Tigers feast on Wildcats in 28-17 triumph, Canton McKinley wins opener
By Keno Sultan
C-Town Radio announcer and statistician
MASSILLON--The Massillon Tigers stared at an early two-touchdown deficit last season against AP #1 state ranked Lakewood St. Edward in the first quarter.
No problem.
Friday night against Valdosta (GA), the host Tigers found themselves down again via a two-touchdown deficit in front of a capacity crowd at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.
Once again, no problem.
After weathering the early assault from the Wildcats, Massillon turned to their running game and durability through their offensive line along with a plethora of big plays and two touchdown runs from backup quarterback Daone Owens that spanned 60 and 65 yards in the second half and Massillon outscored the visitors from Georgia 28-3 the rest of the way to kickoff the Northeast Ohio vs. America Showcase with a rousing 28-17 triumph in a battle of teams ranked first and fourth respectively in prep wins nationally.
Durable strength on the offensive line has been the main catalyst of Massillon Tiger football in the Nate Moore era dating back to a 16-15 win over McKinley back in 2017 which the Tigers controlled the clock via a 14 minute edge in time of possession.
A former offensive lineman at the University of Dayton, Moore is an avid reader of durability and knows when a defense is winded and languishing. His Massillon football team embody what it means to be a Tiger and being the fresher team down the stretch and at the end of contests.
Massillon's comeback triumph over the Wildcats was nearly similar to last season's 31-28 win over St. Edward when the Tigers outscored the Eagles 31-14 after a 14-0 deficit. Friday's affair became a testament of the Massillon will that kept them in the contest and allowed them to eventually take control of the confrontation against the Georgia state power.
"It's a great experience, I think that's probably the national game of the week. I know that every college coach in America was tuned in, so it's a great opportunity for our kids and our program and it's easy to say that but win or lose it was a great experience and in a game like that someone's going to win," Moore said.
Early on the Tigers were staggered when Todd Robinson connected on touchdown passes of 16 and 61 yards to Eli Lewis and Prince Jean. Massillon was having difficulty generating offense on their first three offensive series until their fourth series.
Inserting in Owens, he had a 60 yard run on a quarterback keeper that put the hosts in Wildcat territory where senior fullback/linebacker Dorian Pringle finished off a seven play drive with a one-yard touchdown run on fourth and goal at the one yard line at the 6:22 mark to truncate the Valdosta lead to 14-7.
Valdosta's last six possessions ended with four punts and an interception. Their only offense in the second half was a field goal. After a Shakevious Wright 70 yard run on the first play, he was bottled up as he only gained 40 yards the rest of the way and finished with 111 yards on 19 carries.
Owens rushed for 241 of Massillon's 348 yards. His 60 yard jaunt on the opening play of the third quarter handed Massillon a 21-14 lead they did not relinquish. Moore couldn't helped by the glow over his junior quarterback and once again glorify his team's strength on the offensive line.
"Daone Owens is special, he's special. He can throw the football but he is very special running the football. And we're able to do some things with him in the quarterback run game," he said. "To end that game with our offensive line with our offensive line, our tight ends and fullbacks along with running backs they planted out tough yards and that's not the first time we've done that. To close out the game like that, it feels great."
The Tigers will bask in this one before welcoming in the GlenOak Eagles, who at press time defeated Cincinnati Western Hills in their opener. Eagles longtime coach Scott Garcia, a former player of Bob Commings when he coached GlenOak served two years as Tigers linebacker coach under Tom Stacy.
Massillon has no intention of just basking in this monumental win. Their aim now is to go forward and take the momentum into the second week of the season.
"They are going in the right direction. Scott Garcia is a tremendous football coach and we will have our work cut out for us," Moore said.
Massillon found themselves trailing by two touchdowns against Valdosta Friday night. But that was no problem to the orange and black hosts who once again left their fans something to cheer for with their courageous stand at home.
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