Several 2025 Tigers Make Their Mark in the Record Book

A feature major of the massillontigers.com website is that of maintaining the historical performance records of both the individual players and the teams, for the categories of  single game, single season and career.  The effort goes back as far as available resources allow.  It started with data gleaned from various newspaper stories.  Then, beginning in the 1950s game statisticians were employed to record official numbers, initially on paper and at present using computer programs.  Fortunately, most of these resources are preserved in the MassMu’s Paul Brown Museum, which simplifies the overall task of generating the Top Ten records.

This season, although the team finished with a 9-4 record, there were still moments when players shined sufficiently to have their performances recorded in the books.  Making their mark are Savior Owens, Manny Patterson, Ja’Dyn Williams, Deontay Malone and Mateo Herrera.

Savior Owens was the workhorse in the ground game, mimicking that of Jamir Thomas from a few years ago.  This season Owens rushed 222 times for 1,572 yards and 21 touchdowns, with an average of 7.1 yards per attempt.  He also had eight 100-yard games.  His greatest effort came against Big Walnut in the regional finals, when he rushed 35 times for 293 yards and 3 touchdowns.  The 293 yards ranks third in the record book, just behind Willtrell Hartson’s 324 yards against Westerville South in 2020 and Travis McGuire’s 302 yards against Canton McKinley in 1991.  His 35 carries fell just one short of the Top 10.  He also placed 5^th with 304 all-purpose yards.  For the season he ranks 6^th in total yards, 7^th in yards per game and 7^th in touchdowns.

Manny Patterson quarterbacked the team for the entire season.  Although the Tigers appeared to put the passing game on the shelf following the Week 6 game against Football North, Patterson did have one last opportunity to shine.  That moment came in Round 2 of the playoffs against North Canton Hoover, when he completed 12 of 13 passes for 226 yards and 4 touchdowns.  The Vikings were obviously concerned about the ability to defend the pass against the Tigers’ athletic receivers and thus played well back in coverage.  That opened the door for Manny to exploit the edges with tag screens, which put the receivers in advantageous positions for turning them into long gainers.  His 92.3 pass completion percentage in that game ranks 3^rd in the record book and his 339.9 efficiency rating ranks 2^nd.  For the season, Patterson completed 112 of 174 passes for 1,415 yards and 19 touchdowns.  His 64.4 pass completion percentage ranks 2^nd in the record book and his 159.5 efficiency rating ranks 10^th.  He also touches the record book in the career category, as he currently holds the Massillon record with a completion percentage of 63.4%, with a season yet to play.

Ja’Dyn Williams, Massillon’s stellar inside linebackers, had two remarkable years as a starter.  As a result, his name is all over the defensive categories.  In fact, he placed a whopping 14 times including the following:

• 13.0 single tackle points vs. Cleveland Glenville (5^th)
• 59 single season solo tackles (7^th)
• 83.5 single season tackle points (8^th)
• 5 single season fumble recoveries (2^nd)
• 109 career solo tackles (5^th)
• 101 career assisted tackles (9^th)
• 210 career total tackles (6^th)
• 159.5 career tackle points (4^th)
• 26.5 career tackles for loss (6^th)
• 124 career tackles for loss yards (3^rd)
• 11.0 career quarterback sacks (3^rd)
• 87.5 career quarterback sack yards (3^rd)
• 3 career forced fumbles (3^rd)
• 5 career fumble recoveries (2^nd)

Deontay Malone was involved in every aspect of the game: offense as a wide receiver, defense as a cornerback and special teams as a return man.  Against Columbus DeSales in Round 3 of the playoffs, Malone returned a kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown.  That puts him in 3^rd place in the longest kick return category, behind John Francisco, who returned one 105 yards against Alliance in 1952, and Tyler Hackenbracht, who return one 100 yards against Teays Valley last year.  For the season, Deontay averaged 15.7 yards per punt return, including a 50-yard romp for the winning score against Canton McKinley.  The season average mark ranks 9^th in the record book.  He also excelled in kick returns, fielding 15 balls and returning them for 393 yards.  The 15 returns ranks 9^th and the yards ranks 4^th.  Incidentally, the punt return against the Bulldogs is the first one ever for a TD in the long history of that rivalry.

Mateo Herrera is Mr. Reliable when it comes to kicking points after touchdown.  This was his third year as a varsity kicker during which he converted 56 of 57, with a 98.2% success rate.  These numbers rank him 5^th for kicks made, 7^th for kicks attempted and 9^th for kick percentage.  During his 3-year career, Herrera has converted 133 of 137 kicks, at 97.1%.  These marks rank him 4^th for kicks made, 4^th for kicks attempted and 4^th for kick percentage.  For makes and attempts he is behind some great company, including Alex Bauer (205 of 213), Steve Schott (171 of 178) and Andrew David (162 of 174).

Congratulations to these fine players, all of whom return next year, with the exception Ja’Dyn Williams, who is off to Indiana University.