The Massillon Tiger Defense Was Special

The 2023 Tiger defense was simply spectacular as evidenced by its pitching a shutout against Akron Hoban to win the Division II State Championship and besting the Division I state champion during the regular season.  Historically, it also stacks up well against both previous Massillon teams and the best teams from around the state.

Many intangibles went into the greatness of this defense.  It started with a good scheme, within which its members played great assignment football.  But more importantly it had the “Jimmies and Joes” that according to Defensive Coordinator Spencer Leno was necessary to play at this level.  Start with All-American Dorian Pringle, who roamed all over the field, while recording 14 tackles against Hoban and setting a single-season record for tackles-for-loss.  Add in his All-Ohio partner at middle linebacker, Cody Fair, who led the team in tackles.  Then there was up front the unblockable “Big Mike” Wright, who broke the single-season record for quarterback sacks.  Throw in All-Ohioans Chase Bond and Tyler Hackenbracht plus a host of others and you have perhaps the best defense in the entire state.

But how does it stack up against other teams that have won playoff state championships?  Here’s the rundown.

When the state playoffs began in 1972 just four teams qualified in each division.  Gradually, over the last fifty years, the OHSAA increased that number, to 8 in 1980, to 16 in 1985, to 32 in 1999 and finally to 64 in 2021.  As such, the road to capturing a state title involved winning more and more games, a number that now stands at six, exceeding half of a regular season.

For this comparison the focus is on those years where a large number of playoff games were involved; i.e., 1999 to present day, or 5 to 6 playoff games.  In addition, the focus is on the top three divisions, which include the larger schools in the state.  Thus, there were 45 state champions covering three divisions across 15 years.  Twenty-one teams, nearly half, averaged less than ten points per game throughout the playoffs: 7 in Division 1, 7 in Division 2 and 7 in Division 3.  This certainly proves out the old adage that offense wins games, but defense wins championships.

Massillon averaged 5.7 points per game during their 6-game run to the title, which was exceeded by only two other teams: D1 Cincinnati Colerain in 2004 (4.4 pts/gm) and DIII Akron Hoban in 2016 (4.8 pts/gm).  In other words, the Tigers were the third best of the 45 teams in that category.  Not too bad.  In addition, Massillon held each opponent under ten points, a feat that was matched by only two other teams: DII Avon Lake in 2003 (5 of 5) and DII Akron St. Vincent in 2013 (5 of 6).  In addition, no other team went 6 for 6 while holding every opponent below ten points.  This was a phenomenal feat, when facing top playoff competition.

So, how does the Massillon defense stack up against previous Tiger teams that advanced to the state finals?

• 1980 – Under All-State quarterback Dave Eberhart, the team compiled a regular season mark of 8-1-1, giving up 12 points per game. In the playoffs, they had a signature win over Canton McKinley (14-6) in the regional finals, while losing to Cincinnati Moeller (30-7) in the state finals.
• 1982 – The linebacker/running back Chris Spielman-led team compiled a regular season mark of 10-0, giving up 7 points per game. In the playoffs, they had a signature win over Sandusky (29-7) in the regional finals, while losing to Cincinnati Moeller (35-14) in the state finals.
• 2005 – Quarterback Bobby Huth and linebacker/running back Brian Gamble let the Tigers to a 9-1 record, giving up 13 points per game. In the playoffs, they had a signature win over Lakewood St. Edward (21-17) in the state semifinals, while losing to Cincinnati St. Xavier (24-17) in the finals.
• 2018 – Quarterback Aidan Longwell, running back Jamir Thomas and defensive back Dean Clark helped Massillon to a 10-0 record, giving up 11 points per game. In the playoffs, they had a signature win over Cincinnati Winton Woods (41-20) in the state semifinals, while losing to Akron Hoban (42-28) in the finals.
• 2019 – Quarterback Aidan Longwell and linebacker Ben Krichbaum led the team to a second consecutive 10-0 season, giving up 11 points per game. In the playoffs, they had a signature win over defending state champion Akron Hoban (17-14) in the regional finals, while losing to Cincinnati LaSalle (34-17) in the state finals.
• 2020 – Wide receiver Jayden Ballard and outside linebacker Caiden Woullard were instrumental in the Tigers’ 5-1 shortened regular season, giving up 9 points per game. In the playoffs, they had a signature win over defending state champion Cincinnati LaSalle (14-10) in the state semifinals, while losing to Akron Hoban (35-6) in the finals.
• 2023 – Quarterback Da’One Owens and linebacker/running back Dorian Pringle were featured in a 10-0 season, with the defense giving up 8 points per game. In the playoffs, they had a signature win over Cincinnati Anderson (55-7) in the state semifinals, while defeating Akron Hoban (7-2) in the finals.  No team in the playoffs scored more than a single touchdown against them.

While the 2023 team averaged 5.7 points per game defensively, the other six Tiger teams averaged 16.4, with the best being the 2019 team at 13.0.  Take away their losses in the state finals and the average was 10.8, with the best being the 1982 team at 3.5.  So, the 2023 team was clearly the best in the that regard, although all had defenses good enough to at least reach the final game.

Finally, let’s look at all Massillon teams since the introduction of the spread offense, which occurred in the late 1990s (Note that it would not be a fair comparison with teams of previous years, since the run-oriented offenses of that time necessitated additional defenders being committed to the ground game; just a different era).  When considering only the regular season games, the 2023 team had the best rushing defense over the past 26 years at 1.7 yards per game.  Close behind is the 2020 team at 2.1 yards per game.  That is followed by 2022 and 2002 teams, each at 2.5 yards per game, and the 2021 team at 2.6 yards per game.  The average of all teams over that span of time is 4.1 yards per game.

Most of the better years have occurred recently.  The defensive production has certainly improved, but changes in schematic philosophies over time may also be a contributor as teams continue to figure out how to better defend the run against the spread offense.  Then again, the level of coaching may have had an influence on this number.  Here is the data for the last four coaches:

• Rick Shepas – 4.2 yds/gm
• Tom Stacy – 4.0 yds/gm
• Jason Hall – 4.3 yds/gm
• Nate Moore – 3.6 yds/gm

In any event, 2023 was a stellar year for the Massillon defense, both in comparison to previous Massillon teams and those from across the state in the playoffs.

Just to wrap up, below are the larger schools that have found the most playoff success through participation in the state finals:

• Cleveland St. Ignatius – 13 appearances, 11 titles
• Cincinnati Moeller – 11 appearances, 9 titles
• Lakewood St. Edward – 10 appearances, 6 titles
• Akron Hoban – 8 appearances, 5 titles
• Cincinnati St. Xavier – 7 appearances, 4 titles
• Massillon – 7 appearances, 1 title
• Cincinnati Princeton – 6 appearances, 3 titles
• Canton McKinley – 6 appearances, 3 titles
• Warren Harding / Warren Western Reserve – 5 appearances – 3 titles
• Cincinnati LaSalle – 4 appearances, 4 titles
• Cincinnati Elder – 4 appearances, 2 titles
• Pickerington Central – 4 appearances, 2 titles
• Huber Heights Wayne – 4 appearances, 1 title
• Mentor – 4 appearances, 0 titles