Tag: <span>Robert Partridge</span>

History

2009: Massillon 10, Twinsburg 7

Geier’s kick lifts Massillon past Twinsburg

By CHRIS EASTERLING
The Independent

CANTON, OH – It was as good a time as any for Jeremy Geier to attempt – and hit – the longest field goal of his two-year Massillon Tiger career.

With the score tied and 28 seconds showing on the clock Saturday night, Geier connected on a 40-yard field goal to lift Massillon past Twinsburg 10-7 in a Division I regional semifinal in front of 7,621 fans at Fawcett Stadium.

“It couldn’t have come at a better time,” said Geier, whose previous career long – both for an attempted and a made field goal – was 39 yards. “That was awesome.”

The win sends Massillon, now 9-3, to the regional championship game for the first time since 2005. Standing in the Tigers’ path is archrival McKinley, which is 8-4 after routing GlenOak 48-7 earlier Saturday afternoon at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

The fifth playoff meeting between the two rivals will be held at the University of Akron’s new InfoCision Stadium. The previous four playoff meetings were all at the Rubber Bowl. It wasn’t nearly as easy for the Tigers to earn their rematch with the Bulldogs, who won the regular-season meeting 35-21 at Fawcett Stadium. In fact, Massillon found itself in a dogfight with another group of Tigers – these from Twinsburg – for almost 48 solid minutes.

“I can’t say enough about the character of this team and the way they handle adversity,” Massillon coach Jason Hall said. “They never give up. You think they’re down, and they just keep fighting. It’s a bunch of fighters. I’m just proud of these kids. I’m happy to be a small part of it.”

The only scoring prior to Geier’s field goal was a touchdown pass for each team. Twinsburg’s came on a 38-yard screen pass from Andrew Collier to Dion Johnson with 3:39 left in the first half for a 7-0 lead, while Massillon matched that with a 41-yard strike from Robert Partridge to Devin Smith with 8:46 remaining in the third quarter.
While both teams’ touchdowns came through the air, it was the running games for both which really set the tone. Twinsburg rushed for 216 yards, while Massillon gained 140 on the ground.

For Massillon, much of that rushing total came in the second half, when it made a concerted effort to utilize its size advantage up front with a variety of unbalanced looks to pound the ball against Twinsburg. The biggest benefactor was Jake Reiman, who had 19 of his game-high 26 carries and 78 of his game – and career – high 125 yards in the second half.

“I couldn’t have done it without my line or my fullback,” Reiman said. “They block their (butts) off today. … I’m just glad I got my opportunity and I’m trying to do the best I can with it.”

Both teams had plenty of chances to add to their totals. All eight of Massillon’s possessions in the game had at least two snaps on Twinsburg’s side of the 50, including a pair of drives – beyond the Tigers’ two scoring drives – which moved inside the Twinsburg 30.

But Massillon turned the ball over three times on Twinsburg’s side of the field, including a pair of interceptions, one of which came in the end zone.

“It wasn’t pretty,” Hall said. “It was not pretty. We made mistakes and I said it at halftime, we were killing ourselves. It wasn’t like they were smashing us at the line with a lot of negative plays. We killed ourselves.”

Twinsburg had its chances as well. The Summit County edition of the Tigers had seven of their nine possessions reach the Massillon side of the field, including three drives inside the Massillon 30.

Two of those drives were turned away by fourth-down stands by Massillon, and another was squelched when Bo Grunder got the first of his two interceptions on the night. Grunder also put the final nail in the Twinsburg coffin with a pick with 17 seconds left.

Twinsburg also had an 83-yard touchdown pass late in the first half negated by a holding penalty.

“This is the same problem we had last year against Hoover (in the second round of the playoffs),” said Twinsburg coach Mark Solis, whose team bows out in the second round for the second straight year, this time at 10-2. “I have to go back and work my (butt) off as a coach and figure it out. We have to do a better job when we get down in the red zone. What it is, when we get down there and people put pressure on us, we don’t handle it
well.”

GAME STATS

Massillon 10
Twinsburg 7

Massillon 00 00 07 03 10
Twinsburg 00 07 00 00 07

SCORING SUMMARY
T – Johnson 38 pass from Collier (Russell kick)
M – Smith 41 pass from Partridge (Geier kick)
M – FG Geier 40

Mas Twi
First downs 20 17
Rushes-yards 34-140 37-216
Comp-Att-Int 13-27-2 12-22-2
Passing yards 226 132
Fumbles-lost 1-1 1-0
Penalty yards 7-48 6-50
Records 9-3 10-2
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing:
Massillon – Reiman 26-125; Nalbach 3-14.
Twinsburg – Nero 7-95; Johnson 15-65; Collier 12-43; Hiller 3-
13.
Passing:
Massillon – Partridge 13-27-226 TD, 2 INTs.
Twinsburg – Collier 12-22-132 TD, 2 INTs.
Receiving:
Massillon – Olack 4-104; Smith 4-64 TD; Grunder 4-41; Allman 1-
17.
Twinsburg – Johnson 3-56 TD; Comar 3-30; Nero 3-24; Grant 2-16;
Francisco 1-6.

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

2009: Massillon 28, Mentor 20

Tigers clear big hurdle with win over Mentor

CHRIS EASTERLING
The Independent

Before the Massillon Tigers could turn their attention to their archrivals in Canton, they had to take care of the Mentor Cardinals. And Mentor made sure they had the Tigers’ attention for the full four quarters Friday night.
Despite taking Mentor’s best shot, the Tigers cleared the tricky Week Nine hurdle, and head into McKinley Week on the heels of a 28-20 win over the Cardinals in front of 5,940 soaked fans at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

“I think we learned our lesson with that earlier in the year, midseason,” Tiger coach Jason Hall said. “We have to come and prepare week-to-week with our schedule, especially the second half. Mentor is a great football team. … They fought and you have to take your hat off to (Mentor coach Steve Trivisonno) and his guys. When it was crunch time, we had to run the clock out to win the game.”

