Massillon Tigers prevail in 135th meeting of rivalry, extending consecutive wins

(Gene Simmons ~ Ohsfbmedia.com)

 By Gene Simmons

MASSILLON, OH- Coming into one of the biggest high school football rivalries, most had the defending state champion Massillon Tigers possibly winning by a bigger margin, this was not the case only winning by 9 points shows the magnitude of this game and the defense displayed winning 16-7 in the granddaddy of rivalries.

Final from Paul Brown Tiger Stadium the 135th edition of the Massillon vs. Mck rivalry.

'Victory' Bell stays in Massillon@MTigerFB 16
Canton McKinley 7@Jiggy_j12 takes home @AmericanRivalry MVP who ended with 12 for 17 passing, 153 yards and 2 touchdowns. pic.twitter.com/QqG9R9ytYG

— Ohio High School Football/Basketball Media (@OHSFBMedia) October 26, 2024

With the Tigers scoring early in the first quarter off of a Mckinley fumble, quarterback Jalen Slaughter took five plays to find senior wide receiver Braylyn Toles on a 7 yard pass with 9:37 to go in the quarter, things would change soon after.

Despite Mckinley's solid defense they could not muster enough offense resulting in failing to cross the 50 yard line in any part of the quarter resulting in the only score by the Tigers.

The Bulldogs managed to get the offense rolling by the second quarter after Massillon scored on Slaughter to Carter 24 yard passing touchdown with 11:14 left in the quarter to go up 13-0 after a failed PAT attempt by kicker Mateo Herrera.

Massillon senior wide receiver Braylyn Toles was a huge target for Slaughter grabbing 7 receptions for 88 yards and a touchdown.

"So today is kinda like this game is always a big game, you come in you don't know what's going to happen, " said Toles.

McKinley moved the ball in a solid possession taking 9 plays for 70 yards to reach the end zone on a Kam Montgomery to DeeJay Britt connection with 2:07 left in the half with the Bulldogs trailing 13-7.

Kicker Mateo Herrera would be golden in the last seconds of the half with a 36 yard field goal to push the last and final scores of the game 16-7.

Defense, penalties would be the tale of two halves as neither team would touch the end zone, combined penalties would be 23 for 248 yards. 

Strong safety Tyler Hackenbracht would end the game with 9 tackles to lead defense.

"We were definitely filling our gaps and focused on stopping the run so it felt good to come down and help the team make some tackles," said Hackenbracht.

That would be enough for Massillon to continue the win streak extending it to 9 wins in a row and keeping a hold of the covenant 'Victory' Bell.

(Gene Simmons ~ Ohsfbmedia.com)

As of now both teams await their perspective playoff opponent after positioning as the OHSAA regular season comes to an end.

Jalen Slaughter walked away with the Great American Rivalry Series MVP after putting up 153 yards on 12 for 17 passing and two touchdowns.