The Tigers took on Warren G. Harding in the last game of their season last Saturday. The Tigers controlled the line of scrimmage from the beginning. The defense shut down Warren’s run game, and the Raider special teams had a bucket load of bad punts which resulted in a 43-0 victory.
Warren started with the ball; they fumbled, and Avery Blake recovered for the Tigers. Savior Owens pounded his way down the field and scored from one yard out to put Massillon up 7-0. Ke’Aun Fowler had a tackle-for-loss, and the Tigers forced a punt. The snap (one of many terrible snap/kick combos of the day) sailed over the punter’s head, and he was taken down by Anthony Hoover in the end zone for a safety. Braylon Gamble caught a long pass from Manny Patterson to set up a Savior Owens touchdown run, which put the Tigers up 16-0. The teams exchanged punts, and the Tigers stripped the ball away from Warren on their possession. Manny Patterson tossed an 18-yard touchdown to Gino Jackson, Jr. to extend the Massillon lead. The next drive resulted in a punt that Kavon Sankey blocked— it was scooped up by Raymir Jackson and returned for a score. Warren was shut down once again; Sabastian Harper blew up a pitch play and forced another punt. The punt was a comedy of errors once again, as the first snap was thrown over the punters head (it was blown dead for a false start), and the second punt was kicked straight up in the air and returned by Sabastian Harper. He was standing near the line of scrimmage— it was a -1 yard punt and 4 yard return. The Tigers threw an interception (Gio Jackson was knocked over in the end zone, but no penalty was called), and at the half they led 29-0.
The second half was all Tigers yet again. Gio Jackson Jr. caught a pass that set Massillon up in Raider territory. Nehemiah Stone took the ball into the end zone for a Massillon score. Warren had a punt blocked once again; this time Sabastian Harper brought the heat, and Raymir Jackson recovered. That’s when the game took an even stranger turn. Manny Patterson passed into the end zone, and the Tiger receiver was interfered with. Flags flew from all directions, but the referees disagreed on whether it was defensive or offensive pass interference. This turned into a loud verbal argument where the referees fought amongst themselves about the penalty, taking several minutes to decide on the call. Once they reluctantly agreed that it was DPI, they informed Warren’s coach of the call. He was furious, and an unsportsmanlike conduct flag was thrown. After this Sabastian Harper took a handoff and ran into the end zone for a score to put the Tigers up 43-0. The Raiders moved the ball down the field but were blown up on a double pitch sweep play that was mishandled, resulting in a fumble and a Massillon recovery. A minor scuffle broke out after the play and was cleared up, but one of the referees angrily tried to declare that the game had come to an end. This is not a rule that the OHSAA has in place, as a game needs to be called by mutual decision unless extreme circumstances are taking place. After informing the referees of this rule, the Tiger coaching staff met with Warren and decided to run off the last couple minutes.
It was certainly a bizarre end to the Junior Varsity season, but the Tigers capped it off with a 43-0 victory.
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