Week 6 Computer Points

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COMMENTARY: Firestone's tires slashed, a set of screeching tires in Austintown-Fitch awaits

By Keno Sultan

MASSILLON—Akron Firestone drove their tires to Paul Brown Tiger Stadium for a Friday night showdown with the Massillon Tigers.

The Tigers slashed the tires of the Falcons as evidenced by the 62-27 score displayed. While Massillon was busy slashing the tires of Akron Firestone, another set of Falcons have been leaving screeching tire marks on helpless foes.

Those same Falcons will be making their first appearance on the Massillon schedule since the 2002 season. Austintown-Fitch will bring a 6-0 record into Paul Brown Tiger Stadium for next Friday's game against the Tigers and it will be the second test for the orange and black. Massillon's previous home contest against Steubenville was supposed to be tough. This will be a second test in three weeks but this time it is a mighty one.

 

Austintown-Fitch has scored 261 points while only yielding 50 points through six games. They have outdistanced teams by an average of 43.5 points to 8.3 points a game. Only Warren Harding High School is the lone team to score in double digits against a Falcons defense that has carnivorously preyed on helpless foes. The Raiders can speak they were the only team in striking distance of Fitch. Aside from a 24-10 win over the Raiders, Fitch's other scores have ended as 49-9 vs. Akron Hoban, 35-7 vs. Brunswick, 45-0 vs. Barberton, 52-7 vs. Youngstown Boardman, and 56-7 vs. Youngstown East.

That's a bunch of screeching tire marks left on their last five foes. And Massillon will have their hands full against the Falcons rushing attack and trying to slash Fitch's tires. This is obvious: Austintown-Fitch is not an Akron Firestone.

For Massillon to avoid being the seventh team to avoid absorbing the same fate that befell the first six foes, the Tigers will have to assume the task of subtracting the vaunted running game of the Falcons. Falcons head coach Phil Annarella, who was the head coach of the 1990 Warren Harding football team that won the Division I state championship and were ranked 5^th in the nation with a 14-0 record is aware of the challenge. He also knows well about the Warren Harding-Massillon rivalry going back to the 2002 season when both teams faced off in contests that old-timers from both cities will chat about for the rest of their lives. That in part will lead anyone that follows Massillon football to know that this will be a very physical contest.

It has been four years since the last time a team inflicted a savage thrashing on the Tigers at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium. You have to go back to the 2008 season when undefeated Cleveland St. Ignatius struck the Tigers like lightning in a 49-7 electrocution that left Massillon fans departing for their homes 12 minutes after it began via a Wildcats 35-0 first quarter lead. The Massillon class of 2012 were eighth graders when that nightmare was displayed. They have no intention of the same misfortune befalling them next Friday night but everyone defensively will have to be on the same cylinders and pistons to have a shot at triumph. The offense will have to assume ball control and cannot turn over the ball.

This is a game that will easily raise the Tigers to the #2 spot if not the #1 spot in the region 2 standings. Austintown-Fitch at press time were #2 in region 1. And it will go a long way into determining just how the season will go for the Tigers in what will be their biggest home assignment as of now.

Massillon slashed the tires of Akron Firestone. Slashing the screeching tires of Austintown-Fitch is another assignment. It will be up to the Tigers next Friday to assume the initiative and halt the runaway car in Austintown-Fitch or risk the same fate that seven other teams have experienced.

Buckle up and get ready for Friday evening in the house erected by Paul Eugene Brown.

 

 

 

Tigers use scoring barrage between second and third quarters to slash Akron Firestone's tires

By Keno Sultan

MASSILLON—The Akron Firestone Falcons arrived to Paul Brown Tiger Stadium well aware that they have always provided a challenge to the Massillon Tigers.

Massillon made sure that the Falcons stayed stranded behind them.

Bolstered by a 28-7 second quarter and a 20-6 third quarter with Massillon senior Kyle Kempt doing the majority of the damage, the Tigers outscored the Falcons 48-13 between the two quarters and slashed Akron Firestone's tires in a convincing 62-37 rout in their second straight home contest at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

The win set up a tantalizing contest next Friday night as another set of Falcons will descend into Paul Brown Tiger Stadium. Only this time, an undefeated Austintown-Fitch team will provide the opposition as they return to the Massillon schedule for the first time since the 2002 season and will arrive with a squeaky-clean 6-0 record.

Jason Hall, Massillon's head coach immediately turned his sights to that contest but not without mentioning what his team will have to do against them in order to be triumphant next week.

“There is no question that we will have to have a great week of practice and we will have to tackle a lot better,” Hall said. “It will be a big points game with a 5-1 team against a 6-0 team. We will have to play defense much better against Austintown-Fitch and will have to play four hard quarters.”

It was another glamorous evening for the Tigers offense. They conjured up their highest offensive total yardage on the season with 585. Senior quarterback and future University of Cincinnati quarterback Kyle Kempt once again provided fans with a gourmet helping as he consumed Firestone's defense for 313 yards with four touchdowns passing against one interception. He also displayed his prowess to rush as he scored on a 16-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.

It was two years ago that Kempt was asked to win games. After taking his early lessons through two seven-win seasons, he has the Tigers not only consuming victories, but pillaging opposing foes in the process. He isn't only managing the game, he's engineering scoring drives and finishing them.

“Kyle is a great football player and we expect that out of him as a Division I football player. You couldn't ask a better performance out of him,” Hall said.

Massillon's first possession was a forecast of occurrences to come. Only needing six plays, Kempt's first scoring strike went to future University of Michigan player Gareon Conley as a well-timed play-action fake allowed Conley to get behind a defensive back and haul in a 42-yard pass. Massillon scored on a two-point conversion as Brody Tonn handled a botched snap and completed a pass to Zach Volzer to issue Massillon an early 8-0 spot.

