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High School Massillon Tigers

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10/31/05

Massillon must regroup, move on

Monday, October 31, 2005 By TODD PORTER
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Repository Scott Heckel Massillon head coach Tom Stacy took the blame for Saturday’s 38-8 loss to McKinley. He wants his team to focus ahead to Saturday’s game with Hoover.
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MASSILLON - The time to search for answers is over. The Massillon Tigers didn’t even know the questions Saturday afternoon against rival McKinley.

If the Tigers are to rebound and find the rhythm they had the first nine weeks of the season, the first task will be trying to get over Saturday’s pasting.

Massillon’s 9-1 season was good enough for a first-round playoff game at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium. Tiger head coach Tom Stacy thought his team played a schedule that was tough enough to prepare Massillon for McKinley.

Then a 38-8 loss happened.
Now, Stacy turns his attention to another Federal League school, North Canton Hoover. The Vikings beat Jackson, 10-7, on Friday to surge from No. 12 in Division I, Region 2 to No. 6.

Hoover lost to McKinley in the ninth week of the season by nearly an identical score as Massillon, 39-10.

“It always hurts to lose,” Stacy said.

“I’m proud where we’re at. I don’t think a lot of people thought we’d be 9-1. ... When you lose to your rival as badly as we did, get outplayed and outcoached as badly as we did, it hurts.

“The character of our football team and program better be ready to be challenged. I’ve been here before in Week 11, and whether you win or lose the previous game, it’s always tough.

Stacy placed most, if not all, of the McKinley loss on his own shoulders. The Tigers, who have had the answers on offense all year, couldn’t find any Saturday. It was the first time this season Massillon’s offense didn’t score a point — their lone touchdown came on Troy Ellis’ interception return.

“They didn’t do anything we didn’t expect,” Stacy said. “We just didn’t execute well, and we didn’t call the right plays. We had some things in mind we thought we could do. You never go into a game without a plan. We just didn’t have a very good one.”

The quickest cure to is a return to the field. Hoover and Massillon last played in 2002, also in the first round of the playoffs. The result was a 31-0 Tiger win at Memorial Stadium.

Hoover may be the second-best team Massillon has played since beating Cleveland St. Ignatius. The question, however, is how well have the Tigers played since beating the Wildcats.

The Tigers had lopsided wins over overmatched opponents Woodrow Wilson and Eastlake North. Massillon beat a Warren Harding, 13-0, but this was a Raiders team that finished 3-7. They then got smacked around by McKinley.
Now, they play a Vikings team with little to lose.

“We’re glad to be in,” Hoover head coach Don Hertler Jr. said. “We feel very fortunate to be in. We didn’t expect it. We didn’t worry about it. It’s a good reward for the kids. Hopefully, we have a good week of preparation.”
Hertler disagreed that there is any comparison between the scores his team and Massillon had against McKinley.

“McKinley played us on the road, on a very wet field,” Hertler said. “I don’t know if you can compare the two games. I know Massillon is still a very good team.”

The task Stacy faces is getting his players to believe that again.
The Tigers are coming off their worst offensive and defense effort this season. They gained 124 yards against McKinley and allowed 339, including nearly 250 on the ground.

There is some good news. McKinley running back Morgan Williams lit up the Tigers’ 3-4 defense to the tune of 192 yards on 20 carries in the first half, but Massillon’s defense adjusted and Williams was limited to 42 yards on 20 carries during the second half.

The bad news?

It could have been worse. McKinley missed on two touchdown passes in the first half.

The last time a Massillon playoff team ended the regular season with a loss to the Bulldogs was 1996. The Tigers were dominated, 21-0, in Week 10, then lost to Brunswick, 7-6, the following week.
“I’m sure they’ll come out strong against us,” Hertler said of the Tigers. “I’m sure they’re disappointed in the outcome of that game, and they’ll want to improve.” Reach Repository sports writer Todd Porter at (330) 580-8340 or e-mail: [email protected].
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11/2/05


