Category: <span>History</span>

Massillon vs. McK - Throwback (Large)

2010: Massillon 17, Canton McKinley 40

McKinley keeps bell with 40-17 win over Massillon

By CHRIS EASTERLING
The Independent

MASSILLON, OH – The little things can seem so insignificant when looked at individually. A missed tackle or a dropped pass or a missed assignment or a penalty, all can be looked at as mere bumps in the road for a football team.

On Saturday afternoon, those little things added up quickly for the Massillon Tigers. The sum of those little things was a 40-17 beating at the hands of the archrival McKinley Bulldogs in front of 17,794 at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

“I thought they executed and we didn’t,” said Tiger coach Jason Hall, whose team will take a 7-3 record into next Saturday’s Division I Region 2 quarterfinal, expected to be at Toledo Whitmer (9-1). “We missed tackles. … We shot ourselves in the foot. You can’t have (five) turnovers, which can be put on a lot of things. You can’t take field position. You can’t have personal fouls. You can’t have all the little things that just build up.”

Those little things began to really cause Massillon problems in the second quarter despite its possession of a 10-7 lead on an Anthony McCarthy 37-yard field goal.

With McKinley (8-2) eyeing a fourth-and-10 situation from the Massillon 28, the Tigers were flagged for pass interference to give the Bulldogs new life. On the next play, Massillon was hit with its second straight penalty – this one a personal foul – to put McKinley at the Tiger 6.

Those two Tiger penalties were among the nine they were flagged for in the game, for 95 yards. McKinley, meanwhile, was flagged 12 times for 143 yards. After the two penalties, Sa’Veon Holloway ran it in from there to give McKinley a 14-10 lead – post point-after try – with three minutes left in the half.

Massillon would drive down to the McKinley 8 on its next possession. However, three straight incompletions – including two drops – and a missed field goal left the Tigers with no points to show for it.

“We missed two consecutive big plays down in the end zone, two opportunities to score,” Hall said. “We miss a field goal. No matter what, you want to put some points on the board in that situation.”

McKinley’s defense harassed the Tigers in five turnovers on the afternoon, but none were bigger than Jermaine Edmondson’s two third-quarter interceptions for the Bulldogs. Both turnovers would end up as Bulldog touchdowns – one on a Kyle Ohradzansky 24-yard run; the other on a 19-yard Ohradzansky-to-Malcolm Robinson pass – to put McKinley up 27-10 with 4:17 left in the third.

“The coaches always tell me to be there at the right time,” Edmondson said. “I just jumped on the ball and got the interception.”

The turnovers spoiled what started out like a good day for the Tiger offense. After McKinley scored on its first possession to take a 7-0 lead, Massillon marched right back down the field to match the score with one of its own on a 1-yard Jake Reiman run.

Massillon came out running the Wildcat formation with Devin Smith lined up at quarterback for the first three plays, gaining 30 yards on Smith runs to move to the McKinley 34. Smith, who added 135 yards on seven catches, also had a 33-yard reception on the drive to put the Tigers at the Bulldog 4.

“We’ve been practicing that,” Hall said of the Wildcat. “We’ll mix that in every once in a while. We haven’t used that a lot, but I thought it was time to let him run around.”

The Tigers came into the game knowing they had to shuffle some things around up front due to another injury – or in this case, illness – situation. Kyle Belak, who moved from guard to center in Week Seven due to injury, was lost to a case of mononucleosis in the middle of the week.

Craig Kircher then moved from left tackle to center, while Brian Robinson moved from right guard to left tackle. Tim Dimitroff then moved into the right guard spot.

That line was faced with the challenge of dealing with a highly-regarded McKinley defensive front, led by ends Steve Miller and Se’Von Pittman. Early on, they did just that, as Massillon gained 184 yards in the first half.

The problem, though, was that as the second half went on, the Bulldogs began to get more and more pressure on sophomore quarterback Kyle Kempt. By the fourth quarter, they were able to pin their ears back and really get to the Tiger passer, as they finished with three sacks, all in the second half.

“We just kept playing hard and kept rushing the passer,” Miller said. “We just kept rushing the quarterback and having fun.”

McKinley, meanwhile, began to have some fun rushing the football. The Bulldogs finished with 357 rushing yards for the game, with a pair of 100-yard rushers in Elijah Farrakhan (136 yards on 14 carries) and Ohradzansky (101 yards on 15 carries).

Ohradzansky’s second scoring run may have been the dagger, a 36-yard touchdown run on the second play of the fourth quarter to give McKinley a 34-17 lead. That came on the Bulldogs’ subsequent possession after Massillon had found new life – so it thought – on Reiman’s second 1-yard touchdown run of the game to pull within 27-17.

“It was huge,” Ohradzansky said of the scoring run. “It really killed their momentum. It really allowed us to say, ‘Hey, we’re going to take this thing over and we’re going to end it right now.’ And that’s what we ended up doing.”

GAME STATS

McKinley 40

Massillon 17

at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium

McKinley 7 7 13 13 40

Massillon 7 3 7 0 17

SCORING SUMMARY

McK – Montgomery 38 run (Lioi kick)

Mas – Reiman 1 run (McCarthy kick)

Mas – FG McCarthy 37

McK – Holloway 6 run (Lioi kick)

McK – Ohradzansky 24 run (Run failed)

McK – Robinson 19 pass from Ohradzansky (Lioi kick)

Mas – Reiman 1 run (McCarthy kick)

McK – Ohradzansky 36 run (Lioi kick)

McK – Holloway 1 run (Kick failed)

McK Mas

First downs 20 22

Rushes-yards 54-357 31-100

Comp-Att-Int. 5-11-0 15-36-3

Passing yards 70 189

Fumbles-lost 0-0 2-2

Penalties-yards 12-143 9-95

Records 8-2 7-3

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing:

Massillon – Reiman 12-50 2 TDs; Winters 5-32; Smith 5-23; Taylor 4-14.

McKinley – Farrakhan 14-139; Ohradzansky 15-101 2 TDs; Holloway 16-80 2 TDs;

Montgomery 5-64 TD.

Passing:

Massillon – Kempt 15-35-189 2 TDs; Smith 0-1-0 INT.

McKinley – Ohradzansky 5-11-70 TD.

Receiving:

Massillon – Smith 7-135; Winters 3-(minus-7); Olack 2-38; Miller 1-10; Kreiger 1-8; Baez 1-5.

