Cat nap
is over
Tigers wake up and blow out St. V-St. M
Tigers follow the
Script for victory
'
BY JOE SHAHEEN
Independent Sports Editor
Maybe,
just maybe the Tigers have finally figured it out.
Massillon
scored touchdowns on three of its first four possessions and went on to post a
dominating 36‑7 victory over the Akron
St. Vincent‑St. Mary’s Fighting Irish at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium,
Friday night.
It
was the Tigers first victory, in the last four weeks and marked the first time
they, scored as many as three touchdowns in a game since Week 3 against
Garfield.
Fighting
Irish coach Jim Meyer was not‑surprised to see Massillon play such a
dominant game against his team, which was 6‑2 coming in to the contest.
"I've
got to hand it to them," Meyer said, “They wanted this game and they came
out and were very, very physical.
"I
watched tape on them and I knew it was going to be a physical game. I'm not
surprised at all. I think they always had the material. I think they've been a
sleeping giant for a while. Unfortunately for us they picked this week to wake
up."
Tigers
tailback Marc Cleveland broke the century mark‑in. rushing for the first
time since mid‑season with 126 yards and two touchdowns in 16 carries.
The senior says the team is hitting its stride.
"We're
coming together as a team," Cleveland said. “We all just came together. We
got tired of getting beat. We figured out we have to do what we have to do. We
just have to fire off the line and punish the defense.”
Senior
tight end Marcus Simpson, who opened the scoring with a six‑yard
touchdown reception, was overjoyed at the victory.
“It
was just beautiful," Simpson said. "The offense came together and we
all played good. I was just happy.
“That
was my first touchdown and being a senior I was just thrilled to get a chance
to help the team out. We’ve got a lot of momentum and we're starting to move.”
Momentum
was provided from the get go when Tigers junior Sam Young returned the Irish’s
opening kickoff 53 yards to the St. V 43-yard line.
Cleveland
gained 10 yards on two running plays and Massillon quarterback Dave Irwin
connected with tight end. Ellery Moore for 10 more to the Irish 24.
Then
Cleveland bucked over left guard for 10 yards and Irwin scrambled for four more
to set up second‑and‑6 from the 9‑yard line.
From
there, Irwin tossed a short pass to Simpson, who was all alone in the right
flat. He strolled into the end zone for
six. Brett Marshall's PAT was true and Massillon led 7‑0 less than three
minutes into the game.
Massillon
linebacker Mike Mattox battled down an Irish third down pass and the visitors
were forced to punt after just three snaps on their initial possession of the
night.
The
Tigers began their second drive from their 40 and methodically moved to the
Irish 28. From there, Irwin hit Ron Lynn in the right flat for a 10‑yard
gain, then Cleveland ran for 17 more on the flanker reverse to the 1-yard line.
Cleveland
did the honors from a yard out and Marshall added the PAT to make it 14‑0
Tigers at 5:05 of the first quarter.
St.
Vincent‑St. Mary again went three‑and‑out and the Irish
punted the ball back to Massillon at its 26. The Tigers got a couple first
downs but punted the ball back to St. V’s. But on first down, Massillon's
Brandon Clark made a gorgeous over‑the‑shoulder interception of a
Ross Marconi pass to give the locals the ball at the visitors 34‑yard
line.
Six
plays later Irwin rolled left then threw back right and found Joe Price alone
in the end zone for the six‑yard touchdown pass and a 20‑0 lead at
11:25 of the second period.
After
another Irish punt, Massillon moved to the St. V's 1‑yardline, but had to
settle for, a 19‑yard field go by Marshall to go up 23-0 with 4:17 left
until halftime.
Although
the Irish finally got on the scoreboard with a 67-yard march culminated by a
9-yard Marconi to Miquel Irvin touchdown pass, it was a practically perfect
first half for the beleaguered Tigers, who led 23-7 at the intermission.
Irwin
was especially sharp. The junior completed 9 of 13 aerials for 73 yards and two
TDs in the first 24 minutes of play.
