Tag: <span>Bobby Huth</span>

History

Part 1 – Spread Offense Quarterbacks in the Massillon…

Part 1 – Spread Offense Quarterbacks in the Massillon Tiger Football Hall of Fame

The Tiger Football Hall of Fame recognizes those individuals that have made contributions to the Tiger football experience, whether it be a player, coach, band director or just an individual who has influenced the program in a positive way.  Inductees are honored in the WHS Sports Hall with plaques that display the inductees’ contributions.  As of 2022, a total of 105 members have been inducted.

Complete List of Massillon Tiger Football Hall of Fame Inductees

This entry is Part 1 of a series that presents the inductees by playing position and features quarterbacks that competed during the period of the spread offense.  The spread offense came into vogue in the late 1990s as teams with less skill talent or inadequate line size sought to improve their offenses by utilizing the passing game more than in previous years in an attempt score more points.  For Massillon, this began in 1998 with the hiring of Head Coach Rick Shepas and the Tigers have utilized this concept ever since.  The offense is characterized by aligning the quarterback in the shotgun position and utilizing one or more wide receivers on each side of the line.  Characteristically, quarterbacks in this offense throw the ball around 40% of the time.

Three Massillon quarterbacks have gained Hall of Fame distinction during this period, including Kyle Kempt, Bobby Huth and Justin Zwick.

Kyle Kempt (2010-2012)

Kyle Kempt burst onto the scene during Week 3 of his sophomore year as a replacement in the game against Stow.  Kempt then remained as the starter through the rest of his time at Massillon, winning 23 of his 32 starts, while playing under Head Coach Jason Hall.

As a sophomore he completed 111 of 205 (54%) passes for 1,643 yards and 14 touchdowns in helping his team to a 7-3 regular season mark and a birth in the state playoffs.

The next year Massillon again finished 7-3, with close losses to 9-2 Canton GlenOak and 9-3 Canton McKinley, only they failed to make the playoffs.  Nevertheless, Kempt again put up some decent numbers, completing 84 of 168 passes (50%), with just 4 interceptions, for 1,335 yards and 16 touchdowns.

The breakout year came in 2012 with Kempt, now a co-captain and at 6’-5”, 200 lbs., leading his team to an 11-2 record and a runner-up finish in the playoff regional finals.  He completed 194 of 292 passes (66%) for 2,056 yards and 32 touchdowns.  His highlights were:

  • A 34-14 victory over 9-2 Austintown Fitch, completing 18 of 25 passes for 308 yard and 4 touchdowns.
  • A 44-23 win over 13-2 Akron St. Vincent. completing 14 of 22 passes for 216 yards and 3 touchdowns. The Irish went on to capture the Division 3 state championship.
  • A 37-29 regular season victory over 8-3 Canton McKinley, completing 16 of 32 passes for 285 yards and 3 touchdowns.
  • A 28-19 playoff win over the Bulldogs, completing 11 of 17 passes for 177 yards and 2 touchdowns.

At the end of the season Kempt was named 2nd Team All-Ohio.  He then accepted a scholarship offer to play for Oregon State and later transferred to Iowa State, where he finished his playing career and is now a Quality Control Assistant Coach.

At Massillon he completed 399 of 665 passes for 6,034 yards and 62 touchdowns.  And he holds passing records for single game completions (29 vs. Canton GlenOak), season completion percentage (66.4%) and season average yards per game (235.1).

Bobby Huth (2004-06)

Huth was small in stature at 5’-9”, 160 lbs., but big in heart as a Massillon Tiger, leading his team for two years at the quarterback position.  And at the end of his career, Bobby had his name all over the Massillon record book Top 10s.  He played under Head Coach Tom Stacy.

After a modest beginning as a sophomore, Huth became the starter in 2005, completing 141 of 223 passes (63.2%) for 2,017 yards and 18 touchdowns in leading his team to the Division 1 state finals.  Huth was a part of many significant victories that year, including the following:

  • A 34-31 win over Elder at Cincinnati’s Paul Brown Stadium.
  • A first-ever win over Cleveland St. Ignatius, by the score of 29-26.
  • A 21-3 playoff victory over 12-1 Canton McKinley, completing 9 of 11 passes and tossing a touchdown pass.
  • A 21-17 win over 12-1 Cleveland St. Edward in the Division 1 state semifinals.  In that one he passed for 230 yards and two TDs and led his team to victory after falling behind by ten points.  He also completed an inconceivable 3rd and 30 for a first down during the winning drive.
  • A 27-20 playoff victory over 10-2 Findlay.  In that one he completed 10 of 13 passes.
  • An appearance in the Division 1 state finals, where the Tigers were edged by unbeaten Cincinnati St. Xavier, 24-17.

The following season, as a team captain, Huth completed 151 of 260 passes (58%) for 1,955 yards and 21 touchdowns.  His best performances came against Hamilton Chandler, Arizona, and Massillon Perry.  In the Chandler game he completed 15 of 24 passes for 175 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 35-26 win.  Then, in a playoff game against Perry, he passed for 260 yards and three scores in a 41-20 win.  For his effort that year he was named 2nd Team A.P. Division 1 All-Ohio quarterback.

Overall, he played in 29 games and was 20-7 as a starter.  He also completed 297 of 495 passes (59%) for 4,077 yards.  His completion percentage mark is 2nd all-time.

Justin Zwick (2000-01)

Justin Zwick transferred to Massillon after two years in Orrville, where he led his team to the Division 4 state championship as a freshman quarterback.  He had all tools required of a big-time high school pocket quarterback, including size (6’-5”, 221 lbs.), arm strength and field vision.  And he also fit nicely into Coach Rick Shepas’ spread offense.

