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Massillon vs. McK - Throwback (Large) History

2008: Massillon 17, Canton McKinley 0

Tigers unrelenting in The Game

By CHRIS EASTERLING
The Independent

MASSILLON, OH —

If a piece of meat is dangled in front of a hungry tiger, that tiger is sure to pounce on it. Likewise, the Massillon Tigers were hungry for a trip to the playoffs as they walked into Paul Brown Tiger Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Seeing the opportunity for just such a trip, the Tigers pounced on it, and in the process tore apart archrival McKinley as well.

With a nasty defense setting the tone, and J.T. Turner continuing his strong season-ending push, the Tigers rolled over the Bulldogs 17-0 in front of 16,935 fans at sun-splashed Paul Brown Tiger Stadium on Saturday.

It is Massillon’s first shutout of McKinley since a 7-0 win in 1982, and the first shutout in the series by either team since 1996. The Tigers have also won four straight against McKinley, matching the sixth-longest win streak by a team in the series.

“It’s just a ton of pressure taken off your chest,” Tiger outside linebacker Brian Arelt said.

That win, coupled with Lorain Admiral King’s win over Lorain Southview, pushed Massillon into the playoffs after a one-year absence. The Tigers – 6-4 on the season – will now prepare for a trip to North Canton next Saturday evening to meet Hoover in the first round of the Division I, Region 2 playoffs.

“Knowing that if we win, we’re in the playoffs, it put an extra chip on our shoulders for McKinley just to go out there and rock some heads,” Tiger junior tackle Jeff Myers said.

Myers and his offensive line mates certainly did just that, as they controlled the line of scrimmage and allowed J.T. Turner to rush for 208 yards on 28 carries. It was Turner’s only touchdown of the afternoon – a 26-yard run with 7:38 remaining – which salted the game away and sent most of the red-clad portion of the crowd toward the parking lot.

“It was special,” said Turner, who had a first-quarter touchdown run negated by penalty. “Every time I score a touchdown, they usually take it back. I saw that the first time, and then I got in there the second time, and I knew it was a rout from there.”

Of course, it wasn’t so much Turner’s running and it was his hitting which set the tone for Saturday’s game. On three of McKinley’s first four plays, Turner delivered the blow to the Bulldog ballcarrier, forcing a punting situation.

When McKinley tried to fake the punt, it was Turner there again, blowing up the play and forcing a five-yard loss. That gave Massillon the ball at the Bulldog 31, field position it turned into a 3-0 lead on a 33-yard Jeremy Geier field goal with 1:57 left in the first quarter.

“I just knew I had to lead this team to victory,” Turner said. “Everybody was on my shoulders, so I just led the team to victory. And we were able to come out with a 17-0 victory.”

The Tigers’ first scoring drive may have also set the tone for the kind of game it was offensively for Massillon, one which was mired with penalties and turnovers. An illegal procedure penalty on a second-and-1 play from the Bulldog 2 pushed the ball back five yards, and eventually led to the Tigers having to kick the field goal.

Massillon had another promising drive short-circuited by what amounted to a 22-yard illegal block penalty, one of five penalties for 70 yards in losses for the Tigers. That doesn’t account for the four turnovers as well, two of which came on fumbles immediately after the Tigers had regained possession from McKinley, once on an interception and another time on a punt.

Those self-inflicted wounds were a big reason why Massillon was only able to take a 10-0 lead into the locker room at halftime, a lead it gained when Bo Grunder caught a 26-yard touchdown pass from Robert Partridge with 6:48 left in the half.

“We were a little disappointed, because I thought we weren’t able to take advantage of all of our opportunities,” Tiger coach Jason Hall said. “We shot ourselves in the foot a couple of times. I think walking off the field at halftime, I thought we took control of the game.”

And the Tigers can thank their defense for that fact. With the front seven providing the pressure, McKinley was unable to consistently get anything going on offense, a fact reflected by the 97 total yards it mustered in the game.

“We were just going to make a point that they can’t do anything on us,” Tiger defensive end Matt Rose said. “We just bowed up and showed them what we’re made of.”

A big reason for that was the aforementioned pressure Massillon was able to get on Bulldog quarterback Kyle Ohradzansky, who regularly found himself ducking and dodging Tiger defenders when he dropped back to pass. Ohradzansky was sacked six times on the afternoon, three of those in the fourth quarter.

By the end of the day, the beating he was taking was starting to show on the sophomore quarterback, who took longer and longer to get up off the ground with each hit.

“Personally, at the end of the game, I felt bad for him a little bit,” Arelt said with a smile.

But not bad enough that Arelt and his teammates weren’t celebrating another win over McKinley – as well as a return to the playoffs.

GAME STATS

Massillon 17,

McKinley 0
at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium

McKinley 00 00 00 00 00
Massillon 03 07 00 07 17

SCORING SUMMARY
Mas – Geier 33 FG
Mas – Grunder 26 pass from Partridge (Geier kick)
Mas – Turner 26 run (Geier kick)

Mas McK
First downs 10 16
Rushes-yards 45-50 48-287
Att.-Comp.-Int. 7-10-1 3-5-1
Passing yards 47 48
Fumbles-lost 3-3 4-3
Penalty yards 8-50 5-70

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing

Massillon

Turner 28-208 TD;

Roberson 9-44;

Partridge 7-23;

Reiman 3-10;

Clark 1-2

McKinley:

M. Williams 31-97;

Wilder 4-10.

Passing

Massillon:

Partridge 3-5-48 TD, INT.

McKinley:

Ohradzansky 7-10-47 INT.

Receiving

Massillon:

Grunder 1-26 TD;

Mattox 1-16;

Clark 1-6.

McKinley:

Morrow 2-17;

Shepherd 1-9;

Wilder 1-9;

Powell 1-8;

Farrakhan 1-7;

M. Williams 1-(-3).

Records:

Massillon 6-4;

McKinley 6-4.

Tiger defense makes a big impact, early and often

By DAVID HARPSTER
The Independent

MASSILLON, OH —

It didn’t take long for the Massillon Tiger defense to announce its presence in Saturday’s 117th renewal of the Massillon-McKinley rivalry at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

Actually it only took the first few plays of McKinley’s opening series, when Massillon senior cornerback J.T. Turner came up and laid consecutive loud hits on McKinley tailback Monterae Williams. The tone had been set and the Tigers followed Turner’s lead by swarming to the ball and attacking relentlessly in what was an eventual 17-0 victory over their archrivals.

“Justin set the tone early with a couple big hits,” Massillon coach Jason Hall said. “It looks like (Williams) might have some room to run and then, bam, Justin comes in with a big hit. Stuff like that really sparks a defensive group and I was a defensive guy, so I’m jumping around on the sidelines after that.”

Added safety Cooper Ivan, who summed up McKinley’s first series pretty succinctly: “We tried to come out and smack them in the mouth on the first play of the game and that’s what we did. It helped set the tone for the game.”

By no means was keeping McKinley off the scoreboard an easy task for the Massillon defense, as the Tigers had to contend with sudden changes in momentum after their four turnovers. Each time, though, Massillon was able to find a way to repel the Bulldogs by making a big play when it was necessary.

“That’s always one of our goals: No touchdowns in sudden change situations,” defensive coordinator Steve Kovacs said. “That’s something that you work on and you try to prepare for them as best you can. McKinley’s a good football team and they had some guys who we were worried about getting loose. They just weren’t able to get loose today.”

Turner kept up the heat early by following up his big hits with a rush that led to McKinley’s punter being tackled for a loss, helping to set up an early field goal. Turner then stripped the ball from McKinley’s Alaun Morrow following a short reception, a turnover that led to Massillon’s first touchdown of the game and a 10-0 lead.

But Turner was far from the only Tiger doing damage on defense.

