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CANTON – Trailing by 10 at halftime of Friday's District 4 Class A quarterfinal primarily thanks to a pair of turnovers that Northwest turned into a pair of touchdowns as well as 90 penalty yards, Canton was looking at its final half of football in 2026 if it didn't turn things around.
Thanks to cutting down on the penalties and the running of Bailey Gardner, Canton will live to play another week. Canton committed just four second half penalties for just 22 yards and Gardner ran for 263 yards on 18 carries – nearly 15 yards a carry – and six touchdowns, including four in the second half, and Canton rallied back in the second half with 33 unanswered points before a late Northwest touchdown and the Warriors advanced to next week's semifinal at Montgomery with a 45-29 win over Northwest.
"We were our own worst enemy in the first half and it really hurt us, and we had too many personal fouls and unsportsmanlike penalties, so I said 'anyone that opens their mouth in the second half, I'm bringing them out,'" said Canton coach Tyler Sechrist. "We really challenged them and they came out ready to play.
"Bailey ran the ball unbelievably tonight. He's played hard for us for four years and I think he wanted another game. He knew this was it if we lost so we ran like a man possessed."
The 10-point halftime lead for Northwest quickly turned into a two-point lead for Canton less than three minutes into the second half, thanks to two straight touchdowns sandwiched around a Northwest turnover. Northwest committed five of them in the second half and six for the game, and Canton scored a total of 27 points off of them.
"Canton is a good football team and you can't win a game with six turnovers," said Northwest coach Greg Mullins. "Tyler is a great coach and I didn't even realize how successful Canton's program has been as of late."
While it was Northwest's turnovers that were its undoing, it was the Rangers that cashed in on a pair of Canton turnovers in the first half, which helped them build a 22-12 lead at the half.
A Loegan Diltz interception return of 48 yards gave Northwest the ball at the Canton 36 at the 6:35 mark of the first half. The Rangers then chewed up a good remaining portion of the first quarter with a nine-play drive capped by Diltz's one-yard touchdown run to go up 7-0 with 1:37 left in the quarter.
Canton answered almost immediately as Gardner got loose down the right sideline and outran all remaining Northwest defenders for an 80-yard touchdown run, but he was assessed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after the score.
Northwest used that penalty and a 46-yard return by Noah Arnett on the ensuing kickoff to start its drive at the Canton 11. The Warriors kept the Rangers out of the end zone, and Northwest settled for a 22-yard Wyatt Orlowski field goal to make it 10-6 early in the second quarter.
In what would be an omen of what was to come in the second half, Northwest lost a fumble at its own 28 on its next possession, giving Canton outstanding field position, which it capitalized on as Gardner capped a short five-play drive with a two-yard touchdown run to give Canton the lead, 12-10, with 5:06 to play in the first half.
But Northwest would answer with its longest scoring drive of the night, five plays and 73 yards, capped by Cole Cavuto's 38-yard touchdown pass to Chris Martinez to make it 16-12.
Canton then coughed up a fumble at its own 37, and Cavuto punched it in from two-yard out three plays later, which included a 25-yard run by Caleb Ide, to give the Rangers a 10-point lead.
Yet, with 9:37 left in the third quarter, Canton took a two-point lead that it would never relinquish. The Warriors received the second half kickoff and began at their own 30 but needed just four plays, three of which were Gardner runs, to find the end zone just a minute into the quarter on a 21-yard run by Gardner to cut Northwest's lead to 22-18.
The Rangers then lost a fumble on their second play from scrimmage on their subsequent drive, giving Canton the ball at the Northwest 25, and Gardner cashed that in two plays later with another 21-yard touchdown to put Canton up for good, 24-22.
Northwest appeared to be on the cusp of getting the lead back after a field-flipping 43-yard pickup on a Orlowski reception moved the ball from the Northwest 41 down to the Canton 16. But the Rangers lost the ball again, giving Canton the ball at its own 11.
Brooks Wesneski connected with Monte Whitehead for a 42-yard reception on a third-and-13 play, Canton got 15 more on a penalty, and then Gardner reached the end zone for the fifth time on the evening with a 35-yard touchdown run.
"We scored a lot of points in a hurry there," said Sechrist. "The turnovers gave us good field position and we were able to get Bailey in some good positions and he was running hard. We liked the wham there, that was open, and once he scored a few times on that, we got a little different formation, put him in a T in the fullback and ran a quick trap up the middle, so just moving him around and just wearing down on him. Turnovers either swing momentum your way or if you're losing them you get your head down and get discouraged."
The Rangers then fumbled on the ensuing kickoff, giving Canton the ball at the Northwest 35. The Warriors turned it over on downs, but so did Northwest on its ensuing drive at its own 25, and Canton would take advantage as Gardner found the end zone for the sixth time on the night from 15 yards out to make it 38-22 on the first play of the fourth quarter.
The ensuing kickoff was again fumbled away by Northwest, giving Canton the ball at the Northwest 40, and two plays later, Wesneski found Rylan Wesneski down the right sideline for a 38-yard touchdown pass to make it 45-22.
"I told them not to give up. It's up to you guys if you want it, we've been down a few times this year. We were down by nine in our first game going into the fourth quarter and we scored three unanswered touchdowns to win, so I just challenged them, said 'we're not done yet' and they played hard," said Sechrist.
Northwest managed one final touchdown for its season with under a minute to play as Ben Bonham hit Orlowski for a one-yard score.
"We were blessed to be playing this week at home in a game we could compete in but wanted to play another week," said Sechrist. "We're going to be motivated to work hard and play Montgomery tough. It's another opportunity for us to play and we've got nothing to lose."