In his junior year Zwick led the Tigers to an 8-3 record, including a spot in the playoffs.  He also completed 191 of 346 passes (55%) for 2,455 yards and 23 touchdowns.  His accomplishments included:

  • A 40-7 victory over 12-2 Akron Buchtel, completing 18 of 32 passes for 187 yards and 5 TDs. Buchtel finished 3rd in Division 2.
  • A 51-26 win over 8-2 Akron Garfield, completing 29 of 43 for 375 yards and 2 TDs.
  • A 28-27 come-from-behind victory over Lakewood St. Edward, completing 16 of 29 passes for 243 yards and 1 TD.

At the end of the season he was named 1st Team All-Ohio.

As a senior co-captain he continued to be successful, with Massillon finishing 12-2 and capturing the playoff regional championship.  Both of the losses that year came at the hands of eventual Division 1 state champ Cleveland St. Ignatius.  During the season he completed 246 of 426 passes (58%) for 3,281 yards and 40 touchdowns.  His highlights are as follows:

  • A 59-0 victory over 8-2 Akron Garfield, completing 16 of 23 passes for 233 yards and 3 TDs.
  • A 17-14 win over 8-3 Mansfield, completing 24 of 37 passes for 231 yards.
  • A 36-19 victory over 8-3 Canton McKinley in the regular season, completing 16 of 23 passes for 245 yards and 2 TDs.
  • A 35-19 win over Canton McKinley in the playoffs, completing 24 of 33 passes for 239 yards and 3 TDs
  • A 27-7 playoff victory over North Canton, completing 23 of 38 passes for 252 yards and 2 TDs.

He was again named 1st Team All-Ohio.  And, amid much media fanfare, he announced his acceptance of a scholarship offer to play for Ohio State.  Following four years with the Buckeyes, he suited up with the Columbus Destroyers in the Arena Football League.

For his career, Zwick completed 437 of 772 passes (57%) for 6,736 yards, 63 TDs.  As a starter he was 20-5.  He also set Massillon records for total yards in a game (407 vs. Dayton Chaminade), pass attempts in a game (60 vs. Cleveland St. Ignatius), pass completions in a game (29 vs. Akron Garfield), touchdown passes in a game (6 vs. Fremont Ross), total passing yards in a season (3,281), pass attempts in a season (426), pass completions in a season (246), touchdowns in a season (40) and average yards per game in a career (229.4).

History

2006: Massillon 41, Massillon Perry 20

Eye of the Tigers

Massillon big‑play offense shines against neighborhood rival Perry

By CHRIS EASTERLING
Chris.Easterling@lndeOnline.com

Kudos were tossed in the direction of the Massillon Tiger defense for getting the team in the playoffs with a stifling performance in the regular‑season finale against McKinley. The offense can now take a bow for helping the Tigers advance into the second round.

Behind an efficient offensive effort, Massillon made its first trip to Perry Stadium a successful one, outscoring the never‑say‑die Perry Panthers 41‑20 in a Division I Region 2 quarterfinal game on Saturday night.

The sold‑out throng of more than 7,000 that packed the stands and wrapped around the field had to be surprised to see the scoreboard change as much as it did. But they weren’t the only ones stunned to see a game between the two backyard rivals result in a combined 61 points and 776 yards of offense for both teams.

Massillon finished with 428 offensive yards in the game. Perry, meanwhile, racked up 348 yards in defeat.

“I didn’t think it would be this high‑scoring,” said Tiger coach Tom Stacy, whose 7‑4 squad will now meet Toledo Whitmer in this Saturday’s regional semifinal at Parma’s Byers Field. “We knew we were capable on offense; we just had to start making some things happen. I think throwing the ball really helped our running game. We were able to throw it, and that really helped our running game.”

It was a running game that suffered a major blow on the next‑to‑last play of the first quarter, when Tiger senior tailback Brian Gamble re-injured his ankle while playing defense. Gamble spent the remainder of the game on crutches, but Stacy was optimistic he will be able to play against Whitmer.

With Gamble on the sideline, the onus of the offense shifted to senior quarterback Bobby Huth, and Huth delivered. The two‑year starter completed 11‑of‑16 passes for 260 yards and three touchdowns, two of those on beautifully‑thrown balls to Giorgio Jackson and the other a 36‑yard strike to a wide‑open Andrew Dailey which gave Massillon a 7‑0 lead just 1:36 into the game.

“I was kind of in a zone,” Huth said. “Giorgio made a lot of great plays for me. He went up and got the ball.”

Huth also benefited from having time to find his receivers. Stacy spent much of the week talking about the necessity of his offensive line to elevate its game after a disappointing showing against McKinley, and the line responded by keeping Huth clean for much of the game.

“Coach pretty much came to the line this week ‑ both (offensive line coach Matt) Leisure and Coach Stacy ‑ and said, ‘We need to get this done,”‘ Tiger center Blake Seidler said. “‘We’ve been having trouble lately. We haven’t produced the way we wanted to.’ Pretty much, it was a challenge, we were either in or out. We were either going to make it and make a run, or not.”

Perry’s hopes for a long playoff run after a 9‑1 regular season were dashed by the Tiger offensive explosion. But that doesn’t mean the Panthers went quietly into the cool Saturday evening.

Twice Perry cut the deficit to one touchdown ‑ at 14‑6 with 3:30 left in the first half and at 21‑13 less than two minutes into the second half ‑ on Eric Magnacca runs of 40 and 59 yards.

