Perfect in the Record books, but far from Perfect on the field

As the 2013 season continues to play out, the Tigers are far from where they want to be, as far as execution and play on the field. Through 6 games the Tigers have not been impressive when it comes to making mistakes. In fact, the only flawless game they have had this year, came in Week 3 when the Tigers traveled to Warren. They had no fumbles, threw no Interceptions and only committed 2 penalties for 10 yards. To date, Massillon has lost 7 fumbles and has thrown 6 Int’s. But, the most disturbing stats, comes in the Penalty column. The Tigers have committed 47 penalties for a whopping 362 yards.

Last week, Massillon had 10 yellow flags fly for 105 yards, the most penalty yards so far this year, against a team that should have been a practice game to work on controlling mistakes. Not to take anything away from Firestone, but this past Friday, Massillon shot itself in the paw so many times, Obie is still at Massillon Hospital with bandages wrapped around all four feet. She is recovering fine, and Doctors say she will be up and running around by Monday. But, seriously though, the Tigers have got to start playing better, as they reach the final 4 game stretch.

Firestone has been a tough competitor all season, giving the other team fits at times. They may be 0-6 in 2013, but they have been hanging in there, in every game. And last Friday was no different, as the first string Tigers had to battle the entire first half. The Massillon Coaching staff has to do some major soul searching this week at practice, and the team will have some work to do, to try and minimize the mistakes. The next four games for the Tiger football team, includes 3 teams who are 6-0 on the season thus far. St V’s is Division 3 this year, and they look on pace to be a Title contender. On the year so far, SVSM, has outscored their opponents 274-45, including 2 shutouts this season. The fewest points they have scored was in the 25-0 win over Mooney.

Massillon will be traveling to Austintown this weekend, to take on the 6-0 Fitch Falcons. Some may argue to this series being a storied rival or not. This writer says that it can at least be a top five rivalry. Sure, we have not played each other for 60 years, and there may not be many huge games that one can recall. But since 1985, these two teams have been battling, and have seen some close games. There was a short break in the action from 2003-2011, but before that, the Falcons and Tigers played for 18 straight years, and in the beginning, the Falcons seemed to have complete control of the series.

In 1985, former Massillon Tiger lineman David Hartman (1964), then Fitch Head Coach, brought his Falcons into PBTS with a 4-1 record and looking to improve to 5-1 and keep their playoff hopes alive. The Tigers came into this game also 4-1, coming off of a come-from-behind win the previous week against Barberton. John Maronto took his Tigers into halftime with a 12-7 lead, but that would soon fizzle out as Austintown would mount a rally and win the first matchup 21-19. Fitch would out gain the Tigers 333-182 yards in that game.

The Falcons would go on and win 5 of the first 8 games, from 1985-1992. The Tigers would be 0-4 in those 8 years, playing in Austintown, losing close games in ’86, ’88, and ’90. All 3 loses came by less than a touchdown, and in 1992, the Fitch Falcons would hand Massillon their worse loss of the year. It would be the only time Massillon was shutout all season, going to Austintown and getting a 14-0 smacking. This game would also be the ONLY shutout in the entire series. First year Head Coach Jack Rose, did not see much success that ’92 season, as they would finish 5-5. The Fitch loss, would be the 3rd in a row, of 4 straight losses that season, and Coach Rose was behind the 8 ball early in his Tiger coaching tenure.

Since that ’92 season blanking by Austintown, Massillon, has gone on an 11 game winning streak and has taken a series lead of 14-5. 2001 has seen the largest margin of victory by any team, as the Tigers won 54-14 in PBTS, but it would also be a year that the Fitch Falcon fans would soon hope to forget. The Tigers on the other hand, had a magical year then, under 4[SUP]th[/SUP] year head coach Rick Shepas. It was a year that the Tigers seemed to dominate almost every team they played and They would make a State run that year, only to come up one game short of the State Championship game, getting beat by St Ignatius.

2012 saw a renewing of the series between the Fitch Falcons and the Massillon Tigers. It would be played in PBTS, and the Tigers picked up right where they left off, winning 34-14. This year the Tiger will travel an hour East to play in Austintown, for a 7:30 pm kickoff. Massillon only has a 5-4 record when playing in Falcon Stadium, and of their 5 wins there, the largest margin of victory is only a 12 point win, in the 2000 season.

This week, will once again, be a test for the Tigers and a measuring stick of how much they have learned about themselves. The “Tiger Keys for Victory” this week:

Penalties- The Tigers have got to work on the false start and holding penalties, if they want to have any success this week. Austintown has always proven to be a tough place to play for the Tigers, so they will need to button up and play hard.

Turnovers- Massillon is only +1 right now in the turnover ratio, and they need to change that this week. Stop giving the ball away, and start causing more on Defense. Going into week 7, the Tiger defense has forced 9 fumbles and only 5 Int’s.

