Category: <span>History</span>

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo

2003: Massillon 12, Cleveland St. Ignatius 37

Tigers shake off Iggy loss, turn eyes ahead

By JOE SHAHEEN
Joe.Shaheen@IndeOnline.com

Rick Shepas had one admonition for his charges following Massillon’s 37‑12 loss to St. Ignatius at Byers Field in Parma Saturday night.

“Don’t feel sorry for yourselves,” Shepas said in the postgame huddle at midfield.

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The Tigers don’t have time for self‑recrimination. On Friday they play host to No. 8‑rated Lakewood St. Edward, which is coming off a 37‑0 win over Huntington (Ind.) North on Saturday.

“We’re 4‑2 and we’ve got a decision to make on how much better we’re going to get,” Shepas told the Tigers, who can give their playoff hopes a huge lift with a victory this week over computer points rich St. Eds.

“This is what we want,” Shepas said. “We’ve put ourselves in a playoff‑type, atmosphere during the regular season. It’s going to be a great opportunity for our kids to show what they can do. It will be a great opportunity for us to play well and have a chance to get in the playoffs as well.

“But one way or the other, our team is going to come out of this with a lot. We’re going to benefit from this one way or the other.”

A cardinal sin against any team boasting the talent that St. Ignatius puts on the field is falling behind early, but that’s the fate that befell Massillon. The Wild cats scored on a botched punt snap then converted a 21‑yard punt return off a Tiger three‑and‑out series into a 21‑yard Brian Hoyer touchdown pass less than four minutes into the game.

“You can’t come up here and go down 13‑0 to a team like St. Ignatius and expect to do anything,” Shepas said.

“The last time we were up here that happened. It happened again tonight. It’s just up to us as far as the way we play, the way we coach.”

Joe Palcko’s short touchdown run capped a 10‑play St. Ignatius drive to make it 20‑0 with 10:03 until halftime.

The Tigers countered with a four‑play, 76‑yard scoring drive that featured a 19‑yard Steve Hymes to Erie Copeland aerial and a 46‑yard catch and run by junior tight end Wayne Gates.

Caleb White caught a perfectly thrown swing pass from Hymes and sprinted 16 yards for the score.

“We just started catching the football and making some plays,” Shepas explained.

But St. Ignatius iced it after the Tigers turned the ball over on downs at midfield late in the half. Two Hoyer to Josiah Kedzior passes netted 36 yards and then Hoyer carried it in himself from 10 yards out to make it 30‑6 at the intermission.

“Early on we felt like we had a really good game plan,” Shepas said. “We did stop their run in the first half. We thought we put our guys in some pretty good situations tonight. For the most part our guys played hard. We were a little bit disappointed at the end. We have a young football team. We’re going to get better from being in situations like this against a great football team like this.

“For as many distractions as we have in Massillon I think our kids did a great job.

St. Ignatius 37
Massillon 12

GAME STATS

Massillon 0 6 6 0 12
St. Ignatius 13 17 0 7 37

SCORING
SI ‑ Gallagher 19 fumble recovery (Kedzior kick)
SI ‑ Ramella 21 pass from Hoyer (Kick failed)
SI ‑ Palcko 3 run (Kedzior kick)
M ‑ Caleb White 16 pass from Steve Hymes (Kick failed)
SI ‑ Kedzior 30 FG SI ‑ Hoyer 9 run (Kedzior kick)
M ‑ Relford 4 pass from S. Hymes (Kick blocked)
SI ‑ Palcko 5 run (Kedzior kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Massillon rushing: C. White 6‑19, Tuffy Woods 7‑15, Steve Hymes 11‑14.
St. Ignatius rushing: Palcko 20‑80 2 TDs, Stancus 8‑71, Hoyer 4‑50 TD.

Massillon passing: Hymes 21‑37‑276 2TDs.
St. Ignatius passing: Hoyer 14‑28‑195 TD.

Massillon receiving: Wayne Gates 6‑101, Eric Copeland 6‑96, Billy Relford 5 41 TD, Caleb White 2‑21 TD.
St. Ignatius receiving: Kedzior 9‑117, Ramella 3‑54 TD.


Brock Hymes

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo

2003: Massillon 35, Mansfield Senior 12

Blown away
Tiger storm quicky inundates Mansfield

By WILLIAM R. SANDERSON
William.Sanderson @ IndeOnline.com

All the controversy over the David Phillips recruiting scandal seemed to make very little difference to the Massillon Tigers on Friday night.

Right from the get‑go, Massillon dominated both sides of the ball in an impressive 35‑12 victory at Arlin Field in Mansfield.

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Mansfield Senior was minus its starting quarterback Deonte Weatherspoon due to a dislocated thumb suffered against Lexington last week, and the Tyger offense never got on track. After the first, half, Massillon led 23‑0 and Mansfield had only 11 net yards to its credit.

As far as the person at the center of the controversy, Phillips was held to a modest 41 yards on 25 carries.

Massillon coach Rick Shepas didn’t allow the Phillips situation to be a distraction.

“There are no distractions in our locker room from beginning to end with anything surrounding the Phillips situation,” Shepas said. “It’s an unfortunate situation, but we’ve moved on.”

Quarterback Steve Hymes echoed his mentor’s sentiments.

“We know Phillips is a good running back,” Hymes said. “That was an issue we had to deal with, but that’s over. It’s ancient history.”

The Tigers took an early lead mainly on the strength of Hymes’ arm.

After turning back Mansfield Senior on the game’s opening possession, Hymes twice found Eric Copeland. The second time was good for 10 yards and a touchdown to make it 6‑0 Tigers at 8:15 of the first quarter.

“I was rolling out,” Hymes recounted. “Eric got open and I threw it in there.

“My receivers did a great job tonight. They did their thing and all I had to do was throw it to them.”

A few minutes later it was Brett Huffman’s turn to be on the receiving end. First came a 24‑yard toss over the middle. On the next play, Huffman twisted around a Tyger defender to haul in a 22-yard throw by Hymes for the touchdown.

Max Shafer’s kick made it 13‑0 Massillon at 6:29 of the first quarter.

“It was a great throw,” Huffman said. “I just did that up‑and‑under move that we practice every day and it fell right in.”

Hymes finished the game with 24 completions on 33 attempts for 316 yards and the two touchdowns.

Anticipating a physical battle with Mansfield Senior, Shepas wanted to get off to a good start with the passing game.

“We just wanted to open the game up,” Shepas said. “Mansfield is physical and we wanted to keep them spread out. We picked our places to close it down as well.”

As if to show it didn’t need to simply pass the ball, Massillon ground out a 16‑play drive that covered 68 yards before Shafer booted a 22‑yard field goal to make it a 16‑0 Tiger lead at 10:11 of the second quarter.

Shepas was particularly pleased with the offensive line.

“Jason Reinmann was out sick,” Shepas said. “He didn’t even come on the trip. I thought our offensive line coaches did a nice job adjusting things. We played a lot of guys up front. David Portello got some playing time. Lashawn Edge started at a tackle. All in all, we’re pretty pleased.”

Matters only got worse for Mansfield. Not only could its offense not sustain a drive against the Massillon defense, but a special teams mistake paved the way for a Tiger touchdown.

Midway through the second quarter, a snap sailed over the head of the Tyger punter. The ball finally rolled dead at the Mansfield one-yard line, where the punter downed it instead of kicking it into his own end zone for a safety.

Instead of two points, the Tigers took another six when Hymes ran it in at 6:57. The Shafer kick made it 23-0 Tigers.