McKinley – Robinson 3-56 TD; Sweat 1-8; Foster 1-6.

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo

2010: Massillon 55, Avon Grove, PA 17

Massillon avoids looking ahead, routs Avon Grove

By CHRIS EASTERLING
The Independent

MASSILLON, OH – There is always the danger in Week Nine for the Massillon Tigers to find themselves a tad distracted, their minds wandering ahead to the next week’s showdown with hated McKinley.

The minds of the Massillon players certainly found themselves drifting early in Friday night’s contest against Pennsylvania visitor Avon Grove at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium. Of course, there were no worries of a potential letdown, as they were already well on their way to a 55-17 rout of the Red Devils.

“All in all, we handled our business, we stayed healthy and it leads up to McKinley Week,” said Tiger coach Jason Hall after his team improved to 7-2 and all but clinched a playoff berth. “That speaks for itself.”

Massillon scored on all seven first-half possessions to jump out to a 48-10 halftime lead. The first six scores came courtesy of the Tiger first-teamers, while backup quarterback Anthony McCormick’s 25-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Rambo with two ticks left on the first half clock gave the reserves a first-half score of their own.

By that time, most of the Tiger faithful among the 7,603 in attendance weren’t thinking about the Red Devils. They certainly were thinking a team in red, but that team was McKinley, not Avon Grove.

With McKinley having already gotten a 24-hour head start on its rest and preparation for next Saturday afternoon’s showdown at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium by playing – and winning – on Thursday night at Boardman, the Tigers were more than happy to be able to call it an early night for their regulars.

“When you’re a kid, you don’t think of it that way,” Hall said. “Those kids like to play. They wanted to go back out and play. More importantly, we’re healthy. We didn’t get dinged up tonight. We’re expecting back some more depth next week with Jake Reiman and Tyler Robinson coming back. We’re gearing up for this McKinley game.”

Massillon still needed to take care of its business against Avon Grove before its attention could fully be directed at the Bulldogs. And considering the results of last week’s game – a 20-6 loss to Warren Harding – Hall made sure his players’ minds were set on the Red Devils as well.

“We were all disappointed from last week,” Hall said. “We didn’t think we played well. Warren took it to us and I didn’t think we responded. It was kind of a business mentality this week. I thought our kids came out quick and were ready to play.”

Whatever concerns the third-year coach had surely dissipated on the first drive of the game. The Tigers needed just four plays – following a 50-yard return by Devin Smith – to make it 7-0 as Alex Winters ripped off a 16-yard touchdown run just 1:56 into the game.

It was one of two scoring jaunts for Winters in the first quarter. His 13-yard run made it 21-3 with 1:52 remaining in the quarter.

Kentrell Taylor – who led the Tigers with 84 yards on 12 carries – also ran for a pair of first-half scores, including a 7-yard run that gave the Tigers a 27-3 lead after one quarter. His 17-yard scoring run capped the night for the Massillon first unit.

The passing game wasn’t forgotten either as Kyle Kempt completed 10-of-16 passes for 159 yards in his six possessions with a pair of touchdown passes to Smith.

As impressive as the Tiger offense was, the defense was more than its equal. That, more than anything, put a smile on Hall’s face after Massillon gave up a 348-yard rushing performance to Warren’s Demond Hymes last week.

Facing a shifty, fast and elusive tailback in Avon Grove’s Brandon Monk, the Tigers swarmed to the ball and never let him get loose for the big play he is capable of. Monk – whose 71-yard kickoff return set up an Avon Grove field goal that cut it to 7-3 with 8:30 left in the first quarter – finished with 83 rushing yards on 17 carries.

Monk was able to get into the end zone for a third-quarter score against Massillon’s reserves.

The only touchdown the Tiger first-unit defense surrendered came with 38 seconds left in the first half on Charles Holmes Jr.’s 16-yard run.

“We played the way we expected to play,” Hall said. “The kids aren’t going to be perfect, the coaches aren’t going to perfect. The best way to get that Warren game out of your mouth was to play another game. It was nice to get out there and play, the kids running and tackling. It was kind of a move-on time.’

And now, the Tigers get to move on to the most important game of the year – McKinley.

GAME STATS

Massillon 55,

Avon Grove (Pa.) 17

at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium

Avon Grove 3 7 7 0 17

Massillon 27 21 7 0 55

SCORING SUMMARY

M – Winters 16 run (McCarthy kick)

AG – FG Mayhart 28

M – De. Smith 67 pass from Kempt (McCarthy kick)

M – Winters 13 run (McCarthy kick)

M – Taylor 7 run (Kick failed)

M – De. Smith 14 pass from Kempt (McCarthy kick)

M – Taylor 17 run (McCarthy kick)

AG – Holmes 16 run (Mayhart kick)

M – Rambo 25 pass from McCormick (McCarthy kick)

AG – Monk 15 run (Mayhart kick)

M – Conley 17 pass from McCormick (McCarthy kick)

AG Mas

First downs 10 21

Rushes-yards 31-84 35-225

Comp-Att-Int 7-19-2 17-31-0

Passing yards 64 263

Fumbles-lost 0-0 4-0

Penalties-yards 1-5 4-35

Records 3-5 7-2

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing: Massillon – Taylor 12-84 2 TDs; McCormick 7-83; Winters 3-32 2 TDs; Da. Smith 10-13.

Avon Grove – Monk 17-83 TD.

Passing:

Massillon – Kempt 10-16-159 2 TDs; McCormick 7-15-104 2 TDs.

Avon Grove – Fiala 7-18-64 2 INTs; Monk 0-1-0.

Receiving:

Massillon – De. Smith 6-109 2 TDs; Rambo 3-54 TD; Conley 2-31 TD.

Avon Grove – Pankonien 2-23; Benson 2-21; Holmes 2-9.

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo

2010: Massillon 6, Warren Harding 20

Warren Harding snaps Tigers’ win streak

By CHRIS EASTERLING
The Independent

WARREN, OH – Much was made in the past week about Massillon’s big win over previously undefeated Steubenville. But head coach Jason Hall cautioned everyone who would listen that the Tigers were facing just as big a rival – if not bigger – this week in Warren Harding.

Hall’s words proved prophetic.

With the Raiders’ Demond Hymes celebrating his 19th birthday with a 348-yard rushing performance, Warren snapped the Tigers’ six-game win streak with a 20-6 victory in front of about 7,500 at Mollenkopf Stadium.

