Massillon bows,
Moeller sinks Tigers to 2-2;
tough test at Fitch up next
A trace of blood tinged the top of
the "4" on Andre Collins' Cincinnati Moeller football jersey.
Collins' team had just overcome the Massillon Tigers 24-14 in front of 16,762
at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium Saturday night. In the process, the big junior
running back became a walking symbol of his team's series against the Massillon
Tigers.
The outcome gave Moeller four victories
over the Tigers in the last four years. The blood? Well, Moeller has extracted
a pint or two from Tigertown. The Crusaders lead the all-time series seven
games to none. A Collins has faced the Tigers in each of the last four games.
In 1989 and '90, Moeller's hero was Andre's brother, Carlos. Andre has suited
up the last two years.
Andre hasn't had the same impact as
his brother. But the games have had a big impact on him. "This game means
a lot," said Andre, his brother rooms with ex-Tiger Eric Wright at the
University of Kentucky. "I feel sad that it's the last game between our
teams. I enjoy playing here. Massillon has the greatest fans ... probably in
the nation."
In the 1970s, Moeller may well have
had the greatest high school teams in the nation. That is no longer the case.
But the Crusaders of the '90s are still a playoff-style team, if not an actual
qualifier, every year.
Jack Rose's Tigers are 2-2 heading
into a Friday night game at Austintown, where Massillon has lost three straight
times. Rose's response to losing is anger and resolution. "We're going to
come back," he told a large gathering of alumni late Saturday night at
AMVETS Post 6.
Earlier, in the locker room after
the loss, he vowed he and his staff will "get things to where we want them,"
which wasn't where they were Saturday. Yet, Rose conceded Moeller is an
excellent team, well coached, more than adequately talented, and very smart.
If there were technical aspects of
the game he could fault, he could not criticize his team's effort. "We
played hard," Rose said, emphasizing the last word. "Our kids were
really playing hard."
In terms of having a shot at
Moeller in the final moments of the fourth quarter, this was the Tigers'
second-best game of the series. In the 1990 game, Moeller won on a last-second
touchdown reception by Carlos Collins. In the '91 game, the Tigers led by a
point at halftime but faded down the stretch.
In
Saturday's battle, the Tigers put together a touchdown drive' that turned a
10-point deficit into a precarious 17-14 Moeller lead with 6:19 left in the
game.
Moeller
clinched the win on a toss to tailback Brian Balsly, who raced 44 yards down
the right sideline for a touchdown. Balsly, who finished with 126 rushing
yards, hobbled off the field earlier in the half. "It was back
cramps," he said. "I just played through them when I got back in.”
Moeller was
coming off a loss to Covington Catholic. "That was a shame," said
Moeller head coach Steve Klonne, still tortured by a phantom (he thought)
roughing-the-kicker call set up Covington's go-ahead touchdown. "This
gets us back in the right frame of mind." "I think this will get us
going," added Balsly. "I think we can go as far as we want to go”
The Tigers
stopped Moeller in 'the early going Saturday. Massillon had the first possession
and punted, then Moeller did the same thing. The Tigers then used eight plays
to cover 67 yards for a touchdown.
The big
plays were a third-and-eight scramble for a first down by quarterback Mike
Danzy, and a 49-yard Danzy-to-Alonzo Simpson pass play. On this series, safety
Dan Hackenbracht joined Andre Stinson to form the Tiger backfield. It was
Hackenbracht who scored from two yards out on third adown, following blocks by
Matt Orr and Mark Miller.
Jason
Brown’s kick made it 7-0 with 6:09 left in the first quarter.
The Tigers wound up with a 179-135 advantage in total offense
in the first half. In the end, Moeller led 360-285.
The Crusaders began making inroads on their second possession,
on a drive consisting of runs of 8, 4, 3, 7, 5, 4, 6, 3 and 7 yards. There was
only one pass in the mix, an incompletion that helped allow the Tigers to stop
Moeller on fourth-and-one from the 18. Linebacker Jake Reed made the
penetration that led to Andre Collins getting stopped.
