The Massillon Tiger Moms are hosting a Vendor Bingo NIght to help raise funds in support of the Massillon Tiger football team. The event will be held at BW3 (235 Lincoln Way W., Massillon 44647) on Monday August 5, 2019, starting at 7:00 pm. ADULTS ONLY!!! The cost is $10 per player and is good for ten games and a chance to win some great prizes donated by the vendors that support the Massillon Program. Additional cards can be purchased at the door. Also, a dinner for purchase is also available starting at 6:00 pm.
On paper, Massillon is expected to field another outstanding football team, with a 3-year starter returning at quarterback, two wide receivers expected to eventually land at major D1 colleges, a huge offensive line and a pair of running backs that will keep the pressure off the QB. The defense also returns solid players at many key positions, while the kicking game has no apparent weaknesses. Plus, the Tigers had the opportunity last year to play five additional games as they advanced through the Division 2 playoffs to the state finals.
But once again Massillon will need to navigate a formidable schedule in order to secure a playoff spot for a fourth consecutive year. Included in this year’s slate are ten teams that last year posted a combined record of 69-31, with six qualifying for post-season play. In addition, two of the opponents are outstanding squads from the same league in Pennsylvania. And these are not “Sun Valley” teams, folks. Finally, four of the games are on the road and each of these could cause Massillon to stumble. It should be a great season ahead.
Here is a quick rundown of the Tigers and of each opponent:
Massillon
5-year regular season record: 36-14
5-year playoff appearances / record: 4 / 7-4
Playoff division: 2
Notes: The Tigers advanced to the Division 2 state finals in 2018, losing to Akron Hoban.
Akron St. Vincent
Game location: Home
Series record: 21-6
Last year’s score: 35-7
5-year regular season record: 37-13
5-year playoff appearances / record: 4 / 9-4
Playoff division: 3
Notes: The Irish lost in the Division 3 state semifinals in 2017 and this will once again be an entertaining opener for both teams.
Canton GlenOak
Game location: Home
Series record: 11-4
Last year’s score: 49-0
5-year regular season record: 24-26
5-year playoff appearances / record: 2 / 0-2
Playoff division: 1
Notes: New coach Beau Balderson hopes to return the Golden Eagles to competitive status. But GlenOak’s first four games may be insurmountable with opponents including John Adams of South Bend, Indiana, Massillon, Austintown Fitch and North Canton Hoover.
Warren Harding – A
Game location: Away
Series record: 54-25-3
Last year’s score: 51-21
5-year regular season record: 31-18
5-year playoff appearances / record: 3 / 3-3
Playoff division: 2
Notes: Harding is 2-4 against the Tigers in the latest series. A Week 1 game against Canton McKinley will provide an idea of this year’s potential.
Harrison City Penn-Trafford, PA
Game location: Home
Series record: 0-0
Last year’s score: n/a
5-year regular season record: 46-4
5-year playoff appearances / record: 5 / 6-5
Playoff division: AAAA (similar to Ohio D2)
Notes: The Warriors have lost only four regular season games in the last five years, but have struggled in the playoffs. They face Tiger opponent Gateway in Week 1. Last year Penn-Trafford lost to Gateway, 27-7.
Akron Firestone
Game location: Home
Series record: 8-0
Last year’s score: 42-0
5-year regular season record: 15-35
5-year playoff appearances / record: 0 / 0-0
Playoff division: 2
Notes: A welcome breather for Massillon.
Austintown Fitch
Game location: Away
Series record: 17-8
Last year’s score: 42-14
5-year regular season record: 34-16
5-year playoff appearances / record: 3 / 1-3
Playoff division: 2
Notes: The Falcons have won two of last three meetings at home. In addition, the score was tied in the 2017 game at 28-all with 4:30 remaining. But the Tigers scored the final ten points to secure the victory. This will be a formidable test and a potential trap game.
Monroeville Gateway, PA
Game location: Home
Series record: 0-0
Last year’s score: n/a
5-year regular season record: 34-16
5-year playoff appearances / record: 3 / 8-3
Playoff division: AAAA (similar to Ohio D2)
Notes: The Gators have found much success over the past two years, with a regular season record of 19-1 and a playoff record of 7-2. Gateway was ranked 16th among all Pennsylvania teams last year by CalPreps.com (5th in AAAA). Expect another strong test for the Tigers.
