2025 Booster Club Report – Week 6 – Post-Football North; Preview of the Cardinal Ritter Game

Massillon (3-3) lost to Football North from Ontario, Canada (2-3), 34-2.  This week Massillon hosts Cardinal Ritter from Missouri (2-2).

Link to the Football North Story

Link to the Football North Game Statistics

Other scores:

• 7th Grade (4-0): Defeated Canfield, 30-8.  Plays at Massillon Perry on Wednesday, October 1, at 6:00 pm.
• 8th Grade (1-4): Lost to Medina Highland, 13-8; plays at Austintown on Wednesday, October 1, at 6:00 pm.
• Freshmen (1-4): The game vs. Football North was canceled.  Plays home to Medina Highland on Thursday, October 2, at 6:00 pm.
• Junior Varsity (0-5-1): Lost to Football North, 40-10.  Plays at Avon on Saturday, October 4, at 10:00 am.

Review of the Football North Game

Massillon played from behind the entire game in a 34-2 loss.  North won the battle in the trenches on both sides of the ball and also took advantage of seven Tiger turnovers.  North’s Josh Martin-Pendkey was the whole offense  for North as he rushed 26 times for 192 yards and scored four touchdowns.  Ironically, Martin-Pendkey was a junior two years ago, while playing for another school.  The North defensive front, along with a constant linebacker blitz, put tremendous pressure on the Massillon quarterback.  The stout defense also kept the Tigers bottled up in their own end of the field, with the average starting field position being the 25 yard line.  Massillon also failed to score an offensive point, the first time since 2015.  For the Tigers, Savior Owens rushed 14 times for 51 yards.  Quarterback Manny Patterson completed 13 of 24 passes for 117 yards.  Giorgio Jackson Jr. had four receptions for 16 yards.  Isaac Maxheimer led the defense with 11 total tackles, a quarterback sack and two tackles for loss.  Junior Magnus Haines punted four times with an average of 42.5 yards per attempt.

“A terrible loss,” said Massillon Head Coach Nate Moore at the Monday Booster Club meeting.  “We got our butts kicked on both sides of the ball, on the line.  We weren’t physically strong enough to handle them.  It’s a tough pill to swallow.  We need to correct the mistakes.  That was an excellent football team.  Very physical.  If we can’t move people physically to run the ball, we need to find another way.”

Moore also said that the defense was placed in tough positions as a result of the turnovers.  Otherwise, he felt that side of the ball played well.  As did special teams, particularly Haines with his ever-improving punting.

The guest players were junior offensive lineman Dayvionne Floyd and junior defensive back Braylon Gamble.

• Floyd – We did not play to  our capability.
• Gamble – We were prepared, but we weren’t ready for what they brought.

Cardinal Ritter plays in the AAA League along with four other area parochial schools.  Last year they finished with a record of 10-2, while losing 30-18 in the third round of the playoffs to Lafayette.  Over the past five years they have a record of 49-15, with state championships in 2022 and 2023.  The Lions (2-2) are currently ranked 11th in Missouri among all schools and 3rd in Division 5 (Division 6 is the largest).  The top player returning from last year is junior linebacker Marshaun Ivy (6’-3”, 220) (71 tackles).  He is a 3-star athlete that has offers from several Power-5 schools.  For the purposes of Harbin points, Ritter is classified as Division V, but compete above their enrollment classification.

Cardinal Ritter’s schedule to date:

• No. 9 Jackson (5-0), 20-23 L
• No. 1 Christian Brothers (5-0), 12-34 L
• No. 33 Howell Francis (3-2), 50-0 W
• No. 44 St. Pius X (2-3), 36-8 W

“Ritter is a good team,” said Moore.  “No let up for Massillon this week.”

Once again the Tigers will be facing a team that has a huge offensive line that knows how to play.  This one averages 6′-3″, 294 lbs.   The wide receivers in their 10-personnal formation are really, really fast, according to Moore.  The two best are senior Elijah Lucas (6′-3″, 200) and sophomore Ryan McDavis (6′-1″, 150).  They play two underclass quarterbacks in freshman Rylan Moore (5′-8″, 155) and sophomore Kashmir Manuzuk (6′-0″, 175).  Both are good players.  They also feature two alternating running backs in senior Manny Ellis (5′-7″, 165) and sophomore Kenny Robinson (5′-8″, 175).  The Lions like to run the ball first, but won’t hesitate to go deep.

Defensively,  Ritter employs an even front with four linemen.  They average 6′-2″, 225 lbs., with a couple 275 lb. backups in the wings.  The best of the two inside linebackers is Ivy (see above).  The 5-man secondary is very fast and aggressive and uses a lot of man-to-man coverage.  They will align mostly in cover-0 and cover-1, with occasional cover-3.  Not much blitzing.

On special  teams, they are not a great at kicking, but have good return players.

“This is a good football team,” Moore said in closing.  “Strong and physical.  They play the game the right way.  Another great challenge.”

Go Tigers!