by FULL VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS CAN BE SEEN HERE
CANTON, OH – It wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t flashy, but the Massillon Tiger defense forced three turnovers on their way to a 7-2 Division II State Championship win over Archbishop Hoban tonight. The Tiger victory avenged losses in 2018 and 2020 to Hoban. The game only saw one touchdown, and 11 total punts as both teams struggled to do anything on offense.
The Tigers held the Hoban attack to only 30 yards passing on 4 of 10 attempts from Tyler Boykin. DaOne Owens of the Tigers wasn’t much better as he went 3 of 11 for 17 yards. It was just one of those nights in which the defense dominated on both sides of the ball. Owens did run for 82 yards on 17 carries, however.
Dorian Pringle recovered a Hoban fumble that brought the first drive of the game to a halt as the Knights had driven to the Tiger 19-yard line. The drive had been consisted of mostly runs as the Knights went 10 plays for over 50 yards, but couldn’t cash in. The Tigers stuck to the same game plan as Hoban as they came out running the ball nonstop as well. Eventually however, the Tiges faced a fourth and 8 from the Hoban 22 and decided to go for it, a long pass to the endzone was incomplete as the first quarter ended scoreless.
Early into the second quarter, following a 3 and out, the Knights had a block punt recovered by Malaki Carr for the Tigers at the Hoban 28-yard line. The Tigers had trouble moving the ball however and faced a fourth and 10 shortly after. Once again, they passed up the field goal to go for it. The Knights found Owens quickly, but the sack was also a facemask and kept the Tigers drive alive. The Tigers went on to capitalize on the second chance with an eventual Mylen Lenix 6-yard touchdown run to make it 7-0 with 6:00 to play I the first half.
The Knights Tanner Mintz managed to tackle Owens in the endzone for a safety and Hoban’s first points of the game with 1:40 left to go in the first half. Any momentum was lost quickly for Hoban as they turned it over for the third time in the first half. This time it was a Vito McConnell interception stopping the Hoban drive at the Tiger 38-yard line. The game went to half with the Tigers up 7-2.
The game remained 7-2 Tigers after three quarters of play, as the Knights continued to pick up penalties, stopping drives. The Tigers had a chance to start salting the game away mid-way through the fourth quarter, but they were stopped on a fourth and short on their own 42, giving new life to the Knights with 7:33 to go.
The Knights faced a fourth and one from the 32-yard line and went to Caleb Jones off tackle to get the yards needed and keep it alive. The drive was slow, it was methodical, but it just kept cooking down to the Tiger 19-yard line with 3:38 to go. However, facing a fourth and long the drive finally ran out of magic as a pass to Jackson Calloway hit him in the hands, and fell to the turf, sealing the 7-2 Tiger victory.
The Massillon Tiger Press Conference can be seen here
