Tag: <span>Kayron Adams</span>

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

2018: Massillon 51, Warren Harding 21

Tigers contain Adams, roll over Warren Harding

MASSILLON Kay’Ron Adams slipped through the line of scrimmage, out into the open and into the end zone for a Warren Harding touchdown.

Four plays into Friday night’s game at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium, Massillon was looking at two things it didn’t want to see. Adams getting free and a deficit on the scoreboard.

Those two things, however, wouldn’t endure for long.

Game action vs. Warren Harding

The Tigers would score on seven of their nine possessions, while the Raider running back could never really find the running lanes available he found on his scoring jaunt. All of those added up to a 51-21 win and Massillon’s first 3-0 start since 2014.

“We did well offensively all night,” Massillon coach Nate Moore said afterwards. “I’m proud of the way we executed for most of the night. … We’ll take 51 points.”

Adams, the physical and fast Warren senior running back, was the focal point of the Tiger defensive game plan throughout the week. As a junior, he had rushed for 202 yards and three scores in a 31-21 Massillon.

Two carries into Friday’s game, Adams looked to be on his way to another such night. He had 66 yards, 55 of those on his touchdown run which gave the Raiders a 7-0 lead 1:13 into the game.

Adams would add a 31-yard run on Warren’s second possession, which ended with an incomplete pass on fourth-and-23 from the Tiger 30. However, he wouldn’t have another run from scrimmage for more than 10 yards, as he finished with 123 yards on 20 carries.

Adams’ two longest plays in the final three quarters were receptions of 11 and 32 yards. The latter was a screen pass which went for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Game Action vs. Warren Harding

“It’s just playing hard, being disciplined, being in the right place, getting off blocks,” said Moore, whose team also recorded a safety when Nakoa Keefer picked up a second-quarter sack. “We tackled, wrapped up. You just go out and try to play really good defense.”

While Adams had Massillon’s full attention, the Tigers had their own runner worthy of a defense’s focus. And Jamir Thomas also wasted little time reminding the Raiders of that fact.

Thomas ripped off a 53-yard run to the Warren 3 on his first carry of the game, and tied the game with a 1-yard plunge two plays later. By the time Massillon hit the locked room with a 30-13 halftime lead, the senior running back had already topped the 100-yard plateau for the third time in as many games this season, with 149 yards on 17 first-half carries.

Thomas would finish with a career-high 262 yards on 29 carries and two touchdowns. Massillon ran for 380 net yards as a team and finished with 550 total yards.

“They have weapons,” Warren coach Steve Arnold said. “(Thomas is) fast, strong and plays a demanding, physical style of football. He’s been here for a long time. I have a loss for words what they did offensively to our defense.”

Thomas may have had Warren’s attention, but it found itself distracted by Massillon’s aerial attack as well. Aidan Longwell threw three first-half touchdown – two of which went to Aydrik Ford, plus one to Tre’Von Morgan – as part of a 145-yard first-half effort.

Longwell finished 12-of-20 passing for 170 yards. He also ran for a 1-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.

If there was an issue, though, for Massillon, it was its own miscues. The Tigers threw two interceptions – two of the three times their drives wouldn’t end in scores – as well as had a roughing-the-punter penalty.

The first pick set up an Elijah Taylor 1-yard run to pull Warren to within 23-13. The roughing call kept a drive alive which resulted in Adams’ second score, pulling the Raiders to within 37-21.

“We have plenty to work on,” said Moore, whose team finished the game with the ball on the Warren 1. “Plenty to work on.”

GAME STATS

Reach Chris at 330-775-1128 or chris.easterling@indeonline.com.

On Twitter: @ceasterlingINDE

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

2017: Massillon 31, Warren Harding 21

Massillon runs past Warren Harding for second win

Chris Easterling – The Independent
Sep 08, 2017 10:11 PM

WARREN Massillon and Warren Harding have engaged in more than their share of shootouts over the last two or three seasons. While the faces may have changed, that trend didn’t change on Friday night as they renewed acquaintances at Mollenkopf Stadium.

