116th meeting:Massillon Tigers 23, McKinley
Bulldogs 20
Tigers work extra for win
Willoughby’s QB sneak
gives Massillon victory
over McKinley in OT
By
CHRIS EASTERLING
The
Independent
The track record wasn’t good for the Massillon Tigers. Four
times in the first nine weeks of the season, they trailed in the fourth
quarter. All four of those times, they ended up on the wrong end of the
scoreboard.
So as the Tigers entered the fourth quarter Saturday at Fawcett
Stadium looking at a 10-point deficit, they had two opponents staring back at
them: history and the McKinley Bulldogs. And they decided to disregard both,
sending the orange-clad portion of the 14,642 in attendance home jubilant with
a 23-20 overtime victory.
It marked just the third overtime game in the 116 meetings
between the rivals. The Tigers have won all three – in 1988, 1994 and Saturday.
The Tigers would not hold the lead in the game until Chris
Willoughby fought his way in from a yard out in overtime to give Massillon the
win and a 6-4 final record.
“When it was 17-7, we knew there were 12 minutes left in the
game,” said Willoughby, who said it was his first quarterback sneak attempt
since his freshman year. “We knew we still had time to come back. We had to
keep together as a team and play hard and good things would happen, and it did
for us.”
The good things were mostly happening for McKinley in the first
three quarters, starting with an 83-yard Christian Griffin touchdown run for a
7-0 first-quarter lead. The Bulldogs seemed to have the big-play magic in the
third, when Jordan Evans hit Ramon Brown for a 23-yard touchdown for a 17-7
lead with 50 seconds left in the half.
Justin Turner would begin to turn momentum in Massillon’s favor
with a kickoff return to the Bulldogs 41. A McKinley personal foul penalty on
the play pushed the ball closer to the goal line, at the Bulldog 26.
Buoyed by the short field, Massillon made it a one-possession
game on a 5-yard DeVoe Torrence scoring run at the 10:38 mark of the fourth
quarter. Torrence finished with a game-high 134 yards on 35 carries, with a
pair of touchdowns.
“Boy, you’re down 17-7 over here, it didn’t look good,” said
Tiger coach Tom Stacy, whose team was tied 7-7 at half. “J.T.’s kick return was
big. It was really a turning point. We were able to come back from that and
score, that was big.”
Massillon appeared to see its chances disappearing when it was
stopped on a fourth-and-1 at the McKinley 25. But that’s when the second good
thing happened for the Tigers.
Faced with third-and-9 from its own 26, McKinley attempted a
short sideline pass. Tiger cornerback D.J. Spencer read the play perfectly,
jumping the route and intercepting the ball at the Bulldog 31.
All of the sudden, Massillon’s hopes were resuscitated with 3:36
showing on the fourth-quarter clock.
“I felt like I had an opportunity to get it,” Spencer said. “I
missed the first one down there around the 20. I seen that (the quarterback)
was kind of floating the ball, so I felt like I could get it.”
Massillon would get a shot at a 37-yard field goal to tie, but
was whistled for a false start as the kick was going through the uprights.
Moved back to a 41-yard try, Steve Schott calmly knocked the ball through to
square things at 17-all with 1:10 remaining.
“I kind of knew after I made the first one before the penalty
that I wasn’t going to miss the second one,” said Schott, whose fourth-quarter
field goal a year ago lifted the Tigers past McKinley. “I was kind of in the
zone there. My confidence was up after making the first one. I just knew that
once I got the second opportunity that it was going to be good.”
McKinley struck first in overtime, as Andrew Gage – whose
37-yarder in the third quarter gave the Bulldogs a 10-7 lead – kicked a 35-yard
knuckleball for a 20-17 edge. But the Tigers came back, moving to the Bulldogs
2 when Willoughby, with a defender in his face, hit Torrence on a swing pass
for a 21-yard gain.
“That play’s worked for us in the past,” Willoughby said. “Coach
Stacy calls great plays. That was a great call, and it turned out good.”
Not as good as two plays later, when Willoughby plunged into the
end zone and set off the Tiger celebration.
Turner’s return is ‘special’ play for
Massillon
By
CHRIS EASTERLING
The Massillon Tigers had just given up a big play to fall behind
by 10 late in the third quarter, and all of the momentum was swinging on the
side of the McKinley Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon. But as soon as the
subsequent kickoff nestled into the hands of Justin Turner, the momentum
shifted back more toward Massillon with each yard he picked up.
By the time he was forced out of bounds, he was at the Bulldogs
41. An extra 15 yards tacked on for a personal foul penalty against McKinley
gave the Tigers the ball at the Bulldogs 26.
The Tigers would convert that drive into seven points, cutting
their deficit to just three with over 10 minutes left in regulation. They would
go on to force overtime, where they would prevail 23-20.
“I gave up a big play on defense and they scored off of it,”
Turner said. “I wasn’t reading my keys. Then I looked at the clock and realized
I had to go out and make a big play.”
That Turner did. Then again, Turner – and the rest of the Tiger
kickoff return team – was doing that just about all season long.
Turner came into the game with 252 yards on seven returns, an
average of 36 yards per return. As a team, the Tigers were averaging over 27
yards per return,
For much of the game up to that point, McKinley had kept Turner
in check on kickoffs. The best starting field position the Tigers had until
then following a Bulldog kickoff was their own 30 to start the game.
“I just had to be patient,” Turner said. “We’ve been returning
kicks all year. It was just that time, I had to do it.”
While McKinley had kept Turner under wraps for much of the game,
Massillon’s coaches felt like he was on the verge of getting free at least once
before.
