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9/24/05

Tigers take Mentor’s shot, look forward to St. Ignatius

Saturday, September 24, 2005 <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>By Todd Porter Repository sports writer
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Repository / Bob Rossiter NIMBLE GAMBLE. Massillon’s Brian Gamble jumps over the attempted tackles of Mentor’s Brandon Mack (24) and Brady DeMell (55) during the first quarter Friday at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium. Gamble had 120 yards on 20 carries with a touchdown.

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MASSILLON — Through four games, no one wanted to take Massillon’s second punch. The Tigers’ first four opponents never picked themselves off the field.

Massillon found out what it feels like to land a bare-knuckler on a team without a glass jaw. Not only did Mentor get back up, the Cardinals swung back.

Mentor dragged itself off the Paul Brown Tiger Stadium turf early and stood toe-to-toe with the state’s No. 4 high school football team for nearly three quarters.

Finally, Tiger defensive back Troy Ellis landed the knockout punch — an interception inside the Massillon 5 — that put Mentor away. The Tigers tuned up for a showdown against Cleveland St. Ignatius next week with a 31-10 win over Mentor.

“I feel we probably could’ve kept our focus more on Mentor a little better,” said defensive tackle Antonio James, who had two sacks. “It’s hard when you’re playing a team that’s 1-3 versus a team that’s 3-1 and you’ve never beaten. It was a wake-up call.”

Perhaps Massillon (5-0) thought winning Friday would be easier than it looked. Could you blame the Tigers? It took them three plays and 62 seconds to go 80 yards and lead 7-0.

“I don’t know if that was part of it or not,” Massillon coach Tom Stacy said. “I know we weren’t in sync offensively. ... that’s the best 1-4 team in the state.”

Quarterback Bobby Huth completed the first play of the game to Zack Vanryzin for 39 yards. Brian Gamble broke off a 7-yard run between tackles, then Huth threw a perfect pass to Vanryzin for 34 yards for a touchdown.
The Cardinals (1-4) settled down after that. They weren’t intimidated by a hostile environment. But the Tiger offense stalled. After the three-play drive to start the game, Massillon punted twice and missed a long field goal.
For the first time all season, Huth was off target. He completed 7-of-17 passes for 178 yards and three TDs.

“He’s going to be fine,” Stacy said. “I have all the confidence in the world in him. Some of it tonight was the coaching staff put him in bad situations. He’s a tough character.”

They don’t get much tougher than Gamble. When the Tigers needed a shot in the arm, the running back ran over defenders. He finished with 120 yards on 20 carries and a score.

Thanks to a defensive stand midway through the second quarter, Massillon’s offense took over at the Mentor 49. On second-and-7 from the 20, Huth faked a handoff and hit Trey Miller for a 14-0 lead.

Just before half, Gamble broke a 38-yard run on third-and-18 to the Mentor 27. With four seconds left in the half, Steve Schott hit a 34-yard field goal, giving Massillon a 17-0 lead.

“The field goal was big,” Stacy said. “I felt it lifted out kids up a little bit going into the locker room.”

In the third, Mentor was 9 yards from making it 17-10. That’s when Ellis stepped in front of a Cardinal pass at the Tiger 4. Nine plays later, Gamble scored, and Massillon led 24-3. The game was in hand.

Thoughts of Ignatius could be entertained.

“They’re as good as any of them (Glenville, Ignatius and Solon, who beat Mentor),” Mentor head coach Steve Trivisonno said. “... That’s a good football team, and that will be a great high school football game next week.”

Ignatius, 8-0 all-time against Massillon, can take a punch, too.

“These games against Ignatius,” Stacy said, “are the reason these kids play football at Massillon. They grow up to play in those games.” You can reach Repository sports writer Todd Porter at (330) 580-8340 or e-mail:
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