Tag: <span>Dirk Dickerhoof</span>

History

2005: Massillon 21, Lakewood St. Edward 17

Thrilling rally propels Tigers past St. Ed, into title game

By JOE SHAHEEN

The Massillon Tigers will wear the underdog tag for the third consecutive Saturday when they take on Cincinnati St. Xavier for Ohio’s big school state football championship at Fawcett Stadium in Canton this coming weekend.

In a game that bore an eerie resemblance to their Week Six comeback victory over St. Ignatius. the Tigers rallied for two touchdowns in the final six minutes of play to stun previously unbeaten Lakewood St. Edward 21‑17 in the state semifinals as 14,100 watched at the Rubber Bowl in Akron, Saturday afternoon.

The victory means Massillon will play for the state championship for the first time since 1982. Kickoff this Saturday is 7 p.m.

“Our guys just don’t quit,” said Tiger head coach Tom Stacy. “It reminded me a lot of the St. Ignatius game. We just battled and battled and battled.

“Our community takes a lot of hits in the way they promote football. I’ll tell you what, we have the best high school football fans in the country. They support this football program like you can’t believe and that’s a big part of it. They deserve this playoff run. They deserve this state championship game we’re going to play in.”

Trailing 17‑7 after St. Edward marched 54 yards to the end zone in 10 plays with just over seven minutes to play, the Tigers began their improbable comeback.

“We went into our two‑minute offense,” Stacy said. “We felt like we had to get a couple of scores, we don’t have a lot of time left, let’s go two minute. We’ve been pretty good in our two‑minute offense all year. We haven’t used it a lot but when we have we’ve done a nice job of it. We just had a bunch of guys make plays.”

Quarterback Bobby Huth connected with Brett Huffman on two throws for 18 yards then hit Brian Gamble on a flat pass that netted 26 more. Two plays later Massillon was right back in the game ,as Huth found Gamble running free on a post pattern in the end zone for a 18‑yard touchdown.

Steve Schott’s point after was true and the Tigers cut their deficit to three points at 17‑14 with 5:21 remaining.

Then the defense did its part, forcing St. Edward into a rapid‑fire three‑and‑out series. Massillon took over at its 45‑yard line after the Eagle punt rolled out of bounds.

Huth’s pinpoint passing resulted in a 10‑yard hookup with Zack Vanryzin to the St. Edward 45 and an 11‑yard strike to Gamble at the 29‑yard line as the Tiger Nation roared its approval.

That’s when disaster struck. Huth, seeing the Tigers were in a bad play call for the St. Edward defense, turned to ask for a timeout. But the ball was snapped before he could signal the referee and it sailed over his head. By the time the junior fell on the pigskin, the Tigers had lost 20 yards back to the St. Edward 49 and needed 30 yards for a first down.

Undaunted, Huth spotted Gamble on a crossing pattern in the middle a he field and hit the junior tailback in stride. By the time the Eagles pulled him down, the Tigers had a first down at the 14‑yard line.

“I know we have great playmakers,” Huth said. “If I can get the ball in their hands, anything can happen.”

Another Huth to Gamble hook‑up moved the ball to the 5‑yard line. On second-and‑one from there, Gamble found a nice seam over left tackle and went into the end for the game‑winner with 1:56 to spare.

“Bobby (Huth) and Brian (Gamble), the guys up front pass protected, Brett Huffman had some great passes and runs … we just had a bunch of guys make plays,” Stacy said. “It wasn’t anything magical in play calling. Just guys making plays.”

St. Edward head coach John Gibbons, who saw his junior‑laden team bow out at 12‑1, had nothing but praise for the Tigers.

“Anytime you can come back in the fourth quarter and put two touchdowns on the board after we had taken that lead…,” Gibbons said, his voice trailing off.

“Once they started going pass first and spreading, we didn’t come up with the answer. We tried to get the ball quick out of the quarterback’s hand, and he was very elusive and he found guys. It was hard for us to run with those guys in man, especially when the quarterback was getting in open spaces. Then we tried to mix it up and use some zone coverages and take the pressure off that way and they seemed to adjust their routes. They just made great plays.”

