in shootout
Ignatius pins
40‑26 defeat on the Tigers
By JOE SHAHEEN
Independent Sports Editor
They
may have to rename Byers Field in
In
the end, Ignatius was able to mount a key scoring drive to counter the Tigers'
two early second half touchdowns and the Wildcats took home a 40‑26 victory
over
Trailing
28‑12 at intermission,
The
first tally came on a short Justin Zwick to Robert
Oliver pass in the left flat that Oliver turned into a 59‑yard touchdown
at 11:13 of the third quarter. The senior tailback out‑sprinted
the entire Ignatius secondary to bring the
The
second score mirrored the first as Zwick hit Devin
Jordan with a sideline pass along the right boundary that
David
Abdul nailed both extra points and it was a 28‑26 game with the momentum
squarely in the Tigers corner.
But
Ignatius rallied back, moving 68 yards in 10 plays.
Facing
third‑and‑13, and with the Tiger fans chanting "defense,
defense", Ignatius quarterback Nathan Szep hit
running back Carter Welo along the left hash mark
with a short pass, and Welo ran back against the
grain and into the end zone for a 32 yard touchdown play that put the Wildcats
up 35‑26 at 3:35 of the third quarter.
"We
had the momentum going in our favor," said Tiger coach Rick Shepas.
"We had to stop them on the long drive and we didn't. And that told the
story of the game.
"Our
kids have worked hard and have come along way in our program. But in a big game
like this on the road, our kids have got to make more big plays. We felt real
good about our game plan. We're going to go back and look at the game film and
I think it is going to motivate us to work a little bit harder and execute the
game plan a little bit better."
“Talk about momentum going out the window," said Ignatius coach
Chuck Kyle of Masillon's two quick second‑half
scores.
"What we needed to do was get the running game going and give the defense
a chance to get its breath and make' a couple of adjustments."
St.
Ignatius did exactly that, running the football effectively on the first five
plays of the scoring drive that essentially put the Tigers away.
Shepas
admitted he was disappointed with his squad, despite the entertaining nature of
the game.
"Were
not happy with our performance at all," he said. "We made too many
mental mistakes tonight.
"Our
kids have to learn to play in big games like this. Our town has been backing
us. We had a great group of fans out here to watch us and I don't think we gave
them the type of performance they deserve."
Ignatius
broke on top, taking the opening kickoff and marching 80 yards in 13 plays.
Szep, who played flawlessly in completing 24 of 37 passes for 296 yards
four touchdowns on no interceptions, opened the drive by hitting tight end Tom
Christy for 11 yards to the 31. After an encroachment call on
Tigers
defensive tackle Matt Webb sacked Szep to set up a
third‑and‑11, but the Wildcats picked up the first down when Tony
Gonzalez latched onto a Szep pass on a crossing
pattern for 15 yards to the
Carter
Welo, substituting for John Van der
Oord ‑ who was injured on the very first play
from scrimmage - picked up another first down on a ten‑yard run up the
middle to the Tiger 24. Three plays later Szep hit
Gonzalez on a slant pattern and it was first‑and‑goal at the 2.
Tigers can't
close deal on Ignatius
Welo vaulted into the end zone from a yard away and Ignatius broke on top 7‑0
as Phil Gibbs hit the extra point at 7:30 of the first quarter.
Massillon
gave the ball right back on its second play from scrimmage as the Wildcats'
Matt Waldeck fell on a fumbled pitchout at the Tiger
20.
Ignatius
capitalized right away when Szep found Gonzalez open
in the right corner of the end zone. Gibbs' kick made it 14‑0 at 7:12 of
the first.
The
Tigers responded by moving 78 yards in 11 plays.
Zwick hit
A
pass interference penalty gave the Tigers a first down at the Ignatius 24. Three
plays later Zwick bought time with play action fake
and completed a pass to
From
there, David Hill went over left guard for the touchdown.
A
pass for the two‑point conversion failed as
The
Tiger defense forced Ignatius to punt on its next possession after just three
plays and
From
there they launched a seven‑play, 71‑yard drive.
Zwick opened the march with a 31‑yard completion along the right
sideline to Hill to move the ball to the Ignatius 40.
Two plays later Zwick and Hill hooked up
again as the junior running back made a fine catch over the shoulder of the
defender for a 20‑yard gain to the Wildcats 12.
Then,
on third‑and‑seven from the 9, Zwick
rolled right and found Hill open at the two. He turned and strolled into the
end zone for the touchdown at :30 of the first
quarter.
Ignatius,
sensing a momentum swing, battled back.
Van
der Oord gained 28 yards on
the first play of the drive moving the ball to the Ignatius 48.
