Category: <span>History</span>

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo

1987: Massillon 34, Barberton 28

Strange magic shades Tiger victory
Rubber Bowl ‘goblins’ emerge in Barberton comeback

By STEVE DOERSCHUK
Independent Sports Editor

AKRON ‑ Rubber Bowl goblins howled in record decibels Saturday night, but through the chaotic uproar John Maronto could hear the victory bell.

“Anybody who has been in coaching for a while will tell you a win is a win is a win,” said Maronto, whose Massillon football team won 34‑28 over Barberton in front of 8,000 fans. About 2,000 stragglers remained at the end. They learned that the way to a win is a maze with a billion possible courses.

Or, considering Barberton’s comeback from a 34‑7 deficit against Massillon’s second and third units, perhaps a billion‑and‑one. In this case, the Tigers won only after Barberton running back Jim Ferguson scored three touchdowns on short sweeps in the final three minutes of the game. The segment left the Tigers with two key injuries.

“Our guys played like little tigers,” said elated Barberton head coach Don Ault, whose assistants were telling the players, “We’re going 8‑2! We’re going 8‑2!” in the background. The loss dropped the Magics to 2‑2.

Massillon Tiger fans began seeking the path back to S. R. 241 soon after senior tailback Jerome Myricks capped the latest of his spectacular nights, sweeping right and breaking tackles until he broke clear along the sideline and finished off a 43‑yard touchdown run on the second play of the second half.

The run was at once a comment on Myricks’ ability and on the domination the Tiger first string imposed on the Magics. Sprawled flat either by textbook blocks or tackles broken by Myricks were Barberton defenders at the 47, 40, 35 and 30 yard lines. At the end of the connect‑the‑dots run, Lee Hurst booted a P.A.T. kick and the Tigers led 34‑7.

Myricks, a 5‑11, 181‑pounder with 4.5 40 speed and a rare slithering sense that makes tacklers miss, also scored on runs of 34 and 54 yards en route to rushing 190 yards in just 10 carries.

The Tigers won their third straight game, heading into Friday’s grudge match against Austintown‑Fitch, and improved to 3‑1. In the four games, Myricks has rushed 51 times for 466 yards at a science‑fiction 9.1 per carry. He has scored nine touchdowns, seven on the ground and two on passes.

Opponents are starting to look at Myricks and say, “Phone home, Jerome.” Except for sporadic bouts with the dreaded fumblitis, he’s been out of this world.

Ault, Barberton’s 57‑year‑old, first‑year head coach, called Myricks one of the nation’s best high school backs. And then he called attention to the fact the Tigers substituted with their second and third units after it was 34‑7.

“I want to thank Massillon and Coach Maronto for what they did for us,” Ault said. “That’s nothing but a classy operation.” Translation: Ault was elated his team could avoid a demoralizing blowout.

Myricks’ final touchdown lifted Massillon’s edge in net offense to 303‑92 at that point of the game.

“We asked our second and third teams to hold the lead,” Maronto said. “Some strange things happened, but they did hold the lead.”

In a bit of foreshadowing, four of the first eight plays of the fourth quarter resulted in one team recovering the other team’s fumble. The latter three fumbles occurred consecutively, and the last was Magic fullback Pat Robertson’s bobble that gave the Tigers possession at midfield. After three plays and a punt. Barberton took over at its own with seven minutes left in the game.

One of an endless stream of flags (the Tigers were penalized 14 times for 106 yards; the Magics lost 96 yards on 11 infractions) advanced the ball to midfield on an illegal block. Scrappy little Barberton quarterback Butch Momchilov, ineffective to that point, suddenly got hot. The 5‑foot‑10 junior delivered a strike over the middle to 6‑2 senior Jim Bell, who was tackled on the 6.

On the next play, Ferguson, a 6‑foot speedball, sprinted around left end and went untouched into the left corner of the end zone. Dan Dimick’s kick made it 34‑14, but only 2:53 remained.

Seconds later the Magics regained possession on a fumble 32 yards away from the goal line. Momchilov quickly passed over the middle again, this time to Ferguson at the 9. At that point, the Tigers sent their first unit back on the field.

But Ferguson scored again anyway on the same play that had got him the previous touchdown. Again he easily found the left corner of the end zone.

It was a costly play for the Tigers. Co‑captain John Miller, who had checked back into the game at inside linebacker, re‑injured a sprained ankle that sidelined him during much of the pre‑season.
“It looks like John’s ankle is going to keep him out a while,” Maronto said solemnly.
Attendants formed a human seat to carry Miller off the field. Dimick then kicked another P.A.T. and it was 34‑21 with 1: 37 left.

The Magics’ luck hadn’t run out. Barberton sophomore Mark Jung dove on the ensuing onside kick, which had squibbed all the way to the Massillon 36‑yard line. Momchilov again heaved a bomb over the middle to Ferguson, who caught the ball at the 5. The Magics called their second time out, then threw an incomplete pass, then turned Ferguson loose on the by‑now familiar sweep left. He scored again, Dimick made the kick ‘ and suddenly the Magics were within a miracle of victory with 28 seconds left in the game.

Barberton players turned to the few hundred fans left on the home side of the Rubber Bowl, exhorting them to get up and holler. Even though the Tigers got the ball when the ensuing onside kick went out of bounds, and sat on it until the clock expired, the Magics hollered off into the night as if something wonderful had happened.

In the Massillon camp, there was concern over injuries to Miller and to defensive tackle James Bullock, who also re‑injured an ankle during one of the late defensive stands.

The Tigers had established their dominance early. Barberton received the opening kickoff and punted after three plays. Massillon unleashed several of its weapons on a 10‑play, 75‑yard touchdown march. Runs by Myricks, Stafford and Vernon Riley and passes from quarterback Erik White to Wrentie Martin and Gerald Pope systematically moved the ball from the Tiger 30 to the Magics’ 34.

The Tigers were so confident they could move the ball that they went for it on fourth and inches from their own 39. White sneaked for the first down. On second down from the 34, Myricks followed fine blocking on an apparent 10‑yard gain up the middle. But using his surprising power, he exploded out of a three man pack to streak into the right corner of the end zone. The point‑after kick failed and it was 6‑0.

The Tigers forced another punt then had to punt themselves, but got the ball back when Magic return man Erik James fumbled. Jason Relford pounced on the ball at the Barberton 34.

White drilled a rocket into the end zone that Craig York couldn’t contain. It became fourth and four, when the bench sent in a play that worked beautifully, the old bootleg. Martin went in motion right, influencing the Magic defense in that direction. White deftly faked a handoff right to the fullback and tucked it in his gut while whirling around the left side. The 6‑51/2 senior weaved his way into the end zone on a 27‑yard run. A two‑point run failed and it was 12‑0 with 10:17 left in the first half.

“The Tiger defense again stopped Barberton on three plays. Massillon took over on its own 46 after the punt. On the first play, Myricks followed good blocking over the right side then popped outside to where he had clear sailing for a spectacular 54‑yard touchdown run. Lee Hurst’s kick made it 19‑0 with 8:23 left in the second quarter.

The Tigers would have had good field possession again moments later but Myricks, playing deep man on the punt, fumbled and the Magics’ instead got the field possession at their own 46. Aided by two personal foul penalties, they moved 54 yards in six plays, capped by a 4‑yard run by Ferguson, who started left on a sweep then made a quick cutback and scored easily.

Late in the half, the Tigers mounted another running passing drive that resulted in a score. They covered 63 yards in seven plays, with Miller, playing running back, bolting over from the one. Riley ran for a two‑point conversion and it was 27‑7 with 1:37 left in the first half.

Stafford wound up with another good night at fullback, gaining 78 yards in only eight carries.
Ferguson carried 15 times for 103 yards. Robertson, the brother of NBA point guard Alvin Robertson, carried 19 times for 70 yards.

White completed four of 10 passes for 40 yards before being relieved early in the second half by Hurst. Momchilov finished with nine completions in 18 throws for 111 yards.

In Rubber Bowl games against Barberton, the Tigers lost 9‑7, in 1977, won 21‑6 in 1979, lost 26‑24 in 1981, won 38‑7 in 1983, and came from behind at halftime to win 30‑20 in 1985.

Meanwhile, most of the Massillon‑Barberton games played in Paul Brown Tiger Stadium have been Tiger romps, including last year’s 56‑0 blowout.

The Tigers now turn their attention to Austintown Fitch, which desperately needs a win after its 2‑2 start. Fitch leads the all‑time series with the Tigers 2‑0, having won in 1985 and ’86. Fitch’s head coach is former Massillon player David Hartman.

Asked about getting ready for Fitch, Maronto said, We have a lot of work to do. We have to reshuffle our thoughts a little bit and make a decision on what the best course will be.”

MASSILLON 24
BARBERTON 28
M B
First downs rushing 13 9
First downs passing 0 5
First downs by penalty 1 2
Totals first downs 14 16
Yards gained rushing 320 202
Yards lost rushing 2 8
Net yards rushing 318 194
Net yards passing 33 130
Total yards gained 351 324
Passes attempted 12 19
Passes completed 4 10
Passes int. by 0 0
Times kicked off 6 5
Kickoff average 56.0 29.8
Kickoff return yards 24 29
Punts 2 6
Punting average 25.0 29.3
Punt return yards 5 4
Fumbles 6 4
Fumbles lost 5 3
Penalties 14 11
Yards penalized 106 96
Number of plays 41 61
Time of possession 19:02 28:58

Attendance 8,000

Massillon 6 21 7 0 34
Barberton 0 7 0 21 28

First quarter
M ‑ Myricks 34 run (kick failed) 5:51. Drive covered 75 yards in 10 plays.
Second quarter
M ‑ White 27 run (pass failed) 10:17. Drive covered 33 yards in 4 plays.
M ‑ Myricks 54 run (Hurst kick) 8:23. Drive covered 54 yards in 1 play.
B ‑ Ferguson 4 run (Dimick kick) 4:26. Drive covered 54 yards in 6 plays.
M ‑ Miller 1 run (Riley run) 1:37. Drive covered 63 yards in 7 plays.
Third quarter
M ‑ Myricks 43 run (Hurst kick) 10:57. Drive covered 63 yards in 3 plays.
Fourth quarter
B ‑ Ferguson 6 run (Dimick kick) 2:53. Drive covered 81 yards in 10 plays.
B ‑ Ferguson 9 run (Dimick kick) 1:37. Drive covered 32 yards In 2 plays.
B ‑ Ferguson 5 run (Dimick kick) 0:28. Drive covered 36 yards In 5 plays.

John Miller
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo

1987: Massillon 21, Canton Glenoak 0

Muddy Myricks dusts GlenOak

By CHRIS TOMASSON
Repository sports writer

MASSILLON ‑ When it was over, Jerome Myricks looked like he had just emerged from a World War I trench.

In Massillon’s 21‑0 win over GlenOak (2‑1) Friday night, Myricks, a senior tailback, gained 161 yards on 21 carries, scored two touchdowns, and carted about four pounds of the Paul Brown Tiger Stadium field back to the locker room.

With heavy rains having turned the field into a marsh, many of the GlenOak and Massillon players spent the night slipping and staggering all over. But Myricks had a method to keep himself afloat ‑ although his launderer won’t believe it.

Program Cover

“With the field as bad as it was, I tried to put the weight on the outside of my foot so I’d be able to cut better,” said Myricks, who scored four touchdowns against Altoona, Pa., last week, but called Friday’s performance more satisfying.

“Jerome is such a fluid running back,” said Massillon coach John Marontb. “He’s able to take what he can see. He was patient and showed he has the ability to explode to daylight.”

Myricks’ first touchdown came midway through the first quarter on a 17‑yard run, which capped a 43‑yard drive. That was actually one of Myricks’ few highlights of the first half, as he gained only 37 yards in the first 24 minutes.

Myricks only carried five times in the first half because the Tigers (2‑1) came out trying to throw against a GlenOak defense that did not allow a point in its first two games.

“We thought the way to beat them was to throw,” Maronto said.

Massillon quarterback Erik White completed 4‑of‑7 passes in the first half, but one of the passes was an interception that halted the Tigers’ first drive. And another of his passes was actually not a pass at all. Midway through the second quarter, White tried to hurl the mud‑caked ball, but it squirted out of his hand like a wet fish. Fortunately for Massillon, White pounced on the ball, or else GlenOak would have had first and 10 at the Tigers’ 15,

So much for the passing game. White threw only three more passes in the final 2 1/2 quarters.