Massillon (4‑1) had a chance to make it more before the half, but fumbled the ball inside the Mansfield 20 with a couple of minutes left in the second quarter. It also narrowly averted a last‑second disaster when Tim Dewald made a touchdown‑saving tackle on Mansfield’s Rashad Jones on an interception return.

The Tigers kept their foot to the accelerator to start the third quarter. After stopping Mansfield Senior’s first drive of the half, the Tigers drove 49 yards for another Shafer field goal. His 37‑yarder made it 26‑0.

The drubbing continued when Tuffy Woods broke in from one yard out for a touchdown that was set up by a 36‑yard throw from Hymes to Wayne Gates. The kick failed and the score was 32‑0 with 4:43 left.

Mansfield Senior (2‑3) finally got on the scoreboard with 1:22 left in the third quarter. Justin Green threw up a long pass that bounced off both his receiver and the Tiger defenders before Josh Harkness was able to gather the ball in for the score. That made it 32‑6 Massillon.

Green, who replaced Weatherspoon, drew praise from his coach despite the loss.

“Not having (Weatherspoon) took away our option attack, but Justin played well,” Mansfield Senior coach LeRoy Smith said. “Justin is a sophomore and it’s tough to throw him in against a team like Massillon. Justin actually throws the deep ball better and we wanted to exploit that.”

Shafer would add another 23‑yard field goal before the final gun that made it 35‑6.

Mansfield would score a touchdown on an 11‑yard run by Phillips with no time remaining for the final score.

With the likes of St. Ignatius, St. Edward, Dayton Chaminade‑Julienne and Warren Harding coming up, it was a big win as far as Huffman was concerned.

“This game was important,” Huffman said. “It’s Week Five so this was the hump game. We wanted to win this to help carry us through the rest of the season. We were pretty focused this game and all week in practice.”

Massillon 35
Mansfield 12

GAME STATS

Massillon 13 10 9 3 35
Mansfield 0 0 6 6 12

SCORING
Mas ‑ Eric Copeland 10 pass from Steve Hymes (kick failed)
Mas ‑ Brett Huffman 21 pass from Hymes (Max Shafer kick)
Mas ‑ Shafer 22 FG
Mas ‑ Hymes 1 run (Shafer kick) Mas ‑ Shafer 37 FG
Mas ‑ Tuffy Woods 1 run (kick failed)
Mans ‑ Josh Harkness 38 pass from Greene (run failed)
Mas ‑ Shafer 23 FG
Mans ‑ David Phillips 11 run

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Massillon rushing: Hymes 7‑45, 1 TD, Lanale Robinson 7‑23
Mansfield rushing: Tony Shaw 8‑52 Phillips 25‑59, 1 TD

Massillon passing: Hymes 24‑33‑316, 2 TDs, 1 INT
Mansfield passing: Greene 2‑10‑77, 1 TD, 1 INT

Massillon receiving: Huffman 7‑121, 1 TD, Copeland 5‑67, 1 TD, Wayne Gates 4‑61
Mansfield receiving: Josh Harkness 2‑77, 1 TD

Brock Hymes

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo

2003: Massillon 34, Findlay 17

Sacked
Second half again belongs to Tigers

By JOE SHAHEEN
Joe.Shaheen @ IndeOnline.com

For the second week in a row, the Massillon Tigers turned it up a notch in the second half, enabling them to roll past the Findlay Trojans 34‑17 in a match‑up of 2002 Division I state semifinalists witnessed by 8,644 fans at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium on Friday.

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Massillon, now 3‑1, was clinging to a tenuous three‑point halftime lead despite being on the short end of every first‑half statistic, including a time of possession disparity of 18:16‑5:44.

The Tigers were a different team after the band show, marching 64 yards in 11 plays on their first possession to take a 10‑point lead, then going 81 yards in 13 plays to jump out by 17 points.

Findlay, which falls to 2‑2, rallied with an 80‑yard touchdown drive of its own but Massillon took advantage of some favorable field position thanks in part to a 43‑yard Max Shafer punt than pinned the Trojans deep in their end ‑ to put the game away with a 29‑yard scoring possession midway through the fourth quarter.

“They waxed us in the third quarter and we couldn’t stop them,” said Findlay head coach Cliff Hite. “That was the whole thing right there. We couldn’t stop their offense. They were quicker than we were. We didn’t tackle well. They executed brilliantly.

“They are the best team we’ve played by far. By far. They were bending but they didn’t break. They kept us out of the end zone better than anybody in a long time.”

“We didn’t start off as good as we can but we had a lot of leadership in the locker room at halftime and we took it out on the field in the second half,” said Tiger co‑captain Billy Relford. “We had a lot of guys step up. Steve (Hymes) stepped up at quarterback in the second half and drove the team down the field. Max (Shafer) stepped up in the kicking game. Brock (Hymes) stepped up at linebacker.

“When Steve stepped up at quarterback, it rubbed off on other people. It was like ‘I’m going to step up. I’m going to step up.’ We just started playing well as a team.”

Hymes hit on two long passes in the opening drive of the second half, connecting with Ryan Schindler for 30 yards on a third‑and‑eight play, then finding Brad Hauser for 22 yards on a third‑and‑14 situation. Five plays later, Tuffy Woods dove into the end zone behind left guard Tim Dewald and left tackle Vince Volpe to put the Tigers up 20‑10.

Findlay responded, moving from its 20 to the Massillon 11 in eight plays. But on the ninth play of the drive, Tiger sophomore lineman Dirk Dickerhoof made a diving interception of a pass in the right flat to repel the Trojan incursion.

“I just saw the quarterback fake, the running back come out and I just dove and got it,” Dickerhoof explained. “It swung the momentum.”

“That was the play of the game,” said Tiger coach Rick Shepas. “They were on a good drive and then Dirk intercepts that pass and that really took a lot of air out of their sails at that point.

“When you watch Dirk play basketball, he’s kind of a garbage man. He’s rebound after rebound. He’s junk point after junk point, and that’s kind of the way he plays for us on defense. He’s always where he’s supposed to be and he keeps playing hard. When you’re consistent like that and play like that, good things happen to YOU.”

After the turnover, the Tigers went to their ground game, as Woods and Ramon Kelly took turns gouging out real estate against the tiring Findlay defense. Hymes sustained the drive when he hit Eric Copeland for 16 yards on a third‑and‑seven play. Another pass to Wayne Gates got the ball inside the Trojan 10, and Hymes then went back to Copeland for an 8‑yard touchdown with :12 remaining in the third quarter.

Shafer’s kick put the Tigers up 27‑10 and although both teams would find the end zone once more, that tally all but sealed the deal for Massillon.

Hymes finished with 58 yards rushing to go with 191 yards passing, 106 of which came in the second half.

“Steve was sick all week,” noted Shepas. “He got bit by the flu bug.

“We woke him up a little bit at halftime. It was just a little extra. A little extra. That’s him getting better and coming into his own. We just had to rattle him up and little bit and get his attention and then he focuses a little better.”

“We just kept pushing it and pushing it,” Hymes said. “We wouldn’t let up on them. I made sure I told the guys ‘Don’t let up. Don’t let up. We’re not finished yet.’

“We were just too powerful. Too powerful.”

Massillon scored the first time it touched the football after forcing Findlay into a three‑and‑out off the opening kickoff.

Taking over at the Findlay 43, Steve Hymes kept the ball on an option play, galloped through a gaping hole over his left guard and into the Trojan secondary. The elusive senior then cut toward the right sideline and went untouched for a 43‑yard touchdown run.

