Tag: <span>Jerron Jenkins</span>

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1992: Massillon 55, Youngstown East 20

Tigers tatoo East 55‑20, await Pups

By STEVE DOERSCHUK
Independent Sports Editor

The Massillon, Tigers smashed visiting Youngstown East 55‑20 Friday and declared themselves ready for McKinley.

The Tigers have scored 38, 44 and 55 points during what has become a three‑game winning streak. If they continue to escalate the scoring next week, there is liable to be an all‑week party in downtown Massillon.

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While the odds are against that‑happening, the Tigers are probably as ready as they can be for McKinley in a season that included a four‑game losing streak. They have responded to the skid by outscoring the subsequent three foes 137‑20.

McKinley, which will visit Paul Brown Tiger Stadium one week from today, takes a 7‑1 record into tonight’s game against Boardman, 4‑4, at Fawcett Stadium. The Bulldogs have lost four straight Week Nine games, but Tiger head coach Jack Rose predicted “They’ll win” against Boardman. McKinley’s talent and consistency led him to say that.

As for his 5‑4 team, Rose said, “We played real well at times. At times we were real sloppy. But we won and for the most part we avoided injuries, which was one of the main concerns.”

Andre Stinson, the Tigers’ leading rusher all season, made a few hearts skip beats when he stayed on the turf after getting tackled in the second quarter. Stinson jogged off the field but did not play any more. At that point, he had gained 70 yards and scored two touchdowns.

“Andre’s all right,” Rose said, indicating Stinson suffered a bruised thigh. Team doctor Robert Erickson said Stinson should be ready to practice Monday.

The Tigers blew out to a 21‑0 lead. “We blocked real well at the point of attack,” Rose said. East head coach Jerron Jenkins wasn’t about to argue. “They outmanned us up front,” Jenkins said.

An East assistant said Massillon’s line is “easily the best we’ve faced.” Jenkins nodded in agreement. East, 2‑7, would have had to play its best game of the year to stay with the Tigers.

Instead, the Golden Bears committed these pigskin sins, all in the first quarter: Penalty for too many men on the field. A 15‑yard penalty against an assistant coach who hurled profanities at an official. Three weak punts that enabled the Tigers to begin scoring drives on the East 22‑, 35- and 33‑yard lines. A screen pass thrown into triple coverage. An illegal‑man‑downfield penalty.

Following the poor punts and good returns by Dan Hackenbracht and Kevin Buckland, the Tigers scored on their first three possessions, on a combined 17 plays covering a combined 88 yards.

Stinson opened the scoring with a three‑yard run in which. he spun off a pile and trotted into the end zone. Jason Brown’s kick made it 7‑0 with 8:18 left in the first quarter.

The second touchdown was set up on a nice. running pass from quarterback Mike Danzy to Alonzo Simpson along the right sideline. It covered 21 yards. Stinson scored from a yard out, Brown made the kick, and it was 14‑0 with 3:09 left in the opening period.
East’s third consecutive three‑and‑out possession gave Rose cause to smile about the defense. “We did some nice tackling,” Rose said. “They had a couple A plays that could have gone for something, but our defense reacted well.”

The offense kept taking, advantage. Dan Hackenbracht’s 5‑yard TD run and Brown’s kick made it 21‑0 with 10:30 left in the second quarter.

East, 2‑7, flaunted its speed moments later when junior quarterback Anthony Mixon play‑faked, then found Darnell Johnson wide open for a 63‑yard touchdown. A two‑point conversion made it 21‑8 with 10:12 left in the second quarter.

However,. the Tigers would wind up scoring on all five of their first‑half posssessions. They answered the East touchdown with a 69‑yard drive capped by Ali Dixon’s 6‑yard TD run. Dixon scored moments after replacing the injured Stin­son . A 26‑yard Danzy‑to‑Todd Peters pass helped. Brown’s kick made it 28‑8 with 7:39 left before the band show.

The defense kept humming, East wound up with two first downs in the first half, and minus‑8 yards rushing ‑ and the offense added a 68‑yard drive. Danzy scored standing up from a yard out, Brown made the kick, and it was 35‑8 with 38 seconds left in the half.

