Friday – Varsity vs. Wadsworth (12-0) at North Canton Hoover Stadium, 7:00 pm
For the first time since 1982 the Tigers have fashioned a 12-0 record and are now tied for second place for all-time wins. A victory this week would tie the 13-win seasion posted by the 2005 team. Both the 1982 and 2005 teams played for the state title. This week Massillon is aiming to win back-to-back regional championships. This feat has never before been accomplished by the Tigers.
The guest players were Aidan Longwell (quarterback) and Dean Clark (defensive back / wide receiver). Asked about the performance of the backup quarterback in last Friday’s game, Longwell said, “Zach Controne really stepped it up. We had a great game. The defense played really well.” “It was a great team win,” added Clark. “Defensively we can play better.” He said that the defense’s goal this week is to not allow any points.
Massillon head coach Nate Moore reviewed the film from the Whitehall game and then quickly turned his attention to this week’s opponent, undefeated Wadsworth. The Grizzlies have won 24 of their last 25 games and were champions this year of the Suburban League large school division, beating such teams as 3-7 Hudson (35-13), 9-1 Nordonia (35-25) and 5-5 Stow (48-21). They also own a pair of wins over playoff participant Wooster, 37-31 in the regular season and 42-38 in the post season. Last week they beat a very good defensive team in Tri-Valley 13-3, overcoming a 3-0 halftime deficit. The Grizzlies average 39 points per game and give up 16. Six of their opponents were held to a touchdown or less. “This is a good football team,” said Moore.
Defensively, Wadsworth is similar to Canton GlenOak in that both align in a 3-3 odd stack. Of course, the Grizzlies appear on film to play it much better. The secondary alignment will vary throughout the game. They are not a great blitzing team, but will bring it at times. They play very aggressively. Linebackers senior Mason McMillen (6′-0″, 210 lbs.) and junior Jack Grice (6′-0″, 215 lbs.) are their best players on this side of the ball. McMillon has 139 tackles including 22 for loss, 9 sacks and an interception. Grice has 104 tackles with 17.5 for loss, 6.5 sacks and a pair of interceptions. Senior safety Jake Herbert (5′-10″, 166 lbs.) has 10 interceptions. The defensive line, anchored by 303 lbs. nose tackle Cole Lamp, averages 6′-0″, 243 lbs. “It’s a tall task for us,” said Moore.
Guest coach Craig McConnell addressed the Wadsworth offense. With a 70:30 run/pass ratio, watch for lots of formations to spring open a pair of really good running backs. Senior Brock Snowball (6′-2″, 211 lbs.) has 1,116 yards (6.4 yds/carry) with 11 touchdowns and junior Dominic Loparo (5′-9″, 175 lbs.) has 1,075 yards (8.3 yds/carry) with 16 touchdowns. Both are downhill, hard-running, physical players that have a knack for finding open holes. Junior quarterback Trey Shaffer (6′-1″, 181 lbs.) has passed for 2,236 yards with a 71% completion percentage and makes good decisions according to McConnell. He has 21 touchdowns and 9 interceptions. While not considered a dominant runner, he is allusive in the backfield and knows when to throw the ball away to avoid a sack. The receivers are good, but not great. However, McConnell says they catch the ball well and know how to find the holes in zone defenses. The offensive line goes 6′-0″, 250 lbs.
Massillon overcomes injury, Whitehall-Yearling, to reach regional final
Nov 09, 2018 10:38 PM
Chris Easterling
MANSFIELD If it could go wrong for Massillon, it went wrong on Friday night.
An injury to starting quarterback Aidan Longwell. Multiple turnovers. Flags galore.
Yet, when it was all over, the Tigers’ state-championship dreams remained intact, as they held off Whitehall-Yearling 35-17 in a Division II Region 7 semifinal at Mansfield’s Arlin Field.
“All through the offseason, our coaches preached coming through adversity,” said Massillon senior Dean Clark, who will join his teammates in a regional final against Wadsworth next Friday at a site to be announced this weekend. “We’ve been going through adversity this whole season, the whole year. We were prepared for it.”
The adversity started on the next-to-last play of the first quarter, when Longwell – who had given Massillon a 7-0 lead on its first play, a 70-yard touchdown pass to Jayden Ballard – suffered an injury while attempting to score from the Ram 1. To add a certain insult to the injury, the official ruled an inadvertent whistle on the play, negating what possibly could’ve been a 99-yard fumble return by Whitehall for a score.
Enter sophomore Zach Catrone, who would lead the Tigers through the final three quarter. Catrone finished 16-of-24 for 177 yards with three touchdown passes and an interception.
“(Catrone’s) done a great job all year,” said Massillon coach Nate Moore, whose team matched the 1982 team for best start to a season at 12-0. “He led our JV team to an undefeated record. We have a lot confidence with him going in. We’re real proud of his performance.”
