Tag: <span>Kyle Kempt</span>

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

2011: Massillon 49, Maumee 14

TIGERS ROMP
Dominate to bounce back from loss to GlenOak

Chris Easterling
Chris.Easterling@IndeOnline.com

MASSILLON The memory hung in the pit of the Massillon Tigers’ stomach for a whole week. A day longer than that, actually.

On Friday night, the Tigers got a chance to rid themselves of that sickening feeling left over from a game that got away last week against GlenOak. Unfortunately for Maumee, they were the team on the receiving end of Massillon’s fury.

The result for the Tigers was a cathartic 49-14 rout of the Panthers in front of 7,021 at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

“I think our kids understand that we played hard last week, but we didn’t execute fully,” Tiger coach Jason Hall said after his team improved to 2-1. “I thought for the most part, we executed. … They’re starting to mature. It’s definitely a nice sign.”

Since the previous Thursday, Massillon was left to dwell on its 22-21 come-from-ahead loss to the Golden Eagles. Many fans have dwelt mostly on the controversial call late that cost the Tigers a potential fumble recovery and a chance to possibly win the game.

The Tigers, though, dwelt mostly on the missed opportunities that slipped through their fingers in the first half. They thought of the three possessions that reached the GlenOak 15, but never brought points.

Against Maumee, they didn’t let such opportunities get away from them. Not by a long shot.

After being forced to punt on the game’s first possession, Massillon scored the next seven times it had the football to turn what some thought would be a tight game into an early rout. The Tigers led 28-0 at halftime, and 42-7 after three quarters.

“If you don’t score consistently in the red zone, you lose games,” Hall said. “We learned that last week. We were the better team last week, and we didn’t execute and let them back in the game. Our kids definitely at least showed signs of learning and getting better.”

The Tigers would take their lead to as large as 49-7 early in the fourth quarter. And they did so by doing just about anything they wanted.

Big runs by their tailbacks? Sure thing, as Ryne Moore ripped off a pair of scoring runs — including a 72-yarder in the third quarter — and Kentrell Taylor added a 27-yard TD run of his own, while reserve tailback Jason Boykins added a 1-yard plunge early in the fourth.

Big pass plays? Yep, as Kyle Kempt connected with Garrett Kreiger for scoring tosses of 30 and 47 yards.

Even backup quarterback Brody Tonn got into the action early. After Maumee fumbled a punt snap at its own 11 in the first quarter, Tonn took a designed quarterback keeper into the end zone on the subsequent play for a touchdown.

By the time halftime arrived, Massillon had racked up 237 yards. The Tigers finished with 457 yards, with Moore rushing for 116 yards on just five carries while Kempt completed 11 of 12 passes for 144 yards.

KEEPING SCHNEIDER DOWN
Most of all, the Tigers did it by doing the one thing Hall stressed all week they needed to do. Massillon’s defense kept Maumee’s elusive and dangerous quarterback Jake Schneider under wraps.

Schneider, who rushed for more than 100 yards in each of the Panthers’ first two games this season after gaining 1,200 yards on the ground a year ago, was hounded on virtually every play. He finished with 51 yards on 18 carries, including a 1-yard touchdown plunge midway through the third quarter to cut it to 28-7.

The Panther quarterback’s passing was equally harassed by the Tigers, who sacked Schneider twice. Schneider finished with 179 yards passing, 55 of those coming on a fourth-quarter scoring pass to Dominique King that made it 49-14. He also threw an interception.

“We’re a pretty athletic defense, so we forced him to run around,” Hall said. “We made him earn his stuff. … All in all, we didn’t let them control the sprint-out and the scramble out and throwing deep down field. That kid’s a good football player, he really is.”

GAME STATS

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

2011: Massillon 21, Canton Glenoak 22

Inadvertent whistle costs Massillon chance at late, go-ahead score

Chris Easterling
The Independent

For the better part of three quarters Thursday night, it was the opposite story from a year ago for the Massillon Tigers with regard to handling GlenOak star tailback Bri’onte Dunn. Instead of letting the Golden Eagle back run wild, the Tiger defense was able to keep Dunn relatively in check.

However, when the fourth quarter came around, Dunn began to run wild, scoring two touchdowns in the final 7:10 of the game to lift the Golden Eagles to a 22-21 win over Massillon inside Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

While Dunn’s fourth-quarter outburst may have ultimately cost Massillon, many may look at an apparent fumble by the Golden Eagles at midfield that was nullified by an inadvertent whistle with 1:33 remaining. The ball was given back to GlenOak, which ran out the rest of the clock.

“Ultimately, what they did was take the game out of letting the kids decide,” said Tiger coach Jason Hall after his team fell to 1-1 on the season, “whether we win or GlenOak wins.”

Dunn, who had 297 yards in three quarters a year ago on his way to 320 yards in a 28-27 Tiger win, had 115 rushing yards on 23 carries through three quarters. In the fourth quarter, he exploded for 134 yards on 16 carries with a pair of scores to help GlenOak erase a 21-10 Tiger lead.

“Coach (Scott Garcia) said we had to work hard,” Dunn said. “We were down two touchdowns. We worked hard and we weren’t quitting for this one.”

The GlenOak senior finished with 249 yards on 39 carries. He also threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Lunden Butler on a halfback pass to give the Golden Eagles a 7-0 lead with 49 seconds left in the first quarter.

For Massillon, though, Thursday night was as much about missed opportunities as it was about Dunn’s fourth-quarter heroics. Massillon basically spent the entire first half in GlenOak territory. In fact, the only play out of their five first-half drives that was snapped on the Tiger side of the 50 was the first play of the game — a 48-yard strike from Kyle Kempt to Justin Blake to the GlenOak 27.

However, for all of that great field position, the Tigers only mustered one score on a 28-yard game-tying touchdown from Kempt to Montel Harrison with 11:15 left until halftime.

Two sacks and a penalty self-destructed the first drive at the GlenOak 15-yard line. Another drive, which started after Massillon recovered an onside kick, ended when it was stopped on downs at the GlenOak 4.