One of those passes produced Massillon’s second touchdown, an 8‑yard throw from White to junior tailback Jason Stafford.

The Tigers’ final score came on Myricks’ second touchdown, a 36‑yard scamper with 4:20 remaining. It was a simple off‑tackle play, but Myricks shredded several tacklers at the line of scrimmage and whisked into the end zone.

As far as GlenOak’s offense was concerned, it was nearly non‑existent. The Golden Eagles, who had mustered only 20 points in their first two games, seriously threatened only once.

Early in the second quarter, GlenOak had a first down at Massillon 15. But four plays lost five yards, and the Tigers took over on downs.

“We just couldn’t get our offense going,” said GlenOak coach Bob Commings, who coached Massillon from 1969‑73 and was trying to upset the Tigers for the second straight year. “But, hats off to Massillon, they deserved to win.

The Tigers accumulated 250 yards of total offense (209 on the ground), while holding GlenOak to 107 yards and six first downs.

Massillon gave up 305 yards in an opening‑game 22‑8 loss to Akron Garfield, but has since given up only 225 yards in its last two games.

“That Garfield loss was a fluke thing,” said Massillon linebacker Scott Sampsel.

Maronto is never one to get over‑excited, but he’s starting like what he’s sees in this year’s Massillon team.

“This team has a chance of being something special,” he said. “They’re showing a lot of character, determination and team togetherness.

GlenOak 0 0 0 0 0
Massillon 7 0 7 7 21

M ‑ Myricks 17 run (Hurst kick)
M ‑ Stafford 8 pass from White (Hurst kick)
M ‑ Myricks 36 run (Hurst Kick)

Tiger defense sheds
muddied reputation
Paybacks are sweet in
21 ‑ 0 win over GlenOak

By STEVE DOERSCHUK
Independent Sports Editor
Mud never tasted so good.

”Words can’t explain how we feel,” senior linebacker Scott Sampsel said after peeling a laundryman’s nightmare off his back.

“We worked hard for this,” said another linebacker, David Hackenbracht. ”Now we have our paybacks.”

Sampsel and Hackenbracht had just helped the Massillon Tigers whitewash the GlenOak Golden Eagles 21‑0 in a high school football game seen by 9,354 wet‑look fans at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

The outcome left both teams with 2‑1 records. Morn Nature couldn’t figure out what she wanted. It drizzled at 7:30 p.m., poured at 7:50 p.m., and stopped raining altogether just before the 8:05 kickoff. It might as well have kept raining, since the game became a mud bath anyway.

The Tigers knew what they wanted. The paybacks were for Glen0ak’s 9‑7 victory in 1986. Sampsel’s joy was over a defense that is coming on like a thunderstorm.

Fourteen days earlier, Akron Garfield had run over the Tiger defense for 277 yards in a 22‑0 Ram romp. GlenOak found a few openings in the first half but got stonewalled in the second and wound up with just 107 offensive yards.

The Tigers, meanwhile, let Jerome Myricks follow good blocking and then blow by it. Of the 250 yards the Tiger offense gained, Myricks’ signature was on all but 81. The scintillating senior slashed for 161 yards and two touchdowns on the ground, while also catching a pass for eight yards.

Myricks’ running and receiving yards through three games give him 398 of the Tigers’ 819 yards.

Massillon head coach John Maronto was asked to compare the defense that battled GlenOak to the one that faced Garfield.

”There’s no comparison,” he said without hesitation. “The defense has really started to come around. I don’t think the reason goes any farther than having game experience. We had none then. Now we have some.

“You have to remember, we graduated a ton of starters on defense. Now we have guys who are gaining confidence. The confidence allows them to use their talents.”

The game marked Bob Commings’ fourth trip back to Tiger Stadium as GlenOak’s head coach. The former Massillon head coach is now 1‑3 in games against the Tigers

“They deserved to win, that’s obvious. But we came here to put pressure on them and we didn’t put it on the way we wanted to, Commings said. “My hat is off to Massillon.”

GlenOak senior Nick Guerierre, who rebounded from assorted injuries to start at quarterback, said he purposely sat out last week’s game against Worthington to make sure he’d have a crack at the Tigers.

“If I only played in one game all year, I wanted it to be this one,” said Guerriere, whose latest injury is torn back muscles, the previous ones having been a dislocated shoulder, a punctured lung and some battered ribs. “I thought about this game all year.

”We should have won, but we didn’t finish some things we started,” Guerierre said. ”But Massillon is a good team, you’ve got to give them that. We’re not finished, I can tell you that. We’re still aiming for state.”

The Tigers took the lead on a 17‑yard run around the right side by Myricks with 5:37 left in the first quarter. Lee Hurst’s point‑after kick made it 7‑0.

The touchdown actually was set up by a GlenOak interception. On the game’s first offensive series, Tiger quarterback Erik White completed three passes for 40 yards: Sensing openings in the secondary the Tigers went for the big play, a flag pattern they hoped would result in a 26‑yard touchdown. However, cornerback Darrin Carter intercepted White’s pass on the run at the 1 and stepped out of bounds.

GlenOak hammered the ball to the 9 when on third‑and‑two Hackenbracht tracked down Guerierre on a rollout to the right and stopped him for no gain. Guerierre punted and the Tigers set up on the GlenOak 43‑yard line.

On second‑and-10, Myricks exploded up the middle for 10 yards, but the mud‑slicked ball squirted out of his grasp. Rather than hurting the Tigers, the fumble helped, as the Tigers recovered 8 yards downfield for a first down at the 24. Fullback Jason Stafford plowed for 7 yards, then Myricks covered the remaining 17, high‑stepping the last 8 yards into the end zone after breaking into the clear.

GlenOak responded, though, after setting up on its own 25 after the kickoff. Eleven runs by four ball carriers and a subsequent clipping penalty against the Tigers gave GlenOak a first down on the Massillon 15. As the tide was changing, Tiger tackle Bob Dunwiddie was being carried off the field after suffering a sprained ankle on the last play of the first quarter.

It was at that point the Tiger defense arose. Guerierre was dumped for a 4‑yard loss on first down. On second down, Dunwiddie’s replacement, Maurice Clark, teamed with Tracy Liggett to sack Guerierre again. On third‑and‑16, the Eagles tried to trick the Tigers with a reverse, but speedster Troy Mastin was tracked down by the swift Myricks ‑yes, he played offense and defense ‑ on an open‑field tackle. The play lost a yard.

GlenOak went for it on fourth‑and‑17, but fullback Mike Hannen, running hard despite missing last Week’s game with a sprained ankle, was held to an 8‑yard gain.

Three plays and a Massillon punt gave GlenOak the ball back at midfield. Four plays later, it was second‑and‑nine from the Tiger 37 when the Eagles made an apparent pass completion to the 20. However, GlenOak was flagged for an illegal man downfield, and the drive stalled.

With the Tigers leading 7‑0 at halftime, both bands played The Bangles’ hit “Walk Like an Egyptian.”

Taking the second‑half kickoff on the sea of mud the field had become, GlenOak was hoping to run, not walk, back into the game. Guerierre completed passes of 8 and 11 yards, then Hannen ran for 5 and 3 yards to advance the ball to the Massillon 47‑yaid line. On third‑and‑two, Hackenbracht and Clark again collaborated to throw Guerierre for a loss, this time on a keeper, and the Eagles had to punt.

Early in the third quarter, White lost the ball on what can best be described as a “Statue of Liberty” fumble. He had dropped back to pass, and the ball crazily squirted out of his upraised hand before he could bring his arm forward.

“When you have the field conditions we had and the ball is squirting around like that, you don’t pass as much,” Maronto said later.

The Tigers passed just once on a 12‑play, 83‑yard touchdown march that clinched the victory.

After GlenOak’s opening drive in the second half stalled, Guerierre punted to the 17. The Tigers ran on 10 straight plays, with Myricks going 65 yards in eight carries and Stafford picking up 11 in two, to put he ball on the 7.

On third down from the 7, White eluded a heavy rush and flicked a swing pass to Stafford, who lunged and made a fingertip catch before belly‑flopping into the end zone.

Hurst’s kick made it 14‑0 with 2:01 left in the third quarter.

A Hackenbracht sack and a Steve Siegenthaler interception helped keep GlenOak from, doing any more damage.

Meanwhile, Myricks added an insurance touchdown with only 4:20 left in the game when he ran up the middle, broke out of a pack of tacklers at the 29, and sped into the end zone. The play went for 36 yards. Hurst’s kick completed the scoring.

“The thing I regret the most is that we gave up that last touchdown,” said Commings, whose had said before the game, “I just hope we put on a good show, and I sincerely mean that.”

Statistically speaking, Myricks put on a real show. Maronto credited his senior tailback’s talents and some excellent blocking for the 161‑yard rushing day. Particularly effective in the blocking department were tackle John Schilling and tight ends Gerald Pope and Jeff Harig, the coach said.

Stafford is emerging as an effective fullback. He blocked well and gained 44 yards in 11 rushes while catching two passes for 20 yards.

White wound up throwing just nine passes, completing five for 56 yards and a touchdown. He was intercepted once. Pope and Wrentie Martin each caught a pass for 14 yards.

Guerierre completed three of six passes for 27 yards, with two interceptions. Hannen rushed 11 times for 52 yards before leaving the game when GlenOak had to go to a passing offense. GlenOak’s second‑leading ball carrier, Craig Humphries, picked up just 20 yards in six carries.

The Tigers’ next game will be in the Akron Rubber Bowl next Saturday against Barberton. GlenOak will play at Louisville next Friday. Barberton tickets were mailed Friday to Tiger season ticket holders who paid postage. Barberton tickets will go on sale Monday at the high school ticket office. Adult reserved seats cost $4. The student presale price is $2. Tickets will be on sale until 1:30 p.m. Friday.

John Miller
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo

1987: Massillon 34, Altoona, PA 3

Making an impression… Tigers Al(toon)a up for GlenOak with 34‑3 blowout

STEVE DOERSCHUK
Independent Sports Editor

Who were the Massillon Tigers trying to impress, anyway?

Maybe it was the hundreds of former Tiger football players who turned up Saturday on “Alumni Night” to see the old school wipe out an old rival, Altoona, Pa., by a 34‑3 score.

Maybe it was the fans who didn’t show up after a season opening 22‑8 loss to Garfield ‑ Saturday’s crowd, held down by a pre‑game rain was just 8,576.

Maybe it was the GlenOak Golden Eagles, winners in Tigertown last year, and next up on the schedule.

(A quick note on the GlenOak game: ”It’s gonna be a street fight,” Tiger co‑captain John Miller said).

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Somebody say Miller? Say it again. The 6‑foot‑1, 201‑pound senior was a main man against Altoona, looking like Bronko Nagurski as he plowed for 51 yards in nine rushes. He also kicked the Mountain Lions on defense, intercepting a pass, sacking the quarterback twice, and looking like he was having a good time at inside linebacker.

“As the game progressed, I started to feel more comfortable at linebacker,” said Miller, who helped limit the Lions to 118 yards in total offense, nearly half of which came on a trick play that set up Altoona’s only points, a 27‑yard field goal in the first quarter.

“I want to show people I can play,” said Miller, who is in a new role after playing quarterback last year. “As a team, we started to come together more tonight. Altoona was quick, but not as good on the physical side. It’s good to get a win.”

The pre‑season hype billed the Tigers as a potentially explosive team with a balanced offense. Saturday, hype equaled fact.

Senior Jerome Myricks scored on three breakaway touchdown plays and on a 15‑yard run.

The Tiger running attack, featuring a cast of several, ground out 198 yards at 5.8 a carry. The passing attack further advanced Erik White as an all‑county candidate and yielded 157 yards.

White completed nine of 13 passes for 157 yards. Through two games, he has connected on 22 of 34 aerials for 312 yards, three TDs and one interception ‑ which ain’t bad.

The 6‑foot‑5 ½ inch, senior was celebrating his 17th birthday Saturday. White is what football coaches call a “young senior,” in that some of his teammates are more than a year older than him.

Yes, there were some impressive performances Saturday. But it’s not time to get carried away of course.

A year ago, the Tigers wiped out Cincinnati Mount Healthy one week before bowing to GlenOak.

“A lot of people may think we played very well,” Tiger head coach John Maronto said. “There were some good things that happened. And it’s obviously great to win. But we really didn’t play that well, certainly not as well as we need to next week. We’re going to have to reach the level of improvement next week we were hoping for this week.”

