2024 Booster Club Report – Week 10 – Post-Canton McKinley; Preview of the Licking Heights Game
Massillon (8-2) defeated Canton McKinley (6-4), 16-7. The Tigers now lead the overall series, 77-53-5. It was also historical win No. 956. This week Massillon is at home for Week 1 of the playoffs against Licking Heights (4-6) as they embark upon defense of their Division II state title from a year ago.
Link to the Canton McKinley Game Story
Link to the Canton McKinley Game Statistics
Other scores:
- Freshmen (5-5): Defeated Canton McKinley, 18-12. Season finished.
Review of the Canton McKinley game
Massillon defeated Canton McKinley 16-7 in the 135th renewal of this great rivalry, with all of the points being scored in the first half. The Bulldogs came into the game as an overwhelming underdog, which was uncharacteristic for this event. And it would have played out that way had they not made any adjustments to the defense in order to hamper the well-balanced Tiger attack. So, they elected to load the box to stop the run and take a risk by playing man-to-man against the wide receivers. At times, even the free safeties crept toward the box to aid in the effort, thereby placing up to nine players in that zone. The ploy worked, at least against the run. Massillon never got untracked with their ground game, holding 1,000-yard rusher Ja’Meir Gamble to just 49 yards on 19 carries. Only, Massillon quarterback Jalen Slaughter was on the mark, completing 12 of 17 passes for 153 yards and two touchdowns. He was also named by the Great American Rivalry Series as the Player of the Game. The defense blitzed early and often, putting great pressure on quarterback Kam Montgomery, who was the catalyst of the Bulldog offense. And they held the McKinley rushing attack to almost nothing until near the end of the game. In the second half, the Tigers reverted to the game plan used in last year’s 7-2 state championship victory over Akron Hoban. That is, run the ball to burn up the clock and leave it to the defense to bring it home; i.e., play sound fundamental football against the rush, blitz sparingly and keep the receivers in check. It worked. The Bulldogs had the ball only three times in the second half.
“It was a hard fought victory,” said Massillon head coach Nate Moore at the weekly Booster Club meeting. “We thought we would score more touchdowns. But you have to give credit to McKinley. They played hard. We had trouble blocking them. If we could have run better, we would have scored more points. We were disappointed in all the penalties. We need to clean that up.” But he said that the Massillon crowd was definitely a factor in the win, especially on third down. In spite of being disappointed that they didn’t score more points, Moore said that the field goal at the end of the first half was big, as it gave the Tigers a 2-score lead. That changed the way the second half went. Final kudos went to the defense. “All eleven players were Players of the Game,” he said.
Moore noted that the seniors never lost to McKinley, from the seventh grade on. Finally, he stated that the players handled all of the festivities and distractions during the week leading up to the game quite well.
The guest players were middle linebacker Vito McConnell and offensive lineman Nolan Davenport. “Last week was a very hard fought win for us,” said McConnell. “We came out strong and we wanted it more.” Davenport agreed with McConnell and said that they can’t take Licking Heights lightly, as the team continues to move toward the goal of winning a state championship. It’s a step in the process.
Licking Heights Scouting Report
Heights comes into the game with 4-6 record. Their season to date:
- Newark (7-3): 21-31 L
- Tri-Valley (10-0): 0-31 L
- Sheridan (6-4): 27-7 W
- Buckeye Valley (6-4): 15-16 L
- Lakewood (1-9): 41-0 W
- Licking Valley (9-1): 22-28 L
- Granville (9-1): 0-21 L
- Mount Vernon (2-8): 14-7 W
- Watkins Memorial (3-7): 18-36 L
- Zanesville (0-10): 40-0 W
The Hornets participate in the Licking County League. Over the past five years they have compiled a 21-30 overall record, including a 1-3 mark in the Division II state playoffs. Their best finish in that span was 5-6, which occurred in both 2020 and 2021. In 2022, at 5-6, they lost in the first round of the playoffs to North Canton Hoover, 38-7.
The Heights offense operates out of the spread behind a good-sized line that averages 6′-2″, 266 lbs. The line best players are the two tackles, junior Fred Saunders (6′-3″, 285) and junior Matthew Schmitz (6′-3, 265). The Hornets have a big running back in senior Jake Lopinto (6′-1, 215), who is committed to Robert Morris. He runs hard and is a power runner. He also has good vision and follows his blockers well. The quarterback duties have been shared between two players, depending in the injury situation at the time. Senior Reese Powell (5′-10″, 170) is more of the runner and will have designed run plays for him. He is very shifty. Junior JJ Shackleford, the passer, throws a nice long ball and is a good scrambler. Their targets are a pair of good wide receivers in senior Josiah Ayers (5′-7″, 155) and senior Jaedin Edwards (5′-8″, 150). Ayers is the deep ball threat, while Edwards is the speed guy and is often seen on the jet sweeps. The Hornet offense tends to run first, but throw deep.
The base for the defense is an odd front. But they will play some even. the secondary aligns most often in cover-3, but they will mix it up at times. They are not a big blitzing team, but it is in the package. The best player on this side of the ball is Lopinto (the running back), who plays middle linebacker. Heights wants to get him involved in every play. And he does make plays. Another good player is freshman Sam linebacker Robert Talbert (6′-0″, 175). He is very athletic and covers well in space. The defensive line averages 6′-1″, 259 lbs. The best player in that group is senior Ahmed Ulaba Samura (5′-9″, 280). He will explode off the ball and is solid against double teams.
Tickets for the game must be purchased through the OHSAA website, which can be accessed through this massillontigers.com link.
Go Tigers!