Barberton – A
Game location: Away
Series record: 37-7-1
Last year’s score: n/a
5-year regular season record: 39-11
5-year playoff appearances / record: 3 / 2-3
Playoff division: 2
Notes: The Magics return to the schedule after an absence of 24 years. But the Tigers will face a much better team this time around, in spite of Barberton losing stellar running back Kyrie Young, who transferred in from Akron St. Vincent, but has since moved on to Akron Buchtel. That’s because Barberton returns a wealth of skill talent on the heels of three straight playoff appearances. They also compiled a regular season mark of 28-2 during that time, including a current 25-game regular season winning streak. More importantly for Barberton is that the game against the Tigers is at home.
Louisville
Game location: Home
Series record: 1-0
Last year’s score: 41-0
5-year regular season record: 36-14
5-year playoff appearances / record: 2 / 1-2
Playoff division: 3
Notes: The Leopards have struggled with a much tougher schedule since being booted from the Northeastern Buckeye Conference, boasting a record of just 18-12. Last year they were thrashed early by Massillon at home, but hope to keep it closer this time around. Only, the game will be held at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium, which will be a tall challenge in itself.
Canton McKinley
Game location: Away
Series record: 71-53-5
Last year’s score: 24-17
5-year regular season record: 32-18
5-year playoff appearances / record: 3 / 1-3
Playoff division: 1
Notes: The Bulldogs are considered a regular qualifier for the D1 playoffs, but still struggle to beat the Tigers, having dropped the last three contests and seven of the last eight. But they are once against expected to give Massillon their best game of the season.
“Dutch Hill Signs with New York.” “Dutch Hill leads the Giants to the Pro Football Championship.” “Dutch Hill Inducted Into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.” Oh, if only these headlines were true. But they might have been, save for an accidental gunshot that brought Hill’s life to an early end. For he was truly that good of a football player.
Dutch Hill
Edwin “Dutch” Hill was born in February 1904 and was a Pennsylvania resident for most of his high school career. Finding immediate success at Burgettstown HS, Hill made varsity for the Blue Devils in the 7th grade and played his first two years as a 140 lb. tackle. By the 9th grade he had moved to fullback, a position he would play for the rest of his career. In addition to being football team captain, he also excelled in basketball, where he was named to the Tri-Star All-Star Team, and baseball, in which he was a starting pitcher, batting .517. The Tri-State Sports Writers called him “one of the greatest scholastic players in the United States.” In fact, Hill was such a prolific athlete that the town honored him in 1945 by naming the football stadium after him.
Unfortunately, while still having a year of high school remaining, Hill had aged out in Pennsylvania. But he found that he could play one more year, albeit in Ohio, based on the higher age limit in their scholastic sports regulations at the time. So in 1922 he convinced his family to relocate and he enrolled in Massillon, where he played football, basketball and track.
Playing for the Tigers, his prowess on the gridiron had an immediate impact. In the course of ten games, Dutch Hill scored 33 rushing touchdowns and returned a fumble for another to total 204 points, a Massillon single-season scoring record that stands today. The 204 points was also perhaps the highest total in the country that year.
Hill scored at least one touchdown in every game, including four against both Alliance and Warren, and eight against Akron North in a 94-0 victory in which he set a single-game scoring record of 48 points. Regarding his performance against North, one sports reporter wrote, “The big fullback gained from five to 10 yards with six or eight Akron players hanging onto him, trying desperately to down him. Other times he bowled the entire Akron team over like a ball knocks over pins on a bowling alley and then would dash away for a touchdown leaving a trail of fallen Akron warriors in his wake.” Dutch also scored three of the four touchdowns in a 24-0 victory over Canton McKinley.
Against Cleveland Shaw, a 7-6 Tiger win, he left the game ill in the first half, jeopardizing a potential undefeated season. But he returned late in the second half to complete two passes and then run six straight times, scoring a touchdown with 27 seconds left on 4th and goal from the one. Bill Edwards’ drop-kick extra point secured the win.