The point‑after was no good but Massillon was up 6‑0 at 10:11 of the first quarter.

Findlay took the lead on its third possession of the game after Massillon failed to convert a fourth‑and‑four at the Trojan 35. It appeared the Massillon defense had forced its second three‑and‑out but Findlay faked the punt on fourth down, and instead completed a 15‑yard pass that produced a first down at the Tiger 43.

One play later, Baker hit Brady Schneider on a post pattern at the 10‑yard line and the Trojan bounced off two shoulder tackles and into the end zone for a 43‑yard touchdown. Mark Snodgrass converted the point‑after kick and Findlay was up 7‑6 at 2:45 of the first quarter.

Snodgrass then capped a 16‑play drive for Findlay with a 24‑yard field goal with 5:45 left in the first half to put the Trojans up 10‑6.

The Tigers hit the Findlay defense with a lightning bolt on their ensuing possession.

On third‑and‑12 from the Massillon 38, Hymes took the shotgun snap and threaded the needle to Relford at he Findlay 40. Relford ran through one tackle as he sprinted left to right across the field, then simply ran away from the Trojan pursuit for a 62‑yard scoring play with 4:51 remaining until half.

Shafer was true with the point‑after kick and Massillon carried a 13‑10 edge into the locker room. It was a lead they would build on to ensure their third victory in four starts.

Massillon 34
Findlay 17

GAME STATS

Findlay 7 3 0 7 17
Massillon 6 7 14 7 34

SCORING
M ‑ Steve Hymes 43 run (Max Shafer kick failed)
F ‑ Schneider 43 pass from Baker (Snodgrass kick)
F ‑ Snodgrass 23 FG
M ‑ Billy Relford 62 pass from Hymes (Shafer kick)
M ‑ Woods 2 run (Shafer kick)
M ‑ Copeland 7 pass from Hymes (Shafer kick)
F ‑ Almond 31 pass from Baker (Snodgrass kick)
M ‑Ramon Kelly 1 run (Shafer kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Massillon rushing: Hymes 10‑58, 1 TD, Kelly 7‑35, 1 TD, Woods 13‑24, 1 TD
Findlay rushing: Almond 9‑39

Massillon passing: Hymes 11‑23‑191, 2 TDs, 1 INT
Findlay passing: Baker 25‑45‑311, 2 TDs, 1 INT

Massillon receiving: Copeland 3‑29, 1 TD, Relford 2‑78, 1 TD
Findlay receiving: Curtis 18‑144, Almond 4‑64, 1 TD

Brock Hymes

2003: Massillon 24, Akron Garfield 14

Stymied
Tiger ‘D’ dominates second half

By JOE SHAHEEN
Joe.Shaheen @ IndeOnline.com

Each team’s first possession of the second half told the tale as the Massillon Tigers rallied from a seven‑point deficit to defeat the Akron Garfield Golden Rams 24‑14 in front of 9,900 fans at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium Friday.

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The game was knotted at 14‑14 when Garfield took the second half kickoff, marched to midfield, then ran into a brick wall wearing a black jersey imprinted with the No. 7. Tiger inside linebacker and co‑cap­tain Brock Hymes sniffed out a Garfield reverse for a two‑yard loss on second down, then shot a gap and took down sophomore sensa­tion Chris Wells for another two‑yard loss on a third down shuttle pass to force the Rams to punt.

“That first drive in the second half is always im­portant,” Brock Hymes explained. “It’s always important to stop them and take the starch out of them a little bit. We were getting pretty excited when we got that stop. We knew we had something there.”

With quarterback Steve Hymes directing the attack, Massillon then zipped 62 yards in eight well‑orchestrated plays. Tiger junior Ramon Kelly capped off the drive with a 10­-yard touchdown run around right end for a 21‑14 Massillon lead with just under five minutes to play in the third quarter.

Garfield never got beyond its own 35‑yard line the rest of the night as the Tigers improved to 2‑1 with undefeated Findlay set to invade Massillon next Friday night.

Early on it appeared the Tigers might be in trouble as Garfield rushed the football for 205 yards in the first half. But the Rams found the going much more difficult after the band show as Massillon’s defense limited them to 26 yards on the ground in the third and fourth quarters.

“In the first half we were playing an odd front and they were running to our minus side,” explained Tiger coach Rick Shepas. “We had one less player and we didn’t have much safety support.

“In the second half we went to more of a cover‑two look with corner support. We kept our safeties close enough where they could be a factor in the run game. We just didn’t want them to bust any long runs.”

Garfield coach Bob Sax thought the Tigers were ripe for the picking when he called for the reverse and then the shuttle pass on the Rams’ first possession of the second half. It didn’t work out that way.

“We really thought the reverse was going to hit,” Sax said. “On the shuttle pass, the weak side line­backer (Hymes) snuck through and we didn’t pick him up. If we take care of that guy, it was go­ing to be huge.”

Massillon’s go‑ahead touchdown drive be­gan with two Steve Hymes‑to‑Brett Huffman aerials that picked up 22 yards. Three Caleb White runs accounted for 17 more yards, be­fore a Hymes scramble and a sprint around left end set up Kelly’s scoring run.

On the evening, Steve Hymes meshed on 10 of 15 passes for 113 yards and a touch­MES down. It was his best passing performance of the young season and Sax admitted the Tiger signal caller was better than he expected.

“We were giving them some things out there be­cause we really felt (Steve Hymes) wasn’t going to go out there and pick us apart,” Sax said. “We were playing too far off some guys and I was impressed with him. He really made some nice throws.”

Shepas liked everything he saw of his first‑year quarter­back, except the two throws Garfield picked off.

“If Steve would have pro­tected the ball in a couple of other situations, he would re­ally have had a solid game for himself,” Shepas said. “He did improve and that’s what we want him to do. Remem­her he’s really a first‑year starter. But he protected the ball pretty well right up until the end there. But we’re get­ting better and we’re trying to do things he can do well.”

White and Kelly split the running back duties for Mas­sillon, combining for 103 yards in 17 carries. The pair clearly had more running room than in the season’s first two games.

“We got better up front,” Shepas said of his offensive line. “We made some person­nel adjustments up front. We tried to keep people fresher. We got a little bit of a rota­tion going and we got one week better.”

Leading 21‑14, Massillon had an opportunity to really put some distance between itself and Garfield when the Rams were forced to punt from deep in their own terri­tory after a muffed kickoff. But on first down from the Garfield 45, the center snap went over Hymes head lead­ing to a 16‑yard loss. One play later, Hymes dropped a quick kick over the Rams’ second­ary. It rolled dead at the 11-­yard line and Garfield never could regain field position.

“We were pinned near our end zone the entire second half,” lamented Sax. “They had field position on us and that quick kick really caught us by surprise. They pinned us back down inside the 10 and they were bringing guys. I didn’t want to fool around down there in our own end.

“Massillon made some ad­justments at halftime and they did what they needed to do in the second half and we didn’t. They came out in the second half and they wanted it more than we did.”

Garfield broke on top 7-0 with an 18‑play, 80‑yard scor­ing march that ate up over nine minutes off the game clock. It was a drive that would have made Woody Hayes proud, as the Golden Rams lined up in the full house T‑formation and sim­ply pounded the football at Massillon. No single play broke for more than eight yards.

Wells capped the drive for Garfield when he went over his left guard, bounced off the pile and then reversed direction around right end for a 7‑yard scoring run. Justin Gibson added the point after at 11:26 of the second quarter.

