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1994: Massillon 31, Akron St. Vincent St. Mary 15

October 28, 1994September 21, 2017
by Eric Smith

Bombs away!
Tigers go to the air to eliminate Irish
Big plays do in the Irish

By JOE SHAHEEN
Independent Sports Editor

The last time the Irish of Akron St. Vincent‑St. Mary’s visited Massillon for a Week 9 football game, it was more trick than treat for the Tigers as the Summit County entry took home a 28‑25 upset victory back in 1991.

The Tigers took the field Friday night determined to learn from history. Despite the distraction of the historic 100th meeting with the McKinley Bulldogs looming just a week away, the orange‑and‑black tended to the task at hand and secured a 31‑15 victory at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

Massillon, just a week removed from a lethargic first half performance at Alliance, came out with both guns blazing on this night. On their very first snap, the Tigers made a statement by going for a long bomb. Willie Spencer Jr.’s pass for Devon Williams barely missed connecting, but it drew an ovation from the partisans and put a smile on Spencer’s face.

Tigers coach Jack Rose noted the St. Vincent‑St. Mary’s defense almost dared the offense. to throw deep.

“We figured we were going to have to put it up because they put eight or nine guys up on the line,” Rose said. “We threw the deep ball early to try to get them off of us.”

“We were trying to open the game up because their corners were playing right up on the line,” explained Williams. “We showed them early we could beat them with our quickness.”

The first down misfire did not frustrate the Tigers. On second down, Leon Ashcraft picked up 14 yards on a draw play to the Tiger 27. Spencer ran the bootleg around left end for 17 more on the next play. Two plays later, Spencer found Vaughn Mohler along the right sidelines for 16 yards to the Irish 22 and the Tigers were cooking.

Spencer executed the option to perfection on the next play, pitching the ball to Ashcraft at the last moment as the pair went around left end. Ashcraft, who finished the night with 138 yards on 17 carries, sailed down the left sideline and into the St. Vincent‑St. Mary’s end zone. Nick Pribich added the conversion kick and Massillon led 7‑0 at 6:25 of the first period.

The opening drive was in stark contrast to the way things began for the locals a week ago at Alliance.

“We weren’t very good last week,” noted Rose. “We were flat. Every team hits that. That was our (flat) game last week. But that fiasco helped us focus this week‑”

The Tigers struck like lightning early in the second quarter after an Irish punt to the Massillon 45. On second‑and‑10, Spencer found Ashcraft running free along the left sideline and dropped a perfectly thrown pass in his lap. Ashcraft caught the ball near the Irish 30, cut back to the middle of the field at the 15 and was taken down on a shoestring tackle at the 2‑yard line.

On third‑and‑goal, from the one‑yard line, Spencer followed Eddie Evans and Tim Mendenhall into the end zone for a 13‑0 Tigers advantage.

St. Vincent‑St. Mary’s brought a little lightning of its own and pulled it out on its next possession. On first‑and‑10 from their own 33, quarterback Bob Butash executed the play fake and found Joe Gilbride open on a deep post pattern. Butash hit Gilbride at the Massillon 30 and he was off to the races for a 67‑yard touchdown strike to make it a 13‑7 contest at 8:19 of the second quarter.

The Tigers added a field goal late in the first half, marching from their 10 to the Irish 7. Ashcraft’s 23‑yard run on the first play of the drive and Spencer’s 29‑yard scamper on an option keeper one play later keyed the drive. Pribich drilled a 24‑yard field goal with :19 to play in the half to give Massillon a 16‑7 lead at the break.

The third quarter was uneventful with the exception of a 49‑yard burst by Ashcraft that moved the ball from the Massillon 13 to the Irish 38. That drive stalled on downs at the St, V‑St. M 19.

Early in the fourth quarter, Irish defensive back Tony Pierce intercepted the Tigers near midfield but fumbled the ball back to Massillon.

Two plays later, Spencer found Williams on a deep post pattern and the sophomore would not be caught, notching a 48‑yard touchdown catch and run with 11:05 to play.

Tigers holder Mark Hiegl kept the ball on a fake conversion kick, sweeping around right end for the two‑point conversion and a 24‑7 lead.

“That was the big one,” sighed Irish coach John Cistone of the double turnover. “It turned it around. You’re still in the game and you think you’re going to have good field position, then boom. Then they get the big touchdown. That knocks you down, especially when you’re young. It makes it tough to come back.”

“I was just trying to get a good fake so they would bite on the run,” said Spencer of the touchdown bomb. “I watched Devon all the way. I just threw it up there and I got hit hard. But, the line gave me great protection tonight.”

“Willie took a big hit on that touchdown pass,” observed Rose. “I was really proud of the way he stood in there. He took a hit on his blind side on that play. But he stood in there and stood in there and delivered a beautiful ball, You can’t make a much better pass than that. Devon kept running and caught up with it and made the great catch.”

The Tigers, 8‑1 going into next week’s showdown with the Bulldogs, wrapped it up with a 10‑play, 62-yard drive, capped by Jeremy Fraelich’s six‑yard burst up the middle and into the end zone. Pribich’s boot made it 31‑7.

The Irish scored on an 18‑yard touchdown pass with eight seconds to play, as both teams had their reserves on the field.

MASSILLON 31
ST. VINCENT 15
M V
First downs rushing 11 9
First downs passing 5 4
First downs penalty 0 0
Total first downs 16 13
Net yards rushing 255 126
Net yards passing 169 116
Total yards gained 424 242
Passes attempted 18 15
Passes completed 7 6
Passes int. 1 0
Times kicked off 6 3
Kickoff average 47.0 37.0
Kickoff return yards 89 100
Punts 2 7
Punting average 33.5 33.0
Punt return yards 1 0
Fumbles 0 2
Fumbles lost 0 1
Penalties 0 3
Yards penalized 0 16
Number of plays 60 47
Time of possession 24:17 23:43

ST. VINCENT 0 7 0 8 15
MASSILLON 7 9 0 15 31

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter.
M ‑ Ashcraft 26 run (Pribich kick)

Second Quarter
M ‑ Spencer 1 run (kick failed)
St. V ‑ Gilbride 67 pass from Butash (Hlivko kick)
M ‑ Pribich 24 FG

Fourth Quarter
M ‑ Williams 58 pass from Spencer (Hiegl run)
M ‑ Fraelich 6 run (Pribich kick)
St. V ‑ Hlivko 18 pass from Whitney (Knott pass from Whitney)

FINAL STATISTICS

Rushing:
Massillon
Ashcraft 17‑138;
Spencer 11‑61, 2 TDs;
Lewis 7‑32;
Fraelich 4-22, 1 TD;
Turner 1‑4;
Hiegl 1 ‑(minus‑2).
St. Vincent ‑ Knott 16‑82, Lazar 4‑36, Whitney 3‑21, LaCause 6‑9, Butash 3‑(minus‑22).

Passing:
Masillon
Spencer 7‑18‑169‑1, 1 TD.
St. Vincent
Butash 5‑10‑98, 1 TD;
Whitney 1‑5, 18, 1 TD.

Receiving:
Massillon
Ashcraft 3‑78;
Mohler 3‑33;
Williams 1‑58, 1 TD.
St. Vincent
Shenigo 1‑25;
Gilbride 1‑67, 1 TD;
Hlivko 1‑18, 1 TD;
Knott 1‑3;
LaCause 1‑3.

Leon Ashcraft

1994: Massillon 20, Alliance 0

October 21, 1994September 21, 2017
by Eric Smith

Aviators Grounded!
Tigers have too much for Alliance

By MARK LAUTZENHEISER
Independent Sports Writer

For 24 minutes, the Alliance Aviators were living up to the nickname “Black Swarm.” But the “Swarm” went south in the second half and Massillon turned a 7‑0 halftime lead into a lackluster 20‑0 win in front of a near capacity crowd at Mount Union Stadium, Friday.

After a sluggish first half, the Tigers got a shot in the arm on the second‑half kickoff. Massillon’s Nick Pribich lofted the kick down the left sidelines. Alliance Louis Banks rushed over, but his momentum carried him out of bounds leaving the ball on the ground at the 22. Massillon’s Matt Helm fell on the loose pigskin and the Tigers were in business.