Ivan flew around the field with his usual reckless abandon, in the process notching a pair of sacks and a forced fumble. If Ivan wasn’t getting to the quarterback on safety blitzes up the middle, then Jamison Heath-Gates or Matt Rose or Brian Arelt or another Tiger was making life miserable for McKinley sophomore quarterback Kyle Ohradzansky.

“The best pass defense is pressure, so every game we go into, regardless of who the quarterback is, we’re going to find ways to pressure him,” Kovacs said. “Our guys did a good job and we’ve got some good quickness up front.”

Once one Massillon player got his name in the sack column, it appeared to be an open race to see who would be the next Tiger to take down Ohradzansky. The McKinley quarterback become the Tigers’ own personal chew toy in the second half, as he was sacked six times for 46 yards in losses while also absorbing countless other hits from rampaging Massillon defenders.

“The entire defensive line, it was just like we weren’t going to let him get the ball off,” Rose said. “We all just wanted to punish him when he dropped back to pass. We just wanted to show him what Massillon Tiger football was like.

“We had him dazed and wondering where it was coming from there at the end. They were pretty confused about where the rush was coming from and all our blitzes were working.”
Hall chalked up McKinley’s general confusion on offense to Massillon’s ability to hide its defensive schemes for the most part.

“The defensive game plan that Steve and the staff put together, they did a great job disguising a lot of things,” Hall said. “I don’t think their quarterback could figure out what we were doing. We’d disguise some of our blitzes and we got some free hits today. Anytime you can do that, then the quarterback is thinking about where it’s coming from.”

The pressure not only resulted in four McKinley turnovers and the first Massillon shutout of McKinley since 1982, but also put the Bulldogs in numerous long-yardage situations on second and third down. McKinley was 1-of-12 in third-down situations.

“Not many offenses, at any level, are going to be good when it’s third-and-10 or third-and-15 all game long,” Hall said. “I thought our defense did a great job all game making them fight out of a hole from a down and distance standpoint.”

Tigers KO Pups, now look to playoffs

By CHRIS EASTERLING
The Independent

MASSILLON, OH —

Like a boxer, the Massillon Tigers have been knocked to the mat more than their share of times over the last 10 weeks.

They have taken body blows, and haymakers; uppercuts and jabs. They have stood on legs of jelly and have looked out of eyes swollen and bruised.

Yet, they managed to get back up on their feet. Their most faithful fans never counted them out. And on Saturday afternoon, the referee lifted the Tigers’ hand in victory.

Despite all of the punches the Tigers have taken, all the stumbles to the mat, they have emerged on top. It may not be the mountaintop, but they can at least see it from where they stand now.

For the Tigers find themselves with a chance to play for the championship, a chance to put together five more weeks of inspired football. Seven days ago, that chance was on life support; on Saturday, after delivering a 17-0 knockout punch to archrival McKinley, that chance is beating strong as ever.

A team that couldn’t seem to shake .500 for most of the season has done just that, and finds itself in the playoffs.

“We just bounce back every week, win or lose,” senior safety Cooper Ivan said. “It’s Massillon-McKinley and it’s always going to be a good game. I love playing football with these guys.”
The memories of questionable officials’ calls and disheartening losses are just that now – memories. They now serve as a foundation from which the Tigers can build to be a stronger football team as they prepare to take that next step, which is the playoffs.

“You have to handle adversity when you play football,” junior linebacker Spencer Leno said as his teammates celebrated with family and fans after the game Saturday. “It’s all about how you handle it and how you bounce back.”

The Tigers handled it by not falling apart, not pointing fingers or fracturing the locker room. They pulled even closer together.

The team that found itself in a literal fight at a camp at end of the summer showed the figurative fight of a champion at the end of the season.

“We have that team now,” senior outside linebacker Brian Arelt said. “We’ve been missing that the past couple of years. We just have that close bond where we’re one big happy family most of the time.”

Even within Saturday’s game, the Tigers didn’t let the events on the field tear them apart. When the defense found itself on a number of occasions having to go right back out onto the field after one of the four Massillon turnovers, there was no complaining or criticizing.

Instead, the defense just took its intensity up another level, ratcheting it up another octane, as each minute ticked off the clock. By the end of the game, that defense had beaten McKinley into a state of confusion.

Yet, there was no confusion on the Tiger sideline. Only celebrating and congratulating among teammates, among a band of brothers who were reaping the rewards of months of work, months of blood and sweat and tears.

“Our team is close together,” said J.T. Turner, who rushed for 208 yards on Saturday, while adding a fumble recovery and at least seven big hits on defense. “We’ve been with each other since December, so we’ve just been rolling together. We proved it today.”

And like the triumphant boxer, the Tigers stood at the end of the day with their arms raised to the sky, pointing the way to the top. Now, they get to take the next step in the journey to get there.

 

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

2008: Massillon 17, Mentor 25

EMOTIONS RUN TOO HIGH
Mentor knocks off Tigers 25-17 in game marred by silly mistakes

By CHRIS EASTERLING
The Independent

Mentor –

The Massillon Tigers faced two opponents on Friday night at Jerome T. Osborne Sr. Stadium. The first was the Mentor Cardinals; the second was themselves.

Just facing one of those would have been tough enough for Massillon, facing both was just too much to handle as the Tigers, who saw their two-game win streak halted by a 25-17 loss to Mentor in front of about 6,500 fans.

“I think our kids played too hard tonight,” Tiger coach Jason Hall said. “I think once we look at it, we just made one too many mistakes. They had a kickoff return for a touchdown, and just had some undisciplined penalties when our kids are really caught up emotionally in the game. But they were playing hard, but it all comes down to us missing a field goal and not scoring in the red zone. That lost us the game.”

And may eventually cost the Tigers a shot at the playoffs. Massillon falls to 5-4 on the season, with its traditional season finale against McKinley next Saturday afternoon at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

The Tigers were sitting at No. 9 in Division I Region 2 in this week’s computer rankings. A win over the 6-3 Bulldogs would certainly help Massillon’s chances, but may not necessarily be enough.

What Hall and the Tigers may focus on mostly out of Friday’s loss is the penalties, which were crushing. Massillon was flagged 11 times for 92 yards – including a pair of accepted personal fouls, and at least two other offsetting personal fouls – but it was as much about the timing as the penalties themselves.

“It was an emotional, physical game, and sometimes you get too wrapped up into it,” Hall said. “Sometimes you have to take one, and that’s what we talk about. Sometimes it’s not the person who initiates it, but it’s the person who comes back.”

Trailing 14-7 early in the second quarter, and with the ball at their own 30, the Tigers were flagged for three straight penalties – including a hold – to move the ball to their own 9. Mentor then got a safety to take a 16-7 lead.

An intentional grounding penalty with the ball on the Mentor 6 and the Tigers down 25-14 pushed Massillon back to the Cardinal 22. The Tigers eventually had to settle for a 29-yard Jeremy Geier field goal to start the fourth quarter to cut it to 25-17.

But the most costly sequence may have come with just a little more than eight minutes left and Massillon facing a fourth-and-3 at the Cardinal 7. The Tigers tried to draw Mentor offsides, but jumped at the same time the Cardinals did to draw the illegal procedure penalty.

Mentor then blocked the field goal try on the 4th-and-8 play to turn the Tigers away.

“We just jumped too,” Hall said. “We went out there, we didn’t even have a play called. We practice it and practice it, and we got them, but we happened to pull our own selves offside as well. It was just a situation where we were going to try to force the penalty or kick the field goal, and we had to kick the field goal.”

Massillon had one last chance after Cooper Ivan stripped the Mentor ball carrier and returned it to the Cardinal 11. However, the Tigers were turned away on fourth-and-2 from the Mentor 3, and the Cardinals ran out the clock

The Tigers drove onto the Mentor side of the 50 five times in the second half, including four times inside the 30. However, those drives netted just three points.