Tigers: Last week is history

Wednesday, November 2, 2005 By Todd Porter Repository sports writer

MASSILLON -- They were huffing and puffing pretty hard. No one, though, was shedding another tear.
The Massillon High School Tigers returned to the practice field Tuesday, everyone realizing the season does go on even after a loss to rival McKinley. Massillon took one between the eyes when the Bulldogs blasted them, 38-8, Saturday at Fawcett Stadium.
The Tigers face a second Federal League school — North Canton Hoover — on Saturday night inside Paul Brown Tiger Stadium in a Division I playoff opener at 7.
“We’re definitely not worried about that loss any more,” running back and junior captain Brian Gamble said. “We shed our tears after the game and looking at film Monday. We have to move on like a heavyweight champion. We took one across the chin. When a champion takes one on the chin, he comes back hard and throws one of his own.”
Is Massillon a champion?
The 9-1 regular-season finish is worlds away from consecutive 4-6 seasons. First-year head coach Tom Stacy likes the progress his team made in a short period of time.
UP TO THE PLAYERS
At this point, though, Stacy is putting Massillon’s postseason in his players’ hands. Have the Tigers made enough progress to understand what it takes to win in the playoffs?
“The jury is still out on us, I think,” Stacy said. “I hope the kids feel that way, but it’s not how we (coaches) feel. It’s about how they feel. They’re the ones who have got to play.
“We’re putting this (postseason) in their laps, and asking, ‘What do you want to do with the rest of the season?’ This is another Stark County opponent from the Federal League. They’re a good team and they’re well coached. We’ll find out what we’re made of.”
Stacy is back to his usual plain-spoken self. As Massillon’s offensive coordinator in the early 1990s and late ’80s, he was a kind, but bluntly honest coach.
“We’re not talking about our mindset, or their mindset. We’ve just got to get ready and go play,” Stacy said. “We’re not spending time on all that other crap. We’ve got to get a good plan together and go lay it on the line. There is no sense in wasting time talking about mindsets, or beating anyone up mentally. There is no time to waste.”
TIGER FANS HUNGRY
Massillon’s loss shocked it fan base. But the setback didn’t turn them off to their Tigers.
Massillon fans stood in the rain Tuesday to buy more than 5,000 tickets on the first day postseason tickets were sold. Fans seem hungry for a postseason atmosphere after two seasons without it. Massillon last made the playoffs in 2002.
If the postseason is just a reward, no one in Massillon practiced that way. It was intense and focused.
“You get what you coach,” Stacy said. “I didn’t do a good job getting them ready and preparing them last week. I don’t think we’ll know what we’re getting until we tee it up Saturday night. “We’re going to see what we’re made of, and how bad they want to move on. We have the potential (for a deep playoff run). A lot of that depends on how well we react after getting beat. We haven’t been in that position. Will we come out hungry, or feeling sorry for ourselves? North Canton Hoover is not going to feel sorry for us, and if we don’t come to play, it’s going to be a rude awakening.” Reach Repository sports writer Todd Porter at (330) 580-8340 or e-mail: [email protected].
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11/6/05

Tigers play angry, make Vikings pay

Sunday, November 6, 2005 By Todd Porter repository sports wRITER


MASSILLON - An entire week to live with losing to McKinley is an eternity in Massillon. Purgatory ended Saturday night in a Division I regional quarterfinal football playoff game at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

Massillon played with attitude and took its coach’s advice: play mad. The Tigers gained 409 yards of offense and ended North Canton Hoover’s season with a 45-14 win in front of 8,954.

“This game was all about attitude,” Massillon running back and safety Brian Gamble said. “We took a physical beating last week. We had a little something on our shoulders we had to let off.”

Gamble finished with 146 yards on 14 carries, including an 80-yard touchdown run right after he picked off a Hoover pass. The 6-foot, 190-pounder also set the tone of the game early and often. Gamble brought the wood to Hoover’s offense on the first series.

“Brian is a leader, he’s a junior captain for a reason,” Massillon head coach Tom Stacy said. “He’s a great player. We knew Brian Gamble would be ready to play.”

The question in Massillon, after last week’s 38-8 drilling by McKinley, was would everyone else?

“We wanted them to play mad,” Stacy said. “If you’re a competitor, you’ll do that.”

Massillon scored on its second possession of the game. It was the first offensive touchdown for the Tigers in two weeks. Quarterback Bobby Huth faked a handoff on third-and-goal at the 3, then kept around right end and stretched the ball over the goal line. That score came with 56 seconds left in the first quarter.

