Tag: <span>Ricky Powers</span>

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

2012: Massillon 52, Akron Buchtel 21

Massillon cruises past Buchtel 52-21 in opener

Chris Easterling
Updated: Thursday, August 23, 2012

MASSILLON – It was expected the Massillon Tigers would be able to score some points this season. And they didn’t waste any time in showing just how easy they could change the scoreboard.

The Tigers turned an early Buchtel turnover into a touchdown, then rolled from there in routing the Griffins 52-21 in Thursday night’s season opener at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

“I thought we moved the ball real well at times,” Tiger coach Jason Hall said after his team opened 1-0. “We got sloppy a little bit at times. We put some of our young guys in and they played like young guys. … We’ll get back to work and keep coaching them up.”

The tone was set in the first half, as Massillon scored on four of its first five possessions to take a 28-6 halftime lead. The only one of the five drives that didn’t result in points still crossed the Griffin 25, but ended with a missed field goal.

Massillon came into the season boasting of a new spread offensive scheme that spread the ball around to a variety of different weapons. But the key to that offense was to be senior quarterback Kyle Kempt’s ability to get the ball to those weapons.

Kempt showed why many expect him to thrive in the offense. He connected on eight of his first nine passes – with the only incompletion caused by a devastating hit by a Buchtel defender – and went into halftime already sitting with a stat line of 12-of-16 for 243 yards and a touchdown.

Those 243 yards were just four yards shy of his best passing game of the 2011 season, set in Week Seven against Delaware’s Red Lion Christian. Kempt would finish with a career-high 316 yards while completing 17-of-23 passes with two touchdowns and no interceptions.

“Kyle showed why he’s a Division I quarterback,” Hall said. “He threw it as well as you could ask him to. He was under pressure at times … he threw a couple of deep balls under pressure that a lot of kids can’t make. Kyle Kempt showed why he’s Kyle Kempt.”

Not only was he efficient, he was also willing to spread the wealth. Out his first eight completions, seven different receivers caught passes, and by halftime, eight receivers had catches.

Kempt found the holes in the Buchtel defense often, hitting Marcus Whitfield on a 32- yard post pattern, Gareon Conley on a 46-yard go route or Zach Volzer on a nifty 20-yard slant pattern. But maybe the best throw came on his lone first-half touchdown, when — on fourth down — he rolled right, found a wide-open Brody Tonn for a 37-yard score to give the Tigers a 21-0 lead with 9:34 remaining in the half.

While the arm of Kempt and the deadly Tiger passing game would draw many of the oohs and ahhs, the Massillon running game would do the dirty work of picking up many of those tough final yards. The Tigers would have just 14 run plays in the first half — four by Kempt — but three would result in touchdowns.

Kentrell Taylor would score twice on the ground before halftime — on runs of 3 and 7 yards. Ernie Baez would add a 1-yard plunge in the first quarter, while Ryne Moore scored on a 1-yard run in the fourth quarter to make it 52-21.

Taylor would finish with three touchdowns while rushing for 52 yards on eight carries. Moore would add 47 on 13 totes, while Baez gained 45 on six carries.

“I think one of our strengths is we can get multiple people to touch the ball,” Hall said. “We make the people defend the field. We have multiple running backs we can put in and carry it around.”

Taylor would help to set up the first Tiger score as well, when he recovered a Griffin fumble at the Buchtel 21 on the third play of the game. Three plays later, he ran it in for a 7-0 lead less than two minutes into the game.

“Anytime you can get a turnover early in the game and get the momentum, it’s going to help the first half go your way,” Hall said.

The senior linebacker would also keep Buchtel scoreless after its second drive reached the Massillon 5. It was his tackle on fourth-and-goal that stopped a potential touchdown, when he stuffed the Griffin ball carrier at the 1 to give the ball back to the Tigers.

Massillon wouldn’t be intimidated by the 99 yards between them and the goal line. The Tigers took eight plays and less than a minute to make it 14-0.

