Tag: <span>John Miller</span>

History

1987: Massillon 15, Canton McKinley 18

On paper, call it even
Tigers have better offense, Dogs have the ‘D

By STEVE DOERSCHUK
Independent Sports Editor

You want to play the Massillon ­McKinley football game on paper?

Since we have to wait until 2 p.m. Saturday to see it on the field, why not ?

OK, then.

On paper, Massillon has a slight edge on offense. McKinley has a clear edge on defense.

Between the lines, Massillon’s edge on offense might be greater and McKinley’s advantage on de­fense might be slighter since the Ti­gers have played a tougher sche­dule.

Massillon’s offense has amassed 2,570 yards in 418 plays for an aver­age of 6.15 yards a play. McKinley’s offense has netted 2,309 yards in 414 plays for a 5.6 average.

The teams have comparable rushing numbers: Massillon’s 1,630 Yards at 5.7 a carry versus McKin­ley’s 1,766 at 5.6 a pop.

Game Action vs. Canton McKinley 1987

Massillon has a whopping advantage in the passing game. The Ti­gers have completed 61 of 127 passes for 940 yards, eight touchdowns and six interceptions, while the Bulldogs have connected on 38 of 95 for 543 yards, two touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

Massillon quarterback Erik White has completed 60 of 122 pas­ses for 883 yards, seven TDs and six interceptions. McKinley quarter­back Pat Lyon, who has started all but two games, has completed 26 of 71 for 384 yards, two touchdowns and eight interceptions.

Six Tiger receivers ‑ Myricks (10 for 228), Wrentie Martin (12 for 223), Mark Kester (11 for 153), Jason Stafford (9 for 127), Craig York (9 for 87) and Gerald Pope (5 for 64) ‑ have caught at least five passes.

Keith Smith (7 for 177) and Mike Hedrick (7 for 96) are the only Bull­dogs with more than five recep­tions.

So that’s the offense.

What about the defense?

McKinley’s has been better.

The Tiger defense has allowed 2,121 yards against its nine opponents. McKinley foes have gained only 1,399 yards.

Game Action vs. Canton McKinley 1987

Massillon’s running defense has surrendered 1,409 yards at 4.3 a car­ry. McKinley’s rushing defense has yielded 862 yards at under 3.5 a tote.

Opponents have passed for 712 yards against Massillon and 537 yards against McKinley.

Elsewhere on the statistical charts, there are some uncanny similarities between the teams.

Both squads have fumbled 27 times. The Tigers have lost 14 of the bobbles. The Bulldogs have lost 11.

Both teams have intercepted 12 passes. McKinley’s Mark Hedrick has picked off four errant throws. Massillon’s Mark Kester has made three interceptions.

The Tigers’ top ground gainer is Jerome Myricks with 989 yards in 155 carries at 6.4 a carry. The Bull­dogs’ top rusher is Jeff Richardson with 145 carries for 970 yards at 6.7 a pop.

Game Action vs. Canton McKinley 1987

Massillon’s No. 2 ground gainer Jason Stafford with 357 yards at 6.6 a carry, has out rushed McKinley’s No. 2 man, Derrick Gordon with 259, yards at 6.8 per attempt.

But Massillon has no one else ­over 100 yards, while McKinley has DeVon Torrence with 156 yards in 17 carries, Kevin Campbell with 132 yards in 26 carries, and Lamuel Flowers with 116 yards in 28 carries.

Other Massillon rushers have included Shawn Ashcraft (8 for 57), David Ledwell (12 for 56), John Miller (11 for 55) and Vernon Riley (14 for 47).

Myricks leads the Tigers in scoring with 108 points. Richardson is McKinley’s top dog with 68 points. Richardson is behind the pace of his junior season in rushing yards. He needs 200 yards on the nose Satur­day to match his 1986 total of 1,170 rushing yards for 10 games.

Those are the numbers. That’s how it looks on paper.

Add it all up and this looks like a dead‑even match up.

Pups edge Tigers
Key play in first half ‘was about an inch short of the goal line…

By STEVE DOERSCHUK
Independent Sports Editor

It still means everything to the McKinley Bulldogs to play the Massillon Tigers.

There’s some solace in that for the Massillon team that got beat 18‑15 by McKinley Saturday.

Game Action vs. Canton McKinley 1987

It was true that McKinley fans were rubbing it in that their Bulldogs had beaten the Tigers four straight times for the first time since before radio was invented.

It was true that many Massillon fans were wondering when their beloved men of orange will ever defeat the crimson‑clad team from Canton again.

It was also true that the McKinley coach, Thom McDaniels, had cried with his team after what had been a brutal slugfest was over.

You don’t look like McDaniels looked ‑ like a man whose emotions had spent a week in a ringer washer unless the game means everything.

That is what Saturday’s game meant to him. As such, it meant that Massillon still has McKinley’s complete respect, if not its number.

Game Action vs. Canton McKinley 1987

‘We experienced a lot of things this year,” said McDaniels, talking about the tumultuous things that accompany a less‑than‑perfect season in either the Canton or Massillon football communities.

McDaniels has been McKinley’s head coach since 1982, the year after Terry Forbes steered the Bulldogs to the only big‑school state championship a Stark County team has ever won since the advent of the playoff era.

Such was the tumult of 1987 that his status at McKinley for 1988 is clouded.

McDaniels’ team finished ’87 with a 7‑3 record and missed the playoffs for the first time since his ’84 team went 7‑3.

Saturday’s setback gave Massillon a 1987 record of 6‑4, A pattern that has haunted John Maronto in his three years as Massillon’s head coach ‑ playing tough, but failing just short against the elite teams ‑ held true again.

Both Maronto and McDaniels are saying their futures at their respective schools are up in the air.

Game Action vs. Canton McKinley 1987

The Tigers stunned McKinley on the ground. After the Bulldogs stalled in three plays following the opening kickoff, Massillon set up at midfield.
From time to time under Maronto, the Tigers’ first play has been a bomb. McKinley knows that and may have been sucked in when Tiger quarterback Erik White dropped back for an apparent pass. However, the was a sprint draw, with Myricks taking a handoff and going through a gaping hole up the middle.

“We wanted to get Jerome one‑on‑one with a defensive back on that play,” Maronto said. “It was very well blocked by our players.”

Myricks is a hard man to catch in the open field. This time, nobody caught him. He shifted smoothly to the left sideline and out ran McKinley’s defense into the end zone for a 50‑yard touchdown run.

“We ran that play successfully the whole game,” Maronto said. “Most of our blocking schemes were effective, especially behind John Woodlock and John Schilling. There were a lot of exciting plays and Jerome came very close to breaking the long one on several others.”

Game Action vs. Canton McKinley 1987

But while the Tigers were coming close to the big play, McKinley was making it. The Bulldogs used a running attack that netted 283 yards to score the game’s next three touchdowns.

A 93‑yard drive capped by Bulldog quarterback Pat Lyon’s 8‑yard pass to a wide‑open tight end, 6‑1 senior Dan Roshong, cut Massillon’s lead to 7‑6 with 34 seconds left in the first quarter. The extra‑point kick was wide left.

McKinley got great field position on its next possession following a 19‑yard loss on which Tiger fullback Jason Stafford was caught on a reverse. A short punt enabled the Bulldogs to set up on the Tiger 38, and they scored three plays later when tailback Jeff Richardson took a pitch left and motored 24 yards for a touchdown.

McKinley pulled out to an 18‑7 lead by driving 63 yards for a TD on its first possession of the second half. Richardson went over the right side to score from four yards out.

The Tigers turned it into a thriller when White got hot late in the third quarter, launching a mostly passing, 72‑yard drive capped by Myricks’ 6‑yard blast up the middle with 8:36 left in the game.

Since McKinley had failed on all three of its extra point tries, the Tigers had a chance to pull within a field goal of a tie by making a two‑point conversion. Jerome got the job done by running over Schilling and Woodlock on the right side, and it was 18‑15.

The Tigers, however, got the ball only once more, setting up on their own 18 after a punt and moving to the 30 on a diving 12‑yard reception by senior split end Craig York. Bulldog linebacker Scott Herrington sack­ed White for an 11‑yard loss to set up a punt, and the Bulldogs ran out the clock.

Save for a few inches, perhaps less, the game might have been drastically different.

The Tigers came up just short of the end zone when fullback John Miller, a secret weapon who had played the season primarily at inside linebacker, was stopped on fourth and goal from the 3 with 1:38 left in the first half.

Miller was so close to the goal line that White, the ­quarterback, signaled a touchdown.

“I was about an inch, maybe two, short of the goal line,” Miller said.

“The films show it couldn’t have been more than a couple inches,” Maronto said. “The play was blocked successfully at the point of attack. (Defensive tackle) Robert Copenny came from nowhere to get just enough of John’s legs to slow him down.”

The drive had begun at the McKinley 31 on the kickoff following McKinley’s go‑ahead touchdown. In fact, is was one of the more dramatic marches of the season.

McKINLEY 18
MASSILLON 15

MAS McK
First downs rushing 7 12
First downs passing 7 5
First downs by penalty 0 1
Totals first downs 14 18
Yards gained rushing 190 306
Yards lost rushing 52 23
Net yards rushing 138 283
Net yards passing 90 67
Total yards gained 228 350
Passes attempted 14 8
Passes completed 9 5
Passes int. by 0 0
Times kicked off 3 4
Kickoff average 49.0 41.8
Kickoff return yards 63 46
Punts 5 3
Punting average 26.4 32.3
Punt return yards 0 13
Fumbles 0 2
Fumbles lost 0 0
Penalties 3 5
Yards penalized 26 25
Number of plays 60 51
Time of possession 22:54 25:06
Attendance 17,500

MASSILLON 7 0 0 8 15
McKINLEY 6 6 6 0 18

Grid war lives up to reputation
Tigers fall short against Bulldogs

By STEVE DOERSCHUK
Independent Sports Editor

The good fight has been fought. And now the war between the cities is over.

“I did a lot of thinking about the game today,” Massillon Tiger co-­captain John Miller said Sunday night, more than 24 hours after his football team fell 18‑15 to the McKinley Bulldogs. “Now I’ll just try to forget about it. It’s time to move on.”

The Tigers scored on their first play from scrimmage Saturday when Jerome Myricks cut loose for a 50‑yard touchdown run. McKin­ley, however, used a ground assault that netted 283 yards to score a touchdown in each of the first three periods on their way to the win.

“It’s a very tough loss for our football team and our program,” Tiger head coach John Maronto said. “A lot of energy was expended to come up a couple of inches short. But the thing you have to under­stand is that our young men gave everything they had … and a little bit more. It was one of the best high school football games I’ve ever been involved in … certainly one of the hardest hitting.”

Maronto, who has been under fire since last year’s 23‑6 loss to McKin­ley, has a 20‑10 record in his three years at the Massillon helm. He has been haunted by a series of close defeats against powerful teams. The coach’s three‑year contract ex­pires at the end of this school year, and there has been speculation he will not be offered a new pact.

As to his future in Massillon, Maronto said, “That remains to be seen.” He said his thoughts are fo­cused on other areas right now. “I’m more concerned with look­ing out for the best interests of the graduating seniors,” he said. “I want to make sure everyone has things in the right perspective in terms of next season. I’m most con­cerned with dealing with the team.

“This is the most successful 6‑4 team you could ever be involved with,” Maronto added. “People have to agree that these players played the toughest Massillon sche­dule possible ever. They weren’t more than an inch here or an inch there from being 9‑1. I’m pretty proud of the way this team played, the class they showed and the adversity it fought to overcome.”

Miller, a surprise starter at full­back Saturday, and fellow co-captain Erik Moledor wound down Sunday by going to the movie “Hellraiser” at Lincoln Theater.

“It was kind of dumb,” Miller admitted. Saturday’s game had been kind of sensational. But in the Tigers’ eyes, it had a “dumb ending,” what with McKinley on top.

“There was some serious hitting going on,” said Miller, who played inside linebacker in addition to full­back. “I mean serious. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. I’m a little sore today, but nothing major.”

The Tigers finished their 1987 grid campaign with a 6‑4 record. It was only the sixth time since Paul Brown left town in 1940 that the team has endured as many as four losses in a season.

It also was the fourth straight set­back to McKinley, marking the second longest losing streak in the history of the series, which Massil­lon still leads 50‑38‑5. The Canton team won the first 11 games in the series, which began in 1894.

“We didn’t have as good a season as we thought we would,” Miller said. “We expected to go pretty far. I’m still glad I played on this team. I liked everybody on the squad. It was a great bunch.”

Moledor, a senior defensive back, was keeping a stiff upper lip Sunday but remained in obvious disappoint­ment.