The Tigers built a 42‑8 lead on an 11‑yard TD run by Danzy, who for the third straight week left the game after the first series of the third quarter.

Massillon previewed some of its running attack of the future via a 13‑yard TD run by Leon Ashcraft and a 21‑yard scoring run by Dixon. Both of their brothers were starting Tiger running backs during the Lee Owens era (Falando Ashcraft and Lamonte Dixon).

East scored two more TDs against backup Tiger defensive units. Dixon, a 5‑foot‑7, 144‑pound junior, was the Tigers’ rushing leader with 75 yards in 10 carries. The Tigers wound up with a 436‑182 lead in net offensive yards.

Massillon senior Marty Gigov intercepted a pass, giving him three pickoffs in the last two weeks. The Tiger rushing attack racked up season highs of 26 first downs and 389 yards.

No crowd figure was given. Estimates put it in the 7,000 range. Add at least 10,000 to arrive at next week’s crowd figure. The Bulldogs are coming to town.

Obie photo day

Tiger fans are invited to “Obie XXIII photo day” Sunday at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

The Massillon Tigers’ mascot can be photographed from 1‑3 p.m. Sunday, handler Ed Annen said. Enter the stadium through the south gate.

M E
First downs rushing 26 4
First downs passing 2 2
First downs by penalty 0 1
Totals first downs 28 7
Yards gained rushing 393 103
Yards lost rushing 4 20
Net yards rushing 389 83
Net yards passing 47 99
Total yards gained 436 182
Passes attempted. 8 9
Passes completed 2 3
Interceptions 0 1
Times kicked off 9 4
Kickoff average 38.9 32‑3
Kickoff Mum yards 46 90
Punts 0 4
Punting average 00.0 31.5
Punt return yards 42 0
Fumbles 2 2
Fumbles lost 0 1
Penalties 7 8
Yards penalized 50 54
Number of plays 77 26
Time of possession 34:34 13:26

East 0 8 0 12 20
Massillon 14 21 7 13 55

M ‑ Stinson 3 run (Brown kick)
V ‑ Stinson I run (Brown kick)
M ‑ Hackenbracht 5 run (Brown kick)
E ‑ Johnson 63 pass from Mixon (Smith pass from Mixon)
M ‑ Dixon 6 run (Brown kick)
M ‑ Danzy 1 run (Brown kick)
M ‑ Danzy I I run (Brown kick)
M ‑ Ashcraft 13 run (Brown kick)
E ‑ Fitzgerald 37 run (pass failed)
M ‑ Dixon 21 run (kick failed)
E ‑ Perdue 5 run (pass failed) I

Rushing
(M) Danz, 10‑55, Copeland 11 55, Stinson 13‑70, Hac anbracht 2‑7, Dixon 10‑75, Seimetz 2‑7, Utterback 2‑9, Arney 4‑21, Riley 5‑16.
(E) “ant 1‑3, Rhodes 3‑9, Perdue 6‑37, Fitzgerald 3‑43.

Passing
(M) Danzy 2‑5‑0 47, Utterback 0‑3‑3.
(E) Mixon 341‑1 99. Perdue 0‑1‑0.

Receiving
(M) Simpson 1‑21, Peters I26.
(E) Johnson 1‑0, Perdue 2‑37.

Dan Hackenbracht
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1991: Massillon 76, Youngstown East 26

42‑6 at 3:06 of first quarter

Tigers call off the dogs in 2nd half, overwhelm East 76‑26

By STEVE DOERSCHUK
Independent Sports Editor

Quarterback Nick Mossides, who played in only the early part of Massillon’s 76‑26 victory over Youngstown East, had ice on the knee that kept him out of a football game four weeks ago.

He also had a smile on his face when asked if his playing status might be jeopardized for next Friday’s big game against Akron St. Vincent‑St. Mary.

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“No way!” he said.

It was the same answer to the following question: Was there anything East could do to slow down the Tigers in the first quarter?

