Booster Club Report – Week 3

By defeating Columbus Bishop Sycamore 35-0 last Friday, the Tigers reached a major milestone, posting their 900th victory in a history that dates back to 1891.  The overall record now stands at 900-293-36, a winning percentage of .747.  While maintaining its status as Ohio’s leader in total wins, the Tigers join only four other teams across the country that have reached the mark of 900 victories: Valdosta, GA (933), Louisville Male, KY (906), Fort Thomas Highlands, KY (901), and Mayfield, KY (900).

Scores from other teams:

• 7th Grade(1-1): Defeated Canton, 22-12.  Plays Warren on Wednesday at home at 6:00 pm.
• 8th Grade (2-0): Defeated Boardman, 44-6.  Plays Warren on Wednesday away at 6:00 pm.
• 9th Grade (1-1): Defeated Alliance, 33-22.  Plays Warren on Thursday away at 6:30 pm.
• JV (1-2): “A” Team lost to Avon, 27-20.  “B” Team lost to Painesville Riverside, 36-19.  Plays Warren on Saturday away at 10:00 am.

Smiley’s is feeding the team after this week’s game.

The guest speaker was David Lee Morgan, author of the recently released book, “15 for 15.”  The publication chronicles Massillon’s 2019 season in which they compiled a record of 14-1 and advanced to the Division 2 state title game.  The book also contains many human interest stories.  It’s a great read and highly recommended.

Zach Catrone and Andrew Wilson-Lamp were the co-captains invited to the meeting.  “I think the young guys did very well stepping up after injuries,” said Catrone.  “We’re looking for No. 901 this week.”

“We came out with a chip on our shoulders,” added Lamp, referring to the previous week’s 1-point loss to Lakewood St. Edward.  “We wanted to turn that around.”

“It was a crazy football game,” said head coach Nate Moore.  “Extended injury timeouts.  Eighteen penalties against Bishop Sycamore.  It was really hard to get any flow.”  Moore thought that many of the Sycamore players were larger than the roster indicated.  Of course, at least half of the players were older and had already graduated from high school.  “They were excellent up front,” added Moore.  “Huge, big and strong.  A couple were really good.  The skill guys were better than I thought.  They had a very, very good talent level.”  The coach thought it was a good test for the Tigers and the game went about how he thought.

The defense played “lights-out,” holding the Centurions to negative 26 yards rushing (28 att.) and 72 yards passing (4 of 15).  But the offense struggled at times behind a sophomore quarterback that was making his first start on account of an injury to the original QB1.  The first quarter went quite well with three scoring opportunities in three possessions, producing a touchdown and a field goal.  And the last three possessions of the game were also productive, with two touchdowns and a final drive that closed the contest at the one yard line.  But in between the offense struggled to get much going, particularly on the ground.

“We shut down their run game early,” said Moore.  “So they started throwing the ball and they weren’t good at it.  With the good defensive backs we have, we were able to blitz a little more.  All-in-all, it was a good outing.  It was a good experience for our offensive line.”

This week’s opponent is Warren Harding, which lost its opener to Cleveland Benedictine (2-0), 24-17, and then rebounded last week against Youngstown Cardinal Mooney (0-2), winning 27-10.  Warren coaches will tell you that they have been looking forward to this team for a long time and expect a lot out of this large group of returning players.

Offensively, the Raiders operate out of the spread behind a returning starter at quarterback in Elijah Taylor.  “He makes a lot of good throws and throws well on the run.” said Moore, who believes this is the best quarterback they have seen so far.  The primary running back is Elizah Smith, a 6′-2, 205 lb. returning starter from last year.  But his production has been hampered by an offensive line that is not very adept at blocking. However, they do provide decent protection in the pass game.  A pair of wide receivers, Dom Foster and Deavion Burgess, provide good skill level in that area.

On defense, Warren aligns mostly in a 4-4, cover-3.  The best linemen are defensive ends Jabari Felton (6′-1″, 210) and Kincade Tyson (6′-1″, 210).  But both interior linemen and the two inside linebackers (each new at the position) appear struggle with read techniques.  The secondary is a mixture of skilled and not so skilled players.  Coach Moore does not believe they will have the speed to press cover Massillon’s wide receivers.

