Akron St. Vincent St. Mary Archives - Page 2 of 3

1995: Massillon 28, Akron St. Vincent St. Mary 21

October 27, 1995September 22, 2017
by Eric Smith

Tigers preserve playoff hopes

Top St. V ‑St. M. in OT as Bulldogs loom next

By JOE SHAHEEN
Independent Sports Editor

The Massillon Tigers came out of the locker room for Friday’s game against Akron St. Vincent‑St. Mary’s wearing their all orange uniforms in keeping with the Halloween season.

Little did the Tigers know the game would nearly turn into a nightmare before the Fighting Irish finally succumbed 28‑21 in two overtimes in front of 7,930 fans at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

The victory boosts the Tigers to 7‑2 on the season and coupled with Glen0ak’s ’28‑0 upset loss to Jackson, boosts Massillon’s chances to reach the playoffs with a victory over Canton McKinley next Saturday at Fawcett Stadium.

The Bulldogs were the last thing on the minds of the Tigers when St. Vincent‑St. Mary took a 21‑14 lead on the first series of overtime. The Irish handed the ball to tailback Andre Knott four consecutive times and the compactly built senior covered the 20 yards to paydirt on second and goal from the S. Scott Brown’s conversion kick put the visitors up by 7.

Massillon looked to be in trouble with fourth‑and‑four from the 14 on its first possession of 0T. But George Whitfield Jr. ran the bootleg keeper and worked his way to the 8 for a first down.

With the Irish defense keying on Tigers tailback Vinny Turner as it had all night long, fullback Lavell Weaver found a gaping hole over left guard on third‑and‑goal from the 3 for the equalizer. Jose Hose’s PAT forced a second overtime.

Massillon got the ball first in the second extra period. Fullback Nate Wonsick found a cavity over right guard and bulled his way to the Irish 5 on first down. Turner went over right guard for the go‑ahead TD on the next snap and Hose made it 28‑21 with the kick.

St. Vincent‑St. Mary got a first down on its possession, but on second down Knott was stripped of the football by Tigers defensive lineman James Smith and Eric Lightfoot fell on the pigskin to preserve Massillon’s dream of a third straight postseason playoff berth.

“We really got some big plays from some people in overtime,” said a visibly relieved Rose. “On that fourth down play when George made the first down, that’s the ballgame right there. Then we hit that good trap play there with Wonsick and he really snapped it up in there.”

While the end result was positive, it was a halting performance for much of the night by the Tigers against a Division III team that came into the contest with an unspectacular 4‑4 slate.

The Irish stuffed Massillon’s rushing game in the first half. In fact, the Tigers did not get a first down on the ground in the first 24 minutes of play.

“They were doing the very same thing that Barberton did against us,” Rose said. “They put eight men in the box and stopped everything inside.

“They didn’t ask us for any game films this week, so I’m sure Barberton gave them their film on us.”

Massillon got the running game untracked somewhat after the band show, but it was the aerial game that helped prevent disaster. Whitfield hit on 9 of 14 passes for 98 yards and one interception. Most of the throws went to the tight end and fullback. Brett Wiles caught four for 31 yards. Wonsick snagged two for 27 yards.

“We tried to get to the perimeter all night,” Rose said. “We threw the ball out there and we ran the stretch play out there.

”Our timing just wasn’t sharp. We didn’t have a real good week of practice because of the illnesses.”

The flu bug sapped, 19 players from practice on Tuesday and was a problem throughout the week.

While Massillon’s running game was being stacked up by the Irish, the green and gold were moving the ball on the ground with some degree of effectiveness. Knott rushed the ball 36 times for 158 yards (4.4 yards per carry)‑ He was complemented by fullback Tony Short (7 carries for 39 yards), quarterback Brian Butash (12 for 32) and tailback Tomny Skipper (6 for 27).

As a team, St. Vincent‑St. Mary’s outrushed Massillon 277‑138.

“Obviously, we didn’t stop their run,” Rose agreed. ”They had a lot of second‑and‑shorts consistently throughout the game. That enabled them to run their whole offense against us.

“When they come to play, they’re good. When they don’t come to play, they’re not very good. They didn’t have a turnover until the end of the game. That’s the thing that amazed me about them because they’ve been turning it over a lot this season.”

Other than Knott’s game ending fumble, St. Vincent‑St. Mary’s did not have a turnover. However, the Fighting Irish failed to negate Massillon’s punt block scheme early in the fourth quarter after a penalty pushed the visitors back to their 7.

Weaver came in from the right side of the Massillon line and got a hand on the kick which was downed at the 11-yard line. On the very first snap after the block, Turner went over left guard and tackle and scored to knot the game at 14‑14 with 10:40 to play in regulation.

“We went after that one and it was a huge turnaround for us,” Rose said. “We really needed that right there. Lavell came up big on that play.”

Massillon opened the scoring by marching 71 yards in 11 plays, keyed by Whitfield’s passing. The senior signal caller hit Wonsick for 24 yards, Devin Williams for 21 yards and Wiles for 10 yards to get the ball to the Irish 3. Three snaps later, Turner scored from a yard out at 4:03 of the first quarter. Hose’s kick made it 7‑0.

After a St. Vincent‑St. Mary’s punt rolled dead at the Massillon 8, the Irish caught a break by recovering a fumble at the 13. Knott scored five plays later and the kick tied it at 7‑7 with 6:56 left in the first half.

The Irish came up with an interception at their 26 to quell Massillon’s first drive of the second half, and marched 74 yards in 12 plays for the go ahead TD. Knott swept untouched around his right end from six yards out and Brown’s kick made it 14‑7 with 4:09 to play in the third.

Weaver’s blocked punt led to the tying score for Massillon, setting up the thrilling overtime finish.

“The thing that bothers me is we weren’t real crisp tonight,” Rose said. ”That’s disappointing.

“Last week we executed a lot better. It’s just a tough week to get a team ready to play. We came through it.”

MASSILLON 28
St. V‑St. M 21
M V
First downs rushing 6 18
First downs passing 6 0
First downs penalty 1 0
Total first downs 13 18
Net yards rushing 138 277
Net yards passing 98 3
Total yards gained 236 280
Passes attempted 14 5
Passes completed 9 1
Passes intercepted 1 0
Times kicked off 3 3
Kickoff average 47.7 47.3
Kickoff return yards 36 23
Punts 4 5
Punting average 32.5 28.6
Punt return yards 0 0
Fumbles 1 3
Fumbles lost 1 1
Penalties 1 3
Yards penalized 5 22
Number of plays 51 71
Time of possession 20:19 27:41
Attendance 7,930

St. V‑St. M 0 7 7 0 7 0 21
MASSILLON 7 0 0 7 7 7 28

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter
Mass ‑ Turner 1 run (Hose kick)

Second Quarter
St. V ‑ Knott 2 run (Brown kick)

Third Quarter
St. V ‑ Knott 6 run (Brown kick)

Fourth Quarter
Mass ‑ Turner 11 run (Hose kick)

First Overtime
St. V ‑ Knott 5 run (Brown kick)
Mass ‑ Weaver 3 run (Hose kick)

Second Overtime
Mass ‑ Turner 5 run (Hose kick)

FINAL STATISTICS

Rushing:
Massillon
Turner 30‑130, 3 TDs;
Wonsick 1‑15;
Weaver 1‑3, 1 TD.
St Vincent‑St. Mary
Knott 36‑158, 3 TDs,
Short 7‑39,
Butash 12‑32,
Skipper 6‑27,
Brewer 3‑20.

Passing:
Massillon
Whittield 9‑14‑98‑1.
St Vincent‑St. Mary
Butash 1‑3‑3.

Receiving:
Massillon
Wiles 4‑31,
Wonsick 2‑27,
Baer 2‑19,
Williams 1‑21.
St. Vincent‑St Mary
Pierce 1‑3.

George Whitfield

History

1994: Massillon 31, Akron St. Vincent St. Mary 15

October 28, 1994September 21, 2017
by Eric Smith

Bombs away!
Tigers go to the air to eliminate Irish
Big plays do in the Irish

By JOE SHAHEEN
Independent Sports Editor

The last time the Irish of Akron St. Vincent‑St. Mary’s visited Massillon for a Week 9 football game, it was more trick than treat for the Tigers as the Summit County entry took home a 28‑25 upset victory back in 1991.

The Tigers took the field Friday night determined to learn from history. Despite the distraction of the historic 100th meeting with the McKinley Bulldogs looming just a week away, the orange‑and‑black tended to the task at hand and secured a 31‑15 victory at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

Massillon, just a week removed from a lethargic first half performance at Alliance, came out with both guns blazing on this night. On their very first snap, the Tigers made a statement by going for a long bomb. Willie Spencer Jr.’s pass for Devon Williams barely missed connecting, but it drew an ovation from the partisans and put a smile on Spencer’s face.

Tigers coach Jack Rose noted the St. Vincent‑St. Mary’s defense almost dared the offense. to throw deep.

“We figured we were going to have to put it up because they put eight or nine guys up on the line,” Rose said. “We threw the deep ball early to try to get them off of us.”

“We were trying to open the game up because their corners were playing right up on the line,” explained Williams. “We showed them early we could beat them with our quickness.”

The first down misfire did not frustrate the Tigers. On second down, Leon Ashcraft picked up 14 yards on a draw play to the Tiger 27. Spencer ran the bootleg around left end for 17 more on the next play. Two plays later, Spencer found Vaughn Mohler along the right sidelines for 16 yards to the Irish 22 and the Tigers were cooking.

Spencer executed the option to perfection on the next play, pitching the ball to Ashcraft at the last moment as the pair went around left end. Ashcraft, who finished the night with 138 yards on 17 carries, sailed down the left sideline and into the St. Vincent‑St. Mary’s end zone. Nick Pribich added the conversion kick and Massillon led 7‑0 at 6:25 of the first period.

The opening drive was in stark contrast to the way things began for the locals a week ago at Alliance.

“We weren’t very good last week,” noted Rose. “We were flat. Every team hits that. That was our (flat) game last week. But that fiasco helped us focus this week‑”

The Tigers struck like lightning early in the second quarter after an Irish punt to the Massillon 45. On second‑and‑10, Spencer found Ashcraft running free along the left sideline and dropped a perfectly thrown pass in his lap. Ashcraft caught the ball near the Irish 30, cut back to the middle of the field at the 15 and was taken down on a shoestring tackle at the 2‑yard line.

On third‑and‑goal, from the one‑yard line, Spencer followed Eddie Evans and Tim Mendenhall into the end zone for a 13‑0 Tigers advantage.

St. Vincent‑St. Mary’s brought a little lightning of its own and pulled it out on its next possession. On first‑and‑10 from their own 33, quarterback Bob Butash executed the play fake and found Joe Gilbride open on a deep post pattern. Butash hit Gilbride at the Massillon 30 and he was off to the races for a 67‑yard touchdown strike to make it a 13‑7 contest at 8:19 of the second quarter.