“They came out with a win-or-die attitude and we didn’t,” said Hall, who was engaged in a verbal altercation following the game with a Warren fan on the field. “We really didn’t. At the end of the day, as coaches and players, we have to look ourselves in the mirror. … We definitely didn’t play like we played last week, and we needed to play (like that) to have a chance to win this football game.”

The Tiger coach said his team took a step forward in becoming the type of tough football team he wants to see after last week’s win. Warren, though, was all about testing just how far Massillon’s toughness had come.

And the Raiders found out that it wasn’t nearly as far as the Tigers, now 6-2, had hoped. Warren held a 388-37 edge in rushing and picked up three sacks on defense.

“We’re not a big team, so we have to play physical,” Hall said. “We didn’t play physical football tonight and they did. (Warren) won the battle up front, and we have to do a better job.”

Hymes was the biggest beneficiary of the Raiders’ victory in the trenches. The senior back carried the ball 37 times to reach his career high, topping the 236 he gained two weeks ago against Euclid.

“I was seeing they were blitzing off the outside,” Hymes said. “My line said to cut it up, and that’s what I did. I got into the open field and I only had one safety out there. I just had to shake him.”

Warren scored on its first three drives, often by controlling the line of scrimmage with a massive offensive line.

“That was something we wanted to do,” said Warren coach D.J. Dota, whose team kept its playoff hopes alive at 6-2. “Our guys just went out and established the run. I thought it was something we could do. They believed in that and they accomplished it.”

The Raiders’ 15-play opening ended on a 33-yard Moses Sosa field goal.

On the next possession, Hymes – who had 144 yards on 13 first-quarter carries – picked up a loose ball behind the line of scrimmage and raced 49 yards for the Raider touchdown and a 10-0 lead with 2:47 left in the first quarter.

Sosa’s 37-yard field goal on the fourth play of the second quarter made it 13-0 Warren.

While Warren was turning the number under its side of the scoreboard, the Tigers were grinding their wheels on offense. After a 29-yard Kyle Kempt-to-Jacar Roberson pass on its first play, Massillon would net just 26 yards and one first down on its next 17.

The Tigers finally cracked the scoreboard when Kempt, who completed just 5 of his 17 first-half passes before finishing 19 of 38 for 274 yards, hit Roberson for a sliding 22-yard touchdown on the last play of the half to cut the deficit to 13-6. Roberson, though, was injured on the play and had to be helped to the locker room.

Hall didn’t have an update on Roberson’s injury after the game, other than to confirm it was a leg injury.

That scoring drive was the only time the Tigers capitalized when reaching Warren territory. All four of Massillon’s second-half drives crossed into Raider territory with one ending on a punt, two ending on downs and a third ending on a game-sealing fumble that was returned 49 yards to the Tiger 3 with under 1:30 remaining.

“We didn’t capitalize on anything offensively,” Hall said. “We had a couple of 10-play drives that we didn’t capitalize on.”

GAME STATS

at Mollenkopf Stadium

Massillon 0 6 0 0 6

Warren 10 3 7 0 20

SCORING SUMMARY

W – FG Sosa 33

W- Hymes 49 run (Sosa kick)

W – FG Sosa 37

M – Roberson 22 pass from Kempt (Kick failed)

W – Hymes 1 run (Sosa kick)

Mas WH

First downs 16 16

Rushes-yards 19-37 50-388

Comp-Att-Int 19-38-0 2-10-0

Passing yards 272 14

Fumbles-lost 1-1 2-0

Penalties-yards 7-65 11-90

Records 6-2 6-2

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing:

Massillon – Taylor 13-59; Winters 3-12.

Warren – Hymes 37-348 2 TDs.

Passing:

Massillon – Kempt 19-38-274 TD.

Warren – Seawood 2-9-14; Powell 0-1-0.

Receiving:

Massillon – Smith 8-144; Roberson 3-73 TD; McCormick 3-23; Olack

3-12; Taylor 1-18; Kreiger 1-0.

Warren – Powell 1-9; May 1-5.

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo

2010: Massillon 28, Steubenville 7

Massillon rolls to redemption, routs Big Red

By CHRIS EASTERLING
The Independent

MASSILLON, OH — For almost a year, the Massillon Tigers lived with the memory of their trip to Steubenville. They remembered the way Big Red pushed them around the field and exerted their will in handing them as crushing a loss the Tigers would experience in 2009.

On Friday night, in the confines of their own home stadium, the Tigers got their chance to rid themselves of those painful memories of a rainy night on the river. And exorcise those memories they did as the Tigers rolled to a 28-7 win over previously-undefeated Steubenville in front of a raucous crowd of 11,540 at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

“We had this one circled since we lost to them last year,” said Tiger receiver Devin Smith, who had 121 yards on four catches with a pair of touchdowns.

“We wanted redemption back from them. That was the biggest thing this week, getting our redemption back. We wanted to show them what Massillon football was all about.”

A year ago, it was Big Red who was the aggressor, the one who was the bully taking the lunch money. On Friday night, Massillon was the one to establish the tone of the game.

The Tigers did so from the very first play as Anthony McCormick – wearing Alex Winters’ jersey number – took a lateral and hit Smith for a 76-yard touchdown pass. All of 14 seconds into the game and Massillon had a lead it would never relinquish.

“I didn’t even let him (McCormick) know he was wearing that (Winters’ number) until about an hour before the game,” Tiger coach Jason Hall said. “It was just a situation where we were able to catch them off guard with it and we were able to take advantage of it.”

Steubenville would try to follow the same blueprint it used in beating Massillon last year – and has used for years against various opponents. Big Red took up 12 plays on their first possession, then another 16 yards on the second.

And ended up with nothing to show for either.

The first ended in a quick kick at the Tiger 44. The second ended on a Tyler Allman interception at the Massillon 1.

Allman’s pick would be one of six Big Red turnovers on the night, including three straight in the second quarter. Massillon turned those turnovers into 14 points – the first a 13-yard touchdown run by Kentrell Taylor, who finished with 99 yards on 20 carries, for a 14-0 Tiger lead late in the second quarter.

The other came on a 42-yard Seth Nalbach interception return for a score in the third quarter.

“It’s backbreaking, because I’ve been on the other side,” Hall said of the turnovers. “Offensively, it’s hard to get momentum if you’re turning the ball over every time you get going. Our defense really put them in position where they really couldn’t get rolling tonight. They couldn’t establish a rhythm because of the things we were doing.”

