St. Edward (4-0) @ Massillon (3-1)

Worm02 said:
Like I wrote in my Massillon-Harding preview last week, one thing that Coach Nate Moore isn’t going to do is duck tough competition. He never had that luxury in the MAC at Minster or in the GCL at La Salle. Massillon isn’t in a conference, but Moore’s philosophy seems to be that you’re either elite or you’re not.

St. Eds isn’t too far removed from their best decade ever and they seems to be picking it back up where they left off. They paid their dues to get where they’re at, which is something that most don’t think about when they only see the greatness in front of them.

Massillon fans should be thrilled to be playing programs like Eds & Pickerington Central on top of their rivalries with McKinley, Harding, Fitch, etc. You’re guaranteed to see something great every week! To be the best, you have to beat the best. If that’s not your goal, why risk your life playing the game?

Best of luck to both teams! ??
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Worm brings up an interesting point, one I have been making as well.

St Edward, good Lord I hate typing this, is in the midst of a dominant run. The Eagles are the premier program in NEO. ( And probably the State)

The program is loaded with talent.

Massillon will put up a fight but will need turnovers to make this a game.
 
Playing PC & Ed is tantamount to Hoban & LaSalle. Can't avoid that level of comp. if that's what it takes. Personally I would rather play the latter 2 than the former 2 but am guessing (again) coaches would rather do it this way than play same teams twice (?). Plus it would certainly be harder if not impossible to negotiate the same kind of home/away deal. No doubt money comes into it.
 
I’m not all for playing a grueling meatgrinder since you need to get to the dance so you can dance- but one or two monsters is well needed to see where you are at realistically and what you need, to get where your going.
 
EagleFan said:
2004 was at Lakewood Stadium
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Yes this is correct .

  • October 9, 2004
By WILLIAM R. SANDERSON
William.Sanderson@IndeOnline.com
There are three games left for this year’s Massillon football team. If the defense plays like it did at Lakewood St. Edward on Saturday, the Tigers have a shot of finishing on an up-swing.
Tiger coach Rick Shepas wanted to emphasize the positive after Saturday’s 37-7 loss to St. Edward. Don’t be fooled by the final score either. The defense was definitely a positive.
Not only did the defense keep it close until the final quarter, the defense also scored Massillon ’s only points of the game.
“Our defense played their tails off,” Shepas said. “They were tough. They were physical. I think we had a game plan that was very solid.”
Massillon falls to 3-4 on the season and will have to sweep the rest of its slate to finish with a winning record. That begins on Saturday with a visit from Friendship Edison of Washington D.C. Then comes a trip to Warren Harding and a visit by archrival McKinley.
After having to forfeit four earlier victories because of an ineligible player, St. Edward is 3-4 on the season.
On the season, the Eagles had averaged 45 points per game. Limiting the high-flying Eagles to under their average had Shepas pleased with his defenders.
“What we wanted to do was get down on the ground and make piles to use our best tacklers to get over the top,” Shepas said.
Massillon scored the first points of the game on a big defensive play. With St. Edward’s Paxton Rose fighting his way toward the end zone, the ball was stripped by the Tigers and Massillon ’s Alex Dahlquist came up with it. He burst from the pack and ran 98 yards for a touchdown. Steve Schott’s kick made the score 7-0 Massillon with 2:09 left in the first quarter.
“Alex Dahlquist made a great play to score the touchdown,” Shepas said. “There is no question. That’s why he’s a captain. He really responded today. This is the best he’s played. That’s what we need out of a guy like that at this point.”
Dahlquist also intercepted a pass in the third quarter. Cornerback Zack Vanryzin also had an interception for the Tigers, who came up with three takeaways.
Massillon ’s defense held St. Edward to consecutive three-and-outs after the score, but a special teams gaffe let the Eagles get a foot in the door.
A St. Edward punt was permitted to bounce inside the 20. It took a nice Eagle bounce and was downed at the Tiger 1. Two plays later, the St. Edward got into the Massillon backfield and caused a fumble which Kurt Jarvis alertly jumped on for the safety instead of allowing the Eagles to recover for the touchdown.
St. Edward took advantage of the field position on the ensuing free kick and promptly scored on a 37-yard pass play from Anthony Gardner to Alex Spooner to give St. Ed’s a 9-7 lead with 8:10 on the second-quarter clock.
The Eagles scored two more touchdowns before halftime on a 65-yard run by Rose and a 15-yard pass from Gardner to Greg Miranda.
Massillon ’s defense held St. Edward off the scoreboard in the third quarter. St. Edward scored a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns thanks in part to a fumble recovered at the Tiger 25 and a 15-yard interception return by Kevin Reese.
For its part, Massillon ’s offense managed a collective 146 yards, including a net rushing total of 36 yards.
“We’ve got to get things going on offensive and that’s all that we can say about that right now,” Shepas said. “We’ve had instability at the running back position. It’s been hard to establish the running game and that puts a little more pressure on the quarterback. We’re still getting better. I think we got better this week. It’s a process.”
Junior quarterback Shawn Weisend made his first career start, but was replaced by junior Quentin Paulik following the first-half safety.
Weisend completed six of nine throws for 34 yards and an interception. Paulik was 12 of 30 for 76 yards with two interceptions.
“(Weisend) didn’t get injured,” Shepas said. “He checked himself out of the game. He had some stomach pain. It really wasn’t the issue.”
Lanale Robinson led the Tiger rushers with 18 yards on eight carries. Jarvis was the team’s top receiver with five catches for 35 yards.
“We’d love to be 10-0 right now, but we’re not,” Shepas said. “There are other teams that are in the same situation as us. You just work through that. You saw wood and you work through it.”
 
