Tag: <span>Jesse Robinson</span>

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

2000: Massillon 35, Fremont Ross 0

Tigers swarm over Fremont

By JOE SHAHEEN
Independent Sports Editor

Massillon’s Black Swarm defense, much maligned in back‑to‑back defeats to St. Ignatius and Perry, forced a pair of first half turnovers and pitched their first shutout of the season in the Tigers 35‑0 thrashing of the Fremont Ross Little Giants in front of 8,159 at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium on Homecoming Night, Friday.

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“We had a lot of frustration built up from the past two weeks and we just took it out on Fremont Ross,” said Tiger strong safety Robert Oliver. “We finally put it all together and got the shutout.”

The Massillon defense forced three turnovers and limited Fremont to 232 total yards in its best overall performance of the 2000 season. It was a far cry from the 36‑ and 31‑points surrendered in the previous two outings.

“The last couple games we’ve allowed a lot of points on the scoreboard,” observed Tiger linebacker Justin Princehorn, who had a sack and an interception in the same first half series. “It helped to get the shutout tonight.

“We were a lot more fired up tonight. The defense was really pumped. We’re coming together and building momentum going into the playoffs.”

Tiger cornerback Tyrell McElroy, who had nine solo stops last week against Perry, followed up with another fine game, helping to stuff the potent Fremont running game.

“The defense really wanted it tonight,” McElroy said. “We were hyped. We were ready to kill people.”

While the Massillon defense was outstanding, it was the special teams that made the first big play of the game as sophomore James Helscel recovered a muffed punt at midfield after the Tiger offense went three‑and‑out on its initial possession of the game.

The Tigers made Fremont pay for its gaffe as quarterback Justin Zwick dropped back to pass on third‑and‑10, and found Jesse Robinson running free on a post pattern. Zwick was on target with half his high, arcing throw which Robinson hauled in at the 5 on his way to the end zone.

David Abdul boomed the conversion kick over the south bleachers and Massillon was up 7‑0 at the 10:00 mark of the first quarter.

After Massillon kicked off, the Tiger defense would get the ball right back. On first‑and‑10 from the 25, Fremont quarterback James Martin tried to execute an option keeper around right end but lost the handle.

Senior defensive tackle Walter Thompson outscrapped everyone for the ball and the Tigers had possession at the Little Giants’ 32.

Two incompletions and a three‑yard running play forced Massillon to try a 46‑yard field goal. Abdul had the kick lined up but was just short as the ball hit the crossbar and fell away.

Fremont moved from its 20 to midfield on its second possession of the night before Oliver stopped Tyrus Hamilton for a one‑yard loss and McElroy sniffed out a screen play for a three‑yard loss to force a punt.

An unsportsmanlike conduct flag on Fremont helped Massillon move to the Little Giants 22 but a 39‑yard field goal attempt sailed wide left as the first quarter ended.

Again Fremont marched, moving from its 20 to the Massillon 21 on nine plays. On first‑and‑10 at that spot, Princehorn blitzed and sacked Martin for a five‑yard loss.

On the very next play Martin tried to beat the blitz with a quick pop pass over the middle. Massillon’s Jared Frank tipped the ball, which went through the intended receiver’s hands before Princehorn picked it out of the air for a drive‑killing interception at the Tiger 16.

After an exchange of punts, Massillon took over at it’s 20 and Perry James immediately ripped off 12 yards around left end, with another 15 tacked on for a facemask penalty. The senior running back got the ball on a draw play on the next snap and found a gap that yielded another 16 yards to the Fremont 37‑yard line.

Oliver gave James a breather, gaining seven yards around left end and 16 around right end on the very next play as Massillon moved to the 14‑yard line.

“Perry was struggling a little in the first half and we stuck Robert in there and he ran it well and gave Perry a little push,” said Tiger coach Rick Shepas, “We had a lot of draw and a lot of screen in the game plan tonight and it worked out for us.”

One play later, Zwick hit Jeremiah Drobney along the left sideline for 16 yards to the Fremont 1. Then James went flipping into the end zone on second‑and‑goal. Abdul’s kick was good and Massillon carried a 14‑0 lead into the halftime locker room.

