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2020: Massillon 56, Columbus Walnut Ridge 0

No rust as Massillon has no problem with Walnut Ridge

GAME STATS

Oct. 16, 2020 9:55 PM

Booster Club Report – Week 8

The state playoffs began last week, but for the Tigers it was a first-ever bye week.  It was a time to get over the funk traditionally experienced following the McKinley game.  Also, a chance to heal the bumps and bruises from that 35-7 victory and refocus on this week’s opponent, Columbus Walnut Ridge.

Two years ago Massillon faced the Scots in the first round of the playoffs and came away with a 45-14 victory.  But it was a game in which it took awhile to adjust to some unusual offensive and defensive formations.  In fact, the Tigers led just 17-14 until late in the third quarter.  Eventually, a 21-0 fourth quarter put the game away.  Walnut Ridge loaded the box on defense and effectively shut down the Massillon ground game.  So it was up to quarterback Aidan Longwell and his talented receiving corps to respond.  And he did just that with a big night, completing 22 of 33 passes for 216 yards and a touchdown.  Jaydan Ballard had eight catches and Kyshad Mack grabbed six.  The Scots were held to just 27 yards on the ground, but had success passing, finishing with 229 yards.

In other contests:

• 7th Grade (3-3): Was idle.  Plays the Western Crusaders on Wednesday away at 5:30 pm.
• 8th Grade (6-0): Defeated Mentor, 40-6.  Plays Canton on Wednesday away at 5:00 pm.
• 9th Grade (5-1): Defeated lost to Kirtland JV, 10-7.  Plays Louisville on Thursday at home at 6:00 pm.
• JV (4-3): Defeated Lakewood St. Edward, 28-18.  Plays Wooster on Saturday at home at 10:30 am.

The guest co-captains were quarterback Zach Catrone and linebacker Xavier Andrews.  “The team is really looking forward to this week,” said Andrews.  “We’re ready to make a good run in the playoffs.”  Catrone talked at length about the opportunity during the bye week to heal the bruises and get refreshed in preparation for the dive into the playoffs.

Head Coach Nate Moore was unable to attend the Booster Club meeting, so in his place were several assistant coaches.

Strength and Conditioning Coach Dan Studer was first up and focused on his two assignments: (1) preparing the Tigers physically for battle and (2) keeping the players off the field during the game.  He jokingly referred to the latter responsibility as the “get back coach.”  Studer talked about the difficulties encountered during the off-season on account of the Covid pandemic.  “It’s been rough,” he said.  “We took that long break from March to June.”  It did help that the Booster Club purchased conditioning-related software that the coaches could use to define workouts and the players would use to report on progress.  Not all players had access to weights and they did what they could, but without physical coaching access to the players it was just not the same.  “Coming back, I didn’t think we were really at full capacity until two weeks ago, both physically and mentally,” he said.  “The tougher schedule was a benefit.”  But the coaches are just now figuring out who are the top  performers.  “We’re in a pretty good spot now,” he added.  “The bye week was the best thing that happened from a strength and conditioning standpoint.  It let us rest up and get refocused.”

Defensive Coordinator Craig McConnell addressed the Walnut Ridge offense.  This is a 100% senior-laden group and some of the players participated in the game played two years ago.   The Tigers will need to contain running back Javarus Leach, a 5′-10″, 208 lb., 3-year letterman (he also lays inside linebacker).  McConnell said that he is a pretty good player, thick and runs hard.  Aside from running back, he will also line up at other skill positions in order to take advantage of his talent.   In essence, they tend to want him to touch the ball on nearly every play.  As a sophomore in the 2018 game, he carried the ball 17 times for 50 yards.  The quarterback Howard Thornton.  His favorite target is William Felts (5′-11″, 165 lbs.).  The best linemen is 6′-6″, 267 lb. Jamarius Dinkins, a 3-year starter.  He is very physical and comes off the ball well.  He has offers at the next level from Michigan State and Kentucky.