Go Tigers!

Booster Club Report – Week 2

Massillon opened the season with a 24-23 loss to Lakewood St. Edward, a team that is ranked No. 2 in the Cleveland-Akron area by the Cleveland Plain Dealer, No. 4 in Ohio by calpreps.com and No. 54 in the nation by the same rating service.  In spite of outgaining the Eagles in yards, 396-204, an early-game kickoff return after a Tiger score and a late trick play made the difference.  But it didn’t help that Massillon failed to convert all ten 3rd down conversion attempts.  All-in-all, however, the game had more the flavor of a scrimmage between two of Ohio’s better teams, rather than a mid-season game, with each making many mistakes throughout.  Nevertheless, both will be very formidable in their respective divisions come playoff time.  The Tigers will be back in action next week against the Centurions of Columbus Bishop Sycamore.

In other action last week, the Massillon JV team defeated St. Edward 14-9, the Freshmen lost to Eds 24-16, the 8th Grade defeated Euclid 33-24 and the 7th Grade lost to Medina Buckeye 24-12.  This week’s games include the 7th Grade vs. Canton on Tuesday at 6:00 pm, the 8th Grade vs. Boardman on Wednesday on 6:00 pm, the 9th Grade vs. Alliance on  Thursday at 6:00 pm and the JV vs. Avon on Saturday at 10:30 am.  All four games are at home.

John Georges Restaurant fed the Tigers on game day last week and Menches Bros. will do the honor this week.

The guest players this week were co-captains Terrence Rankl (offensive tackle) and Andrew Wilson-Lamp (wide receiver / cornerback).  Both briefly addressed last week’s game.  “As a whole we lacked discipline,” said Rankl.  “But we’ll get it done.”  “It’s not the outcome we wanted,” added Wilson-Lamp.  “But we’re at practice working.  And we’ll get it done.”

Head Coach Nate Moore didn’t hide his disappointment at the loss.  But he also saw a lot of good things that happened throughout the game.  “We did a lot of things right,” he said.  “The kids played hard.  We’re happy about that.  But we made too many mistakes in the second half.  We will now move forward and be better for it.”

Except for the kickoff return, the special teams played well.  They had a couple of good kickoff run backs and the players did a fine job of sustaining blocks.  Alex Bauer kicked a career long 42-yard field goal and added a couple others in a 3 for 3 effort.

Defensively, the coach saw a lot of good things.  St. Edwards had zero yards passing in the first half and finished with less than 100 yards rushing for the game.  Take away the trick play, and the Eagles gained just 132 total yards.  Moore said the defense did a really nice job fitting the gaps.  Jamacius Portis led the defense with seven solo tackles and one assist. Isaiah Clark had 6 and 3, and Jaiden Wise had 4 and 4.

On offense, the Tigers are working on more middle-range passes.  Moore thought quarterback Zach Catrone did a good job finding the open receivers.  It helped that the receivers showed great speed and were running good routes.  Catrone completed 14 of 29 passes for 262 yards and two touchdowns, both to Jayden Ballard.  Six difference players caught at least two passes.  The coach also teased the audience about finally being able to throw to the tight end, with two passes caught by Caiden Woullard.  Moore said that the St. Ed defensive line did not match up well with Massillon’s front five.  So in the second half they blitzed on nearly every play.  In spite of that, Raekwon Venson still had an overall good opening night, rushing 25 times for 113 yards.

This week’s opponent is Bishop Sycamore, an online charter school from Columbus.  Since they are not a member of the OHSAA they are not as much restricted in age as are the Tigers.  Thus, several players dot the lineup that had already graduated from high school.  And they readily recruit players from both the Columbus area and nationally.  So why play a team like that?  “They were open Week 2 and willing to play us,” said Moore.  “So there we are.  We have to play teams that will play us.”