There was nothing. Nothing at all.

The Tigers led 14‑0 after four minutes were played, 42‑6 at the end of one quarter. The 42 points in one quarter is believed to be a Massillon record.

Luther Emery, editor emeritus of The Independent, recalled a 94‑0 victory over Akron North in 1922 but didn’t think there were 42 points after a quarter. There was a 90‑0 win over Barberton in 1959, but the Tigers hadn’t reached 42 at the quarter stop.

Time elapsed on Massillon scoring possessions, which were all of them in the first half, weren’t measured in minutes, but in seconds.

It took 104 seconds before Travis McGuire scored on a 28-yard counter play.

Falando Ashcraft’s 15 yard TD run on a cut to the outside ended a 67‑second possession.

Ashcraft scored again, from 5 yards out, to finish a 50‑second drive.

If you’re still keeping score, there was 4:48 left in the first quarter when McGuire ran 6 yards for a TD. The drive took 105 seconds and pushed Massillon’s lead to 28‑6 (East did have some good players, including junior Charles Perdue and quarterback Darnell Bracy, who hooked up on a 70‑yard sideline pass that went for a TD moments before McGuire’s 6yard TD bolt).

East left a side of the field unprotected and Jason Brown’s kickoff went there. Massillon recovered then used 52 seconds before McGuire broke loose on a counter and gave East defenders Leon Gayles and Eric Bostick a ride into the end zone at the end of a 33‑yard run.

East’s next play was a Bracy passing attempt to the sidelines ‑ but it was a backwards pass, a lateral. The throw was nearly picked off by Dana Wofford. It was a live ball when Troy Burick picked it up and ran 27 yards for a Tiger touchdown. The play covered 8 seconds.

Jason Brown’s P.A.T. kick made it 42‑6 with 3:02 left in the first quarter.

Massillon’s remaining touchdowns in the first half came on possessions that lasted 130, 12, 33 and 165 seconds.

The touchdowns were scored by Ashcraft (22‑yard pass from Mossides), backup quarterback Michael Danzy (22‑yard run), Ashcraft (5‑yard run) and Ashcraft (15‑yard run).

It was 69‑6 when the gun sounded to end the first half, at which point Massillon head coach Lee Owens sought out East head coach Jerron Jenkins.

“I told him (Jenkins) that our first string was finished for the night,” Owens said. “I offered to keep the clock running in the second half. When we approached the officials they said there was nothing in the rules that allowed them to keep the clock running.”

One East assistant coach spent the post‑game loudly grousing about Massillon running up the score, using the “onside kick” (where Brown booted to the unprotected part of the field) and a fake punt in the third quarter.

Jenkins protested, too, albeit more mildly.

He indicated he was upset by “the fake punt and some other things.”

Owens said he thought the Tigers went an extra mile and then some to keep the score down. He was unhappy to hear about the displeasure in the East camp.

“He (Jenkins) can’t be sore about anything,” Owens said “We were kind to him.”

It was mentioned to Owens that the Tigers might have reached the 100‑point mark.

“Without any trouble,” he said.

As for the fake punt in the third quarter, Owens blamed poor execution by East, which he said did not line up as do most teams in an alignment to guard against a fake.

Massillon hammered East 45-7 a year ago. The teams have an agreement to play the next two years.

“Right now, we’re under contract,” Owens said. “They have some athletes, and if they get it together, they could be competitive. They’ve just fallen apart the second half of this season.”

In the second game of this season, East beat Boardman, which later defeated defending state champion Warren Hard­ing. A week ago, East trailed unbeaten Youngstown Chaney just 6‑0 at halftime.

Concluded Jenkins, “If it’s going to be like this, I don’t know if I want to come down here any more.”

Jenkins said he has nothing to do with the schedule, which, he said, is handled by the athletic director.

Owens also defended his deci­sion to play his starters the en­tire first half. Normally, he said, the starters would play the first half and one series in the second half in order to stay sharp for the following game.