Massillon came right back and appeared to be ready to score when a pass went off the hands of the intended Tiger receiver and was intercepted by the Rams’ Erique Dozier at the Garfield 7.

The Rams got one first down but were forced to punt. A high snap from center rolled free inside the 5‑yard line. Just as the Garfield punter was about to pick up the pigskin, it was batted from his grasp by Tiger senior Jameel Lemon and Kelly picked it up in the end zone for a Massillon touchdown. Max Shafer’s point‑after kick was true and the game was tied at 7‑7 with just under six minutes until halftime.

Garfield responded quickly. Two first downs gave the Rams the ball at their own 42. From there Wells ‑ who rushed for 127 yards in the first half ‑ went off right guard and tackle, bounced to the outside and was off to the races for a 58‑yard touchdown jaunt. Gibson converted and the Rams led the Tigers 14‑7 at 3:34 of the second quarter.

Massillon rode the right arm of Hymes to tie the game. The senior hit Ryan Schindler for 11 yards, then following White’s 14‑yard run ‑ hooked up with Huffman along the right sideline for 25 yards to the Garfield 12. One play later, Hymes sprinted left and found Brad Hauser open in the end zone for six. Shafer tacked on the extra point and it was a 14‑14 game at halftime.

Massillon 24
Akron Garfield 14

GAME STATS

Garfield 0 14 0 0 14
Massillon 0 14 7 3 24

SCORING
G ‑ Chris Wells 7 run (Gibson kick)
M ‑ Kelly fumble‑recovery (Shafer kick)
G ‑ Chris Wells 58 run (Gibson kick)
M ‑ Hauser 11 pass from Hymes (Shafer kick)
M ‑ Kelly 10 run (Shafer kick)
M ‑ Shafer 32 FG

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Massillon rushing: White 10‑65, Kelly, 7‑32, 1 TD
Garfield rushing: Wells 16‑143, 2 TD

Massillon passing: Hymes 10‑15‑113, 1 TD
Garfield passing: Cowans 2‑8‑6

Massillon receiving: Huffmann 4‑52, Schindle 4‑49, Hauser 1‑11, 1 TD
Garfield receiving: Brown 1‑8

Brock Hymes

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo

2003: Massillon 20, Cleveland Benedictine 34

Bengals wrest control in the fourth quarter

By JOE SHAHEEN
Joe.Shaheen@lndeOnline.com

Missed opportunities and big plays spelled doom for the Massillon Tigers, who fell to 1‑1 in the young 2003 season with a 34‑20 setback to a veteran and talent‑laden Cleveland Benedictine team Friday evening at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

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Massillon led 17‑14 at intermission but the Tiger margin could have ‑ and should have ‑ been much larger. The Bengals scored their touchdowns on Jon Huddleston’s 92‑yard kickoff return and Raymond Williams’ shocking 65‑yard run from scrimmage as time expired before the band show.

“I knew we needed a big play to get the momentum on our side,” Williams said. “So I had to go all out on that play because there were only a few seconds left in the first half. Massillon’s defense expected us to go deep but the draw play was there all night. Fortunately we ran it and I got into the end zone.”

Benedictine head coach Art Bortnick cited Williams’ scoring dash as the game’s turnaround play.

“Momentum was clearly on Massillon’s side and there was no time left on the clock,” Bortnick recalled, “and in the blink of an eyelash, Raymond came down that sideline and put that score in and all of a sudden the game is very manageable from our standpoint. Now we’re within striking distance, and the game can go either way in the second half.

“He has the ability and he read a couple of good blocks. Once he got in the secondary, he
was so determined to make a big play and Massillon was caught with not enough people back and they lost their angles. Once he cleared that second level there was no one there to defend him. When you’re defending Raymond, you can never relax, and they may have relaxed there for a moment.”

In the first half, Massillon ran 41 plays to Benedictine’s 17. The Tigers also won the giveaway‑takeaway battle 4‑1, yet their lead was just three points.

“They run a kickoff back for a touchdown and they have one run at the end of the half ‑ that accounts for their 14 points,” acknowledged Tiger coach Rick Shepas. “Other than that we controlled the ball, we controlled the clock. We controlled the whole game at that point. We had them tired. We did the very best we could on both sides of the ball and I thought our defense played really well. There is no question we didn’t take advantage of the turnovers as much as we could. We had four turnovers in the first half and we didn’t take near advantage of that. We should have had 28 points on the board in the first half.

‘We had four turnovers in the first half and we didn’t take near advantage of that. We should have had 28 points on the board in the first half.’

Rick Shepas, Tiger coach

“Last week we came out and played pretty much mistake‑free. Other than not capitalizing on the turnovers, we didn’t make a whole lot of mistakes tonight, but there were a whole lot of points on the board that we could have got.”

Massillon extended its lead to 20‑14 on Zach Smith’s 25‑yar d field goal with under three minutes to play in the third quarter. From that point on, there wasn’t much to cheer about for the Tiger partisans.

After a Max Shafer punt pinned Benedictine at its own 28 early in the fourth quarter, disaster struck Massillon. On first down, Bengal quarterback Joe Laffey looked to his right for sophomore split end Lorenzo Hunter, who was covered by Billy Relford. But ‑ ‑ Relford tripped, Hunter grabbed the ball and sprinted unimpeded to the end zone for a 72‑yard score that tied the game at 20‑20.

Massillon recorded one first down on its next possession but was forced to punt, and Shafer boomed a 50‑yarder. Benedictine began inside its own 20 and on second down Maurice White ‑ Williams’ understudy found a hole over his right guard and exploded through the gap for a 72‑yard touchdown. Sam Koyl drilled the extra point and the Bengals were up 28‑20 with 8:49 to play.

Williams applied the knockout punch when he picked up a Tiger fumble on Massillon’s next possession and scampered 37 yards for a touchdown with 6:35 to play.

Massillon had another shot at cutting into the deficit when Vince Volpe came up with his second fumble recovery of the game inside the Benedictine 10 with 4:30 to play, but the Tigers could get no closer than the 2‑yard line before turning the ball over on downs.

“Our defense played as hard as any defense can play because if you look back, Massillon was so many times in the red zone and they had so many opportunities,” Bortnick observed. “But we made them work so hard and if we made them settle for a three, it kept us within striking distance and let us come back on them.”

Benedictine kept Tiger quarterback Steve Hymes in check, limiting the elusive senior to an average of 2.5 yards per carry.

“He has such a great knack of finding seams,” Bortnick said of Hymes. “In the second quarter we started cutting the seams down and we really, really hustled and played with tremendous amounts of determination on that side of the football.”

“I just think we made more mistakes in the second half,” Shepas said. “We kind of lost confidence a little bit.”

A highly entertaining first half began well for Massillon when Relford returned a Benedictine punt 56 yards for a touchdown. The versa tile senior ran out of a Bengal tackle near midfield, then cut back across the field at the Benedictine 35 and went the rest of the way untouched for six.

Benedictine drove from its 27 to the Massillon 16 on its ensuing possession but Relford killed the march with an interception at the goal line.

Tiger sophomore Dirk Dickerhoof pounced on a Benedictine fumble at the Bengal 35 to set up Massillon’s second tally.

On the fourth snap after the turnover, Steve Hymes lofted a pass to Relford near the goal line. Relford cut inside the defensive back, snared the football and stepped into the end zone for the score. Smith’s point‑after conversion made it 14‑0 at 9:43 of the second quarter.