Very little film on Sycamore was available for scouting purposes, since they did not play last week.  All the coach had to go on was a scrimmage against a not very good Lima Senior team in which there were no numbers on the jerseys.  However, he assessed the Centurion line as big (6′-2″, 274 ave.), but not necessarily that good.  The better players are found at the skill positions.  However, tight tackle Donovan McClendon (6′-5″, 270), a Pickerington Central graduate, did stand out, although more on defense than offense.  Dayvon Lowman, the running back, goes 5′-11″, 215.  He has good size and speed and plays at a physical level.  Wide receiver Jaylin Norwood, a 5′-9″, 260 lb. senior transfer from Cincinnati LaSalle, is deemed a good player.  As is Quincy Talmadge, a 5′-8″, 160 lb. receiver, who transferred in from one of the Westerville schools.  The quarterback is Noah McClendon, a 6′-2″, 210 lb. sophomore.  A transfer from Pickerington Central, he is a pretty good athlete with a good arm.  The Sycamore operate almost entirely out of a spread formation.

The defense aligns in a 4-3 with press corners,  but will run some cover-3.  A few offensive players also line up on  defense.  The best player is inside linebacker Miles Carter (6′-2″, 230), a Reynoldsburg graduate.  He is big and extremely physical.  Moore called him “really good.”  The other middle linebacker is a graduate from Texas.  The best defensive back is corner Xavier Canaday (6′-2″, 175), another high school graduate.

Go Tigers!

Booster Club Report – Week 1

The Tigers will open the season this Friday against Lakewood St. Edward at 7:30 pm.  Unfortunately, only family members of players, band and cheerleaders will be able to attend due to the restrictions applied by the Ohio Department of Health  on account of Covid-19 pandemic.  However, the game will also be aired live on massillonschools.org for the cost of $10.00.

The ticket office announced the disposition of payments by season ticket holders.  There are three options available: (1) receive a refund, (2) receive credit toward the purchase of a 2021 season ticket, or (3) donate the money to the football program.  If no action is taken, the credit option will  automatically be applied.

The Touchdown Club has been postponed until the week of the McKinley game at the earliest.  The Club still plans to award the Hardnose Trophy at the end of the season.

The 7th Grade will play St. Thomas Aquinas at home on Tuesday at 6:00 pm.  The 8th Grade will play Euclid at home on Wednesday at 6:00 pm.  The freshmen will play at home on Thursday at 6:00 pm against Lakewood St. Edward.  The JV will play at St. Eds on Saturday morning at 10:00 am.  Only relatives of the players are permitted to attend these games.

The Booster Club meeting was moved from the high school to the Eagles 190 due to the virus making the school unavailable.  This year’s President Eric Smith chaired the meeting.

The guest players for this week were co-captains Xavier Andrews and Terrence Rankl.  “We’re really looking forward to this Friday night,” said Andrews.  “We had a good first day of practice and we’re ready for the rest of the week,” added Rankl.  “It’s not going to be the same experience (without the large crowd), but we’ll get through.”

The virus has really affected the preparation for the season, especially with the complete loss of team winter workouts.  But the leaders on the team really pushed hard and the players have apparently responded well.  “These guys have been through a lot and they answered the bell every time,” said head coach Nate Moore.  “We looked to our senior players to really lead.  And they did a fantastic job.  We made gains and they were ready to hit the ground running when they came back.”  And in spite of a season shortened to just six games, the coach is happy about playing.

Moore tried to arrange a scrimmage with Wooster last week, but they declined.  Which was interesting, since the Generals previously called Massillon to schedule a 2-game series.  Maybe they just wanted the big gate a game would provide.

Moore then turned his attention to Lake St. Edward.  “We have a really tall task,” he remarked.  “We know very little.  We looked at prior scrimmages and last year’s game films.  If we play well, we’ll have a really good chance.”

