Making an impression…
Tigers Al(toon)a up for GlenOak
with 34‑3 blowout
STEVE
DOERSCHUK
Independent
Sports Editor
Who were the Massillon
Tigers trying to impress, anyway?
Maybe it was the
hundreds of former Tiger football players who turned up Saturday on
"Alumni Night" to see the old school wipe out an old rival, Altoona,
Pa., by a 34‑3 score.
Maybe it was the fans
who didn't show up after a season opening 22‑8 loss to Garfield ‑
Saturday's crowd, held down by a pre‑game rain was just 8,576.
Maybe it was the
GlenOak Golden Eagles, winners in Tigertown last year, and next up on the
schedule.
(A quick note on the
GlenOak game: ''It's gonna be a street fight," Tiger co‑captain John
Miller said).
Somebody say Miller?
Say it again. The 6‑foot‑1, 201‑pound senior was a main man
against Altoona, looking like Bronko Nagurski as he plowed for 51 yards in nine
rushes. He also kicked the Mountain Lions on defense, intercepting a pass,
sacking the quarterback twice, and looking like he was having a good time at inside
linebacker.
"As the game progressed, I started to feel more comfortable at linebacker,'' said Miller, who helped limit the Lions to 118 yards in total offense, nearly half of which came on a trick play that set up Altoona's only points, a 27‑yard field goal in the first quarter.
"I want to show
people I can play," said Miller, who is in a new role after playing
quarterback last year. "As a team, we started to come together more
tonight. Altoona was quick, but not as good on the physical side. It's good to
get a win."
The pre‑season
hype billed the Tigers as a potentially explosive team with a balanced offense.
Saturday, hype equaled fact.
Senior Jerome Myricks
scored on three breakaway touchdown plays and on a 15‑yard run.
The Tiger running
attack, featuring a cast of several, ground out 198 yards at 5.8 a carry. The
passing attack further advanced Erik White as an all‑county candidate and
yielded 157 yards.
White completed nine
of 13 passes for 157 yards. Through two games, he has connected on 22 of 34
aerials for 312 yards, three TDs and one interception ‑ which ain't bad.
The 6‑foot‑5
˝ inch, senior was celebrating his 17th birthday Saturday. White is what
football coaches call a "young senior," in that some of his teammates
are more than a year older than him.
Yes, there were some
impressive performances Saturday. But it's not time to get carried away of
course.
A year ago, the Tigers
wiped out Cincinnati Mount Healthy one week before bowing to GlenOak.
"A lot of people
may think we played very well,'' Tiger head coach John Maronto said.
"There were some good things that happened. And it's obviously great to
win. But we really didn't play that well, certainly not as well as we need to
next week. We're going to have to reach the level of improvement next week we
were hoping for this week."
Altoona, 0‑1‑1,
was simply out muscled, said second‑year head coach John Franco.
"Their size was too much for us,"
Franco said. "We
aren't yet the kind of team that can play with a Massillon. We're young and
we're trying to re‑establish what Massillon has had for so many years,
tradition. Next year, I think you'll see a more competitive Massillon‑Altoona
game when it's at our place.
"Massillon just
has an awesome program. They're a very good football team this year and John
Maronto does an outstanding job. They could play with the top so schools in
Pennsylvania. Massillon, in my view, may have a down year every now and then.
But even when they have a down year, they're competitive with the best teams in
Ohio."
As to aspects that did
impress Maronto, the Tiger defense was one. "The defense deserves the
credit,'' Maronto said. "Miller and (linebacker) Scott Sampsel played very
well. Vern Riley looked pretty good. Brendan Kasunick was effective. Dave Hackenbracht
did a good job at linebacker."
The Mountain Lions
stayed in it for a while, forcing a punt on Massillon's next possession, then
recovering from a nasty situation in which its punter touched his knee to the
ground at the 16‑yard line before he could get off the boot. The Tigers
failed to convert the punt‑that‑never‑was when they made one
of their seven fumbles (they lost two), giving Altoona the ball at the 7.
Massillon finally
kicked into high gear late in the first half. Miller's interception gave the
Tigers the ball at the Altoona 15‑yard line, and on the next play Myricks
went around the left side and carried two tacklers with him into the end zone.
The Tigers led 14‑3 with 4:06 left in the half.
A sack by Miller and a
subsequent Altoona punt to midfield set up the next score ‑ on the play
after the punt ‑ as White flipped a screen pass to Myricks, who got
excellent blocking and took off down the left sideline on a 50‑yard
touchdown play. The point‑after kick was no good at the 1:40 mark and the
Tigers ' lead stood at 20‑3 at the half.
Myricks' 33‑yard
touchdown run, set up when the right side of the line blew out the Lions, and
Hurst's kick made it 27‑3 with 5:52 left in the third quarter.
Altoona punted to end
its next possession, and two plays later Myricks took a slant‑in pass
from White at the 43, then exploded out of a pack of four defenders on his way
to a 60‑yard TD. Hurst's kick cemented the final score at 34‑3 with
1:36 left in the third quarter.
The second unit got in plenty of action, as evidenced by the fact Ashcraft gained 56 yards in six rushing attempts in relief of Miller and Myricks. Myricks was the game's rushing leader with 67 yards in only seven carries. White threw passes to seven different receivers, including Jeff Harig, Gerald Pope, Kester, Stafford, Tim Pope and Craig York.