Altoona, 0‑1‑1, was simply out muscled, said second‑year head coach John Franco. “Their size was too much for us,”

Franco said. “We aren’t yet the kind of team that can play with a Massillon. We’re young and we’re trying to re‑establish what Massillon has had for so many years, tradition. Next year, I think you’ll see a more competitive Massillon‑Altoona game when it’s at our place.

“Massillon just has an awesome program. They’re a very good football team this year and John Maronto does an outstanding job. They could play with the top so schools in Pennsylvania. Massillon, in my view, may have a down year every now and then. But even when they have a down year, they’re competitive with the best teams in Ohio.”

As to aspects that did impress Maronto, the Tiger defense was one. “The defense deserves the credit,” Maronto said. “Miller and (linebacker) Scott Sampsel played very well. Vern Riley looked pretty good. Brendan Kasunick was effective. Dave Hackenbracht did a good job at linebacker.”

The Mountain Lions stayed in it for a while, forcing a punt on Massillon’s next possession, then recovering from a nasty situation in which its punter touched his knee to the ground at the 16‑yard line before he could get off the boot. The Tigers failed to convert the punt‑that‑never‑was when they made one of their seven fumbles (they lost two), giving Altoona the ball at the 7.

Massillon finally kicked into high gear late in the first half. Miller’s interception gave the Tigers the ball at the Altoona 15‑yard line, and on the next play Myricks went around the left side and carried two tacklers with him into the end zone. The Tigers led 14‑3 with 4:06 left in the half.

A sack by Miller and a subsequent Altoona punt to midfield set up the next score ‑ on the play after the punt ‑ as White flipped a screen pass to Myricks, who got excellent blocking and took off down the left sideline on a 50‑yard touchdown play. The point‑after kick was no good at the 1:40 mark and the Tigers ‘ lead stood at 20‑3 at the half.

Myricks’ 33‑yard touchdown run, set up when the right side of the line blew out the Lions, and Hurst’s kick made it 27‑3 with 5:52 left in the third quarter.

Altoona punted to end its next possession, and two plays later Myricks took a slant‑in pass from White at the 43, then exploded out of a pack of four defenders on his way to a 60‑yard TD. Hurst’s kick cemented the final score at 34‑3 with 1:36 left in the third quarter.

The second unit got in plenty of action, as evidenced by the fact Ashcraft gained 56 yards in six rushing attempts in relief of Miller and Myricks. Myricks was the game’s rushing leader with 67 yards in only seven carries. White threw passes to seven different receivers, including Jeff Harig, Gerald Pope, Kester, Stafford, Tim Pope and Craig York.

Alexander’s production was limited to the trick play. He otherwise gained 26 yards in six rushing attempts.

Altoona did manage to get 12 completions from two quarterbacks.

surprise 6‑0 loser Friday to Akron St. Vincent‑St. Mary), the Tigers got a chance to dominate a lesser foe. Some tinkering with personnel seemed to help.

Riley, usually the starting fullback, was inserted in the middle of the defensive line to address the “quickness” issue that came up after the Garfield game.

“Anything they need me for, I’m ready,” Riley said. “We needed this game tonight. We were hurt and we were angry about the Garfield game. Now we’re back on track. Against Glen0ak, We’re looking to do some paybacks.”

Saturday’s game lost its suspense after the Tigers took a 20‑3 halftime lead. But there was some early drama.

The Tigers scored on a 17‑yard mini‑march after Sean Ascraft recovered a fumbled punt return attempt. Runs of 8 and 4 yards by Miller set up Jason Stafford’s 5‑yard TD run. Lee Hurst’s kick made it 7‑0 at 8:08 of the first quarter.

A razzle‑dazzler Franco called “a junk play” gained 58 yards and put Altoona in what seemed to be a contending position. Quarterback Jeff Ruff flipped a flare pass to Art Fink, who would have been stopped for a short gain had he not pitched the ball to speedy back Alan Alexander, who turned on the jets down the left. sideline. Mark Kester, who caught five passes against Garfield and has good speed himself, made a saving tackle at the 15, which helped, since Altoona had to settle for the field goal.

Massillon tattoos Altoona

By CHRIS TOMASSON
Repository sports writer

MASSILLON ‑ Massillon tailback Jerome Myricks ran berserk Saturday night, but Tigers’ coach John Maronto regarded it as just a dress rehearsal of things to come this season.

In Massillon’s 34‑3 win over Altoona, Pa., at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium, Myricks scored four touchdowns , one on a 33‑yard run, and two on receptions of 50 yards or over. But Maronto isn’t ready to put Myricks on a pedestal.

“He’s capable of playing even better than he did tonight,” Maronto said. “He’s just starting to come into his own. Just watch him the rest of the season.”

Although Maronto has even higher expectations for him, Myricks certainly wasn’t displeased with his showing against the Mountain Lions (0‑1‑1), who were playing Massillon (1‑1) for the first time in 19 years.

This was the most memorable game of my career, ” said the 5‑foot‑11, 181‑pound senior who wears No. 1, and has certainly become No. 1 in the hearts of Tigers’ fans.

Myricks ran for 67 yards on seven carries,, and caught two passes for 110 yards, both for touchdowns.

Myricks’ first touchdown, a 15‑yard run early in the second quarter, gave Massillon a 14‑3 lead and broke open what looked like, might be a tight game.

The Tigers jumped out to a 7‑0 lead four minutes into the game when Jason Stafford scored on a 5‑yard run, ‑ which followed a fumbled Altoona punt.

Yet on their very first play from scrimmage, the Mountain Lions stunned the crowd of 8,576 with a play right off an elementary school playground. Quarterback Jeff Ruff threw a flare pass to Artie Fink, who immediately lateralled to Alan Alexander, who sprinted 58 yards down the left sideline to the Massillon 15. Only a diving tackle by Massillon’s Mark Kester saved a touchdown.

But then the Massillon defense, abused last week in a 22‑8 loss to Akron Garfield, got tough, and Altoona had to settle for a 26‑yard field goal by Ruff.

“That kind of hurt our momentum,” said Altoona coach John Franco. “If we had been able to punch the ball in there, maybe we would have had a chance.”

Franco’s probably wrong. Take away the 58 yards on the trick play, and Altoona Managed only 60 yards of total offense. Altoona had all of minus‑eight yards rushing, and had six turnovers.

So it isn’t hard to see why Massillon dominated the remainder of the game.

Myricks got his second touchdown with 1:40 left in the half, when he turned a screen pass from quarterback Erik White into a 50‑yard touchdown. That gave the Tigers a 20‑3 halftime bulge.

Myricks’ final two touchdowns came in the third quarter, one on a 33‑yard run and the other on a 60‑yard pass from White, who completed 9‑of‑13 passes for 157 yards.

White is relishing his role as a Massillon quarterback who actually gets to throw the ball.

“I like the fact that we’re throwing the ball more,” White said. “I think it really diversifies the offense.

Although the Tigers rolled up 355 yards of offense, Maronto preferred to praise the defense.

“I’m still not completely satisfied with the offense. but I thought the defense showed a tremendous amount of character this week,”, Maronto said. “(John) Miller, (Vernon) Riley and (David) Hackenbracht really did a great job. And we had five interceptions, you know.”

Unlike after the Garfield game, when he was somewhat perplexed, Maronto was obviously more upbeat Saturday.

Altoona 3 0 0 0 3
Massillon 7 13 14 0 34

M ‑ Stafford 5 run (Hurst kick)
A ‑ FG Ruff 26
M – Myricks 15 run (Hurst kick)
M ‑ Myricks 50 pass from White (kick failed)
M ‑ Myricks 33 run (Hurst kick)
M ‑ Myricks 60 pass from White (Hurst kick)

John Miller
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo

1987: Massillon 8, Akron Garfield 22

Garfield ‘T’ off against Tigers
Cuyahoga Falls to replace Rams on ’88 Massillon schedule

By STEVE DOERSCHUK
Independent Sports Editor

Chris Spielman was the guy with the funny haircut, but “Mr. T” was a guy named Bill McGee Friday night in Paul Brown Tiger Stadium,

Spielman, the Ohio State headliner from Massillon, hit town to see his old team open its 1987 high school football season against the Akron Garfield Fighting Rams.

Spielman saw what he’d seen when he was a Massillon player ‑ a Tiger defeat ‑ as the Rams roared to a 22‑8 win before 12,079 fans.

“Mr. T” has struck again.

Program Cover

Garfield head coach McGee now has seen his troops topple the Tigers four times in the last five years, dating back to a 14‑10 win over Spielman and the ’83 Tigers. McGee mostly has used the antiquated “T” formation in which a fullback and two halfbacks line up in a straight row behind the quarterback.

“Tailback? What’s a tailback?” McGee deadpanned. “The ‘T’ is the only thing we know … well, we did use Charles Gladman as a tailback when we had him.”

Because of Garfield, 1986 was the only time in the last five years the Tigers survived two weeks of football without at least one defeat.

If it happens again, it won’t be because of Garfield. The Rams have been dropped from next year’s Tiger schedule and replaced in the opening game with Cuyahoga Falls.

”It was their decision, not ours,” McGee said. “The Cuyahoga Falls contract is only for one year. We’d like to resume the series in 1989.”

Just now, Tiger head coach John Maronto says his only concern is bouncing back next Saturday against Altoona, Pa., which was tied 7‑7 by its arch‑rival Johnstown Friday night.

“We will be back,” said an obviously disappointed Maronto. We have a team of real solid men. We’ll find out a lot about ourselves next week.”

Something was found out about Garfield Friday night ‑ the Rams have an awesome running attack.
Despite the fact the Tigers bounced back from an early 8‑0 deficit by tying the game 8‑8 at halftime, there was no shift in momentum.

Garfield used that “T” like a two ton piece of forged steel, driving for touchdowns on its first two possessions of the second half, and playing solid defense against a Massillon team whose decent passing attack did not get enough support from the running game.

“Passing is going to be part of the personality of the ’87 Tigers,” said Maronto, who watched quarterback Erik White complete 13 of 22 aerials for 155 yards. “But I’m not pleased with aspects of our running game. We weren’t tough‑minded enough. We will have a better running game next week.”

Led by 180‑pound junior John White, a starter at Akron North last year, the Rams amassed 277 rushing yards (at 6.2 yards a carry) to the Tigers 59 (at 2.4 per lug).

White, often the second man through the line on counter plays that troubled the Tigers, cut loose for 120 yards in 14 carries. Sophomore halfback Dwayne Martin added 74 yards in 14 carries. Senior fullback Dwayne Mitchell plowed 55 yards in 10 trips.

Even though third‑year starting quarterback Todd Johnson had no stats to speak of (he completed his only two passes for a modest 28 yards and ran seven times for 28 yards), he may have been the key to the whole works.

Prior to the game, referee Chet DiStefano got a friendly warning from a Massillon official “make sure you know who has the ball before you blow the whistle.” Often, it was very hard to tell. Such were the deceptive abilities of Johnson, the magician.

Johnson had his own ideas as to why Garfield was able to win by two touchdowns and lead 305‑214 in total yardage.

“They used a lot of players both ways and we had 22 different guys in 22 different positions,” he said. “We wore them down. It was obvious in the second half.

“But they’re a good team, that’s for sure. I guess that’s why I feel pretty good right now … to beat a team like that. What a program this is, with all the fans. We don’t have anything like this in Akron.”

After the Tigers passed their way into scoring position in the first quarter on a drive that ended with a wide‑right 27‑yard field goal attempt, Garfield launched the game’s first scoring drive.

The march overlapped the end of the first quarter and the early part of the second. It covered 72 yards on 11 plays, all on the ground. White, the transfer student, went the final eight yards up the in middle, getting hit at the three and diving into the end zone.

The subsequent PAT attempt was a bizarre play on which the ball was snapped over kicker Rob Balca’s head. Balca scrambled to get the ball with Tiger Jason Relford in hot pursuit. He scooped it up, heaved a pass at nobody in particular, and jumped in the air as it landed in the hands of an unsuspecting Steve McGee, the coach’s son, for a two point conversion.

Massillon bounced back, though, by scoring on its next possession. Steve Siegenthaler returned a short kickoff 23 yards to the Garfield 45, from where the Tigers drove 55 yards in nine plays. A key play was a third‑and‑10 sideline pass to senior Mark Kester, who wound up catching five passes for 84 yards in a sparkling performance.

On third and five from the 11, White retreated to pass and zinged a tight spiral to senior split end Craig York, who caught the ball in front of his No. 87 two yards deep in the end zone.

