'Getting our job done': Massillon football owns trenches in regional final rout of Green

NORTH CANTON — The game of football begins up front, on both sides of the ball, says Massillon head coach Nate Moore.

And that's where the game ends for Tigers opponents.

As it typically does, Massillon dominated the line of scrimmage during Friday night's Division II, Region 7 final against Green, rolling to a 31-6 win at North Canton's Memorial Stadium.

With a crowd of 4,232 in attendance, the Tigers churned out 393 yards on the ground, averaging 7.6 a carry. They also shut out Green for the first 43 minutes of gametime despite star linebacker Dorian Pringle missing his second straight game with an injury.

Massillon (14-0) advances to face Cincinnati Anderson — a 49-28 winner Friday against Cincinnati Withrow — in a state semifinal next week. According to brackets on OHSAA.org on Friday night, the game will be at Historic Crew Stadium in Columbus.

This is the Tigers' sixth regional championship in seven years, with Green's 26-25 win against them in the 2021 regional final marking the only time they've missed in that span.

On Friday, it was clear pretty early that the Bulldogs were unlikely to pull off the upset again.

"That's a really good football team," Green head coach Mark Geis said. "I thought they came out with a level of physicality that we just didn't match there, really at all. I thought their run game was really good and defensively we just didn't answer. But also we were putting our defense in some tough spots the whole game."

Massillon quarterback DaOne Owens ran for 107 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries. The dynamic senior ripped off a 43-yard run on the game's first play.

Ja'Meir Gamble ran 16 times for 97 yards, while fellow junior Mylen Lenix added 54 yards on nine carries. It was Lenix's 14-yard touchdown that staked Massillon to an early 7-0 lead.

Junior Michael Wright Jr. and his 5-foot-10, 280-pound frame rumbled in for a 10-yard touchdown on Massillon's next possession. At that point, the Tigers had run 17 plays, all on the ground, as they drove into a cold wind during the first quarter.

They would get to 26 plays before they threw their first pass.

"You know, it's playoff weather in Ohio," Moore said. "You want to be able to run the football."

Massillon's offensive line of Nolan Davenport (6-6, 245), Mike Looney (6-4, 245), Brady Jones (6-3, 245), Sam Snodgrass (6-2, 285) and Jaezen Lewis (6-6, 400) often was joined by a pair of wing backs as additional blockers.

The Tigers finished with four pass attempts on the night, completing two. Both completions went to Jacques Carter for a total of 20 yards.

Even Carter's biggest contribution was on the ground. The speedy junior took a jet sweep and went 50 yards for a touchdown midway through the third quarter, pushing Massillon's lead to 24-0.

The game soon went to running-clock mode until Green's Samino Manson hit fellow senior Zach Baglia for a 66-yard touchdown pass with 4:47 left.

Manson, under heavy pressure much of the night, finished 10-of-27 passing for 175 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He was sacked twice.

Baglia caught three passes for 100 yards, while junior Antonio Martin added 51 yards on five receptions.

"They were 100% a good team," Massillon senior defensive end Chase Bond said. "We just had to go out there and do what we're taught all year long and come together as a team. We can't have a lot of individuals out there going selfish. I think that's what we do well, staying unselfish and getting our job done."

The 6-4, 255-pound Bond, an NC State recruit, finished with a sack, a tackle for loss and a blocked punt while also rotating in as a blocker on offense.

"(He was) dominant at the point of attack with the offensive line and I thought he had a great game," Moore said. "Shon Robinson, who stepped in for Dorian, I thought he played really well. Cody Fair ... I mean, pick a guy."

Junior safety Tyler Hackenbracht intercepted a pass that senior corner Zach Liebler first deflected. That turnover eventually led to senior Vinny Keller making a 35-yard field goal and pushing Massillon's lead to 17-0 early in the third quarter.

The Tigers kept Green (10-4) in the game by losing a pair of first-half fumbles, including one by Wright as he neared the goal line for another score.

The Bulldogs drove to Massillon's 18 late in the first half, but Tigers sophomore Lennox Lemon broke up a pass on fourth-and-3 to force the turnover on downs.

"This one is going to sting, but that sting doesn't take away all that we accomplished after everyone counted us out," said Geis, whose team was 3-2 at the midway point of the regular season after Manson suffered a broken collarbone. "We're the last Federal League team standing. We really battled well there in the second half of the season, then in the playoffs I thought we played great for three weeks."

It wasn't a perfect performance by the Tigers, who lost a third fumble in the second half and were penalized eight times for 80 yards. But it still was dominating as they allowed only 155 total yards, including a net of minus-19 yards rushing.

"I'm proud of our kids for this game tonight," Moore said. "It was a regional final, so we can take a trophy home with us to Massillon, so that's special."

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This article originally appeared on The Repository: OHSAA football playoffs: Massillon Tigers keep rolling, rout Green