In the first half, the Tigers were 2 of 2 in red-zone scoring chances, with Robert Partridge hitting Bo Grunder for an 8-yard touchdown pass for a 7-0 lead. Partridge also hit Kyle Pizzino on a 5-yard strike to cut the deficit to 19-14 at the intermission.

Massillon also saw a 179-yard rushing effort from J.T. Turner go by the boards as well. Turner benefited from a strong push from the Tiger offensive line, which held its own on the line of scrimmage for most of the night.

“I think we did a good job up front,” Hall said. “

The mistakes spoiled a strong effort from the Tiger defense, which held Mentor to just 217 yards of offense on the night. They also forced six three and outs, and twice kept the Cardinals from scoring on drives into Massillon territory.

Seven of Mentor’s points came on an 85-yard kickoff return by Mike Korecz which tied the score at 7-7 with 5:27 left in the first quarter. Another two points came on the safety.

The only substantial drive came on the Cardinals’ first true scoring drive, when they took 13 plays to march 42 yards to take a 14-7 lead. Tom Worden scored from 2-yards out for the touchdown.

“You can’t say enough about our defense against this offense,” Hall said. “I thought (defensive coordinator Steve) Kovacs and his staff had a great game plan and they executed.”

GAME STATS

Mentor 25,

Massillon 17

at Jerome T. Osborne Sr. Stadium

Massillon 07 07 00 03 17
Mentor 07 12 06 00 25

SCORING SUMMARY
Mas – Grunder 8 pass from Partridge (Geier kick)
Men – Korecz 85 kickoff return (Klisuric kick)
Men – Worden 2 run (Klisuric kick)
Men – Safety, sack in end zone
Men – Klisuric 39 FG
Mas – Pizzino 5 pass from Partridge (Geier kick)
Men – Worden 21 pass from Mayse (Pass failed)
Mas – Geier 29 FG

Mas Men
First down 9 12
Rushes-yards 38-168 42-129
Comp-att.-int. 11-23-1 10-19-0
Passing yards 111 88
Fumbles-lost 2-2 2-2
Penalty yards 11-92 9-76

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing

Massillon: Turner 30-179; Roberson 1-4; Clark 1-1.

Mentor: 21-85 TD; Korecz 14-49.

Passing

Massillon: 9-20-98 2 TDs, INT; Clark 1-2-10; McCormick 1-1-3.

Mentor: Mayse 10-19-88 TD.

Receiving

Massillon: Zimmerman 4-26; Grunder 3-25 TD; Pizzino 2-10 TD; Clark 1-40; Turner 1-10.

Mentor: Johanek 4-24; Worden 3-51 TD; Korecz 1-7; McKnight 1-4; Hanzlik 1-2.

Records:

Massillon 5-4;

Mentor 7-2.

2008: Massillon 30, Warren Harding 7 History

2008: Massillon 30, Warren Harding 7

Tigers start streak at right time
Massillon improves to 5-3 with first victory at Harding in 22 years

By CHRIS EASTERLING
The Independent

Warren, OH –

The Massillon Tigers couldn’t have picked a better time to put together their first two-game winning streak of the season. And it didn’t hurt that they snapped a 22-year winless drought in the process.

With their playoff hopes riding on just about every game from here on out, the Tigers went into Warren’s Mollenkopf Stadium on Saturday night and emerged with a 30-7 win over the Warren Harding Raiders.

The victory marked the first time this season the Tigers – now 5-3 – have posted consecutive wins. They also won in Mollenkopf Stadium for the first time since 1986.

Massillon arrived in Warren knowing it needed a win to buoy its tenuous playoff position, as it entered the weekend ranked 13th in Division I Region 2. The exact effect the win over the 4-4 Raiders will have on the Tigers’ standing remains to be seen, but it certainly will provide a boost going into huge point games this Friday at 7-2 Mentor and in next week’s season finale against 5-3 McKinley.

“Everybody knew what we had to do,” said Tiger tailback/cornerback J.T. Turner, who rushed for a career-high 213 yards, while also intercepting a pass. “Every game from here on out is a playoff game. We just knew we had to go out here today and play a great game against a great team.”

The Tigers did just that, and did it in all three phases of the game – special teams, offense and defense.

It was Massillon’s special teams which helped stake it to a 10-0 first-quarter lead, thanks to a 30-yard Jeremy Geier field goal and a 62-yard Bo Grunder punt return for a score. Grunder’s punt return may have been the play which completely altered the game, although even Tiger coach Jason Hall admits he would have preferred the junior had gone about it a different way.

“It was a dumb play, actually,” Hall said. “That’s a situation where Bo was being a great athlete. But it was also a situation where it could have turned ugly. I know what Bo’s doing, and obviously it sparked us. I wasn’t mad at him, but I just told him he better never do it again.”

What Grunder did was wait for the punt to roll to a stop at the Tiger 38, then – with two Raider defenders around the ball – pick it up and start running up field. He then cut across the field at about the Warren 40 and raced untouched from there into the end zone for a touchdown with 4:43 left in the first quarter.

“I already knew it was a questionable call,” Grunder said. “It was a gutsy call, but it worked out. I’m glad I did it.”

The offense would take over from there, especially Turner, who surpassed his previous career best of 192 yards he set in Week Five against Garfield. He now has 946 rushing yards on the season with two games remaining.

“My line was creating great holes,” said Turner, who put the game away with fourth-quarter scoring runs of 2 and 38 yards. “It was open, so I took them. My offensive line rewarded me with touchdowns.”

But it wasn’t just running the ball where Turner did his part in lifting the Massillon offense. He also led the team in receiving with three catches for 57 yards – all on a second-quarter drive which gave the Tigers a 17-0 lead on an 8-yard Robert Partridge touchdown run.

Partridge had his best game by far at quarterback, completing 7-of-14 passes for 137 yards. His 58-yard strike to Grunder in the fourth quarter help set up Turner’s 2-yard scoring run.

The Tiger defense, meanwhile, was on top of its game from the very start, swarming the Raiders’ running game on seemingly every carry. Massillon limited Warren to just 48 rushing yards on 36 carries, almost daring the Raiders to put the ball in the air.

“We wanted their quarterback to beat us,” Hall said. “They really like to run the ball with the two athletes they have (Mike Dorsey and Aunre’ Davis). They’re good athletes, and we knew that coming in. Obviously we wanted to try to make them one-dimensional. To be honest with you, they made some plays passing. … But still, all in all, I thought we did a good job of not letting them really be consistent.”

Warren had few scoring opportunities, advancing inside the Tiger 30 just twice all evening. The Raiders reached the Massillon 19 in the first half, but was turned away on downs.

The Raiders did break into the scoring column with 7:30 remaining when Davis hit Sergio Allen in the end zone for a 25-yard touchdown on a fourth-and-17 play. That momentarily cut the deficit to 17-7, although Massillon would score on its next two possessions to put the game away.

GAME STATS

Massillon 30,
Warren Harding 7
at Mollenkopf Stadium

Massillon 10 7 0 13 30
Warren Harding 0 0 0 7 7

SCORING SUMMARY
M – Geier 30 FG
M – Grunder 62 punt return (Geier kick)
M – Partridge 8 run (Geier kick)
WH – Allen 25 pass from Davis (Montecalvo kick)
M – Turner 2 run (Kick failed)
M – Turner 38 run (Geier kick)

Mas WH
First down 15 12
Rushes-yards 32-235 36-48
Comp-att.-int. 7-14-0 15-29-1
Passing yards 137 155
Fumbles-lost 0-0 0-0
Penalty yards 8-60 6-39

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing

Massillon:

Turner 20-213 2 TDs;

Grunder 1-13;

Partridge 4-11 TD;

Nalbach 2-5.