Offensively, the Eagles run a very balanced attack, something that is typical of all good programs.  The run game is mostly power, while the passing attack features lots of underneath routes.  “They’re not flashy, but they are good at what they do,” said Moore.  The line averages 6′-2″, 274 lbs.  The best lineman, according to Moore, is Thomas Aden, who plays right tackle at 285 lbs.  The featured running back is Malachi Watkins, a 5′-10″, 185 lb. senior.  Watkins was a backup last year and has good speed and vision.  The wide receivers are all new, but Connor Goodall and Broden Bostwick stood out for Moore.  Goodall is long at 6′-3″.  Junior Christian Ramos mans the quarterback position.  He is 6′-1″ and 190 lbs.  A starter last year on the JV team, Ramos is a good athlete and has a good arm.

Defensively, St. Edward lines up in a 4-3 with four defensive backs.  The best lineman is Treyton Bixby, a 6′-5″, 245 lb. junior.  He is a big kid and will be a challenge.  The linebacking corp is led by C.J. Hankins, a 5′-11″, 220 lb. senior.  Moore says that he is very active and physical, and perhaps the best player on the defense.  The defensive backs are all new, but the two cornerbacks, Jaylen and Joel Castleberry, are very good.  Expect them to line up in press coverage and create a challenge for Massillon’s outside wide receivers.

This will be a very difficult opener against a team that has won four Division 1 state titles over the last ten years.  But don’t count the Tigers out in this one just yet.  They are big on the offensive line (286 lb. average), they have powerful running backs and some of the best wide receivers in the country, to go along with an excellent quarterback.  Defensively, it’s all about speed and they will challenge any team to drive down the field and score.  And the kicking game is second to none.  On top of that, Coach Moore says that they are great kids, they work hard and they are very focused.  “I feel really good about these guys, about this team,” he said.  “They had a really good off-season.  I feel good about the depth chart top to bottom.”

Go Tigers!

Massillon to Open Abbreviated Season with Lakewood St. Edward

With Ohio’s high schools scrambling to fill schedules for a 6-game modified slate, the Tigers and Eagles have agreed to face each other in Game No. 1 at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium on Friday, August 28.  The two teams will not be unfamiliar with each other since they had originally planned to face off in the final scrimmage prior to the previous 10-game schedule, something they’ve done in each of the last few years.  But in addition to the shortened season, scrimmages have also been canceled, so this game makes sense.

Massillon had originally planned to open with Bishop Gorman from Las Vegas as part of Nike’s high school football classic at Canton’s Benson Field.  But the impact of Covid-19 forced Nike to cancel the 12-team event.

Then just a few weeks ago it was Pickerington North from the Columbus area.  The game was slated for a Sunday afternoon kickoff, while being aired on ESPN2.  But then the Ohio High School Athletic Association opted to shorten the season when the Ohio Department of Health preferred that all fall contact sports be wrapped up prior to Thanksgiving, fearing that the virus would rebound during the winter months.  The OHSAA released a plan that included six regular season games followed by seven weeks of playoffs, with every team eligible to participate.  This was the best chance for schools to play football this fall, while keeping it fair.  And it appears likely that this will happen.

With the 6-game restriction and all current game contracts nullified, most leagues are opting to schedule league games only.  In the case of Pickerington North, they have six teams in their division of the Ohio Capital Conference.  Their league games will occur on Weeks 2 through 6.  However, the league selected Pickerington Central for their opener since it is a rivalry game.  Incidentally, ESPN will be airing the game, presumably because North has Ohio’s Number 1 recruit, Jack Sawyer and ESPN loves to showcase the Division 1 athletes.  But just in the last couple of days, Sawyer elected to forego his high school season, graduate in December and then enrollment at Ohio State with the hope of playing spring football for the Buckeyes in their modified season.

So all of this means that large independent schools like Massillon and St. Edward are left to schedule mostly other independent schools.

The last time the Tigers and Eagles faced each other in a game that counted was the 2005 Division 1 state semifinals, which was played at Akron’s Rubber Bowl.  In that one, Massillon overcame a two touchdown deficit to win the game 21-17 and advance to the state finals against Cincinnati St. Xavier.  The Tigers’ Brian Gamble scored both of the game-winning touchdowns, the first on an 18-yard pass from Bobby Huth and the second on a 5-yard run with 1:56 remaining in the game.  Massillon leads the overall series 3-2.