The Tigers added a field goal late in the first half, marching from their 10 to the Irish 7. Ashcraft’s 23‑yard run on the first play of the drive and Spencer’s 29‑yard scamper on an option keeper one play later keyed the drive. Pribich drilled a 24‑yard field goal with :19 to play in the half to give Massillon a 16‑7 lead at the break.

The third quarter was uneventful with the exception of a 49‑yard burst by Ashcraft that moved the ball from the Massillon 13 to the Irish 38. That drive stalled on downs at the St, V‑St. M 19.

Early in the fourth quarter, Irish defensive back Tony Pierce intercepted the Tigers near midfield but fumbled the ball back to Massillon.

Two plays later, Spencer found Williams on a deep post pattern and the sophomore would not be caught, notching a 48‑yard touchdown catch and run with 11:05 to play.

Tigers holder Mark Hiegl kept the ball on a fake conversion kick, sweeping around right end for the two‑point conversion and a 24‑7 lead.

“That was the big one,” sighed Irish coach John Cistone of the double turnover. “It turned it around. You’re still in the game and you think you’re going to have good field position, then boom. Then they get the big touchdown. That knocks you down, especially when you’re young. It makes it tough to come back.”

“I was just trying to get a good fake so they would bite on the run,” said Spencer of the touchdown bomb. “I watched Devon all the way. I just threw it up there and I got hit hard. But, the line gave me great protection tonight.”

“Willie took a big hit on that touchdown pass,” observed Rose. “I was really proud of the way he stood in there. He took a hit on his blind side on that play. But he stood in there and stood in there and delivered a beautiful ball, You can’t make a much better pass than that. Devon kept running and caught up with it and made the great catch.”

The Tigers, 8‑1 going into next week’s showdown with the Bulldogs, wrapped it up with a 10‑play, 62-yard drive, capped by Jeremy Fraelich’s six‑yard burst up the middle and into the end zone. Pribich’s boot made it 31‑7.

The Irish scored on an 18‑yard touchdown pass with eight seconds to play, as both teams had their reserves on the field.

MASSILLON 31
ST. VINCENT 15
M V
First downs rushing 11 9
First downs passing 5 4
First downs penalty 0 0
Total first downs 16 13
Net yards rushing 255 126
Net yards passing 169 116
Total yards gained 424 242
Passes attempted 18 15
Passes completed 7 6
Passes int. 1 0
Times kicked off 6 3
Kickoff average 47.0 37.0
Kickoff return yards 89 100
Punts 2 7
Punting average 33.5 33.0
Punt return yards 1 0
Fumbles 0 2
Fumbles lost 0 1
Penalties 0 3
Yards penalized 0 16
Number of plays 60 47
Time of possession 24:17 23:43

ST. VINCENT 0 7 0 8 15
MASSILLON 7 9 0 15 31

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter.
M ‑ Ashcraft 26 run (Pribich kick)

Second Quarter
M ‑ Spencer 1 run (kick failed)
St. V ‑ Gilbride 67 pass from Butash (Hlivko kick)
M ‑ Pribich 24 FG

Fourth Quarter
M ‑ Williams 58 pass from Spencer (Hiegl run)
M ‑ Fraelich 6 run (Pribich kick)
St. V ‑ Hlivko 18 pass from Whitney (Knott pass from Whitney)

FINAL STATISTICS

Rushing:
Massillon
Ashcraft 17‑138;
Spencer 11‑61, 2 TDs;
Lewis 7‑32;
Fraelich 4-22, 1 TD;
Turner 1‑4;
Hiegl 1 ‑(minus‑2).
St. Vincent ‑ Knott 16‑82, Lazar 4‑36, Whitney 3‑21, LaCause 6‑9, Butash 3‑(minus‑22).

Passing:
Masillon
Spencer 7‑18‑169‑1, 1 TD.
St. Vincent
Butash 5‑10‑98, 1 TD;
Whitney 1‑5, 18, 1 TD.

Receiving:
Massillon
Ashcraft 3‑78;
Mohler 3‑33;
Williams 1‑58, 1 TD.
St. Vincent
Shenigo 1‑25;
Gilbride 1‑67, 1 TD;
Hlivko 1‑18, 1 TD;
Knott 1‑3;
LaCause 1‑3.

Leon Ashcraft

History

1993: Massillon 42, Akron St. Vincent St. Mary 7

October 22, 1993September 18, 2017
by Eric Smith

Massillon staves off the Fighting Irish

Tigers are 8‑0 with East next

By JOE SHAHEEN
Independent Sports Editor

Each of us has had a moment in our lives when a little voice inside tells us it is time to step up and take charge.

Massillon Tigers senior Paul Schroeder heard that little voice Friday night and heeded the call.

Schroeder’s clutch 33‑yard reception midway through the third quarter turned momentum back in the Tigers’ favor and helped them secure a closer‑than‑it‑sounds 42‑7 victory over scrappy Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary in front of 10,412 at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

Massillon led 14‑0 at halftime but began the second half as if it didn’t want to remain unbeaten. On the Tigers first play from scrimmage in the third quarter, missed connections on a basic handoff left the football on the sand turf. The Fighting Irish recovered at the hosts’ 39 and seemed to get a burst of confidence.

One third‑and‑five from the 34, sophomore quarterback Bob Butash rolled left and found sophomore running back Andre Knott along the left sideline. By the time Knott had been pulled down, the ball was at the Tigers’ 5‑yard line. Three plays later, Gary James found a seam over his right tackle and scored. The extra point, which was executed three times due to a pair of penalties, made it a 14‑7 contest.

But Massillon’s generosity had not been tapped out. Following the ensuing kickoff, the Tigers took over at their 30. On first down, sloppy execution of the triple option left the football on the ground again and once again the visitors from Akron recovered.

Sensing a real threat, the Tiger defense stiffened. Josh McElhaney sacked Butash on first down and B.J. Payne blasted James for a loss on third down. Then Geoff Osborn batted down a fourth‑and‑seven pass to give the offense an opportunity at redemption.

After gaining four yards in two plays, Massillon needed something to happen on third-and‑six from the 20. Schroeder obliged, hauling in Danzy’s 33-yard strike along the right sideline to breathe life into the attack.

“That was a real big play down there,” said head coach Jack Rose. “It gave us the momentum back.”

The Tigers seemed renewed by Schroeder’s catch. Three plays later, Danzy executed the quarterback draw to perfection, cut off a superb block by Jake Laughlin and scampered 17 yards to the Irish 29.

On second down, Danzy rolled right, eluded the rush and hit Lonnie Simpson along the right sideline at the 5. Simpson cruised into the end zone to give the Tigers a 21‑7 lead and control of the ball game.

But it was Schroeder’s play that seemed to light Massillon’s fire.

“It was a play action for the off tackle play,” Schroeder recalled. “I show blocking and I cut out and go towards the corner and break it toward the sideline. Mike threw a perfect ball. You couldn’t ask for a more perfect ball. My job is easy, catching it.”

It was the second time Rose had sent in the play. The first time, Schroeder passed up the assignment.

“The first time they called it, I told the other tight end Isaiah (Jackson) to take it,” Schroeder said. “So we switched sides and he went out. When they called it the second time, it was like, let me have this one. I could just feel it. So I just did my job.

“I’m supposed to go to that side on that play. But for some odd reason, the first time I just told him to take it and the second time something in me told me, ‘Let me have this one.’”

The Irish weren’t able to do much after Simpson’s touchdown catch. They went three-and‑out on their next possession and Massillon took over at its 45. Two snaps later, Danzy hit Simpson with a short pass and the senior wideout broke it for a 22‑yard gain to the 19. After St. Vincent‑St. Mary dropped two sure interceptions, Ali Dixon took a pitch out around left end and outran the pursuit for a seven‑yard touchdown and a 28-7 advantage.

The scoreboard didn’t stay the same for long, as Willie Spencer Jr. picked off his sixth interception of the year and raced down the right sideline for a 36‑yard touchdown return and a 35‑7 lead.

It was three‑and‑out for the Irish once again and the Tigers set up shop at the 45. After a couple of quarterback draws, Danzy rolled left and hit Simpson along the left sideline at the 5. Again No. 21 stepped into the end zone to close the scoring at 42‑7.

Longtime St. Vincent‑St. Mary head coach John Cistone was not all that unhappy with his team’s performance.

“We were in it,” Cistone said. “When we couldn’t score down there fourth‑and‑seven … what are you going to do? We had to put it in.

”We had the momentum going and we ran out of gas. Most of our kids go both ways. The kids gave a hell of an effort.”

Rose was not quite as upbeat as his counterpart.

“Well, we turned the damn ball over,” Rose observed. “You turn the ball over against a team like that and you’re just asking for trouble. We turned it over twice down there in the third quarter.

“They never really stopped us. We were stopping ourselves.”

Rose found a lot to be desired in his squad’s play along the offensive line.

“I was really disappointed in our line play tonight,” he said. “We just didn’t play very well. We have a lot to work on. We took a step backwards in that area tonight. We’ve got to get that straightened out in the last two weeks or we’re not going to go where we want to go.”

Simpson, who had four catches for 77 yards and those two touchdowns, acknowledged the Tigers didn’t get going until midway through the third quarter.

“Yeah, we started a little slow,” he said. “But we got on the move. Look what we done.

“I feel real good about this team. We had a great week of practice; a good week of conditioning and it showed in the second half. The coach got us going.”

Schroeder confirmed that the Tiger staff did a little motivational speaking.

“Coach jumped on us and said we’re not playing up to our potential,” Schroeder reported. “We just showed a little of our potential out there in the second half. There’s always room for improvement, so we’re going to improve this week and take on Youngstown East.”

Danzy finished with 219 yards of total offense and made another fan along the way in Cistone, who has seen a few quarterbacks in his time.

“We wanted to keep him from getting outside,” Cistone said. “No one has been able to keep him inside and I thought we did a good job there. But still, his athleticism … . He still makes the plays. I don’t know what else we could’ve have done.

