Tag: <span>Eric Wright</span>

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1991: Massillon 60, Akron Garfield 13

Tigers gore Rams
99-yard run adds to Tigers’ fun

By STEVE DOERSCHUK
Independent Sports Editor

Even when it was 48‑6, Chaun­cey was taking no chances.

Massillon Tiger sophomore Chauncey Watson, whose longest previous run was a 65­yarder last year at Lorin Andrews Junior High, took a fantastic 99‑yard voyage for a touchdown to put an added glow on a 60‑13 high school football victory over the outmanned Akron Garfield Rams Friday night.

The Tigers improved to 3‑0 on a warm Friday night. Next up is a game one week from today at Kings Island against Cincinnati Moeller. Garfield fell to 0‑3 be­fore 10,752 at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium. Moeller improved to 2‑1 by beating Trotwood ­Madison 28‑0 Friday night.

Watson has run the 100‑meter dash in track but says he isn’t very good. He runs the 40 in 4.9. He looked pretty snazzy in the 100‑yard dash, though.

Following “great blocks” by Terry Holland and Dan Seimetz, Watson broke (by his count) “five or six” tackles as he roared toward the left side­line and broke into the clear.

Seimetz was angry at himself for slipping on a kickoff return that stuck the ball inside the 1.

“It was right on the goal line,” observed Watson, mean­ing he set a school record ‑ call it 99 1/2- yards ‑ that would have to be broken by inches.

Seimetz made up for his slip with the fine block and Watson did the rest.

“All I was thinking was, ‘Get out of the end zone. No safety,”‘ he said.

Watson was promoted to the varsity this week because of in­juries to junior running backs Gene Copeland and Pat McVeen.

99 Yard TD Chauncey Watson

He was on the field with back­up players; in fact, the second and third teams played all but one series in the second half af­ter the Tigers had taken a 41‑0 halftime lead.

Garfield head coach Bill McGee, whose team has been the dominant force in the Akron City Series in his 17 years, and who owns four wins over Mas­sillon in the 1980s, thanked Mas­sillon head coach Lee Owens for holding down the score.

“On paper Massillon was bet­ter than us in every aspect of the game, and it was that way on the field,” McGee said. “I’m just glad these first three games are over.”

Garfield has lost 34‑0 to McKinley, 49‑12 to Cincinnati Elder and now 60‑13 to Mas­sillon.

“I can’t imagine any teams anywhere in the state being much better than any of those three,” McGee said.

McGee rated Massillon and Elder “about even” and slight­ly better than McKinley.

“I give a strong edge to Mas­sillon in the running game,” McGee said “Massillon is much more of a problem because they execute so well out of so many formations.”

The Tigers rushed for an amazing 458 yards. Watson led the way with 134 yards in seven carries.

The backfield starters were Travis McGuire (11 for 132) and Falando Ashcraft (10 for 66).

Backup Dan Seimetz chewed tip 85 yards in nine carries, all in the second half.

Quarterback Nick Mossides had another steady game. Playing only in the first half, Mos­sides completed five of seven passes for 100 yards.

On the Tigers’ second play from scrimmage, pre‑game, talk about Garfield being susceptible to the deep pass came to the forefront.

Flanker Marc Stafford ran motion right and was trailed by Garfield defensive back Marv Campbell. After the senior tight end Greg Paul slipped away from the line he broke for the right sidelines. I was wide open when Mossides threw the ball about 35 yards a catch‑and‑run that covered yards for a TD.

“It was a boot pass and the offensive line did a great job with the protection,” Paul said, “The quarterback and the running backs made some good fakes and I was wide open. Nick got me the ball.”

Rating the Tigers’ performance, Paul said, “We’re taking the steps we need to take. I need to keep getting better.”

The Tigers got on the board moments after the bomb. Middle guard Carl Hye recovered a Garfield fumble on a bad exchange at the 10. Ashcraft ran the 5 and McGuire scored on the next play.

The Tigers had run for only four plays; yet, Ashcraft’s two point conversion run swelled their lead to 14‑0.

McGuire, who is turning the spin move into an art form, had a big first half with nine carries for 102 yards. He seems to be within one move of scoring a touchdown half the time he touches the ball.

He set up first‑half touchdowns with runs of 28 and xx yards. Another touchdown was the result of a Troy Burick interception that gave Massillon possession on the 10. McGuire and Ashcraft each finished the first half with a pair of TDs.