“I thought we gave it everything we had,” said Moledor. “McKinley was pretty tough. Give ’em credit.”
“We really worked hard together this year. I think that’s the best thing we did … worked hard. Satur­day was tough. But I don’t think there are any regrets.”

John Miller
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1987: Massillon 7, Middletown 12

Place’s Middies deal Tigers third loss

Middletown coach feels bad about 12-7 win: Massillon coach feels boos

By STEVE DOERSCHUK
Independent Sports Editor

Jim Place spent his formative years in Massillon. He knows.

He knows what it is like here after the third defeat of a football season.

Painful No. 3 came Friday night by a 12‑7 score as 7,254 looked on in Paul Brown Tiger Stadium. The victor, Middletown High’s Middies, are coached by Place, who moved to Massillon when he was a fifth­ grader.

Place was telling someone on a locker room telephone. “Honest, I really never have.”

Program Cover

He was talking to Sonny Spiel­man, Massillon’s assistant athletic director, who is recovering from surgery to remove a non‑malignant tumor from his pituitary gland. Spielman was one of Place’s coaches at Central Catholic High School in the early 1960s.

The loss puzzled the Tigers, who were inexplicably flat in the first half, but still had a chance to win until near the end. It sent them into next Saturday’s McKinley game needing a victory to post their third straight 7‑3 season. Middletown, 7-­1 needs to beat Lancaster next week to make the Division I play­offs.

Place told reporters more about his love for Massillon, where he once attended St. Joseph School.

“If I pick up a newspaper in Mid­dletown and see Massillon lost, I feel bad,” he said. “There’s some Massillon in me. I felt bad tonight for Coach (John) Maronto. I shook his hand after the game and wished him well.”

The crowd was less sympathetic. The booing got loud late in the fourth quarter.

The Massillon dressing room was very quiet.

A reporter from Middletown asked Maronto if he thought a Mas­sillon fumble of the game‑opening kickoff was a turning point. The fumble led to a touchdown.

“I really don’t think the fumble was a factor,” Maronto said. “Mid­dletown played well and made no turnovers. (Tommy) Harkrader is a heck of a back. Their other back, (Duane) Gregory, is part of the quickness that hurt us. Frankly, they deserved to will.

“Middletown can play with the best team in any state at any time. Give them credit.”

Dion Roberts, a 140‑pound Middletown senior, gets much of the credit.

It was Roberts who recovered Steve Siegenthaler’s fumble of the opening kickoff at the 27‑yard line, setting up a 3‑yard touchdown run by the hard‑running Harkrader, a 6‑1 senior who will be playing some­where in the Big Ten (as his father and two brothers did) next year.

It was Roberts who intercepted Erik White’s pass in the end zone with 9:07 left in the contest, snuffing out a furious threat that seemed destined to reverse a 9‑7 Middletown lead.

“This was our biggest win of the season, by far,” said Jason Feczko, Middletown’s record‑setting place ­kicker, whose two second‑half field goals overturned a 7‑6 Tiger lead at halftime.

This was a game in which the agony and the ecstasy happened in the wrong order for the Tigers.

The most exciting play of the season had left Massillon fans in glee­ful spirits early in the second quar­ter. The Tigers’ first two posses­sions resulted in 11 modest gains on running plays. An incomplete pass left Massillon with a third‑and‑long from the Tiger 40.

White dropped back to pass and was about to be crushed by two Mid­dletown rushers when he flicked a little shovel pass to fullback Jason Stafford. Stafford used his sub-4.6 40‑yard dash speed to rocket through a huge gap in the middle. He cut left and easily out ran two Middletown defenders into the end zone for a 60‑yard touchdown that left the fans roaring.

Since Middletown’s point‑after kick died in a fumble, Lee Hurst had a chance to give the Tigers the lead. Hurst’s kick was perfect and the Ti­gers led 7‑6 with 10:30 left in the first half.

At halftime, the diminutive Greg­ory got the word. “They told me I was going to be running the ball more,” the 151‑pound junior said.

Gregory squirted through the middle and around the outside all night. With his excellent speed and low center of gravity (he stands 5­6), the Tigers had a devil of a time bringing him down. He finished with 124 yards in 13 carries. Har­krader added 89 yards in 13 rushes. Quarterback Jason Tisdale, a bruising 191‑pounder who was also swift and deceptive, rushed S5 yards in 15 carries.

They were the men who enabled the Middies to drive 57 yards after taking the second‑half kickoff. The drive stalled at the 11, but Feczko’s 27‑yard field goal gave Middletown a 9‑7 lead.

The 15‑play drive just about wiped out the third quarter. The field goal came with 4:31 left.

The Tigers proceeded to wipe out another big chunk of time ‑ and, almost, the lead ‑ after starting on their own 20 following the ensuing kickoff.

Senior tailback Jerome Myricks, who finished with 118 yards in 19 carries, finally got cooking after a so‑so first half. Runs of 9, 8, 10, 7, 14 and 10 yards by Myricks were the keys that gave the Tigers a first down on the Middletown 14-yard line.
The drive stalled on fourth down at the 8, and Hurst trotted on to the field to try a 25‑yard field goal that would give Massillon a 10‑9 lead. But Middletown gave the Tigers what shaped up as a huge gift when the right end jumped off sides. The miscue gave Massillon a first down at the 4, and the offense returned to the field.

On first down, Myricks was stop­ped for no gain by the middle of the line, On second down, Siegenthaler, getting his second rushing attempt of the season, was stopped for a 1-­yard gain to the 3. On third down, White rolled right but couldn’t get away from two hard‑charging Mid­dies. Just before he was hit, White avoided the sack by unloading the ball into the right side of the end zone, Unfortunately, Roberts was waiting and came away with an easy interception.

Middletown’s offense took over, unleashing Gregory, Harkrader and Tisdale on an all‑rushing drive that swallowed big chunks of time and yardage before halting on fourth down at the 21.

Feczko, who has made 13 of hi­s career field goal attempts and has range to 45 yards, drilled a 38­yarder to give the Middies their 12‑7 edge with 3:21 left.

Still, there was time … but at the end of an 8‑yard gain, Myricks fum­bled and Carlos Brooks recovered for Middletown with 2:27 left. On fourth‑and‑one with a minute left, Gregory blasted around left end for 14 yards to end all Tiger hopes.

Afterward, Harkrader was a happy man. “I’ve heard a lot about Massillon but I’d never seen them play,” he said. “This means a lot. Our offense just overpowered them. They hit pretty hard, but I don’t know if they were expecting us to hit as hard as we did.”

Nor were the Tigers expecting the troubles they had with the pas­sing game. The shovel pass to Staf­ford was the only completion of the night in eight attempts.

”They were the first team all year that was able to take away our, passing attack,” Maronto said.

The Middies didn’t mount much of an air game, either, as Tisdale completed two of seven passes for 29 yards. However, Middletown used a 268‑149 advantage in rushing yardage to win the battle of net offense 277‑209.

As a result of McKinley’s 14‑7 vic­tory over Glen0ak Friday night, the Bulldogs and Tigers will enter their annual showdown with 6‑3 re­cords.

“All I know is we’ve got a lot of’ hard work to do,” Maronto said. “We have to re‑evaluate and re­group. I’m certain of one thing. The team will come back and play their hearts out.”

MIDDLETOWN 12
MASSILLON 7
MAS MID
First downs rushing 11 15
First downs passing 1 0
First downs by penalty 1 2
Total first downs 13 17
Yards gained rushing 151 274
Yards lost rushing 2 6
Net yards rushing 149 268
Net yards passing 60 9
Total yards gained 209 277
Passes attempted 8 7
Passes completed 1 2
Passes int. by 0 1
Times kicked off 2 4
Kickoff average 58.0 55.8
Kickoff return yards 30 48
Punts 3 1
Punting average 37.0 46.0
Punt return yards 0 0
Fumbles 4 0
Fumbles lost 2 0
Penalties 3 4
Yards penalized 30 29
Number of plays 39 50
Time of possession 18:38 29:22
Attendance 7,254

MIDDLETOWN 6 0 3 3 12
MASSILLON 0 7 0 0 7

MID ‑ Harkrader 3 run (kick failed)
MAS ‑ Stafford 60 pass from White (Hurst kick)
MID ‑ FG Feczko 27
MID ‑ FG Feczko 38

John Miller
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1987: Massillon 0, Cleveland St. Joseph 8

Tigers are angry; Vikes are No. 1
Game‑turning safety might not have been safety, game films reveal

By STEVE DOERSCHUK
Independent Sports Editor

Does Saturday’s mud‑bath, 8‑0 victory over the Massillon Tigers mean Cleveland St. Joseph is the best high school football team in Ohio?

“Oh, yes … we are … by far,” St. Joseph linebacker Jerry Carlock said even before he had wiped a mask of mud from his face in a slippery locker room at Euclid’s Panther stadium.

A day later, back in Massillon,*, the feeling in the Tiger camp was that St. Joseph was not even the best team in the game. A great team, to be sure. But a dubious victor.

The outcome left St. Joseph with four straight shutouts, an 8‑0 record and a certain perch atop Ohio’s poll of Division I teams. The Vikings entered the week ranked No. 2 behind Cincinnati Princeton, which was upset by defending state champion Fairfield Friday. The Tigers, 6‑2, will be back home Friday to take on 6‑2 Middletown, who own a win over Fairfield this year.

In the film room at Washington High School Sunday night, coaches hurled paper wads at the screen in disgust over critical calls that influenced the scoring.

“I’m sure there will be a few extra people at the Booster Club meeting (tonight at 7:30 at the high school) who are curious about the game films,” one parent of a Massillon player said Sunday.

The players would normally see those films this afternoon. “We may not waste our time showing the players the films because of the total situation,” Massillon’s head coach, John Maronto said.

The game turned on a controversial safety with 4:27 left in the third period.

Tim Radigan, a 140‑pound St. Joseph senior who played the game of his life, put a 28‑yard punt in Downtown Coffin Comer. It skipped out of bounds inside the 1.

Erik White quarterback sneaked one yard, Jerome Myricks was stopped for no gain, Jason Stafford plowed ahead for two yards, and Mark Kester set up to punt from the back of the end zone.

Massillon has been playing football since 1894. It is hard to imagine field conditions ever having been worse than they were in Saturday’s rain. It was not surprising that the long snap to Kester was a bad snap that bounced in front of him.

Kester fielded the ball, straightened up and facing a stiff wind got off his best punt of the miserable night. However, an official ruled that his knee had been down in the end zone. St. Joseph was awarded a safety.

“The game films show what we thought at first had happened,” Maronto said. “Kester made a very heady play. In fact, he was picked by the coaches as our best special teams player in the game,

Kester, a senior who also plays defensive back and split end, said he thought he did everything he needed to do to avoid the safety.

MASSILLON 0
CLEVELAND ST. JOSEPH 8
M C
First downs rushing 2 5
First downs passing 1 0
First downs by penalty 0 2
Totals first downs 3 7
Yards gained rushing 84 146
Yards lost rushing 2 10
Net yards rushing 82 136
Net yards passing 45 0
Total yards gained 127 0
Passes attempted 11 2
Passes completed 2 0
Passes Int. by 0 1
Times kicked off 0 3
Kickoff average 00.0 42.0
Kickoff return yards 64 00
Punts 7 6
Punting average 21.7 30.5
Punt return yards 0 0
Fumbles 2 0
Fumbles lost 1 0
Penalties 3 5
Yards penalized 33 30
Number of Plays 37 47
Time of possession 20:00 28:00

Attendance 8,000(est.)

St. JOSPEPH 0 0 2 6 8
MASSILLON 0 0 0 0 0

CSJ ‑ Safety, Massillon punter Kester’s knee ruled down In end zone
CSJ ‑ Howard 10 run (run failed)

Recalling the play, Kester said he went to his knee to knock down the errant snap, knowing he must not hold the ball with his knee on the ground. He then lifted his knee off the ground and picked up the ball, avoiding the rush and kicking it cleanly to the 35‑yard line.

“If he doesn’t have possession when his knee is on the ground, it shouldn’t be a safety,” Maronto said. “Mark did what he was supposed to do.”

The safety stood, and Massillon had to free kick the ball away to St. Joseph trailing 2‑0.

A good kickoff by Lee Hurst kept the Vikings from having great field position, as they had to set up on their own 38.

The Massillon defense, which played masterfully even though senior tackle and co‑captain James Bullock left the game early after reinjuring a sprained ankle, forced a punt after three plays.

Radigan, whose six punts for a 30.5 average were outstanding under the conditions, got off another good one, and the Tigers’ Steve Siegenthaler couldn’t hang on to it. St. Joseph coverage man Byron Hopkins pounced on the ball at the 15. Massillon stayed in the game, though, when Mark Freidly leveled star tailback Desmond Howard on fourth‑and‑one at the 6.