MASSILLON 42
St. V‑St. M 7
M V
First downs rushing 10 4
First downs passing 8 2
First downs penalty 0 0
Total first downs 18 6
Net yards rushing 172 50
Net yards passing 158 56
Total yards gained 330 106
Passes attempted 21 14
Passes completed 10 4
Passes int. by 1 1
Times kicked off 7 2
Kickoff average 43.6 44.5
Kickoff return yards 27 68
Punts 1 6
Punting average 44.0 31.2
Punt return yards 25 0
Fumbles 3 1
Fumbles lost 3 1
Penalties 3 7
Yards penalized 25 32
Number of plays 58 44
Time of possession 23:07 24:53
Attendance 10,412

ST. VINCENT 0 0 7 0 0
MASSILLON 7 7 7 21 42

FIRST QUARTER
MASS ‑ Ashcraft 1 run (Endsley kick)

SECOND QUARTER
MASS ‑ Dixon 4 pass from Danzy (Endsley kick)

THIRD QUARTER
ST. V ‑ James 2 run (Schapel kick)
MASS ‑ Simpson 26 pass from Danzy (Endsley kick)

FOURTH QUARTER
MASS ‑ Dixon 7 run (Endsley kick)
MASS ‑ Spencer 36 pass int. return (Endsley kick)
MASS ‑ Simpson 25 pass from Danzy (Pribich kick)

FINAL STATISITICS

RUSHING
(Massillon)
Dixon 18‑94. 1 TD;
Danzy 13‑61;
Arney 2‑10;
Paul 2‑4;
Ashcraft 2‑3, 1 TD.
(St. Vincent)
James 15‑29,
Knott 5‑19,
LaCause 4‑15.

PASSING
(Massillon)
Danzy 10‑21‑158‑1, 3 TDs.
(St. Vincent)
Butash 4‑14‑56‑1.

RECEIVING
(Massillon)
Simpson 4‑77, 2 TDs;
Dixon 5‑47, 1 TD;
Schroeder 1‑34.
(St. Vincent)
Knott 3‑41,
Shenigo 1‑15.

History

1992: Massillon 44, Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary 0

October 23, 1992September 6, 2017
by Eric Smith

Tigers win in rout

Tigers roar to emotional win

Players dedicate game to coach’s hospitalized son

By STEVE DOERSCHUK
Independent Sports Editor

The Massillon Tigers spent the week praying for 2‑year‑old Christopher Rose. On Friday, they played for him. Did they ever play. The Tigers dedicated the game to Christopher, hospitalized son of head coach Jack Rose. Then they went out and clobbered Akron St. Vincent‑St. Mary 44‑0.

“We played this game for Coach Rose and his son,” said senior tight end Todd Peters. “They were in our hearts the whole game.”

Rose kept an upbeat attitude during a four‑game losing streak that ended last week with a 38‑0 win over Bloomington South. He has done the same thing while Christopher battles congestive heart failure in Akron Children’s Hospital.

”I didn’t know they had done that (dedicate the game to Christopher) until after the game,” Rose said shortly before leaving Paul Brown Tiger Stadium to be with his wife, Denise and son at the hospital. “I appreciate them and the coaches for all they did;’

Rose said medication seems to have improved Christopher’s condition, which he developed several months after undergoing open‑heart surgery. “It’s been a tough week,” Rose said. “It kind of puts this (football) in perspective.”

It is difficult to explain why the Tigers, 4‑4, could so thoroughly dominate St. Vincent‑St. Mary. The Fighting Irish are 3-5, but they were competitive last week in a 17-0 loss Youngstown Cardinal Mooney, the team that clobbered Canton McKinley early in the season.

“I guess we’re not as good as I thought,” said Irish head coach John Cistone. “Maybe playing Mooney and Massillon back to back was too much . this year, anyway. That’s the worst we’ve played since 1970, when Massillon had that great team.” Cistone was talking about a 68‑7 loss to Bob Commings’ state championship team of 22 years ago. “Massillon,” added Cistone, “has an awful big offensive line. They manhandled us on the inside. And (quarterback Mike) Danzy was too quick to the outside for our ends. “Put that together with all our turnovers (two fumbles, three interceptions) and I guess this is what happens.”

For the second straight week, the Tigers rolled up a 38-0 lead before the fourth quarter then brought in numerous backups. For the second straight week, they fashioned a shutout. “The defense,” noted Rose, “has played well all year.”

One of the senior defenders, nose guard William Shahan, said the players never got down during the losing streak. “Coach Rose told us, ‘Keep chopping wood … keep chopping wood.’ We did, and we’re coming up with a lot of intensity. If we keep playing like this the last two weeks, we should do great.”

Not all of the Tiger starters took a rest because the game was a blowout. Senior safety/running back Dan Haceknbracht suffered a foot injury in the second quarter and finished the game in street clothes. “It’s a sprain,” Hackenbracht said. “I’ll be all right.” Team doctor Robert Erickson said he will examine Hackenbracht this morning. Erickson said the injury is unrelated to the broken ankle that cost Hackenbracht most of his junior year.

Senior Marty Gugov filled in for Hackenbracht and set up two touchdowns, first by causing and recovering a fumble, then by making an interception. “This was a big game for the team,” Gugov said. “It was a real great team effort.”

The Tigers took the opening kickoff and set the tone early. They drove 62 yards in 12 plays, using four ball ‑carriers on a smash‑mouth march. Danzy sneaked in from the 1 for the touchdown, Jason Brown kicked the P.A.T., and it was 7‑0. The drive consumed nearly half the first quarter.

The defense forced St. Vincent to punt after three plays but an effective punt pinned the Tigers at their own 12. If there was a turning point in the game, it may have been a third‑and‑long completion from Danzy to Peters that went for 21 yards. “We sent two guys deep and one guy over the middle,” Peters said. “They can only put so many defenders on so many people. ”

Danzy danced to his right on a bootleg and hit the man who crossed the middle, Peters. It was the key play in a 14‑play, 88‑yard march that included a 22‑yard counter‑gap run by Andre Stinson and a 1‑yard touchdown plunge by Hackenbracht. Brown’s kick made it 14‑0 with 9:42 left in the second quarter. The drive consumed 6:41.

St. Vincent’s next possession ended when Gugov stripped third‑year starting quarterback Josh Zwisler of the ball. Gugov recovered at the Irish 41, setting up a booming 32‑yard field goal by Brown that may have been good from 15 yards deeper. There was 5:30 left in the first half, and Massillon had already dented St. Vincent for as many points as Mooney did in an entire game.

With less than a minute left in the half, linebacker Vic Murray jarred the ball loose from Irish running back Cameron Pooler. Tiger senior Paul Schroeder recovered near midfield.

On third down from the Irish 43, Danzy rolled right and unloaded a bomb to junior Eddie Griffith, who had raced behind a cornerback and a safety. Griffith caught the ball cleanly in the end zone and Brown delivered the kick to make it 24‑0 at the 0:03 mark of the first half.

For the second straight week, Danzy played one series at quarterback in the second half. It was a quick one. Gugov’s interception gave the Tigers the ball in the opening moments of the third quarter. Danzy connected with Peters for a 24‑yard touchdown, and Brown’s kick made it 31‑0 with 10: 37 left in the third quarter.

The backup offensive players maintained the pace. With 7:22 left in the third quarter, junior quarterback Mike Utterback tossed a 14‑yard TD pass to Leon Ashcraft. Brown’s kick made it 38‑0 with 7:22 left in the third quarter.

Ali Dixon scored on a 4‑yard run with 8:56 left in the game to create the 44‑0 final.

Tim Menches’ interception in the end zone preserved the shutout.

The Tigers will take on struggling Youngstown East next Friday before playing host to arch‑rival McKinley. “We’re on a roll , right now,” concluded Peters. “We’ve got to go after it.

MASSILLON 44
St. VINCENT 0

M St. V
First down: rushing 18 5
First down passing 7 4
First downs by penalty 1 0
Totals first downs 26 9
Yards gained rushing 284 134
Yards lost rushing 7 17
Net yards rushing 277 117
Met yards passing 145 56
Total yards gained 422 173
Passes attempted 12 11
Passes completed 8 5
Passes int. 0 3
Times kicked off 8 1
Kickoff average 49.3 53.0
Kickoff return yards 30 96
Punts 1 2
Punting average 31.0 33.0
Punt return y yards 0 0
Fumbles 2 4
Fumbles lost 1 2
Penalties 2 6
Yards penalized 15 36
Number of play 65 42
Time of possession 27:39 20:21
Attendance 10,497

St. Vincent 0 0 0 0 0
Massillon 7 17 14 6 44

M ‑ Danzy 1 run (Brown kick)
M ‑ Hackenbracht 1 run (Brown kick)
M ‑ FG Brown 32
M ‑ Griffith 43 pass from Danzy(Brown kick)
M ‑ Peters 24 pass from Danzy (Brown kick)
M ‑ Ashcraft 14 pass from Utterback (Brown kick)
M ‑ Dixon 1 run (kick failed)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing:
(M) Stinson 11‑72, Copeland 10‑54, Danzy 7‑20, Selmetz 1‑6, Hackenbrachl 5‑12. Dixon 6‑26, Ashcraft 4‑7, Arney 5‑61, Riley 2‑26, Hock 1‑3.
(St. V) Pooler 14‑66, Haller 6‑6, Zwisler 3‑(minus)3, James 5‑41, Shenigo, 3‑7.

Passing
(M) Danzy 4‑8‑0 94, Utterback 4‑4‑0 51.
(St. V) Zwisler 3‑8‑1 33, Haller 2‑3‑1 23.

Receiving
(M) Peters 2‑45, Griffith 1‑43, ‑Manson 2‑22, Ashcraft 1,14, Elder 1‑6, Westland 1‑15
(St. V) Pooler 2‑14, Close 1‑19, Frattura 1‑12, Gilbride 1‑11.

History

1991: Massillon 25, Akron St. Vincent St. Mary 28

October 25, 1991September 3, 2017
by Eric Smith

Tigers wounded by St. Vincent

Ashcraft, Woullard say they’ll play against Bulldogs

By STEVE DOERSCHUK
Independent Sports Editor

The recovery will be painful as the Massillon Tigers attempt to restore the glow on their 1991 football season.

As head coach Lee Owens put it, “No matter what you try to say, there’s never anything good about a loss,” including Friday’s 28‑25 setback to Akron St. Vincent‑St. Mary in front of 12,300 on a warm October night at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

So it was when the Tigers lost 14‑7 to Cleveland St. Joseph on a frozen night the ninth week of the 1989 season. That year’s team recovered ‑‑ after a grim week of practice for McKinley ‑ to beat the Bulldogs and win two playoff games.

“There’s really no magic about trying to come back,” Owens said. “I’ve had a lot of confidence in this team all season and that’s not going to change now. We’ll just prepare as hard as we can, as always. We’ll make every effort to be as well prepared as we can.”

The Tigers had to adjust Friday to two things they hadn’t prepared for ‑ in‑game injuries to “rob” (read outside backer) defensive end Jason Woulland and fullback Falando Ashcraft,

On the first series of the game, Woullard suffered what was diagnosed as a bruised (not separated, as one fast‑traveling rumor had it) right shoulder. In the third quarter, Ashcraft sustained a sprained right knee judged to be less serious than the one that knocked quarterback Nick Mossides out of the fifth game of the season. Ashcraft’s injury was initially thought to be a sprained ankle; in fact, he was helped off the field after the game with no shoe on his right foot, and his ankle heavily wrapped. After the game, he climbed out of a cold whirlpool bath and declared, “I’ll, be all right.”