There were no Austin Jasinskis or Lynn Bowdens on the field. However, players such as Jamir Thomas and Kayron Adams were, both of whom had a hand in what ultimately became a 31-21 Massillon win on “Throwback Night” in Warren.

“First off, (Warren’s) a good football team with some good running backs,” said Massillon coach Nate Moore, whose team is 2-1 heading into Week 4’s home game with Ursuline. “We had a hard time tackling those guys, plain and simple. You just swing harder. You just swing hard and keep playing hard.”

The biggest hammer the Tigers were able to swing was Thomas, who rushed for 148 yards and a score – which gave Massillon a 14-7 first-quarter lead – on 27 carries. He helped Massillon rush for 209 yards on 45 carries as a team, with Zion Phifer adding 61 yards on 14 carries.

Those rushing numbers helped the Tigers offset a Warren offense which gained 276 yards of its own on the ground in the game.

Of those, 202 yards and all three touchdowns came from Kayron Adams. However, 66 yards came on the Raiders’ lone second-half score, a third-quarter touchdown that cut it to 28-21 with 3:50 remaining in the quarter.

“We were vastly improved from Week 1,” said Warren coach Steve Arnold, whose team – which was paying tribute to the old Warren G. Harding Panther teams – falls to 0-2. “We threw the ball better. We’re going to be able to run the ball all year; I don’t think that’s going to be an issue.”

For Massillon, it was a case of never having to play from behind. That meant from the opening seconds of the game.

Game action vs. Warren Harding

Anthony Ballard drew up the perfect start to the game for Massillon. Ballard took the opening kickoff at his own 16, found a crease in the blocking and raced virtually untouched to the end zone for a touchdown just 12 seconds into the game.

“We wanted to kick the ball down the numbers and we kicked the ball down the middle,” Arnold said. “That’s not what we practiced all week. So, consequently, you kick it down the middle on a shift, we have an overload on one side.”

Game action vs. Warren Harding

Almost like a starter’s gun at a track meet, Ballard’s kickoff signaled the start of an early shootout between the two long-time rivals. Four consecutive combined possessions between the teams would result in four combined touchdowns, the last of which was a 15-yard pass from Aidan Longwell to Austin Kutscher with 7:46 remaining in the first half to give Massillon a 21-14 lead.

The two would also hook up for a 37-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter which made it 28-14 Tigers. Longwell finished 8-of-11 for 120 yards, while Kutscher had four catches for 82 yards.

Adams had both first-half touchdowns for Warren: a 7-yard run to tie it at 7-7 and a 15-yard run to even things up at 14-14. The last came with 8:52 remaining in the half.

Adams added a 66-yard touchdown run one play after the second Longwell-to-Kutscher touchdown pass, cutting the Massillon lead to 28-21. Warren would get inside the Tiger 20 only once more after that, while Massillon would tack on a 21-yard Klay Moll field goal with 6:03 remaining.

Game action vs. Warren Harding

Massillon had a hand in both Raider first-half scoring drives thanks to what has been an early-season issue: penalties. The Tigers had back-to-back flags on the first – a late hit and a pass interference – to move the ball from their own 33 to the 9.

The second drive was aided by a iffy pass-interference call in the end zone on a 50-50 ball on fourth-and-12 from the Massillon 30. The next play, Adams scored his second touchdown of the night.

The Tigers were flagged eight times for 83 yards in the game. That includes six flags for 69 yards in the first half.

Game action vs. Warren Harding

“We have to get back to the drawing board and watch the film and get things corrected,” said Moore, whose team has been flagged 39 times in three games. “It’s a continuous process of getting better every week. That’s just part of it.”

One other early-season trend helped Massillon come up with the game’s first defensive stop. Dyson Berry intercepted a pass in the end zone on third-and-31 for Warren with 3:28 remaining in the half. It was the third pick in as many games for Berry.

GAME STATS