St. Edward took the opening kickoff and kept the football for eight plays, hitting the Tiger defense with a heavy dose of Nate Oliver, who started in place of the injured Frank Edmonds at tailback. The Tigers forced a punt when Paris McCall and Lorenzo Grizzard stopped Oliver on a third‑and‑eight trap play.

Massillon took over at its own 15 after the Eagle punt and Huth immediately went to the air, connecting with Trey Miller on a short pass. Miller turned it into a 17‑yard gain with some nifty running to set up a first‑and‑10 at the Tiger 33.

That’s when lightening struck. Huth ‑ who completed 14 of 20 passes for 230 yards and two touchdowns on the afternoon ‑ picked out Vanryzin who was wide open down the right sideline. The senior wideout hauled it in at the St. Edward 43 and scampered untouched into the end zone for a 67‑yard touchdown at 7:26 of the first quarter. Schott nailed the conversion kick and Massillon led 7‑0.

St. Edward came right back, marching from its 36 to the Massillon 15. But on third‑and‑five, a Brandon Frohnapple to John Dvoroznak completion turned into a nightmare for the Eagles. Dvoroznak was belted down along the right sideline and fumbled the ball. Robert Morris recovered for Massillon and Dvoroznak ‑ St. Ed’s best pass rusher ‑ would leave the game with a knee injury. He didn’t return.

St. Edward finally got on the scoreboard with 3:39 to play in the first half, moving 80 yards in nine plays for the game‑tying touchdown. Oliver’s 7‑yard run over left guard capped the nearly five‑minute march and Ben Rios’ extra point made it Massillon 7, St. Edward 7. All four Eagle first downs on the drive came via the air as Frohnapple went 16 of 22 for 173 yards on the day.

The Eagles owned a five minute advantage in time of possession in the first half, so it was key when Massillon opened the second half with a seven‑play, four‑minute drive, even though it did not yield any points.

However, St. Edward took over at its own 20 and moved 60 yards in nine plays to set up a 38‑yard field goal by Rios that gave the Eagles a 10‑7 lead at 2:31 of the third quarter.

The fourth quarter opened with St. Edward moving 54 yards in 10 plays to open up a 10‑point lead. On third‑and‑goal from the 5, Frohnapple hit Kyle Hubbard in the left corner of the end zone for the touchdown. Rios’ boot made it 17‑7 St. Edward at 7:02 of the fourth.

But the Tigers found paydirt on their next two drives for their 13th victory of this memorable 2005 campaign.

Both teams had just over 250 yards of total offense but Massillon limited the vaunted St. Edward ground game to just 84 yards in 37 attempts.

“We talked about three things we had to do to win the game,” Stacy said. “First and foremost was to stop their run. We knew they had a great offensive line. Big, strong and physical.

“We knew we had to play well in the kicking game and for the most part we did that. We thought we had to run the ball vertically better. We didn’t do a great job with that but we made up for it with our passing game.”

Stacy and Gibbons met at midfield after the final whistle.

“He said, ‘Go win it,”‘ Stacy said. “He said, ‘Go win it all.”‘

Dailey’s sack sets up
Game-winning drive

By JOE SHAHEEN
Joe.Shaheen@lndeOnline.com

The lasting memory of Massillon’s 21‑17 state semifinal victory over the St. Edward Eagles will be the Tigers’ two clutch fourth‑quarter touchdown drives that punched their ticket to this Saturday’s state championship game against Cincinnati St. Xavier.

But Massillon gave itself an opportunity to record one of the biggest victories in this storied program’s history when the Tiger defense forced St. Edward into a three‑and‑out series in the game’s final five minutes of play.

The Eagles were still on top at 17‑14 after Bobby Huth’s 18‑yard touchdown pass to Brian Gamble with 5:21 to play and with the way St. Edward had run the football and eaten up game clock all season long, its partisans didn’t seem all that concerned.

The Tiger defense, however, knew their assignment was to get the ball back and to do it as quickly as possible. ‑ St. Edward began at its own 26 after Nate Oliver’s 18‑yard kickoff return.

On first down Oliver hit into the middle to the Tiger defensive line but tackles Lorenzo Grizzard and Emery Saunders and ends Dirk Dickerhoof and Antonio James yielded only one yard.

