Category: <span>History</span>

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Massillon and Mentor Eclipsed 100 Points in 2007 Game

Looking back, it’s hard to believe that this 6-4 Massillon team had put up 52 points on the eventual Division 1 state runner-up.  It’s also hard to believe that they also lost the game.  But the offenses prevailed in this one.  And if you weren’t a fan of either team, then it just might have been one of the most entertaining high school games you ever saw.  The final score was 56-52 in favor of Mentor.

Jason Hall’s Tigers entered Week 5 with a 2-2 record, having unexpectedly lost to both Solon and Parma Normandy.  Mentor, meanwhile, dropped their opener to eventual Division 4 runner-up Youngstown Cardinal Mooney, but stormed back to take the next three, beating Strongsville (44-28), Solon (27-0) and Cleveland St. Ignatius (38-17).  So there was no doubt that Mentor was the favored team.  Only the Cardinals have always struggled when playing in Tigertown and this one turned out to be no different.

The two teams lit up the scoreboard right from the onset, with Mentor taking a 21-17 lead after three possessions by each squad.  Following a 29-yard field goal by Steve Schott, KJ Herring scored from 50 yards out and then JB Price returned a fumbled punt 36 yards for a TD.

The onslaught continued right to halftime with 28 more points, 14 by each team, and Mentor holding onto a slim 4-point lead.  For the Tigers, it was two Devoe Torrence rushing touchdowns, from nine and one-yards out, finishing off a pair of 80-yard drives.  Could either team stop the other in the second half?  Not likely.

Each team scored once in the third quarter to set up a thrilling fourth.  Torrence had tallied his third from the nine yardline following a missed 49-yard field goal attempt from Schott.  So entering the fourth quarter, Mentor was up 42-38.

It was one of those games where the team that scored last was going to win.  It started quietly with a Mentor punt.  Then a 24-yard TD by Torrence with 7:25 remaining, gave the Tigers a 45-42 lead.  Mentor answered with a 2-yard TD with 4:01 to play, completing a 16-play methodical drive.  Now it was Massillon’s turn.  JT Turner returned the kickoff to the Mentor 49, with a 15-yard Cardinal penalty tacked on, placing the ball at the Mentor 34.  From there, it took just eight plays, with big Steve Yoder bulling his way up the middle for 21 yards and the score, seemingly carrying half the Cardinal defense on his back.  Schott’s kick was good and the Tigers were up 52-49.

But scoring was not the intent on that play and the TD came too early, leaving 1:52 on the clock.  Too much time for the high-powered Mentor offense.  And they did just what they were expected to.  The winning 8-yard scoring pass came at the end of a 10-play, 79-yard drive, leaving a mere 24 seconds on the clock.  Not enough time for Tigers to pull it out.

Massillon finished with 498 yards, rushing for 433 and passing for another 65.  Chris Willoughby was 6 of 17.  Devoe Torrence rushed 36 times for 283 yards and four touchdowns and KJ Herring added another 109.

Mentor rolled up 588 yards, rushing for 289 and passing for 299.  Bart Tanski was 25 of 38.  Tom Worden rushed 27 times for 226 yards and 3 touchdowns.

So how could a Massillon team that had been basically written off a week before do this to a Mentor team that was destined for greatness?  Simple.  Pure effort and intensity.  And they kept that up for the rest of the season.  Although they dropped a decision to Cleveland St. Ignatius the following week, the Tigers finished strong, winning their final four games and posting a winning record.

 

The Buddy LaRosa Football Classic

It began as a modest 30 x 30 square foot neighborhood eatery and grew in size to over 50 locations throughout the Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky areas.  Today, LaRosa’s Restaurants employ some 2,000 full and part-time workers and are one of the most popular venues in the Queen City.  As a way of giving back to the community that supported him so well, Buddy LaRosa staged one of the finest high school football invitationals that Ohio has ever seen.

