Cannon emphatically ends losing skid vs. cfa Academy
CONCORD, N.C. – It had only been two years since the Cannon football team had last beaten cfa Academy, but for the Cougars, it had been two years of outright misery.
It finally came to an end Friday night.
Spurred by a tenacious defense and the speedy legs of running back Gabe Ortiz, the Cougars took down their archrival Eagles with a 20-7 victory at Webb Field.
Ortiz ran for a game-high 173 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while the Cannon defense limited cfa Academy’s normally explosive offense to just 93 total yards.
Eagles quarterback Mason McLaughlin, who actually was Cannon’s signal-caller this time last year, faced pressure all night from Cougars such as Cole Ventura, Floris Stratman, Drew Balsbough, Nick Whitley, Michael Elrod and Timmy Jones.
The Cougars limited McLaughlin, the county’s No. 1 passer, to just 5-of-21 passing for 41 yards and two interceptions, and sacked him four times.
The motivation was simple for the Cougars: End the streak. Now.
“This game’s been on our minds the entire year – ‘cfa, cfa,’ said Jones, a junior linebacker. “The seniors this year hadn’t beaten them since freshman year, and I know that was tough for them, especially those two past years.
“This year, a lot of our alumni were texting us, saying, ‘Big game, leave it on the field, we want this dub.’ It feels great. Our defense stuck to what we know, didn’t change anything up and got the job done.”
RECORDS
Cannon 5-4, 2-2 in the Piedmont Athletic Conference; cfa Academy 4-5, 1-3 PAC
THE PLAY OF THE GAME
Midway through the third quarter, cfa Academy’s D’Wayne Crawford intercepted a pass and ran it 18 yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 7.
On the ensuing Cannon possession, the cfa Academy defense made a strong stand and forced the Cougars to try a 36-yard field goal on fourth-and-5. Before the snap, however, the Eagles were flagged for being offsides, and the 5-yard penalty gave the Cougars a first down.
Two plays later, Ortiz dashed in for a 14-yard touchdown that proved to be the game-winning score.
“We’re over here yelling, ‘Don’t jump offsides! Don’t jump offsides!’ but our players did it anyway,” cfa coach Craig Kean said.
“Penalties killed us all night, starting with our first drive --you can’t get holding, illegal procedure,” Kean added. “That puts you behind the chains. We’d get a big play, and it’d get called back – a block in the back or an illegal procedure.”
PRIMETIME PERFORMERS
Cannon:
-- Junior cornerback Patrick Carlson intercepted both McLaughlin passes.
-- Ortiz ran for 117 of his 173 yards in the second half.
-- Safety Will Exson had two key pass breakups, one of them in the end zone. As a receiver, he caught two passes that resulted in key first downs each time.
-- Quarterback Chris Nelson was effective as a runner, gaining 50 yards and securing first downs several times to keep drives alive.
cfa Academy:
-- Senior receiver D’Wayne Crawford showed anticipation, great hands and speed when he stepped in front of a quick pass by Nelson and took it back for the score. After that, the Cougars mostly threw to the other side of the field.
-- Sophomore defensive back Jalen Gulatte was active in the secondary, breaking up several passes, and linebacker Rae Rice made some hard hits.
-- Running back Nick Treco combined with McLaughlin for the Eagles’ longest play of the day, a 23-yard pass along the sideline that moved them into Cannon territory.
3 OBSERVATIONS
-- Penalties were a major downfall for the Eagles, and that showed just a little more than a minute into the game when Crawford took a punt and danced 59 yards for a touchdown that would’ve given cfa the lead. However, a holding call – on the other side of the field –nullified the play.
-- The setup at Webb Field had a back-in-time feel, with part of football field running through a baseball infield, and bleachers that required fans from both teams to sit on the same side of stadium.
-- After the game, as Webb Field became nearly empty, it was good to see McLaughlin and several of his former teammates posing for photos together.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Cannon plays host to Christ the King, while cfa Academy goes to Huntersville to pay SouthLake Christian a visit.
GAME SUMMARY
Cannon 7 0 7 6 -- 20
cfa Academy 0 0 7 0 -- 7
First quarter
CS – Chris Nelson 1 run (Patrick Carlson kick)
Second quarter
None
Third quarter
CFA – D’Wayne Crawford 18 interception return (Hunter Rex kick)
Fourth quarter
CS – Gabe Ortiz 14 run (Carlson kick)
CS – Ortiz 25 run (kick blocked)
CONCORD, N.C. – It had only been two years since the Cannon football team had last beaten cfa Academy, but for the Cougars, it had been two years of outright misery.
