Tag: <span>Spencer Leno</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 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, Parma Normandy 14

Tigers vent in big victory
Massillon rolls up a 45-14 win over Parma Normandy

By CHRIS EASTERLING
The Independent

MASSILLON, OH —

An angry football team can be a dangerous football team. The Massillon Tigers were an angry team as they entered Paul Brown Tiger Stadium for Friday night’s game against Normandy – angry over last week’s last-second loss to Jordan (Utah), and angry at the memories of last year’s loss to the same Invaders they lined up against on this evening.

They took some of that anger out on the Invaders early on, building up a 21-0 second-quarter lead. While Normandy got within seven at halftime, Massillon regained its composure and pulled away for a 45-14 victory at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

“No. 1, last week we talked about getting that chip off our shoulder,” said Tiger coach Jason Hall, whose team takes a 2-1 record into next Friday’s game against reigning Division V state runner-up Ursuline at Youngstown State University. “No. 2, they had something prove from last year. I don’t think our kids thought they went up there and played their best game.”

Both defenses were forced to make stands in the first quarter. Normandy missed a 42-yard field goal after getting an interception on the first play of the game, while the Tigers missed 32-yard field goal of their own after their defensive stop.

Bo Grunder made sure the Tigers’ next defensive stand didn’t go to waste. After a three-and-out on Normandy’s second possession, he took the punt at his own 18, eventually cutting his way across the field and running all the way back for an 82-yard touchdown at the 1:24 mark of the first quarter for a 7-0 Tiger lead.

Tiger quarterback Michael Clark’s nifty running and sleight of hand helped Massillon get a 21-0 lead just 1:22 into the second quarter.

The first time, he perfectly executed a play fake to J.T. Turner on a jet sweep, only to keep it on the bootleg to the left and run virtually untouched for a 60-yard touchdown. The second one came when he ran for 33 yards after Grunder recovered a Normandy fumble at its 39, finally being brought down at the Invader 6.

“The defense, they have to watch for us to hand off to J.T.,” said Clark, who finished with 127 yards rushing in the game. “I think we had run that play earlier in the game and got 30 yards. They have to respect that. As soon as they do, you keep it.”

Turner took the next play the rest of the way for the Massillon touchdown at the 10:38 mark of the second quarter and a 21-0 lead.

But Normandy came to life after that score, grinding out two long scoring drives to make it 21-14 at halftime.

The first drive went 68 yards in seven plays, with Michael Louis scoring from 6- yards out at the 7:50 mark of the first half. The second one chewed up 81 yards on just six plays – one of which was a 61-yard run by Squirek – with Squirek doing the honors from 3-yards out with 3:31 left in the half.

Squirek was a bull for the Tiger defenders to deal with all night, rushing for 167 in 18 first-half carries alone. He finished the game with 207 yards on 26 carries.

“He was tough to take down,” Turner said. “He was a big dude. He was a load to bring down.”
Normandy came out of the locker room after the half and drove to the Tiger 20, but Spencer Leno dropped the Invaders for a 2-yard loss on fourth down. Boosted by the stop, Massillon hopped on the back of Turner on the next drive, moving 78 yards in eight plays – seven of those Turner runs – before the senior ran in from 3-yards out for a 28-14 Massillon lead with 3:55 left in the third.

Turner had 71 yards rushing on the drive, after gaining just 46 in the first half. He finished with his third straight 100-yard rushing game with 156 yards on 23 carries.

“I started catching cramps at halftime,” said Turner, who broke the game open with a 17-yard touchdown run on the final play of the third quarter for a 35-14 Tiger lead. “I took a few pills, drank some Gatorade and (Tiger assistant Elden) McVicker just told me to go out there and keep running hard.”

GAME STATS

Massillon 45
Normandy 14
At Paul Brown Tiger Stadium

Normandy 00 14 00 00 14
Massillon 07 14 07 10 45

SCORING SUMMARY
M – Grunder 82 punt return (Geier kick)
M – Clark 60 run (Geier kick)
M – Turner 6 run (Geier kick)
N – Louis 6 run (Cook kick)
N – Squirek 3 run (Coon kick)
M – Turner 3 run (Geier kick)
M – Turner 17 run (Geier kick)
M – Geier 30 FG
M – Partridge 7 run (Geier kick)

Nor Mas
First Downs 15 17
Rushes-Yds 54-323 41-309
Comp-Att-Int 1-9-0 4-12-1
Passing Yards 4 63
Fumbles-Lost 3-1 0-0
Penalty yards 44 25

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing:

Massillon

Turner 23-156 3 TDs;

Clark 8-127 TD;

Reiman 7-22;

Partridge 2-4 TD.

Normandy

Squirek 26-207 TD.

Passing:

Massillon

Clark 3-11-51 INT;

Partridge 1-1-12.

Normandy

Pierce 1-9-4.

Receiving:

Massillon

Price 1-32;

Adkins 1-12;

Gaines 1-10;

Grunder 1-9.

Normandy

Sala 1-4.

Records:

Massillon 2-1;

Normandy 1-2.