Massillon football defeats St. John's (D.C.) after coaches, refs halt game in 4th
MASSILLON — An otherwise impressive win, which featured the return of star QB DaOne Owens, ended in odd fashion Friday night for the Massillon Tigers.
Coaches and officials agreed to end Massillon's high school football game with St. John's College (D.C.) midway through the fourth quarter because of escalating penalties and scuffles among players.
The Tigers, Ohio's top-ranked team in Division II, won 28-7 to improve to 7-0. The game was stopped with 6:45 left in the fourth quarter after SJC quarterback Isaiah French was injured on a hit by a Massillon defender, resulting in a Tigers penalty.
Each team's coach, as well as the game officials, then met on the field at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium to jointly make the decision to end the game.
"The referee recommended that the game end at that point, and the visiting coach concurred," Massillon head coach Nate Moore said. "So I concurred as well."
More Massillon football: Massillon Tigers QB DaOne Owens back on the field for state's top-ranked team vs. St. John's (D.C.)
Tempers began flaring in the second half. Things escalated with multiple personal foul penalties on each team and sideline warnings, while assorted fights broke out among players. SJC was penalized 16 times for 157 yards in the game. Massillon had seven penalties for 72 yards.
Once it was determined the game would end early, each team was sent immediately to its locker room and there were no postgame handshakes.
"The referee thought that we should call off the game, and both myself and coach Moore agreed," St. John's coach Pat Ward said. "Things were getting out of control, and we just wanted to protect the kids, and that's it."
The loss dropped St. John's to 3-2, with Massillon being the second nationally-ranked team to beat the Cadets.
The game started off well for St. John's, which scored on the opening drive after French avoided a Dorian Pringle sack and found a wide-open Reece Williams for a 63-yard touchdown pass. That was the high point for the visitors.
The Tigers' defense kept swarming the Cadets. Their star running back, Da'Jaun Riggs, an Oregon commit, was held to 73 rushing yards and 26 receiving yards. The Tigers, who entered allowing only 9.0 points per game this season, shut out the Cadets the rest of the game.
"Our defense played great," Moore said. "We made a couple of big plays, but overall we controlled the line of scrimmage, we tackled well, and I thought our safeties played great. I was happy with our performance."
While the defense kept SJC grounded, the Tigers' offense kept moving. Michael Wright Jr. and Dorian Pringle each had TD runs. Ja'Meir Gamble added 91 rushing yards, averaging 5.4 yards a carry.
DaOne Owens returns to action for Massillon
Owens returned to the starting lineup at QB after sitting out last week as the Ohio High School Athletic Association reviews his transfer application. He transferred to Massillon from Copley during the offseason.
Like he did in the Tigers' first five games, Owens made plays. He finished the night completing 7 of 16 passes for 153 yards and a score, and rushed for 43 yards and a TD.
"I'm proud of him. He played hard tonight," Moore said. "I expected nothing less."
Owens' lone TD pass was to junior receiver Braylyn Toles, who led the Tigers with a season-high four catches for 103 yards.
"DaOne is a great player," Toles said. "Great to have him. He threw me a great pass in the first half. We got a good connection going. If we just keep this going, we're going to be a really good team."
With three games left in the regular season, Massillon plays its first road game next Friday, visiting Austintown Fitch. The Tigers will return home to play Warren Harding the following week before their Week 10 showdown at McKinley, as they chase a 10-0 regular season.
Stark County football scores: Ohio high school football scores for Greater Canton | See who won in Week 7
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Massillon football beats St. John's College (D.C.) in contentious game