It would be 21-0 Tigers before Buchtel finally figured out the Tiger defense. The Griffins would go 80 yards in eight plays, scoring on Eean Jones’ 2-yard run with 3:04 left in the half to make it 21-6.

Buchtel’s second touchdown would come courtesy of its defense, which returned an interception against Massillon’s second-string offense for a score to make it 42-14 after the two-point conversion with 5:30 left in the third. Elijah Bell scored on a 68-yard pass with 3:20 left in the third to cut it to 42-21, necessitating the offensive starters — who had gone to the bench up 42-6 with around six minutes left in the third — to return to 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

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

2010: Massillon 13, Akron Buchtel 29

Buchtel tames Tigers by taking advantage of turnovers

By CHRIS EASTERLING
The Independent

MASSILLON, OH – The excitement was reaching a crescendo at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium Thursday night. The long-awaited 2010 football season for the Massillon Tigers had finally arrived.

And it took the Buchtel Griffins all of 14 seconds to suck the air out of the crowd.

The Griffins took the opening kickoff in for a touchdown, silencing most of the orange-clad fans in attendance at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium. The Tigers would never entirely recover from that blow, as they were left shocked by the reigning Akron City Series champions, 29-13.

As staggering as Ernie Calhoun Jr.’s 90-yard return on the opening kick was, it was not nearly as shocking as the choppy performance by the Tigers’ offense.

While Massillon finished with a 295-235 edge in total yards, it struggled to get anything going consistently. The Tigers gave the ball up seven times, including six interceptions.

“We were inconsistent,” Tiger coach Jason Hall said. “Turnovers. At the end of the day, what did we end up with turnover-wise? You can’t win a game that way. We have to do better with play-calling. We have to work in practice to get our kids executing better. At the end of the day, that’s our job, to put our kids in a position to win.”

On Massillon’s second offensive play, an overthrown pass ended up in the hands of Buchtel’s Alex Arrington for an interception. On the Tigers’ third possession, Calhoun added to his evening by coming up with the Griffin defense’s second pick of the game.

Buchtel, meanwhile, was having its share of success moving the ball in the opening quarter, even if it was unable to punch it in the end zone. The Griffins had a 79-16 edge in first-quarter rushing yards, and a 93-19 advantage in total yards in the first 12 minutes of play.

But the Griffins didn’t have an offensive touchdown to show for it, in part because Massillon’s Tyler Miller came up with an interception in the end zone on the first play of the second quarter to thwart Buchtel’s best drive of the half.

That pick would lead to the first Massillon points of the season, as Alex Winters capped a 10-play, 80-yard drive with a 1-yard plunge at the 7:56 mark of the second quarter. The point-after try bounced off the right upright, keeping the score tied at 6-6.

Brody Tonn shook off a rough first quarter to hit Devin Smith on passes of 12 and 42 yards on the drive. He hit Justin Olack on a 4-yard touchdown pass on the next possession – gained after a Buchtel fumble – that gave Massillon a 13-6 lead after the PAT.

Tonn finished 16-of-35 for 211 yards. He threw the one touchdown, but also had all six interceptions.

“I don’t think you can sit here and put this game on Brody’s shoulders,” Hall said. “That’s not the case. He’s a sophomore. We have tons of seniors on this team and coaches. At the end of the day, you win and lose as a team.”

The second half seemed to start out well enough for the Tigers, who recovered an onside kick at the Griffin 48. But they turned the ball over on their first three possessions of the half – two interceptions and a fumble on fourth down.

The third turnover helped Buchtel take the lead when Tyler Jones hit Elijah Bell for a 12-yard touchdown pass. Marlon Oden then took the two-point conversion run in, giving the Griffins a 14-13 lead with 4:56 left in the third quarter.

Buchtel had a chance to add to its lead early in the fourth quarter, but Garrett Kreiger came up with an interception as he was falling to the turf.

