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History

1985: Massillon 6, Canton McKinley 21

November 2, 1985November 10, 2021
by Eric Smith

Defeat can’t hide Tiger pride
Pups end Massillon season

By STEVE DOERSCHUK
Independent Sports Editor

MASSILLON ‑ They’ve pulled the plug on the football season, and it’s quiet around here all right.

No football playoffs to get crazy about … heck, not even a scrimmage against Akron East.

Maybe the calendar says “Nov. 4,” but its winter, baby.

You can say this, though. As the sports soul of Tigertown sighs and enters hibernation, it can be tucked in with a blanket of pride.

Here’s a nut and bolts way to took at it: the Tigers got a 21‑6 spanking from the playoff‑bound McKinley Bulldogs Saturday before 20,174 fans in Canton’s Fawcett Stadium to close their season with a 7‑3 record under first‑year head coach John Maronto.

Here’s another way: the Bulldogs were heavy favorites but got a pretty good scare.

If you want to get at the soul of this 91st game, which left the Tigers with a 50‑36‑5 lead in the fabled series, climb on down off the scoreboard.

How close was this game?

With 8:39 left, Mike Norris was digging for yardage round the 2‑yard line, needing to get inside the 1 for a first down and into the end zone for a chance for the Tigers to turn a 14‑6 deficit into a 14‑14 tie – Norris was stopped right there at the 2 on fourth down.

How close?

With fire minutes left, the Tiger defense stuffed the Pups, and Massillon got the ball on a punt in A‑1 field position near midfield.

Here was another chance to gun for a touchdown, a two-point conversion, and some dancin’ in the streets.

On the first play after they took over, the Tigers lost the ball on an interception, McKinley got a quick score on a bomb, and that was that.

How close.

Dead even, almost. In the end, McKinley had 211 total yards to 199 for the Tigers.

Of course, “close” only cuts so much ice. Plenty of Tigers shed plenty of tears after the clock froze at 0:00.

McKinley was going to the play offs, against GlenOak Saturday night in Fawcett Stadium as it turns out, with a 9‑1 record.

The Tigers were going home.

After the bus wheeled into Paul Brown Tiger Stadium and the players met for it quiet team meeting, Duane Crenshaw found his locker and removed his pads slowly.

He was sad and proud all at once.

”Everybody said they would blow us out,” said the senior defensive tackle. “They sure didn’t blow us out.”

Crenshaw’s locker was near that of Cornell Jackson. By now Jackson had removed his No. 8 for the last time, having gone out in splendid fashion.

His 83 yards in 18 rushing attempts made him the most visibly consistent offensive player in the game. Late in the contest, he turned the intangible of “determination” into something that could be seen with the naked eye.

On the late drive that set up the Tigers with their fourth and short from the 3, trailing by 8, Jackson got good blocking and shed many tacklers as he plunged ahead for 38 yards in seven memorable carries.

“It dawned on me at about that time that within a number of minutes my high school career would be over,” said Jackson, who was in his third game of a comeback after arthrosopic knee surgery. “I wanted to go out with my best effort. I’m just upset that we fell short.”

Maronto was upset, too. His marathon vigils in the film room, which produced a game plan laced with short passes and helped the Tigers stay in the game, were not enough to overcome a McKinley team seen by many as a solid state championship contender.

Maronto fought to get out the words as he spoke with reporters in the Tiger Stadium locker room after delivering the season‑ending address to his troops.

“It’s hard to feel anything good about losing to McKinley,” said the man who arrived from Detroit De La Salle High in mid‑June. “But maybe I have to look at it more maturely. I can say this. The kids just spilled their guts.”

The game’s first four possessions developed with the Tigers and the Bulldogs imitating each other.

McKinley received the opening kickoff and had to punt after three plays.

Then the Tigers had to punt after three plays.

Then McKinley scored on a long march. Then the Tigers scored on a longer march.

McKinley’s scoring drive began in Massillon territory after Chris Clax returned a punt 15 yards to the 48. Using Brian Chaney‑to‑Jerome Perrin passes and runs by fullback Percy Snow and the tailback Clax, the Bulldogs marched on six plays to the 6, where it was first down.

From there, Snow found a gaping hole on a left‑side trap play and literally trotted into the end zone for a McKinley score with 5:38 left in the first quarter. Mark Smith’s kick made it 7‑0, Bulldogs.

The Tigers started from their 34 after the kickoff. Behind senior Paul Fabianich’s sharpest quarterbacking of the season, the Tigers maneuvered downfield against McKinley’s vaunted angle defense.

Highlights included a 12‑yard pass to Bart Letcavits, a 16‑yard Fabianich scramble (his longest of the season), a 10‑yard strike to Wes Siegenthaler and a 17 yard, third and 10 completion to tight end Derick Newman to the 9.

Had later events favored the Tigers, the completion to Newman would have emerged as one of the most interesting developments in the game.

On the play, Fabianich nimbly darted away from the Bulldog linebacker Perrin. A year ago, Perrin was making tackles in that kind of situation, as his big‑play tackles sparked McKinley to a 17‑6 win and led to a first‑team, All‑Ohio berth for Perrin.

But this time, Fabianich stole the moment and zipped a completion to Newman … who had been a fullback all season.

“We wanted to use Derick as a tight end from the start, but injuries didn’t let us go that way,” Maronto said.