The Tigers moved to the 14 on third and two. Viking linebacker Scott Zele leveled Myricks a split second after the Tiger senior took a handoff and Massillon had to punt.

Most of the fourth period remained, however, after St. Joseph couldn’t budge on three plays, setting up another punt on fourth down from Massillon’s 48‑yard line.

Then … astonishment.

Radigan got off his punt but a flag flew.

Penalty against Massillon … 15 yards?

But what penalty.

“I was given two versions,” said Maronto, who spoke cautiously but clearly was disturbed by the development. “One was too many men on the field. The other was illegal equipment.”

An official exiting the field said the penalty was for too many men on the field. “The game films show we had 11,” Maronto said.

One observer reported that a Massillon player’s mouthpiece was dangling out of his mouth as the play unfolded. If, in fact, the call was illegal equipment based on the mouthpiece ‑ the call would have been technically correct. Based on the field conditions and the moment of the game, however, whistling the technicality would have been utterly flabbergasting.

The 15‑yard penalty moved the ball to the 33 with 8:05 left in the game. Howard ran 8 yards on first down, but the Vikings got a half‑the‑distance penalty after a facemask violation corroborated by the game films. Howard then ran 3 yards to the 10. On second down, he ran over the left side and into the end zone.

Many fans were shocked when St. Joseph head coach Bill Gutbrod, in his 38th year at the helm, elected not to put the game out of reach with a point‑after kick.

“I asked my man if he could give me the point and he was honest,” Gutbrod explained. “He said with the field the way it was, there was no way, he could get off the kick. So we went with a run. ”

The run failed, leaving the Tigers with 6:27 to try for a touchdown and tying two‑point conversion.

Massillon set up on its own 34 after the ensuing kickoff but had to punt after gaining just a yard on a pass completion.

Kester’s punt was fair caught by Howard at the St. Joseph 33. Massillon defense answered the challenge again, forcing a punt after three plays. Radigan got his last lick in, booting the ball to the Tiger 37 with 3:30 left.

There had been nothing to indicate the Tiger’ could wade through 68 yards of slop in a short period of time. But hopes soared when, on first down, White heaved a bomb over the middle into the arms of flanker Wrentie Martin. Martin was behind the defender but couldn’t get the traction needed to escape for a touchdown and was caught at the St. Joseph 18.

The hopes were dashed, though, when White threw four straight incomplete passes, the last of which far overshot Martin with 1:48 left. St. Joseph was able to run out the clock.

“I had guys open, and I wish I could have gotten them the ball,” White said. “Unfortunately, the ball slipped out of my hands a couple of times. Believe me, I wish I could have gotten the ball there. ”

On this night, the ball had a mind of its own. St. Joseph had several chances to take a lead in the first half.

Siegenthaler made a nifty return of the game opening kickoff, a squib kick, and Massillon set up on the 44.

A 42‑yard punt by Radigan, with a strong wind at his back, buried the Tigers at their own 13 with eight minutes left in the first quarter, one play after Bullock was carried off the field.

Punt exchanges enabled St. Joseph to get progressively closer to the goal line. First‑half Massillon possessions began on the 13‑, 5‑, 15‑ and 9‑yard lines.

St. Joseph possessions began in Massillon territory at the 38, 32 and 23.

The half ended in more controversy. A 23‑yard run by Myricks, who three times in the first half was one man away from breaking the same kind of touchdown run he popped in the mud at Austintown‑Fitch last year, put the ball near midfield.

On fourth and one from the Viking 47, a crazy looking play with men in motion was cut short when the Tigers were called for a delay of game. The Massillon camp contends a game official was holding the ball in a towel when it should have been spotted.

The penalty set up a punt, and the half ended with St. Joseph in possession around midfield.

The loss ended a six‑game Massillon winning streak but did not end the Tigers’ playoff hopes. If they beat Middletown and McKinley, they should amass enough points to finish in the top four of, Division I, Region 2. Massillon then would need a favorable ruling from the Ninth District Court of Appeals, which has been asked to overturn an OHSAA playoff ban against the Tigers.

St. Joseph has clinched a Division I playoff berth, setting up the outside possibility of a Tiger‑Viking rematch.

Statistics were predictable, based on the mud. St. Joseph held a 136‑127 edge in net offensive yards. Howard rushed 29 times for 90 yards. The Vikings ran only 18 plays on which the 5‑foot‑8 speedster did not have the ball.

Myricks also had the ball on more than half of his team’s 37 offensive plays. The 5‑foot‑11 tailback rushed 19 times for 73 yards and caught a pass for 1 yard.

The crowd fell short of the 10,000 figure some observers reported. It was in the range of about 8,000. The visitors’ side was a sea of orange; in fact, numerous Massillon fans sat in the home grandstand, and more than half of the throng may have been Tigertown rooters.

They went home disappointed after watching a strange game.

Said one fan dressed in orange, “I sure would like to see a rematch on a dry field.”

But in the St. Joseph camp, the feeling was different. “We’ve got to be one of the top two or three teams in Ohio, based on what we’ve done on the field,” Gutbrod said.

Added the linebacker Zele, “It feels great to be the No. I team in Ohio,”

John Miller
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1987: Massillon 56, Warren Harding 14

Tigers give Harding hard time
Most points vs. Warren since ’40 in 56‑14 rout

By STEVE DOERSCHUK
Independent Sports Editor

On the field, Jason Stafford lines up in front of Jerome Myricks.

In the interview room after the Massillon Tigers’ 56‑14 walloping of Warren Harding Friday night be­fore 7,745 in Paul Brown Tiger Sta­dium, Myricks took the seat in front of Stafford.

Program Cover

Neither took a back seat to the other in the game. They were co-­pilots on the same flying carpet.
Fullback Stafford rushed nine times for 115 yards and caught a pair of Erik White passes for 30 ~yards. Tailback Myricks motored 107 yards in 15 rushes and reeled in two passes for 41 yards.
That gave Myricks, a senior, 148 yards on the night to 145 for Staf­ford, a junior. The numbers helped the Tigers improve to 6‑1 and sink Warren to 4‑3.

“It’s about time,” Myricks said, rolling his eyes backward to Stafford. “It’s about time he ran the way I knew he could. He’s a good back. I knew it all along. Tonight, it showed. ”

Stafford agreed, saying, “Like the man said, it’s about time. I made my mind up right before the game. I told myself, tonight, I’ve got to do it.”

He did it all right. Using good blocks and great speed ‑ a Tiger coach put him at 4.5 over 40 yards; Stafford set the figure at 4.53 ‑ he exploded for runs of 28, 29 and 30 yards, the latter carry going for a touchdown that blew open a 41‑14 lead in the third quarter.

The program puts Stafford at 5 feet, 10 inches, 182 pounds. On pap­er, that’s small for a fullback … ex­cept Stafford says he weighs 168 pounds.

Stafford lost his entire sophomore season to ineligibility. Before that, he always played tailback.

Game action vs. Warren Harding 1987

In the Southern Cal tradition of paying one’s dues as an underclass­man fullback before becoming the main man at tailback as a senior, Stafford has learned to be a lead blocker for Myricks (who now has 798 yards in 117 rushes) this au­tumn.

“I don’t mind it at all … it’s just as fun,” Stafford said.

The game got to be tons of fun for the Tigers, but only after they over­came an early 7‑0 deficit and later broke away from a 21‑14 halftime lead.

Two things happened in the second half. The Tiger defense, bruised for 206 yards in the first half, gave up only 78 more yards. And the Massillon offense, which. warmed up with 191 yards in the first half, went stir crazy in the second, tacking on 270 more yards for a whopping 461 total.

“We talked at halftime only of getting back down to the basics, in­stead of trying to make a big play on every down,” Massillon head coach John Maronto said. “The defense got after them a little bit more in the second half. And you saw what the offense did.”

It did whatever it wanted.

“That’s one of the better offenses I’ve seen,” said Warren head coach Frank Thomas, a former Harding player who spent the middle 1970s as an assistant coach at Massillon. “We fumbled the ball away five times. We emphasized all week to our kids that we couldn’t play a powerhouse team like Massillon, with the offense they have, and turn the ball over.

“They have four or five people who can get their hands on the ball and score six points in eight seconds. Plus, they have that offen­sive line. That line is awesome.”

“There was absolutely no doubt in my mind we were going to come back,” Miller said emphatically.

Miller’s confidence was quickly substantiated when Steve Siegen­thaler returned a squib kick 31 yards to the Tiger 46‑yard line. White, the 6‑1/2 senior quarter­back, went‑for‑it all on first down, barely missing Gerald Pope on a bomb. But split end Craig York caught a pass on second down and made some nifty moves for an 18­yard gain. From there, Myricks and Stafford ran the ball to the 2, from where Vernon Riley ‑ the Ti­gers “big” fullback and regular nose guard ‑ rammed it in straight up the middle. Lee Hurst’s kick made it 7‑7 at the 4:34 mark of the first quarter.

Warren was driving again early in the second quarter. But the tide turned when Baugh was popped by Bob Dunwiddie at the end of a 13­yard gain to the 30 and fumbled away the ball. On the next two plays, Stafford turned on the bur­ners for gains of 28 and 29 yards. A clipping penalty sent the ball back to the 31, but White found Mark Kes­ter for a 15‑yard gain to the 16, and then drilled a pass to York at the 10. York put two of the prettiest fakes of the season on a pair of Warren defenders and turned the play into, a 16‑yard touchdown. Hurst’s kick made it 14‑7 with 5:05 left in the half.

Thirty‑four seconds later, the Ti­gers scored again.

Miller exploded out of his inside linebacker spot to put a ferocious hit on Warren tailback Mike Hall. The ball hit the ground. “I saw it coming,” said Myricks, who scooped it up on the dead run and sprinted 22 yards into the end zone. Hurst’s kick made it 21‑7, but War­ren was not finished.

After setting up on their own 35 after the ensuing kickoff, the Panthers drove 65 yards in 10 plays, With Hall covering the final 7 yards ‑Jones’ kick made it 21‑14 with 1: 25 left, and that became the halftime score. ‑

After that, it was all Massillon.

On the first possession of the second half, the Tigers drove 65 yards in seven plays. The capper was Myricks’ 11‑yard TD run on a pitch right. Myricks rushed for 48 yards on the drive. Hurst’s kick made it 28‑14 with 8:44 left in the third quarter.

Marko Miller, who had to leave the game in the first half after aggravating a foot injury, gained 18 yards on two carries after the kick‑off. But his second carry ended in a fumble recovered by Bullock at the Warren 37. A 15‑yard pass to Staf­ford and two 11‑yard runs by Myricks put the ball in the end zone. Hurst’s kick made it 35‑14 with 6:21 left in period three.

Warren’s next possession ended on the third play with an intercep­tion by Kester at the Harding 34. Stafford ran 4 yards to the 30 and on the next play rocketed over the right side for a 30‑yard touchdown run. Hurst’s kick made it 41‑14 with 3:59 left in the third frame.

Then it was razzle dazzle time. After the Tigers got the ball at their own 9 on a punt and punched it to their own 43 on first down, Hurst, the backup quarterback, came in and lined up as a receiver. White threw a sideline pass to Hurst that was actually a lateral, since Hurst was behind White when he caught the ball. Hurst then looked upfield and delivered a bomb to flanker Wrentie Martin, who easily got be­hind the coverage, caught the ball, and danced into the end zone on a 57‑yard completion. Hurst’s kick made it 49‑14 with 9:45 left in the game.

Fullback David Ledwell, who rushed 4 times for 25 yards, blasted in from 2 yards out at the 5: 42 mark. Senior Chris Smith got into the books with the point‑after kick.

The 56 points were the most Mas­sillon scored against Warren since 1940, when the Tigers won 59‑0.

White wound up with eight com­pletions in 16 attempts for 136 yards. Waite completed 18 of 31 pas­ses for 173 yards.

Miller, whose foot injury kept him from manning the defensive end spot from which he has played so well this year, wound up with 60 yards in nine carries. Baugh had a big day, catching 10 passes for 135 yards.

Next up for the Tigers is Cleve­land St. Joseph, which will play in Euclid High’s Stadium tonight against Cleveland St. Ignatius.

St. Joseph is 6‑0 and ranked second in Ohio. You might say next Saturday’s affair will be a big game.

“I’m glad to get this one out of the way,” Maronto said of the Warren game.

Cautioned the quarterback, White, “We can’t get carried away by what we did tonight. There’s a big one coming up.”

