Correspondent file photo / Michael G. Taylor Canfield’s Enzo Cocca throws a pass during the Cardinals’ home win vs. West Branch on Aug. 22.

By PRESTON BYERS

Staff writer

CANFIELD — When Canfield head football coach Joe Ignazio says his team has had “probably one of the toughest schedules in Ohio” more than halfway through the season, it is easy to see why.

Through the first six games, half of the Cardinals’ opponents have just one loss – to Canfield – – and only one team has a losing record. But the competitive slate hasn’t fazed Canfield, which is 6-0 for the first time since 2020.

“We have 10 hard games to prepare us for the late run, if we can make a run,” said Landon Shina, a senior tight end and defensive end. “But every game has been a challenge. We take it as one, against the best opponent possible. We treat every opponent the same way, to make ourselves better every week.”

It has been working to perfection.

Since a season-opening 26-21 victory over West Branch, during which the Cardinals needed two kickoff returns for touchdowns to beat the Warriors, Canfield has won each game by at least two scores.

The most recent win came at home against previously undefeated Hickory (Pa.) in a battle of 5-0 teams. Canfield delivered its best defensive performance of the season, holding the Hornets to a season-low 10 points.

“They’ve done a tremendous job of just being even-keeled, not riding the highs too high and the lows too low,” Ignazio said. “We’ve (gone) in a couple of weeks at halftime, and there’s not a whole lot of screaming and yelling and having to rip into kids to wake up and things like that. It’s been a group of senior leaders that just kind of stay cool, calm and collected. We talk about our adjustments, and kind of settle in the second half and play tremendous football.”

For Ignazio, Canfield’s unbeaten start may also be validation to stay the course.

At the same point last year, Ignazio’s first as head coach after taking over for the retiring Mike Pavlansky, the Cardinals were 2-4, having lost by a minimum of three scores in each of their defeats.

While they won two of their final three games, a 4-5 record was not good enough to make it into the playoffs, which had not happened in five years at Canfield. Additionally, it became the first losing season for the Cardinals since 2013.

“Our seniors picked the word ‘resilience’ this year, which to me, is just another fancy way of saying mental toughness, just not a sense to panic when things don’t go your way,” Ignazio said. “I’ve been through enough head coaches, and as a head coach myself, you know in-bounded public schools that things are going to be cyclical, and you kind of have to build up from those down years. You can’t go pick and choose kids from all over the area to help build your team where you have weaknesses. You actually have to develop kids. And there’s a great deal of patience that comes with that.”

Among the most important aspects of Canfield’s patience has been its near-refusal to acknowledge the future. Of course, a 10-0 regular-season record is possible – particularly with three of those opponents combining for five wins total – but as far as Ignazio and the Cardinals are concerned, 5-1 Louisville might as well be the season finale.

For Canfield, the only moment that matters is the next one.

“Everyone’s looking at it like a 6-0 thing,” Shina said. “With us, we look at it like, if we get the win, we celebrate the weekend. And once Monday hits, everything’s new now. They look ahead outside, but we look at it one week at a time, one day at a time.”