Burick took over at quarterback for one series in the third quarter and looked sharp. I ran once for 18 yards and completed both of the passes I tried for 23 yards. Ashcraft scored his third touchdown of the night early in the second half.
The second team took the field and kept making more yards.

Seimetz scored two touchdowns on runs of 21 and 1.

The game got a little bit wild. Moments after Watson scored his 99‑yard special, Garfield’s Campbell raced 81 yards for a touchdown on the kickoff return.

Garfield had one other fourth quarter touchdown on which they scored on a 47‑yard drive.

The Tiger defense turned in another strong performance.

At the point in the second quarter when the Tigers took a 34‑0 lead, Garfield had run 19 plays and gained 19 yards.

“That’s not bad,” said Tiger defensive tackle Jonathon Jones, “but I compare what we do one week to what we did the previous week. And the pre­vious week we didn’t give up any yards to Walsh (on the ground) in the first half.

“We’re playing fairly well on defense. Our strongest point so far has been our run defense. But we’ve still got to improve on everything.”

The Tigers led 243‑41 in total yard in the first half and finished with a season‑high 581 yards. The 581 yards is believed to be the largest number in a game during the four years Owens has
been head coach. Garfield finished with 111 yards.

Owens didn’t know quite what to say in the end.

“One thing for sure,” he joked, “we proved time of pos­session isn’t that important in football.”

Garfield held the ball for 27:46. Massillon had it for 20:14.

“Our goal,” Owens said, “was not to get anyone hurt and have some momentum going into the Moeller game.”

Owens confessed he had a hard time concentrating on Garfield this week, given the Rams’ uncharacteristic strug­gles and the fact Moeller is up next.

“I told the players after the game that they showed a lot more discipline than I did in focusing on Garfield and tuning out Moeller,” Owens said.

Owens spent part of the week planning the itinerary for the trip to Kings Island.

Those who have not ordered tickets can get them Monday at the Washington High ticket office, but there is a limit of two per customer. They won’t last long. Galbreath Field, where the game will be played, holds only about 10,000. Some stand­ing room tickets will be sold the night of the game.

Garfield’s coach, McGee, isn’t used to nights like this or seasons like these.

“My worst,” he said, “was 6­-5. We’ll be hard pressed to get to that point now. But, believe it or not, there were some areas where I thought we improved tonight. It’s just that we didn’t have the players to match up. We couldn’t slow them down. Nothing we tried worked.”

Stafford was the Tigers’ re­ceiving leader for the second straight week. He caught three passes for 58 yards.

Garfield got 68 rushing yards from sophomore Frank Idley. The Rams’ senior quarterback, 6‑1, 225‑pound Barry Christ, failed to complete a pass in five tries.

Two future Tiger opponents played each other Friday, Au­stintown‑Fitch downing Young­stown East 26‑0. Both teams have 1‑2 records.

Last year’s Tiger offensive coordinator Tom Stacy, is 0‑3 as head coach at Shelby after a 3‑0 setback to Ashland last night.

Defending state champion Warren Harding outlasted Akron Buchtel 19‑16. On Mon­day at 5:30 P.M., the Warren jayvees will be at Massillon to take on the Tiger jayvees.

Eric Wright
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1991: Massillon 28, Walsh Jesuit 7

Tiger’s whip Walsh

Tigers rewarded With 2nd win

By STEVE DOERSHUK
Independent Sports Editor

A night of penalties held re­wards enough for the Massillon Tigers.

The Tigers were flagged for a Warren Mollenkopf Stadium­ like 100 yards in penalties but roared for a 466‑130 edge in total offense Friday night in repell­ing the Walsh Jesuit Warriors 28‑7. A crowd of 13,273 watched on a clear night with a moody summer sunset in Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

Program Cover

“We’ve got to work on that,” Tiger head coach Lee Owens said of the trouble with yellow hankies.

He said it with a smile on his face. The Tigers did plenty of good things in improving their record to 2‑0 against a game Walsh team that fell to 1‑1.

The bag of goodies included:

* A Massillon record 154 receiv­ing yards (on eight catches) by senior flanker Marc Stafford.

* Triple figures from two run­ning backs: Travis McGuire (22 carries for 117 yards) and Falando Ashcraft (20 for 105, two touchdowns).

