Tigers Vanquish Vikings in Blowout Victory - TigerTown Athletics

Tyler Hackenbracht takes a punt all the way for a score. All Media Credit: Seth Bailey

Massillon’s Special Teams Lead the Road to Victory over Ashville Teays Valley

The Tigers traveled to Zanesville to take on Ashville Teays Valley in the OHSAA Regional Semifinal on Friday. Massillon rolled early despite only possessing the ball for four plays in the first half. Three of those four plays went for touchdowns, and the Tigers added three special teams scores en route to a 48-14 romp.

1st Quarter

Teays Valley won the toss and elected to receive the ball. Massillon’s defense shut down the Vikings’ run game, and Ja’Dyn Williams sacked TV quarterback Brady Farmer to force a punt. Tyler Hackenbracht took the punt up the middle for 50 yards and a score; his second return touchdown of the season. Teays Valley went three-an d-out and punted. Tyler Hackenbracht picked the ball up off a bounce and ran down the sideline with an escort for an 81-yard punt return touchdown. The Vikings muffed the kickoff and started deep in their own territory. A Daylan Pringle pass breakup and a Dayvionne Floyd tackle-for-loss led to yet another punt from Teays Valley. This time the snap was dropped by the punter, and Mike Wright took him down at the 7-yard line. Mylen Lenix took the ball in for a 7-yard score on the next play, putting the Tigers up 21-0. The Vikings punted once again; this time they were able to down the ball at the Tigers’ 20-yard line. The Tigers’ offense only needed two plays as Jalen Slaughter tossed a 77-yard touchdown pass to Braylyn Toles, putting the Tigers up 28-0.

2nd Quarter

Defensive penalties helped the Vikings move down the field and score. Massillon answered immediately as Tyler Hackenbracht ran back his third kick return touchdown of the night— a 100-yard kickoff return. Dayvionne Floyd threw down the Vikings’ quarterback for a sack and forced a punt on the next drive. Once again the Tigers needed only one play as Ja’Meir Gamble took the ball 52 yards for a touchdown. The Massillon second-string defense came in and held the Vikings back at the end of the half despite a few big plays; Antony Hoover and Bishop Cupp sacked the Vikings’ quarterback to end the threat. At the half the Tigers led 42-7.

3rd Quarter

The Tigers started the second half with the ball. Peytton Mitchell had a few big runs, but the Vikings stripped the ball and took it back for a score. Deontay Malone almost took the ball back for a touchdown but was tackled after a 49-yard return. The Tigers used the ground game to drive the ball down the field, and Peytton Mitchell punched the ball in for a touchdown.

4th Quarter

Teays Valley and Massillon exchanged punts; Kevon Sankey sacked the Vikings’ quarterback to cap off the night. The quarter went quickly with a running clock, and the Tigers went home with a 48-14 win.

Interesting Stats

The Tigers dominated the first half despite running only four offensive plays. On those four plays the Tigers gained 147 yards and scored three touchdowns. Three touchdowns in the first half were on special teams; Tyler Hackenbracht had punt return touchdowns of 50 yards and 81 yards and a kickoff return of 100 yards. In the record book his combined punt return yards (he had 3 in the game) put him at second all-time with 129 return yards (behind Austin Brawley). His kick return is arguably tied for the longest in Massillon history with John Francisco (105 yards). [Since the 105 is counted from the back of the end zone and the state no longer counts those yards, Tyler’s return is either tied for first or solely in second for the all-time long. The 229 combined return yards are presumably first all-time in Massillon history.]
Offensively the Tigers only ran 23 plays. They gathered 232 yards— 127 rushing and 105 passing. Jalen Slaughter went 4-6 with 105 yards and a score. Peytton Mitchell led Massillon in rush yards with 61 yards on 12 carries and a score. Ja’Meir Gamble scored a 52-yard touchdown on his only carry. Mylen Lenix scored a 7-yard touchdown on his one carry. Braylyn Toles led the Tigers in receiving with 85 yards and a touchdown.
Massillon’s defense was (predictably) all over Teays Valley’s run game. Ja’Dyn Williams led the Tigers with 5 tackles. He had a tackle-for-loss and a sack as well. Mike Wright had two TFLs. Dayvionne Floyd had a sack and a TFL, as did Kavon Sankey. Bishop Cupp and Anthony Hoover both split a sack and a TFL.

Postgame Comments

Coach Moore: “A little bit of a strange game, especially in the first half. Tyler Hackenbracht returned three kicks for touchdowns; really special and unique. A lot of guys are out there blocking their tails off for him. He’s an incredible defensive back, a force on special teams; he’s also a great punter. He’s worked really hard to get where he is now. He’s spent hours in the weight room and hours working on his craft. Now he’s reaping the rewards of his hard work.”

Dayvionne Floyd: “Our guys came out fired up and ready to go. They [Ashville] took the ball first, and that lit a fire under us. We were ready to go; we made them feel us every play. We have our minds on one goal collectively. We’re ready to go; we come into practice and the field ready to execute and play our football.”

Tyler Hackenbracht: “We played great team ball. Our special teams did our job. Our special teams coach (Coach Jarvis) does a great job drawing up the plays, and our guys did a great job blocking. We’re firing on all cylinders so we’re ready to go and get it started early next week. Defensively our coaches do a great job; from Coach Leno to my father (Coach Dan Hackenbracht) and Coach Spruill, they do a great job of getting us ready to go. We’ve been able to accomplish a lot of things that no other team has before. We’ve really worked, and we’re a good group; I really think that’s something we have—we have known each other for a really long time. We are looking to go get another ring, and we’re willing to work our tails off for the city.”