
Game Preview: Massillon vs. Cleveland Glenville
Game Preview: Massillon vs. Cleveland Glenville
Once again Massillon will open the season with a quality opponent. Head Coach Nate Moore believes that in doing so the Tigers accomplish two goals: (1) energize the team during the preseason, and (2) expose any weaknesses, so they can get those corrected earlier rather than later. In past seasons the Tigers have faced such teams Mentor, Akron St. Vincent, Lakewood St. Edward, Pickerington Central, Cincinnati Moeller and Valdosta, Georgia. This time it is Cleveland Glenville, in the first of a 2-game series, both at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium. The e match came about after Moore called Glenville head coach Tedd Ginn and Ginn said “yes.”
Ginn is beginning his 27th year with the Tarblooders. He also runs a charter school called the Ginn Academy, which enrolls students from all over the Cleveland area, mostly from the inner-city. And he does a fine job of molding these students into fine young men. Since the Academy does not offer sports, the players opt to participate in those activities at neighboring Cleveland Glenville High School. In fact, most of the Glenville football players attend school at the Academy.
Owing to a wealth of talent, Ginn’s achieved immediate success when the arrangement began in 1998. The Glenville enrollment was initially quite large at that time and thus the Tarblooders competed in Division I. There they remained until 2013 when the enrollment began to drop and were reassigned to Division II. In 2017 they moved to Division III and dropped again in 2021 to Division IV. It should be noted that the players from the Academy are not counted in the OHSAA’s competitive advantage calculation. The division is based totally on the enrollment of Glenville itself.
Over the past 26 years Ginn has produced an overall record of 266 wins and 61 losses. Forced to compete in Cleveland’s Senate Athletic League, their record over that time against league competition is 196 wins and zero losses. Outside of the league they attempt to schedule some of the best teams in the state, where the record is more balanced, at 70-61. The following is the win-loss data for each of the divisions:
- Ginn spent fifteen years in Division I, recording a 35-29 record against non-league foes. But most of those foes are a “who’s who” of Ohio high school football, including such teams as Mentor (4-9 record), Lakewood St. Edward (1-8) and Cleveland St. Ignatius (2-5). Surprisingly, six games were played against Olentangy Liberty (3-3). Glenville’s best year occurred in 2009 when, with future Ohio State quarterback Cardale Jones, they defeated St. Ignatius 30-13 in the regionals and Massillon 31-17 in the state semifinals, before losing to Hilliard Davidson 16-15 in the finals.
- Four years were spent in Division II, with a non-league record 10-11. In 2013 they advanced to the state finals, before losing 41-23 to Loveland the following week.
- While in Division III the program slipped a bit, as shown by a 1-10 record in non-league games.
- Having now spent four years in Division IV, they boast of a 24-11 record against non-league foes, with two losses to Akron Hoban. However, most of the wins have come against severely substandard DIV playoff opponents. Nevertheless, two state titles were claimed, including in 2022 with a 26-6 victory over Wyoming and in 2023 with a 38-3 win over Kettering Alter.
Last season Glenville played a lot of freshmen and sophomores and hopes to reap the benefits of that this year, especially since they have a varsity roster of 91 players, along with several outstanding athletes from the senior class, including the following:
- Arvel Nelson – Senior quarterback (6’-3”, 170).
- Cincere Johnson – Senior running back/linebacker (6’-2”, 225) – 4-star recruit; Ohio State commit; 2024 Division IV 1st Team All-Ohio; 2024 Division IV Defensive Player of the Year; last season had 205 tackles, 41 tackles-for-loss and 8.5 quarterback sacks.
- J. Newell Jr. – Senior running back/defensive back (5’-10”, 186); 3-star recruit; Buffalo commit; 2024 Division IV 3rd Team All-Ohio; 1,136 yards rushing with 18 touchdowns.
- Romell Phillips – Senior running back/linebacker (5’-9”, 163); 750 yards rushing.
- Pauly Sadler – Senior wide receiver/defensive back (5’-11”, 180).
- Aaron Scales – Senior wide receiver/defensive back (5’-9”, 170); 2024 Division IV 2nd Team All-Ohio.
- Marquis Whipple – Senior offensive lineman (6’-3”, 305); 3-star recruit; holds several mid-major offers; 2024 Division IV 1st Team All-Ohio.
- Jamir Perez – Senior offensive lineman/defensive lineman (6’-4”, 321); 3-star recruit; Ohio State commit.
Moore calls Glenville a “great Week 1 opponent; a great team with both speed and size.”
The Tarblooder offense operates mostly out of a 21-personnel formation; i.e., two running backs and a tight end. The game plan, then, is to run the ball using a zone blocking scheme, behind a massive line (6’-2”, 308 lbs. ave.) that includes Ohio State recruits Whipple and Perez. But they will take occasional shots down to the field with the long ball. Nelson, the quarterback, does a good job in the run game. As does several running backs. The best back according to Moore is Newell, but he will play more defense than offense. So, look for Phillips to carry the load. The receiving corps is good and includes Joseph Saffold, a transfer from Lakewood St. Edward. In last year’s victory over St. Eds they ran a lot of plays to the left side of the line, with the quarterback serving as the ball carrier and Whipple and Perez plowing the road ahead.
The defense uses almost exclusively an odd-stack, 3-3 alignment. The defensive line has good size (6’-2”, 265 lbs. ave.) and plays very aggressively, which can be risky at times. Perez is aligned in the middle. The linebackers are all good-sized players. They are led by Johnson, who plays on the edge of the group. So far in scrimmages, the linebackers haven’t shown a lot of blitzes. The 5-man secondary aligns in a cover-1 with the other four players matched up man-to-man on the receivers. The best players in this group are Newell and Scales.
Go Tigers!