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Yappi.com writer MASSILLON—Matt Merletti must have felt like New England Patriots safety Rodney Harrison as he streaked down the sideline Friday night in the fourth quarter of the Cleveland St. Ignatius-Massillon game at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium. “No, I didn’t feel like him. I am more of myself,” he said when asked if he felt like Harrison. Merletti’s 79-yard interception touchdown return in the fourth quarter was reminiscent of Harrison’s 87-yard interception return that sent Pittsburgh Steelers fans home from Heinz Field shocked and silent in the 2004 AFC championship game, the same way how Massillon Tigers fans felt as the Wildcats left a hushed, stunned, and silent Paul Brown Tiger Stadium 30-16 winners over the defending Division I state football finalists. The Wildcats improved their pristine record to a flawless 6-0 while Massillon took a step backward with their second straight loss to 3-3 on the season. Longtime St. Ignatius head coach Chuck Kyle now has a record of 8-1 when coaching in Massillon’s illustrious stadium. Based on that statistic, when asked if Massillon was a second home to him, he didn’t buy it. “To honestly tell you, I don’t even bring that up. I don’t worry about statistics like that and I don’t pay any attention to those,” he replied adamantly. Mainly, the Wildcats did their damage through senior running back and defensive back, Matthew Merletti. He gave the Tigers defense fits all night long as he finished with 31 carries for 221 yards and three touchdowns. His interception return propelled him to a whopping 355 all-purpose yards. His style of play was reminiscent of former St. Ignatius back Dan Murphy, who was widely known for carving up defenses and got stronger as a game wore on. But Kyle turned up the praise on his senior star. “He’s faster than Murphy. Dan was a big, powerful, and fast runner. Merletti is kind of like Carter Welo as he is a shifty running back,” he said. “I am also the track head coach and he is also a first-place track competitor.” For the Massillon Tigers, what was once a promising season now has seemed to possibly go south of the border. Facing the prospects of a long and cold winter, the Tigers will have to chalk up all of their strength and likely win out to advance to the postseason for a second straight year. And that task begins next week for the Tigers, as they will challenge Akron Buchtel next Friday inside Paul Brown Tiger Stadium. “We have to win out to have a chance to make the playoffs. We told our charges that we can’t have anyone jumping ship on us right now,” a dejected Tom Stacy said. “We have to win out and rally around each other.” Last season, Stacy challenged his entire team following a 38-8 loss to Canton McKinley that nearly damaged their season. Now more than ever, with the team’s pride on the line this season, he turns to the group he feels that can keep the orange and black bonded together: his seniors. “Our seniors will have to keep our other players tough because they have been involved in the wars before. They will be fine,” he said. All was well for the Tigers on their second possession. They used a 15-play, 81-yard drive to assume an early 3-0 lead on the leg of kicker Steve Schott in the form of a 33-yard field goal. The Tigers lead lasted only a minute and 32 seconds. Led by Merletti, the Wildcats arrived on the scoreboard in only five plays with the big play being a 56-yard run by Merletti himself. He capped the drive with a three-yard touchdown run and the Wildcats had a lead they would never let go of the rest of the way. Even though the Tigers were down 14-3 in the second quarter, they used two field goals by Schott to slash the Wildcats lead to just five at intermission. At that point, despite touchdown passes dropped by Tigers receivers, Stacy felt good about his team’s situation at the half. Or did he? “Well, that’s hard to describe,” he said. Whatever momentum Massillon had was forcefully snatched away from them in the second half on the Wildcats first drive. Spanning nine plays, Merletti added his third score of the game, this one coming on a 13-yard run that started to open up the contest, as their lead was now 21-9. Following a Nicholas Yako 27-yard field goal midway through the fourth quarter, Massillon only trailed by 15 as they put together a drive of desperation late in the fourth quarter. On second and 10, Tigers quarterback Bobby Huth dropped back to attempt a pass but never saw Merletti jump the route for a game-ending 79-yard touchdown that sent Massillon fans fleeing for the exits with five minutes remaining in the contest as the hosts trailed 30-9. “I saw Huth roll out and I saw the receiver run his route. As soon as I saw it, my eyes lit up,” Merletti said. “I knew I was going to get it and all I had to do was just run.” “Matt had a great jump on it and he timed it very well,” Kyle said. Huth recovered to score a two-yard touchdown run but there was not going to be a repeat of last season’s historic 29-26 win over the Wildcats. Game, set, and match for the 2006 edition for the Massillon Tigers? Don’t count on it. “It hurts right now but I’m confident that we’ll bounce back next week,” he said. For the Wildcats, it was just another game as they continue on their 2006 season, which they hope will culminate in the 10th state championship for the program in December at the Pro Football Hall of Fame Field at Fawcett Stadium. But for right now, Kyle and his team are taking it one game and one week at a time. “We want to remain healthy right now. We have great competition coming up for us very soon,” Kyle said. “There still is a lot of football to be played this year.” Kyle didn’t buy the statistic of himself owning an 8-1 record inside Paul Brown Tiger Stadium but this much can be said: Ignatius has made a habit of coming in and leaving with a win their last five times, three of those against the Massillon Tigers. |
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