Eric Smith, Author at MassillonTigers.com

1991: Massillon 76, Youngstown East 26

October 18, 1991September 3, 2017
by Eric Smith

42‑6 at 3:06 of first quarter

Tigers call off the dogs in 2nd half, overwhelm East 76‑26

By STEVE DOERSCHUK
Independent Sports Editor

Quarterback Nick Mossides, who played in only the early part of Massillon’s 76‑26 victory over Youngstown East, had ice on the knee that kept him out of a football game four weeks ago.

He also had a smile on his face when asked if his playing status might be jeopardized for next Friday’s big game against Akron St. Vincent‑St. Mary.

“No way!” he said.

It was the same answer to the following question: Was there anything East could do to slow down the Tigers in the first quarter?

There was nothing. Nothing at all.

The Tigers led 14‑0 after four minutes were played, 42‑6 at the end of one quarter. The 42 points in one quarter is believed to be a Massillon record.

Luther Emery, editor emeritus of The Independent, recalled a 94‑0 victory over Akron North in 1922 but didn’t think there were 42 points after a quarter. There was a 90‑0 win over Barberton in 1959, but the Tigers hadn’t reached 42 at the quarter stop.

Time elapsed on Massillon scoring possessions, which were all of them in the first half, weren’t measured in minutes, but in seconds.

It took 104 seconds before Travis McGuire scored on a 28-yard counter play.

Falando Ashcraft’s 15 yard TD run on a cut to the outside ended a 67‑second possession.

Ashcraft scored again, from 5 yards out, to finish a 50‑second drive.

If you’re still keeping score, there was 4:48 left in the first quarter when McGuire ran 6 yards for a TD. The drive took 105 seconds and pushed Massillon’s lead to 28‑6 (East did have some good players, including junior Charles Perdue and quarterback Darnell Bracy, who hooked up on a 70‑yard sideline pass that went for a TD moments before McGuire’s 6yard TD bolt).

East left a side of the field unprotected and Jason Brown’s kickoff went there. Massillon recovered then used 52 seconds before McGuire broke loose on a counter and gave East defenders Leon Gayles and Eric Bostick a ride into the end zone at the end of a 33‑yard run.

East’s next play was a Bracy passing attempt to the sidelines ‑ but it was a backwards pass, a lateral. The throw was nearly picked off by Dana Wofford. It was a live ball when Troy Burick picked it up and ran 27 yards for a Tiger touchdown. The play covered 8 seconds.

Jason Brown’s P.A.T. kick made it 42‑6 with 3:02 left in the first quarter.

Massillon’s remaining touchdowns in the first half came on possessions that lasted 130, 12, 33 and 165 seconds.

The touchdowns were scored by Ashcraft (22‑yard pass from Mossides), backup quarterback Michael Danzy (22‑yard run), Ashcraft (5‑yard run) and Ashcraft (15‑yard run).

It was 69‑6 when the gun sounded to end the first half, at which point Massillon head coach Lee Owens sought out East head coach Jerron Jenkins.

“I told him (Jenkins) that our first string was finished for the night,” Owens said. “I offered to keep the clock running in the second half. When we approached the officials they said there was nothing in the rules that allowed them to keep the clock running.”

One East assistant coach spent the post‑game loudly grousing about Massillon running up the score, using the “onside kick” (where Brown booted to the unprotected part of the field) and a fake punt in the third quarter.

Jenkins protested, too, albeit more mildly.

He indicated he was upset by “the fake punt and some other things.”

Owens said he thought the Tigers went an extra mile and then some to keep the score down. He was unhappy to hear about the displeasure in the East camp.

“He (Jenkins) can’t be sore about anything,” Owens said “We were kind to him.”

It was mentioned to Owens that the Tigers might have reached the 100‑point mark.

“Without any trouble,” he said.

As for the fake punt in the third quarter, Owens blamed poor execution by East, which he said did not line up as do most teams in an alignment to guard against a fake.

Massillon hammered East 45-7 a year ago. The teams have an agreement to play the next two years.

“Right now, we’re under contract,” Owens said. “They have some athletes, and if they get it together, they could be competitive. They’ve just fallen apart the second half of this season.”

In the second game of this season, East beat Boardman, which later defeated defending state champion Warren Harding. A week ago, East trailed unbeaten Youngstown Chaney just 6‑0 at halftime.

Concluded Jenkins, “If it’s going to be like this, I don’t know if I want to come down here any more.”

Jenkins said he has nothing to do with the schedule, which, he said, is handled by the athletic director.

Owens also defended his decision to play his starters the entire first half. Normally, he said, the starters would play the first half and one series in the second half in order to stay sharp for the following game.

“There’s no way to simulate game conditions, and it’s important for the players to be in the game,” Owens said. “You also have to remember that these guys who are seniors on our team and have earned positions only have so many games left in a Massillon Tiger uniform. They don’t want to hear in the locker room at halftime that they’re finished for the night.”

McGuire and Ashcraft got in a night’s worth of yardage in one half.

McGuire rushed nine times for 151 yards and now has 972 on the year. Ashcraft picked up 134 yards in 16 carries to swell his 1991 total to 932.

East used big plays to score three touchdowns in the second half. The Golden Bears’ first string offense was operating against second‑ and third‑team Massillon players the entire time.

Pat McVeen scored Massillon’s only second‑half touchdown on a one‑yard run in the fourth quarter.

The theme of the week in the Massillon camp was to get better as a team instead of taking a breather against a foe that was obviously outgunned.

Mission accomplished, Mossides said.

The quarterback motioned to assistant coach Greg Gillum and said, “These guys kept pounding it into our heads to stay focused.

“I think we did a good job of executing. We got after it and worked really hard.”

Mossides said his knee was “a little sore but nothing serious.”

Added defensive end Jason Woullard, “Last week we slipped back a little bit, but this week we took some steps forward. We weren’t on the field for many plays tonight, but I thought we went to the ball a lot better when we were.

“We knew we play sloppy this week. We have two tough opponents coming up.”

The Tigers came close to hitting their season average in total offense per game by the end of the first half, when they led 369‑119 in net offense.

They led 296‑11 in rushing yardage at that point.

Ashcraft finished with five touchdowns. Only five Massillon players have ever scored more than five TDs in a game. The record was set in 1922 when Dutch Hill rang up eight TDs in that 94‑0 win over Akron North.

EAST 26
MASSILLON 76

M E
First downs rushing 19 3
First downs passing 5 6
First downs by penalty 1 2
Totals first downs 25 11
Yards gained rushing 494 136
Yards lost rushing 16 15
Net yards rushing 478 121
Net yards passing 108 280
Total yards gained 586 401
Passes attempted 11 21
Passes completed 8 10
Passes int. by 2 1
Yardage on pass int. 9 0
Times kicked off 11 4
Kickoff average 45.0 39.0
Kickoff return yards 64 112
Punts 1 3
Punting average 41.0 14.0
Punt return yards. 17 0
Fumbles 0 3
Fumbles lost 0 3
Penalties 6 4
Yards penalized 52 24
Number of plays 71 52
Attendance 10,243

East 6 0 14 6 26
Massillon 42 27 0 7 76

M ‑ McGuire 28 run (Brown kick)
M ‑ Ashcraft 15 run (Brown kick)
M ‑ Ashcraft 5 run (Brown kick)
E ‑ Perdue 70 pass from Bracy (pass failed)
M ‑ McGuire 6 run (Brown kick)
M ‑ McGuire 33 run (Brown kick)
M ‑ Burick 27 interception return (Brown kick)
M ‑ Ashcraft 22 pass from Mossides (kick failed)
M ‑ Danzy 23 run (Brown kick)
M ‑ Ashcraft 5 run (Brown kick)
M ‑ Ashcraft 15 run (Brown kick)
E ‑ Perdue 67 run (pass failed)
E ‑ Gayles 81 pass from Bracy (Smith pass from Bracy)
M ‑ McVeen I run (Payne kick)
E ‑ Perdue 1 run (pass failed)

History

1991: Massillon 41, Indianapolis North Central, IN 0

October 12, 1991September 3, 2017
by Eric Smith

Owens aims to turn offense on again

“D” keys Tigers’ 41-0 blowout

By STEVE DOERSCHUK
Independent Sports Editor

There were some thorns on the other side of Jack Rose’s cartwheel that capped the Massillon Tigers’ 41‑0 victory over Indianapolis North Central Saturday night.

After the Massillon defense knocked another opponent head over heels, Rose turned acrobat to celebrate his first shutout as the Tigers’ defensive coordinator.

Head coach Lee Owens, though, wasn’t waving a pinwheel over the play of the offense.

“We’re very lucky that our defense played as well as it did,” Owens said. “I’m really upset with the play of our offense.”

“We had turnovers, penalties and missed assignments that should not have been there. We’d play one good series with a lot of emotion and then the next three series would be horrible.”

North Central’s offense consisted of wide receiver Derrick Mayes (six catches, 78 yards).

“He’s not that fast.” said Massillon’s Travis McGuire, who shadowed Mayes at cornerback, while also gaining 99 yards as a running back. “But he’s big and athletic and he has good hands.”

“He’s a great kid,” added Owens. “He’s the kind of kid who could go to Notre Dame and do well.”

Notre Dame and everybody else are after Mayes, a 6‑2, 190-pound senior.

North Central has another superb athlete in junior split end/defensive back Eric Allen, whom the Tigers will see next year when they take on the Panthers in the Indianapolis Hoosierdome.

North Central’s top running back Saturday was Adam Evans, who finished the night with seven carries for eight yards. That’s 24 feet, for you track and field fans, and happens to be almost exactly what Adam cleared this past spring in winning the Indiana state long jumping championship.

The Panthers’ rushing attack went 47 yards ahead and 28 yards in reverse for a grand total of 19 yards.

“We swarmed to the ball and everybody did his job,” said Tiger defensive end Joey Lococo. “They reminded me of Moeller in a way, because they had big offensive linemen. But we used speed to get the advantage.”

Massillon’s run defense has probably been the most consistent bright spot on the team. Nose guard Carl Hye offered a reason why the Tigers have been sharp against the run all year.

“We get ready to play our best every game,” Hye said. “After we played Moeller and lost, we put the game behind us. Now we have to do the same thing. We won. We played a pretty good game. But it’s over. We have to treat the next game, and every game, like it’s for the state championship.”

Youngstown East, a 21‑0 loser to undefeated Youngstown Chaney (7‑0) Saturday, will visit Paul Brown Tiger Stadium Friday.

Massillon’s offense was hardly a washout Saturday. Falando Ashcraft rushed for 143 yards and now has 798 through seven games. McGuire’s 99 rushing yards (he also caught four passes for 28 yards) lifted his season total to 821.

Quarterback Nick Mossides, in his second week back after missing the Fitch game with a sprained knee, threw almost twice as many passes as the previous week. He completed seven of 19 for 69 yards and no interceptions.

But it was things like a first half sequence ‑ when the Tigers scored on their first possession, then punted, fumbled, and punted on the next three possessions ‑ that disturbed Owens.

