Tag: <span>Tom Lombardo</span>

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

2020: Lakewood St. Edward 24, Massillon 23

Turnover, trickery helps St. Edward rally to stun Massillon

Aug 28, 2020 11:35 PM

GAME STATS

MASSILLON Massillon seemed to have its hands grasped around an impressive season-opening win on Friday night.

Despite the challenges of a strange offseason and then a mid-game lightning delay, the Tigers found themselves in control of the football and a six-point lead over St. Edward with less than five minutes remaining. However, five minutes later, it was all gone for Massillon.

“Very bleak,” St. Edward coach Tom Lombardo said of his team’s chances late.

Bleak turned into brilliant for the Eagles as they converted a fourth-quarter Tiger pick into a little razzle-dazzle touchdown of their own, and it was the difference in what became a 24-23 victory at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium. The go-ahead touchdown came when Justin Slattery took a lateral pass from quarterback Christian Ramos, then threw a strike to a wide-open Joshua Kerekes for a 72-yard touchdown with 4:01 remaining.

Kerekes’ catch-and-run, which included him tight-roping the sidelines for the final 15 or so yards, was one of just five passes caught by Eagle receivers in the game. Two of those five went for second-half touchdowns, the other a Ramos-to-Andrew Cook 4-yard pass with 3:23 left in the third to cut Massillon’s lead to 20-17.

“Being the first game and the first scrimmage, we said, ‘Just play four quarters and keep playing,'” Lombardo said. “Obviously, we were having trouble stopping them early. … Our defense really made some plays at the end and obviously, we got the double pass.”

St. Edward was just 5-of-13 passing for 107 yards. The Eagles also had just 97 rushing yards.

The loss was Massillon’s first regular-season setback since falling to St. Vincent-St. Mary in Week 9 of the 2017 season. Since that setback, the Tigers had won 32 of 35 games, including 21 consecutive in the regular season.

It appeared that the streak was going to increase to 22 in a row after Massillon, while in possession of a 23-17 lead, had the ball at the Eagle 35 with the clock nearing four minutes. However, on third-and-8, a pass to the middle of the field was intercepted by St. Edward’s C.J. Hankins, who brought it back to the Eagle 41.

“In-game mistakes, you have to self-correct and move on,” Massillon coach Nate Moore said. “We don’t have time to sit around and mope about anything. … As a player on the field, you have to self-correct and move forward. You can’t let one negative play turn into two negative plays and all those things.’

Two plays later, what had been a Tiger lead turned into a Massillon deficit. The Tigers would have two possessions after giving up the lead, going three-and-out and punting from their own 15 on the first.

The second one, which started with 37 seconds remaining at the Massillon 31, reached the St. Edward 40. However, four incomplete passes – the final one with two seconds remaining – ended the Tigers’ hopes.

The ending spoiled what was, in many ways, a solid start for Massillon. After giving up a 94-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to Joal Castleberry with 8:07 remaining in the third quarter to fall behind the Eagles 7-3, the Tigers would score 14 straight points – on a pair of Zach Catrone-to-Jayden Ballard touchdowns – to lead 17-7 in the second quarter.

Catrone finished his first career start 14-of-29 for 262 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Ballard had a team-high 68 yards and the two touchdowns on two catches.

Raekwon Venson made his first career start as well at running back for the Tigers, rushing for 113 yards on 25 carries. That helped Massillon outgain St. Edward 396-204.

The probably for the Tigers was that they had to settle for three field goal, two of which were of less than 30 yards. Alex Bauer had two field goals of 26 yards, the last of those giving Massillon a 23-17 lead with 9:38 remaining, plus a career-long 41-yard boot.

Reach Chris at 330-775-1128 or chris.easterling@indeonline.com.

On Twitter: @ceasterlingINDE

History

2013: Massillon 14, Medina Highland 17

TIME RUNS OUT
Season ends as another Massillon rally falls short

BY CHRIS EASTERLING
Independent sports editor

AKRON Massillon’s two regular-season losses both followed a similar script.

The Tigers found themselves in a hole in the fourth quarter. Then, they scored late to give themselves an
opportunity to pull out the win.

It happened against both Austintown Fitch and St. Vincent-St. Mary. And Friday night in a Division II regional
semifinal against Highland, it happened once again.

And once again, the Tigers weren’t quite able to finish off the comeback. But this time, it cost them their season,
as they lost a 17-14 decision to the Hornets in front of 7,670 at InfoCision Stadium in Akron.

“We just never clicked,” Massillon coach Jason Hall said after his team finished 9-3. “We just didn’t. … Highland played a good game. They were consistent all game.”

The Tigers trailed by 10 with three minutes left and were faced with a fonrth-and-7 from their own 14. But
Danny Clark hit Marcus Whitfield for an 86-yard catch and run to pull Massillon to within 17-14-with 2:55
remaining.

At that point, visions of how Massillon almost erased a 16-point deficit in the final five minutes against Fitch
flashed in the minds of many. But as was the case then, it didn’t quite happen.

“Our kids are going to fight until the end,” Hall said. “Obviously, that was a big play. Our kids, even when it’s
not going well, our kids are going to fight.”

After forcing a three-and-out, Massillon got the ball back with 2:28 left at its own 37- But a second-play
interception – the second turnover of the game for the Tigers – kept them from capitalizing on that chance. A
last-ditch drive that started at the Massillon 5 reached the Tigers 31, but could go no farther.

“You’re hanging on for dear life at that point,” said Highland coach Tom Lombardo, after his team’s 12-0 record
earned it a regional-final matchup with Avon next week. “I was just saying some prayers there.”

Massillon’s defense helped stake it to a 7-3 halftime lead. The Tigers turned a first-quarter interception by
Reggie Rogers, which was brought back to the Hornet 19, into a J.L. Crabtree 2-yard run with 3:06 left in the
first quarter.

The Tigers, though, helped Highland get its first score when they fumbled at their own 21 with 39 seconds left
in the half. Luke Allen hit a 37-yard field goal with 16 seconds remaining before the break to cut the Massillon
lead to four.

Highland took its first second-half possession and turned it into a lead it would never relinquish. Starting from
their own 14, the Hornets went 86 yards in 12 plays, the last three covered by Bruce Kinsey with 5:56 left in the
third quarter, for a 10-7 lead.

Kinsey set Highland up with the score thanks to a 24-yard run – with an extra 15 tacked on after a Tigers
personal-foul penalty – that put the ball on the Massillon 31.

“With a defense like that, you need to keep pressing” said Kinsey, who rushed for 77 yards, while throwing for
110 yards. “That’s one good football team. That game could’ve gone either way. There were so many
momentum swings for both us and them, and thankfully, we were the ones who came out on top.”

Massillon had one more possession that went into Highland territory after the Hornets’ go-ahead score. But the
push to the Hornets’ 46 was short-circuited by a three-yard loss on third down.

The Tigers offense never again snapped the ball on the Highland side of the 50. They finished with 226
total yards and just nine first downs.

“It was tough sledding for everybody out there today,” Hall said.

Highland gave itself some breathing room with 6:43 left. On second-and-7, tailback Alex Harris hit a seam in
the defense and raced virtually untouched for a 43-yard touchdown for a 17-7 lead.

Harris finished with 110 yards on 19 carries.

“You’re not going to keep them from hitting that zone read or power read,” Hall said “They’re going to be able
to hit it Take your hat off to them, they’re a good football team.”

GAME STATS