The
Wildcats moved the ball resolutely, finally putting it into the end zone when Szep rolled right and hit tight end Tom Christy on a
throwback at the 20. Christy worked his way down the left sideline and ran over
a defender at the five for the touchdown. Gibbs' PAT made it 21‑12
Ignatius at 10:17 of the second quarter.
The
teams traded turnovers and later the
But
Ignatius tallied the final first‑half touchdown on a six‑play drive
that covered 32 yards in the final minute of the first half. On third-and‑one
from the 11, Szep found Matt Miller in the left side
of the end zone for the touchdown.
Gibbs'
kick made it 28‑12 at halftime.
The
Tigers would rally after the band show but ‑ as was the case a year ago ‑
St. Ignatius controlled the game from midway through the third quarter to the
final gun to extend its winning streak over
ST.IGNATIUS 40
I M
First downs rushing 12 2
First downs passing 17 8
First downs by penalty 1 1
TOTAL first downs 30 11
Net yards rushing 148 11
Net yards passing 296 281
TOTAL yards 444 292
Passes attempted 37 27
Passes completed 24 16
Passes intercepted 0 3
Punts 2 3
Punting average 35.0 27.3
Fumbles/Lost 2/2 1/1
Penalties 6 11
Yards penalized 60 65
IGNATIUS 14 14 7 5 40
SCORING
I
‑ Welo 1 run (Gibbs kick)
I
‑ Gonzalez 19 pass from Szep (Gibbs kick)
M
‑ Hill 1 run (pass failed) M ‑ Hill 9 pass from Zwick
(pass failed)
I
‑ Christy 30 pass from Szep (Gibbs kick)
I
‑ Miller 11 pass from Szep (Gibbs kick)
M
‑ Oliver 59 pass from Zwick (Abdul kick)
M
‑
I
‑ Welo 32 pass from Szep
(Gibbs kick) I ‑ FG Gibbs 35
I
‑ Safety,
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
St. Ignatius rushing: Welo 21 ‑91, Van der Oord 8‑43.
St. Ignatius passing: Szep 24‑37‑296
4 TDs.
St. Ignatius receiving: Miller 6‑54, Gonzalez 5‑78, Christy 5‑77,
Welo 2‑40
Shepas’ crew
closing gap on
Wildcats
Chris Easterling
Commentary
No
team over the last decade has been more of a measuring stick for the elite high
school football program in the state of
Eight
Division I state championships since 1988 tends to
give a program that lofty status.
With
a standing‑room‑only throng of 12,286 looking on at Parma Byers Field
Saturday night, the Massillon Tigers ‑ a team with more than its share of
mystique and history ‑looked to finally take the measure of the Wildcats
after three previously unsuccessful attempts to do so.
Much
the same way that beating Cincinnati Moeller seemed to mean more than most
victories, sans McKinley, for the Tigers in the 1930's and early 1990s, beating
Ignatius is a feather in the cap that is hard to overlook.
Last
year, the Tigers looked to be quite the Wildcats' equals, until the fourth quarter
of a 15‑point defeat at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.
The
Tigers came closer to coming home with the hide of the Wildcats Saturday night,
but not quite. A 40‑26 Ignatius victory prevented Massillon from getting
over that hurdle, although there was no doubt that the Tigers were certainly
more than up to the challenge of showing that the orange‑and‑black
still have a mystique worthy of the attention of any program.
These
two
If
that rematch does occur, the Tigers will have plenty of things to remember from
a meeting on a chilly September Saturday evening.
Take
advantage of the team speed the Tigers have over the Wildcats. On
And
do take advantage of the cushion that Ignatius was giving up. In the first
half, quarterback Justin Zwick was able to dink‑and‑dunk
his way down the field, hitting Jordan, David Hill or Oliver on little curl or
swing passes that resulted in big plays for the Tigers'.
There
were some don'ts the Tigers will store in the memory banks as well. Little
things that don't really matter against 99 percent of the programs in
The
first is don't give Ignatius a short field in which to
start an offensive series. The Wildcats started five drives on the
Of
those marches, two ended up with Ignatius forcing the scoreboard operator to
change the number under its name.
Also,
don't give Ignatius free yards,
Three
times on the Wildcats first drive,
There
also were pivotal holding and face mask penalties called against the Massillon
defense on an Ignatius scoring drive immediately after the Tigers had cut their
deficit to 28‑26 in the third quarter.
Those
penalties helped lead to an Ignatius touchdown, and a switch in momentum.
The
final mistake was a holding penalty in the end zone with 1:37 left that pushed
the Wildcat edge out to an even 14.
One
thing that is certain is that
Now
head coach Rick Shepas' Tigers have one more thing to show, that they can
deliver the knockout.
It
surely will come with time, should the two teams continue to play in the
future.
It
came against Moeller, and it will come against Ignatius.