The Tigers used an eight‑play (all runs), 63‑yard drive to take a 7‑0 lead. Ashcraft’s six‑yard run around the right side produced the touchdown and Jason Brown’s P.A.T. boot was good with 9:25 left in the first quarter.

Early in the second quarter, a Jason Woullard punt buried the Panthers at the 5. Senior quarterback Jason Jacobs dropped back to pass on the next play. Tiger linebacker Eric Wright shot through on a blitz so quickly that Jacobs never had a chance to react as he was dropped for a safety.

The ensuing free kick enabled the Tigers to drive to the 4 before settling for a 21‑yard field goal by Brown, who seemed to put more oomph behind the ball than usual all night.

It was 12‑0, Tigers, with 6:01 left in the half.

Wright’s linebacking partner, Brandon Turley, set up Massillon’s next score. With the Panthers in punt formation, Turley broke through the line and smothered booter Tom Hadley so closely that he seemed to blocked the boot with his belly button. Massillon took over on the Panthers’ 22 and scored in two runs by Ashcraft, covering 9 and 13 yards.

Brown’s kick made it 19‑0 with 3:18 left in the half. That became the halftime score.

Early in the second half, the Tigers made it to the 6‑yard line on a 20‑yard pass play from Mossides to McGuire out of a bizarre formation Owens called a 10‑man shift. Ashcraft fumbled on the next play, but North Central wasn’t off the hook.
Weird play spices victory
over squad from Indiana

By STEVE DOERSCHUK
Independent Sports Editor

One if by land, two if by sea, and I on the opposite sideline will be.

No, it wasn’t Paul Revere’s famous ride. It was Travis McGuire’s 20‑yard romp on one of the weirdest plays in Massillon football history. It spiced a 41‑0 victory Saturday night before 10,869 amused onlookers Saturday night in Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

“I don’t think I ever did that before,” Massillon head coach Lee Owens said. “We just call it the 10‑man shift.”

Early in the second quarter, the Tigers broke huddle and approached the line of scrimmage on first down from the North Central 26. The whole house was shocked when half the Tiger line jogged to the west sideline, and the other half jogged to the east sideline. North Central’s defense played along and were lined up over the Massillon linemen as they assumed their three‑point stances. Center Scott Chariton and quarterback Nick Mossides (in shotgun formation) had the middle of the field all to themselves.

Charlton snapped the ball, and Mossides fired a pass to Travis McGuire, who was lined up near the east sideline.

“We thought there might be a lane for Travis down that sideline,” Owens said.

There wasn’t. North Central had jammed up the play, but the crafty McGuire saw an opening back the other way and cut across the right side of the field, nearly breaking free for a touchdown before he was caught at the 6‑yard line.

“I was looking for a little wrinkle, a little something to add some fun to practice during the week,” Owens said. “When we drew up the play a couple of our coaches looked at me like I’d flipped.”

Word leaked out of the practice field that the Tigers might be cooking up a strange, new trick play to use on North Central.

“You can’t keep a secret in this town,” Owens said. “Somebody asked me at a gas station what we were up to.”

Team doctor Robert Erickson, Owens said, was questioned about the rumored trickery during surgery this week.

“I wasn’t sure what was going to come of the play,” Owens said. “The guess was that we’d force them to take a timeout, and that would have burned a timeout they didn’t want to burn. But the play went off.”

What’s in store for this week Is foe, Youngstown East. A double fleafficker, triple‑reverse with two‑and‑a‑half twists?

Maybe not.

“I think that will be the last you see of the 10‑man shift,” Owens said.

During the second half, Dr. Erickson was happy to note from the sideline that safety Dan Hackenbracht had entered the game. It was Hackenbracht’s first game action in nearly two months. he suffered a broken leg two days after a preseason scrimmage against Cleveland St. Ignatius.

“Hack is back! ” Erickson crowed.

Hackenbracht, who started last year as a sophomore, said he’s not sure if he’ll be able to regain all his speed by the end of the season.

“Right now, I’m getting my timing back,” he said. “But I feel good … real good.”
***
Derrick Mayes, North Central’s star senior receiver, said the Tigers were in the same class as Ben Davis, last year’s Indiana state champion and the favorite to win the title in ’91.

“Massillon had all the ingredients you see in a very good team,” Mayes said. “They’re one of the best teams I’ve seen.”
***
Nick Vrotsos and Ducky Schroeder, both of whom served for many years as Tiger assistant coaches, each drew a warm standing ovation when they were recognized at half-time for their contributions.
***
North Central head coach George Pappas was dis-appointed in his team’s offensive line play.

“We have good size on the line, but not much quickness,” Pappas said. “Still, our people should be able to do the kind of things we’re asking them to do. We had a second and one (near midfield with Massillon leading 7‑0) and failed to make a first down’ That hurt.

“They forced us to pass, and you can’t throw the ball all stinking night. You just can’t do it.

“Of course, you can’t overtook the fact we did play a pretty good team.”

Pappas was fairly happy with his team’s ability to throw the Tigers’ offense out of rhythm.

“They had a great defensive scheme and that made it a challenge,” Owens said. “They played a lot of man to man and a lot of sets we seldom see.”

Pappas praised the Tigers’ defense and running game.

“They don’t do a whole heckuva lot of things with their defense and they don’t have to,” he said. “They’re fundamentally sound, and they buckle up the old chinstrap and come at you.

“On offense, they run some very basic plays … the buck, the cross, the belly, the boot. But when you execute them well and in the proper sequence they can be really quite devastating. ”

Jacobs was carried off the field at the end of the first half with a sprained ankle but was back in at quarterback, and again dropping back to pass in the end zone. This time, he was pressured by Woullard and tackled by Jonathon Jones for another safety. It was 14‑0 with 9:13 left in the third quarter.

McGuire returned the ensuing free kick 44 yards to set up his own 12‑yard touchdown run. The kick was no good but Massillon’s lead had swelled to 27‑0 just 63 seconds after the safety.

The Tigers drove 56 yards for a TD, McGuire going in from the 2, and Brown’s kick made it 34‑0 with 1:06 left in the third‑quarter.

Mike Danzy came on at quarterback and directed an 84‑yard scoring drive capped by Dan Seimetz’s 16‑yard TD romp. Brown’s kick made it 41‑0 with 6:36 left in the game.

The contest ended with North Central on the march and the Panthers trying to lob the ball to Mayes in the end zone. Dana Wofford leaped high to break up the last attempt and preserve the shutout.

MASSILLON 41
NORTH CENTRAL 0
M NC
First downs rushing 17 3
First downs passing 6 7
First downs by penalty 2 1
Totals first downs 25 11
Yards gained rushing 330 47
Yards lost rushing 10 28
Net yards rushing 320 19
Net yards passing 103 150
Total yards gained 423 169
Passes attempted 19 31
Passes completed 10 10
Passes int. by 0 1
Times kicked off 7 1
Kickoff average 52.9 32.0
Kickoff return yards 67 136
Punts 4 7
Punting average 43.0 27.7
Punt return yards 27 14
Fumbles 2 3
Fumbles lost 2 1
Penalties 5 4
Yards penalized 35 44
Number of plays 69 56
Time of possession 24:31 23:29
Attendance 10,869

North Central 0 0 0 0 0
Massillon 7 12 15 7 41

M ‑ Ashcraft 6 run (Brown kick) 11
M ‑ Safety, Wright tackles Jacobs in end zone
M ‑ FG Brown 21
M ‑ Ashcraft 13 run (Brown kick)
M ‑ Safety, Jones tackles Jacobs in end zone
M ‑ McGuire 12 run (kick failed)
M ‑ McGuire 2 run (Brown kick)
M ‑ Seimetz 16 run (Brown kick)

Individual statistics

Rushing

(Mas) Ashcraft 19‑143, McGuire 17‑99, Copeland 4‑37, Danzy 3‑12, Seimetz 222, McVeen 3‑9.
(NC) Evans 7‑8, Morgan 3‑1, Jacobs 12‑11.

Passing

(Mas) Mossides 9‑17‑0 69; Danzy 1‑2‑0 34.
(NC) Jacobs 10‑31‑1 150.

Receiving

(Mas) McGuire 4‑28, Hawkins
3‑23, Merchant 1‑5, Ashcraft 1‑13, Holland 1‑34.
(NC) Mayes 6‑78, Evans 3‑55, May 1‑17.

History

1991: Massillon 35, Toledo St. Francis 14

October 5, 1991September 3, 2017
by Eric Smith

Massillon romps to 35-14 win

Tiger offense gets 448 yards

By ANDY CALL
Repository sports writer

MASSILLON ‑ There’s one risk undertaken by a team attempting to play what some call “smash‑mouth” football with the Massillon Tigers ‑ you could come out with a bloody lip and minus a few teeth.

That, in essence, was what happened to Toledo St. Francis Saturday night. The state’s fourth‑ranked team tried to play Massillon straight‑up and saw its interior line disintegrate almost from the outset. Final score: Massillon 35, St. Francis 14.

“That’s the kind of game linemen look forward to,” said offensive tackle Ryan Orr of Massillon. “We don’t like to pass the ball.”

The Tigers rolled up 381 yards rushing and 448 yards total offense, running 67 plays from scrimmage and holding a 31:02‑16:58 advantage in time of possession. Massillon running backs Travis McGuire (23 carries, 187 Yards, one touchdown) and Falando Ashcraft, 27 carries, 160 yards, two TDs) both had big games against a defensive interior Tiger linemen said was the best they had faced.

“There were a lot of holes , McGuire said. “We just powered it down their throat. Our line had its best game of the year.”

Quarterback Nick Mossides, showing signs of recovery from a sprained knee that kept him out of last week’s game, twice completed passes to tight end Greg Paul for touchdowns as Massillon (5‑1) never trailed.

St. Francis (5‑1) managed 218 yards total offense, 95 of it coming on two plays. Quarterback Tom Takats was 4 of 16 passing for 73 yards thanks to a pass rush that had Tiger lineman Jonathon Jones breathing down Takats’ neck on nearly every attempt.

“The pass rush was the main thing we’ve been trying to improve upon.” Jones said. We knew it would be smash‑mouth football, and we had to mentally prepare for that kind of game.”

The Tigers scored on their second, third and fourth drives of the first half to lead 21‑7 at intermission.

With 3:18 to go in the first quarter, McGuire had 103 yards rushing. He high‑stepped into the end zone on a counter play to the right side that went 37 yards for Massillon’s first TD. Later in the quarter. Mossides rolled right and found Paul in the right side of the end zone for a 4‑yard score and a 14‑0 lead,

Takats recorded three of’ his four completions on a 74‑yard drive that pulled the Knights within 14‑7, dropping a perfect strike to Scott Davison for a 29‑yard touchdown. Massillon fumbled the ensuing kickoff, but stopped the Knights cold before reeling off a 69‑yard, seven‑play drive. Ashcraft went in standing tip from a yard out for a 21‑7 Tiger advantage.

The Tigers scored on their second and third drives of the second half to lead 35‑7. Mossides lobbed a fourth‑down pass, to Paul for a 17‑yard score and Ashcraft hit pay dirt on a dive over the right side from a yard out.