MASSILLON 56
WARREN 14
M W
First downs rushing 15 8
First downs passing 7 9
First downs by penalty 0 0
Totals first down 22 17
Yards gained rushing 270 116
Yards lost rushing 2 5
Net yards rushing 268 111
Net yards passing 193 173
Total yards gained 461 284
Passes attempted 17 31
Passes completed 9 18
Passes int. by 2 1
Times kicked off 9 3
Kickoff average 55.8 45.7
Kickoff return yards 73 157
Punts 1 1
Punting average 44.0 42.0
Punt return yards 0 0
Fumbles 1 5
Fumbles lost 1 5
Penalties 7 7
Yards penalized 58 40
Number of plays 53 56
Time of possession 23:44 24:16

WARREN 7 7 0 0 14
MASSILLON 7 14 21 14 56

W ‑ Miller 20 run (Jones kick)
M ‑ Riley 2 run (Hurst kick)
M ‑ York 16 pass from White (Hurst kick]
M ‑ Myricks 22 tumble return (Hurst kick
W ‑ Hall 7 run (Jones kick)
M ‑ Myricks 15 run (Hurst kick)
M ‑ Stafford 30 run (Hurst kick)
M ‑ Marlin 57 pass from Hurst (Hurst kick
M ‑ Ledwell 2 run (Smith kick)
Halftime talk
Propels Tigers

By CHRIS TOMASSON
Repository sports writer

MASSILLON ‑ At halftime Fri­day night, the Massillon locker room was not a place for feeble folks.

The heavily favored Tigers were defeating Warren Harding only 21‑14, and they had been out gained 206‑191 yards. So Massillon coach John Maronto gave his players’ eardrums a workout.

“He really let us have it,” said Massillon tailback Jason Stafford. “We weren’t used to be yelled at like that.”

Apparently it worked, as the Tigers came out in an utter frenzy and humbled the Panthers 35‑0 in the second half en route to a 56‑14 win.

“I told them at halftime that I wanted them to go back to basic ball,” Maronto said. “We had to set some sort of tempo for the game. ”

Massillon (6‑1) had thrown the ball 11 times in the first half, but in the second half the Tigers only put it up six times. The Tigers turned to good old Massillon football, han­ding the ball off on nearly every play to Stafford or Jerome Myricks.

In the second half, Myricks rushed for 79 of his 107 yards and scored two touchdowns. And Staf­ford had 45 of his 115 yards rushing and scored a touchdown.

While Myricks and Stafford may have run wild, the Panthers (4‑3) made it as easy for them. For the game, Harding turned the ball over seven times, leading to 35 Massillon points.

The Panthers, who were once ranked No. 9 in the state in Div­ision 1, are becoming quite skilled at turning the ball over. Last week, they also lost the ball seven times in a 16‑6 loss to Niles McKinley.

“You can’t make those kind of mistakes against a powerhouse football team,” said Harding coach Frankie Thomas. “We’d fumble the ball and it seemed like eight seconds later they’d be in the end zone. ”

You think Thomas was exag­gerating? Late in the second quar­ter with Massillon up 14‑7, Massil­lon defensive back Steve Siegen­thaler smashed Harding’s Mike Hall, and the ball squirted out. Myricks, playing defensive back, scooped it off the turf and sprinted 22 yards into the end zone before the average fan had time to swallow a kernel of popcorn.

And that was the only reason Massillon even led at the half be­cause the Panthers added a touchdown late in the second quar­ter.

Warren Harding might have made the game more interesting had it not’ lost its star running back, Marko Miller, in the late in the first quarter with a possible broken toe. Miller gained 46 yards on seven carries before he was carried off the field.

Despite intense pain, Miller returned to the game in the second half, carrying two times for 14 yards. But after he fumbled and Massillon drove for its fifth touchdown, he was given the rest of the night off.

Massillon didn’t have to go very far for its second‑half touchdowns. After Harding turnovers. three of the seven came on drives of less than 40 yards. But the Tigers did put together a nifty 92‑yard march ear­ly in the fourth quarter that gave them a 49‑14 lead.

And the usually conservative Maronto capped off the drive with reward for the fans who stayed throughout the massacre. Quar­terback Erik Martin threw a pass, behind the line of scrimmage to Lee Hurst, the backup quarterback, who flung the ball downfield. to a wide‑open Wrentie Martin to complete a.74‑yard TD bomb.

Massillon finished with 461 yards total offense to 284 for the Panthers. But the Panthers had only 78 yards. In the second half.

John Miller

 

 

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1987: Massillon 24, Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary 12

Tigers deliver another early KO
Irish are latest Foe to pay for season – opening defeat

By STEVE DOERSCHUK
Independent Sports Editor

Date: Sept. 4. Score: Akron Garfield 22, Massillon 8.

Diary entry: Somebody’s gonna Pay.

Altoona, GlenOak, Barberton, Fitch and now Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary have paid.

The Washington High football team was so angry about what happened Sept. 4 that it won’t let anybody in a game.

You want thrills in the final minutes Sorry. Brian Sipe lives in California.

Program Cover

The latest foe to get knocked out early was Akron St. Vincent‑St. Mary. The Tigers decked the Irish with three quick touchdowns that produced a 21‑0 lead. They eventually bagged an easy 24‑12 win in front of 8,098 fans Friday night in Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

Erik White passed for 150 yards and Jerome Myricks scored three more touchdowns and rushed for 106 yards in the Tigers’ fifth straight win,

The Irish were good fighters. They finished with 276 offensive yards to Massillon’s 277. They controlled the ball for 23 minutes and 38 seconds, just 44 seconds less the home team. But really, folks, it was over early.

“We have to keep working,” said Mark Kester, one of White’s ace receivers. “We have a lot of room to improve. We have a lot of tough games coming up. But we’re real happy about what we’ve done.”

These kids have a right to be happy. Here are more recent diary installments.

Sept. 12 ‑ Lead Altoona 20‑3 at halftime in easy 34‑3 win.

Sept. 18 ‑ Hit GlenOak with first quarter TD … never let Eagles sniff end zone in 21‑0 win.

Sept. 26 ‑ Jump on Barberton for 34‑7 lead. Crazy finish lets Magics score three TDs in final three minutes in 34‑28 win.

Oct. 3 ‑ Shoot to 24‑7 halftime vs. Fitch in 38‑29 win.

The Tigers haven’t been perfect. But since Sept. 4, nobody has had a realistic shot at knocking them off in the waning minutes..

“We, played pretty well tonight against one of the tougher teams we’ve played,” said 6‑foot‑4 senior linebacker Mark Freidly. “I really didn’t think we let down after it was 21‑0. We try to go out there like it’s 0‑0 in the second half. They were just a pretty tough team, up there with Glen0ak and Fitch.

“We’ve been improving week by week. We’ve got to keep it up.”

Myricks keeps holding up his end. His three touchdowns Friday lifted his season total to 15. With 90 points through six games, he is within sight of the Tigers’ top‑five single season points leaders of all time.

He won’t catch Dutch Hill, who racked up 204 points in 1922. But he is within reach of Mike Mauger (152 in 1970), Heine Krier (149 in 1934), Bob Glass (137 in 1937) and Art Hastings (134 in 1960).

Massillon head coach John Maronto disdains talking about statistics.

He probably doesn’t have to worry about Myricks ‑ a cool customer who seems to have an excellent sense of team ‑ getting a fat head.

“The team,” Myricks said, ”is getting more confident. I don’t think anybody is getting a big head. We know we’ve got some tough games left to play. We know we have to improve.”

Maronto sees the improvement. He concedes the Tiger’s let down, “and that includes the coaches,” after getting the big lead.

But we can’t be anything but pleased,” Maronto said. “The team we just beat 24‑12 is a team that beat Garfield.”

Maronto said the offensive game plan was to pass on St. V’s 4‑4 (eight men always close to the line) defense.

The first time Massillon got the ball was on its own 9‑yard line after a punt. The first three plays ‑ out of a hurry‑up offense to keep the Irish defense offguard ‑ were completions from White to Myricks, Jeff Harig and Wrentie Martin. After a 3‑yard run by fullback Jason Stafford, White found Kester for 10 yards. Myricks was held to a yard gain and a pass intended for Harig fell incomplete.

That made it third‑and‑nine 38 yards from the end zone. White dropped back to pass and the Tiger line released the St. V pass rushers on what became a beautifully set up screen pass. Just before the rush reached him, White dumped a little pass to a wide‑open Myricks, who got to the outside before several downfield defenders could meet him and raced down the left sideline into the end zone.

Lee Hurst’s kick made it 7‑0 at the 5:32 mark of the first period.

Late in the first quarter, Tiger tackle Bob Dunwiddie jarred the ball loose from Irish back Phil Gori and Tiger defensive back Erik Moledor recovered on the St. V 30‑yard line. Myricks rushed for 11 yards and seemed angry he didn’t make it more. On the next play, he went through the middle, spun away from two defenders who met him at the 13, and sprinted to the right corner of the end zone.

It was the sort of spectacular run that has become a weekly scene for Myricks.

“They didn’t wrap their arms around me when they hit me,” Myricks said “That’s when I spun.” Hurst’s boot made it 14‑0 with 26 seconds left in the first quarter.

The Irish went 1‑2‑3‑punt and the Tigers took over near midfield. A 12‑yard run on a trap play by Myricks and a 17‑yard pass from White to Stafford were the key plays that put the ball on the 14, where it was first down. Myricks went through a gaping hole up the middle on the next play. He encountered resistance at the 5 but kept driving, finally spinning away from the last would‑be tackler at the 1 and making the end zone standing.

Hurst’s kick made it 21‑0 with 6:48 .left in the half.

Kester was impressed with White’s work on the drive. “He puts unbelievable touch on the ball,” Kester said. “He’s come such a long way.”

White’s fine half was tainted a bit late in the second period when, rather than taking a sack, he tried to pitch the ball to a teammate, but instead fumbled it away to St. V’s Steve Nagy at the Tiger 35‑yard line. That set up a 5‑yard scoring pass from senior quarterback Mark Lenz to Mark Clevenger with just 18 seconds left in the first half. A two point conversion attempt failed and it was 21‑6 at the intermission.

The Tigers started from their own 40 after taking the second‑half kickoff and put together the drive that iced the victory. They ate up half the third quarter in driving to the 3, where Myricks was stopped for a 3‑yard loss on third down.

The Tigers settled for Hurst’s 23‑yard field goal and led 24‑6 with 6:37 left in the third quarter.

The Irish made things a bit interesting by scoring on a 58‑yard drive late in the third quarter. The key play was a spectacular aerial hookup between Lenz and fullback Chris Littler on a play that covered 32 yards, Later, on first down from the 13, Lenz delivered a low flying bullet which Chris Markowski picked off his shoestrings in the end zone. The extra‑point kick failed and it was 24‑12 with 59 seconds left in the third quarter.

St. Vincent put together another impressive drive midway through the fourth quarter, marching from the Irish 36 to the Tiger 23. But on fourth‑and‑five, Littler was strung out on a sweep by Tiger defenders David Hackenbracht and Steve Siegenthaler and stuffed by inside linebacker John Miller three yards short of the first down.

The Tigers took over on downs with 7:22 left, and although the Irish got the ball back on a fumble with 3:42 remaining, it was too late for St. V.

One play after the Irish got the ball back, Lenz suffered a pulled hamstring muscle when he was pulled down by Siegenthaler a yard shy of a first down. Taking over at quarterback was Dave Houston, son of former Massillon All‑Ohioan Jim Houston.

Houston’s first play was a rifle shot pass that was intercepted by Myricks. The play began the rush to the parking lot.

Irish head coach John Cistone, whose record against the Tigers fell to 0‑5, and whose season record dropped to 2‑4, was hardly crushed.

“We feel good about coming back on them,” the 22nd‑year St. V mentor said. “We made a game of it. We moved the ball right along but we made some mistakes. We stopped ourselves.

“Massillon,” Cistone added, “is a little more explosive on offense this year. Myricks is a talent. He has some great moves.”

Despite the late Irish surge, Maronto said he was generally pleased with the work of the Tigers’ defense.

“Defensively, we played at the level we’re capable of playing,” the coach said. “What put our defense in a hole a couple of times was our offense. I have a lot of confidence in our defense.”

The Tigers held St V’s leading rusher, Littler, to 55 yards in nine carries. Before leaving with his injury, Lenz completed nine of 15 passes for 126 yards.

The Tigers’ White completed 12 of 22 passes for 150 yards. Myricks rushed 26 times for 106 yards and caught two passes for 54 yards. Senior split end Craig York had a good night, catching three passes for 22 yards. Kester finished with three receptions for 36 yards.

Next up for the Tigers is Warren Harding, which takes a 4‑1 record into a game against one of its big rivals, Niles, tonight.

John Miller
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1987: Massillon 38, Austintown Fitch 29

Tiger offense runs wild against Fitch
Massillon attack fells Falcons 38 – 29

By STEVE DOERSCHUK
Independent Sports Editor

The Mets are dead. Long live the Tigers.

The New York Mets. And the Massillon Tigers.