The score jolted the visiting Falcons into wake-up mode. Only needing four plays, Akron Firestone immediately cut the Massillon advantage to six as Cameron Sheppard threw a flawlessly thrown ball to future University of Nebraska player Kevin Gladney, who threaded past two Tigers defensive backs for a touchdown spanning 56 yards.

After the two teams split passing touchdowns leaving the Tigers lead at 15-13, the Tigers started to place together perfectly the pieces to solve the puzzle against the competitive Falcons team.

After a turnover and a touchdown that gave the Falcons a glimmer of hope, Massillon extinguished the Firestone light quickly on their fourth possession. With the Falcons blitzing hard, Kempt averted the rush and was able to split past three Falcons defensive backs for a 16-yard touchdown run. Andrew David provided the extra-point that re-extended the hosts lead to nine and commenced to spell the doom of the Falcons.

No drive was greater than the sixth drive of the hosts. Using seven plays and aided by an ill-timed personal foul, Kempt threw his third touchdown pass in the first half as his 11-yard touchdown pass to Zach Volzer with 36 seconds remaining capped a seven-play, 64-yard drive that left Akron Firestone gasping for air at intermission as Massillon powered their way to a 36-13 halftime lead.

“Kyle did a great job on that last drive and found Volzer in the end zone. He kept that drive alive and that is something we work on all the time,” Hall said.

Massillon started the second half with possession and needed only three plays to flatten the Falcons for good. Consuming only 43 seconds, Kempt tossed his final passing score to junior receiver Marcus Whitfield as Whitfield made a defender whiff on a tackle on a short reception and sprinted for a 56-yard touchdown pass.

Ryne Moore added a touchdown run in the second half and finished with 100 yards rushing on 16 carries and the Tigers got some mandatory depth in their rushing game as junior Lyron Wilson eight times for 118 yards and two touchdowns as the first-team offense concluded their evening. Akron Firestone added touchdown passes from Sheppard to Reggie Rogers and Jerome Lane Jr. to wrap up their scoring for the evening.

The Tigers pushed their record to 5-1 on the season while Akron Firestone fell to 2-4. With the Falcons nothing but roadkill, Massillon will face their sternest test yet against Austintown-Fitch and the Tigers no question will have to be much more physical if they are to have their sixth victory of the season after next Friday.

Hall believes that everyone will have to be focused this week leading up to that game. Part of Massillon's success has to do with the fact that they have been relaxed and haven't faced any form of pressure at all. They will need that demeanor again.

“You have a top team in region 1 and a good team in region 2 playing and it will be a big game. We must play four quarters to be successful,” Hall said. “Tonight's game will be an educational tool for us as coaches. All of us coaches are educators and we want to use tonight's game as a teaching tool to get ready for Austintown-Fitch. We have to come out ready to play every week because we know we are going to get their best shot.”

Akron Firestone arrived to Paul Brown Tiger Stadium knowing they have always provided a challenge to the Massillon Tigers. Massillon made sure to slash the Falcons tires and leave them trailing on the scoreboard in a convincing manner.

PLAY OF THE GAME: Kempt's 11-yard touchdown pass to Volzer

MASSILLON—Badre Bardawil lives to see the moment when an opposing team is hunched over with their hands on their knees.

Like a shark, his eyes light up and he sees blood in the water. And when that happens, the Massillon offensive coordinator and St. Thomas Aquinas graduate sees something he wants and most of the time, he will get it.

No drive was more prophetic of this than the sixth possession of the first half. Akron Firestone players were breathing heavily on a drive Massillon commenced from their own 36-yard line and Bardawil's no-huddle offense went to work. Seven plays later, Bardawil got the touchdown he expected when Kempt found Volzer in the end zone with 36 seconds to play. In seven plays, it marked the dismissal of the Falcons and gave Massillon the momentum going into the second half.

“I was just thinking to myself to keep my feet in bounds. This is something we work on all season and when we do it, we want to keep doing it and keep doing it fast and it's fun,” Volzer said of his catch.

“We had no timeouts at the time and we had to keep attacking. We wanted to be aggressive and go right at them,” Bardawil said. “We were going to get the ball at the start of the second half and we wanted to go out and get after them at the start of the third quarter and we ended up doing that,” he said.

Badre Bardawil lives to see the moment when a tired team has their hands hunched on their knees gasping for air. When that happens, he sees something he wants and his offense will get it.

Live Updates via MaxPreps - EARN CASH

Hey Tiger Fans: 

I need your help this week and the upcoming weeks remaining in this football season.

MaxPreps has a promotion running every week that gives US the opportunity to earn CASH for our program and all you have to do is follow me as I update the status of the game LIVE every week.

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If you decide to give Qwixcoring a try please make sure you use my email address as a referral.

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We earn cash for referrals too.  All of the funds earned from this event will go directly to the Massillon Tiger Football Booster Club.

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MaxPreps already knows that Massillon is crazy for football.  Let's live up to that and earn some cash as well.

Thanks in advance for your DOMINATION of the Qwixcore Network and GO TIGERS!!!

Son of former Massillon standout hopes to pick up where his father left off

By Keno Sultan

MASSILLON—31 years ago, Rick Heather competed for a Division I state championship in the confines of Nippert Stadium in Cincinnati. He and the Massillon Tigers departed the stadium with a five-hour ride back to Massillon minus a state playoff title in the form of an ugly 30-7 setback to Division I dinosaur in Cincinnati Moeller.

31 years later, Donnie Heather hopes to bring home that elusive state playoff title that got away from his father through Moeller’s unforgiving severance of the Tigers dreams.

