EAST CANTON — The East Canton Hornets pay no heed to what they don’t have.
They continued to take stock in what they are during a 28-21 win over Lisbon on Friday, Oct. 31, upping their record to 9-2 and moving Round 2 of the OHSAA Division VII playoffs.
The Hornets don’t have numbers. They dressed 23 and it was less than that as the game went on. Senior Javen Walton was playing right tackle when he stayed down on the field with a leg issue. He rode a golf cart ride to the locker room as the first half wrapped up.
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The Hornets do have players who never leave the field and like it that way.
“I play for the people beside me,” said senior Canaan Pollard, a receiver/defensive back/kicker. “I love all those guys.
“I go by … ‘six seconds of havoc.”
One play at a time.
Senior James Stubblefield is an undersized Hornet (5-8, 135) who played with a big heart, a week after a big win over Malvern, albeit by a tiny margin, 7-6.
“We were confident before the Malvern game and more confident coming out of it,” Stubblefield said. “It’s a great feeling to win a playoff game. None of us was ever in a playoff game until tonight.”
The East Canton seniors were eighth-graders when the varsity lost 15-0 at Black River in their most recent postseason chance, in 2021.
On a crisp, windy night with a strong fan turnout, East Canton showed much resolve in taking control of early and re-taking it each time Lisbon came to the verge of reversing the game flow.
Lisbon (6-5) was a worthy foe led by 6-foot-1, 200-pound senior running back/linebacker Ashton Hinchliffe.
“Ashton is probably the best player in Columbiana County,” said Lisbon head coach Bill Meek Jr. “We were up against a team that was physically bigger than us and very well coached.
“Their running back (Dillon Anderson) is such a good player. We bottled him up a fair amount, but when he needed to do something at a key moment, he did.”
Anderson ran for two touchdowns and made some big plays on defense. Quarterback Owen McCroskey threw two TD passes to Aydan Stephens.
East Canton led 14-0 early in what was a back-and-forth game after that. The Hornets led 21-14 at halftime. It could have been more, but they missed a few tackles, as opponents often do against Hinchliffe.
The game got close in the final moments on a last-minute drive by Lisbon, but a failed onside kick ended the suspense.
East Canton played rugged defense last week against Malvern, which routed Ashtabula St. John 34-0 in another Division VIII playoff game Friday.
The Hornets needed more offense to keep their season alive.
They mixed up with an attack featuring the senior quarterback, McCroskey, who was averaging close to 20 throws with a 71% completion rate.
Anderson arrived with 773 rushing yards. Stephens came in with 61 catches on a variety of routes. His two TD catches came in the first half. He came close to hauling in a sideline bomb that might have set up another score.
The man to stop from Lisbon was Hinchcliffe, a dual threat who came in with 1,000-plus rushing yards and 600-plus receiving yards.
Lisbon quarterback Grant Minor is a 6-1 junior respected enough by his team to be a captain.
Those two were Lisbon’s offense in keeping their team in the game at halftime.
East Canton head coach John “Spider” Miller was wary about losing momentum. He gambled early in the second half, going for it on fourth-and-1 from his own 39. Lisbon’s defense stood up Anderson.
“That’s the break we need,” yelled one of the Lisbon coaches in the press box.
Lisbon didn’t take advantage.
East Canton frustrated Lisbon with important gains on wide screen passes while lined up in “trips” throughout the game.
“The screens are killing us!” a Lisbon coach yelled in the press box at one point.
“As much as we work on screens, we ought to be good at them,” Miller said afterward.
The Hornets advanced to a second-round game against Fairport Harding, which took a 10-0 record into a first-round bye. The school is on Lake Erie, about 80 miles north of East Canton.
In Game 2 this year, Lisbon got blasted 49-6 at Fairport Harding.
“Fairport is a good team,” said the Lisbon coach, Meek, “but East Canton is a good team. I think that can be a very good game.”
East Canton is a 9-2 team playing with pride.
“Our team has resilience,” Miller said. “It’s a team that takes a lot of pride in what they’re doing. It’s a team with a lot of grit.”
Here’s how the game Friday evening unfolded through our live updates.
Final | East Canton 28, Lisbon 21
Lisbon gets a TD from Ashton Hinchliffe on a 2-yard run with 1:34 left in the game to cut East Canton’s lead to 28-21. The Hornets (9-2) closed the game out from there to win and advance to Round 2. Lisbon’s season ends at 6-5.
‘That screen’s killing us’ … East Canton increases lead
Up 21-14, East Canton was in position to put the game away after starting at its own 40 following a punt with 9:45 left in the game.
But the Hornets hadn’t gotten the offense moving in the second half, but a screen to Aydan Stephens on third and 10 netted 12 yards.
