Aidan Richardson caught touchdown passes on consecutive drives to put the Canton varsity football team within striking distance of Ogdensburg Free Academy on Saturday, but the Blue Devils pulled away with a pair of big touchdown plays to defeat the Golden Bears 35-13 on Homecoming Weekend at John Oliver Field on Saturday afternoon.
OFA built a 19-0 halftime lead on a pair of short touchdown runs by Ashtyn Amo and a third by Blue Devil quarterback Madden West, but the Golden Bears responded with some of their best football of the season in the third quarter.
After Canton’s defense forced an OFA punt after a three-and-out on the first possession of the second half, a 15-yard punt return by Ryan Faunce gave the Bears possession on OFA 35 yard line.
It took the Bears just three plays to score, with Charlie Todd finding Richardson for a 20-yard touchdown pass to cut OFA’s lead to 19-7, after Richardson’s successful PAT kick.
OFA’s next drive stalled out after just one first down, this time ending when John Gidney dropped Amo in the backfield for a one-yard loss on 4th-and-2 at the OFA 43 yard line. The offense once again found the end zone, with Richardson capping a 10-play, 43-yard drive with a 4-yard touchdown catch from Todd on the first play of the fourth quarter to cut the OFA lead to 19-13. Todd faked as though he was going to run through the line on the play, then jumped up and tossed the ball to a wide-open Richardson in the end zone.
West gave the Blue Devils a two-score lead with a 28-yard touchdown run on OFA’s next possession, and while Canton looked poised to cut the lead to one score, driving to just outside the red zone halfway through the fourth quarter, OFA sealed the win when a pass from Todd sailed high and, despite a leaping attempt by Josh Ayrassian to catch the ball, landed right in Amo’s hands. With no one between him and the end zone, Amo returned the interception 80 yards for a touchdown for the final score of the game.
“I’m very proud of the way we responded after halftime,” said Canton head coach Rico Dobbs. “This group is resilient and never gave up. This week we need to focus on minimizing our mistakes and penalties as we prepare for Saranac Central this weekend.”
Richardson caught three passes for 40 yards to lead the Canton receiving corps. Todd gained 79 rushing yards on 15 carries, while John Wilcox gained 38 yards on eight attempts.
Lucas LaBella led OFA (5-1 overall, 4-1 NAC) with 115 rushing yards on 12 attempts, while Amo totaled 50 yards on 13 attempts. Urijah Austin caught three passes for 53 yards.
Wilcox led Canton’s defense with nine tackles and a blocked kick on a PAT attempt. Faunce added eight tackles, with Donovan Anton making six and Murphy Burke and Gidney both posting five.
Canton, now 3-4 overall, finished the NAC schedule with a 3-3 record and has clinched at least fourth place in the final NAC standings; the Bears will move into a tie for third if Potsdam beats Gouverneur on Saturday. Canton closes the regular season with a non-league contest at Saranac Central on Saturday at 1:30 p.m., and then will play in the Section X Class B semifinals next weekend. Seedings will be announced after this weekend’s games.
