Massillon Continues to Dominate Warren Harding
It might be with 89 games played Massillon’s second longest rivalry in their illustrious history, but of late it has been extremely one-sided, particularly on the scoreboard end of things. In fact, the Tigers have won the last nine meetings, including Friday’s 45-14 whipping at Warren’s Mollenkopf Stadium. However, even with a new coach in place this year, the Raiders are still considered to be a formidable opponent. Just not as talented as Massillon. With the win, the Tigers now have a record of 7-2, while Harding falls to 6-3. Massillon also maintains an edge in the series, 61-25-3.
The other story is Tiger running back Ja’Meir Gamble, who for the consecutive week had a great outing, rushing 10 times for 152 yards (15.2 ave.) and three touchdowns, while catching a pass for a fourth. In addition, his 80-yard touchdown run at the end of the third quarter pushed him over the 100-yard mark for the fourth time this year and also sent him past the 1,000-yard mark for the season. Meanwhile, the defense held Warren’s rushing attack to a mere two yards per carry.
The Tigers received the opening kickoff and set up shop at their own 45 yard line. With the cornerbacks playing ten yards off the wide receivers, the run-pass option called for tag screens. A throw to the left. Dropped! A throw to the right. Also dropped! Not a great start to a big game on the road. So quarterback Jalen Slaughter looked down the field instead and launched a perfectly thrown bomb down the center to a wide open Braylyn Toles, who gathered it in at the Warren 22 and danced his way to the end zone.
Next, it was time to play field position. Following a kickoff by Nolan Hendricks into the end zone, Sebastian Harper stripped Raider quarterback Chaz Coleman of the ball and Lennox Lemon secured it for his team. That turnover resulted in a 29-yard field goal by Mateo Herrera, giving the Tigers an early 10-0 lead.
Again, Harding was deep in its own territory and was forced to punt from the ten. Only, Massillon gave it right back with a fumble. Finally, Warren was able to mount some offense when sophomore backup quarterback James Jones entered the game. Four successive completions put Warren at the Tiger 12, but the defense stiffened and Harding was forced to settle for a field goal attempt. Only, the try resulted in a knuckle ball that was missed wide left.
Now it was time for Massillon to get to work and get firm control of the game. It started with an 8-play, 80-yard drive that ended with Gamble’s first touchdown, a 31-yard screen pass. That was followed by a 4-play, 53-yard drive, culminating in a 24-yard TD run by Gamble. Suddenly, the score had ballooned to 24-0 and a running clock was imminent.
However, Warren was able to cut the deficit near the end of the half when Coleman connected with a wide-open Ariz Coleman-Bey on a 30-yard wheel route with eleven seconds remaining. The drive started at their own 37 with 1:24 left in the half. With little time left, the Tigers opted to engage with a nickel-back defense (5 DBs). Only, the alignment lacked overall effectiveness as Coleman was several times able to abandon a pass attempt and run for good gains owing to a lack of edge defenders.
Warren’s production in the third quarter mirrored that of the start. It began with three plays and a punt from deep in their own territory. But Daylan Pringle return the punt 26 yards to the Raider 22. From there, Massillon scored on its second play on a 22-yard run by Gamble. Score, 31-7. Warren tried coming back, but was stopped on downs at the Massillon 29. That was followed on the next attempt by field goal attempt that clanged off the upright. Finally, near the end of the third quarter, Gamble broke through the line off left tackle, eluded a few would-be tacklers, and took it 80 yards to the house to finish his work for the night and send the game into a running clock situation.
After that, the Tiger backups had a go at the Warren starters. Each team scored once during the fourth quarter. Coleman tallied on a quarterback sneak following a muffed punt at the three. And Savior Owens sped around left end for a 55-yard touchdown.
Massillon ended up with 411 yards of offense, 228 on the ground (11.4 ave.) and 183 in the air. Slaughter completed 11 of 19 for 177 yards and two touchdowns. Five passes were caught by Toles and four by Jacques Carter. In a contrast to last week, the Tigers committed just four penalties for 35 yards.
Warren garnered 215 total yards of offense, 74 on the ground (2.1 ave.) and 141 in the air. Penn State commit Coleman ended up having a rough night. He did complete 10 of 16 passes for 72 yards, but he was also sacked four times. And, as his team’s season leading ball carrier, he rushed for a net 47 yards, losing 29 on account of the pressure. The backup, Jones, showed good form, completing 4 of 8 for 72 yards, with one sack.
It was clear in this game that the Tigers were not looking ahead to next week’s matchup against their No. 1 rival, Canton McKinley.
Warren Stadium
Warren is in the midst of some major improvements to their stadium. In the south end zone they recently constructed a beautiful indoor facility in the south end zone, which also houses the locker rooms for both teams, while moving the band into a new shell in the corner. On the north side, they installed a new scoreboard with a large video screen and state-of-the-art sound system. And following the season will finally replace the deteriorating seats on the visiting side and hopefully the antiquated rest rooms.
But they still have a couple of issues to address. The first is the lighting. The stadium field illumination is entirely inadequate for a football game, making it extremely difficult to even read the numbers on the player jerseys, let alone have a crisp look at the play. The second issue was having speakers at the scoreboard north end with the indoor facility located to the south. As seen in the photo below, the building wall was made almost entirely of glass. The result was an echo retort off the glass anytime the speakers were being used. And of course, the speakers were cranked up well beyond what was needed. Relocating the speakers to the south end zone would fix this. Nevertheless, the overall facility is indeed impressive.
The following photos are by Rob Engelhardt
Jacques Carter with the catch while Donovan Salero-McCoy (17) looks on.
DJ Zimmerman (4) blocks Chaz Coleman (1) while Jalen Slaughter (2) hands off to Ja’Meir Gamble (21).
Jalen Slaughter (2) is chased by Deshawn Wynn (7).
Jacques Carter (2) with the catch with Mathew Richardson (11) defending.
Tyler Hackenbracht attempts to elude Aiden Allen (11) and Elijah Phillips (14) during the punt return.
Ja’Meir on his way to the end zone.
There’s no room for Jacques Carter against Deshawn Wynn (7) and Tyler Smith (3).
Chaz Coleman (1) is sacked by Vito McConnell (3), while Michael Wright Jr. (45) closes in.
Chaz Coleman (1) is sacked again. This time by Michael Wright Jr. (45) and Logan Allman (13).
Daylan Pringle (6) is brought down by Matthew Richardson (1) and Donovan Salero-McCoy (17). In the background is Richard Harris Jr. (39).
Ja’Meir Gamble (21) turns the corner and is off to the end zone, escorted by Braylyn Toles (1).
Braylon Gamble (30)