What’s the connection? Well, what happened in Paul Brown Tiger Stadium Friday night was “football the way it oughtta be.” Weren’t they saying something like that in the Big Apple last year?

Program Cover

The offenses went berserk as the Washington High football team outscored Austintown‑Fitch 38‑29. Only 8,284 folks showed up in P.B.’s Big House. But the ones wearing orange were loving it.

When was the last time a Massillon crowd jumped into a game like this? That was a question goin’ around.

And it didn’t stop at the locker room door.

“A football team needs to generate a lot of emotion,” said Massillon quarterback Erik White. “A lot of that comes from the fans. I get pumped up when I hear them. We need our fans behind us and I’d like to thank them for tonight.”

Football the way it oughtta be?

The Tigers scored five touchdowns on a Fitch team that had given up a combined two TDs to its four previous opponents. Every coach from Knute to Woody would think that means “de‑fense.” But Friday’s offensive outburst was the stuff fans could sink their teeth into.

It was the most impressive onslaught against a quality opponent during the John Maronto era. Last year’s 27‑0 win over Akron St. Vincent‑St. Mary ‑ next Friday’s Tiger foe ‑ had been the Maronto era’s most impressive previous outburst.

Maronto, a disciple of defense, was disturbed about Friday’s missed tackles and fundamental lapses that allowed Fitch to amass 294 net offensive yards.

But he broke into a spontaneous grin when asked if he was happy anyway.

“This one was an awfully big win for the town,” the coach said. “it was a win for pride. The kids won with heart and effort. I can’t think of any better words. It’s an indication of the character they have.”

The pride had been twice wounded by Fitch, coached by former Massillon player David Hartman. Fitch beat Massillon 21‑19 in 1985 and 13‑10 in 1986 in the only two meetings the rivals have had.

Vengeance belonged to the Massillon offense. The Tigers amassed 326 yards, 235 on the ground and 91 in the air.

Senior tailback Jerome Myricks rushed 25 times for 119 yards and scored three more touchdowns. His totals at the halfway point of the season include 76 rushes, 585 yards and 12 touchdowns.

Junior fullback Jason Stafford, coming off the bench after junior David Ledwell got the start, rushed 70 yards in five carries. Ledwell, reinserted after Stafford turned an ankle, carried once for 14 yards.

Added Maronto, “Erik White’s stats were not as impressive as they have been (White completed 6 of 12 passes for 91 yards), but he showed a lot of poise and leadership. And the offensive line deserves a whole lot of credit. (Guard) Tracy Liggett and (center) Don Gerber are a couple of juniors who have become outstanding. People around the country know about (guard) John Woodlock and (tackle) John Schilling. And (tackle) Billy Kline has come on and done a real nice job.

“Our tight ends (Gerald Pope and Jeff Harig) continue to block well We’ve got a nice chemistry going.”

Chemistry and a four‑game winning streak. The Tigers improved to 4‑1 while hard‑luck Fitch fell to 2‑3 heading into next week’s game against Youngstown Ursuline.

“They just outmanned us,” said Fitch’s Hartman. “Their offensive line is huge. But we played with a lot of heart. We had lousy field position in the first half and we got behind. We certainly moved the ball in the second half when we got field position. We just didn’t stop them.”

The Tigers defense stuffed Fitch in the first half, allowing only 39 nets yards. But Fitch cranked up its wing‑T attack in the second half, enabling outstanding senior tailback Mike Sztary to finish with 114 yards in 15 carries. He also returned a kickoff 96 yards for a score.

Fullback Kevin Motter wound up with 61 yards in 7 carries, while junior quarterback Darick Fletcher ran for 43 yards and passed for 50 more.

Sztary, who is listed at 165 pounds, gives the impression of a much bigger back during his fearless slashes with the ball. But a visit to the locker room after the game revealed that his program weight is accurate. He is, in fact, a skinny kid with deceptive strength.

“We didn’t make any adjustments for the second half,” Sztary said. “We just played with a lot of heart.”

But every time Fitch would threaten to get back in the game, the Tigers put on a scoring drive of their own.

The Tigers started the game on their own 24 after taking the opening kickoff and came out throwing. White passed on three of the first four plays but the Tigers had to punt following an incompletion. Fitch mishandled Mark Kester’s boot and the Tigers’ Vernon Riley recovered at midfield. On the next play, White launched a bomb toward the right flag in the end zone and Fitch’s Rod Turner intercepted at the 5.

“I knew right then we were going to move the ball, even though it was an interception,” White said. “We were determined. We were confident.”

Fitch drove 34 yards and had a second‑and‑one when Hartman gambled and sent in the Falcons’ first pass of the night. Fletcher threw into double coverage. Myricks, playing free safety, easily reached the 30‑yard toss and tipped it to cornerback Steve Siegenthaler, who raced 20 yards to the Tiger 45‑yard line.

The Tigers then went on a long running march that included gains of 3, 8, 3, 3, 6, 6 and 2 yards, a 6‑yard pass, then runs of 2, 2 and 3 yards. That ended the first quarter with the ball on the 3‑yard line on third-and‑goal.

On the first play of the second quarter, Myricks went straight up the middle with a gigantic hurdle step that carried him into the end zone. Lee Hurst’s kick made it 7‑0.

The field position Hartman cited then came into play. Sophomore return man Charles Wesson fielded

Hurst’s booming kickoff near the goal line and slipped at the 1, where his knee was ruled to have touched the ground. On third‑and‑one, Myricks and Siegenthaler slammed Motter for a yard loss and the Falcons had to punt. A short boot gave the Tigers possession on the Fitch 35. On third‑and‑seven, White led Harig with a perfect looping pass that gained 31 yards down the left sideline, putting the ball on the 1. Myricks again hurdled straight ahead for the score, and Hurst’s boot made it 14‑0 with 7:36 left in the half.

Then came a shocker.

Fitch immediately got back in the game when Sztary took Hurst’s kickoff near the right corner of the end zone, charged up the middle, broke a tackle at the 30 and sailed into the clear on a 96‑yard touchdown run. Jeff Wilkins’ kick made it 14‑7 at the 7:20 mark.

Then … the aftershock.

The Tigers scored two plays after the ensuing kickoff. On second‑and‑four, Stafford went up the middle on a quick hitter, encountered two tacklers at the first‑down mark, then did a Myricks imitation. Stafford exploded out of the pack and was off to the races, scoring on a 59‑yard run. Hurst converted again to make it 21‑7 with 6:1 3 left in the half.

An interception by Myricks ended Fitch’s next possession three plays after it started. Myricks returned the pickoff 26 yards to the Fitch 38. A personal foul against Fitch and a 10‑yard run by Myricks set up Hurst’s 27‑yard field goal, which gave the Tigers a 24‑7 halftime lead.

A different Fitch team came out of the locker room.

The same guys who couldn’t total 40 yards in the first half gained 60 on their first four plays of the second half. Three plays later, on third‑and‑goal from the 9, Fletcher rolled right, broke two tackles, and scored. The point‑after was blocked by Vernon Riley, but Fitch was back in the game, trailing 24‑13 with 8:30 left in the third quarter.

The Tigers struck back.

Myricks, a man for all reasons, returned the kickoff 40 yards. White connected with Pope on a 16‑yard sideline route that put the ball on the Fitch 40. After a 5‑yard motion penalty, it was time for Myricks’ weekly breakaway. The 5‑11, 181‑pound senior followed blocks by Stafford, Kline and Woodlock around the right side, saw daylight in the middle and cut back to it, broke three tackles as he headed for the right sideline, and went scott free the last 25 yards down the right sideline.

“When I break into the open field, I feel I can score,” said Myricks. “Again, I have to thank the offensive line for letting me get that far. The whole line blocked great again.”

“Fitch is one of the best defenses in the state. Scoring 38 points against them … that’s not too bad.”

Myricks’ 45‑yard TD burst and Hurst’s kick made it 31‑13 with 6:37 left in the third quarter.

It was the killing blow, even though Fitch managed to sandwich a 10‑yard scoring run by Sztary and a 13‑yard TD pass from Fletcher to Rod Tofil around a 15‑yard touchdown run by White.

White has scored on keepers two straight weeks. Last week, he ran a bootleg left to hit Barberton with a 4‑yard TD run. Last night, he faked the quick hitter to the fullback and rolled right, showing good speed as he outran the fooled Fitch defense into the end zone.

The second half was a game of neither team being able to stop the other. The Tigers won the game by being unstoppable in the first half, as well.

Maronto credited Brandon Oliver, the new offensive coordinator, and offensive assistants Nick Vrotsos, Tom Jarvis, Ron Bayduke and Tim Manion for putting together a package that was too hot for Fitch to handle.

“Really, though, it’s the players who deserve the credit,” Maronto said. “We’ve got a lot of big games coming up. We’ve got a lot of work ahead. But the players deserve to savor this one a little while.”
M F
First downs rushing 10 11
First downs passing 6 3
First downs by penalty 1 2
Total first downs 17 16
Yards gained rushing 246 236
Yards lost rushing 11 1
Net yards rushing 235 22
Net yards passing 91 71
Total yards gained 326 294
Passes attempted 12 10
Passes completed 6 5
Passes Int. by 2 1
Times kicked off 7 5
Kickoff average 54.1 46.2
Kickoff return yards 90 198
Punts 2 2
Punting average 20.5 39.0
Punt return yards 6 0
Fumbles 0 1
Fumbles lost 0 1
Penalties 6 5
Yards penalized 34 55
Number of plays 51 44
Time of possession 27:05 20:55
Attendance 8,284

FITCH 0 7 14 8 29
MASSILLON 0 24 7 7 38

M ‑ Myricks 3 run (Hurst kick)
M ‑ Myricks 1 run (Hurst kick)
F ‑ Sztary 96 kickoff return (Wilkins kick)
M ‑ Stafford 59 run (Hurst kick)
M ‑ FG Hurst 27
F ‑ Fletcher 8 run (kick failed)
M ‑ Myricks 45 run (Hurst kick)
F ‑ Sztary 10 run (Fletcher run)
M ‑ White 15 run (Hurst kick)

John Miller
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1987: Massillon 34, Barberton 28

Strange magic shades Tiger victory
Rubber Bowl ‘goblins’ emerge in Barberton comeback

By STEVE DOERSCHUK
Independent Sports Editor

AKRON ‑ Rubber Bowl goblins howled in record decibels Saturday night, but through the chaotic uproar John Maronto could hear the victory bell.

“Anybody who has been in coaching for a while will tell you a win is a win is a win,” said Maronto, whose Massillon football team won 34‑28 over Barberton in front of 8,000 fans. About 2,000 stragglers remained at the end. They learned that the way to a win is a maze with a billion possible courses.

Or, considering Barberton’s comeback from a 34‑7 deficit against Massillon’s second and third units, perhaps a billion‑and‑one. In this case, the Tigers won only after Barberton running back Jim Ferguson scored three touchdowns on short sweeps in the final three minutes of the game. The segment left the Tigers with two key injuries.

“Our guys played like little tigers,” said elated Barberton head coach Don Ault, whose assistants were telling the players, “We’re going 8‑2! We’re going 8‑2!” in the background. The loss dropped the Magics to 2‑2.

Massillon Tiger fans began seeking the path back to S. R. 241 soon after senior tailback Jerome Myricks capped the latest of his spectacular nights, sweeping right and breaking tackles until he broke clear along the sideline and finished off a 43‑yard touchdown run on the second play of the second half.

The run was at once a comment on Myricks’ ability and on the domination the Tiger first string imposed on the Magics. Sprawled flat either by textbook blocks or tackles broken by Myricks were Barberton defenders at the 47, 40, 35 and 30 yard lines. At the end of the connect‑the‑dots run, Lee Hurst booted a P.A.T. kick and the Tigers led 34‑7.

Myricks, a 5‑11, 181‑pounder with 4.5 40 speed and a rare slithering sense that makes tacklers miss, also scored on runs of 34 and 54 yards en route to rushing 190 yards in just 10 carries.

The Tigers won their third straight game, heading into Friday’s grudge match against Austintown‑Fitch, and improved to 3‑1. In the four games, Myricks has rushed 51 times for 466 yards at a science‑fiction 9.1 per carry. He has scored nine touchdowns, seven on the ground and two on passes.

Opponents are starting to look at Myricks and say, “Phone home, Jerome.” Except for sporadic bouts with the dreaded fumblitis, he’s been out of this world.

Ault, Barberton’s 57‑year‑old, first‑year head coach, called Myricks one of the nation’s best high school backs. And then he called attention to the fact the Tigers substituted with their second and third units after it was 34‑7.

“I want to thank Massillon and Coach Maronto for what they did for us,” Ault said. “That’s nothing but a classy operation.” Translation: Ault was elated his team could avoid a demoralizing blowout.