Toledo St. Francis 7 0 0 7 14
Massillon 14 7 7 7 35

M ‑ McGuire 37 run (kick failed)
M – Paul 4 pass from Mossides (Ashcratt run)
T ‑ Davison 9 pass from Takats (Woollard kick)
M ‑ Ashcraft 1 run (Brown kick)
M ‑ Paul 17 pass from Mossides (Brown kick)
M ‑ Ashcraft 1 run (Brown kick)
T – Harshman 66 run (Woollard kick)

Records: Massillon 5‑1: St. Francis 5‑1.

Commings sidelined by cancer

By BOB STEWART
Repository sports editor

PLAIN TWP. ‑ Bob Commings may have coached his final game at GlenOak High School Friday night when his Golden Eagles came from behind to beat Timken 35‑18 in Fawcett Stadium.

Saturday morning the GlenOak players learned what he had told his coaches Friday night after the game.

“I just told them the truth, that I have lung cancer,” said Commings Saturday in his matter‑of‑fact style.

The man who soared from head coaching positions at Massillon High School to the University of Iowa had only learned the bad news himself Friday night.

He had undergone tests and a biopsy earlier in the week, and his wife Sharon was told the bad news Friday afternoon.

She told him that night, and he told his coaches, one of’ whom is his son.

“We are going to have Bob Commings, Jr. be the team leader of the coaching staff the rest of the season,” said GlenOak Principal Jackie DeGarmo‑Reigner, who indicated the staff will remain intact for the remainder of the season.

“That will make for a nice communication between father and son,” she said.

“My doctor has made arrangements for me to start things at the Cleveland Clinic right away,” said the elder Commings.

“I understand that the tests and treatments will be time consuming, painful and probably make it impossible for me to be with the team.”

Commings didn’t speculate on whether or not he would be “around” but the players were told by the coaches Saturday Coach Commings might be at the games but he wouldn’t be at the practices.

Commings is in his 12th season as the head coach at GlenOak, and his record going into this year was 71‑39‑1. His present club is 2‑4.

The graduate of Youngstown East High School played at the University of Iowa under Forrest Evashevski, and was a starting guard on the 1956 Hawkeyes team that went 9‑1 and earned the Rose Bowl berth.

History

1991: Massillon 26, Austintown Fitch 7

September 27, 1991September 3, 2017
by Eric Smith

Massillon rebounds Tigers smashing in 26‑7 win
Biggest point spread ever against Fitch

By STEVE DOERSCHUK
Independent Sports Editor

At 8 p.m. Friday, he was Falando the Forgotten Man.

By the time Dick Goddard was doing the weather, the forecast had changed. It was: Beware of the Fabulous Falando.

That is, watch out for the guy who rushed for 214 yards to carry Massillon to a 26‑7 victory over Austintown‑Fitch before 11,376 at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

“I was getting tired of hearing that if you stopped No. 1 (Travis McGuire) you stopped our running game,” Massillon head coach Lee Owens said after his team improved to 4‑1 on the coolest night of the season (Fitch is 2‑3).

Amazing anyone would think so, considering Ashcraft rushed for 1,182 yards last year as a junior, but true, Owens insisted .

The false perception was created by the fact Ashcraft’s running mate, Travis McGuire, is off to such a hot start. McGuire came into the game with 439 rushing yards to Ashcraft’s 281.

“Falando,” Owens added, “was tired of hearing it, too.”

Ashcraft didn’t sound a bit like a vindicated man after the game, though. He spoke matter of factly about becoming the fifth‑leading ground gainer in a single game in Massillon history (ahead of him are Homer Floyd, 263; Bill Harmon, 224; Art Hastings, 220; and Ace Grooms, 215).

“Our scouting report showed that the plays I do were open against Fitch last year,” Ashcraft said. “So, that’s what we ran tonight.”

Ashcraft explained that Massillon’s offensive line controlled the line of scrimmage, McGuire provided tough lead blocks (“He’s a good blocker”), while receivers Geoff Merchant and Mark Hawkins cleared the way for some of his long runs with strong upfield blocking.

That wasn’t the whole story. Ashcraft broke more than a few tackles by knocking defenders into next Tuesday.

“I was also reading a little better tonight,” Ashcraft said. “I was waiting back a little more to see where the best openings were.”

Ashcraft and McGuire each scored two touchdowns. McGuire wound up with 96 yards on 13 carries, including a 46‑yard touchdown run on a counter play that broke open the game.

Fitch had used the passing of senior quarterback Jeff Melody to close a 13‑0 halftime deficit to 13‑7 midway through the third quarter. The Tigers answered that challenge by scoring on their next possession, on McGuire’s long run.

“We played some smash mouth,” Owens said. “Our thinking was to bust it up there, bust it up there, bust it up there … and having had some success with that, it opened up the counter play.”

The Tigers tried only four passes and completed none, largely because the game plan was to run, partly because standout safety Troy Burick was thrust into the quarterbacking job due to starting QB Nick Mossides’ sprained knee suffered in last week’s loss at Cincinnati Moeller.

Burick played every snap Friday at both quarterback and safety.

“That’s the first time I’ve ever done that,” Burick said. “I feel a little bit bruised, but I’m all right.

“I started the game at quarterback against Nordonia last year and played safety, too. But I didn’t play much in the second half because we were so far ahead.

“I was definitely rusty early in the week in practice. Playing quarterback against Garfield (three weeks ago for just one series) didn’t help much. But I thought things went pretty well as the week went on. I had a lot of confidence in the team and the coachers put me in a good position.”

It is probably fair to call Melody the second‑best quarterback the Tigers have faced this year, after Moeller’s Shawn Brennan. As usual, the Tigers stuffed the running game (Fitch netted 20 yards on the ground) and the opponent resorted to the pass. Melody connected on 15 of 25 tosses for 180 yards. The Tigers wound up outgaining Fitch 331‑200 in total offense.

Fitch head coach David Hartman, who was a senior lineman on the 1964 Massillon team, attended the Moeller game last week. He nodded his head when asked if the same pass schemes that had worked for Moeller were the ones clicking for Fitch, that is, those that feature a lot of rollouts, bootlegs and scrambles by the quarterback.

“They (the Tigers) seem not to want to give up the big play,” Hartman said. “They give up a lot underneath. We tried to run on them, we just couldn’t.”

“Our kids fought. It’s just that they had some 300- and 250-pounders going up against our 165‑pounders.”

If some aspects of the Fitch game were reminiscent of the one with Moeller, the products as wholes were far different. The Tigers did finish off Fitch to the extent the 19‑point spread was the biggest in the history of the series, still led by Fitch, four games to three.

“We had a lot better concentration than we had at Moeller, ” said the Tigers’ fine senior end, Jason Woullard. “We were aggressive the whole time. For some reason, we lost some of our intensity in the third and fourth quarters against Moeller. I don’t know if it was the long road trip catching up to us, or what. I don’t want to make excuses. We were intense to the end tonight.”

Hartman, using mostly juniors and off to the worst start in his 10 years at Fitch, now has three losses to playoff contenders. The two besides Massillon ‑ Mentor and Youngstown Chaney ‑ are unbeaten.

“Massillon,” Hartman said when asked to compare, “is the strongest team we’ve played so far, without a doubt.”

There is some doubt as to who will play quarterback next Saturday against unbeaten and state‑ranked Toledo St. Francis.

“If Nick is healthy,” Owens said, “he’s our quarterback.”

Mossides wore a knee brace and walked without crutches along the sidelines at Friday’s game. Owens said indications are there’s “a good chance” Mossides will be ready to face St. Francis.

It was clear right away Friday that Ashcraft was ready to face Fitch. On the Tigers’ first play from scrimmage, he gained 15 yards on a play called back by clipping. He proceeded to surge for gains of 5, 3, 9, 10, 4 and 16 yards, by which time the ball was on the 1. He took it in from there, Jason Brown added the P.A.T. kick, and it was 7‑0 three seconds past the halfway point of the first quarter.

The drive covered nine plays and 49 yards.

The defense stuffed Fitch on three plays and Ashcraft went right back to work.

Ashcraft bulled, twisted and sprinted for gains of 22, 4, 24 and 21 yards to ram the ball to the Fitch 16. On third down from the 10, McGuire stampeded over the left side for a touchdown. Brown’s kick was wide right and it was 13‑0 with 24 seconds left in the quarter.

The Tigers had a chance to make it an early blowout after Dana Wofford blocked a punt and Bubba Pachis recovered the ball at the Falcons’ 20‑yard line. However, Fitch stopped Ashcraft for no gain on fourth-and‑goal, enabling the Falcons to escape with just a 13‑0 halftime deficit.

Melody started to warm up the passing game late in the half, when he kept drives alive and the ball away from the Tigers.

The Tigers’ Eric Woods shut off a last‑second Fitch scoring threat by blocking Gary Pritchard’s 35‑yard field goal attempt with three seconds left in the half.

The Tigers got the first possession of the third quarter and were poised to go for it on fourth‑and‑one from the Fitch 44. However, an offsides penalty against the Tigers led to a punt.

The situation led Owens to question Fitch’s “sportsmanship.” Owens contended the Fitch defenders were calling Massillon’s cadence, which is against the rules. Owens said he tipped off game officials that Fitch might do this.

Fitch used the possession following the punt to make the game close. Melody mixed up his passes (junior Bob Moore caught six for 60 yards on the night) and drove the Falcons 79 yards in just eight plays. The touchdown came on an eight-yard scramble by Melody. Pritchard’s extra point made it 13‑7 with 5: 21 left in the third quarter.

The Falcons got a bit cocky at that point. Senior lineman Todd Draper turned to the Massillon crowd and cupped his hand over his ear, as if to say, “I can’t hear you.” Dave Hackenbracht, a former Massillon linebacker whose brother Dan hopes to return to the 1991 Tigers following an injury, stood and got into a jawing match with Draper.

The Massillon offense made a loud reply of its own. After starting on their own 47 following a short kickoff, Ashcraft plowed for a gain to the Fitch 46. The next play was the counter to McGuire that went for 46 yards down the right sideline for a score. A conversion run failed, but the Tigers led 19‑7 with 4:44 left in the third quarter. They were never seriously threatened again.

Ashcraft added the coup de grace on a three‑yard TD run with 1:26 left in the game. That capped a 10‑play, 63‑yard drive and was punctuated by Brown’s P.A.T. boot.

Owens was concerned about a few areas, such as the team’s failure to score after the blocked punt, and another opponent’s ability to complete passes.

But the victory one week after an emotional loss to Moeller was more than welcome.

“Our pride had been questioned,” he said. “We had something to prove.”

St. Francis had no trouble improving to 5‑0 Friday, scoring a 35‑7 win over Grafton Midview (2‑3).

Moeller struggled Friday to outlast Cincinnati Xavier 28‑21.

Chaney, one of the teams that beat Fitch, beat Boardman 14‑3 a week after Boardman stunned defending state champion Warren Harding.