Norris, a junior fullback, plowed six yards up the middle to the 3. On second and goal, Fabianich flicked a quick pass over the right side of the line that barely zipped over the linebacker Snow’s hand and nestled into Newman’s grasp for a touchdown.

Norris changed shoes and lined up for the PAT attempt, but his kick sailed low and wide right, and the score stayed at 7‑6 with 1:31 left in the first quarter.

The game of copycat continued through the rest of the half, which was colored by excellent defense from both sides.

McKinley punted, Massillon punted. Then the Bulldogs punted again, then the Tigers punted again … but this time Ken Hawkins’ boot was partially blocked.

McKinley took over on its 46 with three minutes left in the half. The Bulldogs could get no farther than the Tiger 35, where they ran out of downs when a Chaney pass sailed over Perrin’s head.

The Tigers couldn’t budge, and the half ran out shortly after they punted with McKinley leading 7‑6.

The defenses dominated the third quarter, too, with McKinley shifting its alignment to take away Massillon’s short passing game, and Massillon playing “stuff the run,” as the Bulldogs put Chaney’s arm in seclusion and unsuccessfully tried to operate a power attack.

In their first five possessions of the third period, the teams combined for just five first downs on drives that all ended with punts.

The fifth of the punts sank the Tigers.

The boot, a low-flying 41-yarder off the foot of Hawkins, was taken by Clax at the McKinley 38. Clax started for the middle and found an opening to the outside. He broke to the left sideline and then back toward the middle of the field, outracing two Tigers and arriving in the end one at the end of a 62‑yard jaunt.

Smith’s PAT kick made it 14‑6, McKinley, with 1:55 left in the third quarter.

There was still fight left in the Tigers.

The Tigers took over on the kickoff at their 29 and, with the help of a 15‑yard pass interference penalty, used the running of Jackson and Norris to hammer out a length‑of‑the field drive.

On the eighth play of the march, which now was in the fourth quarter, Jackson exploded through the line on a trap play and exploded for 15 yards, almost breaking away for a touchdown but getting dragged down just outside the 10.

Jackson then went around the left side but slipped and fell at the 8. Norris bulled straight ahead for five yards, but on third and about two from the 3, Jackson tried the right side and was stopped for no gain.

Now it was fourth and two.

Do you go for the field goal and make it 14‑9 with about eight minutes left? Or do you go for the touchdown and two‑point conversion to tie?

“We needed a touchdown,” Maronto said, who mapped out strategy during a timeout called by McKinley.

The Bulldogs might be looking for Jackson to come around one of the ends, as he had on two of the previous three plays, Maronto figured.

The Tigers would try to pop Norris through the line.

“It was an inside belly play,” Maronto said. We felt we had enough force to make that play work. Norris is a strong runner.”

Norris lined up close to Fabianich. Fabianich handed him the ball an instant after the snap and Norris charged into the left side of the line. McKinley nose guard Cary Brown lid directly into Norris’ path and made the hit as other players arrived. Norris went down in a pile at the 2. It was McKinley’s ball.

McKinley’s poor field position loomed as a possible silver lining for the Tigers, but that went away when Snow ran eight yards to the 10 on the next play.

Still, the Tigers were alive and kicking when they forced the Bulldogs to punt from their 22. Massillon took over on its 44 with five minutes left in the game, but Smith’s interception killed a would‑be drive before the orange army in the north stands could get worked up.

Five plays after the interception, Smith struck again, racing behind two Tiger defensive backs and hauling in a perfect strike from Chaney on a 41-yard TD play. Smith’s kick gave the Bulldogs a 21‑6 lead with 2:30 left, and the seats cleared out early.

Fabianich finished with a season high of 21 passing attempts. He completed nine throws for 75 yards, two interceptions and the touchdown, the only aerial TD the Tigers achieved in 1985.

Chaney completed eight of 13 passes for 62 yards.

Snow led McKinley’s rushing attack with 64 yards in 15 carries. Clax, who rushed for more than 1,000 yards in 1984, was held under 600 yards for 1985 as a result of gaining just 20 yards in nine carries Saturday.

Back to Ringling Bros.
Tiger football season ends for Obie XVI, seniors

MASSILLON Ed Annen looked a bit sad. But then, he was about to lose a friend.

“It’s back to Ringling Brothers for her now,” Annen sighed as he looked at the friend, who lives in a cage and answers to Obie XVI.

With help from some loiterers, Annen wheeled the cage of Obie XVI out of a pickup truck and into her fall home at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

The football season was over for another year, and so were Annen’s special duties: caretaker of the live tiger that is part of what makes game days in Massillon different than game days in other towns.

The echo of the final gun was still so fresh that the players were in a team meeting within growling distance of Obie’s cage.

In an unplanned moment, the locker room door cracked open and revealed the meeting scene … a silent room filled with bowed heads.

Forget about Obie. Nobody who wears the orange and black feels much in a circus mood after losing to McKinley, as these Tigers had by a 21‑6 score in Fawcett Stadium on this Saturday.

“I thought we played pretty well against McKinley, but we could have played better … we could have beat ‘em,” said Jerrod Vance, a junior linebacker. “Next year we’re going to have a super team. I’m going to try my best to make sure of that.

The meeting broke up, and folks moved quietly amid the benches,

The seniors said their good byes to the locker room in which legends have been born. The juniors talked about setting things straight next year.

“I thought we played pretty well against McKinley, but we could have played better … we could have beat ‘am,” said Jetted Vance, a junior linebacker. ”Next year we’re going to have a super team. I’m going to try my best to make sure of that.

