Brown’s blocked punt, TD ignite Churchill’s opening night win

Analytically speaking, once Livonia Churchill senior Carter Brown blocked a Canton punt, chased the ball down and pounced on it in the end zone less than four minutes into Thursday night’s season-opener, the Chargers’ chances of earning a “W” skyrocketed.

“Statistics show that when a team blocks a kick — specifically a punt — its odds of winning are about 85%,” revealed Churchill Head Coach Allen Fiegel. “We put an emphasis on special teams — some might say we put too much time working on them — but like our legendary assistant coach John Filiatraut says, ‘We will never apologize for putting too much time into snapping, holding and kicking in practice.

“Coach Filiatraut had our special teams ready to go tonight.”

First-quarter onslaught

The blocked punt/touchdown ignited a 21-0 first-quarter landslide for the host Chargers, who went on to win 27-8. Churchill has now posted victories in six consecutive season-opening games.

“We’ve been historically good in Week 1’s,” Fiegel acknowledged. “Now the challenge begins to keep it going. This wasn’t our Super Bowl, but it was a good win against a good opponent.”

Long before the sun set beyond the western horizon, the Chargers had expanded their lead to 21-0 on touchdown passes from quarterback Levi Timberlake to Bryce Bennett (4 yards) and Austin Timberlake (34 yards) — both in the first quarter.

Cobras’ ‘D’ never gave up

To Canton’s credit, its defense never lost its intensity as it held the Chargers to six points — two field goals from senior kicker Michael Rezdha — the rest of the way.

The Cobras made it somewhat interesting in the second quarter when, trailing 24-0, junior quarterback Dylan Parrish took off on the 35-yard keeper. Three plays later, Parrish scored on a QB sneak, and the subsequent two-point conversion run by Alex Ryce brought the Cobras to within two scores, 24-8.

Levi Timberlake played like his namesake Justin sings — cool, calm and collected — throughout the contest, turning near-disastrous high snaps from his pair of sophomore centers into big gains or short losses.

“Levi did a great job tonight,” Fiegel said. “He was never hurried or rushed, even when the snaps were less-than-perfect. Defensively, we got a lot of hats to the football, but linebacker Sage Adams set the tone with his physicality.”

Beautiful night for football

The weather was perfect for football — a factor that may have limited the number of turnovers.

Brennan Greff — one of 10 sophomore starters for Churchill — recovered a fumble; Augustus Guion recovered a fumble for the Cobras.

Canton’s defensive line, led by Grand Valley State University commit Zion Malone — was staunch over the final three quarters.