By Phil Keren

Correspondent

Mogadore head coach Matt Adorni wanted his team to bust through the starting gate and seize the momentum quickly in their Division VII Region 25 Regional Semifinal game against East Canton on Friday.

He got his wish, thanks to senior running back Conner Lehner.

Lehner returned the opening kickoff 34 yards to the Mogadore 44-yard line. He probably hadn’t even fully caught his breath when he took the handoff from junior quarterback Maddox Smith and zipped through the East Canton defense for a 56-yard touchdown run and a 6-0 lead 20 seconds into the game.

“We wanted to start fast,” Adorni said. “Their defensive line presented a problem, and we got our kids to attack their defensive front and our offensive line did a good job. They took control of this game early and were really solid at it.”

Mogadore started quickly and kept its foot on the gas en route to a 47-14 win over East Canton at Mogadore Memorial Stadium.

The win advances Mogadore (11-1) to next Friday’s regional championship against McDonald, which defeated Monroeville, 40-13, on Friday. McDonald is 12-0 on the season.

For the Cats on Friday, Adorni praised the quickness and strength of Lehner, who finished with 159 yards on 11 carries and two touchdowns.

“He’s so explosive,” Adorni said. “You’re not just going to bring him down with a little arm tackle. He’s powerful and then has that burst where he kicks it into a gear and he’s really good at following his blockers and the line and, especially Dylan Benedum at fullback, does a great job of wrecking linebackers.”

After the Mogadore defense recorded a three-and-out on East Canton’s first possession, the Wildcats drove 70 yards in seven plays and extended their lead to 12-0 on a 24-yard scoring run by Benedum. Lehner led off the scoring march with a 28-yard run on a toss sweep. Four plays later, Smith connected with junior wide receiver Kade Thomas for a 9-yard pickup on fourth-and-5.

On his touchdown run, Benedum attacked the center of the Hornets’ defense, then cut to the outside and outran the defenders to the corner of the end zone.

With a dominant running attack already well established, Mogadore coaches decided it was time to make a play in the passing game. Smith threw a solid spiral down the sideline that was caught by Thomas for a 43-yard gain to the East Canton 13-yard line. Three plays later, Lehner again found paydirt, this time from 3 yards out.

When kicker Tyler Pendergast’s extra-point attempt split the uprights, the Wildcats led 19-0 with 46 seconds left in the first quarter.

Adorni said the long throw from Smith to Thomas is a play that the team has had some success with throughout the season.

“We start running the ball, running the ball and if we feel like Kade can be a good matchup with

the corner one-on-one, we dial that up … it’s a sneaky one and Kade’s real quick,” Adorni said. “He spins out on that and is tough to guard.”

After making a big play on offense, Thomas then made an even bigger one on defense. On the

first play of the second quarter, an overthrown East Canton pass was intercepted by Thomas at the Hornets’ 47-yard line and returned for a touchdown. On the pick-six, Thomas initially ran diagonally across the field, picked up a couple nice blocks, then turned upfield and broke away for the score and a 26-0 lead.

“(Thomas) sat in the zone and he did what he was coached to do and it was a little bit of an overthrow and he was right there for it,” Adorni said. “He came off some great blocks.”

Mogadore closed out the first half with a 3-yard touchdown run by Benedum and a 55-yard scoring scamper from Smith.

Smith’s touchdown came at a moment when East Canton was chipping away a little bit and trying to seize some momentum. The Hornets had scored at the 2:19 mark of the second quarter when senior quarterback Owen McCroskey tossed a 30-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Aydan Stephens.

When Mogadore got the ball back, it picked up a couple first downs, but Smith was sacked by East Canton sophomore linebacker Jacob Demyan for a 9-yard loss. Mogadore found itself facing a third-and-14 near midfield. Smith ran a draw play, cut to his right and pulled away down the sideline untouched for a 55-yard touchdown. That score sent the Wildcats to the locker room with a 40-7 lead.

Adorni noted Smith has improved throughout the season and brings an added dimension to the position with his ability to run.

“He’s just gotten better and he gives us a little bit of a versatility that teams aren’t used to when they play Mogadore by him being able to run the ball, running between the tackles and running around the end, and he makes good decisions at quarterback, (he knows) when to tuck it and go,” Adorni said. “He’s definitely a weapon for us there.”

“We’re going to have our work cut out for us but we’re a good football team, too,” Adorni said. “That’s what you expect to play in the regional finals, another good football team. Going through what we went through last year, we’re just really excited to be back for this opportunity.”

BOX SCORE

DIVISION VII, REGION 25 REGIONAL SEMIFINAL

MOGADORE 47, EAST CANTON 14

(At Memorial Stadium, Mogadore)

EAST CANTON 0-7-0-7—14

MOGTADORE 19-21-0-7—47

SCORING SUMMARY

FIRST QUARTER

MOG — Lehner 56 run (kick failed), 11:40

MOG — Benedum 24 run (run failed), 6:14

MOG — Lehner 3 run (Pendergast kick), 0:46

SECOND QUARTER

MOG — Thomas 47 interception return (Pendergast kick), 11:44

MOG — Benedum 3 run (Pendergast kick), 6:45

EC — Stephens 30 pass from McCroskey (Pollard kick), 2:19

MOG — Smith 55 run (Pendergast kick), 0:11

THIRD QUARTER

No scoring

FOURTH QUARTER

MOG — Dasco 1 run (Pendergast kick), 9:10

EC — Schrader 7 run (Pollard kick), 5:00

TEAM STATISTICS

First Downs — Mogadore, 20-10.

Rushing: Att.-Yards — East Canton 21-108; Mogadore 38-341.

Passing: Comp.-Att. — East Canton 10-16; Mogadore 4-5.

Passing Yards — East Canton 73; Mogadore 80.

Interceptions Thrown — East Canton 1; Mogadore 0.

Fumbles-Lost — East Canton 0-0; Mogadore 0-0.

Penalties-Yards — East Canton 1-5; Mogaadore 2-20.

Turnover on Downs — East Canton 1; Mogadore 1.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

East Canton: Colby Schrader 5-53, Dillon Anderson 9-40, Aiden Kandel 1-8, Owen McCroskey 5-5.

Mogadore: Conner Lehner 11-159, Maddox Smith 8-75, Dylan Benedum 5-46, Q Siggers-Greco 7-33, Jake Hopkins 2-17, Kayden Guyer 1-3, Tyler Pendergast 1-2, Jaykob Dasco 1-1.

PASSING

East Canton: Owen McCroskey 10-13-72-1.

Mogadore: Maddox Smith 4-5-80-0.

RECEIVING

East Canton: Aydan Stephens 7-60, Canan Pollard 1-6, James Stubblefield 1-6, Dillon Anderson 1-0.

Mogadore: Kade Thomas 4-80.