That performance included a 15-yard touchdown pass to Tre’Von Morgan right before halftime to give Massillon a 17-9 lead. Catrone also hit Ballard for a 55-yard touchdown with 5:07 remaining in the third quarter to give the Tigers the lead for good at 23-17.
Catrone would hit Morgan for a 9-yard strike with 42 seconds left to provide the final margin. The officials would call the game after that score when Whitehall was flagged for multiple unsportsmanlike penalties on the subsequent point-after try.
The entire Ram bench emptied onto the field after the play. After a lengthy conference, the officials ended the game, which was marred by multiple personal fouls on both sides.
“We came out and played hard,” Moore said. “We certainly weren’t perfect, none of us. Just played hard and got the win.”
Massillon would be flagged 12 times total in the game for 104 penalty yards. Whitehall was hit with seven flags for 63 yards.
It was Tiger turnover, though, which helped open the door for the Rams. Massillon had three giveaways on the night, compared to just one takeaway, a Luke Murphy interception with just over two minutes remaining.
The biggest of those Tiger turnovers came on the second play of the second half. A bad snap was picked up by Whitehall’s Sir-Blake Singleton and returned for a touchdown.
Raymell Byrd’s two-point conversion run would help the Rams, who never led in the game, pull even at 17-17.
That would be the only time Whitehall was able to get the game even after Massillon took the lead on its first play from scrimmage. The Rams would pull within 10-9 on Christian Gordon’s 64-yard catch-and-run off a Byrd pass, but the tying conversion failed due to a bad snap.
Whitehall would finish with 191 yards, 101 of those through the air. Byrd, the Rams’ leading rusher, finished with 52 yards on 11 carries.
Massillon would put the game away by bowing up on defense and running the football in the fourth quarter. The Tigers twice kept Whitehall from scoring over the final 12 minutes despite reaching their side of the 50.
Meanwhile, Massillon would run the ball on 15 of its final 16 plays. That included a 15-yard touchdown run by Jamir Thomas with 5:45 remaining to put the Tigers up 29-17.
“It was huge, huge,” Moore said. “It pushed it to a two-score game. That was huge, especially after the blocked extra point.”
Thomas finished with 136 yards on 16 carries for Massillon.
WHBC will hold their annual awards banquet on Thursday, November 15, at which time their Stark County All-Star team will be announced. Unlike most all-star teams, this one is voted on by the area coaches. This year’s honorees from Massillon include Jamir Thomas, Tre’von Morgan, Dean Clark, Aidan Longwell, Deon Williams, Kyshad Mack and Justin Gaddis. There are certainly others off of this year’s undefeated team deserving of the award, but I guess you can’t select the whole group. The county MVP and coach of the year will be announced at the banquet.
Jamir Thomas – Running Back. It was a record-setting year for Thomas as he eclipsed Art Hastings’ mark for total career yards and Bob Glass’ mark for career touchdowns, and he continues to add to his record for career carries. Through eleven games, Jamir has rushed 207 times for 1,602 yards, an average of 7.7 yards per carry. In ten of those contests he rushed for 100+ yards. But the 6′-1″, 215 lbs. Thomas is not limited to just offense, as he also sees time at linebacker. On that side of the ball, Jamir has recorded 9 solo tackles and 5 assists, and has put great pressure on opposing quarterbacks with his blitzing, including a key 4th quarter stop against East St. Louis, IL. Thomas has several D1 offers.
Tre’von Morgan – Wide Receiver. Morgan has had a breakout year at his position with 27 receptions for 502 yards and nine touchdowns. His longest catch was 72 yards, coming against Sun Valley, PA. Tre’von also returns punts and is a member of the kickoff team. Occasionally he finds himself at outside linebacker, where he has eight tackles and a pair of assists. The 6′-6″ Morgan has several D1 offers.
Dean Clark – Defensive Back. A Kent State commit, Clark is the quarterback of the Tigers’ outstanding defensive secondary, calling the alignments based on the many different offensive receiver formations. Through eleven games, Dean is fourth on the team in tackles with 27 solos and 20 assists. He also has one pass interception, nine pass breakups and eight passes defended. With spot duty at receiver, Clark has caught three passes for 45 yards and a touchdown.
Aidan Longwell – Quarterback. Big things were expected from Longwell, this being his second year as a starter and he certainly has produced. Aidan has completed 116 of 188 passes for 25 TDs with just eight interceptions. He is also one of the most efficient quarterbacks to ever play for the Tigers, with a rating this year of 179.7, second highest in the record book. Aidan has rushed for three touchdowns, including a key score in the first round playoff game against Columbus Walnut Ridge. Possessed with a rocket arm, the junior currently holds a scholarship from Kent State to play pitcher on the baseball team.
