OHIO DIVISION II STATE CHAMPIONS!
CHAMPIONS EMBRACE. Massillon Tigers head coach Nate Moore shares a tight embrace with Massillon native Donte Stewart as the Tigers completed a 16-0 season with a 7-2 victory over Akron Hoban in Friday's Division II state championship at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium. (Keno Sultan/C-Town Radio)
SWEET SIXTEEN: MASSILLON CAPTURES STATE PLAYOFF CHAMPIONSHIP IN SLUGFEST
By Keno Sultan
C-Town Radio statistician and announcer
CANTON--As Tylan Boykins pass traveled to the end zone for Jackson Callaway, it was pretty lucid that Massillon's season was either going to end with perfection or a poisonous defeat. Akron Hoban was either going to rid themselves of two straight state championship losses or absorb another state final loss.
Tigers linebacker Dorian Pringle was able to get a hand on Boykins pass and the ball floated into the lap of Callaway before rolling onto the turf.
The result was a successful stand for a tired Massillon defense and in the end, they were able to wash away 52 years of waiting for a state playoff championship and staked their legitimate claim as the best in Ohio Division II with a 7-2 victory over Hoban to punctuate an undefeated 16-0 season and with it a long overdue state championship in front of an announced crowd of 14,846 at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium.
The victory was the first in seven tries for the Tigers as six other teams before them came up short, twice in 1980 and 1982 and then 23 years later in 2005 with those setbacks coming in Division I. Massillon endured three straight Division II title game losses from 2018-2020.
However most of Massillon's 2023 players were freshmen when they suffered a humiliating 35-6 loss to the Knights at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium. Three years later, they made sure not to return to Massillon without that coveted crown.
Consider that mission accomplished.
"How about that Tiger defense ? Unbelievable. The best defensive performance I've ever seen. Really a top to bottom a team victory and our offense ground it out and one touchdown did it, who would have thought?" Tigers ninth-year general Nate Moore said. "I'm so happy for kids, so happy for our coaches that worked so hard and are so dedicated to our players and our program and so happy for the city of Massillon, they showed up tonight and they showed up all year and there's people in the city of Massillon that scrape their pennies to come to our games and come to this game tonight. We can't be more appreciative of them and we're so honored to bring a gold trophy home to the city of Massillon."
Only a combined nine points were scored between the teams with the state's top defenses. A blocked punt by Massillon's Chase Bond (N.C. State commit) set up the scoring for the Tigers when Mylen Lenix concluded a six play drive that ended with him scoring what turned out the be the only touchdown of the contest.
A portent of things to come arrived early in the first quarter when Hoban took five minutes off the clock and appeared in position for an early go-ahead score but a botched snap led to what was the first of two turnovers on the evening for the Knights in the form of a fumble recovered by Pringle.
Hoban appeared to have some momentum late in the second quarter when linebacker Tanner Mintz downed Tigers quarterback DaOne Owens for a safety to truncate the Tigers lead to just five at the intermission.
LONE SCORE. Massillon running back Mylen Lenix scores what ended up being the lone touchdown in Friday's Division II state championship. (Keno Sultan/C-Town Radio)
Hoban threatened to score on several occasions but were undone by untimely penalties. They were able to get away with that in last week's state semifinal victory over Avon. However it was a different story, one that the Knights were unable to overcome.
The Hoban class of 2024 will end their legacies winners of 50 games out of 58 competed but 1-3 in state championship games, a significant differential from 2015-2018 when the Knights blazed their way to 57 victories out of 60 games, one of those a 42-28 victory over Massillon five years ago.
All three losses for the Knights have come to state champions, Cincinnati Winton Woods, Toledo Central Catholic, and now Massillon.
DEJECTED KNIGHTS. Akron Hoban linebacker Rickey Williams holds the Division II state runner up trophy as a dejected head coach Tim Tyrrell looks down. Hoban finished runner up for a third straight year with a 7-2 loss to Massillon to finish the 2023 campaign with a 13-2 record.
When asked how would he put the last three seasons in perspective, 11th year Hoban general Tim Tyrrell paused before making his assessment.
"You're going to make me compare all three seasons," he said with a light chuckle. "You know, they're all different teams with all different personalities. I think that's why we're successful. We treat every year differently so you know this senior class is completely different than last year and last year was completely different than the year before. So we treat them as individuals and take ownership of the team and they lead and we guide them, and the seniors did an unbelievable job of leading and getting us here. So I wouldn't compare any of the years."
For Massillon, the road to that elusive championship was just as arduous as it was long. For three straight years, they were the first to receive the trophy during the presentation signifying them as a runner-up. That all changed tonight in the stadium where they now have a record of 4-2 since it's opening in 2017.
For Massillon, they were led by the 88 yards on 16 carries from Owens while Boykin rushed for 86 yards on 15 carries to lead Hoban. Overall, Hoban outgained Massillon 179-120 in total yards but suffered four fumbles, losing one and then an interception along the way by Massillon linebacker Vito McConnell.
The Tigers entered the season as the top-ranked team in Division II and completed a wire-to-wire run, the first wire-to-wire top-ranked state playoff champion from Stark County since Canton McKinley accomplished the feat 26 years ago.
The sight of young men and coaches embracing each other, black and white, will be a sight forever etched in time for everyone associated with Massillon football for their newly crowned state champions.
"It just starts at the beginning of the season. We go through all this tough, physical work and we just bond going through hard things," linebacker Cody Fair said. "When you're with a group of guys all summer long and as long as you have been growing up with all these guys, you just get closer and closer and when you see success on the field, you only get stronger and closer together."
It was four years ago before a devastating loss to Cincinnati LaSalle that the thought of immortality was at the threshold for the Tigers program. After finally knocking the door down, when asked if they reached that level, Moore assumed the initiative to finally pronounce that the Tigers had finally reached their ascension with a senior class that were winners of 50 games out of 57 played, that also included an undefeated home season and a 4-0 record against rival Canton McKinley.
"Yes. I think. I shared this with the players and I'll share it with you guys. There's an old saying that everyone dies two deaths and the first time you die is when your actual physical body dies and the second time you die is when the last person that knew you that remember you dies. And this 2023 Massillon Tiger team is immortal. They're going to live forever," he said.
After six failures in state playoff championship games, the sun finally shined on the Massillon Tiger regime and it has no intention of setting anytime soon.
Keno Sultan can be reached at 330-455-4575 or email at KenoSultan@hotmail.com.
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