The Tigers opted to try for the tie, and they got it when White, avoiding a heavy rush by throwing as he backpedaled, threaded a pass between three defenders to Siegenthaler.

That made it 8‑8 with 4:08 left in the first half. Neither team threatened again before the band how.

The burning question at halftime was, would the Tigers be able to top a Garfield running attack that already had netted 129 rushing yards?

The Rams provided the answer by battering the ball 46 yards in six plays to start the second half. That put the ball on the Massillon 22‑yard line. The Tigers needed a big play and they got it when Bob Dunwiddie stopped the fullback for no gain on first down. But the Rams responded on the next play with a 22‑yard touchdown pass from Johnson to junior tight end Pat Anderson.

Anderson broke open on a quick slant pattern.

“Even though they only passed twice, we had to be very conscious of Johnson’s passing abilities,” Maronto said. “He’s obviously very good. ”

Rob Balca’s PAT kick made it 15‑8 with 7:35 left in the third quarter.

The Tigers got only three plays on their next possession before facing a fourth‑and‑one from their own 35. There was no hesitation as to whether to make the big gamble and go for it as the punting unit poured onto the field. The Rams then set up at their own 30 and marched for the game‑clinching score.
Runs of 5, 12, 14, 5, 10, 11, 4 and 9 yards ‑ the last run by the fullback Mitchell ‑ put the ball in the end zone. Balca’s kick made it 22‑8 with 42 seconds left in the third period.
The Tigers would get the ball just two more times. The first time, they lost it on a fumble at the Garfield 42‑yard line with 9:44 left in the game.
Garfield then ran the clock down to 5:30 before Siegenthaler’s tackle on fourth down gave the Tigers the ball back on downs at their own 35.

On fourth and long, White whistled a pass that deflected off a Garfield safety, then hit Tiger tight end Gerald Pope in the shoulder pads and helmet before bouncing incomplete. Garfield had the ball back, and the game in hand, with only two minutes left.

“This was as satisfying as any opening win I’ve had,” said Garfield Coach McGee. “And the opponents haven’t always been this good. Massillon has a lot of things to solve ‑ and so do we ‑ but they’re going to win a lot of ball games.”

Massillon coach Maronto said be thought his team would play better than it did.

“But when you don’t play as well as you’d like, it has something to do with the opponent,” Maronto said. “That’s a real fine Garfield team and it deserves a lot of credit. They have a very diversified attack. They stuck with the game plan, and you saw what they did.”

They did what “Mr. T” has done alot in Tigertown. They ran out of that old formation and added a new notch to Bill McGee’s gun belt.

M F
First downs rushing 4 18
First downs passing 9 1
First downs by penalty 0 1
Total first downs 13 20
Yards gained rushing 90 280
Yards lost rushing 31 3
Net yards rushing 59 277
Net yards passing 155 28
Total yards gained 214 305
Passes attempted 23 2
Passes completed 13 2
Passes int. by 0 1
Times kicked off 2 4
Kickoff average 51.5 45.8
Kickoff return yards 81 37
Punts 2 1
Punting average 42.5 42.0
Punt return yards 7 0
Fumbles 2 1
Fumbles lost 1 1
Penalties 1 1
Yards penalized 15 5
Number of plays 49 47
Time of possession 22.04 25.56
Attendance 12,079

GARFIELD 0 8 14 0 22
MASSILLON 0 0 0 8 8

SCORING

GAR ‑ White 8 run (McGee pass from Balca)
MAS ‑ York 10 pass from White (Siegenthaler pass from White)
GAR ‑ Anderson 22 pass from Johnson (Balca kick)
GAR ‑ White 8 run (Balca kick)

John Miller
Massillon vs. McK - Throwback (Large)

1986: Massillon 6, Canton McKinley 23

Tigers come up ‘half empty’
Massillon rules early but’ Bulldogs shift gears late

By STEVE DOERSCHUK
Independent Sports Editor

MASSILLON ‑ They could have opened a Burger King in McKinley territory at halftime. The Massillon Tigers were having it their way.

But the second half was one big McDLT ‑McKinley’s defense led to touchdowns.

In the end, the McKinley players were saying, “Hot Dog!” and hoping for extra mustard in the playoffs. The Tigers were left holding an empty bun.

Program Cover

A 6‑0 Tiger lead at halftime dissolved into a 23‑6 McKinley win Saturday before 18,091 fans in Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

In the history of the series that started in 1894, there may never have been two halves so distinctly different.

So what happened?

“It wasn’t a matter of making a lot of changes,” McKinley head coach Thom McDaniels said. “Basically, we just played better football.”

Maybe there were a few changes.

“In the first half, they were basically trying to power us out of there,” said Massillon senior Lance Hostetler, who played linebacker for the first time since junior high because Jerrod Vance was out with a knee injury.

“In the second half, they were giving our linebackers fake keys, trying to mess us up.”

Something clicked.

Game Action vs. Canton McKinley 1986

A McKinley offense that was stuffed by the Tigers for zilch in the first half had to be photographed with a zoom lens in the second.

In that first half, the Bulldogs gained 28 yards. On the first offensive series of the second half, McKinley gained 40 yards in its first six plays.

That drive ended when C.J. Harris recovered a fumble for the Tigers. But the mood had changed.

It might have changed back had the Tigers moved after recovering the fumble. Mike Harris rushed for three yards, then Mike Norris bulled ahead for seven. But Jerome Myricks was stopped for losses on consecutive plays, and it was third and 15 from the Massillon 41.

Game Action vs. Canton McKinley 1986

Then came a pivotal play now hidden deep in the game films. Quarterback John Miller dropped back to pass. Under heavy pressure, he dumped a short pass toward the fullback Norris. First glance suggested ‑ and films confirmed ‑ that Norris was knocked away from the ball by an overeager defender who was guilty of pass ‘interference.

The pass fell incomplete (Norris would have had to run a long way for a first down, incidentally). No flag was thrown.

Instead of 15 yards and a Massillon first down on the McKinley 44, the Bulldogs got the ball back on a punt.

“That was a key point in the game,” Massillon head coach John Maronto said.

Nobody will ever know how things would have gone had the interference call been made. What is known is that McKinley played its best football of the season in the time that was left.

Game Action vs. Canton McKinley 1986

Ken Hawkins’ punt sailed to the McKinley 22. Junior tailback Jeff Richardson gained 11 yards on first down. On second down, he took a handoff, made a slight cut to a big hole on the left side of the line, shook loose from a diving Bart Letcavits 10 yards downfield and sprinted away from the pack for a 67‑yard touchdown run.

“We emphasized all week that we needed to stop Richardson from making the big play,” John Maronto said.

Talking about it is one thing. Doing it has been another, and not just for the Tigers. Richardson’s 141 yards in 19 carries Saturday gave him 960 yards on the season.

Richardson, a 5‑10, 183‑pounder, only needs a sliver of daylight. His presence left the Tigers in a jam, since their chemistry was thrown off by late‑season knee injuries to linebacker Jerrod Vance and defensive back Steve Siegenthaler.

Maronto emphatically didn’t want anybody knocking his team’s defensive effort.

“Lance Hostetler stepped in and looked like he’d been playing linebacker all his life,” Maronto said. “And it wasn’t like we were playing chopped liver. We were playing the best team in Ohio.”

Richardson’s long run and Mark Smith’s PAT kick still left the Tigers with just a 7‑6 deficit with 3:04 left in the third quarter.

Game Action vs. Canton McKinley 1986

But moments later, Tiger back Mike Harris ‑ another tough‑luck senior whose season was marred by a knee injury ‑ was stripped of the ball. McKinley’s Dave Kiesling recovered the fumble at the 14. Four plays later, Richardson scored easily from a yard out.

Even at that, the Tigers weren’t in bad shape. Smith missed the PAT kick, and McKinley’s lead was 13‑6 with one quarter and 44 seconds left to play.

But the Tigers needed to get back some of the offensive punch they had shown in pounding out a 134‑28 lead in first‑half yardage.

Smith’s kickoff left the Tigers with good field position at their own 41, but they stalled in three plays and had to punt.

McKinley took over on its own 28 and put the game away with an 11‑play 72‑yard scoring drive. The touchdown came on third and nine from the 12. Smith, the quarterback, rolled right off a good play‑action fake and found tight end Dan Grimsley wide open in the end zone.

Smith’s kick made it 20‑6 with 4:48 left.

Sophomore nose guard Lamuel Flowers set up a 35‑yard field goal by Smith with a subsequent interception.

All the suspense and much of the crowd was gone at that point.

The first half had been so different.

The Tigers took the opening kickoff and started at their own 34. On second and seven, junior quarterback John Miller hooked up with senior split end Shannon Dryden on an 11‑yard completion. That seemed to ignite the offense, which then went on to complete an 11‑play, 66‑yard march that wound up on the McKinley 11 when Miller hit the tight end Hawkins on a nine‑yard completion.

That made it fourth and almost three. Maronto elected to send freshman Lee Hurst on for a 28‑yard field goal try. Hurst connected and it was 3‑0 with 4:44 left in the first quarter.

Midway through the drive, Maronto called timeout after Miller scrambled to recover a mishandled snap, then took a blow to the head. Miller was clearly shaken up, and staggered as Maronto yelled to officials that a penalty should have been called.

But Miller kept playing, and moments later threw a pass which Letcavits turned into a 10‑yard reception.

The Massillon crowd got very loud after Norris boomed the ensuing kickoff to the back stripe of the end zone for a touchback. An incomplete pass, a run for no gain by Richardson, a nine‑yard completion and a punt gave Massillon the ball back on its own 32.

The next three series ended in punts, two of which were snapped over the punters’ heads. But both booters recovered and got off kicks that saved disaster for their teams.

McKinley punter Pat Lyons had to chase 10 yards after the ball snapped over his head. But he managed to kick it away to the Massillon 23 midway through the second quarter.

From there, the Tigers drove 77 yards in 10 plays, with Harris setting the tone on a nine‑yard gain. A 17‑yard pass from Miller to Myricks and a 12‑yard run by Miller put the ball on the 17 on first down. But Norris was stopped for no gain, and two passes fell incomplete. The call went again to Hurst. The freshman sent a picturesque boot into a slight breeze that sailed far over the uprights for a 33‑yard field goal.

It gave the Tigers a 6‑0 lead with 2:32 left in the half.

But the second half was another story.

It ended with McKinley’s record at 9‑1, good for first place in Region 2 of Division I. The Tigers came in at 7‑3.

The loss saddened the Tigers. But Hostetler, a three‑year starter and captain, advised his teammates to leave on an upbeat note.

“It’s been a great time for me at Massillon,” he said. “No other team plays under these great conditions. I have the greatest coaches in the world. They really helped prepare me for college. And the greatest teammates in the world.”

MCKINLEY 23
MASSILLON 7

M McK
First downs rushing 6 8
First downs passing 4 3
First downs by penalty 1 0
Totals first downs 11 11
Yards gained rushing 112 205
Yards lost rushing 20 14
Net yards rushing 92 191
Net yards passing 59 57
Total yards gained 151 248
Passes attempted 18 10
Passes completed 8 6
Passes int. by 0 1
Times kicked off 3 5
Kickoff average 56.3 48.4
Kickoff return yards 87 27
Punts 4 4
Punting average 33.0 42.3
Punt return yards 7 0
Punts blocked by 0 0
Fumbles 2 1
Fumbles lost 1 1
Penalties 0 3
Yards penalized 0 25
Touchdowns rushing 0 2
Touchdowns passing 0 1
Miscellaneous touchdowns 0 0
Number of plays 52 46
Time of possession 26:37 21:23
Attendance 18,091

MCKINLEY 0 0 13 10 23
MASSILLON 3 3 0 0 6

MAS ‑ Lee Hurst 28 FG
MAS ‑ Hurst 33 FG
McK ‑ Jeff Richardson 67 run (Mark Smith kick)
McK ‑Richardson 1 run (kick failed)
McK ‑ Dan Grimsley 4 pass from Smith (Smith kick)
McK ‑ Smith 35 FG
*****
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Massillon: Norris, 12‑39; Miller 9‑27; Harris 8‑26; Myriscks, 3‑0.
McKinley: Richardson, 19‑141; Kendall 5‑12; Copenny, 1‑6; Gordon, 2‑ 15; Flowers 2‑15.

PASSING
Massillon: Miller, 8‑17‑0, 59 yards; White, 0‑1‑1.
McKinley: Smith, 6‑10‑0, 57 yards.

