Statistics

They say that the most difficult football games In Massillon to prepare for are those just before Canton McKinley and the ones just after. That was ever so true in the Week 9 match with Warren Harding, at least through most of the first half. Fortunately, the Tigers found themselves thereafter and ended up running away with a 42-10 victory, with a running clock in effect through the better part of the second half.

While the defense kept the Raiders at bay for the most part, the offense seemed in a funk early, gaining just 15 yards on the ground in the first quarter. The rest of the game, however, went well and the Tigers ended up with 132 yards rushing over the remainder of the game. Leading the way for the second straight week behind some great blocking by the offensive line was running back Anthonny McMullen Jr., who carried the ball 22 times for 158 yards and a touchdown, while averaging 7.2 yards per attempt. Some credit, however, must go to Warren’s defensive front-7, which received praise from Massillon Head Coach Nate Moore prior to the game. Only, they seemed to tire later, with most of the players going both ways.

The other story was the number of turnovers. Seven in total: two for Massillon and five for Warren. While the Tigers’ turnovers were on interceptions of two long bombs and had minimal effect on the game, the Raiders’ gift-wrapped great field position to Massillon on four occasions, all of which resulted in scores.

It didn’t take long for the Tigers to get on the board. On Warren’s second play from scrimmage Massillon’s Christian Culler knocked the ball out of the hands of Makhai Brogden and Ja’Dyn Williams immediately scooped it up, racing 18 yards for a touchdown.

Then, during returning the ensuing kickoff return, Kai Blutcher lost the ball from a tackle by Braylon Gamble and the Tigers were in business at the Warren 19. An encroachment penalty advanced the ball to the 14, from where Tiger quarterback Manny Patterson lofted a beautiful pass to Gio Jackson Jr. in the back corner of the endzone. It was a repeat of what Manny did last week with Deontay Malone.

Later in the first quarter, following the return of a pass interception, the Raiders advanced to the Massillon 23, only to be thwarted by a loss of three yards on a pass, a loss of four yards on a tackle by Gamble and Noah Jenkins and a loss of nine yards on a quarterback sack by Williams. Owing to the reversed field position Harding ended up punting.

In the middle of the second quarter Warren was finally able to put together a scoring drive, of 55 yards in 8 plays. However it ended, not in a touchdown, but with a 34-yard field goal by Jaron Edmonds, which made the score 14-3. The drive was kick-started by a 39-yard pass from Ameire Cobb to Matt Richardson.

The Tigers at this point finally got their run game going, with McMullen doing most of the work. First was a 14-yard burst up the middle. Then on play No. 5, he raced around the right end and wasn’t caught until he stepped out of bounds at the Warren 3, after covering 51-yards of turf. Culler finished it off on the next play.

Massillon’s final possession of the half began when Gamble intercepted a pass at the Tiger 40 and returned it 44 yards to the Harding 16. Three plays later Sebastian Harper scored from the 3.

On Warren’s first possession of the third quarter they fumbled once again, this time at their own 20, and Malone was right there to pounce on the loose ball. Following a holding penalty, Patterson tossed a tag screen pass to Malone, who with his great speed simply ran away from the Raider defensive backs and into the end zone. Mateo Herrera’s fifth of six PATs on the night was true, making the score 35-3, and a running-clock was now in effect.

But it was short-lived when Richardson returned the kickoff 90 yards for a score. Once again, special teams has had some issues.

Now it was time to chew up the clock. And that they did. Starting at their own 20, the Tigers drove 80 yards in 15 plays and scored in the fourth quarter on a 5-yard run by McMullen for the final points of the night. Back to the running-clock.

Massillon displayed a balanced attack, with 147 yards rushing and 133 yards passing, for a total of 280 yards. Patterson finished the night with 12 of 17 passing with two touchdowns. Jackson caught 5 ball for 61 yards and a TD, and Malone caught 3 for 52 yards and a TD. Defensively, Culler and Williams each had five total tackles. Williams also had 3 tackles-for-loss, one sack and two fumble recoveries, one of which he returned for a touchdown. Gamble had the 44-yard return of a pass interception.

Warren, however, just could not run the ball against the Tigers’ stout front-7. They ended up gaining just 32 on ground, including 26 during their final drive. Brogden led the team with 8 carries for 27 yards. In the air they managed 100 yards on 7 of 15 passing. Rai’Twan led the defense with 10 total tackles. Sophomore Asa Burch had 3 TFLs.

Next week Massillon (6-3) hits the road for the first time this year. The host is Canton McKinley (8-1), which defeated Warren in Game 2, 43-25. Harding (3-6) hosts Austintown Fitch (7-1).

Photos by Marlene Kanipe