The event was held in Cincinnati’s Riverfront Stadium on September 1, 1990, and billed as “Cincinnati versus the USA.”  In fact, the list of opponents for the classic was a literal “who’s-who” of prep school football, matched in the following five games (1989 records shown):

GAME 1: Brentwood Academy, TN (11-2), currently ranked No. 1 in the nation vs. Cincinnati LaSalle (7-3)

GAME 2: Berwick, PA (14-1) vs. Fairfield (5-5)

GAME 3: Massillon (10-3) vs. Covington Catholic, KY (11-2)

GAME 4: Mount Carmel, Chicago, IL (13-1), the 1989 Illinois state champion, vs. Cincinnati Moeller (11-3), Ohio’s 1989 state runner-up

GAME 5: Booker T. Washington, Tulsa, OK (13-2) vs. Cincinnati Elder (10-1)

In the opening game LaSalle upset Brentwood Academy 10-0 and then Fairfield beat Berwick 20-6, giving Cincinnati a 2-0 edge in the series.  Now it was time for the orange and black to take the field.

Covington returned an experienced team under 15th year head coach Lyn Ray.  In fact, the Colonels were 38-4 over the past three years, including a pair of state titles.  Massillon was coached by Lee Owens, who was in his third year as headman of the Tigers.  Considered as one of the top powers in Ohio each year, Massillon was coming off an impressive 51-0 opening week victory over Stow, which finished the 1990 season with an 8-2 record.

Covington struck first, one minute into the game, by intercepting a pass and returning it 35 yards for touchdown.  On their second attempt, the Tigers stalled at their own 25 and were faced with a punt situation.  Only it was a fake.  Up man Troy Burick took a direct snap and tossed a flair pass to Travis McGuire, who had adjusted his position to the outside.  McGuire gathered the ball and raced 20 yards for a first down.  From there, the Tigers drove to the end zone, with James McCullough scoring from the three.  The PAT failed, but the gap was closed to 7-6.

In the second quarter Massillon began to take control, with touchdowns by Quarterback Barry Shertzer and McGuire, putting the Tigers up a halftime, 18-7.

Covington scored in the 3rd to close the deficit to four points, but the Tigers exploded for 21 points late in the fourth quarter to put the game away.  First Shertzer went over from the 15 following a recovered fumble.  Then Falando Ashcraft tallied from 35 yards out.  Finally, Scott Karenbauer returned a punt 77 yards for a TD to ice the game.  Ryan John converted all three PATs.  All of this occurred in less than two minutes of play.

The Tigers ended up completely dominating the Colonels in the stats department, leading in total yards, 369-111.  On top of that, Ashcraft had a career day, rushing 28 times for 190 yards and was named the game’s MVP.  It made for a great ride home from Cincinnati.

In the late games, Mount Carmel bested Moeller 20-7, and Booker T. Washington turned back Elder 21-9, giving USA the edge, 3-2.

Covington Catholic finished 9-1 that year, winning a District championship, while Massillon ended up 8-3, losing to Sandusky in the playoff regional finals.  But this victory and rest of the season would set the stage for a greater 1991 season to follow.

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’72 Game Against Upper Arlington Was a Classic

Throughout Massillon’s storied football history numerous games have been played that significantly impacted the season, whether it be a league championship, the final A.P. Poll, a trip to the playoffs or determination of the state champion.  But few were as big as the 1972 rematch between the Tigers and the Golden Bears of Upper Arlington, a buildup of which garnered instant statewide attention.

There was a bitter taste in the mouths of many Massillon fans back in 1966 for more than one reason.  After showing complete dominance on the gridiron for the better part of four decades and coming off of consecutive state championships, the Tigers were sitting on an uncharacteristic record of 3-3-1.  Compounding that was a 21-6 defeat in Tiger Stadium at the hands of Upper Arlington, a relative unknown from Columbus.  It didn’t matter that future Ohio State head coach Earl Bruce had just left town and newcomer Bob Seaman had taken over.  There was no room in Massillon rebuilding.  It got even worse when during the following year the Tigers’ bid for an undefeated season was derailed at home by this same team, 7-6.

