense followed the big completion to Brown with three successive incompletions to set up a fourth down. The Eagles rolled the dice, getting a first down completion on a play where Hunter Moore rolled out to the left side before completing a 12-yard pass.

Three plays later, the Eagles were once again faced with a fourth down situation. Hunter Moore dropped back to pass, opting to run a draw that picked up just enough yardage for another Canton first down. With less than :10 showing on the clock, Hunter Moore once again connected with Tanner Moore on another 12-yard touchdown completion to cut the Grace lead to 17-14 entering the half.

The Eagles continued to ride the momentum they had established at the end of the first half into the start of the second, getting an interception from Tre Fitzgerald on a deep Grace Community pass to end the Cougars’ first possession. On a third down and one play moments later, Canton’s offense delivered another big play as Hunter Moore broke through the Cougar defense courtesy of excellent blocking for a 57-yard touchdown run. The ensuing PAT gave the Eagles a 21-17 lead with 5:58 to play in the third quarter.

Neither team could make much headway during the next 10-12 minutes, trading the football without making a dent on the scoreboard. Things began to unravel for the Eagles near the midway point of the fourth quarter. Facing a fourth and short in Grace Community territory, Canton attempted to run a sneak play that was stopped short by the Cougar defense.

Just two plays later, Wilhelmi hit wide receiver Parker Ary on a 44-yard touchdown to help the Cougars reestablish a 24-21 lead.

The Eagles offense suffered a pair of breakdowns on each of its next two possessions, fumbling the ball back to the Cougars twice to close out play. The first of those two turnovers allowed Grace to score on another Wilhelmi touchdown pass and build a 31-21 advantage. The second turnover allowed the Cougars to run out the clock and hand Canton its first loss of the season.

Junior quarterback Hunter Moore accounted for 192 total yards of offense and three touchdowns. Running back John Cade led all Eagle runners with 11 carries for 75 yards.

Tanner Moore finished with 3 catches for 40 yards and two touchdowns, and teammate Logan Nace caught six passes for 40 yards.

The Eagles will look to even their season record at 1-1 when they return home for a game against the Mabank Panthers on Sept. 4.