Too many turnovers, too little offense
By Joe Shaheen
Joe.Shaheen@IndeOnline.Com
The
Massillon Tigers turned the ball over nine times and the offense failed to dent
the end zone in a 27-6 defeat at the hands of No.10-ranked Lakewood St. Edward
in front of 8,306 fans at rainy Paul Brown Tiger Stadium Friday night.
Massillon
trailed 10-6 at halftime and was down just 13-6 late in the third quarter when
disaster struck. The tigers muffled a punt to give St. Edward possession at the
Massillon 20. On the first snap, the Eagles scored when Ryan Adkins came free
on a counter play and waltzed into the
end zone
to make it 19-6.
Things
went downhill from there for the Tigers, who fall to 4-3 with a visit on tap
next week by defending Division II state champion Dayton Chaminade-Julienne.
“We play
good defense in the third quarter and then we give ourselves a chance in the
fourth quarter and we muffed the punt,” said tiger coach Rick Shepas. “That was
it right there. We’re at 13-6 and we fumble the punt and then its over. That’
the bottom line.”
Actually,
Massillon had a chance to draw first blood in the third quarter when its
kickoff landed at the St. Edward 30, backed up and hit a Tiger coverage team
member before it was finally covered by the Eagles.
“I really
thought at halftime that they had outplayed us in the first half and we go in
down just 10-6,” Shepas said. “That’s a situation that’s pretty good. Then we
come out, kick the ball against the wind and we have a chance to recover the
ball and we don’t.”
It was one
of several missed opportunities for the Tigers. Another came in the first half
when- after a shanked St. Edward punt - Massillon took over on the visitors’ 29-yard
line. The tigers moved the ball inside the one-yard line and had two cracks
from there but failed to reach pay dirt.
“That was
very critical,” Shepas concurred. “We’ve got the ball on the six-inch line. We
have two attempts from six inches and we don’t get in. I think that pretty much
sums up the evening from the offensive standpoint. I mean, we really didn’t get
an offensive touchdown.”
Was it a
hangover from last Saturday’s drubbing by St. Ignatius? Shepas didn’t think so.
“I felt
like the guys came out ready to play,” he said. “Our defense did an outstanding
job, no question.”
Then
Shepas got to the crux of the Tigers problems, and offensive line that has had
different personnel in different positions in each game this year.
“We continue
to juggle offensive linemen and you get some injuries here or there but it’s
the juggling of the offensive line that’s giving us a lack of consistency,”
said Shepas.
“We moved
the football a little bit but never consistently at all. Never consistently.”
And there
were those nine turnovers, not to take anything away from St. Edward, which
moves to 7-1 with St. Ignatius up next.
“I called
them a feisty group,” St. Edward head coach John Gibbons said of his Eagles.
“They’ve been on the road all year and sometimes a team can be fazed by that.
But these guys just go out and play football from the moment they get off the
bus. That’s just the personality of this team.
St. Edward
broke on top when Joe Kleinsmith, with the aid of a strong tail wind, drilled a
48-yard field goal at 6:24 of the first quarter.
It was set
up by a 26-yard Kyle Skoczen to Haruki Nakamura completion after Massillon
utilized the quick kick on third-and-15 from the Tiger 30.
Paris
McCall then gave Massillon the short field when he fell in a fumbled center
snap at the St. Edward 33. Five plays later, a 36-yard field goal attempt was
blocked by St. Edward and returned for an apparent Eagle touchdown. However, a
late flag for blocking in the back too the points off the scoreboard, enraging
Gibbons.
St. Edward
fumbled the ball away on its second play following the change of possession,
only to get it right back as the Tigers fumbled on their first snap.
St. Edward
took over at the Massillon 42 and the teams exchanged 15-yard penalties before
Skoczen displayed his speed on a keeper play around left end. The 6-foot-3, 193
pound junior got to the corner and sprinted untouched 31 yards for the
touchdown.
Kleinsmith
nailed the point after and St. Edward was up 10-0 at 11:52 of the second
quarter.
Taking
over at their own 13 following the ensuing kickoff, Massillon embarked on its
best drive on the game. With Steve Hymes mixing short passes to Billy Relford
and Wayne Gates with keeper plays, the Tigers moved to the St. Edward 24, where
they faced a fourth-and-two play call.
Hymes took
the shotgun snap, rolled left, then attempted what appeared to be a push pass.
St. Ed junior Nate Smith made a fine interception, then inexplicably ran toward
and into the tiger end zone, where Relford stripped away the ball and recovered
for a Massillon touchdown.
A
two-point conversion run was stopped cold but the Tigers were back in the game,
trailing 10-6 at 7:12 of the second quarter.
The
Massillon defense responded by holding St. Edward to a three-and-out series and
a wind blown shanked punt gave the Tigers the short field once again at the
Eagle 29.
Three
plays later, Tuffy Woods broke free on a quick hitter up the middle for 11
yards to the St. Ed 5.
The Tigers
got it to the 1-yard line but failed to penetrate the end zone in two plays and
the Eagles had dodged a bullet.
St. Ed
scored on a 35-yard Kleinsmith field goal midway through the third period as
the tiger defense continued to play inspired football in the second half.
The muffed
punt followed and it all went south from there for the Tigers.
“We’re
13-6 with these guys and they’ve gone overtime against Warren and we’re right
there with them until we make the mistake,” Shepas concluded.
St. Edward 27
Massillon 6
Mas SE
First downs rushing 9 9
First downs passing 4 1
First downs by penalty 0 1
TOTAL first downs 13 11
Net yards rushing 169 232
Net yards passing 65 46
TOTAL yards 234 278
Passes attempted 24 9
Passes completed 9 3
Passes intercepted 5 0
Punts 5 6
Punting average 32.6 31.8
Fumbles/Lost 4/4 5/5
Penalties 3 4
Yards penalized 49 75
St Edward 3 7 9 8 27
Massillon 0 6 0 0 6