Woullard, like Ashcraft, said he would be able to play against McKinley.

No one can deny the injuries hurt the Tigers. Ashcraft had rushed for 75 yards at the time of his injury, pushing his season total to 998 (Travis McGuire gave the Tigers 135 rushing yards, lifting his season total to 1,113). Woullard has quietly had a superb season in one of the Tigers’ most demanding defensive positions.

On the other hand, no one was denying St. Vincent is an outstanding team. The Fighting Irish, whose 7‑2 record is the same as the Tigers’, clinched a Division III playoff spot and could be back at Tiger Stadium next month playing for a state title.

“St. V played a great game,” Owens said. “They beat us physically and they beat us a couple of times at the skill positions.”

Third‑year starter Chris “Juice” Campbell set a record for most yardage by a wide receiver facing Massillon in catching five passes for 191 yards and two touchdowns. He is simply a magnificent athlete, and he still looked fresh at the end despite playing full‑time on offense and defense, and on kickoff teams.

Irish tailback Larry Henderson also showed flashes of brilliance but was generally contained (27 on one carry, 31 yards over nine other lugs) before he left the game with a cramped thigh. Henderson’s replacement, junior Cameron Puhler, hardly cramped St. V’s style after entering the game in the third quarter. He rushed 13 times for 77 yards. Puhler ‘ whose efforts were key in touchdown drives that reversed what had been a 17‑7 Massillon lead was billed in advance by Irish head coach John Cistone as an outstanding back. So, he was a surprise only to those unfamiliar with the Irish.

Everything was going the Tigers’ way at the start of the third quarter. They emerged from the locker room with a dominating offensive march that expanded a 10‑7 halftime lead to 17‑7. Then they stuffed the first Irish offensive possession of the second half and got the ball back on a punt.

The Tigers drove 65 yards for a touchdown on the opening series of the second half. Ashcraft opened the drive with five smashing carries for 40 yards. It was third down from the 9 when McGuire made one of his most spectacular runs of the season, taking a short pass from Mossides near the line of scrimmage, advancing the ball to the 3 where he was met by a swarm of defenders, then fighting and spinning his way through St. V’s Bosco Pearson, Brandon Stancliff, Henderson and Craig Hoffman. All four wound up on the sand turf, with McGuire in the end zone.

Brown’s P.A.T. kick made it 17‑7 with 7:43 left in the third quarter.

The turning point of the game came midway through the third period, on second‑and‑eight from the Massillon 42. Henderson, playing defensive back, intercepted a tipped pass from Nick Mossides and returned it 27 yards to the Massillon 39; Henderson pulled up lame after the run and never returned.

St. Vincent’s next play was a 23‑yard pass to Campbell. The Irish scored on third‑and‑eight when junior quarterback Josh Zwisler hooked up with flanker Bosco Pearson on a 14‑yard scoring pass to the right flat. Ed Jamison’s P.A.T. boot made it 17‑14 with 3:26 left in the third quarter.

The Tigers then started their first series after Ashcraft’s injury. They punted after three plays.

Two plays later, Zwisler lobbed a bomb over the middle, and Campbell ran under it for the catch and a 48‑yard gain to the Tiger 25. Puhler’s running took care of the rest of the 71‑yard drive. A 17‑yard gain put the ball on the 4, and he scored on the next play. Jamison’s kick made it 21‑17, St. V, with 10:44 left in the game.

A squib kick left the Tigers buried on their own 10, and they again had to punt after three plays. The Irish got the ball on the Massillon 42, and scored on a 33‑yard play on which Campbell ran under a bomb along the right sideline. Jamison’s kick again was good, and it was 28-17, St. V, with 6:25 left in the game.

The Tiger offense responded with its most impressive scoring possession of the night, 55 yards in six plays, eating up just 1:56.

A 13‑yard run by McGuire, a 15‑yard Mossides pass to Marc Stafford, and a 14‑yard Mossides pass to McGuire set up McGuire’s 4‑yard TD run on first‑and‑goal. The Tigers went for two so they could close the gap to a field goal, and succeeded when McGuire hit Greg Paul on an option pass.

It was 28‑23 with 4:29 left in the game.

“I felt real good about our chances if we got the ball back,” Owens said. ‘”The offense showed a lot of determination, on that drive.”

Essentially, the game came down to a third‑and‑eight play with the clock winding toward the 2 1/2‑minute mark. With the ball on the Irish 33, Puhler took the ball on a sprint draw, in the face of a blitz, dodged a tackler, and sprinted up the middle 12 yards for a first down to the 45. Puhler ran 10 yards on the next play, and from there the Irish had no trouble running out the clock.

Massillon had dominated the first half, except for the game’s opening series when Campbell burst over the middle on a third-and‑nine and was wide open when he caught a Zwisler pass in stride en route to a 64‑yard touchdown play.

It was 7‑0 with 61 seconds gone in the game.

The Tigers struck back quickly, driving 66 yards in seven plays, ignited by a 14‑yard completion to Terry Holland. On first down from the 9, McGuire broke up the middle, broke two tackles and burst into the end zone. Jason Brown’s booming P.A.T. boot to the top row of the north end zone made it 7‑7 just 1:57 after Campbell’s TD.

Following a missed 45‑yard St. Vincent field goal try, the Tigers drove 67 yards before running out of downs at the 13. The Tigers quickly got the ball back on a Henderson fumble and Jonathon Jones’ recovery at the Massillon 40. The Tigers drove 56 yards to the 4 before settling for a 21‑yard field goal by Brown. It was 10‑7 with 8:56 left in the half.

It stayed that way at halftime, at which point St. Vincent led 178‑175 in total offense.

The Irish wound up with a 386-309 edge in total offense.

The Tigers still have a solid chance to make the playoffs for the third straight year and seventh time overall.

However, Owens said, “The playoffs are the last thing on my mind right now.”

The Tiger locker room was not a happy place. Outside the locker room, a woman walked toward a parking lot on the outside of a fence. “Yea, Tigers,” she said. “I still love you.”

St. Vincent head coach John Cistone was happy but not gloating after the game.

St. VINCENT 28
MASSILLON 25
M S
First downs rushing 12 7
First downs passing 4 7
First downs by penalty 2 0
Totals first downs 18 14
Yards gained rushing 225 162
Yards lost rushing 6 8
Net yards rushing 219 154
Net yards passing 90 232
Total yards gained 309 386
Passes attempted 15 19
Passes completed 8 9
Passes int. by 0 1
Times kicked off 5 5
Kickoff average 49.2 50.0
Kickoff return yards 108 83
Punts 4 3
Punting average 35.0 36.7
Punt return yards 12 15
Fumbles 0 1
Fumbles lost 0 1
Penalties 1 9
Yards penalized 5 53
Number of plays 59 53
Time of possession 24:24 23:36
Attendance 12,300

St. VINCENT 7 0 7 14 28
MASSILLON 7 3 7 8 25

SCORING SUMMARY
SV ‑ Campbell 64 pass from Zwisler (Jamison kick)
M ‑ McGuire 9 run (Brown kick)
M ‑ Brown 21 FG
SV ‑ Pearson 14 pass from Zwisler (Jamison kick)
SV ‑ Puhler 4 run (Jamison kick)
SV ‑ Campbell 33 pass from Zwisler (Jamison kick)
M ‑ McGuire 3 run (Good pass from McGuire)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING
(Massillon) McGuire 23‑135, Ashcraft 16‑75, Mossides 1‑0, Seimetz 2‑5, Stafford 1‑4;
(St. Vincent) Henderson 10‑58, Pethel 6‑15, Zwisler 4‑4, Puhler 13‑77.

PASSING
(Massillon) Mossides 8‑15‑90, 1 TD, 1 int.;
(St. Vincent) Zwisler 9‑19‑232, 3 TDs.

RECEIVING
(Massillon) Holland 1‑19, Stafford 2‑41, Ashcraft 1‑4, McGuire 4‑26;
(St. Vincent) Campbell 5‑191, Pethel 1‑3, Frattura 1‑22, Henderson 1‑2, Pearson 1‑14.

History

1990: Massillon 24, Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary 9

October 19, 1990August 23, 2017
by Eric Smith

Bring on the Bulldogs Tigers overtake St. V; starter at QB up in the air

By STEVE DOERSCHUK
Independent Sports Editor

The Massillon Tigers made their fans nervous but got the job done Friday night in their final “prelude to the Pups.”

They trailed 9‑7 at halftime and put Akron St. Vincent‑St. Mary in scoring range early in the third quarter. That was enough to make folks remember a loss to Cleveland St. Joseph in last year’s McKinley warmup.

The Tigers were smashing the rest of the way, though, en route to a 24‑9 victory.

Massillon goes into McKinley week with a 7‑2 record and four‑game winning streak. St. Vincent fell to 4‑4, which is also McKinley’s record following an 18‑15 loss at unbeaten Boardman last night.

There is a strong possibility the Tigers will be in the Division I playoffs, win or lose next Saturday. Head coach Lee Owens sees a loss as unspeakable, however.

“We will tell our players we need to beat‑‑McKinley to make the playoffs,” he said.

Whether or not that comes true, the point is this: if the Tigers hope to win playoff games, a loss to McKinley is the worst way to get ready.
It is uncertain who will start at quarterback against McKinley.

Barry Shertzer started, as usual, Friday night. But it was Troy Burick who finished. It was Burick who accounted for the Tigers’ only first‑half touchdown, finding tight end Chris Koth over the middle from nine yards out. It was Burick behind center when the Tigers scored their two second‑half touchdowns, one set up on his well thrown 46‑yard bomb to Marc Stafford.

“We’ll look at the films and we’ll look at how things go in practice,” Owens said.

Burick has played extensively all year but never so much in key situations as against St. V.

Barry was throwing the ball high in practice all week and he was throwing it high again tonight,” Owens said. “It was one of those situations where your starting pitcher doesn’t have his best stuff and you go to the bullpen.
The Tigers got the ball first Friday and punted after three incomplete passes, all catchable but high throws by Shertzer. Shertzer completed six of 11 passes for 57 yards in his remaining action. For the season, he has completed 69 of 151 passes for 849 yards, with seven touchdowns and four interceptions.

Burick came into the game with eight completions in 17 attempts for 108 yards. His passing has been fair, but he has been a dangerous man on the bootleg runs that are a big part of Owens’ run‑and‑boot offense.

“Everyone knows Troy gives us an added dimension,” said Owens, speaking of the junior’s aptitude for making tacklers miss.

Burick had his best passing night against St. V, completing three of five for 62 yards. He also rushed six times for 22 yards, giving him 20 carries for 151 yards on the year.

