Tag: <span>Antonio Scassa</span>

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

2006: Massillon 65, Cincinnati Western Hills 6

One win and Tigers are in

Only thing standing between Massillon and postseason is nemesis McKinley

By CHRIS EASTERLING
Chris.Easterling@IndeOnline.com

Normally, conversation about the McKinley Bulldogs must wait until the Massillon Tigers have finished off their Week Nine opponent.

So, exactly when did the McKinley talk begin for the Tigers on Saturday night?

Program Cover

“Pretty much after I came out of the game after halftime,” said senior linebacker Antonio Scassa after Massillon dispatched of overmatched Cincinnati Western Hills 65‑6 in front of 6,641 at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium on Saturday. “Everybody was talking about getting the Bulldogs.”

If the Tigers can get the Bulldogs ‑ who are 9‑0 for the second straight year ‑ this Saturday afternoon at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium, they can punch their ticket into the Division I playoffs for the second year in a row. Massillon, which improved to 5‑4 with the win over the Mustangs, is expected to jump back into the top eight in Region 2 when the computer rankings are released Tuesday.

A win over McKinley could not just secure the playoff spot, but just might be enough to catapult the Tigers all the way into the top four in the region. According to a popular web site which projects the rankings, Massillon was ranked No. 6 in the region as of Sunday morning.

“We have to have the best week of practice we’ve had all season,”

Tiger coach Tom Stacy said. “We’re playing obviously a great opponent, an undefeated team. We probably have to win to get into the playoffs. It’s on the line for us. This will be the first week of the playoffs for us. It’s started.

“We can accomplish every goal we set out for, except an undefeated season. All of our other goals which we have up on our board in the locker room are attainable. Our kids know that. It’s obviously going to take a great effort against a great team a week from (Saturday) to get a win.”

The Tigers didn’t need a great effort to dispatch of Western Hills last Saturday. Still, Massillon was more than efficient in dissecting the Mustangs, who fell to 3‑6.

Ten of the Tigers’ 17 first‑quarter plays either picked up first downs or touchdowns as Massillon opened up a 21‑0 lead after one quarter. Two came on Bobby Huth touchdown passes ‑ one to Brendon Baker and the other to Tommy Leonard ‑ while K.J. Herring also ran for a score.

Huth added two more touchdown passes, to Baker and Giorgio Jackson, to push Massillon’s lead to 35-0 at halftime. Huth finished 14‑of‑18 for 169 yards and four touchdowns.

“We just came in thinking we can’t lose any more,” said Jackson, who caught three passes for 51 yards, including a touchdown. “We just consider every game like it’s the state championship game. Every game is like the last game we’re playing. We just have to keep on doing that.”

By the midpoint of the third quarter, the Tigers were liberally substituting on both sides of the football. The only question was whether or not Massillon would get the shutout, which was broken up by a 68‑yard David Shavers run on the option with 6:08 left in the third, a score which cut the Tiger lead to 38‑6.

All of this was accomplished without the services of All‑Ohioan Brian Gamble, who sat out the game with an ankle injury. Stacy said Gamble could have played if needed, but will definitely return for McKinley.

“If he had to play, we could have played him,” Stacy said of Gamble.

In Gamble’s absence, Herring and J.T. Turner split the tailback duties, and did so with solid results, finishing with 146 yards on 19 carries, and a pair of second‑half touchdowns, while Herring ran for 84 on 11 carries with a score.

When it was over, Massillon had scored on nine of its 12 possessions in the game. The Tigers also came up with a defensive score when Jeff Combs returned an interception 85 yards for a touchdown with 5:55 left to make it 58‑6.

Combs finished with a pair of interceptions, which was half of the Tigers’ total as a team on the night. Corey Hildreth and Cody Colly also had picks.

About the only thing which really had Stacy upset afterward was two Tiger fumbles in the first half, which raises the team’s turnover total to 21 on the season. Both came on Western Hills’ side of the 50 and spoiled potential scoring chances.

“We can not turn the ball over next week or we will not win,” Stacy said. “We have no chance if we do that. Other than that, I thought our kids played well out there. We did some good things.”

GAME STATS

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

2006: Massillon 68, North Park, ON Canada 6

Tiger skill shines through

Massillon has too much of just about everything for overmatched visitors

By CHRIS EASTERLING

Chris.Easterling@lndeOnline.com

The gifts were exchanged by the two teams prior to the Massillon Tigers’ 2006 opener against North Park Collegiate out of Ontario. Once the game began, the Tigers weren’t nearly as giving, rolling to 68‑6 victory over the Trojans in front of approximately 9,000 fans at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

Program Cover

As little as the Tigers gave North Park, many gave even less credit to themselves for the lopsided rout. Massillon senior Brian Gamble shouted to no one in particular, “We got to get better,” as he walked across the field for the postgame handshake.

“It was like a morgue in here at halftime,” said Tiger coach Tom Stacy, whose coaching staff received hockey sticks from the North Park coaches during a pregame ceremony. “I told them after the game that’s good. That means your expectations are high. We have enough veteran guys who know if they’re playing well or not.”