* Quarterback Nick Mossides completed 14 of 26 passes for 217 yards.

* Fabulous defense against a traditionally strong running team with an outstanding full­back, Kevin Rottinghaus. Walsh rushed for a net two yards in the first half, a net minus‑two in the second.

Even so, Walsh made it in­teresting.

The Warriors cut a Tiger lead to 14‑7 midway through the second quarter; then, a would ­be 77‑yard touchdown pass from Mossides to McGuire was called back by a blocking­-below‑the- waist penalty: Back Judge John Evans and line judge Charlie Williams, two re­spected veterans, saw the in­fraction and both threw flags. Owens said it was a fair call.

“It got to be gut check time along about then,” Owens said. “We get a long one called back and then they wind up with the ball in our territory.”

Turned out the Tigers had iron in their guts. They took con­trol of both lines of scrimmage the rest of the way.
With the score still 14‑7 late in the third quarter, Walsh faced fourth‑and‑eight from the Tiger 16. That field possession was set up by Stafford’s only miscue of the night, a fumble on an end­around.

Walsh’s junior cornerback, Matt Smith (9‑for‑23, 120 yards, 1 TD, 1 interception) threw into the corner of the end zone, where Tiger defensive backs Dana Wofford and Ron Rober­son smothered Warrior end Mike Carroll, and the ball.

From there, the Tigers drove 84 yards in 10 plays. McGuire took advantage of good trap blocking and made a number of impressive runs. Ashcraft smashed through the line for 12 yards and a touchdown. Jason Brown’s kick made it 21‑7 with 11:29 left in the game.

Ashcraft scored from six yards out with 4:40 left to put the game on ice.

Walsh Jesuit head coach Ger­ry Rardin was upbeat after­ward.

”I’m convinced we’ll be back,” he said. “We got beat by a very fine team. They have a lot of guns they can fire on offense and they’re very quick on defense.”

Top gun this night was Staf­ford, one of the few high school “speed receivers” who also happens to bench press 300 pounds.

His 154 yards passed the school record of 133 set by Cur­tis Strawder against Jackson in 1978.

”Nick threw the ball ex­tremely well,” Stafford said. “All I had to do was catch it. We’ve been working hard and it all jelled for us.

“When it was 14‑7, we just had to reach down and keep playing hard.

The Tigers were playing with­out senior captain Chris Dotta­vio, who faces a one‑year re­habilitation after successful knee surgery Wednesday. Dr., Robert Erickson said Dottavio’s four‑hour operation is called “the terrible triad,” but that it went well and Dottavio has a chance to try for college foot­ball if that is his wish.

Juniors Mark Miller and Brandon Jackson alternated at the tackle spot. Miller played part of the second quarter after someone stepped on starter Scott Charlton’s ankle. Charl­ton returned in the second half.

“We dedicated the game to ‘Dot.’ We just went out and tried to play well,” said senior guard Ryan Orr. “It was a little diffe­rent not playing beside ‘Dot’ be­cause we’ve been together since the ninth grade. Mark and Brandon did a good job, though.

“In the fourth quarter, we started coming off the ball better.” Added McGuire, also a co-captain, “We lost one of our best linemen, and we started a little slowly. The line picked up the blocking in the second half.”

“They were stunting a lot and we started picking that up bet­ter. We played pretty well, but we’ve got to get better.”
On defense, the Tigers did get better. Tailback Andrae Martin and the fullback Rottinghaus, who had rushed for 250 yards last week against Garfield Trin­ity, combined for 14 yards in 13 attempts against the Tigers.

Walsh had to resort to a short passing game. The junior, Smith, handled the aerial effort fairly well, but he was fortunate that the Tigers’ one intercep­tion wasn’t more like four or five.

“I dropped two,” winced Ti­ger linebacker Eric Wright, like Owens smiling when he said that. “Overall, I thought we played better than last week. The defensive line played a good game. We tackled better. We have to keep getting better every week.”

Wright had a few more big hits to add to his growing high­lights reel.

“The whole defense played well,” Owens said. “I thought we swarmed to the ball. I think we’re starting to play the kind of defense Massillon people have been waiting a long time to see.”

The Tigers didn’t score until their third possession. They en­ded the lull in dramatic fashion when Stafford broke behind the defense and was wide open for a 46‑yard scoring bomb from Mossides.