He may be a freshman but he possesses the mold that powered his father into a standout lineman on both sides of the ball. Under the direction of Massillon freshman head coach Tyrone Partridge, the freshman Tigers team is flawless through four games on the season, coming off of a 12-0 victory over Steubenville and is attempting to obtain their fifth straight triumph Thursday afternoon at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium when Akron Firestone assumes the challenge of trying to take down the Tigers.

It has been a dream for Donnie to wear a jersey and compete for Massillon since he started midget league football.

“It has been meaningful to do this and I have waited all my life for this. It is great to play for a city that has a lot of class and this is the best feeling I have of my life,” Donnie Heather said. “Our goal as a class is to have the best team coming up to the varsity level.”

Since the playoff format commenced in the early 1970’s, Massillon has competed in three state title games, losing two to Moeller in a span of three years. Donnie recalled the anguish that engulfed his father after witnessing a title slip through his hands and ending his junior year with a 10-2-1 record.

A life lesson that Rick learned from that loss through his prep coach Mike Currence is what he has transplanted into his son. It is a transfusion he hopes that will lead him to a crown through hard work and a willingness to never quit in the face of adversity.

“My dad has told me no matter what, to never give up. After that loss, he came back and started working out and he worked really hard to condition himself and be better,” Heather said. “He said no matter what, don’t quit or don’t ever give up.”

This Massillon freshman team has every intention of following through on that advice. It was seven years ago that Partridge was a finalist for the revered Tigers head coaching job that opened up when Rick Shepas parted ways to take his first college head coaching assignment.

Tom Stacy ended up with the job but kept Partridge on staff as the Tigers strength and conditioning coach. Prior to that, Partridge had coached running backs and then served as a defensive coordinator from 2001 to 2004 in which he was regarded for his innate ability to take away other team’s offensive weapons as evidenced by his 2001 defense that scored 72 points off of turnovers in three regional games.

When asked if the experience of being a finalist prepared him for the head coaching task of leading the Massillon freshman football team, Partridge attested there was more involved to that and not because he was a finalist for the revered varsity head coaching position.

“I feel that experience helped me become a head coach and the experience just does not end there. Coaching other positions and dealing with people on and off the field also prepared me for this task. I wouldn’t hinge it all on being a finalist for the varsity coaching job,” he said.

He has worn a gleaming smile over the last three weeks in part to his team’s undefeated record. Much of that has to do with the businesslike mantra his team has assumed. They may be in their first year of high school as student-athletes but it is a team that will wear their construction hat and bring their lunch pail to work every single day.

Victories are formulated in practices everyday and this is a team that has the ingredients to compile an undefeated season. That would be the first since the 2009 season, the last Massillon freshman team to complete an undefeated season under the guidance of then head coach Tim Menches.

“These players put in all the hard work in games and they also practice well. The biggest thing I stress to them is communication and tackling. Those are the two things that if done well will take us to the top,” Partridge said. “No matter who we play against, team X is going to give us their best shot and we have to come out prepared and ready to play every game. We have to make a commitment every game.”

It is only a year before Heather ascends to varsity status but by his stature, he looks more than fit for varsity action. He enjoys being around his players not just on the football field but also in school during the day.

It was seven years ago that he witnessed the 2005 Massillon Tigers team compete for a Division I championship and three years ago the Tigers nearly advanced back to the title game by competing in the state semifinals. He will have three chances to make that happen but for him and the class of 2016, that day began the moment they completed their final year as students at Massillon Middle School. As the season wears on, he believes the Tigers are edging closer to making that dream a reality.

And when that day arrives, he hopes to be locked in the warmest embrace with his father Rick and the two sharing tears of elation and him winning the championship that his father aspired to achieve while sharing in the moment in front of their fans and the entire state of Ohio. For now though, his first priority is an undefeated season with his freshman class.

“We have a balanced team and coaches that call good plays for us. Right now, we have a good team,” Heather said. “We intend to go hard and never quit. Just because we defeated Steubenville right now does not mean we stop after four games,” he said. “We have four more to go.”

31 years ago, Rick Heather walked off the field at Nippert Stadium in Cincinnati in tears amid the disappointment of a squashed opportunity to win a state title. Now Donnie Heather hopes to bring home a state playoff championship and make his dutiful father proud.

 

GETTING TO KNOW: Donnie Heather

Name: Donnie Heather.

Sport: Massillon football.

Position: Offensive Line/Defensive Line.

Year: Freshman.

About Massillon football: It's not a sport. It's life.

Favorite football moment: Massillon playing for the 2005 Division I state championship.

Favorite football team: Massillon Tigers.

If you could ride a motorcycle, what would it be: A rocket.

---RANDOM ONE-LINERS---

Massillon Tigers: Great.

100 yards: Touchdown.

Rick Heather: Dad.

Middle School or High School: Change.

Pancake blocks: Success.

Long touchdown drives: Time consuming.

Advice for anyone wanting to play Massillon football: Put your heart into it and never give up.

 

GETTING TO KNOW: Tyrone Partridge.

Sport: Massillon football.

Position: Freshman head coach.

Years at position: Two.

About Massillon football: Decades of dedication.

Favorite football moment: When we defeated Canton McKinley in the 100th game. Best game ever.

Favorite football team: Massillon Tigers.

If you could be a defensive coordinator or head coach of an NFL team, what team would it be: Oakland Raiders. I love their defense.

 

---RANDOM ONE-LINERS---

Massillon defense: Tenacious.

Defensive genius: Ray Barr.

2001 Tigers playoff team scoring 93 points (72 off turnovers in three regional games): Relentless.

Defensive touchdowns: Exciting.

Defensive stands: Toughness.