RECEIVING
Massillon: Myricks, 2 24; Letcavits, 1‑11; Dryden, 1‑9; Hawkins, 1‑8; Wilson, 3‑7.
McKinley: Richardson, 2‑20; Grimsley, 2‑13; Kendall, 1‑10; Smith, 1‑14.

Rivalry grand,
no matter what the score reads

By STEVE DOERSCHUK
Independent Sports Editor

MASSILLON ‑ You could have won $20 million in the Lotto and not been able to buy a better autumn afternoon for Saturday’s Massillon‑McKinley football game.

The lovely leaves and the Indian summer breeze would have made Scrooge himself a cheery gent. The housewife sick to death of her old man’s sports would have gazed with childish wonder at the sight of the orange sea of spectators rolling against a red sea of the same.

One‑hundred yards of lime‑striped sod and 200 helmeted teen‑agers were washed with a delightful noise that made it all a merry mix, indeed, when Mark Smith of McKinley kicked off to Jerome Myricks of Massillon at a couple of minutes past 2.

Maybe there have been other opening scenes at other Massillon-McKinley games that were as wonderful. If so, they were merely as perfect.

The ending of the 92nd Massillon‑Canton battle was far from a perfect story for the hamlet of Massillon. The final score was McKinley 23, Tigers 6.

But the moral of the story, though stinging with the hurt of defeat to the arch‑rival, was that Massillon people still so desperately want a great team to cheer for.

They had their moments Saturday.

The Tigers charged out of their corner at the opening bell and won the early rounds in a one‑sided mugging.

In one half, junior quarterback John Miller threw twice as many passes as he had thrown in a typical game the previous nine weeks.

In that same half, the lumberjacks on the Massillon line muscled out places for fullback Mike Norris to punch out the yards.

The Massillon defense, despite missing a linebacker who is a candidate for Stark County player of the year, coldcocked the offense of their backyard rivals.

Freshman kicker Lee Hurst delivered like a grizzled veteran.

As the bands marched, Massillon stats man Tom Persell played a tune on his computer, and what came out was 134 yards for the home team, and just 28 yards ‑ and no first downs ‑ for the Canton club.

But the score was only 6‑0, Massillon, and you didn’t need a computer to know the game would be won in the second half.

McKinley won it in a hurry.

Flash: A 67‑yard sprint over the left side by Bulldog tailback Jeff Richardson.

Flash: A Massillon fumble seconds later, in the badlands, and a 14‑yard McKinley mini‑march for a second touchdown.

The second McKinley score, a one‑yard run by Richardson with 44 seconds left in the third quarter, was followed by Mark Smith’s missed PAT kick.

That kept the score at 13‑6. But the Tigers never threatened again. McKinley scored 10 points in the final five minutes, and Canton had a third straight win over Massillon for the first time since 1934, Paul Brown’s third year as the Tigers’ head coach.

The game, witnessed by 18,091 in the stadium named after Brown, closed McKinley’s deficit in the series to 50‑37‑5.

It also closed the Tigers’ season with a second consecutive 7‑3 record.

McKinley is 9‑1 and headed for a Division I playoff game. The Bulldogs will face 9‑1 Groveport Madison at 8 p.m. Saturday in Fawcett Stadium.

Among the many constants in the Massillon‑McKinley game seems to be the fact a Grimsley is always playing for McKinley. This year’s Grimsley, junior tight end Dan, says beating the Tigers reinforces the Bulldogs’ confidence.

“We went a little bit dead in our only loss (against Youngstown South),” said Grimsley, whose brother John plays for the Houston Oilers. “It was the middle of the season and we’d just won some big games. But we’re back up now. There’s no doubt in my mind we can win it all.”

Thirty‑three seniors on the Massillon team were in a different mood. Their time as Tiger players had run out.

“You can’t say too much,” Norris said as he walked away in street clothes. “We knew we could have beat ’em. We were playing our game for a while. But it got away.”

“There’s not much to say,” echoed senior co‑captain Bart Letcavits, who spent part of the season sick in the hospital but returned for Saturday’s game. “They’ve been a comeback team all year. They outplayed us in the second half. They deserved to win.”

“We played as hard as we could,” said senior co‑captain Lance Hostetler. “Nobody let up. Ever.”

John Maronto, the Tigers’ second‑year head coach, said Hostetler was right about the effort.

“I’m proud of our football team,” Maronto said. “We were almost able to come up with the victory. But it was not to be.”

Thom McDaniels is in his fifth year as the “tough‑act‑to‑follow” successor of Terry Forbes, the head coach of McKinley’s only playoff championship winner, the 1981 team. McDaniels praised his troops for having the guts to win another game with a comeback. The he praised the Tigers.

“They’re as good and as tough and as well coached ‑ and you can put that all in capital letters ‑ as any team we’ve played,” McDaniels said.

And you can put this in bold face:

No matter who wins, this is still America’s grandest high school football game.

Will Maronto come back?

We move now, to Lesson No. 2 in the Professor Commings School of Rumorintology.

Please sit erect in your chairs. Volunteers to dust the erasers will be taken later.

Lesson No. 1, on which the papers are being graded, was presented last week.

We learned then that the volume of a rumor often is not in direct proportion to the truth contained therein.

It was noted that a particular rumor ‑ “Bob Commings has forfeited his claim to the title The Bald Eagle, and resigned as GlenOak High’s football coach” was all over town and half way to Hawaii.

It was further noted that Commings emphatically stated he has not resigned.

Commings, as it happens, is believed to be the father of “rumorintology,” apparently having coined the word last month.

The subject of Lesson No., 2 is another football coach, John Maronto.

The fates of Commings and Maronto are indirectly intertwined, insofar as the former was a head football coach in Massillon, and the latter is.

Today’s theme actually is a question. How many people must wish a rumor to come true before it becomes a fact?

We have no answers. We can only offer present facts.

Fact is, Coach Maronto is not the most popular man in Massillon today.

His team went 7‑3, and we needn’t get into a long discussion of what that means in Tigertown. The team lost to the arch‑rival the other day. You know them. And, his offense was judged too conservative for the tastes of many of the paying customers.

It didn’t help that a loss to Commings’ GlenOak team was among the three losses, either.

People are talking. You know how it is.

They’re talking a lot about THE rumor.

“Did’ja hear? Maronto’s going to Michigan to be with Bo!”

Yes, that’s the big one. It’s all over town, and halfway to Hong Kong.

Refer, now, to lesson No. 1.

The volume of a rumor may not be in direct proportion to any truth therein.

“I’ve just never thought there were any two ways about it,” Maronto said this morning. “We’re already getting ready for next season. We’ll be in the weight room today. We have a team meeting schedule. We’re preparing for next season and beginning to take care of the seniors’ needs.”

Maronto has heard the rumors. He says he shrugs them off.

”I’ve never put any thought processes into rumors,” he said. “My energy is going into preparing for next season.”

Maronto, who has completed two years in the stormy wake of Mike Currence’s ouster, sounds optimistic.

“I really believe we’ll be back,” he said. “I believe we learned some great lessons. The younger players coming in may not be able to exceed the ability of this year’s seniors, but I believe they’ll have smoother roads ahead.

“It’ll be important to make the pieces fit in to form a chemistry. It’ll be real interesting to watch. I know everybody coming in is 100 percent completely aware of what our system is all about, what needs to be done to be a Massillon Tiger. There’ll be a lot of continuity.”

Sounds like John Maronto plans to fulfill the third year of his contract.

If he does, let’s give him some room.

Another buyout is the last thing the town needs now.

If he wants to stay, let him work in peace. Disagree all you want I think the coach needs to loosen up his offense, too.

But be aware he works as hard as anybody in Ohio to make his team win. Be aware he’s good with kids.

If it’s time for him to go after the contract runs out, so be it.
And think about next week’s Lesson No. 3. Beating a rumor turns it ugly.

Jerrod Vance
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo

1986: Massillon 22, Cleveland St. Joseph 17

Tigers win … let the ‘war’ begin

By STEVE DOERSCHUK
Independent Sports Editor

MASSILLON ‑ The private war is over.

Let the war the world watches begin.

The smallest and quietest home crowd of the Tigers’ season ‑ 7,425 ‑ watched their boys silence Cleveland St. Joseph 22‑17 Friday night.

It didn’t titillate those in the elevated chairs. But it was a beauty at (black) eye level.

“Without a doubt, it was the hardest‑hitting game of the year,” said Ken Hawkins, a Massillon senior who had a big hand (and foot) in the victory.

Hawkins looked weary. He said he felt like he looked.

“GlenOak can say they beat us. Fitch can say they beat us. But neither of them can say they hit us like St. Joe,” he said.

Program Cover

The crowd will be bigger and noisier next time. Canton McKinley is due to show up at 2 p.m. next Saturday at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

“McKinley is next and all, but it’ll take a few days to get over this one,” said Hawkins.

McKinley has to worry about a Hawkins tonight. The Bulldogs face Austintown‑Fitch at 7:45 p.m. in Fawcett Stadium. Fitch’s tailback, Leo Hawkins, scored the two touchdowns that did in the Tigers 14‑10 in a mudbath four games ago.

A star the Bulldogs won’t have to worry about is Jerrod Vance, the Tigers’ standout senior linebacker, who suffered a knee injury in the fourth quarter Friday and is out for the season.

That took some of the joy out of the victory. But it was still a win as big as the season is long.

“We played with composure and showed the kind of team we are,” said Tiger head coach John Maronto. “It was a real important game, because it came right before the biggest one, which now is staring us right in the face.”

The win kept the Tigers in the playoff race with a 7‑2 record and packed drama in the injunction decision due the day before the Massillon‑McKinley game from Judge Sheila Farmer. St. Joseph is 4‑3.

The verdict on Vance is a tough one. The 6‑foot‑2, 232‑pound senior, rated as one of the state’s top college prospects, was to be examined today to determine whether his knee injury will require surgery.

Massillon trainer Pat Trainor said it already is known Vance will not play in the McKinley game. His injury occurred, as many knee injuries do, when his foot was planted and a player collided with him. It came on the first play of the fourth quarter. The biggest drama Friday came with hundreds of folks in the parking lot thinking the game was in the bag.

Massillon led 22‑10 as the clock wound toward the 1: 00 mark of the fourth quarter. On fourth down from the Tiger 29, punt snapper Todd Perdue hiked the ball over Hawkins’ head. The ball squirted toward the goal line. St. Joseph senior Bob Shaffner beat Hawkins to the ball and smothered it for a touchdown.

Perdue to Hawkins had been a reliable snap combo all season. And long before that.

“We’ve been together since ninth grade,” Hawkins said. “That’s the first time something like that happened.”

Tom Beckwith’s PAT kick made it 22‑17 with 58 seconds left.

Obviously, the onside kick was next. And it was scary. Beckwith’s squibber took a crazy bounce over the Tigers’ front wall and squirted toward the St. Joseph bench, with everyone in hot pursuit. St. Joseph’s Sherman Dean came the closest to getting the ball, but he knocked it out of bounds near the Massillon 40.

Then … confusion.

St. Joseph coach Bill Gutbrod thought his team would get another crack at the onside kick.

“I thought the rule was changed to make it an automatic penalty when the ball went out of bounds,” he said.

But referee Ron Giacomo whipped out his rule book and showed Gutbrod that there had been no such rule change. The receiving team gets the option to take the ball or make the penalized team kick over. So the Tigers took over where the ball went out of bounds. Quarterback John Miller fell on the ball three times, and the game was over.

“They’re an awful good club,” Gutbrod said of the Tigers, then mentioning the other two clubs to which his team has lost. “Lakewood St. Edward… Cardinal Mooney. There couldn’t be more than a 6‑point difference between Massillon and those two clubs.”

The stats sheet showed little difference between the Tigers and the Vikings. Both teams had 13 first downs. The Tigers trailed 204‑196 in total yardage.

Both teams completed four passes. The leading rusher for the Tigers ‑ bulldozer Mike Norris gained 88 yards in 18 carries. The top rusher for the Vikings ‑ waterbug Desmond Howard ‑ picked up 87 yards in 22 carries.

“Howard’s longest run was 10 yardsm abd that was a big factor,” Maronto said. “This is the only game I know of where he hasn’t broken a long one. He reminds me a lot of McKinley’s runner, Jeff Richardson.”

Both coaches spent much of the night trying not to remind one another of what they had seen on the game films.

St. Joseph lives by the wishbone attack, but the Vikings often lined up in the “bone” and broke out of it before the center snap.

