Tigers
capture 89th classic 18-7
Bulldogs fall in misty Fawcett
By BOB STEWART
Repository Sports Editor
In the 89 games the
Bulldogs and the Tigers have battled on the high school football field since
1894, there have been numerous surprises and upsets.
But it was not to be
Saturday, as the favored
It was the 50th
victory for the Tigers in this scholastic gridiron granddaddy, increasing the
edge over the Bulldogs, who have won 34 times and tied five others.
To be sure, this 1983
band of Bulldogs fought the valiant fight, played perhaps as well as they have
played this disappointing season. But it
was not enough this dreary afternoon.
The Massillons had too many guns. The outcome was never really in doubt.
Massillon was favored
by 10 points, according to the odds fellows.
The Tigers won by 11.
It could have been
worse, embarrassingly much worse.
The Tigers also
missed a TD near the end of the half when McKinley’s Pierre Taylor intercepted
a Brian Dewitz pass in the end zone, a bizarre play
on which the officials almost mistakenly awarded the Tigers a safety (see
Stewart on Sports column, Page 43).
In addition after the
longest drive of the day,
The Tigers’ rushing
game was perhaps short of awesome, but certainly more than effective. Massillon’s ball carriers netted 260 yards on
the ground, an average of 5.1 per carry, and it allowed the Tigers possession
for 61 percent of the clock time.
The victory salvaged
respectability for the Tigers, who with a 9-1 record will watch from the
sidelines as the OHSAA grid playoffs begin this weekend.
It is expected to be
announced today that
If
McKinley finished
6-4, it’s worst record since 1976, the first year of
consolidation from four
But McKinley coach
Thom McDaniels said his players had nothing to be
ashamed about Saturday.
“I’m proud of the way
they (the Bulldogs) attempted to win the football game,” he said.
“The Ursuline and Elder games (two of the losses) left a bad
taste in the mouth. Against Moeller,
(the other loss) we weren’t ashamed of ourselves, either,” said the coach who
completed his second season as the head man at McKinley, and his fourth at the
school.
”I didn’t have any heart attacks in the first half,” Massillon Coach Mike Currence was to say afterward. “But I had about five in the second half.”
“McKinley didn’t
quit, and they played a good game. McDaniels is a great coach, and he
did not have the best material this season.”
“I don’t think this
was a great McKinley team, when compared to some of the ones in the recent
past, but they played tough.”
Tigers trip Bulldogs
The swift senior
tailback, Craig Johnson, who carried only once for a loss of three yards in the
Tigers first possession that ended in the aborted field goal, finished with a
flourish, running for 138 yards in 20 carries, putting him at 1,008 yards for
the 1983 season.
On their second
possession, the Tigers zipped 52 yards in only four plays, the finale a
one-yard touchdown plunge by All-Ohioan Chris Spielman, who not only gained 55 yards on 15 carries and
scored both Tiger touchdowns, but also led a swarming defense from his
linebacker position which stifled McKinley’s running game.
Dewitz sparked the TD drive with a 19-yard
rollout romp on the first play, and then was hit late by a Bulldog. The 15-yard penalty put the Tigers on the
Pups’ 18, from where Johnson got eight and Spielman
nine to set up the touchdown.
Spielman’s 33-yard punt return on the last play of
the first period set up the second Tigers’ score.
Even though the Bulldogs’
defense held
The Bulldogs’ junior
Jeff Angione sparked his team with a 42-yard return
of the ensuing kickoff, and McKinley marched to the Tigers’ 28, before a
dropped pass on fourth down turned the ball over.
But three plays
later, Anthony McCullough pounced on a Dewitz fumble
and the Pups were back in business at the Tigers’ 47, from where they scored in
eight plays.
McKinley quarterback
Kevin Parrish, who completed six of 21 passes for 82 yards before being injured
late in the fourth period, hit Jeff Smith in the end zone with a 15-yard
scoring strike 55 seconds before the band show.
Anthony Taylor’s placement pulled the Pups to within three at 10-7.
After Spielman returned the kickoff to his own 43, Dewitz flipped a screen pass to the fleet Johnson, and he
turned the play into a 41-yarder, putting the ball at the Bulldogs’ 16.
Then came Pierre Taylor’s interception in the end zone with seven
seconds left.
After the lengthy
discussion by the officials, who finally made the right ruling of a touchback,
Parrish fell on the ball to end the half.
What may well have
been the final turning point came midway in the third period.
McKinley couldn’t
move with the third quarter kickoff, and Massillon marched from its own 14 to
the McKinley 12, thanks to a 38-yard scamper by Johnson and runs of 17 and 13
by Dewitz, who was the Tigers second leading rusher
with 62 yards on 11 carries.
But Dewitz fumbled and McKinley middle guard Bob Gilmore
covered the ball, only to have the Bulldogs’ offense fumble it right back on
the first play.
Four plays later,
Johnson ran in from four yards out to make it 16-7.
