Eagles weather stormy skies
Photo by Doug Stuart
The Canton rushing attack, spearheaded by great blocking from its offensive line, helped to generate 343 rushing yards versus Melissa. Jordan Jackson delivered the bulk of that yardage, totaling 258 yards and two touchdowns on a game-high 27 yards during the game.
A long road trip, two lightning delays and the Melissa Cardinals proved to be no match for the red hot Canton Eagles on Friday night with the offense storming out of the gate to seize an early lead and the defense delivering a solid effort in a 33-14 Canton win that wasn’t nearly as close as the final score would indicate.
Canton started the game on offense and, in a sign of things to come, took the first play from scrimmage to the end zone. Jordan Jackson, who finished with 258 yards and two scores on 27 carries, raced through the Cardinal defense for an 83-yard touchdown to give the Eagles a 7-0 lead just 19 seconds into the game.
Defensively, the Eagles got off to just as good a start as their offensive counterparts with Mason Baugh recovering a Cardinal fumble just three plays later to give Canton the ball back at the Melissa 39-yard line.
The drive would eventually end in a punt after an untimely penalty negated a 34 yard Hunter Moore touchdown run and the ensuing play resulted in a loss of 26 yards on a bad snap that sailed over Moore’s head in the wet conditions.
The game shifted into a battle of special teams over the rest of the first and into the second quarter, with both defenses doing just enough to keep the other team from picking up first down yardage.
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