“I thought we should have done better this year. But we came a long way,”

Another junior linebacker who will go some more of the way with

History

1984: Massillon 6, Canton McKinley 17

November 3, 1984August 13, 2017
by Eric Smith

Determined Tigers beaten back by Bulldogs

By STEVE DUNGJEN
Independent Sports Editor

MASSILLON ‑ Decals, magic potion and a lucky penny weren’t enough.

McKinley’s Bulldogs were simply too much for Massillon Saturday afternoon before 17,926 fans at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

Not even record setting performances by Massillon’s Bruce Spicer and Mike Scott were enough to stave off a determined bunch of “Mad Dogs.”

When the final gun went off the scoreboard read: McKinley 17, Massillon 6.

And it wasn’t a game that could’ve gone either way. Massillon’s lone score occurred with a scant 32 seconds remaining, the Tigers’ fate already sealed.

Although the Bulldogs (7‑3) finished with a slight 296‑284 edge in net yards, the Tigers (6‑4) led in just about every other statistical category.

Statistics, though, are among the greatest half‑truths in the universe.

Massillon held a 20‑12 edge in first downs. The Tigers possessed the ball longer, and ran off a whopping 21 more offensive plays.

But the Bulldogs led in the two area, that counted the most ‑ big plays and total points. In both categories the Tigers lacked.

“That’s what wins big games for you,” Massillon defensive tackle John Kroah said. “We couldn’t stop theirs, and they didn’t make any mistakes. Maybe we just underestimated them.

“Personally, don’t think there was the same kind of intensity that we had for the Perry game.”

The strike‑it‑rich‑quick preference by the Bulldogs paid off handsomely to the tune of 17 points. Here’s the reasons why:

‑ Flanker Jeff Smith catches a 28‑yard touchdown pass with less than a minute left in the first half;
‑ Smith, also a safety, intercepts a Scott pass in the endzone to thwart a Massillon score;
– Tailback Chris Clax bursts 80 yards for a TD 36 seconds into the second half;
– Sophomore Mark Smith, with the wind at his back, drills home a 45‑yard fourth‑quarter field goal at the 7:55 mark to give the Dogs a 17‑0 lead.

Truly, McKinley was a rags to riches story this season. They were 1‑3 at one point. They unearthed their biggest treasure with Saturday’s win.

After a scoreless first quarter, the Tigers had a chance to draw first blood. But Todd Manion’s wind-aided 54‑yard field goal attempt fell well short of the intended mark.

Before setting up for the three-point try the Tigers used two time outs. That would come back to haunt them later in the period.

Taking over at their own 20, the Bulldogs went 80 yards in eight plays behind the throwing of junior quarterback Brian Chaney.

Chaney hit six of seven passes in the drive for 78 yards, the finale being a 28‑yard strike to Smith over the middle. Smith’s point‑after was good, and McKinley held a 7-0 lead with 59 seconds remaining in the half.

Massillon, with no time outs left, promptly took the ball from its own 34 following the kickoff and marched to McKinley’s 9‑yard line behind Scott’s pin‑point passing, Scott hit Derrick Newman for 19 yards, Cornell Jackson for 23 and Spicer for 14 more.

Faced with a first down from the Bulldog 9, Scott sought Newman in the end zone. The pass was intercepted by Smith instead.

Mr. Momentum remained in the Bulldog locker room at halftime, joining the team minutes later on the field of play when Clax burst 80 yards to paydirt just 36 seconds into the half.

In the span of 95 seconds, the Bulldogs had pulled off three big plays. Three more than the Tigers had all game.

Twice in the third period the Tigers, who had pour field position for the bulk of the game, were within striking distance. Both times, though, they were denied entry into the end zone.

Massillon had the ball once at its own 45, but had to punt three plays later. The same fate befell them on their next possession, taking the ball at McKinley’s 47 and punting three plays later again.

McKinley threatened to break the ballgame wide open on its ensuing set of downs, driving to the Tiger 27 where they were faced with a fourth‑and‑2. Clax took off with the ball to his right, but Massillon defensive end Chris Slinger put the stopper to him short of the yard stick.

With the distinct possibility of being shut out for the first time in the series since 1973, the Tigers got the ball back for the final time at their own 13 with 3:19 remaining.

Scott, who had a sterling first half, was off to a retched second‑half showing, completing just four‑of‑19 passes before the final drive.

But the senior dug down and went work. He hit Spicer for a pair of 11‑yard gains. Irwin Hastings for nine more, and Spicer again for eight. Wes Siegenthaler then caught a pass for 12 yards and Spicer another eight yarder.

Hastings was found open once again, this time for a 14‑yard gain to McKinley’s 14. Two straight passes then fell incomplete when Scott connected with Siegenthaler for a first down at the Bulldog 2.

On the ensuing play, Hastings swept the left side for a long‑awaited but way too little TD. Only 32 seconds showed, and the subsequent onside kick attempt was recovered by the red and black.

On this sunny day not even the decals that equipment manager Keith Herring purchased and then applied to the front of each player’s helmet worked.

Not even the “win potion” of assistant coach Butch Hose could do it’s thing.

And not even the “lucky penny” assistant coach Keith Dewitz found outside the coach’s door nine days earlier could come through.

It just wasn’t meant to be.