“That’s what got us here,” Perry coach John “Spider” Miller said of the running game. “At halftime, we said ‘Let’s run our double tights with our double wing and we’re going to run it.’ That’s what we did, and we got back into the ballgame.”

Both runs came on similar off‑tackle runs in which Magnacca ‑who finished with 192 of Perry’s 304 rushing yards found a crease in the Tiger defense and then simply outran the defenders to the end zone. He would add a third touchdown run of 29 yards in the fourth quarter.

“It’s a lot of (responsibility breakdowns), Tiger linebacker Antonio Scassa explained. “We messed up a couple of times. We didn’t get off the blocks, he found a seam and he took it.”

The problem for Perry was that Massillon had a counterpunch for everything the Panthers did. Massillon scored on the subsequent possession after all three Perry scores, preventing the Panthers from getting any sort of momentum.

In the first half, after Magnacca’s initial scoring run, the Tigers marched right back down the field. Buoyed by a pair of big Huth‑to‑Trey Miller pass plays, Massillon moved to the Panther 5, where K.J. Herring made it a two‑score game again at 21‑6 with his lone touchdown run of the game at the 1:46 mark of the first half.

After Magnacca cut it back to an eight‑point game on the first drive of the third quarter, the Tigers came right back down the field. This time, it was J.T. Turner ‑ the other half of the tandem filling in for Gamble ‑ doing the honors, scoring on a 20‑yard run with 7:19 remaining in the third.

The extra point was wide left, keeping it at 27‑13.

“Our kids would answer, and then their kids would answer,” Perry’s Miller said. “You can’t go back‑and‑forth like that. We needed to punch another one in or eat the clock up and keep the ball away from them. That’s what you’re supposed to do. That’s what we tried to do. That’s what we wanted, and that’s what we’ve done all year.”

Massillon would get the three‑score breathing room it needed on its next possession. On the second play of the drive, Huth lofted a perfect throw down the right sideline to Jackson, who broke clear of the Panther defense to catch the ball in stride and race into the end zone for a 70‑yard score with 4:56 left in the third quarter.

“The (route) was an out-and‑up,” said Jackson, who had a game‑high 114 receiving yards on three catches. “We just called it, the guy was a little bit in front of me, I saw I could make a play and just outran the rest of the defenders.”

Magnacca gave the Panthers momentary hope with his third long touchdown run of the game ‑this one a 29‑yarder ‑ to cut it to 34‑20 with six seconds left in the third. But Jackson sealed the Panthers’ fate with a leaping 32‑yard touchdown catch over a Perry defender in the end zone with 8:56 left to provide the final margin.

“(Scoring) 41 points is awesome,” Tiger inside linebacker Cody Colly said. “We hadn’t really been able to do that all season. We finally did it.”

And because of it, the Tigers live to play another day.

GAME STATS

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 16, Warren Harding 21

Do or die time for Tigers

Massillon’s loss to Warren puts team in must‑win mode

By CHRIS EASTERLING
Chris.Easterling@lndeOnline.com

The math is pretty simple for the Massillon Tigers. If they have hopes of playing in the postseason for the second straight year, the Tigers have to put back‑to‑back wins together in their final two games.

No other options remain for Massillon, not after it suffered its fourth loss in the last five games, this one a 21‑16 setback to Warren Harding on Saturday night in front of about 10,000 at Mollenkopf Stadium.

The loss drops the Tigers back to the .500 mark at 4-4, with only Cincinnati Western Hills this Saturday and the Oct. 28 showdown with McKinley left on the 2006 regular‑season schedule. Not that Tiger coach Tom Stacy is looking any farther than this Saturday’s home game with Western Hills.

“We’ve got to win our last two games,” Stacy said outside a quiet Tiger locker room Saturday. “But our kids want to win every game. When you’re at Massillon, you strive to win every game.

“We didn’t go into this week (leading up to the Harding game) thinking we needed to win two out of three, or one out of three to make the playoffs or whatever. We don’t even talk about that. We’re out there to win every game. Unfortunately we didn’t get it done.”

Those looking for the Tigers’ season in a nutshell needed to look no farther than Saturday’s game. Especially on offense, where Massillon racked up 258 yards, but had three turnovers, two of which the Raiders returned for back‑breaking touchdowns.

The opportunity was there for the Tigers, despite falling down 21‑10 at halftime, to win the game. Massillon, which cut it to 21‑16 on a Trey Miller fourth‑quarter touchdown catch, had the ball on the Raider 24 with just over 3:00 remaining.

But a fourth‑down pass to the end zone sailed out of the reach of the intended receiver’s outstretched arms, sealing the Tigers’ fate.

“We’re making too many turnovers, obviously,” Stacy said. “We’re not making a key play and a key point in the game when we need it. That’s what’s hurting us right now. We went through all those turnovers in the first half; all that horsecrap, and still we have an opportunity to win the football game. We’re just not making the play at the end of the game to win the game.”

As valiant as the Tigers’ comeback try was, it wasn’t enough to erase the damage inflicted by the turnovers. More specifically, the two turnovers which Harding returned for scores.

The first, a 49‑yard interception return by Harding’s Sidney Glover, gave the Raiders the lead for good at 14‑10 with 6:08 left until halftime. The second, a 65‑yard fumble return by Lazarus McCrae, capped Harding’s 21‑point second quarter and gave the Raiders a 21‑10 edge with 3:37 remaining until the band show.