Devastating hits: Dick Butkus.

Advice for anyone wanting to play Massillon football: Play hard everyday.

COMMENTARY: Bringing the pain early and often

By Keno Sultan

MASSILLON—The feral emotions were visible with every hit. Every hit was with the intent to inflict pain. Every hit was to put their opponent to shame. The play was reminiscent of what brought a storied tradition like Massillon to fame.

Friday night at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium, 11 Massillon Tigers defenders were bringing the pain early and often to their All-American Conference foe Steubenville. With every hit, Massillon's passion and emotion came to light against an undefeated team that were unable to match the intensity against a team whose playoff hopes were treading precariously on the thinnest of strands.

This game was for anyone who is a fan of defense and hard-hitting. With the hits produced by a defense displayed in Friday's 24-7 tattooing of the Big Red, it had to remind football viewers of past hard-hitting NFL teams. At least unlike the professional ranks, Massillon's defense will not have faced flags for devastating hits for their powerful performance. It sure beats being an NFL fan and watching your team be victimized for a devastating hit penalty even when a hit is clean.

Massillon's performance makes this writer want to send a tape of the game to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell just to show him the true meaning of devastating hits. Although it will not get that devastating hit rule rescinded, he'd see first hand of what it means to truly inflict such hits and the true meaning of devastation. Maybe then he'd omit that rule and let the adult men play the sport to it's physicality.

When the Tigers compete like this, there is not any team over the next five upcoming games that will not depart Paul Brown Tiger Stadium without bumps and bruises let alone a victory. Massillon took the meaning of bringing the pain to a transcendent peak. The Big Red were sent a hard message and the rest of the teams remaining on Massillon's schedule are all on direct notice from here on out.

The entire defensive staff of Luke Durbin, A.J. Vennetti, Dave Weber, Dan Hackenbracht, Walid Bardawil, and John “Spider” Miller made this happen. Not to be forgotten also is head coach Jason Hall, who knows much about defense in his own right. It was a long week of preparation and these gentlemen placed in countless hours over five days to erect what was a defensive monster. And that monster came alive in a humongous way.

With every hit, the physicality was felt. With every hit, the passion of Massillon came out. With every hit, the Tigers were bringing the pain. And there was nothing the Big Red was able to do about the conquering Tigers defense that came at them in all directions. This was the Massillon that former Tigers legends fell in love with. This was the Massillon that sprouted fear in other teams. This was the Massillon that the late and revered Paul Brown will have loved to coach. This was the Massillon that made old school former players dine out after the game and talk about what they witnessed. And finally, this is the Massillon that enjoyed being back in their righteous stadium after a three-week road trip.

If you are a Massillon fan, you paid sufficient money to see a victory. Massillon delivered in an emphatic manner. And no one deserves the spotlight more than the defensive players and coaches who showed what Massillon Tigers defense is all about against their AAC foe and a defense that will be here the rest of the season. So if anyone didn't witness last night's performance, they have five chances left and they better make the most of them.

The feral emotions were visible with every hit. Every hit was with the intent to inflict pain. Every hit was intended to put Steubenville to shame. This was a night of bringing the pain and it's only fitting that the Massillon Tigers defense put on a sterling display of sheer physicality and an A+ grade for the evening.

Indeed, the Massillon Tigers early and often were bringing the pain.

Three-touchdown statement in first quarter sparks Massillon to emphatic victory

By Keno Sultan

MASSILLON—HBO PPV boxing commentator Jim Lampley made the call after the first round of the WBA/IBF jr. middleweight title unification bout 11 years ago when Felix Trinidad stunned Fernando Vargas and nearly had him out in the opening round: “Felix Trinidad with an early two-knockdown statement!”

Might as well change that to “Massillon Tigers with an early three-touchdown statement.”

The Tigers used two touchdown passes from senior quarterback Kyle Kempt to senior receivers Gareon Conley and Brody Tonn spanning 21 and 24 yards respectively and a monstrous 81-yard electrifying punt return touchdown by junior Marcus Whitfield between Kempt's two scoring passes and the Tigers returned to their home domain and left the Steubenville Big Red in a supine stature by virtue of a 24-7 knockout victory to christen their six-game home stand at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

By far, it was the hardest-hitting performance by the hosts and the Big Red were unable to match the emotions that were draped over the Tigers defense all night. The body language inflicted between hits by the Tigers sent a voluminous message to the visitors that they were not out just to hit, they were out to inflict hurt.

Much of that had to do with the garrulous criticism that the defense had been receiving the last three weeks and fifth-year Massillon field general Jason Hall attested that his charges and defensive staff had enough and opted to sign, seal, and deliver an emphatically overwhelming and painful message with every hard hit manufactured on a Big Red competitor.

“Defensively, we have taken a lot of flak the last several weeks and our players and defensive staff took it personally. We set out to do something about it and I was very happy for them,” Hall said. “Our defense played well tonight and our kids rallied around each other and handled the game real well.”

It was by far Massillon's hardest-hitting performance in Hall's five years at the school since a 17-0 terrorizing of Canton McKinley in 2008. Tonight's game was eerily prophetic of that contest.

The Big Red came into tonight's contest averaging 28.7 points on offense. They were relegated to seven points and were unable to match the feral intensity Massillon displayed out of the gate. Not only was Steubenville challenging the Tigers, the Massillon crowd was also a factor as on several occasions, the Big Red had quagmires at times getting plays in and were victimized by two delay of game penalties and the usage of well-needed timeouts.

Longtime Steubenville head coach Reno Saccocia made it clear his team lost because they constructed a hole and failed to emerge from it.

“We did not play well. We spotted them 21 points right off the bat and when you get down 21-0, you won't beat most teams that way,” he said. “We have no excuses.”