Three plays later, Leon Ashcraft followed the overpowering blocking of the left side of the line and scooted into the end zone from 10 yards out to give Massillon a 14‑0 lead with 10:57 left in the third. It was academic from there on out.

“We had a lot of mental errors tonight. We just weren’t sharp,” Tiger head coach Jack Rose said. “Last week we played real well, but this week we took a step back. We were playing a team that was 1‑6 and could have been 4‑3. They don’t play like a 1‑7 team.”

Aside from the Alliance miscue on the second half kick, things didn’t come easy for the Tigers.

Out of the gate, Nate Lewis returned the opening kickoff 39 yards to the Aviator 46. From there, Ashcraft powered over a couple Aviator tacklers for 14 yards. Quarterback Willie Spencer Jr., followed with a 12 yard gain on the option around left end to give the Tigers a first down at the 20.

But, Massillon pulled out the gun and instead of shooting down the Flyers, shot themselves in the foot. A fumble in the backfield, a sack and a four yard gain on fourth‑and‑20 gave the ball to Alliance at its own 26.

The defensive stand seemed to ignite the Aviators and especially senior fullback George Cameron. The 6‑foot-1, 220-pounder rushed six times for 37 yards in carrying his team to the Tiger 13.

From there, the Tigers’ defense did exactly as its opponents’ had, and stuffed the Aviators. Defensive tackle Donnie Young nailed Cameron for a yard loss on first down and Courtney Herring forced an Alliance back out of bounds three yards behind the line of scrimmage. Following an incomplete pass, Alliance’s Marious Rasinar missed a 33‑yard field goal wide right.

The Tigers, taking over at the 15, started slow. However, on third‑and‑12, Ashcraft skated around right end on a misdirection play for 38 yards to the Alliance 47. After two short gains, Spencer executed a picture‑perfect option play to the left sideline and 46 yards later the Tigers led 7‑0.

Spencer sprinted left, drew the defender, faked the pitch, cut it up and rest was sheer speed to the goal line.

“It was very important to score first,” Rose said. “They were playing with a lot of intensity and we weren’t.

“Willie is so strong. He just shook a tackle … then he’s got the speed. He can be devastating on the perimeter.”

Alliance did make some noise on its final possession of the first half. After moving the ball 48 yards to the Massillon 19, Rasinar saw his 35‑yard field goal try fail. This time he was well short.

In the first half alone, Massillon tallied 118 yards rushing, but 84 of those came on two plays. Alliance ate up 14:19 and managed to out gain their visitors 144‑132 in total yards. Cameron was the main man with 74 yards on 13 carries.

From this point, it was all Massillon. The Aviators’ first turnover led to Ashcraft’s 10 yard score. Following the ensuing kick, the Tiger defense held the Aviators on three plays and forced a punt. The snap sailed over the punter’s head and he was barely able to get the kick away. Massillon took over on the Alliance 43.

Two Aviator penalties ignited this Tiger drive. Massillon was faced with a third‑and‑11 at the 33. Spencer rolled left and threw incomplete, but he was hit out of bounds and Alliance was hit with a 15‑yard penalty.

On a later third down, Ashcraft appeared to be stuffed just inside the 10, but an Alliance defender grabbed Ashcraft’s facemask and the Tigers had a first down at the five.

Spencer took the next snap, faked the off‑tackle play to Ashcraft and beat an Alliance defensive back to the corner of the end zone for the score. The point‑after was no good and the Tigers were in control of their seventh win of the season.

“If you would have told me after the first scrimmage we were going to be 7‑1 at this point. I would have laughed,” Rose said. “This is the most improved football team I have been around. It is the opposite of last year. This team is going in the right direction and is getting better as we go along.”

MASSILLON 20
ALLIANCE 0
M A
First downs rushing 10 12
First downs passing 1 2
First downs penalty 2 1
Total first downs 13 15
Net yards rushing 197 144
Net yards passing 14 42
Total yards gained 211 186
Passes attempted 4 115
Passes completed 2 7
Passes int. 0 2
Times kicked off 4 1
Kickoff average 48.0 51.0
Kickoff return yards 45 63
Punts 3 3
Punting average 25.7 30.0
Punt return yards 4 0
Fumbles 3 3
Fumbles lost 1 1
Penalties x x
Yards penalized 61 32
Number of plays 44 50
Time of possession 23.22 24.38

ALLIANCE 0 0 0 0 0
MASSILLON 0 7 13 0 20

SCORING SUMMARY

Second quarter
M ‑ Spencer 46 run (Pribich kick)

Third quarter
M ‑ Ashcraft 10 run (Pribich kick)
M ‑ Spencer 5 run (kick failed)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING:
Massillon
Ashcraft 19‑98,
Spencer 7-509,
Lewis 8‑35,
Fraelich 2‑3,
Hiegl 2‑1,
Monler 1‑7,
Turner 1‑3;
Alliance
Cameron 20‑96;
D. Jones 7‑32.

PASSING:
Massillon
Spencer 2‑4‑0 14;
Alliance
Jones 7‑14‑2 42

RECEIVING:
Massillon
Williams 1‑10,
Ashcraft 1‑4;
Alliance
D. Jones, 2‑11,
Banks 1‑7,
R. Jones 1‑6,
Hovanec 1‑5.

Leon Ashcraft

1994: Massillon 21, Cuyahoga Falls 11

October 14, 1994September 21, 2017
by Eric Smith

Falls felled! Tigers deal Cuyahoga squad first loss
Spencer sparks Tigers past Falls

By JOE SNAHEEN
Independent Sports Editor

If anyone wondered about Willie Spencer’s attitude coming off last week’s one-game suspension for practice violations, their questions were answered early and often in the Massillon Tigers’ 21‑11 defeat of the previously unbeaten Cuyahoga Falls Black Tigers, Friday at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

Spencer had a hand in all three of Massillon’s touchdowns as the Tigers had the game salted away before the band show with a 21‑3 halftime advantage.

“Willie was terrific,” gushed Tigers coach Jack Rose. “I made him unterrific in the second half. We threw the interception and I got too conservative. That’s my fault.

“But Willie was focused all week. When he is in tune, he is hard to beat. Really, the whole team was well‑focused. They were ready.”

The senior signal caller, forced to sit out last week’s victory over Barberton, asserted himself on the Tigers’ first drive of the evening. He earned Massillon’s first first down of the night on an option keeper around left end, then hit Brennan Rohr with a 25‑yard pass for another first down at the Falls’ 45.

After a holding call against the Black Tigers, Spencer followed guard Kevin Bouder on an option‑keeper around left end, cut back at the 30 and sprinted untouched into the end zone. Nick Pribich’s kick made it 7‑3 Massillon with 2:16 left in the first period.

The Tiger defense got the ball back when linebacker Courtney Herring shot a gap in the Falls line on third‑and‑eight, dumping Black Tigers’ tailback Kevin Hyatt for a three‑yard loss, forcing a punt.

Again Spencer showed the 13,796 in attendance that he’d put the past behind him and had come to play. He hit Steve Griffith with a 13‑yard dart for a first down at the Massillon 44. Jeremy Fraelich picked up 11 yards off left guard to the Falls’ 45, then Leon Ashcraft got it rolling with a 10‑yard spurt on the draw play to the 37.

Two plays later Vinny Turner gained 16 yards off left tackle and the Tigers were driving at the Falls 15. Once again Spencer called his own number, keeping the ball on the option around left end. The Massillon line executed to perfection and Spencer’s quickness enabled him to dance into the end zone. Pribich converted and it was 143 Tigers with 5:13 until halftime.

“If we’d have played the option in the first half the way we did the second half, maybe we’d have shut Spenser down,” said Falls coach Don Ross.” He’s too good of an athlete to have breakdowns. He is just a great athlete. He cracks a seam where we were supposed to have someone and the result was a touchdown.”

‘The Massillon defense forced and recovered a Falls fumble near midfield to give Spencer and company one more shot with about a minute until the break.

Spencer, sensing the kill, went up top on first down. Sophomore speedster Devon Williams got a step on the secondary but the ball was under thrown. Both Falls defenders appeared to tip the football, but Williams kept his concentration and came down with it for a 52 yard touchdown bomb. Pribich’s boot made it 21‑3 at half.