Massillon gave the ball right back with its fifth interception of the night – which was brought back for a touchdown by Oden, only to be nullified by a personal foul penalty against Buchtel behind the play.

With 3:21 left, Jones would twist the knife into the Tigers’ hearts with a 37-yard score for a 21-13 lead after the PAT. Then Oden sealed the game with a pick-6 of his own with 3:06 left for a 29-13 lead.

“It’s hard handling adversity,” Hall said. “It’s the hardest thing in life, to handle tough times. That’s part of the reason we’re here. We’re trying to mold young men and teach them how to handle those situations.”

GAME STATS

Buchtel 29, Massillon 13

At Paul Brown Tiger Stadium

Buchtel 6 0 8 15 29

Massillon 0 13 0 0 13

SCORING SUMMARY

B – Calhoun 90 kickoff return (Kick failed)

M – Winters 1 run (Kick failed)

M – Olack 4 pass from Tonn (McCarthy kick)

B – Bell 12 pass from Jones (Oden run)

B – Jones 37 run (Brewer kick)

B – Oden 11 interception return (Jones run)

Mas Buch

First downs 16 12

Rushes-yards 36-84 38-212

Passing yards 211 23

Comp.-Att.-Int. 16-35-6 4-14-3

Fumbles-lost 1-1 1-1

Penalties-yards 7-54 7-65

Records 0-1 1-0

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

2009: Massillon 42, Akron Buchtel 20

Quick start paves way for Massillon rout of Buchtel

CHRIS EASTERLING
The Independent

The Massillon Tigers burst out of the gates in the first quarter of their season opener Thursday night against Buchtel at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium. Then, after getting stuck in the mud for a quarter, they recovered in the second half to finish off a 42-20 season-opening win over the Griffins in front of 7,794 fans.

Massillon outscored Buchtel 21-0 in the first 12 minutes. The Tigers, who led 21-7 at halftime, added a 14-0 edge in the third quarter to remove any doubt. “I thought we came out with poise and consistency,” Tiger coach
Jason Hall said. “I was a little disappointed with our second quarter, not because there wasn’t a lot of scoring, but because there was the back-and-forth, penalties. We strive for consistency on both sides of the ball. … Just like anybody, we have to continue working to get better.”

The highly touted Tiger offense looked the part for the first quarter, especially the first drive. Massillon needed just eight plays to reach the end zone, with Robert Partridge hitting Devin Smith on a 1-yard fade 3:45 into the season for a 7-0 Tiger lead.

After a Bo Grunder fumble recovery on Buchtel’s second play, the Tigers needed just three more plays to make it 14-0. Partridge hit Justin Olack on a 14-yard slant pass for the score with 6:20 left in the first quarter. Partridge hit on his first six passes for 64 yards with two touchdowns. He finished 14-of-18 for 167 yards with four scores.
“He only missed on a couple balls tonight,” Hall said.

Massillon’s offense, meanwhile, showed remarkable balance over the first two drives – throwing the ball six times while running it five.

The Tiger defense would then get into the act, with Aaron Robey returning an interception on Buchtel’s fifth play of the game – on its third possession – 25 yards for a score with 5:20 showing on the first-quarter clock for a 21-0 lead.

Massillon’s defense would take the ball away four times in the first half, including three in the first quarter. For the game, the Tigers would create six turnovers.

However, the second quarter would be a struggle for both teams. The Tigers were plagued by miscues which cost them field position – including an inadvertent knee on a punt and an ineligible man downfield penalty on a 40-yard pass to the Buchtel 8, with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty tossed in as well.

But the Massillon offense would recover in the second half. The Tigers’ running game led the way on their first drive of the third quarter, as all 70 yards were gained in three carries, the last of which was a 24-yard Jacar Roberson touchdown run 3:56 into the half.