Facing second‑and‑long, Eagle quarterback Brandon Frohnapple, who was having a fine day passing the football, hit wideout Kyle Hubbard along the left sideline. But Hubbard was out of bounds when he caught the ball, setting up a key third down play.

St. Edward had converted five of 11 third downs up to that point and most had come on the strength of Frohnapple’s accurate right arm.

The junior signal caller took the snap in shotgun formation and again looked toward Hubbard along the left sideline.

Tiger junior safety Andrew Dailey came swooping in from Frohnapple’s blind side and earholed the St. Edward quarterback for a 7‑yard sack that forced the Eagles to punt.

“That was huge,” St. Edward head coach John Gibbons said. “They’re rushing five. They have three guys playing zone underneath and three deep. There are places to throw the ball. However, you have to get it off.

“We’ve seen it before. They’ve been running that blitz all year. They didn’t blitz much in the game, until the end.”

Dailey was matter of fact about what amounted to the defensive play of the game.

“I just wanted to make sure I tackled him before he threw the ball,” he said.

“(The blitz) was called early in the game and there was confusion and we didn’t run it. We just stayed in normal coverage. We ran it a few more times in the game. That time I was wide open. I was unblocked.”

And Dailey made Frohnapple pay the price.

“We didn’t slide our protection the right way and (Dailey) came clean,” Gibbons said. “We do have a protection that can handle it but with all the screaming that’s going on out there…. When it gets that loud, guys don’t get the call.

“It’s one thing if the guy beats your blocker. When he can run clean in there on the dead run from the wide side, that’s not good for the offense.”

Dailey’s sack added to the momentum the Tiger offense had already generated on its previous scoring drive.

Massillon took the ensuing punt and quickly moved 55 yards in eight plays for the game‑winning touchdown and a trip to the Division I state title contest at Fawcett Stadium in Canton.

Huth saves best for last

By CHRIS EASTERLING
Chris.EasterlirigL@lndeOnline.com

Third‑and‑30 isn’t exactly the situation a quarterback wants to find himself in. But that’s what stared Massillon quarterback Bobby Huth and the rest of his Tiger teammates in the face with just over 2:00 left in Saturday’s Division I state semifinal against Lakewood St. Edward at Akron’s Rubber Bowl.

On first down from the Eagle 29, the shotgun snap sailed high over the head of Huth as he was attempting to call a timeout. The junior wisely fell on the loose pigskin at the St. Edward 49 instead of trying to pick the ball up and force a bad pass.

“I guess he (the center) couldn’t hear me,” Huth said. “We were trying to get a timeout called. They had four guys guarding our two over there. I wanted to get a timeout called to get a better play called.”

That better play came two plays later, when Huth hit Brian Gamble running a dig route across the field for a 35‑yard gain and a first down at the St. Edward 14. Two plays later, the Tigers were in the end zone for the go‑ahead touchdown in a 21‑17 come‑from‑behind victory over the Eagles to advance to this Saturday’s Division I state championship game against nationally ranked Cincinnati St. Xavier at Fawcett Stadium.

“I was looking for B.G.,” Huth said. “He was supposed to run a deep post over the middle, and he saw the safety over the top. We were just on the same page. I just threw it to him, and he was there. He had a good run after the play.”

Huth had a good run himself the whole game, finishing 14‑of‑20 passing for 230 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He completed his first five passes in the game ‑ including a 67‑yard touchdown pass to Zack Vanryzin in the first quarter ‑ for 97 yards.

“I’m pretty happy, but there were still some passes I should have completed,” Huth said. “I should have been 16 or 17 for 20.”

But Huth saved his best for last. And he did so with the Tigers’ season hanging precariously in the balance.

“We were down 17‑7, and we just went to our two-minute offense,” Massillon coach Tom Stacy said. “We felt like ‘Hey, we have to get a couple of scores, and we don’t have a lot of time left.’ We’ve been pretty good in our two‑minute offense all year. We haven’t used it a lot, but when we have, we’ve done a pretty nice job with it. We just had a bunch of guys make plays, whether it was Bobby or Brian, or the guys up front in pass protection.”

Utilizing that pass blocking, as well as the skills of Gamble, Huth was 9‑of‑12 for 133 yards in the final quarter. Five of those completions went to Gamble for 98 yards and a touchdown.