“Every coach teaches their kids to bat that ball down,” Ross observed. “Maybe they mistimed their jumps. We had two kids there.

“But that score puts us in a hell of a position because you take seven off the board, they’re playing a little tighter and who knows what happens in the second half.”

Spencer never saw Williams catch the ball.

“I saw it get tipped and thought it was incomplete,” he said. “Then I saw the ref put his hands up to signal a touchdown.”

Spencer’s first half statistics: 57 yards rushing and two touchdowns in five carries; 86 yards and one touchdown on 3‑for‑4 passing.

So much for any pregame concerns.

“I was trying to prove to everybody what I was about,”, Spencer said. “I haven’t done much this year passing wise, so I wanted to come out and establish that part of my game.”

The second half was rather rough from the Massillon standpoint, although the final score smoothed things over. The Tigers threw an interception on their first possession, then got conservative on offense and went three‑and‑out on their next two series of downs.

“I told them we were going to go out and get after it in the second half,” Rose lamented. “I said you have to be greedy and take it from them, when you play football. Then I don’t listen to myself. I learned a lesson tonight. We all learned one.”

The Tigers defense did its job however, stopping the Black Tigers’ first two drives of the second half. Cuyahoga Falls finally made things interesting by marching 53 yards in nine plays. Hyatt covered the final 18 on a simple dive play up the middle. The point‑after made it a 21‑11 game with the entire fourth quarter left to play.

The Tigers kept the ball for six plays to start the fourth, but turned it over on an interception at the Falls’ 25‑yard line with 9:50 to go. The Black Tigers got a heady performance from quarterback Bill Brandt, who completed four passes for first downs to march the offense to the Massillon 14.

Lavell Weaver helped stem the tide by sacking Brandt for a six‑yard loss, then an intentional grounding penalty wiped out any chance for the Black Tigers to put up a final touchdown.

“We made some big plays offensively and that’s what it takes,” Rose said. “The defense bent a little bit, but they made a good adjustment and played much better after that first drive.

MASSILLON 21
FALLS 11
M F
First downs rushing 10 9
First downs passing 4 10
First downs penalty 1 0
Total first downs 15 19
Net yards rushing 190 123
Net yards passing 96 169
Total yards gained 286 292
Passes attempted 9 32
Passes completed 4 13
Passes int. 2 0
Times kicked off 4 3
Kickoff average 42 40
Kickoff return yards 14 35
Punts 2 2
Punting average 36.5 39.5
Punt return yards 0 ‑2
Fumbles 0 3
Fumbles lost 0 1
Penalties 2 3
Yards penalized 15 38
Number of plays 42 68
Time of possession 19.55 28.05
Attendance 13,796

FALLS 3 0 8 0 11
MASSILLON 7 14 0 0 21

SCORING SUMMARY

First quarter
F ‑ Worthington 37 yard kick
M ‑ Spencer 35 yard run (Pribich kick)

Second quarter
M ‑ Spencer 13 yard run (Pribich kick)
M ‑ Williams 49 yard pass from Spencer (Pribich kick)

Third quarter
F ‑ Hyatt 18 yard run (Brandt conversion)

FINAL STATISTICS

Rushing:
Massillon
Ashcraft 21‑105,
Spencer 8‑58, 2 TDs.
Falls
Hyatt 21‑94, 1 TD.
Passing:
Massillon
Spencer 4‑9‑96, 1 TD.
Falls
Brandt 13‑32‑169.

Receiving:
Massillon
Williams 2‑59, 1 TD,
Rohr 1‑25.
Falls
Steiner 5‑64,
Hyatt 2‑39,
Marino 2‑39.

Leon Ashcraft

1994: Massillon 15, Barberton 0

October 7, 1994September 21, 2017
by Eric Smith

Tigers ‘D’eny Magics’ upset bid
Defense key to 15-0 win

By JOE SHAHEEN
Independent Sports Editor

When the offense isn’t clicking, good teams rely on their defense to pull them through.

So it was for the Massillon Tigers, 15-0 winners over the Barberton Magics Friday night in front of 10,034 at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

With starting quarterback Willie Spencer Jr., and starting right tackle Aric Simpson suspended for practice violations, the Tiger offense sputtered and stalled for most of the first half. But the defense refused to budge, yielding just 43 net yards to the Barberton offense.

They did it by blitzing Barberton quarterback Matt Jenson mercilessly all night, pounding the 6‑2, 185‑pound senior on virtually every pass play.

In the first half alone, Steve Griffith recorded three sacks from his CAT safety position. The last of the three forced Jenson to fumble, effectively stalling Barberton’s two‑minute offense, which appeared to be on a roll near midfield with :54 until intermission.

Senior defensive tackle Mark Wells had a pair of quarterback sacks in the first half, including one on the first play of the game, sending a message to Jenson that he would not be able to sit in the pocket and count the house all night long.

Wells also made a huge play on Barberton’s first possession of the second half. The Magics had driven from their 46 to the Massillon 25, but were facing a third‑and‑six situation. Jenson tried to execute the triple option, but Wells shot a gap and pulled him down before he could get started, for a three‑yard loss.

Barberton missed a 45‑yard field goal attempt on the very next snap.

That’s when the Tigers offense finally got untracked. Mark Hiegl, who stepped in at quarterback, marshalled a drive that began on the Massillon 20. Leon Ashcraft picked up 16 yards and a first down on a pitch around left end. Hiegl snuck for three yards to earn another first down near midfield. Ashcraft found a seam over left tackle to record the third first down of the drive at the 37.

Then, on second‑and‑long, Hiegl rolled right to pass under intense pressure from the Magics. He managed to get the ball off just before he was dragged down, avoiding a huge loss.

On the next snap, Hiegl again rolled right, then turned and found tight end Ryan Shanor with a throwback screen pass on the left. Shanor avoided one tackler and raced down the sideline for a 41‑yard touchdown. Nick Pribich’s kick made it Massillon 7, Barberton 0 as time expired in the third quarter.

“The way they were coming so hard off the back side, we felt if we could get (the screen pass) in there at the right time, it would work,” said Tigers head coach Jack Rose. “We were just going for the first down. They were in a man‑to‑man. We got a good block out there and Ryan was able to go down the sideline for a touchdown.

“Mark made a heady play by avoiding the sack on second down. He is the kind of kid who can beat you from the head up.”

Barberton head coach Ed Robinson praised Rose’s play call.

“We were bringing the house and we had man (coverage) on and the guy who was in man coverage missed the tackle,” Robinson said. “When you do that you’re in trouble. They got a nice block out of their tackle and it was a nice play call for the situation. What are you going to do? That’s the one breakdown defensively we had all night long.”

On Barberton’s first play after the ensuing kickoff, Griffith came up with another monster play. The 5‑8, 150-pound senior plastered Jenson on the safety blitz, forcing him to fumble the football. Matt Robinson scooped up the pigskin in the end zone for a touchdown to put the Tigers up 13‑0 with 10:52 to play.

“I had a lot of clean shots at the quarterback,” Griffith confirmer. “I was just waiting for this game because I knew I could get him in that shotgun. Coach had the calls perfect. Our line did a good job getting upfield and I just went in there and took it to him.”

Griffith indicated the defensive game plan was simple.

“We were running our regular coverage,” he explained, “but when they went to the shotgun, we checked to the blitz and it caused a lot of disruption.”

“We got after (Jenson) pretty good,” Rose said. “He hung in there pretty well. He has a lot of courage. But you can only take so much of that. Sooner or later you get a turnover.”

Wells put the final points on the scoreboard for the Tigers, tackling tailback Bryan Watkins in the end zone for a safety with 3:29 to play. The score was set up, appropriately enough, by Robinson’s sack of Jenson on the seven‑yard line on the preceeding play.

“Coach Wells told me to try to put some pressure on (Jenson) so we could take him out of the game early,” Wells said.

“We had rhythm going after beating Fitch. But with everything that happened this week, we felt we had to unite on defense to pull us through.”

Massillon held Barberton to just 71 net yards of total offense for the evening. The Magics managed just .5 yards per rush on 31 running plays. They fumbled three times and lost two.

