Tigers put up a fight but
can't stop MCK
By
JOE SHAHEEN
Joe.Shaheen
@ IndeOnline.com
The
record books will show the Massillon Tigers lost to the McKinley Bulldogs 20‑7
in the 112th Massillon‑Canton game on a sun drenched, wind‑swept
Saturday afternoon at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium to complete their second
consecutive 4‑6 campaign.
Still,
Tiger coach Rick Shepas believes the season ended on a positive note with the
way his team battled Warren Harding into double overtime in Week Nine and came
within a couple of poor decisions in the passing game of topping playoff‑bound
McKinley on Saturday.
"The
last three or four weeks of practice have been great," Shepas said.
"The attitude of our kids has been great. The way they've responded. The
way they've worked. They've come out with focus. They've had fun. Within the
locker room those things are all good.
"Many
positive lessons were learned. I don't second guess anything we've done as a
coaching staff throughout the year. Our goal is to do everything we possible can
do for our kids. And that's where you leave it."
Mistakes,
as has been the case all season, kept Massillon from pulling the upset. Two
interceptions by the Bulldogs in the end zone were too much for the Tigers to
overcome.
"Our
guys played hard," said Shepas, who then addressed the Tigers' 2004
schedule. "I think there's something to be said for keeping our guys in a
good frame of mind and preparing them with losing a few tough games.
"There's no moral victories in playing
well against the good teams and not winning."
The Tigers' lone score came with 10:08 to
play in the game when senior running back Caleb White, who had become something
of a forgotten man in Massillon's running back rotation, dashed around right
end for 77 yards and a touchdown.
Shepas spoke emotionally about the play
afterward. "This thing is all about lessons that we learn," he said.
"It's about something that takes place in a football locker room between
players and coaches. When you talk about victories and lessons learned, you talk
about Caleb White's run. That for me was the story of this McKinley game.
"It comes down to the lesson that both
Caleb White and I learned throughout the course of this season. And that run
that he had ... I'll tell you what, it was great. It speaks of some strengths
and I'm glad that happened for him today."
McKinley marched 71 yards in 11 plays the
first time it touched the football. Ryan Brinson carried the ball on seven of
those snaps, finally punching it in from a yard out. Beach Campbell's point
after made it 7‑0 Pups at 4:16 of the first quarter.
The wind played havoc with a McKinley punt
the second time the Pups had the ball, giving Massillon possession at the
Bulldog 37. But the Tiger offense couldn't convert a first down and McKinley
took over at its own 32.
On first down Mike Shaffer handed off to Brinson, who broke a tackle at the line of scrimmage, burst into the clear and didn't stop until he found the end zone 68 yards later. The point after failed but the Bulldogs were up 13-0 at 8:57 of the second quarter.
Massillon's next two possessions ended in
punts but the Tigers got something going just before halftime with Shawn
Weisend taking over for an injured Quentin Paulik at quarterback. He completed
three straight passes to Eric Smith and a McKinley personal foul moved the ball
to the Pups' 24. After a screen pass to Ramon Kelly picked up two yards, the
Tigers tried a little razzle dazzle in the form of a flanker pass. But the
throw into a crowd in the end zone was picked off by Brinson.
"We felt it was a good down and distance
for a play like that," Shepas said of the second‑and‑8 call.
"We were in a time out. We called two plays in the time out. And we said
'If it isn't there, don't force it.’
"If we would have executed it would have
been a great call. If he'd have just thrown it away it wouldn't have been a
significant play. That's the sad thing. That's the lesson some of our guys have
to learn. That's the way it goes."
McKinley put together a nine‑play, 80‑yard
drive to open the second half with Brinson doing the honors from two yards out
to make it 20‑0 with most of the third quarter remaining.
After an exchange of punts, Massillon took over at midfield with 3:34 left in the third quarter. Weisend hit Brett Huffman over the middle for 36 yards to the McKinley 17, then took a hard hit in picking up eight more to the 9 on a bootleg keeper.
McKinley cornerback Kellen Showes intercepted
a pass on the next snap and the Tiger threat was quelled.
"Shawn took that hit on the run and he
was fuzzy," Shepas said. "We didn't know that on that play."
Massillon would finally get on the scoreboard
on White's long run but the Tigers simply could not sustain anything
offensively the entire game.
"Our defensive staff had a great game plan," said McKinley
coach Brian Cross. "People don't talk about our defense enough. We held
these guys to seven points. We only gave up one long touchdown run, that was
the only long touchdown run we've given up this season. I'm extremely happy
with the way our defense played.
We were stunned a little bit that they scored. Still, at 20‑7, we felt pretty good. We knew we had to still move the football, and that's something we didn't do well in the second half. The reason we didn't do it is because they were giving us a nine‑man front and making us throw the football. We tried to throw the football, and we had people open, we just didn't complete them."
"It's about something that takes place in a locker room between players and
coaches. When you talk about victories and lessons learned, you talk about
Caleb White's run. That for me was the story of this McKinley game."
Rick Shepas,
Massillon coach
McKinley 20
Massillon 7
McK M
First
downs rushing 11 5
First
downs passing 0 3
First
downs by penalty 2 2
TOTAL first downs 13 10
Net
yards rushing 269 137
Net
yards passing 8 80
TOTAL yards 277 217
Passes
attempted 8 18
Passes
completed 1 9
Passes
intercepted 1 2
Punts 6 6
Punting
average 24.3 38.3
Fumbles/Lost 1/0 2/2
Penalties 3 6
Yards
penalized 30 67
McKinley 07 06
07 00 20
Massillon
00 00 00 07 07
SCORING
McK ‑ Ryan Brinson 1 run (Zach Campbell kick)
McK ‑ Brinson 68 run (Kick
failed)
McK ‑ Brinson 2 run (Campbell kick)
M ‑Caleb White 77 run (Steve Schott kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
Massillon:
Caleb White 2‑81 1 TD;
Ramon
Kelly 9‑41;
Jermaine
Moncrief 6‑13;
Lanale
Robinson 3‑6;
Robert
Morris 2‑4;
Quentin
Paulik 3‑4.
McKinley:
Ryan Brinson 34‑203 3 TDs;
Theo
Goodright 6‑58;
Mike
Shaffer 3‑6;
Mark
Jackson 3‑4;
Mike
Kirksey 1‑2.
Passing
Massillon:
Shawn Welsend 6‑10‑69 1 INT,
Quentin
Paulik 3‑6‑11;
Troy
Ellis 0‑1‑0 1 INT;
Wayne
Gates 0‑1‑0.
McKinley:
Mike Shaffer 1‑7‑8;
Ryan
Brinson 0‑1‑0 1 INT.
Receiving
Massillon:
Eric Smith 3‑26;
Robert
Morris 2‑6;
Brett
Huffman 1‑37;
Kurt
Jarvis 1‑5;
Wayne
Gates 1‑5; Ramon Kelly 1‑2.
McKinley: Mark Jackson 1‑8.