“There’s no way to simulate game conditions, and it’s important for the players to be in the game,” Owens said. “You also have to remember that these guys who are seniors on our team and have earned posi­tions only have so many games left in a Massillon Tiger uni­form. They don’t want to hear in the locker room at halftime that they’re finished for the night.”

McGuire and Ashcraft got in a night’s worth of yardage in one half.

McGuire rushed nine times for 151 yards and now has 972 on the year. Ashcraft picked up 134 yards in 16 carries to swell his 1991 total to 932.

East used big plays to score three touchdowns in the second half. The Golden Bears’ first ­string offense was operating against second‑ and third‑team Massillon players the entire time.

Pat McVeen scored Massil­lon’s only second‑half touch­down on a one‑yard run in the fourth quarter.

The theme of the week in the Massillon camp was to get bet­ter as a team instead of taking a breather against a foe that was obviously outgunned.

Mission accomplished, Mos­sides said.

The quarterback motioned to assistant coach Greg Gillum and said, “These guys kept pounding it into our heads to stay focused.

“I think we did a good job of executing. We got after it and worked really hard.”

Mossides said his knee was “a little sore but nothing serious.”

Added defensive end Jason Woullard, “Last week we slip­ped back a little bit, but this week we took some steps for­ward. We weren’t on the field for many plays tonight, but I thought we went to the ball a lot better when we were.

“We knew we play sloppy this week. We have two tough opponents coming up.”

The Tigers came close to hit­ting their season average in tot­al offense per game by the end of the first half, when they led 369‑119 in net offense.

They led 296‑11 in rushing yar­dage at that point.

Ashcraft finished with five touchdowns. Only five Massil­lon players have ever scored more than five TDs in a game. The record was set in 1922 when Dutch Hill rang up eight TDs in that 94‑0 win over Akron North.

EAST 26
MASSILLON 76

M E
First downs rushing 19 3
First downs passing 5 6
First downs by penalty 1 2
Totals first downs 25 11
Yards gained rushing 494 136
Yards lost rushing 16 15
Net yards rushing 478 121
Net yards passing 108 280
Total yards gained 586 401
Passes attempted 11 21
Passes completed 8 10
Passes int. by 2 1
Yardage on pass int. 9 0
Times kicked off 11 4
Kickoff average 45.0 39.0
Kickoff return yards 64 112
Punts 1 3
Punting average 41.0 14.0
Punt return yards. 17 0
Fumbles 0 3
Fumbles lost 0 3
Penalties 6 4
Yards penalized 52 24
Number of plays 71 52
Attendance 10,243

East 6 0 14 6 26
Massillon 42 27 0 7 76

M ‑ McGuire 28 run (Brown kick)
M ‑ Ashcraft 15 run (Brown kick)
M ‑ Ashcraft 5 run (Brown kick)
E ‑ Perdue 70 pass from Bracy (pass failed)
M ‑ McGuire 6 run (Brown kick)
M ‑ McGuire 33 run (Brown kick)
M ‑ Burick 27 interception return (Brown kick)
M ‑ Ashcraft 22 pass from Mossides (kick failed)
M ‑ Danzy 23 run (Brown kick)
M ‑ Ashcraft 5 run (Brown kick)
M ‑ Ashcraft 15 run (Brown kick)
E ‑ Perdue 67 run (pass failed)
E ‑ Gayles 81 pass from Bracy (Smith pass from Bracy)
M ‑ McVeen I run (Payne kick)
E ‑ Perdue 1 run (pass failed)

Eric Wright
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1989: Massillon 24, Youngstown East 0

Tigers tear up East with great first half

By STEVE DOERSCHUK
Independent Sports Editor

Half a loaf was better than none for the Massillon Tigers Friday night.

Heck, half a loaf was better than butter compared to what Steubenville got last week.

The Massillon Tigers baked up a first half that was savory as could be en route to a 24-0 high school victory over Youngstown East in front of 10,458 fans at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

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The second half left some of the Tiger coaches looking like they had just bit into burnt toast. The Tigers out-gained East just 75-65 in second half yardage after a first half in which the numbers were 204-71.