Ashcraft, appearing to run even harder than usual, rushed for 111 yards in 17 carries. Vinny Turner and Nate Lewis combined for 104 yards rushing to keep the Magics from keying solely on Ashcraft.

“We had a lot of adversity this week coming off the big win last week,” summarized Rose. “A lot of things happened to keep the guys from being focused. I think we did a good job. We knew we had to do a great job on defense so Mark (Hiegl) had a chance to get his feet wet. I thought he got better as the game went on.”

The Tigers will host Cuyahoga Falls next Friday. Falls remained undefeated with a 37‑7 Metro League victory over Ravenna.

MASSILLON 15
BARBERTON 0
M B
First downs rushing 10 4
First downs passing 1 3
First downs penalty 0 1
Total first downs 11 8
Net yards rushing 194 16
Net yards passing 50 55
Total yards gained 244 71
Passes attempted 8 11
Passes completed 3 6
Passes int. 1 0
Times kicked off 3 1
Kickoff average 55.7 56.0
Kickoff return yards 3 68
Punts 3 4
Punting average 30.0 36.8
Punt return yards 23 0
Fumbles 1 3
Fumbles lost 0 2
Penalties 4 5
Yards penalized 38 31
Number of plays 47 43
Time of possession 25.19 22.41
Attendance 10,034

MASSILLON 0 0 7 8 15
BARBERTON 0 0 0 0 0

THIRD QUARTER
M ‑ Shanor 41 pass from Hiegl (Pribich kick)

FOURTH QUARTER
M ‑ Robinson fumble recovery (kick failed)
M ‑ Wells safety tackle of Watkins

FINAL STATISTICS

Rushing:
Massillon
Ashcraft 7‑60,
Turner 4‑55;
Barberton
Hanlin 6‑30,
Lamb 3‑17.

Passing:
Massillon
Hiegl 2‑6‑9;
Barberton
Jenson 1‑6‑10.

Leon Ashcraft

1994: Massillon 10, Austintown Fitch 7

September 30, 1994September 21, 2017
by Eric Smith

Pribich boots the Fitch ‘jinx’
Spencer’s long TD is key to win

By MARK LAUTZENHEISER
Independent Sportswriter

It’s amazing what one play and a little momentum can do for a football team.

The play?

Massillon quarterback Willie Spencer’s 86‑yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Thus, the momentum.

The result?

A Nick Pribich 40‑yard field goal with 2:58 remaining in the game to give the Tigers a 10‑7 win over Austintown Fitch at Falcon Stadium on Friday.

“This is a great win. This puts us over the hump,” a tearful Spencer said as he made his way toward the locker room. “We beat a great team. It is exactly what we needed.”

The win ends the Tigers’ losing streak at Falcon Stadium ‑ Massillon had been dealt four losses in four tries ‑ but it didn’t come without some anxious moments in the game’s final three minutes.

Pribich’s go‑ahead kick appeared to take the wind out of Fitch’s sails. The Falcons were down … but they weren’t out.

Starting from its own 11 after a mishandled kickoff, Fitch struck quickly.

On the first play from scrimmage, Falcon quarterback, Rich Marinelli found Jeff Hawkins down the middle for 53 yards, and a face mask, against Massillon put the ball on the Tiger 21.

The threat died two plays later when Marinelli fumbled a snap and Massillon’s Brad Lambrou recovered, giving the Tigers the ball and ‑ it appeared ‑ the win.

Not so.

As the Tigers worked to run out the clock, Spencer swept left end and lost the handle, with Fitch recovering at the Massillon 11.

Fullback Mike Stanec bulled six yards to the five; Marinelli dove ahead to the 4; and, with no timeouts left, threw out of bounds on third down to stop the clock.

That left Falcon kicker Chris Calcagni facing a 21‑yard field goal to send the game into overtime.

Calcagni, who gave Fitch a 10‑7 win over Lakewood St. Edward a week ago, couldn’t repeat his heroics.

His kick sailed wide right, giving Massillon the win, an end to the Falcon Stadium jinx and a 4‑1 mark on the year.

“We called the keeper and we told Willie to just fall down instead of taking the hit,” Tiger coach Jack Rose said of the late miscue. “We were going to run one more play, then take a safety. We figured there would be six or seven seconds left and we would win the darn thing 10‑9.

“Our defense made the big plays when it had to. It seemed like neither team wanted to win this one.”

“It was the greatest feeling ever. I just went numb,” Pribich said of his game‑winning boot. “When we got the ball back, coach told me to start loosening up and said that a field goal was going to win the game.”

Massillon’s clinching drive started on its own 43‑yard line after a Fitch punt.

On first down, Spencer handed off to tailback Leon Ashcraft on a routine off‑tackle play. Ashcraft was stopped for no gain, but managed to pitch the ball back to Spencer, who gained 18 yards to the Fitch 39.

From there, Massillon moved to a first down at the 26, but the drive stalled three plays later at the 23.

On came Pribich, drilling his 40‑yarder to put the Tigers ahead to stay.

“Nick had been hitting consistent 30‑yarders in pregame, so we knew that if we could get it down around the 30 we had a shot,” Rose said. “We were trying to keep the ball on the left hash because he kicks better from there. That’s why we were running to the sideline.”

“Nobody stopped us, we stopped ourselves,” Fitch Head Coach Jack Kenney said. “We kept finding ways to win, but we kept stopping ourselves.”

In the days leading up to the contest, Rose stressed the strength of the Fitch defense. First‑half action proved him right, as the Tigers could manage only 76 yards of total offense.

In that same span, the Falcons rolled up 224 yards and dominated on both sides of the ball, but managed only a 7‑0 halftime lead.

That score came on a 43‑yard touchdown strike from Marinelli to Mark Cruz.

Fitch continued to dominate in the third quarter, but failed to hit paydirt.

The fourth quarter was a different story, as the Tigers began to roar. On the strength of play in the final period, Massillon wound up out gaining Fitch 176 yards to 157 yards over the final 24 minutes.

For the game, Spencer led the Tigers with 122 yards on the ground in 22 carries, while Ashcraft finished with 90 yards in 18 carries.

MASSILLON 10
FITCH 7
M F
First downs rushing 7 15
First downs passing 2 3
First downs penalty 0 1
Total first downs 9 19
Net yards rushing 218 260
Net yards passing 32 119
Total yards gained 250 379
Passes attempted 12 17
Passes completed 4 4
Passes int. 0 0
Times kicked off 3 2
Kickoff average 53.7 57.0
Kickoff return yards 27 39
Punts 6 5
Punting average 31.7 31.2
Punt return yards 8 22
Fumbles 2 2
Fumbles lost 1 1
Penalties 4 10
Yards penalized 39 96
Number of plays 49 66
Time of possession 20:40 27:20

FITCH 0 7 0 0 7
MASSILLON 0 0 0 10 10

SCORING SUMMARY

Second Quarter
F ‑ Cruz 43 pass from Marinelli (Calcagni kick)

Fourth Quarter
M ‑ Spencer 86 run (Pribich kick)
M ‑ Pribich 40 FG

FINAL STATISTICS

Rushing:
Massillon
Spencer 15‑121, 1 TD;
Ashcraft 18‑90.
Fitch
Stanec 24‑147,
Evans 11‑51.

Passing:
Massillon
Spencer 4‑12‑32.
Fitch
Marinelli 4‑17‑119, 1 TD.

Receiving:
Massillon
Mohler 1‑20.
Fitch
Yargo 2‑23.

Leon Ashcraft

1994: Massillon 21, Mansfield Senior 13

September 23, 1994September 24, 2017
by Eric Smith

Tigers have to scrap to top Tygers

A much-improved Mansfield Senior squad pushes Massillon to the brink of defeat

By JOE SHAHEEN
Independent Sports Editor

If Mansfield Senior was to serve as the Massillon Tigers’ whipping boys after last week’s tough loss to Akron Garfield, someone forgot to tell the Tygers.

After turning the ball over to their hosts on an interception on the second snap of the ball game ‑ a turnover that led to the Tigers first touchdown ‑ Mansfield turned things around and played an inspired four quarters, before falling 21‑13 at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium, Friday.