St. Edward is one of the most successful Ohio teams over the last ten years, having compiled an overall record of 114-20, including a regular season mark of 83-14 and a playoff record of 31-6.  During that time they have lost only twice to a public school in the regular season, both of those setbacks occurring during the last two years and both to Mentor by single digits.  Four times in that period they captured the Division 1 state championship: 2010, 2014, 2015 and 2018.

With the Tigers expected to have one of their better teams, this should be a great matchup.  In addition, with these national powers taking the field, it is undoubtedly the biggest matchup in the state for that week.   It may also influence the coaches who are voting for the playoff seeding since Akron Hoban also plays Eds the following week.

So strap it up.  The 2020 season is about to get underway.

High School Football Teams Scrambling to Remake Fall Schedules

Three weeks before the 2020 season is scheduled to kick off, the Ohio High School Athletic Association has thrown a major wrench into every team’s schedule.  Call it an act of desperation to salvage any kind of a fall season, or consider it a brilliant plan of compromise.  But at the end of the day, it’s the Ohio Department of Health that apparently has the last say if this can actually happen, given their concern that spread of the COVID-19 virus will explode during the winter months coupled with the need to wrap it up earlier than originally scheduled.

In essence, the season has been reduced from ten games to six with every team qualifying for the playoffs.  Coupled with that, the OHSAA has stated that all 2020 game contracts are nullified.  Therefore, teams will need to start over and don’t have a lot of time to get it done.

For the many leagues across the state, the first priority will be playing as many league games as possible in those six weeks.  So that should be an easy task for them.  But for the independents like Massillon, it’s a little more daunting.  Yet, Massillon’s schedule might be easier to create than most independent schools due to the types teams encompassing the original schedule.  Here’s a look at the possibilities:

Canton McKinley – It’s a given that this game will be scheduled for Week 6.

Pickerington North – This game will probably happen due to two factors.  The first is the national exposure both teams will receive, given that it will be broadcast on ESPN2.  The second is that North is a member of a 6-team conference.  So they can play all of their league games in weeks 2 through 6.

Canton GlenOak – The Federal League consists of seven teams, which means that each will play five league games with the need to fill the odd week.  So the Golden Eagles will have a choice to make.  They can stay with the Week 2 game against Massillon or schedule Louisville, which was their Week 8 opponent.  With the Massillon game scheduled for home and Louisville on the road, it should be a simple choice.

Warren Harding and Austintown Fitch – These two teams along with Boardman only play two league games due to being in the highest tier of the All-American Conference.  They will be eager to schedule the Tigers.  So these are both on the table.

Cleveland Benedictine and Cleveland St. Ignatius – The Bennies and Wildcats are independents and in the same boat as Massillon.  Thus, these are potential games.

Barberton and Wooster – Both play in 7-team leagues and will each need to fill an open date, just like the Federal League.  Barberton’s league is expected to expand to eight next year, so they could complete the 2-game contract with the Tigers this year and avoid problems in 2021.  For Wooster, why pass up a home game in a year of reduced revenue?

Bloomington Hills, Michigan – This game was scheduled for Week 7.  It’s doubtful that Michigan will follow the same format as Ohio, so Bloomington will not be in a position to move the date.  However, since all teams will advance to the playoffs, many of the better teams in each region, such as Massillon, will have an initial bye week once it gets underway.  Therefore, this game might still be a go, especially since the Black Hawks confirmed the trip to Tigertown just last week and the OHSAA is permitting a non-tournament Week 7 game.

A sidelight to all of this is that the regular season won’t officially end until November 14.  This means that teams can play additional games after being eliminated from the playoffs, provided they don’t exceed a total of ten for the entire season.  It’s possible, therefore, that leagues could finish their slates during that time.

Now we just need the Governor to give the OK to begin play.

The Addition of Pickerington North completes the Tiger Schedule

Massillon Head Coach Nate Moore recently announced that the Tigers will play Pickerington North in the season opener after the cancellation of the Nike Classic and Massillon’s matchup with Bishop Gorman of Las Vegas.  The game will be played at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium on Sunday, August 30.  Kickoff is scheduled for noon.  Note that this game is not part of the season ticket package and tickets will need to be purchased separately on a day to be announced.