Massillon heads into the final week of the regular season with a 7-2 record. Awaiting them is a McKinley team that knocked off Boardman on Friday night to improve to 5-4.Mentor falls to 5-4 on the season.

With a slick turf, both teams stuck to the ground for much of the first quarter with varying degrees of success. Mentor, however, was able to make the most of its rather limited successes in the quarter, ending it with a 51-yard Greg Klisuric field goal for a 3-0 lead.

Breaking the scoreless deadlock was like opening a valve as both offenses came to life in the second quarter.
Massillon scored on its first two possessions of the quarter and had a score on its third drive called back due to an illegal hands to the face penalty. The first – a 26-yard Robert Partridge-to-Devin Smith scoring strike – made it 7-3 Tigers 1:31 into the second quarter.

The second touchdown – a 10-yard run by Alex Winters, who had 118 of his 176 rushing yards in the first half – gave Massillon the lead back at 14-10 with 5:27 remaining in the half.

“I think Alex, after those two games (against St. Ignatius and Steubenville), we challenged him and he’s really stepped it up,” Hall said. “He’s really lowered his shoulders and delivered punishment instead of take it. That’s kind of a progression of a young running back. Sometimes I forget he’s just my baby running back. He’s a 10th-grader, but he didn’t play like a 10th grader.”

In between those scores, Mentor put together its own touchdown drive, creasing the Tiger defense with both the run and the pass. Cardinal quarterback Sam Mayse was 3-for-3 on the drive for 48 yards, while tailback Mike Korecz ran five times for 13 yards – including a 1-yard touchdown – and Ricky Hanzlik added a 19-yard run.
Korecz gained 82 yards on 14 first-half carries. He finished with 110 yards.

Partridge and Smith hooked up for a second touchdown with 4:18 left in the third quarter. Partridge dropped back from the Mentor 4 and lobbed a fade pass to Smith, who leaped and made the catch for the touchdown. Jeremy Geier’s point-after made it 21-10 Tigers.

Partridge finished the game 14-of-20 for 233 yards. He threw three touchdown passes, all to Smith, who had four catches for 144 yards.

“Rob’s been sick with the flu,” Hall said. “He had a slow start, but he really battled through some adversity. He’s really under the weather and it took him about a quarter to get going.”

Aided by a roughing the passer penalty on a 41-yard pass play, the Cardinals drove to the Massillon 11. After a procedure penalty moved the ball back to the Tiger 16, Mentor ran an endaround to Graeham McKnight, who pulled up and threw a 16-yard touchdown strike to a wide-open Marcus Cade in the end zone. Klisuric’s PAT made it 21-17 Tigers with 2:05 left in the third quarter.

Partridge and Smith hooked up a third time with 7:47 left in regulation, this time a 67-yard strike to make it 28-17. The play came right after a Bo Grunder interception, the second pick of the game for Massillon.

“Any time you capitalize, it’s big,” Hall said. “The one, they’re driving and we get that pick and we come right back and throw that ball. Rob did a good job of recognizing cover-3 and he went for the home run ball.”

But Mentor drove down the field, reaching the Tiger 7. After a pair of incomplete passes, Klisuric was called on to boot a 25- yard field goal, which made it 28-20 Tigers with 4:49 left.

With 1:22 remaining, the Tigers iced the game when Patridge scrambled for a nine-yard game on a fourth-and-seven on the Mentor 27.

GAME STATS

Massillon 28
Mentor 20

Mentor 03 07 07 03 20
Massillon 00 14 07 07 28

SCORING SUMMARY
Men – FG Klisuric 51
Mas – Smith 26 pass from Partridge (Geier kick)
Men – Korecz 1 run (Klisuric kick)
Mas – Winters 10 run (Geier kick)
Mas – Smith 4 pass from Partridge (Geier kick)
Men – Cade 16 pass from McKnight (Klisuric kick)
Mas – Smith 67 pass from Patridge (Geier kick)
Men – FG Klisuric 25
Men Mas
First downs 18 19
Rushes-yards 36-189 41-194
Comp-Att-Int 13-23-2 14-20-0
Passing yards 211 233
Fumbles-lost 4-1 0-0
Penalty yards 5-35 6-49
Records 5-4 7-2
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing:
Massillon – Winters 29-164 TD; Partridge 8-31.
Mentor – Korecz 24-108 TD; Hanzlik 7-60.
Passing:
Massillon – Partridge 14-20-233 3 TDs.
Mentor – Mayse 12-22-195 2 INTs; McKnight 1-1-16 TD.
Receiving:
Massillon – Olack 6-49; Smith 4-144 3 TDs; Allman 1-16;
Winters 1-12.
Mentor – Rowe 7-115; Cade 4-82 TD; Hanzlik 1-9; Korecz 1-5.

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

2009: Massillon 39, Warren Harding 21

Tigers get back  on winning track, rout Warren

CHRIS EASTERLING
The Independent

It was home sweet home for the Massillon Tigers. Two games away from the friendly confines of Paul Brown Tiger Stadium had the Tigers limping into Friday night’s home game against rival Warren Harding. Back at home, Massillon went from limping to a full sprint, as it buried its recent skid – as well as the Raiders – in a 39-21 win in front of 6,451 chilled but happy fans.

The performance was a far cry from the back-to-back losses to St. Ignatius and Steubenville, which halted the momentum Massillon had built up in a 5-0 start. But the Tigers regained that momentum with Friday’s rout of the
Raiders to improve to 6-2 entering next week’s final home game against Mentor.

“It’s nice to see our kids smiling,” Tiger coach Jason Hall said. “I thought they responded well. The No. 1 thing is, no matter what, I thought our kids just left it on the line tonight.”

Penalties and miscues were the order of the day in the first quarter. The Tigers had three flags for 30 yards – including a 15-yard personal foul penalty on the opening kickoff – while Warren picked up two of the yellow
hankies for 15 yards in the first 12 minutes.