The second half saw the Massillon offense get back into synch behind the spirited play of Zwick and the continued effective running of James.

After the defense set the table by forcing Fremont to punt after just three plays, the Tigers took over at their own 38.

Zwick completed passes to James (seven yards), Montale Watkins (six yards) and Robinson (16 yards) to move the ball to the Fremont 33. James then picked up 13 on a draw play and Zwick again got the ball to Robinson for nine more to the 11.

The Little Giants bowed their necks at that point but Zwick was able to sneak in from the 1‑yard line on fourth‑and‑goal. Abdul’s PAT made it 21‑0 with 5:36 left in the third quarter.

After yet another Fremont punt, set up by Brent Dean’s 7‑yard sack of Martin, Massillon regained possession at its 17‑yard line. The lousy field position was not a problem as Zwick and Robinson hooked up for 18 yards on first down. One play later, James got a seam on the draw play and scooted 60 yards to the Little Giants 1.

Robinson went in from there on an end‑around and Massillon led 28‑0 heading into the fourth quarter.

The final Tiger tally was set up by Brian Leonard and Chris Pittman, who combined to stop Fremont’s Aaron Hines on fourth‑and‑one.

Zwick beat the blitz with a quick toss to Jeremiah Drobney for 22 yards on first down. The strong‑armed junior then hit Marquis Williams in the end zone from 11‑yards out. Abdul’s kick closed the scoring at 10:03 of the fourth quarter.

“This was an important win for our team and our unity,” remarked James, who finished with 133 yards in 15 totes. “We came together as a team tonight. We’ve turned this around.”

“We’re trying to get these kids to play for each other,” Shepas said, “Trying to get them to step up and provide leadership without turning to me. It seems like as Zwick goes, we go. When he comes out and gets excited like he did in the second half, we go.”

MASSILLON 35
FREMONT ROSS 0
M F
First downs rushing 7 10
First downs passing 9 6
First downs by penalty 3 0
TOTAL first downs 19 16
Net yards rushing 162 148
Net yards passing 221 84
TOTAL yards 383 232
Passes attempted 25 22
Passes completed 14 11
Passes intercepted 0 2
Punts 2 4
Punting average 28 32.8
Fumbles/Lost 3/1 4/2
Penalties 6 6
Yards penalized 57 64

MASSILLON 7 7 14 7 35
FREMONT ROSS 0 0 0 0 0

SCORING
M ‑ Robinson 48 pass from Zwick (Abdul kick)
M ‑James 1 run (Abdul kick)
M ‑ Zwick 1 run (Abdul kick)
M ‑ Robinson 1 run (Abdul kick)
M ‑ Williams 11 pass from Zwick (Abdul kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Massillon rushing: James 15‑133, Oliver 7‑27.
Fremont Ross rushing: Hamilton 19‑59.

Massillon passing: Zwick 13‑24‑178 2 TD, Williams 1‑1‑43.
Fremont passing: Martin 10‑21‑74 2 INT.

Massillon receiving: Robinson 6‑100, Drobney 2‑39, Watkins 2‑17.
Fremont Ross receiving: Root 6‑31.

Kreg Rotthoff

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

2000: Massillon 51, Akron Garfield 26

Unbeaten Tigers give Garfield the ‘boot’
Massillon rules 51‑26 as Oliver tallies 3 touchdowns

By JOE SHAHEEN
Independent Sports Editor

The Massillon Tigers dug a little deeper into their voluminous offensive playbook and it paid off with a 31‑point explosion in the final two quarters, sparking them to a 51‑26 thrashing of the Akron Garfield Golden Rams in front of 13,080 fans at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium, Friday.

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The Tigers, now 3‑0 on the campaign, held a 20‑14 halftime advantage but did not fully take advantage of four Garfield turnovers before the band show.

Massillon came out in the third quarter and put together back‑to‑back touchdown drives of 75 yards and 73 yards to take control of the game.

Justin Zwick connected on 11 straight passes during that stretch, utilizing bootlegs and rollouts to get away from the pesky Garfield pass rush.