Addressing the other side of the ball was Offensive Coordinator Jarrett Troxler.  Trox said the Scots play defense like an old-school 50-defense.  All three interior linemen go both ways, with Dinkins and 6′-4″, 240 lb. Ras Anderson considered the better players.  The defensive backs are athletic and utilize a lot of man coverage.  “The defense loaded the box two years ago and the run game took some adjustments to get going,” said Troxler.  So the coaches will need to game-plan for many potential alignments.

Cornerbacks and special teams coach Jason Jarvis addressed the special teams.

Note: There will be no public sale of tickets for all playoff games.

Go Tigers!

Booster Club Report – Week 7

“It was a tremendous win by the Tigers.  These guys have no idea what it means to lose to McKinley.”  With those words, Head Coach Nate Moore opened the weekly Booster Club meeting in reference to Massillon’s 35-7 shellacking of Canton McKinley.  The Tigers have won the last five over the Bulldogs and nine of the last ten in what has recently become a one-sided affair.  For the numbers, it was Game No. 131 and the locals command a 20-game lead in the series, at 73-53-5.

In other contests:

• 7th Grade (3-3): Lost to Austintown, 22-6.  The Mentor game scheduled for this week has been canceled.
• 8th Grade (6-0): Defeated Austintown, 36-0.  Plays Mentor on Wednesday at home at 5:00 pm.
• 9th Grade (5-1): Defeated Canton McKinley, 45-0.  Plays Kirtland on Friday away at 6:00 pm.
• JV (4-3): Was idle.  Plays Lakewood St. Edward on Saturday at home at 10:30 am.

The Massillon Booster Club members in attendance were ecstatic about the large margin of victory over McKinley.  But at the same time were puzzled at the apparent lack of consistent effort put forth by the Bulldog players.  Aside from an 87-yard touchdown drive early in the third period and quarterback Elijah Wesley’s 77-yard gallop on the first play of the game, McKinley’s other drives accounted for a net 20 yards and the longest drive was just 35-yards, which came on their last possession.  The Tiger defense completely controlled the line of scrimmage and held the Bulldogs’ vaunted passing game to a mere 16 yards (4 of 9) as Wesley was constantly hounded by rushing defenders.  Was it the lack of pre-game festivities or was it simply that they knew coming into it they were overmatched?  Only the Pups can figure that out.  But most people in Massillon hope they can.  For it takes two great teams to make this rivalry what it has always been.

Meanwhile, the Tiger offensive line put on a virtual clinic, propelling the team to 285 yards rushing and five touchdowns.  With several running backs unable to go on account of injury, Coach Moore inserted little used sophomore Wittrell Hartson, who responded with 188 yards on 22 carries, including a pair of touchdown runs.  Twice he broke long gainers to energize touchdown drives, with sprints through the middle of the line of 37 and 61 yards.  Moore also inserted senior Nick Leibler, who had never run the ball past the freshmen level.  Leibler was masterful, with 11 carries for 69 yards and a touchdown.  Although running back was Nick’s second position during the pre-season, he had not practiced in that area until just this past week.  “Nick came in and answered the bell,” said Moore.

The guest co-captains were senior quarterback Zach Catrone and senior wide receiver/cornerback Andrew Wilson-Lamp.  “We kicked their butts.” beamed Catrone.  “Offensively, the run game was working.  Hartson and the offensive line did a great job.  The whole line beat the snot out of McKinley.”

“As a defense, our job was to shut them down,” said Lamp.  “And I think we did that pretty well.  I’m super proud of our guys and we proved we’re one of the best defenses out there.”  It was Lamp who ran Wesley down inside the ten and shoved him out of bounds on that first play of the game.  “It gave us a shot to get on the field and defend the goal line,” said Moore.  On the subsequent play, the McKinley running back was stripped of the ball by C.J. Harris, who also recovered it.  That spearheaded a 9-play 95-yard touchdown, which gave the Tigers a lead they never relinquished.