MASSILLON 26
FITCH 7

M F
First downs rushing 14 4
First downs passing 0 7
First downs by penalty 0 1
Totals first downs 14 12
Yards gained rushing 337 54
Yards lost rushing 6 34
Net yards rushing 331 20
Net yards passing 0 180
Total yards gained 331 200
Passes attempted 4 25
Passes completed 0 15
Passes int. by 0 0
Times kicked off 5 2
Kickoff average 44.6 27.0
Kickoff return yards 16 79
Punts 4 6
Punting average 31.0 26.2
Punt return yards 5 48
Fumbles 0 0
Fumbles lost 0 0
Penalties 8 6
Yards penalized 66 54
Number of plays 48 51
Time of possession 20:34 27:26
Attendance 11,376

FITCH 0 0 7 0 7
MASSILLON 13 0 6 7 26

M ‑ Ashcraft 1 run (Brown kick)
M ‑ McGuire 10 run (kick failed)
F ‑ Melody 8 run (Pritchard kick)
M ‑ McGuire 46 run (run failed)
M ‑ Ashcraft 3 run (Brown kick)

Individual statistics

RUSHING
(Massillon) Ashcraft 25/214, McGuire 13/96, Burick 6/21;
(Fitch) Kamrad 6/16, Ferraro 8/‑2, Melody 10/0, Sandquist 1/6.

PASSING
(Massillon) Burick 0-4-0;
(Fitch) Melody 15‑25‑180.

RECEIVING
(Fitch) Moore 6/60, Vanek 3/33,
Ferraro 3/56, Sandquist 1/3, Barwick 1/20, Kamrad 1/8.

History

1991: Massillon 13, Cincinnati Moeller 27

September 21, 1991September 3, 2017
by Eric Smith

Moeller quarterback hot, Tigers QB hurt in defeat

By STEVE DOERSCHUK
Independent Sports Editor

MASON ‑ Steve Klonne couldn’t get what he wanted, so he took what he could get.

“We wanted to run the ball but we couldn’t,” the 10th‑year Cincinnati Moeller High head coach said. “Massillon has a lot of good players, and they were stuffing us.

So Klonne, noting Massillon’s two‑deep, zone coverage in the secondary, took what he could get.

He scrapped the run and watched quarterback Shawn Brennan pass the Crusaders to a 27‑13 high school football victory in front of a standing‑room‑only crowd of 10,600 on a crisp, clear Saturday night at Galbreath Field.

“We’ve never had a quarterback who can run the way Shawn can,” said Klonne. “He made all the right moves.”

Klonne, a St. Xavier High graduate, noted that Brennan, who transferred from St. Xavier High last year, needed time to adjust to Moeller’s system.

“You definitely could say he came of age today;” Klonne said.

Brennan, who completed 8‑of‑15 passes for 106 yards the previous week, when he had emerged as the starter for a game against Trotwood‑Madison, exploded for 20 completions in 31 throws for three touchdowns against the Tigers.

It was Brennan, more than anyone, who pulled out a victory against a Massillon team that spent 32:39 of the game’s 48 minutes with a lead.

The Tigers had grabbed the lead on a 42‑yard touchdown run by Travis McGuire on the sixth play of the game.

Moeller trailed until Brennan rainbowed a 43‑yard touchdown bomb to senior Jeff Raussen with 35 seconds left in the third quarter.

Raussen and cornerback John Harpring, whose diving interception set up the TD bomb, competed with Brennan for the quarterbacking job in the early part of the season.

After the game, Moeller players and fans romped through a giddy celebration during which they chanted, “State! State! State! ” It is abundantly clear Brennan is the quarterback they will try to ride into the playoffs.

“With the schedule we play,” said Klonne, whose team is 3‑1, “a 7‑3 record would probably get us there ‑ at 8‑2, we’d be a lock.”

The Tigers, also 3‑1, might have to continue their bid for a third straight playoff appearance without quarterback Nick Mossides, who was injured late in the game while trying to stage a last‑ditch comeback.

“It’s a sprained or a strained knee, whatever you want to call it,” Owens said back in Massillon Sunday afternoon. “Dr. (Robert) Erickson will examine him again Monday. He’s scheduled for an M.R.I. (magnetic resonance imaging) Tuesday. He’s not been able to walk on it yet. Right now it doesn’t look real good in terms of Nick being able to play this week.”

Owens said Troy Burick would step in as the starter, with sophomore Mike Danzy working as the No. 1 backup this week in practice. The Tigers will play a Friday night home game against Austintown-Fitch, which has won its last two games after an 0‑2 start. Fitch beat Lakewood St. Edward this past weekend.

Mossides had completed 11 of 17 passes for 81 yards against Moeller when he was hit while throwing the ball with 4:23 left in the game and Moeller leading 27‑13. Burick replaced him on the next play.

In his four games as a starter, Mossides has completed 37 of 65 passes for 5l2 yards, with two touchdowns and three interceptions.

Owens said he talked to Burick Sunday.

“Troy is ready to do whatever it takes,” he said.

The Tigers are wondering what it takes to get rid of that giant toothache called Moeller. Moeller won the first four games in the series convincingly but had to come back for victories in the 1990 and ’91 games.

Owens shouldered a share of the blame for the latest loss.

“We made some calls I wish we had back,” he said. “We didn’t make some of the coaching adjustments as well as we should have.”

The Tigers led 13‑6 late in the first half and had the ball in Moeller territory when Owens elected to try for more points rather than running out the clock.

Things were looking up when Falando Ashcraft bulled for six yards to the Massillon 40 on a first‑down carry with 1:52 left in the half.

The next two plays were pass calls. Both became incompletions. It was fourth down when the clock was stopped with 1:16 left in the half. Punter Jason Woullard caught the snap but seemed to rush and dropped the ball. A big pileup left Moeller with the ball on the Massillon 35.

With 12 seconds left in the half, Brennan sprinted to his left until Raussen worked his way open over the middle. The two hooked up on a 10‑yard touchdown pass. Senior Erik Bryant’s point‑after kick smashed into the left upright and bounded wildly toward I‑71 ‑ no good. The Tigers managed to keep the lead, 13‑12, but the turnover had Moeller to get close.

The Tigers had made it look easy on their first possession, roaring 71 yards in six plays. A third‑down Mossides‑to‑Marc Stafford pass went for eight yards and a first down to the Moeller 45. After a two‑yard surge up the middle by Ashcraft, Mossides took advantage of an aggressive rush by Moeller, gave the ball to McGuire on a counter, and watched the running back sprint into a gaping hole over the right side en route to a 42yard touchdown run. Jason Brown’s kick was good to make it 7‑0, Massillon, with 9:14 left in the first quarter.

Moeller had tried to make a statement by winning the coin toss, yet, electing to kick off to the Tigers. Massillon stuck that strategy in Moeller’s ear.

The Crusaders, though, scored on their next possession, consuming seven minutes and 71 yards. Brennan scored from five yards out on a scramble, but Bryant’s kick was no good and the Tigers kept the lead, 7‑6, with 2:09 left in the first quarter.

The Tigers scored again the second time they had the ball, driving 72 yards in 10 plays. Mossides completed four passes in four attempts to help the Tigers reach the Moeller 15 on first down. McGuire gained four yards to the 11 then, second down, got the ball on a delay. Moeller;s rush had already blown by, giving McGuire room to sprint 11 yards up the middle for a touchdown. Brown’s kick misfired and the Tigers settled for a 13-6 edge with 9:47 left in the half.

The Tigers might have had Moeller in real trouble in the first half, but, as Klonne noted, “We got a lot of key plays on third downs.”

The Tiger defense was rugged on first and second down, but Moeller gained 57 yards on four third-down conversions. The Crusaders needed 26 plays to gain 87 yards on their remaining first-half plays.

In the second half, with No. 1 running back Kelly Davis hobbled, the Crusaders began passing on first and second down, with much success.

Still, the Tigers had a chance to take control of the game until late in the third quarter.

Moeller began the period with an impressive drive into Massillon territory. Again, big third‑down plays were the key.

Brennan was getting plenty of time to throw, as was the case most of the night. When he did begin to feel a rush, he regularly escaped via the scramble.

But with the ball on Massillon’s 23‑yard line with 4:30 left in the third quarter, Tiger tackle Jonathon Jones was breathing in Brennan’s face. The pressure influenced Brennan’s pass, intended for Raussen, but picked off by Tiger defensive back Ron Roberson at the 12. Roberson returned the ball nearly to midfield.

The Tigers had escaped a serious Moeller scoring threat, and now had good field position. It lasted only a few moments. With the ball on Moeller’s 42 on third‑and‑nine, Mossides tried to find Stafford on the right flat, Instead, Harpring knifed in to make an acrobatic interception.

By then, Moeller had grown used to playing without its bluechip tight end, 6‑5, 245‑pound Max LangenKamp, who had strained a knee in the first half. On first down, Brennan found backup tight end Chris Kent on the left side for a 19‑yard pickup.

Passing again on first down, Brennan turned to the left side of the field ‑ and the bomb. Massillon defensive back Dana Wofford had a bead on the ball, but seemed mesmerized by the high‑arcing throw for a split second. That allowed Raussen to get behind him by a step. Raussen took the ball in stride and went in for the touchdown. The play covered 43 yards.

A two‑point conversion pass gave Moeller a 20‑13 lead with 35 seconds left in the third quarter.

The Tigers had lost their offensive flow and soon had to punt. But with 9:30 left in the fourth quarter, Moeller went for the block. Woullard, the punter, saw that he had no chance to‑kick, the ball and began to run. He lost the ball on his escape attempt and Moeller took over at the Tiger 32.

The Tigers kept Moeller from scoring on that possession, taking over at the 2. The Tigers’ hopes soared and crashed all at once, on the next play. Ashcraft made an impressive run up the middle for nearly 10 yards, but fumbled while trying for an extra yard and Moeller took over at the 12.

MOELLER 27
MASSILLON 13
MA MO
First downs rushing 7 5
First downs passing 5 12
First downs by penalty 1 1
Totals first downs 13 18
Yards gained rushing 134 83
Yards lost rushing 17 3
Net yards rushing 117 80
Net yards passing 102 256
Total yards gained 219 336
Passes attempted 18 31
Passes completed 12 20
Passes int. by 1 1
Times kicked off 3 5
Kickoff average 45.3 54.6
Kickoff return yards 80 49
Punts 1 2
Punting average 27.0 31.5
Punt return yards 10 0
Fumbles 2 0
Fumbles lost 2 0
Penalties 2 5
Yards penalized 18 52
Number of plays 44 62
Time of possession 18.55 29.05

Massillon 7 6 0 0 13
Moeller 6 6 8 7 27

MAS ‑ McGuire 42 run (Brown kick)
MOE ‑ Brennan 5 run (kick failed)
MAS ‑ McGuire 11 run (kick failed)
MOE ‑ Raussen 10 pass from Brennan (kick failed)
MOE ‑ Raussen 43 pass from Brennan (Brown pass from Brennan)
MOE ‑ Carlberg 10 pass from Brennan (Lucke kick)

Individual statistics
Rushing

(Massillon) McGuire 12‑94, Ashcraft 11‑34.
(Moeller) Davis 23‑66, Brennan 3‑9, Jackson 4‑4.
Passing

(Massillon) Mossides 11‑17‑1, 81.
(Moeller) Brennan 20‑31‑1, 256.

