Plymouth Wrestling has a record breaking season

By Hailey Foster
Sports Co-Editor

The 2013-2014 Plymouth wrestling team made history on Feb 21 by becoming the first team in Plymouth history to make it to Team States in Battle Creek, Michigan. The Wildcats worked hard and spent endless hours preparing for this feat. At the meet they pulled an unlucky draw and had to battle their first match against Detroit Catholic Central. They were out their first match but they lost to the eventual winner of Division 1, Catholic Central.
“It was an amazing experience being there. I have been going for the past seven years as a spectator so to be in the actual event is incredible. The grand march was the best part,” said Plymouth senior Daniel Ahearn.
Plymouth had wrestlers accomplish great feats throughout the season and prove themselves beyond expectations. They were a strong team with a lot of depth throughout all the weight classes.
It was a successful end to a great season. But it isn’t over for everyone. Plymouth had six state qualifiers whose seasons continued at Individual States held at the Palace of Auburn Hills on Thursday, Feb 27.
Plymouth proved itself this season by winning districts, moving onto both Team and Individual States, and ending the season with fantastic record. They proved to everyone that even a young school can make history. Plymouth hopes to continue this success on the mat next year.

Canton v. Salem basketball

By Kelsey McDougall

The Canton Chiefs Varsity Men’s basketball team defeated cross-campus rivals Salem 60-56 in a back and forth game on Dec. 13.
The game was close the whole first half, with both teams fighting for positioning and the lead. In the first two quarters, Salem seemed to control the physicality of the game.
“We were losing the effort plays in the first half; all of the loose balls, boxing out, rebounding, so when we got into halftime, coach talked to us. He talked about getting the effort back in our game, which is a big part about playing basketball,” said Canton senior Jordan Nobles.
Despite being outhustled, Canton still lead at the half, 26-24.
Canton and Salem battled during the third quarter, but neither team could seem to find their footing. The game was at a stalemate, with each team having an answer for the other.
Canton’s bench proved strong as reserve players kept the game at a fast and physical pace.
“A lot of guys…off the bench probably Jajuan (Sturdivant), you know his stat sheet might not show it, but his effort and energy and his urgency tonight was very good. He was diving on the floor, he was getting loose balls, bringing some of that stuff that we didn’t have for a while with the starting group.”
Canton held the lead at the end of the third quarter, the score 39-37
The major turning point of the game came late the fourth quarter when Canton found themselves down 54-52.
“I was just looking at the scoreboard and saw they were up by two points with four minutes to go, and I’m like ‘I’m not about to lose this game to Salem’, since I’ve been on Varsity I haven’t lost to Salem, so I was just thinking ‘I’m not losing this year,’” said Nobles, the senior captain.
With less than four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Nobles hit a three-pointer to take the lead for his team.
“Whenever Nobles hit that three, I think it put us up one or two, that was a big time basket. Because we were down late, it was a big three to swing the momentum back in our favor,” said Reddy.
Coach Reddy is happy that his Varsity squad is performing well early on in the season, but believes the team still has a lot of room for improvement. “We’ve got a long way to go. But I’m glad, 2-0 is better than 0-2. We’ve got to be better in a month.”
The leading scorer for the chiefs was senior Jordan Nobles with 26 points, followed by Davon Taylor with 18 points, Chase Winningham with 6 points, Logan Ryan with 5 points, Shane Keyandwy with 3 points, and Jajuan Sturdivant with 2 points.
The leading scorer for the Rocks was Alec Winfrey with 16 points, followed by Connor Cole with 10 points, Jake Lenders with 7 points, Brady Cole and Tyler Brooks each tallying 6 points, Allante Wheeler with 3 points, and one point each from Michael Hoover, Jon Swift and Evan Klenk.