Steubenville finished with 321 yards of offense, 278 of those on the ground. But Big Red could only convert 5-of-16 third-down tries, while going for it seven times on fourth down, converting four.

“We set the tone defensively,” Hall said. “I can’t praise our kids and our coaches defensively enough. Our kids just never gave up. We forced some turnovers, punishing them when they had the ball. That’s Massillon football. That’s what we expect.”

Big Red would put their only points of the game on the board when JoJo Pierro ran for a 24-yard touchdown 1:15 into the second half to cut it to 14-7. Pierro finished with 193 yards on 33 carries.

While Steubenville owned the first possession of the third quarter, the Tigers owned the rest of the quarter. Massillon struck on a 36-yard scoring pass from Kyle Kempt to Smith and then on Nalbach’s pick-six.

“It really felt good, just getting back at them and having them get that feeling that we had last year,” Smith said.

GAME STATS

Massillon 28,

Steubenville 7

at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium

Steubenville 0 0 7 0 7

Massillon 7 7 14 0 28

SCORING SUMMARY

M – Smith 76 pass from McCormick (McCarthy kick)

M – Taylor 13 run (McCarthy kick)

S – J. Pierro 24 run (McClurg kick)

M – Smith 36 pass from Kempt (McCarthy kick)

M – Nalbach 42 interception return (McCarthy kick)

S M

First downs 11 15

Rushes-yards 57-278 30-97

Comp-Att-Int 3-8-2 11-19-0

Passing yards 43 206

Fumbles-lost 4-4 4-2

Penalties-yards 5-48 3-14

Records 6-1 6-1

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing:

Massillon – Taylor 20-99 TD; Nalbach 5-14; Kempt 3-7.

Steubenville – J. Pierro 33-193 TD; A. Pierro 16-44.

Passing:

Massillon – Kempt 10-18-130 TD; McCormick 1-1-76 TD.

Steubenville – A. Pierro 3-8-43 2 INTs.

Receiving:

Massillon – Smith 4-121 2 TDs; Olack 4-61; Roberson 2-18; T. Robinson 1-6.

Steubenville – Garay 1-37; Petteway 1-5; Meyer 1-1.

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo

2010: Massillon 56, Brantford, Ont. Canada 7

Tigers tune up for Big Red, belt Brantford

By CHRIS EASTERLING
The Independent

MASSILLON, OH — Jason Hall never denied that a portion of this past week was spent as much on preparing for next Friday’s showdown with undefeated Steubenville as it was on Friday’s actual opponent from Ontario, Brantford Collegiate.

About 10 seconds into the game was all it took for the Tigers to officially be able to turn their eyes to Big Red. That’s the amount of time it took Devin Smith to take the opening kickoff back 79 yards for a touchdown giving Massillon the lead for good.

From there, it was a question not of if the Tigers would add to their lead, but how much, as they rolled up a 56-7 win over the overmatched Canadian guests at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

“It’s really kind of hard to judge, but we played a lot of kids,” Hall said after his team won its fifth straight to improve to 5-1 on the season. “I thought we executed for the most part, even with our young guys. We stayed healthy. It’s fun to see some of those guys play who don’t always play on Friday night. All in all, it was a pretty successful night.”

The Tigers led 28-0 after one quarter and made it 35-0 less than two minutes into the second quarter. It was at that point that Hall began to pull his regulars from the game and the real focus turned to Steubenville.

“I thought at the time that we put our kids in, I knew they would be successful,” Hall said of making the move to the reserves. “They practice hard. I thought we, obviously, had an handle on the game.”

That didn’t prevent Massillon from continuing to bulk up its lead even with the reserves in. By the time the two teams headed to the locker room at halftime the Tigers were up 49-0, and most of what was left of the 6,224 in attention were focused more to the halftime kicking competition where Whitney Robinson had a chance to win $500,000 by making a 35-yard field goal.

Robinson, for the record, ended up walking away with $500 by kicking the ball out of the end zone.

The second half was played with a running clock. By that time, the Tigers were already counting down the minutes and seconds until Steubenville’s first visit to Massillon – to face the Tigers – since 1978.

About the only “blemish,” if you will, came on the game’s last play when Brantford’s Colin Wilcock caught a 27-yard pass from Brodie Parker and fell into the end zone for the shutout-breaking score. The scoring drive was 76 yards and left the Mustangs with 69 total yards for the game, compared to 381 yards for the Tigers.

Even with the Tigers appeared to be on the wrong end of things, it wound up working out for the best. Their second touchdown came on a fourth-and-seven play when Kyle Kempt hit Justin Olack for a 26-yard touchdown pass.

The only time Massillon actually started a first-quarter drive on its own side of the 50, it took it just one play – a 66-yard Kempt-to-Olack touchdown pass – to score.

The sophomore Kempt made the most of his five possessions under center completing 4-of-7 passes for 106 yards. He gave way to fellow sophomore Brody Tonn, who Kempt replaced as the starter two weeks ago, on the second possession of the second quarter.

Another sophomore, Kentrell Taylor, also made the most of his chances to carry the ball in the first half. The bruising 6-foot, 240-pound back punished the Brantford defense for 65 yards and a pair of touchdowns on seven carries.

“Kentrell, the last two or three weeks has really practiced well,” Hall said. “The biggest thing everybody sees is that he’s progressing. He understands the offense and he runs hard.”

Damion Smith also got into the first-half scoring act by ripping off a 43-yard touchdown run. Aaron Medrano added a touchdown catch in the second half.

GAME STATS

Massillon 56,

Brantford (Ont.) Collegiate 7

at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium

Brantford 0 0 0 7 7

Massillon 28 21 7 0 56

SCORING SUMMARY

M – De. Smith 79 kickoff return (McCarthy kick)

M – Olack 26 pass from Kempt (McCarthy kick)

M – Taylor 1 run (McCarthy kick)

M – Olack 66 pass from Kempt (McCarthy kick)

M – Smith 7 pass from Kempt (McCarthy kick)

M – Taylor 14 run (McCarthy kick)

M – Da. Smith 43 run (McCarthy kick)

M– Medrano 28 pass from Tonn (McCarthy kick)

B – Wilcock 27 pass from Parker (Mann kick)

BC M

First downs 4 15

Rushes-yards 22-16 24-188

Comp-Att-Int 7-19-1 10-13-0

Passing yards 53 193

Fumbles-lost 2-1 2-1

Penalties-yards 2-10 5-45

Records 1-2 5-1

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing:

Massillon – Taylor 7-65 2 TDs; Da. Smith 1-43 TD; Reiman 5-33; Tonn 2-27; Cowan 2-12; Copeland 2-11.