Still another, which reached the GlenOak 6, was thwarted when a pass off a field-goal try was picked off in the end zone.

“We missed opportunities,” Hall said. “We missed a field goal. We bobbled the snap; it happens. We got stopped on fourth down. … As hard knocks as we thought the end of the game was, we missed on opportunities where that situation could’ve been avoided.”

That missed chance cost the Tigers a chance for the halftime lead. GlenOak, given the opening, didn’t miss on its chance to take the edge into the intermission.

The Golden Eagles drained the final 4:15 off the first-half clock and took a 10-7 when Stephen Semple wrapped up the half with a 23-yard field goal.

GlenOak’s final first-half drive featured the two longest runs of the first half for Dunn, who was bottled up for much of the half to the tune of 75 yards on 16 carries. Thirty-one of those yards came on consecutive runs of 13 and 18 runs to take the ball down to the Tiger 7.

The Tigers’ fortune with regards to field position didn’t change with the change in halves. However, they found their luck in finishing drives did, as they took their first third-quarter possession from the GlenOak 43 into the end zone on Ryne Moore’s 17-yard scoring run for a 14-10 lead with 7:20 left in the third quarter.

They recovered a GlenOak fumble on the Eagles 47. Three plays later, Kempt hit Tre Hendricks for a 46-yard scoring pass to take a 21-10 lead with 5:24 left in the third.

A second GlenOak turnover — this one an interception by Brody Tonn — forced the Tigers to take just their second snap of the game in their own territory, this time at their own 27.

Massillon would not run another play in GlenOak territory the rest of the game.

GAME STATS

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

2011: Massillon 31, Akron Buchtel 6

Massillon rolls past Buchtel, 31-6, in opener

Chris Easterling
Chris.Easterling@IndeOnline.com

The Massillon Tigers may be, for all intents and purposes, still a relatively inexperienced team. After all, one game doesn’t make for a season’s worth of experience.
However, the Tigers woke up this morning a team with a 1-0 record this season, after picking up a 31-6 season-opening win over the Buchtel Griffins on Thursday night in front of 8,353 at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

And that, ultimately, can mean a lot to a team trying to get a lot of guys a lot of experience on the run.
“It’s massive,” Tiger junior quarterback Kyle Kempt said. “It’s a big confidence boost. Going into next week, we feel good about ourselves.”

Granted, next week could — and likely will — bring with it a whole new list of questions. It will also bring with it a
Thursday night matchup against a GlenOak team that also beat an Akron City Series team (Firestone) in its opener.

But all of that, for now, is a point to be dealt with at a later time. Right now, the Tigers are simply enjoying the rewards of a mostly successful season opener.

“Anytime you get a win, you want to enjoy it,” Tiger coach Jason Hall said. “We want our kids to enjoy it tonight and enjoy it in school tomorrow. Once we get to lifting and watching film, it’s going to be about us correcting those mistakes.”

That may be the ultimate payout from Thursday’s win for Massillon. The Tigers get the win, while the coaches get a film’s worth of teaching points to go over.

On the positive, though, Massillon can look at the way it went up 21-0 in the first half as reason to be pleased. After a three-and-out on it’s first possession — followed by a Buchtel drive down to the Tiger 20 that ended with a blocked field goal — Massillon grabbed a 6-0 lead on its second possession.

The catalyst for the first Tiger scoring drive was senior running back Alex Winters, who gained 56 of 89 yards on the drive. Winters capped it off with a 2-yard scoring plunge at the 3:28 mark of the first quarter, although the extra point was missed.

Winters was one of two Tiger running backs to carry the ball more than 10 times on the night, as Massillon rushed for 166 yards on 37 carries for the game. Ryne Moore added a 19-yard fourth-quarter run for the Tigers, while gaining a team-high 102 yards on 16 carries.

“I think a lot of people don’t know that Ryne Moore’s pretty good,” Hall said. “He made a move in the open field that’s as good as any. … It’s nice to get them going.”

The Tigers also, eventually, got Kempt going late in the first half. He was 3-for-3 for 101 yards on Massillon’s last two possessions, both of which ended with long touchdown passes to Montel Harrison.

Harrison caught a 57-yard touchdown pass down the left sideline to give the Tigers a 14-0 lead — following the two-point conversion — with 2:02 left in the half. He then caught a wide open 32-yard scoring strike with four seconds remaining before the band show to make it 21-0.

“That was big for me,” said Kempt, who finished the game 8-of-13 for 134 yards with a touchdown and an interception that Buchtel returned 50 yards for a score to cut it to 21-6 early in the third quarter.

“Him being able to do that for me was just a big confidence boost,” he added. “It was a boost for the entire team as well.”

Buchtel’s Darren McGinnis led all rushers with 121 yards on 22 carries. However, outside of the Griffins’ initial drive of the game, they never were able to mount a serious offensive threat.

Not too bad for a team looking to gain its varsity experience on the run. Of course, the Tigers also know there will still be questions to answer in seven days.

“I don’t think anything will quiet people down,” Kempt said with a laugh. “It’s Massillon. That’s the fun part about it.”

GAME STATS

History

2010: Massillon 24, Toledo Whitmer 28

Big plays by Whitmer end Massillon’s season

By CHRIS EASTERLING
The Independent

TOLEDO, OH — In a fourth quarter of big plays, the biggest play ended up being made by the Whitmer Panthers. Because of that, the Massillon Tigers find themselves heading into the offseason much earlier than they had expected.

Jody Webb’s second touchdown run of the fourth quarter – a 44-yarder – gave the Panthers a 28-24 lead with 2:48 remaining, and they were able to hold off the Tigers twice after that as they won a Division I Region 2 quarterfinal game in front of about 8,000 at Whitmer Memorial Stadium.

“They hit a couple of big plays, big runs,” said Tiger coach Jason Hall, whose team bows out at 7-4. “You can’t give up big plays.”