But what the heck. This was the same East that had made like yeast seven days earlier in stunning Steubenville (1988 Division II state runner-up) 12-7.

And, even though one coach said, “The teams that get to Columbus are the ones that put teams away,” isn’t week two maybe too early to be perfect.

If the first half wasn’t perfect, it was at least a 9.9 on the Bo Derek scale. The offense scored on all four of its possessions. The defense didn’t give East a sniff of the 50-yard line, much less the goal stripe.

The passing game clicked.

“Their defensive backs were playing really far off us and we took advantage,” said senior flanker Troy Manion, who seemed unfazed by a hyper-extended knee in catching four passes for 28 yards in the first half.

“I was a lot more relaxed tonight,” added senior wide receiver Rameir Martin, whose
first-half numbers were three catches, 71 yards, and one touchdown. “I was pretty tense last week. It was my first game of my senior year.”

“We’d heard they had the best talent of anybody we play this year,” said quarterback Lee Hurst, whose first half included eight completions in 10 throws for 107 yards. “We just came out and we were ready for them.”

“The first week the offense tried too hard. All the captains felt we had to get everybody ready and we got too high ourselves.”

All three players agreed the Tigers lost their touch in the second half.

That’ll be the topic of locker room discussion throughout the coming week.

Meanwhile, next week’s game at Middletown looks less imposing than it once did in the wake of the Middies’ 34-6 loss Friday at Cincinnati Princeton.

But it’s safe to suppose perennially strong Middletown, whose home opener will be against the Tigers, will be jacked up for Massillon where Middie head coach Jim Place lived when he was playing football at Central Catholic High.

Like everyone else on the team Owens was disappointed in the second half.

“But the thing to do, I think, is to emphasize the positive things that happened in the first half,” he said.

Ownes was talking to the players at halftime when he said. “That’s got to be the best half of football I’ve seen the Tigers play. Then (tight end) Dough Harwig said, “Better than St. Joseph last year?” He had a point. Those two halves were close.”

The game plan called for the Tigers to run left and throw right. That combination kayoed East early, working to perfection on the game’s opening drive when Massillon used 11 plays to drive 62 yards. Pass plays netted 7, 6, 11 and 16 yards. Runs went for 5, 7, 10 and 2 yards.

The 2-yard run punched the ball to the 3, from where fullback Ryan Sparkman followed the blocks of Ray Kovacsiss, Mike Silverthorn and Lou LoCoco into the end zone. Gary Miller’s PAT kick made it 7-0.

East punted and the Tigers drove again, this time 72 yards in only seven plays. The big one came in one of the many formations the Tigers used to confuse the Bears. Three receivers flooded the right side with Hurst standing over an unbalanced line. Martin took off deep, but defensive back Elwen Freeman hung with him.

Hurst had plenty of time to loft a bomb to the right sideline. The 6-foot-3 Martin went up with the 5-8 Freeman, wrestling the ball away at the 11, spinning as Freeman fell, and racing into the end zone on a nifty 43-yard gain. Miller’s kick made it 14-0 with 2:27 left in the first quarter.

It was Hurst who was the extra-point kicker last year, but he has given up those duties. He remains, however, as the kickoff man (he was superb in that role Friday) and the guy who tires any long field goals. He got his first chance in the latter category and delivered a
42-yard field goal that soared high and sneaked over the crossbar to make it 17-0 with 7:55 left in the first half.

The first of two Keith Rabbit interceptions set up a 34-yard touchdown mini-march capped by Sparkman’s 1-yard blast with 2:10 left in the half.

Rabbitt had an amazing average of one interception a game in sophomore and junior varsity action. He is ahead of that pace as a varsity player with three thefts in two games.

The key to the shutout, though, was stopping the likes of East tailback Steve Woodberry.

“Our goal was to stop the running game and we did that,” Rabbit said. “We looked at them as a real strong team and it was nice to get a shutout against them.”

Woodberry was held to 18 yards in 14 carries. Several times, it looked as though the Tigers knew what the play would be as well as the East players did.

First-year East head coach Jerron Jenkins, the same age as Owens at 33, was puzzled about the first half.

