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10/20/05

Eastlake North at Massillon

SITE Paul Brown Tiger Stadium, 7:30 p.m.

RECORDS Eastlake North 4-4; Massillon 8-0.

LAST WEEK Eastlake North 31, Madison 21; Massillon 13, Warren Harding 0.

LAST MEETING First meeting.
WHAT TO WATCH The fear of every Massillon coach is playing games in the ninth and 11th weeks. Head coach Tom Stacy is guarding against playing flat and looking past Eastlake North to next week’s mega-game against McKinley. He vows that won’t happen. An ideal game plan would have Massillon taking a sizable lead at halftime and resting starters, but Eastlake North is a quality opponent with four losses to teams (Brush, Mayfield, Chardon and Willoughby South) with winning records. The Rangers nearly knocked off South (8-0) before losing 28-24. The only common opponent is Chardon. Massillon beat Chardon, 49-7, while Eastlake lost, 42-28. The Rangers will use the spread offense, the fifth Massillon opponent to use a version of it. Eastlake QB Weis Barth throws the ball well and isn’t afraid to go deep. His favorite target has been WR Dimetrius Wright. Ranger coach Nick Toth has spent time coaching at Ohio University. The strength of Massillon’s team in the second half has been the defense. The Tigers have nine-straight scoreless quarters entering this game. The last team to score against Massillon was Ignatius. The defense has four shutouts. OLB Quinten Paulik is coming off his best game. Paulik injured his shoulder in Week 2 and seems to be close to 100 percent. Between Paulik, Paris McCall, Andrew Dailey, Brian Gamble and Antonio James, this is a formidable defense. If Massillon can pitch another shutout, it would be the first time since 1972 the Tigers had five shutouts after nine games. The Tigers are coming off their worst offensive performance of the season. They scored 13 points, but 7 of those came from a blocked punt returned for a TD. Huth needs to have a good game to regain confidence heading into McKinley. If Huth gets enough time, look for a few deep balls. Gamble will be important in the offense, but maybe more important is keeping him healthy. The Tigers could lock up a home playoff game with a win.