Drives- The Tigers need to sustain long drives in the game this week, to help the Defense and to take time off the clock. Keeping the Defense fresh and rested will be what makes or breaks the Tigers Friday night. Through 6 weeks this season, the Falcons have only given up 33 points, with 3 shutouts. Keeping the high powered Fitch offense off the field, will be a major factor in keeping the game close this week. Massillon must take advantage of every opportunity, and keep the fans in the game. Playing on the road is always a challenge, and the Tiger faithful could make up the 4[SUP]th[/SUP] Key to Victory.


Contributing websites this week:

Team stats, and Game history- Massillontigers.com

Computer Points Standings- Joeeitel.com

*No Tigers were really harmed in the writing of this article, or the game last week.

Here is a look at the teams schedule's, through 6 weeks:

Austintown-Fitch 2013 Football

8/30

A

Warren G Harding (4-2)

[1:1]

W

48-0

9/6

H

Archbishop Hoban (3-3)

[3:7]

W

27-12

9/13

A

Brunswick (4-2)

[1:1]

W

28-14

9/20

H

Dover (4-2)

[3:9]

W

41-7

9/27

A

Boardman (1-5)

[2:3]

W

27-0

10/4

H

Youngstown East (1-5)

[1:1]

W

39-0

Massillon Washington 2013 Football

8/29

H

Perry (0-6)

[1:1]

W

35-7

9/5

H

GlenOak (3-3)

[1:1]

W

23-20

3 ot

9/13

A

Warren G Harding (4-2)

[1:1]

W

35-14

9/20

H

Lake Catholic (1-5)

[3:8]

W

35-6

9/27

A

Steubenville (5-1)

[4:13]

W

37-21

10/4

H

Firestone (0-6)

[2:4]

W

28-14

Here is a look at the point’s standings through 6 weeks of play:

Division 1 Region 1:

Rank	W-L	ID #	City	School	Average	Level 1	Level 2	L2 divisor
1	6-0	740	Hudson	Hudson	18.6333	38.0	123.0	100
2	6-0	1346	Lakewood	St Edward	18.3833	35.0	125.5	100
3	6-0	306	Canton	Canton McKinley	16.1156	37.0	97.5	98
4	6-0	148	Austintown	Austintown-Fitch	16.0333	36.5	99.5	100
5	5-1	385	Cleveland Heights	Cleveland Heights	13.4667	31.0	83.0	100
6	5-1	970	Marysville	Marysville	12.7500	30.0	77.5	100
7	5-1	1671	Westerville	Westerville Central	12.6333	29.0	78.0	100
8	5-1	1016	Mentor	Mentor	12.4000	31.5	71.5	100
9	5-1	1492	Stow	Stow-Munroe Falls	12.2000	31.5	69.5	100
10	4-2	1354	Cleveland	St Ignatius	11.8197	25.0	75.0	98
11	5-1	532	Elyria	Elyria	10.9500	28.5	62.0	100
12	4-2	1428	Solon	Solon	10.8000	24.0	68.0	100
13	5-1	1606	Wadsworth	Wadsworth	10.6167	29.5	57.0	100
14	4-2	268	Brunswick	Brunswick	10.4833	24.5	64.0	100
15	4-2	1498	Strongsville	Strongsville	8.8333	24.5	47.5	100
16	4-2	670	Green	Green	8.3667	23.5	44.5	100

Division 2 Region 4:

Rank	W-L	ID #	City	School	Average	Level 1	Level 2	L2 divisor
1	6-0	710	Medina	Highland	15.4333	36.5	93.5	100
2	6-0	150	Avon	Avon	15.3833	35.0	95.5	100
3	6-0	1116	Macedonia	Nordonia	14.8500	36.0	88.5	100
4	6-0	1624	Massillon	Massillon Washington	12.8500	36.0	68.5	100
5	5-1	152	Avon Lake	Avon Lake	12.1500	31.5	69.0	100
6	6-0	528	Akron	Ellet	12.1000	33.0	66.0	100
7	4-2	1248	Perrysburg	Perrysburg	10.1833	23.0	63.5	100
8	4-2	1350	Toledo	Toledo St Francis DeSales	9.2167	23.5	53.0	100

Good luck to the Falcons! In the early days of this series, it was a very good rivalry. If some better decisions had been made in the hiring of head coaches, it would have continued. Some very dark years for the Falcons took the luster off of what had been a very solid program with play-off success in the late 80's - early 90's. I recall some very good games at both Falcon Stadium and PBTS. I hope that the Falcons recent success is sustained like the 12 year run ('82-'93) that Coach Hartman had. I believe he won 99 games in 12 years. Just about any school would take that kind of success!

coyotes22;1513920 wrote:Perfect in the Record books, but far from Perfect on the field

As the 2013 season continues to play out, the Tigers are far from where they want to be, as far as execution and play on the field. Through 6 games the Tigers have not been impressive when it comes to making mistakes. In fact, the only flawless game they have had this year, came in Week 3 when the Tigers traveled to Warren. They had no fumbles, threw no Interceptions and only committed 2 penalties for 10 yards. To date, Massillon has lost 7 fumbles and has thrown 6 Int’s. But, the most disturbing stats, comes in the Penalty column. The Tigers have committed 47 penalties for a whopping 362 yards.