The offense was more efficient on the next possessions. Massillon needed 10 plays to go 49 yards on Huth’s score. The Tigers went 70 yards in five plays and needed all of 54 seconds to take a 14-0 lead. Huth completed a 37-yard pass to Zack Vanryzin to the North Canton 21. Then, he hit Gamble for 10 yards on a perfectly executed swing pass. Gamble took a handoff around right end and, in a blink, cut back inside to score from 11 yards out.

Steve Schott added a 28-yard field goal before halftime for a 17-0 lead.
The Vikings struggled to move the ball in the first half. They managed four first downs and never crossed the 50 after a brief appearance there on their first drive. The Vikings had just one first down after their opening drive and didn’t have a possession end across their own 40 since then, either.

Despite a lack of offense, Hoover was a score away from getting in the game. That score didn’t come until the Tigers built a 31-0 lead.

“We talked at halftime about needing to get a score,” Hoover head coach Don Hertler Jr. said. “We had a couple opportunities to create turnovers in the first half and missed. We had to get back in the game, and then they got a quick score.”

With a 17-0 lead, the Tigers received the second-half kickoff. Then, 37 seconds later, Hoover was out of it. Huth completed a 26-yard pass to Trey Miller. Then he hit Gamble on a swing pass and the running back turned it into a 54-yard touchdown. In all, Gamble had 259 yards.

Massillon scored on a fourth-and-goal from the Hoover 1 midway through the fourth quarter. Lanale Robinson, who finished with 117 yards on 12 carries, took it in. Stacy had a 38-7 lead — why not kick a field goal?
“We were better offensively, but there are still things we need to work on,” he said. “It wasn’t running up the score. We just needed to finish a drive.”

North Canton finally got something going in the third quarter. It ended when linebacker Robert Morris was all over Hoover quarterback Josh Nettleton on a screen pass and Morris tipped the pass. The ball was picked off by nose tackle Lorenzo Grizzard and returned 52 yards for a touchdown and a 31-0 Massillon lead with 8:14 to play in the third quarter.

Gamble and Robinson both finished with more than 100 yards rushing. Huth had 172 in the air, and just five incomplete passes.

“Things are different after a loss,” Stacy said. “You roll up your sleeves and go back to work. ... Your mind-set is a lot different. I hope we got our edge back.” Reach Repository sports writer Todd Porter at (330) 580-8340 or e-mail:
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11/9/05

OHSAA football playoffs: Massillon will see a different Findlay team
Wednesday, November 9, 2005


By Todd Porter Repository sports writer


MASSILLON - In order to consider running for elected office, there has to be a little bit of character in a candidate’s make up.

Findlay head coach Cliff Hite is running unopposed in May for a seat in the Ohio House of Representatives. Before anyone casts a vote in May, they may want to get a load of his high school football team.

Hite’s Findlay Trojans head to Arlin Field in Mansfield to play Massillon in a Division I regional semifinal game Saturday night. The coach who helped shape and produce Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger isn’t shying away from this week’s challenge.

“Look, I’m not an idiot,” Hite said. “I know people want a McKinley-Massillon rematch. But people wanted to see the Yankees and the Red Sox in the playoffs, too. We’ll be the White Sox. I have no problem with that.

“And if we don’t beat Massillon, then I hope we scare the living snot out of them. That means we played well.”

Findlay lost its opener to playoff-qualifier Toledo St. John’s and has since ticked off 10 wins in a row. The Trojans lost a 17-point fourth-quarter lead in the opener. They’ve had comeback wins against Worthington Kilbourne and Fremont Ross. They played what Hite called a perfect game against Moeller.

The Trojans are battle-tested against good teams. The milestone win came against Dublin Coffman the second week of the season.

“We were 0-9 against them,” Hite said. “When we beat them it was like we won the Super Bowl. It was a huge monkey off our backs.”

Not many defenses have been able to shake running back Caleb Enright. The 5-foot-11, 240-pounder is the reason Findlay’s spread offense isn’t a traditional spread. Enright has 1,269 yards and 17 touchdowns.

“He has gone down after the first hit, but not very often,” Hite said. “He carried six guys from Moeller into the end zone. It was impressive. It was cool. ... He’s a tough kid. He’s all taped up and beat up. He doesn’t care. He’s as blue-collar a kid as we’ve got in this town.”

A year ago Enright was the defensive lineman of the year in the Northwest District.

