Housy Mountaineers fall to Canton Warriors, 54-23

CANTON — What started as a seesaw battle between two determined teams in the first quarter last Saturday soon became a one-sided affair in favor of the Canton Warriors, as they scored 46 unanswered points to blow by the Housatonic Mountaineers 54-23.

"We game-planned to take away their power running between the tackles, and we were successful in doing so," Coach Deron Bayer commented afterward.  "But to their credit, they were able to get outside on the sweeps, and we weren’t able to contain them."

Indeed, Warriors quarterback Nick Grabowski and his leading running back, Greg Cole, continually found the edges of the field fertile ground as they ran sweeps to both sides, often one right after another, as they exploited the soft spot in the Mountaineer defense.

Early on it seemed as if it was going to be one of those games where whoever has the last possession wins.

After a strong defensive stand by the Mountaineers, Housy got the ball on Canton’s 45-yard line, and moved down the field methodically, capping the drive with a 2-yard plunge into the end zone by Donyell Williams.

Tanner Brisett lofted a pass to Zack Williams for the two-point conversion, and the Mountaineers took the lead at 8-0.

The Warriors answered, with a quarterback sweep that was the first of three rushing touchdowns for Grabowski, who also scored the two-point conversion to tie the score at 8-8.

After an excellent kick-off return, Brisett found Williams open for a pass that led to a 53-yard run up the middle for another Housy touchdown. Brisett  bull-rushed his way past the goal line for the extra two points, putting the Mountaineers back on top 16-8. The first quarter came to an end with high expectations for an exciting matchup.

But that wasn’t to be, as the Warriors took control and never looked back. Canton scored 33 points in the second quarter, putting the game out of reach. 

Although the Mountaineer defense did make adjustments at halftime, allowing only one score in the third quarter, it was too late to make a difference.

By the fourth quarter, both teams had pulled many of the starters, allowing younger players to get some game experience. Forrest Hayden scored for Housy with a 1-yard touchdown run in the last minute of the game, after a 41-yard scamper by Williams. The successful two-point play allowed Housy to narrow the margin of defeat. The Mountaineers’ record dropped to 1-3. They have their work cut out for them to get back in the winning column against Avon, one of the best teams in the Pequot League’s Uncas division, this Saturday at home.