“I think it pretty much can be summed up by no turnovers for the Raiders and some turnovers for the Tigers,” said Harding coach Thom McDaniels, whose team is now 6‑2. “I’m certain that’s the difference in the ball game.”

Those turnovers and the Tigers’ inability to get that big play to turn the momentum have marred their four losses. Against Harding, Massillon had more yards’ more first downs and a better third‑down conversion percentage than the Raiders. The Tigers reached at least the Harding 38 on seven different occasions, only to get 16 points out of it.

“It’s not any one thing,” Stacy said. “We’ll make some plays and get a couple of key first downs, and then somebody will break down, and then another part of our game breaks down. We just take turns. That’s what’s frustrating about it. … We just have to make more plays on offense. That’s all there is to it.”

Adding to the frustration was the defensive effort which the Tigers turned in was good enough to win the game. Harding only mustered 126 yards of offense and just eight first downs for the game.

Massillon knew coming in the threat posed by Harding’s Ohio State‑bound tailback Danny Herron, and adjusted their defensive look accordingly. The Tigers rolled outside linebacker Dorie Irvin up to the line of scrimmage to provide a fourman front to aid in stopping Herron.

It worked, as Herron was held to just 75 yards on 30 carries, In fact, the 5‑foot‑11, 193‑pound senior’s longest run of the night was a 9‑yard scamper in the third quarter.

“We gave them a different defense, a little bit different look than what they have seen,” Stacy said. “Like I said, our defensive coaches just did an outstanding job of game‑planning. I thought our kids defensively just played great.

“It’s a great defensive effort. Herron has to be one of the top running backs in the state, a great back. Their offensive line does a great job. I thought our kids just did a great job on defense.”

Warren Harding 21

Massillon 16

Massillon 7 3 0 6 16

Warren Harding 0 21 0 0 21

SCORING SUMMARY

M ‑ Brian Gamble 2 pass from Bobby Huth (Steve Schott kick)

M ‑ Steve Schott 24 field goal

WH ‑ Dan Herron 3 run (James Teagarden kick)

WH ‑ Sidney Glover 49 interception return (Teagarden kick)

WH ‑ Lazarus McCrae 65 fumble return (Teagarden kick)

M ‑ Trey Miller 27 pass from Huth (run failed)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Massillon rushing: K.J. Herring 4‑73; Gamble 17‑50; Tommy Leonard 4‑14; J.T. Turner 4‑9.

Warren Harding rushing: Herron 30‑75 TD; Glover 6‑41.

Massillon passing: Huth 13‑20‑152 2 TDs, INT, Gamble 0‑1‑0

Warren Harding passing: Matt Straniak 4‑8‑21

Massillon receiving: Gamble 3‑62 TD; Miller 3‑50 TD; Giorgio Jackson 3‑20; Bryan Sheegog 2‑12; Leonard 1‑6; Andrew Dailey 1‑2.

Warren Harding receiving: Chris Rucker 2‑11; Trevis Owens 1‑8; Glover 1‑2.

GAME STATS

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

2006: Massillon 35, Hamilton (Chandler), AZ

Massillon bounces back

By CHRIS EASTERLING
Chris.Easterling@IndeOnline.com

A year ago, the Massillon Tigers often turned to their seniors to lead the way when the going got tough. That approach worked well enough to help the Tigers reach the state championship game.

Coming off of a disappointing loss to Moeller, the Tigers once again turned to their seniors to right the ship as they navigated their way through the treacherous seas created by a rugged stretch of the schedule. And those seniors – specifically, but not exclusively, Brian Gamble and Andrew Dailey – served as a rudder for the ship as Massillon returned to the even keel of victory on Saturday night, coming from behind to knock off nationally-ranked Arizona power Hamilton 35-26 in front of a boisterous Paul Brown Tiger Stadium crowd of approximately 10,500 in the final game of the Herbstreit Challenge.

Program Cover

“When you have seniors who show that kind of leadership and take charge on the field and make plays,” said Tiger coach Tom Stacy, whose team is 3-1, “and these two guys (Gamble and Dailey) just made plays all over the field, that’s a big key. We had seniors do it last year, and these guys are just taking over. That was a big win.

“We needed that win. That was a very good football team. They were better than Moeller. They were faster, they were very well coached. It’s a really good win for us.”

Gamble, who garnered game Most Valuable Player honors, did it on both sides of the ball. On offense, he rushed for 159 yards on a season-high 35 carries with a 1-yard touchdown plunge in the first quarter, as well as a 10-yard touchdown reception which pulled the Tigers to within 17-14 just before halftime. He later added a 21-yard touchdown reception midway through the fourth quarter to give Massillon a 35-20 lead.

Just as big was Gamble’s defense, most notably a key interception which set up the late second-quarter touchdown. The senior safety grabbed the overthrown pigskin and returned it to the Husky 20, and three plays later, quarterback Bobby Huth found Gamble, who found the end zone for the score with eight seconds left before halftime.

“I think the quarterback and the receiver weren’t on the same page, because it wasn’t thrown anywhere near him,” Gamble said. “It came right to me, I didn’t really have to make the play. That was real big, and then punching it in on offense helped a lot.”

What also helped the Tigers prevail was Dailey’s biggest contribution of the night late in the third quarter, when he stepped in front of a Hamilton pass and returned it 20 yards for the score. The touchdown and subsequent extra point gave Massillon a 28-20 edge with 1:25 left in the third quarter.

“I just read my keys real tightly,” Dailey said. “I just broke down. The guy was actually going to try to get outside of me, so I just turn and ran and saw the ball thrown and I just grabbed it.”