Warren Harding:

Dorsey 14-30;

Hymes 7-19;

Penman 2-6;

Taylor 1-2.

Passing

Massillon:

Partridge 7-14-137.

Warren Harding:

Davis 15-29-155 TD. INT.

Receiving

Massillon:

Turner 3-57;

Grunder 1-58;

Zimmerman 1-14;

Adkins 1-5.

Warren Harding:

Williamson 7-66;

Bruner 2-35;

Bland 2-265;

Allen 1-15 TD.

Records:

Massillon 5-3;

Warren Harding 4-4.

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

2008: Massillon 69, Brantford, Ont. Canada

Tigers bully Brantford
Massillon rebounds from Iggy loss with rout of Canadian foe

By CHRIS EASTERLIN
The Independent

MASSILLON, OH —

The phrase “Turnabout is fair play” rang loudly through Paul Brown Tiger Stadium on Friday night.

A week ago, the Massillon Tigers suffered through a 42-point loss to St. Ignatius. On Friday night, it was they who did the beating as the Tigers handed winless Brantford (Ont.) Collegiate an even worse loss, 69-7, in front of around 7,500 at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

“We just ran our base stuff,” said Tiger coach Jason Hall, whose 4-3 team heads to Warren next Saturday to meet Warren Harding. “Obviously it’s nice to win after the way we played last week. Obviously, understanding the team that we’re playing you don’t know a lot about them. They came and they have a great coach and I thought for what they had, their kids were playing hard. We’re excited about winning. Obviously from here on out, every game is a playoff game for us.”

Seven days after trailing 49-0 at halftime, the Tigers walked into the locker room on Friday night with a 48-0 lead of their own. All this came after Massillon led just 10-0 after the first 12 minutes of play.

The teams played with a running clock after Massillon took a 55-0 lead 1:51 into the second half. Massillon held a 62-0 lead through three quarters.

“Before halftime, I kind of felt like, ‘Wow,’” said Tiger defensive lineman Joey Studer, who returned a fumble for a touchdown. “It just didn’t feel right at halftime that I wasn’t even playing any more. I was just sitting out.”

The Tigers had a different look to them on offense from the first time they took the field on offense. Robert Partridge made his first start at quarterback and completed 4-of-7 passes for 55 yards with a 33-yard touchdown to Michael Clark, who had started at the position for the first six games.

That touchdown made it 38-0 Tigers with 5:24 left in the first half. It was one of only five offensive touchdowns for Massillon, which finished with 362 yards on 43 plays.

Massillon also played the first half without the services of J.T. Turner, who was on the sidelines due to a team matter. Even with the game in hand at halftime, he did get in the game to start the third quarter on offense, rushing for a team-high 65 yards on three carries, including a 43-yard touchdown to make it 55-0.

“We had just an in-house situation,” Hall said. “Justin’s a great team player for us, and he understands what’s going on. Justin didn’t do anything that was crazy or anything out of the ordinary. We have team rules and policies, and as a captain and a senior, he understands them. There’s no issues with J.T. It’s done and gone. If you don’t have organization and structure and discipline, you can’t have a football team.”

Turner’s fill-in at cornerback, Tyler Miller, made up for his absence, intercepting a pair of passes. He returned the second one 23 yards for a touchdown and a 45-0 lead with 4:38 left in the half.

“I was just ready to play,” Miller said. “All of us are always coached to be ready to play. Coach Hall always says to be ready when a man goes down, so we have to be ready to do that.”

Miller’s interception was one of three defensive or special-team touchdowns Massillon scored in the first half. Bo Grunder also had a 60-yard punt return for a score and Studer had his fumble return for a score.

The Tigers forced five turnovers in the first half, converting four of those into scores. At one point, defensive lineman Tim Busson was able to literally take the handoff from the quarterback at the Brantford 26 for a turnover.

The Tigers added a 47-yard interception return for a score by Dannie Mack with 7:47 left in the third quarter to make it 62-0.

“It’s real important to get that, because it helps out the offense a lot,” Miller said. “It’s just easier on them.”

Brantford, which was limited to 55 total yards on 47 plays, finally broke into the scoring column with 2:08 left in the game. Kyle Giancola fought in from four yards out.

GAME STATS

Massillon 69
Brantford Collegiate 7

At Paul Brown Tiger Stadium
Brantford 00 00 00 07 07
Massillon 10 38 14 07 69

SCORING SUMMARY
M – Roberson 9 run (Geier kick)
M – Geier 31 FG
M – Grunder 60 punt return (Geier kick)
M – Partridge 7 run (Geier kick)
M – Studer 13 fumble return (Geier kick)
M – Clark 33 pass from Partridge (Geier kick)
M – T. Miller 23 interception return (Geier kick)
M – Silva 22 FG
M – Turner 43 run (Silva kick)
M – Mack 47 interception return (Silva kick)
M – Litman 1 run (Silva kick)
BC – Giancola 4 run (Dinsmore kick)

Bran Mass
First down 7 17
Rushes-yards 30-40 36-307
Comp-att.-int 4-17-4 4-7-0
Passing yards 15 55
Fumbles-lost 2-2 2-1
Penalty yards 10 60

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing:

Massillon – Turner 3-65 TD;

Roberson 5-53 TD,

Nalbach 9-47;

Reiman 3-29;

Haring 5-24;

Mattox 3-24;

Patterson 1-22;

Mack 2-22;

Litman 2-10 TD;

Olack 1-10;

Partridge 1-7 TD.

Brantford – Giancola 12-31 TD;

Rodgers 17-16.
Passing:

Massillon – Partridge 4-7-55 TD.

Brantford – Gibbons 3-11-16 2 INTs;

Kelly 1-6-(-1) 2 INTs.

Receiving:

Massillon – Clark 1-33 TD;

Zimmerman 1-15;

McCarthy 1-5;

Remark 1-2.

Brantford – Rodgers 2-1;

Archibald 1-9;

Bage 1-5.
Records:

Massillon 4-3;

Brantford 0-5.

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

2008: Massillon 7, Cleveland St. Ignatius 49

Iggy passes by Tigers
Wildcats jump out to 49-0 lead at half, cruise to 49-7 win

By CHRIS EASTERLING
The Independent

MASSILLON, OH —

The St. Ignatius Wildcats spent the first half of Friday night’s game at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium putting on a clinic. Unfortunately for the Massillon Tigers, they were on the other end of the Wildcats’ demonstration.

St. Ignatius jumped out to a 49-0 halftime lead and never looked back in posting a 49-7 victory over the Tigers in front of around 8,000 at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium. It is the worst defeat the Tiger program has suffered since a 46-0 loss to Alliance in 1962.

“They came out and executed, and we buried ourselves in a hole defensively and offensively right off the bat,” Tiger coach Jason Hall said. “We were just never able to … we were just almost shell-shocked. That’s the feeling I saw and I felt with our kids. They’re a good football team. Do I think they’re 49-7 better than us? No. We made some mistakes in all phases of the game. It’s just a situation where we have to keep working.”

The loss dropped Massillon to 3-3 on the season, and 1-11 all-time against the Wildcats. The Tigers will step out of the country next Friday when Brantford (Ont.) Collegiate Institute visits.

The Wildcats, who led 35-0 after one quarter, scored on all five of their first-half possessions, and added a pair of interception returns for scores in building up their seven-score edge at the intermission.

“Mainly the message was like anything else,” Hall said of the halftime talk. “I told them it’s a life lesson. Winners fight and losers quit.”

St. Ignatius, which has won five in a row since dropping their season opener to Glenville, was led by the precision passing of quarterback Andrew Holland. Holland, who played only in the first half, completed 10-of-11 aerials for 262 yards with three touchdowns.