In a game Garfield coach Bill McGee said would be decided by adjustments, the Tigers made a major one at halftime and the Rams were never able to counter.

“Justin likes to throw that boot pass and for the past couple years Orrville did a nice job of running that boot pass,” said Tiger coach Rick Shepas after the game. “It’s something we have in the playbook.

“Credit Coach (Dan) Murphy with some halftime adjustments.

He kept asking me, ‘Have you thought about that boot pass? Have you thought about that boot pass?’ Quite honestly I hadn’t, so I stuck it in there and it was a good adjustment. We ended up building the offense in the second half around that.”

McGee admitted his team never did come up with a stopper.

“That’s something we haven’t seen,” McGee said of the boot pass. “It shouldn’t have been as effective after the first time they did it, but we were tired. When you’re tired, the brain doesn’t work as well.

“They did things better in the third quarter especially, which was the difference. We were only six points behind at halftime and I thought we had a chance. I knew we had to kick off but they dominated the third quarter and a big part of it was on those roll outs.”

Like Buchtel had in the opener, Garfield jumped out to a 7‑0 lead on the Tigers, taking just four plays to go 80 yards. The quick strike was a 48‑yard Brian Sutphin to John Bell touchdown pass, set up by Sutphin’s textbook pump fake that froze the Massillon defensive back for a split second.

After an exchange of punts, Massillon took over at its 22. Zwick found Montale Watkins for 14 yards to the 41. Three plays later, from midfield, Zwick spotted Jesse Robinson open at the Garfield 20 and was on target with the throw. The senior co‑captain did the rest, bolting into the end zone at the 5:17 mark of the first quarter. David Abdul added the point after and it was a 7‑7 game.

The first of three Matt Shem interceptions set up Massillon’s second score. Jeremiah Drobney latched onto a Zwick pass at the Garfield 3 on first down. Then Perry James swept around left end for the touchdown on the very next play. Abdul’s PAT made it 14­-7 at the 6:53 mark of the second quarter.

Shem’s second interception was offset by a pickoff by the Garfield secondary. An interference call on Massillon gave the Rams the ball at the Tiger 29. Four plays later Sutphin threw a fade pass in the end zone and Lawrence Cherry climbed the ladder for the touchdown grab. The kick made it a 14‑14 contest at 3:33 of the second period.

Zwick completed four straight passes on Massillon’s ensuing possession but a holding penalty forced the Tigers to settle for a 27‑yard Abdul field goal with less than a minute to play in the half.

Shem picked off his third aerial of the quarter on Garfield’s first play after the Massillon kickoff, leading to a 28‑yard Abdul field goal, making it 20‑14 as the half expired.

The third quarter was all Massillon as Zwick came out of the locker room on fire. The Tigers moved from their own 25 to the Garfield 9 on eight plays, three of which were bootleg passes. On first and goal from the 9, Zwick rolled left and found sophomore Devon Jordan running free along the back line of the end zone for the touchdown. Abdul’s kick made it 27‑14 Massillon with 8:40 in the third period.

Tyrell McElroy got the ball right back for Massillon with a brilliant one‑handed, over‑the‑shoulder interception at the Tiger 27‑yard line.

Mixing the boot passes with the running of Terrance King and Robert Oliver, Massillon moved down the field and into scoring position. Zwick rolled to his right and completed a throw to Drobney that moved the ball to the 3. Two plays later, Oliver followed King’s block into the end zone. The two‑point conversion pass failed but Massillon was in command at 33‑14 with 3:31 left in the third.

But Garfield had some fight left as Sutphin went deep and found Lawrence Cherry on the post pattern with a 44‑yard scoring bomb to make it 33‑20 at the 2:11 mark.

Tiger sophomore Jamaal Ballard made sure the momentum didn’t swing away from the locals, returning Garfield’s ensuing kickoff 60 yards to the Rams 36. It only took five plays for Oliver to score again, sweeping around left end and into the end zone from four yards out. Zwick and Mike Corsale meshed on the two‑point conversion pass to make it 41‑20 with just seconds left in the third.

