'My time to shine': Tre Wilson's big second quarter helps Canton South beat CVCA

CANTON TWP. — Tre Wilson said it was time for him to finally pop out of his shell.

That's not good news for opponents who hope to slow Canton South High School football team's potent offense.

The Wildcats have some explosive players. Quarterback Poochie Snyder is on his way to becoming Stark County's all-time passing yards and passing touchdowns record holder. Tavon Castle is one of the top receivers around. If you need yardage on the ground, Snyder can hand the ball off to Xion Culver or keep it himself.

You also can add Wilson as an impact player to this talented mix. He certainly impacted Friday's game against CVCA.

Wilson caught three touchdown passes and had a long kickoff return that set up a TD in the Wildcats' 56-28 win over the Royals at Brechbuhler Stadium. South completes the first half of the regular season at 5-0 and owns a share of first place in the PAC-7.

"It was my time to shine," Wilson said. "You just get that feeling in your heart. I don't know. It was a crazy feeling I never had in my life. It's my last year, and I'm glad I did what I did for my team."

Wilson's biggest impact was felt in the final 6:18 of a wild second quarter where South and CVCA combined for six touchdowns. Each of his three touchdown catches broke a tie. His 33-yard TD reception with 11 seconds to go in the half gave the Wildcats the lead for good at 28-21.

A 73-yard kickoff return from Wilson set up his first touchdown, a 9-yard catch from Snyder. Wilson also got a step or two ahead of coverage on a 54-yard TD catch from Snyder.

Wilson finished with seven catches for 112 yards. In the past, it's a performance he could only dream of having.

"I had to put in the extra work in practice," Wilson said. "When I'm not getting the ball, I can't put my head down. I blocked for my teammates.

"I was patient. When my time came, it showed."

Wilson's quarterback was happy for him.

"He was big tonight," Snyder said. "He had a third down catch, too, to help us go up two scores. I think it may have been more important than some of his touchdowns.

"He's a dynamic player, man.

Wilson was one of five different Wildcats who scored. Castle and Tyler Pugh caught TD passes. Snyder ran for two scores — a 16-yarder on a quarterback draw and a 49-yarder to close out the scoring. Rome Cox also ran for a TD.

Snyder finished 25 of 30 for 330 yards and five touchdowns. He is 295 yards away from breaking the Stark County career passing yards record held by Sandy Valley's Cameron Blair.

After seeing CVCA tie the game three times in the second quarter, South ended the night on a 35-7 run.

"We didn't make enough plays at the point of attack," Royals head coach Nick Cook said. "With Snyder, some of that is pass game stuff, but not all of it. It's also stuff in the interior.

"We had moments. We made plays at the point of attack in the first half, but it started to get a way a little bit."

Charley Levek threw TD passes to Ricky Levak and Dreylin Price for the Royals (3-2, 1-1). Logan Scranton and Joey Kopec also ran for TDs.

South is unbeaten at the midway point of a 10-game regular season for the first time since 2017. In defeating Orrville and CVCA the last two weeks, the Wildcats knocked off the two PAC-7 teams that beat them last year. They also avenged a 2022 loss to St. Clairsville in their season opener.

"We earmarked St. Clairsville, CVCA and Orrville," South head coach Matt Dennison said. "We talked about it a lot in the offseason.

"Now we just have to take care of business this week. We have to continue to get better."

Reach Mike at mike.popovich@cantonrep.com

On X: @mpopovichREP

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Tre Wilson's three TD catches leads Canton South football past CVCA