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Out-of-State and Parochial Schools Have Regularly Sprinkled Tiger Schedules

From the time of Paul Brown to the present Massillon fans have had opportunities to witness many big games against both out-of-state and parochial school opponents.  Here is a look back at the history of these encounters.

Out-of-State Opponents

Over the past 85 years Massillon has played 50 games against teams from outside of Ohio and currently owns a 50-9 record against the lot.   Some of the contests against the more prominent of these are shown below:

  • Covington Catholic, KY (1990) – Won 39-14 – It was played in Cincinnati as part of the Buddy LaRosa Classic. The Tigers controlled the game from start to finish as Falando Ashcraft carried the ball 28 times for 190 yards a touchdown.
  • Miami Southridge, FL (1995) – Lost 20-7 – Southridge scored twice in the fourth quarter to break a 7-7 tie.
  • Clovis West, CA (1998) – Lost 21-9 – The Tigers held a 7-0 lead at the half, but West came up with two long runs and a pass interception return in the second half to secure the win.
  • Hamilton Chandler, AZ (2006) – Won 35-26 – Brian Gamble took over the game, rushing for 159 yards and a TD, catching four passes for 44 yards and a two TDs from quarterback Bobby Huth and intercepting a pass that he returned for 37 yards. This was Chandler’s only loss and they finished the season as the No. 1 team in Arizona.
  • Jordan, UT (2008) – Lost 27-24 – Jordan kicked a 36-yard field goal with 45 seconds remaining in the game to pull out a victory. It negated an 8 of 10, 169-yard passing effort by Michael Clark.
  • East St. Louis, IL (2018) – Won 46-40 – It was perhaps the most athletic opponent that the Tigers have ever played.  Massillon trailed for most of the game in this back and forth offensive affair.  Finally, with 3.33 remaining in the game, quarterback Aidan Longwell connected with Jalen Ballard on a 39-yard touchdown pass to give the Tigers their final lead.   It ended when Max Turner intercepted a desperation pass at the Massillon 8-yard line with 42 seconds left to secure the win.
  • Valdosta, GA (2023) – Won 28-17 – Massillon came back from 14 points behind against the winningest team in the country to secure the victory. The catalyst was quarterback Da’One Owens, who rushed 13 times for 241 yards and two touchdowns.
  • Bergen Catholic, NJ (2024) – Lost 35-21– The Crusaders scored twice in second half to break open a 17-17 tie. They are currently ranked No. 8 in the nation per Calpreps.com.

Historically, Nate Moore has played the most out-of-state opponents and has a record of 12-2.  Behind him is Paul Brown, with a record of 11-1 and Jason Hall, who was 8-1.

Parochial School Opponents

Public schools as a whole have always had a difficult time defeating parochial schools, let alone winning state titles against them, owing to their much broader area from which to secure athletes.  And Massillon is no exception.  While the Tigers hold a 98-54-2 win-loss advantage overall, against the larger schools they have a deficit, with a mark of 27-34.

The Tigers played their first parochial school in 1933 when Paul Brown scheduled Akron St. Vincent as the season opener.  Massillon won that one 39-0.  Later that season his team beat Columbus Aquinas, 52-6.  From that time on and up to the initiation of the playoffs in 1972, Massillon compiled a remarkable record of 37-4-2.  But since that time the record is just 61-50, as the parochial schools have upped their game to compete for state playoff titles and Massillon has scheduled more of these larger schools in lieu of the smaller ones.

The most common opponents to appear on the schedule are shown below, along with the number of games played and the current record:

  • Akron St. Vincent (28) 22-6
  • Cleveland Benedictine (28) 23-4-1
  • Cleveland St. Ignatius (14) 2-12
  • Cincinnati Moeller (13) 2-11
  • Cleveland Cathedral Latin (12) 8-3-1
  • Lakewood St. Edward (9) 5-4
  • Youngstown Ursuline (9) 6-3
  • Walsh Jesuit (7) 5-2
  • Akron Hoban (6) 3-3
  • Cincinnati Elder (5) 5-0
  • Cincinnati LaSalle (3) 2-1
  • All others (11) 9-2

Some Massillon coaches have had success against these brethren, while others not so much.  In the playoff era, Coach Moore leads the way with the most wins and a record of 16-10, followed by Jack Rose with a record of 11-3, Mike Currence with a record of 8-5 and John Moronto with a record of 5-1.  Prior to the playoffs, Bob Commings posted a record of 9-0-1, Leo Strang was 7-1 and Tom Harp was 5-0.  But many of these wins came against the smaller schools.  Coach Rick Shepas had the most difficulty time, posting a record of just 4-12.  But he certainly wasn’t shy about scheduling them.

This season, Massillon will face four parochial schools, including Bergen Catholic, Canisius (NY), Lakewood St. Edward and DeMatha (MD).  Having four parochials on the schedule has happened only one other time, in 1991.  In that year Owens Lee Owens defeated Walsh Jesuit and Toledo St. Francis, while losing to Cincinnati Moeller and Akron St. Vincent.  In 2005, Coach Tom Stacy played four parochial schools, but two were in the playoffs.  Following regular season victories against Cincinnati Elder and Cleveland St. Ignatius, his team defeated favorite Lakewood St. Edward in the Division I state semifinals, before losing to Cincinnati St. Xavier in the finals.

Some of the bigger wins against the larger parochial schools in the playoff era were as follows:

  • Walsh Jesuit (1989) – Won 42-24 in the playoffs – Massillon was down 24-6 at the half, only to score 36 unanswered points after the break. Lamonte Dixon rushed 10 times for 181 yards and a touchdown.
  • Cincinnati Moeller (1995) – Won 21-18 – It was the first ever win over the Crusaders. Vinnie Turner rushed 25 times for 196 yards and scored three times.
  • Cleveland St. Ignatius (2005) – Won 29-26. It was the first ever win over the Wildcats.  The Tigers were down 26-14 at the end of the third quarter, but scored twice in the fourth.  The second tally came with just ten seconds left in the game when backup quarterback Shawn Weisend ran five yards around left side and dove into the end zone for the winning points.
  • Lakewood St. Edward (2005) – Won 21-17 in the playoff state semifinals – Massillon was down 17-7 midway through the fourth, when Brian Gamble caught a 18-yard touchdown pass from Bobby Huth and then followed up with a 5-yard run with 1:56 left in the game to pull out the win.
  • Lakewood St. Edward (2022) – Won 31-28 – Against the Number 1 team in Division I, Braylyn Toles caught a 24-yard touchdown pass from Jalen Slaughter with eleven seconds remaining to pull out the win.
  • Lakewood St. Edward (2023) – Won 15-13 – Quarterback Da’One Owens led the way with 26 carries for 176 yards and two touchdowns and 8 of 11 yards passing another 50 yards. The Eagles again finished No. 1 in Division I.
  • Akron Hoban (2023) – Won 7-2 – The defense led the way in keeping the Knight offense off the scoreboard and winning the Division II state title, the Tigers’ first in the playoff era. Dorian Pringle broke up a fourth down pass at the goal line to secure the victory.

This week, Massillon will yet again play a large parochial school opponent, which is also an out-of-state team, in Canisius from Buffalo, New York.

dengelhardt

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