A smashing 20-yard run by Dillon Anderson got the Hornets inside the 30.
A holding penalty wrecked a gain inside the 10, but the Hornets were back in business on a screen to Stephens.
“That screen’s killing us,” a Lisbon coach said in the press box.
Dillon Anderson broke free almost scored after breaking through the middle but lost his footing at the 2. He scored on the next play, though, and East Canton led 28-14 with 6:13 left.
Super punt helps Hornets sit on 21-14 lead
Leading 21-14, East Canton’s top receiver, Aydan Stephens, got a hand on an Owen McCroskey bomb that might have gained 50 yards, but it went off his fingertips.
Lisbon took over after a 55-yard punt with 2:30 left in the third quarter. The key change of field position resulted from East Canton lining up as if to go for it on fourth and 5 from its own 38.
QB Owen McCroskey backpedaled at the last second and got off a beauty of a punt, with no one back to receive it. The game went to the fourth quarter at that point.
Lisbon threatens, but winds up in a third and 42
East Canton senior right tackle Javen Walton left the field after being down for a minute late in the first half.
Lisbon stopped the Hornets on the opening drive of the third quarter, then made a fourth-and-one near the red zone.
In a weird sequence, Lisbon wound up in a third and 42 from the East Canton 44, needing to get to the 2 for a first down.
East Canton took over after a five-yard punt, leading 21-14 with 4:15 left in the third quarter.
East Canton fights back, but so does Lisbon
After momentum reversed in Lisbon’s favor, East Canton drove and seized it back. A 20-yard Owen McCroskey to Canaan Pollard pass on third-and-7 got the Hornets to the 10.
On second and goal from the 5, McCroskey found Aydan Stephens on a slant for a clean-looking touchdown and 21-7 lead. There was 4:10 left in the second quarter.
Lisbon answered with a long pass to Ashton Hinchliffe that set up Hincgliffe’s five-yard touchdown drive, making it 21-14 with two minutes left in the half.
Lisbon avoids borderline blowout, scores on East Canton
Winning on both sides of the ball, up 14-0, East Canton seemed in great shape after a 12-yard sack by Dillon Anderson, but Lisbon made a chunk gain on a screen pass and two offsides changed the game.
The Hornet defense eventually put Lisbon in a fourth and 11 from the 30 as the first quarter ended, then got a strong pass rush to force a wild pass.
The Hornets took over on downs. A screen pass to Aydan Stephens got East Canton to midfield, but a bomb to Steohens down the right sideline barely missed.
Lisbon started on the 20 after a punt and went on the move behind speedy, hard-to-tackle Ashton Hinchliffe. A trick play left quarterback Grant Minor wide open for a 25-yard catch and run on a fake run and subsequent pass from Hinchliffe.
East Canton’s lead fell to 14-7 midway through the second quarter.
East Canton outplaying Lisbon on both sides of the ball
Already up 7-0, East Canton forced a three-and-out and took over on the Lisbon 40 after a punt.
Head coach John “Spider” Miller is quick to point out the Hornets have a strong receiving corps, not just a one-man show in Aydan Stephens. QB Owen McCroskey proved the point with a sideline pass to senior James Stubblefield that turned into a 30-yard catch and run.
That set up a four-yard TD run up the gut by Dillon Anderson.
East Canton led 14-0 with just seven minutes gone in the game.
Lisbon opens with big play, but East Canton bounces right back
Lisbon opened the game with a wide-open, 40-yard completion to its star senior, Ashton Hinchliffe, but after getting fooled by a well-game-planned play, East Canton’s defense forced the visitor to run out of downs.
The Hornets took over on their own 35, got a long run from Dillon Anderson, and scored on a 35-yard strike over the middle from Owen McCroskley to Aydan Stephens.
It’s 7-0 with 7:44 left in the first quarter.
Cool breeze flapping flags as East Canton, Lisbon QBs calibrate
The teams warmed up in a cool stiff breeze that effected warmup passes.
The arms of East Canton’s senior quarterback, Owen McCroskey, and Lisbon’s standout junior QB, Grant Minor.
Bill Meek Jr. is in just his second year as Lisbon’s head coach, but he has decades of experience as an assistant. His 85-year-old father, Bill Meek Sr., likewise spent his adult life coaching and was in the house Friday as a Lisbon assistant.
East Canton Hornets football scores, schedule
Ohio high school football playoffs | OHSAA bracket for Division VII, Region 25
Reach Steve at steve.doerschuk@cantonrep.com
The Canton Repository sports department can be contacted via email at sports@cantonrep.com.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: OHSAA football playoffs scores, East Canton vs. Lisbon recap, highlights
Reporting by Steve Doerschuk, Canton Repository / The Repository
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