And helped the Tigers grab a stranglehold on the momentum.

“I thought two plays in the game were big,” Stacy said. “Our score (by Gamble) right before halftime was big and then Andrew’s interception. I think those were the two big keys in the game.

“These guys (Dailey and Gamble) both were instrumental in one each. Again, big-time players make big plays, and these guys are what did it for us last year, and they’re doing it for us this year.”

They needed to, because Hamilton came out ready to give Massillon all it could handle. After the Tigers – set to a 66-yard halfback pass from Gamble to Sheegog on the first play of the game – jumped on top 7-0 just under two minutes into the game, the Huskies came right back and scored on their first play as Kerry Taylor – who had 11 catches for 181 yards in the game – caught a 66-yard pass of his own for a touchdown to tie it at 7-7.

“All it was was an assignment mistake and something that can be corrected,” Gamble said of the Hamilton score. “That was all it was. We knew that if we just read our keys, it won’t happen again. They made some other big plays, but not enough.”

Hamilton would push the lead to 17-7 thanks to a pair of second-quarter scores. One was a 27-yard field goal by Brent Blaylock, and the other was an 80-yard run by Nathan Jeffery.

But Massillon, refusing to see a repeat of the loss to Moeller, kept fighting. The Tigers cut the deficit to 17-14 prior to halftime, then took the lead for good with 8:43 left in the third quarter when Sheegog hauled in a 29-yard touchdown pass from Huth.

Huth showed no effects of the helmet-to-helmet hit which knocked him out of the Moeller game. The senior completed 15-of-24 passes for 175 yards and three touchdowns.

“It was Midwest football,” said Hamilton coach Steve Belles, whose team dropped to 2-1. “It was pound it and make the throws that you had to. I thought the quarterback did an extremely good job of just hitting the quick out routes tonight. I thought that was real key. He let his receivers do some damage out there after they caught it, and we didn’t play quite tight enough in some of our coverages.”

Now, Massillon turns its attention to another rugged test, this one coming at Mentor Friday night. The Cardinals suffered their first loss of the season Saturday, falling to St. Ignatius – the Tigers’ Week Six foe – 27-14.

“I think Massillon is going to have a very good season,” Belles said. “I don’t think what you saw against Moeller is indicative of how good this team could be.”

Massillon 35

Hamilton 26

Massillon 7 7 14 7 35

Hamilton 7 10 3 6 26

SCORING SUMMARY

M – Brian Gamble 1 run (Steve Schott kick)

H – Kerry Taylor 66 pass from Brad Gruner (Brent Blaylock kick)

H – Blaylock 27 field goal

H – Nathan Jeffery 80 run (Blaylock kick)

M – Gamble 10 pass from Bobby Huth (Schott kick)

M – Bryan Sheegog 29 pass from Huth (Schott kick)

H – Blaylock 27 field goal

M – Andrew Dailey 20 interception return (Schott kick)

M – Gamble 21 pass from Huth (Schott kick)

H – J.T. Dixon 4 pass from Gruner (run failed)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Massillon rushing:

Gamble 35-159 TD; K.J. Herring 5-33; Tommy Leonard 4-12.

Hamilton rushing:

Jeffery 3-82 TD; Justin Salum 1-49; Covaughn Deboskie 4-14; Taylor 1-11; Tony Sims 5-10.

Massillon passing:

Huth 15-24-175; 3 TDs, Int; Gamble 1-1-66.

Hamilton passing:

Gruner 18-31-250 2TDs, 2 Int.

Massillon receiving:

Sheegog 5-116 TD; Gamble 4-43; Trey Miller 2-27; Brendon Baker 1-11.

Hamilton receiving:

Taylor 11-181 TD; Dixon 3-28 TD, Sims 1-30; Deboskie 1-4.

GAME STATS

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

2006: Massillon 59, H.D. Woodson, Washington D.C. 7

Tigers onto the main course

By CHRIS EASTERLING
Chris.Easterling@IndeOnline.com

Perception is oftentimes reality, and such is the case with the Massillon Tigers’ schedule.

The perception is, the first two games on the Tigers’ slate – the opener against North Park (Ont.) two weeks ago and last Saturday’s tilt against H.D. Woodson of Washington, D.C. – were mere warm-ups for the main event, which begins this Saturday at Cincinnati’s Paul Brown Tiger Stadium against Moeller.

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The reality of the situation is, the final scores of those two games reinforced that perception, including last Saturday night’s 59-7 win over Woodson in front of nearly 9,000 at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

The problem is, Tiger coach Tom Stacy and his players can’t deal in perception. And Stacy – ever the perfectionist at heart – knows his team may have out-talented their first two foes, and that Massillon still has room to grow as it moves from the appetizers into the meat-and-potatoes portion of the slate.

Still, he was more than pleased with the way the Tigers performed against the Warriors.

“I think we made some improvement,” Stacy said. “I told the kids I thought we got better. Of course, (Woodson) was a better football team. … We had a good week of practice.

“We still have some things we need to shore up. Defensively, we missed some tackles and some pass defense. We made some steady improvement from our Fremont scrimmage to last week’s game to this week’s game.”

Certainly, there was more than enough for the Tigers to like on Saturday night. And one needed to look to no farther than the offense, which continues to score at an eye-popping rate.

After the Tigers’ offense scored on eight of 11 possessions against North Park, they were even more proficient against the athletic Warriors last Saturday. Massillon scored on all six first-half possessions in building up a 38-7 advantage at the intermission.