The contest began as if it would be no contest. Brennan Rohr’s interception near midfield gave Massillon superb field position before many fans had settled into their seats.

The Tigers moved the ball methodically, with quarterback Willie Spencer doing most of the damage on keepers around the Mansfield flanks. The senior pitched to fullback Vinny Turner on an option play around left end for a three‑yard touchdown with less than four minutes gone in the game.

Nick Pribich’s kick made it 7‑0 and visions of a rout began to dance in the heads of the Tigers and the hometown partisans.

“We got the turnover, went right down and scored and I think we thought, ‘Here we go. We’re going to rack up another 50 on them,”‘ said Tigers coach Jack Rose. “That’s a maturity thing with this team. They have to understand they’re going to have to fight for everything they get. Hopefully they’ve learned that lesson.”

Certainly Mansfield did its best to get the message across. The Tygers, beginning their ensuing possession at the 20‑yard line, began controlling the line of scrimmage. Junior Michael Jackson and sophomore Kenyonnah Rife took turns running the football and suddenly Mansfield was near midfield.

Then quarterback Deondre Jones hit tight end Clarence Jacocks for 25 yards to the Massillon 28.

Six plays later, Jones kept the ball on a quarterback sneak to culminate the 13‑play drive with a one‑yard touchdown plunge. The conversion kick made it a 7‑7 game at 1:47 of the first quarter.

Neither team could get much going in the first half of the second period. A Massillon punt gave Mansfield possession at the Tyger 41 with 8:00 until the band show. Rife ran the ball on the first three plays, moving it to the Massillon 43.

On second‑and‑five, Jones called the triple option and kept the football around right end. The Tigers had the play smelled out, so Jones changed direction and found no one at home for Massillon on the left side. He ran free to the Tiger 10, where he cut inside a tackler and into the end zone and the visitors led 13‑7 with 6:34 to go in the second.

Massillon gave the ball right back to their guests on a fumble at the Tiger 42. But the home team defense bowed its neck and forced Mansfield to punt after three snaps.

Then the Tigers found their groove, driving from their 18 to the Mansfield end zone in 11 plays. Leon Ashcraft accounted for 31 of those yards on a picture perfect draw play around right end. Spencer hit sophomore wideout Devon Williams for 20 yards along the left sideline for a key first down at the Mansfield 18.

Spencer capped the drive with a sneak from the 1. Pribich’s boot made it 14‑13 Tigers at halftime.

Fumbles and illegal motion penalties plagued Mansfield throughout the second half. But Massillon was unable to take advantage, failing to get a first down until less than two minutes remained in the third period.

Massillon put Mansfield away with a clutch scoring drive that began midway through the fourth quarter at the Tiger 29. On first down, Spencer kept the ball on a bootleg around left end, picking up 14 yards. It was a sign of things to come.

“We began kicking the outside linebacker out with the fullback and having the guard pull through so Willie could carry it through there,” Rose said.

Up until that point, Spencer seemed to hesitate on the pass-run option, giving the Mansfield defense time to react.

“We told him to just run it,” Rose revealed. “We told him to pull it down and go. He really did a nice job reading the blocks and the guards got up in the hole and the fullback did a good job kicking out the end.”

After a pass interference call against Mansfield gave the Tigers a first down at the Tyger 40, Spencer took off on the bootleg run again, picking up 20 yards around left end to the 20.

Ashcraft found a small hole over left guard for six yards and Spencer picked up seven more around right end to the seven yard line.

Three snaps later, Spencer scored his second TD of the night on a quarterback sneak. Pribich’s PAT with 4:11 to play concluded the scoring.

Mansfield made one more run at the Tigers, but Lavell Weaver jarred the ball loose from Rife at the Massillon 40 and Heath Manson outfought the Tygers for the loose pigskin.

“we had some illegal motion penalties that hurt us,” said Mansfield coach Stan Jefferson, “but there were some other things that I felt were out of our control in terms of some things chat were called on us.

“I don’t care what anybody from around here says, we played them tough all the way to the end. If we cover the one fumble, who knows.”

“The key was the drive right before half that put us ahead 14-13,” observed Rose. “We had chances in the second half. We had one bust in the line of scrimmage that whole third quarter and that screwed our whole … we pretty much had them figured out as far as what we had to do. Then we made the adjustment on the boot run.

“That was a big win for us coming off of last week. The kids really spilled their guts out last week. Now we have to regroup and get ready for Fitch.”

Spencer had by far his biggest night of the season, rushing for 148 yards and two touchdowns in 21 carries. He also completed four passes for 36 yards.

Ashcraft was held under 100 yards for the first time in three weeks, but just varely. The senior tailback rushed for 98 yards in 21 carries, including that key 31‑yard scamper on the Tigers go‑ahead touchdown drive.

MASSILLON 21
MANSFIELD 13
M 0
First downs rushing 16 14
First downs passing 1 2
First downs penalty 2 0
Total first downs 19 16
Net yards rushing 263 264
Net yards passing 33 50
Total yards gained 296 304
Passes attempted 11 10
Passes completed 4 3
Passes int. 0 1
Times kicked off 4 3
Kickoff average 42.3 37.3
Kickoff return yards 44 47
Punts 4 4
Punting average 33.8 27.3
Punt return yards 1 7
Fumbles 1 5
Fumbles lost 1 2
Penalties 2 10
Yards penalized 18 60
Number of plays 60 54
Time of possession 23.36 24.24

MASSILLON 7 7 0 7 14
MANSFIELD 7 6 0 0 13

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter
Mass. ‑ Turner 3 run (Pribich kick)
Mans. ‑ Jones 1 run (VanDine kick)

Second Quarter
Mans. ‑ Jones 38 run (kick failed)
Mass. ‑ Spencer 3 run (Pribich kick)

Fourth Quarter
Mass. ‑ Spencer 1 run (Pribich kick)

FINAL STATISTICS

Rushing:
Massillon
Spencer 21‑148, 2 TDs;
Ashcraft 21‑98;
Turner 5‑17, 1 TD;
Fraelich 2-0.
Mansfield
Rife 13‑90;
Jones 13‑77, 2 TDs;
Jackson 13‑57;
Bessick 5‑30.

Passing:
Massillon
Spencer 4‑11‑36.
Mansfield
Jones 3‑10‑30, 0 To, 1 int.

Receiving:
Massillon
Williams 2‑25;
Griffith 1‑7;
Shanor 1‑1.
Mansfield
Jacocks 1‑25;
Grose 1‑12;
Jackson 1‑13.

Leon Ashcraft

1994: Massillon 6, Akron Garfield 21

September 16, 1994September 21, 2017
by Eric Smith

Tiger lament: Missed opportunities
Massillon falls 21-6, but score not indicative of tilt

By JOE SHAHEEN
Independent Sports Editor

When your offense gets inside the “red zone” against the rugged Akron Garfield Golden Rams defense, it had better put some points on the scoreboard.

The Massillon Tigers learned that lesson the hard way, squandering two “golden” scoring opportunities in the first half and falling to the defending Akron City Series champions 21‑6 Friday night in front of 15,772 at muggy Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

The defeat drops Massillon to 2‑1 on the season with the Mansfield Tygers scheduled to visit next Friday. Garfield improves to 2‑1.

The Tigers had all the better or it in the first half, but failed to put any points on the board. Garfield recharged its batteries at halftime and dominated play in the third and fourth quarters.

Massillon took the opening kickoff and marched to the Garfield 10 before stalling.

The drive was keyed by senior tailback Leon Ashcraft, who returned the kickoff 43 yards to the Rams 45‑yard line. Ashcraft found a hole over left guard and picked up 12 more on the second play of the drive to move the ball inside the 30.

On fourth‑and‑four, quarterback Willie Spencer gave the drive life by hitting Ryan Shanor over the middle for a first down at the 16. Vinny Turner picked up three yards on first down and Spencer added three more on second down.

But Ashcraft was stuffed for no gain on third‑and‑four at the 10 and Garfield’s Antoine Winfield came up with an interception in the end zone on fourth down to end Massillon’s first threat.

“When you get backed up your own goal line,” said Garfield coach Bill McGee, “sometimes character comes through and our guys had character tonight. I was real pleased we got solid and tough when we had to. Of course, you don’t have to defend as much ground, so it gets easier.”