It’s back to the
drawing board
for Currence, staff

By STEVE DUNGJEN
Independent Sports Editor

MASSILLON There will be no grace period for Mike Currence this year. Canton McKinley saw to that Saturday afternoon.

In front of 17,926 spectators at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium, the Bulldogs gave Thom McDaniels his first win in three outings against Massillon with a 17‑6 decision.

“I won’t be celebrating (this) week,” Currence, Massillon’s head coach of nine years, said. “I’ll be working. We’ll start a week early on next year’s game.”

“The big run killed us,” Currence said of Chris Clax’s 80‑yard run to paydirt on the first play from scrimmage to open the second half. “That put us down two, and now we really had to start playing catch up.

“I don’t know how many they had,” he said of the Bulldogs’ big plays, “three, four, five, six, seven or eight. They made a lot of them, and we didn’t get any big plays.

“I think we were up, but I don’t think we played as well as we could’ve. We had them several times, but we just didn’t cash them in.

“We used a few different formations and alignments, but it didn’t bother them. The formations and plays didn’t stop them from winning.”

Currence admitted his club aired the ball much more than they wanted to against McKinley’s seasoned secondary. The Tigers put the ball in the air a team record 49 times.

Although the Tigers dropped to 6‑4 with the loss, Currence wasn’t totally dismayed.

“We started out with a very young team,” he noted. “We have a lot to be proud of. We certainly aren’t proud of losing the last one, though.

“The senior never gave up, and I’m certainly proud of them.”

Massillon got off to one of its worst starts, saddled with a 1‑3 record after just four weeks. Then the Tigers started to put things together, stringing five consecutive wins before Saturday’s swan song.

And how does McKinley rate with Massillon’s other nine opponents this season?

“I think they are the best team we’ve played,” Currence said.

But there will be little time for reflection.

On Friday, the head coach received some bad news. His father-in‑law had passed away. Today Currence and his wife Joan are in Maryland, where funeral arrangements were taking place.

Tiger‑Bulldog gridstick

MCKINLEY 00
MASSILLON 00

McK M
First downs rushing 5 4
First downs passing 7 15
First downs by penalty 0 1
Totals first downs 12 20
Yards gained rushing 213 63
Yards lost tasting 18 29
Net yards rushing 195 34
Net yards passing 101 250
Total yards gained 296 284
Passes attempted 14 49
Passes completed 8 23
Passes int. by 2 0
Times kicked off 4 2
Kickoff average 46.5 32.2
Kickoff return yards 16 1
Punts 4 6
Punting average 30.3 32.2
Punt return yards 23 15
Punts blocked by 0 0
Fumbles 1 0
Fumbles lost 0 0
Penalties 1 2
Yards penalized 13 20
Touchdowns rushing 1 1
Touchdowns passing 1 0
Miscellaneous touchdowns 0 0
Number of plays 51 72
Time of possession 23:31 24:29
Attendance 17,926

MCKINLEY 0 7 7 3 17
MASSILLON 0 0 0 6 6

Mck ‑ Jeff Smith 28 pass from Brian Chancy (Mark Smith kick)
Mck ‑ Chris Clax 80 run (M. Smith kick)
Mck ‑ M. Smith 45 FG
M ‑ Irwin Hastings 2 run (pass failed)

Scott, Spicer stand out
For Tigers
in face of defeat

By STEVE DUNGJEN
Independent Sports Editor

MASSILLON ‑ Personal accomplishments lose their shine in the face of defeat.

Bruce Spicer and Mike Scott know that all too well.

In the aftermath of Saturday’s disheartening 17‑6 loss to Canton McKinley at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium, Massillon’s S & S combination was, needless to say, distraught.

Spicer, a senior wide receiver, set three Tiger pass receiving records. Scott, a senior quarterback, established two passing standards.

Entering the McKinley game, Spicer already owned the single game receiving mark with nine. He bettered that by two with his 11 receptions for 104 yards.

On the first play from scrimmage, Spicer caught a 10-yard pass that gave him the regular‑season reception mark with 46. Marty Guzzetta had held the record with 45.

Guzzetta’s all‑time single season record of 50 catches was knocked down a notch. Spicer finished the year with 56 receptions.

In his career Spicer caught 66 passes, which rank him third on the all time list behind Curtis Strawder (68) and Guzzetta (69).

Those 56 catches by Spicer netted him 583 Yards, putting him in second place behind Guzzetta’s 706 total in 11 games.

“I got a pretty good end, don’t I?” Tiger head coach Mike Currence said of Spicer.

“The records didn’t mean a lot because we didn’t win the game,” a subdued Spicer said. “I think we hurt ourselves. We made a lot of mistakes and had a lot of letdowns here and there.

“The win over McKinley is what everybody wanted.”

Spicer said the 80‑yard touchdown run by McKinley’s Chris Clax to open the second half took the wind out of the Tigers’ sail.

“It was like the bottom fell out,” he said. “It was something that happened that you didn’t think could happen.”

Scott bounced back from a preseason back injury to certify himself as one of the all‑time top Tiger passers.

Despite missing nearly four full games, Scott pushed his name into third place in the single-season attempts chart. His 178 throws this year trailed only Brian DeWitz (181) and Brent Offenbecher (182).

Scott also ranks fourth on the career most attempts list with 190. His 1,208 passing yards this year rank him sixth on the all‑time career chart, and his 244 yards passing against McKinley put him fourth in the single‑game books.