Webb rushed for 137 of his game-high 220 yards in the final 12 minutes of the game. Of those, 103 yards came on his two touchdowns runs – the other being a 59-yarder – in the final 5:09 of the game that twice gave Whitmer the lead.

“No. 1, we have a lot of respect for their defense,” said Whitmer coach Joe Palka, whose 10-1 team will meet Twinsburg in a regional semifinal next Saturday.

“They’re a good defense, no matter what anybody says. I wasn’t surprised they kind of bottled us up (until the fourth quarter). They have some kids going two ways, and we really don’t. I think we kind of wore them down as the game went along.

In between those two runs, Massillon was able to retake the lead when Kyle Kempt hit Justin Olack down the right sideline for a 55-yard touchdown with 3:16 left to momentarily give the Tigers a 24-21 lead. That was one of two touchdown passes for Kempt, who also hit Devin Smith for a 69-yard touchdown in the first quarter that gave Massillon an early 7-0 lead.

“With three minutes to go in the game, we’re up,” Hall said.

Kempt finished 16-of-30 for 298 yards in his first-ever playoff start. He was also hurt by three drops in the fourth quarter that could have helped the Tigers move down the field, as well as an interception that bounced off the hands of a receiver with 2:40 remaining.

“Kyle’s improved every week,” Hall said. “He’s gone up against a couple of special defensive lines the last couple of weeks (in McKinley and Whitmer). I think from day one until today, I think he’s gotten better.”

Part of the Tigers problem was giving Kempt time to throw the ball. With a pair of highly-recruited defensive ends in Kenny Hayes and Chris Wormley, Whitmer was able to record eight sacks for the night, which hampered Massillon at times. Still, despite the Panthers’ defensive pressure, the Tigers were able to take a 14-7 first quarter lead with scores on their first two possessions. Jake Reiman’s 1-yard run with 6:21 remaining in the quarter provided that margin.

Whitmer’s first touchdown was set up by a 54-yard run by Webb on its first play of the game, a run that put the Panthers on the Tiger 9. Three plays later, Tre Sterritt powered in for the first of two first-half touchdowns to tie the game at 7-7 with 9:03 left in the quarter.

Sterritt also ran it in from the Tiger 2 on the second play of the second quarter to tie the game at 14-14.

Massillon was able to take the lead at halftime when it capitalized on a scoring chance that it couldn’t the previous week late in the half against McKinley. In last week’s game, the Tigers failed to score on multiple chances from the Bulldog 8 late in the half.

On Saturday night, the Tigers reached the Whitmer 10 with less than 30 seconds remaining. This time, they converted with a 27-yard Anthony McCarthy field goal with 9.2 seconds remaining to take a 17-14 halftime lead.

That would remain the score until the fourth quarter, when the big plays took over and swept the Tigers out of the playoffs.

GAME STATS

Whitmer 28

Massillon 24

at Whitmer Memorial Stadium

Massillon 14 3 0 7 24

Whitmer 7 7 0 14 28

SCORING SUMMARY

M – Smith 69 pass from Kempt (McCarthy kick)

W – Sterritt 1 run (Kenczewicz kick)

M – Reiman 1 run (McCarthy kick)

W – Sterritt 2 run (Kenczewicz kick)

M – FG McCarthy 27

W – Webb 59 run (Kenczewicz kick)

M – Olack 55 pass from Kempt (McCarthy kick)

W – Webb 44 run (Kenczewicz kick)

Mas Whi

First downs 13 12

Rushes-yards 23-41 44-247

Comp-Att-Int 17-32-1 11-14-0

Passing yards 319 141

Fumbles-lost 0-0 3-0

Penalties-yards 6-59 4-30

Records 7-4 10-1

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing:

Massillon – Reiman 9-35 TD.

Whitmer – Webb 22-220 2 TDs.

Passing:

Massillon – Kempt 16-30-298 2 TDs, INT; Smith 1-1-21; Olack 0-1-0.

Whitmer – Palicki 11-14-141.

Receiving:

Massillon – Smith 5-100 TD; Olack 6-128 TD.

Whitmer – Lucas 6-82.

History

2010: Massillon 17, Canton McKinley 40

McKinley keeps bell with 40-17 win over Massillon

By CHRIS EASTERLING
The Independent

MASSILLON, OH – The little things can seem so insignificant when looked at individually. A missed tackle or a dropped pass or a missed assignment or a penalty, all can be looked at as mere bumps in the road for a football team.

On Saturday afternoon, those little things added up quickly for the Massillon Tigers. The sum of those little things was a 40-17 beating at the hands of the archrival McKinley Bulldogs in front of 17,794 at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

“I thought they executed and we didn’t,” said Tiger coach Jason Hall, whose team will take a 7-3 record into next Saturday’s Division I Region 2 quarterfinal, expected to be at Toledo Whitmer (9-1). “We missed tackles. … We shot ourselves in the foot. You can’t have (five) turnovers, which can be put on a lot of things. You can’t take field position. You can’t have personal fouls. You can’t have all the little things that just build up.”

Those little things began to really cause Massillon problems in the second quarter despite its possession of a 10-7 lead on an Anthony McCarthy 37-yard field goal.

With McKinley (8-2) eyeing a fourth-and-10 situation from the Massillon 28, the Tigers were flagged for pass interference to give the Bulldogs new life. On the next play, Massillon was hit with its second straight penalty – this one a personal foul – to put McKinley at the Tiger 6.

Those two Tiger penalties were among the nine they were flagged for in the game, for 95 yards. McKinley, meanwhile, was flagged 12 times for 143 yards. After the two penalties, Sa’Veon Holloway ran it in from there to give McKinley a 14-10 lead – post point-after try – with three minutes left in the half.

Massillon would drive down to the McKinley 8 on its next possession. However, three straight incompletions – including two drops – and a missed field goal left the Tigers with no points to show for it.

“We missed two consecutive big plays down in the end zone, two opportunities to score,” Hall said. “We miss a field goal. No matter what, you want to put some points on the board in that situation.”