Deon Williams – Offensive Lineman. Williams is a 3-year starter and has played regularly on both sides of the ball. On offense he is a key blocker, opening up gaping holes for the running backs, while protecting the quarterback from edge blitzes. On defense he has also been a stalwart, recording nine tackles and 16 assists. Expect 261 lb. Williams, who has a scholarship offer from Malone University, to play somewhere at the next level.
Kyshad Mack – LInebacker. Mack uses his outstanding speed and football prowess to own the wide side of any offense. Through eleven games, he has recorded 12 solo tackles and 15 assists. He also leads the team with four pass interceptions, two of which were returned for touchdowns. Mack holds a scholarship offer from Malone University.
Justin Gaddis – Team Most Valuable Player. Gaddis anchors a stellar offensive line that has propelled the team to an explosive running attack, while providing great protection for the quarterback. To date, the offense has rushed for 240.1 yards per game at 6.6 yards per carry. On many of these plays, while paying at the center position, Justin has called many of the blocking schemes.
Massillon pulls away in fourth to bury Walnut Ridge
Nov 02, 2018 10:35 PM
MASSILLON Kameron Simpson took the pass out of the air and took off running. By the time the senior linebacker crossed the goal line, he and his Massillon teammates were well on their way to Week 12.
That doesn’t mean Week 11 was as easy as Simpson’s 45-yard, game-sealing interception return for a touchdown on Friday. Yet, because of the Tigers’ ability to dominate the fourth quarter, they were able to pull away for a 45-14 Division II Region 7 quarterfinal win over Columbus Walnut Ridge at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.
“They say Week 11 is the toughest bump,” said Simpson, whose pick-6 with 19 seconds left assured Massillon its seventh running-clock finish in 11 games. “So, to go out here and grind it out with my brothers, and for all of us to do our jobs and keep it going, it’s a great feeling. Four more weeks until Week 15. We plan on winning it all.”
The Tigers, who are 11-0 for the first time since 1982, will continue their quest to “win it all” in a regional semifinal contest next week against No. 5-seeded Columbus Whitehall-Yearling at a site to be announced by the Ohio High School Athletic Association on Sunday. The Rams, 10-1 on the season, upset No. 4-seeded Dover 38-31 in another opening-round game on Friday.
Massillon, the region’s No. 1 seed, made sure it wasn’t a third top-four seed in the Region 7 to suffer a setback thanks to a 28-0 run over the final 16:24 of the game. That includes a 21-0 fourth-quarter burst which started with an Aidan Longwell 2-yard run on the first play of the quarter, and ended with Simspon’s touchdown return on its next-to-last play.
The Tigers only held a 112-90 edge in fourth-quarter yards, as they finished with 351 total yards to the Scots’ 256. However, Massillon’s 3-0 edge in scores was more than enough.
“We found a way to get the win,” Tigers coach Nate Moore said. “I’m proud of the guys for grinding it out. It wasn’t pretty, but we’ll certainly take it.”
Massillon won on a night where its vaunted running game was held to 134 yards on 34 rushing attempts, the second-fewest yards in a game this season (Louisville, 123 yards). Leading rushing Jamir Thomas was held to just 40 yards on 17 carries, although it was his 1-yard run with 4:24 remaining in the third quarter which started the Tigers’ game-ending run.
Zion Phifer led Massillon, which was held to a 3-0 lead in the first quarter, with 85 yards on 13 carries. Phifer gave the Tigers the lead for good at 10-7 on an 8-yard run with 6:03 left in the second quarter.
“You have to give credit to those guys,” Moore said of Walnut Ridge, which led 7-3 early in the second quarter on a blocked punt it recovered in the end zone. “They’re fired up on defense. They were playing really, really hard. They were giving us some shifts and some overloads and what-not.”
Massillon’s passing game came through to pick up the slack for the running game. Longwell completed 21-of-33 passes for 216 yards, including an 11-yard touchdown pass to Jayden Ballard with 2:47 remaining for a 38-14 lead.
The gaps were filled in by the Tiger defense, which held Walnut Ridge to just 27 rushing yards, which was 194 yards below its season average. The Scots did throw for 229 yards, 56 of those on a Isaiah Murphy-to-Qian Magwood touchdown which pulled them to within 17-14 with 9:04 left in the third.
Massillon, though, countered Walnut Ridge’s one touchdown pass with two interception returns for touchdowns. Kyshad Mack gave the Tigers a 17-7 lead with 5:48 left in the first half on a 36-yard pick-6.
“The defense played well,” Moore said. “We put them in some bad spots. They bowed up and got some stops. I’m really proud of them for that.”