Pickerington North is a Division 1 school and a member of the Ohio Capital Conference.  In 2002 Massillon defeated Pickerington 14-0 in the regional finals of the state playoffs.  The following year Pickerington split into North and Central due to enrollment growth.  As North, the Panthers have compiled an overall record of 111-63 with an 8-6 playoff mark.  Although, against rival Central they have won only three times against 13 losses.

North has had a couple of very good seasons, specifically in 2012 and 2013 when they recorded back-to-back 9-1 regular season marks.  The 2012 team went on to capture the playoff regional championship, but lost to Cincinnati Moeller in the state semifinals.  The 2013 team lost to Central in the second round.

Unlike Central, North rarely plays a team outside of Columbus proper.  So coming to Massillon is likely to be a big deal for them.  It should be a great experience and hopefully a good, competitive game.

The Tigers are coming off of consecutive Division 2 state finals appearances and are sufficiently talented to make another run for the state crown.  Head Coach Nate Moore is 50-15 in his five years at Massillon.

OHSAA Releases a Definitive Plan to Play Football

There has been tremendous uncertainty surrounding the 2020 football season ever since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the U.S.  Will there be a season?  Won’t there be a season?  Will the season be shortened?  Will it be moved to spring?  And so on and so on.  This has been going on for at least five months.  But there may yet be light at the end of the proverbial tunnel now that the Ohio High School Athletic Association has released a comprehensive plan to play.  The OHSAA has made it clear that extracurricular activities are very important to the overall education of high school students and they don’t want these opportunities to get away.

“It is important to keep athletic activity moving forward,” said Dan Leffingwell, president of the OHSAA Board of Directors and superintendent of the Noble Local Schools in Sarahsville. “And with that, we believe our member schools provide our student-athletes with the safest possible environment to return to play and that our school programs are the best avenue to help students learn lifelong lessons and provide social, emotional and physical benefits that other programs cannot. Moving forward allows those students to continue to be engaged with their school coaches and teammates. Membership data also supports this decision.  If we were to delay, our students will find opportunities to compete in sports through non-school programs that may not be focused on safety and are not education-based.  Should data on COVID-19 change and/or the Governor’s Office makes changes to our plan, we have flexibility that would allow us to look at implementing other models for our seasons.”

As of now, pre-season practice and the intent to play a full season in fall remain in place, with today, August 1, holding firm as the first day of official practice for Ohio’s 700+ high schools.  However, the 2-3 preseason scrimmages have been scrubbed, since contact sports cannot be played against another school until Governor Mike DeWine gives the OK.  That requires him to lift the state of emergency he has declared for the state of Ohio.  Non-contact sports have already been given a release, so hopefully football will follow shortly.

Here’s how the OHSAA’s plan works.  If the Governor’s OK is given prior to August 28, then the season will proceed as planned.  If the OK is given later than August 28 but before September 4, then the season will simply be pushed ahead one week.  However, if later than September 4, then football will be delayed until a much later date.  Per the plan, all sports yet to be played will be squeezed in some manner between mid-December 2020 and the end of June 2021.

Presumably, due to the inclement Ohio winter weather, indoor sports, such as basketball and swimming, would proceed first, followed by the fall sports in early spring and spring sports in late spring and into summer.  Conceivably, football might commence games by the first of March while basketball tournaments are underway.  And baseball might overlap the football tournament.  There is also a possibility that the number of games for each season would be reduced.  The door is even open to complete the football season in the spring in the event only part of the fall season were to be completed.  Of course, if the situation concerning the virus that causes a delay in the first place does not improve by mid-December, then the plan would be in jeopardy also.

Fortunately, this is good news.  Football may not be played in the fall or it may be interrupted, but there is a good chance that it will happen, provided Ohio’s case numbers go down for the Governor to release contact sports.  On a side note, those few conferences that have elected to play only within the conference may want to rethink that decision in light of the OHSAA’s plan if fall football proceeds.

