2026 Booster Club Report – Week 3 – Post-Canton GlenOak; Preview of the NFL Academy Game

Massillon (2-0) defeated Canton GlenOak (0-2), 54-7.  This week Massillon plays at home against NFL Academy (2-0).

Link to the Canton GlenOak Game Story

Link to the Canton GlenOak Game Statistics

Other scores:

• 7th Grade (2-0): Defeated Oakwood (Canton GlenOak, 54-0.  Plays at South Range on Wednesday, September 2 at 6:15 pm.
• 8th Grade (1-1): Defeated Oakwood (Canton GlenOak), 30-0.  Plays at home against Milkovich (Maple Heights) on Wednesday, September 2 at 6:00 pm.
• Freshmen (1-1): Defeated Canton GlenOak, 27-13.  Plays at home against Akron Hoban on Thursday, September 3, at 6:00 pm.
• Junior Varsity (1-1): Defeated Canton GlenOak, 26-0.  Plays at Akron Hoban on Saturday, September 5, at 10:00 am.

Review of the Canton GlenOak Game

Massillon had little trouble in dispatching Canton GlenOak, winning 54-7.  The Tigers outgained the Eagles in yardage, 425-111, with Gary Yeager gaining 154 yards and Savior Owens adding 107.  Owens also scored four touchdowns.  Mateo Herrera kicked a career-high 45-yard field goal.  Defensively, Massillon held GlenOak to just 15 yards rushing in19 attempts.  Brayton Feister recorded eight tackles and two tackles-for-loss.

Massillon head coach Nate Moore said that the challenge going into the game was handling the week the right way.  “Most handled the week really well,” he said.  All knew that GlenOak was not nearly in the same class as last week’s opponent, Cleveland Glenville.  On the down side, referring to the game, he said,” We had a chance to put them away in the first half and gave up a cheap TD.”  But he did mention that the special teams showed improvement.  In addition, the defensive line was very active and caused a lot of havoc in the backfield.

The guest players were senior running back Savior Owens, senior defensive back Braylon Gamble and sophomore running back Gary Yeager.

Owens: We had a really good practice and prepared really well.  This week, a big opponent.  Pretty big.

Yeager: I thought we did good as a group.  A shout out to the offense line.  This week we need to fix the little things.

Gamble: If we practice like we do this week, we’ll be OK.  This will  be the best team we play all year.  We need to be more physical.

Preview of the NFL Academy Game

The NFL Academy Europe-Africa is a traditional boarding high school, located in the UK.  Over a thousand high students from across Europe try out for the Academy each year, with the goal of earning football-related scholarships to American universities and eventually finding their ways to the NFL.  Eighty will secure spots on the team.  There, they receive a heavy education in American football, along with taking a full load of high school-level academics.  The school also adheres to the age limits that American schools use for playing eligibility. Coaches are American-bred and selected by the NFL.  Although their website says that the players are from Europe and Africa, several hail from Canada and Mexico.

In 2024 the Tigers traveled to Beaverton, Oregon, to participate in the Nike Football Classic.  There, they faced the NFL Academy, winning 35-21.  But this edition of NFL is expected to be much improved from that time.  In fact, they opened the season at home with a 44-24 win over Marietta, Georgia, and  hen traveled to the U.S., coming away with a 28-13 victory last Friday over always strong Akron Hoban.

The games with Massillon and Hoban were set up by Nike, which partially funded the adventure along with the NFL.  The games do not count in the Harbin computer calculations and are treated as open dates.

“It’s going to be a great game,” said Moore.  “They are much better than in 2024.  Huge at every position.  They are a well-seasoned team.”

What stands out most with this year’s edition of NFL Academy is their size.  It’s starts with the lines.  The offense averages 6′-5″, 298 lbs.  The 3-front defense averages 6′-3″, 290 lbs.  Both tight ends are 6′-4″.  One of the wide receivers is 6′-6″.  And the four linebackers average 6′-1″, 234 lbs.

The offense is similar to that of Massillon, in that they run a lot of lot of zone blocking schemes and run-pass options.  The quarterback is Viktor Lachambre (Canada, 6′-4″, 200).  Moore says that he is really talented, and especially fast as a runner.  He can scramble and looks for yardage when out of the pocket.  The No. 1 receiver is Leon Donato (Japan, 5′-10″, 175), while Jamil Secka (Germany, 5′-11″, 170) is the fastest.

The defense is similar to that of GlenOak structurally,  although the players are obviously much better.  They run a 3-4 front, with 2-high and some cover-3.  The best lineman is Shams Alnusyrat (Syria, 6′-0″, 270).  The best defensive back is Shaq Cisse (Germany, 5′-11″, 190).  They also have a good kicker and are well-coached in special teams.

“They are very skilled,” said Moore.  “Good players.  They play the right way.  Very physical.  Good at every position.  Well coached (by NFL coaches).  A great challenge for us.”  Expect them to be similar to last season’s Football North team.

One factor in the Tigers’ favor may be conditioning.  In each of their first two games, NFL seemed to lose its spark in the second half.

 

 

Go Tigers!