By the end of the first quarter, Holland already had 229 yards through the air, and all three touchdown passes.

“Quarterback presence really was what you saw tonight,” St. Ignatius coach Chuck Kyle said. “When he felt the pressure from the outside, he did a very good job of stepping up into a seam and still looking downfield. A lot of quarterbacks will step up, but they look down to see where they can run. But he was still looking up for where he could throw, and that paid off.”

Where the Wildcats hurt the Tigers the most was with the deep post pattern. Connor Ryan had all three of his catches for 136 yards and two scores on that particular play.

Joey Parris added five catches for 101 yards and a touchdown.

While the Wildcat offense was clicking on all cylinders in the first half in racking up 373 yards, the Tigers were struggling to get anything going against a stout St. Ignatius defense. Massillon trailed 21-0 before picking up its first down of the game, and had just 22 yards on 23 first-half plays. The Tigers ran just two plays in Wildcat territory in the first half, both coming from the Ignatius 49 amd each resulted in lost yardage.

Massillon finished the game with 135 total yards.

“They controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball,” Hall said. “They were being aggressive. We just couldn’t get anything moving up front.”

Adding to Massillon’s struggles was the fact two of its first four pass attempts were intercepted by St. Ignatius defenders and returned for scores. The first, a 25-return by Jake Ryan, made it 14-0 Wildcats, while Dan Fox brought one back 35 yards to make it 35-0 with 24 seconds left in the first quarter.

The Tigers’ first score didn’t come until J.T. Turner stepped in front of a pass in the third quarter and returned it 60 yards for a touchdown to make it 49-7 Ignatius.

GAME STATS

St. Ignatius 49,
Massillon 7
At Paul Brown Tiger Stadium

St. Ignatius 35 14 00 00 49
Massillon 00 00 07 00 07

SCORING SUMMARY
SI – C. Ryan 30 pass from Holland (Hennessey kick)
SI – J. Ryan 25 interception return (Hennessey kick)
SI – C. Ryan 68 pass from Holland (Hennessey kick)
SI – Parris 25 pass from Holland (Hennessey kick)
SI – Fox 35 interception return (Hennessey kick)
SI – Holland 1 run (Hennessey kick)
SI – Johnson 47 run (Hennessey kick)
M – Turner 60 interception return (Geier kick)

St. I Mas
First downs 15 9
Rushes-yards 35-145 32-78
Comp-att-int. 10-14-1 9-26-3
Passing yards 262 57
Fumbles-lost 2-0 2-0
Penalty yards 59 35

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing:

Massillon

Roberson 8-29;

Turner 10-27;

Reiman 6-19.

St. Ignatius

Johnson 18-129 TD;

Myers 3-19.

Passing:

Massillon

Partridge 9-21-57 INT;

Clark 0-5-0 2 INTs.

St. Ignatius

Holland 10-11-262 3 TDs;

Myers 0-2-0 INT;

Teresczuk 0-1-0.

Receiving:

Massillon

Phillips 3-19;

Roberson 2-6;

Remark 1-10;

Adkins 1-8;

Grunder 1-7;

Price 1-7.

St. Ignatius

Parris 5-101 TD;

C. Ryan 3-136 2 TDs;

DeSico 1-17;

Johnson 1-8.

Records:

Massillon 3-3;

St. Ignatius 5-1.

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

2008: Massillon 34, Akron Garfield 0

Tigers prove Ram tough
Massillon bounces back with win over dangerous Garfield

By CHRIS EASTERLING
The Independent

MASSILLON, OH —

There was no doubting the importance of Friday night’s game against Garfield for the Massillon Tigers. Sitting at .500 with games remaining against the likes of St. Ignatius, Warren Harding, Mentor and McKinley, it was safe to say there was plenty riding on it in terms of the Tigers’ playoff hopes

The Tigers, though, were more than up for the challenge.

With J.T. Turner giving the fans plenty to cheer about in the first half, Massillon jumped in front by 24 at intermission and cruised to 34-0 victory over the Golden Rams in front of about 8,000 fans at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

“Our kids work hard and they bring it to the table,” said Tigers coach Jason Hall, whose 3-2 team plays host to St. Ignatius next Friday. “They know what’s at stake. We have to play better football, and we did. I think what you saw was some kids playing with some passion. As coaches, we even challenged them on the field tonight when they were messing up. When they did, we challenged them to keep fighting and getting better.”

While Turner certainly provided the fireworks offensively – rushing for 127 yards and a pair of scores in the first half on his way to a career-high 192-yard night – it was the Tiger defense which stole the show against the 3-2 Golden Rams. Coming off a two-week stretch in which they surrendered 546 rushing yards to Normandy and Ursuline, the Tigers were more than equal to the task of slowing down Garfield and its explosive tailback, Tyson Gulley.

Gulley, who had over 660 yards rushing in the Golden Rams’ four games, could never find holes to run through as Massillon swarmed him on nearly every play. Gulley was held to just 69 yards, 27 of those in the fourth quarter while running against the Tiger reserves.

“Our game plan was to shut down the run,” Tiger linebacker J.B. Price said. “That’s what they’re really good at. (Gulley) was a really good back. We watched film every day. Just making adjustments at halftime helped us a lot. We just played hard. We had to prove ourselves from last week.”

As impressive as the performance was, it was made all the more impressive by the fact three Tiger starters – defensive end Matt Rose, outside linebacker Jamison Heath-Gates and cornerback Kyle Allman – were in street clothes due to injuries. All three, along with receiver Kyle Pizzino, are expected to play against St. Ignatius.

Quarterback Michael Clark also missed a series in the second quarter when he re-aggravated a finger injury. He returned in the second half.

On this night, it didn’t matter who was on the field for the Tiger defense, as Massillon stifled the Golden Rams on every play. Garfield finished with 132 yards of offense, and didn’t take its first snap in Tiger territory until the fifth play of the second half.

The defense also did its part to help change the score. With the Tigers up 10 after one quarter, Turner stepped in front of a pass tipped it in the air to himself and returned it 46 yards for a touchdown two plays into the second quarter for a 17-0 lead.

It was the Tigers’ first defensive score of the season.

“They said they were 92 percent run,” Turner said. “So when they passed it, I just knew I had to go break on the ball and make a play.”

Meanwhile, the Tiger offense heeded the lessons from last week’s loss to Ursuline, as Massillon took it to Garfield at the point of attack. Of course, a big part of that was Turner, who was held to just 25 yards by the Irish.

It took him all of three carries to top that total on Friday night. By the end of the first quarter, he already had 96 yards and a 29-yard touchdown on just nine carries.

He would add an 11-yard scoring run with 13 seconds left in the first half to make it 24-0 Tigers.

“I couldn’t even sleep this week knowing I had a bad game last week,” Turner said. “I knew I had to just go out there today and put on a show.”

GAME STATS

Massillon 34,
Garfield 0
At Paul Brown Tiger Stadium

Garfield 00 00 00 00 00
Massillon 10 14 07 03 34

SCORING SUMMARY
M – Geier 26 FG
M – Turner 29 run (Geier kick)
M – Turner 41 interception return (Geier kick)
M – Turner 11 run (Geier kick)
M – Grunder 7 pass from Clark (Geier kick)
M – Geier 35 FG

Gar Mas
First downs 9 15
Rushes-yards 45-128 37-239
Comp-att-int. 2-5-1 3-13-0
Passing yards 4 45
Fumbles-lost 4-2 0-0
Penalty yards 0 25

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing:

Massillon

Turner 22-192 2 TDs;

Reiman 2-17;

Clark 6-8;

Partridge 1-8;

Patterson 2-7;

Arelt 2-7.

Garfield

Ty. Gulley 23-69;To.

Gulley 8-43;

Barnett 3-30;

Wells 4-10.

