Offensive Fireworks Blow Up On Eagles, Bulldogs Win 68-53

If you like touchdowns, Canton was the place to be Friday night.

The Eustace Bulldogs and Canton Eagles rolled up more yards of offense than is normally seen in two football games. When the smoke cleared from the shootout, the Bulldogs prevailed, 68-53.

The nature of the game came as no surprise to Eustace Head Coach Doug Wendel.

"I felt like our offense, if we executed without turnovers and without penalties, I though they would have a hard time stopping us. I knew we would have a hard time stopping them," he said.

He later added, "I was thinking mid-40s, but I’m not surprised."

Eustace finished with 608 yards offense while Canton racked up 533 — not including an 87-yard kickoff return — and the contest included 16 touchdowns.

More importantly for the Bulldogs, it gives them a 2-0 start in District 14-3A. Canton is on the other end of the standings at 0-2.

"We felt like in the second half, if we could get a couple of stops, and then offensively we had a couple of possessions we didn’t score and that wound up being the difference," said Canton Head Coach Lance Angel.

"We just flat out need to win out and that’s all there is to it," he added regarding the Eagles’ hopes for a playoff spot.

Nine minutes into the contest, the two teams had already posted a combined 44 points.

It took Eustace just 2:15 to open the scoring, Trevan Johnson breaking loose for a 60-yard touchdown.

However, Canton answered about as quickly and took its only lead of the game. Having converted a fourth down at the Eustace 37, the Eagles continued on into the red zone and scored on Chance Wallace’s 9-yard pass to Trent Termin. Jonathan Huddle added the extra point.

Eustace took control once more with Justin Calhoun’s 58-yard romp setting up a 2-yard TD by Johnson, who also ran in a two-point conversion to make it 14-7.

The Eagles caught up just more than a minute later, Wallace scoring on a 1-yard keeper to cap seven-play, 84-yard drive and Huddle kicking the PAT.

Jo Jo Bradburn quickly put Eustace in front again on a 55-yard touchdown run with Calhoun running in a two-point conversion.

Undaunted, Canton knotted it up again with Wallace scoring his second rushing TD, this time on a 12-yard run. He threw to Termin for the two extra points to make it 22-22 with 2:59 still remaining in the first quarter.

Eustace turned again to its running game to get into Canton territory as the second quarter began. But it was a 39-yard reverse option pass by Murphy Snuffer to Bradburn on fourth-and-5 at the Canton 41 that set up Calhoun for a 2-yard touchdown on the next play.

Johnson ran in the two-point conversion to restore an eight-point lead for the Bulldogs.

Like an intense tennis match, the Bulldog defense finally broke Canton’s serve, stopping Wallace shy of a first down on a fourth down play at the Eustace 16.

That allowed the Bulldog offense to go up by two scores for the first time in the game. Calhoun left the Canton defense behind him for a 79-yard touchdown and he added the two-point run to make it 38-22 with 4:39 before halftime.

Not wanting the game to get away from them, the Eagles constructed an 80-yard scoring drive that included a key fourth down conversion on a 15-yard pass from Wallace to Roy Denbow.

Three plays later, it was the same tandem for a 21-yard touchdown play. Termin ran in for two extra points to make it 38-30, and Canton’s defense kept Eustace from a last-second TD pass as the half ended.

Taking the second half kickoff, Canton drew level once more. Running back Jacob Harris had gains of 28 and 15 yards. Wallace and Denbow converted another fourth down pass on the drive and capped it with a 1-yard TD toss.

Wallace found Termin on a pass for two extra points to tie the game at 38.

That momentum for Canton was short-lived, though, as Johnson took the ensuing kickoff 68 yards to the Eagle 26. Five plays later, it was Calhoun into the end zone from 2 yards out and another Johnson 2-point run to put the Bulldogs back on top, 46-38.

The game’s only turnover came a short time later when Jacob McCarter snagged a Wallace pass near the Eustace 25. The Bulldogs could not cash in on the turnover, but they stopped Canton on the Eagles’ next possession and then ate up a chunk of time with a methodical 71-yard scoring drive.

With Compton, Calhoun, Bradburn and Johnson sharing the rushing duties, Eustace chewed away more than 7 1/2 minutes of the fourth quarter before Johnson notched his third touchdown of the evening on a 3-yard carry.

Bradburn scored the two-point conversion run to put Eustace in command at 54-38 with 4:26 remaining.

Or so it seemed.

Canton got the lifeline it needed at that point on a bit of daring from Denbow on the kickoff return. He caught the Bulldogs completely off guard by pitching a field-wide lateral to Termin, who raced down the right sideline for an 87-yard touchdown.

Termin tacked on a two-point run to make it 54-46.

The Eagles went for an onside kick, but it backfired, the ball taking a bad bounce and rolling back to the Canton 36. Bradburn scored from there on the next play to give Eustace a 60-46 lead after the Eagles stopped Calhoun short of the goal line on the two-point conversion try.

The Eagles needed a quick touchdown of their own and they got one, compliments of Termin on a 6-yard carry with 2:28 to play. Huddle kicked his third extra point to pull Canton within seven at 60-53.

Eustace managed to drive into Canton territory with time running out, but big tackles by the Eagles’ Jonathon Roppolo, Chase Deanda and Devin Faber led to fourth down at the Eagle 35.

That is when the Eustace coaching staff took a play out of the "why not?" page, running the fake punt with a direct snap to Jacob McCarter, who raced into the end zone to seal a victory for the Bulldogs. Bradburn tacked on a two-point run to close out the scoring.