Against McKinley, Scott heaved a yeoman‑like 48 passes to surpass his own record of 32 set earlier this year against Stow. The senior signal caller also completed 23 attempts to better his standard of 19, also set against Stow.

“I knew we had to get the ball down there some way and score, but I didn’t do it,” Scott said about his abundance of aerial attempts. “After a big score like that (Clax’s 80‑ yard run) everybody is down on themselves and we knew we’d have to come back and score.

“We were trying to get a good (big play) touchdown for ourselves in order to get back in the game. They were jumping most of our primary receivers and we had to go to our secondaries.”

There was nothing secondary about the performances turned in by the S & S duo. Though it will take some time for their deeds to sink in, they can hold their heads high.

Mike Scott and Bruce Spicer will long be remembered as two of Massillon’s finest.

History

1983: Massillon 18, Canton McKinley 7

November 5, 1983August 13, 2017
by Eric Smith

Tigers capture 89th classic 18-7

Bulldogs fall in misty Fawcett

By BOB STEWART
Repository Sports Editor

In the 89 games the Bulldogs and the Tigers have battled on the high school football field since 1894, there have been numerous surprises and upsets.

But it was not to be Saturday, as the favored Massillon Tigers mugged the feisty but overmatched McKinley Senior Bulldogs 18-7 before 21,232 fans in a freezing mist at Fawcett Stadium.

It was the 50th victory for the Tigers in this scholastic gridiron granddaddy, increasing the edge over the Bulldogs, who have won 34 times and tied five others.

To be sure, this 1983 band of Bulldogs fought the valiant fight, played perhaps as well as they have played this disappointing season. But it was not enough this dreary afternoon.

The Massillons had too many guns. The outcome was never really in doubt.

Massillon was favored by 10 points, according to the odds fellows. The Tigers won by 11.

It could have been worse, embarrassingly much worse.

Massillon’s first scoring threat misfired when Bronc Pfisterer missed on a 34-yard attempt for a field goal.

Game Action 1983 Massillon vs. Canton McKinley

The Tigers also missed a TD near the end of the half when McKinley’s Pierre Taylor intercepted a Brian Dewitz pass in the end zone, a bizarre play on which the officials almost mistakenly awarded the Tigers a safety (see Stewart on Sports column, Page 43).

In addition after the longest drive of the day, Massillon fumbled the ball away on the McKinley 1-yard line in the fourth period, and after that had an apparent interception taken away for roughing the Pups’ passer.

The Tigers’ rushing game was perhaps short of awesome, but certainly more than effective. Massillon’s ball carriers netted 260 yards on the ground, an average of 5.1 per carry, and it allowed the Tigers possession for 61 percent of the clock time.

The victory salvaged respectability for the Tigers, who with a 9-1 record will watch from the sidelines as the OHSAA grid playoffs begin this weekend.

It is expected to be announced today that Alliance (10-0) and Akron Garfield (9-0), the team which tamed the Tigers 14-10 in the second game of the season will play for the Region 3 championship in Division 1.

If Alliance is the No. 1 team in the computer ratings for the region, the playoff game probably will be in Fawcett, Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

McKinley finished 6-4, it’s worst record since 1976, the first year of consolidation from four Canton high schools to two.

But McKinley coach Thom McDaniels said his players had nothing to be ashamed about Saturday.

“I’m proud of the way they (the Bulldogs) attempted to win the football game,” he said.

“The Ursuline and Elder games (two of the losses) left a bad taste in the mouth. Against Moeller, (the other loss) we weren’t ashamed of ourselves, either,” said the coach who completed his second season as the head man at McKinley, and his fourth at the school.

”I didn’t have any heart attacks in the first half,” Massillon Coach Mike Currence was to say afterward. “But I had about five in the second half.”

“McKinley didn’t quit, and they played a good game. McDaniels is a great coach, and he did not have the best material this season.”

“I don’t think this was a great McKinley team, when compared to some of the ones in the recent past, but they played tough.”

Tigers trip Bulldogs

The swift senior tailback, Craig Johnson, who carried only once for a loss of three yards in the Tigers first possession that ended in the aborted field goal, finished with a flourish, running for 138 yards in 20 carries, putting him at 1,008 yards for the 1983 season.

On their second possession, the Tigers zipped 52 yards in only four plays, the finale a
one-yard touchdown plunge by All-Ohioan Chris Spielman, who not only gained 55 yards on 15 carries and scored both Tiger touchdowns, but also led a swarming defense from his linebacker position which stifled McKinley’s running game.

Dewitz sparked the TD drive with a 19-yard rollout romp on the first play, and then was hit late by a Bulldog. The 15-yard penalty put the Tigers on the Pups’ 18, from where Johnson got eight and Spielman nine to set up the touchdown.

Spielman’s 33-yard punt return on the last play of the first period set up the second Tigers’ score.

Even though the Bulldogs’ defense held Massillon to 13 yards over the first six plays of the second quarter, Pfisterer drilled a 36-yard field goal to put the visitors up 10-0 with 9:20 left in the half.

The Bulldogs’ junior Jeff Angione sparked his team with a 42-yard return of the ensuing kickoff, and McKinley marched to the Tigers’ 28, before a dropped pass on fourth down turned the ball over.

But three plays later, Anthony McCullough pounced on a Dewitz fumble and the Pups were back in business at the Tigers’ 47, from where they scored in eight plays.