Although the Golden Bears lost the final game of that 1966 season to Columbus Watterson 35-0, negating an undefeated season and potential state title, they would go on to win the next three.  In fact, UA’s head coach Marv Morehead would remain through the 1970 season and finish his 15-year career having lost just once (Watterson) in his last seven years.  As a side note, both Arlington and Mentor finished 10-0 in 1968, but the title went to the defending champion Bears.  Meanwhile Mentor, a 19-0 winner over the Tigers that year, would open with UA in 1969, only to lose 7-6.

But Massillon was able to turn the program around and ease the pain somewhat with the arrival of new coach Bob Commings, who finished 7-2-1 in 1969 and 10-0 in 1970, while capturing the A.P. state championship.  The problem was that the sportswriters supplanted Upper Arlington in the top spot, in spite of the defending champ Golden Bears also going 10-0.  This didn’t sit too well with a lot of football fans across state.  So it was time for a rematch.

The Massillon Offense (Photo by Massillon Independent)

The game was set for 1972, the venue being Marv Morehead Stadium, located in Upper Arlington.  Both teams were 2-0 and primed for outstanding seasons.  As was the case in Massillon, there was also a big buildup in Columbus.  So it was no surprise that a capacity crowd of 11,500 showed up for the game, including some 4,000 Tiger fans  As was tradition at that time, many cars traveling to the road game were decorated with signs and ribbons displaying their support of the Tigers.

But surprisingly to the Massillon fans, all pre-sale tickets were general admission.  So those 4,000 fans showed up early to get the choice seats, assembling at the north end zone visitors’ entrance.  Only the visitors’ side also numbered around 4,000.  That would have been OK, except that the gate for the home fans opened a half hour early and many of these patrons, having been sold GA tickets, began finding their way to visitors’ stands.  This angered the Massillon contingent and upon the gate being opened, they rushed the stands without their tickets being checked.  Within five minutes all of the seats on the visitors’ side were occupied.  Anyone coming later was forced to stand.

Massillon’s Tommy Hannon blows through the Upper Arlington line (Photo from 1973 Massillon WHS Yearbook)

As far as Tiger fans were concerned, the game did not disappoint.  After a scoreless first half, Upper Arlington fumbled the second half kickoff and Massillon recovered at the UA 33, launching a march to the end zone.  Following a 19-yard draw play by Tommy Hannon, Terry Edwards went over from the one for the initial score.  Hannon’s PAT run made it 8-0.  Then early in the fourth, the Tigers scored again following a Brian Bach interception at the UA 25.  Massillon needed just two plays for the clincher.  Again it was Edwards, tallying his second TD, this time on a 13-yard run.  It followed a 12-yard jaunt by Hannon.  The game ended with the Golden Bears on the Tigers 14 yard line.  But it didn’t matter as Massillon fans celebrated the huge 14-0 victory throughout the long ride home.  They enjoyed that the Tigers were victorious and all was right in the world.

Massillon dominated play, leading in total yardage 328-130, yards rushing 306-60 and first downs 15-6.  The only turnovers were the ones mentioned above.  After the game, Coach Commings remarked, “I’m very happy…it’s always a nice feeling when you beat a good, strong football team and Upper Arlington is a strong, well-coached team that never quits.  No question, our defense won if for us.”  Upper Arlington Coach Pete Corey took the loss well, saying, ““Massillon is a great team, they execute as well as any football team I have ever seen.  That Tom Hannon is one of the best runners we have ever faced, he can seem to be running at top speed and then shift into high gear…he’s a fine one.”

The loss was Upper Arlington’s first at home since opening their new field four years earlier.  A second loss that year eliminated them from potential qualification in this the first year of the state playoffs.  But two years later they were back in the hunt, losing to Warren Harding in the state finals.

Massillon would go on to post an undefeated season, but drop a 17-14 heartbreaker to Cincinnati Princeton in the state semifinals, a game that was played in OSU Stadium.  Tommy Hannon was named high school All-American and would later star for Michigan State and the Minnesota Vikings.  Coach Bob Commings coached for one more year before taking over the head duties at the University of Iowa.  Later he would mentor GlenOak.