“He never scored a touchdown until this year,” Hite said. “I wouldn’t go near him in practice. On the field, (Enright’s) nasty. Off it, he’d give you the shirt off his back.”

Don’t overlook Chris Schneider, the 6-foot-3, 228-pound quarterback. He isn’t as tall as Roethlisberger was, but he’s stronger. Is he in the same class?

“He has a possibility to be close,” Hite said. “He has the biggest calves I’ve ever seen. He’s a big boy.”

But Findlay’s turn-around this year is similar to Massillon’s. The Trojans lost to the Tigers a year ago at Findlay, 36-16. Massillon beat them two years ago, 34-17. Those seasons, the Tigers won just four games.

There will be many players on the Findlay sideline who played in one, or both, of those games.

“Geez, the difference I would say is we’re much stronger on the offensive line,” Hite said. “We were one-dimensional then. Lima shut down our run, so we threw all night.”

Losing to Massillon wasn’t a big deal.

“No, losing period in Findlay is a big deal,” Hite said. “I will say this: We have the utmost respect for Massillon’s tradition in football. It’s the most storied program in the history of the United States as far as high school football is concerned.

“Is losing to them a big deal for us? We don’t like to lose to anybody. ... We’ve learned from our mistakes. Sandusky and Fremont scared the crud out of us. We played five playoff teams and beat four of them. We’re not afraid to represent the Northwest Ohio area.”

Massillon head coach Tom Stacy seemed concerned about Findlay. His impression of Hite is the veteran head coach is one of the best offensive minds in the state.

Hite laughs.

He’s been around the block.

“Tom spoke highly of me? So he lies, too, huh?” Hite said. “Tom does a great Lou Holtz. Tom can make a bad team look good in meetings. ... There is no question we run our offense fairly well. We know what we’re doing. Do we have the caliber of athlete they have in Stark County? We’ll find out. People can take that any way they want.

“We’re better than we were the last two years. So is Massillon. We’ll find out who’s improved the most, the quickest. Our kids are playing someone they expect to be good, and they play a lot better when they know they’re playing a good team. Our kids aren’t afraid of anybody. We’ll play anybody, anywhere, anytime.”

It’s a good thing Hite is running unopposed. His competition would have a tough time keeping up with his sound bites. Reach Repository sports writer Todd Porter at (330) 580-8340 or e-mail: [email protected]
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11/10/05

Division I: Tigers coach Stacy knows Findlay, he grew up there
Thursday, November 10, 2005


By Todd Porter REPOSITORY SPORT WRITER

Massillon vs. Findlay

Division I, Region 2
7 p.m. Saturday
Arlin Field, Mansfield



MASSILLON - The hotel across the street from Findlay University isn’t a hotel any more. It hasn’t been for a while. Richard Stacy Insurance is celebrating 50 years of serving the Findlay area. The old cream colored and green sign has been there since Tom Stacy can remember.

When Massillon plays Findlay High School on Saturday night at Mansfield’s Arlin Field, it won’t be a homecoming for Stacy. But he will see a lot of familiar faces following the 10-1 Trojans to Saturday’s Division I, Region 2 regional semifinal football game.

“I’ll bet 90 percent of my relatives are from Findlay,” Stacy said. “It’s ... like a second home for me. I played summer league baseball there for the Findlay Owls when I was at Bowling Green. ... I never thought I’d have the opportunity to coach against them.”

Stacy is looking forward to Saturday’s game. He’ll match wits with Findlay coach Cliff Hite, a veteran offensive mind much like Stacy’s. Hite produced Ben Roethlisberger, and he’s has a spread offense that is more beef than butter.

The Trojans didn’t get to be 10-1 with a one-dimensional offense. Hite’s offense has the screen pass mastered, and Findlay runs well out of the natural lanes the spread creates. Findlay has won 10 straight since a Week 1 loss to Toledo St. John’s.

And Massillon?

The Tigers appeared to come through their lopsided loss to McKinley rather well. They beat North Canton Hoover 45-14 and in the process, earned some self-respect back.

A week ago, Stacy was edgy. He challenged his team during practice. One day last week, Stacy walked away from his players as they gathered in the end zone following a practice.