Smith and Partridge added a 25-yard touchdown strike in the third quarter for a 35-7 lead. Partridge then hit Roberson – who suffered an arm injury on the play – for a 19-yard score early in the fourth quarter for a 42-7 lead.
“I was impressed with the way our kids came out in the second half,” Hall said.

About the only struggle for the Tigers was their ability to contain Buchtel quarterback Steve Parker. Parker threw for 196 yards, while rushing for another 109 on an array of bootlegs and quarterback keepers.

Parker tossed a pair of touchdown passes – including a 1-yarder which bounced off Demarquis Owens and into teammate Corey Smith’s hands with 38 seconds left in the first half to make it 21-7 Tigers. He also rushed for a score.

“They threw some great balls,” Hall said. “They were running

their inside zone well. They had some success against us.”

GAME STATS

Massillon 42
Buchtel 20
Buchtel 00 07 00 13 20
Massillon 21 00 14 07 42
M – Smith 1 pass from Partridge (Geier kick)
M – Olack 14 pass from Partridge (Geier kick)
M – Robey 25 interception return (Geier kick)
B – Smith 2 pass from Parker (Green kick)
M – Roberson 24 run (Geier kick)
M – Smith 25 pass from Partridge (Geier kick)
M – Roberson 19 pass from Partridge (Geier kick)
B – Smith 25 pass from Parker (Green kick)
B – Parker 4 run (kick failed
Buc Mas
First downs 24 20
Rushes-yards 46-175 34-203
Comp-Att-Int 27-15-2 19-14-0
Passing yards 203 167
Fumbles-lost 4-4 3-1
Penalty yards 187 89
Records 0-1 1-0
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing:
Massillon – Winters 14-108; Reiman 9-51; Roberson 5-29 TD.
Buchtel – Parker 24-109 TD.
Passing:
Massillon – Partridge 14-18-167 4 TDs.
Buchtel – Parker 14-25-196 2 TDs, 2 INTs; Jones 1-2-7
Receiving:
Massillon – Lewis 4-74; Arrington 3-38; Smith 3-31 2 TDs.
Buchtel – Roberson 4-61 TD; Smith 4-51 2 TDs; Olack 3-31 TD;
Winters 2-17.

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

2008: Massillon 45, Akron Buchtel 29

Tigers give Hall his first Grunder’s four TDs help Massillon pull away from Buchtel

By CHRIS EASTERLING
The Independent

MASSILLON, OH —

There were mistakes and turnovers; dropped passes and penalties. But at the end of Jason Hall’s first game as the Massillon head coach, there was also a win for the Tigers on Friday night.

While far from a clean opening-night performance, the Tigers were able to put together the plays when they had to in posting a 45-29 win over the Buchtel Griffins in front of about 8,000 fans at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

“We have to play better next week,” Hall said. “That’s what we talked to our kids about tonight. No. 1, we have to capitalize in the red zone and not make mistakes going in, and we have to make smart decisions coming out when we’re pinned deep.

“We just have to keep training our kids to be smart football players. We have to be more fundamentally sound when we have the ball. I thought our kids did a good job adjusting tonight.”

While there were plenty of things the Tigers will cringe about in the film session, one thing they won’t be grimacing over was the performance by Bo Grunder at receiver.

All the 5-foot-9, 159-pound Grunder did was catch four touchdown passes on five receptions on the night, for a total of 112 yards. He had scoring catches of 26, 40, 17 and 24 yards, the last which gave the Tigers a 38-15 lead.

“I never thought I’d score four TDs in a game, but I did,” Grunder said. “Me and (quarterback Michael) Clark connected. That’s going to be all season.”

Grunder also contributed on defense, picking off a pass on the goal line and also recovering a fumble on the first play of the season.

As for the guy throwing the ball to Grunder, Clark made the most of his first game action since Week Four of last season. He completed 10-of-18 passes for 170 yards and four touchdowns, as well as a pair of interceptions, one of which was returned 100 yards by Buchtel’s Tahj Dent for a touchdown.