Receiving

(Massillon) Stafford 6‑32 McGuire 4‑45, Hawkins 2‑25.
(Moeller) Raussen 4‑75, Brown 6‑62, Davis 3‑17, Langenkamp 1‑26, Cariberg 2‑18, Kent 2‑30, Baur 2‑28

History

1991: Massillon 60, Akron Garfield 13

September 13, 1991September 3, 2017
by Eric Smith

Tigers gore Rams
99-yard run adds to Tigers’ fun

By STEVE DOERSCHUK
Independent Sports Editor

Even when it was 48‑6, Chauncey was taking no chances.

Massillon Tiger sophomore Chauncey Watson, whose longest previous run was a 65yarder last year at Lorin Andrews Junior High, took a fantastic 99‑yard voyage for a touchdown to put an added glow on a 60‑13 high school football victory over the outmanned Akron Garfield Rams Friday night.

The Tigers improved to 3‑0 on a warm Friday night. Next up is a game one week from today at Kings Island against Cincinnati Moeller. Garfield fell to 0‑3 before 10,752 at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium. Moeller improved to 2‑1 by beating Trotwood Madison 28‑0 Friday night.

Watson has run the 100‑meter dash in track but says he isn’t very good. He runs the 40 in 4.9. He looked pretty snazzy in the 100‑yard dash, though.

Following “great blocks” by Terry Holland and Dan Seimetz, Watson broke (by his count) “five or six” tackles as he roared toward the left sideline and broke into the clear.

Seimetz was angry at himself for slipping on a kickoff return that stuck the ball inside the 1.

“It was right on the goal line,” observed Watson, meaning he set a school record ‑ call it 99 1/2- yards ‑ that would have to be broken by inches.

Seimetz made up for his slip with the fine block and Watson did the rest.

“All I was thinking was, ‘Get out of the end zone. No safety,”‘ he said.

Watson was promoted to the varsity this week because of injuries to junior running backs Gene Copeland and Pat McVeen.

He was on the field with backup players; in fact, the second and third teams played all but one series in the second half after the Tigers had taken a 41‑0 halftime lead.

Garfield head coach Bill McGee, whose team has been the dominant force in the Akron City Series in his 17 years, and who owns four wins over Massillon in the 1980s, thanked Massillon head coach Lee Owens for holding down the score.

“On paper Massillon was better than us in every aspect of the game, and it was that way on the field,” McGee said. “I’m just glad these first three games are over.”

Garfield has lost 34‑0 to McKinley, 49‑12 to Cincinnati Elder and now 60‑13 to Massillon.

“I can’t imagine any teams anywhere in the state being much better than any of those three,” McGee said.

McGee rated Massillon and Elder “about even” and slightly better than McKinley.

“I give a strong edge to Massillon in the running game,” McGee said “Massillon is much more of a problem because they execute so well out of so many formations.”

The Tigers rushed for an amazing 458 yards. Watson led the way with 134 yards in seven carries.

The backfield starters were Travis McGuire (11 for 132) and Falando Ashcraft (10 for 66).

Backup Dan Seimetz chewed tip 85 yards in nine carries, all in the second half.

Quarterback Nick Mossides had another steady game. Playing only in the first half, Mossides completed five of seven passes for 100 yards.

On the Tigers’ second play from scrimmage, pre‑game, talk about Garfield being susceptible to the deep pass came to the forefront.

Flanker Marc Stafford ran motion right and was trailed by Garfield defensive back Marv Campbell. After the senior tight end Greg Paul slipped away from the line he broke for the right sidelines. I was wide open when Mossides threw the ball about 35 yards a catch‑and‑run that covered yards for a TD.

“It was a boot pass and the offensive line did a great job with the protection,” Paul said, “The quarterback and the running backs made some good fakes and I was wide open. Nick got me the ball.”

Rating the Tigers’ performance, Paul said, “We’re taking the steps we need to take. I need to keep getting better.”

The Tigers got on the board moments after the bomb. Middle guard Carl Hye recovered a Garfield fumble on a bad exchange at the 10. Ashcraft ran the 5 and McGuire scored on the next play.

The Tigers had run for only four plays; yet, Ashcraft’s two point conversion run swelled their lead to 14‑0.

McGuire, who is turning the spin move into an art form, had a big first half with nine carries for 102 yards. He seems to be within one move of scoring a touchdown half the time he touches the ball.

He set up first‑half touchdowns with runs of 28 and xx yards. Another touchdown was the result of a Troy Burick interception that gave Massillon possession on the 10. McGuire and Ashcraft each finished the first half with a pair of TDs.

Burick took over at quarterback for one series in the third quarter and looked sharp. I ran once for 18 yards and completed both of the passes I tried for 23 yards. Ashcraft scored his third touchdown of the night early in the second half.
The second team took the field and kept making more yards.

Seimetz scored two touchdowns on runs of 21 and 1.

The game got a little bit wild. Moments after Watson scored his 99‑yard special, Garfield’s Campbell raced 81 yards for a touchdown on the kickoff return.

Garfield had one other fourth quarter touchdown on which they scored on a 47‑yard drive.

The Tiger defense turned in another strong performance.

At the point in the second quarter when the Tigers took a 34‑0 lead, Garfield had run 19 plays and gained 19 yards.

“That’s not bad,” said Tiger defensive tackle Jonathon Jones, “but I compare what we do one week to what we did the previous week. And the previous week we didn’t give up any yards to Walsh (on the ground) in the first half.

“We’re playing fairly well on defense. Our strongest point so far has been our run defense. But we’ve still got to improve on everything.”

The Tigers led 243‑41 in total yard in the first half and finished with a season‑high 581 yards. The 581 yards is believed to be the largest number in a game during the four years Owens has
been head coach. Garfield finished with 111 yards.

Owens didn’t know quite what to say in the end.

“One thing for sure,” he joked, “we proved time of possession isn’t that important in football.”

Garfield held the ball for 27:46. Massillon had it for 20:14.

“Our goal,” Owens said, “was not to get anyone hurt and have some momentum going into the Moeller game.”

Owens confessed he had a hard time concentrating on Garfield this week, given the Rams’ uncharacteristic struggles and the fact Moeller is up next.

“I told the players after the game that they showed a lot more discipline than I did in focusing on Garfield and tuning out Moeller,” Owens said.

Owens spent part of the week planning the itinerary for the trip to Kings Island.

Those who have not ordered tickets can get them Monday at the Washington High ticket office, but there is a limit of two per customer. They won’t last long. Galbreath Field, where the game will be played, holds only about 10,000. Some standing room tickets will be sold the night of the game.

Garfield’s coach, McGee, isn’t used to nights like this or seasons like these.

“My worst,” he said, “was 6-5. We’ll be hard pressed to get to that point now. But, believe it or not, there were some areas where I thought we improved tonight. It’s just that we didn’t have the players to match up. We couldn’t slow them down. Nothing we tried worked.”

Stafford was the Tigers’ receiving leader for the second straight week. He caught three passes for 58 yards.

Garfield got 68 rushing yards from sophomore Frank Idley. The Rams’ senior quarterback, 6‑1, 225‑pound Barry Christ, failed to complete a pass in five tries.

Two future Tiger opponents played each other Friday, Austintown‑Fitch downing Youngstown East 26‑0. Both teams have 1‑2 records.

Last year’s Tiger offensive coordinator Tom Stacy, is 0‑3 as head coach at Shelby after a 3‑0 setback to Ashland last night.

Defending state champion Warren Harding outlasted Akron Buchtel 19‑16. On Monday at 5:30 P.M., the Warren jayvees will be at Massillon to take on the Tiger jayvees.

History

1991: Massillon 28, Walsh Jesuit 7

September 6, 1991September 3, 2017
by Eric Smith

Tiger’s whip Walsh

Tigers rewarded With 2nd win

By STEVE DOERSHUK
Independent Sports Editor

A night of penalties held rewards enough for the Massillon Tigers.

The Tigers were flagged for a Warren Mollenkopf Stadium like 100 yards in penalties but roared for a 466‑130 edge in total offense Friday night in repelling the Walsh Jesuit Warriors 28‑7. A crowd of 13,273 watched on a clear night with a moody summer sunset in Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

“We’ve got to work on that,” Tiger head coach Lee Owens said of the trouble with yellow hankies.

He said it with a smile on his face. The Tigers did plenty of good things in improving their record to 2‑0 against a game Walsh team that fell to 1‑1.

The bag of goodies included:

* A Massillon record 154 receiving yards (on eight catches) by senior flanker Marc Stafford.

* Triple figures from two running backs: Travis McGuire (22 carries for 117 yards) and Falando Ashcraft (20 for 105, two touchdowns).

* Quarterback Nick Mossides completed 14 of 26 passes for 217 yards.

* Fabulous defense against a traditionally strong running team with an outstanding fullback, Kevin Rottinghaus. Walsh rushed for a net two yards in the first half, a net minus‑two in the second.

Even so, Walsh made it interesting.

The Warriors cut a Tiger lead to 14‑7 midway through the second quarter; then, a would be 77‑yard touchdown pass from Mossides to McGuire was called back by a blocking-below‑the- waist penalty: Back Judge John Evans and line judge Charlie Williams, two respected veterans, saw the infraction and both threw flags. Owens said it was a fair call.

“It got to be gut check time along about then,” Owens said. “We get a long one called back and then they wind up with the ball in our territory.”

Turned out the Tigers had iron in their guts. They took control of both lines of scrimmage the rest of the way.
With the score still 14‑7 late in the third quarter, Walsh faced fourth‑and‑eight from the Tiger 16. That field possession was set up by Stafford’s only miscue of the night, a fumble on an endaround.

Walsh’s junior cornerback, Matt Smith (9‑for‑23, 120 yards, 1 TD, 1 interception) threw into the corner of the end zone, where Tiger defensive backs Dana Wofford and Ron Roberson smothered Warrior end Mike Carroll, and the ball.

From there, the Tigers drove 84 yards in 10 plays. McGuire took advantage of good trap blocking and made a number of impressive runs. Ashcraft smashed through the line for 12 yards and a touchdown. Jason Brown’s kick made it 21‑7 with 11:29 left in the game.

Ashcraft scored from six yards out with 4:40 left to put the game on ice.

Walsh Jesuit head coach Gerry Rardin was upbeat afterward.

”I’m convinced we’ll be back,” he said. “We got beat by a very fine team. They have a lot of guns they can fire on offense and they’re very quick on defense.”

Top gun this night was Stafford, one of the few high school “speed receivers” who also happens to bench press 300 pounds.

His 154 yards passed the school record of 133 set by Curtis Strawder against Jackson in 1978.

”Nick threw the ball extremely well,” Stafford said. “All I had to do was catch it. We’ve been working hard and it all jelled for us.

“When it was 14‑7, we just had to reach down and keep playing hard.

The Tigers were playing without senior captain Chris Dottavio, who faces a one‑year rehabilitation after successful knee surgery Wednesday. Dr., Robert Erickson said Dottavio’s four‑hour operation is called “the terrible triad,” but that it went well and Dottavio has a chance to try for college football if that is his wish.

Juniors Mark Miller and Brandon Jackson alternated at the tackle spot. Miller played part of the second quarter after someone stepped on starter Scott Charlton’s ankle. Charlton returned in the second half.

