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Yappi.com writer MASSILLON—When the Massillon Tigers invaded Paul Brown Stadium, the Tigers had their way with two-time Division I state kingpin Cincinnati Elder on their way to a dominating 35-7 lead after three quarters. But someone forgot to tell them that there was one quarter left to play. Massillon survived the final quarter but allowed 24 points that nearly made their trip to Cincinnati a disaster and settled for a 35-31 decision that allowed them to leave the Queen City with a win. Returning to Paul Brown Stadium for a second year, the Tigers face another Cincinnati foe in Cincinnati Archbishop Moeller. The two Ohio programs lock horns for the first time since the 1998 season, when the Crusaders made the four-hour trek to Massillon and waltzed out of Paul Brown Tiger Stadium with a 35-19 win. A year before that, Massillon stormed out to a 24-7 lead after three quarters but went down in a hailstorm of three Moeller touchdowns and lost a 28-24 verdict. And second-year Massillon general Tom Stacy has no intention of joining former Massillon head coaches Jack Rose and Rick Shepas as coaches to lose to Moeller. “To win this game, we have to focus. We have to treat this game like it is a business trip. We are going to Cincinnati for one thing and that is to beat Moeller,” Stacy said. “Last year against Cincinnati Elder, we conducted ourselves with class and dignity and that is what I stress when I talk about going to Cincinnati on a business trip.” “If we go down there on anything else on our minds other than beating Moeller, we are not going to be successful.” Massillon has been nothing but a school bully to the first two teams on their schedule. North Park Collegiate (Canada) and H.D. Woodson (Wash. D.C.) found this out the hard way as both teams fell respectively 68-6 and 59-7. Massillon has outscored those teams 127-13. But the Tigers know that even at 1-1, Cincinnati Moeller is not one of those teams you can take lightly. And the defending Division I state finalists know this too well. “It will be a big test for us and a big one to see how good we are. Moeller has tradition and they are well coached and Bob Crable has done a good job with them,” Stacy said. He later turned his sights to praising Moeller’s mentor, a product of Moeller High School and Notre Dame. “Bob Crable is a class guy and he does things the right way. He played at Cincinnati Moeller and Notre Dame,” Stacy said. “It’s only appropriate that he is the head coach. They have made strides the last two years and Crable has done well.” Massillon was able to enjoy last season’s triumph over Cincinnati Elder by setting the tone early and not letting the Elder crowd be a factor for three quarters. Stacy says it will be important for his team once again to score first, especially on the road against a Cincinnati team that will bring a hefty crowd to Saturday’s contest. “We have set the tone for the game in the first two weeks by getting out to good leads and we have to do that Saturday. If we can do that, we can take them out of the game.” One good way of that is not letting Cincinnati Moeller dominate the ground game while controlling the clock. Last week, the Crusaders garnered 31 first downs at the expense of Middletown and it resulted in the first win of the 2006 season for Moeller. In addition to that, the Tigers cannot have missed tackles. That has been a problem for the powerful Tigers and it all dates back to their devastating 24-17 loss to a peak Cincinnati St. Xavier Bombers team who made Massillon their 15th victim in last season’s Division I state title game at Fawcett Stadium. “We have to tackle well. If we can defend their run, we can force them to throw the ball,” Stacy said. “We also have to get the ball to our skill players and let them do what they have to do.” Massillon would love nothing more to leave with a second straight win at Paul Brown Stadium. That would give Massillon a 10th straight win in a stadium named after the revered Massillon head coach going back to the Tigers 2005 home opener against Dover. “That would be special. That makes it even more the meaning to win this game,” Stacy said. “We are representing the founder of football and we are representing his team.” Cincinnati Elder lost to the team Paul Brown first coached. Stacy would love nothing more to see the Massillon Tigers make Cincinnati Moeller the second straight Cincinnati team to fall to the team Brown first coached. |
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