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!!!

Sign Crew Gearing Up for a New Season

Last year those signs you saw in the windows of area businesses were made by the Booster Club Sign Crew at the old high school.  But that facility is no longer available.  So Brock James, owner of TeeShopz, stepped up to the plate and offered the use of not only of his sign-making equipment, but also a place to store the finished product, which encompasses thousands of signs.  Now, with the addition of automated sign-making (including 3-color capability) and a dryer (no need now to rack dry the signs), production has increased by 50%.  It’s not unusual to see the 10-man crew produce upwards of 1200 signs in a 1-1/2-hour session.  Great thanks to Brock James.  Please enjoy the photos.

1940 Massillon Team Made Quite an Impression on Kent…

It was during spring football that Paul Brown knew his final team at Massillon was going to be a good one.  But just how good he must have wondered?  After demolishing all high school-comers by lopsided scores throughout the previous few years, he needed a better challenge.  So an inquiry went to the University of Akron, which initially accepted the offer, but then graciously declined.  However, Kent State University was more than willing and the scrimmage was set for April of 1940.

A short game story was written about the scrimmage in an April 16 edition of The Kent Stater with the title, “Flashes are Perfect Hosts, Lose 47-0; Gillom Stars; Only Seven Lettermen Saw Action.”  Unfortunately, the text of that story is unreadable without a subscription and I have better use for the money.  However, I recently came across a readable editorial in The Kent Stater that discussed the encounter and suggested that the game should never have been played in the first place.  That piece is presented below.

Incidentally, Brown’s 1940 team went 10-0 that year, outscoring the opposition 477-6, as he captured his 6^th state championship and 4th national championship.  Brown always thought this team was better than his 1941 Ohio State Buckeyes.  Meanwhile, Kent State finished the season with an 8-1 record and took home the trophy in the Ohio Athletic Conference with a 4-0 mark.

The Kent Stater, Volume XV, April 19, 1940
The Other Side, By Jack Leggett

EDITOR’S NOTE: The opinions expressed in this column are those of the columnist and do not necessarily represent the editorial policy of the Kent Stater. The Kent Stater accepts no responsibility for them.

There were two glaring faults to be found Monday when the Kent State UNIVERSITY footballers played the Massillon HIGH SCHOOL Tigers: In the first place, the game should never have been scheduled and, in the second, Kent should have won. There have been a good many loopy tricks pulled on this campus and that football game was by no means the dumbest—although it will be hard to top for a lovely exhibition of sheer stupidity.

The hardest thing about it to understand is why the game was played. Kent had everything to lose —which it lost no time in losing—and absolutely nothing to gain, regardless of how you figure it. Not only did our boys lose, but they lost convincingly. The score of 47-0 doesn’t permit any of us to climb flagpoles and tonsil defiant bellows of, “Fluke! Fluke!” There was no fluke.  High school football players simply and sweetly and very easily hopped on a bus, chugged-chugged up here and beat the living britches off a university eleven.

No doubt this game did us much good and proved something or other to great advantage. It has at least given us prestige which we never had before—and which we had no desire of getting. A soft-pedaling sports write-up in this paper on Tuesday tried to snake Kent out of it without too much embarrassment, but it didn’t help much. The article stated that the outlook wasn’t too gloomy, due to the fact that only seven Kent lettermen were in the game. Well, so what? Any string of university substitutes should beat any high school team any place, any time. It just isn’t in the book that university teams lose to those from high schools.

If the result of such a game looks the least bit doubtful, the university should have enough plain horse sense to stay out. And, even if the college team is sure to win, there is no reason on earth why such a game should be played anyway. There could be no possible glory in winning. The layman would just wrinkle his nose and observe that university boys are expected to win.

That Massillon-Kent game was a prize example of foolishness and Kent has emerged with a blot on its reputation that it will be years in erasing—if it ever does. And, when you get right down to points, it is not the team’s fault in any respect. The members played their best and tried plenty hard. Massillon is just too fine a team. When team is compared to team, the result was not surprising nor shaming.

The high school university angle is what matters. Massillon is the best high school team in the state — the nation — or even the world. The Golden Flashes we know do not rate very highly. Why should our reputation have been risked when there was no point in it? That is the part that makes us so damned mad.

Now that it is all over most of us certainly hope with all the hope we have in us that everybody is satisfied. Coach Starn has made an unforgiveable blunder. He has humiliated his team and this university, and he has made Kent the laughing stock of football circles. I assume that Coach Starn is responsible for the Massillon game. He could, at any rate, have stopped such a move even if he didn’t start it. Other small universities have been challenged by Massillon. Akron University made arrangements for a game, then got smart and called the whole thing off. But, that’s all right—here’s dear ol’ Kent willing to be a goat. All this talk won’t do any good, of course. What’s done, very sadly, is done. All we can try to do now is to live it down —and it will really take a heap o’ livin’.

I also found a second short editorial on the same subject.

REVIEWS AND PREVIEWS OF CAMPUS NEWS, By JOHN MINE

SEEMS ‘that the story that caused the biggest “whispering campaign” on the campus this week was the gridiron run around handed down to the Flash football team Monday, by Massillon univer . . . er . . . pardon us, it’s a high school, isn’t it. It’s a taboo subject, Flash football, that is, so perhaps we had better drop the discussion. But Rosy’s trying hard . . . he’s even extended practice another two weeks. So let ’em come, Brimfield, Roosevelt, any of them, we can take them over.