Abdul left the paying customers gasping when he opened the fourth quarter scoring with a 56‑yard field goal with 11:09 to play.

“With the wind at his back, I said he has 50 in him tonight and his father said he has 57 in him,” noted Shepas. “He ended up getting 56.”

Garfield’s resilience surfaced again as the Rams moved 80 yards on just three plays, with Cherry covering the final seven on a sweep around his left side to make it a 44‑26 contest.

Then Oliver capped off an eight‑play, 90‑yard march with a five‑yard touchdown run. The junior was hit twice inside the five but shook off both potential tacklers and found pay dirt with 7:30 to play, closing the scoring.

Despite surrendering 30‑plus points for the second week in a row, Shepas was not displeased with the Massillon defense.

“Five turnovers, that’s how I’ll look at the defense,” he said. “There were a lot of outstanding plays. Shem has three picks. Ty Mac has a great interception and Justin Princehorn has an interception.”

MASSILLON 51
GARFIELD 26
M G
First downs rushing 6 5
First downs passing 19 4
First downs by penalty 0 1
TOTAL first downs 25 10
Net yards rushing 119 141
Net yards passing 375 185
TOTAL yards 494 326
Passes attempted 43 21
Passes completed 29 6
Passes intercepted 5 2
Punts 2 6
Punting average 33 21.7
Fumbles/Lost 2/2 1/0
Penalties 5 3
Yards penalized 57 15

MASSILLON 7 13 21 10 51
GARFIELD 7 7 6 6 26

SCORING
G ‑ Sutphin 48 pass to Bell (Kulick kick)
M ‑ Zwick 49 pass to Robinson (Abdul kick)
M ‑ James 3 run (Abdul kick)
G ‑ Sutphin 11 pass to Cherry (Kulick kick)
M ‑ Abdul 27 field goal
M ‑ Abdul 28 field goal
M ‑ Zwick 9 pass to Jordan (Abdul kick)
M ‑ Oliver 2 run (Pass failed)
G ‑ Sutphine 56 pass to Cherry (Run failed)
M ‑ Oliver 4 run (Zwick to Corsale)
M ‑ Abdul 56 field goal
G ‑ Cherry 7 run (Pass failed)
M ‑ Oliver 5 run (Abdul kick) man

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Massillon rushing: Oliver 11‑62, James 8‑41.
Garfield rushing: Klopton 4.49, Hullum 11‑38.

Massillon passing: Zwick 29‑43‑375 2 TDs, 2 INTs.
Garfield passing: Sutphin 6‑20‑185, 3 TDs, 4 INTs.

Massillon receiving: Drobney 10‑137, Robinson 4‑68, Watkins 5‑64, King 5‑63, Williams 2‑26.
Garfield receiving: Bell 2‑109.

Statistics by RICH CUNNINGHAM

Kreg Rotthoff

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1999: Massillon 41, Austintown Fitch 7

Tigers rip Fitch
Massillon scores on first play of game and doesn’t look back

By JOE SHAHEEN
Independent Sports Editor

When the Austintown Fitch Falcons were tardy coming out of the locker room for the opening kickoff against Massillon Friday night, some wise guy in the press box cracked the visitors weren’t interested in taking on the undefeated Tigers.

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While Fitch showed plenty of enthusiasm on the field, the Falcons surrendered a 58‑yard touchdown to Massillon on the Tigers first play from scrimmage and were never in the game, falling 41‑7 in front of 7,977 fans at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

It got so bad that Fitch attempted a 65‑yard field goal with three seconds remaining on the first half, apparently looking for a moral victor despite a 34‑0 deficit at the time. The kick was well short.