“I don’t know if I’d call (last week’s win) a resurrection, but it ... re-energized us,” Stacy said. “We needed ... to get back some confidence.
“We have a lot of guys who love to play. We have a lot of guys who love to put the pads on and practice. ... I give the kids a lot of credit for overcoming the McKinley game. We put last week in their laps, and they got it done. It shows their competitiveness and character.”

The Tigers offense got back on track. Massillon punted on its first drive, but scored on three of its next five possessions. Then the Tigers scored on a two-play, 80-yard drive that took 39 seconds. Two Bobby Huth passes went for 80 yards, the last a 54-yard screen pass to Brian Gamble. Three minutes later, nose tackle Lorenzo Grizzard put the game away with a 58-yard interception return that made it 31-0.

Last week, the task was rising after a loss to McKinley. This week the task is not looking ahead to a possible rematch with the Bulldogs.

It’s a fine line.

“We’re showing them enough tape of Findlay, they ought to know they’ll get beat if they look past Findlay,” Stacy said. “This is a good team. If we don’t understand that, then we’re in for a rude awakening.

Quarterback Chris Schneider, at 6-foot-3, 228 pounds, is cut from the Roethlisberger mold. He has thrown for 2,041 yards and completed 154-of-242 passes. He’s thrown 19 touchdowns and eight interceptions.

Hite doesn’t just snap the ball to Schneider and let it fly. Running back Caleb Enright goes 5-11, 240 and has 1,269 yards rushing with 17 TDs.
“He’s got some speed, too,” Stacy said. “We better get a lot of hats on that kid.”

Findlay doesn’t have one favorite receiver, but Ryan Sottoway is the team’s fastest player. Sottoway leads the team with 50 catches, but Zack Kraus has caught 49. They accounted for 65 percent of Schneider’s completions.

Speed will be a factor. Stacy believes Massillon has a slight advantage, but the game is being played on grass in the 12th week at Arlin. Massillon fans remember plenty of games there that were a muddy mess.

About a dozen fans camped out Monday night in front of the ticket office windows at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium in anticipation of sales Tuesday.
The bigger game could be next week.

“All we did last week was clean that bitter taste out of our mouths,” tight end Brett Huffman said. “... Some of us remember what it was like when we were freshmen. You can’t look ahead to or past anyone. This is do or die time. No one wants the offseason to start. We have to have a refuse to lose.” Reach Repository sports writer Todd Porter at (330) 580-8340 or e-mail: [email protected]
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11/10/05

Massillon vs. Findlay

SITE Mansfield’s Arlin Field, 7:30 p.m.

DIRECTIONS Go west on Route 30 past I-71 to Mansfield. Exit at Trimble Road. Turn left (south) on Trimble to Fourth Street. The stadium complex is on the left.

RECORDS Massillon 10-1; Findlay 10-1.

PLAYOFF HISTORY Massillon is making its 15th playoff appearance and is 18-14. Findlay is making its fifth appearance and is 5-4.

LAST WEEK Massillon 45, Hoover 14; Findlay 56, Sylvania Northview 14.

LAST MEETING Massillon won a regular-season game 36-16 last season.
WHAT TO WATCH The Trojans are a better team than Massillon played last year. They are stronger up front and are varied on offense. Findlay uses the spread offense, but will keep the ball on the ground more than pass it. RB Caleb Enright, at 5-foot-11, 240 pounds, has more than 1,200 yards and averages 6.5 per carry. He is a load to bring down. He pass protects well and catches the ball out of the backfield. QB Chris Schneider is living up to the recent expectations of Findlay QBs. He’s completed 154-of-242 passes for 2,041 yards, 19 TDs and eight interceptions. That’s about one interception for every 30 attempts. The Findlay offensive line does not have great size, but sophomore center Justin Rice (6-0, 197) may be the best. LG Terner Acheson is a tough kid and blocks well. However, the left side of Findlay’s line is made up of underclassmen. The top receiver is Ryan Sottoway, who possesses 4.4-4.5 40-yard speed. Defensively, the Trojans allowed an average 20.4 points and 300 yards per game during the regular season. Massillon’s defense allows 12.7 points and 243 yards per game. A key matchup will be Findlay’s secondary against Massillon receivers and RB Brian Gamble catching the ball out of the backfield. Findlay will make the Tigers pay for mistakes through the air. Sottoway plays free safety as well. If Massillon QB Bobby Huth continues to play well (10-of-15, 172 yards, one TD last week), the Tigers running game will open. The offensive line needs to play well and make sure Gamble has lanes. Massillon must get a lead and then take away Findlay’s passing game with pressure. The Tigers have been very good at pressuring opposing QBs. DE Antonio James leads the team with 10 sacks. Massillon has 40 sacks. DB Andrew Dailey has battled bumps and bruises, but coach Tom Stacy seems concerned about his status for this game. Massillon has not won two playoff games in a season since 2002, and the program has advanced past the second postseason game five times.
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11/12/05