The Tigers had a chance to take
charge midway through the second quarter. A 35-yard run by Stinson gave them a
first down on the 25. The chance passed when Moeller held the Tigers right
there on downs.
And, from there, Moeller created
the field position that led to a tie at halftime. Moeller had perhaps its
poorest passing night in the Massillon series, but the Crusaders did get a key
21-yard catch from 6-7 1/2-inch tight end Bob Brannen before having to punt
deep into Massillon territory.
Following a Tiger punt, the Crusaders needed two plays to
score from 54 yards out. Quarterback Dan Feichtner found his favorite target,
senior flanker Brad Hronek, for a 53-yard gain to the 1. Feichtner scored on
the next play, and Brian Huston's kick made it 7-7 with two minutes left in the
half.
The Tigers missed another opportunity with a fumble near the
Moeller 20 in the closing seconds of the half.
"We
thought we were in field goal range one play before that," Rose said.
"We were trying to take one shot at the end zone before the kick.
Obviously, it didn't work out."
Moeller went to work at the start of the third quarter, driving
80 yards in nine plays - all runs. Feichtner again scored from a yard out.
Huston's kick made it 14-7 with 6:52 left in the third quarter.
"They were real methodical," Rose said. "They
were just taking it right at us, as we thought they would. Stopping them can be
difficult. They're big, they move well, and they execute well.”
Huston kicked a 20-yard field goal with 10:20 left in the
game to make it 17-7.
The Tigers' next possession got life on a 22-yard scramble by
Danzy to the Moeller 46. A 19-yard completion to Todd Peters took the Tigers
into scoring territory.
Simpson almost made a spectacular, comeback catch at the 2
on a ball ruled incomplete. But on fourth-and-five, Simpson cut from left to
right, underneath the secondary, and caught a Danzy pass which he carried to
the 2. "We put that play (the pass to Simpson) in for this game,"
Rose said.
Stinson scored from a yard out, Brown made the kick, and it
was 17-14 with 6:19 left.
Moeller answered by moving 75 yards in six plays, the last of
which was Balsly's game clinching 44-yard TD run.
Now the Tigers will try to rebound against Fitch, which improved to 3-1 Saturday with a 33-25 win over Lakewood St. Edward. Fitch was upset in its opener, 14-10 by Youngstown Chaney, but bounced back to defeat Mentor 17-0 and Erie Prep 13-0.
MOELLER
24
MASSILLON 12
MA MO
First downs rushing 6
14
First downs passing
6 3
First downs by penalty
2 1
Net yards rushing 157
257
Net yards passing 128
103
Total yards gained
285 360
Passes attempted 26
1
Passes completed
9 4
Passes int. by
0 0
Kickoff average 48.0
56.8
Kickoff return yards 70
50
Punts 4 3
Punting average 35.8
29.7
Punt return yards 12
14
Fumbles
2 1
Fumbles lost
1 0
Penalties
3 4
Yards penalized
35 40
Number of plays
63 57
Time of possession 22:14 25:46
Moeller
0 7 7 10 24
Massillon 7
0 0 7 14
MA - Hackenbracht 2 run (Brown kick)
MO - Feichtner 1 run (Huston
kick)
MO - Feichtner 1 run (Huston
kick)
MO - FG Huston 20
MA - Stinson 1 run (Brown
kick)
MO - Balsly 44 run (Huston
kick)
Individual statistics
Rushing
(MA) Copeland 9.39, Stinson 45, Danzy 15.62, Seimetz 1.9, Hackenbracht 42.
(MO) Lapham 10.42, Balsly 15.126, Collins 420, Bronner 8.73, Scholz 1-4, Feichtner 7 for minus-8.
Passing
(MA) Danzy 9-26-0, 128;
(MO) Feichtner 4-11-0, 103.
Receiving
(MA) Simpson 3-77, May 2-2 Copeland 1-8, Elder 1-3, Peters 2-11.
(MO) Hronek 2-69, Brannen 2-34.