East football coach Marques Hayes was not in a rush to say goodbye to his players Friday night at Ellet High School's Joseph B. Yost Stadium.
"There is one message: I love my guys," Hayes said moments after addressing his team at the end of a 20-7 loss to Canfield in a Division III, Region 9 first-round playoff game.
Senior captains Antonio Rosser, Cochise Griffin and Keith Kendrick and junior captain Ziaire Stevens are among Hayes' "guys."
So are seniors Ibraheem Kamara , Luther Darisaw, Derald Mitchell, Taveon Ellis, Nicholas Hopfe, Jaden Bell and Mikle Hall, who were impact players who helped East share the City Series championship with Buchtel this season.
"These guys mean the world to me," Hayes said of his players. "I just told them I spend more time with them than I do my own child. You get to know these guys and you understand that these are beautiful young men. It is my honor to be around them."
Canfield (7-3) came to Akron as the reigning Division III state champion. The Cardinals went 14-1 last season, but this season's team is quite different with only four returning starters apiece on offense and defense.
East (8-3) struggled in the first quarter with two lost fumbles and several penalties.
"They capitalized off our mistakes and we let them get away," Rosser said. "It was a good game. Take away the two fumbles and it would have been a different game."
Canfield senior Anthony Mazzella scooped up a fumble and ran 4 yards for a touchdown with 6:20 to go in the first quarter.
The Cardinals took a 12-0 halftime lead when senior quarterback Paul Bindas connected with senior Scottie Eaton on a 77-yard touchdown pass with six seconds left in the second quarter.
Eaton ran for an 11-yard touchdown with 11 seconds left in the third quarter and sophomore Enzo Cocca threw a conversion pass to junior Angelo DeLucia to extend Canfield's lead to 20-0.
East fought back as junior quarterback Darshaun Sales threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Darisaw and Kamara kicked an extra point with 6:06 remaining in the fourth quarter. The three-play, 70-yard drive also included passes of 21 and 23 yards from Sales to Stevens and Kamara, respectively.
Bell recovered a Canfield fumble on the Cardinals 33-yard line with 4:21 to go, but East was unable to score on its final two drives.
"I wouldn't change my senior year to play with anyone else," Rosser said. "If I was to do this again, I would be with the same senior group. This is a great senior group. I love playing with them everyday. I love practicing with them everyday. I love going to film, luncheons and meetings. Everything was great with this senior class. I just love this senior class."
Eaton finished with 101 rushing yards on 24 carries and Bindas completed 6 of 11 passes for 127 yards. Senior Danny Inglis blasted a 75-yard punt in the second quarter and had two catches for 34 yards.
Sales completed 12 of 21 passes for 135 yards and Stevens ran for 63 yards on 19 carries. Darisaw had five catches for 64 yards and Kamara had three catches for 54 yards.
"I thought we played very well," Canfield coach Mike Pavlansky said. "That is a heck of a football team. You look at East's schedule and their defense didn't give up more than 14 points in a ballgame other than to Hoban, and everybody knows what Hoban is like.
"We knew we had our work cut out for us. Coach Hayes does a tremendous job with his program and they are in the playoffs year in and year out. They have so much team speed. I am really proud of our defense to hold that explosive offense to seven points.
"We were able to sustain drives offensively and keep the ball away from them, even though we were not finishing all of our drives. I am pleased with the effort for 48 minutes. We knew this game was not going to be easy. Even up 20-0, we knew it was not going to be easy, and it wasn't because they are not going to quit."
Michael Beaven can be reached at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal and is on Twitter at @MBeavenABJ .
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Reigning OHSAA Division III football state champ Canfield beats East