And to think the Tigers led 35‑6 at the intermission.

“The thing is, when you look at the score, how can you complain,” Stacy asked rhetorically. “A young football team, and we knew going in that it was going to take some time to develop. I think this was a good building block for us.”

The Tigers weren’t a finished product entering the game, and head into next Saturday’s home tilt against Washington, D.C., Woodson still searching for some of those answers. Most of the questions remain on defense, which despite scoring twice on interception returns in the first half, gave up its share of yardage as well to a North Park team which suited up only 29 players for its third appearance in Tigertown.

The Trojans accumulated 153 yards in the first half alone, including a 56‑yard run by bowling ball like running back Matt Socholotiuk which set up the Trojans’ first score of the game with less than two minutes left in the first half. Socholotiuk finished with a game‑high 147 yards rushing.

“Our defense, we feel we can do better every game,” said outside linebacker Michael Porrini. “So we feel like we could have done better. We could have wrapped up a little better. It was pretty good overall.”

However, Massillon held North Park to just 64 yards in the second half.

“Are we happy with how we tackled at times? No,” Stacy said. “But it’s a start.”

The Massillon offense, meanwhile, left little question in anyone’s mind that it has a chance to live up to the high hopes expressed by Stacy.

The Tigers scored on seven of their first nine possessions, and the first time they couldn’t change the number in the scoring column was due to a field goal which just slipped wide right from 26‑yards out on their second possession. The other time was the final play of the first half.

By the time the Tigers went to their backups with 5:17 left in the third quarter, it was 49‑6 Massillon. The first‑unit offense racked up 319 yards in just over a half of football, with 194 yards of that coming through the air on Bobby Huth’s arm and another 85 yards rushing on the legs of Gamble.

“I thought it went pretty good,” said Huth, who connected on 12‑of‑18 aerials. “I thought the offensive line played pretty well. I didn’t play the way I should have played. The first play should have been a touchdown, but I underthrew it. I felt like I didn’t throw the ball very well tonight.”

The Tiger offense was explosive, but also methodical. Of the first six scoring drives, none were completed in fewer than six plays, even though they had three drives of 54 yards or less.

“I thought the second half, we had some bigger plays, and that’s what we’re kind of looking for,” Stacy said. “We had some good drives, and we didn’t rip off as many big ones in the first half as we would have liked. But you know what? Give them credit, too. Their kids were playing hard.”

Stacy said before the season he wanted to showcase Gamble and Andrew Dailey, and the Tigers did just that. Gamble put Massillon in the lead for good with 8:15 left in the first quarter when he took a handoff to the right, skirted off tackle and outran the defense to the end zone for a 12yard touchdown.

Dailey, meanwhile, hauled in a pair of touchdown passes as part of a three‑catch, 80‑yard evening. The first was a 20‑yard strike in the end zone with 7:40 left in the second quarter, which gave Massillon a 21‑0 lead.

He then added a 51‑yard catch and run on a post pattern to make it 42‑6 with 9:58 remaining in the third quarter.

K.J. Herring wrapped up the Tigers’ stretch of scoring with a pair of touchdown runs, the last a two‑yarder which gave the Tigers a 56‑6 lead with 2:00 left in the third quarter. Justin Turner and Cody Nickels added fourth-quarter touchdown runs.

“It’s a start,” Stacy said. “I’m never going to complain when you win like that.”

Massillon 68

North Park 6

North Park 0 6 0 0 0

Massillon 14 21 21 12 68

SCORING SUMMARY

M ‑ Gamble 12 run (Schott kick) 8:15,1st

M ‑ Massey 26 int. return (Schott kick) 8:03, 1st

M ‑ Dailey 20 pass from Huth (Schott kick) 7:40, 2nd

M ‑ Leonard 9 pass from Huth (Schott kick) 4:14, 2nd

M ‑ Gamble 36 int. return (Schott kick) 2:22, 2nd

NP ‑ Dandle 9 pass from Maddock (McDonell kick blocked) :15, 2nd

M ‑ Dailey 51 pass from Huth (Schott kick) 9:58, 3rd

M ‑ Herring 10 run (Schott kick) 6:33, 3rd

M ‑ Herring 2 run (Maylor kick) 2:00, 3rd

M ‑Turner 29 run (Nickels kick failed) :41, 4th

M ‑ Nickels 43 run (Nickels kick failed) 1:50, 4th

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Massillon rushing:

Gamble 12‑85, 1 TD, Herring 9‑64, 2 TDs.

North Park rushing:

Socholotiuk ing:

Massillon passing:

Huth 12‑18‑194, TDs, Ryder 3‑6‑27.

North Park passing:

Maddock 7‑15, 1 TD, 2 INTs.

Massillon receiving:

Dailey 3‑80, 2 TDs, Gamble 3‑28, Miller 3‑23.

North Park receiving:

Padmore 4‑32.

GAME STATS