“He was a big star,” said Bud Houghton, former Massillon player and head coach. “He was just a big burly guy. Kind of had a swaggering walk. He normally plowed over everybody.” “He was a powerhouse,” said classmate Tom McConnaughy. “He would take the ball and plow through the other team, knocking them right and left.”
The 6’-0”, 190 lb. fullback, passer and punter played under legendary coach Dave Stewart and helped fashion a 10-0 season and a state championship. Post-season he was named All-State, and later named as Massillon’s All-Time First Team Fullback. His high school football career over, Hill left behind the following Tiger records:
Most touchdowns rushing in a game (8)
Most points scored in a game (48)
Most touchdowns scored in a game (8)
Most touchdowns scored rushing in a season (33)
Most points scored in a season (204)
Most touchdowns scored in a season (34)
Dutch Hill
After taking a year off to travel west, Dutch Hill enrolled in Bellefonte Academy in 1924. There he led the nation in scoring with 456 points, including 113 against Susquehanna, and helped his team to its divisional national championship. He also played baseball.
Hill played next at Adrian College and subsequently arrived at New York University, from where he graduated. At NYU, his principle role was blocking back for All-American and future Pro Football HOF Ken Strong. When accepting the HOF award Strong credited team captain Hill for his success at NYU stating in his speech, “I would have been an ordinary back if it had not been for Hill.” But that didn’t mean Hill didn’t get to carry the ball. For in the game against Cushing Academy he scored 38 of the team’s 39 points.
His 1928 team won the Eastern Championship and he was named All-American. The New York Football Sport Writers called him the best defensive player and punter in the East. Later, in 1935, Hill was named NYU’s All-Time first-team fullback.
His collegiate time over, Hill was destined for the NFL, with the New York Giants showing interest. But in 1929, in a moment of horseplay with a campus security guard, the guard’s gun accidentally discharged, killing Dutch instantly. Such a tragic end to a fine individual and outstanding football player. Oh, what might have been? But Massillon was fortunate to have him for one memorable year and he won’t be forgotten.
High School football fans eager to see a state finals rematch between Massillon and Akron Hoban may have their wish fulfilled this year, only it would come a bit earlier than expected, assuming both teams advance far enough for that to occur. That’s because the OHSAA has moved the Tigers from Region 7 to Region 5 opposite the Hoban Knights, setting up a potential regional finals matchup of these two state powers. Massillon spent the last four seasons competing in a region comprised of mostly Columbus area teams and prior to that played against teams primarily from the Toledo region. But with the new alignment, the Tigers find themselves in a region matched up against teams from Cleveland. In fact,.this is the first time in over 40 years of playoff history, covering both Division 1 and Division 2, that this has occurred.
Here is a breakdown of each of the Division 2 regions:
Region 5 – The dominant powers are Akron Hoban, Division 2 state champions in each of the past two years and Division 3 state champs in the two years prior to that, and Massillon, the Region 7 winner in both 2017 and 2018 and state runner-up last year. Joining them are Austintown Fitch, a Division 1 qualifier last year, Warren Harding, a D2 qualifier last year, and local teams Perry, North Canton, Lake and newcomer Alliance. Other teams to watch are 2018 playoff qualifiers Mayfield, Boardman, Nordonia and Painesville Riverside, plus Hudson and Bedford. Top-to-bottom, this may be the toughest region in Division 2.
Region 6 – Both Barberton and Wadsworth return to the region after a cameo appearance last year in Region 7. They will compete against Avon, Avon Lake, Medina Highland and Grafton Midview, The strength of this region has been diminished somewhat with the loss of Toledo Central Catholic and Anthony Wayne, which are now in Region 7.
Region 7 – The teams in Columbus may have said goodbye to Massillon, but it won’t be any easier with the addition of every Toledo school, including Toledo Central Catholic. Central is a base Division 4 team that has again found itself in Division 2 on account of a massive competitive balance number. None of the other teams in this region jump off the page, so Central may have been given a free pass to the state semifinals.