Memorable goal-line stand saves Massillon

Sunday, November 13, 2005 By TODD PORTER
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Massillon’s Brian Gamble barrels in for the Tigers’ first touchdown Saturday night as Findlay’s Jeremy Widman (16) and Ryan Sottoway (11) converge.​

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MANSFIELD They shot themselves in the foot so many times Saturday night, the Massillon Tigers might hobble into a mega showdown with McKinley on nubs.

In a Division I regional semifinal against Findlay, the Tigers roughed the kicker three times, committed a half dozen personal fouls, had 66 yards in penalties — in the first quarter — and lost two fumbles. Then the defense gave up 51 yards on a hook-and-lateral in the final 30 seconds.

Somehow, Massillon still beat Findlay, 27-20, thanks to a goal-line stand that kept the Trojans 9 inches short of the goal line as time expired at Arlin Field.

“I saw his leg as soon as the ball was snapped, and I just grabbed it,” said Tiger nose tackle Lorenzo Grizzard, who teamed with Emery Saunders, Antonio James and Dirk Dickerhoof to stop Findlay quarterback Chris Schneider on a quarterback sneak from just inside the 1 on the final play.

“I didn’t let (Schneider’s leg) go until the officials waved and I got up to run down the field,” Grizzard said. “I won’t forget that play for a long time. He was about 9 inches from tying the game.”

The Tigers won’t soon forget the feeling of escaping near certain playoff doom, either.

“We’re fortunate to win. We did not play very well. That’s about as bad as you can play and still win,” Massillon head coach Tom Stacy said. “We didn’t get going until the third quarter.”

And once the Tigers did, they came in spurts. The Tigers showed little sign of offensive life until two quick touchdowns less than a minute apart to take their first lead.

“I was surprised how sloppy it was,” Findlay head coach Cliff Hite said. “There are so many what-ifs from this game, I don’t know if I’ll ever watch this tape again. We had them, they had us, and then we had a shot at the end and came up just short. We had it at the 2, the 1 and the 1-inch line.”

As starts go, Massillon’s ended quickly. The Tigers got nothing going offensively and had trouble stopping Findlay’s run-oriented spread offense.
In the first half, Massillon ran 14 plays to Findlay’s 47. The Trojans piled up 18 first downs to the Tigers’ three. The worst part for Massillon was its six penalties for 66 yards. The Tigers were called for five personal fouls in the first half, including two for roughing the kicker. Massillon had just 60 total yards, about 100 less than Findlay at halftime.

“We relaxed a little in the third quarter and they turned it up about 15 notches,” Hite said.

“We tried to. We needed to,” Stacy said. “It was like we were playing in a fog in the first half. ... Hey, we’re 11-1 now and we’ve got a rematch. We’ll see what happens.”

Massillon turned the game around in the third quarter. After Findlay took a 17-7 lead with 9:38 left in the third, Massillon answered.

A nine-play drive ended with running back Brian Gamble running between right tackle from a yard out. That gave the Tigers a 17-14 lead and put them in a game they had no business being in at that point.

Two plays later, the Trojans fumbled a snap and Mike Porrini recovered at the Findlay 29. On the next play, Tiger quarterback Bobby Huth rolled right and hit wide receiver Zach Vanryzin for a touchdown, and the lead.

On the next possession, Massillon used Findlay’s aggressiveness on defense against the Trojans. On second down from the 20, Lanale Robinson took a reverse option pitch 80 yards down the Findlay sideline for a touchdown.
The momentum shifted. Massillon had a 27-17 lead.

It stayed that way until Findlay drilled a 24-yard field goal in the fourth. Then the Tigers scared the daylights out of the more than 6,000 Massillon fans in the crowd of 12,264.