“It was a good day to play our best game,” Moore added.  The Tigers won the battle of special teams, as evidenced by each team’s average starting field position: Massillon at their own 37 and McKinley at their own 21.  Most of the credit belongs to punter Magnus Haines, who averaged 42.0 yards per kick on his three attempts and 52.0 yards per kickoff.  He even ran down a punt snap that went over his head and boomed a 36-yarder rugby-style, just avoiding the block.  Alex Bauer connected on all five PAT attempts and continues to extend his career records in that area.  Even Martavien Johnson returned a punt for a touchdown, only to have it be called back due to a holding penalty.

As noted above, the defense was smothering on all but one play.  “We did a great job all game with our alignments against their unbalanced line,” said Moore.  “The whole defensive effort was a highlight reel.”  Several times the Bulldogs tried to block 6′-4″, 235 lb. Caiden Woullard with their 5′-8″, 180 lb. running back.  It was like sending a lightweight against a heavyweight in a boxing prize fight.  Woullard would simply throw the blocker aside and run down the quarterback.  Then there was junior Austin Brawley, who played downhill from his safety position to break up many attempts to run the ball.  He finished with eight solo tackles and one assist.  Isaiah Clark, the other safety, was in on four solo tackles five assists.  But at the end it was a total team effort as many player shared in the action, including Johnson who had two tackles-for-loss.

Moore noted that McKinley’s defense greatly feared Massillon’s tag screens and shaded their outside linebackers in that direction to provide extra support.  All that did was open up the run.  “So we just kept running up the middle,” said the coach.  “And McKinley never adjusted.”  As a result, the Tigers threw the ball just eight times.  But Catrone was right on target to Wilson-Lamp on a 32-yard pass that set up Massillon’s fourth touchdown.

The Tigers will now take a week off after receiving a first-round bye in the playoffs.  On October 16 they will host the winner of this week’s game between Columbus Walnut Ridge and Columbus Independence.

Playoff notes: All tickets will be sold online, with codes provided to parents of players and bandsmen.  Open purchase of any remaining tickets will commence on Friday at noon.  The OHSAA will control all TV / Internet broadcasts through Spectrum.  In the event Spectrum does not cover a particular game, the participating schools will be permitted to provide video coverage.  As of this moment, the stadium attendance limitations imposed by the Ohio Department of Health have not changed (1,500 or 15% of stadium capacity, whichever is lower, plus any variances allotted by the ODH; Massillon’s limit is 1,776).

Go Tigers!

Massillon Seeded Second in Regional Playoff Bracket

In this unusual year of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Ohio High School Athletic Association has modified the football playoffs such that all teams choosing to participate automatically qualify.  Individual game pairings are then based on a ranking as voted on by the coaches of each region.  For this year, Massillon is in Division 2, Region 7, along with 24 other teams.

Seeds and pairings have recently been announced by the OHSAA and the Top 4 seeds in order are Perry (5-0), Massillon (4-1), Westerville South (5-0) and Olentangy Lewis Center (4-1).  Massillon received 11 first place votes, Perry 8 and Westerville South 5.  Green received one first place vote, from Perry.  Tiger Coach Nate Moore voted his Top 4 as Perry, Massillon, Westerville South and Dublin Scioto.  Perry Coach Keith Wakefield had it Green, Perry, Wooster and Olentangy.  He voted Massillon 9th.  The coach from Westerville South had it Massillon, Westerville South, Perry and Olentangy.

Due to an odd number of teams in the region, the top seven seeds have byes in the first round and therefore will not play initially when the tournament begins.  In Round 2 the Tigers will host the winner of the match between Columbus Walnut Ridge (1-1) and Columbus Independence (1-1).  Waiting in the wings are Lake or North Canton as a possible Round 3 game and Westerville South or Wooster as a possible Round 4 game.  A Massillon vs. Perry contest would have to wait until Round 5.  For each game through at least the regional semifinals, the higher seeded team will host the event.  Therefore, the Tigers could have three home games for sure and possibly a fourth, depending on who survives up to that point.