But Benedictine bounced back immediately as Huddleston fielded the ensuing kickoff at his 8, found a huge gap in the kick coverage and sprinted 92 yards to pay dirt. A fumbled snap doomed the extra point try, and Massillon’s lead was 14‑6 at 9:27 of the second quarter.

Williams made a superb play on Massillon’s next possession, tipping away what looked to be a fourth down 30‑yard touchdown pass to Relford at the last possible moment, displaying phenomenal closing speed in the process.

Williams closed the first half scoring as the clock wound down with his 65‑yard
touchdown run. It turned the game around.

Benedictine 34
Massillon 20

GAME STATS

Benedictine 0 14 0 20 34
Massillon 7 10 3 0 20

SCORING
M ‑ Billy Relford 56 punt return (Zach Smith kick)
M ‑ Relford 24 pass from Hymes (Smith kick)
B ‑ Huddleston 92 kickoff return (kick failed)
M ‑ Smith 20 FG B ‑ Williams 65 run (Williams run)
M ‑ Smith 25 FG B ‑ Hunter 72 pass from Laffey (kick failed)
B ‑ White 72 run (Koyl kick)
B ‑ Williams 38 fumble return (Koyl kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Massillon rushing: Hymes 28‑70, Lanale Robinson 14‑31
Benedictine rushing: Williams 23‑155, 1 TD, White 5‑72, 1 TD

Massillon passing: Hymes 9‑22‑170, 1 TD
Benedictine passing: Laffey 2‑8‑118, 1 TD

Massillon receiving: Relford 2‑62, White 1‑49
Benedictine receiving: Hunter 1‑72, Brown 1‑46


Brock Hymes

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo

2003: Massillon 23, Akron Buchtel 12

Poised precision Steve Hymes quarterbacks Tigers past Griffins in debut as starter

By Chris Easterling
Chris.Easterling@IndeOnline.com

The Buchtel Griffins were supposed to be the ones with a poised quarterback and experience all over the field. Somebody must have forgotten to tell the Massillon Tigers.

Program Cover

Led by the steady hand of first-year starting quarterback Steve Hymes, as well an opportunistic defense, the Tigers opened the season with a thrilling 23-12 victory over Buchtel at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

“This was very big,” said Hymes, who put Massillon up for good with a 27-yard run with 4:42 left. “We weren’t going to be nothing. I think our guys took that in.”

The deal was wrapped up until Tiger cornerback Billy Relford grabbed an overthrown pass at the Massillon 11, cut to the left and outran the Buchtel offense down the sideline for an 89-yeard touchdown with 27 seconds left. It was the fourth turnover the Tiger defense forced on the evening.

“It couldn’t have come at a better time,” Relford said. “I didn’t start out very good. But when it came down to it, I stepped up.”

That defense found itself getting tested in the second half by a Griffen offense that all but scrapped the passing game while keeping it on the ground with Ohio State-bound tailback Antonio Pittman and hard-running fullback Anthony Norman. After being held to just 40 yards on 13 first-half carries, Pittman gained anther 134 yards and scored on the Griffins’ first two second-half possessions. Norman would chip in 50 yards on 13 carries, with all but two of those yards coming in the second half.

Massillon’s defense was only on the field for four possessions in the second half. However, three of those four were substantial drives by Buchtel, with two resulting in touchdowns.

We’re just a bunch of hard workers,’ Tiger cornerback Mike White said.”We already knew coming into this game that they were a running team. We just decided to keep on hitting them and we thought that if we did that, they were going to give up.”

Still, it was the play of Hymes that stole the show for the Tigers, and may have stole the show for the Tigers, and may have stole the game away from Buchtel. While only completing 7-of-19 passes for 130 yards, the Massillon senior showed off the running ability that made him a threat a year ago by rushing the ball 13 times for 72 yards.

“He needed to get settled in and he needed to get a feel for how he was
going to handle game night as a starter,” Massillon coach Rick Shepas
said. “He really came alive. He plays with great confidence. He protected
the football.

“Our offensive line really did a nice job keeping them off Steve. I was kind of surprised they didn’t pressure them a whole lot.”

Twice, the Griffins grabbed the lead from Massillon in the second half. And twice, it was Hymes who gave the Tigers the lead back.

The first time came after Buchtel took the second-half kickoff and marched 86 yards on 11 plays to take a 6-3 lead on a two-yard Pittman run with 7:39 left in the third quarter. The extra-point kick sailed wide left.

But the Tigers answered by driving from their own 35 to the end zone in eight plays. Hymes was forced to complete a 24-yard pass to Brent Huffman on third-and-six, as well as pick up 26 yards on three totes on the drive.

Hymes would make it a 9-6 Tiger advantage when he fought his way into the end zone for a touchdown with 5:01 remaining in the third. Zack Smith tacked on the extra point for a 10-6 Massillon edge.

Buchtel answered to take a 12-10 lead by methodically going from its own 4 in 14 plays. Primarily keeping it on the ground, Pittman again powered his way in from two yards out for the score. The two-point conversion failed to keep it a two-point Griffen advantage with 10:25 showing in the fourth quarter.

The teams traded punts before Hymes guided the Massillon offense on what proved to be the go-ahead scoring drive. Starting at heir own 42, the Tigers kept the ball on the ground, alternation between Tuffy Woods who carried six times for 55 yards in the game – and Hymes.

“Coach just said we were going to go to ‘gun run’ and we were going to keep running it,” Hymes said. “Coach felt like they were getting tired. We just kept gassing them and gassing them, and after a while they were done.”

On third and four from the Buchtel 27, Hymes kept through the line of scrimmage, turned to the left and coasted into the end zone for the score. The two-point conversion failed, but Massillon was holding a 16-12 lead with 4:42 left.

That left it up to the defense. After Buchtel mover down to the Tiger 13 with just under 2:00 left, Massillon arched its back and stuffed Pittman on two straight rushing plays before Relford would get his chance to stamp his mark on the game and end the Griffins’ hopes.

“That was the first time we had called that coverage in the whole game,” Relford said, “It was ‘corner over.’ They came over with their two wide receivers and that was the first time they had done that the whole game.”

Defense was essentially the name of the game before halftime, with the Tigers halting Buchtel’s first possession when White broke on an under thrown pass in the end zone for an interception. White would have a fourth quarter interception called back due to a penalty.

“We wanted them to put the ball up in the air,” White said. “I feel we have the best secondary. As long as the line put pressure on the quarterback and makes him throw bad passes, that’s the key. It wasn’t the secondary, it was the linemen.”

It wasn’t until the third Massillon possession that the scoreless deadlock was broken. Thanks to a 27-yard Hymes-to-Ryan Schindler pass play and a 17- yard run by Lanale Robinson, the Tigers were able to move to the Buchtel 18. However, the drive stalled and Smith was forced to boot a 35-yard field goal for a 3-0 Tiger lead with 2:35 remaining in the first quarter.

That lead would hold up through the rest of the first half, but not without threats by both teams.

The Tigers would miss a pair of field goal attempts. One time, a bad snap prevented them from getting the ball off at all, while they also missed on a 52-yard attempt.

Buchtel failed to score on its final first-half possession after driving inside the Massillon 5. On third-and-goal from two, Buchtel quarterback Steve Walker tried a keeper to the right and dove for the goal line. However, the ball popped out of his hands and hit the pylon, giving the ball to the Tigers on a touchback with 43 seconds left.

“I was indifferent,” Shepas said of the precarious 3-0-halftime edge. “Sometimes you feel like you had some opportunities that you didn’t cash in. But at the same time, it was a great opportunity for our team to show what the were made up.”