Myricks’ final touchdown lifted Massillon’s edge in net offense to 303‑92 at that point of the game.

“We asked our second and third teams to hold the lead,” Maronto said. “Some strange things happened, but they did hold the lead.”

In a bit of foreshadowing, four of the first eight plays of the fourth quarter resulted in one team recovering the other team’s fumble. The latter three fumbles occurred consecutively, and the last was Magic fullback Pat Robertson’s bobble that gave the Tigers possession at midfield. After three plays and a punt. Barberton took over at its own with seven minutes left in the game.

One of an endless stream of flags (the Tigers were penalized 14 times for 106 yards; the Magics lost 96 yards on 11 infractions) advanced the ball to midfield on an illegal block. Scrappy little Barberton quarterback Butch Momchilov, ineffective to that point, suddenly got hot. The 5‑foot‑10 junior delivered a strike over the middle to 6‑2 senior Jim Bell, who was tackled on the 6.

On the next play, Ferguson, a 6‑foot speedball, sprinted around left end and went untouched into the left corner of the end zone. Dan Dimick’s kick made it 34‑14, but only 2:53 remained.

Seconds later the Magics regained possession on a fumble 32 yards away from the goal line. Momchilov quickly passed over the middle again, this time to Ferguson at the 9. At that point, the Tigers sent their first unit back on the field.

But Ferguson scored again anyway on the same play that had got him the previous touchdown. Again he easily found the left corner of the end zone.

It was a costly play for the Tigers. Co‑captain John Miller, who had checked back into the game at inside linebacker, re‑injured a sprained ankle that sidelined him during much of the pre‑season.
“It looks like John’s ankle is going to keep him out a while,” Maronto said solemnly.
Attendants formed a human seat to carry Miller off the field. Dimick then kicked another P.A.T. and it was 34‑21 with 1: 37 left.

The Magics’ luck hadn’t run out. Barberton sophomore Mark Jung dove on the ensuing onside kick, which had squibbed all the way to the Massillon 36‑yard line. Momchilov again heaved a bomb over the middle to Ferguson, who caught the ball at the 5. The Magics called their second time out, then threw an incomplete pass, then turned Ferguson loose on the by‑now familiar sweep left. He scored again, Dimick made the kick ‘ and suddenly the Magics were within a miracle of victory with 28 seconds left in the game.

Barberton players turned to the few hundred fans left on the home side of the Rubber Bowl, exhorting them to get up and holler. Even though the Tigers got the ball when the ensuing onside kick went out of bounds, and sat on it until the clock expired, the Magics hollered off into the night as if something wonderful had happened.

In the Massillon camp, there was concern over injuries to Miller and to defensive tackle James Bullock, who also re‑injured an ankle during one of the late defensive stands.

The Tigers had established their dominance early. Barberton received the opening kickoff and punted after three plays. Massillon unleashed several of its weapons on a 10‑play, 75‑yard touchdown march. Runs by Myricks, Stafford and Vernon Riley and passes from quarterback Erik White to Wrentie Martin and Gerald Pope systematically moved the ball from the Tiger 30 to the Magics’ 34.

The Tigers were so confident they could move the ball that they went for it on fourth and inches from their own 39. White sneaked for the first down. On second down from the 34, Myricks followed fine blocking on an apparent 10‑yard gain up the middle. But using his surprising power, he exploded out of a three man pack to streak into the right corner of the end zone. The point‑after kick failed and it was 6‑0.

The Tigers forced another punt then had to punt themselves, but got the ball back when Magic return man Erik James fumbled. Jason Relford pounced on the ball at the Barberton 34.

White drilled a rocket into the end zone that Craig York couldn’t contain. It became fourth and four, when the bench sent in a play that worked beautifully, the old bootleg. Martin went in motion right, influencing the Magic defense in that direction. White deftly faked a handoff right to the fullback and tucked it in his gut while whirling around the left side. The 6‑51/2 senior weaved his way into the end zone on a 27‑yard run. A two‑point run failed and it was 12‑0 with 10:17 left in the first half.

“The Tiger defense again stopped Barberton on three plays. Massillon took over on its own 46 after the punt. On the first play, Myricks followed good blocking over the right side then popped outside to where he had clear sailing for a spectacular 54‑yard touchdown run. Lee Hurst’s kick made it 19‑0 with 8:23 left in the second quarter.

The Tigers would have had good field possession again moments later but Myricks, playing deep man on the punt, fumbled and the Magics’ instead got the field possession at their own 46. Aided by two personal foul penalties, they moved 54 yards in six plays, capped by a 4‑yard run by Ferguson, who started left on a sweep then made a quick cutback and scored easily.

Late in the half, the Tigers mounted another running passing drive that resulted in a score. They covered 63 yards in seven plays, with Miller, playing running back, bolting over from the one. Riley ran for a two‑point conversion and it was 27‑7 with 1:37 left in the first half.

Stafford wound up with another good night at fullback, gaining 78 yards in only eight carries.
Ferguson carried 15 times for 103 yards. Robertson, the brother of NBA point guard Alvin Robertson, carried 19 times for 70 yards.

White completed four of 10 passes for 40 yards before being relieved early in the second half by Hurst. Momchilov finished with nine completions in 18 throws for 111 yards.

In Rubber Bowl games against Barberton, the Tigers lost 9‑7, in 1977, won 21‑6 in 1979, lost 26‑24 in 1981, won 38‑7 in 1983, and came from behind at halftime to win 30‑20 in 1985.

Meanwhile, most of the Massillon‑Barberton games played in Paul Brown Tiger Stadium have been Tiger romps, including last year’s 56‑0 blowout.

The Tigers now turn their attention to Austintown Fitch, which desperately needs a win after its 2‑2 start. Fitch leads the all‑time series with the Tigers 2‑0, having won in 1985 and ’86. Fitch’s head coach is former Massillon player David Hartman.

Asked about getting ready for Fitch, Maronto said, We have a lot of work to do. We have to reshuffle our thoughts a little bit and make a decision on what the best course will be.”

MASSILLON 24
BARBERTON 28
M B
First downs rushing 13 9
First downs passing 0 5
First downs by penalty 1 2
Totals first downs 14 16
Yards gained rushing 320 202
Yards lost rushing 2 8
Net yards rushing 318 194
Net yards passing 33 130
Total yards gained 351 324
Passes attempted 12 19
Passes completed 4 10
Passes int. by 0 0
Times kicked off 6 5
Kickoff average 56.0 29.8
Kickoff return yards 24 29
Punts 2 6
Punting average 25.0 29.3
Punt return yards 5 4
Fumbles 6 4
Fumbles lost 5 3
Penalties 14 11
Yards penalized 106 96
Number of plays 41 61
Time of possession 19:02 28:58

Attendance 8,000

Massillon 6 21 7 0 34
Barberton 0 7 0 21 28

First quarter
M ‑ Myricks 34 run (kick failed) 5:51. Drive covered 75 yards in 10 plays.
Second quarter
M ‑ White 27 run (pass failed) 10:17. Drive covered 33 yards in 4 plays.
M ‑ Myricks 54 run (Hurst kick) 8:23. Drive covered 54 yards in 1 play.
B ‑ Ferguson 4 run (Dimick kick) 4:26. Drive covered 54 yards in 6 plays.
M ‑ Miller 1 run (Riley run) 1:37. Drive covered 63 yards in 7 plays.
Third quarter
M ‑ Myricks 43 run (Hurst kick) 10:57. Drive covered 63 yards in 3 plays.
Fourth quarter
B ‑ Ferguson 6 run (Dimick kick) 2:53. Drive covered 81 yards in 10 plays.
B ‑ Ferguson 9 run (Dimick kick) 1:37. Drive covered 32 yards In 2 plays.
B ‑ Ferguson 5 run (Dimick kick) 0:28. Drive covered 36 yards In 5 plays.

John Miller
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1987: Massillon 21, Canton Glenoak 0

Muddy Myricks dusts GlenOak

By CHRIS TOMASSON
Repository sports writer

MASSILLON ‑ When it was over, Jerome Myricks looked like he had just emerged from a World War I trench.

In Massillon’s 21‑0 win over GlenOak (2‑1) Friday night, Myricks, a senior tailback, gained 161 yards on 21 carries, scored two touchdowns, and carted about four pounds of the Paul Brown Tiger Stadium field back to the locker room.

With heavy rains having turned the field into a marsh, many of the GlenOak and Massillon players spent the night slipping and staggering all over. But Myricks had a method to keep himself afloat ‑ although his launderer won’t believe it.

Program Cover

“With the field as bad as it was, I tried to put the weight on the outside of my foot so I’d be able to cut better,” said Myricks, who scored four touchdowns against Altoona, Pa., last week, but called Friday’s performance more satisfying.

“Jerome is such a fluid running back,” said Massillon coach John Marontb. “He’s able to take what he can see. He was patient and showed he has the ability to explode to daylight.”

Myricks’ first touchdown came midway through the first quarter on a 17‑yard run, which capped a 43‑yard drive. That was actually one of Myricks’ few highlights of the first half, as he gained only 37 yards in the first 24 minutes.

Myricks only carried five times in the first half because the Tigers (2‑1) came out trying to throw against a GlenOak defense that did not allow a point in its first two games.

“We thought the way to beat them was to throw,” Maronto said.

Massillon quarterback Erik White completed 4‑of‑7 passes in the first half, but one of the passes was an interception that halted the Tigers’ first drive. And another of his passes was actually not a pass at all. Midway through the second quarter, White tried to hurl the mud‑caked ball, but it squirted out of his hand like a wet fish. Fortunately for Massillon, White pounced on the ball, or else GlenOak would have had first and 10 at the Tigers’ 15,

So much for the passing game. White threw only three more passes in the final 2 1/2 quarters.

One of those passes produced Massillon’s second touchdown, an 8‑yard throw from White to junior tailback Jason Stafford.

The Tigers’ final score came on Myricks’ second touchdown, a 36‑yard scamper with 4:20 remaining. It was a simple off‑tackle play, but Myricks shredded several tacklers at the line of scrimmage and whisked into the end zone.

As far as GlenOak’s offense was concerned, it was nearly non‑existent. The Golden Eagles, who had mustered only 20 points in their first two games, seriously threatened only once.

Early in the second quarter, GlenOak had a first down at Massillon 15. But four plays lost five yards, and the Tigers took over on downs.

“We just couldn’t get our offense going,” said GlenOak coach Bob Commings, who coached Massillon from 1969‑73 and was trying to upset the Tigers for the second straight year. “But, hats off to Massillon, they deserved to win.

The Tigers accumulated 250 yards of total offense (209 on the ground), while holding GlenOak to 107 yards and six first downs.

Massillon gave up 305 yards in an opening‑game 22‑8 loss to Akron Garfield, but has since given up only 225 yards in its last two games.

“That Garfield loss was a fluke thing,” said Massillon linebacker Scott Sampsel.

Maronto is never one to get over‑excited, but he’s starting like what he’s sees in this year’s Massillon team.

“This team has a chance of being something special,” he said. “They’re showing a lot of character, determination and team togetherness.

GlenOak 0 0 0 0 0
Massillon 7 0 7 7 21

M ‑ Myricks 17 run (Hurst kick)
M ‑ Stafford 8 pass from White (Hurst kick)
M ‑ Myricks 36 run (Hurst Kick)

Tiger defense sheds
muddied reputation
Paybacks are sweet in
21 ‑ 0 win over GlenOak

By STEVE DOERSCHUK
Independent Sports Editor
Mud never tasted so good.

”Words can’t explain how we feel,” senior linebacker Scott Sampsel said after peeling a laundryman’s nightmare off his back.

“We worked hard for this,” said another linebacker, David Hackenbracht. ”Now we have our paybacks.”

Sampsel and Hackenbracht had just helped the Massillon Tigers whitewash the GlenOak Golden Eagles 21‑0 in a high school football game seen by 9,354 wet‑look fans at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

The outcome left both teams with 2‑1 records. Morn Nature couldn’t figure out what she wanted. It drizzled at 7:30 p.m., poured at 7:50 p.m., and stopped raining altogether just before the 8:05 kickoff. It might as well have kept raining, since the game became a mud bath anyway.

The Tigers knew what they wanted. The paybacks were for Glen0ak’s 9‑7 victory in 1986. Sampsel’s joy was over a defense that is coming on like a thunderstorm.

Fourteen days earlier, Akron Garfield had run over the Tiger defense for 277 yards in a 22‑0 Ram romp. GlenOak found a few openings in the first half but got stonewalled in the second and wound up with just 107 offensive yards.

The Tigers, meanwhile, let Jerome Myricks follow good blocking and then blow by it. Of the 250 yards the Tiger offense gained, Myricks’ signature was on all but 81. The scintillating senior slashed for 161 yards and two touchdowns on the ground, while also catching a pass for eight yards.