Massillon edges McKinley 24-17 in 129th meeting of rivals
Oct 27, 2018 7:30 PM
Josh Weir Canton Repository
MASSILLON While his teammates whooped it up Saturday at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium, Massillon senior Jamir Thomas shed tears as he hugged his family.
Why this emotion in a time of celebration?
“Because this is the last Massillon-McKinley game I ever get to be a part of,” Thomas said.
He made the most of it.
Thomas ran for a career-high 269 yards to key Massillon’s 24-17 win against McKinley in the 129th meeting between the rivals.
A near-capacity crowd watched the Tigers hammer the ball on the ground on a rainy, cold afternoon. Fifty-three times Massillon ran it, with Thomas carrying it 35 times and scoring twice.
After Thomas did most of the heavy lifting to get Massillon down the field, it was junior Zion Phifer punching the ball into the end zone on a 1-yard run with 5:55 left to break a 17-17 tie.
McKinley went three-and-out on its ensuing possession, which turned out to be its final possession. Massillon ran the ball 11 straight times to eat up the final 4:52 of clock and complete the program’s first 10-0 regular season since 1999.
“It’s just playing like Tigers, which means playing hard, playing with discipline, playing with great effort, and doing that for eight months,” Massillon head coach Nate Moore said.
Phifer added 67 yards on 15 carries as the Tigers attempted only eight passes all afternoon. Massillon has won three straight and seven out of the last eight in the series against McKinley.
“We came out here expecting to pound the ball,” Thomas said. “I mean, they knew our plays. They were calling out our plays from their sideline. So we really just had to execute. That’s what we did.” OHSAA playoff pairings will be announced Sunday, but it appears Massillon will host Columbus Walnut Ridge next week in Division II, Region 7, while McKinley will go to Solon in Division I, Region 1.
Down 17-10 at halftime, McKinley’s Kris Hunter recovered a pooch kick that Jayden Ballard couldn’t collect. Nine plays later, quarterback Alijah Curtis fought off at least three tackles before just breaking the plane of the goal line on a 4-yard TD run before the ball popped loose.
The game was tied and the Bulldogs had life. Soon Massillon was sucking it away.
McKinley ran seven offensive plays over the final 19:54 of game clock thanks to Massillon’s punishing run game.
“It was a quick second half,” McKinley head coach Dan Reardon said. “We’ve got to do a better job of getting them stopped. We had a couple of opportunities.”
Entering Saturday, only one of Massillon’s nine wins had come by less than 28. If the Tigers needed a test, they got it from McKinley.
Lameir Garrett ran for 104 yards on 19 carries to lead the Bulldogs. He added a 15-yard touchdown on a throwback screen in the first quarter that had McKinley up 7-3.
Curtis completed 7 of 13 passes for 90 yards and one interception as the Bulldogs dropped their second straight game after beginning the season 8-0.
“I thought our kids did a lot of good things,” Reardon said. “Rivalry games, big games, this game, everything is magnified. A missed tackle is magnified. A misalignment is magnified. A misread. Ultimately, they made more plays than we did.
“… I’m very proud of our kids. Our kids this year have done a tremendous job of getting so much better over the course of the year. The team we are today is a thousand times better than 10 or 12 weeks ago.”
Facing a fourth-and-6 at their own 37 on the first play of the fourth quarter, McKinley ran a fake punt. The play’s timing seemed to be disrupted and Matthew Reardon’s pass was picked off by Max Turner.
A Massillon unsportsmanlike penalty pushed the ball back to the Tigers’ 36, where it embarked on the game-winning drive. It included QB Aidan Longwell plowing forward to get a first down on fourth-and-1 from the 20.
“This game, it’s a slugfest,” Moore said. “It always is. Our kids stood tall.”
Tyree Broyles got an interception off a Kyshad Mack deflection in the second quarter to thwart any McKinley momentum after the Bulldogs got a turnover on downs. The Bulldogs finished with only 224 yards of offense.
Massillon junior nose tackle Emanuel McElroy was a force in the trenches. His stop of Garrett on third-and-goal from the 1 in the first quarter forced McKinley to settle for a 20-yard Ronald Pino field goal.
McElroy, a transfer from Tuslaw, is the son of former McKinley star Jamar Martin, creating an interesting dynamic for his family.
“It was nerve-wracking at first,” McElroy said. “I didn’t know what to expect, but I knew what I was going to do. Whether they came for McKinley or Massillon is whatever they feel. I’m going to keep doing what I do for my team and help us go 15-for-15.”
With a weapon such as Thomas, anything is possible for Massillon. The Canton native, a mix of power and speed, highlighted his final McKinley-Massillon game with 78- and 16-yard touchdown runs.
“It’s just unbelievable,” Thomas said. “I just love my team, man.”