Don’t look for Owens to announce early who will go at QB against McKinley. He’ll keep the Bulldogs guessing.

There will be no guesswork, though, when it comes to running back Falando Ashcraft. The Tiger junior will get the ball.

Ashcraft dented St. V for 124 yards in 25 carries. He looked downright scary in the fourth quarter, when the Tigers put the game away.

With 6:39 left in the game, James McCullough scored from three yards out and Ryan John converted the kick to give the Tigers a 17‑9 lead .

Mike Martin’s kickoff, a squib job, resulted in a fumble, and Martin recovered. Burick ran for 11 yards to the St. Vincent 31‑yard line. Then Ashcraft got the ball and a sweep left and roared around the well‑blocked left side. He looked like a man possessed as he steamed away from a pack of pursuers into the end zone, where he showed the nail to the portion of a crowd of 10,327 seated in the north grandstand at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

John’s kick, his 28th successful conversion in a row, made it 24‑9 with 6:05 left. It was “turn out the lights” time for the Fighting Irish.

Owens said a key to Ashcraft’s big night was St. Vincent’s strategy.

“‘The last three times we’ve played them they’ve keyed on the A-back (it was Travis McGuire Friday),” Owens said. “That opens up some things for the bootleg runs. and it opened up some things for Falando.

“Of course, Falando is really running the ball well. He’s improved. He’s a load to try to bring down.”

Ashcraft said there is another factor in a season in which he has rushed 152 times for 888 yards.

”The offensive line. has been more intense lately,” he said, “That’s helped a lot.”

There were mixed opinions as to how rugged an opponent St. Vincent was. The Irish came in billed as a formidable team with huge linemen on both sides of the ball.

“They were just big and fat,” joked Tiger defensive tackle Mark Murphy. “They weren’t bad. We were down at halftime, but we still thought we’d played pretty good defense.”

“They’re tough,” said Tiger offensive lineman Brent Bach. “You’d hit them and they’d slide off.”

“We should have had an easier time with them than we did,” said defensive back Chad Buckland, who shares the team interceptions lead (five) with Dan Hackenbracht after both of them picked off a pass.”

They were more physical than Stow. But they were about as capable a team as Stow.”

As for the progression of Friday’s game, it went like this.

St. Vincent’s first possession started after a 25‑yard punt return from slick junior Chris Campbell. The Fighting Irish drove 39 yards to where John Donatelli booted a 31yard field goal with 7:48 left in the first quarter.

The Tigers answered on the ensuing possession, driving 67 yards in 14 plays. Shertzer directed a drive from the Massillon 33 to the Irish 15. Ashcraft then made perhaps his best run of the night — he was caught in the backfield but fought loose and plowed three yards for a first down.

Burick came on, as he has in the past in the goal‑line offense. On third down from the nine, Burick sold St. V on the run, then hit a wide open Roth for a touchdown with 1:21 left in the first quarter. John’s kick made it 7‑3.

It stayed that way until late in the half, when a facemask penalty against the Tigers kept a St. Vincent drive alive. On second and three from the 28, sophomore quarterback Josh Zwisler unleashed a pass to the left corner of the end zone, where the 6‑1 Campbell leaped over 5‑8 cornerback Scott Karrenbauer for a touchdown reception.

Jeff Perry blocked the conversion kick attempt and it was 9‑7 with 33 seconds left in the half.

At halftime, when the offense and defense break into separate meetings, assistant coach Gary Wells delivered his most peppery talk of the season. Owens didn’t play it up as much, for two reasons; first, he thought his team was superior to St. Vincent and would win the game; second, there were some boos at halftime when the Tigers ran out the clock with two running plays.

“The guys felt bad enough about that,” he said. “I didn’t think I needed to get on them any more.”

St. V received the second‑half kickoff and was stuffed in three plays. Hackenbracht picked up a bouncing punt and fumbled, giving the Irish possession at the Tiger 37. Tiger tackle Ron Humphrey recovered a St. V fumble three plays later at the 31. From there the Tigers ‑‑ under Shertzer’s direction ‑‑ marched 69 yards in 10 plays to where John kicked a 26‑yard field goal. It was 10‑9, Tigers, with 4:08 left in the third quarter.

Hackenbracht atoned for his mistake by intercepting a pass and returning it 30 yards to the Irish 21. Burick came on but the Tigers couldn’t convert the opportunity.

He fared better on his next series, steering the Tigers 77 yards in six plays, most notably the 46‑yard pass to Stafford.

“Marc has great speed and he made an outstanding catch,” Owens said.

It was the longest catch of Stafford’s varsity career … something else for McKinley to think about.

McCullough scored three plays later at 6:39 of the fourth quarter, and a scant 34 game seconds later, Ashcraft was in the end zone.

The game was won.

MASSILLON 24
ST. VINCENT 9
M V
First downs rushing 10 2
First downs passing 4 4
First downs by penalty 2 1
Totals first downs 16 7
Yards gained rushing 190 97
Yards lost rushing 21 15
Net yards rushing 169 82
Net yards passing 119 79
Total yards gained 288 161
Passes attempted 19 10
Passes completed 9 4
Passes int. by 0 2
Times kicked off 5 3
Kickoff average 40.6 41.0
Kickoff return yards 46 72
Punts 3 5
Punting average 36.0 29.8
Punt return yards 27 41
Fumbles 2 8
Fumbles lost 1 2
Penalties 2 6
Yards penalized 2 6
Number of plays 20 51
Time of possession 25:39 22:21
Attendance 10,327

Individual statistics

Rushing
(M) Ashcraft 25‑124,
Burick 6‑22,
McGuire 6‑14,
Shertzer 2‑6,
McCullough 2‑3.

(St. V) Peththel 7‑38,
Vincent 7‑24,
Zwisler 1216,
Henderson 3‑2.

Passing
(M) Shertzer 6-14-0, 57 yards;
Burick 3‑5‑0, 62 yards;
(St. V) Zwisler 4‑10‑2, 79 yards.

Receiving
(M) Stafford 3‑67,
Ashcraft 1-19,
McGuire 2‑11,
Brown 1‑6,
Roth 1‑9,
Weber 1‑7.
(St. V) Campbell 3‑66,
Butts 1‑13.

St. Vincent 7 0 3 14 24
Massillon 3 6 0 0 9

V – FG Donatelli 31
M – Roth 9 pass from Burick (John kick)
M – Campbell 28 pass from Zwisler (kick failed)
M – FG John 26
M – McCullough 3 run (John kick)
M – Ashcraft 26 run (John kick)

History

1989: Massillon 28, Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary 21

September 29, 1989August 21, 2017
by Eric Smith

Time stands still as Tigers run by Irish 28-21 in OT

By STEVE DOERSCHUK
Independent Sports Editor

The clock quit. The Massillon Tigers didn’t

They’ll fix the clock at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium. Or replace it.

The Tigers don’t need fixed. Their 28-21 overtime victory over Akron
St. Vincent-St. Mary in front of 10,822 fans at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium left them looking like they’d just had an oil change, tune-up and wax job.

And the fans certainly don’t want to replace them. They’re taking a shine to this group that now seems to be streaming toward the playoffs, so far with a 5-1 record.

The clock started acting quirkly in the first half, despite a Thursday visit by a repair crew that spent hours tinkering with it.

They didn’t even bother to turn it on for the second half, when time was kept on the field.

In the end, they didn’t even need stopwatches, because the game went to overtime tied at 21-all.

In overtime, each team gets a turn with the ball 20 yards away from the end zone. The team that scores more points on its possession wins. If neither team outscores the other the first time this is done, they do it again; in fact, high school overtime could go on endlessly in theory, since there are no ties in Ohio high school football.

This brief explanation of overtime is necessary, since the Tigers have played only one other overtime contest, last year’s 10-7 victory over McKinley.

In fact, one Tiger player spent the joyous aftermath yelling “McKinley flashbacks” to teammates.

This one went to overtime only after some scary Fitch flashbacks.

Last year, Austintown-Fitch beat the Tigers 20-19 on a game-ending 43-yard field goal. With 30 seconds left in regulation last night, St. Vincent’s Jerry Arney, who had kicked several extra points to kingdom come, lined up for a 43-yard field goal try aimed at breaking a 21-all tie.

“I didn’t think this kick was going to make it,” Massillon coach Lee Owens said. “Their kicker had struggled with extra points coming into this game. For some reason, he was booming the extra points tonight, but this was a lot longer than an extra point.”

Tiger fans didn’t have to hold their breath for long. Arney’s kick never had a chance. It duck-tailed to the left, crashing into the TV-25 banner on the fence behind the end zone.

So it went to overtime.

Massillon senior Desmond Carpenter, who earlier recovered a teammate’s fumble in the end zone for a touchdown, said he sensed the right stuff among his teammates.

“I saw a lot of pride out there,” he said. “We got down in the second half. We had the lead (21-7) but they caught us. Then it came down to heart and determination.”

And maybe some good play-calling.

The Irish won the overtime-coin flip and elected to give Massillon the ball first.

“That way you get to see what the other team does, and you know exactly what you have to do on your possession,” said Irish coach John Cistone.

Cistone didn’t like what he saw on first down. Massillon quarterback Lee Hurst, who had been effective keeping the ball on bootleg runs through most of the night, made as if he was bootlegging one more time. The ball, meanwhile, had been given to running back Lamonte Dixon, who sprinted left while Hurst disappeared right.

“The bootleg had been working pretty well and they had to pay attention to it,” Owens said.

Dixon, who had carried only 10 times to that point, dashed to the 6 for a 14-yard gain. On first-and-goal, Ryan Sparkman churned to the 4.

“That put them in a position where they had to respect the inside run,” Owens said.

On second down, while the Irish were respecting just that, Hurst was bootlegging again – 4 yards for a touchdown around left end.

Gary Miller’s PAT kick made it 28-21.

The crowd began chanting, “defense!” as loudly as you will hear it at Tiger Stadium. On fourth-and-one from the 11, though, Irish quarterback Phil Lenz penetrated the defense to the 5, and the visitors were back in business.

But not for long. They never penetrated the 5. Lenz lost a half-yard on first down and running back David Vincent was stopped for no gain on second down. On third down, inside linebacker Craig Turkalj shot through a gap to stuff Vincent for a 1½ hard loss.

“For some reason, the Packers-Cowboys championship game from the 1960s popped into my mind,” Turkalj said. “that was the ice bowl game. Those two teams just lined up down by the goal line and went at it.”

“Our goal-line down linemen (Tom Menches, Mark McGeorge, Scott Sirgo and Brent Bach) made it happen. They knocked everybody out of the way and I had a clean shot to the ball carrier.”

McGeorge said it was a matter of “everybody selling out.”

“I was just thinking ‘root hog.’ You crawl through the offensive linemen’s legs and create a big pile.”