“I was in a pretty good rhythm,” Huth said of the fourth‑quarter performance. “I like going to the two-minute offense. I wish we’d start the game off like that.”

For Huth, it was a chance to finish a job he started but was unable to complete against St. Ignatius back in Week Six. He was knocked out of that game with a concussion on Massillon’s final drive, and Shawn Weisend came in to direct the Tigers to the go‑ahead touchdown and their first‑ever win over the Cleveland parochial power.

On Saturday, it was Huth showing the poise and moxie of a grizzled veteran as he helped Massillon get another monkey of its back ‑ a 23‑year championship game drought ‑ with a come‑from‑behind performance against the Ignatius’ bitter rival.

“Shawn did a great job against St. Ignatius,” Huth said. “I don’t remember a lot of that game. I was pretty messed up. But I’m glad I got the opportunity to do it today.”

Drop gets Gamble fore

By CHRIS EASTERLING
Chris.Easterling@IndeOnline.com

When Brian Gamble fumbled on Massillon’s first play of the fourth quarter in Saturday’s Division I state semifinal against Lakewood St. Edward at Akron’s Rubber Bowl, it looked like a back‑breaking play for the Tigers. That was especially true after the Eagles converted it into a touchdown for a 10‑point margin.

It turns out it might just have been a back‑breaker, only for St. Edward.

The fumble lit a tire under the 6‑foot, 190‑pound Tiger junior, who accounted for 103 total yards on six touches following the turnover. He also scored a pair of touchdowns as Massillon rallied for a 21‑17 victory and the program’s first state championship game berth since 1982.

“After I fumbled, I felt like I let the team down,” Gamble said. “I just wanted the ball in my hands so I could try to make up for it and make a play. Coach (Tom) Stacy gave me an opportunity to do that.”

Gamble finished the game with 62 rushing yards on 14 carries, but had just one carry after the fumble. Still, that one carry was huge ‑ a five‑yard touchdown jaunt with 1:56 remaining which set off a delirious celebration among the Tiger players and the orange‑and‑black clad portion of the 14,100 in attendance.

“Cory Shane did a good job of pulling up in there,” Gamble said of the touchdown run. “(Cory) and Quentin Nicholson did a great job opening it up for me, and I just found a crease and got into the end zone‑”­

Where Gamble was most productive ‑ and most damaging to St. Edward ‑ was in the passing game. The receiver‑turned‑tailback did not have an official catch he did have a nine‑yard touchdown grab at the end of the first half called back due to holding ‑ through the first three quarters of play.

But when it mattered most, with the pulse of Massillon season weakening as each second ticked off the clock, Tiger quarterback Bobby Huth was able to find Gamble. Not just once, but five times for 98 yards.

“Sometimes they’ll have maybe a linebacker on me or a nickelback,” Gamble said. “I think I have an advantage because a lot of our plays go to the inside, so I’ll have leverage on them. Bobby just threw the rock to me, and I tried to make a play.”

No play outside of Gamble’s two touchdowns was as big as the 35‑yard catch and run, which converted a third‑and‑30 situation into a Massillon first down at the Eagle 14. Gamble made the catch across the middle, picked up a huge block from junior wideout Trey Miller and got the first down with 2:14 left to play.

Two plays later, Massillon was in the end zone for the go‑ahead score.

“We were on the same page,” Gamble said. “I was supposed to run a post, and I saw that they had it double covered so I just broke it off to the inside, and I was hoping Bobby saw me. He did and I caught it, and I knew I had to get a first down and get out of bounds and stop the clock.

“I think they started playing some ‘Cover 2,’ where they’d press up on me and try to double cover me. That’s what happened on the third‑and‑30 play, so I broke it off into a dig, and me and Bobby were on the same page.”

Gamble also hurt St. Edward in the kicking game. He averaged 26 yards on two kickoff returns, including a 31‑yarder which help set up the Tigers’ next‑to‑last scoring drive.

“He can do it all,” St. Edward coach John Gibbons said of Gamble. “He’s a defender, a kick returner, long snapper … what else can he do? I guess they could find another job for him to do. He’s tough kid.”