Booster Club Report – Week 6

Throughout 125 years of playing football against 202 different opponents, only eight teams hold an edge over Massillon when there is more than a single game in a given series.  Cleveland St. Ignatius is among that group and coming into last week’s game holds the largest margin, winning 12 against a single loss.  Last Friday, the Tigers took a chip out of that mark by defeating the Wildcats 21-14 in a tremendous defensive affair.

In other contests:

• 7th Grade (3-2): Lost to Euclid 38-18.  Plays Austintown Fitch on Tuesday at home at 6:00 pm.
• 8th Grade (5-0): Defeated Akron Jennings, 30-0.  Plays Austintown Fitch on Wednesday away at 6:00 pm.
• 9th Grade (4-1): Defeated Cleveland St. Ignatius, 21-17.  Plays Canton McKinley on Thursday away at 6:00 pm.
• JV (4-3): Lost to Cleveland St. Ignatius, 40-14.  No future games are scheduled at this time.

“It was a big win last week against a great opponent,” said head coach Nate Moore.  “The kids played really, really hard.  That was the deciding factor.  The defense was incredible.  And the offense and special teams played good enough to win.”

The offense managed a pair of Alex Bauer field goals to take an early 6-0 lead, but Ignatius came back later to take a 7-6 lead into the half.  Disaster struck late in the third when the Wildcats returned an intercepted pass 70 yards for a TD to go up 14-6.  But midway through the fourth, the Tigers were finally able to complete a drive when Raekwon Venson scored from the one to cap a 14-play,  73-yard driver.  Trailing now by just two, Moore decided to go for the tie.  It was a spectacular play in which Martavien Johnson took a handoff from Zach Catrone on a jet sweep to the left.  Johnson then pitched it back to Jaydan Ballard who was coming around from his left end position.  That set up a perfectly thrown pass, over the head of the defender, to Catrone, who had vacated the backfield and raced to the right side of the end zone.

One play later, following the kickoff, Ignatius fumbled an apparent backward pass that was recovered by Jaiden Wise at the 15.  On the next play, Venson bulled his way through the line and into the endzone to steal the win.  Venson would finish the game with with 29 carries for 96 yards and two touchdowns.  Catrone was just 10 of 23, but most of that was due to a very good Wildcat secondary, which double-covered every pass attempt, except the tag screen.

But it was the defense that carried the day for the most part, limiting its fifth straight opponent to under 100 yards rushing.  For the season the defense is giving up just 45 yards per game on the ground, which is surpassed by only the 1940 and 1943 teams.   And aside from the touchdown drive, the Wildcat’s longest possession was a mere 23 yards.  Isaiah Clark and Caiden Woullard led in tackles with 4.5 tackle points.  Austin Brawley and Wise each had an interception.  And six different players participated in tackles-for-loss.

“Our defensive coaches do a phenomenal job,” beamed Moore.  “We have really talented players.  And we’re really good at safety. We have exactly the kind of pieces we can throw out there.  Some really tough high school players.  There’re not a lot of holes.  We’re good everywhere.  And the kids play hard.”

In the records-watch department, kicker Alex Bauer recently broke the career mark for both PAT kicks attempted and PAT kicks made.  Magnus Haines has broken the career record for total punting yards.  Jayden Ballard needs 146 yards to break the all-time record for career receiving yards.  He also needs 29 receptions to break that career mark.  Caiden Woullard needs seven tackles-for-loss to tie that career record.

The guest players this week were co-captains Terrence Rankl and Andrew Wilson-Lamp.  “We had a good first day of practice,” said Rankl, as he discussed the upcoming game against Canton McKinley.  “Defensively, we just came back from a hard fought win over Ignatius,” added Lamp.  “We’re licking our chops to face McKinley.”

With a victory over St. Ignatius and a loss by Ft. Thomas Highland, KY, Massillon has taken over third place in the national total win column with 903, three short of Louisville Male, KY.  They now set their sights on improving on the 72-53-5 advantage they hold over the Bulldogs.  The Tigers have won eight of the last nine and came away victorious last year at Benson Field, 24-14.  This time around the game comes early, Week 6, on account of the abbreviated schedule associated with the Covid-19 pandemic.  The last time Massillon and McKinley played that early in the season was in 1963, the year following the Bulldogs’ death penalty the previous year on account of illegal recruiting.  Two games were played in 1963, with the Tigers winning both.

