'How about that Tigers defense': Massillon football wins first OHSAA state title

CANTON — A defense that dominated high school football opponents all season came through one last time for the Massillon Tigers.

And the Tigers are state champions for the first time in the playoff era because of it.

In a renewal of the Massillon-Hoban playoff rivalry for the fifth time in six years, the defenses were as good as advertised and the Tigers won 7-2 in the Division II title game. A Massillon-heavy crowd of 14,846 Thursday night at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium watched the Tigers win their title.

"I'm so happy for our kids," Massillon head coach Nate Moore said. "I'm happy for our coaches who worked so hard and are so dedicated to our players. I'm so happy for the city of Massillon."

Massillon took advantage of Hoban's mental errors, keeping the Knights out of the end zone. Only a second-quarter safety prevented a Massillon shutout.

"How about that Tiger defense," Moore said. "Unbelievable. I think it is the best defensive performance I've ever seen. From top to bottom, a team victory. The offense grounded it out, and one touchdown did it."

Massillon completes a perfect season for the first time since 1970 — two seasons before the Ohio High School Athletic Association playoff era began. The Tigers finish 16-0 under Moore, who also was the head coach when Cincinnati La Salle won a state title in 2014.

The 1970 Tigers were declared state champions by the Associated Press state poll voters, Massillon's last state championship. The OHSAA state playoffs began in 1972, with the Tigers losing in the big-school division championship game. That was the first of six state runner-up finishes by Massillon in the playoff era, including three straight from 2018-20 under Moore's guidance.

Nothing from the past mattered to this team.

"This is the 2023 Massillon Tigers team, and we just played a great game," linebacker Cody Fair said. "We're just really going to relish this moment."

Hoban (13-2) now has put together a string of three straight Division II state runner-up finishes.

"This was the most frustrating, especially offensively," Hoban coach Tim Tyrrell said. "We were able to move and do things. We just repeatedly killed ourselves, and we've done it a couple of times this year."

Playing for the fifth time in the last six postseasons, Massillon recorded its second win over Hoban in that stretch. The Knights beat the Tigers in the 2018 and 2020 Division II state finals, and last year's state semifinals. Massillon's lone win had been a 2019 regional final.

Hoban had a chance at a come-from-behind victory in the final two minutes. The Knights converted a fourth down and third down to drive to the Massillon 10. But a botched snap, one of several Hoban mistakes that proved costly, left the Knights with a fourth-and-8 from the Massillon 17. Tylan Boykin threw a pass into the end zone for Jackson Callaway on fourth down, but the pass fell incomplete.

"We were lucky enough to (have a chance to) still win, and I thought we were going to do it in the end," Tyrrell said. "It was ugly, but I thought it was going to be a win. It just didn't happen. The ball didn't go our way in the last play."

The Tigers ran out the final 1:22 from there by taking knees before celebrating.

Both teams were unable to get anything going passing the ball, relying almost exclusively on their running games. They each failed to gain 200 yards of total offense. Led by running back Caleb Jones' 86 rushing yards, Hoban outgained Massillon 179-120. Massillon quarterback DaOne Owens led the Tigers with 78 rushing yards.

Defensively, All-Ohio linebacker Dorian Pringle led Massillon with 14 tackles (four solo, two for loss) in his first game back after being out with an injury the last three weeks. Seniors Ryan Page (13 tackles), Cody Fair (nine tackles) and Adonis Vaughan (eight tackles) also came up big defensively.

"It was an incredible performance by our defense," Moore said. "Hoban's defense was great tonight, too. They made things difficult for us offensively. One of the biggest differences in the game was that we did a better job taking care of the ball and I would say the penalties. I think we did a lot better job."

Hoban committed eight penalties and two turnovers. Massillon had just four penalties and no turnovers.

The Tigers took advantage of Hoban's woes with turnovers, penalties and other mistakes throughout the game, including to open the scoring.

In the second quarter, Massillon's Mylen Lenix scored the game's only touchdown. It was set up by teammate Chase Bond blocking a punt. The Knights also committed a fourth-down face mask penalty to keep Massillon's ensuring drive alive. Lenix scored on a 6-yard run three players later, with six minutes left in the first half.

"We just pounded the ball, being able to run in the heavy set," Owens said. "We just punched it in."

The Knights scored soon after a nice punt by Hoban's Ryan Burns pinned the Tigers inside their 2 with under two minutes left in the first half. After a Massillon penalty put the Tigers inside their own 1. Owens was tackled in the end zone by Tanner Mintz and Nick Crawford for a safety with 1:40 left in the half.

The Knights had the ball near midfield following the ensuing free kick before Vito McConnell intercepted a Hoban pass late in the first half. Hoban continued to struggle to find continuity in the second half, as its own mistakes and Massillon's defense proved to be too much.

And the 7-2 score held up for a memorable state championship for the Massillon Tigers.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Massillon Tigers lean on defense to beat Hoban for state championship