The Tiger attack would not finish a drive without putting points on the scoreboard until the fourth and final drive of the second half – at which time the score was 59-7. And even that drive reached the Woodson 1 before Massillon let the clock run out.

“They played a solid football game, everything worked for them,” said Woodson coach Greg Fuller, whose team was coming off of an upset of West Virginia Class AAA state champion Morgantown a week prior.

Once again, it was a balanced offensive attack which led the way, as the Tigers racked up 549 yards of offense, with 368 coming on the ground and 181 through the air. In the first half alone, Massillon had 317 yards offensively – 158 passing and 156 rushing.

“I’m starting to get amazed by what this offense can do,” said Tiger quarterback Bobby Huth, who completed 14 of 21 passes for 181 yards and a pair of touchdowns. “

We’re starting to rack up the yards and score some points. But we’ll see what happens against better competition.”

Brian Gamble – who had 104 rushing yards in the first half on his way to 164 yards for a game – and K.J. Herring (one rushing and one receiving) each scored a pair of first-half touchdowns, while Trey Miller broke the scoreless deadlock with 8:21 left in the first quarter with a touchdown catch. Gamble would add two more rushing touchdowns and 60 more yards on four third-quarter carries, while Herring tacked on 71 more yards onto his total of 97 along with another score of his own in the third quarter.

“We still made some mistakes, but nothing major,” Gamble said. “I think we took a big step forward.”

Steve Schott added a 35-yard field goal in the first half, which made it a 24-0 Tiger lead with 8:16 remaining until intermission. That was the only Tiger scoring drive which didn’t end with Massillon reaching the end zone.

On defense, may have been where the Tigers made the biggest improvement from Week One to Week Two. Massillon permitted a Woodson team which featured Division 1-A recruits in tailback D’Andre Johnson, wide receiver Tony Coleman and offensive lineman Carl Russell to accumulate just 158 net yards, which was just five more yards than what North Park accumulated in the first half alone.

Of those 158 yards, 66 came on Woodson’s lone scoring drive of the game, which came with less than three minutes remaining in the first half. The Warrior touchdown – a 9-yard Gabriel Prophet-to-Coleman pass – made it a 31-7 Tiger lead with 2:28 showing until the band show.

“It’s been a slow improvement, but I think we’re almost there,” Gamble said. “We had a great week of practice last week and a very physical practice, and it carried out onto the field. We tackled a lot better.”

And now it must carry over into the meat of the Tigers’ schedule.

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.

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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

History

2005: Massillon 27, Findlay 20

Massillon secures date with rival

By JOE SHAHEEN

As Lanale Robinson led the Tiger Swing Band in the alma mater, Massillon head coach Tom Stacy had his head down. He was deep in thought, no doubt pondering the Tigers upcoming regional championship game on Saturday against unbeaten Canton McKinley.

Clearly Stacy wasn’t happy with what he had just witnessed as the Tigers knocked off a game and feisty Findlay team 27-20 at Arlin Field in Mansfield last Saturday night in front of 12,264 paying customers.

“We have to play much better to even have a chance next week,” Stacy said. “There’s no question about that.

“We came back tonight but we didn’t play very well. We made a lot of mistakes, a lot of goofy penalties. We did some stuff tonight that we hadn’t done all year. That was kind of disappointing. But it’s a win. That’s all you can say.”

It was a heart-stopping win, one marred by penalties and mental mistakes uncharacteristic of two teams playing in the 12th week of the season.

Findlay looked to be beaten when it got the ball back on its own 22 with 1:22 to play. But the Trojans pulled the old hook and ladder play out of mothballs and if not for a heroic effort by Brian Gamble to run down Findlay’s Caleb Enright at the 3-yard line, the game would have gone into overtime.

“(Gamble) has made big plays for us all year and that was big,” Stacy said.

Findlay still had time to get it in the end zone. A short completion to Enright in the left flat came up a yard short and with the final seconds ticking off the clock, Trojan quarterback Chris Schneider tried to sneak it in instead of spiking the ball to stop the clock.

The middle of the Tiger defensive line did not yield and Massillon had survived to play another week.

“There’ll be so many ‘what ifs?’, I don’t know if I’ll ever watch this film, I swear,” said Findlay head coach Cliff Hite. “We had them. They had us. We had a shot. That’s all you can ask for.

“We wanted to spike the ball but he didn’t get the right signal. It happens. That’s high school football. When you go no huddle with no time outs, that’s what you’ve got to do.”

It should never have come to that but the Tigers were their own worst enemy all night long. They were penalized 10 times for 97 yards, including no fewer than three \”roughing the kicker\” flags and three other personal fouls.

Massillon also lost three fumbles, one at the Findlay 13-yard line.

“We’re down here with a chance to put it away and we fumble the snap,” Stacy said. “We haven’t fumbled a snap all year and we fumbled two tonight. I don’t know. It’s hard to explain.”

Findlay led 10-7 at halftime, controlling the football for 17 of the first 24 minutes of play.

The Trojans went up 17-7 after a 52-yard punt return by Zack Kraus set up an 8-yard Schneider to Andrew Leddy touchdown pass at 9:38 of the third quarter.

Then Massillon woke up, marching 65 yards in nine plays with Gamble covering the final half yard for the touchdown. Steve Schott tacked on the point after to make it Findlay 17, Massillon 14 at 6:07 of the third quarter.

Tiger junior defensive back Michael Porrini recovered a Findlay fumble on the second play of the Trojans ensuing possession, setting Massillon up at the Findlay 29.