Passing:

Massillon

Clark 2-7-35 TD;

Partridge 1-5-10.

Garfield

Martin 2-5-4 INT.

Receiving:

Massillon

McCarthy 1-28;

Gaines 1-10;

Grunder 1-7 TD.

Garfield

Barnett 2-4.

Records:

Massillon 3-2;

Garfield 3-2.

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

2008: Massillon 13, Youngstown Ursuline 23

Ursuline rallies past Tigers
Irish post 17 points in second half to knock off Massillon

By CHRIS EASTERLING
The Independent

Youngstown, OH —

For the first three games of the season, the Massillon Tigers have been a strong third-quarter team. On Friday night at Youngstown State University’s Stambaugh Stadium, they had the tables turned on them by the state-ranked and unbeaten Ursuline Fighting Irish.

Leading by seven at halftime, the Tigers saw the Irish outscore them by two touchdowns in the third quarter as Ursuline pulled away for a 23-13 win to drop Massillon to 2-2 on the season.
“Up front, I thought they did a good job of controlling the line of scrimmage,” Tiger coach Jason Hall said. “That’s high school football. They won the battle up front.”

The Tigers were held to just 30 yards in the second half, after gaining 136 in the first half. Ursuline had 153 of its 340 yards of offense after halftime.

Massillon must now regroup quickly, as a tough Garfield team visits Paul Brown Tiger Stadium next Friday. The Golden Rams are 2-1 with a game today against Akron North (3-0).

“It’s like I told our kids, it’s a true test of character for everybody,” Hall said. “It’s not always going to be easy. That’s what’s going to determine the rest of our season.”

The first half was all about Massillon and the opportunities it was presented by Ursuline mistakes.

The Tigers took the ball away from Ursuline – the No. 2-ranked team in Division V – three times in the first half, not counting a kickoff that Massillon fell on before the Irish could. The Tigers converted those into 13 points as the they grabbed a 13-6 halftime lead.

“We put ourselves in a bad situation,” said Ursuline coach Dan Reardon, whose team is 4-0. “I think good football teams find a way to win when you put yourself in a bad situation. We were fortunate we were able to do that.”

The first two Ursuline possessions ended in fumble recoveries by Massillon. The first was recovered by J.B. Price, which he brought back inside the Irish 35. However, a clipping penalty against Massillon moved the ball back to its own 48. That drive would never get going, and the Tigers would punt it back to the Irish.

On Ursuline’s second possession, the Tigers forced a second fumble after an Irish reception and Brian Arelt fell on it at the Irish 45. Massillon would march down to draw first blood, with Price capping the 12-play drive with a 1-yard run at the 1:02 mark of the first quarter for a 7-0 Tiger lead after the extra point.

Ursuline answered on its next drive, marching from its own 37 into the end zone in 10 plays, with Allen Jones running it in from one yard out for the score. However, the Irish tried the swinging gate on the point-after try, with Dale Peterman taking the direct snap. But the Tiger defense was up to the task, and stopped the two-point try to keep Massillon ahead 7-6 with 8:11 left in the first half.

A third Ursuline fumble in the first half – at its own 47 – gave Massillon a chance to pad its lead right before the intermission. Aided by a 30-yard pass from Michael Clark to J.T. Turner, the Tigers moved just outside the Irish 11.

Clark and Turner would hook up to give Massillon a 13-6 lead with 1:08 left until the band show. This time, it was a 13-yard strike to a wide-open Turner in the end zone. The PAT bounced off the upright to keep it a seven-point lead.

Massillon would get the ball right back when Tyler Miller recovered the kickoff at the Ursuline 21 after the Irish failed to cover the kick. But the Tigers failed to convert when a 39-yard field goal went just left with 32 seconds left in the half.

“Not scoring at the end of the first half really hurt us,” Hall said. “Looking back on that, that was huge. We needed some points there.”

The Tigers, though, started the second half as generous guests. Peterman intercepted a Massillon pass and returned it to the Tiger 15.

“That was an emotional swing in the game, obviously,” Hall said.

Two plays later, Darrell Mason scored on a 7-yard run for the tying score – after the extra point – just 1:07 into the second half.

Ursuline’s next possession – helped out by an 18-yard run on a fake punt – moved to the Massillon 5, where it was fourth-and-2. Dawalyn Harper managed to pick up the first down with a two-yard run, then scored from a yard out two plays later to give the Irish their first lead of the game at 20-13 with 48 seconds left in the third quarter.

Kevin Patrick added a 20-yard field goal with 5:50 left in the game for a 23-13 Irish lead.

GAME STATS

Ursuline 23
Massillon 13
At Stambaugh Stadium

Massillon 07 06 00 00 13
Ursuline 00 06 14 03 23

SCORING SUMMARY
M – Price 1 run (Geier kick)
U – Jones 1 run (Run failed)
M – Turner 13 pass from Clark (Kick failed)
U – Mason 7 run (Patrick kick)
U – Harper 1 run (Patrick kick)
U – Patrick 20 FG

Mas Urs
First Downs 9 18
Rushes-Yds 29-69 53-223
Comp-Att-Int 8-17-3 7-9-0
Passing Yards 97 117
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 6-4
Penalty yards 35 0

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing:

Massillon

Clark 14-34;

Turner 12-25;

Patterson 2-9;

Price 1-1 TD.

Ursuline

Harper 10-71 TD;

Mason 14-55 TD;

Jones 16-48 TD;

Irizarry 7-47.

Passing:

Massillon

Clark 8-17-97 TD, 3 INTs.

Ursuline

Kempe 6-8-110;

Harper 1-1-7.

Receiving:

Massillon

Turner 3-42 TD;

Adkins 3-39;

Patterson 1-10;

Gaines 1-6.

Ursuline

Turner 2-18;

Peterman 2-16;

Jones 1-56;

Stevens 1-19;

Cole 1-8.

Records:

Massillon 2-2;

Ursuline 4-0.

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

2008: Massillon 45, Parma Normandy 14

Tigers vent in big victory
Massillon rolls up a 45-14 win over Parma Normandy

By CHRIS EASTERLING
The Independent

MASSILLON, OH —

An angry football team can be a dangerous football team. The Massillon Tigers were an angry team as they entered Paul Brown Tiger Stadium for Friday night’s game against Normandy – angry over last week’s last-second loss to Jordan (Utah), and angry at the memories of last year’s loss to the same Invaders they lined up against on this evening.

They took some of that anger out on the Invaders early on, building up a 21-0 second-quarter lead. While Normandy got within seven at halftime, Massillon regained its composure and pulled away for a 45-14 victory at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

“No. 1, last week we talked about getting that chip off our shoulder,” said Tiger coach Jason Hall, whose team takes a 2-1 record into next Friday’s game against reigning Division V state runner-up Ursuline at Youngstown State University. “No. 2, they had something prove from last year. I don’t think our kids thought they went up there and played their best game.”

Both defenses were forced to make stands in the first quarter. Normandy missed a 42-yard field goal after getting an interception on the first play of the game, while the Tigers missed 32-yard field goal of their own after their defensive stop.

Bo Grunder made sure the Tigers’ next defensive stand didn’t go to waste. After a three-and-out on Normandy’s second possession, he took the punt at his own 18, eventually cutting his way across the field and running all the way back for an 82-yard touchdown at the 1:24 mark of the first quarter for a 7-0 Tiger lead.

Tiger quarterback Michael Clark’s nifty running and sleight of hand helped Massillon get a 21-0 lead just 1:22 into the second quarter.

The first time, he perfectly executed a play fake to J.T. Turner on a jet sweep, only to keep it on the bootleg to the left and run virtually untouched for a 60-yard touchdown. The second one came when he ran for 33 yards after Grunder recovered a Normandy fumble at its 39, finally being brought down at the Invader 6.