McKinley quarterback Kevin Parrish, who completed six of 21 passes for 82 yards before being injured late in the fourth period, hit Jeff Smith in the end zone with a 15-yard scoring strike 55 seconds before the band show. Anthony Taylor’s placement pulled the Pups to within three at 10-7.

After Spielman returned the kickoff to his own 43, Dewitz flipped a screen pass to the fleet Johnson, and he turned the play into a 41-yarder, putting the ball at the Bulldogs’ 16.

Then came Pierre Taylor’s interception in the end zone with seven seconds left.

After the lengthy discussion by the officials, who finally made the right ruling of a touchback, Parrish fell on the ball to end the half.

What may well have been the final turning point came midway in the third period.

McKinley couldn’t move with the third quarter kickoff, and Massillon marched from its own 14 to the McKinley 12, thanks to a 38-yard scamper by Johnson and runs of 17 and 13 by Dewitz, who was the Tigers second leading rusher with 62 yards on 11 carries.

But Dewitz fumbled and McKinley middle guard Bob Gilmore covered the ball, only to have the Bulldogs’ offense fumble it right back on the first play.

Four plays later, Johnson ran in from four yards out to make it 16-7.

The PAT took a while.

Finally, from 13½ inches away, Spielman plunged for the two-pointer to conclude the day’s – and the season’s – scoring, with 4:29 remaining in the third period.

McKinley came back to the Tigers’ 18, thanks mostly to a 25-yard pass from Parrish to junior end Rafe Lazar, the Pups’ longest gainer of the day.

The Tigers, with 2:12 left in the third, then took final control of the game. They managed to come up with the key plays, just when the Pups thought they had them stopped, and moved the ball 81 yards in 14 plays to the McKinley 1, where, with a second-and-goal, Dewitz fumbled the snap again, and the ball wound up in the end zone where McKinley’s Jeff Smith covered it for another touchback.

A pass interference penalty and a 22-yard Parrish to Pierre Taylor aerial putt he ball on the Tigers 40, from where Parrish threw a pass that was picked off by Massillon’s Derrick Dave. But the Tigers’ were flagged for roughing Parrish, and the Pups had a first down at the Tiger 25…but without Parrish, who left the game with a knee injury. Reports indicate he was treated and released at Timken-Mercy Medical Center after the game.

Brian Worstell, a 5-11 junior, came on, but he could fare no better, and the Pups gave up the ball at the 19.

Troy Jenkins, McKinley’s premier runner who had gained 1,101 yards in his first nine games, picked up 72 yards in 15 carries.

Pup-Tiger
Statistics

Massillon……………….. 7 3 8 0 – 18
McKinley Senior……….. 0 7 0 0 – 7

Mas – Spielman 6 run (Pfisterer kick)
Mas – FG Pfisterer 36
McK – Smith 15 pass from Parrish (A. Taylor kick)
Mas – Johnson 4 run (Spielman run)
A – 21,232.

TEAM STATISTICS
Mass. McK.
First downs rushing 15 3
First downs passing 3 6
First downs penalties 2 2
Totals first downs 20 11
Rushes – yards 51-260 23-82
Passing yards 78 97
Total Net yards 338 179
Return yards 75 92
Passes 4-11-1 8-29-1
Punts-avg. 2-27 4-36.5
Punt return yards 48 2
Kickoff-avg. 4-45.5 2-35.2
Kickoff return yards 25 96
Fumbles lost 4-3 2-1
Penalties-yards 6-51 4-39
Third down conversions 4-11 5-13
Total plays 64 52
Time of possession 29:11 18.49

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing – Massillon: Johnson 20-138, Dewitz 11-62,
Spielman 15-55, Gruno 2-3, Hastings 1-2,
Sampsel 2-0.
McKinley Senior: Jenkins 15-72, Parrish 3-4,
Calhoun 2-3, Smith 2-3, Lytle 1-0.

Passing – Massillon: Dewitz 4-11-1-78.
McKinley Senior: Parrish 6-21-0-82,
Worstell 2-8-15-1.

Pass Receiving – Massillon: Johnson 2-57, Spielman 1-13,
Crenshaw 1-8,
McKinley Senior: Jenkins 3-17, Lazar 2-32,
p. Taylor 1-21, Draper 1-12, Smith 1-15.

Missed field goals – Massillon: Pfisterer 34.

Massillon celebrates
Golden Anniversary

By STEVEN DUNGJEN
Independent Sports Editor

CANTON – Massillon football celebrated a Golden Anniversary of sorts Saturday afternoon at Fawcett Stadium – 50 wins over McKinley.

The Tigers (9-1) posted an 18-7 victory over the Bulldogs (6-4) in the 89th meeting between the two before a packed house. With the win Massillon upped its series lead to 50-34 with five ties.

Massillon held the statistical edge in nearly every category of importance: first downs (19 to 11), rushing (227 yards to 79) and total yards (332 to 175).

It was one of those kind of days where everything went wrong, but nothing did.

Although the Tigers scored two touchdowns and a field goal, head coach Mike Currence’s squad squandered away more golden opportunities than it wanted to.

In the first quarter alone the Tigers had a first down at the McKinley 18 and came away empty-handed when a 34-yard field goal went astray.

Massillon was knocking on the door again late in the second quarter, with a first down at the Bulldog 16. This time an interception halted the drive.

Another time, this in the third period, the Tigers had a first down at the McKinley 12. A lost fumble again stymied Massillon.