McKinley’s defense harassed the Tigers in five turnovers on the afternoon, but none were bigger than Jermaine Edmondson’s two third-quarter interceptions for the Bulldogs. Both turnovers would end up as Bulldog touchdowns – one on a Kyle Ohradzansky 24-yard run; the other on a 19-yard Ohradzansky-to-Malcolm Robinson pass – to put McKinley up 27-10 with 4:17 left in the third.

“The coaches always tell me to be there at the right time,” Edmondson said. “I just jumped on the ball and got the interception.”

The turnovers spoiled what started out like a good day for the Tiger offense. After McKinley scored on its first possession to take a 7-0 lead, Massillon marched right back down the field to match the score with one of its own on a 1-yard Jake Reiman run.

Massillon came out running the Wildcat formation with Devin Smith lined up at quarterback for the first three plays, gaining 30 yards on Smith runs to move to the McKinley 34. Smith, who added 135 yards on seven catches, also had a 33-yard reception on the drive to put the Tigers at the Bulldog 4.

“We’ve been practicing that,” Hall said of the Wildcat. “We’ll mix that in every once in a while. We haven’t used that a lot, but I thought it was time to let him run around.”

The Tigers came into the game knowing they had to shuffle some things around up front due to another injury – or in this case, illness – situation. Kyle Belak, who moved from guard to center in Week Seven due to injury, was lost to a case of mononucleosis in the middle of the week.

Craig Kircher then moved from left tackle to center, while Brian Robinson moved from right guard to left tackle. Tim Dimitroff then moved into the right guard spot.

That line was faced with the challenge of dealing with a highly-regarded McKinley defensive front, led by ends Steve Miller and Se’Von Pittman. Early on, they did just that, as Massillon gained 184 yards in the first half.

The problem, though, was that as the second half went on, the Bulldogs began to get more and more pressure on sophomore quarterback Kyle Kempt. By the fourth quarter, they were able to pin their ears back and really get to the Tiger passer, as they finished with three sacks, all in the second half.

“We just kept playing hard and kept rushing the passer,” Miller said. “We just kept rushing the quarterback and having fun.”

McKinley, meanwhile, began to have some fun rushing the football. The Bulldogs finished with 357 rushing yards for the game, with a pair of 100-yard rushers in Elijah Farrakhan (136 yards on 14 carries) and Ohradzansky (101 yards on 15 carries).

Ohradzansky’s second scoring run may have been the dagger, a 36-yard touchdown run on the second play of the fourth quarter to give McKinley a 34-17 lead. That came on the Bulldogs’ subsequent possession after Massillon had found new life – so it thought – on Reiman’s second 1-yard touchdown run of the game to pull within 27-17.

“It was huge,” Ohradzansky said of the scoring run. “It really killed their momentum. It really allowed us to say, ‘Hey, we’re going to take this thing over and we’re going to end it right now.’ And that’s what we ended up doing.”

GAME STATS

McKinley 40

Massillon 17

at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium

McKinley 7 7 13 13 40

Massillon 7 3 7 0 17

SCORING SUMMARY

McK – Montgomery 38 run (Lioi kick)

Mas – Reiman 1 run (McCarthy kick)

Mas – FG McCarthy 37

McK – Holloway 6 run (Lioi kick)

McK – Ohradzansky 24 run (Run failed)

McK – Robinson 19 pass from Ohradzansky (Lioi kick)

Mas – Reiman 1 run (McCarthy kick)

McK – Ohradzansky 36 run (Lioi kick)

McK – Holloway 1 run (Kick failed)

McK Mas

First downs 20 22

Rushes-yards 54-357 31-100

Comp-Att-Int. 5-11-0 15-36-3

Passing yards 70 189

Fumbles-lost 0-0 2-2

Penalties-yards 12-143 9-95

Records 8-2 7-3

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing:

Massillon – Reiman 12-50 2 TDs; Winters 5-32; Smith 5-23; Taylor 4-14.

McKinley – Farrakhan 14-139; Ohradzansky 15-101 2 TDs; Holloway 16-80 2 TDs;

Montgomery 5-64 TD.

Passing:

Massillon – Kempt 15-35-189 2 TDs; Smith 0-1-0 INT.

McKinley – Ohradzansky 5-11-70 TD.

Receiving:

Massillon – Smith 7-135; Winters 3-(minus-7); Olack 2-38; Miller 1-10; Kreiger 1-8; Baez 1-5.

McKinley – Robinson 3-56 TD; Sweat 1-8; Foster 1-6.

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

2010: Massillon 55, Avon Grove, PA 17

Massillon avoids looking ahead, routs Avon Grove

By CHRIS EASTERLING
The Independent

MASSILLON, OH – There is always the danger in Week Nine for the Massillon Tigers to find themselves a tad distracted, their minds wandering ahead to the next week’s showdown with hated McKinley.

The minds of the Massillon players certainly found themselves drifting early in Friday night’s contest against Pennsylvania visitor Avon Grove at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium. Of course, there were no worries of a potential letdown, as they were already well on their way to a 55-17 rout of the Red Devils.

“All in all, we handled our business, we stayed healthy and it leads up to McKinley Week,” said Tiger coach Jason Hall after his team improved to 7-2 and all but clinched a playoff berth. “That speaks for itself.”

Massillon scored on all seven first-half possessions to jump out to a 48-10 halftime lead. The first six scores came courtesy of the Tiger first-teamers, while backup quarterback Anthony McCormick’s 25-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Rambo with two ticks left on the first half clock gave the reserves a first-half score of their own.

By that time, most of the Tiger faithful among the 7,603 in attendance weren’t thinking about the Red Devils. They certainly were thinking a team in red, but that team was McKinley, not Avon Grove.

With McKinley having already gotten a 24-hour head start on its rest and preparation for next Saturday afternoon’s showdown at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium by playing – and winning – on Thursday night at Boardman, the Tigers were more than happy to be able to call it an early night for their regulars.