McKinley enters the fray with a record of 4-1, including wins over Jackson (30-0), North Canton (40-25), Lake (26-17) and GlenOak (26-0).  Two weeks ago they dropped a contest to Perry (23-35).

Offensively, McKinley uses some spread and some tight end.  The best player is quarterback Elijah Wesley, a 6′-3″ senior and returning starter.  Moore says that Wesley is a very explosive player with really good vision.  He can run and he can pass, especially when throwing the deep ball.  But he’s at his best as a runner.  Also in the backfield is running back Brandon Foster, a 5′-9″, 180 lb. senior.  Not big, but he has good speed and quickness.  Wesley will have three excellent receivers to throw to and this should present a challenge for the Tiger secondary.  All are over six foot and have good speed.  The best in this group is Xavier Black, a 6′-3″ 180 lb. senior.  The offensive line features two key players in left tackle Khalil Walker (6′-5″, 295) and Stefan Monoham (6′-8″, 295).  Both are juniors.

On defense, expect a 4-3 alignment.  The line has been overshadowed by the play of the linebackers and defensive back, but they do have a good player in Q’mar O’Quinn, a 6′-3″, 260 lb. senior.  Moore calls the linebackers really, really good.  All-state type players.  Leading the group is Mani Powell, a 6′-2″, 225 lb. junior, who Moore calls “a tackle machine, very physical.”  In fact, Moore states that he may be the best player on the team.  Both safeties are returning starters and very good at what they do.  The corners are adequate.  Brian Pinkney leads this group.

There has been some talk of McKinley working through some injuries, since several starters sat out of last week’s game against Canton GlenOak.  In fact, Bulldog Coach Marcus Wattley said many are “questionable” for this Saturday’s 2:00 pm game.  Nevertheless, Coach Moore says that this team will prepare for their best players being on the field and he will see who shows up.

Note: WHS-TV will be only live broadcast for this week’s game.  It can be reached via Boxcast, Massillon Cable TV and this website.

Go Tigers!!!

Booster Club Report – Week 5

Massillon ran its record to 3-1 in this shortened season with 28-10 victory over Cleveland Benedictine (2-2).  Next up is a home game against Cleveland St. Ignatius.  “It definitely feels like Week 5,” said the coach.  “Not the second last game.”  In other contests:

• 7th Grade (3-1): Defeated Oakwood, 36-34.  Plays Euclid on Tuesday at home at 5:00 pm.
• 8th Grade (4-0): Defeated Green, 36-13.  Plays Jennings on Wednesday at home at 6:00 pm.
• 9th Grade (3-1): Defeated Cleveland Benedictine, 27-26.  Plays Cleveland St. Ignatius on Thursday at home at 6:00 pm.
• JV (4-2): JV-A defeated defeated Cleveland Benedictine, 28-0.  JV-B defeated Woodridge, 47-17.  Plays Cleveland St. Ignatius on Saturday away at 10:00 am.

“It was a really good win against a really good team,” said Head Coach Nate Moore at the weekly Booster Club meeting when discussing last week’s victory.  “We cleaned up a lot of mistakes.  Really played well.  Overall, we’re really happy with our kids.  They played tough and physical.”

When the coaches of the opposing schools originally discussed playing each other this year Moore requested a 4-game contract.  But Benedictine, aware that this was supposed to be their best team in quite a long time, opted for just this year.  Based on the emotions that prevailed throughout the game and even after, it’s probably better left that way.

Offensively, running back Raekwon Venson had his second 100-yard night of the season, rushing 23 times for 108 yards and scoring three touchdowns.  In a surprise performance, backup Jumacius Portus carried the ball the last six times that night, gaining 45 yards and scoring the final TD.  Fans may see more of him as the season goes on.