“We dedicated the game to ‘Dot.’ We just went out and tried to play well,” said senior guard Ryan Orr. “It was a little different not playing beside ‘Dot’ because we’ve been together since the ninth grade. Mark and Brandon did a good job, though.

“In the fourth quarter, we started coming off the ball better.” Added McGuire, also a co-captain, “We lost one of our best linemen, and we started a little slowly. The line picked up the blocking in the second half.”

“They were stunting a lot and we started picking that up better. We played pretty well, but we’ve got to get better.”
On defense, the Tigers did get better. Tailback Andrae Martin and the fullback Rottinghaus, who had rushed for 250 yards last week against Garfield Trinity, combined for 14 yards in 13 attempts against the Tigers.

Walsh had to resort to a short passing game. The junior, Smith, handled the aerial effort fairly well, but he was fortunate that the Tigers’ one interception wasn’t more like four or five.

“I dropped two,” winced Tiger linebacker Eric Wright, like Owens smiling when he said that. “Overall, I thought we played better than last week. The defensive line played a good game. We tackled better. We have to keep getting better every week.”

Wright had a few more big hits to add to his growing highlights reel.

“The whole defense played well,” Owens said. “I thought we swarmed to the ball. I think we’re starting to play the kind of defense Massillon people have been waiting a long time to see.”

The Tigers didn’t score until their third possession. They ended the lull in dramatic fashion when Stafford broke behind the defense and was wide open for a 46‑yard scoring bomb from Mossides.

Brown mis‑hit his point‑after kick attempt. It appeared the ball might have been blocked, but it was not touched, which is why a roughing‑the‑kicker penalty was allowed to stand. Ashcraft proceeded to run for the 1 1/2-yards that netted a two point conversion and an 8‑0 lead with 3:46 left in the first quarter.

It took the Tigers three more possessions before they scored again.

The defense held Walsh at bay, getting key plays like a sack from Joey Lococo, before the offense registered again.

Brown kicked a 22‑yard field goal with 4:43 left in the half to make it 10‑0.

It seemed a Tiger drive at the end of the half had stalled on a fourth‑down incompletion; however, a roughing‑the‑passer call kept Massillon in possession of the ball and allowed Brown to boot a 29‑yard field goal on the final play of the half. That made it 14‑0.

Walsh Jesuit used the short passing game to drive 61 yards on its first possession of the second half. On second‑and-long from the Tiger 39, Smith zipped a pass in the left flat to Carroll. Two Tiger defenders bumped into each other, giving Carroll room to wheel to the outside and turn it into a 39‑yard touchdown play.

Pat Hyland’s P.A.T. kick made it 14‑7, but the Tigers regrouped and went on to post an impressive victory.

Their next task will be a home game next Friday against Akron Garfield.

As for the penalties, Walsh had 39 yards worth, meaning the Tigers were penalized 61 yards more than the visitors.

Any fears Walsh might have had about getting “homered” on their first regular‑season trip to Tiger Stadium were allayed. The crew was led by Chet DeStefano, who has worked many college and professional games.

WALSH JESUIT 7
MASSILLON 28

M W
First downs rushing 16 0
First downs passing 8 7
First downs by penalty 2 1
Totals first downs 26 8
Yards gained rushing 238 23
Yards lost rushing 15 23
Net yards rushing 223 0
Net yards passing 243 130
Total yards gained 466 130
Passes attempted 26 26
Passes completed 14 10
Passes int. by 2 1
Times kicked off 5 2
Kickoff average 43.8 41.0
Kickoff return yards 8 67
Punts 3 6
Punting average 39.3 29.0
Punt return yards 21 17
Fumbles 1 0
Fumbles lost 1 0
Penalties 10 4
Yards penalized 100 39
Number of plays 73 43
Time of possession 27:02 20:58
Attendance 13,273

WALSH JESUIT 0 0 7 0 7
MASSILLON 8 6 0 14 28

M ‑ Stafford 46 pass from Mossides (Ashcraft run)
M ‑ Brown 22 FG
M ‑ Brown 29 FG
W ‑ Carroll 39 pass from Smith (Hyland kick)
M ‑ Ashcraft 12 run (Brown kick)
M ‑ Ashcraft 6 run (Brown kick)

Individual statistics

Rushing
(Massillon) McGuire 22‑117, Ashcraft 20‑105, Mossides 1‑3, Stafford 2/‑2.
(Walsh) Martin 10‑9, Rottinghaus 3‑5, Smith 4/‑14.

Passing
(Massillon) Mossides 14‑26‑217. 1 TD, 1 int..
(Walsh) Smith 9‑23‑120, 1 TD, 1 int.; Evans 1‑3‑10, 1 int.

Receiving
(Massillon) Stafford 8‑154, Merchant 3‑25, McGuire 1-9, Hawkins 1‑15, Ashcraft 1‑14.
(Walsh) Mason 3‑32, Carroll 249, Martin 2‑8, Rottinghaus 1‑17. Tyla 1‑14, Maruna 1‑10

History

1991: Massillon 35, Alliance 6

August 30, 1991August 30, 2017
by Eric Smith

Tigers ground Aviators 35‑6

Standing ‘O’ for memory of PB is highlight

By STEVE DOERSCHUK
Independent Sports Editor

Paul would have been proud.

On a stuffy night dedicated to the late Paul Brown, in front of 11,365 in Paul Brown Tiger Stadium, the Washington High football team played inspired, hard‑hitting football in mugging the Alliance Aviators 35‑6.

Massillon’s powerhouse one-two running punch of Travis McGuire (13 carries for 96 yards) and Falando Ashcraft (16 for 68) each delivered two touchdowns. Defensive coordinator Jack Rose’s tricked‑up (to key on lightning‑legged quarterback Tremayne Banks) 50 defense held Alliance to no first downs in the first quarter and 38 yards in the first half en route to a solid performance.

It was a solid season opener, the kind Paul would have liked.

“Paul Brown was football,” Alliance head coach Fred Thomas said. “Naturally, we didn’t like the outcome, but it was an honor to be here on a night like this.”

Thomas apologized for his team being in the end zone loosening up before the game when an announcement honoring Paul Brown was greeted with a warm, prolonged standing ovation.

“No way we would have been on the field if we’d have known that was coming,” Thomas said. “We meant no disrespect. We would have stayed in the locker room.”

No apology was needed. The Aviators meant no harm and turned in an effort equal to their abilities.

“I’ll say the same thing I said last year when we beat Stow (51‑0) in the opener,” said Massillon head coach Lee Owens. “I said they were a good team that would win some ball games. They won eight. Alliance is a year away from being a real good team. But they’re going to be good this year. They’ll win some games.”

Paul Brown won 79 games over nine years, turning Massillon into the biggest name in high school football. Owens focused on the Hall of Fame coach who died recently during his pre-game team speech.

“The man who wrote the letter to the editor pretty much wrote my pre‑game speech for me,” Owens said. “I made the same points he did.”

The letter to The Independent, penned by Ed Voshall, essentially said the players and the coaches of today are charged with carrying on the traditions launched by Paul Brown in the 1930s.

The player charged with the responsibility of quarterbacking the Tigers on Friday was Nick Mossides, a 6‑foot, I55‑pound senior getting his first varsity start.

Owens kept it a secret all week as to whether Mossides or senior Troy Burick, who started at safety, would be the QB.

“I was told, the team was told, on Monday,” Mossides said. “I was excited about it. I’ve been working hard for a long time to get ready for the chance to do this.”

Mossides’ inexperience showed at times when he was pressured and threw the ball into traffic; however, when he got good protection, which was most of the night, most of his tosses were zipped with precision. He completed 7‑of‑15 passes for 88 yards and one interception.

“I think I threw the ball fairly well to (Marc) Stafford, (Geoff) Merchant and (Mark) Hawkins,” Mossides said. “I’ve got to throw the ball a little better. I missed a couple of throws.”

Mossides said his heart was jumping a bit when he ran out onto the field amid the big crowd, but he felt calm after he took the field. He focused on reading the defense first, then checking to see if a blitz might be on.

“I felt pretty comfortable,” he said.

Stafford, a speedy senior, caught three passes for 51 yards.

“Nick did real well,” Stafford said. “I thought the whole team played well. On offense, the line did an excellent job.

“We made a lot of mistakes, but we played hard as a team. We’ve been working real hard.”

The Tigers built a 35‑0 lead when second‑team running back Dan Seimetz scored on the first play of the fourth quarter and Jason Brown booted his third extra point (he was 3‑for‑4 on the night).

The first‑stringers played briefly in the fourth quarter before the second unit was summoned. Alliance’s second‑year starting quarterback Tremayne Banks scored on a 51yard run with 3:12 left in the game. Dana Wofford blocked the P.A.T. kick attempt to remove some of the sting.

“I thought our defense did a real good job dealing with their option,” Owens said. “You’ve got to give Jack Rose a lot of credit for coming up with a good plan, and our players for executing it.”

The Tigers wound up with a 332‑172 edge in net offensive yards.

“We played pretty well but not as well as we should have,” observed senior defensive end Jason Woullard. “We need to work on our pass coverage … reading keys.”

Woullard said he agreed with coaches’ comments during training camp that tackling needed to get better.

“The hard work paid off, I think,” Woullard said. “We did a better job wrapping up tonight. We worked hard on tackling every day. The first thing we did in practice was the gauntlet drill.”

The Tigers capitalized on two Alliance turnovers to take a 21‑0 lead. But their first touchdown came on a prolonged drive on their first possession after and Alliance punt.

Mossides got things going by completing a third‑and‑16 pass for 17 yards to Stafford. Ashcraft powered in from a yard out at 6:50 of the first quarter, Brown made the point‑after kick, and it was 7‑0.

The drive consumed 67 yards and covered nine plays.

There was no further scoring until midway through the third quarter. Alliance running back Gerard Hawkins (who gained 700 yards last season but held to minus‑4 yards Friday) was smashed by Turley, and Burick recovered the subsequent fumble at the Alliance 5‑yard line. Ashcraft scored from two yards out two plays later, the point-after kick was wide, and the Tigers led 13‑0 with 6:19 left in the half.

Alliance had the ball near midfield when an option pitch got loose and was recovered by Tiger linebacker Eric Wright. The Tigers punted a few plays later but the fumble established the field position that led to a Tiger TD.

Burick’s 33‑yard punt return gave Massillon possession on the Alliance 22‑yard line. On the next play, the line created a wide avenue on a draw play through which McGuire neatly stepped for a 22‑yard touchdown run. Ashcraft ran for a two‑point conversion and it was 21‑0 with 1:08 left in the half.

The Tigers blew open the game with an impressive scoring march on the opening possession of the third quarter. It was fourth‑and‑goal from the 4 when the draw play worked again, with McGuire again
doing the scoring honors. Brown’s kick made it 28‑0 with 6:23 left in the third quarter.

The drive consumed 13 plays and covered 62 yards.

