Senior quarterback Charlie Todd scored his second 1-yard rushing touchdown of the game in the first possession of overtime to give the Canton varsity football team an 18-12 lead, but after a failed 2-point conversion, Massena quarterback Tapeni LaBrake scored a touchdown and converted on a 2-point conversion attempt to give the Raiders a 20-18 victory over the Golden Bears in a Northern Athletic Conference game in Massena on Friday night.
Canton appeared to take the lead late in the fourth quarter when Josh Ayrassian caught a pass in the end zone on 4th-and-goal from the 5-yard line, but the play was nullified by an illegal man downfield penalty, and the Bears failed to convert on 4th-and-goal from the 10 on the following play.
After Massena led 12-6 at the half, the Golden Bears dominated the second half. Canton drove the ball 80 yards on 18 plays, with John Wilcox running the ball nine times for 34 yards, including a 3-yard touchdown run to cap a 10-minute, 57-second drive on the Bears’ first possession of the second half, which spanned the third and fourth quarters. Wilcox also caught an 11-yard pass on the drive to give Canton a fresh set of downs.
Canton had an opportunity to take the lead late in the fourth quarter, driving as far as the Massena 25 yard line, but after snapping the ball quickly in an attempt to catch Massena with too many players on the field, the whistle was never blown, and Todd was sacked on 4th-and-2 and the Bears turned the ball over on downs.
Todd’s first touchdown gave the Golden Bears a 6-0 lead late in the first quarter, but Dominic Murtagh scored a pair of touchdowns, the first on a four-yard run, and the second on a 38-yard pass from LaBrake, to give Massena a 12-6 lead at the half.
Neither team was successful on its PAT attempts in regulation, with Wilcox blocking Massena’s kick on the Raiders’ first attempt. The rest of the PAT attempts in the game were 2-point conversion tries.
Canton outgained the Raiders 274-144 on offense and dominated the time of possession, holding the ball for 32:44 of the 48 minutes played. Defensively, the Bears forced four turnovers, with Ryan Faunce intercepting two passes, Danny Richardson intercepting another, and Donovan Anton recovering a fumble.
Wilcox led the Bears’ rushing attack, grinding his way to 70 rushing yards on 21 attempts. Todd was 14-for-21 passing for 168 yards, with Richardson leading the receiving corps with four catches for 58 yards. Wilcox also had four receptions for 40 yards, and Parker Hurlbut caught three passes for 18 yards. Aiden Richardson had the longest play of the day, a 41-yard catch to get the Bears into the red zone late in the fourth quarter.
LaBrake and Murtagh both had 48 yards rushing for Massena.
Wilcox also led the Bears on the defensive side of the ball with nine tackles, including two behind the line of scrimmage for a cumulative loss of nine yards. Faunce added six tackles to his two interceptions, while Anton and John Gidney both had five tackles.
Canton, now 2-2 overall and 2-1 in the NAC, plays another game under the lights on Friday night in Potsdam, as the Bears will look to avenge their season-opening loss to the Sandstoners.
