Alluring all-county matchup awaits but Leopards and Tigers must first handle assignments

 Alluring all-county matchup awaits but Leopards and Tigers must handle assignments 

By Keno Sultan 

Stark County Prep Press writer 

MASSILLON--If you are a fan of Stark County football, you know the next matchup will be attractive to the county.

But if you are general football fan, you want to see the same regional finalists meet again for a third consecutive season and fifth time overall, albeit one round sooner than expected amid early season expectations

For the Louisville Leopards and Massillon Tigers both are one win away from a potential playoff meeting that will have electricity arcing around Stark County.

For that to occur next week, both the Leopards and Tigers will have to prevail in their respective second round contests against defending two-time regional champion Sunbury Big Walnut and Columbus St. Francis DeSales with the Leopards traveling on the road to face the Eagles and the Tigers hosting the Stallions.

I had a chance to chat with Leopards head coach and Tigers head coach Nate Moore as they provided insights on their respective opponents for Friday's battles.

LEOPARDS LOOK TO KNOCK OFF POWERFUL CHAMPION 

For first-year Leopard head coach, Jake Adkins, a 2010 graduate of Louisville, he knows all about the names of Leopards football.

Whether it is Elsass, Beatty, Farkas, Aljancic, Tournoux, etc, the 35-year-old father of four children grew up watching those same names compete at Louisville Stadium and saw fearlessness in them that made them the players they became and are still chatted about today.

They were not intimidated of any challenge. That also includes Adkins, who was a running back and linebacker on the 2007 team that faced Cincinnati Anderson and their towering 6'9", 235 lb. receiver Nick Truesdell in the Division II state championship 19 years ago at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium in Massillon.

And don't expect the Leopards to be intimidated of a Big Walnut team that were sophomore-laden when they won the 2024 regional title and repeated the accomplishment a years later against the same Massillon team.

Louisville respects the Eagles but do not fear them, a trait of Leopards football.

"Louisville football prides itself on toughess, togetherness and tenacity. We play for each other and we embody that. We know that Big Walnut is solid around in all areas and they are very flexible," Adkins said. "We will have to play smart and minimize their possessions and win the field position battle and keep them in front of us and behind the chains."

The Leopards defense held North Canton Hoover to a single touchdown last week in their first-round playoff game as they captured a 21-7 victory led by three touchdown runs from running back Lucas Neff.

If Neff isn't doing the damage, quarterback Cody Zahler is making life miserable for defenses with his ability to take care of the football and obtain yards by passing or running. This is also helped by an offensive line that features 6'8", 315 lb. UConn commit Aden Norris.

Big Walnut are led by senior quarterback Eli Stumpf, a three-year starter along with Mr. Football candidate Nolan Buirley. The Golden Eagles have advanced to the state semifinals twice but have not been able to vault past the same Anderson team that deprived Louisville of a title.

All but three of the Golden Eagles wins have been via running clock. A key for the Leopards will be to get the game into the second half with a chance to emerge victorious.

"We play better when we start off fast and get out to an early lead. We have to win the first down and second down battles and get them into some third and long situations and that is going to be the key," Adkins said.

Louisville has won six in a row dating back to the sixth week of the season. But they really found their identity in a 15-14 win at eventual OCC conference champion Dover as they came back from a 14-0 deficit to stun the Tornadoes on a walk-off 26-yard field goal from Parker Daum.

If you are a fan of the Leopards, you hope to get one more week of football and a short drive within county limits. But first, Louisville must find a way to eliminate a Big Walnut team who wants more than just a regional championship as their team is laced with a plethora of seniors who do not want to be derailed on the road to Canton and a potential state title.

"The one thing we don't want to do is become one-dimensional against a team like them. We have to be able to have a balance between running and throwing the ball," Adkins said.

PACK OF LEOPARDS. Louisville coach Jake Adkins (second from left) observes the action from last week's playoff win against North Canton Hoover. (Keno Sultan/Stark County Prep Press)

TIGERS TO FACE STALLIONS AT HOME

Last season, Massillon was poised to host Ashland in a regional semifinal at home.

However, Columbus St. Francis DeSales literally had an euphoric end to their...er...Day.

Stallions quarterback RJ Day located tight end Jordan Karhoff on the final play of regulation and Karhoff ripped away a potential game-ending interception for a walk-off touchdown that allowed the Stallions to remain at home.

Massillon wasn't too thrilled about going on the road and pinned a loud 48-14 thrashing of DeSales in last season's regional semifinal.

A year later, the Tigers are now hosting the Stallions in a second-round playoff game. Moore recalled last year's contest in which Massillon had everything go their way.

"We were able to get some pressure on him last year and that worked out well for us," he recalled.

DeSales turned away Pataskala Watkins Memorial 56-14 in their first round assignment to get their long awaited rematch with the Tigers, who had their second bye week this season.

Massillon's last game was a 31-0 conquest of Canton McKinley in a game that saw the Tigers take out their frustrations on the Bulldogs in a resounding manner after an adversarial regular season.

Massillon's biggest strength comes from their offensive line who has generated a fearsome running game. It is one thing to have Savior Owens and Gary Yeager in the backfield. But if push comes to shove, Brayton Feister can also produce power in his 6'3", 245 lb. engine.

"Brayton is a great player and a great linebacker. He is very tremendous and talented," Moore noted.

Massillon looks to utilize their strong home crowd to their advantage. Two weeks ago, the Bulldogs were victimized by a horde of false start and delay of game penalties, with two of their offensive drives that were deep inside the Tiger five-yard line stalled that ended with turnovers.

That added along with a ferocious defense will be paramount to the Tigers bid for success as they look to take a step closer to achieving a feat that was three years ago.

For that to happen, Massillon's defense will have to answer the bell once again like they did last year.

"We were able to play with a lead last year and that was good for us as it allowed us to dictate the game and throw balls more," Moore noted. "If we can play aggressive, good things will happen."

THE SAVIOR WHO RUNS. Massillon tailback Savior Owens runs while tight end DaShun Williams (#84) blocks during the third quarter of Massillon's 31-0 win against McKinley. (Keno Sultan/Stark County Prep Press)

---PREP PRESS PIECES--- 

*Big Ten Power: Five players from the region have all committed to Big Ten Schools. Owens and Deontay Malone have committed to Michigan State and Ohio State respectively while Stumpf will join Owens at MSU. Buirley and Day will continue at Northwestern. "The Big Ten has become the premier conference in college football. Although it took a hit with the first CFP rankings, it makes sense to say they are the premier conference in the new era of NIL" Moore said.

*Potential return to Massillon: If Louisville and Massillon both win their playoff games, Massillon will host a regional semifinal next Friday. The last time the Leopards were in Massillon, they suffered a 24-0 loss back in 2019. Massillon is 2-0 all time again Louisville.

*New loan on life: Canton Central Catholic is back in the state playoffs in Division V, Region 17. Youngstown Liberty was forced to forfeit their win via the use of an ineligible athlete, allowing the Crusaders to advance to a second-round game against Lake County Perry at Lake County Perry at 7 pm.

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