But as the quarter shifted from the first to the second, the offense – especially for Massillon – shifted from neutral into overdrive. The Tigers scored touchdowns on all three second quarter possessions. That was in
large part to the throwing of Robert Partridge, who completed 6-of-7 passes in the quarter for 94 yards and three scores.

For the game, Partridge finished 17-of-27 for 260 yards with five touchdowns and one late interception.

“I thought Rob responded to command,” Hall said. “He was very vocal today with the team and on the field. He was a great leader emotionally and with big plays, scrambling and doing all the things that makes him a great
quarterback.”

Partridge completed a 32-yard touchdown strike to Devin Smith, who dragged his toes in the end zone before stepped out the back with 10:04 left in the half. The snap was bobbled on the subsequent point-after try, and it
remained 6-0.

The Tiger senior quarterback also threw a 31-yarder to Justin Olack four plays after Warren took a 7-6 lead on Michael Dorsey’s 1-yard run. This time, Massillon converted the PAT, making it a 13-7 Tiger lead with 1:37
remaining until the band show.

Partridge made it 20-7 38 seconds later when he hit Tyler Allman on a post pattern for a 16-yard touchdown. That score was set up when Danny Huhn recovered a Raider fumble caused when Clayton Mattox blew up an exchange in the Raider backfield.

About the only thing to put a damper on the Tigers’ second quarter was the Raiders’ 15-play, 85-yard scoring drive. Warren ran the ball 12 times, gaining 67 yards.

Warren pounded it against the Tigers on the ground to make it 20-14 after a Tiger fumble at their own 39 on the second play of the second half. The Raiders ran the ball six straight times, with Mikhail Seawood running it
in from a yard out with 8:51 left in the third.

The Tigers answered on Partridge’s fourth touchdown pass – and second to Smith – a 13-yarder to cap a nine-play 75-yard drive at the 6:19 mark of the third. The try for two failed, keeping it 26-14 Massillon.

Tyler Miller’s interception at the Tiger 14 served as the catalyst for Massillon’s next scoring drive, which ended on the third Partridge-to Smith touchdown strike, this one a 19-yarder. Another try for two came up short, but the Tiger lead was 32-14 with 3:42 left in the third.

That lead grew to 39-14 with 2:27 left in the third on Alex Winters’ 1- yard run. That score was set up when Bo Grunder recovered a muffed kickoff at the Raider 14.

Warren wouldn’t go quietly, in part because it continued to find creases to run through. Demond Hymes ripped off a 10-yard run on the second play of the fourth quarter to make it 39-21.

GAME STATS

Massillon 39
Warren Harding 21

Warren 00 07 07 07 21
Massillon 00 20 19 00 39

SCORING SUMMARY
M – Smith 32 pass from Partridge (Run failed)
WH – Dorsey 1 run (Sosa kick)
M – Olack 31 pass from Partridge (Geier kick)
M – Allman 16 pass from Partridge (Geier kick)
WH – Seawood 1 run (Sosa kick)
M – Smith 13 pass from Partridge (Pass failed)
M – Smith 19 pass from Partridge (Pass failed)
M – Winters 1 run (Geier kick)
WH – Hymes 10 run (Sosa kick)
WH Mas
First downs 16 21
Rushes-yards 40-190 37-130
Comp-Att-Int 7-21-2 17-27-1
Passing yards 99 260
Fumbles-lost 4-3 2-1
Penalty yards 7-94 7-75
Records 4-3-1 6-2
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing:
Massillon – Winters 18-119 TD; Boykin 7-21.
Warren – Hymes 18-102 TD; Zitnik 7-43; Dorsey 7-20.
Passing:
Massillon – Partridge 17-27-260 5 TDs, INT.
Warren – Miller
7-21-99 INT.
Receiving:
Massillon – Smith 5-81 3 TDs; Grunder 5-62; Pedro 3-49; Olack 2-41.
Warren – Killingsworth 4-82.

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

2009: Massillon 3, Steubenville 13

Steubenville rules first meeting with Massillon since 1978

CHRIS EASTERLING
The Independent

It was the irresistible force against the immovable object on a soggy Friday night in Steubenville.

On one hand, you had the Massillon Tigers, who were looking to bounce back from last week’s loss at St. Ignatius. On the other hand, you had the Steubenville Big Red, who were looking to extend their regular-season win streak to 67 games and their home win streak to 59 games.

And when push came to shove in front of an overflow crowd approaching 11,000 inside Harding Stadium, it was Big Red who shoved the hardest, handing Massillon a 13-3 defeat in the first game between the two programs since 1978.

The difference in the game came on the ground, where Steubenville outrushed Massillon 208-35, led by Dwight Macon’s 81 yards rushing. That helped Big Red put together drives of 17, 13, 13 and 11 plays on four of their seven possessions.

“Obviously, they have some athletes and we wanted them to march the field, and they did,” said Tiger coach Jason Hall, whose team will take a 5-2 record and a two-game losing streak into next week’s home game against Warren Harding. “They had success. Their third-down conversion rate, it had to be up there. It seemed like every time they needed seven yards, they got sevenand-a-half yards. Their kids executed tonight.”

It marked the first win for Big Red over Massillon since 1962. It was also just the fourth win ever for Steubenville over the Tigers, who hold a 37-4-2 edge in the series.

“It was a beautiful night,” said Steubenville coach Reno Saccoccia, whose team is 7-0. “The win made it beautiful, but it was a great night other than that. … (Massillon is) a good football team.”

Steubenville controlled the line of scrimmage throughout the first half – a precursor for things to come – and a big reason why Big Red took a 7-3 lead into the locker room. Big Red was able to amass 135 yards of offense to Massillon’s 72 in the initial 12, and a big portion of those yards – 108, to be exact – came on the ground.

The first 26 plays Steubenville ran were running plays, with six different Big Red players carrying the ball.

“I felt that our kids played physical and they were persistent,” Saccoccia said. “Not everything went our way, but we were persistent. In a game like this, a three-yard gain isn’t bad.”

