Statistics

Bracket

Revenge was on the minds of the Tiger football family for the entire season as both Massillon and Big Walnut appeared headed for a showdown in the Division II, Region 7 finals. But it wasn’t to be. The Golden Eagles played a nearly perfect game in a 27-21 victory, while the Tigers were the ones that made the mistakes and literally gave the game away.

The errors were numerous. In the first quarter a punt snap sailed high over the head of the punter, placing the ball at the five yard line. Three plays later Big Walnut quarterback Eli Stumpf (2^nd Team All-Central District) found Brody Hatfield (1^st Team All-District) open in the back corner of the end zone for the score. In the second quarter the Tigers surrendered a blocked punt, giving the ball away at the six. Stump subsequently carried it in on second down. And then there were the two Eagle field goals, both following short drives, of 25 and 31 yards. One of these was set up by a pass interception. Then, there were the ten penalties for 100 yards, many of which hampered the Massillon offense early in the game.

The Tigers might have overcome all of that had they possessed any kind of a passing attack. The quarterback rarely had time to set up, the receivers weren’t getting open and the passes were mostly errant as a result. Perhaps the coaching staff anticipated this, as they spent the entire night running ball. In fact, Massillon threw just three times up to the point when they fell behind 27-21.

While statistics don’t tell the whole story, Massillon did out-gain Big Walnut 355-196 in total yardage, with a 287-100 advantage in rushing yards. Running back Savior Owens, behind the fine blocking of the linemen, was the lone offensive bright spot with a monster game, as he churned out 293 yards and three touchdowns off of 35 carries, while averaging 8.4 yards per attempt. Included in that were TD runs of 29, 44 and 58 yards.

Defensively, the players were put in difficult situations. However, they did manage to hold the Central District’s Offensive Player of the Year to just 104 yards (4.7 ave.) and no touchdowns.

It was on Massillon’s second possession that the errant punt snap occurred. After an exchange of possessions, the Tigers went on a 10-play, 83-yard drive, with all plays on the ground, culminating in Owens’ 29-yard touchdown run to tie the score.

On the next series Massillon scored again, this time moving 64 yards in 3 plays, with Owens racing in from the Big Walnut 40. Then came the blocked punt, with the score quickly tied at 14 apiece, followed shortly thereafter by an Eagle field goal by Owen Pyles of 28 yards. Thus, the halftime score was 17-14.

Big Walnut received the kickoff to start the third quarter and produced their only long offense of the night, an 8-play, 66-yard drive, ending with a 1-yard quarterback sneak. It upped the margin to 24-14.

Only, the Tigers got right back into it when Owens broke loose for a 58-yard touchdown run on the second play of a 63-yard drive. Now it was just a matter of finding that fourth score. Even with Big Walnut tacking on a 24-yard field goal to start the fourth quarter and a score of 27-21 there was still a chance.

The Tigers had three cracks at it. On the first they drove to the Eagle 22 with 4:30 left and elected to forgo a 4^th down field goal attempt, only to be stopped on downs when a pass was broken up. On the second, following a recovered fumble at the Big Walnut 35, they faced a fourth and four from the eight with 2:45 left. Again they opted to go for the first down. But the attempt picked up just two yards and they turned the ball over.

The final try began at the Eagle 43 with 1:30 left on the clock and all three time outs having been used. The Tigers managed to get off nine plays, with quarterback Manny Patterson completing three passes. The first was four yards to Malone and out of bounds to stop the clock. Following a sack, the second was 16 yards on fourth down to Braylon Gamble, who made a great catch, while leaping high, then bobbling the ball and finally securing it for a first down. The ball was then spiked to stop the clock. Then, on 4^th and 23, following yet another sack, Patterson launched a desperation pass toward the end zone. Within a mad scramble for the ball, Jadyce Thigpen was able to run it down and went immediately out of bounds at the 12 with just 1.7 seconds left. One last try. But Patterson never got the pass off as he was sacked for the third time.

Massillon ends the season with a 9-4 record, the second worst in Nate Moore’s eleven years as Tiger head coach. Big Walnut improves to 12-1 and advances to face Cincinnati Anderson (13-0) in the state semifinals in a repeat of last year’s match.

Photos by Marlene Kanipe