The PAT took a while.
Finally, from 13½
inches away, Spielman plunged for the two-pointer to
conclude the day’s – and the season’s – scoring, with
McKinley came back to
the Tigers’ 18, thanks mostly to a 25-yard pass from Parrish to junior end Rafe Lazar, the Pups’ longest gainer of the day.
The Tigers, with
A pass interference
penalty and a 22-yard Parrish to Pierre Taylor aerial putt he ball on the
Tigers 40, from where Parrish threw a pass that was picked off by Massillon’s
Derrick Dave. But the Tigers’ were
flagged for roughing Parrish, and the Pups had a first
down at the Tiger 25…but without Parrish, who left the game with a knee injury. Reports indicate he was treated and released
at
Brian Worstell, a 5-11 junior, came on, but he could fare no
better, and the Pups gave up the ball at the 19.
Troy Jenkins,
McKinley’s premier runner who had gained 1,101 yards in his first nine games,
picked up 72 yards in 15 carries.
Pup-Tiger
Statistics
McKinley Senior………..
0 7 0
0 – 7
Mas – Spielman 6 run (Pfisterer kick)
Mas
– FG Pfisterer 36
McK – Smith 15
pass from Parrish (A. Taylor kick)
Mas
– Johnson 4
run (Spielman run)
A – 21,232.
TEAM STATISTICS
First
downs rushing 15 3
First
downs passing 3 6
First
downs penalties 2 2
Totals
first downs 20 11
Rushes
– yards 51-260 23-82
Passing
yards 78 97
Total
Net yards 338 179
Return
yards 75 92
Passes
Punts-avg. 2-27 4-36.5
Punt
return yards 48 2
Kickoff-avg. 4-45.5 2-35.2
Kickoff
return yards 25 96
Fumbles
lost 4-3 2-1
Penalties-yards 6-51 4-39
Third
down conversions 4-11 5-13
Total plays 64 52
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing –
Spielman
15-55, Gruno 2-3, Hastings 1-2,
Sampsel 2-0.
McKinley
Senior: Jenkins 15-72, Parrish 3-4,
Calhoun 2-3, Smith 2-3, Lytle 1-0.
Passing –
McKinley
Senior: Parrish 6-21-0-82,
Worstell 2-8-15-1.
Pass Receiving –
Crenshaw 1-8,
McKinley
Senior: Jenkins 3-17, Lazar 2-32,
p. Taylor 1-21, Draper 1-12,
Smith 1-15.
Missed field goals –
Golden Anniversary
By STEVEN DUNGJEN
Independent Sports Editor
The Tigers (9-1)
posted an 18-7 victory over the Bulldogs (6-4) in the 89th meeting
between the two before a packed house.
With the win
It was one of those kind of days where everything went wrong, but nothing did.
Although the Tigers
scored two touchdowns and a field goal, head coach Mike Currence’s
squad squandered away more golden opportunities than it wanted to.
In the first quarter
alone the Tigers had a first down at the McKinley 18 and came away empty-handed
when a 34-yard field goal went astray.
Massillon was
knocking on the door again late in the second quarter, with a first down at the
Bulldog 16. This time an interception
halted the drive.
Another time, this in
the third period, the Tigers had a first down at the McKinley 12. A lost fumble again stymied
And if three blown
opportunities weren’t enough, the Tigers continued their version of give-away
in the final period when another fumble at the McKinley one stopped yet another
golden chance.
“We made some
mistakes,” Currence admitted, citing the fumble in
the end zone in the fourth quarter as a prime example. “That was terrible.”
Through it all,
though, the Tigers still prevailed.
That’s because a stingy defense made it happen.
Forced to go to its
passing game in the second half, McKinley finished with just 79 yards rushing
on 23 carries. The Bulldogs’ lone TD
occurred following a
In the air the
Bulldogs picked up 96 yards, but quarterbacks Kevin Parrish and Brian Worstell combined to complete just eight-of-29 attempts.
Only two of
McKinley’s 10 possessions began inside
Massillon appeared
well on its way to a score on the game’s opening set of downs, marching to the
McKinley 18 with a first down. Two
straight runs lost five yards when quarterback Brian Dewitz
ran for six yards.
On fourth down Pfisterer, who holds career and single-season field goal
kicking school records, missed on a 34-yard attempt.
A roughing the punter
call on McKinley during the drive kept the Tiger hopes alive.
After holding
McKinley on its second possession, the Tigers were back in action with the ball
at their own 48.
Dewitz scampered 19 yards on a bootleg, but
McKinley was called for spearing on the play.
With the ball now on the 18 stellar running back
Johnson, who finished with 133 yards rushing, gained nine yards.
Then Spielman got into the act, gaining eight yards to the one
and adding the final yard for the TD at the
McKinley was stopped
in its tracks once again on its next series, but Spielman
broke off a 33-yard punt return to give
Johnson picked up
eight yards on the first play from scrimmage and Spielman
added three more for a first down. Dewitz was then sacked for a six-yard loss when the Tigers
were then called for illegal motion.
