Week 1 – Cleveland Glenville – Massillon reaped their revenge over Glenville (2025 Division IV state champion) following last year’s 33-17 overtime loss with a 31-18 victory, leading in the game wire-to-wire. With a balanced offensive attack, the Tigers gained 186 yards rushing and 186 yards passing. Running back Savior Owens led the ground attack with 26 carries for 180 yards and two touchdowns. First-year starting quarterback Rasmus Haines completed 11 of 23 passes for 186 yards and two TDs. One went to Deontay Malone and the other to Geo Jackson Jr. The offense was a fine 10 of 16 on third down conversions. The defense was stifling, holding the Tarblooders 71 yards on the ground and 75 in the air (6 of 20), including five quarterback sacks and ten tackles for loss. Brayton and Brydon Feister combined for 14 tackles, 1.5 sacks and 4.5 TFLs. However, two special teams errors and several penalties led to all three Glenville scores.
Week 2 – Canton GlenOak – 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.
Week 3 – NFL Academy Europe-Africa – In one of the most physical games ever played at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium, Massillon defeated NFL Academy, 21-16, behind three touchdowns from running back Savior Owens and a defense that made enough plays to preserve the victory. Owens rushed 19 times for 115 yards and scored on runs of 2 and 24 yards, as well as a spectacular 26-yard touchdown in which he fought through several defenders. vQuarterback Rasmus Haines completed 10 of 16 passes for 112 yards, including a 40-yard strike to Geo Jackson Jr. that set up Owens’ second touchdown. The Tigers led 14-10 at halftime and extended the margin to 21-10 late in the third quarter after an 80-yard, 12-play drive. NFL Academy, a highly regarded program based in England and coached by NFL-selected American coaches, proved to be Massillon’s toughest opponent of the season to date, with quarterback Viktor Lachambre rushing for 75 yards and completing 13 of 24 passes for 114 yards and a touchdown. The Academy scored on the final play of the game to make the final margin five points, but Massillon had controlled much of the night, finishing with a 341-194 advantage in total yardage and a 229-112 edge on the ground. Brayton Feister led the Tiger defense with 1½ sacks, two tackles for loss, five solo tackles and seven assists, while the deafening home crowd certainly aided in the victory.
Week 4 – Canisius, Buffalo, NY – A smothering Tiger defense set the tone and the offense took advantage in a 42-0 victory over the No. 8 ranked team in New York, the Canisius Crusaders, who hail from Buffalo. It was the fourth time in head coach Nate Moore’s twelve years at Massillon that his team won its first four games of the season. In the previous ones, the Tigers went on to win the remainder of their regular season games and advance in the playoffs to the Division II state championship game, while winning the title in 2023. The Tigers finished with a balanced attack, rushing for 146 yards and passing for 148 yards, for a total of 294. Canisius was held to a mere 12 yards in the second half and finished with 101 total yards: 63 on the ground and 38 in the air.
Week 5 – Lakewood St. Edward – In a game played at Baldwin Wallace’s Finney Stadium, Massillon held off a late charge by Lakewood St. Edward to come away with a hard-fought 23-21 victory. Sophomore running back Gary Yeager led the offensive attack by rushing 16 times for 232 yards and two touchdowns. Running back Savior Owens also scored a touchdown, while Mateo Herrera added a 30-yard field goal. On offense the Tigers stayed mostly to the ground for the entire game. For St. Edward, they had difficulty running the ball against the stout Massillon defense and relied on an aerial attack to move the ball. The Tigers led throughout most of the game, but needed to defeat a Hail Mary pass from the Eagle quarterback to the goal line as time expired to secure the win, Massillon’s fifth straight in the series.
Week 6 – Football North (Clark), Ontario – In yet another hard-fought game, Massillon used a strong defense along with big plays on offense to upend Canada Football North, 31-8. It was historical win No. 974, which is ranked No. 2 in the country. Throughout the game, each team’s running backs had little success on the ground, aside from some big gainers by Savior Owens. But Massillon was just that good defensively with their front-7, particularly brothers Brayton and Brydon Feister. In the air, Tiger quarterback Rasmus Haines had enough completions to move the chains. However, the greatest difference between the two teams was the Tigers’ ability to finish drives. In fact, after failing to advance on their first two, they scored on each of the next five.
Week 7 – Farrell, PA – Massillon defeated Farrell by way of 1-0 forfeit. Farrell is one of the more successful small-school programs in Pennsylvania. In fact, last year they posted a record of 12-3 and advanced to the state finals in Class AA (Class A is the highest). In addition, they have lost just 14 games over the last five years. Perhaps, in an attempt to test the waters, they elected to schedule a game against the nationally-ranked Tigers. However, a few weeks ago Farrell backed out of the game citing, according to media releases, a number of injuries. Possibly, the reason was the expectation of injuries that might arise in a game of that level, given their lack of depth. Regardless, the game was canceled and later ruled as a forfeit in Massillon’s favor.
Week 8 – Cornerstone Christian, TX –
Week 9 – Warren Harding –
Week 10 – Canton McKinley –
Playoff Round –