Tigers whip
past
By JOE SHAHEEN
Independent Sports Editor
It
took the Massillon about a quarter of football to get their bearings but once
they got rolling it was no contest as the Tigers scored three times in a span of
five minutes in the first half on their way to a 41‑7 demolition of
Westerville South, in front of 11,165 fans Friday at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.
The
vaunted
Taking
over at midfield and trailing 7‑0, the Tigers began their first scoring
drive of the 2001 season.
It
wasn't a sustained drive by any means. Justin Zwick
completed a swing pass to tailback Robert Oliver for nine yards to the
Zwick then rolled left and found junior wideout Stephon Asheraft all alone in the
left corner of the end zone for a 23‑yard touchdown. David Abdul hit the
point after and it was a 7‑7 game at 1:26 of the first quarter.
Inside
linebacker Brock Hymes stopped
Then,
on a fake punt, Tiger safety Michael White crunched intended receiver Tom
Coleman just as the ball arrived, jarring it loose for an incompletion to give
"What
a hit!" Shepas said. "I think that changed the momentum of the game.
From that point on it seemed every hit we made that was big, it seemed to hurt
them a little bit.
"Michael
White is an outstanding young player with great speed. He's a hell of a player.
He's going to be around for a long time."
Following
the change of possession,
White
fielded the punt for the Tigers at the 40 and found a seam along the right
sideline to midfield. White then turned on the jets, cutting back across the
field and sprinting all the way to the 8‑yard line before being brought
down by the punter.
Two
snaps later, Zwick rolled right and dove into the end
zone. Abdul's kick was true and
The
two teams exchanged fumbles midway through the second quarter before
Zwick got the drive started with an eight‑yard completion to Joe Jovingo and a roughing the quarterback penalty moved the
ball to the
Two
plays later Zwick rolled right and hooked up with Jovingo in the right corner of the end zone for a 24‑yard
scoring pass. Abdul's kick made it 28‑7.
The
senior place kicker wrapped up the first half scoring with a 28‑yard
field goal as time expired.
He
finished with just 12 yards rushing in 17 carries.
"We
came out a little too pumped up and
Wasn't
a lot they could come back to in the third and fourth."
Oliver
keyed the Tigers final touchdown drive of the evening, carrying the football
three times for a total of 47 yards, including a 12‑yard burst over right
tackle for the touchdown.
Abdul
closed the scoring with a 51‑yard field goal.
"I
was disappointed in our line up front and in how sluggish we played in the
second half," Shepas said. But not with the final
outcome.
M WS
First downs rushing 3 5
First downs passing 7 5
First downs by penalty 1 3
TOTAL first downs 11 13
Net yards rushing 89 116
Net yards passing 181 130
TOTAL yards 270 246
Passes attempted 29 25
Passes completed 13 14
Passes intercepted 2 3
Punts 5 5
Punting average 32.2 31.2
Fumbles/Lost 3/2 1/1
Penalties 11 7
Yards penalized 126 59
SOUTH 7 0 0 0 7
SCORING
S
‑ Powers 9 pass from Teter (Slomovitz
kick)
M
‑ Ashcraft 23 pass from Zwick (Abdul kick)
M
‑Oliver 5 run (Abdul kick)
M
‑ Zwick 7 run (Abdul kick)
M
‑ Jovingo 24 pass from Zwick
(Abdul kick)
M
‑Abdul 28 field goal
M
‑ Oliver 12 run (Abdul kick)
M
‑ Abdul 51 field goal
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Westerville South rushing: Gordon 17‑12
Westerville South passing: Teter 13‑24‑100
1 TD, 3 INTs.
Westerville South receiving: Powers 6‑40