A Dewitz
pass fell incomplete before Johnson broke off a 13-yard scamper to the McKinley
19 to put Pfisterer within field goal range. The senior booter
responded with a 36-yard field goal, giving
McKinley mounted its
first serious threat on the next series with tailback Troy Jenkins running four
yards on a fake punt for a first down.
However, the drive stalled on
Three plays later and
the Tigers gave the ball right back when Dewitz lost
the handle on the center exchange. McKinley’s Anthony
McCullough recovering at the 47.
Eight plays later and
Parrish found Jeff Smith on a slant over the middle for a score with 51 seconds
left in the half.
With time running out
in the half
Taylor, who caught
the ball in the end zone, then ran out of the end zone. Currence was quick
on the field, asking for a safety.
After some
deliberation by the game’s officials the Tigers were awarded a two-point
safety. Now, it was McKinley head coach
Thom McDaniels’ turn to “discuss” the play.
Again the game’s
officials conferred. When they broke
huddle they reversed their earlier decision and took the two points off
“The McKinley coaches
out coached me on that one,” Currence said
tongue-in-cheek. “They showed me the
ruling. It doesn’t seem right to
intentionally take a safety.”
The two teams swapped
turnovers in the third quarter, Dewitz losing a
fumble to Bob Gilmore and
Four plays after Sampsel’s fumble recovery gave the Tigers excellent field
position at the McKinley 19, Johnson ran four yards to pay dirt behind a good
block by Tom Gruno at the
On the conversion,
McKinley was called three straight times for encroachment. With the ball resting inside the one, Spielman carried in the two-pointer for a
18-7 Tiger lead.
McKinley then drove
to a first down at the
Massillon then chewed
up over eight minutes of time on its next possession, but came away with
nothing to show for it when the center snap was bobbled at the McKinley one
with Smith recovering in the end zone.
The Bulldogs put
together their last threat on the ensuing series, marching from their own 20 to
But the drive stalled
when a fourth down pass failed to gain the necessary yardage.
On last McKinley hope
was thwarted by a Pat Spicer interception with less than a minute left.
Tiger ‘D’ turned
Pups into kittens
By NORM WEBER
Independent Sports Writer
CANTON – While the
Massillon offense surprised McKinley with some new wrinkles Saturday in Fawcett
Stadium, the Tiger defense was its reliable self in the 18-7 victory.
The Bulldogs did get
one touchdown off the tight Tiger defense, but the score was set up by a Tiger
fumble.
Other than that
drive, the Tiger defense didn’t yield much. In the first quarter McKinley’s
offense ran nine plays for nine yards.
Tackle Tom Gruno and nose guard John Franke
incessantly applied pressure to Bulldog quarterback Kevin Parrish. The defense up front also showed strong
pursuit on flushing out McKinley’s screen passes.
“I was getting a
little concerned in the third quarter when they started driving,” Franke said. But
then when we stopped them on our 18-yard line, I knew they weren’t going to
score on us any more.”
Gruno admitted that Saturday’s game was the most
exhausting of his career, but well worth it.
“With eight minutes
left in the game I felt like dropping; I could hardly breathe,” said Gruno, who doubled at fullback. “Usually we’re ahead 44-0 in the fourth
quarter and I’ll get a rest. This is by
far my most tiring game.”
“I’d go to the
sidelines when Timmy Sampsel would replace me at
fullback. Every time I kept saying to
the rest of the defensive players, ‘We’ve got to stop them.’ Nothing stood in
our way. I knew it after we stopped them
three consecutive times at getting a first down in the first quarter.”
“McKinley has some
big tackles. But we were able to out-quick
them. That was all we could do. We got so fired up every time I went to the
sidelines on my offensive breaks.
Beating McKinley is great.”
HUMBLE HERO – Tailback Craig Johnson was the first
Tiger to go over the 1,000-yard mark rushing this season. His 133 yards against McKinley give him 1,003
on the season.
“How many yards to I
have for the season?” a humble Johnson asked in the locker room after the game.
Johnson went over the
magic number with a 13-yard gain in the fourth quarter.
“I didn’t know it
then,” Johnson answered. “Which play was
it?”
SPIELMAN’S VOW – When McKinley stopped the Tigers
two years ago at Fawcett Stadium to earn a trip to the playoffs and eventually
win the state championship, Chris Spielman vowed that
the Tigers would never lose at Fawcett while he was playing.
“After we lost two
years ago I said our team – and you can underline
team, would not be beaten on this field again,” said Spielman. “I’ve been looking forward to this for a long
time. I’d like to thank
WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN – The Tigers may not be going
to the playoffs, but based on Saturday’s performance, could be the best team in
the state.
“If we played
Neither
Topics of discussion
such as the great