It was fourth-and-goal from the seven. It wasn’t over. Cistone called a pass play. Lenz had a man open near the right corner of the end zone.

“They caught us,” Turkalj said. “It was a good call.”

But the pass fell incomplete. The game was over. The Tigers moved to next week’s game against Indianapolis North Central with a 5-1 mark. The Irish went into next week’s game against Youngtown Cardinal Mooney with a 3-2 record.

“With the schedule we play,” Owens said, ‘we’re going to be in some tight games. The great teams and the ones that find a way to win at the end of games like this one.”

“St. Vincent-St. Mary is a great team, too. It’s too bad somebody had to lose.”

Cistone certainly agreed with that. He spent a long time after the game muttering to himself and to other coaches that this one shouldn’t have gotten away.

But in the end he told his team, “You played a helluva game. That’s all I can tell you. I couldn’t ask for any more.”

Hurst figured in three of the Tigers four touchdowns, passing for one and running for two. The senior signal caller passed for 148 yards, giving him 984 on the season. He is on course to challenge the single-season Massillon passing record of 1,604 yards by Brian Dewitz in 1983 – and Dewitz needed 13 games to reach that figure.

Rameir Martin, who caught the touchdown pass on a 10-yard play in the first quarter, had another big night. The 6-foot-4 senior end caught six passes for 54 yards. He has caught 356 yards worth of aerials this year, putting him within striking distance of Marty Guzzetta’s single-season team record of 706 (11 games) set in 1979.

MASSILLON 28
ST. VINCENT 21

STATISTICS
M St. V
First downs rushing 8 8
First downs passing 7 4
First downs by penalty 0 0
Totals first downs 15 12
Yards gained rushing 148 195
Yards lost rushing 18 13
Net yards rushing 130 182
Net yards passing 148 72
Total yards gained 278 254
Passes attempted 28 18
Passes completed 13 8
Passes int. by 2 0
Times kicked off 4 4
Kickoff average 56.3 44.3
Kickoff return yards 36 34
Punts 7 6
Punting average 35.6 41.2
Punt return yards 16 98
Fumbles 2 6
Fumbles lost 1 3
Penalties 2 3
Yards penalized 10 28
Number of plays 63 61
Time of possession 23:23 24:37
Attendance 10,822

Individual Statistics
Rushing
(M) Dixon 11-39, Hurst 10-31, Sparkman 13-53. Manion 1-7.
(St. V) Carter 6-26, Lenz 10-56, Butash 2-8, Vincent 16-45, Campbell 7-45, Flynn 1-2.

Passing
(M) Hurst 13-28-2 148.
(St. V) Lenz 8-18-0 72.

Receiving
(M) Martin 6-54, Sparkman 4-38, Carpenter 1-11, Harig 1-33, Manion 1-12.
(St. V) Campbell 2-25, Ferrer 2-33, Palko 1-18.

St. Vincent 0 7 7 7 0 21
Massillon 7 6 8 0 7 28

M – Martin 10 pass from Hurst (Miller kick)
St. V – Vincent 1 run (Arney kick)
M – Hurst 14 run (kick failed)
M – Carpenter fumble recovery in end zone (Harig pass from Hurst)
St. V – Campbell 19 pass from Lenz (Arney kick)
St. V – Lenz 8 run (Arney kick)
M – Hurst 4 run (Miller kick)

Tigers’ QB
takes game in own hands

By MARK CRAIG
Repository sports writer

MASSILLON – Massillon Washington High School quarterback Lee Hurst couldn’t think of a better person to get the ball on second-and-goal from the 4 in overtime of Friday night’s game against Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary.

Hurst, who was intercepted by Joseph Adolph at the Irish 13 as the Tigers were driving for the winning touchdown midway through the fourth quarter, said he was the man for the job.

Hurst got his opportunity and carried the ball untouched around left end after faking a handoff to the right. Hurst’s TD, which came three plays into the overtime, and Gary Miller’s third PAT of the evening gave the Tigers a 28-21 lead.

Massillon’s defense turned the lead into the Tigers’ fourth victory of the season when it held the Irish on fourth-and-goal at the 7. Massillon is 4-1, while St. Vincent-St. Mary dropped to 3-2.

After gaining 15 yards to the Massillon 5 on three plays in their overtime possession, the Irish were pushed back two yards. On fourth-and-goal, Irish quarterback Phil Lenz’ pass to the goal line was overthrown, sending most of the 10,822 fans in Paul Brown Tiger Stadium into a frenzy.

“We had no doubt we’d stop them,” said Massillon outside linebacker Joe Pierce. “When it gets down to a situation where we have to hold them in OT, we know we can get the job done.”

Hurst certainly got the job done when it counted. After a 14-yard gain by Lamonte Dixon and a two-yard gain by Ryan Sparkman in overtime, Hurst knew it was time for him to win the game.

“That’s the play I was hoping for,” said Hurst, who rushed for 31 yards and completed 13-of-28 pases for 148 yards, one TD and two interceptions. “It had worked a couple times earlier in the game, and I knew me and the line could make it work again.”

Hurst almost didn’t have the opportunity to make up for his two interceptions. With 38 seconds left in regulation, St. Vincent-St. Mary place-kicker Jerry Arney had a chance to win the game with a 48-yard field goal.

His kick was long enough, but wide left.

“We played a heckuva game, but it’s hard to be satisfied with just that,” said St. Vincent-St. Mary head coach John Cistone. “We should have won the game. Arney has the leg to make that field goal.”

Massillon head coach Lee Owens was somewhat concerned with the way the Tigers couldn’t put the Irish away after going on top 21-7 seven plays into the third quarter. He also is a little concerned with the way the Irish’s wishbone backfield effectively ran the counter play on offense while piling up 182 yards rushing.

Owens, however, wasn’t worrying about all that Friday night.

“When it came eight down to winning the ball game, the kids came through,” Owens said. “Lee showed the type of leader he is, and then the defense held on to give us the win. You can’t ask for much more than that.”

Massillon opened the scoring after Eddie Williams recovered one of the three fumbles
St. Vincent-St. Mary lost. The Tigers took the ball from the St. Vincent-St. Mary 32 and drove 10 plays in 6:40.

Hurst, who gained six yards rushing on a fourth-and-5 play during the drive, capped the drive with an 11-yard TD pass to Rameir Martin. The pass was one of six passes Martin caught for 54 yards.

Punt returner Don Blake set up Massillon’s second score by returning a punt seven yards to the Irish 37 with 5:01 left in the first half. Four plays later, Hurst faked a handoff left and went around right end for a 14-yard TD run. Miller missed the PAT, and Massillon led 13-7.

Hurst also had the key plays in the Tigers’ third TD drive. After the second-half kickoff, Hurst led the Tigers down field by completing an eight-yard pass to Martin and a 33-yarder to tight end Doug Harig.

Sparkman, who led the Tigers with 53 yards rushing, carried the ball to the goal line; but was hit and fumbled into the end zone. Desmond Carpenter recovered in the end zone for the Tigers TD.

St. Vincent-St. Mary 0 7 7 7 0 21
Massillon 7 6 8 0 7 28

M – Martin 10 pass from Hurst (Miller kick)
S – Vincent 1 run (Arney kick)
M – Hurst 14 run (Kick failed)
M – Carpenter fumble recovery in end zone
(Harig pass from Hurst)
S – Campbell 19 pass from Lenz (Arney kick)
S – Lenz 8 run (Arney kick)
M – Hurst 4 run (Miller kick)

History

1988: Massillon 12, Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary 17

October 7, 1988August 17, 2017
by Eric Smith

Tiger rally fails to Stop ‘nightmare’

Irish dominate early, then hold on for win

By STEVE DOERSCHUK
Independent Sports Editor

Was it that the opponent was that hot? Or were the Massillon Tigers simply cold?

At any rate, you thought maybe Jamie Slutz would have been cold as he went in for his first work of the season at quarterback.

“I wasn’t cold,” Slutz said. “I was ready to play.

“The coach told me to do my best. He said, ‘Score some touchdowns.’”

The senior delivered. He fired two fourth‑quarter touchdown passes to junior Troy Manion. He did his best.

It wasn’t enough. Akron St. Vincent‑St. Mary did so much in the first three quarters ‑ holding the Tigers without a first down in the first two ‑ that the carryover was a 17‑12 high school football victory.

“We attacked and played as a team,” said linebacker Steve Nagy, who helped the Fighting Irish improve to 6‑0. “1 wasn’t surprised. We’ve shut down good offenses this season. We’ve done this before.”

If Nagy wasn’t surprised, the Tigers, 4‑2, were. Their next blockbuster game was supposed to be against Cleveland St. Joseph. As it turns out, they have lost two straight heading into next Friday’s game at Warren Harding (4‑2), a 14‑6 winner over Niles Friday.

“We were flat,” Massillon head coach Lee Owens said, using a word on many lips in the grandstand.

“It was,” the coach added, “a nightmare.”

It didn’t have to be that way. The Tigers recovered a fumble deep in Irish territory on the game’s first play from scrimmage. But they couldn’t score. The Irish set the tone with defense. Then their offense plowed 78 yards before settling for a field goal.

The Tigers’ confidence, Owens said, eroded as the drive proceeded.

It may have started as overconfidence.

The Tigers may have recalled that the Irish went peacefully in Massillon last year, losing 28‑14. Too, there was the perception that the Irish opponents in ’88 had been more a “who’s he?” than a “who’s who. ”

One score that stuck out was St. V’s 9‑8 win over Cleveland West Tech. Everyone knows good teams destroy Cleveland public schools teams, right?

“West Tech surprised us,” explained David Houston, the Irish quarterback whose father, Jim, started for the Cleveland Browns 1964 NFL championship team after a high school career in Massillon. “They used a shotgun formation the whole night, which they hadn’t done before. We weren’t ready for it.”

They were more than ready for the Tigers.

The Irish had reasons aplenty to be in fighting trim. For starters, they think they can challenge Youngstown Cardinal Mooney and others for the Division III state title (Mooney and St. V collide next week in Youngstown). For clinchers, they have never defeated Massillon.

“I was a junior at St. Vincent when we lost to them in 1947,” said 25th‑year Irish head coach John Cistone. “Before this, we were 0‑9 against them all‑time.”

Cistone’s teams won state playoff titles in 1972, ’81 and ’82.

“I’d put this win right up there with those,” Cistone said.

Every half second or so, the night air around Cistone was pierced with an Irish player screaming at the top of his lungs. The players, obviously, felt as their coach did.

The celebration might have wound up in the other locker room.

The score was 17‑0 and Massillon had launched a drive late in the third quarter when Slutz was sent in to replace junior Lee Hurst.

