Massillon Downs Canton McKinley in Defensive Battle

October 27, 2024October 30, 2024
by Don Engelhardt

Massillon Downs Canton McKinley in Defensive Battle

Statistics (pending)

No high school football program in American does “Rivalry Game-Day” better than Massillon. Even most colleges would be envious of the atmosphere on display at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium on this sunny Saturday afternoon. The parking lots were packed with fans eager to support their teams. The dozens of tailgate parties were in full swing. The calliope was pounding out Tiger Rag at the stadium entrance. The stadium speakers were blasting the music. A near-capacity crowd of over 12,000. And the fireworks were echoing throughout. It doesn’t get any better than that. All to witness a classic showdown between Massillon and Canton McKinley, with the partisan Tiger crowd enjoying a 16-7 victory in this 135^th meeting.

The Bulldogs came into the game as an overwhelming underdog, which was uncharacteristic for this event. And it would have played out that way had they not made any adjustments to the defense in order to hamper the well-balanced Tiger attack. So, they elected to load the box to stop the run and take a risk by playing man-to-man against the wide receivers. At times, even the free safeties crept toward the box to aid in the effort, thereby placing up to nine players in that zone. The ploy worked, at least against the run. Massillon never got untracked with their ground game, holding 1,000-yard rusher Ja’Meir Gamble to just 52 yards on 20 carries. Only, Massillon quarterback Jalen Slaughter was on the mark, completing 13 of 17 passes for 158 yards and two touchdowns. He was also named by the Great American Rivalry Series as the Player of the Game. The defense blitzed early and often, putting great pressure on quarterback Kam Montgomery, who was the catalyst of the Bulldog offense. And they held the McKinley rushing attack to almost nothing until near the end of the game.

The tone was set on the first series when Montgomery sent a tag screen to Dante McClellan at the 21 yard line. McClellan was immediately swarmed by a host of Tiger tacklers and stripped of the ball by Lennox Lemon. Vito McConnell made the recovery and from there it took Massillon just four plays to find the end zone. Rushes by Gamble and Mylen Lenix advanced the ball to the seven. Then, Slaughter rolled left and found Braylyn Toles wide open on a crossing route in the back of the end zone for the initial points of the game. Mateo Herrera’s PAT was good and the Tigers would maintain a lead for the rest of the game.

On the Bulldog’s next possession they were forced to punt after gaining just three yards. But Michael Wright Jr. leaped high over a blocker to get a hand on the ball, giving the Tigers another chance for a score. However, following three runs and an incomplete pass, McKinley had dodged the bullet.

But Massillon came right back after another Bulldog 3-and-out and drove 52 yards in eight plays for their second score. Thirty-eight yards came at the hands of Slaughter who completed a 14-yarder to tight end Deangelo Zimmerman and a 24-yarder to Jacques Carter for the touchdown. Unfortunately, an unsportsmanship conduct penalty was marched off prior to the PAT and the kick was subsequently missed. Score: 13-0.

McKinley finally got their offense untracked and advanced to the Massillon 33, but were stalled on downs. Following a Massillon punt, the Bulldogs were on the move again. This time they converted when Montgomery, in the face of the blitz, tossed a screen pass to Deejay Britt for a 12-yard score with 2:07 left in the half.

But the Tigers weren’t finished. Starting at their own 15, Slaughter went to work with passing game and completed 5 of 5 for 64 yards, advancing the ball to the McKinley 19. From there, with just five seconds remaining, Herrera drilled a 36-yard field. The points were huge as it gave Massillon a two score lead.

In the second half, the Tigers reverted to the game plan used in last year’s 7-2 state championship victory over Akron Hoban. That is, run the ball to burn up the clock and leave it to the defense to bring it home; i.e., play sound fundamental football against the rush, blitz sparingly and keep the receivers in check. It worked. The Bulldogs had the ball only three times in the second half. The first ended in a punt from the one yard line. In the second, McKinley ran off 16 plays only to have a 4^th down pass intercepted by Daylan Pringle. And on the third, they ran out of downs at midfield, even after benefitting from a roughing the kicker penalty early in the drive. Meanwhile, Massillon had one scoring opportunity following the punt from the one, but missed on a 31-yard field goal attempt.

Massillon finished the game with 227 yards of offense, 69 on the ground and 158 in the air. Toles caught 7 passes for 88 yards and TD. Gamble caught 4 passes for 32 yards. Carter caught 1 pass for 24 yards and a TD. Tyler Hackenbracht made 13 tackles and 1 forced fumble, and averaged 38.3 yards on three punts, including two perfectly placed out of bounds. Lenix made 8 tackles, including 4 TFLs and a sack. Logan Allman had 8 tackles. Michael Wright Jr. had 6 tackles, 1.5 TFLs and a forced fumble.

McKinley, which played perhaps their best game of the season, was held to 154 total yards, 57 on the ground and 97 in the air (Montgomery completed 10 of 20, after 9 of 11 in the first half). Antonio Stevens had 7 tackles and 1 TFL. Dante McClellen had six tackles and 2 TFLs.

Once again there was a multitude of penalties, 12 against Massillon (5 of the personal foul variety) and 12 against McKinley (2 of the personal foul variety, both occurring at the end of the game).

With the victory bell now in possession of Massillon for the ninth consecutive year, it resounded loudly for all of Tiger Nation as the players joyfully towed it across the field. The Tigers also now lead the overall series 77-53-5.

Next week, the Massillon (8-2) hosts Licking Heights in a Division II, Region 7, first round game. McKinley (6-4) hosts Parma Normandy in a Division I, Region 1 game.