GAME STATS

Antonio James
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

2005: Massillon 35, Cincinnati Elder 31

TIGERS SIGNATURE WIN COMES AT PRICE

By JOE SHAHEEN
Joe.Shaheen@IndeOnline.Com

When the Massillon Tigers return to the gridiron Friday against the Mansfield Tygers, they will do so with a 2-0 record, the knowledge they have knocked off one of the very best big school programs in the state and – in all likelihood – without the services of starting defensive end Dirk Dickerhoof and starting outside linebacker Quentin Paulik.

Dickerhoof and Paulik, both seniors, suffered injuries to the shoulder/collarbone area in the Tigers’ 35-31 upset of Cincinnati Elder on Saturday at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati. Both had their arms in a sling in the second half of the game, though head coach Tom Stacy did not immediately know the extent of their injuries. It is feared Dickerhoof may have a separated shoulder.

While the loss of two of the Tigers’ top defenders did not put a damper on Massillon’s stunning performance in the third game of the Prep Classic, the way the game went after the locals took a 35-7 lead into the fourth quarter nearly gave Stacy and his coaching staff a group coronary.

Elder scored three touchdowns in the final stanza – two within a span of 40 seconds – to make what appeared to be a Tiger blowout victory into a nailbiter that went down to the final play.

“We’ve got to finish,” Stacy said shaking his head. “We didn’t finish last week and we didn’t finish this week. Now, we got two wins and that’s the positive part. But when you continue to play good teams like we play down the road and you get in this situation, we better learn to finish it off.”

Leading 35-14 midway through the fourth quarter, the Tigers were knocking on the door but failed to score from point blank range.

“The fact we didn’t finish it off is the offense’s fault,” Stacy said. “We get down there on the one-foot line, we’ve got to stick it in and finish the game off and we didn’t do that. It darn near cost us. That’s on the offense. That’s on me as the offensive coach. We’ve got to get that corrected.”

Compounding the Tigers’ failure to find the end zone one final time was an unsportsmanlike conduct call against them after they were stopped by the Elder defense.

“We lost our composure,” Stacy said. “You can’t lose your composure. It’s something we’ve been trying to work on during camp, during two-a-days. We have to continue to work on it. We can’t lose our composure.

“Our kids are really, really competitive and they play really hard. There’s a lot of pressure on them to win at Massillon. But that doesn’t give them an excuse to lose their composure. We’ve got to get that corrected as a coaching staff.”

Even senior cornerback Troy Ellis, who set a Massillon Tiger single game record with five – that’s right, five – interceptions, was disconsolate about how the game nearly got away from the Tigers.

“When Elder recovered the first onside kick, it was like a heart job,” he said. “It was scary but we pulled it out.

“This win is real big. The last two years we started 0-2 and 1-1. Now we’re 2-0 and it gives the team a lot of confidence.”

As for his thievery, which included a fumble recovery and 20-yard return for a touchdown to open the scoring on the afternoon, Ellis admitted he had no premonition he was going to have the game of his life on such a grand stage.

“I had no clue this was going to happen. No clue,” he said. “The coaches put me in a position to make plays. They gave me great coverage calls and I was just back there playing the ball. It was fun throughout the whole game. It was fun all the way around.”

Ellis was voted the game’s Most Valuable Player for the media.

Tiger junior tailback Brian Gamble must have been a close second in the voting after rushing for 173 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries. His first score of the afternoon came in the first minute of the second half on an off tackle run that appeared to be bottled up. But Gamble turned to his right, found the Elder defense out of position and bolted 60 yards to the end zone to put the Tigers up 21-0.

“That was a great run,” Stacy said. “It was just a power off tackle play and Brian Gamble broke it.”

Gamble refused to take any credit for his heroics.

“It’s not me,” Gamble said. “Our line has been blocking excellent and we’ve got Lanale Robinson running the football, too.”

Now, Gamble says, people around Ohio are going to sit up and take notice of the Massillon Tigers once again.

“That put us on the map,” he said. “It will get us a lot of respect. People were underestimating us and I think we came out here and proved what we had to prove.

“The way it ended teaches us a great lesson. Come playoff time or big games we have to learn to finish, to suck it up. Hopefully we’ll do a better job next time.”

After Ellis’ fumble return put the Tigers up 7-0 at 5:57 of the first quarter, the Elder offense was unable to get anything going and was forced to punt.