Massillon and Upper Arlington faced each other three more times following the 1972 game, with the Tigers winning in ’73 and the Golden Bears winning the next two.

 

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Massillon’s Tigers Make the Playoffs – 2008

Story by Gary Vogt

In what is one of the most unlikely chain of events, the Massillon Tigers qualified for the playoffs in 2008.  After week nine there were four teams vying for the eighth and final spot in Division One, Region Two.  Massillon finished in eighth place, and qualified with 21.4912 points, ninth was Fremont Ross with 21.4187, Toledo St. Johns with 21.1429 and Akron Garfield with 21.0500.  These four were vying for the eighth spot and there could have been another spot available had Nordonia lost to Garfield Heights.  Nordonia won 32-12 and thus locked up the sixth seed.

The following series of events had to occur in order for the Tigers to make the playoffs that year.

  • Massillon had to defeat Canton McKinley, which they did 17-0.
  • Parma Normandy (5-5), which the Tigers defeated earlier in the season, had to beat North Royalton (5-5) which they did 35–21.
  • Brantford Ontario Collegiate defeated highly favored Pauline Johnson 20–17 by completing an eighty-yard hook and lateral pass on the last play of the game, giving the Tigers the essential computer points.
  • Holland Springfield (6-4) defeated Perrysburg (6-4) 40-24. If Perrysburg wins, Fremont Ross would have qualified with 21.9742 points. Had any of the above three events not occurred, Fremont Ross would have qualified for the playoffs.
  • Toledo Bowsher defeated Toledo Rogers in overtime, 23-16. If Rogers wins, Toledo St. Johns would have made the playoffs with 21.7551 points.
  • Beaver Local (4-6) defeated Akron North (6-4) 15-14. Akron North was ahead 14-0 at the end of three quarters. Beaver scored a TD minutes into the fourth quarter to cut the lead to 14-7.  With less than two minutes left in the game, Beaver scored again and was successful on their two-point conversion to win by a point.  Had Akron North won, Akron Garfield would have made the playoffs with 21.5500 points.

This unlikely series of events led Massillon to qualify for the playoffs in 2008.  Unfortunately, the Tigers lost the next week to North Canton Hoover 14-7 and bowed out of playoff contention.

It is amazing that all six of these events had to occur for the Tigers to qualify.  This is certainly one of the most unlikely scenarios that led to a team making it in.  Think about it: a win in a rivalry game, two wins by teams whose opponents had like records, a win by successfully going for a two point conversion, an overtime win and an eighty-yard touchdown on the last play of a game, played outside the Unite States.  In the history of the playoffs in Ohio, there probably have been other remarkable scenarios whereby a team qualified, but very, very few more astounding than the 2008 Massillon Tigers.

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Youth Football Camp

FREE Youth camp open to students first through eighth grade
Date: Saturday, May 20
Registration: 8:15 a.m.  –  Camp: 9 – 11 a.m.
Location: Paul David Indoor Facility

MCS Youth Football Camp
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MassillonTigers.com – Updated 2017

The Massillon Tiger Football Booster Club is proud to unveil the new and updated MassillonTigers.com. We are working very hard to provide a website that is reflective of our support for the Massillon Tiger Football Program. This website is essentially a living document and is expected to be updated at minimum weekly, but most likely daily. While the website is now live, it is not yet in it’s full release form. We are working daily to upload the many, many game stories, photographs, videos, etc. that we have at our disposal in hopes that the site will meet the desires and expectations of the users. We encourage you to browse the site as we build it and hope you will take the time to offer your insight into how we can continue to make your experience better.

Some key features you will notice which will enhance your experience within our media guide are:

  1. Search function. – located at the right of the page directly under Obie is a search box. Type in key words of what you are looking for and click the magnifying glass or Enter. The search will be able to scour the entire site to return results of your key words. This will aid in finding information quickly rather than pouring through many documents. Our goal is to make every document on this site searchable so you can find what you are looking for.
  2. Daily Booster Club happenings. Follow the front page of MassillonTigers.com for updates on booster club events, Massillon Tiger Football events, historical stories, etc.
  3. Integrated video. We will soon be linking video to game stories along with photos and anything else we find pertinent to each story. What is integrated video? see Below

    We continue to work daily to update this site in hopes of having everything updated by August 1st. We welcome you commentary.

