Massillon cruises with
Marshall at controls
F
By JOE SHAHEEN
Independent
Sports Editor
Maybe it doesn't matter who's under center. The Massillon
Tigers, without the services of starting quarterback Dave Irwin for the first
half, hardly missed a beat in handing the Lakewood St. Edward Eagles a 31-14
defeat in front of 8,351 fans at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium, Friday night.
Brett Marshall filled in for Irwin - who suffered a gashed
right index finger in metal shop on Monday - and threw for three touchdowns as
Massillon remained undefeated at 9-0.
Irwin even got into the act, starting the second half with a
glove on his injured hand. The senior tri-captain still completed seven of 12
aerials for 113 yards and one touchdown. That scoring pass, his 17th this year,
set a new Massillon single-season TD mark.
But this night belonged to Marshall, who could barely contain
himself afterward. "I couldn't feel better right now," Marshall said.
"I expected to go out and do a good job but nothing like this. This is
great." Right from the start, Massillon's Air Raid Attack offense seemed
to be in synch despite the change in the triggerman.
Massillon's first possession began at
its 49 after a St. Edward punt and Jessie Scott got things rolling with a 35
yard gain off right guard and tackle that moved the ball to the Eagles' 12. On
second and 12 from the 14, Marshall dropped back and lofted a perfectly throw
pass over Jon Stanke's right shoulder and into his waiting arms in the end zone
for a quick six.
"We had a play action fake and I
told the linemen, `You get the job done and I'll get the job done,"'
Marshall said. "They gave me time and I laid it out there. At first I
thought I overthrew it. Then I saw his arms outstretched and touchdown. From
there on I had all the confidence in the world."
The referee had barely raised his
arms to signal a touchdown before Marshall was changing into his kicking shoe.
The senior drilled the point after kick and Massillon led 7-0 at 6:43 of the
first quarter.
Tigers
junior safety Jared Frank, filling in for the injured Jason Jarvis, Stripped
the football away from a St. Ed receiver on the Eagles next possession and Ty
McElroy recovered for Massillon near midfield.
However,
the Tigers were unable to move the ball as the teams went on to exchange three
punts.
St.
Ed's quarterback Joe Marcoguiseppe hooked up with Michael Bowman on a post
pattern that went for 47 yards to set the Eagles up with a first and-10 at the
Tiger 12-yard line. Two snaps later,
Alphonso Hodge took a handoff, faked to the outside and cut up the middle for
an 11-yard touchdown jaunt. Chris Bonezzi was true with the extra point kick
and the game was tied 7-7 at 1:27 of the first.
The
score remained deadlocked until late in the first half when Tiger linebacker
Steve Eyerman took Hodge down for a loss of three and defensive tackle Ellery
Moore forced Marcoguiseppe to throw away a fourth down pass to give Massillon
the ball at its own, 34.
An illegal procedure
call set the Tigers back five yards and then the fireworks began. On
first-and-15, Marshall dropped to pass and began to scramble left as the Eagles
pass rush began to penetrate. The Tiger QB then changed direction, heading
toward the right sideline before releasing a short pass to Scott.
The lightning quick
senior worked his way along the right sideline to midfield, then cut back into
the open at the 40 and left the St. Ed's defenders in his wake for a 71-yard
touchdown pass and run. Marshall's kick made it 14-7 Tigers at 2:24 of the
first half.
After Massillon's
defense forced a quick punt', Marshall connected on consecutive aerials to Dave
Bumgarner and Anthony Battle to move the ball 33 yards to the visitor's 25.
Then he scrambled for 12 more yards before the drive stalled at the Eagles 12.
From there, Marshall calmly switched shoes and was perfect on a 29-yard field
goal to make it 17-7 at the break.
Irwin took just about
everyone by surprise by starting the second half. But it wasn't until the
Tigers fifth possession of the half, early in the fourth quarter, that they put
up their third touchdown of the night.
The
score was set up by Matt Shem's interception and return to the St. Ed's
four-yard line. Two penalties and a sack set up second-and-goal from the 30 but
Irwin never wavered. He dropped back to pass and found Jessie Robinson striding
toward the end zone.
The
pass was under thrown and Robinson stopped dead in his tracks as the defensive back blew past
him at the 2. The Tiger wideout calmly caught the football and walked into the
endzone for the touchdown at 10:05 of the fourth quarter to make it a 24-7
contest.
"It really doesn't
matter who the quarterback is," Irwin said modestly. "The offense
runs the same way. As long as the line blocks and the receivers run their
routes, we'll be fine."
Massillon put up one
last score after St. Edward made it 24-14 on Alphonso Hodge's one-yard TD
plunge at 6:38 of the fourth.
After the Eagles' onside kick was
recovered by Massillon, the Tigers went to work at their own 38-yard line. Two running plays
netted two yards to set up third-and-eight from the 40. Marshall dropped to
pass and pitched it to Dave Bumgarner along the left sideline. The senior
fullback did the rest, breaking two tackles and racing the rest of the way to
pay dirt. Marshall's PAT made it 31-14 with just over five minutes to play.
"That felt
good," Marshall said. "I had a little break. The coaches came up and
told me Irwin wanted to get some snaps in to get confident for McKinley. I'd
feel the same way. "I went back out there and finished the job. Coach
DiLoretto told me to put one more on the board and we put one more on the
board."
"We're really glad
to get that win with Brett in there at quarterback," said Rick Shepas.
"He really did a nice job. "We were fortunate to get Dave Irwin some
snaps and Seth Stefanko got some snaps too. This is a game before we get ready
for next week that you want to get healthy and get out of there."
Next
week, of course, is the 106th meeting between the Tigers and the McKinley
Bulldogs. Game time at Fawcett Stadium one week from today is 2 p.m.
MASSILLON 31
ST. EDWARD 14
First downs rushing 7 9
First downs passing 8 7
First downs by penalty 0
2
TOTAL first downs 15 18
Net yards rushing 125 114
Net yards passing 300 134
TOTAL yards 425 248
Passes attempted 26 35
Passes completed 16 9
Passes intercepted 0 1
Punts 6 7
Punting average 29.7 33.3
Fumbles/Lost 4/2 4/2
Penalties 8 6
Yards penalized 65 40
MASSILLON 07
10 00 14 31
ST.
EDWARD 07 00 00 07 14
M - Stanke 14 pass from
Marshall (Marshall kick)
S - Hodge 11 run
(Pierce kick)
M - Scott 71 pass
from Marshall (Marshall kick)
M - Marshall 29 field
goal
M - Robinson 30 pass
from Irwin (Marshall kick)
S - Hodge 1 run (Pierce
kick)
M - Bumgarner 60 pass
from Marshall (Marshall kick)
Massillon rushing:
Scott 12-85, James 6-13, Smith 2-34, King 2-16.
St. Ed rushing: Hodge
25-100.
Massillon passing:
Marshall 8-13-183 3 TDs, Irwin 7-12-58 1 TD
St. Ed passing:
Marcoguiseppe 9-34-134 1 INT.
Massillon receiving:
Battle 5-75, Bumgarner 3-76, Scott 2-73.
St.
Ed receiving: Hodge 3-41