Myricks’ running and receiving yards through three games give him 398 of the Tigers’ 819 yards.

Massillon head coach John Maronto was asked to compare the defense that battled GlenOak to the one that faced Garfield.

”There’s no comparison,” he said without hesitation. “The defense has really started to come around. I don’t think the reason goes any farther than having game experience. We had none then. Now we have some.

“You have to remember, we graduated a ton of starters on defense. Now we have guys who are gaining confidence. The confidence allows them to use their talents.”

The game marked Bob Commings’ fourth trip back to Tiger Stadium as GlenOak’s head coach. The former Massillon head coach is now 1‑3 in games against the Tigers

“They deserved to win, that’s obvious. But we came here to put pressure on them and we didn’t put it on the way we wanted to, Commings said. “My hat is off to Massillon.”

GlenOak senior Nick Guerierre, who rebounded from assorted injuries to start at quarterback, said he purposely sat out last week’s game against Worthington to make sure he’d have a crack at the Tigers.

“If I only played in one game all year, I wanted it to be this one,” said Guerriere, whose latest injury is torn back muscles, the previous ones having been a dislocated shoulder, a punctured lung and some battered ribs. “I thought about this game all year.

”We should have won, but we didn’t finish some things we started,” Guerierre said. ”But Massillon is a good team, you’ve got to give them that. We’re not finished, I can tell you that. We’re still aiming for state.”

The Tigers took the lead on a 17‑yard run around the right side by Myricks with 5:37 left in the first quarter. Lee Hurst’s point‑after kick made it 7‑0.

The touchdown actually was set up by a GlenOak interception. On the game’s first offensive series, Tiger quarterback Erik White completed three passes for 40 yards: Sensing openings in the secondary the Tigers went for the big play, a flag pattern they hoped would result in a 26‑yard touchdown. However, cornerback Darrin Carter intercepted White’s pass on the run at the 1 and stepped out of bounds.

GlenOak hammered the ball to the 9 when on third‑and‑two Hackenbracht tracked down Guerierre on a rollout to the right and stopped him for no gain. Guerierre punted and the Tigers set up on the GlenOak 43‑yard line.

On second‑and-10, Myricks exploded up the middle for 10 yards, but the mud‑slicked ball squirted out of his grasp. Rather than hurting the Tigers, the fumble helped, as the Tigers recovered 8 yards downfield for a first down at the 24. Fullback Jason Stafford plowed for 7 yards, then Myricks covered the remaining 17, high‑stepping the last 8 yards into the end zone after breaking into the clear.

GlenOak responded, though, after setting up on its own 25 after the kickoff. Eleven runs by four ball carriers and a subsequent clipping penalty against the Tigers gave GlenOak a first down on the Massillon 15. As the tide was changing, Tiger tackle Bob Dunwiddie was being carried off the field after suffering a sprained ankle on the last play of the first quarter.

It was at that point the Tiger defense arose. Guerierre was dumped for a 4‑yard loss on first down. On second down, Dunwiddie’s replacement, Maurice Clark, teamed with Tracy Liggett to sack Guerierre again. On third‑and‑16, the Eagles tried to trick the Tigers with a reverse, but speedster Troy Mastin was tracked down by the swift Myricks ‑yes, he played offense and defense ‑ on an open‑field tackle. The play lost a yard.

GlenOak went for it on fourth‑and‑17, but fullback Mike Hannen, running hard despite missing last Week’s game with a sprained ankle, was held to an 8‑yard gain.

Three plays and a Massillon punt gave GlenOak the ball back at midfield. Four plays later, it was second‑and‑nine from the Tiger 37 when the Eagles made an apparent pass completion to the 20. However, GlenOak was flagged for an illegal man downfield, and the drive stalled.

With the Tigers leading 7‑0 at halftime, both bands played The Bangles’ hit “Walk Like an Egyptian.”

Taking the second‑half kickoff on the sea of mud the field had become, GlenOak was hoping to run, not walk, back into the game. Guerierre completed passes of 8 and 11 yards, then Hannen ran for 5 and 3 yards to advance the ball to the Massillon 47‑yaid line. On third‑and‑two, Hackenbracht and Clark again collaborated to throw Guerierre for a loss, this time on a keeper, and the Eagles had to punt.

Early in the third quarter, White lost the ball on what can best be described as a “Statue of Liberty” fumble. He had dropped back to pass, and the ball crazily squirted out of his upraised hand before he could bring his arm forward.

“When you have the field conditions we had and the ball is squirting around like that, you don’t pass as much,” Maronto said later.

The Tigers passed just once on a 12‑play, 83‑yard touchdown march that clinched the victory.

After GlenOak’s opening drive in the second half stalled, Guerierre punted to the 17. The Tigers ran on 10 straight plays, with Myricks going 65 yards in eight carries and Stafford picking up 11 in two, to put he ball on the 7.

On third down from the 7, White eluded a heavy rush and flicked a swing pass to Stafford, who lunged and made a fingertip catch before belly‑flopping into the end zone.

Hurst’s kick made it 14‑0 with 2:01 left in the third quarter.

A Hackenbracht sack and a Steve Siegenthaler interception helped keep GlenOak from, doing any more damage.

Meanwhile, Myricks added an insurance touchdown with only 4:20 left in the game when he ran up the middle, broke out of a pack of tacklers at the 29, and sped into the end zone. The play went for 36 yards. Hurst’s kick completed the scoring.

“The thing I regret the most is that we gave up that last touchdown,” said Commings, whose had said before the game, “I just hope we put on a good show, and I sincerely mean that.”

Statistically speaking, Myricks put on a real show. Maronto credited his senior tailback’s talents and some excellent blocking for the 161‑yard rushing day. Particularly effective in the blocking department were tackle John Schilling and tight ends Gerald Pope and Jeff Harig, the coach said.

Stafford is emerging as an effective fullback. He blocked well and gained 44 yards in 11 rushes while catching two passes for 20 yards.

White wound up throwing just nine passes, completing five for 56 yards and a touchdown. He was intercepted once. Pope and Wrentie Martin each caught a pass for 14 yards.

Guerierre completed three of six passes for 27 yards, with two interceptions. Hannen rushed 11 times for 52 yards before leaving the game when GlenOak had to go to a passing offense. GlenOak’s second‑leading ball carrier, Craig Humphries, picked up just 20 yards in six carries.

The Tigers’ next game will be in the Akron Rubber Bowl next Saturday against Barberton. GlenOak will play at Louisville next Friday. Barberton tickets were mailed Friday to Tiger season ticket holders who paid postage. Barberton tickets will go on sale Monday at the high school ticket office. Adult reserved seats cost $4. The student presale price is $2. Tickets will be on sale until 1:30 p.m. Friday.

John Miller
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1987: Massillon 34, Altoona, PA 3

Making an impression… Tigers Al(toon)a up for GlenOak with 34‑3 blowout

STEVE DOERSCHUK
Independent Sports Editor

Who were the Massillon Tigers trying to impress, anyway?

Maybe it was the hundreds of former Tiger football players who turned up Saturday on “Alumni Night” to see the old school wipe out an old rival, Altoona, Pa., by a 34‑3 score.

Maybe it was the fans who didn’t show up after a season opening 22‑8 loss to Garfield ‑ Saturday’s crowd, held down by a pre‑game rain was just 8,576.

Maybe it was the GlenOak Golden Eagles, winners in Tigertown last year, and next up on the schedule.

(A quick note on the GlenOak game: ”It’s gonna be a street fight,” Tiger co‑captain John Miller said).

Program Cover

Somebody say Miller? Say it again. The 6‑foot‑1, 201‑pound senior was a main man against Altoona, looking like Bronko Nagurski as he plowed for 51 yards in nine rushes. He also kicked the Mountain Lions on defense, intercepting a pass, sacking the quarterback twice, and looking like he was having a good time at inside linebacker.

“As the game progressed, I started to feel more comfortable at linebacker,” said Miller, who helped limit the Lions to 118 yards in total offense, nearly half of which came on a trick play that set up Altoona’s only points, a 27‑yard field goal in the first quarter.

“I want to show people I can play,” said Miller, who is in a new role after playing quarterback last year. “As a team, we started to come together more tonight. Altoona was quick, but not as good on the physical side. It’s good to get a win.”

The pre‑season hype billed the Tigers as a potentially explosive team with a balanced offense. Saturday, hype equaled fact.

Senior Jerome Myricks scored on three breakaway touchdown plays and on a 15‑yard run.

The Tiger running attack, featuring a cast of several, ground out 198 yards at 5.8 a carry. The passing attack further advanced Erik White as an all‑county candidate and yielded 157 yards.

White completed nine of 13 passes for 157 yards. Through two games, he has connected on 22 of 34 aerials for 312 yards, three TDs and one interception ‑ which ain’t bad.

The 6‑foot‑5 ½ inch, senior was celebrating his 17th birthday Saturday. White is what football coaches call a “young senior,” in that some of his teammates are more than a year older than him.

Yes, there were some impressive performances Saturday. But it’s not time to get carried away of course.

A year ago, the Tigers wiped out Cincinnati Mount Healthy one week before bowing to GlenOak.

“A lot of people may think we played very well,” Tiger head coach John Maronto said. “There were some good things that happened. And it’s obviously great to win. But we really didn’t play that well, certainly not as well as we need to next week. We’re going to have to reach the level of improvement next week we were hoping for this week.”

Altoona, 0‑1‑1, was simply out muscled, said second‑year head coach John Franco. “Their size was too much for us,”

Franco said. “We aren’t yet the kind of team that can play with a Massillon. We’re young and we’re trying to re‑establish what Massillon has had for so many years, tradition. Next year, I think you’ll see a more competitive Massillon‑Altoona game when it’s at our place.

“Massillon just has an awesome program. They’re a very good football team this year and John Maronto does an outstanding job. They could play with the top so schools in Pennsylvania. Massillon, in my view, may have a down year every now and then. But even when they have a down year, they’re competitive with the best teams in Ohio.”

As to aspects that did impress Maronto, the Tiger defense was one. “The defense deserves the credit,” Maronto said. “Miller and (linebacker) Scott Sampsel played very well. Vern Riley looked pretty good. Brendan Kasunick was effective. Dave Hackenbracht did a good job at linebacker.”

The Mountain Lions stayed in it for a while, forcing a punt on Massillon’s next possession, then recovering from a nasty situation in which its punter touched his knee to the ground at the 16‑yard line before he could get off the boot. The Tigers failed to convert the punt‑that‑never‑was when they made one of their seven fumbles (they lost two), giving Altoona the ball at the 7.

Massillon finally kicked into high gear late in the first half. Miller’s interception gave the Tigers the ball at the Altoona 15‑yard line, and on the next play Myricks went around the left side and carried two tacklers with him into the end zone. The Tigers led 14‑3 with 4:06 left in the half.

A sack by Miller and a subsequent Altoona punt to midfield set up the next score ‑ on the play after the punt ‑ as White flipped a screen pass to Myricks, who got excellent blocking and took off down the left sideline on a 50‑yard touchdown play. The point‑after kick was no good at the 1:40 mark and the Tigers ‘ lead stood at 20‑3 at the half.

Myricks’ 33‑yard touchdown run, set up when the right side of the line blew out the Lions, and Hurst’s kick made it 27‑3 with 5:52 left in the third quarter.

Altoona punted to end its next possession, and two plays later Myricks took a slant‑in pass from White at the 43, then exploded out of a pack of four defenders on his way to a 60‑yard TD. Hurst’s kick cemented the final score at 34‑3 with 1:36 left in the third quarter.

The second unit got in plenty of action, as evidenced by the fact Ashcraft gained 56 yards in six rushing attempts in relief of Miller and Myricks. Myricks was the game’s rushing leader with 67 yards in only seven carries. White threw passes to seven different receivers, including Jeff Harig, Gerald Pope, Kester, Stafford, Tim Pope and Craig York.

Alexander’s production was limited to the trick play. He otherwise gained 26 yards in six rushing attempts.

Altoona did manage to get 12 completions from two quarterbacks.

surprise 6‑0 loser Friday to Akron St. Vincent‑St. Mary), the Tigers got a chance to dominate a lesser foe. Some tinkering with personnel seemed to help.

Riley, usually the starting fullback, was inserted in the middle of the defensive line to address the “quickness” issue that came up after the Garfield game.

“Anything they need me for, I’m ready,” Riley said. “We needed this game tonight. We were hurt and we were angry about the Garfield game. Now we’re back on track. Against Glen0ak, We’re looking to do some paybacks.”

Saturday’s game lost its suspense after the Tigers took a 20‑3 halftime lead. But there was some early drama.