Highlights from the 2020 Spring Kickoff

If you weren’t able to catch the Massillon Tiger Booster Club’s Spring Kickoff you missed quite a show.  Head Coach Nate Moore provided one the most comprehensive previews of an upcoming Tiger squad in his 5-year career at Massillon.  But there were also a couple of prominent guests, including Ohio State Head Coach Ryan Day and Houston Texan cornerback Gareon Conley.

The venue, of course, was a bit different this year due to the social distancing guidelines on account of Covid-19.  It was more of an online podcast, with the guests addressing written questions at the end.  No one really knows at this point whether the season will go on as scheduled, be shortened or canceled entirely.  It all depends on the numbers and the Governor’s recommendation.  Nevertheless, both coaches are proceeding with their preparations as if the season will proceed.  And the players are buying in.

Eric Smith, this year’s Booster Club President, chaired the event.  First up was Coach Day, whose Buckeyes last year fashioned a 14-0 regular season record, followed by a win in the Big Ten Championship Game and a subsequent spot in the BCS  playoffs.  As a result of this success, Day was named Big Ten Coach of the Year, the first time for an OSU coach in 40 years.

“It’s unbelievable to be a part of this tonight,” said Day.  The relationship between Ohio State and Massillon remains strong every day.  The ties between OSU and Massillon run deep.”  He was referring to the 27 current and previous Tiger players who suited up for the Buckeyes and the three former coaches who became head coaches for Ohio State, including Paul Brown, Carroll Widdoes and Earl Bruce.  Several others over the years were also hired as assistant coaches.  Players currently on the team are Thayer Munford and Austin Kutscher.

Coach Day is doing everything he can to prepare this year’s team, in spite of the handicaps imposed by the stay-at-home guidelines.  “This has been a challenge for us,” he said.  “We’re trying to do the best we can to manage it.  The players have been with their parents rather than on campus with their teammates.  It’s not easy.  There’s no real map.”  So the coaches and players have been interacting in group meetings using online media

Next up was former Massillon player Gareon Conley, who currently plays for the Houston Texans.  He said the transition from Oakland went well and that the Texan players were quite welcoming.  A regular starter throughout last season, it appears that he has found a home in Houston.  Gareon also addressed his de-committing from Michigan and subsequent signing with Ohio State.  After visiting Michigan for the first time, he thought it was prudent to commit early to their offer.  But, then he learned that he could still visit additional campuses.  That opened up a trip to Ohio State and we all know the rest.

Finally, Coach Nate Moore had the screen and spoke for over an hour.  Here is a snapshot of what he provided:

• The assistant coaches are doing a tremendous job keeping the players focused on pre-season activities.  He continues to refer to this group as the best coaching staff in the country.  Each was named along with their position responsibilities.
• The coaches are meeting online as a staff to manage the program in addition to game planning for this year’s opponents.  They haven’t really slowed down and are doing everything they did in previous years, just online.
• Assistant coaches are meeting online with the players in position groups, mostly to perform wellness checks regarding health and school work.
• The players are individually responsible for maintaining their physical conditioning using a plan provided by the coaches.  A software app called “Team Builder” has been introduced to monitor all of the players’ workouts.  The players log their activities into the app and Coach Joe Studer perform the monitoring and feedback.
• Not all players have weights for workouts.  So the Booster Club purchased workout bands.
• There is a weekly challenge to complete certain conditioning activities.  Nike has become involved in this and is providing T-shirts and shorts as awards for the best performers.
• “The players have taken to all of this very easily,” said Moore.  “Out Tigers are meeting our hardships and tests.  We will come out better because of it.”
• Massillon has two goals this year: beat McKinley and win the state championship.
• Coach Moore reviewed this year’s schedule and was excited to note that it includes seven home games.  The opener is Bishop Gorman from Las Vegas, Nevada, a game that will be played at Tom Benson Stadium in Canton; they are a national power and a perennial Top 50 team; Moore expects this game to be on national television; he anticipates a fierce battle.  GlenOak should be much improved this year and looking to turn the corner after several substandard years.  Moore said that St. Ignatius is always tough and well-coached; the best team in the state last year not to make the playoffs; it’s a great challenge.  Barberton was young last year and this year’s game should be a good one.  Wooster could be a dangerous opponent.  McKinley: greatest high school rivalry in the country; young last year; returns several key players, many D1; very formidable.
• All college summer camps have been canceled.  Therefore, game film has taken on an added significance.  Moore expects additional scholarships to be offered during the early games.
• Currently, nine Tiger players have received scholarship offers to play college football.  “And there’s more to come,” said Moore.  “This is a very talented senior class.  We’ve seen this coming for quite a few years.”  Nate read the names of 24 returning lettermen, most of which saw extensive playing time last year and they cover nearly every position on the field.  He is really high on his four returning offensive linemen.
• The stadium work is on schedule.  It is important to maintain the facility that is now 80 years old.
• The golf outing is scheduled for August 15.
• The Lift-a-thon and many other activities will be scheduled and possibly rescheduled, but not canceled.