It finally came to an end Friday night.
Spurred by a tenacious defense and the speedy legs of running back Gabe Ortiz, the Cougars took down their archrival Eagles with a 20-7 victory at Webb Field.
Ortiz ran for a game-high 173 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while the Cannon defense limited cfa Academy’s normally explosive offense to just 93 total yards.
Eagles quarterback Mason McLaughlin, who actually was Cannon’s signal-caller this time last year, faced pressure all night from Cougars such as Cole Ventura, Floris Stratman, Drew Balsbough, Nick Whitley, Michael Elrod and Timmy Jones.
The Cougars limited McLaughlin, the county’s No. 1 passer, to just 5-of-21 passing for 41 yards and two interceptions, and sacked him four times.
The motivation was simple for the Cougars: End the streak. Now.
“This game’s been on our minds the entire year – ‘cfa, cfa,’ said Jones, a junior linebacker. “The seniors this year hadn’t beaten them since freshman year, and I know that was tough for them, especially those two past years.
“This year, a lot of our alumni were texting us, saying, ‘Big game, leave it on the field, we want this dub.’ It feels great. Our defense stuck to what we know, didn’t change anything up and got the job done.”
RECORDS
Cannon 5-4, 2-2 in the Piedmont Athletic Conference; cfa Academy 4-5, 1-3 PAC
THE PLAY OF THE GAME
Midway through the third quarter, cfa Academy’s D’Wayne Crawford intercepted a pass and ran it 18 yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 7.
On the ensuing Cannon possession, the cfa Academy defense made a strong stand and forced the Cougars to try a 36-yard field goal on fourth-and-5. Before the snap, however, the Eagles were flagged for being offsides, and the 5-yard penalty gave the Cougars a first down.
Two plays later, Ortiz dashed in for a 14-yard touchdown that proved to be the game-winning score.
“We’re over here yelling, ‘Don’t jump offsides! Don’t jump offsides!’ but our players did it anyway,” cfa coach Craig Kean said.
“Penalties killed us all night, starting with our first drive --you can’t get holding, illegal procedure,” Kean added. “That puts you behind the chains. We’d get a big play, and it’d get called back – a block in the back or an illegal procedure.”
PRIMETIME PERFORMERS
Cannon:
-- Junior cornerback Patrick Carlson intercepted both McLaughlin passes.
-- Ortiz ran for 117 of his 173 yards in the second half.
-- Safety Will Exson had two key pass breakups, one of them in the end zone. As a receiver, he caught two passes that resulted in key first downs each time.
-- Quarterback Chris Nelson was effective as a runner, gaining 50 yards and securing first downs several times to keep drives alive.
cfa Academy:
-- Senior receiver D’Wayne Crawford showed anticipation, great hands and speed when he stepped in front of a quick pass by Nelson and took it back for the score. After that, the Cougars mostly threw to the other side of the field.
-- Sophomore defensive back Jalen Gulatte was active in the secondary, breaking up several passes, and linebacker Rae Rice made some hard hits.
-- Running back Nick Treco combined with McLaughlin for the Eagles’ longest play of the day, a 23-yard pass along the sideline that moved them into Cannon territory.
3 OBSERVATIONS
-- Penalties were a major downfall for the Eagles, and that showed just a little more than a minute into the game when Crawford took a punt and danced 59 yards for a touchdown that would’ve given cfa the lead. However, a holding call – on the other side of the field –nullified the play.
-- The setup at Webb Field had a back-in-time feel, with part of football field running through a baseball infield, and bleachers that required fans from both teams to sit on the same side of stadium.
-- After the game, as Webb Field became nearly empty, it was good to see McLaughlin and several of his former teammates posing for photos together.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Cannon plays host to Christ the King, while cfa Academy goes to Huntersville to pay SouthLake Christian a visit.
GAME SUMMARY
Cannon 7 0 7 6 -- 20
cfa Academy 0 0 7 0 -- 7
First quarter
CS – Chris Nelson 1 run (Patrick Carlson kick)
Second quarter
None
Third quarter
CFA – D’Wayne Crawford 18 interception return (Hunter Rex kick)
Fourth quarter
CS – Gabe Ortiz 14 run (Carlson kick)
CS – Ortiz 25 run (kick blocked)