With 38 seconds left, Schneider hit Ryan Sottoway, who flipped the ball to 240-pound Caleb Enright with a head of steam. Gamble, a safety, delivered a touchdown-saving play that knocked Enright out of the bounds at the 3.
“I just hit him as hard as I could,” Gamble said. “We kept them out and won the game. You don’t get a second chance in life very often and now we’ve got a second chance against McKinley. It’s up to us to do something with that, though.”

Reach Repository sports writer Todd Porter at (330) 580-8340 or e-mail: [email protected]

Massillon 27, Findlay 20
at Arlin Field

Findlay 0 10 7 3 — 20
Massillon 0 7 20 0 — 27

F—Schneider 4 run (Walker kick)
M—Gamble 3 run (Schott kick)
F—Walker 49 field goal
F—Leddy 8 pass from Schneider (Walker kick)
M—Gamble 1 run (Schott kick)
M—Vanryzin 29 pass from Huth (Schott kick)
M—Robinson 80 run (pass failed)
F—Walker 24 field goal

Team statistics
Rushing: Findlay 41-138 Massillon 33-297. Passing: Findlay 17-40-0-206, Massillon 10-12-0-102. First downs: Findlay 23, Massillon 11. Fumbles-lost: Findlay 4-3 Massillon 3-2 Records: Findlay 10-2; Massillon 11-1.
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11/14/05


Tigers get second chance to beat McKinley
Monday, November 14, 2005 [FONT=Verdana, Times New Roman, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]By Todd Porter Repository sports writer[/FONT]
14massillon.jpg

Repository Scott Heckel Massillon linebacker Antonio James (58) brings down Findlay quarterback Chris Schneider on Saturday during a first-quarter goal-line stand. The Tigers would stop Schneider short again in the fourth quarter to hold on for a 27-20 victory.
​



MASSILLON - It wasn’t long after logic had been defied. Inside the Massillon locker room, where the odor was thick from sweating both blood and bullets, the Tigers prayed.
Head coach Tom Stacy thanked the Lord for the blessing of playing football.

“There must’ve been a reason You wanted us to win this game,” Stacy said.

To win in the postseason the way Massillon played Saturday took some kind of intervention, be it divine or mystique. Nevertheless, Stacy’s message was clear.

Massillon gets a second chance at McKinley. It is a matchup that has been anticipated for three long weeks in Tigertown. Anyone being honest with himself inside that locker room will tell you McKinley didn’t just beat the Tigers, 38-8, in the regular-season finale.

“They kicked our butts,” junior co-captain Brian Gamble said.

A rare second opportunity will put the two rivals together at the Rubber Bowl on Saturday night at 7.

Despite everything that went wrong against Findlay at Arlin Field — and there was plenty — Massillon won its 11th game this season. The last time the Tigers were 11-1 was 2001 after they beat McKinley, 35-19, in the second round of the playoffs. Stacy is the first Massillon coach to win 11 games in his initial season.

What exactly went wrong against Findlay? Nearly everything. But Massillon made big plays when it had to in order to preserve a 27-20 win over the Trojans.

Despite extending Findlay’s opening drive on fourth down once, handing the Trojans a first down on what should have been third-and-long and tacking on another 15 yards for a personal foul after a 14-yard run, Findlay didn’t take advantage of Massillon’s gifts.

When Stacy thought the start couldn’t get worse, it did. Massillon’s opening drive stalled at midfield. On fourth down, the snap to punter Shawn Weisend soared 30 yards over his head. Weisend made one of the biggest plays of the game just in getting the punt off. It traveled 57 yards from where he kicked it, and Findlay didn’t score off that drive.

“It was a win. That’s all you can say,” Stacy said.

Weisend’s play sent an early message to Findlay. The Tigers could play poorly, but they still were talented enough to win ugly against good teams.
Even after Massillon got control of the game — thanks to Lanale Robinson’s 80-yard touchdown run — the Tigers almost let it slip away. An illegal motion penalty caught quarterback Bobby Huth off guard, and the snap was fumbled at the Findlay 13. A touchdown there would have put the game away at 34-17.

“I don’t think we lost a snap all season, and we lose one trying to put it away,” Stacy said shaking his head. “We’re going to have to play much better next week.”

McKinley dominated Massillon’s offensive front for four quarters. Gamble, who has been held under 100 yards just four times in 12 games, ran for 52 against McKinley. The Tigers had just 61 yards rushing and 66 passing against McKinley.