Massillon’s defense continued its recent struggles to stop the run, which helped Steubenville – after an initial three-and-out – put together a pair of double-digit-play drives. The initial one, which started at the Big Red 36, took 17 plays.

However, with the Massillon defense backed up on its own 1, facing third down, the Tigers managed to get a push up front, disrupting a handoff and causing a fumble, which Massillon recovered in the end zone for a touchback two plays into the second quarter.

The next time Steubenville got the ball, Massillon wasn’t so fortunate. Starting from their own 44, Big Red marched 13 plays down and after 26-straight runs to start the game, Steubenville All-Ohio quarterback Dwight Macon showed off his arm. He completed 4-of-6 passes over the final seven plays of the drive for 28 yards. The final play was a 7-yard strike to Trey Wiggins, who walked into the end zone untouched with 3:15 left in the half and a 7-0 Big Red lead after the point after.

“You have to read your keys,” Hall said. “I guess every kid is trying to get up there to make a big play. They had some playaction stuff. They did a good job.”

Massillon’s offense, meanwhile, struggled to get any sort of consistency going. After getting 12 yards on their first two plays, the Tigers would net 16 yards on their next two possessions – both three-and-outs.

The Tigers, however, got some life on their final drive of the half after Big Red’s pooch kick went out of bounds, giving them the ball at their own 46. Massillon would pick up a fourth-and-1 play when Clayton Mattox rumbled for four yards, and Robert Partridge hit Bo Grunder on a sliding 19-yard grab down to the Big Red 4.

But Massillon – which was called for a false start with just over three seconds remaining – would have to settle for a 26- yard Jeremy Geier field goal as the first half expired to cut the deficit to 7-3.

“Anytime you have to settle for a field goal instead of a touchdown, it’s disappointing,” Hall said. “It is huge. One
thing I can promise, we’re going to work on our red-zone offense this week.”

Steubenville’s control of the game’s pace continued after thebreak. Big Red marc hed 62 yards in 13 plays, with Macon hitting Anthony Pierro for an 11-yard touchdown and a 13-3 lead with 1:37 left in the third.

Massillon would have one final try to get back into the game as the Tigers drove to the Big Red 1 with just over six minutes left. But Steubenville’s Anthony Pierro intercepted a pass on third down in the end zone to seal the Big Red victory.

“We don’t score on the 1-yard line,” Hall said. “It’s the little things like that that we just have to get back to work on.”

GAME STATS

 

Steubenville 13
Massillon 3

Massillon 00 03 00 00 03
Steubenville 00 07 06 00 13

SCORING SUMMARY
S – Wiggins 7 pass from Macon (Macon kick)
M – FG Geier 26
S – A. Pierro 11 pass from Macon (Kick failed)
Mas Ste
First downs 6 18
Rushes-yards 24-35 47-208
Comp-Att-Int 8-16-1 9-15-0
Passing yards 81 95
Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-1
Penalty yards 2-20 4-32
Records 5-2 7-0
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing:
Massillon – Winters 9-18.
Steubenville – Macon 21-81; J. Pierro 19-59.
Passing:
Massillon – Partridge 8-15-95 INT.
Steubenville – Macon 9-15-81 2 TDs.
Receiving:
Massillon – Grunder 3-42; Olack 2-38; Smith 2-11.
Steubenville – Garay 3-32; Wiggins 2-15 TD; A. Pierro 2-20 TD.

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

2009: Massillon 21, Cleveland St. Ignatius 26

Tigers suffer Heartbreaker to Iggy

CHRIS EASTERLING
The Independent

The Massillon Tigers appeared to have a season-defining win all wrapped up with just over two minutes left in Saturday night’s showdown of unbeatens at Byers Field against St. Ignatius when Tyler Miller came up with an interception inside the Tiger 5 to preserve a one-point lead. But in the midst of the Tigers’ jubilation came a cold splash of water. A penalty flag. This one for defensive holding against Massillon, negating the potential game-clinching pick.

Given new life, St. Ignatius scored on a 5-yard Bobby Grebencs run with two minutes remaining, carrying the Wildcats to a 26-21 lead which would prove to be the final margin in Massillon’s first loss of the season.

“Our kids handled adversity,” Tiger coach Jason Hall said. “We came up short.” The penalty which altered the final two-plus minutes of the game came on a defender who was away from the play. Hall, though, wouldn’t comment about it directly.

“I have to watch it on film,” Hall said. “I’m not going to make any excuses, it’s not my mentality. I’m going to have to look at it on film. I couldn’t see it because it was on the far side of the field, but I do know that it wasn’t the guy that the ball was thrown to. … We’re not going to make excuses.”

The Tigers fall to 5-1 with the heart-wrenching loss. Not that they can dwell for long on the defeat, as a trip to face undefeated Steubenville awaits Friday night.

“We have to get back to work,” Hall said. “We don’t have any time to cry about this.”

What the Tigers do need to do is look at what they did to gain a 21-14 third-quarter lead over the top-ranked Wildcats, who are now 6-0. That’s especially true considering the 14-0 deficit Massillon faced less than two minutes into the second quarter.

In order to do that, Massillon did what it does best, which is hit on the big play.

The Tigers’ first scoring drive – which cut the deficit to 14-7 with 40 seconds left in the half – was bolstered by a 47-yard pass from Robert Partridge to Devin Smith to take the ball to the Ignatius 22. Partridge then hit Grunder for the 5-yard scoring pass to slice the deficit in half.

“Momentum kind of swung away a little bit,” St. Ignatius coach Chuck Kyle said. “They made adjustments with their receivers.

They have some skilled guys, and that was a concern for us the whole week, and they hit a few.”Massillon hit one of its biggest plays in the third quarter to tie the game at 14-14. Facing a fourth-and-1 at his own 29, Hall elected to go for it, and tailback Alex Winters rewarded him with a 71-yard touchdown run with 8:26 left in the quarter.