“When you’re a kid, you don’t think of it that way,” Hall said. “Those kids like to play. They wanted to go back out and play. More importantly, we’re healthy. We didn’t get dinged up tonight. We’re expecting back some more depth next week with Jake Reiman and Tyler Robinson coming back. We’re gearing up for this McKinley game.”

Massillon still needed to take care of its business against Avon Grove before its attention could fully be directed at the Bulldogs. And considering the results of last week’s game – a 20-6 loss to Warren Harding – Hall made sure his players’ minds were set on the Red Devils as well.

“We were all disappointed from last week,” Hall said. “We didn’t think we played well. Warren took it to us and I didn’t think we responded. It was kind of a business mentality this week. I thought our kids came out quick and were ready to play.”

Whatever concerns the third-year coach had surely dissipated on the first drive of the game. The Tigers needed just four plays – following a 50-yard return by Devin Smith – to make it 7-0 as Alex Winters ripped off a 16-yard touchdown run just 1:56 into the game.

It was one of two scoring jaunts for Winters in the first quarter. His 13-yard run made it 21-3 with 1:52 remaining in the quarter.

Kentrell Taylor – who led the Tigers with 84 yards on 12 carries – also ran for a pair of first-half scores, including a 7-yard run that gave the Tigers a 27-3 lead after one quarter. His 17-yard scoring run capped the night for the Massillon first unit.

The passing game wasn’t forgotten either as Kyle Kempt completed 10-of-16 passes for 159 yards in his six possessions with a pair of touchdown passes to Smith.

As impressive as the Tiger offense was, the defense was more than its equal. That, more than anything, put a smile on Hall’s face after Massillon gave up a 348-yard rushing performance to Warren’s Demond Hymes last week.

Facing a shifty, fast and elusive tailback in Avon Grove’s Brandon Monk, the Tigers swarmed to the ball and never let him get loose for the big play he is capable of. Monk – whose 71-yard kickoff return set up an Avon Grove field goal that cut it to 7-3 with 8:30 left in the first quarter – finished with 83 rushing yards on 17 carries.

Monk was able to get into the end zone for a third-quarter score against Massillon’s reserves.

The only touchdown the Tiger first-unit defense surrendered came with 38 seconds left in the first half on Charles Holmes Jr.’s 16-yard run.

“We played the way we expected to play,” Hall said. “The kids aren’t going to be perfect, the coaches aren’t going to perfect. The best way to get that Warren game out of your mouth was to play another game. It was nice to get out there and play, the kids running and tackling. It was kind of a move-on time.’

And now, the Tigers get to move on to the most important game of the year – McKinley.

GAME STATS

Massillon 55,

Avon Grove (Pa.) 17

at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium

Avon Grove 3 7 7 0 17

Massillon 27 21 7 0 55

SCORING SUMMARY

M – Winters 16 run (McCarthy kick)

AG – FG Mayhart 28

M – De. Smith 67 pass from Kempt (McCarthy kick)

M – Winters 13 run (McCarthy kick)

M – Taylor 7 run (Kick failed)

M – De. Smith 14 pass from Kempt (McCarthy kick)

M – Taylor 17 run (McCarthy kick)

AG – Holmes 16 run (Mayhart kick)

M – Rambo 25 pass from McCormick (McCarthy kick)

AG – Monk 15 run (Mayhart kick)

M – Conley 17 pass from McCormick (McCarthy kick)

AG Mas

First downs 10 21

Rushes-yards 31-84 35-225

Comp-Att-Int 7-19-2 17-31-0

Passing yards 64 263

Fumbles-lost 0-0 4-0

Penalties-yards 1-5 4-35

Records 3-5 7-2

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing: Massillon – Taylor 12-84 2 TDs; McCormick 7-83; Winters 3-32 2 TDs; Da. Smith 10-13.

Avon Grove – Monk 17-83 TD.

Passing:

Massillon – Kempt 10-16-159 2 TDs; McCormick 7-15-104 2 TDs.

Avon Grove – Fiala 7-18-64 2 INTs; Monk 0-1-0.

Receiving:

Massillon – De. Smith 6-109 2 TDs; Rambo 3-54 TD; Conley 2-31 TD.

Avon Grove – Pankonien 2-23; Benson 2-21; Holmes 2-9.

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

2010: Massillon 28, Steubenville 7

Massillon rolls to redemption, routs Big Red

By CHRIS EASTERLING
The Independent

MASSILLON, OH — For almost a year, the Massillon Tigers lived with the memory of their trip to Steubenville. They remembered the way Big Red pushed them around the field and exerted their will in handing them as crushing a loss the Tigers would experience in 2009.

On Friday night, in the confines of their own home stadium, the Tigers got their chance to rid themselves of those painful memories of a rainy night on the river. And exorcise those memories they did as the Tigers rolled to a 28-7 win over previously-undefeated Steubenville in front of a raucous crowd of 11,540 at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

“We had this one circled since we lost to them last year,” said Tiger receiver Devin Smith, who had 121 yards on four catches with a pair of touchdowns.

“We wanted redemption back from them. That was the biggest thing this week, getting our redemption back. We wanted to show them what Massillon football was all about.”

A year ago, it was Big Red who was the aggressor, the one who was the bully taking the lunch money. On Friday night, Massillon was the one to establish the tone of the game.

The Tigers did so from the very first play as Anthony McCormick – wearing Alex Winters’ jersey number – took a lateral and hit Smith for a 76-yard touchdown pass. All of 14 seconds into the game and Massillon had a lead it would never relinquish.

“I didn’t even let him (McCormick) know he was wearing that (Winters’ number) until about an hour before the game,” Tiger coach Jason Hall said. “It was just a situation where we were able to catch them off guard with it and we were able to take advantage of it.”

Steubenville would try to follow the same blueprint it used in beating Massillon last year – and has used for years against various opponents. Big Red took up 12 plays on their first possession, then another 16 yards on the second.

And ended up with nothing to show for either.