Jerry May relieved Mossides at quarterback and conducted a nine‑play, 61‑yard scoring drive capped by Seimetz’s touchdown ‘

“The two turnovers in the first half gave Massillon a short field to work with, and you can’t give a short field to a team as good as Massillon,” Alliance’s Thomas said. “I take nothing away from Massillon. Up front, they hit us really hard. We’re a little banged up. I hope we can bounce back.”

Alliance’s 280‑pound senior tackle Rod Shedrick was motionless on the field for several minutes late in the game.

“He had a twinge in his neck,” Thomas said. “We didn’t want him to move and played it safe.”

Shedrick is apparently OK. He was treated and released at Massillon Community Hospital.

The Tigers will be back home next Friday to take on Walsh Jesuit. Alliance will play its home opener against Jackson, whose last game was a 1990 playoff loss to Massillon.

GAME ONE

MASSILLON 35
ALLIANCE 6
M V
First downs rushing 13 5
First downs passing 7 2
First downs by penalty 0 0
Totals first downs 20 7
Net yards rushing 229 137
Net yards passing 103 35
Total yards gained 332 172
Passes attempted 17 17
Passes completed 8 4
Passes int. by 0 1
Kickoff average 50.7 27.5
Kickoff return yards 20 120
Punts 3 6
Punting average 34.3 35.7
Punt return yards 41 0
Fumbles 3 3
Fumbles lost 0 3
Penalties 3 3
Time of possession 28:24 19:36

Alliance 0 0 0 0 6
Massillon 7 14 7 7 35

History

1990: Massillon 7, Sandusky 27

November 10, 1990August 30, 2017
by Eric Smith

Soph sees Tigers

Promising start erodes Into 27-7 Sandusky win

By STEVE DOERSCHUK
Independent Sports Editor

AKRON – Lofton is a familiar name to football fans.

James Lofton is a famous fast receiver whose game is finesse.

Tron Lofton is an infamous (as to Massillon Tiger fans are concerned) running back whose game was power Saturday night when he led Sandusky to a 27-7 victory in the Region 2 championship game in front of 11,729 fans at the Rubber Bowl.

Lofton put on the greatest display by a sophomore running back opposing the Tigers since Charles Gladman rushed 199 yards in an Akron Garfield loss at Massillon in 1981.

Playing a ton bigger than his listed dimensions (5-8, 170 lbs), Lofton broke dozens of tackles during a first half in which he ran 13 times for 95 yards.

The Tiger defense adjusted at halftime and held Lofton to just 13 more yards in eight carries. Since the Massillon offense wasn’t clicking, however, the damage was done.

Lofton’s running powered a 57-yard Sandusky drive that tied the game at 7-all early in the second quarter. His 55-yard explosion up the left sideline set up a score with 1:55 left in the half that gave the Blue Streaks a 14-7 advantage.

Both of the drives ended on one yard touchdown blasts by Lotton, who pinballed into the end zone each time and came away standing up.

Afterward, Sandusky head coach Larry Cook said he hadn’t been hiding Lofton (just 349-yards in the first 11 games). It was just a matter of nursing along a sophomore, who by now is ready for prime time.

Cook keeps it simple for Lofton, who uses 5-7, 212-pound senior fullback (and all district nose guard) Shon Grant like a body guard. All Lofton has to do is follow No. 31 (Grant) and let his talent take over.

“To tell you the truth,” Cook said, “everything we do is fairly simple. We aren’t fancy. We work very hard on performing the limited number of things we do extremely well.”

Lofton was riding the bench early when it seemed the Tigers were headed for something like the 20-7 victory they scored over Sandusky in 1982 at Massillon – that was the only other time the teams ever met.

The Tigers roared to a perfect start. Captain Brent Back literally flew through the pre game hoop, belly-flopping onto the Rubber Bowl carpet, then senior Gary Young returned the opening kick 36 yards to the Tiger 44.

A five yard blast off tackle by Falando Ashcraft, a five-yard encroachment penalty on Sandusky, and a four-yard plow by Ashcraft made it second and six on the Blue Streaks’ 42. Junior Travis McGuire got a hole on a counter danced toward the right sideline, and was gone on a 42-yard touchdown run. Ryan John’s P.A.T. kick made it 7-0 with just 100 seconds gone in the game.

Joe Matthews and Grant were the running back in Sandusky’s first offensive set.

“That’s the way we’ve been working it,” Cook said. “Tron (Lofton) doesn’t come in until the second series.”

All district quarterback Mike Franklin directed Sandusky to the Massillon 42, where it was fourth-and-one. Cook elected to punt. The Tigers took over on their 18 and proceeded to look unstoppable for another few minutes. Ashcraft sandwiched gains of 13 and 12 yards around a six-yard McGuire run. A clipping penalty two plays later on an end around killed the promising drive.

The Tigers were still in control as their defense stuffed the Streaks and forced a punt on fourth-and-12. The Tigers’ next possession, though, was a portent of things two come – two incompletions and a punt.

That’s when Lofton reared his head. On the ensuing series he made gains of 3, 6, 6, 6 and 3 yards, opening up avenues elsewhere (passes and scrambles by Franklin) and setting up the first Sandusky touchdown with 7:39 left in the half.

Young nearly turned the game upside down on the ensuing kickoff. The 5-foot-8, 160-pound senior, well known for his fearless, headlong style, burst up the middle, made a spectacular leap over a body, and brought the kick 68 yards to the 17. McGuire made 12 yards on the next two plays for a first and goal at the 5.

An incomplete pass on third down, a dead-ball personal foul, and a delay of game penalty ruined the scoring opportunity and gave Sandusky the ball on downs at the 25. The Streaks’ first play was Lofton’s 55-yard run, Lofton scored seven plays later.

Again the kick return gave the Tigers a chance to rip the momentum from Sandusky. This time 5-8, 155-pound junior Shawn Shell shot torpedo-like up the middle and was stopped only when he became entangled with a teammate at the end of a 58-yard return to the 32.

The Tigers couldn’t make a first down, and the Blue Streaks punctuated their first-half lead with a 14-yard run by Lofton.

Sandusky inflicted a mortal blow by scoring on the opening series of the second half. The focus went from Lofton to Franklin, the quarterback.

Lofton went to a passing game that had the look of the run-and-shoot attack in place for Massillon when the Tigers played Sandusky in 1982. He didn’t finish with big yardage (91), but the timing of his 10 completions (in 16 attempts) sustained drives, including this one.

After a sequence that included scrambles of 12 and 14 yards by Lofton, Tiger head coach Lee Owens summoned his troops to the sideline during a timeout. On the next play, Franklin hit Andrew Johnson for six yards, but on the next play the Tigers won on a gamble in which Jason Woullard showed blitz early then showed Grant the ground on what could have been a key five-yard loss to the 14. It was third-and–nine. Franklin’s subsequent 13-yard completion to Johnson was one of the key plays in the game.

It set up another one-yard touchdown plunge by Lofton. Sandusky let 21-7 with 6:52 left in the third quarter.

The Tigers fought back. They started on their own 40 and the offensive line showed some real spunk in leading a six play, all running drive to the Sandusky 21 where it was first down. Ashcraft, who wound up with 78 yards in 13 carries, gained 33 yards during the sequence.

Sandusky produced another key play, though, stopping McGuire for a five-yard loss on another counter. McGuire limped off the field on a sore ankle, and the next three plays produced incomplete passes and gave the ball back to Sandusky.

Still trailing 21-7, the Tigers were back in Sandusky territory at the 32 late in the third quarter, this time with Troy Burick in at quarterback in relief of Barry Shertzer. Again the Tigers ran out of downs.

Jamie Lazzara’s interception of a Burick pass with eight minutes left set up a Sandusky touchdown with 5:19 left that ended the Tigers’ hopes of a comeback.

SANDUSKY 27
MASSILLON 7
M S
First downs rushing 6 12
First downs passing 0 6
First downs by penalty 6 12
Totals first downs 12 18
Yards gained rushing 169 256
Yards lost rushing 16 18
Net yards rushing 153 248
Net yards passing 20 91
Passes attempted 16 16
Passes completed 2 10
Passes int. by 0 2
Times kicked off 2 5
Kickoff average 50 45.2
Kickoff return yards 193 44
Punts 2 4
Punting average 28.0 29.5
Punt return yards ‑7 0
Fumbles 2 0
Fumbles lost 1 0
Penalties 7 6
Yards penalized 84 65
Number of plays 45 62
Time of possession 18:22 29:38

SANDUSKY 0 14 7 6 27
MASSILLON 7 0 0 0 7

M – McGuire 42 run (John kick)
S – Lofton 1 run (Miller kick)
S – Lofton 1 run (Miller kick)
S – Lofton 1 run (Miller kick)
S – Lazzara 11pass from Franklin (kick failerd)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing:
(S) – Lofton 21-108, Franklin 9-68, Grant 9‑53
(M) – Ashcraft 13‑78, McGuire 10-70.

Passing:
(S) – Franklin 10-16-0 91,
(M) – Shertzer 1-10-1 6, Burick 1-6-1 14.

Receiving:
(S) – Johnson 4-32, Lofton 3-26
(M) – McGuire 1-6, Brown 1-14

History

1990: Massillon 21, Massillon Jackson 15

November 3, 1990August 30, 2017
by Eric Smith

Tigers nip Bears in night at the races

Owens says key play ‘clearly’ a fumble; Schuetz modifies view to ‘inconclusive’

By STEVE DOERSCHUK
Independent Sports Editor

The big game was decided by the big race.

And, the big question: was if really a fumble?

Jaiye Murdock sped to victory in the first race. He served early notice the Jackson Polar Bears can run with the big dogs.

Jeff Perry won the last race. It was the one that provided the Massillon Tigers with a scream‑til‑the-gun 21‑15 victory in the Division I high school football playoffs Saturday night at Fawcett Stadium.

Murdock and Perry were two of Stark County’s brightest track stars last spring.

Murdock was among Ohio’s top freshman sprinters. In Jackson’s final 1990 dual meet, against North Canton, he won the 100‑, 200‑ a 400‑meter dashes.

Football scouting reports said Murdock, now a 5‑foot-6, 150‑pound sophomore, was Jackson’s only burner, but might not be ready to prowl under pressure.

The report was half right. Less than 2 1/2 minutes into the game, Murdock lined up wide left, took an inside reverse handoff, and flew through a gaping hole that led to the right sideline. All‑county cornerback Chad Buckland, Massillon’s fastest defensive player, put up a good chase but Jaiye (pronounced “hi”) turned on the jets and said goodbye. His 53‑yard run and Brian Parkison’s P.A.T. kick made it 7‑0 and left the crowd of 18,124 agog.

Parkison was victimized by a late (and penalized) hit that shook him up. He kept kicking but held an ice pack to the back of his head when not on the field.

The ice was long melted w it was Perry’s turn.

By early this May, Perry had emerged as western Stark County’s top‑ranked runner in the 110‑meter high hurdles. His football position was to be a shot‑put kind of job ‑ defensive end.

Perry has wound up playing outside linebacker. He lined up at the position early in the fourth quarter. Jackson led 15‑13 and was driving, Stark‑County MVP Jeff Morris dropped back to pass.

Massillon senior Mark Murphy, playing the end spot formerly manned by Perry, was unblocked.