“The defense, they have to watch for us to hand off to J.T.,” said Clark, who finished with 127 yards rushing in the game. “I think we had run that play earlier in the game and got 30 yards. They have to respect that. As soon as they do, you keep it.”

Turner took the next play the rest of the way for the Massillon touchdown at the 10:38 mark of the second quarter and a 21-0 lead.

But Normandy came to life after that score, grinding out two long scoring drives to make it 21-14 at halftime.

The first drive went 68 yards in seven plays, with Michael Louis scoring from 6- yards out at the 7:50 mark of the first half. The second one chewed up 81 yards on just six plays – one of which was a 61-yard run by Squirek – with Squirek doing the honors from 3-yards out with 3:31 left in the half.

Squirek was a bull for the Tiger defenders to deal with all night, rushing for 167 in 18 first-half carries alone. He finished the game with 207 yards on 26 carries.

“He was tough to take down,” Turner said. “He was a big dude. He was a load to bring down.”
Normandy came out of the locker room after the half and drove to the Tiger 20, but Spencer Leno dropped the Invaders for a 2-yard loss on fourth down. Boosted by the stop, Massillon hopped on the back of Turner on the next drive, moving 78 yards in eight plays – seven of those Turner runs – before the senior ran in from 3-yards out for a 28-14 Massillon lead with 3:55 left in the third.

Turner had 71 yards rushing on the drive, after gaining just 46 in the first half. He finished with his third straight 100-yard rushing game with 156 yards on 23 carries.

“I started catching cramps at halftime,” said Turner, who broke the game open with a 17-yard touchdown run on the final play of the third quarter for a 35-14 Tiger lead. “I took a few pills, drank some Gatorade and (Tiger assistant Elden) McVicker just told me to go out there and keep running hard.”

GAME STATS

Massillon 45
Normandy 14
At Paul Brown Tiger Stadium

Normandy 00 14 00 00 14
Massillon 07 14 07 10 45

SCORING SUMMARY
M – Grunder 82 punt return (Geier kick)
M – Clark 60 run (Geier kick)
M – Turner 6 run (Geier kick)
N – Louis 6 run (Cook kick)
N – Squirek 3 run (Coon kick)
M – Turner 3 run (Geier kick)
M – Turner 17 run (Geier kick)
M – Geier 30 FG
M – Partridge 7 run (Geier kick)

Nor Mas
First Downs 15 17
Rushes-Yds 54-323 41-309
Comp-Att-Int 1-9-0 4-12-1
Passing Yards 4 63
Fumbles-Lost 3-1 0-0
Penalty yards 44 25

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing:

Massillon

Turner 23-156 3 TDs;

Clark 8-127 TD;

Reiman 7-22;

Partridge 2-4 TD.

Normandy

Squirek 26-207 TD.

Passing:

Massillon

Clark 3-11-51 INT;

Partridge 1-1-12.

Normandy

Pierce 1-9-4.

Receiving:

Massillon

Price 1-32;

Adkins 1-12;

Gaines 1-10;

Grunder 1-9.

Normandy

Sala 1-4.

Records:

Massillon 2-1;

Normandy 1-2.

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

2008: Massillon 24, Jordan, UT 27

Tigers suffer controversial heartbreaker at Herbstreit

By CHRIS EASTERLING
The Independent

CANTON, OH —

It is said true character doesn’t truly show itself until it is put under adverse situations. If that is the case, then Massillon head coach Jason Hall is about to find out just what kind of character his Tiger football team has this week.

In Saturday night’s finale of the Herbstreit Challenge quadruple-header at Fawcett Stadium, Massillon suffered its first loss of the season in a most controversial fashion when Jordan (Utah) stunned the Tigers with a 36-yard field goal by Garrett Blaisdell at the end of regulation for a 27-24 win.

“Right now, it’s just hard for the Tigers to accept this loss,” Hall said after his team fell to 1-1.

“It’s a situation where I think the team’s pretty close,” Hall added. “We’re going to suck it up, let it sink in. We’re going to get right back to work. That’s part of us, coaches and adults and the people who are around these kids, to be positive role models in their support group. It’s our job to teach them how to handle situations and keep fighting. And that’s what we’ll do.”

Whether the Beetdiggers should have ever even had a chance to get the kick off is sure to raise the blood pressure of Hall, his players and those Tiger fans among the crowd at Fawcett Stadium for years to come.

Jordan moved from its own 20 – following a missed 39-yard field goal by Massillon – to the Tiger 37 in a span of 33 seconds, leaving just 12 ticks left on the clock. Beetdigger quarterback Alex Hart hit Braden Hammond for an 18-yard pass to move the ball to the Massillon 19.

And this is where things really entered the Twilight Zone.

By rule, the clock stops as the chains move for a first down. However, the clock also is supposed to be wound as soon as the ball and chains are set.

It appeared when the whistle blew the play down, there was one second left on the clock, leaving no time for Jordan to get the kick off. But first the officias never started the clock up initially, then put the clock at five seconds remaining, but again, didn’t start it up.

In the confusion, about 20 different players were running on and off the field as Jordan frantically tried to get the kick off. In the end, Blaisdell did get the kick away, and it was true, leaving the Tigers distraught and angry.

“I tell our kids, sometimes life’s not fair,” Hall said. “Sometimes the ball bounces your way, sometimes it doesn’t. We just have to get back to work (Sunday) and Monday and prepare to play Normandy.”

Jordan coach Alex Jacobson, amidst his jubilant players, admitted his team might have caught a break at the end.

“I don’t feel good about what happened with the clock at the end of the game,” Jacobson said. “I felt like we should have been playing for overtime. I’m man enough to admit it.”

The end-of-the-game fiasco wasn’t the only time an official’s call left the Tigers scratching their heads and altered the complexion of the game.

With just under eight minutes remaining and the Tigers leading 24-21, Michael Clark threw a pass to an open receiver. At about the same time the ball hit the receiver’s hands, he was hit by the defender.

The hit jarred the ball loose at the Massillon 31, with a Jordan player falling on it. The official closest ruled it immediately as a fumble, although the Tiger sidelines vehemently argued the receiver had never actually gained possession before the ball came loose.

Nevertheless, the call stood, and five plays later, Blaisdell kicked a 32-yard field goal to tie the game at 24-all with 5:48 remaining.

“They just said he had the catch,” Hall said. “Catch, hit, fumble. They said he had possession of the ball.”

The fourth-quarter officiating controversies left a black mark on what was easily the most entertaining of the four games at Fawcett on Saturday, the closest of which beforehand had been a pair of 21-point games.

Neither team was able to get more than a seven-point lead at any point in the game, with Jordan’s spread offense helping it to first-half leads of 7-0 and 14-7.

The Beetdiggers were able to hurt Massillon throughout the game by running crossing patterns, which Hart would feed the ball to for big gainers. Hart finished with 294 yards on 31-of-42 passing.

“The crossing routes were big, weren’t they,” Jacobson said. “It kept drives alive and we converted on third down in a big way. Anytime you can do that against a great football team, that’s big.”

Meanwhile, the Tigers also methodically ground their way down the field in response, tying the game at 7-7 on a six-yard Clark run midway through the second quarter, and then at 14-14 on a J.T. Turner one-yard plunge with 1:41 left in the first half.

Turner once again asserted himself on the ground, finishing with 128 yards on 23 carries. He had 106 yards in the second half.

“We just made a few adjustments,” Hall said. “They were really blitzing us hard, and we just started locking our guys on and running some zone iso. Pretty much try to get hat on hat and try to get J.T. to be a great athlete. I thought he ran extremely hard.”