GAME STATS

SCORING
M – Zack Smith 35 FG
B – Antonio Pittman 1 run (Kick failed)
M – Steve Hymes 8 run (Smith kick)
B – Pittman 2 run (Pass failed)
M – Billy Relford 89 interception return (Smith Kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Massillon rushing: Steve Hymes 13-72, 2 TD, Tuffy Woods 6-55, Lanale Robinson 6-20
Buchtel rushing: A Pittman 28-174, 2 TD.

Massillon passing: Steve Hymes 7-19-130.
Buchtel passing: S Walker 7-13-123 2 INTs.

Massillon receiving: Brett Huffman 3-46, Billy Relford 1-43-.
Buchtel receiving: V. Singfield 3-73.

Brock Hymes

2002: Massillon 20, Warren Harding 21

Tigers come so close
Massillon loses in overtime on wide point‑after

By JOE SHAHEEN
Independent Sports Editor

High school sports can be a cruel, unforgiving endeavor, especially in the win‑or‑go‑home scenario of the playoffs. It is a fact of life to which the Massillon Tigers can attest today.

The Tigers fell to the Warren Harding Raiders 21‑20 in overtime at the Rubber Bowl in a Division I state semifinal game in front of an estimated 22,000 fans Saturday, and, they did so in heart‑rending fashion. The margin of victory ‑ a missed point after touchdown.

“There’s not a whole lot I can say to our kids right now,” Tiger coach Rick Shepas said amid a pack of reporters after the game. “They’ve got to learn from this kind of adversity.

“Sometimes you fall short but it doesn’t mean we didn’t work hard. It doesn’t mean the kids haven’t played hard.”

No one who watched this classic confrontation between two of Ohio’s traditional high school football powers could possibly say such a thing. The painful emotions of the gut‑wrenching defeat were etched on the faces of every player wearing the orange uniform and black helmet of the Tigers.

Shepas vowed in the days before the game his charges would leave everything on the field. They did that and more, and yet fate seemed to conspire to prevent this proud team from reaching the goal for which they have worked so hard for the past 11 months.

Even Warren Harding coach Thom McDaniels seemed reluctant to accept the victory the way the contest ended. “It was a classic,” said the former McKinley mentor. “It shouldn’t have ended that way.” Certainly, McDaniels could sympathize. His son missed a point after touchdown kick in the 100th Massillon‑McKinley game that cost the Bulldogs a one point overtime defeat.

The missed extra point, which sailed wide left, was eerily reminiscent of the Tigers’ 14‑13 defeat in the playoffs to St. Ignatius in 1991 when a Massillon extra point glanced off the goal post upright and fell away.

The defeat ends the Tiger season at 11‑3 and also spells the final chapter in what has to be considered one of the greatest defensive teams Massillon has ever produced in its proud gridiron history.

“This result doesn’t speak for the way our defense played the whole game,” Shepas said. “I want our defense to be remembered for the outstanding team they are. They are outstanding.”
It seemed Massillon might be bound for the state championship game when Ricky Johnson bolted around left end for a six‑yard touchdown with 1:11 to play, capping off a well‑conceived 12‑play, 62‑yard drive that featured several fine runs by Steve Hymes out of a WingT look the Tigers hadn’t deployed the entire game. Max Shafer’s point after was true and the Tigers led 14‑7.

What happened next must have seemed like a bad dream that just repeats itself over and over as Warren’s Mario Manningham returned the ensuing kickof f to midfield, giving the Raiders hope for overtime. It was Manningham’s two kick returns for touchdowns that helped Warren defeat Massillon 31‑27 in a week nine game at Warren.

And, befitting their regular season state poll champion status, the Raiders took advantage as Mike Kokal hit Treymayne Warfield with a 17‑yard touchdown pass with :17 on the clock. Joe Spain’s point after was good and the game went into overtime at 14‑14.

“We had a chance there at the end, but we just didn’t hang on,” Shepas said.

Warren tallied first in overtime but only after recovering its own fumble at the goal line. Kokal scored on the next snap after that miscue from a yard away. Spain’s conversion kick was good and the Raiders were up 21‑14.

Johnson gained 10 yards around left end on Massillon’s first play of overtime. Two plays later, Matt Martin made a clutch throw on third and goal to A.J. Collins in the right edge of the end zone and it was 21‑20.

On the fateful extra point, with the wind, blowing left to right, the football sailed left of the left upright to bring the game to an end.

“Our fans were great,” Shepas said just before leading his team to the locker room. “They stayed in the stadium. I’d like our fans to learn to be a little bit more positive with our kids all the time, which they’ve been. “We’ll keep going forward.”

Warren Harding drew first blood in a familiar fashion, converting a lengthy punt return into a touchdown.

Taking the opening kickoff, Massillon moved from its 20 to the Warren 37 on a short Martin to Relford pass that the play‑making junior transformed into a 52‑yard gain. The Tigers had an opportunity to get inside the Raider 20 but a dropped pass foiled the play and they were forced to punt.

Thaddeus Walker fielded Shafer’s punt at the Warren 12, found a seam and didn’t stop running until he was pulled down 54 yards later at the Massillon 36.

Three consecutive carries by Warren running back Richard Davis and a facemask penalty on the Massillon defense advanced the ball to the Tiger 11. Four plays later, Stephon Alexander appeared to be stopped on fourth‑and‑goal from the one but the line judge ruled he broke the plane of the end zone and signaled touchdown Warren. Spain added the point after and Warren Harding was up 7‑0 at 5:23 of the first quarter.

Massillon’s scoring drive began at 9:17 of the second quarter at the Tiger 20 yardline after Relford picked off a Warren pass in the end zone.

But the real story of the initial 24 minutes of play was the yellow blizzard of flags falling from the sky. In all, game officials penalized the two state semifinalists 13 times for 85 yards in the first half. Nine of the flags went against Massillon, costing the Tigers 55 yards.

Martin’s screen pass to Johnson picked up 13 yards. One play later, Martin found Johnson running alone down the right sideline for a 30‑yard completion to the Warren 36. An interference penalty against Warren pushed the ball to the Raider 21. A couple of five‑yard penalties pushed it back to the 31 but the Tigers gained it back and more on an 18‑yard screen pass from Martin to Terrance Roddy. Martin got another first down on a keeper, then hit Collins in the left corner of the end zone for the Tigers initial score of the evening. Shafer added the extra point and it was a tie game at 7‑7 with 3:40 to go in the half.

Massillon 20
Warren 21
M W
First downs rushing 4 8
First downs passing 5 7
First downs by penalty 1 0
TOTAL first downs 10 15
Net yards rushing 66 139
Net yards passing 181 125
TOTAL yards 247 264
Passes attempted 31 29
Passes completed 12 12
Passes intercepted 1 2
Punts 9 8
Punting average 34.3 33.5
Fumbles/Lost 0/0 1/0
Penalties 11 5
Yards penalized 61 35

Massillon 00 07 00 07 06 20
Warren 07 00 00 07 07 21

SCORING

W ‑ Alexander 1 yard run (Spain kick)
M ‑ Collins 9 yard pass from Martin (Shafer kick)
M ‑ Johnson 6 yard run (Shafer kick)
W ‑ Warfield 17 yard pass from Kokal (Spain kick)
W ‑ Kokal 1 yard run (Spain kick)
M ‑ Collins 11 yard pass from Martin (kick failed)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
MassilIon rushing: Hymes 5‑42, R. Johnson 12‑21, Martin 3‑7, Roddy 4‑1.
Warren rushing: Davis 19‑63, Phillips 7‑34 Kokal 5‑18, Massucci 5‑15.