Bobby Huth, who completed 10 of 13 passes for 102 yards on the night, rolled right on first down and connected with Zack Vanryzin at the 8-yard line and the senior wideout did the rest to give the Tigers their first lead of the night at 21-17 with more than five minutes still to play in the third.

Massillon then forced Findlay into a three-and-out series, and the Tigers took over at their own 20 after the Trojan punt.

On first down, Huth took the snap and looked to be optioning right, but instead pitched the ball to Robinson on a reverse. The senior tailback turned the corner and sprinted down the left sideline for an 80-yard touchdown. A failed two-point conversion made it Massillon 27, Findlay 17 at 3:20 of the third.

“I’m upset the way we let the third quarter go,” Hite said. “When we got up 17-7, it was almost like we let up a little bit and Massillon turned it up about 15 notches.”

“We tried to,” Stacy responded. “We needed to. We told the kids at halftime we needed to. It was kind of like we were playing in a fog the first half.”

The lone fourth quarter tally came when Findlay marched from its 10 to the Massillon 7, then settled for Brandon Walker’s 24-yard field goal with just under five minutes to play.

The Tigers tried to run out the clock but the plucky Findlay defense forced a Massillon punt with 1:22 to play.

“We’re 11-1 and we have a chance for a rematch now and we’ll see what happens,” Stacy said. “To play like that and get a win, we were fortunate.

“We got the rematch but we have to do something about it. We have to play better. We have to up our play to have a chance (against McKinley), that’s for sure.”

GAME STATS

Antonio James
Massillon vs. McK - Throwback (Large) History

2005: Massillon 8, Canton McKinley 38

Showdown turns into a mauling

By DAVID HARPSTER

The Massillon Tigers undoubtedly hope their next encounter with a Federal League team ends up much better than the last.

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Massillon qualified for the Division I, Region 2 playoffs with a 9-1 record, but it was that lone blemish – a 38-8 mauling at the hands of archrival and Federal League champ McKinley Saturday in front of 24,242 fans at Fawcett Stadium – that left the Tigers smarting.

They don’t have long to recover, though, as the Tigers will host North Canton Hoover this Saturday at 7 p.m. in a regional quarterfinal matchup. The Vikings finished in a tie for second in the Fed and qualified for the playoffs by virtue of last week’s 10-7 win over Jackson.

Massillon will have to regroup this week after the Bulldogs manhandled them in virtually every conceivable area.

“McKinley outcoached us, they outplayed us and give them all the credit,’ Massillon coach Tom Stacy said. “We knew they were good and they certainly showed it today.”

McKinley got a standout effort from junior tailback Morgan Williams, who rushed for 234 yards and four touchdowns. The 5-foot-11, 187-pounder broke off a 47-yard run – his longest of the afternoon – on McKinley’s second possession to help set the tone for the day. The play, on which McKinley caught Massillon in a blitz, took the ball to the Tigers’ 7. Williams scored on a 2-yard dive three plays later to give the Pups a lead they would never relinquish.

“We just happened to catch them in a blitz with that draw call,” McKinley coach Brian Cross said after his team wrapped up a 10-0 season. “That wasn’t really planning, it was more luck. It wasn’t like we saw something there and called it. We were just lucky. We called it at the right time and we’ve got a great tailback to give it to.”

Massillon’s offense, which entered the game averaging more than 38 points a game, was stuck in neutral most of the first half against a swarming McKinley defense. The Tigers went three-and-out on their first three series and didn’t record their initial first down until 5:33 remained in the opening half. By that time McKinley led 14-0 after quarterback Dan Grimsley hit Mark Jackson on a 21-yard scoring toss over the middle. Jackson made a splendid one-handed diving catch and landed in the end zone.

“That was a beautiful grab and we’d been trying to set that up before by cracking on the safety,” Grimsley said. “We ran a new play that we put in this week and Mark got open in the middle. He just went up and made a great play.”

The Bulldogs took the 14-0 lead into the locker room, as Williams piled up 192 of his yards in the first two quarters.

“Our line did a nice job, especially in the first half,” Cross said. ‘We kind of had Massillon guessing up front and our line really came off the ball well. Our running back was running the ball hard.”

A 32-yard punt return by Joe Morgan set up McKinley’s third score of the day, which came when Williams took a toss and found the end zone from 6 yards out to make it 21-0 McKinley with 8:40 left in the third quarter. Zach Campbell, who made all five of his extra points, nailed a 38-yard field goal three minutes later extend McKinley’s lead to 24-0.

The only offense Massillon got all afternoon came courtesy of its defense. Cornerback Troy Ellis picked off a McKinley pass and returned it 50 yards for a touchdown with just 24 seconds left in the third. A two-point run by Brian Gamble brought Massillon to within 24-8, but the Tigers would get no closer.

“I don’t think there was a key point necessarily,’ Stacy said. “McKinley just controlled things early on and we could never get into a rhythm offensively. We didn’t throw the ball well, we weren’t consistent in our running game. We just didn’t play well.”

Williams added a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown runs, from 14 and 4 yards out, to wrap up the scoring.

Massillon was outgained 339-124, as the Bulldogs ran 70 plays to the Tigers’ 47. The Tigers were intercepted four times and turned the ball over five times in all. Gamble found yards tough to come by and finished with just 47 yards on 15 carries. Quarterback Bobby Huth was 8-of-18 passing for 61 yards.

“We didn’t just try to take Gamble out, we had to defend their entire offense because Massillon has a lot of weapons,” Cross said. “We just played a good, sound game, got a little bit of a lead on them. Maybe that took them out of what they wanted to do and we were able to convert.”