One reason Slutz wasn’t cold was the fact he was the starting quarterback in the Tigers’ practice Wednesday, when Hurst was home with the flu. Hurst practiced Thursday, but he was still not himself by game time. His physical problems were compounded by a pulled right hamstring muscle he has battled for a couple of weeks. He spent the postgame in the trainers’ room with an ice pack on his right leg.

Owens said the quarterback switch was a combination of physical condition and performance.

“We needed to do something,” he said.

‘The coaches will “take a serious look at both quarterbacks” before deciding who will start at Warren,

Owens added.

Slutz’s first work ended with the Tigers running out of downs on the 5.

The Irish kept their 17‑0 lead but got a scare when running back Peter Gori appeared to fumble at the 2. The play, however, had been blown dead at the 11:00 mark of the fourth quarter. That became critical because, even though the Tigers forced a short punt moments later and proceeded to drive 23 yards for a touchdown, there was only 7:50 left in the game when they scored.

On second down from the 11, Slutz zipped a pass to the 3, where Manion grabbed it, spun away from two defenders. and scored. A two‑point conversion pass failed.

A holding penalty on St. V’s next possession helped the Tigers get the ball back quickly with a punt. They took over at their own 32 with 6:15 left and advanced 15 yards on a personal foul and another 15 on a roughing‑the‑passer call.

Slutz then zipped a pass 10 yards downfield to Marlon Smith, who wheeled and pitched to the trailing Stafford. Stafford raced from the 30 to the 9, and the Massillon grandstand was jumping.

On the next play, Slutz whistled a pass toward the left corner of the end zone to Manion, who outleaped Rob Wallace at the goal line and went in for another touchdown. A conversion pass attempt again failed, but the Tigers had closed to 17‑12 with 5: 13 left.

Two touchdowns in less than three minutes. It was a ball game again.

But the defense had to hold. The game boiled down to an Irish third-and‑five from the Massillon 20, set up by a nuclear hit on second‑and-five by Massillon linebacker David Ledwell. The Irish called a quick trap to running back Chris Littler. It worked, Littler gaining 10 yards.

The Tigers did get the ball back with 52 seconds left, but instead of setting up at the 30, as it appeared they would because an Irish punt was angled toward the sideline away from the return man, the ball took a right‑angle bounce and rolled all the way to 3. From there the Tigers ran out of downs.

The Irish ruled the first half. Few Massillon teams have ever been dominated so thoroughly for two quarters.

The Irish led 150‑15 in total yards at halftime. They ran 38 plays to the Tigers’ 14 and possessed the ball for 18:18, compared to the host’s 5:42.

Yet, the Tigers trailed only 10‑0.

A 78‑yard march yielded only a 31‑yard field goal by Mike Barbetta with 2:14 left in the first quarter.

And it was a break, not a drive, that netted a touchdown. Late in the first half, Tiger punt returner Mark Owens couldn’t field the ball, and the Irish recovered on the Massillon 15. Pete Gori’s 2‑yard run provided the TD and Barbetta’s kick made it 10‑0 with 3:52 left in the half.

Another turnover, this time an interception, set up the second Irish touchdown. Thanks to the pickoff, the Irish had to travel only 26 yards in six plays, with Gori again going in from the 2 and Barbetta adding the PAT kick to make it 17‑0 with 3:23 left in the third quarter.

The 6‑1, 205‑pound Littler finished with 121 rushing yards in 21 carries. The Tigers tried to spring their ace, Stafford, but St. V’s ferocious defense showed few openings, and held him to 28 yards in 13 carries.’

The Irish have a new offensive coordinator, Dan Pappano, who gives the team a new look. The team ran out of the T‑formation on its first scoring drive but showed several different looks after that. One that was effective sent two wide receivers to either side of the ball, with one back.

“We hadn’t done that yet this year,” Cistone said. “We saved a few things for this game.”

The Tigers now must “try to get the wheels back on,” Owens said.

“It’s easy to panic, but a lot of times when your inclination is to panic you find that you’re not that faraway,” the coach said. “If there was anything positive, it was that the guys fought right to the end. But we stopped making progress. We made tremendous progress the first four weeks of the season. Then it stopped. We have to get it back.”

ST VINCENT 17
MASSILLON 12
M SV
First downs rushing 3 11
First downs passing 4 2
First downs by penalty 2 0
Totals first downs 9 13
Yards gained rushing 74 195
Yards lost rushing 15 29
Net yards rushing 59 166
Net yards passing 98 56
Total yards gained 157 222
Passes attempted 25 9
Passes completed 9 4
Passes int. by 1 1
Times kicked off 3 4
Kickoff average 39.7 48.0
Kickoff return yards 81 18
Punts 4 6
Punting average 29.8 37.8
Punt return yards 12 12
Fumbles 1 1
Fumbles lost 1 1
Penalties 3 9
Yards penalized 14 86
Number of plays 48 63
Time of possession 16.16 31.44
Attendance 10,058

Individual statistics

Rushing
Mas) Stafford 13‑28, Dixon 6‑15, Hurst 3‑15, Slutz 1 ‑1.
(St. V) Littler 21‑121, Godi 20‑44, Sine 1‑12, Carter 4‑4, Butash 1 ‑1.

Passing
(Mas) Hurst 2‑10‑1 14, Slutz 7‑15-0 84.
(St. V) Houston 4‑9‑1 56.

Receiving
(Mas) Stafford 2‑48, Manion 3‑24, Spencer 1‑11, Carpenter 1‑7, Smith 1‑5, Harig 1‑3.
(St. V) Gori 2‑23, Palko 1‑23, Litler 1‑10.

St. VINCENT 3 7 7 0 17
MASSILLON 0 0 0 12 12

St. V ‑ FG Barbetta 31
St. V ‑ Gori 2 run (Barbetta kick)
St. V ‑ Gori 2 run (Barbetta kick)
Mas ‑ Manion 11 pass from Slutz (pass failed)
Mas ‑ Manion 9 pass from Slutz (pass failed)

History

1987: Massillon 24, Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary 12

October 9, 1987August 17, 2017
by Eric Smith

Tigers deliver another early KO
Irish are latest Foe to pay for season – opening defeat

By STEVE DOERSCHUK
Independent Sports Editor

Date: Sept. 4. Score: Akron Garfield 22, Massillon 8.

Diary entry: Somebody’s gonna Pay.

Altoona, GlenOak, Barberton, Fitch and now Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary have paid.

The Washington High football team was so angry about what happened Sept. 4 that it won’t let anybody in a game.

You want thrills in the final minutes Sorry. Brian Sipe lives in California.

The latest foe to get knocked out early was Akron St. Vincent‑St. Mary. The Tigers decked the Irish with three quick touchdowns that produced a 21‑0 lead. They eventually bagged an easy 24‑12 win in front of 8,098 fans Friday night in Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

Erik White passed for 150 yards and Jerome Myricks scored three more touchdowns and rushed for 106 yards in the Tigers’ fifth straight win,

The Irish were good fighters. They finished with 276 offensive yards to Massillon’s 277. They controlled the ball for 23 minutes and 38 seconds, just 44 seconds less the home team. But really, folks, it was over early.

“We have to keep working,” said Mark Kester, one of White’s ace receivers. “We have a lot of room to improve. We have a lot of tough games coming up. But we’re real happy about what we’ve done.”

These kids have a right to be happy. Here are more recent diary installments.

Sept. 12 ‑ Lead Altoona 20‑3 at halftime in easy 34‑3 win.

Sept. 18 ‑ Hit GlenOak with first quarter TD … never let Eagles sniff end zone in 21‑0 win.

Sept. 26 ‑ Jump on Barberton for 34‑7 lead. Crazy finish lets Magics score three TDs in final three minutes in 34‑28 win.

Oct. 3 ‑ Shoot to 24‑7 halftime vs. Fitch in 38‑29 win.

The Tigers haven’t been perfect. But since Sept. 4, nobody has had a realistic shot at knocking them off in the waning minutes..

“We, played pretty well tonight against one of the tougher teams we’ve played,” said 6‑foot‑4 senior linebacker Mark Freidly. “I really didn’t think we let down after it was 21‑0. We try to go out there like it’s 0‑0 in the second half. They were just a pretty tough team, up there with Glen0ak and Fitch.

“We’ve been improving week by week. We’ve got to keep it up.”

Myricks keeps holding up his end. His three touchdowns Friday lifted his season total to 15. With 90 points through six games, he is within sight of the Tigers’ top‑five single season points leaders of all time.

He won’t catch Dutch Hill, who racked up 204 points in 1922. But he is within reach of Mike Mauger (152 in 1970), Heine Krier (149 in 1934), Bob Glass (137 in 1937) and Art Hastings (134 in 1960).

Massillon head coach John Maronto disdains talking about statistics.

He probably doesn’t have to worry about Myricks ‑ a cool customer who seems to have an excellent sense of team ‑ getting a fat head.

“The team,” Myricks said, ”is getting more confident. I don’t think anybody is getting a big head. We know we’ve got some tough games left to play. We know we have to improve.”

Maronto sees the improvement. He concedes the Tiger’s let down, “and that includes the coaches,” after getting the big lead.

But we can’t be anything but pleased,” Maronto said. “The team we just beat 24‑12 is a team that beat Garfield.”

Maronto said the offensive game plan was to pass on St. V’s 4‑4 (eight men always close to the line) defense.

The first time Massillon got the ball was on its own 9‑yard line after a punt. The first three plays ‑ out of a hurry‑up offense to keep the Irish defense offguard ‑ were completions from White to Myricks, Jeff Harig and Wrentie Martin. After a 3‑yard run by fullback Jason Stafford, White found Kester for 10 yards. Myricks was held to a yard gain and a pass intended for Harig fell incomplete.

That made it third‑and‑nine 38 yards from the end zone. White dropped back to pass and the Tiger line released the St. V pass rushers on what became a beautifully set up screen pass. Just before the rush reached him, White dumped a little pass to a wide‑open Myricks, who got to the outside before several downfield defenders could meet him and raced down the left sideline into the end zone.

Lee Hurst’s kick made it 7‑0 at the 5:32 mark of the first period.

Late in the first quarter, Tiger tackle Bob Dunwiddie jarred the ball loose from Irish back Phil Gori and Tiger defensive back Erik Moledor recovered on the St. V 30‑yard line. Myricks rushed for 11 yards and seemed angry he didn’t make it more. On the next play, he went through the middle, spun away from two defenders who met him at the 13, and sprinted to the right corner of the end zone.

It was the sort of spectacular run that has become a weekly scene for Myricks.

“They didn’t wrap their arms around me when they hit me,” Myricks said “That’s when I spun.” Hurst’s boot made it 14‑0 with 26 seconds left in the first quarter.

