to dump
Passing attack
clicks early;
Tigers rush
for over 300 yards
By JOE SHAHEEN
Independent Sports Editor
On
a night in which Mike Currenee was honored during
pre‑game festivities, Massillon utilized a deep passing attack that would
have made the former Tigers mentor proud and blitzed Mt. Lebanon (Pa.) 54‑20,
in front of 8,971 at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium, Friday.
The
Tigers jumped to a 14‑0 lead on their first two possessions and were
never headed by the Blue Devils, who were playing their season opener.
Quarterback
Justin Zwick and wideout
Devin Jordan had the
"When
we hit that one deep on the first play, we knew we'd have that the whole
game,"
But
"From
the scrimmage tape we saw, we thought we could get over top of them," said
Tiger coach Rick Shepas. "We burned them deep a couple times and that
really helped us in those drives. We mixed up the plays pretty good and got in
the end zone."
Robert
Oliver opened the scoring for the Tigers, scoring from two yards out on a
stretch play around right end at 5:58 of the first quarter.
The
Tigers came right back and did it in stunning fashion. On first down Oliver
gained 11 yards on a draw play to the
"That
score was really big," Shepas said. "Really big.
The touchdown after their score was big because they had some momentum going
and they're a big physical football team and they know how to win."
Abdul
boomed a 51‑yard field goal capping a seven‑play drive to make it
24‑7 at 3:29 of the second quarter.
The
Tigers closed the first half scoring with a five‑play, 87‑yard
drive. It began when junior running back Ricky Johnson skirted right end for 25
yards.
Three
plays later, Zwick found Joe Jovingo
along the left sideline for a 37‑yard gain to the Mt. Leb
17.
On
first down from there, Ashcraft came open along the left hash mark, pulled in a
Zwick aerial at the 3‑yard line and stepped
into the end zone.
Abdul's
PAT made it 31‑7 at the intermission.
"They're
probably even better skilled that we saw on film," said
"You
could tell there was a difference athletically too. They are a well‑prepared
team and they played outstanding tonight."
After
the teams exchanged punts, the Tigers put it out of reach by marching 87 yards
in 13 plays. Oliver ran the ball on seven of those snaps, picking up 43 yards
as the
Defeats
Zwick rolled to his right and hit
"The
threat of having Zwick is big," said Oliver, who
rushed for 135 yards in 18 carries. "It opens holes up for me and the
whole offensive line really stepped it up this week.
"The
whole week we were talking about how big and physical this team was coming in
and the line stepped up and met the challenge. Coach Shepas thought we needed
some work since last week the line and the running game wasn't that good. We
got the work and it was good."
"We
had to step it up tonight,"
Haering said the tone was set early in the game when Jordan and Ashcraft got
behind the
"Giving
up those long balls gives them the sense they could do that whenever they
wanted," Haering said. "It gets our guys
thinking about backing up, and then they started running the ball effectively
too. They just do a tremendous job.
"They
have so many tremendous players that you can't take away any one guy and over
commit because then they'll beat you with some other guys. Coach Shepas has
done an outstanding job putting together this group and they have to be proud
with the product they're putting on the field."
M ML
First downs rushing 18 9
First downs passing 8 3
First downs by penalty 3 1
TOTAL first downs 29 13
Net yards rushing 310 217
Net yards passing 235 41
TOTAL yards 545 258
Passes attempted 25 12
Passes completed 12 7
Passes intercepted 0 1
Punts 1 6
Punting average 29 37.8
Fumbles/Lost 3/1 1/0
Penalties 7 6
Yards penalized 77 75
SCORING
M
‑ Oliver 2‑yard run (Abdul kick)
M
‑
ML
‑ Young 1‑yard run (Schnirel kick)
M
‑
M
‑ Abdul 51‑yard field goal
M
‑ Ashcraft 17‑yard pass from Zwick (Abdul
kick)
ML
‑ Breiding fumble recovery in end zone
M
‑
M
‑ Jovingo 2‑yard pass from Zwick (Abdul kick)
ML
‑ Young 62‑yard run (Schnirel kick)
M
‑ Abdul 48‑yard field goal
M
‑ Boyd 2‑yard run (Kick failed)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
‑
Statistics compiled by RICHARD CUNNINGHAM