Last week, Massillon had 10 yellow flags fly for 105 yards, the most penalty yards so far this year, against a team that should have been a practice game to work on controlling mistakes. Not to take anything away from Firestone, but this past Friday, Massillon shot itself in the paw so many times, Obie is still at Massillon Hospital with bandages wrapped around all four feet. She is recovering fine, and Doctors say she will be up and running around by Monday. But, seriously though, the Tigers have got to start playing better, as they reach the final 4 game stretch.

Firestone has been a tough competitor all season, giving the other team fits at times. They may be 0-6 in 2013, but they have been hanging in there, in every game. And last Friday was no different, as the first string Tigers had to battle the entire first half. The Massillon Coaching staff has to do some major soul searching this week at practice, and the team will have some work to do, to try and minimize the mistakes. The next four games for the Tiger football team, includes 3 teams who are 6-0 on the season thus far. St V’s is Division 3 this year, and they look on pace to be a Title contender. On the year so far, SVSM, has outscored their opponents 274-45, including 2 shutouts this season. The fewest points they have scored was in the 25-0 win over Mooney.

Massillon will be traveling to Austintown this weekend, to take on the 6-0 Fitch Falcons. Some may argue to this series being a storied rival or not. This writer says that it can at least be a top five rivalry. Sure, we have not played each other for 60 years, and there may not be many huge games that one can recall. But since 1985, these two teams have been battling, and have seen some close games. There was a short break in the action from 2003-2011, but before that, the Falcons and Tigers played for 18 straight years, and in the beginning, the Falcons seemed to have complete control of the series.

In 1985, former Massillon Tiger lineman David Hartman (1964), then Fitch Head Coach, brought his Falcons into PBTS with a 4-1 record and looking to improve to 5-1 and keep their playoff hopes alive. The Tigers came into this game also 4-1, coming off of a come-from-behind win the previous week against Barberton. John Maronto took his Tigers into halftime with a 12-7 lead, but that would soon fizzle out as Austintown would mount a rally and win the first matchup 21-19. Fitch would out gain the Tigers 333-182 yards in that game.

The Falcons would go on and win 5 of the first 8 games, from 1985-1992. The Tigers would be 0-4 in those 8 years, playing in Austintown, losing close games in ’86, ’88, and ’90. All 3 loses came by less than a touchdown, and in 1992, the Fitch Falcons would hand Massillon their worse loss of the year. It would be the only time Massillon was shutout all season, going to Austintown and getting a 14-0 smacking. This game would also be the ONLY shutout in the entire series. First year Head Coach Jack Rose, did not see much success that ’92 season, as they would finish 5-5. The Fitch loss, would be the 3rd in a row, of 4 straight losses that season, and Coach Rose was behind the 8 ball early in his Tiger coaching tenure.

Since that ’92 season blanking by Austintown, Massillon, has gone on an 11 game winning streak and has taken a series lead of 14-5. 2001 has seen the largest margin of victory by any team, as the Tigers won 54-14 in PBTS, but it would also be a year that the Fitch Falcon fans would soon hope to forget. The Tigers on the other hand, had a magical year then, under 4[SUP]th[/SUP] year head coach Rick Shepas. It was a year that the Tigers seemed to dominate almost every team they played and They would make a State run that year, only to come up one game short of the State Championship game, getting beat by St Ignatius.

2012 saw a renewing of the series between the Fitch Falcons and the Massillon Tigers. It would be played in PBTS, and the Tigers picked up right where they left off, winning 34-14. This year the Tiger will travel an hour East to play in Austintown, for a 7:30 pm kickoff. Massillon only has a 5-4 record when playing in Falcon Stadium, and of their 5 wins there, the largest margin of victory is only a 12 point win, in the 2000 season.

This week, will once again, be a test for the Tigers and a measuring stick of how much they have learned about themselves. The “Tiger Keys for Victory” this week:

Penalties- The Tigers have got to work on the false start and holding penalties, if they want to have any success this week. Austintown has always proven to be a tough place to play for the Tigers, so they will need to button up and play hard.

Turnovers- Massillon is only +1 right now in the turnover ratio, and they need to change that this week. Stop giving the ball away, and start causing more on Defense. Going into week 7, the Tiger defense has forced 9 fumbles and only 5 Int’s.

Drives- The Tigers need to sustain long drives in the game this week, to help the Defense and to take time off the clock. Keeping the Defense fresh and rested will be what makes or breaks the Tigers Friday night. Through 6 weeks this season, the Falcons have only given up 33 points, with 3 shutouts. Keeping the high powered Fitch offense off the field, will be a major factor in keeping the game close this week. Massillon must take advantage of every opportunity, and keep the fans in the game. Playing on the road is always a challenge, and the Tiger faithful could make up the 4[SUP]th[/SUP] Key to Victory.


Contributing websites this week:

Team stats, and Game history- Massillontigers.com

Computer Points Standings- Joeeitel.com

*No Tigers were really harmed in the writing of this article, or the game last week.

The short version of all this is 30-27 Fitch.

Gardens35;1516654 wrote:The short version of all this is 30-27 Fitch.

Lol