Once again, the defense gave a stellar performance, holding the Bennies to a mere 77 rushing yards.  For season the defense has surrendered an average of 35.8 rushing yards per game, which is surpassed historically only by the 1943 team, which gave up 29.  Coach Moore singled out the play of Jaiden Wise, who “had a fantastic game,” recording eight solo tackles and six assists, including four tackles for loss.  “He’s been playing well all year,” said Moore.  Mike Miller (4-4), Isaiah Clark (1-8), Andrew Wilson-Lamp (3-4) and Michael Billman (1-4) also received praise.  Billman, who is just a shade over 200 lbs., is a force on the defensive line.  Moore did not expect much owing to his size, but after the preseason injury to CJ Harris, he got his chance and was a welcome surprise to the coaching staff.  He is extremely quick off the snap and plays havoc in the opponent’s backfield.

The Tigers also kept Benedictine’s vaunted passing game in check, except for the one long touchdown reception.  Martavien Johnson intercepted two, which he returned for 47 yards.  But the big one was by Clark in the third quarter when the Bennies had a 3rd and goal situation with the Tigers leading just 7-3.  The Benedictine quarterback threw a short pass to the slot receiver and Clark immediately read the play and broke on the ball.  Stealing it away, he raced 52 yards down the left sidelines.  Three plays later the score was 14-3.

On special teams, Johnson and Eric Thurman combined for three kickoff returns that netted 84 yards to put the Tigers in good field position.  Their efforts were aided by some good open field blocking and the players were about “a half second away from really popping it,” according to Moore.  Johnson also had two punt returns for 32 yards.  Magnus Haines continues to impress with his punting.  He booted four for an average of 43.2 yards, with a long one of 48.  Alex Bauer was 4 of 4 on PATs, the last of which set a new Massillon career record for successful PAT kicks.

Incidentally, the fumble by Benedictine that Massillon returned for a touchdown only to have called back was indeed a fumble.  During the play, the QB rolled left left but was inadvertently tripped by the tight end, who was going in the opposite direction.  As a result of the contact, the QB lost control of the ball.  It was clearly not a forward pass.

The guest players for this week were Terrence Rankl and Xavier Andrews.  “We are really looking forward to this game (St. Ignatius) and will play our hearts out,” said Andrews.

This Friday Massillon and Cleveland St. Ignatius will renew their rivalry.  The Wildcats are one of the very few teams to hold a win-loss edge over the Tigers and currently lead the series 12 to 1.  They met last in 2009, a game that was won 26-21 by the Wildcats.

St. Ignatius started their season late this year on account of a virus infection in the school.  Thus far, they have defeated Columbus Bishop Sycamore 33-6 and lost to Lakewood St. Edward 17-0.

Offensively, Ignatius lines up in their traditional spread, utilizing three and sometimes four wide receivers.  First year junior quarterback Jaxon French (6′-2, 200) is the key to the attack.  Against Lakewood St. Edward, he threw hitches to the slot receivers, come-backs to the wideouts, some crossing routes and a few passes over the top.  Moore says that he is pretty talented and athletic, although not necessarily a running threat.  But he can scramble.  And he also has good accuracy.  So it will be important for the Tigers to make sure tackles following receptions.  The best linemen is 6′-5″, 260 lb. Gus Salopek.  He is a good, physical player.  Senior running back Mike Simcak is a good “high school” player.  The wide receivers all run good routes.  Moore singled out Alek Laspina and Jack Dunstan as the go-to players.

Defensively, the Wildcats line up in a 3-3 odd-stack with some even fronts.  The front-7  is the strength of the unit.  It is led by 6′-3″, 230 lb. senior defensive end Bennett Adler and 6′-4″, 225 lb. senior linebacker Aidan Hubbard (3rd year as a starter).  Hubbard currently holds an offer from Northwestern.  The safeties alternate between one and two high, while the corners normally play off the receivers.  The entire group plays “smart and disciplined.”

Moore said not to expect any kickoff returns this week.  Ignatius also has the ability to manage a 50-yard+ field goal.

Here’s hoping Massillon can pick up win No. 2 against St. Ignatius.  Go Tigers!