The first ended in a quick kick at the Tiger 44. The second ended on a Tyler Allman interception at the Massillon 1.

Allman’s pick would be one of six Big Red turnovers on the night, including three straight in the second quarter. Massillon turned those turnovers into 14 points – the first a 13-yard touchdown run by Kentrell Taylor, who finished with 99 yards on 20 carries, for a 14-0 Tiger lead late in the second quarter.

The other came on a 42-yard Seth Nalbach interception return for a score in the third quarter.

“It’s backbreaking, because I’ve been on the other side,” Hall said of the turnovers. “Offensively, it’s hard to get momentum if you’re turning the ball over every time you get going. Our defense really put them in position where they really couldn’t get rolling tonight. They couldn’t establish a rhythm because of the things we were doing.”

Steubenville finished with 321 yards of offense, 278 of those on the ground. But Big Red could only convert 5-of-16 third-down tries, while going for it seven times on fourth down, converting four.

“We set the tone defensively,” Hall said. “I can’t praise our kids and our coaches defensively enough. Our kids just never gave up. We forced some turnovers, punishing them when they had the ball. That’s Massillon football. That’s what we expect.”

Big Red would put their only points of the game on the board when JoJo Pierro ran for a 24-yard touchdown 1:15 into the second half to cut it to 14-7. Pierro finished with 193 yards on 33 carries.

While Steubenville owned the first possession of the third quarter, the Tigers owned the rest of the quarter. Massillon struck on a 36-yard scoring pass from Kyle Kempt to Smith and then on Nalbach’s pick-six.

“It really felt good, just getting back at them and having them get that feeling that we had last year,” Smith said.

GAME STATS

Massillon 28,

Steubenville 7

at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium

Steubenville 0 0 7 0 7

Massillon 7 7 14 0 28

SCORING SUMMARY

M – Smith 76 pass from McCormick (McCarthy kick)

M – Taylor 13 run (McCarthy kick)

S – J. Pierro 24 run (McClurg kick)

M – Smith 36 pass from Kempt (McCarthy kick)

M – Nalbach 42 interception return (McCarthy kick)

S M

First downs 11 15

Rushes-yards 57-278 30-97

Comp-Att-Int 3-8-2 11-19-0

Passing yards 43 206

Fumbles-lost 4-4 4-2

Penalties-yards 5-48 3-14

Records 6-1 6-1

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing:

Massillon – Taylor 20-99 TD; Nalbach 5-14; Kempt 3-7.

Steubenville – J. Pierro 33-193 TD; A. Pierro 16-44.

Passing:

Massillon – Kempt 10-18-130 TD; McCormick 1-1-76 TD.

Steubenville – A. Pierro 3-8-43 2 INTs.

Receiving:

Massillon – Smith 4-121 2 TDs; Olack 4-61; Roberson 2-18; T. Robinson 1-6.

Steubenville – Garay 1-37; Petteway 1-5; Meyer 1-1.

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

2010: Massillon 56, Brantford, Ont. Canada 7

Tigers tune up for Big Red, belt Brantford

By CHRIS EASTERLING
The Independent

MASSILLON, OH — Jason Hall never denied that a portion of this past week was spent as much on preparing for next Friday’s showdown with undefeated Steubenville as it was on Friday’s actual opponent from Ontario, Brantford Collegiate.

About 10 seconds into the game was all it took for the Tigers to officially be able to turn their eyes to Big Red. That’s the amount of time it took Devin Smith to take the opening kickoff back 79 yards for a touchdown giving Massillon the lead for good.

From there, it was a question not of if the Tigers would add to their lead, but how much, as they rolled up a 56-7 win over the overmatched Canadian guests at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

“It’s really kind of hard to judge, but we played a lot of kids,” Hall said after his team won its fifth straight to improve to 5-1 on the season. “I thought we executed for the most part, even with our young guys. We stayed healthy. It’s fun to see some of those guys play who don’t always play on Friday night. All in all, it was a pretty successful night.”

The Tigers led 28-0 after one quarter and made it 35-0 less than two minutes into the second quarter. It was at that point that Hall began to pull his regulars from the game and the real focus turned to Steubenville.

“I thought at the time that we put our kids in, I knew they would be successful,” Hall said of making the move to the reserves. “They practice hard. I thought we, obviously, had an handle on the game.”

That didn’t prevent Massillon from continuing to bulk up its lead even with the reserves in. By the time the two teams headed to the locker room at halftime the Tigers were up 49-0, and most of what was left of the 6,224 in attention were focused more to the halftime kicking competition where Whitney Robinson had a chance to win $500,000 by making a 35-yard field goal.

Robinson, for the record, ended up walking away with $500 by kicking the ball out of the end zone.

The second half was played with a running clock. By that time, the Tigers were already counting down the minutes and seconds until Steubenville’s first visit to Massillon – to face the Tigers – since 1978.

About the only “blemish,” if you will, came on the game’s last play when Brantford’s Colin Wilcock caught a 27-yard pass from Brodie Parker and fell into the end zone for the shutout-breaking score. The scoring drive was 76 yards and left the Mustangs with 69 total yards for the game, compared to 381 yards for the Tigers.

Even with the Tigers appeared to be on the wrong end of things, it wound up working out for the best. Their second touchdown came on a fourth-and-seven play when Kyle Kempt hit Justin Olack for a 26-yard touchdown pass.

The only time Massillon actually started a first-quarter drive on its own side of the 50, it took it just one play – a 66-yard Kempt-to-Olack touchdown pass – to score.

The sophomore Kempt made the most of his five possessions under center completing 4-of-7 passes for 106 yards. He gave way to fellow sophomore Brody Tonn, who Kempt replaced as the starter two weeks ago, on the second possession of the second quarter.

Another sophomore, Kentrell Taylor, also made the most of his chances to carry the ball in the first half. The bruising 6-foot, 240-pound back punished the Brantford defense for 65 yards and a pair of touchdowns on seven carries.