“We’re all starting to get clicking,” Clark said. “The offensive line, everything. It’s just really coming together, and it’s going to lead to big things.”

However, for both teams, the turnovers were a major issue on this evening. Massillon turned it over three times, two of which lead to Buchtel scores. The last one – the Dent interception – was returned the length of the field for a score which cut the deficit to 17-15 with 9:46 left in the third quarter.

The Tiger defense, though, stiffened on the two-point conversion try, not allowing the Griffins to tie the score.

“Any time a team goes for two,” Hall said, “when you stop a team from going for two, you take away an instant chance to change momentum. They had a chance to tie, and they don’t, and momentum can shift just like that in high school football.”

It would begin to shift heavily to Massillon after that stop. The Tigers scored on consecutive drives for a 31-15 lead through three quarters, while the Griffins turned it over on consecutive drives to help set up that change in momentum.

Massillon finished the game by scoring on four of its last six possessions, with Clark adding a rushing touchdown to cap the Tiger scoring.

Buchtel wouldn’t go quietly, though, as Dent scored a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns. The senior quarterback finished with 124 yards on the ground and a pair of scores, plus 136 yards through the air.

“The quarterback was quick,” Grunder said of Dent. “He had moves. We couldn’t wrap him up. He kept juking our linemen.”

The Tigers looked to start the game off with a bang. However, they spent much of the first quarter starting and stopping with the momentum, mostly stopping.

“It was our first game, so we were really excited,” Clark said. “I think we all stuck together.”

Their first possession – which started at the Griffin 34 – ended a yard short of picking up a first down. After taking a 7-0 lead on a 26-yard Clark-to-Grunder touchdown pass on their second possession, the next three times the Tigers touched the ball – literally – they gave it up to Buchtel.

An interception was brought back to the Tiger 4, which resulted in a 1-yard John Coleman touchdown run which evened the score at 7-7 following the PAT. The subsequent kickoff was fumbled at the Massillon 11, but the Tiger defense held on a fake field goal try.

The very next Tiger play, the Buchtel defense swooped in and stuffed the ball carrier in the end zone for a safety and a 9-7 Griffin lead.

But just as quickly as the first quarter changed to the second, the momentum moved to Massillon. Clark and Grunder hooked up for another long touchdown pass – this one for 40 yards – to give the Tigers the lead for good at 14-9.

Jeremy Geier capped Massillon’s next possession with a 26-yard field goal, the first of his career, to make it 17-9 with 48 ticks left on the first-half clock.

GAME STATS

Massillon 45
Buchtel 29
at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium

Buchtel 9 0 6 14 29
Massillon 7 10 14 14 45

SCORING SUMMARY
M—Grunder 26 pass from Clark (Geier kick)
B—Coleman 1 run (Dent kick)
B—Kashrelle King safety
M—Grunder 40 pass from Clack (Geier kick)
M—Geier 26 field goal
B—Dent 100 interception return (rush failed)
M—Ivan 1 run (Geier kick)
M—Grunder 17 pass from Clark (Geier kick)
M—Grunder 24 pass from Clark (Geier kick)
B—Dent 35 run (Parker pass from Dent)
M—Clark 6 run (Silva kick)
B— Dent 8 run (pass failed)

Buchtel Mass
First Downs 12 21
Rushes-yards 35-126 46-254
Comp-Att-Int 9-23-2 10-18-2
Passing yards 136 170
Fumbles-Lost 4-3 1-1
Penalty yards 56 20

Individual statistics:
Rushing:

Massillon

Turner 22-140;

Reiman 4-46;

White 4-33;

Clark 8-26;

Roberson 3-7;

Patterson 2-4;

Ivan 3-2.

Buchtel

Dent 20-124.
Passing:

Massillon

Clark 10-18-170 4 TDs,INT

Buchtel

Dent 9-23-136 2 INTs..