Brown mis‑hit his point‑after kick attempt. It appeared the ball might have been blocked, but it was not touched, which is why a roughing‑the‑kicker penalty was allowed to stand. Ashcraft proceeded to run for the 1 1/2-yards that netted a two ­point conversion and an 8‑0 lead with 3:46 left in the first quarter.

It took the Tigers three more possessions before they scored again.

The defense held Walsh at bay, getting key plays like a sack from Joey Lococo, before the offense registered again.

Brown kicked a 22‑yard field goal with 4:43 left in the half to make it 10‑0.

It seemed a Tiger drive at the end of the half had stalled on a fourth‑down incompletion; however, a roughing‑the‑passer call kept Massillon in posses­sion of the ball and allowed Brown to boot a 29‑yard field goal on the final play of the half. That made it 14‑0.

Walsh Jesuit used the short passing game to drive 61 yards on its first possession of the second half. On second‑and-­long from the Tiger 39, Smith zipped a pass in the left flat to Carroll. Two Tiger defenders bumped into each other, giving Carroll room to wheel to the out­side and turn it into a 39‑yard touchdown play.

Pat Hyland’s P.A.T. kick made it 14‑7, but the Tigers re­grouped and went on to post an impressive victory.

Their next task will be a home game next Friday against Akron Garfield.

As for the penalties, Walsh had 39 yards worth, meaning the Tigers were penalized 61 yards more than the visitors.

Any fears Walsh might have had about getting “homered” on their first regular‑season trip to Tiger Stadium were allayed. The crew was led by Chet DeStefano, who has worked many college and profession­al games.

WALSH JESUIT 7
MASSILLON 28

M W
First downs rushing 16 0
First downs passing 8 7
First downs by penalty 2 1
Totals first downs 26 8
Yards gained rushing 238 23
Yards lost rushing 15 23
Net yards rushing 223 0
Net yards passing 243 130
Total yards gained 466 130
Passes attempted 26 26
Passes completed 14 10
Passes int. by 2 1
Times kicked off 5 2
Kickoff average 43.8 41.0
Kickoff return yards 8 67
Punts 3 6
Punting average 39.3 29.0
Punt return yards 21 17
Fumbles 1 0
Fumbles lost 1 0
Penalties 10 4
Yards penalized 100 39
Number of plays 73 43
Time of possession 27:02 20:58
Attendance 13,273

WALSH JESUIT 0 0 7 0 7
MASSILLON 8 6 0 14 28

M ‑ Stafford 46 pass from Mossides (Ashcraft run)
M ‑ Brown 22 FG
M ‑ Brown 29 FG
W ‑ Carroll 39 pass from Smith (Hyland kick)
M ‑ Ashcraft 12 run (Brown kick)
M ‑ Ashcraft 6 run (Brown kick)

Individual statistics

Rushing
(Massillon) McGuire 22‑117, Ashcraft 20‑105, Mossides 1‑3, Stafford 2/‑2.
(Walsh) Martin 10‑9, Rottinghaus 3‑5, Smith 4/‑14.

Passing
(Massillon) Mossides 14‑26‑217. 1 TD, 1 int..
(Walsh) Smith 9‑23‑120, 1 TD, 1 int.; Evans 1‑3‑10, 1 int.

Receiving
(Massillon) Stafford 8‑154, Merchant 3‑25, McGuire 1-9, Hawkins 1‑15, Ashcraft 1‑14.
(Walsh) Mason 3‑32, Carroll 2­49, Martin 2‑8, Rottinghaus 1‑17. Tyla 1‑14, Maruna 1‑10

Eric Wright
Massillon vs. McK - Throwback (Large) History

1990: Massillon 7, Canton McKinley 20

Forget Pups, ‘Bear’ down Tigers say

Owens hopes ‘right Massillon team’ shows up after 20‑7 loss to McKinley

By STEVE DOERSCHUK
Independent Sports Editor

A great season may still await them.

But there is only one way to attain it, one of the Mas­sillon Tiger football captains said after Saturday’s 20‑7 loss to McKinley.

“The only thing that can help us get over this,” senior cornerback Chad Buckland said, “is if we go all the way.”

“All the way” means a four‑game winning streak against competition that will get nastier each week.