Massillon passing: Martin 12‑31‑181, 2TD, 1 INT.
Warren passing: Kokal 11‑22‑118, 1 TD, Phillips 1‑7‑7, 2 INT.

Massillon receiving: Relford 2‑58, R. Johnson 4‑53, Jordan 2‑26, Collins 2‑20, 2 TDs,
Roddy 1‑18, Ashcraft 1‑6.
Warren receiving: Warfield 5‑65, 1 TD, Manningham 3‑31, Stella 1‑13, Johnson 1‑9, Alexander 1‑7.

“Our fans were great.
They stayed in the stadium.
I’d like our fans to learn to
be a little bit more positive
with our kids all the time,
which they’ve been.
We’ll keep going forward.”

Rick Shepas
Massillon coach

Shawn Crable

2002: Massillon 14, Pickerington 0

ON TO THE FINAL FOUR
Tigers are regional champions

By JOE SHAHEEN
Independent Sports Editor

Rick Shepas saw that look in his players eyes at halftime. Maybe it was the Eye of the Tiger.

Whatever it was, the Massillon Tigers came out and dominated the second half of play to secure a 14‑0 Division I regional championship game victory over the Pickerington Tigers in front of 12,234 fans at Arlin Field in Mansfield, Saturday.

“I saw a difference in our kids in the locker room at halftime,” Shepas said following the post game handshake. “It was a different feeling than we’ve had in the five years that I’ve been here.” That feeling translated into a victory that sends the Tigers to the state semifinals for the second year in a row.

The Massillon defense made it all possible by holding Pickerington without a first down on three third‑quarter drives. It set up the second Tiger touchdown when Shawn Crable forced and Markeys Scott recovered a Pickerington fumble at the 30‑yard line.

“We took ownership of this football game,” Shepas said. Massillon scored the only touchdown it would need on a seven‑play, 80‑yard drive on its second possession of the third quarter.

A pair of sideline passes to James Helscel got them rolling and the march was capped off when Matt Martin hit Devin Jordan on a crossing Pattern that caught the Pickerington defense flowing the opposite direction. Jordan snared the ball at the 25 and scampered the rest of the way to pay dirt. Max Shafer hit the extra point and it was a 7‑0 game at 2:54 of the third quarter.

Following the ensuing kickoff, Scott fell on a Pickerington fumble at the Pickerington 30.

After a holding penalty against the Tigers, Martin found A.J. Collins open for a 15 yard gain to the 21. Ricky Johnson picked up nine yards up the middle and one play later Martin dropped a pass into the waiting arms of Jordan in the right corner of the end zone for the two touchdown cushion.

“A couple of the big plays we ran and moved the ball well on were called by (senior wide receiver) James Helscel,” Shepas said. “He called the scat pass for the touchdown about three plays before. Then he mentioned snag and we hit Devin in the corner on the snag pass.

“Our offense came out and did what it needed to do. I’m glad for these kids. They play hard and they deserved it. We talked about what we needed to do and they challenged themselves.”

Martin completed six consecutive passes during Massillon’s third quarter surge. But he deflected the credit to the coaching staff. “The coaches made some great adjustments,” he said. “They put some new plays in for us and we just executed. The line blocked well. The receivers caught everything. Ricky ran hard and blocked good. “We just came together in the second half.”

Pickerington never did manage a first down in the third quarter and only had six first downs to go with three turnovers in the entire second half.

“We came in at halftime and said we need to get it done for each other and came out in the second half and dominated the football game,” said Massillon co‑captain Keith Wade.

The First had tug‑of‑war a for field position as both defenses flexed their muscles while both offenses tried mostly unsuccessfully ‑ to deal with the slippery field conditions.

Massillon best drive came on its opening possession. Two consecutive Martin to Jordan passes, petted 23 yards and got the Tigers the Pickerington 42 but the drive was doomed when a shotgun snap from center sailed over Martin’s head.

Two huge plays by Shawn Crable on Pickerington’s initial drive accounted for negative 15 yards forcing the purple Tigers to punt.

The balance of the first half went about the same way as each offense managed a big play or two, only to see their possessions snuffed out by penalties, dropped passes and solid defensive play.

Massillon and Pickerington combined for only 129 yards of total offense in the first two quarters, with only 50 of that total on the orange‑and‑black’s ledger.

Massillon could have been in deep trouble, fumbling the ball three times in the first 24 min­utes of play. Fortunately for the locals, they recovered all three bobbles.

One of the Massillon’s wilder miscues came on a muffed punt at its own 20. It appeared Pickerington recovered the ball but a huge pile‑up ensued and when the officials final­ly pulled all the bodies off the heap, it was Massillon with the pigskin.

Late in the first half, Relford returned a Pickerington punt to near midfield. On first down, Martin lofted a pass deep down the left sideline that Stephon Ashcraft caught inside the Pickerington 15. But the play was nullified when a chop block penalty was whis­tled on Massillon.

While that was disappoint­ing to the Massillon sideline, the Tigers would not be de­nied.

“No one wanted to quit here,” said Martin. “We want­ed to go the rest of the way.”

“They’re a good football team,” said Pickerington coach Jack Johnson. “No doubt about it. I wish them all the luck in the world and I hope they go all the way.”

Massillon 14
Pickerington 00
M P
First downs rushing 3 7
First downs passing 10 3
First downs by penalty 0 1
TOTAL first downs 13 11
Net yards rushing 46 116
Net yards passing 172 61
TOTAL yards 218 177
Passes attempted 23 17
Passes completed 12 7
Passes intercepted 2 1
Punts 5 4
Punting average 31.4 33.0
Fumbles/Lost 3/0 2/2
Penalties 6 4
Yards penalized 59 25

Massillon 00 00 14 00 14
Pickerington 00 00 00 00 00

SCORING

M ‑ Jordan 40 pass from Martin (Shafer kick)
M ‑ Jordan 11 pass from Martin (Shafer kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Massillon rushing: R. Johnson 20‑64.
Pickerington rushing: Trapasso17‑68, Ultican 11‑27.

Massillon passing: Martin 12‑23‑112, 2TDs, 2 Ints.
Pickerington passing: Ultican 7‑15‑61, 1 Int. Trapasso 0‑1‑0.

Massillon receiving: Jordan 7‑108 2 TDs, Collins 2‑41, HeIscel 2‑21, R. John­son 1‑2.
Pickerington receiving, J. Jablonka 1‑22. Harrison 2‑14.

Shawn Crable

2002: Massillon 23, Massillon Perry 21

It’s up and It’s good

Tigers will face Pickerington; Perry ends year at 10‑2

By CHRIS PUGH
Independent Staff Writer

A pair of Matts gave the Tigers a winning hand.

The Massillon Tiger football team rode the arm of Matt Martin and the foot of kicker Matt Shafer to a thrilling last‑second 23‑21 victory over the Perry Panthers Saturday night. The Ohio High School Athletic Association regional semifinal contest was played before an estimated crowd of 17,000 at Fawcett Stadium.

Shafer kicked a 35‑yard field goal at the game’s final gun, capping a 57‑yard drive sparked by the passing of Martin.

Martin finished the game 21 for 29 through the air for 294 yards and added a 65‑yard punt on a quick kick for good measure.