“Kentrell, the last two or three weeks has really practiced well,” Hall said. “The biggest thing everybody sees is that he’s progressing. He understands the offense and he runs hard.”

Damion Smith also got into the first-half scoring act by ripping off a 43-yard touchdown run. Aaron Medrano added a touchdown catch in the second half.

GAME STATS

Massillon 56,

Brantford (Ont.) Collegiate 7

at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium

Brantford 0 0 0 7 7

Massillon 28 21 7 0 56

SCORING SUMMARY

M – De. Smith 79 kickoff return (McCarthy kick)

M – Olack 26 pass from Kempt (McCarthy kick)

M – Taylor 1 run (McCarthy kick)

M – Olack 66 pass from Kempt (McCarthy kick)

M – Smith 7 pass from Kempt (McCarthy kick)

M – Taylor 14 run (McCarthy kick)

M – Da. Smith 43 run (McCarthy kick)

M– Medrano 28 pass from Tonn (McCarthy kick)

B – Wilcock 27 pass from Parker (Mann kick)

BC M

First downs 4 15

Rushes-yards 22-16 24-188

Comp-Att-Int 7-19-1 10-13-0

Passing yards 53 193

Fumbles-lost 2-1 2-1

Penalties-yards 2-10 5-45

Records 1-2 5-1

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing:

Massillon – Taylor 7-65 2 TDs; Da. Smith 1-43 TD; Reiman 5-33; Tonn 2-27; Cowan 2-12; Copeland 2-11.

Brantford Collegiate – Winch 9-22.

Passing:

Massillon – Kempt 4-7-106 3 TDs; Tonn 6-6-87 87 TD.

Brantford Collegiate – Parker 6-13-54 TD; Kelly 1-6-(minus-1) INT.

Receiving:

Massillon – Olack 2-92 2 TDs; McCormick 2-23; Cowan 2-22; Medrano 1-28 TD.

Brantford Collegiate – Packer 2-25; Dennis 2-2; Archibald 2-(minus-1); Wilcock 1-27 TD.

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

2010: Massillon 42, Akron Firestone 10

Second-quarter surge carries Tigers to 800th win

By CHRIS EASTERLING
The Independent

MASSILLON, OH — For one quarter, the Massillon Tigers found themselves in a tussle with the visiting Firestone Falcons on Friday night. In fact, with less than five minutes remaining until halftime, it was still just a four-point game.

But over the final four minutes or so of the half, the Tigers came alive, and left the Falcons gasping for air as they cruised to the program’s 800th win all-time.

Massillon – which fumbled on the game’s first play to set up a Falcon touchdown – scored three touchdowns in the final 3:15 of the first half to blow open what had been a tight affair and help it roll to a 42-10 win over Firestone at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

“I thought we started playing a little better,” said Tiger coach Jason Hall after his team improved to 4-1 on the season. “I thought we started running the ball a little better. That first play of the game makes my stomach turn. … I thought our kids did a good job coming back from that.”

The Tigers were holding onto a 14-10 lead late in the second quarter when Seth Nalbach partially deflected a Firestone punt, which was recovered at the Falcon 39, Three plays later, Kyle Kempt fired a 19-yard scoring strike to Justin Olack for a 21-10 lead with 3:15 remaining in the half.

From there, the floodgates opened up for Massillon.

Tyler Miller returned an interception 60 yards for a score on Firestone’s next possession to make it 28-10. After Ryan Skelly blocked a Falcon punt on the subsequent drive, Nalbach ripped off a 22-yard touchdown run to make it 35-10 with 1:03 left on the first-half clock.

“I thought once we settled down and got control and handled that initial miscue, I thought our kids played pretty well,” Hall said.

The burst to end the half was in stark contrast to the first 18 minutes or so of the game.

Firestone turned a Tiger fumble on the first play of the game into a 3-yard Cody Grice touchdown run and a 7-0 lead just 16 seconds into game. But Massillon went to work grinding out and impressive 22-play, 80-yard scoring drive of its own to tie it up on Jake Reiman’s 7-yard run with 3:57 left in the first quarter.

The time-consuming drive showcased the Tigers’ rejuvenated running game, with Alex Winters and Reiman both getting a chance to showcase their skills. Winters carried the ball seven times on the drive, while Reiman toted the pigskin six times.

Winters would carry the ball just one more time in the game – a 53-yarder on the next Tiger possession – finishing with 77 yards on eight carries. He suffered what Hall reported may be a concussion later in the half which sidelined him for the rest of the game.

Reiman, meanwhile, would go on to rush for 34 yards on 10 carries in the game. Sophomore Kentrell Taylor would add 38 yards on 11 carries, scoring a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

“For the most part, I thought they did a nice job running the ball,” Hall said. “We did some stuff we don’t traditionally do and lined up and ran some power and some iso and some toss. Just some stuff we’ve been working on in practice and will continue to work on.”

While the Tiger rushing game would certainly get its share of work on the night, they didn’t let the gusty conditions keep their passing game from taking off as well. Kempt completed 14-of-23 passes for 209 yards and two touchdowns, including a 48-yard scoring strike to Devin Smith early in the second quarter that gave Massillon the lead for good at 14-7.

About the only thing that didn’t go entirely the way of the Tigers was their ability to completely contain Firestone’s bowling ball of a tailback, Cody Grice. The 6-foot-2, 235-pound senior finished with 122 of the Falcons’ 174 rushing yards on the night.

However, the Tigers were able to keep Grice out of the end zone, save for his score early in the game. The only other Falcon score came on a 37-yard field goal by Alana Gaither with 8:07 left in the second quarter.

“I thought our defense played really well for the most part, besides a couple plays tackling,” Hall said.

