A battle of Bulldogs and a silver anniversary
By Keno Sultan
C-Town Radio announcer and statistician
CANTON--25 years ago, Canton McKinley was the monarch of the Division I football kingdom. The names are still attached to that historic run that ended with them hoisting a second straight Division I title inside Paul Brown Tiger Stadium on a warm December evening in Massillon.
The names McDaniels, Doss, Bush, Hall, and others still are chatted about to this day. One of those men is now the patriarch of the program.
Antonio Hall was a junior two-way lineman who was part of that team which completed a 12-1 season punctuated by a 33-10 decimation of Cincinnati St. Xavier in the title match amid a four-year run in which he was a winner of 45 games out of 52 played and went on to have a successful career at the University of Kentucky.
25 years later, he is now the head coach of that same Canton McKinley High School and will also be a part of the pregame festivities honoring the 1998 Bulldogs a half-hour before their 7 p.m. kickoff against another Bulldog opponent, the Green Bulldogs from Summit County.
"That was 25 years ago and wow, 25 years goes by so quick. We want kids to use that as motivation as you can get there from here and start it down at the youth up to middle school and the high school. We want kids to use this moment to spark them and drive them at the same time," Hall said of McKinley's historic run
That McKinley team endured greater adversity in defending their title. A week eight contest against Warren Harding saw the Bulldogs trailing 16-7 through three quarters before obtaining a home victory that salvaged their playoff aspirations. Without it, their season will have been over after the 10th week as only the top four teams in each region before the field expanded to eight teams will have qualified. McKinley would have been looking in on the outside as Harding and not the Bulldogs would have solidified the final spot.
But for Hall, the toughest contest for him personally was their regional final agaist Marion Harding in Mansfield. The Presidents had topped North Canton Hoover 34-33 in a regional semifinal and McKinley had to overcome a 10-0 deficit against Jackson to take out the Polar Bears 17-13 in a low scoring defensive affair.
Harding led 7-0 at the half but being behind benefitted McKinley as having been in that situation before, there was no panic inside the Arlin Field locker room. The Bulldogs survived with a 14-7 win and kept their postseason train chugging for another two weeks.
"That was a good game and could have gone either way. At halftime we all called each other out in a good way and was able to win. And then there was the St. Ignatius game where (Mike) Doss knocked out receiver Pete Koch at the 1 yard line to preserve our semifinal win and then stopping St. Xavier. But for me, the Harding game stands out to me the most," Hall commented.
After the pregame honoring of that 1998 McKinley squad, Hall will turn his concentration to his alma mater's Federal League confrontation against Green. Last week, McKinley posted a wire-to-wire rout of the Perry as everything traversed their way in a 44-6 declawing of the host Panthers.
It was last season that players held a players only meeting when the team was 0-4. It was then the fortunes of McKinley changed in just 48 minutes. Wearing their frustrations on every play, they overpowered an undefeated Green squad, posting a 51-19 triumph on the road that set the tone for a run ending with six victories in their last eight games and with it a share of the league title.
Facing Perry's wing-T was one thing. Facing Green's spread offense will be another.
"Coach Mark Geis runs a challenging offensive system. Defensively they are an aggressive bunch and can move to the ball well," Hall said.
Like McKinley, Green arrives as a team that is 3-1 but with their league championship hopes in critical condition. Not only are they 0-1 in league competition but all-time they are 0-8 against McKinley. Their backs are obviously to the wall after a 20-13 loss to Jackson and capturing even a share of the league crown will become nearly non-existent with a ninth loss to the Stark County based Bulldogs.
Green was able to take away the Jackson running game, something that stood out to Hall. But it was a turnover by the Jackson offense in the form of an interception that was returned for a touchdown that led to their demise.
As for McKinley, aside from the Avon loss, they are averaging a healthy 33.6 points and surrendering just 11.3 defensively. Take away the four touchdowns Avon scored and a Harding kickoff return touchdown, the Bulldogs have only allowed an astonishing three touchdowns on defense. Offensively, they have only turned the ball over once. That is scary for other teams who will eventually have to challenge the Bulldogs if they keep this up.
"Defensively everyone has adjusted to our scheme and we simplified some things there and also offensively. We just go out and play football and read our keys," Hall said. "Last week, we were sound across the board in all three phases of the game, offense, defense, and special teams. We need that effort to continue this week."
One thing Hall knows is that Green is still a formidable opponent. They are two years removed from an unlikely run that ended with them in the state semifinals with a loss to eventual Division II state champion Cincinnati Winton Woods. The current seniors on the roster were sophomores at the time so they have been down that road. They are a team capable of turning a game on one play offensively so the urgency is there for McKinley to keep Green in front of them and out of the end zone and value possession of the ball as they have done successfully.
"Green has a lot of athletes and a lot of speed so we have to stay focused on what we have to do one play at a time and have solid execution." Hall said.
25 years ago, Antonio Hall was a two-time state champion with the McKinley Bulldogs as a player. 25 years later he is the patriarch of the program he hoisted two trophies with.
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