No high school football rivalry in the nation can claim the extraordinary tradition of Massillon vs. Canton. The rivalry has festered for over 100 years. It’s bigger than a family feud and it’s more intense than a street fight. In fact, it’s almost akin to going to war. And the success or failure of each team is often based on its outcome.
Dave Sheegog scores the winning touchdown in the 1964 Massillon-McKinley game.
Focused Tigers shut down Leopards to stay undefeated
Oct 19, 2018 11:30 PM
Chris Easterling
LOUISVILLE Louisville made a point to let undefeated Massillon know it was on the field before the ball was even teed up on Friday night. The teams had to be separated after the Leopards ran up to the Tigers while the latter waited to take the field.
Once the ball was kicked off, Massillon made sure Louisville knew it was on the field. The Tigers scored four first-quarter touchdowns, while the defense dominated, to lead them to a 41-0 win over the Leopards in front of a standing-room-only crowd at Louisville Stadium.
“That really surprised me that that even happened before the game,” Massillon coach Nate Moore said. “We certainly responded well. We got out focus back and played hard.”
The win gives Massillon it’s first 9-0 start since 2005. However, the chance for the first Week 10 showdown between undefeated and untied Massillon and McKinley teams since that season – and sixth time ever – was thwarted when Perry knocked off the Bulldogs.
Still, the Tigers have a chance to post their first undefeated regular season since 1999 with a win over McKinley in next Saturday’s 129th edition of The Game at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.
“It’s the biggest game in high school football,” Moore said. “It’s an honor to be a part of it.”
Part of a tradition to The Game is the worry both teams have about Week 9. A potential to peak ahead to the rivalry game always seems to exist, regardless of who the opponent they may be facing.
Any doubt that the Tigers would be looking past Friday’s game was erased when the Leopards made their pregame beeline toward Massillon. While the “scuffle” was more bark than bite by either team, it certainly ignited a fire under the Tigers.
Louisville coach John DeMarco declined to comment about the pregame incident, as well as the four first-half personal fouls his team committed. However, he acknowledged what he saw over the four quarters his team played against the Tigers supported everything he saw of them on film during the week.
“They played like I thought they could play,” said DeMarco, whose team was shut out for the first since since Austintown Fitch won 26-0 in Week 3 of the 2016 season. “They’re a very good team, a very complete team. They do a lot of different things well.”
While the offense has been one of the calling cards for Massillon this season, it was the defense which set the tone throughout the game. That started with the Tigers’ first score, a 24-yard interception return for a touchdown by Max Turner with 8:42 remaining in the first quarter.
Turner’s pick – his second in as many weeks which he returned for a score – was one of three for Massillon on the night. That includes back-to-back possessions in the first quarter, as Kyshad Mack picked off the first pass of the Leopards’ subsequent possession at the Louisville 33.
That set up Massillon’s first offensive score of the night, a 1-yard Aidan Longwell touchdown run to make it 14-0 with 5:38 left in the quarter. That was the first of three consecutive touchdown drives for the Tigers, with Longwell hitting Jayden Ballard for a 74-yard scoring strike to make it 21-0 with 1:56 left in the quarter, and Jamir Thomas scoring from a yard out to make it 28-0 one play into the second quarter.
Ballard would catch a 78-yard touchdown pass with 1:51 remaining in the first half to make it 34-0 Tigers. Thomas’ second 1-yard run made it 41-0 with 5:10 left in the third quarter.
Thomas rushed for 113 yards on 17 carries. Longwell completed 8-of-11 passes for 203 yards with two touchdowns and one pick.
It was, however, the Tiger defense which set the tone.
Massillon limited Louisville to just 145 total yards. Leopard quarterback Colton Jones, who had thrown for more than 800 yards in his team’s three-game win streak entering the game, was 17-of-34 passing for 143 yards.
Not only did the Tigers keep the potent Louisville passing game in check, it did so despite having their backs to the goal line on multiple first-half possessions. Massillon had three fourth-down stops in the first half, including back-to-back fourth-and-goals in the second quarter from its own 3.
“We got down there a couple of times and weren’t able to score,” DeMarco said. “That was a little frustrating. They had a lot to do with that.”
On Friday, October 12, 2018, Massillon running back Jamir Thomas scored his 48th career rushing touchdown, breaking a record set in 1935-37 by Bob Glass. The following story written by James C. DeLong best describes Glass.
Few people who saw the Massillon Washington High School Tigers play at old Massillon Field in the mid-thirties will ever forget the herculean feats of fullback Bob Glass.
Standing about 5’-10” and weighing around 200 pounds, Glass was a rare combination of speed and power. Equally adept at smashing the middle of the line, running slants or streaking around the end, Massillon foes for three years were always confronted with the difficult task of setting up a defense that would hold Glass in check. Unquestionably, Glass was one of the best ball carriers in Ohio scholastic history.
