Massillon ran over Football North (Ont.) on Friday night. The Tigers won upfront, establishing their run game and running through North on the defensive side with two sacks and six tackles-for-loss. The Massillon second-string was able to put a score on the board in the second half, and the backup defense continued to hit North hard as the Tigers would go on to win 45-6.
1st Quarter
The Tigers’ defense started off fast, as Mylen Lenix threw down North running back Lucas Shannon in the backfield to force a turnover on downs. Massillon’s offense made quick work of the North defense, with the drive culminating in a Mike Wright 8-yard touchdown run. North threw a 77-yard touchdown pass on the first play of their next drive, but Daylan Pringle blocked the extra point to keep the Massillon lead at 7-6. Ja’Meir Gamble and Mylen Lenix helped the Tigers move down the field, and Jalen Slaughter escaped pressure to throw a 20-yard pass to Ricardo Wells, who juggled the ball but secured the catch. North’s defense capitalized on Massillon’s false start penalty and was able to hold the Tigers to a field goal —which Mateo Herrera knocked through— extending Massillon’s lead to 10-6.
2nd Quarter
Ja’Dyn Williams started his excellent defensive day on North’s first drive of the second quarter, notching a tackle-for-loss and a sack. North and the Tigers exchanged punts, and Massillon’s defense stepped up again. Ja’Dyn Williams and Mike Wright both delivered huge hits to North quarterback Winston Chapman, and De’mari Clemons broke up a pass to force another punt. Mylen Lenix took a handoff to the house for a 64-yard touchdown, running straight through the North defense. Ja’Dyn Williams once again rose to the occasion, blowing up North’s quarterback for a sack and forcing a fumble. Marcus Garner recovered the ball at the North 22, giving the Tigers an easy scoring opportunity. Jalen Slaughter tossed a 22-yard touchdown pass to Deontay Malone on the first play of the Tigers’ drive, giving them a 24-6 lead. Football North was able to gain a couple of first downs, but Ja’Dyn Williams blew up a third-down screen and forced a punt. Ja’Meir Gamble carried the Tigers down the field and Jalen Slaughter tossed another touchdown to Deontay Malone, this one going for 44 yards. North tried a last-second Hail Mary at the end of the half, but the pass was intercepted by Tyler Hackenbracht. The halftime score: Tigers 31 – Football North 6
3rd Quarter
Massillon’s offense started the third quarter the way that they ended the second– with a touchdown. Jalen Slaughter found Jacques Carter wide open in the middle for a 73-yard touchdown. North went backwards on their drive, as Ja’Dyn Williams chased down North QB Jacob Mueller (who threw the ball into the ground; intentional grounding was called). The Tigers backups came in and drove down the field after a North punt. Quarterback Manny Patterson threw a 39-yard pass to Richard Harris Jr. to set up a touchdown toss to Gio Jackson Jr. A big Bishop Cupp hit led to a turnover on downs for North, and after three quarters the Tigers led 45-6.
4th Quarter
The fourth quarter went quickly with a running clock in effect. Massillon punted the ball, and the Massillon second-string defense hit North hard, as Lucas Shertzer and Bishop Cupp blew up a few plays. Football North and the Tigers exchanged punts, and North ran out of time on their final drive. The final score: Massillon 45 – Football North 6.
Interesting Stats
All three passers for the Tigers had good nights— Jalen Slaughter went 8-12 with 205 yards and three touchdowns. Manny Patterson went 2-2 with 44 yards and a touchdown. Savior Owens completed his only pass of the game for 6 yards. The ball was well-distributed when it came to the passing game. The Tigers’ leading receivers: Jacques Carter (1 catch, 73 yards, 1 touchdown), Deontay Malone (2 catches, 66 yards, 2 touchdowns), Richard Harris Jr. (1 catch, 39 yards), Ricardo Wells (1 catch, 20 yards). Gio Jackson Jr. also caught a touchdown pass. On the rushing end, the usual suspects led the Tigers— Mylen Lenix (2 carries, 80 yards, 1 touchdown) and Ja’Meir Gamble (8 carries, 66 yards)— led the pack. Mike Wright also got back in on the action, rushing four times for 24 yards and a touchdown.
On the defensive side, Ja’Dyn Williams had another excellent day. He notched 9 tackles, with 2 sacks, 4 tackles-for-loss, one forced fumble, and many massive hits. The Massillon defense had an excellent day all around, playing a hard-hitting game and wearing down North quickly.
Postgame Comments
QB Jalen Slaughter: “Great team victory; we got the job done. It feels good. The focus in practice this week was tempo… we really just executed and got the job done. I feel that we were really focused.” “We’re a great team right now, but we can be better– we can fix a lot of things and get an opportunity to win a state title.” “When I saw him [Jacques Carter] that wide open, I said ‘Oh man, I’ve got to throw it to him–touchdown’.”
LB Ja’Dyn Williams: “They had size, but that’s never really been a problem for our defense. We knew we were a little smaller, but if you really stay focused we can play with those guys– size really doesn’t matter. We saw those big guys up on the line, but it wasn’t a problem– we played physical ball.”
Coach Nate Moore: “Tigers played good football in all three phases. Proud of our kids. We had a good night throwing the ball… our guys upfront did a great job with that and the run game too. Running backs had a good day too. They had great size, but we’ve seen great size most of the year so no surprises there.” On Ja’Dyn Williams– “He checks a lot of boxes– he’s a Junior Captain for us, he checks every box. He’s a great kid, a great member of our school community, a great teammate. He works his tail off… he’s great in the weight room. When you do great things every day with good effort, it pays off.”
Up Next…
Massillon will take on Legacy Sport Sciences (3-3) in the first ever matchup between the Tigers and a Texas school. Kickoff on the 11th will be at 7:00 PM
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