Massillon's triumph was a well-needed pharmaceutical prescription for their playoff health. They are bound to make a leap from the eighth spot when next week's region 2 standings are released.

The Tigers set the tone for the night on their opening possession. Needing five plays, Kempt observed Conley in the back of the end zone and his juggling reception for a touchdown along with Anthony McCarthy's extra-point issued the Tigers an early 7-0 lead.

And the hosts were not done yet. After a Big Red punt, that is when fireworks were sparked. Whitfield took Luke Smith's punt and sped through a gaping hole formulated by the Tigers special teams and his speed finished the rest as his return powered Massillon to a 14-0 lead after nearly five minutes of competition.

Kempt tossed his second touchdown pass to Tonn as the offensive line neutralized a heavy blitz and Tonn made the catch over the middle and ran to the end zone untouched for a touchdown and a 21-0 lead.

From then on, the Tigers controlled the contest. Steubenville's lone score arrived in the second quarter when Dashon Redman scored on a nine-yard run to break up the Tigers bid for a shutout. From then on, Massillon made it clear that Steubenville was going to have to use the entire football field to win the game and the defense made sure the Big Red did not obtain another scoring opportunity for the duration of the evening.

Anthony McCarthy's 42-yard field goal in the fourth quarter concluded the scoring for Massillon.

“We had our stadium rocking tonight and we made the most of our opportunities. We knew Steubenville wanted to run the ball but tonight our defense were really prepared and I am proud of them,” Hall said.

For the Big Red, it will be a long trip back to Steubenville after taking their first loss on the season. A streak that has been intact since 1962 is still not an ancient artifact yet 40 years later. They will have a chance next Friday to rid the pungent flavor forced in their mouths by the Massillon defense when they too return home to play Pittsburgh Westinghouse.

Saccocia is hopeful that his team will forget what occurred and forge ahead in their chase for the Division III state title.

“If these players are the players that I know that they are, they will come back from this and be ready to go and get after it next week,” he said.

Massillon will enjoy this victory over the weekend and then Monday focus their attention to the second Akron City Series team on their schedule, Akron Firestone.

“This was big for us and we were very physical on both sides of the ball. This means a lot,” Hall said.

The Massillon Tigers made a three-touchdown statement tonight. And it was one that was hotly graphic and all they needed to be 4-1 at the midway point of the season.

PLAY OF THE GAME: Marcus Whitfield's 81-yard punt return touchdown

MASSILLON—It is bad enough to misplay a punt. To drop a punt and turn the ball over is like putting a returner on life support with the next player behind him waiting to take his spot.

Marcus Whitfield misplayed a punt and what looked like disaster in the making was transformed into an aesthetic highlight reel as he ran through a hole and thundered down the field like a thoroughbred powering his way to the Triple Crown with a 81-yard touchdown that left the partisan Massillon crowd awed at a scene that had prettiness decorated all over it.

That score although it delivered the Tigers a two-touchdown advantage at the time marked the beginning of the end of the Big Red. It was Massillon's first punt return touchdown since Bo Grunder tallied one in 2008 against Warren Harding, a 30-7 Tigers rout of the black and gold.

“I just got the ball and the players opened up a hole for me and all I had to do is outrun (punter Luke Smith) and get the touchdown,” Whitfield said. “It was a lot of hard work and it took the wind out of their sails. It feels good to thrive.”

It is bad enough to misplay a punt. But Whitfield's touchdown compensated for the misplay and as a result has Massillon in solid playoff positioning at 4-1 at the halfway point of the season.

Massillon meets old All-American Conference foe in defining season contest

By Keno Sultan
MASSILLON—Never have the Massillon Tigers have been involved in a game of this magnitude since the tenth week of the previous season.

It may be premature to assume but the postseason lives of the Tigers hang in the balance against a program that they have a high sense of familiarity with.

Sitting eighth in the Division I, Region 2 standings, Massillon finds themselves in a must-win scenario or risk not being a factor in the playoff chase. Their challenge will arrive in the form of the Steubenville Big Red with kickoff slated for 7 p.m. at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium. It will be the first of six consecutive home contests for the Tigers as they sealed the book closed on a three game road trip that climaxed with last week's 41-21 victory over Perry at Perry Stadium.

The Tigers are portentous about this scenario. A loss will likely knock them out of playoff contention with half the season remaining. When asked about the possibility of such an occurrence with positioning capacity on the line, Massillon head coach Jason Hall showed no signs of stress regarding the mission before his team.

If anything, calm is the demeanor that has discerned Hall.

“I don't pay attention to points standings. We know that this is an important game and we are at the midway point of the season. Steubenville has had three hard-hitting games with us over the last three years and we have to play four quarters of football,” he said. “If we take care of business on the football field, then the points will take care of themselves.”

Buoyed by the lordship of longtime Big Red boss Reno Saccocia, Steubenville is coming off of a 34-13 victory over Brooke (West Virginia) and over four games are averaging 28.7 on offense while yielding 14 over four games.

Steubenville has one ailment against them. Since 1962, they have departed Paul Brown Tiger Stadium without a victory and two years ago, they were ranked #1 in Division III when the Tigers recycled them out of their path in a 28-7 triumph and it was the first time in 11 years that the Tigers had beaten a top-ranked team in Ohio.

The Big Red will pose a looming exam for Massillon. Whether the Tigers will pass it depends on if they can unravel Steubenville's complex schemes.

“Steubenville is prepared well. We have to know our assignments defensively. They are a good open field tackling team. They are very good,” Hall said.

Over the course of the last three meetings, the games have been dictated primarily by defense. It doesn't take an investigative agent much to know this based on Steubenville averaging only 14.6 points compared to Massillon's 12.6 points.