Brantford Collegiate – Winch 9-22.

Passing:

Massillon – Kempt 4-7-106 3 TDs; Tonn 6-6-87 87 TD.

Brantford Collegiate – Parker 6-13-54 TD; Kelly 1-6-(minus-1) INT.

Receiving:

Massillon – Olack 2-92 2 TDs; McCormick 2-23; Cowan 2-22; Medrano 1-28 TD.

Brantford Collegiate – Packer 2-25; Dennis 2-2; Archibald 2-(minus-1); Wilcock 1-27 TD.

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo

2010: Massillon 42, Akron Firestone 10

Second-quarter surge carries Tigers to 800th win

By CHRIS EASTERLING
The Independent

MASSILLON, OH — For one quarter, the Massillon Tigers found themselves in a tussle with the visiting Firestone Falcons on Friday night. In fact, with less than five minutes remaining until halftime, it was still just a four-point game.

But over the final four minutes or so of the half, the Tigers came alive, and left the Falcons gasping for air as they cruised to the program’s 800th win all-time.

Massillon – which fumbled on the game’s first play to set up a Falcon touchdown – scored three touchdowns in the final 3:15 of the first half to blow open what had been a tight affair and help it roll to a 42-10 win over Firestone at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

“I thought we started playing a little better,” said Tiger coach Jason Hall after his team improved to 4-1 on the season. “I thought we started running the ball a little better. That first play of the game makes my stomach turn. … I thought our kids did a good job coming back from that.”

The Tigers were holding onto a 14-10 lead late in the second quarter when Seth Nalbach partially deflected a Firestone punt, which was recovered at the Falcon 39, Three plays later, Kyle Kempt fired a 19-yard scoring strike to Justin Olack for a 21-10 lead with 3:15 remaining in the half.

From there, the floodgates opened up for Massillon.

Tyler Miller returned an interception 60 yards for a score on Firestone’s next possession to make it 28-10. After Ryan Skelly blocked a Falcon punt on the subsequent drive, Nalbach ripped off a 22-yard touchdown run to make it 35-10 with 1:03 left on the first-half clock.

“I thought once we settled down and got control and handled that initial miscue, I thought our kids played pretty well,” Hall said.

The burst to end the half was in stark contrast to the first 18 minutes or so of the game.

Firestone turned a Tiger fumble on the first play of the game into a 3-yard Cody Grice touchdown run and a 7-0 lead just 16 seconds into game. But Massillon went to work grinding out and impressive 22-play, 80-yard scoring drive of its own to tie it up on Jake Reiman’s 7-yard run with 3:57 left in the first quarter.

The time-consuming drive showcased the Tigers’ rejuvenated running game, with Alex Winters and Reiman both getting a chance to showcase their skills. Winters carried the ball seven times on the drive, while Reiman toted the pigskin six times.

Winters would carry the ball just one more time in the game – a 53-yarder on the next Tiger possession – finishing with 77 yards on eight carries. He suffered what Hall reported may be a concussion later in the half which sidelined him for the rest of the game.

Reiman, meanwhile, would go on to rush for 34 yards on 10 carries in the game. Sophomore Kentrell Taylor would add 38 yards on 11 carries, scoring a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

“For the most part, I thought they did a nice job running the ball,” Hall said. “We did some stuff we don’t traditionally do and lined up and ran some power and some iso and some toss. Just some stuff we’ve been working on in practice and will continue to work on.”

While the Tiger rushing game would certainly get its share of work on the night, they didn’t let the gusty conditions keep their passing game from taking off as well. Kempt completed 14-of-23 passes for 209 yards and two touchdowns, including a 48-yard scoring strike to Devin Smith early in the second quarter that gave Massillon the lead for good at 14-7.

About the only thing that didn’t go entirely the way of the Tigers was their ability to completely contain Firestone’s bowling ball of a tailback, Cody Grice. The 6-foot-2, 235-pound senior finished with 122 of the Falcons’ 174 rushing yards on the night.

However, the Tigers were able to keep Grice out of the end zone, save for his score early in the game. The only other Falcon score came on a 37-yard field goal by Alana Gaither with 8:07 left in the second quarter.

“I thought our defense played really well for the most part, besides a couple plays tackling,” Hall said.

GAME STATS

Massillon 42

Firestone 10

at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium

Firestone 7 3 0 0 10

Massillon 7 28 0 7 42

SCORING SUMMARY

F – Grice 3 run (Gaither kick)

M – Reiman 7 run (McCarthy kick)

M – Smith 48 pass from Kempt (McCarthy kick)

F – FG 37 Gaither

M – Olack 19 pass from Kempt (McCarthy kick)

M – T. Miller 60 interception return (McCarthy kick)

M – Nalbach 22 run (McCarthy kick)

M – Taylor 3 run (McCarthy kick)

Fire Mass

First downs 9 18

Rushes-yards 37-174 43-162

Passing yards minus-3 225

Comp.-Att.-Int. 1-5-1 15-26-0

Fumbles-lost 1-0 1-1

Penalties-yards 4-30 6-55

Records 2-3 4-1

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing:

Massillon – Winters 8-77; Taylor 11-38 TD; Reiman 10-34 TD; Nalbach 1-22 TDs.

Firestone – Grice 22-122 TD.

Passing:

Massillon – Kempt 14-23-209 2 TDs; McCormick 1-3-16.

Firestone – Heimbaugh 0-9-0 INT; Willis 1-6-(minus-3).

Receiving:

Massillon – Smith 5-61 TD; Olack 4-87 TD; Roberson 2-24.

Firestone – Grice 1-(minus-3).

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo

2010: Massillon 26, Mentor 21

Tigers send message with big victory over Mentor

By CHRIS EASTERLING
The Independent

MENTOR, OH — The Massillon Tigers boarded the buses to go to Mentor on Friday carrying a massive chip on their shoulders. They were a team disrespected, in their eyes, and they had ideas of rectifying the situation.

.Everyone picked us to lose, said senior receiver Justin Olack, after Massillon rallied for a 26-21 win over the Cardinals at Jerome T. Osborne Sr. Stadium. .Everybody expected us to lose. Even our fans expected us to lose, and that’s not right. Massillon fans should always expect us to win. We showed them tonight that we were going to win no matter what.