2016: Massillon 21, Dublin Scioto 31

OUT OF REACH
Tigers’ mistakes, lack of consistency spell early exit from playoffs vs. Scioto

By Chris Easterling
Independent sports editor

MASSILLON One step forward, two steps back. Where that left Massillon by the end of Friday night was on the wrong end of the scoreboard and looking at an early playoff exit. The Tigers couldn’t maintain a consistent offense, and couldn’t consistently slow down Dublin Scioto in a season-ending 31-21 loss in a Division II Region 7 quarterfinal at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

“We would something good and make a good play – and this was both sides of the ball – and then we would turn the ball over or make an uncharacteristic mistake,” said Jon Mazur, who was serving as Massillon’s acting head coach as Nate Moore served a playoff suspension.

“We’d have a missed block or a missed tackle or a guy jumping offsides. We just did a lot of things, and when you’re playing this level of football in the playoffs, everybody’s good and you can’t beat good teams making those mistakes.”

As Moore watched from the east press box, his team struggled to maintain many of the things which had epitomized its success during a seven-game win streak to end the regular season. Instead of advancing to a regional-semifinal matchup with New Albany, the Tigers bow out at 8-3.

The Massillon run game, which was the bread-and-butter of the offense, had forgettable bookends to the season. The Tigers ran for just 142 yards on 40 total carries, the lowest total since only gaining 90 yards in the season-opening loss to Mentor.

“Our defense, I don’t know what to call it, but it’s been a very strong unit all year,” Scioto coach Karl Johnson said after his team improved to 8-3. “We’ve been very good against the run most of the year. We needed to put the offense with it, and we were able to do that.”

The centerpiece of that offense was a running game that gashed Massillon for big yards when it needed it most. The Irish ran for 253 yards on 39 attempts, the most rushing yards gained against the Tigers since Warren Harding ran for 359 yards in what was their last loss of the season.

Scioto finished with 400 yards of offense, while only turning the ball over once. The Irish, meanwhile, turned three Massillon turnovers into a touchdown and a field goal.

“The game, any game, is going to come down to explosive plays, third-down conversions and turnover margins,” Johnson said. “We probably won all of those tonight”.

That’s why we were able to win this game. Scioto didn’t lead at any point until one of those explosive plays – a 65-yard Jared Nolan run gave it a 21-14 lead 36 seconds into the second quarter. The Irish took the lead for good on a 25-yard Noah Densel pass to Weston Talentino with 11:04 remaining to make it 28-21.
Massillon’s offense came down to the passing game primarily. The Tigers scored on their first play – a school-record 89-yard Austin Jasinski catch-and-run from Seth Blankenship – for a 7-0 lead.

The Tigers also took a 14-7 lead on a Blankenship-to-Austin Kutscher 14-yard pass with 2:43 left in the first quarter. They would tie the game at 21-21 when Jasinski caught his second touchdown of the game, a 55-yarder with 8:58 remaining. Blankenship finished 7-of-15 for 203 yards with the three touchdowns and one interception. Jasinski had four of those catches and 168 of the yards.

Massillon wouldn’t score again. The Tigers had a pair of field goals blocked: a 25-yarder in the third quarter which would have given them the lead, and a 21-yarder in the fourth which would have pulled them within seven with 4:41 left.

“They did a good job of stopping the run or slowing the run down,” said Mazur, who also saw the Tigers flagged a season-high 14 times for 120 yards. “We were able to lean on the pass early and hit some big plays. In the second half, when we moved the ball and moved it down the field, we got stopped. We weren’t able to come up with the big play, whether it was in the pass or the run. We didn’t make the big play when we needed to in the second half.”

GAME STATS

Massillon vs. McK - Throwback (Large)

2016: Massillon 21, Canton McKinley 19

Tigers battle adversity, bring back victory bell

Chris Easterling
Independent sports editor

MASSILLON Nothing seemed too easy for Massillon on Saturday afternoon.