And the Tigers, who typically pass times a game, crossed up the Vikings by throwing on the game’s first play from scrimmage.

The play ‑ a quick pass from quarterback John Miller to split end Jerome Myricks ‑ netted 11 yards just seconds after Myricks streaked 41 yards with the opening kickoff. That set the tone for a scoring drive of nine plays and 54 yards, capped by Miller’s 11‑yard rollout run through a huge hole on the right side.

The drive was kept alive when Maronto elected to go for it on fourth‑and‑12 from the 34. After a timeout, Miller drilled a 14‑yard completion to Myricks for a first down.

Massillon led 7‑0 following Lee Hurst’s PAT kick.

The Tiger defense stuffed St. Joseph on its first possession, but Myricks mishandled the ensuing punt and the Vikings’ Dale Kitchen recovered his fumble at the Massillon 32. That led to Beckwith’s 26‑yard field goal, which made it 7‑3 at the 1:17 mark of the first quarter.

Hawkins’ foot rose to the fore midway through the second quarter. On fourth‑and‑six from the St. Joseph 37, Hawkins lofted a towering punt that hit on the 17 and bounded to the 1 where it was downed.

On the next play, St. Joseph quarterback Dale Pratt mishandled the snap and dove on the ball in the end zone for a safety.

In addition to falling behind 9‑3 With 6:36 left in the first half, St. Joseph had to give the ball back to the Tigers on a free kick. The Vikings elected to punt, and got off a boot fielded by Matt Swank, who took off toward the right sideline. However, the whistle had blown – St. Joseph had lined up offsides.

The Vikings made the mistake of punting to Swank again. This time, he made exactly the same cut toward the right sideline, broke into the clear, and wasn’t caught until he had brought the ball 46 yards to the 10.

On third-and-five, Miller lofted a pass that would have split the uprights had the 6‑foot‑8 Hawkins not leaped to pick it out of the air in the back of the end zone for a Tiger touchdown.

The Tigers went for two, but fullback Vern Riley’s run was stopped short. Massillon settled for a 15‑3 lead at the 4:58 mark of the second quarter, and that stood up as the halftime score.

“Coach Maronto told us at halftime that it wasn’t time to celebrate, that they probably would come back and hit us with their best shot of the game,” Norris said. “He was right.”

Little Howard raced 42 yards with the second‑half kickoff, setting up a 53‑yard scoring drive. Key plays were an 11‑yard scramble by Pratt on fourth‑and‑six and a 17‑yard pass from Pratt to halfback Jerry Carlock to the 3. One play later, Howard scooted into the end zone. Beckwith’s PAT boot made it 15‑10 with 7:33 left in the third quarter.

The ”composure” of which Maronto spoke then surfaced for the Tigers.

Massillon got back the momentum with an impressive 62‑yard scoring drive after the ensuing kickoff.

The march was built on the blocking of the offensive line ‑ Lance Hostetler, Tony Lambert, John Woodlock, John Schilling, Todd Feemster, Sean Murphy and Hawkins ‑ and the powerful runs of Norris.

The 5‑10, 212‑pound fullback picked up 40 yards in five carries. Miller finished the job with a 10‑yard rollout run to the 1, followed by his own sneak for a touchdown. Hurst’s kick made it 22‑10 with 3:12 left in the third quarter.

The rest of the game was uneventful until the final minute, when St. Joseph scored on the snap over Hawkins’ head.

Norris said St. Joseph gave the Tigers a little pep talk as the teams shook hands after the game.

“They told us to get McKinley for them,” he said.

As if the Tigers needed to be reminded.

MASSILLON 22
ST. JOSEPH 17

M SJ
First downs rushing 8 9
First downs passing 4 2
First downs by penalty 1 2
Totals first downs 13 13
Yards gained rushing 162 179
Yards lost rushing 7 19
Net yards rushing 155 160
Net yards passing 41 44
Total yards gained 196 204
Passes attempted 6 10
Passes completed 4 4
Passes int. by 0 0
Times kicked off 4 4
Kickoff average 50.3 40.8
Kickoff return yards 134 84
Punts 3 4
Punting average 46.3 34.5
Punt return yards 19 5
Fumbles 2 0
Fumbles lost 2 0
Penalties 5 7
Yards penalized 55 40
Number of plays 44 56
Time of possession 22:17 25:43
Attendance 7,425

St. JOSEPH 3 0 7 7 17
MASSILLON 7 8 7 0 22

MAS ‑ Miller 11 run (Hurst kick) ST. JOE ‑ Beckwith 27 FG
MAS ‑ Safety, St. Joseph quarterback Pratt falls on ball in end zone
MAS ‑ Miller 5 run (run failed)
ST. JOE ‑ Howard 3 run (Beckwith kick)
MAS ‑ Miller 1 run (Hurst kick)
MAS ‑ Shaffner recovers fumble in end zone (Beckwith kick)

Jerrod Vance
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo

1986: Massillon 24, Warren Harding 7

Happy to leave ‘Jinx Town’ with win
Tigers stave off tie in late going, tack on two TDs

By STEVE DOERSCHUK
Independent Sports Editor

WARREN ‑ Jinx? Of course there’s a jinx.

How else do you explain the fact Warren Harding’s No. 13 ‑ Steve Baugh ‑ caught two straight passes for 13 yards last night?

How else do you figure Warren had managed a 4‑4‑2 record against the mighty Massillon Tigers at Mollenkopf Stadium over the last two decades?

Program Cover

But nobody ever said the twilight zone never gets a helping hand from the conscious world.

And Massillon Tiger football coach John Maronto thinks he saw that happen in his team’s scarier‑than‑it‑sounds 24‑7 win Friday night.

“When you asked me yesterday if I believed there’s a jinx, I mentioned many of the kids on our team weren’t born yet when the ‘jinx’ started, Maronto said. “Well, I have to admit, I’ve never experienced anything like what happened tonight.”

He was talking not about ghosts, goblins or witches, but zebras.

“I could take a swipe at one of the officials … and it would be a real incriminating shot,” Maronto said. “But I won’t, because I’m just happy to come out of here with a win. Much of what we were trying to do was destroyed by penalties and fumbles. And I must give Warren credit because their kids played inspired football, as all of our opponents do against Massillon.

“But our kids overcame some of the toughest odds I’ve ever seen.”

Maronto thought it was very odd the way the particular official spotted the ball, and that it was odd the Tigers were hit with a flagrant conduct penalty after Massillon linebacker Jerrod Vance got jumped with a late hit, was punched in the face.
For the record, the Tigers were flagged nine times for a season-high 115 yards to Warren’s six times for 50 yards.

But in the end, Massillon’s fine tackle, Lance Hostetler, said he had enjoyed a night of good, clean fun.

“Their players had a lot of class,” Hostetler said. “One time, one of their guys accidentally poked me in the eye, and he said he was sorry.”

Tiger linebacker Todd Perdue agreed.

“This was one of the few games where the opponent was helping you up after you got knocked down,” he said.

Harding came out throwing Mollenkopf Cocktails.

It was bombs away as the Panthers threw their accustomed running game in the Mahoning River and threw passes everyplace else.

It helped lead to a shell‑shocking fourth quarter that began with Harding lining up for a field goal that would have caught the Tigers in a 10‑10 tie. But the snap was mishandled (it looked like Matt Swank would have blocked the kick anyway). Then the Tigers exploded for two touchdowns in the final 60 seconds to complete the win before 6,500 spectators.

“We knew Massillon had seen us run the ball effectively when they scouted us,” Harding head coach Frank Thomas said. “We thought our best chance of doing something was through the air.”

Sophomore quarterback Clayton Waite made that game plan look good by throwing passes more accurate than a state trooper’s radar gun. He was on the mark more than his 14 completions in 32 attempts indicate, and finished with 162 yards.

The game was closer than many expected, even though the teams’ records were not far apart ‑ the Tigers entered with a 5‑2 mark, compared to Harding’s 4‑3.

But Perdue wasn’t upset that the Tigers had to sweat out the win.

“I like these kind of games,” he said. “It’s fun to be in a close one like that, and do what it takes to win.

“I thought we played well on defense, especially when you look at how well their guy was throwing the ball.”

It was no surprise that the Tigers were running the ball. They might have emerged saying they ran it exceptionally well, except three lost fumbles cut off drives.

Still, they gained 195 rushing yards at 4.5 a pop, while quarterback John Miller threw just two passes, completing one for 13 yards.

It was a surprise, though, that Mike Norris, the starting fullback all year, opened at tailback, while Vernon Riley, who disappeared after rushing for 138 yards in the third quarter against Cincinnati Mount Healthy Sept. 12, reappeared as the starting fullback.

Norris rambled 102 yards in 20 carries and two touchdowns. Riley amassed 65 yards in 11 totes.

In yet another surprise, Norris – No. 34 in your program ‑ came out wearing No. 4.

The second time the Tigers had the ball ‑ Norris came out smokin’, blasting through big holes for gains of 13 and 17 yards during a touchdown drive that covered 63 yards in 10 plays. On third and goal from the six, Norris swept right and sprinted into the corner of the end zone. The first of Lee Hurst’s three accurate PAT kicks made it 7‑0 with 2:17 left in the first quarter.

Norris’ kickoff sailed into the end zone, setting up Warren at the 20. A chop‑blocking penalty and two running plays that lost yardage buried the Panthers at their own 6 on fourth down.

A good Warren punt forced the Tigers to start their next drive behind midfield. Riley, a 5‑11, 206‑pound junior, blasted 33 yards on a straight dive play. That put the ball on the 13, but the Tigers wound up settling for a 27‑yard field goal by Hurst and a 10‑0 lead with 9:31 left in the second quarter.

On its next possession, Warren dumped the run and turned loose Waite, who completed passes of 18, 13 and 13 yards on a drive that led to first down at the Massillon 10. But on fourth and six, Brian Teeple, Steve Siegenthaler and Perdue tackled Mark Perez three yards short of the first down.

The Tigers took over and couldn’t move, but Ken Hawkins got off a spectacular, 64‑yard punt that rolled dead on the 10.

The half ran out with the score still at 10‑0.

That also happened to be the halftime score in the Tigers’ other road game, which slipped away into a 14‑10 loss at Austintown‑Fitch two weeks earlier.

It didn’t look like the Tigers would have to worry about a relapse when Miller flicked a shovel pass to Riley, taking a page out of the Warren playbook which featured several similar short passes Friday night. Riley exploded down the right sideline and was brought down inches short of the goal line for an apparent 50‑yard gain. But the ball was brought back on a clipping penalty, and Hawkins eventually got off another booming punt that traveled 51 yards into the end zone for a touchback.

From there, Waite used four different receivers to pass the Panthers upfield. The big plays were 16, 13, 15 and 16 yards. On third and one from the four, Waite found Avery Patterson over the middle for a touchdown. Irl Berrisford, not your typical placekicker at 5‑10, 253, drilled the extra point to make Warren’s deficit 10‑7 with 3:40 left in the third quarter.

Three plays after the Tigers got the ball back on a kickoff, Norris fumbled and Patterson recovered on the Warren 47. A roughing‑the‑passer call, a nine‑yard run by Perez and a pass interference flag advanced the ball to the 14.

But the Panthers were stuck there on fourth down on the final play of the fourth quarter. They marched to the other end, then Berrisford lined up for a 31‑yard attempt that would tie the game.

“I was thinking one of our fast guys would be able to get in and block the kick,” Hawkins said. “And it was iffy on whether he would make it. He didn’t really look like a placekicker.”

But the snap was mishandled, the Tigers swarmed around the ball, and took over at the 13 with the lead intact.

Two plays later, Miller threw a 50‑yard bomb toward Jerome Myricks that was picked off by Patterson.

Waite quickly completed passes of 12 and 11 yards, moving the Panthers to the Massillon 42. But a first-down bullet pass by Waite bounced out of the hands of Baugh and was picked out of the air by Perdue.

Miller made a 22‑yard run to midfield but fumbled five plays later, giving Warren the ball at, the Massillon 29.

Two plays after that, Massillon’s Mike Wilson stole a Waite pass and raced 35 yards to the Warren 31. The Tigers drove inside the 10 but on third and eight, Riley fumbled and Warren’s Michael Hall recovered at the 5 with 3:22 left.

The Tiger defense swarmed all over Waite and created a fourth and 11 at the 4.

Thomas’ options at this point were to punt and preserve the respectable score or go for it on the off chance the Panthers might make a first drive then stage a miracle drive.

“The coaching staff owed it to the players to give them a chance to win,” Thomas said. “They played too hard. So we went for it.”