It was apparent early this one would be no contest. After Jesse Scott returned the opening kickoff to the Tiger 41, Massillon quarterback Dave Irwin hit mighty mite Jesse Robinson in stride at the Fitch 35. Robinson skirted the left sideline untouched into the end zone. Brett Marshall’s conversion kick made it 7‑0 Massillon at 11:42 of the first quarter.
“Fitch practiced extra long for us this week, so we wanted to come out hit them quick and let them know this is our house,” said Robinson. “Their strong side linebacker and strong safety blitz a lot so we wanted to hit them off the corner and it was there really early.”
Robinson (5‑5, 141) has now caught six passes on the season for 246 yards and three touchdowns. He’s averaging an amazing 41 yards per catch.
“Jesse is fast and he’s hard to find too,” said Tigers coach Rick Shepas. “He’s a tremendous athlete. We’re happy for him because he had such a great off season. This makes it all worth it.”
Shepas acknowledged the game plan called for the Tigers to go for the throat early.
“We haven’t had a big offensive game in the first half since the Buchtel game, so that was our intention,” Shepas said. “We simplified our blocking schemes up front so we wanted to come out and get into the end zone.”
Fitch went three‑and‑out on its initial possession and was forced to punt. Sam Young gave the Tigers superb field position when he returned the Falcon punt 44 yards to the Fitch 28.
“We got some good punt returns in the first half to give us good field position early,” Shepas noted. “We were able to capitalize on that.”
And how! After the long return, Scott picked up 14 yards on a carry around the right side on first down and Perry James tacked on 11 more to set up first‑and‑goal from the three‑yard line. Scott did the honors, spurting off left tackle for the touchdown at the 8:56 mark of the first quarter. Marshall’s kick made it 14‑0 Tigers.
“We wanted to hit them early and put them away,” Scott said. “We’re always waiting until the fourth quarter to get into the game so it was about time we stopped doing that.”
Fitch’s interception interrupted the Massillon rout monientary but the Tigers got back in synch on their next possession, which began at their own 20. Scott battled for 12 yards up the middle on first down, and Irwin found Dave Bumgarner with a short pass in the right flat that picked up 21 more.
Then, from near midfield, Scott bucked into the line, broke to the left sideline and was off and running for a 36 yard pickup.
Two plays later, James went over his left guard from three yards out for the touchdown at 11:56 of the second quarter. Marshall again tacked on the PAT and it was 21‑0 with most of the second quarter remaining.
A Fitch fumble gave the Tigers possession at their own 45 and on first down Irwin dropped back to pass. He stood in the pocket long enough to count the house as the Massillon line afforded him all the protection he needed. Finally, the senior tri‑captain found Joe Price open at the Fitch 25. Price snagged the aerial then picked his way through the secondary and into the end zone for the touchdown, a 55 yard pass and run to make it 27‑0.
Jason Jarvis closed the first half scoring for Massillon with less than a minute until the band show. The senior safety picked off a Fitch pass and raced 52 yards to pay dirt. Marshall nailed the PAT and it was a 34‑0 contest in the half.
Massillon added only one touchdown in the second half but it was of a spectacular nature. On an innocent looking second-and‑eight play from the Tiger 27, Irwin handed the ball to Scott. The senior speedster found a seam in the Fitch defense and was off to the races.
Seventy‑three yards later he crossed the goal line to close the scoring at 8:01 of the fourth quarter. “We can always do better but we had a good game,” Scott said. “We feel we can beat anyone we play.”
Scott finished the game with 126 yards and two touchdowns on just six totes as the Tigers rolled up 261 yards rushing. Massillon ‑ now 5‑0 – finished with a 424‑208 edge in total yardage but amazingly lost the time‑of‑possession battle 31:04 ‑ 16:56.
Fitch, which fell to 1‑4, averaged just 2.9 yards per play on first down and had three turnovers.