“A lot of the guys were saying, ‘Punt,'” Hall said. “But that was, to me, my way of saying to my kids that this was our time. We’re going to do it. … If you’ve ever read Joe Paterno’s book, there’s a quote in there that says, ‘In order to win, sometimes you have to take the chance to lose.’ It’s football; it’s fourth-and-1. We’ve got a couple of 300-pounders, let’s do it.”

It certainly looked like the Tigers were going to do it on their next possession when Partridge hit Smith for an 82-yard pass down to the Wildcat 3. The next play, Winters fought his way in to the end zone to give the Tigers a 21-14 lead – following the PAT – with 3:58 left.

Partridge finished 16-of-29 for 265 yards with a touchdown and three interceptions. Smith had six catches for 135 yards.

The Tigers’ problem, especially early, was slowing down the Wildcats’ junior tailback Bobby Grebencs. Grebencs had 122 rushing yards in the first half on 20 carries, as Massillon struggled to gain any sort of control of the line of scrimmage.

Grebencs’ 1-yard run with 6:13 left in the first quarter helped give the Wildcats a 7-0 lead. He then scored from 3-yards out with 10:16 left in the half to help make it a 14-0 Ignatius edge.

But the Tigers slowed Grebencs – and conversely, the Wildcat offense – for much of the second half, which helped open the door for their comeback. However, Grebencs got loose for 48 yards – and two touchdowns – on 10 fourth-quarter carries, the last one of 10 yards being the biggest, as it gave the Wildcats the lead for good.
He finished with 217 yards on 40 carries.

“I kept asking him, ‘Are you OK?'” Kyle said. “He kept saying, ‘Yeah, no problem.'” And, thanks to a second chance, there wasn’t any problem for St. Ignatius. Unfortunately for the Tigers, their problem would come thanks to that second chance.

GAME STATS

St. Ignatius 26
Massillon 21

Massillon 00 07 14 00 21
St. Ignatius 07 07 00 12 26

SCORING SUMMARY
SI – Grebencs 1 run (Franklin kick)
SI – Grebencs 3 run (Franklin kick)
M – Grunder 5 pass from Partridge (Geier kick)
M – Winters 71 run (Geier kick)
M – Winters 3 run (Geier kick)
SI – Grebencs 1 run (Run failed)
SI – Grebencs 10 run (Pass failed)
Mas St. I
First downs 11 23
Rushes-yards 21-109 47-234
Comp-Att-Int 16-30-3 10-23-0
Passing yards 265 111
Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-1
Penalty yards 7-60 8-67
Records 5-1 6-0
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing:
Massillon – Winters 17-97 2 TDs.
St. Ignatius – Grebencs 40-217 4 TDs.
Passing:
Massillon – Partridge 16-29-265 TD, 3 INTs.
St. Ignatius – Myers 10-23-111.
Receiving:
Massillon – Smith 6-135; Olack 5-89; Grunder 3-19 TD; Allman
1-11.
St. Ignatius – Joseph 3-19.

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

2009: Massillon 44, Akron Garfield 13

Tigers roll to fifth-straight victory, face Iggy next

CHRIS EASTERLING
The Independent

A bit of the killer instinct the Massillon Tigers showed in their first two games returned on Friday night, and not a moment too soon.

Massillon jumped out early and kept on scoring, sending Garfield to a 44-13 defeat in front of 6,995 fans at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium. The Tigers held a 34-7 lead, their biggest halftime margin to date, and opened the season 5-0 for the first time since 2005.

“I thought it was good,” Massillon coach Jason Hall said. “We changed the tempo up in practice this week, and I let them know that this week was about attitude and getting back after it. Our kids responded well. We’re getting better. That’s the key.”

But the preliminaries have concluded now for Massillon. Next up for the Tigers is a Saturday trip to Byers Field to take on the undefeated reigning Division I state champions and current No. 1-ranked team in Ohio, St. Ignatius.

The Tigers certainly tuned up for that showdown with the Wildcats against Garfield. In doing so, they returned to the form they displayed in wins over Buchtel and GlenOak, when they jumped in front of those two opponents 42-7 and 35-3.

That kind of start hadn’t been seen over the previous two weeks, as the Tigers dealt with choppy opening halves in eventual double-digit wins over Stow and Firestone. But it was there for Massillon against the Golden Rams, who are now 2-3.

Massillon scored on all four first-quarter drives, jumping on top 24-7 by the end of the quarter. The Tigers also picked up the tempo during the quarter by going to a quick count at times, especially on the first drive of the game.

“We came out ready to play,” Hall said. “We changed the tempo up a little bit.” The star of the first three drives was Alex Winters. The sophomore tailback registered his fourth 100-yard rushing game before the contest was even 10 minutes old, gaining 120 of his 121 net rushing yards on eight first-half carries.

“He, just like everybody else, is getting better every week,” Hall said. “He’s learning a lot. He’s taking it in like a sponge. He’s a doer. He just works hard.”

Winters had a touchdown run of 13 yards to put the Tigers up 7-0 – following the Jeremy Geier point after – just 1:03 into the game. He added a 25-yard scoring jaunt with 6:14 left in the quarter for a 14-0 lead.After Garfield cut it to 14-7 on a 56-yard run by Tyson Gulley, Winters provided Massillon’s answer, ripping off a 70-yard run for a 21-7 edge with 3:55 left in the first quarter.

The next two Tiger drives reached the Golden Rams’ red zone, but could only generate a pair of Geier field goals of 39 and 35 yards. The last came with 5:52 left in the half, giving Massillon a 27-7 lead.

Massillon tacked on a 19-yard Robert Partridge-to-Devin Smith touchdown pass with 35 seconds remaining in the half for a 34-7 lead.

Garfield missed on a couple of potential scoring opportunities in the first half, reaching inside the Tiger 25 twice. One would end a yard short on fourth down, while Bo Grunder’s interception – the first of three on the night for the senior – in the end zone squelched another one. Grunder came up with a second takeaway on a fumble recovery at the Ram 19 to set up Smith’s touchdown.