The yards – and the points – didn’t quite come as effortlessly as they had in other games. McKinley, conversely, moved the ball as well as any Tiger opponent had moved it on them in weeks. Nothing, though, is supposed to be easy about a game between archrivals Massillon and McKinley. That’s why the wins are celebrated as heartily as they are, as was the case after the Tigers’ 21-19 win over the Bulldogs in front of roughly 14,000 at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

“That’s a Massillon-McKinley game,” Tiger defensive lineman Malcolm Robinson said. “The thing that won this game for us was that we pulled for each other until the last minute and the last seconds of the last quarter. That’s what this Massillon Tiger football team does. When you do that, you win football games.”

Massillon will now take an 8-2 record into the Division II playoffs, which will start next Friday night at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium. The Tigers, who will be the No. 2 seed, will face No. 7 seed Dublin Scioto, although the official pairings won’t be set until Sunday.

The record will show the winning points for Massillon came on a 10-yard run by Keyshawn Watson – who was making his season debut – with 10:05 remaining. That gave the Tigers a 21-13 advantage. It will also show McKinley had multiple chances to make things even more difficult on Massillon than it already was. The Bulldogs pulled within 21-19 on a 4-yard Dominique Robinson run less than a minute after Watson’s run.

Having already had a point-after kick blocked, McKinley went for the 2-point conversion to try and tie the game. That attempt was fumbled, keeping the Tigers in front by two.

“We were chasing that point from early in the game,” McKinley coach Dan Reardon said after his team fell to 6-4 heading into the Division I Region 1 playoffs. “We had to go for two, and we didn’t get it. When you get behind by a PAT or whatever, you’re always chasing it. That was the difference.”

Likewise, McKinley’s subsequent – and final – drive offered a chance to not just tie, but take the lead. However, a 37-yard field goal try with 4:32 left was pushed right, keeping Massillon ahead.

“It’s all about the brotherhood,” Tiger senior linebacker Jacob Risher said. “We all do it for the guy next to us. We all wanted it as bad as the other, and we pulled through.”

McKinley, despite an afternoon in which it gained 339 offensive yards, never saw a chance to change the score after that. That’s because Massillon milked the rest of the clock by running it nine straight times to end the game. That running game was boosted by the return of Watson, who had missed the first nine games due to
being academically ineligible. The junior, who rushed for 1,000 yards a year ago, gained 167 yards on 31 attempts and scored the Tigers’ final touchdown.
Watson’s effort helped Massillon run for 261 yards on 54 carries as a team. It was Watson’s 35-yard run – with an additional 15 tacked on for a McKinley personal foul – which moved Massillon from secondand-7 at its own 5 to first-and-10 at the Bulldog 45.

That drive, which included a 9-yard Jamir Thomas run on fourth-and-1, culminated in Watson’s scoring run.

“We knew Keyshawn was a good football player,” said Tiger quarterback Seth Blankenship, whose only two completions on the day were a pair of touchdown passes to Austin Jasinski. “We knew he had to change to get back out there. Once he fixed that up, it’s was just Keyshawn being Keyshawn. He didn’t lose any form, because we made him work himself back into it.”

McKinley, which had come into the game having scored just one offensive touchdown in its previous two games, scored one in each of the first two quarters to take a 13-7 halftime lead. The Bulldogs picked up a 79-yard Robinson-to-Prayer Wise touchdown in the first quarter to pull within 7-6, then a 12-yard Robinson run with 9:33 left in the half to take the lead.

The Bulldogs threw virtually everything at Massillon, from Reggie Corner getting his first four rushing attempts of the season – for 62 yards – to a formation where backup quarterback Alijah Curtis lined up by himself behind center, with everyone else lined up in a swinging-gate-like look.

That’s how seven of McKinley’s 11 possessions were able to reach Massillon territory. However, an interception and a fumble lost ended two drives, while the Bulldogs also failed to convert on fourth and-1 at the Tiger 22.