“We’ve got the rematch, but now we’ve got to do something about it,” Stacy said. “We’ll have to up our play a lot if we’re going to have a chance.”

Stacy is taking a different approach this week. He lamented the way he handled himself and his team during the week leading up to the first McKinley game. This week, Stacy said, “we’re tightening up shop and closing the ranks.”

That means he will limit his team’s exposure to the media, and he’ll personally spend more time game-planning. Reach Repository sports writer Todd Porter at (330) 580-8340 or e-mail: [email protected]
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11/16/05


Stacy, Tigers do their homework
Wednesday, November 16, 2005 [FONT=Verdana, Times New Roman, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]By Todd Porter Repository sports writer [/FONT]

Division I
Regional Final: McKinley vs. Massillon
7 p.m. Saturday
Rubber Bowl, Akron
Radio WHBC-AM 1480,
WNPQ-FM 95.9, ESPN-AM 990



MASSILLON - In the aftermath of the McKinley beating, Tom Stacy did what he does most Sunday mornings. He woke up around 6 a.m. and mowed his grass.
Twice.
“I mowed it twice this week, too,” Stacy said. “It’s a routine of mine. I do a lot of thinking mowing the yard.”
Stacy is methodical about his routines. He keeps a spotless car (another routine) and friends have described that mower as spotless, without dirt.
There is little doubt all Stacy has thought about since last week’s high school football regional semifinal win over Findlay is McKinley. The first-year Tigers head coach was neither pleased with the way his team played, nor his coaching in a 38-8 loss to the Bulldogs on Oct. 29.
He looked over the first McKinley game plan and scrapped it. Massillon’s offense, which Stacy runs, did little in the first meeting — and that is being kind. The Tigers ran 47 plays and gained 127 yards.
Their only score came on a 50-yard Troy Ellis interception return.
“I think we’ve done our homework and learned some things,” Stacy said. “I think we’ve made some adjustments to make a difference.”
Stacy can spend every waking hour planning for unbeaten McKinley and it may only make a fraction of a difference.
“We can X and O forever. Both coaching staffs have a lot of experience and are very solid,” Stacy said. “It comes down to which team plays the best. We have to play much smarter and with much more discipline than we did this past week. If we don’t play better, we’re not going to win. It’s plain and simple.
“They’re a great football, and to beat a great football you have to outplay them. For us that means playing smarter and not making some of the crazy mistakes we did last week.”
Three roughing the kicker penalties, a bad punt snap, a muffed punt and two lost fumbles were some of the miscues.
Stacy examined everything about the way Massillon prepared for the first McKinley game. He made tough decisions.
Practices are closed this week. Players are off limits to the media. Stacy was laid back in the week leading up to the first game. He isn’t uptight this week, but his intensity is higher.
He knows the tactics could send the wrong message and make the team uptight.
“I don’t think that’s a problem with this group,” Stacy said. “We need to have total focus. We can’t have any distractions. ... There are two things our guys should be concerned with this week. The first is taking care of things in the classroom, and the second is playing that playoff game Saturday night.”
There is no truth to a growing tale around town that several starters were out late the night before the first McKinley game. Stacy said players were told to go home after a parade and bonfire. That was before the normal 10 p.m. curfew. Five junior varsity players ate dinner with their parents at a sports eatery. The entire team ran the Monday after the McKinley game for the rules violation.
“The rumor has escalated out of control,” Stacy said. “We just got our butts kicked. That’s all. If it had been the case where half the starters were out all night, we’d have really gotten waxed.”
Last week, the Tigers made enough big plays to overcome mistakes. But Stacy said that won’t happen this week.
“The distractions we’ve had are little things, no training rules violations or anything like that, but little things that add up,” Stacy said. “That becomes a lack of focus, and a lack of discipline. Those are things we can’t have.
“We can’t be messing around and win a football game. We’re not good enough to walk on the field and say, ‘Here we are, we’re Massillon, let’s get it on.’ There may be teams good enough to do that, but we’re not one of them. We need to have tunnel vision to get this done.” If that happens, maybe the yard will be mowed once Sunday morning. Reach Repository sports writer Todd Porter at (330) 580-8340 or e-mail: [email protected].
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