“Dave’s
pretty calm back there,” Shepas said. “He doesn’t seem to get rattled that
much. He made some plays. He was 4-for-4 at one point and they were all at the
right time and he put the ball where it needed to be. He did a nice job of
directing that offense. We found some things we are good at … finally.”
For
the second week in a row, Shepas scripted his team’s plays. And for the second
week in a. row, the attack clicked.
"We
did 24 plays this time instead of 17," Shepas revealed, "The first
series we had set for six plays. We got the ball and in six plays we were in
the end zone. That’s a Bill Walsh thing and Mike Holmgren does it with the
Packers.
It
works best when you're struggling to find some continuity. The main thing is
when you come out you have to get some gains. When you get the gains the script
works well. You lose yardage on first down and the script isn’t going to work
well.”
On
reason the Tigers didn’t have many negative yardage plays was their ability to
control the line of scrimmage. Once again the offensive front of Mike Dean and
Greg Dickerhoof at tackles, Joe Meanor and Chris Rich at guards and Dustin
Clawson at center moved the defense around at the point of attack.
“In
the games we haven’t been successful, people have established the line of
scrimmage on us.” Shepas said, “Tonight were able to control the line on both
sides of the ball.”
The
team exchanged punts on the first four possessions of the second half. Then the
tigers defense came up with a big play. After Luke Shilling’s punt rolled out
of bounds at the St. V’s 13-yard line, the Akron entry tried to execute a
screen pass Massillon middle linebacker Sam Studer made a one-handed
interception and fought his way to the
six yard line before being gang tackled.
Three
plays later, Irwin found Price on a 10-yard curl pattern in the end zone.
Marshall’s kick made it 30-7 Tigers at 11:48 of the fourth quarter.
The
Irish turned the football over on second down of their ensuing possession and
Cleveland applied some icing on the cake, going off his right tackle untouched
for a 41-yard touchdown run.
In
addition to putting it all together on offense, Massillon got over the hump by
putting together two good haves of football.
“We
tried not to make too many (halftime) adjustments because when we made
adjustments we seem to make mistakes,” Shepas noted.
The
Massillon defense did its part registering four interceptions and limiting the
Irish to a paltry 54 yards rushing.
One
sobering note for the Tigers was an ankle injury suffered by two-way starter
Ellery Moore. The junior tight end/defensive end says he’ll be fine.
“It’s
McKinley week so I’m coming back,” Moore said, “I’m not done.”
“We
played with heart and dedicated tonight . We’re becoming a team. We’re working
together and becoming a team. Just like coach Shepas wanted us to do. Play
together. Put our heads together and be one.”
And
for a night at least it worked to perfection.
MASSILLON
36
ST. V-ST. M 7
M S
First
downs rushing 11 4
First
downs passing 7 3
First
downs by penalty 1 1
TOTAL first downs 19 8
Net
yards rushing 209 54
Net
yards passing 93 118
TOTAL yards 302 170
Passes
attempted 18 25
Passes
completed 12 7
Passes
intercepted 1 4
Punts 6 7
punting
average 39 35.3
Fumbles/Lost 1/0
0/0
Penalties 3 8
Yards
penalized 40 61
MASSILLON 14 09
00 13 36
ST.V-ST.M 00 07
00 00 07
SCORING
M ‑
Simpson 8 pass from Irwin (Marshall kick)
M ‑
Cleveland 1 run (Marshall kick)
M ‑
Price 6 pass from Irwin (PAT failed)
M ‑
Marshall 19 field goal
St. V ‑
Irvin 9 pass from Marconi (Williamson kick)
M -
Price 10 pass from Irwin (Marshall kick)
M –
Cleveland 40 run (Kick(failed)
INDIVIDUAL
STATISTICS
Massillon rushing:
Cleveland 16‑126,
Lynn 7‑33,
Miller 10‑24,
Wagner 4‑20.
St V rushing:
James 15‑59.
Massillon passing:
Irwin 12‑17‑93 3 TDs, 1 INT.
SL V passing:
Marconi 7-25-116 4 INTs, 1 TD
Massillon receiving:
Moore 4-22,
Cleveland 2‑25,
Price 2‑16,
Miller 1‑8,
Simpson 1‑8
St V receiving:
Irvin 4‑87.