Bob Glass
In addition to his superb ball carrying ability, Glass performed the other duties of the triple threat back – passing and kicking. He handled all the punting, kick-offs and extra points and did an outstanding job in each department. His poorest specialty was as a passer, although here he was still better than average, as he did most of the throwing during the 1937 season. On defense, he alternated at end and halfback.
Glass stepped into the Washington High grid picture from Longfellow Junior High School in 1935, when as a sophomore, and was given the task of filling the shoes of big D.C. McCants, who was a standout here in 1933 and 1934. Coach Paul E. Brown had followed Blass’s two-year apprenticeship at Longfellow closely and did not hesitate to install him in the starting line-up against Akron East in the 1935 opener. Glass responded with an outstanding exhibition of ball carrying and from that time on he started every game in his three year career except for the 1935 New Philadelphia game, which he missed due to an ankle injury.
Of the 47 touchdowns that Bob scored in his career here, probably the most important one came in the 1935 Canton McKinley-Massillon game. Here Glass broke a scoreless tie in the third quarter when he smashed over from the one yard line in this bruising battle to give Coach Brown his first win over Canton, 6-0, and to end a three year reign by the Bulldogs.
After completing his career at Washing High School, Glass led the Ohio High School All-Stars to a 19-0 victory over the Florida High School All-Stars in a game played in Florida in December, 1937, and then he enrolled at Tulane University, where he played three years as a starting halfback. He was on Tulane’s Sugar Bowl team during his sophomore year and in his senior year led the Green Wave in rushing, passing, kickoff returns and punting and played in the East-West Shrine Game. He received All-American mention at Tulane and was a high draft choice of the New York Giants of the National Football League. However, he never had an opportunity to test his talents in professional football as he was killed late in World War II while serving as a Marine Corps officer in the battle of Iwo Jima.
When Coach Paul Brown learned of Bob’s death in 1945, he remarked that “it must have been a big bullet” to kill Glass.
Bob Glass scores against Canton McKinley in 1935
Highlights of Bob Glass’ Career
Massillon was 28-1-1 during his career, winning three state championships
Scored 47 career touchdowns
Scored 49 career points after touchdown
Scored 330 career points
Scored the only touchdown in a 6-0 victory over Canton McKinley in 1935
Scored five career touchdowns against Canton McKinley plus four extra points
Scored 34 career points against Canton McKinley
Started 29 of 30 games
Carried the ball 31 times against Steubenville in 1937
Named 1st Team All-Stark County in 1935, 1936 and 1937
Named 3rd Team All-Ohio in 1935
Named 1st Team All-Ohio in 1936 and 1937
Inducted into Massillon Wall of Champions in 2008
Records Prior to 2018 Season
Career rushing touchdowns – 1st – 47
Career touchdowns – 1st – 47
Career points – 1st – 330
Single game rushing touchdowns – 3rd – 5 vs. Franklin, Cedar Rapids, IA, 1937
Single game rushing touchdowns – 5th – 4 vs. Alliance (twice), 1935 & 1937
MASSILLON Massillon was coming off its biggest win of the season to date. It was its most emotional and, easily, its closest.
As memorable as the Tigers’ win over East St. Louis (Ill.) was, they made a completely different kind of memory as they welcomed another out-of-state opponent – Sun Valley of Pennsylvania – to Paul Brown Tiger Stadium on Friday. It turned into a night not soon to be forgotten by anyone on either side.
Massillon turned a 73-point first half into a school-record 101-6 win over the Vanguards.
“Our kids work hard and they deserve to play,” said Massillon coach Nate Moore, whose 8-0 team will play at Louisville next Friday. “We subbed early and often. We just kept scoring. I don’t know. I don’t even know what to say.”
The Tigers broke the most points in a game, which was 94, set in a 1922 win over Akron North. They were well on their way to that mark by the half, when they led 73-6.
Massillon was in front 94-6 after the third quarter. The Tigers would top the 100-point plateau on a 77-yard Raekwon Venson touchdown run with 1:56 remaining.
“They are top-notch, the highest level of high-school football program, and we’re not,” said Sun Valley coach Greg “Bubba” Bernhard, whose team fell to 3-5. “We lose our best three skill players in the first (half). We’ve got 37 kids in uniform. We’re in a tough spot. We basically had to hang on. What are you going to do?”
The school record for points in a game wasn’t the only mark to fall. Multiple individual career records also fell.
A week after Jamir Thomas became Massillon’s all-time rushing leader in the 46-40 win over East St. Louis (Ill.), he added another mark to his illustrious career. This time, he became the Tigers’ all-time leader in rushing touchdowns
Thomas came into the game two behind Bob Glass’ all-time mark of 47 rushing scores set between 1935-37. He pulled within one of that mark with a 27-yard scamper to give Massillon a 17-0 lead after one quarter.