“It was nuts,” Risher said. “All the formations they ran, it was not on film. We watch a ton and a ton and a ton of film. We had to read our keys, learn on the go and we got the job done.”

That’s why, despite all the adversity, the Tigers were ringing the Victory Bell in joy when the game came to an end.


GAME STATS

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2016: Massillon 21, Akron St. Vincent St. Mary 12

TIGERS GROUND
AND POUND
Tigers overcome weather, first half turnovers to rally past SVSM

Chris Easterling
Independent sports editor

MASSILLON The weather outside was frightful. Almost as frightful as Massillon’s first-half turnovers. It would, however, all turn out delightful for the Tigers.
Shaking off the rain and four first-half turnovers, Massillon would ground and pound its way to a second-half rally to beat St. Vincent-St. Mary 21-12 on Friday night at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

“The weather was definitely a factor,” said Massillon coach Nate Moore after his team won its sixth in a row to improve to 7-2 heading into the regular-season finale against archrival McKinley. “We had some uncharacteristic turnovers. We just fought through it and came together as a team and got it done.”
After running for just 57 yards on 18 first-half carries, Massillon would run the football for 16 consecutive plays – gaining 65 yards in the process – to open the third quarter.

The final three yards came on a Jamir Thomas keeper out of the wildcat formation, giving the Tigers a 7-6 lead with 4:18 left in the third. That would just be the start of it in the second half. Massillon ran for 170 yards on 41 second half carries, with Thomas adding a 2-yard run with 3:28 remaining to add a cushion by making
it 21-12.

“They have a great (offensive) line; we knew that going in,” said Irish coach Marcus Wattley, whose team fell to 5-4 and saw its three-game win streak snapped. “We did a good job using our speed to neutralize that in the first half. The second half, not so much. Once their big boys get on you, they’re hard to get off.”
Jefferson carries the load While Thomas was the one to cash two of the three second-half scoring drives in for Massillon, it was Ethen Jefferson who helped get it down in position to score. After carrying the ball just once for eight yards in the first half, Jefferson ran for 119 yards on 25 second-half carries.

That helped Jefferson finish with 127 yards on 26 carries. Over the last two weeks, the senior has run for 263 yards on 44 carries.

“He was a workhorse for us tonight,” Moore said of Jefferson. “He ran really hard. He got some tough yards. You have to give credit to St. Vincent-St. Mary; really good football team with a great defense. It was some tough sledding in there.”

Massillon would go in front 14-6 on the only real big play it picked up all night. Seth Blankenship shook off a two-interception first half to hit Austin Jasinski for a 58-yard touchdown with 2:05 remaining in the third. Blankenship would finish 2-of-7 for 61 yards on the night. “It was big for our team,” Moore said. “Those guys executed out here in the rain. It was a great throw and a great catch.”

St. Vincent-St. Mary would match that big throw-and-catch with one of their own to make things interesting early in the fourth quarter. Freshman Luke Lindsay hit Malik Wooldridge for a 47-yard touchdown pass with 9:28 remaining. Failed-two-point conversion After Massillon was called for pass interference on the initial two-point conversion try, the Irish were stuffed on a rushing attempt on the subsequent try. That kept the Tigers in front 14-12.

“He’s not your average freshman,” Wattley said of Lindsay, who accounted for 151 of the Irish’s 159 total yards with his arm. “We knew that. That’s why we trusted him in a game like this.”

Halfway through the game, the Tigers seemed to be fighting the same luck they had battled through the last three years against the Irish. They gave the ball up three times on their first four possessions, then fumbled away a lateral attempt after getting an interception on the final play of the first half.

Despite all of that, however, Massillon was still only a play away from getting the lead. All St. Vincent-St. Mary could muster from all of those Tiger turnovers was a pair of Jamie Martucci field goals, which gave the Irish a 6-0 halftime lead. That’s why, despite only 60 total first-half yards and the minus-3 turnover margin, there wasn’t a lot of hand-wringing in the locker room at halftime for Massillon.

“The coaches went in and got to work making adjustments,” Moore said. “We decided what we wanted to go to in the second half. The kids digested the information and applied it on the field.”