Garfield’s next three possessions and the Tigers next two series ended in punts.

Brennan Rohr returned the Rams’ third punt of the evening from the Tiger 35 to near midfield and Massillon would mount its second serious march of the night from that point.

Ashcraft got the orange‑and-black started by picking up 11 yards on first down. Then, on second‑and‑nine from the Garfield 40, the Massillon line opened up a hole over left guard and tackle, and Ashcraft burst 18 yards to the Rams’ 21.

Turner picked up eight more on first down, prompting Garfield head coach Bill McGee to call for time out. It didn’t help much as Spencer rolled around right end for 10 yards to the three‑yard line two snaps later and it looked like the locals would draw first blood.

But with first‑and‑goal at the three, Massillon’s second opportunity to put up points went by the boards. Ashcraft was tackled for a loss of two on first down. Spencer lost four on a rollout on second down, then was sacked by Damon Turner for an 11‑yard loss on third down.

After a delay of game, Massillon faced a fourth‑and‑goal from the 26 and Spencer’s pass went out of the end zone for a Garfield touchback.

“Against a team the caliber of Garfield, you can’t miss those opportunities,” said a dejected Jack Rose in the Tiger locker room. “That was a big series for them when we got it down there and didn’t get in right before the half. It kind of took the momentum away from us a little bit. If we had punched it in there, it would have been a different ballgame.

“Give Garfield a lot of credit. They really controlled the line of scrimmage down there. We just couldn’t block them.”

Despite failing to score in the first 24 minutes, Massillon had the better of things. The Tigers out gained Garfield 100‑to‑65, recorded eight first downs to the Rams’ four, and owned a time of possession advantage of 14:26 to 9:34.

But the most important statistic, the score, was still 0‑0 and Massillon’s inability to put up any points proved fatal.

“I was happy to be 0‑0 at halftime, especially the way we played offense in the first half,” McGee admitted. “I knew we wouldn’t play that way the entire game.”

Obviously, he was correct. The Rams opened the second half by driving from their 22 to the Tigers 38 in eight plays. But Spencer fell on a Garfield fumble on the 29 yard line to quell the incursion.

Again the Tigers marched, sparked by runs of 14 and 31 yards by Ashcraft, who finished the night with 142 yards on 19 carries. Massillon had first-and‑10 at the Garfield 25, but failed to gain any yardage on the next three downs. On fourth-and‑10, Damon Turner sacked Spencer for an 11‑yard loss.

On the ensuing series Garfield moved from its 36 to the Massillon 47, where it was second‑and‑five. Desmond Bell took a handoff and attacked the middle of the Tiger line. He burst through a small seam as if he were launched by a rocket didn’t stop until he struck paydirt. The kick made it Garfield 7, Massillon 0 with 4:04 to play in the third.

Massillon coughed up the football at their 30‑yard line on its next possession and Garfield went for the kill. Winfield and Bell took turns blasting into the Massillon line. Then fullback Eric McKinstry took three handoffs in a row, diving in from the one on fourth‑and‑goal at 11:22 of the fourth quarter. The PAT made it 14‑0 Garfield.

Massillon came back with a 13‑play, 79‑yard march. Ashcraft had bursts of 19‑ and 14‑yards to move the ball to the Garfield 40. Spencer hit Rohr for 13 yards and then found Turner for 10 more to the Rams’ 2. The senior quarterback culminated the drive by scoring on a rollout around left end, making a superb cutback at the 3‑yard line to elude a final defender.

The Tigers tried for a two point conversion, but the pass was intercepted and it was a 14-6 game at the 5:28 mark.

There was still time for the locals and the comeback looked possible when Garfield faced a second‑and‑20 at its 10‑yard line. But Winfield dashed the hometown hopes by slashing up the middle and dashing 73 yards before Courtney Herring dragged him down from behind all the way down to the Tiger 17‑yard line.

Six plays later, Alonzo Wallace kept the football on the option play and swept around right end for the icing‑on‑the-cake TD with just l:50 to play.

“I thought our defense did a great job,” Rose said. “They couldn’t have played any better. Take a couple of plays out of there and we really shut them down. That last run of Winfield’s for 72 yards … up until then we had him contained. But a great player makes great plays in big games, and he made a couple on offense and defense. ”

Leon Ashcraft

1994: Massillon 39, Dayton Trotwood Madison 18

September 9, 1994September 20, 2017
by Eric Smith

Another blowout Trotwood Madison Tigers’ 2nd victim
Tigers take turnovers to trounce Trotwood
Massillon improves to 2-0 with 39-18 win

By JOE SHAHEEN
Independent Sports Editor

Just when it looked like Trotwood Madison tailback Howard Lankford would torture the Massillon defense all night long, the electrifying mighty mite coughed up the football and gave the Tigers the momentum they’d never relinquish in a 39‑18 victory in front of 10,201 at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium, Friday.

With the Tigers clinging to a perilous 13‑12 lead in the final three minutes of the first half, Lankford ‑ who finished with 145 yards rushing in 25 carries ‑ fumbled after diving into the middle of the Massillon line. Senior linebacker Courtney Herring recovered for the Tigers at the Trotwood 40.

Massillon was quick to capitalize. On second down, senior tailback Leon Ashcraft skirted left end on a counter play and danced 23 yards to the 15. Two plays later, senior quarterback Willie Spencer rolled right, pump faked and sprinted into the end zone to give the Tigers a seven‑point advantage at 19‑12 and a much‑needed burst of confidence going into halftime.

“You just cannot turn the ball over against a quality team like Massillon, especially when we had things going our way,” said Trotwood coach Bill Dennis, who then addressed Spencer’s touchdown run. “Going in we knew we had to contain Spencer and keep him from getting to the perimeter. But he’s such a good athlete. We just didn’t get it done.”

Up to that point, it appeared Lankford would be the fly in the Tigers ointment the entire evening. He rushed for 97 first half yards and had the Massillon faithful holding its collective breath every time he touched the football.

“We just couldn’t tackle him, he’s so quick,” said Tigers coach Jack Rose. “They do a nice job of getting him the ball in certain situations and he is hard to find. They’d get him the ball and he’d just pop out of there.”

However, the Tigers came out in the second half and put the game away with two third-quarter touchdowns within a three minute span and a refocused defense that didn’t allow a Trotwood first down until there were nine minutes left in the game.

”The defensive coaches made some nice adjustments at halftime,” Rose observed. “But overall, our defense played today like it practiced all week, and we didn’t practice worth a lick.”

The first half was a different story. On the opening kickoff, Lankford showed what was to come, sprinting and spinning for 35 yards to the Trotwood 44. The Massillon defense stiffened and a fake punt misfired giving the Tigers superb field position at the Trotwood 48.

On third‑and‑seven, Spencer rolled right and hit Brennan Rohr, who made a sliding catch along the sideline at the 14‑yard line. A clipping penalty moved the ball back to the 18, but Ashcraft found a huge cavity on a delay over left guard and charged into the end zone for an 18‑yard touchdown and a 7‑0 Tiger lead at the 7:52 mark of the first quarter.

“That Ashcraft is a nice, little runner,” Dennis commented. “Their offensive line did a good job. We couldn’t get off their blocks and fly to the football like we did last week.”

“Bones runs hard,” Rose concurred. “He had a real nice game tonight.”

But Trotwood came right back, marching 52 yards in nine plays. Lankford put the points on the scoreboard when he took a pitchout around right end, ran through three would‑be tacklers for an 18‑yard touchdown with 4:29 to play in the first quarter.

Trotwood got a gift on the drive when Massillon was flagged for a late hit on a third down play, giving the Rams new life at the Tigers 21‑yard line.

The Tigers were intercepted on the second play of their next possession, but got the ball right back when Lavell Weaver recovered a Trotwood fumble to put the Massillon offense in business at midfield.

Ashcraft burst for 15 yards on first down, Spencer ‑ after a beautiful play fake ‑ hit tight end Ryan Shanor for 23 yards to the Trotwood 13, and Ashcraft finished off the lightning march with an 11‑yard bolt off left guard and tackle for a touchdown to make it Tigers 13, Trotwood 6 with :38 to play in the opening period.