A 37-yard Gamble burst on the second play of the drive moved the ball to the Elder 33. Six plays later, junior quarterback Bobby Huth ran the bootleg keeper around the left end and galloped into the end zone. Steve Schott’s point after made it 14-0 Massillon at 1:18 of the first quarter, leaving the purple-clad Elder throng in stunned silence.

Elder marched from its 28 to the Massillon 22 on its next possession and appeared to have regained the momentum. But on second-and-two, Ellis made his first interception of the day at the 4-yard line, then returned it to the 17 to give the Tigers some breathing room.

On Elder’s next possession, following a Tiger punt, the Panthers drove from their 35 to the Massillon 5. But the Tiger defense stiffened and Elder turned the ball over on downs late in the second quarter.

Massillon then drove to the Elder five before time ran out in the first half.

Gamble opened the second half with his long touchdown run.

After a Massillon offside penalty on a punt gave Elder a new set of downs, Ellis made his second interception of the afternoon and ran the ball back to the Elder 12. Junior fullback Quentin Nicholsen went over left tackle on first down and found the end zone to break it open at 10:13 of the third quarter. Schott tacked on the point and Massillon was running away at 28-0.

Massillon’s final touchdown was set up by yet another Ellis pickoff. Six plays later, Gamble went in from the two and Schott’s conversion closed the Tigers’ scoring … but not the excitement.

GAME STATS

Antonio James
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

2003: Massillon 34, Findlay 17

Sacked
Second half again belongs to Tigers

By JOE SHAHEEN
Joe.Shaheen @ IndeOnline.com

For the second week in a row, the Massillon Tigers turned it up a notch in the second half, enabling them to roll past the Findlay Trojans 34‑17 in a match‑up of 2002 Division I state semifinalists witnessed by 8,644 fans at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium on Friday.

Program Cover

Massillon, now 3‑1, was clinging to a tenuous three‑point halftime lead despite being on the short end of every first‑half statistic, including a time of possession disparity of 18:16‑5:44.

The Tigers were a different team after the band show, marching 64 yards in 11 plays on their first possession to take a 10‑point lead, then going 81 yards in 13 plays to jump out by 17 points.

Findlay, which falls to 2‑2, rallied with an 80‑yard touchdown drive of its own but Massillon took advantage of some favorable field position thanks in part to a 43‑yard Max Shafer punt than pinned the Trojans deep in their end ‑ to put the game away with a 29‑yard scoring possession midway through the fourth quarter.

“They waxed us in the third quarter and we couldn’t stop them,” said Findlay head coach Cliff Hite. “That was the whole thing right there. We couldn’t stop their offense. They were quicker than we were. We didn’t tackle well. They executed brilliantly.

“They are the best team we’ve played by far. By far. They were bending but they didn’t break. They kept us out of the end zone better than anybody in a long time.”

“We didn’t start off as good as we can but we had a lot of leadership in the locker room at halftime and we took it out on the field in the second half,” said Tiger co‑captain Billy Relford. “We had a lot of guys step up. Steve (Hymes) stepped up at quarterback in the second half and drove the team down the field. Max (Shafer) stepped up in the kicking game. Brock (Hymes) stepped up at linebacker.

“When Steve stepped up at quarterback, it rubbed off on other people. It was like ‘I’m going to step up. I’m going to step up.’ We just started playing well as a team.”

Hymes hit on two long passes in the opening drive of the second half, connecting with Ryan Schindler for 30 yards on a third‑and‑eight play, then finding Brad Hauser for 22 yards on a third‑and‑14 situation. Five plays later, Tuffy Woods dove into the end zone behind left guard Tim Dewald and left tackle Vince Volpe to put the Tigers up 20‑10.

Findlay responded, moving from its 20 to the Massillon 11 in eight plays. But on the ninth play of the drive, Tiger sophomore lineman Dirk Dickerhoof made a diving interception of a pass in the right flat to repel the Trojan incursion.

“I just saw the quarterback fake, the running back come out and I just dove and got it,” Dickerhoof explained. “It swung the momentum.”

“That was the play of the game,” said Tiger coach Rick Shepas. “They were on a good drive and then Dirk intercepts that pass and that really took a lot of air out of their sails at that point.