Olack’s 45-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter gave Massillon the lead for good at 20-14. He then threw a 17-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to Tyler Miller on a gadget play for a 26-14 advantage.

For the Tigers, it was a message sent to the critics.

.They prejudged us, that’s what I told our kids,. said Tiger coach Jason Hall after his team improved to 3-1. .We don’t want to be prejudged. We’re Massillon. You better give us a 50-50 shot every time we step on the field. That’s probably what (ticked) us off tonight.

In taking out their frustration Friday night, Massillon dipped into the bag of tricks. Both Olack and Devin Smith threw touchdown passes on the night – Smith’s a 32-yarder to Montel Harrison in the first quarter to give the Tigers a 12-7 lead.

.We work it all the time in practice,. said Smith, who added 127 yards on eight catches. .They tell us to be ready just in case we get to run them in the game. It just worked perfectly. We executed it perfectly. You saw that me and J.O. can throw the ball.

Of course, the guy the Tigers were interested in seeing throw the ball on Friday night was sophomore Kyle Kempt, who made his first start of the season. Kempt handled himself well, completing 16-of-26 passes for 196 yards with a pair of touchdowns – one to Tyler Robinson in the first quarter and the one to Olack in the third quarter.

Kempt, the highly-touted transfer from Oregon, did throw an interception in the end zone in the third quarter. He was also sacked five times, but Hall said he expects his quarterback to get better.

.He made some good plays and he made some bad plays,. Hall said of Kempt. .We have to keep coaching up all our quarterbacks. I think we have to keep working on our consistency, keep looking at reads and we have to get better..

The Tigers have also improved their running game, as evidenced by their 119 yards on 30 carries, many of those draw plays which went for big gains by Jake Reiman. Reiman finished with 122 yards on 16 carries.

We were mixing it up enough to keep them off-balanced,. Hall said.

Mentor’s running game gave the Tigers plenty of headaches, especially over the first 24 minutes of the game. In the first half, quarterback Colton Wallace and Mike Korecz were able to hit the Massillon defense on some big plays, which helped the Cardinals take a 14-12 halftime lead.

Korecz rushed for 89 of his game-high 128 yards in the first half, scoring on a six-yard run in the second quarter before adding a 13-yard burst in the fourth quarter. Wallace, meanwhile, gained 52 of his 84 yards prior to halftime, and gave Mentor a 7-0 lead on its first possession with a 1-yard run.

The Cardinals rushed for 157 yards in the first half. They were held to 87 yards in the second half, when they found themselves faced with a number of second-and third-and-long situations they couldn’t overcome.

We did a good job of that,. said Mentor coach Steve Trivisonno, whose team is now 1-3. Then in the second half, every time we did it we got a holding call and it brought us back. All of a sudden, you’re way back out of the way..

GAME STATS

Massillon 26

Mentor 21

at Jerome T. Osborne Sr. Stadium

Massillon 12 0 8 6 26

Mentor 7 7 7 7 21

SCORING SUMMARY

Men – Wallace 1 run (Klisuric kick)

Mas – T. Robinson 5 pass from Kempt (Kick blocked)

Mas – Harrison 32 pass from Smith (Kick blocked)

Men – Korecz 6 run (Klisuric kick)

Mas – Olack 45 pass from Kempt (Roberson pass from Kempt)

Mas – Miller 17 pass from Olack (Pass failed)

Men – Korecz 13 run (Klisuric kick)

Mas Men

First downs 17 23

Rushes-yards 119 244

Comp-Att-Int 18-28-1 9-15-1

Passing yards 245 113

Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-1

Penalties-yards 7-52 7-77

Records 3-1 1-3

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing:

Massillon – Reiman 16-122; Winters 1-20; Roberson 2-19.

Mentor – Korecz 31-128 2 TDs; Wallace 18-84 TD.

Passing:

Massillon – Kempt 16-26-196 2 TDs, INT; Smith 1-1-32 TD; Olack 1-1-17 TD.

Mentor – Trubisky 7-11-89 INT; Wallace 2-4-24.

Receiving:

Massillon – Smith 8-127; Olack 3-47 TD; Reiman 2-9; Roberson 2-8; Harrison 1-32 TD; Miller 1-17 TD; T. Robinson 1-5 TD.

Mentor – Cade 5-58.

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo

2010: Massillon 27, Stow 10

Massillon not smooth, but stops Stow

By CHRIS EASTERLING
The Independent

MASSILLON, OH – It had been a while since the Massillon Tigers could look up and see themselves sitting with a double-digit lead as the scoreboard clock hit triple zeroes. That’s exactly what the Tigers were able to do on Friday night, as they handed Stow a 27-10 loss at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

But for the last three quarters, that double-figure lead felt like anything but one for the Tigers. After jumping out to a 21-0 second-quarter lead, Massillon was beset by choppy play, turnovers and penalties for the remainder of the game – things which were front-and-center on head coach Jason Hall’s mind immediately afterward.

“I told our guys, if we play this way in what we call our big games,” Hall said after his team improved to 2-1 with a big road test at Mentor next Friday, “not putting anything down on Stow, but if you go on the road to Mentor and play like this, we’ve got no shot. We have to execute. We can’t have turnovers, we can’t have sloppy play. We can’t have cheap penalties, and we’ll address that. … We have to play the way we’re capable of playing.”

In winning, the Tigers may have opened the door to a bit of controversy at the quarterback position. Brody Tonn started for the third straight game, and led the Tigers on scoring drives on each of their first two possessions, including a 59-yard touchdown strike to Jacar Roberson.

But on the third Tiger possession, a combination of four bad or mishandled snaps spoiled any chance Massillon may have had to add to what was a 14-0 lead at the time. And on the next possession, highly-touted sophomore Kyle Kempt made his Tiger debut, coming on to throw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Roberson to give Massillon a 21-0 lead with 9:07 remaining in the half.

“We just weren’t able to really get into a good rhythm at the end of the first quarter,” Hall said. “We came out pretty hot. … Missing snaps and we weren’t getting into a rhythm, so I thought it was time to calm Brody down. Kyle’s been practicing well, so it was time to see what he could do.”

Kempt played the remainder of the game, finishing 6-of-11 for 74 yards. Prior to being removed, Tonn was 4-of-5 for 92 yards with the touchdown.

Hall would not commit to a direction with the quarterback position after the game.