MASSILLON 41
FITCH 7

M F
First downs rushing 10 12
First downs passing 5 1
First downs by penalty 0 3
TOTAL first downs 15 16
Net yards rushing 242 181
Net yards passing 182 27
TOTAL yards 424 208
Passes attempted 12 9
Passes completed 7 2
Passes intercepted 2 1
Punts 2 5
Punting average 22 35
Fumbles/Lost 3/0 2/2
Penalties 7 3

MASSILLON 14 20 00 07 41
FITCH 00 00 00 07 07

SCORING

M ‑ Robinson 58 pass from Irwin (Marshall kick)
M ‑ Scott 2 run (Marshall kick)
M ‑ James 3 run (Marshall kidk)
M – Price 55 pass from Irwin (Kick failed)
M ‑ Jarvis 52 interception return (Marshall kick)
F ‑ Wilson 1 run (Stewart kick)
M ‑ Scott 73 run (Marshall kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Massillon rushing: Scott 6‑126, Bumgarner 4‑42, Smith 4‑26, James 6‑23, Robinson 1‑16.
Fitch rushing: Sudetic 20‑82, Wilson 11‑42.
Massillon passing: Irwin 7‑12‑182, 2 TDs, 2 INTs.
Fitch passing: Burnich 2‑9‑27 1 INT.
Massillon receiving: Price 3‑79, Bumgarner 2‑39, Robinson 1‑58.
Fitch receiving: Sudetic 2‑27.


Dan Studer

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1999: Massillon 24, Mansfield Senior 7

Massillon’s defense carries the day

By JOE SHAHEEN­
Independent Sports Editor

Chalk one up for the defense. The Massillon Tigers, saddled with injuries to three starters on offense, turned in a defensive performance worthy of its Black Swarm nickname to hand the Mansfield Tygers a 24‑7 defeat in front of 10,041 fans at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium, Friday.

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The final score is somewhat deceiving in that the only score Mansfield managed was on a fumble recovery the Tygers returned 43 yards for a touchdown early in the third quarter.

“The defense had an outstanding week of preparation and I really felt they were ready for whatever Mansfield threw at them and they showed that tonight,” said Tigers coach Rick Shepas. “If we hadn’t fumbled the ball on offense, we would have pitched a shutout. We want to make sure the people know that we played that well on defense. It was an offensive turnover that gave them seven.”

In one first‑half Mansfield offensive series, Tigers defensive lineman Mike Mattox made three consecutive tackles for losses to force a punt. It was typical of his play all night long. “They weren’t really pass blocking that great and I was coming in unblocked practically every time,” Mattox explained. “I really wanted to beat these guys bad. We wanted the shutout but the offense let them score seven points.”

“Mike is outstanding at that position,” added Shepas. “He is so quick off the ball and against those big offensive linemen he did the job.” One reason Mattox was so effective was Mansfield was paying a great deal of attention to his running mate, Ellery Moore. Despite that, Moore also was a force on defense with several tackles behind the line of scrimmage against the frustrated Tyger attack.

“We pitched a shutout,” Moore said. “We stepped it up for the offense and was patient with them because they had some adversity. But we’re used to adversity. We’ve been going through it since December. So we’re ready for that.”

And Moore echoed Mattox’s sentiments that last year’s 21‑0 defeat at Mansfield was a motivating factor. “Payback was on our mind from jump street,” Moore exclaimed. “We knew we had to come in and play hard . We knew they were going to play hard. It’s a rivalry now. We’re loving it.”

While Massillon (4‑0) dominated the game statistically ‑ the Tigers owned an advantage in total yards of 357‑134 ‑ things were a little dicey for the locals for much of the second half after Mansfield (2‑2) cut the lead to 10‑7 on the fumble recovery and runback for a touchdown.

The Tigers finally got some breathing room mid‑way through the fourth quarter when quarterback Dave Irwin found junior wide receiver Jesse Robinson running free in the Mansfield secondary.

Irwin was on target with his pass and Robinson pulled away from the defense after gathering it in for a 64‑yard scoring play. Brett Marshall’s point‑after kick was true and the Tigers had the cushion they needed at 17‑7 with 7:28 to go.

An 11‑yard Irwin to Rocky Dorsey scoring pass with 2:08 to play closed the scoring, but the Massillon defense had to rise up once again in the final moments to keep Mansfield out of the end zone. As was true throughout the game, the Black Swarm was equal to the task.

“Massillon’s defense gave us some problems,” admitted Mansfield coach Stanley Jefferson.”They definitely created some problems. It was difficult for us to get our zone schemes going. We couldn’t move the ball in a consistent manner. “They controlled the line of scrimmage in terms of us trying to zone block and that created some problems.”