Go Tigers!

Tigers Take the Week Off With Hopes of Having…

August 1^st has been set by the Ohio High School Athletic Association as the official start of football practice for Ohio’s schools.  Acclimation is permitted for the first few days, followed by conditioning with pads, followed by actual contact.  Barring a halt by the governor, football should proceed as normal following that date.

But this season may be anything but normal on account of the Covid-19 pandemic.  It’s entirely possible that no team is able to play all ten games.  And it’s also conceivable that a school may not know whom they are playing from one week to the next, depending on whether an upcoming opponent is overly infected with the virus and must suspend their program for a couple weeks.  It’s also possible that the start of the season could be delayed, with perhaps up to the first five games canceled.

The OHSAA has stated that they are not in a position to grant any permission for schools to play regular season games.  They just manage the post-season tournament.  So it may be left to the governor to make the final call.  Many highly-infected states have already moved football to winter or spring and there may be pressure within state government (or simply “follow the leader”) to do the same in Ohio.  But spring football poses a host of other challenges to the overall athletic program.  In worst case, the entire season could just be canceled.  Then again, the final decision may end up resting with each individual school as to whether they field a team or play an individual game that week.

Regardless of all this, the Tigers have been hard at work for the past few weeks with training and conditioning, all permitted by the OHSAA in this unusual year.  They are on break this week.  Next week they will resume activities, leading up to the official August 1^st start date.

By handling some special requests by the coaching staff, I had the opportunity to observe a couple practices and, as a retired engineering project manager, I came away totally impressed with the detailed planning, scheduling and flawless execution that goes into these practices.  The entire 4-hour time period is scripted with dozens of individual drills, each with start/finish times, and it moves very swiftly.  Every player is engaged nearly 100% of the time, with either individual instruction or a group drill.  The assistant coaches individually and collectively manage these drills, while head coach Nate Moore serves as a kind of orchestra conductor.  The action is intense, the athleticism is forefront and there’s never a dull moment throughout.

The 90+ varsity players have been divided into two balanced groups, one with black jerseys and one with white.  In only rare instances does a player merge for a short time with the other group.  This may be a way of managing a potential exposure to the virus or just simply balance the attention each player receives during drills.  In addition, all possible health precautions have been taken, from hand sanitizers to personal water bottles to regular cleaning of player equipment to the coaches wearing masks.

A few observations of the practice:

• The off-season weight room work is really apparent, with the vast majority of players having thickened up their bodies beyond what would be their natural sizes.
• The talent at wide receiver may be the deepest and fastest Massillon has ever had.
• It appears that quarterback Zach Catrone will pick up where Aidan Longwell left off with his management of the offense and passing accuracy.  He can also heave it 60 yards.  And he may even run a little.  There are also very capable backups at this position.
• Many running backs are vying for the top positions, although it appears that Raekwon
  Venson is the current front-runner.  The energy he brings is one of the highest on the team.
• It will be difficult to select the five starting offensive linemen, given the size and depth this group possesses.
• The defense will be big on the line, athletic at linebacker and just simply fast in the secondary.  Lots of depth there.
• Both returning kickers, Alex Bauer and Magnus Haines, can place their kickoffs at the preferred position, inside the five yard line.
• The coaches are really high on this team and some believe it could surpass the performances of the previous two years.  But in all reality, they just hope the team gets the chance to play.

Assuming that scrimmages are held, Massillon will host Avon on Saturday, August 8 at 10:30 am and then travel to Berea Midpark on August 14 for a 10:30 am match.  The final scrimmage is up in the air.  It’s scheduled at Lakewood St. Edward on August 21 at 6:30 pm, but the final determination of an opening week opponent may impact this.  With the loss of Bishop Gorman, Coach Moore has several possibilities.  But, as reported last week on Cleveland.com, Massillon and St. Edward have agreed to potentially meet if other opportunities don’t produce.  The location of this game has yet to be determined.  If St. Eds does move to the opener, then the Tigers will need to secure another team for a final scrimmage.

All of this should make for a very interesting year.

Go Tigers!!!