Again Trotwood counterpunched after getting great field position at their own 40 after a short kickoff. With Lankford carrying on five of the seven snaps, the Rams pulled to within one point with 10:21 left in the first half. The 5‑5, 160‑pounder finished off the TD drive by finding paydirt on a seven‑yard draw play up the middle to make it a 13‑12 contest.

Massillon moved the ball on the next possession, but were finally forced to punt and downed the ball inside the Trotwood 1.

The Rams brought it out, as halftime approached, but gave the ball and the ballgame away on Lankford’s key fumble.

Massillon marched with the second half kickoff moving from its 20 to the Trotwood 19 before losing the ball on downs. The Tiger defense got the ball back by forcing the Rams to punt after just three plays. On first down from the 45, Vinny Turner picked up 17 yards on a draw and Spencer rolled around right end for a 23‑yard pick‑up to the 4‑yard line.

One play later Spencer scored on the quarterback sneak to make it 25‑12 with 3:56 to go in the third.

Again the Massillon defense did its job, forcing Trotwood to punt after three snaps. On first down from the Tiger 29, Ashcraft found a huge gap behind center Mark Wells, broke to the right sideline and galloped 52 yards to the Rams’ 19-yard line. Four plays later, Ashcraft dove into the end zone from the 3 to make it 33‑12 with less than a minute left in the third.

MASSILLON 39
TROTWOOD 18
M T
First downs rushing 17 11
First downs passing 3 5
First downs penalty 1 1
Total first downs 21 17
Net yards rushing 353 172
Net yards passing 85 132
Total yards gained 438 304
Passes attempted 7 26
Passes completed 3 17
Passes int. by 1 1
Times kicked off 7 4
Kickoff average 41.4 49.0
Kickoff return yards 25 129
Punts 2 2
Punting average 37.0 36.0
Punt return yards 26 0
Fumbles 0 4
Fumbles lost 0 3
Penalties 2 3
Yards penalized 30 24
Number of plays 56 57
Time of possession 26:09 21:51
Attendance 10,201

TROTWOOD 6 6 0 6 18
MASSILLON 13 6 14 6 39

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter
M ‑ Ashcraft 18 run (Pribich kick)
T ‑ Lankford 17 run (run failed)
M ‑ Ashcraft 11 run (kick failed)

Second Quarter
T ‑ Lankford 7 run (pass failed)
M ‑ Spencer 11 run (kick failed)

Third Quarter
M – Spencer 1 run (kick failed)
M – Ashcraft 3 run (Shanor Pass from Spencer)

Fourth Quarter
M ‑ Lewis 4 run (kick failed)
T ‑ Williams 25 Pass from Hutson (pass failed)

FINAL STATISTICS

Rushing:
Massillon
Ashcraft 17‑170, 3 TDs;
Spencer 8‑73, 2 TDs;
Lewis l4‑72, 1 TD;
Turner 8‑33;
Fraelich 1‑5;
Herring 1‑0.
Trotwood‑Madison
Lankford 25‑145, 2 TDs;
Christon 5‑18;
Hutson 1‑9.

Passing:
Massillon
Spencer 3‑7‑85, 1 int.
Trotwood‑Madison
Hutson 16‑24‑129, 1 TD, 1 int.;
Walker 1‑2‑3.

Receiving:
Massillon
Shanor 2‑55,
Rohr 1‑30.
Trotwood‑Madison
Williams 5‑51, 1 TD;
Russell 6‑39;
Lankford 4‑10;
Mark 2-32.

Leon Ashcraft

1994: Massillon 41, Youngstown Rayen 6

September 2, 1994September 21, 2017
by Eric Smith

No contest!
Tigers maul Rayen in season opener Ashcraft, Spencer spark Massillon to easy victory

By JOE SHAHEEN
Independent Sports Editor

The Massillon Tigers seemed intent on giving Youngstown Rayen every opportunity to make a game of it in the teams’ season opener at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium, Friday. But Rayen was just as determined to make things easy for their hosts.

In the end, Massillon walked off with an unfulfilling 41‑6 victory in front of 10,756 on an unseasonably chilly night.

How hard did Rayen try to be the perfect guest?

With Massillon leading 14‑0 early in the second quarter, the Rayen defense stiffened and forced a punt. But Massillon retained possession when Rayen was whistled for illegal participation. That usually means 12 men on the field, one too many. In this case, an official spotted 13 players on the field for the Youngstown entry.

The penalty gave the Tigers new life and they scored on the drive take a 21‑0 lead that would prove to be insurmountable for the visitors.

There’s more.

Late in the first half, Tigers quarterback Willie Spencer strolled out of bounds on a third-and‑long play. That meant the Tigers would have to punt, apparently giving Rayen a final opportunity to get on the scoreboard. But a Rayen defender bumped Spencer after the play was dead and then got into a jawing match and was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct, an automatic first down for the hosts.

Massillon was not sharp, especially in the first half which ended with the locals holding a 21‑0 advantage. Spencer fumbled twice, recovering both. The secondary was burned twice for long pass plays, each of which went for over 35 yards. And Massillon’s longest pass play of the night, a 64‑yard hookup between Spencer and Steve Griffith, was called back on an illegal‑motion penalty.

Still, there were some bright spots for the Tigers, not the least of which was the impressive running of junior fullback Vinny Turner. When. it became apparent Rayen’s defense was eying on the Massillon tailbacks, head coach Jack Rose inserted Turner and began feeding him the football on quick hitters in the middle of the line.

Turner (5‑9, 194) responded with an impressive first half. He carried the ball seven times and picked up 65 yards before the band show, a 9.3 yards per carry average. His effectiveness forced Rayen to begin paying attention to the fullback and opened up things for tailbacks Leon Ashcraft and Nate Lewis.

“They were really penetrating hard off the back side,” Rose said. “So we thought we’d hit them quick, right over top of the center and soften them there. Then we hit them a couple times off tackle with the trap play and got a couple of good gainers there.

“Vinny is a converted tailback and has great feet. He has a great future, whether it be at tailback or fullback.”

Ashcraft scored twice in the first half. He capped a five-play, 43‑yard drive on the Tigers second possession with a one‑yard TD dive over left guard. The stocky senior went in from 13 yards out on Massillon’s next possession, absorbing a big hit at the 5 and keeping his balance to score standing up. The run culminated a three-play, 47‑yard drive that was keyed by Turner’s 31‑yard burst up the middle on the initial snap of the possession.

“That second run there was a nice little hole there and I just had to take it up in there,” Ashcraft explained. “A couple of people got on me, but I just did what I had to do to help the team.”

The Tigers only sustained drive of the first half took place on their first possession of the second quarter. Massillon moved from its 25 on 12 plays, scoring when Spencer snuck into the end zone from a yard away at 4:46 of the second period. Ashcraft’s ten‑yard burst off right tackle and an 18-yard scamper by Spencer on a roll out around right end keyed the drive.

Massillon came out sharp in the second half. Senior fullback Jeremy Fraelich rumbled for 25 yards on the first play after the band show. Spencer then hit Jason Manson for nine yards and two plays later found Vaughn Moeller along the left sideline for 30 more to the Rayen 7.

Spencer rolled right on second‑and‑goal and hit tight end Ryan Shanor under the crossbar for the TD and the Tigers led 28‑0 with 8:22 to play in the third.

Spencer found Moeller with a 37‑yard scoring toss at 3:38 of the third to make it 34‑0 and signal the end of the night’s work for the majority of Massillon’s starters.

“Vaughn has deceiving speed,” Rose said. “He got behind the secondary a couple of times. He can be a real deep threat for us this season.”

Rayen got on the scoreboard with 2:06 left in the third when Damien Williams gathered up a Tiger fumble and ran 46 yards to paydirt to make it 34‑6.

Lamar Lancaster intercepted a Rayen pass with 5:30 to play and ran it back to the five-yard line. Nate Lewis closed the scoring on first down when he burst into the end zone on the draw play. The kick made it 41-6.

“We’ve got to improve in the passing game,” Rose summarized. ”We had a couple of drops again tonight. We’re catching the ball and falling down and we should be catching the ball and running with it. But we improved as the game went on.

