2020 Season

PREVIOUS SEASON

Overall Record: 10-2
Regular Season Record: 5-1

• Player Photos

• Cumulative Season Statistics

• Game-by-Game Statistics

• Individual Game-by-Game Summaries

Head Coach: Nate Moore (6th Year)
Record To-Date at Massillon: 60-17

Team Captains: Xavier Andrews, Zach Catrone, Terrence Rankl, Andrew Wilson-Lamp

All-Ohio: 1^st Team: Jayden Ballard, Terrence Rankl, Caiden Woullard, Jaiden Wise; 2^nd Team: Mike Miller, Martavien Johnson, Magnus Haines; Honorable Mention: Willtrell Hartson, Andrew Wilson-Lamp

Playoff Assignment/Computer Ranking: Division II, Region 7, 2nd via coaches’ seeds
Tournament Results: Lost in State Finals

• Playoff Bracket

All-Time Record: 909-294-36
Series Record vs. Canton McKinley: 73-53-5

Noteworthy Items: (1) Virus Impact: The Covid-19 Pandemic caused a major disruption to the season, affecting nearly every aspect of the Massillon program.  Safety protocols were instituted to limit the exposure of the virus among the players, coaches and opponents.  The Tiger program did a great job managing this situation and no players or coaches were found to be affected during the season.  In a compromise with the OHSAA and the Ohio Department of Health, all of the state’s original 10-game schedules were voided in favor of a re-made 6-game schedule.   Plus, all teams were eligible to participate in the playoffs, with all games completed before Thanksgiving, given the fear of a virus rebound as winter approaches.  As a result, Massillon had to remake the entire schedule within a period of two week.  In the end, they lost potential openings games against first Nevada Bishop Gorman and then Pickerington North.  With leagues opting to schedule exclusively within their own ranks, independent teams like Massillon were left with scheduling each other, except for the game against Canton McKinley.  As a result the Tigers faced both Lakewood St. Edward and Cleveland St. Ignatius. All off-season team workouts were canceled.  Pre-season scrimmages were canceled.  Fan attendance was limited to families of team and band members only.  Live internet broadcasts were made available for the general public.  Bands were not permitted to travel to away games.  Most Booster Club events, such as the Duncan Plaza Kickoff and McKinley game festivities, were canceled or held on Zoom Meeting.  (2) Playoffs: Massillon advanced to the Division 2 state finals for the third year in a row, losing to Akron Hoban 35-6.  The Tigers captured their fourth consecutive playoff regional title (14th overall) with a 43-13 victory over Massillon Perry.   In the state semifinals, the Tigers revenged the previous year’s state finals loss with a 17-14 victory over Cincinnati LaSalle.  (3) Milestone games: Massillon defeated Canton McKinley 35-7, marking the fifth victory in a row in the series and nine of the last ten.  The Tigers won their 900^th all-time game (3^rd in the country) with a 35-0 win over Columbus Bishop Sycamore.  Massillon won its 500^th game at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium by defeating North Canton Hoover, 48-23. (4) Streaks: The 21-game regular season winning streak (5^th all-time) was stopped by Lakewood St. Edward, 24-23; the Tigers winning streak (regular season and playoff games) against public schools to extended to 31 games.  Massillon won ten games in a row, with bookend losses to St. Edward and Hoban.  (5) Records: Sophomore Willtrell Hartson rushed 324 yards against Westerville South in the playoffs, eclipsing the mark set by Travis McGuire (302 yards) against Canton McKinley in 1991; quarterback Zach Catrone completed all ten pass attempts against Massillon Perry, a feat never before accomplished (min. 10 passes attempted); he also set a single-game mark for quarterback efficiency with a rating 396, pushing past Aidan Longwell’s 322, which was set in 2017; wide receiver Jayden Ballard set a new record for career pass reception yards (2363) and touchdowns (37);  kicker Alex Bauer established career marks for total attempts (213) and total conversions (205); he also tied the record for field goal percentage (77.8); punter Magnus Haines set new career records for punt attempts (119) and punt yards (4,405); Caiden Woullard tied the record for career quarterback sacks (8.5).  (6) Miscellaneous: Ballard was invited to participate in the Under Armour All-American All-Star game; unfortunately, the game was canceled due to the Covid-19 Pandemic.  The guest speaker at the annual Spring kickoff was Ryan Day, head coach of The Ohio State Buckeyes.

Related Stories

• 2020 Massillon Schedule Nearly Complete
• Tigers’ Win Streak On the Line in 2020
• Challenging Openers Nothing New for Nate Moore’s Tigers
• Highlights from the 2020 Spring Kickoff
• OHSAA Releases Updated Playoff Assignments for 2020
• Sign Crew Gearing Up for a New Season
• Tigers Take the Week Off in Hopes of Having a Fall Season
• OHSAA Releases Definitive Plan to Play Football
• The Addition of Pickerington North Completes the Tiger Schedule
• High School Football Teams Scrambling to Remake Fall Schedules
• Massillon to Open Abbreviated Season with Lakewood St. Edward
• Football is a “Go,” but with Restrictions
• Tigers Dominate All-County Team
• Jaiden Wise Receives Top Honor on All-District Team
• All-Ohio Team Dotted with Tigers
• 2020 Season Wrap-up
• 2021 Signing Day Event Held at WHS
• Magnus Haines Signs with Kent State

The Cincinnati LaSalle game was played at Marysville Impact Stadium

Note: The attendance limit for each game was controlled and reduced by the Ohio Department of Health due to the risk of spreading the Covid-19 virus.