“That’s why he’s got some offers himself,” Hall said of Grunder. “He’s a gritty kid. He’s tough.” The Golden Rams did capitalize on a drive into Massillon territory on the first possession of the second half, as Gulley – who rushed for 179 yards in the game – punched it in from 4-yards out to cut it to 34-14 with just under six minutes left. But Geier’s 25-yard field goal on the subsequent Tiger possession took away much of the Rams’ momentum as it gave Massillon a 37-13 lead. Mikal Mayle added an 8-yard run late for the Tigers.

GAME STATS

Massillon 44
Garfield 13

Garfield 07 00 06 00 13
Massillon 24 10 03 07 44

SCORING SUMMARY
M – Winters 13 run (Geier kick)
M – Winters 25 run (Geier kick)
G – Ty. Gulley 66 run (Martin kick)
M – Winters 70 run (Geier kick)
M – FG Geier 39
M – FG Geier 35
M – Smith 19 pass from Partridge (Geier kick)
G – Ty. Gulley 4 run (Kick failed)
M – FG Geier 25
M – Mayle 8 run (Geier kick)
Gar Mas
First downs 18 23
Rushes-yards 55-313 33-206
Comp-Att-Int 0-7-3 14-25-0
Passing yards 0 263
Fumbles-lost 2-2 0-0
Penalties-yards 6-50 9-80
Records 2-3 5-0
Individual leaders
Rushing:
Massillon – Winters 19-121 3 TDs.
Garfield – Ty. Gulley 17-166 2 TDs.
Passing:
Massillon – Partridge 13-23-243 TD.
Garfield – Hoisten 0-5-0 3 INTs; Ty, Gulley 0-1-0.
Receiving:
Massillon – Olack 5-93; Smith 5-79 TD; Grunder 2-55; Winters 1-16.
Garfield – N/A.

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

2009: Massillon 31, Stow 14

Tigers continue hot streak on the road

CHRIS EASTERLING
The Independent

In their first two games, the Massillon Tigers were able to run out to big early leads, then found themselves watching as their opponents put a score on the board right before halftime to steal some momentum.

On Friday night at Stow, the Tigers didn’t get off to the fast start they have been noted for. However, they did steal a tric from their first two opponents in taking the momentum right before the half.

Two touchdowns in the last half of the second quarter broke open a tie game and carried Massillon to a 31-14 victory over the winless Bulldogs in front of more than 5,000 at Bulldog Stadium.

“I thought our kids kept fighting through it and fighting through it,” Tiger coach Jason Hall said. “We score the last
series of the first half and the first series of the second half. … I thought we were the better team coming in, but you have to play the game. They made us earn our points tonight.”

Massillon’s offense sputtered and struggled to get into any rhythm early, but the Tigers were able to shift it into the gear they needed in order to improve to 3-0. After the Tigers finished the first half strong they continued a season-long trend of roaring out of the locker room as they scored on their first drive of the second half for a 28-7 lead less than three minutes into the third quarter.

“I thought their kids came out ready to play,” Hall said. “They were trying to match up personnel on and off the field. We really weren’t clicking very well. I have to hand it to our kids. This is the first time they’ve really had to handle adversity.”

The Tigers were sitting pretty less than two minutes into the game. Tyler Miller stepped in front of a Bulldog aerial and intercepted it, returning it 39 yards to the Stow 13.

After two plays netted no yards, Alex Winters rushed it in from the 13 to give the Tigers the early edge. Jeremy Geier’s point after made it 7-0 just 2:16 into the game.

Both teams spun their wheels for the remainder of the first quarter, but the Tigers began marching to open the second quarter, reaching the Stow 40. But a holding call on a third down play pushed the ball back to the Bulldog 48. Stow’s Niko Diamantopoulis then stepped in front of an errant screen pass and returned it to the Massillon 10.

Boosted by the pick, John Markulis fought his way in on the first play of the next possession for the Bulldog score. Drew Horning’s PAT evened the score at 7-7 with 10:10 left until halftime.

That score proved to be a wake-up call for the Tigers, who would march 67 yards on 10 plays – aided by a Bulldog personal foul – to take a 14-7 lead when Robert Partridge hit Devin Smith on a 4-yard fade route for a
touchdown with 6:46 remaining until the half.

Stow would stun the Tigers with a 62-yard receiver pass from Kevin Podnar to Kevin Herman to take it to the Massillon 19, but penalties and a stout Tiger defense would limit the Bulldogs to a 44-yard field goal try which fell short.

Massillon took a 21-7 lead with 2:41 left in the second quarter when Partridge hit Smith on a 33-yard pass in which Smith managed to chop his feet in the back of the end zone for the catch. That capped a seven-play, 80-yard drive.

The Tigers took the second half kickoff and marched right down the field, with Smith taking a 36-yard catch-and-run to the Stow 1. Massillon made the score 28-7 on Partridge’s 1-yard quarterback keeper.

While Partridge’s score was not exactly a long burst, he did provide a lift to Massillon’s running game, rushing for 42 first-half yards on five carries. He finished 11-of-23 passing for 181 yards.

“I think Rob handled the adversity the best,” Hall said. “A couple of balls were here or there, or maybe a receiver didn’t run a great route, but we kept running our offense and eventually you saw it start clicking. That’s a sign of a good quarterback and that’s the sign of a veteran quarterback.”

Stow would march deep into Tiger territory on its second possession of the third quarter, reaching the Massillon 26. But for the second time in the game, the Bulldogs missed short on a 40-plus-yard field goal, this one from 43 yards.

The Tigers answered Stow’s failed scoring drive with a successful scoring drive of their own. They took a 31-7 lead on Geier’s 29-yard field goal with 9:44 left in the game.

Stow would score with five seconds left when Duane Mitchell hit Podnar on a 45-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-12.