The Tigers scored on a 17‑yard mini‑march after Sean Ascraft recovered a fumbled punt return attempt. Runs of 8 and 4 yards by Miller set up Jason Stafford’s 5‑yard TD run. Lee Hurst’s kick made it 7‑0 at 8:08 of the first quarter.

A razzle‑dazzler Franco called “a junk play” gained 58 yards and put Altoona in what seemed to be a contending position. Quarterback Jeff Ruff flipped a flare pass to Art Fink, who would have been stopped for a short gain had he not pitched the ball to speedy back Alan Alexander, who turned on the jets down the left. sideline. Mark Kester, who caught five passes against Garfield and has good speed himself, made a saving tackle at the 15, which helped, since Altoona had to settle for the field goal.

Massillon tattoos Altoona

By CHRIS TOMASSON
Repository sports writer

MASSILLON ‑ Massillon tailback Jerome Myricks ran berserk Saturday night, but Tigers’ coach John Maronto regarded it as just a dress rehearsal of things to come this season.

In Massillon’s 34‑3 win over Altoona, Pa., at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium, Myricks scored four touchdowns , one on a 33‑yard run, and two on receptions of 50 yards or over. But Maronto isn’t ready to put Myricks on a pedestal.

“He’s capable of playing even better than he did tonight,” Maronto said. “He’s just starting to come into his own. Just watch him the rest of the season.”

Although Maronto has even higher expectations for him, Myricks certainly wasn’t displeased with his showing against the Mountain Lions (0‑1‑1), who were playing Massillon (1‑1) for the first time in 19 years.

This was the most memorable game of my career, ” said the 5‑foot‑11, 181‑pound senior who wears No. 1, and has certainly become No. 1 in the hearts of Tigers’ fans.

Myricks ran for 67 yards on seven carries,, and caught two passes for 110 yards, both for touchdowns.

Myricks’ first touchdown, a 15‑yard run early in the second quarter, gave Massillon a 14‑3 lead and broke open what looked like, might be a tight game.

The Tigers jumped out to a 7‑0 lead four minutes into the game when Jason Stafford scored on a 5‑yard run, ‑ which followed a fumbled Altoona punt.

Yet on their very first play from scrimmage, the Mountain Lions stunned the crowd of 8,576 with a play right off an elementary school playground. Quarterback Jeff Ruff threw a flare pass to Artie Fink, who immediately lateralled to Alan Alexander, who sprinted 58 yards down the left sideline to the Massillon 15. Only a diving tackle by Massillon’s Mark Kester saved a touchdown.

But then the Massillon defense, abused last week in a 22‑8 loss to Akron Garfield, got tough, and Altoona had to settle for a 26‑yard field goal by Ruff.

“That kind of hurt our momentum,” said Altoona coach John Franco. “If we had been able to punch the ball in there, maybe we would have had a chance.”

Franco’s probably wrong. Take away the 58 yards on the trick play, and Altoona Managed only 60 yards of total offense. Altoona had all of minus‑eight yards rushing, and had six turnovers.

So it isn’t hard to see why Massillon dominated the remainder of the game.

Myricks got his second touchdown with 1:40 left in the half, when he turned a screen pass from quarterback Erik White into a 50‑yard touchdown. That gave the Tigers a 20‑3 halftime bulge.

Myricks’ final two touchdowns came in the third quarter, one on a 33‑yard run and the other on a 60‑yard pass from White, who completed 9‑of‑13 passes for 157 yards.

White is relishing his role as a Massillon quarterback who actually gets to throw the ball.

“I like the fact that we’re throwing the ball more,” White said. “I think it really diversifies the offense.

Although the Tigers rolled up 355 yards of offense, Maronto preferred to praise the defense.

“I’m still not completely satisfied with the offense. but I thought the defense showed a tremendous amount of character this week,”, Maronto said. “(John) Miller, (Vernon) Riley and (David) Hackenbracht really did a great job. And we had five interceptions, you know.”

Unlike after the Garfield game, when he was somewhat perplexed, Maronto was obviously more upbeat Saturday.

Altoona 3 0 0 0 3
Massillon 7 13 14 0 34

M ‑ Stafford 5 run (Hurst kick)
A ‑ FG Ruff 26
M – Myricks 15 run (Hurst kick)
M ‑ Myricks 50 pass from White (kick failed)
M ‑ Myricks 33 run (Hurst kick)
M ‑ Myricks 60 pass from White (Hurst kick)

John Miller
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1987: Massillon 8, Akron Garfield 22

Garfield ‘T’ off against Tigers
Cuyahoga Falls to replace Rams on ’88 Massillon schedule

By STEVE DOERSCHUK
Independent Sports Editor

Chris Spielman was the guy with the funny haircut, but “Mr. T” was a guy named Bill McGee Friday night in Paul Brown Tiger Stadium,

Spielman, the Ohio State headliner from Massillon, hit town to see his old team open its 1987 high school football season against the Akron Garfield Fighting Rams.

Spielman saw what he’d seen when he was a Massillon player ‑ a Tiger defeat ‑ as the Rams roared to a 22‑8 win before 12,079 fans.

“Mr. T” has struck again.

Program Cover

Garfield head coach McGee now has seen his troops topple the Tigers four times in the last five years, dating back to a 14‑10 win over Spielman and the ’83 Tigers. McGee mostly has used the antiquated “T” formation in which a fullback and two halfbacks line up in a straight row behind the quarterback.

“Tailback? What’s a tailback?” McGee deadpanned. “The ‘T’ is the only thing we know … well, we did use Charles Gladman as a tailback when we had him.”

Because of Garfield, 1986 was the only time in the last five years the Tigers survived two weeks of football without at least one defeat.

If it happens again, it won’t be because of Garfield. The Rams have been dropped from next year’s Tiger schedule and replaced in the opening game with Cuyahoga Falls.

”It was their decision, not ours,” McGee said. “The Cuyahoga Falls contract is only for one year. We’d like to resume the series in 1989.”

Just now, Tiger head coach John Maronto says his only concern is bouncing back next Saturday against Altoona, Pa., which was tied 7‑7 by its arch‑rival Johnstown Friday night.

“We will be back,” said an obviously disappointed Maronto. We have a team of real solid men. We’ll find out a lot about ourselves next week.”

Something was found out about Garfield Friday night ‑ the Rams have an awesome running attack.
Despite the fact the Tigers bounced back from an early 8‑0 deficit by tying the game 8‑8 at halftime, there was no shift in momentum.

Garfield used that “T” like a two ton piece of forged steel, driving for touchdowns on its first two possessions of the second half, and playing solid defense against a Massillon team whose decent passing attack did not get enough support from the running game.

“Passing is going to be part of the personality of the ’87 Tigers,” said Maronto, who watched quarterback Erik White complete 13 of 22 aerials for 155 yards. “But I’m not pleased with aspects of our running game. We weren’t tough‑minded enough. We will have a better running game next week.”

Led by 180‑pound junior John White, a starter at Akron North last year, the Rams amassed 277 rushing yards (at 6.2 yards a carry) to the Tigers 59 (at 2.4 per lug).

White, often the second man through the line on counter plays that troubled the Tigers, cut loose for 120 yards in 14 carries. Sophomore halfback Dwayne Martin added 74 yards in 14 carries. Senior fullback Dwayne Mitchell plowed 55 yards in 10 trips.

Even though third‑year starting quarterback Todd Johnson had no stats to speak of (he completed his only two passes for a modest 28 yards and ran seven times for 28 yards), he may have been the key to the whole works.

Prior to the game, referee Chet DiStefano got a friendly warning from a Massillon official “make sure you know who has the ball before you blow the whistle.” Often, it was very hard to tell. Such were the deceptive abilities of Johnson, the magician.

Johnson had his own ideas as to why Garfield was able to win by two touchdowns and lead 305‑214 in total yardage.

“They used a lot of players both ways and we had 22 different guys in 22 different positions,” he said. “We wore them down. It was obvious in the second half.

“But they’re a good team, that’s for sure. I guess that’s why I feel pretty good right now … to beat a team like that. What a program this is, with all the fans. We don’t have anything like this in Akron.”

After the Tigers passed their way into scoring position in the first quarter on a drive that ended with a wide‑right 27‑yard field goal attempt, Garfield launched the game’s first scoring drive.

The march overlapped the end of the first quarter and the early part of the second. It covered 72 yards on 11 plays, all on the ground. White, the transfer student, went the final eight yards up the in middle, getting hit at the three and diving into the end zone.

The subsequent PAT attempt was a bizarre play on which the ball was snapped over kicker Rob Balca’s head. Balca scrambled to get the ball with Tiger Jason Relford in hot pursuit. He scooped it up, heaved a pass at nobody in particular, and jumped in the air as it landed in the hands of an unsuspecting Steve McGee, the coach’s son, for a two point conversion.

Massillon bounced back, though, by scoring on its next possession. Steve Siegenthaler returned a short kickoff 23 yards to the Garfield 45, from where the Tigers drove 55 yards in nine plays. A key play was a third‑and‑10 sideline pass to senior Mark Kester, who wound up catching five passes for 84 yards in a sparkling performance.

On third and five from the 11, White retreated to pass and zinged a tight spiral to senior split end Craig York, who caught the ball in front of his No. 87 two yards deep in the end zone.

The Tigers opted to try for the tie, and they got it when White, avoiding a heavy rush by throwing as he backpedaled, threaded a pass between three defenders to Siegenthaler.

That made it 8‑8 with 4:08 left in the first half. Neither team threatened again before the band how.

The burning question at halftime was, would the Tigers be able to top a Garfield running attack that already had netted 129 rushing yards?

The Rams provided the answer by battering the ball 46 yards in six plays to start the second half. That put the ball on the Massillon 22‑yard line. The Tigers needed a big play and they got it when Bob Dunwiddie stopped the fullback for no gain on first down. But the Rams responded on the next play with a 22‑yard touchdown pass from Johnson to junior tight end Pat Anderson.

Anderson broke open on a quick slant pattern.

“Even though they only passed twice, we had to be very conscious of Johnson’s passing abilities,” Maronto said. “He’s obviously very good. ”

Rob Balca’s PAT kick made it 15‑8 with 7:35 left in the third quarter.

The Tigers got only three plays on their next possession before facing a fourth‑and‑one from their own 35. There was no hesitation as to whether to make the big gamble and go for it as the punting unit poured onto the field. The Rams then set up at their own 30 and marched for the game‑clinching score.
Runs of 5, 12, 14, 5, 10, 11, 4 and 9 yards ‑ the last run by the fullback Mitchell ‑ put the ball in the end zone. Balca’s kick made it 22‑8 with 42 seconds left in the third period.
The Tigers would get the ball just two more times. The first time, they lost it on a fumble at the Garfield 42‑yard line with 9:44 left in the game.
Garfield then ran the clock down to 5:30 before Siegenthaler’s tackle on fourth down gave the Tigers the ball back on downs at their own 35.

On fourth and long, White whistled a pass that deflected off a Garfield safety, then hit Tiger tight end Gerald Pope in the shoulder pads and helmet before bouncing incomplete. Garfield had the ball back, and the game in hand, with only two minutes left.

“This was as satisfying as any opening win I’ve had,” said Garfield Coach McGee. “And the opponents haven’t always been this good. Massillon has a lot of things to solve ‑ and so do we ‑ but they’re going to win a lot of ball games.”

Massillon coach Maronto said be thought his team would play better than it did.

“But when you don’t play as well as you’d like, it has something to do with the opponent,” Maronto said. “That’s a real fine Garfield team and it deserves a lot of credit. They have a very diversified attack. They stuck with the game plan, and you saw what they did.”

They did what “Mr. T” has done alot in Tigertown. They ran out of that old formation and added a new notch to Bill McGee’s gun belt.

M F
First downs rushing 4 18
First downs passing 9 1
First downs by penalty 0 1
Total first downs 13 20
Yards gained rushing 90 280
Yards lost rushing 31 3
Net yards rushing 59 277
Net yards passing 155 28
Total yards gained 214 305
Passes attempted 23 2
Passes completed 13 2
Passes int. by 0 1
Times kicked off 2 4
Kickoff average 51.5 45.8
Kickoff return yards 81 37
Punts 2 1
Punting average 42.5 42.0
Punt return yards 7 0
Fumbles 2 1
Fumbles lost 1 1
Penalties 1 1
Yards penalized 15 5
Number of plays 49 47
Time of possession 22.04 25.56
Attendance 12,079

GARFIELD 0 8 14 0 22
MASSILLON 0 0 0 8 8

SCORING

GAR ‑ White 8 run (McGee pass from Balca)
MAS ‑ York 10 pass from White (Siegenthaler pass from White)
GAR ‑ Anderson 22 pass from Johnson (Balca kick)
GAR ‑ White 8 run (Balca kick)

John Miller