Massillon's offense will be tested once again by the Big Red's defense. Despite the Tigers scoring a chunky 37.7 points on offense, the Tigers will have to find a way to actuate the running game and not be too dependent on their passing game.

Hall attested that his plethora of backs will have to run hard and keep the Big Red offense off the field. Ryne Moore, Kentrell Taylor, and Ernie Baez all have the speed to make that happen. And Moore is a reminiscent version of former running back Jake Reiman in the form that he gets stronger as a game wears on.

At the end of the day though, what is of aesthetic pleasure to Massillon is the fact they are home for the final six games of the season. An undefeated season at home is a possibility but the Tigers are only focused on the Big Red and playoff positioning also is in formulation. To be a part of the equation, the Tigers will have to emerge victorious and losing is not an option.
No one is happier to be at home more than Hall.

“We play our final six games at home and that is huge for us,” he said.
It may be premature to assume that the Tigers postseason lives hang in the balance against an old AAC rival. But a victory will go a diligent way into helping the Tigers return to postseason play.

TIGER BITS

--Keep it Kempt: Massillon quarterback Kyle Kempt and offensive coordinator Badre Bardawil have clicked together since their paths crossed in the offseason. It was Bardawil who approached Kempt after departing Claymont to return to Stark County as Massillon's offensive mastermind and no one has been more appreciative than Kempt. “We have been on the same page since he came to Massillon and we starting working out together,” he said. “We are all executing better on offense and have improved so much since the early-season loss to GlenOak.”

--Execute, execute, execute: Defensive execution will be a cog to Friday's contest. Fullback/linebacker Kentrell Taylor attests that it will be needed to slow down the Big Red offense. He was blunt as precise as the sharp edge of a needle. “We need to execute and that's it,” he said. “It is the middle of the season and we have to eliminate all the mistakes. We want to come out on top.”

--Perspective from a coach: Big games are nothing new to former Massillon standout Joe Pierce. The 1990 graduate knows much about facing top-ranked teams and was on the Tigers staff when Massillon knocked off the #1 Big Red in 2010. He recalled his experience of being a senior in 1989 when the Tigers played #2 Cincinnati Moeller in the regular season but more importantly #1 Cleveland St. Ignatius in the Division I state semifinals. “I remember a lot about facing the Wildcats and they were #1 in Ohio (and the nation). We wanted to win but someone had to lose,” he said. “If we had to lose, I wanted to see Ignatius win the next week. You never want to see the team that defeated you lose the championship afterward.”

GETTING TO KNOW: Joe Pierce

Name: Joe Pierce.
Sport: Massillon football
Pos: Running backs coach.
Years at position: 3.
About Massillon football: The history is unbelievable.
Favorite football moment: I wanted to play for Massillon as early as the seventh or eighth grade. Massillon had lost to Akron Garfield and I remember crying like a baby. Right there, I knew I wanted to play for the Tigers.
Favorite football team: Florida State.
What player from your class was a school hunk and is still a hunk 20 years later and why: “Me. I don't see anyone else like I am (laughing).”

--RANDOM ONE-LINERS--

Massillon, OH: Greatness.
Massillon football: Special.
Life perspectives: Learning.
Beating the #1 ranked team in Ohio: Win.
High expectations: Goals.
Paul Brown Tiger Stadium: Sacred ground.
Advice for anyone wanting to play for Massillon: It's like getting a new car. Do you really want it? Then you have to go get it!

Behind Conley's four touchdowns, Massillon devours host Panthers 41-21

By Keno Sultan

PERRY TWP.--The Perry Panthers are going to have a horrible nightmare.

And they sure can expect to see a lot of Gareon Conley in their dreams.

The 6'2'' 175 lb. Massillon senior was responsible for three touchdown catches from quarterback Kyle Kempt and then a 74-yard interception return for a touchdown that was a katana blade plunged into the Panthers stomach as the Tigers devoured the host Perry Panthers 41-21 to complete their three-game road trip with a 2-1 record and now a 3-1 record overall on the season as they trek into a six-game home stand at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium next week against the Steubenville Big Red.

Carrying a 21-14 lead and the Panthers trying to mount a drive to tie the game, Panthers quarterback Adron Bealer was hit upon release of the ball by Tigers linebackers Dillon Cowan and Joe Crabtree and his pass sailed benignly into the hands of Conley, who raced uncontested for a 74-yard touchdown that extended Massillon's lead to two touchdowns and spelled the commencing of the end of the Panthers.

A note of importance for the Massillon offense that will leave fifth-year Massillon admiral Jason Hall elated is that the Tigers have not turned the ball over in the last six quarters dating back to their rain-shortened 34-12 polluting of Maumee last week. However, the former three-time national champion linebacker from Mount Union attested that there are still stains to be mopped up before next Friday night.

COMMENTARY: Hop on the Massillon express while there is still time

By Keno Sultan

PERRY TWP.--The sound of chiseled steel was heard well into the night. The train horn blared loudly behind the visiting section at Perry High School. There was nothing grander than the sound of a train with a load of slurry traveling on the train tracks on it's nightly destination amid the cheers of zealous Massillon fans after 10 p.m. Saturday night.

Hop on the Massillon express while there is still time.

Last night in front of an overflow crowd at Perry Stadium, the Tigers showed their neighboring rival Panthers who reigned as the meanest cat in the jungle. This was a game marked in a red circle on the calendars of both high schools. To no one's surprise, this was a game that favored the Tigers more from an experience standpoint. Sure Perry is coming off a 2-8 season but make no mistake about this, Massillon needed this victory more than the Panthers will have based on the expectations surrounding them along with the fact they did not want to succumb two times in three weeks to a Federal League school.