“We told him the one before, we said ‘You hit it too quick,’”
Tiger special teams coordinator Jamey Palma said. “We said ‘Be patient and let
you’re wall set up. Just be patient, find your seam and go.’ He just did a
great job of being patient and making a big play.”
When it came time to make that big play, Turner did so. And
because of that, the Tigers brought the Victory Bell back to Massillon with
them after the game.
Torrence answers call for Massillon
By CHRIS EASTERLING
When
DeVoe Torrence transferred from Canton South to Massillon last spring, it was
for moments like the one he experienced on Saturday afternoon at Fawcett
Stadium playing in the 116th edition of the Massillon-McKinley game. Once he
got his chance, he wasn’t about to not capitalize on that opportunity.
Torrence
gained 134 hard-fought yards on 35 carries, yards which helped the Tigers pull
out a 23-20 overtime victory over the Bulldogs.
“It was
wild,” Torrence said. “Just being my first time being a Massillon Tiger playing
in the McKinley game, it meant a lot to me. We went out there, I stepped up,
Steve Schott stepped up, I mean, we all stepped up. We just got it done.”
For all
the big-name opponents Torrence faced for the first time this season, teams
like St. Ignatius and Mentor, there is still nothing like the atmosphere
surrounding a Massillon-McKinley game. But he wasn’t about to let that effect
him.
“There
were no jitters,” Torrence said. “(Tiger coach Tom) Stacy got us coached up and
had us ready to play.”
The
Ohio State-bound senior came into the game needing just 72 yards to top the
1,000-yard plateau. He did that by halftime, when he had 81 yards on 17 carries
as the two teams went into the locker room tied at 7-7. He finished with 1,062
yards and 11 touchdowns, after scoring a pair against McKinley.
“DeVoe
is just a heck of an athlete,” Tiger center Blake Seidler said. “I give him all
the credit in the world. He got over that 1,000-yard mark today, so what’s that
tell you.”
Torrence
did so despite the fact McKinley was attempting to key on him every time he
touched the ball. He only had three plays over 10 yards or more, as he had to
fight – like the rest of his Tiger teammates – for just about every yard.
“DeVoe’s
a warrior,” Tiger quarterback Chris Willoughby said. “He has heart and he runs
the ball hard every play. He did a great job.”
Not
that Torrence and the Tigers weren’t used to seeing a defense keying on the
run. While the Bulldogs kept Massillon’s offense out of the end zone on all but
two drives in regulation, there was little they were doing differently than
what the Tigers’ nine previous opponents had been doing.
Still,
Massillon was able to gain 233 yards on the ground as a team.
“It was
just a case of more guys in the box,” Torrence said. “That was what teams have
done all year. They’ve just put guys in the box.
“It
came down to who was going to be the most physical,” Torrence added. “We felt
like we showed that.”
Torrence
and Willoughby burned that defensive scheme for the biggest play of the game in
overtime. After Torrence had been dropped for a 3-yard loss on the Tigers’
first play from the McKinley 20, Willoughby threw a swing pass to the tailback
– just ahead of the Bulldog pass rush – which turned into a 21-yard gain to the
Bulldogs 2.
Two
plays later, Willoughby ended the game with his game-winning touchdown plunge.
“We
almost didn’t get it off,” Torrence said. “Chris, he got it up there in time. I
was just thinking ‘I’ve got to catch this ball.’ I just caught it.”
And the
Tigers – and Torrence – have the win to show for it.
Spencer is latest Tiger to step up in big
game
By
CHRIS EASTERLING
Five weeks ago, D.J. Spencer wasn’t even in the Massillon
Tigers’ starting lineup. Today, he is just the latest in a long line of
unlikely heroes to emerge in the ancient rivalry that is Massillon-McKinley.
With 5:15 left in regulation in Saturday’s 116th installment of
the rivalry at Fawcett Stadium, things looked bleak for the Tigers. They had just
given the ball back to McKinley on downs at the Bulldog 25 down by three
points.
However, Spencer – a senior cornerback – jumped an out pattern
on third-and-9 to get an interception at the McKinley 31. That would lead to the
game-tying field goal, and Massillon went on to get the 23-20 overtime win.
“My team needed a play, and it was clutch time,” Spencer said.
“We had to buckle down. Coach was telling us that that was the time and the
crucial point.”
Spencer hadn’t seen a whole lot of time through the first half
of the Tigers’ season, as he was behind Kevin Massey at cornerback. However,
when Massey was sidelined for the Buchtel game in Week Seven due to a concussion,
that opened the door for Spencer to get his chance.
The senior has more than held his own since getting the chance.
He hasn’t left the starting lineup since that game, even though Massey returned
to action the very next week.
“He didn’t start for us at the beginning of the year,” Tiger
defensive backs coach Jamey Palma said. “I remember it was about Week Four or
Five, I had a meeting with him, and I said ‘Just hang with us, you’re going to help
this team.’”
And he did.
“Right after the St. Ignatius game, we started playing him a lot
more. He’s played excellent. He’s going to remember that play for the rest of his
life.”
Spencer is just the latest Tiger to go from relative unknown to
hero because of what he did in the McKinley game.
A year ago, it was Corey Hildreth getting a blocked punt to help
set up a Tiger score. In 2001, it was Craig McConnell whose interception helped
to seal a hard-fought Massillon win.
In other years, it has been a Victor Redrick or a Dave Sheegog.
Whoever it is, they instantly become immortalized for making a play which
turned the tide in favor of the Tigers.
“We’ve got great kids with a great mentality,” Palma said. “They
never quit. D.J. is one of those kids. We were down 17-7, we needed to make a play,
and he has a great mentality.
“They don’t think about the negative, they’re thinking ‘Let’s
make a play’ and go ahead and do it. It’s great for him. He’s a great kid, and
people are going to remember him forever here.”