“It was one of the few times they messed up,” Murphy said.. “They played tight. It was a helluva game. But on that play it opened up and I shot through.”

Murphy made a clean sack of Morris. Either the collision (the officials’ interpretation) or Morris’ impact when he fell (the Jackson camp’s opinion) separated the quarterback from the ball.

“I saw him (Murphy) cause the fumble and I saw the ball pop loose,” Perry said. “I grabbed the ball.”

But he stopped.

Murphy ran toward the north grandstand, packed with Massillon fans. He leaped and pumped his fists.

“I figured the play was dead,” Perry said. “Everybody stopped.”

Somebody in the press box screamed: “Was there are whistle?! ?” Apparently not. Perry caught himself and began running. Jackson’s Milan Herceg, who like everyone else had relaxed, recovered and got his hands on Perry. But the Massillon captain escaped and steamed toward a huge opening on the left sideline. All‑county running back Dan Craven gave chase but Perry expanded a 3‑yard cushion to 5 yards as he headed for I-77 and the east end zone.

It took a while for the fact to sink in among the fans, but the officials’ outstretched arms made it final: touchdown.

Falando Ashcraft’s two‑point conversion run over the right side made it 21‑15, Massillon, with 11: 43 left in the game.

The sequence will live in infamy at Jackson.

Jackson head coach Elmer Schuetz’s home was flooded with calls Sunday from fans who thought it was a bad call. Many asked the same question: What can we do about it?

They already knew the answer: nothing.

Massillon head coach Lee Owens said he had a clear lock at the play and judged it to be a true fumble. He said game films confirmed it was a fumble.

Either of two men had authority to make a ruling on the Murphy‑Morris‑Perry play ‑ referee Ed Miltko or umpire Dale VanHose. Miltko allowed the touchdown to stand.

It was a night of controversy for Miltko, who did not call intentional grounding against Tiger quarterback Barry Shertzer on an early play that appeared to warrant such, but did flag Morris for grounding on a fourth quarter play that looked like a carbon copy.

Schuetz was initially emphatic in stating Morris should have been ruled down.

He modified his view after poring over his camp’s game film.

“You can’t tell concretely what happened,” he said. “We think it happened one way and Massillon thinks it happened the other way.

“I was mad last night. Part of that came from frustration. You hate to lose on a play like that. It was a game between two good football teams, both of which are capable of advancing beyond the next round.

“Again, I was mad, but I take nothing away from Massillon. They played a good game and I wish them luck.”

Owens said Miltko made “a great call.” He said he closely studied a clear video account of the play filmed by veteran camera man Ron Prunty.

“You can clearly see the ball coming out before Morris hits the ground,” Owens said. “The ball rolled around and basically was pulled off Murphy’s back by Perry.”

Owens said players may have relaxed because of Murphy’s gesture of celebration.

“A lot of them probably saw Mike Martin go up to Mark where he was celebrating and thought the play was over,” Owens said. “Mike turned around and made a block that helped Jeff get free.”

Miltko never indicated the play was anything but alive. He maintained his crouched posture, watching the action, as the entire scene unfolded.

Playoff officials are basically all‑star crews. Hundreds of officials apply to the OHSAA for the privilege of working in the playoffs. The best 100, in the OHSAA’s eyes, are selected.

Saturday’s crew consisted of Miltko, a Steubenville resident with 25 years of experience; VanHose, a Columbus resident, 19 years; linesman Emerson Payne of Mount Vernon, 37 years; line judge Dave D’Annabal of Steubenville, 13 years, and back judge Bob Graf of Mentor, 22 years.

Polar Bears and not zebras were all anybody noticed in the early minutes of the game.

The Tigers won the opening coin toss and attempted to send a message by deferring. That is, they chose to play defense first and kick off to Jackson. In essence, they were telling the Bears: We think we can stop you.

Instead, Jackson drove 75 yards for a touchdown. On third‑and‑seven, Morris and all‑county wide receiver Shawn Lutz hooked up on one of their pet plays, a sideline pass that takes advantage of Lutz’s 6-foot‑6 frame and soft hands. It went for 18 yards. Murdock scored.

The game’s next three series were “three‑and‑punt,” but Jackson won the battle of field position and started on the Massillon 32‑yard line after a 15‑yard punt return by Craven. Another inside reverse to Murdock and a run by Craven netted 11 yards.

Then, on second‑and‑six, Morris went over the middle on a well‑timed throw to tight end Brent Bowen for 21 yards and a touchdown.

P.A. T. holder Beau Schuetz, the coach’s son, scored a two‑point conversion on a fake and it was 15‑0, Bears, with 5:28 left in the first quarter.

The scene at the end of Schuetz’s run said a lot about why the game was so close. Tiger cornerback Dan Hackenbracht got in Schuetz’s face in the end zone. Schuetz didn’t back down, and neither did the Bears at any point in the night.

But then, neither did the Tigers, who went on to dominate the second quarter.

After one period, the Bears led 123‑21 in total offense.

In the second quarter, the Tigers outgained Jackson 88‑22.

Massillon drove 66 yards to the 8‑yard line before running out of downs on its first possession of the second period.

The Tigers got the ball and consumed most of the rest of the quarter on a 68‑yard scoring drive. Massillon had begun to win the war in the trenches and Ashcraft was picking up steam en route to a 126‑yard rushing day that left him with 1,091 on the season.

But it took a 6‑yard end‑around run by Marc Stafford, on fourth‑and‑goal to get the touchdown. Ryan John made his 30th straight point‑after kick and it was 15‑7 with 2:36 left in the half.

The Bears made a statement by scoring the first time they had the ball. The Tigers sent a similar message or the first series of the second half. Gary Young delivered a frisky 43‑yard kickoff return to give the Tigers possession at midfield.

On second and eight, Ashcraft followed a strong lead block by Travis McGuire and shed several would‑be tacklers on his most impressive run of the night, a 41yarder to the 6. Ashcraft scored two plays later behind a strong block by Duane Scott.

Bowen intercepted a Troy Burick pass on an attempted two‑point conversion, and it was 15‑13 with 9:51 left in the third quarter.

The Bears did not go into hibernation. Their next six plays included gains of 4, 14, 15 and 17 yards. On second-and-eight from the Massillon 26, though, all‑county linebacker Eric Wright snuffed out the drive with an interception.

All‑county (yes, there were a lot of all‑stars in this game) punter Chris Roth looked the part with a 50‑yard boomer to Jackson’s 15. The Tigers soon got the ball back near midfield on a punt, but they could not capitalize on the field position because Jackson’s Bryan Scheetz intercepted a tipped bomb intended for Stafford. He returned it 43 yards to the Massillon 40 and the Bears were in good shape with the game growing old.

An 8‑yard pass to Craven, a 5‑yard run by Morris, a 3‑yard run by Craven and a 1‑yard gain by Craven hammered the ball to the Tiger 23, where it was third and six. The next play was the controversial one that produced Perry’s touchdown.

Midway, through the fourth quarter, the Bears penetrated Tiger territory. On third and three, defensive end Mike Martin grounded Murdock for a 3‑yard loss and the Bears had to punt.

Jackson never threatened again, although the Bear got the ball back deep in their own territory with the hope of getting another big play. Linebacker Jason Woullard’s interception with a minute left ended a doubt.

Jackson fumble
lifts Tigers

By: MARK CRAIG
Repository sports writer

CANTON ‑ Half of western Stark County loves’ referee Ed Miltko and the other half probably wishes his mug would turn up on the side of a milk carton.

The rest of the football fans who saw Saturday’s Division I, Region 2 semifinal game between Massillon Washington and Jackson just plain enjoyed the ups and downs of Massillon’s 21-15 victory over the Polar Bears.

The victory, which came in front of a noisy 17,124 fans at Fawcett Stadium, moved the 8‑3 Tigers into next Saturday’s Region 2 championship game against 11‑0 Sandusky at a site to be determined. Sandusky beat Toledo St. John’s 21‑15 in overtime Saturday.

While the Tigers go on to play for their second regional title, the 9‑2 Polar Bears are left with having to deal with The Fumble.

That one call, a questionable fumble on the first play of the fourth quarter that resulted in a 72‑yard return by defensive end Jeff Perry for the game winning touchdown, left Miltko as the most despised referee in the history of Jackson football.

Here’s what happened:

Leading 15‑13 and looking at third‑and‑four at the Massillon 23, Jackson quarterback Jeff Morris was sacked and stripped of the ball by Massillon tackle Mark Murphy.

Perry scooped up the ball at the 28 and stood there with it for about a second or two. All the players reacted as if the play had been called dead, but finally realized it was a live ball.

There was some question of: 1) whether Morris already was down before the fumble, 2) whether Perry was down after picking up the fumble and 3) whether the official had blown the play dead.

Perry did the smart thing, darting down the right side of the Field for the touchdown. He says he’s been clocked at 4.4 in the 40 and it looked that way as he pulled away from three Polar Bears down the stretch.

Falando Ashcraft added the two‑point conversion to give the Tigers the win.

But the question remained. What happened?

Here’s Jackson’s side of it.

“It may have been a fumble, but the ref’ blew the whistle, and he knows it,” Morris said. “He even came up to me and said, ‘I’m sorry, I blew it.”

Miltko couldn’t be reached for comment after the game.

Jackson head coach Elmer Schuetz didn’t hear Miltko apologize for making a bad call.

“I’m glad I didn’t hear that or I’d have really been upset,” said an very hot Schuetz. “It was a terrible call, a terrible one. It’s a shame. Our kids deserved better than that.”

Here’s Massillon’s side of it:

“It definitely was a fumble,” Perry said. “I grabbed the ball and I stood there. But then I said to myself’, ‘I haven’t heard the whistle.’ That’s when I took off.”

“It seemed like I was the only one in the stadium who saw the ball come out and realize it was a live ball,” Massillon head coach Lee Owens said. “I saw the whole thing beginning to end and I believe it was the right call.”

To argue the point any further is ridiculous. Massillon played well enough to win, regardless of the call. Meanwhile, Jackson didn’t play poorly enough to lose.

Jackson took a 15‑0 first‑quarter lead on a 54‑yard touchdown run off an inside reverse to sophomore Jaiye Murdock and an excellently placed 21yard TD pass from quarterback Jeff Morris, over linebacker Jason Woullard and into the hands of tight end Brent Bowen.

Massillon was outgained in total yards, 246‑207. Ashcraft led all rushers with 23 carries for 126 yards, including a 32‑yard run in which he broke a bundle of tackles to reach the Jackson 6 and set up the Tigers’ second score.

Morris completed 9‑of‑23 passes for 117 yards, one TD and two interceptions. Dan Craven and Murdock both had 62 yards rushing, while Bowen caught four passes for 70 yards.

Massillon 0 7 6 8 21
Jackson 15 0 0 0 15

J ‑ Murdock 54 run (Parkison kick)
J ‑ Bowen 21 pass from Morris (Schuetz kick)
M ‑ Stafford 6 run (John kick)
M – Ashcraft 5 run (Pass intercepted)
M – Perry 72 fumble recovery (Ashcraft run)

Records: Jackson 9‑2. Massillon 8‑3.

Author: <span>Eric Smith</span>