The Irish went 1‑2‑3‑punt and the Tigers took over near midfield. A 12‑yard run on a trap play by Myricks and a 17‑yard pass from White to Stafford were the key plays that put the ball on the 14, where it was first down. Myricks went through a gaping hole up the middle on the next play. He encountered resistance at the 5 but kept driving, finally spinning away from the last would‑be tackler at the 1 and making the end zone standing.

Hurst’s kick made it 21‑0 with 6:48 .left in the half.

Kester was impressed with White’s work on the drive. “He puts unbelievable touch on the ball,” Kester said. “He’s come such a long way.”

White’s fine half was tainted a bit late in the second period when, rather than taking a sack, he tried to pitch the ball to a teammate, but instead fumbled it away to St. V’s Steve Nagy at the Tiger 35‑yard line. That set up a 5‑yard scoring pass from senior quarterback Mark Lenz to Mark Clevenger with just 18 seconds left in the first half. A two point conversion attempt failed and it was 21‑6 at the intermission.

The Tigers started from their own 40 after taking the second‑half kickoff and put together the drive that iced the victory. They ate up half the third quarter in driving to the 3, where Myricks was stopped for a 3‑yard loss on third down.

The Tigers settled for Hurst’s 23‑yard field goal and led 24‑6 with 6:37 left in the third quarter.

The Irish made things a bit interesting by scoring on a 58‑yard drive late in the third quarter. The key play was a spectacular aerial hookup between Lenz and fullback Chris Littler on a play that covered 32 yards, Later, on first down from the 13, Lenz delivered a low flying bullet which Chris Markowski picked off his shoestrings in the end zone. The extra‑point kick failed and it was 24‑12 with 59 seconds left in the third quarter.

St. Vincent put together another impressive drive midway through the fourth quarter, marching from the Irish 36 to the Tiger 23. But on fourth‑and‑five, Littler was strung out on a sweep by Tiger defenders David Hackenbracht and Steve Siegenthaler and stuffed by inside linebacker John Miller three yards short of the first down.

The Tigers took over on downs with 7:22 left, and although the Irish got the ball back on a fumble with 3:42 remaining, it was too late for St. V.

One play after the Irish got the ball back, Lenz suffered a pulled hamstring muscle when he was pulled down by Siegenthaler a yard shy of a first down. Taking over at quarterback was Dave Houston, son of former Massillon All‑Ohioan Jim Houston.

Houston’s first play was a rifle shot pass that was intercepted by Myricks. The play began the rush to the parking lot.

Irish head coach John Cistone, whose record against the Tigers fell to 0‑5, and whose season record dropped to 2‑4, was hardly crushed.

“We feel good about coming back on them,” the 22nd‑year St. V mentor said. “We made a game of it. We moved the ball right along but we made some mistakes. We stopped ourselves.

“Massillon,” Cistone added, “is a little more explosive on offense this year. Myricks is a talent. He has some great moves.”

Despite the late Irish surge, Maronto said he was generally pleased with the work of the Tigers’ defense.

“Defensively, we played at the level we’re capable of playing,” the coach said. “What put our defense in a hole a couple of times was our offense. I have a lot of confidence in our defense.”

The Tigers held St V’s leading rusher, Littler, to 55 yards in nine carries. Before leaving with his injury, Lenz completed nine of 15 passes for 126 yards.

The Tigers’ White completed 12 of 22 passes for 150 yards. Myricks rushed 26 times for 106 yards and caught two passes for 54 yards. Senior split end Craig York had a good night, catching three passes for 22 yards. Kester finished with three receptions for 36 yards.

Next up for the Tigers is Warren Harding, which takes a 4‑1 record into a game against one of its big rivals, Niles, tonight.

History

1986: Massillon 27, Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary 0

October 10, 1986August 16, 2017
by Eric Smith

Tiger mentor: ‘We really needed this’

By STEVE DOERSCHUK
Independent Sports Editor

MASSILLON ‑ They were the Fighting Irish all right, this good Akron St. Vincent‑St. Mary High football team.

Trouble was, they were a light heavyweight stepping into the heavyweight division. And their opponent was a fighting tiger hopping mad over a fistful of Fitch absorbed one Friday earlier.

The result was a 27‑0 Massillon Tiger victory before 8,149 fans, leaving both teams with 5‑2 records.

“We really needed this … the players and the coaching staff,” said John Maronto, who had just been through the toughest days of his 15 months as head coach of the Tigers. “We said very little all week. We said it was time to take a gut check and see what comes out.”

What came out was junior quarterback John Miller’s best game, another big‑play touchdown for Jerome Myricks and another shutout for the defense ‑ all five Massillon wins have been blankings.

“I thought we played hard this week and last week,” said Massillon senior Mike Wilson. “Maybe we got more physical this week.”

Wilson got pretty smart, too. Late in the game, he told defensive coordinator Brandon Oliver he wanted to shift to the wide side of the field because he had a feeling the Irish might throw that way.

The result was a 57‑yard interception return for a TD during which the speedy Wilson said his only thought was, “Nobody’s gonna catch me.”

That and Lee Hurst’s third PAT kick of the night cemented the final score with 45 seconds left in the game.

The Tigers didn’t severely whip the Irish on the stats sheet (they led 201‑146 in total yards). They simply did the right things at the right time.

In the St. Vincent‑St. Mary locker room, talk centered around the game’s “extra‑curricular” matters, including Tiger linebacker Jerrod Vance’s helmet, on which was plastered a likeness of Irish head coach John Cistone, for whom Vance played before transferring to Massillon in 1984.

“This was a different sort of Massillon team than any I’ve seen,” said Cistone, in his 30th year as St. Vincent‑St. Mary’s mentor. “There were more cheap shots than I’ve seen before. But I don’t know. They were the same guys we played last year, when there were no problems. Maybe it was a result of them coming off what had to be a very tough loss.
“Maybe we got more physical this week” ‑ Mike Wilson

“You’ve gotta say they have a good football team. They’ve got size and speed … all the tools to win. They don’t need that other stuff.”

Nothing changed the way Cistone feels about playing in Massillon, where he is winless in seven tries.

“We like playing here,” Cistone said. “We’ll be back next year.”

While awaiting next year, the Irish will finish out 1986 against foes who will put them in the Division III playoffs, if somehow they can go 3‑0. The lineup is Youngstown Cardinal Mooney, Youngstown Ursuline and Walsh Jesuit.

If the Tigers’ court date Wednesday goes favorably, and they get an injunction putting them back in the Division I playoff race, they probably would qualify by beating their remaining three foes. Warren Harding, Cleveland St. Joseph and McKinley have a combined 15‑4 record.

Harding, which will host the Tigers next at 7:45 p.m. next Friday, whipped Niles McKinley 14‑0 last night to improve to 4‑3.

The drama in last night’s game was curtailed after the Tigers took a 14‑0 lead early in the second quarter.

Vance, the senior inside linebacker, set up the first touchdown when he intercepted junior quarterback Mark Lenz’s first pass of the game and made a short return to the Irish 33‑yard line.

Mike Harris, waging a difficult battle to come back from knee surgery, started at tailback but it was junior tailback Jerome Myricks who got the Tigers rolling when he hit a hole on the left side of the line for a nine‑yard gain to the 17. A nine-yard run by senior fullback Mike Norris put the ball on the 7, from where Myricks again went over the left side and easily into the end zone. Hurst’s PAT kick made it 7‑0 at the 5:13 mark of the first quarter.

A strong kickoff by Norris resulted in a touchback and bad field position for the Irish, who were stuffed in three plays and had to punt.

The Tigers then marched 54 yards for a score on a drive that included a tricky double‑pitch on which Miller handed off to Myricks, with Myricks pitching back to Miller. The quarterback sprinted around the right side for an 11‑yard gain.

Moments later, on fourth and one from the 27, the Tigers surprised the Irish ‑ and their fans ‑ when Miller dropped back quickly and fired a 12‑yard strike to tight end Kenny Hawkins.

The play drew a loud ovation from the Massillon fans on the “roof side.”

“I knew the pass would be open,” Miller said with a smile afterward. “It was just a matter of getting the ball to Kenny.”

Maronto said the Tigers have not gone to the 6‑foot‑8 tight end much largely because of the way defenses are playing him.

“But we thought this play would be open,” the coach said.

A seven‑yard run by Harris put the ball at the 5, from where Miller rolled right and found a wide‑open Wilson for a touchdown in the right corner of the end zone. Hurst’s kick made it 14‑0 with 11:14 left in the first half.

Though the Irish never came close to scoring in the first half, Lenz scrambled effectively during one possession, completing three passes and running for 15 yards on another play.

“We had some trouble containing the quarterback in the first half,” Miller said. “Then when we contained him in the second half, it made things better for us.”

Neither side threatened in the third quarter, but a spectacular punt by Hawkins buried the Irish on their own 8 at the end of the period. The Irish punted from near there to midfield, and on third‑and‑six, Miller dropped back again. When Myricks wasn’t playing tailback, he was often in at split end, as he was this time, breaking open near the left sideline. He took a strike from Miller, broke cleanly through two defenders and said see ya’ later en route to a 40‑yard touchdown. Hurst’s kick missed, but it was still 20‑0 with 10:04 left in the game.

“I’m getting more confidence,” said Myricks, who now has scored on three longs plays this year. “I’m starting to feel like I can go the distance on any play.”

Myricks, incidentally, was one of the replacements at split end for Bart Letcavits, the senior co-captain who saw scant action last week against Fitch, and did not play at all last night due to illness.

Miller wound up with six completions in nine attempts for 105 yards, by far his biggest passing night of the year. Myricks caught three passes for 83 yards.

“I’m starting to feel real confident now,” Miller said. “We have some tough customers coming up, but we want to play well and have a good season.”

M V
First downs rushing 4 5
First downs passing 4 4
First downs by penalty 1 2
Totals first downs 9 11
Yards gained rushing 110 108
Yards lost rushing 14 23
Net yards rushing 96 85
Net yards passing 105 61
Total yards gained 101 146
Passes attempted 9 16
Passes completed 6 5
Passes int. by 2 0
Times kicked off 5 1
Kickoff average 55.8 31.0
Kickoff return yards 11 37
Punts 3 4
Punting average 37.3 27.8
Punt return yards 6 ‑9
Fumbles 3 2
Fumbles lost 2 1
Penalties 8 6
Yards penalized 83 57
Number of plays 43 53
Time of possession 21:34 26:26
Attendance 8,149

ST. V‑ST. M 0 0 0 0 0
MASSILLON 7 7 0 13 27

MAS ‑ Myricks 7 run (Hurst kick)
MAS ‑ Wilson 6 pass from Miller (Hurst kick)
MAS ‑ Myricks 40 pass from Miller (kick failed)
MAS ‑ Wilson 57 interception return (Hurst kick)

Tag: <span>Akron St. Vincent St. Mary</span>

Time stands still as Tigers run by Irish 28-21 in OT