“Tackling? There wasn’t any,” he said. “We did not come to play. They passed on us all night, even though we knew they were going to try to pass.”

“I don’t understand it. We pounded Steubenville from the start. I’ll tell you one thing, though. We’re going to find out what the problem is and do some serious work to fix it.”

Hel’’ have to work fast. The Bears face Austintown Fitch next week.

“We’ll find out how good East is next week,” Owens said.

As for the Tigers’ game at Middletown next week?

“Our team will have to be together,” Owens said. “We’ve got to make sure everything’s together.”

Meaning he wants the rest of that loaf.

A rundown of each drive Friday:

Mas – Start with opening kickoff on own 38; drive 62 yards in 11 plays; Sparkman 3-yard TD run; Miller kick. Big play, 16-yard Hurst-to-Martin pass on second-and-15.
Tigers 7-0
East – Start on own 24; five plays, 15 yards, punt.
Mas – Start on own 28; drive 72 yards in seven plays; Hurst 43-yard TD pass to Martin, Miller kick.
Tigers 14-0
East – Start on own 23; six plays, 12 yards, punt.
Mas – Start on own 34; drive 41 yards in seven plays; Hurst 42-yard field goal. Big play, 31-yard Sparkman run on fake punt.
Tigers 17-0
East – Start on own 20; six plays, lose ball on interception by Rabbitt.
Mas – Start on East 38; eight plays, 38 yards; Sparkman 1-yard TD run; Miller kick.
Tigers 24, East 0.
East – Start on own 20; six plays, 23 yards; end of first half.

▪ ▪ ▪
East – Start with second-half kickoff on own 25; eight plays, 43 yards ; lose ball on
interception by Rabbitt.
Mas – Start on own 15; four plays, 24 yards; punt.
East – Start on own 41; eight plays, 28 yards; lose ball when quarterback Regal Reese is
sacked for 11-yard loss.
Mas – Start on own 31; seven plays, 25 yards; lose ball on interception by Aldrige Jones.
East – Start on own 25; three plays, zero yards, punt.
Mas – Start on own 38; three plays, 7 yards; fake punt on with Kevin McCue completing pass for first down to Joe Pierce; “illegal participation” penalty on East over-rides play; three more plays, punt.
East – Take over on own 10; three plays, punt; Tigers run out clock.

MASSILLON 24
YOUNGSTOWN EAST 0

STATISTICS
M E
First downs rushing 7 5
First downs passing 6 3
First downs by penalty 2 1
Totals first downs 15 9
Yards gained rushing 149 98
Yards lost rushing 37 44
Net yards rushing 112 54
Net yards passing 167 82
Total yards gained 279 136
Passes attempted 16 16
Passes completed 12 6
Passes int. by 1 2
Times kicked off 5 1
Kickoff average 55.8 45.0
Kickoff return yards 23 51
Punts 2 4
Punting average 24.5 42.0
Punt return yards 30 0
Fumbles 1 2
Fumbles lost 0 0
Penalties 2 8
Yards penalized 20 56
Number of plays 57 45
Time of possession 23:13 24:47
Attendance 10,458

East 0 0 0 0 00
MASSILLON 14 10 0 0 24

M – Sparkman 3 run (Miller kick)
M – Martin 43 pass from Hurst (Miller kick)
M – FG Hurst 42
M – Sparkman 1 run (Miller kick)

****
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
(M) Sparkman 16 – 75, Dixon 10 – 43, Ashcraft 2 – 6, Relford 3 – 10, Shell 1-1.
(E) Woodberry 14 – 18, Harrison 4 – 15, Jones 4 – 29, Woodard 1 – 10.

Passing
(M) Hurst 11-14-1 159, Shertzer 1-2-0 8.
(E) Reese 6-16-2 82.

Receiving
(M) Manion 6 – 70, Martin 3 – 71, Sparkman 2 – 18, McGuire 1-8.
(E) Stewart 2 – 26, Scissum 2 – 43, Ortiz 1 – 6, Woodberry 1 – 7.

Rameir Martin