By: Chris Manning / September 12, 2026
CANTON - Canton took the opening kick-off to the house and never looked back as they defeated Wyalusing, 41-0, during NTL Small School football action Saturday.
"It feels good to be 2-1," said Canton coach Tyler Sechrist. "I was happy with how we played. Still too many penalties and mistakes, but we played pretty hard. It started good with the opening kick-off to set the tone. We were able to play some JV in the third and fourth quarters. That was nice to get them in there and get them that experience."
Bailey Gardner took the opening kick to the end zone, then ran for 47-yards on six carries while hauling in four catches for 52-yards with a score.
Owen Moore was 9-for-21 for 179-yards with three touchdowns, and an interception, with Rylan Wesneski his top target, as he had two touchdowns catches for a total of 79-yards.
"Our offense kind of sputtered for a little bit, but then we got it going," Sechrist said. "A lot of it was our own mistakes, penalties and little mistakes, but once we got going it was a good."
For Wyalusing Wiley Trobaugh was 7-for-19 for 82-yards with two interceptions, with Landry Tinna his top target with five catches for 61-yards.
Jacob Gromley led the rushing attack with 11 carries for 28-yards.
Gardner's opening kick-off took 17 seconds off the clock with Aaden Dowling's point after making it 7-0.
Moore then hit Gardner for a 32-yard touchdown pass off a screen with 51.9 seconds to go. The kick failed as Canton took a 13-0 lead at the first horn.
Moore punched one in from 9-yards out with 9:05 left in the half, then he found Wesneski for a 38-yard touchdown reception just over a minute later. Grant Jennings ran in the 2-point conversion for a 27-0 halftime lead.
With 8:49 on the clock in the third Moore found Wesneski for a 41-yard scoring strike. Dowling would find Gardner for the 2-point conversion to make it 35-0.
The final score came in the fourth as Jaiden Ortiz punched one in from a yard out for the 41-0 final.
Canton will host Wellsboro next Saturday while Wyalusing faces CV at Mansfield University on Friday night.