Staff photo / Neel Madhavan Chaney's Matt Jones runs in for a score during Friday's victory over Canfield

YOUNGSTOWN — Chaney’s Jason Hewlett put it best, telling his teammates at halftime — “This is the best unit on the field — our defense,” he said.

Despite three turnovers by the offense, the Cowboys’ defense remained resolute, shutting down the Cardinals’ offense to remain undefeated and give Chaney its best win of the season, knocking off Canfield 16-13 Friday night at Rayen Stadium.

“This is more than just this season,” said Chaney head coach Seth Antram. “This is something that Coach Shep, Coach Chris (Amill) and everybody had a hand in — to build this up to what it could be. It’s just great that it’s coming into play because these seniors deserve it.”

Chaney didn’t get off to the best start, fumbling on the opening possession of the game, which was then turned into a quick touchdown by the Cardinals.

However, it would be the Cardinals’ offense’s only points of the game. Chaney held Canfield to just 141 total yards of offense, the Cardinals’ lowest output of the season.

“They are so fast and so well-coached and their technique is just tremendous,” Canfield head coach Mike Pavlansky said. “They really fly to the football and that is a really good football team.”

It also held Canfield’s star quarterback Broc Lowry to 3-for-11 passing for three yards and an interception, however, Lowry did pick up 109 rushing yards on 19 carries on the ground.

“We loaded the box as best as we could and took care of what they wanted to do,” Antram said. “(Canfield) stuck with power and some of those things and our guys up front made plays.”

Canfield’s defense limited Chaney’s big play ability and also held the Cowboys to 145 total yards in addition to the three turnovers.

“I thought our defense played excellent the whole night,” Pavlansky said. “They gave up seven points. We had to find a way to help them out. We knew that and we didn’t help them out offensively.”

Jones finished 4-for-12 for 73 yards and an interception through the air, while picking up 29 yards and a touchdown on the ground.

After the Cardinals pulled ahead early, Chaney’s offense put together its only scoring drive of the game, finishing things off with a 1-yard touchdown run by quarterback Matt Jones in the second quarter.

The Cowboys looked poised to extend their lead after a 42-yard catch by DJ Waller put Chaney near the goal line, but the turnover bug reared its head again as Canfield pounced on a loose ball by Jones as he tried to muscle towards the end zone.

Chaney’s defense still managed to salvage some points for the Cowboys, bringing down Canfield’s Danny Inglis in the end zone for a safety and a 9-6 halftime lead.

A special teams miscue led to Canfield’s only other points of the night. A long snap over the Cowboys’ punter’s head was recovered in the end zone for a touchdown, which gave Canfield the lead after trailing at halftime.

After the offense stalled out again, Chaney pinned Canfield deep in its own territory with a punt and the Cardinals were looking for points to try to extend their lead.

But that was short-lived until Jaquan Johnson picked off Lowry on a tipped ball and returned it 22 yards to paydirt.

“He’s the leader of that defense,” Hewlett said of Johnson. “We believe in our defense and we believe in how strong it is. We just had to keep pushing and eventually something was going to happen.”

With just under eight minutes to go, Chaney’s defense needed at least one more stop. Canfield was out of timeouts, but took over near the 35 after the kickoff.

Lowry was able to pick up a couple first downs, but the Cardinals stalled out at the opposing 45-yard line. Facing 4th-and-10 with the clock ticking, Lowry’s pass over the middle of the field was broken up by Waller, as the Cowboys defense held strong one last time.

“It’s the biggest win we’ve had all year,” Hewlett said. “Beating a great team like Canfield, we got our respect now. We just have to keep it going and keep our respect.”