Waite’s pass went through Reggie Scrivens’ hands and the Tigers took over on the 4, scoring in two plays on Norris’ two‑yard plunge with 59 seconds left.

One play after the ensuing kickoff, Vance intercepted a Waite pass over the middle and returned it 24 yards for a score with 25 seconds left.

Warren gained just 30 yards on the ground in 18 carries. Marko Miller, a highly touted 215‑pound junior who rushed for nearly 150 yards two weeks ago, had a grand total of minus‑one yards last night.

Next up for the Tigers is Cleveland St. Joseph, Friday night at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

MASSILLON 24
WARREN 7

M W
First downs rushing 10 1
First downs passing 0 10
First downs by penalty 1 3
Totals first downs 12 14
Yards gained rushing 217 45
Yards lost rushing 22 15
Net yards rushing 195 30
Net yards passing 24 168
Total yards gained 219 198
Passes attempted 1 14
Passes completed 2 32
Passes int. by 3 1
Times kicked off 5 2
Kickoff average 52.0 54.5
Kickoff return yards 29 58
Punts 3 3
Punting average 50.4 34.0
Punt return yards 17 0
Fumbles 5 0
Fumbles lost 3 0­
Penalties 9 6
Yards penalized 115 50
Number of plays 46 50
Time of possession 26:26 21:34
Attendance 6,500

WARREN 0 0 7 0 7
MASSILLON 7 3 0 14 24

MAS ‑ Norris 6 run (Hurst kick)
MAS ‑ FG Hurst 27
WAR ‑ Patterson 4 pass from Waite (Berresford kick)
MAS ‑ Norris 2 run (Hurst kick)
MAS ‑ Vance 24 interception return (Hurst kick)

Jerrod Vance
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo

1986: Massillon 27, Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary 0

Tiger mentor: ‘We really needed this’

By STEVE DOERSCHUK
Independent Sports Editor

MASSILLON ‑ They were the Fighting Irish all right, this good Akron St. Vincent‑St. Mary High football team.

Trouble was, they were a light heavyweight stepping into the heavyweight division. And their opponent was a fighting tiger hopping mad over a fistful of Fitch absorbed one Friday earlier.

The result was a 27‑0 Massillon Tiger victory before 8,149 fans, leaving both teams with 5‑2 records.

Program Cover

“We really needed this … the players and the coaching staff,” said John Maronto, who had just been through the toughest days of his 15 months as head coach of the Tigers. “We said very little all week. We said it was time to take a gut check and see what comes out.”

What came out was junior quarterback John Miller’s best game, another big‑play touchdown for Jerome Myricks and another shutout for the defense ‑ all five Massillon wins have been blankings.

“I thought we played hard this week and last week,” said Massillon senior Mike Wilson. “Maybe we got more physical this week.”

Wilson got pretty smart, too. Late in the game, he told defensive coordinator Brandon Oliver he wanted to shift to the wide side of the field because he had a feeling the Irish might throw that way.

The result was a 57‑yard interception return for a TD during which the speedy Wilson said his only thought was, “Nobody’s gonna catch me.”

That and Lee Hurst’s third PAT kick of the night cemented the final score with 45 seconds left in the game.

The Tigers didn’t severely whip the Irish on the stats sheet (they led 201‑146 in total yards). They simply did the right things at the right time.

In the St. Vincent‑St. Mary locker room, talk centered around the game’s “extra‑curricular” matters, including Tiger linebacker Jerrod Vance’s helmet, on which was plastered a likeness of Irish head coach John Cistone, for whom Vance played before transferring to Massillon in 1984.

“This was a different sort of Massillon team than any I’ve seen,” said Cistone, in his 30th year as St. Vincent‑St. Mary’s mentor. “There were more cheap shots than I’ve seen before. But I don’t know. They were the same guys we played last year, when there were no problems. Maybe it was a result of them coming off what had to be a very tough loss.
“Maybe we got more physical this week” ‑ Mike Wilson

“You’ve gotta say they have a good football team. They’ve got size and speed … all the tools to win. They don’t need that other stuff.”

Nothing changed the way Cistone feels about playing in Massillon, where he is winless in seven tries.

“We like playing here,” Cistone said. “We’ll be back next year.”

While awaiting next year, the Irish will finish out 1986 against foes who will put them in the Division III playoffs, if somehow they can go 3‑0. The lineup is Youngstown Cardinal Mooney, Youngstown Ursuline and Walsh Jesuit.

If the Tigers’ court date Wednesday goes favorably, and they get an injunction putting them back in the Division I playoff race, they probably would qualify by beating their remaining three foes. Warren Harding, Cleveland St. Joseph and McKinley have a combined 15‑4 record.

Harding, which will host the Tigers next at 7:45 p.m. next Friday, whipped Niles McKinley 14‑0 last night to improve to 4‑3.

The drama in last night’s game was curtailed after the Tigers took a 14‑0 lead early in the second quarter.

Vance, the senior inside linebacker, set up the first touchdown when he intercepted junior quarterback Mark Lenz’s first pass of the game and made a short return to the Irish 33‑yard line.

Mike Harris, waging a difficult battle to come back from knee surgery, started at tailback but it was junior tailback Jerome Myricks who got the Tigers rolling when he hit a hole on the left side of the line for a nine‑yard gain to the 17. A nine-yard run by senior fullback Mike Norris put the ball on the 7, from where Myricks again went over the left side and easily into the end zone. Hurst’s PAT kick made it 7‑0 at the 5:13 mark of the first quarter.

A strong kickoff by Norris resulted in a touchback and bad field position for the Irish, who were stuffed in three plays and had to punt.

The Tigers then marched 54 yards for a score on a drive that included a tricky double‑pitch on which Miller handed off to Myricks, with Myricks pitching back to Miller. The quarterback sprinted around the right side for an 11‑yard gain.

Moments later, on fourth and one from the 27, the Tigers surprised the Irish ‑ and their fans ‑ when Miller dropped back quickly and fired a 12‑yard strike to tight end Kenny Hawkins.

The play drew a loud ovation from the Massillon fans on the “roof side.”

“I knew the pass would be open,” Miller said with a smile afterward. “It was just a matter of getting the ball to Kenny.”

Maronto said the Tigers have not gone to the 6‑foot‑8 tight end much largely because of the way defenses are playing him.

“But we thought this play would be open,” the coach said.

A seven‑yard run by Harris put the ball at the 5, from where Miller rolled right and found a wide‑open Wilson for a touchdown in the right corner of the end zone. Hurst’s kick made it 14‑0 with 11:14 left in the first half.

Though the Irish never came close to scoring in the first half, Lenz scrambled effectively during one possession, completing three passes and running for 15 yards on another play.

“We had some trouble containing the quarterback in the first half,” Miller said. “Then when we contained him in the second half, it made things better for us.”

Neither side threatened in the third quarter, but a spectacular punt by Hawkins buried the Irish on their own 8 at the end of the period. The Irish punted from near there to midfield, and on third‑and‑six, Miller dropped back again. When Myricks wasn’t playing tailback, he was often in at split end, as he was this time, breaking open near the left sideline. He took a strike from Miller, broke cleanly through two defenders and said see ya’ later en route to a 40‑yard touchdown. Hurst’s kick missed, but it was still 20‑0 with 10:04 left in the game.

“I’m getting more confidence,” said Myricks, who now has scored on three longs plays this year. “I’m starting to feel like I can go the distance on any play.”

Myricks, incidentally, was one of the replacements at split end for Bart Letcavits, the senior co-captain who saw scant action last week against Fitch, and did not play at all last night due to illness.

Miller wound up with six completions in nine attempts for 105 yards, by far his biggest passing night of the year. Myricks caught three passes for 83 yards.

“I’m starting to feel real confident now,” Miller said. “We have some tough customers coming up, but we want to play well and have a good season.”

M V
First downs rushing 4 5
First downs passing 4 4
First downs by penalty 1 2
Totals first downs 9 11
Yards gained rushing 110 108
Yards lost rushing 14 23
Net yards rushing 96 85
Net yards passing 105 61
Total yards gained 101 146
Passes attempted 9 16
Passes completed 6 5
Passes int. by 2 0
Times kicked off 5 1
Kickoff average 55.8 31.0
Kickoff return yards 11 37
Punts 3 4
Punting average 37.3 27.8
Punt return yards 6 ‑9
Fumbles 3 2
Fumbles lost 2 1
Penalties 8 6
Yards penalized 83 57
Number of plays 43 53
Time of possession 21:34 26:26
Attendance 8,149

ST. V‑ST. M 0 0 0 0 0
MASSILLON 7 7 0 13 27

MAS ‑ Myricks 7 run (Hurst kick)
MAS ‑ Wilson 6 pass from Miller (Hurst kick)
MAS ‑ Myricks 40 pass from Miller (kick failed)
MAS ‑ Wilson 57 interception return (Hurst kick)

Jerrod Vance
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo

1986: Massillon 10, Austintown Fitch 14

Mud, guts and defeat at Fitch
Tigers fall 14‑10 on touchdown with six seconds left in‑game

STEVE DOERSCHUK
Independent Sports Editor

AUSTINTOWN ‑ One minute the Massillon Tigers were singin’ in the rain. The next minute this game was mud.

Now there were seven minutes left, and the Tigers had the ball with a 10‑0 lead. Now it was fourth‑and‑goal from the 2‑inch line, and Leo Hawkins was diving into the end zone with six seconds left to give Austintown‑Fitch a 14‑10 high school football victory Friday night before 5,000 waterlogged fans.

It ended so quickly. And it hurt so bad.

It left the Massillon camp in shock.

Hoagy Pfisterer, the senior linebacker, slumped on a bench, helmet off. His face was a mask of mud from a field spoiled by a vicious rain that lasted through the first half.

Andre Horner, the senior nose guard, clutched his helmet and slammed it three times to the squishy turf. He spun around deliriously. He could not accept what had just happened.

What happened was the greatest win in Fitch football history, all things considered. And one of the bitterest Massillon defeats.

“Everybody played all out,” said Jerrod Vance, the senior linebacker, after it had all sunk in. “It just didn’t work out. It was a tough one to lose.”

The loss sank the Tigers to 4‑2, their record a year ago after Fitch’s 21‑19 victory in Massillon. Fitch climbed to 6‑0 and chanted, “Mooney, Mooney, Mooney” ‑ next week’s opponent ‑ in the locker room.

Smiling widely in that room was David Hartman, a backup center for Earle Bruce’s Massillon Tigers in 1964. He lives in Austintown now, and coaches the Fitch team.

“It was a big thing to beat them down there last year,” Hartman said, standing amid a mud‑slimed celebration that may not get cleaned up by Thanksgiving. “But this may have been more special. Nobody up here thought we could win. And sure, it means something to me personally, because of where I’m from.”

It was a tough loss for John Maronto, the Massillon coach whose Michigan offense hasn’t had numerous Tiger fans warming up to it. But he believes in it steadfastly. And he believed it would win his team this game.

“The kids played their guts out, what else can you say?” the second year Massillon mentor said.

Anticipating reactions to the conservative game plan the Tigers used on offense after getting the 10‑0 lead, Maronto said, “When you have bad weather, and you’re backed up into the field position we had, you’ve got to play it the way we played it. Unfortunately, they were able to take advantage of some things.”

It was the Tigers who seized the advantages in the first half.

On the first play of Massillon’s second offensive series, center Todd Feemster, guard John Woodlock and tackle Lance Hostetler parted the brown sea on the right side of the line for tailback Jerome Myricks, who stormed out of the I, hit the big hole, and simply outran the safety for a 61‑yard touchdown run in a pouring rain. Lee Hurst’s kick made it 7‑0 with 6:34 left in the first quarter.

Later, several Fitch players would say they thought the Falcons moved the ball well in the first half, that it was only “a matter of time.” Such was not the case. The Tiger defense stuffed the Falcons in the first two quarters, holding them to 41 total yards in the half.

Massillon, meanwhile, amassed 146 first‑half yards, 39 of them on a double‑reverse gallop by wingback ‑Mike Wilson. That led to a fourth‑and‑one from the 10 with 43 seconds left in the half.

Maronto called a timeout and sent in the field goal unit. Fitch called its own timeout, but freshman Lee Hurst stayed calm and kicked a 27‑yard field goal straight down the middle.

That gave the Tigers a 10‑0 halftime lead.

The rain, utterly miserable at times and omnipresent in the first, quit while the Tiger Swing “Band was on the field at intermission.