And if three blown opportunities weren’t enough, the Tigers continued their version of give-away in the final period when another fumble at the McKinley one stopped yet another golden chance.

“We made some mistakes,” Currence admitted, citing the fumble in the end zone in the fourth quarter as a prime example. “That was terrible.”

Through it all, though, the Tigers still prevailed. That’s because a stingy defense made it happen.

Forced to go to its passing game in the second half, McKinley finished with just 79 yards rushing on 23 carries. The Bulldogs’ lone TD occurred following a Massillon fumble.

In the air the Bulldogs picked up 96 yards, but quarterbacks Kevin Parrish and Brian Worstell combined to complete just eight-of-29 attempts.

Only two of McKinley’s 10 possessions began inside Massillon territory. More often than not the Bulldogs were pinned back inside their own turf, especially in the opening stanza when the hosts netted a total of nine yards.

Massillon appeared well on its way to a score on the game’s opening set of downs, marching to the McKinley 18 with a first down. Two straight runs lost five yards when quarterback Brian Dewitz ran for six yards.

On fourth down Pfisterer, who holds career and single-season field goal kicking school records, missed on a 34-yard attempt.

A roughing the punter call on McKinley during the drive kept the Tiger hopes alive.

After holding McKinley on its second possession, the Tigers were back in action with the ball at their own 48.

Dewitz scampered 19 yards on a bootleg, but McKinley was called for spearing on the play. With the ball now on the 18 stellar running back Johnson, who finished with 133 yards rushing, gained nine yards.

Then Spielman got into the act, gaining eight yards to the one and adding the final yard for the TD at the 4:14 mark. Pfisterer added the extra-point and the Tigers led 7-0.

McKinley was stopped in its tracks once again on its next series, but Spielman broke off a 33-yard punt return to give Massillon good field position at the Bulldog 32.

Johnson picked up eight yards on the first play from scrimmage and Spielman added three more for a first down. Dewitz was then sacked for a six-yard loss when the Tigers were then called for illegal motion.

A Dewitz pass fell incomplete before Johnson broke off a 13-yard scamper to the McKinley 19 to put Pfisterer within field goal range. The senior booter responded with a 36-yard field goal, giving Massillon a 10-0 lead at 9:30.

McKinley mounted its first serious threat on the next series with tailback Troy Jenkins running four yards on a fake punt for a first down. However, the drive stalled on Massillon’s 28 when a Parrish pass bounced off the hands of Leon Draper.

Three plays later and the Tigers gave the ball right back when Dewitz lost the handle on the center exchange. McKinley’s Anthony McCullough recovering at the 47.

Eight plays later and Parrish found Jeff Smith on a slant over the middle for a score with 51 seconds left in the half.

With time running out in the half Massillon reached the Bulldog 16 when Johnson ran 41 yards down the right sidelines on a screen pass. Dewitz then threw a pass over the middle which was intercepted by Pierre Taylor.

Taylor, who caught the ball in the end zone, then ran out of the end zone. Currence was quick on the field, asking for a safety.

After some deliberation by the game’s officials the Tigers were awarded a two-point safety. Now, it was McKinley head coach Thom McDaniels’ turn to “discuss” the play.

Again the game’s officials conferred. When they broke huddle they reversed their earlier decision and took the two points off Massillon’s side of the scoreboard.

“The McKinley coaches out coached me on that one,” Currence said tongue-in-cheek. “They showed me the ruling. It doesn’t seem right to intentionally take a safety.”

The two teams swapped turnovers in the third quarter, Dewitz losing a fumble to Bob Gilmore and Massillon’s Tim Sampsel recovering a Bulldog bobble one play later.

Four plays after Sampsel’s fumble recovery gave the Tigers excellent field position at the McKinley 19, Johnson ran four yards to pay dirt behind a good block by Tom Gruno at the 4:29 mark.

On the conversion, McKinley was called three straight times for encroachment. With the ball resting inside the one, Spielman carried in the two-pointer for a 18-7 Tiger lead.

McKinley then drove to a first down at the Massillon 23 following a 25-yard pass play, but three straight passes fell incomplete to stop the drive.

Massillon then chewed up over eight minutes of time on its next possession, but came away with nothing to show for it when the center snap was bobbled at the McKinley one with Smith recovering in the end zone.

The Bulldogs put together their last threat on the ensuing series, marching from their own 20 to Massillon’s 21 thanks in large part to a pair of 15-yard penalties, one for pass interference and another for roughing the quarterback.

But the drive stalled when a fourth down pass failed to gain the necessary yardage.

On last McKinley hope was thwarted by a Pat Spicer interception with less than a minute left.

Tiger ‘D’ turned
Pups into kittens

By NORM WEBER
Independent Sports Writer

CANTON – While the Massillon offense surprised McKinley with some new wrinkles Saturday in Fawcett Stadium, the Tiger defense was its reliable self in the 18-7 victory.

The Bulldogs did get one touchdown off the tight Tiger defense, but the score was set up by a Tiger fumble.

Other than that drive, the Tiger defense didn’t yield much. In the first quarter McKinley’s offense ran nine plays for nine yards.

Tackle Tom Gruno and nose guard John Franke incessantly applied pressure to Bulldog quarterback Kevin Parrish. The defense up front also showed strong pursuit on flushing out McKinley’s screen passes.

“I was getting a little concerned in the third quarter when they started driving,” Franke said. But then when we stopped them on our 18-yard line, I knew they weren’t going to score on us any more.”