Alexander's
production was limited to the trick play. He otherwise gained 26 yards in six
rushing attempts.
Altoona did manage to
get 12 completions from two quarterbacks.
surprise 6‑0
loser Friday to Akron St. Vincent‑St. Mary), the Tigers got a chance to
dominate a lesser foe. Some tinkering with personnel seemed to help.
Riley, usually the
starting fullback, was inserted in the middle of the defensive line to address
the "quickness" issue that came up after the Garfield game.
"Anything they
need me for, I'm ready," Riley said. "We needed this game tonight. We
were hurt and we were angry about the Garfield game. Now we're back on track.
Against Glen0ak, We're looking to do some paybacks."
Saturday's game lost
its suspense after the Tigers took a 20‑3 halftime lead. But there was
some early drama.
The Tigers scored on a
17‑yard mini‑march after Sean Ascraft recovered a fumbled punt
return attempt. Runs of 8 and 4 yards by Miller set up Jason Stafford's 5‑yard
TD run. Lee Hurst's kick made it 7‑0 at 8:08 of the first quarter.
A razzle‑dazzler
Franco called "a junk play" gained 58 yards and put Altoona in what
seemed to be a contending position. Quarterback Jeff Ruff flipped a flare pass
to Art Fink, who would have been stopped for a short gain had he not pitched
the ball to speedy back Alan Alexander, who turned on the jets down the left.
sideline. Mark Kester, who caught five passes against Garfield and has good
speed himself, made a saving tackle at the 15, which helped, since Altoona had
to settle for the field goal.
Massillon tattoos Altoona
By CHRIS TOMASSON
Repository sports writer
MASSILLON ‑
Massillon tailback Jerome Myricks ran berserk Saturday night, but Tigers' coach
John Maronto regarded it as just a dress rehearsal of things to come this
season.
In Massillon's 34‑3
win over Altoona, Pa., at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium, Myricks scored four
touchdowns , one on a 33‑yard run, and two on receptions of 50 yards or
over. But Maronto isn't ready to put Myricks on a pedestal.
"He's capable of
playing even better than he did tonight," Maronto said. "He's just
starting to come into his own. Just watch him the rest of the season."
Although Maronto has
even higher expectations for him, Myricks certainly wasn't displeased with his
showing against the Mountain Lions (0‑1‑1), who were playing
Massillon (1‑1) for the first time in 19 years.
This was the most
memorable game of my career, " said the 5‑foot‑11, 181‑pound
senior who wears No. 1, and has certainly become No. 1 in the hearts of Tigers'
fans.
Myricks ran for 67
yards on seven carries,, and caught two passes for 110 yards, both for
touchdowns.
Myricks' first
touchdown, a 15‑yard run early in the second quarter, gave Massillon a 14‑3
lead and broke open what looked like, might be a tight game.
The Tigers jumped out
to a 7‑0 lead four minutes into the game when Jason Stafford scored on a 5‑yard run, ‑ which
followed a fumbled Altoona punt.
Yet on their very first play from scrimmage, the Mountain Lions stunned the crowd of 8,576 with a play right off an elementary school playground. Quarterback Jeff Ruff threw a flare pass to Artie Fink, who immediately lateralled to Alan Alexander, who sprinted 58 yards down the left sideline to the Massillon 15. Only a diving tackle by Massillon's Mark Kester saved a touchdown.
But then the Massillon
defense, abused last week in a 22‑8 loss to Akron Garfield, got tough,
and Altoona had to settle for a 26‑yard
field goal by Ruff.
"That kind of
hurt our momentum," said Altoona coach John Franco. "If we had been
able to punch the ball in there, maybe we would have had a chance."
Franco's probably
wrong. Take away the 58 yards on the trick play, and Altoona Managed only 60
yards of total offense. Altoona had all of minus‑eight yards rushing, and
had six turnovers.
So it isn't hard to
see why Massillon dominated the remainder of the game.
Myricks got his second
touchdown with 1:40 left in the half, when he turned a screen pass from
quarterback Erik White into a 50‑yard
touchdown. That gave the Tigers a 20‑3 halftime bulge.
Myricks' final two
touchdowns came in the third quarter, one on a 33‑yard run and the other
on a 60‑yard pass from White, who
completed 9‑of‑13 passes for 157 yards.
White is relishing his
role as a Massillon quarterback who actually gets to throw the ball.
"I like the fact
that we're throwing the ball more," White said. "I think it really
diversifies the offense.
Although the Tigers
rolled up 355 yards of offense, Maronto preferred to praise the defense.
"I'm still not
completely satisfied with the offense. but I thought the defense showed a
tremendous amount of character this week,", Maronto said. "(John)
Miller, (Vernon) Riley and (David) Hackenbracht really did a great job. And we
had five interceptions, you know."
Unlike
after the Garfield game, when he was somewhat perplexed, Maronto was obviously
more upbeat Saturday.
Massillon 7 13
14 0 34
M
‑ Stafford 5
run (Hurst kick)
M - Myricks 15 run (Hurst kick)
M
‑ Myricks 50 pass from White
(kick failed)
M
‑ Myricks 33 run (Hurst kick)
M
‑ Myricks 60 pass from White (Hurst kick)