If there is one glaring difference from Friday night, the Tigers possessed Gareon Conley. Conley was the first Massillon football athlete since Bo Grunder to record a four-touchdown game. Perry tried their best to match up with the Tigers tonight and for a half held their own. Granted, Perry may not have the athletes that Massillon churns out on a yearly basis but they came to compete in the first confrontation between the two schools since the 2006 OHSAA first round playoff game, a Tigers 41-20 victory.

And although the Tigers emerged victorious, no sight of bad blood existed between the two teams as in the past as nothing but handshakes and embraces were exchanged between players from both schools.

Hop on the Massillon express while there is still time.

Massillon is one defensive stop and a field goal from a 4-0 record on the season if it were not for a GlenOak third down conversion that translated into their first setback of the season two weeks ago. The fact that Massillon has made ascending strides after their embittering loss to the Eagles is evidence that they are owning up to the challenge that has been laid solely at their feet. This team has taken it on themselves now to assume a greater responsibility.

That assignment is now finishing 9-1 and the interpretation of that is winning six straight home contests. The last time a Massillon team concluded the regular season 9-1 was back in the 2005 season. This team has the supplies needed to accomplish just that. And it will start against Steubenville, a team Massillon is hotly familiar with going back to the 2009 season when the two schools faced each other for the first time in a long time. The Tigers have the team to go 6-0 at home and be rewarded with a first-round home playoff game. But it is one game and one week at a time.

The Massillon Tigers have traveled a lot these last three weeks. Now the express has departed from Perry and is coming home. What better way to hear the train traveling through the tracks behind the visitors section at Perry High School with a hefty load of slurry amid the cheers of Tigers fans. And now with six straight home games, the Tigers are finally coming home to the stadium where they rightfully belong after three trips away from home.

The sound of chiseled steel was audible well into the night and the train blared loudly amid the cheers of Massillon fans merrily cheering their second road win in three weeks.

Hop on the Massillon express while there is still time.

Former Massillon coach Shepas rehashes rivalry with Perry

By Keno Sultan

 

WAYNESBURG—Put Massillon on the canvas if anyone can and all the Tigers will keep doing is rising off the canvas.

 

In his second year, Rick Shepas, who doubled as Massillon Washington High School's athletic along with being the head football coach was locked in a harrowing tussle with Perry High School over the transfer of Jessie Scott that ended with Massillon being assessed probation by the OHSAA only to be exonerated of the charges when a Stark County court overruled the OHSAA and allowed Scott to compete for the Tigers as a senior.

 

13 years since the two schools played in an emotional regular season contest during the 1999 season, the Tigers and Panthers will reconvene again in what is expected to be a sold-out Perry Stadium Friday evening at 7:30 p.m. for the first regular-season battle since 2000 and first overall game since the 2006 season, a Massillon 41-20 playoff win over Perry.

 

Never feeling any pressure in any moment is what defined Shepas immensely as the Massillon head coach. And it went a beneficial way into locking in his focus in a game that the Tigers desperately needed to win for their salve and it arrived in the present of a 35-14 triumph over the Panthers in a contest that produced a slew of venomous feelings and attrition between the two schools.

 

When asked if it was vindication for him that night on that 1999 night, Shepas deferred that to the result on the scoreboard. And it helped that his team did not acknowledge any pressure when it was squarely a boulder on their shoulders.

 

“Vindication comes in the form of wins and losses for me. The issue was highly publicized and talked about, but the true facts were never brought to light. Also, because the whole thing started before I even took the job, I put my mind at ease and just focused on the program,” Shepas, now the head football coach at Division III Waynesburg University said.

 

Since the two schools squared off again in 1999, Massillon has claimed three of the five contests against the Panthers, two of those coming in the playoffs in 2002 with the 2006 victory coming under Tom Stacy, who succeeded Shepas in 2005. Perry's wins came in a 1999 playoff rematch in a 23-6 win that left Massillon fans appalled inside Paul Brown Tiger Stadium and then a 31-17 regular season win in 2000 at Fawcett Stadium.

 

Shepas was ecstatic to learn that Perry and Massillon will once again compete in the regular season and he hopes it will be a rivalry that will be there for a while minus the disdain that both fan bases may possess for each other.

 

“The two districts border each other. There will always be a good healthy rivalry. I don’t see that changing,” he said. “It is great that the game is back on the schedule.”

 

Being the head coach of Massillon Washington is a responsibility never to be assumed lightly. Every night in the fall, the Tigers are always going to receive a workmanlike effort from any high school team that wants to be able to say that they defeated Massillon.

 

From 1999 to 2002, Massillon and Perry competed in four drama filled contests. But none was more dramatic than the 2002 regional semifinal in a sold-out Fawcett Stadium. Massillon saw a 20-7 lead withered into a 21-20 Panthers lead. The Tigers had no choice but to drive down the field and set up Max Shafer for a game-winning field goal. Matt Martin orchestrated the drive that reached the Perry 18-yard line and Shafer's leg was highly revered as his 35-yard field goal arced through the goalposts that touched off a harmonious celebration for Tigers fans.

 

Although their season ended two weeks later in the Division I state semifinals to All-American Conference rival Warren Harding High School, Shepas gleefully attested that regional semifinal was a classic contest that was about as good as it gets.

 

“The most memorable for me was the game at Fawcett Stadium when Massillon won while finishing a great two-minute drill by Matt Martin with a Max Shafer field goal. What a finish!” he exclaimed.