“That may have worked to our advantage,” Hartman said.

That was not apparent in the third quarter, when both teams stuck to the ground and neither budged much.

The same pattern held into the middle of the fourth quarter. But things changed when a Tiger fumble gave Fitch the ball near midfield and kept the Falcons from spending the rest of the night in bad field position.

Although Fitch failed to advance on that possession, the Tigers got the ball back in poor field position after a punt, and couldn’t move themselves. Now they had to punt.

Hartman huddled with his special team.

“We told our guys to go for the return,” he said. “We’d been going for the block all night, and it hadn’t keen working.”

Ken Hawkins’ 35‑yard punt sailed to Hawkins, a 189‑pound senior who leads the Steel Valley Conference in rushing. The return strategy worked. He followed a wall of blockers for a 25‑yard return that took the ball to the Massillon 33‑yard line.

On the next play, Hawkins slipped out of the backfield and capitalized on an old football dictum ‑ on a wet field, the receiver has a greater advantage, because he knows where he’s going and the defender doesn’t.

The problem with the dictum is the quarterback is at a disadvantage. A muddy football is the proverbial greased pig. But senior quarterback Eric Luckage managed to get off a pass that landed softly in Hawkins’ hands as he broke across the 15. His trip into the end zone was uncontested. Chris Berni’s PAT kick was good, making it 10‑7 with 5:41 left.

It was hard to get a grip on the ball,” Luckage said. “But I got it away, and Leo made a super catch.”

The Tigers were still in control when they started from their own 25 after taking the kickoff. One first down would wipe out enough of the clock to kill Fitch, considering field conditions.

On second and nine, Mike Norris went off right tackle for no gain. On third and nine, Myricks tried right end. Again no gain.

With 3:20 left, Ken Hawkins had to punt. Leo Hawkins made a short return to midfield.

On second and eight, Hartman sent in the same play that resulted in the touchdown pass. Hawkins was open again, this time catching Luckage’s pass for a gain to the 30. Tiger linebacker Todd Perdue came in a half‑second late on a backup hit. The game films should show that Perdue was a bit late. Under the circumstances, the late‑hit call against him, and subsequent 15‑yard penalty seemed too harsh.

Now it was first‑and‑10 from the 15 with 2:20 left.

Hawkins battered the ball to the goal fine in four carries and went around the left side for a score with six seconds left. Berni’s kick made it 14‑10. The Fitch players mobbed each other, rolling happily in the slop.

The ensuing kickoff was a squib job. Vance picked it up, but there was nowhere to run, and no one to lateral to. He was bowled over on the Massillon 40 after the clock had already hit 0:00.

While the Tigers ruled the first half statistics, Fitch dominated in the second half, leading 104‑41 in yards amassed in the third and fourth quarters.

Hawkins finished with 60 yards in 19 carries. Myricks was the game’s rushing leader with 90 yards in 12 attempts. Norris added 51 yards in 13 carries.

“They were a very good team,” concluded Hartman. “But tonight , we were better.”

MASSILLON 10
FITCH 14

M O
First downs rushing 4 4
First downs passing 0 2
First downs by penalty 0 1
Totals first downs 4 7
Yards gained rushing 194 98
Yards lost rushing 70 80
Net yards rushing 187 90
Net yards passing 0 55
Total yards gained 187 145
Passes attempted 1 6
Passes completed 0 3
Passes int. by 0 0
Yardage on pass int. 0 0
Times kicked off 0 0
Punts 7 8
Punting average 33.4 31.9
Punt return yards 0 26
Punts blocked by 0 0
Fumbles 4 0
Fumbles lost 1 0
Penalties 4 3
Yards penalized 30 14
Time of possession 19.39 28,21
Attendance 5,000

FITCH 0 0 0 14 14
MASSILLON 7 3 0 0 16

MASS ‑ Myricks 61 run (Hurst kick)
MASS ‑ Hurst 27 field goal
FITCH ‑ Hawkins 33 pass from Luckage (Berni kick)
FITCH ‑ Hawkins 1 run (Beni kick)

Jerrod Vance
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo

1986: Massillon 56, Barberton 0

A blowout … a washout
Tigers’ 56‑0 win called early in fourth quarter

By STEVE DOERSCHUK
Independent Sports Editor

MASSILLON ‑ Gotta hand it to ya’, Koontzie. That was better than Art Modell’s postgame fireworks stuff.

Hey, this one was during the game, such as it was, a 56‑0 Massillon Tiger tirade against Barberton that was mercifully waved off Friday after three quarters and some small change and a lot of Bart Letcavits.

“Weatherman Mark Koontz,” P.A. announcer Walt Bronczek was saying along about the time a wind that would have seared the bloomers off Auntie Em kicked up, “tells us dangerous lightning and heavy rains are heading this way from the north.”

Program Cover

At that point midway through the third quarter, most folks among a crowd of 8,621 in Paul Brown Tiger Stadium did a fly pattern to the parking lot. The crowd included weather sleuth Koontz, a ’65 Washington High grad and currently Dick Goddard’s No. 1 caddy at Channel 8, up north.

The rains and the lightning came, as predicted, but long after Barberton’s chances had vamoosed.

It was 42‑0 at halftime, and even though Barberton claims the nickname Magics, Houdini himself wouldn’t have had a prayer in the second half. As lightning cracked and rain poured crazily down, referee Dick Szink called head coaches John Maronto of Massillon and Jack Foltz of Barberton to midfield, where all parties agreed to call it a night with 10: 08 left in the fourth quarter.

“It was a good decision,” said Foltz, whose team was outgained 339‑10 in total yardage, numbers you wouldn’t have expected in a battle of teams that entered with 3‑1 records.

“We‑weren’t doing anything, and we weren’t about to put the ball up. It was over. We just crapped down our legs.”

As for Maronto, it was a night for singin’ in the rain. Well, humming, maybe.

“We can’t spend too much time praising ourselves,” the Tiger tutor said, “We play at Fitch next week, and they’re a very tough team.

“We only got to play three quarters tonight, and really, who would have expected this? Never in a million years…”

Well, never in a few years, anyway. The Tigers have a history of burying Barberton (43‑0 in 1982, 46‑0 in 1971, 90‑0 in 1959). But the Magics often play Massillon tough (they beat the Tigers 26‑24 in 1981 and 9‑7 in 1977) and the Tigers were coming off a wrenching 9‑7 loss to GlenOak.

As it worked out, the orange and black washed that loss right out of their hair.

The game was called shortly after Shannon Dryden plowed into the end zone from three yards out to make it 53‑0 at the 10:43 mark of the fourth quarter, amid thundershowers.

“We like the rain,” Dryden said. “It was kinda fun playing in that. Something new.”

Letcavits had his fun in the first half.

Early in the first quarter, he ran a “waggle pattern” right past speedy cornerback Jim Ferguson. Junior quarterback John Miller delivered a strike to a wide‑open Letcavits in the right corner of the end zone for a 33‑yard touchdown play.

That capped the game’s opening series, in which the Tigers got Barberton “thinking run” with seven straight rushes.

Moments later, Letcavits hustled under a short punt at the 40 and returned it 23 yards to the Barberton 17. That set up a 4‑yard touchdown run by tailback Jerome Myricks, who finished the half ‑ and the game ‑ with 87 yards in 11 carries and two touchdowns.

The sky was dry, but the floodgates were open ‑ the Tigers went on to outgain the Magics 243 to minus‑two in first‑half yardage.

The next touchdown was set up by Myricks’ 44‑yard run around the right side. That put the ball on the 7, from where Myricks took it over the left side on the next play for a TD. The PAT kick sailed wide and it was 20‑0 with 8:26 left in the half.

The Magics stalled on three plays and were hit with a safety when the long snap sailed high over punter Brian James’ head, and he had to smother the ball in the end zone. It was 22‑0 at the 6:22 mark.

Barberton then punted to Letcavits, who made a nice return to midfield. A rushing play netted nothing, then Miller uncorked another bomb to Letcavits, who had streaked open over the middle. The pass looked too long, but the 5‑11 senior made a spectacular fingertip catch while doing a belly‑smacker at the 1. Letcavits drew a spontaneous standing ovation as he left the field. Miller scored on a quarterback sneak on the next play and Lee Hurst’s kick made it 29‑0 at the 5:13 mark.

It took the Tigers 28 seconds to score again … when senior cornerback Matt Swank bolted in front of Barberton tight end Dan Cuckler, stole sophomore quarterback, Butch Momilov’s short pass and raced 48 yards down easy street for a TD. Hurst’s kick made it 36‑0.

Barberton went nowhere again and had to punt. It appeared the half would run out with no more damage to the Magics when Miller was under a heavy rush with time running out in the half. However, he scrambled out of trouble and took off over the middle … but lost the ball at the 23‑yard line. Letcavits was in the neighborhood, picked up the pigskin and raced in for another TD that beat the halftime gun by 13 seconds.

It wasn’t the first big night for a Letcavits in Tiger Stadium. Bart’s father, Jim, a veteran Tiger coach, was an All‑Ohio end at Massillon in 1953.

But what a night.

“It doesn’t hit me that heavy right now,” Letcavits said. “Really, it just seemed like another game. The main thing is that the team came out and executed the plays on offense and defense.”

It was a big night for Swank, too.

“I came here from GlenOak after my sophomore year, and it crushed me ‑ it crushed everybody on the team ‑ to lose to GlenOak last week,” Swank said. “This was a great way to come back. Our defense came in and right off the bat we intimidated them. Early in the game, after some of our plays were working pretty well, you could tell by looking in their eyes that they didn’t want to play us any more.”

Dryden said the Tigers quit thinking about GlenOak early in the week.

“When we came back to practice Monday everybody was quiet in the locker room,” Dryden said. “Coach Maronto came in and told us we just had to drop our feelings about GlenOak and get on with things. He was right. We’d put so much effort into this season that there was no point in letting one loss bother us any more.”

In‑the end, the Tigers led 339-10 in total yardage. Barberton had the ball for only 14 minutes, 31 seconds. Other than a first half series that followed a Barberton fumble recovery near midfield, the Magics never got the ball past their own 26‑yard line.

The Tigers so completely dominated the game that it’s hard to imagine what the 90‑0 contest in 1959 must have been like.

But one thing bothered Maronto. The Tigers fumbled five times, losing the ball once, all before it rained.

“There’s no excuse for that,” Maronto said. “If we fumble it five times against Fitch, we’ll get our butts blown out.

“We just need to perform with consistency no matter who our opponent is. Our opponent should be ‘X.’ Our job is to execute our plays. We’ve done that four weeks out of five.”

As top individual statistics, nine different Tigers carried the ball. Fullback Mike Norris traveled 75 yards in nine carries and scored a third‑quarter touchdown. Miller picked up 40 yards in four totes.

Miller completed three passes in five attempts for 91 yards. Senior Ken Hawkins, a 6‑8 tight end, got his first catch of the season. Backup quarterback Erik White started the second half. He tried only one pass, though.

Ferguson, Barberton’s speedy running back, gained 20 yards in 13 carries. Momchilov completed two of 15 passes for three yards. Plays that lost yardage were the reason the Magics wound up with just to total yards.

MASSILLON 56
BARBERTON 0

M B
First downs rushing 9 2
First downs passing 3 0
First downs by penalty 2 0
Totals first downs 14 2
Yards gained rushing 256 36
Yards lost rushing 8 29
Net yards rushing 248 7
Net yards passing 91 3
Total yards gained 339 10
Passes attempted 6 17
Passes completed 3 2
Passes int. by 1 0
Times kicked off 8 1
Pickoff average 44.0 46.0
Kickoff return yards 39 70
Punts 1 6
Punting average 39.0 32.8
Punt return yards 31 0
Fumbles 5 1
Fumbles lost 1 0
Penalties 3 4
Yards penalized 35 41
Number of plays 45 34
Time of possession 33:29 14:31
Attendance 8,621

BARBERTON 0 0 0 0 0
MASSILLON 14 28 7 7 56

MASS ‑ Letcavits 33 pass from Miller (Hurst kick)
MASS ‑ Myricks 4 run (Hurst kick)
MASS ‑ Myricks 7 run (kick failed)
MASS ‑ SAFETY, punt snap sailed into end zone
MASS ‑ Swank 48 interception return (Hurst kick)
MASS ‑ Letcavits 23 advance of fumble recovery (kick failed)
MASS ‑ Norris 50 run (Hurst kick)
MASS ‑ Dryden 3 run (Hurst kick)

Jerrod Vance