The record-tying run, a 46-yard burst with 2:01 into the second quarter, gave the Tigers a 24-0 lead. He would break the mark with 5:52 remaining in the half with a 39-yard touchdown run to make it 52-6 Massillon.
Thomas carried the ball just seven times on the night, rushing for 167 yards and three scores.
Tyree Broyles became the Tigers’ all-time leader in kickoff return touchdowns when he took the second-half kickoff back – after getting the ball handed to him by a teammate at the Tiger 24 – 76 yards for his third career score. Broyles’ record, which broke the old mark of two set by Arvine Ulrich in 1922, made it 80-6 Massillon.
“We had a couple of records go down tonight, so I’m really happy about that,” said Moore, whose team did suffer a key injury when Zion Phifer – who scored the Tigers’ first touchdown – was taken off the field with an apparent head injury late in the first half. “Jamir Thomas with the all-time career rushing touchdown record and Tyree Broyles with the all-time career kickoff-return touchdown record. Those are great things; two records which stood the test of time and two really good players who deserved those records.”
The kickoff return for a score would give Massillon touchdowns five different ways: rushing, passing, kickoff return, punt return and interception return. Tre’Von Morgan would catch a touchdown pass and return a punt for a score, while Kyshad Mack and Max Turner each had interception returns for a score.
Marcellus Blake had two rushing touchdown as well for the Tigers.
Massillon would out-gain Sun Valley 582-274 in total offense. Julz Kelly would score the Vanguards’ only touchdown on an 81-yard pass from Anthony Ellis to make it 45-6, but would be injured on the play.
On Friday, October 5, 2018, Massillon running back Jamir Thomas broke the record for career rushing yards, a record that was set in 1958-60 by Art Hastings with 3,090 yards. The Tiger ironman, who last year shattered the record for career rushing attempts, broke the current mark against national power East St. Louis, the all-time winningest team in the state of Illinois.
But who was this Art Hastings, whose record Thomas was gracious enough to break? The best way to answer this question is to present the following Canton Repository article written by Jim Thomas on July 18, 2018, coinciding with Hastings’ induction into the Stark County High School Football Hall of Fame.
Tiger leader Hastings was ahead of his time
MASSILLON Time eventually swept him away from Stark County consciousness. To Massillon Tigers fans and the people who saw Art Hastings perform his feats as a fullback for the Tigers from 1958-1960, the images of power and speed never fade.
In his high school swan song (a 42-0 shellacking of the McKinley Bulldogs on Nov. 19, 1960), Hastings rushed for four touchdowns to lift Massillon to its second straight Associated Press state poll championship and first team All-Ohio honors for himself.
The Massillon Evening Independent’s Jim Quilty wrote of that performance: “He concluded his final two years of varsity competition with 220 points, over 2,400 yards rushing and innumerable other marks which may withstand the assault of future years.”
Quilty couldn’t have known how true his statement would be.
It’s been nearly 60 years since Hastings last carried the football for the Orange and Black. It’s been 20 since he passed away. But even now, no Massillon Tiger has run for as many yards as Hastings did in a career. His, 3,090 yards in little more than two-plus seasons remains as the school’s standard of excellence and help make Hastings a member of the Stark County High School Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2018.
Hastings’ record is still nearly 300 yards up on runner-up Falando Ashcraft’s 2,794. Massillon senior Jamir Thomas, who has 2,107 yards in his career, could finally break the mark this fall.
But Hastings was more than a career number. He was the best Tiger running back on teams that had future NFL players Jerry Allen and Charlie Brown.
Hastings ran for 213 yards in that McKinley game, second only to legendary Homer Floyd’s 263 yards in 1954. His Tiger teammates set the record for most rushing yards (551) and highest average per carry (14.2) in a game in that finale against McKinley and they still stand, too.
His 1.274 yards in the 1960 campaign were second only to Floyd’s 1,372 in ’54 and his 10.6 yards per carry that season topped Floyd’s 8.9.
Former Massillon Tigers Booster Club president Brock Herring was in junior high school on assignment – “You would go to the game on Friday and watch what the guys who played our position were doing, and you would get asked what they did right, or wrong” – when he first took note of Hastings’ abilities.
”I remember watching a game, and Massillon was on the 7-yard line,” said Herring, whose father, Bob, was a standout running back too. “They ran 31-power, a dive play. Art ran in there and there was a pile up. You are thinking it’s a 3-, 4-yard gain.
“Out of that pile came Art, right up the middle. HE goes (93 yards) for the touchdown. You are thinking ‘How the heck did he do that?’
“He just would not go down.”
Art Hastings breaks free against Canton McKinley in 1960 during a 42-0 victory.