Stow, which could get nothing going in the first quarter, managed to cut it to 21-10 at halftime thanks to a pair of scoring possessions. The Bulldogs broke through on the scoreboard when quarterback Mike Greenwell adeptly kept the ball on an option play for a 49-yard scoring run just 17 seconds after the Tigers had built up their three-touchdown lead.

Aaron Quinn’s 30-yard field goal with 14 seconds left in the half cut it to an 11-point margin. Stow had a touchdown pass called back due to a holding penalty – one of four on the drive against the Bulldogs.

In fact, the yellow flags had quite a prominent presence in the second quarter. Stow was flagged for 10 penalties in the quarter for 80 yards, including three straight procedure flags for kicking the ball out of bounds on the subsequent kickoff after the field goal.

Massillon didn’t fare much better in the penalty department, getting hit for seven second-quarter flags for 60 yards. For the game, the Tigers were flagged 13 times for 120 yards, while Stow had 14 penalties for 102 yards.

“It’s embarrassing, that’s the only word I’ve got for those penalties,” Hall said of the penalties. “It’s embarrassing. I’ve never been in a game where we had that many penalties. We played last week and we had seven penalties.”

Lost in all the choppiness of the game was a slow emergence of the Tiger running game, which was held to just an average of 2.2 yards per carry in the first two games. But against Stow, Massillon finished with 168 yards, averaging 4.7 yards a rush.

Jake Reiman was the primary benefactor of that success. Reiman, who came into the game with 74 rushing yards on the season, finished with 141 yards on 19 carries.

Reiman’s 8-yard run in the first quarter gave the Tigers a 14-0 lead. He added a 5-yard run in the third quarter to close out the scoring.

But, much like the game, Hall had a caveat to the rushing night for his team.

“I thought we ran hard and the kids played hard, but at the same time, we weren’t consistent,” Hall said.

GAME STATS

Massillon 27
Stow 10

at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium

Stow 0 10 0 0 10
Massillon 14 7 6 0 27

SCORING SUMMARY

M – Roberson 59 pass from Tonn (McCarthy kick)
M – Reiman 8 run (McCarthy kick)
M – Roberson 29 pass from Kempt (McCarthy kick)
S – Greenwell 49 run (Quinn kick)
S – FG 30 Quinn
M – Reiman 8 run (Kick blocked)

Mas Stow
First downs 14 10
Rushes-yards 36-168 32-99
Comp-Att-Int 10-16-0 12-24-3
Passing yards 166 118
Fumbles-lost 4-2 0-0
Penalties-yards 13-120 14-102
Records 2-1 1-2

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing:
Massillon – Reiman 19-141 2 TDs; Roberson 2-22.
Stow – Greenwell 14-75 TD; Mitchell 14-40.

Passing:
Massillon – Tonn 4-5-92 TD; Kempt 6-11-74 TD.
Stow – Greenwell 12-24-118 3 INTs.

Receiving:
Massillon – Roberson 4-124 2 TDs; Smith 4-36; Olack 1-5; Winters 1-1.
Stow – Herman 5-46; Waggoner 4-34; Garrison 2-35; Gobble 1-3.

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo

2010: Massillon 28, Canton Glenoak 27

Tigers withstand GlenOak’s Dunn, rally for key win

By CHRIS EASTERLING
The Independent

CANTON, OH On a night when GlenOak’s Bri’onte Dunn appeared to be on his way to a magical kind of night, the Massillon Tigers stole the show and put together the kind of win that can jump-start a season.

Despite giving up 320 yards rushing to the Golden Eagles’ talented running back, Massillon rallied in the second half to pull out a 28-27 win at sold-out Bob Commings Field on Thursday night.

We handled adversity, Tiger coach Jason Hall said after his team pulled to 1-1 on the season. They fought and they fought. GlenOak came out of the gates and just smacked us and made some big plays early. … We just kept hanging in there.

Nobody may have better epitomized that hang-in-there attitude than Brody Tonn, the Tigers sophomore quarterback.

After a miserable night in his first varsity start last week against Buchtel, Tonn came back to put up the kind of game that Hall expected from his young quarterback when he gave him the reins of the offense in two-a-days. The sophomore completed 17-of-30 passes for 330 yards and four touchdowns and two interceptions.

I had so much support after that game, Tonn said. Everybody calling me and telling me to keep my head high. It was my first game and I got it under my belt. I just took that all in mind.

Two of his biggest supporters during the week were his two biggest targets Devin Smith and Justin Olack. And those two were there again on Thursday night to give him a lift on the field as well.

It was Smith’s 45-yard touchdown catch on a ball he had to come back to get that gave Massillon its first lead of the night – at 28-27 after Anthony McCarthy’s critical point-after kick – with 11:50 remaining. Smith finished with five catches for 116 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

“All week we’ve been working with him,” Smith said. “We’ve been talking to him and keeping his head up. … The most important thing for him being so young, us seniors have to step up and make sure his head is in the game.”

Olack added 150 yards receiving on eight catches, with six of those grabs and 122 of those yards in the first half. His 81-yard touchdown catch late in the first half cut GlenOak’s lead to 21-14 at halftime.

Tyler Allman also caught a 31-yard touchdown pass from Tonn that made it 27-21 GlenOak in the third quarter.

The problem for much of the night for Massillon wasn’t its offense. It was GlenOak’s offense – or, more specifically, Dunn.

The Golden Eagle junior showcased his immense talents for the better part of the night. He had 119 yards on eight carries in the first quarter, including a 78-yard run that gave GlenOak a 14-0 lead.

He put GlenOak up 21-7 early in the second quarter with a 57-yard burst to the end zone. At the half, he had already reached 234 yards on 22 carries.

Dunn’s final scoring run was a 31-yard effort in which he bounced off at least three Tiger defenders to give GlenOak a 27-14 edge with 9:39 remaining in the third quarter. The PAT bounced off the upright to keep the lead at 13.

Through three quarters, Dunn had 295 yards rushing on 31 carries. But the Tigers were able to hold him to just 25 yards on eight fourth-quarter carries, although he did have a big 20-yard reception to convert a third down late.

“We stopped wrong-arming,” Hall said. “The concern was he was bouncing in space and we weren’t tackling. We were trying to keep him inside, and our secondary had to come up and start tackling.”

GlenOak would threaten seriously once in the fourth quarter, getting down to the Tiger 3 after Massillon had pulled in front. But a fumble by the Golden Eagles was recovered by Massillon’s Seth Nalbach, snuffing out the potential threat.