Region 8 – No real change here. Expect the winner of a game between Cincinnati Winton Woods and LaSalle to decide the region, although Kings and newcomer Columbus DeSales could make some noise.
It seems strange what the OHSAA did with this realignment. With Region 5 loaded with nearly all of the best teams in Division 2, already football fans are looking at this region to decide the state title, with subsequent games considered less prestigious. Another factor concerns a potential earlier than wanted matchup between Massillon and Akron Hoban. Last year’s game drew over 16,000 fans and was by far the best attended game among the seven state finals. The OHSAA may be hard pressed to find a stadium large enough to accommodate such a crowd and make the money they did last year. For example, two years ago Hoban faced Barberton in the Region 5 finals and the game was sent to Green, which was highly inadequate to hold the crowd. And last year, the Massillon-Wadsworth game drew a capacity crowd of over 6,000 at Hoover Stadium. Massillon-Hoban would certainly draw more. Maybe the OHSAA needs to revisit holding many preliminary playoff games on a Friday and move all D1 games to Saturday in order to free up stadiums like Byers for a big matchup. We’ll see how this one plays out.
The Ohio High School Athletic Association has adjusted its divisional assignments for the 2019 football season following updated competitive balance numbers. However, regional assignments have yet to be made. Here are the changes based on last year’s regions:
Region 5 – Copley moves to Division 3
Region 6 – Perrysburg and Toledo Bowsher move to Division 1
Region7 – New Albany moves to Division 1; Ashland, Dover and Tri-Valley move to Division 3
Region 8 – Dayton Belmont moves to Division 3
Several teams have been relocated to Division 2 to fill the vacancies created by those that have left, including:
From Division 1 – Austintown Fitcn, Cleveland John Marshall and Cleveland Rhodes
From Division 3 – Parma Padua, Alliance, Akron North, Olentangy Berlin, Columbus DeSales, Piqua and West Carrollton
If the new D2 teams are placed geographically based on last year’s regions, then Region 5 would be heavy by a few teams and Region 6 would be short by a few teams. So it appears on the surface that Region 5 would need to surrender some teams to Region 6 in order to create balance. Or, given that none of the Region 5 teams would be considered candidates to move to Region 6, then the OHSAA could opt to move some Region 5 teams to Region 7 and some Region 7 teams to Region 6. The obvious additions to Region 7 would be Akron Ellet, Akron Firestone and Akron Kenmore-Garfield while the logical subtractions would be Barberton, Wadsworth and Medina Highland, all of whom were in Region 6 in 2017.
But regardless of who moves, Massillon, Cincinnati Winton Woods, Akron Hoban, Toledo Central and Cincinnati LaSalle will remain as the teams to beat in Division 2, It should be noted that Massillon and Winton Woods have the highest competitive advantage number for a public school in the division. Toledo Central and Akron Hoban have the highest numbers for a parochial school in D2 (4th and 5th, respectively, among all divisions).
Dale Walterhouse, former Tiger assistant coach and WHS teacher, passed away May 29. As a long-time member of the Massillon Tiger Football Booster Club, Dale was a friend of everyone. But most of all, he was always there to help when a project needed done.
He began his coaching career in Massillon in 1959 as the coach of Jones Junior High, moving onto sophomores the following year. By 1964 he was the sophomore head coach and a varsity assistant under the legendary Earle Bruce, then Bob Seaman, Bob Commings and Mike Currence. Overall, his coaching tenure spanned 24 seasons. His last coached in 1984, which was Currence’s final year at Massillon. John Moronto, Currence’s replacement elected not to renew Walterhouse’s contract. But Dale did not fret, for he said it freed up his time to watch son Kurt play football in college. By the end of his career, Walterhouse had been influential on six state championship teams, two of which were named national champions.
When not coaching, he taught health, physical education and general chemistry at the high school. He also served a short stint as Athletic Director.
Later, he was a Massillon City Councilman and Manager of the Elms Swim Club.
As a member of the Massillon Tiger Football Booster Club, Dale served as vice president in 2001, president in 2002 and treasurer from 2003 to 2011. He was also president of the Sideliners in 1999.
In 2016, Coach Walterhouse was featured on the game program cover for the Akron Firestone game (see photo).