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PDC said:
Worm brings up an interesting point, one I have been making as well.

St Edward, good Lord I hate typing this, is in the midst of a dominant run. The Eagles are the premier program in NEO. ( And probably the State)

The program is loaded with talent.

Massillon will put up a fight but will need turnovers to make this a game.
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Tigers are in for a long night. Edwards is too strong up front.This is a really loaded team. Will take a great effort to hang around with this bunch. Will be pulling for Tigers, but will be surprised if a running clock doesn't show up in the third quarter.
 
I’d actually be surprised if there is a running clock at any point during the game. I rarely say I don’t think the Tigers can win a game but this one doesn’t seem winnable. But as PDC said above, turnovers will be key for the Tigers and those can change any game regardless of talent disparity.
I would hope the Tigers would be able to put up at least 17 pts in this game so I would think something like 35-17. Hopefully they are looking ahead to the holy war next week.
 
sehs said:
That's not true, it was definitely at Lakewood. The 2000 game was pretty incredible. Justin Zwick led late drive that culminated in like a 52 yard field goal to win it as time expired. Controversially, there was a play on that drive that was ruled an incomplete pass that Eagle fans swear he threw sitting down. Seems like ages ago but the playoffs had just expanded to 8 teams per region and Ed's had not made them since 1996 with a lot of mediocre teams in the late 1990s. They had been blown out by Ignatius in the Holy War the week before something like 37-0 and it looked like Ed's needed a win against Massillon to secure the playoff birth. The Eagles missed like 3 FG's and an extra point from what I remember which set the stage for the late game dramatics.

In 2004 Ed's rocked Massillon, I think it was Shepas' last year. The year before wasn't that close either, something like 27-6 with the only Tiger score coming on an Eagle defender running the wrong way on an INT. No chance in the '04 game, the Eagles had their way with them at Lakewood Stadium. Still shocked that the next year in the '05 state semifinal at the Rubber Bowl that Massillon beat St. Ed's in another thrilling game, coming from down 17-7 in the 4th quarter to win 21-17. How a team that had been beaten so soundly the previous two years changed and developed that much still seems crazy but that's why you play the games. Probably Gibbon's best team at St. Ed's in 2005.
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It was grounding, they called the pass incomplete.
 
Massillon#82 said:
I’d actually be surprised if there is a running clock at any point during the game. I rarely say I don’t think the Tigers can win a game but this one doesn’t seem winnable. But as PDC said above, turnovers will be key for the Tigers and those can change any game regardless of talent disparity.
I would hope the Tigers would be able to put up at least 17 pts in this game so I would think something like 35-17. Hopefully they are looking ahead to the holy war next week.
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The Holy War is the Eagles next game but isn’t scheduled for 15 days after the Massillon game.
 
I could see this being a trap game too. Ed's has had an easier time than expected with two of their bigger opponents. Massillon is a proud program and they played them tough last year. Ed's has to keep their heads screwed on straight, and I think they will!, but I could see them losing if they come in cocky.
 
For Massillon to win this game, they will have to control the clock. They will need to dominate the time of possession. Hartson seems to be hitting his stride as he has exploded the last few weeks. If I'm the Massillon OC, I hit St. Ed's with a heavy dose of Hartson, followed by some PA passes to keep Ed's from loading the box. Defensively, Massillon needs to keep Ed's in front of them and limit the big plays. Ed's can obviously score points, so Massillon's DBs will need to be at their best. Control the clock on offense, limit the big plays on defense.

Ed's: 42
Massillon: 28
 
sehs said:
I could see this being a trap game too. Ed's has had an easier time than expected with two of their bigger opponents. Massillon is a proud program and they played them tough last year. Ed's has to keep their heads screwed on straight, and I think they will!, but I could see them losing if they come in cocky.
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That's mighty kinda ya ta say...
 
Looking forward to getting a good look at Hartson. I know he's a guy on the Buckeye's radar. Don't expect us to be able to shut him down, but limiting the back-breaking runs will be key to coming out of Massillon with a win.
 
Ed's is huge and talented and will likely dominate, but Austin Brawley should be Stark County Player of the Year. Kid is a game-changer from the S-KR/PR position.
 
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