Massillon took its first lead at 21-14 when Clark hit Robert Partridge – who was playing his first game at receiver – for a 21-yard touchdown pass with 7:25 left in the third. After Jordan tied the game at 21-21, the Tigers took their final lead when Jeremy Geier booted a 32-yard field goal 45 seconds into the fourth quarter.

And thus was set up one of the wildest – and most controversial – final 11 minutes in Tiger history.

GAME STATS

Jordan (Utah) 27,

Massillon 24

At Fawcett Stadium

Jordan 07 07 07 06 27

Massillon 00 14 07 03 24

SCORING SUMMARY

J – Hart 20 run (Blaisdell kick)

M – Clark 6 run (Geier kick)

J – Dimond 4 run (Blaisdell kick)

M – Turner 1 run (Geier kick)

M – Partridge 21 pass from Clark (Geier kick)

J – Spillman 11 run (Blaisdell kick)

M – Geier 32 FG

J – Blaisdell 32 FG

J – Blaisdell 36 FG

Jor Mas

First Downs 23 17

Rushes-Yards 30-129 42-174

Comp-Att-Int 31-42-1 8-10-1

Passing Yards 294 169

Fumbles-Lost 0-0 2-2

Penalty Yards 70 7

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing:

Massillon

Turner 23-128 TD;

Reiman 6-29;

Clark 10-8;

Price 1-4;

Partridge 1-3;

Ivan 1-2.

Jordan

Hart 17-74 TD;

Spillman 8-41 TD;

Dimond 3-10 TD;

Hunt 1-7;

Hammond 1-(-3).

Passing:

Massillon

Clark 8-10-169 TD, INT.

Jordan

Hart 31-42-294 INT.

Receiving:

Massillon

Gaines 2-40;

Grunder 2-28;

Adkins 2-26;

Price 1-54;

Partridge 1-21 TD

Jordan

Hunt 10-79;

Hammond 7-79;

Jones 5-40;

Brown 4-52;

Spillman 4-38;

Dimond 1-6.

Records:

Massillon 1-1;

Jordan 1-1.

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

2008: Massillon 45, Akron Buchtel 29

Tigers give Hall his first Grunder’s four TDs help Massillon pull away from Buchtel

By CHRIS EASTERLING
The Independent

MASSILLON, OH —

There were mistakes and turnovers; dropped passes and penalties. But at the end of Jason Hall’s first game as the Massillon head coach, there was also a win for the Tigers on Friday night.

While far from a clean opening-night performance, the Tigers were able to put together the plays when they had to in posting a 45-29 win over the Buchtel Griffins in front of about 8,000 fans at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

“We have to play better next week,” Hall said. “That’s what we talked to our kids about tonight. No. 1, we have to capitalize in the red zone and not make mistakes going in, and we have to make smart decisions coming out when we’re pinned deep.

“We just have to keep training our kids to be smart football players. We have to be more fundamentally sound when we have the ball. I thought our kids did a good job adjusting tonight.”

While there were plenty of things the Tigers will cringe about in the film session, one thing they won’t be grimacing over was the performance by Bo Grunder at receiver.

All the 5-foot-9, 159-pound Grunder did was catch four touchdown passes on five receptions on the night, for a total of 112 yards. He had scoring catches of 26, 40, 17 and 24 yards, the last which gave the Tigers a 38-15 lead.

“I never thought I’d score four TDs in a game, but I did,” Grunder said. “Me and (quarterback Michael) Clark connected. That’s going to be all season.”

Grunder also contributed on defense, picking off a pass on the goal line and also recovering a fumble on the first play of the season.

As for the guy throwing the ball to Grunder, Clark made the most of his first game action since Week Four of last season. He completed 10-of-18 passes for 170 yards and four touchdowns, as well as a pair of interceptions, one of which was returned 100 yards by Buchtel’s Tahj Dent for a touchdown.

“We’re all starting to get clicking,” Clark said. “The offensive line, everything. It’s just really coming together, and it’s going to lead to big things.”

However, for both teams, the turnovers were a major issue on this evening. Massillon turned it over three times, two of which lead to Buchtel scores. The last one – the Dent interception – was returned the length of the field for a score which cut the deficit to 17-15 with 9:46 left in the third quarter.

The Tiger defense, though, stiffened on the two-point conversion try, not allowing the Griffins to tie the score.

“Any time a team goes for two,” Hall said, “when you stop a team from going for two, you take away an instant chance to change momentum. They had a chance to tie, and they don’t, and momentum can shift just like that in high school football.”

It would begin to shift heavily to Massillon after that stop. The Tigers scored on consecutive drives for a 31-15 lead through three quarters, while the Griffins turned it over on consecutive drives to help set up that change in momentum.

Massillon finished the game by scoring on four of its last six possessions, with Clark adding a rushing touchdown to cap the Tiger scoring.

Buchtel wouldn’t go quietly, though, as Dent scored a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns. The senior quarterback finished with 124 yards on the ground and a pair of scores, plus 136 yards through the air.

“The quarterback was quick,” Grunder said of Dent. “He had moves. We couldn’t wrap him up. He kept juking our linemen.”

The Tigers looked to start the game off with a bang. However, they spent much of the first quarter starting and stopping with the momentum, mostly stopping.

“It was our first game, so we were really excited,” Clark said. “I think we all stuck together.”

Their first possession – which started at the Griffin 34 – ended a yard short of picking up a first down. After taking a 7-0 lead on a 26-yard Clark-to-Grunder touchdown pass on their second possession, the next three times the Tigers touched the ball – literally – they gave it up to Buchtel.

An interception was brought back to the Tiger 4, which resulted in a 1-yard John Coleman touchdown run which evened the score at 7-7 following the PAT. The subsequent kickoff was fumbled at the Massillon 11, but the Tiger defense held on a fake field goal try.

The very next Tiger play, the Buchtel defense swooped in and stuffed the ball carrier in the end zone for a safety and a 9-7 Griffin lead.

But just as quickly as the first quarter changed to the second, the momentum moved to Massillon. Clark and Grunder hooked up for another long touchdown pass – this one for 40 yards – to give the Tigers the lead for good at 14-9.

Jeremy Geier capped Massillon’s next possession with a 26-yard field goal, the first of his career, to make it 17-9 with 48 ticks left on the first-half clock.

GAME STATS

Massillon 45
Buchtel 29
at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium

Buchtel 9 0 6 14 29
Massillon 7 10 14 14 45

SCORING SUMMARY
M—Grunder 26 pass from Clark (Geier kick)
B—Coleman 1 run (Dent kick)
B—Kashrelle King safety
M—Grunder 40 pass from Clack (Geier kick)
M—Geier 26 field goal
B—Dent 100 interception return (rush failed)
M—Ivan 1 run (Geier kick)
M—Grunder 17 pass from Clark (Geier kick)
M—Grunder 24 pass from Clark (Geier kick)
B—Dent 35 run (Parker pass from Dent)
M—Clark 6 run (Silva kick)
B— Dent 8 run (pass failed)

Buchtel Mass
First Downs 12 21
Rushes-yards 35-126 46-254
Comp-Att-Int 9-23-2 10-18-2
Passing yards 136 170
Fumbles-Lost 4-3 1-1
Penalty yards 56 20

Individual statistics:
Rushing:

Massillon

Turner 22-140;

Reiman 4-46;

White 4-33;

Clark 8-26;

Roberson 3-7;

Patterson 2-4;

Ivan 3-2.

Buchtel

Dent 20-124.
Passing:

Massillon

Clark 10-18-170 4 TDs,INT

Buchtel

Dent 9-23-136 2 INTs..

Receiving:

Massillon

Grunder 5-112-4;

Turner 2-7;

Ivan 1-29;

Gaines 1-13;

Price 1-9.

Buchtel

Parker 3-54;

Lovelace 3-52.

Records

Massillon 1-0,

Buchtel 0-1.