As a reward for his stellar career, Dale was inducted into the Tiger Hall of Fame in 2015. He also received the One Tiger Heritage Award in 2018. According to Managing Director Bob Clendenin, this honor is given to individuals who contribute decades of time and effort toward bettering their community and helping kids.
Dale and wife Jo are the proud parents of children Kathy, Kurt and Steve, 11 grandchildren, 6 great-grandchildren.
The Massillon Tiger Football Booster Club would like congratulate Kameron Simpson, Cameron Sunkle, Luke Brahler and Justin Gaddis. These four were recipients of a scholarship from the Booster Club that comes from proceeds generated by the Obie license plates that were initiated by former School Board member Mary Strukel. To date we have been able to grant $18,000 in scholarships because of this program.
The scholarship is academic-based and all four of these young men have outstanding credentials. All had a 4.0 GPA or higher, all are in the Top 30 in their class, three were nominated for Outstanding Senior Boy and one is class valedictorian!
Thank you to the community for your support of the Obie license plate program! Your support allows us to help our student-athletes further their educations at the next level.
The OHSAA announced today (May 17) that all 24 referendums recently presented for vote by its member schools have passed. Included was a change to the Competitive Balance formula, which is currently used by the OHSAA to classify schools for the post-season playoffs in various sports. But don’t expect the change as it relates to football to result in moving large numbers of teams up or down a division.
Background
Competitive Balance was introduced by the OHSAA a few years ago in response to (1) public school allegations of recruiting being performed by several parochial schools and (2) perceived advantages in sports that parochial schools enjoy over their public school counterparts . As a compromise measure to avoid separating the playoffs, the OHSAA elected to introduce a formula that would adjust the base enrollment of a given school to account for both the number and types of transfer students that play a selected sport. The adjusted enrollments would then be used to determine in which division each school then competes in the post-season. Note that different formulas are used for public and parochial schools.
For public schools, the base enrollment would be adjusted upward by “1” for each student that open-enrolled in the school district prior to the 7th grade. This is defined as Tier 1. In addition, the enrollment would be adjusted upward by “2” for each student that open enrolled in the school district in the 7th grade or after. This is defined as Tier 2.
For parochial schools, Tier 1 is for students that attended a parochial grade school since the 7th grade, but not the one designated as the high school’s “feeder school.” Tier 2 is for students that did not attend a parochial grade school or enrolled in a parochial grade school after the 7th grade.
The Change
Previously, a school was required to submit the roster of players across all grades 9-12 for the effective sports season. The roster would then be used to calculated the Tier 1 and Tier 2 adders. Now, incoming freshmen are not to be included on the roster, unless they participated on the varsity team during the previous year as an 8th grader. Also, the adder for Tier 2 has been increased from “2” to “3.”
In spite of the increase in the value of the Tier 2 adder from “2” to “3”, don’t expect much change in the adjusted enrollment. For example: assume that a school currently has 20 open enrollment students across four grades. Previously, the total adder for Tier 2 would be 20 x 2 or 40. With freshmen now omitted, the proportioned number of open enrollment students would now be 15. Thus, the total adder for Tier 2 is 15 x 3 or 45. No changes would be made to the Tier 1 part of the formula, the total of which would actually decrease proportionally as noted above. As you can see, not much of a change.
So chalk this one up to an appeasement to the coaches, whose lives just got a little easier when it comes time to report rosters. But it still does nothing to fix the imbalances that exist in several of the divisions, especially Division 1.
News 
He began his coaching career in Massillon in 1959 as the coach of Jones Junior High, moving onto sophomores the following year. By 1964 he was the sophomore head coach and a varsity assistant under the legendary Earle Bruce, then Bob Seaman, Bob Commings and Mike Currence. Overall, his coaching tenure spanned 24 seasons. His last coached in 1984, which was Currence’s final year at Massillon. John Moronto, Currence’s replacement elected not to renew Walterhouse’s contract. But Dale did not fret, for he said it freed up his time to watch son Kurt play football in college. By the end of his career, Walterhouse had been influential on six state championship teams, two of which were named national champions.