GAME STATS

Massillon 31
Stow 14

Massillon 07 14 07 03 31
Stow 00 07 00 07 14

SCORING SUMMARY
M – Winters 13 run (Geier kick)
S – J. Markulis 10 run (Horning kick)
M – Smith 4 pass from Partridge (Geier kick)
M – Smith 33 pass from Partridge (Geier kick)
M – Partridge 1 run (Geier kick)
M – FG Geier 29
S – Podnar 45 pass from Mitchell (Horning kick)
Mas Sto
First downs 15 5
Rushes-yards 38-147 27-50
Comp-Att-Int 11-23-1 8-15-1
Passing yards 181 153
Fumbles-lost 1-1 1-1
Penalty yards 5-40 5-35
Records 3-0 0-3
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing:
Massillon – Winter 26-103 TDs; Partridge 6-43.
Stow – J. Markulis 13-42 TD; Mitchell 13-7.
Passing:
Massillon – Partridge 11-23-181 2 TDs, INT.
Stow – Mitchell 7-14-91 TD, INT; Podnar 1-1-62.
Receiving:
Massillon – Smith 4-82 TDs; Grunder 3-38; Winters 2-19; Sheegog
1-22.
Stow – Herman 4-63; Podnar 2-54 TD; Ellesin 2-36.

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

2009: Massillon 35, Canton Glenoak 10

Fast start helps Massillon blitz GlenOak

CHRIS EASTERLING
The Independent

There were few truly surprised when the Massillon Tigers got out to a three-touchdown lead in the first half of their season opener against Buchtel a week ago. However, the same couldn’t be said during Thursday night’s showdown with GlenOak at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

But much to the delight of the orange-clad faithful among the 11,080 in attendance, there the Tigers sat with a 21-0 lead just 12 seconds into the second quarter.

Buoyed by the start, Massillon made it two straight lopsided wins to open the season, this one a 35-10 victory over the Golden Eagles.

“I don’t think you anticipate something like that,” Tiger coach Jason Hall said. “We anticipated a physical football game. … I was just pleased with the way our kids came out and they played.”

The Tigers only punted twice in the first three quarters, as they built up a 35-3 lead. Robert Partridge hit Devin Smith for a pair of touchdown passes, while Alex Winters added two scoring runs to help build up that edge.

“This was a lot of fun,” said Smith, who had five catches for 143 yards. “Getting a win against a big school like this and all the talk that’s been going on saying we couldn’t handle it against these guys, it was good to come back with a win.”

The Tigers forced GlenOak to punt from the Massillon 41 on the first drive of the game, and took over at their own 13. From there, Massillon methodically marched down the field to the end zone. Three times on the drive, the Tigers had to convert third downs of at least five yards, and all three times they did so.

Massillon picked up a 12-yard catch from Justin Olack on a third-and-6. Facing a third-and-9 six plays later, Partridge scrambled for 10 and another first down. Partridge would again use his legs to move the chains when he gained eight on a third and-5 to put the ball on the GlenOak 24.

The next play would bring an end to the 15-play drive, as Partridge hooked up with Smith on a 24-yard touchdown pass with 1:57 left in the first quarter. Jeremy Geier’s kick made it 7-0 Tigers.

Massillon’s lead would grow to two touchdowns the next time the Tigers literally touched the ball. Bo Grunder stepped in front of a Golden Eagle pass attempt at the Tiger 23 and outran everybody into the end zone for the score just 12 seconds into the second quarter.

Grunder’s pick-six was the second one in as many weeks for the Massillon defense. It was one of two takeaways for the Tigers on Thursday, giving them eight for the season.

“That really set a lot of the tempo for the rest of the half,” Hall said. “They were starting to move the ball a bit and had got a couple of big plays. … Bo just read it perfectly and took it to the house.”

Geier’s point after kick was good, making it 14-0 Massillon.

After a three-and-out by GlenOak, the Tigers went right back to work on offense. A 36-yard pass to Smith put the ball at the Golden Eagle 25, and two plays later, Alex Winters tore through the GlenOak defense for a 14-yard touchdown run.

Geier once again was true on the PAT, and Massillon had its second 21-0 lead in as many weeks. This one came with 6:54 left in the half.

And for the second straight week, the Tigers saw an opponent try to steal some momentum right before the half. GlenOak marched from its own 26 to the Massillon 4 with under 40 seconds left.

But the Tigers bowed their backs on defense and limited the Golden Eagles to a 21-yard field goal with 27 seconds left in the half to make it 21-3 Massillon.

The Tigers led 28-3 with 8:51 in the third after Winters’ second scoring run of the game, a 3-yarder. That capped an eight-play drive which started with Smith hitting Olack for a 29-yard gain on a receiver pass to the GlenOak 29.

Three plays after the Tigers held on fourth down at their own 24, Partridge and Smith hooked up again, this one a 75-yard catch-and-run down the left sideline. The PAT made it 35-3 with 3:49 in the third.

GAME STATS

Massillon 35
GlenOak 10

GlenOak 00 03 00 07 10
Massillon 07 14 14 00 35

SCORING SUMMARY
M – Smith 24 pass from Partridge (Geier kick)
M – Grunder 77 interception return (Geier kick)
M – Winters 14 run (Geier kick)
GO – FG P. Julian 21
M – Winters 3 run (Geier kick)
M – Smith 75 pass from Partridge (Geier kick)
GO – Martin 3 run (P. Julian kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing:
Massillon – Winters 12-45 2 TDs.
GlenOak – Lemon 14-57.
Passing:
Massillon – Partridge 11-18-189 2 TDs; Smith 1-1-29.
GlenOak – .
Receiving:
Massillon – Smith 5-143 2 TDs; Grunder 3-32; Olack 2-41.
GlenOak – Gavin 2-1; Hearn 1-39; Osborne 1-28; Campbell 1-10.

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.

History

2008: Massillon 7, North Canton Hoover 14

Howard’s big plays bring Tigers season to an end

By CHRIS EASTERLING
The Independent

NORTH CANTON, OH

Big plays can go a long way to determining the outcome of a playoff game. Big plays were also at a premium for both Massillon and Hoover as they squared off in a Division I Region 2 quarterfinal on Saturday night in North Canton.