In his first season at the Tigers’ helm, Stacy put the responsibility for his team’s first loss squarely on his shoulders.

“We just were outplayed and out coached today,” he said. “I don’t think it had anything to do with physical toughness. I just didn’t have our guys prepared. That’s pretty obvious … I’m the head coach and that’s my responsibility and we were not ready to play for whatever reason.”

GAME STATS

Antonio James
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

2005: Massillon 49, Eastlake North 14

Tigers go 9-0

By JOE SHAHEEN

With the annual season-ending rivalry game with McKinley looming one week from today, Massillon Tiger coach Tom Stacy didn’t want any slip-ups against underdog Eastlake North Friday night at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

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Stacy was adamant that his players focus on Eastlake, so much so that early in the week he banned them from addressing McKinley.

“We had a gag order on talking about McKinley,” Stacy said. “We did. We said don’t mention the name. Don’t talk about it.

“This program has had some slip-ups in Week Nine. I was part of a couple of those.”

Despite a steady drizzle for the first half of the game, the Tigers didn’t slip or slide or otherwise screw up their perfect record. Instead they blew Eastlake away 49-14 in front of 6,936 fans to improve to 9-0.

“I’ve coached in a lot of places and I’ve seen some very good football teams,” said Eastlake North head coach Nick Toth. “One of the things that makes Massillon a good team is they’re really well coached from top to bottom.

“I watched nine films on them and I only saw one thing I thought we could take advantage of that they were a little bit structurally weak. This is a well-coached football team. That guy is doing a very, very nice job over there.”

Eastlake North finished with 211 total yards but most came after the Tiger starters were out of the game.

“Our starters really got after them,” Stacy said. “That’s good to see. We told them they better go out and play hard. I thought our starters did a good job with that.”

Bobby Huth had a superb game at quarterback, connecting on 9 of 13 for 213 yards and two touchdowns. Stacy wanted to get his junior signal caller in a groove for the showdown next weekend.

“We wanted to get him in a rhythm and get a little bit more balance in our offense tonight,” said Stacy, noting the Tigers had 300 yards rushing and 274 yards passing. “If the weather had been better we’d have thrown a little bit more.”

The Tigers broke on top without the benefit of an offensive snap as senior cornerback Troy Ellis picked off a Mitch Weisbarth aerial at the Eastlake North 42 and ran it all the way back for a touchdown at 10:31 of the first quarter. Steve Schott’s point after was good and Massillon was up 7-0.

“If he hadn’t picked off that pass and ran it back, we’d have lost 42-14 instead of 49-14,” Toth quipped.

Massillon’s first offensive possession ended in a fumble but the next time the Tigers touched the ball there would be no such relief for Eastlake.

Huth hit Zack Vanryzin for seven yards along the right sideline on first down. Then senior running back Lanale Robinson ripped off 16 yards around right end and tacked on 22 more on a similar play to reach the end zone. Schott’s kick was true and the Tigers were up 14-0 with almost four minutes remaining in the first quarter.

Another three-play drive the next time Massillon had the ball yielded yet another touchdown. The possession began with a flea flicker play as Huth stood in the face of the North pass rush and found Vanryzin wide open at midfield. The senior wideout caught the ball and then weaved his way through the Ranger secondary down to the North 15.

Two plays later Robinson went over his right guard, ran through at tackle at the 5-yard line and scored the Tigers third touchdown of the evening. Schott’s conversion boot made it 21-0 with just under a minute to play in the opening stanza.

Massillon’s only sustained drive of the first half began at its 31. Eight plays later – six of which were runs by Gamble – Huth found senior tight end Brett Huffman all by himself at the North 14. Huffman snatched the ball out of the air and ambled in for the touchdown.

“I went up the line and I saw there was nobody around me and I was hoping Bob saw it too,” Huffman said. “He did and he got it to me. It was perfect pass. Good throw, good catch, good touchdown.”

Schott’s conversion was on target and Massillon’s lead grew to 28-0 at 4:06 of the first half.

Gamble made an incredible diving catch to key the Tigers final first-half possession. The drive began at the Massillon 20 with a 23-yard Huth to Gamble hook-up.

Two plays later Huth wound up and let fly in Gamble’s direction down the right hash. The ball looked to be overthrown but Gamble dove and – with his body parallel to the ground – latched onto the ball for a 30-yard gain to the North 26.

“That was a heck of a catch,” Stacy said. “I didn’t think he was going to get to it. I didn’t think there was any way.

“It gets to the point where you kind of take him for granted some times. He is a great player.”

Five plays later Huth lofted the ball into the end zone and Trey Miller pulled it in for Massillon’s fifth touchdown of the first half. Schott was accurate with his conversion kick and the Tigers carried a 35-0 lead into the halftime locker room.

The Tiger defense was relentless, limiting North to 82 total yards in the first two quarters and only 16 yards rushing.

Massillon sacked Weisbarth three times, with Lorenzo Grizzard, Dirk Dickerhoof and Paris McCall doing the honors for the Tigers.

Robert Morris opened the second half scoring with a 16-yard burst into the end zone, capping a drive that got started with a 59-yard Shawn Weisend to Vanryzin aerial. Schott’s kick pushed the tiger lead to 42-0 midway through the third quarter.

Massillon’s final touchdown came on an electrifying 80-yard run by Robinson on the second play of the fourth quarter.

Robinson finished with a career high 169 yards rushing on just 11 carries.

GAME STATS

Antonio James