Receiving:

Massillon

Grunder 5-112-4;

Turner 2-7;

Ivan 1-29;

Gaines 1-13;

Price 1-9.

Buchtel

Parker 3-54;

Lovelace 3-52.

Records

Massillon 1-0,

Buchtel 0-1.

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

2007: Massillon 48, Akron Buchtel 14

Tigers beat up on Buchtel

By CHRIS EASTERLING

The Massillon Tigers were looking for a prescription to cure themselves of the recent struggles they have been through recently. Fortunately for them, the Buchtel Griffins were just the medicine they needed.

Massillon matched its best first-half point production this season, and carried that on through to the end of a 48-14 win over the struggling Griffins in front of 7,014 at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

“It’s like a weight off our shoulders, definitely,” Tiger center Blake Seidler said. “I really don’t know how to explain it. It’s a mixed feeling. It’s a win, at the same time, you just have to, I don’t know, take it one at a time, I guess. It’s kind of hard to explain.”

The win snaps a two-game losing streak for the Tigers, who improve to 3-4 with a visit from Warren Harding forthcoming next Friday. Buchtel, which has struggled in Ricky Powers’ first season at the helm of his alma mater, fell to 1-6.

Things were academic by halftime, when the Tigers led 31-6. K.J. Herring added the topper to start the second half, when he returned the kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown and a 38-6 lead.

Herring had his best all-around game of the season, in large part because the Tigers were without the services of DeVoe Torrence. Torrence was out with a sprained ankle.

Making the most of the chance, Herring rushed for 157 yards on 12 carries with touchdown runs of 42 and 70 yards.

“It felt good,” Herring said. “It felt really good. I talked to the linemen – I talked to everybody on the team – and I just asked them, ‘We need to come together and finish this out.’ I’m really proud, because everybody came up, even the people who came in. … We just all came together and it worked out.”

Massillon’s offense scored on five of its seven first-half possessions to build up its 25-point edge. One of the two drives the Tigers were stopped on, they still managed to get the ball back on a fumbled punt at the Buchtel 46.

The Tigers were aided by great field position throughout the half, something that wasn’t the case in last week’s loss at St. Ignatius. Massillon’s worst starting position was its own 34 against Buchtel; its best starting position against the Wildcats was its own 28.

“That’s what you have to do if you want to win in high school football week in and week out,” Tiger coach Tom Stacy said of the field position. “That’s what we did tonight.”

The first two Tiger drives started on the Buchtel side of the 50, including their first drive, which started at the Griffin 2 after a blocked punt. That drive took all of one play – a 2-yard Steve Yoder run – to crack the end zone.

Justin Turner’s 11-yard run on a direct snap made it 14-0 after Steve Schott’s PAT kick.

Buchtel – which actually had more first-half yards than Massillon, 173-165 – cracked the scoreboard with six seconds left in the first quarter. That came on a 27-yard Tahj Dent-to-Dominique Gray pass, although the subsequent two-point run failed to keep it at 14-6.

Massillon scored on its final three second-quarter possessions – after it forced the fumble on the punt less than two minutes into the quarter. The Tigers made it 45-6 after Herring ripped off a 70-yard run on Massillon’s first second-half play.

Buchtel’s offense wasn’t exactly stifled through the course of the evening. The Griffins mustered 310 yards for the game – five fewer than Massillon – and had a 14-play, 75-yard scoring drive to cut it to 45-14 with less than a minute left in the third quarter.

“Our defense was on the field a lot tonight,” Stacy said. “I think in the third quarter, they were on the field for almost the entire quarter.” By then, though, many in the crowd were more interested in what was going on in the Indians’ American League Division Series game against the Yankees. There was a loud, sustained roar from the crowd when Travis Hafner’s game-winning hit was shown on the video screen during a break in the action.

The last bit of intrigue came with 5:52 left, when Schott booted a 28-yard field goal for a 48-14. The kick tied him with David Abdul for Massillon’s career field goal record with 29.

GAME STATS