After stopping the Golden Eagles on downs at the Tiger 43 with 2:21 left, Massillon would run out the clock – thanks to a GlenOak offsides penalty with 10 seconds left on a fourth-and-2 situation.

“This brought us together,” Olack said. “Our confidence is up now. We just have to play good every week now. We gained our respect back, too, from the fans.”

GAME STATS

Massillon 28
GlenOak 27

at Bob Commings Field

Massillon 7 7 7 7 28
GlenOak 14 7 6 0 27

SCORING SUMMARY

GO – Butler 45 pass from Meredith (Hayes kick)
GO – Dunn 78 run (Hayes kick)
M – Smith 43 pass from Tonn (McCarthy kick)
GO- Dunn 57 run (Hayes kick)
M – Olack 81 pass from Tonn (McCarthy kick)
GO – Dunn 32 run (Kick failed)
M – Allman 31 pass from Tonn (McCarthy kick)
M – Smith 45 pass from Tonn (McCarthy kick)

Mas GO
First downs 13 15
Rushes-yards 23-46 41-318
Comp-Att-Int 17-30-2 4-15-1
Passing yards 330 103
Fumbles-lost 1-0 1-1
Penalties-yards 4-30 4-20
Records 1-1 1-1

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing: Massillon – Reiman 7-23.
GlenOak – Dunn 39-320 3 TDs.

Passing: Massillon – Tonn 17-30-330 4 TDs, 2 INTs.
GlenOak – Meredith 4-15-103 TD, INT.

Receiving: Massillon – Olack 8-150 TD, Smith 5-116 2 TDs; Roberson 2-29; Allman
1-31 TD; Winters 1-4.
GlenOak – Butler 1-45 TD, Merrell 1-27, Dunn 1-20, Hall 1-11.

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo

2010: Massillon 13, Akron Buchtel 29

Buchtel tames Tigers by taking advantage of turnovers

By CHRIS EASTERLING
The Independent

MASSILLON, OH – The excitement was reaching a crescendo at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium Thursday night. The long-awaited 2010 football season for the Massillon Tigers had finally arrived.

And it took the Buchtel Griffins all of 14 seconds to suck the air out of the crowd.

The Griffins took the opening kickoff in for a touchdown, silencing most of the orange-clad fans in attendance at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium. The Tigers would never entirely recover from that blow, as they were left shocked by the reigning Akron City Series champions, 29-13.

As staggering as Ernie Calhoun Jr.’s 90-yard return on the opening kick was, it was not nearly as shocking as the choppy performance by the Tigers’ offense.

While Massillon finished with a 295-235 edge in total yards, it struggled to get anything going consistently. The Tigers gave the ball up seven times, including six interceptions.

“We were inconsistent,” Tiger coach Jason Hall said. “Turnovers. At the end of the day, what did we end up with turnover-wise? You can’t win a game that way. We have to do better with play-calling. We have to work in practice to get our kids executing better. At the end of the day, that’s our job, to put our kids in a position to win.”

On Massillon’s second offensive play, an overthrown pass ended up in the hands of Buchtel’s Alex Arrington for an interception. On the Tigers’ third possession, Calhoun added to his evening by coming up with the Griffin defense’s second pick of the game.

Buchtel, meanwhile, was having its share of success moving the ball in the opening quarter, even if it was unable to punch it in the end zone. The Griffins had a 79-16 edge in first-quarter rushing yards, and a 93-19 advantage in total yards in the first 12 minutes of play.

But the Griffins didn’t have an offensive touchdown to show for it, in part because Massillon’s Tyler Miller came up with an interception in the end zone on the first play of the second quarter to thwart Buchtel’s best drive of the half.

That pick would lead to the first Massillon points of the season, as Alex Winters capped a 10-play, 80-yard drive with a 1-yard plunge at the 7:56 mark of the second quarter. The point-after try bounced off the right upright, keeping the score tied at 6-6.

Brody Tonn shook off a rough first quarter to hit Devin Smith on passes of 12 and 42 yards on the drive. He hit Justin Olack on a 4-yard touchdown pass on the next possession – gained after a Buchtel fumble – that gave Massillon a 13-6 lead after the PAT.

Tonn finished 16-of-35 for 211 yards. He threw the one touchdown, but also had all six interceptions.

“I don’t think you can sit here and put this game on Brody’s shoulders,” Hall said. “That’s not the case. He’s a sophomore. We have tons of seniors on this team and coaches. At the end of the day, you win and lose as a team.”

The second half seemed to start out well enough for the Tigers, who recovered an onside kick at the Griffin 48. But they turned the ball over on their first three possessions of the half – two interceptions and a fumble on fourth down.

The third turnover helped Buchtel take the lead when Tyler Jones hit Elijah Bell for a 12-yard touchdown pass. Marlon Oden then took the two-point conversion run in, giving the Griffins a 14-13 lead with 4:56 left in the third quarter.

Buchtel had a chance to add to its lead early in the fourth quarter, but Garrett Kreiger came up with an interception as he was falling to the turf.

Massillon gave the ball right back with its fifth interception of the night – which was brought back for a touchdown by Oden, only to be nullified by a personal foul penalty against Buchtel behind the play.

With 3:21 left, Jones would twist the knife into the Tigers’ hearts with a 37-yard score for a 21-13 lead after the PAT. Then Oden sealed the game with a pick-6 of his own with 3:06 left for a 29-13 lead.

“It’s hard handling adversity,” Hall said. “It’s the hardest thing in life, to handle tough times. That’s part of the reason we’re here. We’re trying to mold young men and teach them how to handle those situations.”

GAME STATS

Buchtel 29, Massillon 13

At Paul Brown Tiger Stadium

Buchtel 6 0 8 15 29

Massillon 0 13 0 0 13

SCORING SUMMARY

B – Calhoun 90 kickoff return (Kick failed)

M – Winters 1 run (Kick failed)

M – Olack 4 pass from Tonn (McCarthy kick)

B – Bell 12 pass from Jones (Oden run)

B – Jones 37 run (Brewer kick)

B – Oden 11 interception return (Jones run)

Mas Buch

First downs 16 12

Rushes-yards 36-84 38-212

Passing yards 211 23

Comp.-Att.-Int. 16-35-6 4-14-3

Fumbles-lost 1-1 1-1

Penalties-yards 7-54 7-65

Records 0-1 1-0