Football comes home: Plymouth

By Hailey Foster

The Plymouth Wildcats took on cross campus rivals Canton for a homecoming that would determine first place in the division.
The first quarter started with a long drive and score for Canton, and a 95 yard kickoff return by Plymouth sophomore Cameron Stella. But another 12-play, 60 yard drive from the Chiefs found junior Charles Turfe in the end zone from two yards out. Neither team could stop each other’s offense. After the long drive from Canton, Plymouth responded with a long drive of their own. Taking the ball 68 yards in 12 plays, the Wildcats scored on an explosive run from senior running back DJ Rossell that put Plymouth up 14-13.
Canton marched the ball down the field after the Plymouth score. Eighty yards with key runs by Senior Chase Winningham and Junior Greg Williams led Turfe to net his second score of the night, this time from one yard out. A missed field goal by the Wildcats ended the first half of the Oct. 11 match up with the score 20-14.
During the third quarter Plymouth notched a 42 yard field goal. The Chiefs answered back with a touchdown from Chase Winningham with 25 seconds left in the quarter.
The pivotal moment came in the fourth quarter when Plymouth’s offense was stuffed at midfield on a fourth down try. The Chiefs netted a score from junior quarterback Greg Williams. The ‘Cats answered with a touchdown from senior quarterback AJ Convertino to senior wide receiver Matt Busch, but it was too little too late. In the end the Chiefs came out on top with a final score of 34-23.

Football comes home: Salem

By Hailey Foster

The Salem Rocks beat South Lyon East on Sept. 27, at their homecoming game by a score of 26-22. The back and forth game found the Rocks ahead after the first quarter, 7-0.
Almost immediately following the beginning of the second quarter South Lyon East scored a touchdown to tie up the game 7-7. With the Rocks scrambling to recover, South Lyon East fired another touchdown with seven minutes left. The score now stood at 14-7. With five minutes remaining, Salem fumbled the ball, leading to a 36-yard scoop and touchdown for the Cougars, making the score 20-7. After a successful 2 point conversion the Rocks were down 22-7.
With three minutes left in the first half, Salem running back Drake Jordan ran one in bringing up the score to 22-14. To end the first half, Salem quarterback Alex Nicholson threw to tight end Michael Hoover who scored a 17-yard touchdown. The two-point conversion attempted by the Rocks failed, making the score at the end of the half 22-20.
During the halftime celebration the homecoming king and queen were announced after the two performances by the Pompon and Varsity Cheer teams. The Rocks crowned Zac Brown and Kerry Breen as their 2013 homecoming king and queen.
In the beginning of the fourth quarter senior Running Back Drake Jordan scored his third touchdown of the night giving the Rocks the lead, 26-22, which they held onto. The win brings Salem’s record to 1-4 on the year and 1-2 in the KLAA Central.

Football comes home: Canton

By Joe Zylka

Canton football made their Sept. 20 homecoming game a night to remember, as they blasted John Glenn by a score of 55-14. Canton got out to a very good start, controlling time of possession and keeping the ball out of the hands of John Glenn’s running back, Devon Spalding. Canton’s defense was victorious in first half, giving up no points to the Rockets.
At halftime, the homecoming festivities took center stage. After performances by the Chiefettes and the varsity cheerleading team, seniors Jamal Dixon and Allie Archibald were crowned homecoming king and queen.
The Chiefs had a running clock by the third quarter, and the starters were given the rest of the night off. Glenn added a couple of late scores to bring the final to 55-14.
Junior quarterback Greg Williams had a great night for the Chiefs, completing all five of his pass attempts for 101 yards and a touchdown to tight end Jake Boucher. Williams also added two scores before exiting the game midway through the third quarter. Senior running back Robert Doaud had three carries for 48 yards and a touchdown, and junior running back Chuck Turfe added 53 yards on the ground and scored two touchdowns for the Chiefs. The win brought the Chiefs to 4-0 on the year and 2-0 in the KLAA South Division.

Canton Football Preview

One of our graduated sports journalists interviews Canton varsity football coach Tim Baechler, along with star players Greg Williams and Jake Boucher at the KLAA media day located at Novi High School.