The Tigers’ heroics were necessary after Perry came back from a 20‑7 deficit in the third quarter with two touchdown runs by Chris Kortis, the second giving Perry a 21‑20 lead with 1:17 left in the game.

The drive was set by a stunning sequence of plays just a minute earlier.

The Tiger defense sacked Perry quarterback Bob Perez on a fourth down to give the team possession with a little over two minutes to play.

The Panthers took the ball back and promptly scored, giving Massillon the final shot.

Martin completed six straight passes on the game winning drive, setting up Shafer’s winning kick.

With the win, the Tigers avenged two recent losses to Perry, including a 23‑6 loss in an opening round playoff game in 1999.

Massillon advances to play Pickerington, who crushed Gahanna Lincoln, 48‑13.

Within 30 minutes of the Victory, fans flooded downtown Massillon. Lincoln Way was closed off as revelers ‑ included Rick Shepas’ charges danced in the streets.

The game gave the Tigers bragging rights over the Federal League, giving them a 2‑0 record over the conference this season.

The Tigers defeated North Canton 31‑0 last Saturday in the opening round of the playoffs.

Meanwhile, Warren Harding, which handed Massillon one of its two losses this season, barely escaped Byers Field in Parma with a 18‑16 win over Lakewood St. Edward, also on a last second game‑winning field goal.

Massillon 23
Perry 21
M P
First downs rushing 2 8
First downs passing 12 6
Firsst downs by penalty 0 1
TOTAL first downs 14 15
Net yards rushing 28 141
Net yards passing 294 117
TOTAL yards 322 258
Passes attempted 29 15
Passes completed 21 7
Passes intercepted 1 1
Punts 5 7
Punting average 42.2 27.9
Fumbles/Lost 5/3 1/1
Penalties 5 2
Yards penalized 52 6

Massillon 00 13 07 03 23
Perry 00 07 00 14 21

SCORING

M ‑ Johnson 3 run (Shafer kick) 9:27
M ‑ Jordan 68 pass from Martin (kick failed) 5:43
P ‑ Cerreta 31 pass from Perez (Perez kick) 1:41
M ‑ Jordan 25 pass from Martin (Shaffer kick) 11:44
P ‑ Kortis 1 run (Perez kick) 6:42
P ‑ Kortis 1 run (Perez kick) 1:17
M ‑ Shafer 35 FG 0:00

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Massillon rushing: Johnson 13‑24, Woods 4‑12.
Perry rushing: Kortis 15‑68, Perez lt29, Schleiden 8‑28.

Massillon passing: Martin 21‑29‑294 TD, INT.
Perry passing: Perez 7‑15‑117 TD, INT,

Massillon receiving: Jordan 7‑170 2 TDs, Ashcraft 4‑44, Relford 4‑32.
Perry receiving: Cerreta 4‑62 TD, Woodard 2‑37.

Shawn Crable

2002: Massillon 31, North Canton 0

Tigers sweep Hoover from Playoffs

Massillon shines in impressive win Massillon mauls N. Canton, 31‑0

By JIM THOMAS
Repository sports writer
NORTH CANTON Both Massillon and North Canton came into Saturday’s Division I regional quarterfinal game giving up 2.4 yards a rush. When the host Vikings discovered almost immediately they could not run on the Tigers, they quickly found out they sure could not pass on them.

Billy Relford alone was a one‑man, four-headed, fire‑eating monster for Massillon, intercepting ‑ four of the Tigers seven interceptions of the Tigers’ seven interceptions in a 31‑0 mauling of the Vikings.

A junior cornerback, Relford intercepted the first pass Hoover quarterback Jimmy Savage attempted ‑ while lying on his back. The 5‑foot‑8 Relford snared Savage’s next attempt, too, and this time he stayed on his feet, running the pick back 51 yards down the right sideline and then somersaulting into the end zone to put Massillon up 14‑0 with 3:01 left in the first quarter.

“Our defensive was phenomenal tonight,” said Massillon coach Rick Shepas, whose 9‑2 team advances to play Perry in a regional semifinal Saturday. “They got some turnovers in the first quarter … that was a turning point in the game.

“It was all due to Billy Relford. All Relford did was set a Massillon mark for interceptions in a season. His four picks in the first half probably are a record, but his nine for the season did set a new Massillon mark.

When Tony Graves intercepted Savage’s third attempt of the night and rumbled and stumbled 33 yards to the Hoover 2‑yard line, the game was over. Ricky Johnson, who scored the first touchdown on an 8‑yard toss‑sweep, cracked in the next play, and it was 20‑0, after Max Shafer’s missed point‑after.

Marquice Johnson made Savage’s evening a tad more miserable by sacking him for a safety in the second quarter, but it was the “fiery‑eyed” Relford, according to Shepas, who continued to slay the Vikings. He picked off Savage twice more in the half, the second at the back of the Massillon end zone to keep North Canton off the board.

The fact he ran the ball back 91 yards and nearly scored only enhanced his heroic play. His touchdown return was the big one, though.

“I just saw him do an out route, and the grass was hard to do a break on,” said Relford’ speaking of Hoover wideout Eric Kubilus. “When I saw his break was slow, I just broke on it ‑ I saw (Savage) throw the, ball. I broke on it, timed it and ran it all the way back.”

The first interception got Relford, and the Tigers, rolling. It was 3rd‑and‑7, and he went up with Kubilus and won the battle, despite landing on his back.

“Actually, (Kubilus) was behind me,” said Relford. “I played the wrong defense. But, I made up for it with the interception. It just fell in my hands.”

Massillon too strong for Hoover

That was not true of his endzone theft. Relford went up against 6‑3 Curt Lukens, turned on the ball before Lukens did, climbed the ladder faster than Lukens, got the ball, climbed down ‑ then ran full speed the other way before getting tackled. Shafer then missed a 35‑yard field goal at the first‑half gun, but it did not matter because the damage had been done.

Hoover., which wanted to control the clock with the run, netted just 51 yards the first two periods. That led to a 1‑for‑12 passing effort in the half.

“Sometimes the holes were there, but the holes aren’t there very long,” said North Canton coach Don Hertler Jr., describing the effort by Massillon defense. “We had a couple of dropped balls, threw some interceptions, and you can’t expect to win with seven turnovers.

“You can’t turn the ball over five times in a half and win.”

Oh yeah, the Tigers played a little offense too. They put together an eight‑play, 64‑yard drive that consumed 3:20 the first time they touched the ball. Johnson ran hard, scoring twice and eventually collecting 119 yards. Matt Martin was on fire, hitting 7‑of‑11 the first half for 96 yards and a touchdown. The senior lefty finished 16‑of‑23 for 202 yards and one touchdown, with one interception, and he loved watching his defense give him field position.

“That’s the best I’ve seen the defense play,” said Martin. “They were great, giving us the short field to work on all game.”

There was no fourth‑quarter‑lapse, as there had been against St. Ignatius and at Warren Harding. When Dustin Jarvis intercepted the Vikings’ seventh aerial in the final two minutes, it, ended a great season for the Federal League champs.

“We had a great run,” said Hertler. “I’m proud of the way a majority of our players played the game and how they handled themselves.

Devin Jordan caught six passes for 95 yards and an 11‑yard touchdown for Massillon, and Stephon Ashcraft grabbed five for 73 yards. Relford caught one, for 9 yards. He also worked an offensive pass interference call against Hoover, so dominating was his play even the referees felt he deserved the call.

“I’m pretty happy,” said Relford. “I wanted the record, that was one of my goals. But the main thing was the defense played great all game.”

Shawn Crable