“When you watch Dirk play basketball, he’s kind of a garbage man. He’s rebound after rebound. He’s junk point after junk point, and that’s kind of the way he plays for us on defense. He’s always where he’s supposed to be and he keeps playing hard. When you’re consistent like that and play like that, good things happen to YOU.”

After the turnover, the Tigers went to their ground game, as Woods and Ramon Kelly took turns gouging out real estate against the tiring Findlay defense. Hymes sustained the drive when he hit Eric Copeland for 16 yards on a third‑and‑seven play. Another pass to Wayne Gates got the ball inside the Trojan 10, and Hymes then went back to Copeland for an 8‑yard touchdown with :12 remaining in the third quarter.

Shafer’s kick put the Tigers up 27‑10 and although both teams would find the end zone once more, that tally all but sealed the deal for Massillon.

Hymes finished with 58 yards rushing to go with 191 yards passing, 106 of which came in the second half.

“Steve was sick all week,” noted Shepas. “He got bit by the flu bug.

“We woke him up a little bit at halftime. It was just a little extra. A little extra. That’s him getting better and coming into his own. We just had to rattle him up and little bit and get his attention and then he focuses a little better.”

“We just kept pushing it and pushing it,” Hymes said. “We wouldn’t let up on them. I made sure I told the guys ‘Don’t let up. Don’t let up. We’re not finished yet.’

“We were just too powerful. Too powerful.”

Massillon scored the first time it touched the football after forcing Findlay into a three‑and‑out off the opening kickoff.

Taking over at the Findlay 43, Steve Hymes kept the ball on an option play, galloped through a gaping hole over his left guard and into the Trojan secondary. The elusive senior then cut toward the right sideline and went untouched for a 43‑yard touchdown run.

The point‑after was no good but Massillon was up 6‑0 at 10:11 of the first quarter.

Findlay took the lead on its third possession of the game after Massillon failed to convert a fourth‑and‑four at the Trojan 35. It appeared the Massillon defense had forced its second three‑and‑out but Findlay faked the punt on fourth down, and instead completed a 15‑yard pass that produced a first down at the Tiger 43.

One play later, Baker hit Brady Schneider on a post pattern at the 10‑yard line and the Trojan bounced off two shoulder tackles and into the end zone for a 43‑yard touchdown. Mark Snodgrass converted the point‑after kick and Findlay was up 7‑6 at 2:45 of the first quarter.

Snodgrass then capped a 16‑play drive for Findlay with a 24‑yard field goal with 5:45 left in the first half to put the Trojans up 10‑6.

The Tigers hit the Findlay defense with a lightning bolt on their ensuing possession.

On third‑and‑12 from the Massillon 38, Hymes took the shotgun snap and threaded the needle to Relford at he Findlay 40. Relford ran through one tackle as he sprinted left to right across the field, then simply ran away from the Trojan pursuit for a 62‑yard scoring play with 4:51 remaining until half.

Shafer was true with the point‑after kick and Massillon carried a 13‑10 edge into the locker room. It was a lead they would build on to ensure their third victory in four starts.

Massillon 34
Findlay 17

GAME STATS

Findlay 7 3 0 7 17
Massillon 6 7 14 7 34

SCORING
M ‑ Steve Hymes 43 run (Max Shafer kick failed)
F ‑ Schneider 43 pass from Baker (Snodgrass kick)
F ‑ Snodgrass 23 FG
M ‑ Billy Relford 62 pass from Hymes (Shafer kick)
M ‑ Woods 2 run (Shafer kick)
M ‑ Copeland 7 pass from Hymes (Shafer kick)
F ‑ Almond 31 pass from Baker (Snodgrass kick)
M ‑Ramon Kelly 1 run (Shafer kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Massillon rushing: Hymes 10‑58, 1 TD, Kelly 7‑35, 1 TD, Woods 13‑24, 1 TD
Findlay rushing: Almond 9‑39

Massillon passing: Hymes 11‑23‑191, 2 TDs, 1 INT
Findlay passing: Baker 25‑45‑311, 2 TDs, 1 INT

Massillon receiving: Copeland 3‑29, 1 TD, Relford 2‑78, 1 TD
Findlay receiving: Curtis 18‑144, Almond 4‑64, 1 TD

Brock Hymes