Statistics

Coaches will tell you that in order to win in the game of football a team must run the ball and stop the run. And that philosophy goes hand in hand with the need to control the line of scrimmage. It also helps to win the turnover battle. But on this pleasant fall evening Massillon was able to do none of the above and fell to the visitors from Mississauga, Ontario, 34-2.

Football North is an all-star team that rosters players from all over Canada, who hope to receive football scholarships from American universities. They compete against opponents exclusively from within the United States. As such, they are not your typical Canadian football team. North is also a bit disadvantaged at the start of the season since, like Rabun Gap, they don’t get their players in camp until just a few weeks prior to the first game. So, they peak later. Unfortunately, it appears that the Tigers caught them at peak time, unlike previous opponents, and perhaps underestimated them a bit based on their earlier performances. It would be surprising if they lost another contest this year.

The star of the game was North’s diminutive running back Josh Martin-Pendkey, who rushed 26 times for 192 yards (7.4 ave), including a long of 54, and scored four touchdowns. He was fast, strong and elusive and he was everything you wanted in a running back. On most plays he would take the handoff and head directly for the line. Once bottled up, he would then quickly change direction to the outside, skirting the end for most of his yards, dragging would-be tacklers along the way. The rest of the team produced just 54 yards, but Martin-Pendkey’s was enough.

The other star was the North defense, which kept the Tigers pinned back in their own territory for most of the game, while in essence pitching a shutout. It didn’t help that Massillon gave the ball away seven times, four in conjunction with quarterback sacks, two when runners were stripped of the ball and one on a pass interception. But credit for all the fumbles goes to the North defensive front, which played in the Tiger backfield for the entire game. Incidentally, three of fumbles led to short-field touchdowns on second half drives of 2 yards, 3 yards and 36 yards. Nevertheless, the fumbles didn’t affect the eventual outcome, just the final score.

Massillon picked up two points from a safety early in the game when a punt snap sailed over the head of the punter and out of the end zone. But it became their only points. The last time the Tigers failed to score a touchdown in a game was in 2007 in a 27-0 loss to Cleveland St. Ignatius. The last time they failed to score an offense touchdown was in a 7-6 loss to Austintown Fitch in 2015. That TD came on a punt return.

As well as North ran the ball, Massillon did finish with good statistics in the passing part of the game, limiting quarterback Jacob Muller to just 3 of 13 for 65 yards, with one interception. As a result, North was able to convert just 4 of 12 third downs. That at least kept the score under control until the turnovers became a factor.

The North defense caused problems for the Tigers all night. They had big, powerful linemen to control the line of scrimmage and blitzed two linebackers on nearly every play, thereby closing down the running plays and putting maximum pressure on the quarterback. With this scheme they also relied on a speedy secondary to limit the passing yards. As a result, a frustrated Owens had little success running from either the running back position or from the shotgun and finished with 14 attempts for just 51 yards (3.6 ave.). Meanwhile, quarterback Manny Patterson was under duress the entire night and was constantly chased out of the pocket. Give him credit for trying to make something happen with his team behind on the scoreboard, but it was also costly in the long run, resulting in five sacks, four fumbles, 56 lost rushing yards and 1 of 8 on third down conversions. Field position was also a problem, with Massillon’s twelve possessions beginning on average at their own 25 yard line.

North scored on the third play of its first possession on a 12-yard rush by Martin-Pendkey. The TD was set up when Mujller connected with Andre Meltzer on a 38-yard pass and Martin-Pendkey followed up with a 10-yard run. Massillon responded by moving the ball to midfield, but fumbled it away. Then, after a mishandled snap from scrimmage moved North back 29 yards, the ensuing snap on fourth down sailed over the punter’s head to award Massillon the safety.

The Tigers did have a chance for points on their next possession when they moved to the North 28, but were stopped on downs.

In the second quarter North scored again, capping off a 52-yard drive with a quarterback keeper from the one. The PAT failed. The score stayed at 13-2 until late in the third quarter when the fumble scenario began. First was a 1-yard TD run by Martin, then a 3-yard TD run by Martin, followed by a 1-yard TD run by Martin in the fourth as it seemed that the roof was falling in on the Tigers. The total offense for the three TDs? Just 41 yards.

Massillon’s final attempt at a score came on their last possession and ended when a 12-yard pass into the end zone was intercepted by Jorel Sahay. Patterson finished the game completing 13 of 24 passes for 117 yards. Isaac Maxheimer, who was moved to outside linebacker for this one, led the team with eleven total tackles, one quarterback sack and two tackles for loss. Rasmus Hines punted four times and averaged a very fine 42.5 yards per attempt. Deontay Malone caught three passes and returned a kickoff 61 yards.

Next week Massillon (3-3) is home to Cardinal Ritter (2-2) from Missouri. Football North (2-3) travels to Mt. Zion Prep (0-5). The following week they play Lakewood St. Edward.