You would laugh if you saw a 5-foot, 164-pounder line up at fullback today. If you saw a fullback in the game at all for that matter. But this was the late 1950s and the head coach was Leo Strang – and these were the powerful Massillon Tigers.
With a stable of running backs led by Hastings and a monster defense, Massillon was undefeated state and national poll champs in 1959. They were state champion again in Hastings’ senior year, 1960. The Tigers were 28-2-1 in Hastings’ career under Strang.
In Scott Shook’s 2010 book A Century of Heroes, Strang described his star back’s style of running thusly: “Hastings looks like his hips went out of joint. He was like trying to catch a dog in the middle of an open field.”
The only loss in Hastings’ final two years was a Week 8, 19-18 road loss to Warren Harding in his senior season in which the Tigers failed on all three two-point conversions tries. That loss snapped a 20-game winning streak and was thought to have destroyed the Tigers’ chance to defend their Ohio crown.
Led by Hastings, the Tigers roared back to life in what was then an 11-game regular season. They crushed Toledo Waite (56-14), fifth-ranked Springfield South (62-32) and McKinley (42-0) as Hastings ran for 552 yards and scored 11 touchdowns in the home stretch to claim the title.
“He was the best back in Ohio that year,” said Dave Null, the Tigers quarterback in 1960 and their future boys basketball coach for many years.
“Our junior year he was as good as any back in Ohio. He was very durable, never hurt. He wasn’t big but he was very strong. And he was as good running inside as he was outside.”
In the win over fifth-ranked Springfield to decide the state title, Hastings tallied four touchdowns including that school-record 93-yarder.
“Because of his size, defenders thought they could hit him and wrap him up,” brock Herring said. “But he would bounce off them or run by them. His balance and strength were his (keys). Some years later I met him. I introduced myself and thought how strong his hands were, years later.”
Art Hastings speeds through the hole against Canton McKinley in 1960 during a 42-0 victory.
Hastings was not only atypical for being a small fullback, he received and exceptionally small load of carries for being a dominant back. Strang believed in using a stable of backs and Hastings averaged just 13 carries as a junior and senior. In his time as a Tigers, Hastings shared the load with Brown and Allen, Doug Toles (who had a cup of coffee with Denver in the AFL), Ken Dean, Marty Gugov, Bob Herring, Joe Heflin and more.
“We all got a chance to do something,” Toles said. “It was evident by the scores and our freshness on the field.”
As for Hastings, Toles said he was “not the fastest guy on the field, but he was deceptively fast. He was a strong runner. Basically, strength and speed were his strengths. HE was very hard to tackle.”
“They have exceptionally good backs,” legendary Benedictine coach Augie Bossu told the Independent after Hastings ran eight times for 177 yards and three scores in a 36-6 1960 win over the Bengals. “That makes a great deal of difference.”
When it was over, Hastings had carried the ball 276 times in his career. It wasn’t until 1991 that Ashcraft broke the mark with 410 carries.
Now it’s 2018, and still no Tiger has taken the mantle from Hastings as Massillon’s career rushing leader.
Art Hastings was born in Bloomville, Mississippi, on March 5, 1942. He died in Barberton, Ohio, on January 25, 1998.
Highlights of Art Hastings’ Career:
Finished the 1959 season with seven consecutive 100 yard games.
In 1960, rushed 15 times for 189 yards and four touchdowns (1, 93, 6 and 8 yards) in a 62-32 victory over Springfield South. South was ranked No. 5 in the state prior to the game.
In 1960, rushed 14 times for 213 yards and four touchdowns (15, 29, 51 and 5 yards) in a 42-0 victory over Canton McKinley.
In 1959, named 3rd Team All-Ohio.
In 1960, named 1st Team All-Ohio.
In 1960, named WHBC Stark County Most Valuable Player
In 1960, received the Sportsmanship Award of the Massillon Junior Chamber of Commerce.
In 1960, was named Scholastic Magazine All-American.
In 2018, was inducted into the Stark County High School Football Hall of Fame.
In 2018, was inducted into the Massillon Tiger Football Hall of Fame.
The 1959 team was ranked state and national champions.
The 1960 team was ranked state champion and 7th in the nation.
Records Prior to the 2018 Season
Career rushing yards – 1st – 3,090 yards
Single season rushing average yards per rush – 3rd – 10.6 yards
Single game rushing touchdowns – 4th – 4
Longest touchdown run – 4th – 93 yards
Single season rushing yards per game – 5th – 127.4 yards
Reference: Photos from 1961 Massillon High School Yearbook
In his high school swan song (a 42-0 shellacking of the McKinley Bulldogs on Nov. 19, 1960), Hastings rushed for four touchdowns to lift Massillon to its second straight Associated Press state poll championship and first team All-Ohio honors for himself.