“Defensively, we missed a lot of tackles tonight. It looked like we were there, we just weren’t wrapping up.”

Rose had mixed feelings on the performance of his young offensive line, an area he believes will be the key if the Tigers are to return to the playoffs for a second year in a row.

“I thought we handled their pressure pretty good when we came down and did our steps correctly and zoned properly. We did a nice job,” Rose said. “The back side blocking could use some improvement.

MASSILLON 41
RAYEN 6
M R
First downs rushing 14 3
First downs passing 2 4
First downs penalty 2 0
Total first downs 18 7
Net yards rushing 262 65
Net yards passing 89 107
Total yards gained 351 172
Passes attempted 8 21
Passes completed 5 7
Passes int. by 1 1
Times kicked off 7 2
Kickoff average 45.7 38.5
Kickoff return yards 18 92
Punts 0 4
Punting average 0 25.0
Punt return yards 15 0
Fumbles 2 3
Fumbles lost 1 1
Penalties 5 12
Yards penalized 29 87
Number of plays 49 43
Time of possession 26:17 21:43
Attendance 10,756

Y’TOWN RAYEN 0 0 6 0 6
MASSILLON 14 7 13 7 41

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter
M ‑ Ashcraft 1 run (Pribich kick)
M ‑ Ashcraft 12 run (Pribich kick)

Second Quarter
M ‑ Spencer 1 run (Pribich kick)

Third Quarter
M ‑ Shanor 7 pass from Spencer (Pribich kick)
M – Mohler 37 pass from Spencer (kick failed)
R ‑ Williams fumble recovery in end zone (pass failed)

Fourth Quarter
M ‑ Lewis 5 run (Weirich kick)

FINAL STATISTICS

Rushing:
Massillon
Turner 9-72;
Lewis 9-61, 1 TD;
Ashcraft 9‑49, 2 TDs;
Spencer 7‑33, 1 TD;
Fraelich 4‑37;
Whitfield 3‑10.
Rayen
Johnson 7‑30,
Morgan 3‑18,
Jeffries 8‑14,
Williams 4‑3.

Passing:
Massillon
Spencer 5‑7‑89, 2 TDs;
Whitfield 0‑1, 1 int.
Rayen
Jeffries 7‑21‑107, 1 int.

Receiving:
Massillon
Mohler 2‑66, 1 TD;
Shanor 1‑7, 1 TD;
Manson 1‑9;
Rohr 1‑7.
Rayen
Crenshaw 2‑71,
Jones 3‑33,
Williams 1‑4.

1993: Massillon 20, Walsh Jesuit 30

November 20, 1993September 18, 2017
by Eric Smith

Walsh Jesuit holds on: Massillon finishes 10-2

By JOE SHAHEEN
Independent Sports Editor

Jack Rose knew 16 points would not be enough to beat the Massillon Tigers.

And he told his team that at halftime of Saturday’s Division I regional championship game against Walsh Jesuit at the Akron Rubber Bowl. The Tigers trailed the Warriors 16-0 at the time.

With 8:48 left in the contest, Rose looked like a prophet as Massillon had pulled to within 23‑20 on a 55‑yard touchdown bomb from Mike Danzy to Lonnie Simpson.

At that point, not only were the Tigers believers, so was Walsh Jesuit head coach Gerry Rardin.

“I was thinking, ‘We can’t let this happen again,”‘ confided Rardin after the game. “I was. I’ll admit it now.”

Rardin had seen Massillon come from behind to defeat his team in the 1989 playoffs and last year during the regular season. This time, however, Walsh Jesuit was able to hang on for a 30‑20 victory and a berth in the state semi-finals against Cleveland St. Ignatius on Dec. 4 at Fawcett Stadium.

The Warriors cemented the win with a clutch seven‑play, 48‑yard touchdown drive following Simpson’s TD catch. It was set up when Matt Lloyd gave his team superb field position with a hard‑driving 39‑yard kickoff return.

After quarterback Todd Riddle started things off with a 22‑yard strike to Brock Kreitzburg that moved the ball to the Massillon 26, Lloyd finished the Tigers off the way he does all of his rushes. The senior tailback carried on four of the next five plays, scoring on a two‑yard smash into the middle of the line with 4:38 to play.

“Matt Lloyd’s a great kid. Matt Lloyd’s an outstanding tailback,” Rardin said, “He just runs with a great deal of heart and determination.”

Those same remarks would apply to more than one Tiger on what turned out to be a disappointing evening. Danzy showed enormous heart in rallying his team in the second half with a 68-yard touchdown run on an option keeper and the lone bomb to Simpson. The 5‑7, 165‑pound senior was a heavyweight this day with 120 yards and 107 yards passing.

Ali Dixon and Courtney Herring played key roles also. Dixon breathed life into the running game in the second half while, Herring’s two‑way play at tailback and linebacker belied his lack of experience.

The Massillon defense, despite Walsh Jesuit’s 30 points, hung in against a well‑balanced Warrior attack. It forced and recovered two fumbles in the third quarter to get the comeback started. The second one, recovered by Chris Porrini, led to Jake Laughlin’s 3‑yard touchdown dive that made it 16‑7 with 3:39 to go in the third period.

Walsh Jesuit countered with an eight‑play, 78‑yard touchdown march. Lloyd personally accounted for 71 of those yards (54 rushing, 17 receiving) and put the points on the board with a 28‑yard scoring run on a counter gap play over the Warriors’ right side. The PAT made it 23‑7 with :07 to go in the third.

Massillon showed why if is appropriately dubbed the City of Champions by fighting right back. Danzy electrified the crowd of 11,765 with his 68‑yard TD scamper on the option keeper. His conversion pass failed but it was 23‑13 with just under 11 minutes still to play.

The Tiger defense made another stand on Walsh’s next possession, forcing the Warriors into a three‑and‑out sequence by sniffing out a screen pass to Lloyd on third down.

After the punt, Massillon had it first‑and‑10 at its own 45. Danzy rolled right found Simpson wide open along the right sideline at the Walsh 25 and put the pigskin on the money. Simpson did the rest, outrunning the secondary to the end zone to make it 23‑20 with just under 9:00 to go.

That’s when Lloyd and the Warriors put together their final scoring march, drawing the curtain down on a fine comeback season for the Tigers.

“It was a heck of a season,” a disconsolate Rose said softly in the empty Massillon locker room. “Going 10‑2 isn’t too shabby, coming back from a 5‑5 season.

“We’ve got a real nice junior class coming back and we should have another real fine season in 1994.”

Rose cited two factors contributing to the Walsh Jesuit victory; third‑down efficiency and pass protection.

“They did a real nice job on third down,” he noted. “They converted a lot of third down plays. They had to have a great percentage, (56 percent for the game) especially on that first drive when they got the field goal.

“Riddle is a strong kid. He can shake off a guy. They did a good job of protecting him and he really threw the ball (12‑for‑20, 173 yards). He was on. He can throw the ball well.”
Unlike the week before against McKinley, Walsh Jesuit was not able to be one‑dimensional on offense. The Warriors went to the air early and often – Riddle was 8 of 12 for 127 yards in the first half alone – to keep the Tigers defense off balance.

“We felt we would have to mix it up a lot more to keep them honest,” Rardin said: “The kids executed a lot‑of‑things well, even when it got tough and they were stuffing us. They kept their poise and they continued to execute. That was the difference.”

MASSILLON 20
WALSH JESUIT 30
M W
First downs rushing 10 10
First downs passing 3 3
First downs penalty 0 0
Total first downs 13 18
Net yards rushing 236 203
Net yards passing 108 173
Total yards gained 338 355
Passes attempted 13 20
Passes completed 3 12
Passes int. by 1 0
Times kicked off 4 6
Kickoff average 45.5 58.0
Kickoff return yards 54 83
Punts 3 1
Punting average 35.0 28.0
Punt return yards 2 3
Fumbles 2 3
Fumbles lost 2 2
Penalties 2 1
Number of plays 44 59
Time of possession 18:41 29:19
Attendance 11,765

WALSH JESUIT 3 13 7 7 30
MASSILLON 0 0 7 13 20

Category: <span>History</span>