Offense and big plays ruled as Canton had scoring plays of 84, 71, 54 and 42 yards and Wellsboro scored from 58, 56 and 35 yards out. 

The Hornets had 17 first downs to the Warriors’ 11 and Wellsboro freshman QB Griffin Morral completed 17-of-25 passes for 261 yards and four touchdowns through the air and added 85 yards rushing and a TD on the ground. 

Marek Mascho and Kody Enck each caught a pair of scores, with Mascho making five catches for 99 yards and Enck grabbing four balls for 98 yards. Senior Ryder Bowen added 49 yards rushing on 17 carries and caught five passes from Morral for 39 yards.

After Canton forced a Wellsboro punt on the game’s opening possession, the Warriors went on a nine play drive and scored the game’s shortest TD play as Holden Ward punched it in from the Wellsboro three yard line and Alexis McRoberts extra point gave Canton an early 7-0 lead. 

Mascho took the ensuing kickoff out to the Wellsboro 40 yard line and the Hornets nine-play drive ended with Mascho hauling in a 15-yard TD pass from Morral as the first quarter clock expired. Jonathan Carl’s XP attempt was good to knot the score at 7-7 as the teams headed to the second quarter.

Canton retook the lead less than three minutes later on a 54-yard Ben Fitch to Aydin Holcomb TD pass and McRoberts made it 14-7 Canton. 

The Hornets’ ensuing drive was ended on a Canton interception and the Warriors two-play drive ended on a Ward 42 yard touchdown run. McRoberts was good again and the Warriors led 21-7 with 8:18 left before the halftime break. 

The Hornets responded with their own two-play drive as Morral found Mascho for a 56 yard scoring strike and Carl’s kick cut the Canton lead to 21-14 with 7:23 left in the half.

Wellsboro forced a Canton punt, but Morral would be intercepted at the Hornet 30-yard line by Canton’s Ben Fitch, who returned the pick for a TD. A missed PAT left Canton’s lead at 27-14 with just over five minutes remaining. 

The Hornets struck quickly on their next possession as Morral broke loose on a 58-yard TD run with just over four minutes left. The XP was no good and Wellsboro trailed 27-20. The teams traded punts to play out the first half clock and headed to the locker rooms with Canton holding onto their 27-20 lead. 

The Warriors came out and extended their lead to 33-20 after a Ward 16-yard TD run and a missed two-point try. Wellsboro would be forced to punt and Canton capitalized with an 84-yard scoring strike from Fitch to Holcomb. McRoberts kick was good and the Warriors led 40-20 with just under seven minutes,inutes remaining in the third quarter.

Wellsboro had to punt away their next possession, but Carl go the ball back for the Hornets with an interception that set the Hornets up in Canton territory at the 34-yard line. Morral found Enck for a 35-yard TD and Mascho ran in the two-point conversion to make it 40-28 Canton with 22 seconds left in the third frame. 

Canton answered with a 71-yard TD strike from Ward to Fitch to open the fourth quarter and after the failed two-point try the Warriors led 46-28.

The Hornets took over on their own 28 and drove to the Canton 1-yard line, taking over six minutes off the clock. On 4th-and goal from the one, Wellsboro couldn’t punch it in and Canton got the ball back deep in their own territory. They’d get out to their own 27 but were forced to punt and the Hornets had the ball on Wellsboro’s 49. 

Morral would find Enck from 11 yards out for the game’s final score with under a minute remaining. The missed extra point attempt provided the 46-34 final. 

The Hornets fall to 1-7 on the season with the loss. They’ll travel to take on 1-7 Northwest Area next Friday.

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