Tigers rip Perry 22-8
Spielman does it all;
Defense does
its job
By MARK ESTEP
Independent
Sportswriter
MASSILLON – With three of the Midwest’s top coaches in
the stands, Chris Spielman led the
Ohio State’s Early Bruce,
Notre Dame’s Gerry Faust and Indiana’s Sam Wyche were
in the crowd at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium as Spielman
rushed for 78 yards, caught a pass, threw a touchdown pass, intercepted a pass
and ran back a punt 68 yards. He also
helped the famed “Tiger Claw” defense keep the Panthers bottled up most of the
evening.
“Chris Spielman
is the best all-around athlete I’ve ever coached,” declared Tiger coach Mike Currence. “That punt
return was worth the price of admission.
“In an opening game, you can
expect to make the kind of mistakes we did,” Currence
continued. “We need some work with our
receivers, but we’ll find out what we can do in the next few weeks.”
Tiger fans and coaches got a
scare with
“You can’t be pleased when
you lose,” said Perry coach Keith Wakefield.
“We came here to win, not to keep it close, like some people think. Our kids hung in there but we missed tackles
and didn’t block very well.”
“But we’re going to be a
good football team.”
The Tigers took the opening
kickoff and marched down to the Perry 29 in seven plays but Pfisterer
missed a 47-yard field goal attempt with
After holding the Panthers
on their first possession, the Tigers drove down to the Panther 5, set up a
50-yard pass from Dewitz to split end Paul
Briggs. But Spielman
fumbled two plays later and Panther linebacker John Hively
recovered.
Perry couldn’t get any
further than their own 25 and after a punt, the Tigers took over on the Panther
37. On the first play, Craig Johnson
swept around left end for the first Tiger TD of the season. Pfisterer booted
the extra point.
Perry defensive back Pat McRoberts blunted the next Tiger drive with an interception
but the team couldn’t capitalize on their fortune. Spielman ran back
Ray Williams’ punt 68 yards down to the Panther 1 but two penalties and an
incomplete pass took the Tigers out of a TD.
The Tigers made it 10-0 with
50 seconds left in the second period on a 27-yard field goal by Tim Sampsel which was set up by Spielman’s
interception.
On the kickoff, Perry’s John
Maciag fumbled and Glen Thomas recovered for
Spielman scored the Tigers’ final touchdown on a 10-yard run off left tackle,
which capped an eight-play, 56-yaard drive.
The PAT attempt was blocked.
Perry’s lone score came in
the waning minutes of the game when tailback Rod Lemon bulled over from the 1
to avert a shutout. The score came on
the fifth play of a 47-yard drive.
Quarterback Jamie Howell, who relieved starter Don Decker late in the
second quarter, ran around right end for the extra points.
Spielman was the game’s leading rusher with 78 yards on 12 carries. Johnson gained 71 yards on nine carries. Howell scrambled his way for 47 yards in 12
carries while fullback Wally Buzinski tallied 36
yards on 10 rushes.
“Perry is a much improved
ball club,” Currence said. “I think everyone knows that. Howell really gave us some trouble.”
Both