 

As the Tigers and Panthers prepare for Friday night's showdown, not a day goes by the 47-year-old father of three loving daughters that he ponders about the intensity of the four games he was involved in as Massillon's patriarch. The rivalry will not match the intensity of Massillon's rivalry with Canton McKinley or another scorching rivalry with Warren Harding but the proximity of the two schools will make this rivalry one that any prep football fan will look forward to.

 

Shepas to this day is electrically grateful to everyone who made his seven years in Massillon a time that he will always cherish.

 

“There is nothing like Paul Brown Tiger Stadium on game day! While coach, I was caretaker of the greatest high school football program in the state and that was my resolve. Every decision was made for the betterment and growth of Tiger football, which began for us in our youth programs run at the Boys and Girls Club through the junior high level through Washington High School. I will always be proud of the program that was built and will never forget the many people and boosters in town who helped make all those memories possible,” he said. “Once a Tiger, always a Tiger.”

 

Put Massillon on the canvas if anyone desires to and all the Tigers will keep doing is getting back up. And that's the same resolve that stoked the fires of Rick Shepas during his four contests against the Perry Panthers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Listen Live - Chat Live Tonights game vs. Maumee

 

Follow the Tigers tonight in our Massillon Proud Chat Room or on the Tiger Sports Network.

 

Follow these links to listen in.

 

Massillon Proud Chat Room

 

 

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Go Tigers!!!! BEAT MAUMEE!!!!!

Massillon vs. Perry Tickets

From: Massillon Ticket Office

PERRY TICKET INFORMATION FROM THE MASSILLON TICKET OFFICE:

We are sold out of our allotment of Perry tickets.

Perry will have general admission tickets on sale starting Tuesday, Sept. 11th - to purchase tickets,

enter Door #4 AT PERRY HIGH SCHOOL.

The general admission tickets will be $6.00 each - cash only.

Open @ 7:30 AM

Massillon gears up for key assignment vs. Panthers

By Keno Sultan

MASSILLON—The loud voices from players and coaches were audible inside Paul Brown Tiger Stadium on a sunny afternoon.

The urgency has arced through the Massillon Tigers football family.

Last week after a putrid performance that translated into five turnovers and a 26-24 setback to GlenOak at Bob Commings Field, the Tigers find themselves in a scenario that is about as close to a must-win triumph can arrive to.

Friday night, the Tigers venture on the road for the second of three consecutive contests away from home as they will travel to Maumee to challenge a Panthers team they decimated 49-14 last season. At press time, the Panthers under the tutelage of head coach John Boles are 2-0 on the season with triumphs over Toledo Waite 48-12 and Rossford 40-23.

The Panthers are averaging 44 points over their two contests. That is enough to attract the attention of a Massillon team that according to Jason Hall expect to take the field Friday night a peeved team after last week's debacle against the Eagles.

“I think the key for our players was about being disciplined. They did a good job of focusing on both sides of the ball during practice. We want to prepare our kids for every worst case scenario possible and also be able to handle it,” Massillon head coach Jason Hall said. “We came in this week wanting to clean up our mistakes from last week and get after it.”

Maumee will present another challenge for the Tigers on the offensive side of the football. Although the Panthers graduated quarterback Jake Schneider, they still are a threat on the offensive side of the football despite only returning four starters.

The Panthers are in the same shoes as that of the Tigers. Last season, both teams posted legit 7-3 records but were omitted from the playoffs. However, Hall has attested that the Panthers have welded together their share of wins going back to the last six years and this week, his legion are relegated once again to handle the adversity of competing as the visiting team again.

“Maumee is still as good as they were last year. Over the last six years, they have averaged between seven and eight victories and once again, we will have to go on the road and overcome the adversity that is before us,” Hall said.

One stepping block to mastering that task will be the truncation of turnovers. Another bullet of thought to be address is not leaving unclaimed touchdowns on the gridiron. Massillon unclaimed 21 points last week in the form of two passes that were intercepted in the end zone and one pass not caught by a wide open receiver and that was a gaping no-no in Hall's standards.

Former Massillon wide receiver relishing his role as a Cavaliers coach

By Keno Sultan

NORTH CANTON—Devin Jordan has a marriage bond to the football.

It's a bond that he has always been faithful to as ascertained by his superhuman abilities to snare a football into his hands from quarterbacks Justin Zwick or Matt Martin.

Nearly 10 years since the book closed on his venerable football career at tradition-steeped Massillon Washington High School, he is now coaching the position that he glamorously excelled in as a Tigers football star, wide receivers at Walsh University.

Jordan is widely known for his 2001 and 2002 seasons in which he was a member of the Tigers regional championship football teams under head coach Rick Shepas and then a phenomenal shooting guard for the 2003 district champion Tigers basketball team under head coach Matt Creamer.

Jordan was amicable enough to reset the clock and rehash his sterling career that made him the gentleman he is today.

“What really stands out is the amount of passion that the whole town has for the football team. It’s something that as a young guy in high school you don’t really realize, but once you get older you do. Playing for Massillon was a great opportunity to springboard me and prepare me for a place like Ohio State,” Jordan said. “I tell people all of the time that Massillon is like the high school version of Ohio State. The Massillon-Mckinley game prepared me for Ohio State-Michigan game.”

2012 Football Booster Bonanza

Football booster bonanza coupons are now in the Massillon Independent and The Canton Repository every friday. It started friday the 31st. How can you help? Simply check the papers sports page every friday and some bonus days during the high school football season for the Bonanza ad. Clip out the coupon with the obie on it. You can drop off the coupons off at any school,tuesdays booster club or touchdown club,any tiger home game east or west sides. We will have buckets there for you to put them in. First prize is $4000.00 dollars and all the moneys goes back to the kids. We finished 2nd last year so with a little effort lets make it 1st. With everyone clipping coupons we can make this happen.

GO TIGERS!!!