Mansfield also hurt itself, getting flagged 13 times for 125 yards in penalties, a statistic that bothered Jefferson. “I’m not allowed to speak on it,” he said afterward. “If I speak on it … I, um, I can’t speak on it. It’d be best for me not to say anything about some of those penalties.”

Massillon was flagged 10 times for 74 yards. The game began as it was going to be a long night for the Tigers, who were without starting linebacker and tri‑captain Dan Studer and leading ground gainer Jon Stanke, both of whom were out with injuries.

Things went from bad to worse almost immediately when starting center Seth Stefanko went down with a severe knee injury on just the fifth play of the game. Stefanko’s absence was often magnified because the Tigers utilize the shotgun formation in which the center must snap the ball three to four yards back to the quarterback.

The senior’s absence was felt on Massillon’s second series, which ended when Mansfield recovered a fumbled snap. But the Tigers persevered, thanks to their defense which forced Mansfield into punts on each of its first three possessions.

Massillon’s first scoring drive of the evening began on its 37 yard line but appeared to be over when Mansfield intercepted the ball on third‑and‑seven from the 40. But the Tygers were flagged for roughing the passer and the locals took advantage of the break.

On first down from midfield, Stanke’s replacement senior Dave Bumgarner got the football on a fullback counter and rumbled 39 yards to the 11. Two plays later, Irwin rolled to his left and, with a Mansfield defender in his face, tossed the ball to tight end Jeremiah Drobney at the 5. Drobney carried a Tyger defender into the endzone for the game’s initial touchdown at 8:47 of the second quarter. Brett Marshall’s conversion kick was good and the Tygers led 7‑0.

Mansfield looked as if it was going to retaliate, running the football for two first downs on the first three snaps of the ensuing possession.
But Mattox took over and almost single‑handedly stopped the march. The 6‑1, 213‑pound senior tripped up Mansfield’s Maurice Bradley for a loss of three yards on first down, then recorded back‑to‑back sacks of Tygers QB Kris Kline on second and third downs for a total of 18 negative yards.
Massillon then launched a 12‑play drive from its own 15. It ate up all but 14 seconds of the final five minutes of the first half. Perry James gained 17 yards to move the ball to the 43, then consecutive completions to Drobney and Bumgarner advanced the ball to the 24. Three snaps later, Marshall was perfect on a 37 yard field goal to make it 10‑0 at halftime.

Mansfield failed to penetrate deeper than the Massillon 38 in the first 24 minutes of play. It would be that way all night long.

MASSILLON 24
MANSFIELD 7

Mas Man
First downs rushing 8 4
First downs passing 7 3
First downs by penalty 5 0
TOTAL first downs 20 7
Net yards rushing 134 52
Net yards passing 223 82
TOTAL yards 357 134
Passes attempted 22 12
Passes completed 15 7
Passes intercepted 0 1
Punts 4 8
Punting average 35.8 34.5
Fumbles/Lost 3/2 0/0
Penalties 10 13
Yards penalized 74 125

MASSILLON 00 10 00 14 24
MANSFIELD 00 00 07 00 07

SCORING

Mas ‑ Drobney 8 pass from Irwin (Marshall kick)
Mas ‑ Marshall 37 field goal
Man ‑ Berry 43 fumble recovery return (Wolf kick)
Mas ‑ Robinson 64 pass from Irwin (Marshall kick)
Mas ‑ Dorsey 11 pass from Irwin (Marshall kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Massillon rushing: Scott 9‑56, Bumgarner 6‑51, James 9‑31.
Mansfield rushing: Berry 8‑31, Bradley 5‑20, Dandy 3‑14.

Massillon passing: Irwin15‑22‑223 3 TDs.
Mansfield passing: Taylor 5‑9‑80, Kline 2‑3‑2 1 INT.

Massillon receiving: Bumgarner 5‑39, Drobney 4‑70, Hendricks 2‑4, Dorsey 2‑37, Robinson 1‑64, James 1‑9.
Mansfield receiving: C. Smith 4‑64.


Dan Studer