Saw my 1st BR-Mass game at Harding in 1959. Hated Mass. when they played BR, but to this day, they're still the 1st score after BR that I look for on Fridays. Hard not to respect a program that turned out the teams they did. RRR and bring the trophy home this year Massillon.
1970 Big Red vs Massillon (22-man view)
- Thread starter Rich Blackburn
- Start date
YTOWN
Well-known member
I saw that 1970 Massillon team twice, at Niles and the McK game at Massillon. Huge crowds at both games. Niles was Massillon's closest game that season and IIRC the Red Dragons led that game 3-0 at halftime. I am pretty sure the Dragon's had a TD called back and had to settle for the FG. I want to say that Massillon had some injuries coming into the game or lost some guys during the game. I think they had a few starters out but I'm not sure of that. In any case the Tigers controlled the 2nd half and won the game 22-3.
What I remember most about the McK game was being soaked, that and the KO return to start the game that was mentioned above and the crowd. There had to be at least 20K there. After the KO return the Tigers totally shut down the Pups' offense. I don't know if McK had a 1st down in the first half.
As far as the 1976 Moeller team, I never heard of them!
Several years ago on a different site there was a thread about the best Ohio HS teams of all time. The 1970 Massillon and 76 Moeller teams were mentioned. There was a guy who stated that he saw a team in 1970 that was "easily 2 TDs better than Massillon" and should have been ranked higher than the Tigers. When I inquired who that team was he said 1970 Sidney. Sidney indeed had gone undefeated in 1968, 69 & 70 and they finished 4th in the final AP Poll of 1970. In those days all we had was the Poll so I always tried to find out who the teams in the final Top 10 played, not just their final won-loss record. That wasn't so easy back then.
Anyway, Sidney did beat some pretty good teams, and a few not so good, but I knew that their closest game was a 21-6 win over Toledo Whitmer. It just so happened that Massillon also played Whitmer in 1970 beating them 41-0. I know you can't project results solely based on results against common opponents but again, that's all we had in the day. When I asked why a pollster should rank Sidney higher than Massillon seeing as how they did use games against common opponents in their rankings he just repeated his feeling that Sidney was 2 TDs better. Of course he stated that this was a fact not opinion.
To me if you say that a team is "easily 2 TDs better" than another team that means they would beat them by at LEAST 2 TDs. When I mentioned that the Tigers had only allowed 29 points in 10 games and a high of 12 points in one game he basically just blew it off, along with how many D1 players and future NFL players the 70 Tiger team had. It was obvious that he had a personal connection to that Sidney team but he would not elaborate on why they were so much better than Massillon. We agreed to disagree. That Massillon team was definitely one of the HS teams I have ever seen.
What I remember most about the McK game was being soaked, that and the KO return to start the game that was mentioned above and the crowd. There had to be at least 20K there. After the KO return the Tigers totally shut down the Pups' offense. I don't know if McK had a 1st down in the first half.
As far as the 1976 Moeller team, I never heard of them!
Several years ago on a different site there was a thread about the best Ohio HS teams of all time. The 1970 Massillon and 76 Moeller teams were mentioned. There was a guy who stated that he saw a team in 1970 that was "easily 2 TDs better than Massillon" and should have been ranked higher than the Tigers. When I inquired who that team was he said 1970 Sidney. Sidney indeed had gone undefeated in 1968, 69 & 70 and they finished 4th in the final AP Poll of 1970. In those days all we had was the Poll so I always tried to find out who the teams in the final Top 10 played, not just their final won-loss record. That wasn't so easy back then.
Anyway, Sidney did beat some pretty good teams, and a few not so good, but I knew that their closest game was a 21-6 win over Toledo Whitmer. It just so happened that Massillon also played Whitmer in 1970 beating them 41-0. I know you can't project results solely based on results against common opponents but again, that's all we had in the day. When I asked why a pollster should rank Sidney higher than Massillon seeing as how they did use games against common opponents in their rankings he just repeated his feeling that Sidney was 2 TDs better. Of course he stated that this was a fact not opinion.
To me if you say that a team is "easily 2 TDs better" than another team that means they would beat them by at LEAST 2 TDs. When I mentioned that the Tigers had only allowed 29 points in 10 games and a high of 12 points in one game he basically just blew it off, along with how many D1 players and future NFL players the 70 Tiger team had. It was obvious that he had a personal connection to that Sidney team but he would not elaborate on why they were so much better than Massillon. We agreed to disagree.
That Massillon team was definitely one of the HS teams I have ever seen.
Maxie
🏈 Ohio’s #1 Winner——#948——
The 0-0 game that you mentioned, was in 1969. Mike Autrey was the excellent Tiger running back. Massillon scored the only touchdown in the game, but it was called back.
I only have a vague recollection of Willie Sr. I was too young but his son Willie Jr. had IMO the grittiest most memorable performance I have ever seen, against McKinley in that epic 100th meeting. The hype for that game was off the charts. That had to make dad so proud. Quite a legacy.
(fyi McGuire 91 and Spielman 82 were very close seconds jmo).
I also agree in my lifetime a couple of those Moeller teams were the best hs football teams I have ever seen including Ignatius, Mckinley 97, and Hoban today. It's close though.
(fyi McGuire 91 and Spielman 82 were very close seconds jmo).
I also agree in my lifetime a couple of those Moeller teams were the best hs football teams I have ever seen including Ignatius, Mckinley 97, and Hoban today. It's close though.
petepastromi
Well-known member
Yes I agree. It's hard to compare teams of different eras. The reason I would put Moeller and a couple of the Massillon teams above everyone else is how they dominated everyone and beat the 2nd and 3rd best teams in the state by a big margin. As far as the best state championship teams mentioned Iggy, Canton McKinley, Hoban and I would even throw in a few StEds championship teams are very close to Massillon and Hoban. The 5 fastest, best defensive teams I ever seen and I'm 67 years old was Moeller 1976, Canton McKinley 1981 St Iggy 1993, Cincinnati Colerain 2004 and Hoban 2020.