The Tigers are one of 16 teams in the Division I play­offs. The one that wins the next four weekends will be state champ.

Program Cover

Right now, though, the Tigers are a 7‑3 team needing just one win to get over a loss to their arch‑rival.

Two months ago, the Tigers were a play away from beating mighty Cincinnati Moeller. Now they are a team that must prove itself all over again.

“Can we come back?” said Tiger coach Lee Owens, repeating a question put to him. “We didn’t do a good job of it the last time we were in a similar situation (losing in Austintown a week after falling to Moeller). I hope we do better than we did the last time.

Owens senses it will be easier to rebound this time. He noted the Tigers didn’t seem crushed by the McKinley loss the way they were after getting nipped by Moeller.

But the team needs a spark, he said.

“Some of the fans have been saying, , Which Massil­lon team will show up today?’ And I see their point,” Owens said. “There have been times when we’ve been good enough to play with any team in Ohio. There have been other times when we could be defeated by any one of the teams entering the playoffs.

“It will depend on which Tiger team shows up. I hope it’s the right one.”

Were the Tigers lacking fire in their bellies against McKinley because they knew a playoff spot was locked up?

“I don’t think so,” Tiger defensive tackle Ron Hum­phrey said. “I hardly even thought about the playoffs all week. I was just thinking about McKinley.

“There’s nothing you can say or do to change what happened today. We lost. It’s over.

“We’ve got to get our sulking out of the way in one day and get back to work.”

“We have to get this one behind us as soon as we can,” agreed senior wide receiver Steve Brown.

“We can’t hang our heads,” echoed tight end Chris Roth.

“We have to forget McKinley and regroup,” said junior linebacker Eric Wright. “We can’t feel sorry for ourselves. We’ve got to play hard in the playoffs and try to win all our games.”

“We’ve got to keep our heads up and not make a big deal out of the McKinley game,” said running back Falando Ashcraft.

Every Tiger interviewed gave the Bulldogs their due.

“I knew they were capable of playing like this,” Buckland said. “I thought all along they were going to explode. Unfortunately, they did … against us.

“On the positive side for us, McKinley has to sit home. It’s a lot better knowing you’re going to get to play again.”

Owens learned Sunday that his team will face Jackson in the first round of the playoffs Saturday at Fawcett Stadium. He had little to say on the matter, in keeping with the tight ship he says will be run this week.

“It does not matter who we play this week,” the coach said Sunday night at 8 from his office.

“We’re just glad to be in the playoffs.” His only comment on Jackson: They must be a good team, having won nine games. When a team loses only once you assume they’re a fine team.”

Owens had been through a busy Sunday already. He wasn’t finished.

“It’s going to be a long one,” he said.

MASSILLON 7
McKINLEY 20
Ma Mc
First downs rushing 3 10
First downs passing 4 7
First downs by penalty 1 1
Totals first downs 8 18
Yards gained rushing 68 183
Yards lost rushing 20 19
Net yards rushing 48 164
Net yards passing 113 143
Total yards gained 161 307
Passes attempted 22 22
Passes completed 8 14
Passes int. by 1 3
Times kicked off 2 4
Kickoff average 57.5 47.3
Kickoff return yards 42 16
Punts 6 2
Punting average 30.2 42.5
Punt return yards 2 13
Fumbles 3 3
Fumbles lost 1 1
Penalties 3 7
Yards penalized 45 70
Number of plays 46 70
Time of possession 17.21 30.39
Attendance 16,741

McKINLEY 0 7 7 6 20
MASSILLON 0 0 7 0 7

McK ‑ Martin 28 pass from Henry (Curtis kick)
Mas ‑ Roth 38 pass from Burick (John kick)
McK ‑ Curtis 1 run (Curtis kick)
McK ‑ Kaiusin 3 run (kick failed)

Individual Statistics

Rushing:
(Mass) Ashcraft 14‑41. Stafford 1‑7. McGuire 6‑5.
(McK) Richards 27‑114. Katusin 11‑32.

Passing:
(Mass) Shertzer 7‑19‑3 75. Burick 1­3‑0 38.
(McK) Henry 14‑22‑1 143.

Receiving:
(Mass) Brown 5‑44. Roth 2‑57.
(McK) Martin 3‑72. Richards 3‑24. Johnston 3‑22.

Chad Buckland