GAME STATS

Massillon 42

Firestone 10

at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium

Firestone 7 3 0 0 10

Massillon 7 28 0 7 42

SCORING SUMMARY

F – Grice 3 run (Gaither kick)

M – Reiman 7 run (McCarthy kick)

M – Smith 48 pass from Kempt (McCarthy kick)

F – FG 37 Gaither

M – Olack 19 pass from Kempt (McCarthy kick)

M – T. Miller 60 interception return (McCarthy kick)

M – Nalbach 22 run (McCarthy kick)

M – Taylor 3 run (McCarthy kick)

Fire Mass

First downs 9 18

Rushes-yards 37-174 43-162

Passing yards minus-3 225

Comp.-Att.-Int. 1-5-1 15-26-0

Fumbles-lost 1-0 1-1

Penalties-yards 4-30 6-55

Records 2-3 4-1

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing:

Massillon – Winters 8-77; Taylor 11-38 TD; Reiman 10-34 TD; Nalbach 1-22 TDs.

Firestone – Grice 22-122 TD.

Passing:

Massillon – Kempt 14-23-209 2 TDs; McCormick 1-3-16.

Firestone – Heimbaugh 0-9-0 INT; Willis 1-6-(minus-3).

Receiving:

Massillon – Smith 5-61 TD; Olack 4-87 TD; Roberson 2-24.

Firestone – Grice 1-(minus-3).

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

2010: Massillon 26, Mentor 21

Tigers send message with big victory over Mentor

By CHRIS EASTERLING
The Independent

MENTOR, OH — The Massillon Tigers boarded the buses to go to Mentor on Friday carrying a massive chip on their shoulders. They were a team disrespected, in their eyes, and they had ideas of rectifying the situation.

.Everyone picked us to lose, said senior receiver Justin Olack, after Massillon rallied for a 26-21 win over the Cardinals at Jerome T. Osborne Sr. Stadium. .Everybody expected us to lose. Even our fans expected us to lose, and that’s not right. Massillon fans should always expect us to win. We showed them tonight that we were going to win no matter what.

Olack’s 45-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter gave Massillon the lead for good at 20-14. He then threw a 17-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to Tyler Miller on a gadget play for a 26-14 advantage.

For the Tigers, it was a message sent to the critics.

.They prejudged us, that’s what I told our kids,. said Tiger coach Jason Hall after his team improved to 3-1. .We don’t want to be prejudged. We’re Massillon. You better give us a 50-50 shot every time we step on the field. That’s probably what (ticked) us off tonight.

In taking out their frustration Friday night, Massillon dipped into the bag of tricks. Both Olack and Devin Smith threw touchdown passes on the night – Smith’s a 32-yarder to Montel Harrison in the first quarter to give the Tigers a 12-7 lead.

.We work it all the time in practice,. said Smith, who added 127 yards on eight catches. .They tell us to be ready just in case we get to run them in the game. It just worked perfectly. We executed it perfectly. You saw that me and J.O. can throw the ball.

Of course, the guy the Tigers were interested in seeing throw the ball on Friday night was sophomore Kyle Kempt, who made his first start of the season. Kempt handled himself well, completing 16-of-26 passes for 196 yards with a pair of touchdowns – one to Tyler Robinson in the first quarter and the one to Olack in the third quarter.

Kempt, the highly-touted transfer from Oregon, did throw an interception in the end zone in the third quarter. He was also sacked five times, but Hall said he expects his quarterback to get better.

.He made some good plays and he made some bad plays,. Hall said of Kempt. .We have to keep coaching up all our quarterbacks. I think we have to keep working on our consistency, keep looking at reads and we have to get better..

The Tigers have also improved their running game, as evidenced by their 119 yards on 30 carries, many of those draw plays which went for big gains by Jake Reiman. Reiman finished with 122 yards on 16 carries.

We were mixing it up enough to keep them off-balanced,. Hall said.

Mentor’s running game gave the Tigers plenty of headaches, especially over the first 24 minutes of the game. In the first half, quarterback Colton Wallace and Mike Korecz were able to hit the Massillon defense on some big plays, which helped the Cardinals take a 14-12 halftime lead.

Korecz rushed for 89 of his game-high 128 yards in the first half, scoring on a six-yard run in the second quarter before adding a 13-yard burst in the fourth quarter. Wallace, meanwhile, gained 52 of his 84 yards prior to halftime, and gave Mentor a 7-0 lead on its first possession with a 1-yard run.

The Cardinals rushed for 157 yards in the first half. They were held to 87 yards in the second half, when they found themselves faced with a number of second-and third-and-long situations they couldn’t overcome.

We did a good job of that,. said Mentor coach Steve Trivisonno, whose team is now 1-3. Then in the second half, every time we did it we got a holding call and it brought us back. All of a sudden, you’re way back out of the way..

GAME STATS

Massillon 26

Mentor 21

at Jerome T. Osborne Sr. Stadium

Massillon 12 0 8 6 26

Mentor 7 7 7 7 21

SCORING SUMMARY

Men – Wallace 1 run (Klisuric kick)

Mas – T. Robinson 5 pass from Kempt (Kick blocked)

Mas – Harrison 32 pass from Smith (Kick blocked)

Men – Korecz 6 run (Klisuric kick)

Mas – Olack 45 pass from Kempt (Roberson pass from Kempt)

Mas – Miller 17 pass from Olack (Pass failed)

Men – Korecz 13 run (Klisuric kick)

Mas Men

First downs 17 23

Rushes-yards 119 244

Comp-Att-Int 18-28-1 9-15-1

Passing yards 245 113

Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-1

Penalties-yards 7-52 7-77

Records 3-1 1-3

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing:

Massillon – Reiman 16-122; Winters 1-20; Roberson 2-19.

Mentor – Korecz 31-128 2 TDs; Wallace 18-84 TD.

Passing:

Massillon – Kempt 16-26-196 2 TDs, INT; Smith 1-1-32 TD; Olack 1-1-17 TD.

Mentor – Trubisky 7-11-89 INT; Wallace 2-4-24.

Receiving:

Massillon – Smith 8-127; Olack 3-47 TD; Reiman 2-9; Roberson 2-8; Harrison 1-32 TD; Miller 1-17 TD; T. Robinson 1-5 TD.

Mentor – Cade 5-58.