Tigers season ends with 14-7 loss to Sunbury Big Walnut

 Tigers season ends with 14-7 loss to Sunbury Big Walnut

By Keno Sultan

Stark County Prep Press writer

www.starkcountypreppress.blogspot.com

MANSFIELD--Sometimes you have to fail first before you succeed.

The Massillon Tigers for 52 years had to scale the mountain of failure before finally reaching the summit of success in obtaining their first state playoff championship.

Sunbury Big Walnut twice scaled the mountain of failure in 2021 and 2022 in part to not having the big game experience that Massillon possessed and ended those seasons in playoff defeats of 38-0 and 42-21 respectively.

Failure is a wonderful educator. And the shortcomings were lessons that benefited the Golden Eagles obtaining a passing grade this time.

In what was an otherwise defensive struggle, it was sophomore running back Nolan Buirley returning the opening third quarter kickoff for a 96-yard touchdown that proved to be the difference as Big Walnut not only claimed their first-ever victory over Massillon but with it also the Region 7 title as they ended Massillon's two-year reign as regional champions with a 14-7 victory at Arlin Field.

With the victory, Big Walnut will be the official newcomer to the Division II state semifinals as they will oppose a previous state semifinalist, Cincinnati Anderson, who downed Cincinnati LaSalle 28-21 at press time to win the Region 8 title. On the other end of the bracket, it will be Akron Hoban and Avon who will renew their growing rivalry again in the other state semifinal with the winners facing off December 5th for the state title at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium.

Second-year Golden Eagles head coach Curtis Crager was very ecstatic of the victory while also praising Massillon for going out with class and dignity.

"Massillon is a fabulous football team with a storied program and you know it's a wonderful feeling. All the credit goes to our coaches and we were fortunate tonight to come out on top," he said. "That kickoff return touchdown to start the third quarter was huge and ended up being the difference in the game. Massillon is a first-class program and they congratulated our kids and wished us well."

It was two weeks ago that Big Walnut defeated Perry in a second-round contest. Now they have added Massillon to their list of victories. 

It became pretty lucid that these were not the same Eagles that lacked the experience leading to their defeats against the Tigers. Big Walnut capped off a 10-play drive that went early into the second quarter ending with sophomore quarterback Eli Stumpf delivering a five-yard touchdown to Brody Hatcher to issue the first of two leads for the Golden Eagles.

Showing their championship mettle, Massillon swiftly retaliated with one lightning quick play when Jalen Slaughter found Braylyn Toles down the sideline for a 75-yard touchdown and just like that, the game was tied at 7-7.

Massillon ventured deep into Big Walnut territory inside the red zone and poised to take their first lead of the game when they were sabotaged by four straight false start penalties that would eventually become an agonizing problem for them over the last two quarters. Multiple stunting and shifting by the Golden Eagles threw everything into limbo for a Tigers team that hadn't seen any other team stunt and shift as Big Walnut had all season.

"You have to keep them honest. We're not the biggest team but we found something that worked and we kept doing it," Creger said of the multiple false start penalties they were able to pressure Massillon into from the second quarter on.

Massillon was unable to generate any kind of consistent offense throughout the evening and not having a lead eventually caught up to them as their season ended with a ledger of 11-3. Tigers head coach Nate Moore put the evening in perspective as his team went through a lot this year in their attempt to try and win consecutive titles.

"I love our senior class. We've been through so much together, they are great kids, great athletes, great football players. I am proud of them and their careeer. It's sad that it came to an end today, I don't think anyone of us expected that. You have to tip your hat to Big Walnut, they played a great game and they were the better team on the field today," Moore said.

TIGER HUG. Massillon defensive lineman Chris Fair gets a hug from an assistant coach after Massillon's season concluded with a 14-7 loss to Sunbury Big Walnut in a Region 7 championship game Friday night in Mansfield. (Keno Sultan/Stark County Prep Press)

Massillon will say goodbye to 24 seniors that were winners of 50 games along with a state championship to their credit not to mention an undefeated record against archrival Canton McKinley and one undefeated home season. 

This was an uphill season for the Tigers who had to battle the heavy expectations of defending a state title while competing against a largely national schedule and at one point being ranked #2 in the nation. Through it all, no one was prouder of them than Moore, as his team continued to thrive in the face of adversity and although they came up three games short of their goal, their setback does not diminish what was accomplished over the course of four years.

"I love all those guys. I wish them nothing but the best as they will always have a home here. I hope they all go on to do great things," he said.

Keno Sultan is a writer for Stark County Prep Press. He can be reached at 330-445-4575 or email at KenoSultan@hotmail.com.