Gruno admitted that Saturday’s game was the most exhausting of his career, but well worth it.

“With eight minutes left in the game I felt like dropping; I could hardly breathe,” said Gruno, who doubled at fullback. “Usually we’re ahead 44-0 in the fourth quarter and I’ll get a rest. This is by far my most tiring game.”

“I’d go to the sidelines when Timmy Sampsel would replace me at fullback. Every time I kept saying to the rest of the defensive players, ‘We’ve got to stop them.’ Nothing stood in our way. I knew it after we stopped them three consecutive times at getting a first down in the first quarter.”

“McKinley has some big tackles. But we were able to out-quick them. That was all we could do. We got so fired up every time I went to the sidelines on my offensive breaks. Beating McKinley is great.”

HUMBLE HERO – Tailback Craig Johnson was the first Tiger to go over the 1,000-yard mark rushing this season. His 133 yards against McKinley give him 1,003 on the season.

“How many yards to I have for the season?” a humble Johnson asked in the locker room after the game.

Johnson went over the magic number with a 13-yard gain in the fourth quarter.

“I didn’t know it then,” Johnson answered. “Which play was it?”

SPIELMAN’S VOW – When McKinley stopped the Tigers two years ago at Fawcett Stadium to earn a trip to the playoffs and eventually win the state championship, Chris Spielman vowed that the Tigers would never lose at Fawcett while he was playing.

“After we lost two years ago I said our team – and you can underline team, would not be beaten on this field again,” said Spielman. “I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time. I’d like to thank Massillon for everything.”

WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN – The Tigers may not be going to the playoffs, but based on Saturday’s performance, could be the best team in the state.

“If we played Akron Garfield next week we’d beat them by four touchdowns,” said Gruno. “This is a much improved team. I’ve been sitting in bed, listening to the radio and praying that Alliance or Garfield would lose. But we can’t control that.”

Neither Alliance nor Garfield, which beat Massillon 14-10 on Sept. 9, have lost. They’ll meet in the first round of the playoffs Saturday.

Topics of discussion such as the great Garfield debate are what keep the off-season fires burning.

History

1982: Massillon 7, Canton McKinley 0

November 6, 1982August 10, 2017
by Eric Smith

Playoff game here Saturday night
Sandusky next as Tigers nip Pups

By MIKE HUDAK
Independent Sports Editor

MASSILLON – Victory whoops echoed throughout a locker room where passage was difficult because of wall-to-wall well wishers wanting to reach out and congratulate the players who were an extension of their own lives.

But Ty Beadle, the Tigers’ 6-foot-2, 265 pound senior tackle was not smiling. The young giant was drained mentally and physically and his eyes seemed to peer through the floor he was staring at.

It was a helluva game, he understated.

Teammate Charles Calhoun, the Gladiator like Tiger guard, brought the twinkle back to Beadle’s eye. “We showed them the line could run today, too, he quipped.

Early in the third quarter, Calhoun had provided the only levity in what wasn’t a laughing matter, picking up a fumbled snap and carrying the ball six yards before being pulled down by the swarming Pup defense.

“That was the famous Clydsdale right play,” quipped Calhoun and Beadle laughed.

Beadle deserved to laugh, the Tigers had won, a perfect regular season had been completed and a home date in the playoffs assured. Unemployment may have hit the highest mark in Massillon since the 1930s but there was no “Depression” in Tigertown on Saturday, Nov. 6, 1982.

According to Tiger statistician Tom Persell, the talk around town after the game was that the Tigers were “flat”, that they had heard so often how they were supposed to overwhelm the Bulldogs that they were lulled by the publicity.

Not so. The first time the Tigers touched the ball following the opening kickoff they held the ball 18 plays, moving down to the Bulldog 15 before a penalty and a devastating McKinley pass rush moved them back to the 34 where a fake punt and a run by quarterback Brian DeWitz fell short of the first down.

This initial stand buoyed the Pups confidence. McKinley from that moment on played to its maximum defensive potential – known to be quite good before the game even began. It was the McKinley offense that was suspect and despite moments of glory, it remained the Pups ‘Achilles Heel’ as they failed to score for the first time in the annual classic since 1979.

After the Tigers initial drive, neither team threatened again the remainder of the half. Massillon fans were contemplative at halftime; typical reactions when friends spotted each other were raised eyebrows or shrugged shoulders when would the vaunted Tiger offense roll into gear?

Again, the Tigers first possession of the half, after forcing McKinley to punt, appeared to be the opening of the flood gates.

Beginning possession on the McKinley 42, halfback Chris Spielman, who enjoyed a spectacular day and garnered more page one press than perhaps any junior in journalistic history, picked up chunks of turf in eight-yard chunks as the Tigers drove to the Pup three.

But a flag for clipping on the run that set up first and goal turned the drive around. Moments later, it was fourth and goal from the 17.

Bronc Pfisterer rushed onto the turf for a field goal attempt. But at the last second, he rushed off and Tim Sampsel rushed on, barely avoiding a delay of game flag and attempted a kick that was wide left.

Tiger head coach Mike Currence explained the apparent confusion.

Tag: <span>Thom McDaniels</span>

1985: Massillon 6, Canton McKinley 21

1984: Massillon 6, Canton McKinley 17

1983: Massillon 18, Canton McKinley 7

Tigers capture 89th classic 18-7

Bulldogs fall in misty Fawcett

1982: Massillon 7, Canton McKinley 0