Sports

The Canton Eagles opened District 6-4A play at Norris Birdwell Stadium in Canton Oct. 13, easily handing the visiting Ferris Yellowjackets 45-22 to improve their overall season record to 3-3.

Ferris opened play on offense at the 37-yard line, getting a solid return on the Canton kickoff. Caleb Cox pushed the ball into Eagle territory on the first play from scrimmage, picking up 15 yards to reach the Canton 48-yard line.

The Yellowjackets would push their way into the Canton red zone before a costly 5-yard penalty and swarming defense resulted in a turnover on downs and the Eagles' first offensive possession of the game.

Canton took possession of the ball at their own 19-yard line, failing to pick up a first down before being forced to punt the ball back to the Yellowjackets.

The Canton cross country team made its way to Lindale Oct. 5, competing for the final time ahead of this week’s district meet with an appearance at the Lindale Invitational Cross Country Meet.

Canton had runners competing in four divisions overall at the meet, including the varsity boys, varsity girls, JV boys and JV girls.

Canton's varsity boys team placed second overall with 97 points, trailing only first place Eustace with 41 points.

Top finishers for the Eagles included Matthew Hook finishing ninth overall with a time of 17:15.06, Jonathan Bourquin in 13th with a time of 17:37.6, Wilson Null in 20th with a time of 17:49.64, Garrett Stapleton in 22nd with a time of 18:07.57, Kevin Nixon in 40th with a time of 19:00.68, and Gage Bullard in 54th with a time of 19:37.16.

In the JV boys division, Trent McCarver finished 46th overall with a time of 20:24.79 and Kevin Pagel finished 102nd with a time of 21:49.39.

The Canton Eaglettes kept themselves firmly in the middle of the playoff chase last week, splitting matches against Brownsboro and Mabank to remain in a tie for the fourth and final playoff position coming out of District 13-4A play.

Canton traveled to Brownsboro Oct. 3, tangling with a Bearette team that finished just outside the playoff picture last season. Brownsboro would go get the better of the Eaglettes in their first of two scheduled meetings this year, sweeping Canton in three sets.

Brownsboro cruised during the first set, easily topping Canton 25-17. Play in the second set would also favor the Bearettes with Brownsboro outscoring the Eaglettes 25-21 for a commanding two-sets-to-none lead.

Despite playing their best set of the match in the third, Brownsboro would close out the three-set victory by taking the third set 25-22 over the Eaglettes.

Naomi Langley Marksbury

1937-2017

Services for Naomi Langley Marksbury, 80, were held Thursday, Oct. 5, 2017, at Jackson’s Burks-Walker-Tippit Funeral Home in Tyler with the Rev. Sherman Mayfield officiating.

Interment followed at Haven of Memories in Canton.

was born Oct. 2, 1937, and entered life eternal Oct. 2, 2017, surrounded by family and friends. Hers was a life well lived. She was born at home, the first child of Sam Mason and Myrtle Stanley Langley in Van Zandt County near Canton. Her father was a farmer and it was in that family farm setting that Mrs. Marksbury’s life values and aspirations were formed. She graduated from Canton High School in 1956 and briefly attended Tyler Junior College before marrying and having a family.

She was a Christian. She was baptized into the Baptist faith as a young girl and attended First Baptist Church growing up.

The Canton Eaglettes continued district play last week, moving to 1-2 overall through three games with a win over rival Wills Point Sept. 26 and a loss to defending District 13-4A champion Emory Rains Sept. 29.

The Eaglettes and Lady Tigers clashed for the first time this season in Canton with the home team getting off to a fast start and never looking back in a four-set win over Wills Point.

Canton began play red-hot against the Lady Tigers, storming out of the gate to take the first set 25-13. Wills Point continued to struggle against the Eaglettes in the second set, getting outpointed 25-22 to fall into a two-sets-to-none deficit.

The visiting Lady Tigers bounced back in the third, re-establishing their footing by taking the set 25-23.

Canton closed play out in dominant fashion, taking the fourth set by eight points to wrap up the 25-13, 25-22, 23-25, 25-17 win over the Lady Tigers.

The Canton Eagles officially hit the halfway point of the regular season Sept. 29, wrapping up the non-district portion of their schedule with a 35-13 Homecoming night loss to the visiting Paris North Lamar Panthers.

Canton began play on offense, picking up just three yards on their opening series before being forced to punt the ball to Paris North Lamar. The Panthers fared no better on their first series of the night, also picking up just three yards before being forced to punt the ball.

Taking possession at their own 30-yard line, the Eagles would control the ball for more than six minutes en route to the first points of the night for either team.

Canton’s drive began with a five-yard penalty against the Panthers, followed by a six-yard run by Dylan Cox for a first down. McGwire Martin pushed the Eagles into Paris North Lamar territory by completing three straight passes, one to Cameron Sullivan and two to Tanner Moore, to reach the Panther 45-yard line.

The Canton Eaglettes hit the most crucial stretch of the season last week, finishing up non-district play before opening District 13-4A play on the road in Van Sept. 22.

Canton began its week at home Sept. 19, taking on Fairfield in freshman, JV and varsity competition. Fairfield, also represented by the Eagle mascot, would get the better of Canton on the night by sweeping all three matches.

Canton's freshman team took the first set 25-23 before falling in each of the next two sets, 25-15 and 25-13.

The JV matchup between Canton and Fairfield played out in a similar manner with the Eaglettes coming up just short, 18-25, 25-21, 14-25.

Fairfield's program wrapped up the night by overcoming the Eaglettes 25-15, 26-24, 25-22 in a highly-competitive match.

The Canton Eagles traveled to Waxahachie Sept. 22, looking to improve to 3-1 on the season with a win over the Life Oak Mustangs. Turnovers would be the story of the game, however, with four costly Canton turnovers leading to a 20-14 loss.

Canton opened play on offense against the Mustangs, picking up a first down with their rushing attack before cornerback Hunter Mannor stepped in front of an errant Eagle pass to set up the Life Waxahachie offense at their own 45-yard line.

The Mustangs proceeded to push their way into Canton territory, capitalizing on a third down and five conversion courtesy of an Everett Pulliam 15-yard run.

Life continued to rely on its ground game throughout the rest of the drive reaching the 10-yard line before Pulliam connected with J'lon Sanders for a touchdown on a wide receiver screen and the first points of the night. The PAT by Raul Acosta added the PAT, giving the Mustangs a 7-0 lead with 6:36 to play in the first quarter.

The Canton Running Eagles stayed close to home for the second consecutive week, competing at the Van Invitational Cross Country Meet Sept. 23.

Canton brought home several top finishes at the meet, including winning first overall in the varsity boys division. Matthew Hook took home Canton’s top individual finish in the varsity boys division, placing third overall with a time of 17:40.

Freshman Kevin Nixon finished sixth in 18:16, Wilson Null seventh in 18:20, Garrett Stapleton 11th in 18:45, Gage Bullard 12th in 19:10, and Trent McCarver 25th in 20:22.

Madeline Null finished second overall for the varsity girls with a blazing time of 12:33, followed by Darby Pruitt with a season-best sixth place finish in 13:32.

For the JV girls, Jade Spencer finished fifth, Eve Dial ninth, Haylee Terry 10th and Shelby Wycough 11th.

The high school Running Eagles will travel to Lindale Oct. 5 before hosting the district meet on Thursday morning, October 12.

From left, Jaydyn Allgood, Zayden Delafuente and Chandler Howk participated in the 2017 Canton High School Homecoming parade Sept. 25. The first and second grade Canton Eagles proudly proclaimed, “We are the Eagles” while riding on a float in downtown Canton.

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