Which is why a frightful start ended with a delightful finish for the Tigers.

GAME STATS

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2016: Massillon 45, Akron Firestone 14

TIGER5
Massillon makes it five straight with win over Falcons

Chris Easterling
Independent sports editor

MASSILLON Nate Moore cautioned anyone who would listen that Firestone wasn’t Bowsher.

He told everyone that a ridiculously-overmatched opponent wasn’t what was coming in to Paul Brown Tiger Stadium on Friday night.

The Falcons lived up to the Massillon coach’s advance warnings. Yet, the threat put up by Firestone wasn’t enough to derail the Tigers, who were able to pull away for a 45-14 win.

“You have to compliment their team and their coaching staff,” said Moore, whose team has won five in a row to improve to 6-2. “I thought they did a great job tonight and they had their kids prepared to play. We made some mistakes in the first half; we just have to play a little better.”

The Tigers, who saw a 17-7 halftime lead cut to 17-14 two plays into the second half, scored the game’s final 28 points to pull away.

Massillon will try to ride that momentum into next Friday’s home game against St. Vincent-St. Mary, which has won three in a row over the Tigers, all at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

Friday marked the first game in a Massillon uniform for highly-touted lineman Thayer Munford, who had to sit out the first seven games after transferring from Cincinnati La Salle in the spring. Munford’s debut, though, didn’t come on offense, but on defense as he started at defensive tackle.

“I have to take a look at the film, but it seemed from the sideline that he blocked well,” Moore said of Munford, who changed numbers from No. 64 to No. 73 in the second half. “He seemed effective at defensive tackle. It looked like he played good, but we’ll have to grade the film and see.”

After Munford and the rest of the Tiger defense stopped Firestone on its initial drive, the Massillon offense – with Munford at left tackle – proceeded to take the lead for good on its first drive. Methodically marching 80 yards in 10 play, Louis Partridge gave the Tigers a 7-0 lead on a 5-yard run on fourth-and-1 with 6:03 remaining in the first quarter.

That was one of three touchdowns on the night for Partridge, who continues to get better each week for Massillon. A week after rushing for what was a career-high 137 yards in a win over Beechcroft, the sophomore topped that with 143 yards on 24 carries against Firestone.

Partridge had 123 yards on 18 first-half carries. His 17th carry – a 6-yard run – gave the Tigers a 17-0 lead with 5:12 remaining in the half.

“He’s getting better,” Moore said of Partridge. “I saw him hit a nice A-gap seam down there. He’s getting better, which is what we ask all the kids to do.”

In between Partridge’s two first-half scores, Nate Gregg added his seventh field goal of the season, a career-long-tying 32-yarder. That gave Massillon a 10-0 lead.

While Partridge continued his growth, Ethen Jefferson found his first extensive carries to his benefit. Jefferson rushed for 136 yards on 18 and scored two key second-half scores that helped provide the Tigers with the necessary cushion.

“I thought Ethen ran really well,” said Moore, whose team gained 501 total yards, 280 on the ground. “I’m really proud of him. He’s just a tough kid; lunch-pail guy who comes to practice every day and practices his tail off.”

Firestone put together three drives in the first half alone that reached Tiger territory, including a 14-play drive that pulled it within 17-7 at the half. Jordon Jones hit Justin Moore on a 3-yard scoring pass with 20 seconds left in the half.

It became 17-14 just 39 seconds into the second half. Massillon fumbled the kickoff and Firestone fell on it at the Tiger 14.

Two plays after that fumble – the second of the game for the Tigers after four consecutive turnover-less games – Joshua Mitchell scored from a yard out for Firestone. The Falcons finished with 248 total yards, 222 of those through the air.

That, though, would be answered by a Massillon scoring drive. Jefferson’s 6-yard run closed that seven-play, 64-yard drive out to make it 24-14 with 8:30 left in the third.

“It was really important,” Moore said of the quick response. “We had to do that and respond on offense and answer with a touchdown. It was good that we did that.”

GAME STATS