Charlie Todd threw for 181 yards and three touchdowns, and Canton’s defense held Malone to negative yardage on the day in a dominating 29-0 Northern Athletic Conference win at John Oliver Field on Saturday afternoon.
With the win, Canton improved to 3-3 overall and 2-2 in the NAC, while Malone fell to 1-5, 1-3. With just one game remaining in the Northern Athletic Conference, the Bears have guaranteed at least a fourth place finish among Class B schools to earn a spot in the Section X playoffs.
“It’s always great to protect our home field,” said head coach Rico Dobbs. “I thought it was a stellar performance by our defense. We will need to build on that with Ogdensburg coming to town this Saturday.”
Todd connected with John Wilcox on a 12-yard score for the Bears’ first touchdown of the day, then hit Ryan Faunce for 22- and 19-yard scores to give Canton a 19-0 lead. Wilcox scored his second touchdown of the game on a 1-yard run, and Aiden Richardson capped the scoring with a 22-yard field goal — his first field goal attempt of the season — early in the fourth quarter.
In addition to the field goal, Richardson added two successful PAT kicks and recovered his own on-sides kick after the Golden Bears’ first touchdown drive, setting up their second score of the day.
Wilcox caught four passes for 43 yards, while Parker Hurlbut had the longest play of the day, a 58-yard catch on the first play of Canton’s last touchdown drive. Wilcox added 38 rushing yards on seven attempts.
The Bears’ defense had five sacks for 57 yards and 11 tackles behind the line of scrimmage totaling 80 yards lost. Combined with allowing just three first downs, the Bears “allowed” a total of -28 yards of offense on the day.
Owen Kenna led the defense with six tackles, including one sack and three tackles for a loss (TFL) totaling 16.5 yards. Hurlbut added five tackles with 1.5 for a loss of 13.5 yards. Donovan Anton had 1.5 sacks and 2.5 TFLs for a loss of 29.5 yards.
The Bears also won the turnover battle, picking up three Malone fumbles, including a 20-yard fumble return by Connor Clifford. John Wilcox added a 14-yard interception return.
Kolt Warner led Malone, gaining 37 rushing yards on 14 carries and making eight tackles.
Canton wraps up NAC play with its Homecoming Game vs. Ogdensburg Free Academy on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. The game is the final home game for the Bears, who will be honoring members of the senior class with an on-field presentation prior to the game.