Unfortunately for the Tigers, the biggest plays were made by Erick Howard, who was wearing a Viking uniform on this night. Howard’s two 40-plus-yard plays turned the tide of what ended up being a 14-7 Hoover victory over the Tigers in front of about 7,000 fans at North Canton Memorial Stadium.

The loss ends Massillon’s season at 6-5. Hoover, meanwhile, advances to next week’s regional semifinal against Twinsburg with a 10-1 record. It also marked the Vikings’ first-ever win over the Tigers in four tries in the playoffs.

“We just felt we had to believe,” Howard said. “None of the Hoover teams in the past had done it (beat Massillon), so we just had them in our hearts. This was for every Hoover team that had lost to them – 2005, 2002, 2001. Every team.”

The difference in the game was simple – Howard providing the offense for the Vikings, while the Tigers struggled to get any offense going in the second half. Howard finished the game with 258 yards of offense, including 195 rushing yards on 40 carries.

“Howard’s a good football player,” first-year Tiger coach Jason Hall said. “You have to take your hat off to him. He got in the open field, and we didn’t tackle him. Then he hits us on a draw. They didn’t do much. Really just the two big plays by him, two monster plays. He’s obviously a big part of their team.”

Howard’s 49-yard run on a draw play with 10:17 left in the game broke a 7-7 tie. Howard – who also went 59 yards on a screen play to set up a tying touchdown in the first half – broke at least five tackles on the run, and carried a Tiger defender for about five yards before shrugging him off to cover the last few yards of the run.

The Tiger offense, meanwhile, could manage just 127 yards for the game. Of those, only 10 came after halftime, when Massillon was held to five three-and-outs.

In fact, the biggest gain in the second half for the Tigers came on a Hoover personal foul. Even that, though, wasn’t enough to pick up a first down, as it turned a third-and-21 situation into a fourth-and-four.

“The story of the game is that our offense didn’t get it going in the second half,” Hall said.

What hurt the Tigers most was the fact they were never able to turn the field in their favor after the intermission. Massillon had just one play of at least five yards – its first play of the third quarter. That left the Tigers in second- and third-and-long situations, situations which took the running game out of the equation.

The Tigers held the ball for just over four minutes total in the second half, and never got past their own 43. That led to Massillon’s defense, which spent all night trying to bring down the bruising Howard, having little time to recover on the sideline before being forced back onto the field.

“We struggled off tackle and we weren’t connecting real well in our passing game either,” Hall said. “We just didn’t execute in the second half. It is what it is.”

The contrast between the first and second halves was startling for the Tigers, who struck first with a 1-yard run by J.T. Turner just 12 seconds into the second quarter for a 7-0 lead. Massillon had the ball for almost half the time in the first 24 minutes – 11:53 to be exact – and reached Hoover territory on four of its five possessions before intermission.

Massillon’s scoring drive started at the Tiger 35, and was effective in part because of the Tigers’ ability to spread the Vikings out with four- or five-receiver sets. That opened up running lanes for both Turner and quarterback Robert Partridge, while also allowing Partridge to spread the ball around to several receivers in the process.

Partridge finished the 11-play drive 4-of-5 for 32 yards. He also rushed three times for 18 yards, including a seven-yard run which set up Turner’s scoring plunge.

“In the first half, we were able to move the ball and execute,” Hall said. “Rob ran well and threw some short passes. He scrambled and threw on the run down here to (Josh) Remark. Anytime you have an athletic quarterback, getting in an empty package or a 3-by-1 is just putting them in position to be successful.”

The Tigers had other opportunities in the first half, especially on their next possession. Bo Grunder’s 30-yard punt return put the ball at midfield, and Turner broke loose on a 35-yard run on the first play to the Hoover 15.

However, a holding penalty on the Tigers moved the ball back to the Viking 44. The next three plays netted minus-four yards, resulting in a punt.

The next Massillon drive also started in Hoover territory, at the Viking 45. But it ended on downs as the Tigers netted minus-1 yard.

That’s when Hoover grabbed the momentum and began to turn it in its favor. And, no surprise, it started with Howard.

Massillon got a sack for a loss of 13 on Hoover’s first play, then limited the Vikings to just seven yards on a reception on second down. Faced with third-and-16 from their own 40, the Vikings called a middle screen and quarterback Brett Tulodzieski located Howard in the face of massive pressure.

Howard, cutting and eluding would-be tacklers, would not be dragged down until he reached the Tiger 1. On the next play, he plowed in for the score with 2:07 left in the half to knot the score after the extra point.

“We just put that in this week,” Hoover coach Don Hertler Jr. said of the screen pass. “It was a slip screen, and we just threw it to a different guy. The middle screen really sparked us.”
And that spark ended up burning the Tigers.

GAME STATS

Hoover 14,

Massillon 7
at North Canton Memorial Stadium

Massillon 0 7 0 0 7
Hoover 0 7 0 7 14

SCORING SUMMARY
M – Turner 1 run (Geier kick)
H – Howard 1 run (Sarbaugh kick)
H – Howard 49 run (Sarbaugh kick)

Mas Hoo
First down 7 14
Rushing yards 24-73 50-197
Comp.-att.-int. 9-23-0 6-9-0
Passing yards 54 111
Fumbles-lost 0-0 0-0
Penalty yards 3-15 3-30

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing

Massillon:

Turner 14-47 TD;

Partridge 6-28;

White 1-1.

Hoover:

Howard 40-195 2 TDs;

Tulodzieski 9-6.

Passing

Massillon:

Partridge 9-23-54.

Hoover:

Tulodzieski 6-9-111.

Receiving

Massillon:

Grunder 4-19;

Pizzino 2-16;

Clark 1-8;

Remark 1-7;

Gaines 1-4.

Hoover:

Beck 3-44;

Howard 2-63;

Nettleton 1-4.

Records

Massillon 6-5;

Hoover 10-1.