The official Ohio High School Athletic Association calendar says the Division I football playoffs begin on the first day of November. The reality for the Massillon Tigers is that their playoffs don’t start on the first Saturday in November, but actually began on the first Friday in October with a 69-7 win over Brantford (Ont.) Collegiate. Massillon sits at 4-3, and is currently outside of the top 10 in the Division I, Region 2 computer rankings. In order for the Tigers to get into the playoffs, they will need a strong finish over this final stretch of games. While the Mustangs may have been an overmatched opponent, the way a first-round foe can be in the playoffs, there is no question the final three games on the Tigers regular season schedule will be demonstrably tougher. That starts with Saturday’s trip to meet 4-3 Warren Harding at Mollenkopf Stadium, a place Massillon hasn’t won at since 1986 – a span of only four games, actually, due to a 12-year hiatus in the series because of bad blood between the two programs. The Raiders are coming off an outcome the Tigers can relate to, a 49-7 loss to St. Ignatius last Saturday. Massillon had lost to the Wildcats by the exact same score just a week before at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium. After Warren is another road trip for the Tigers, this time to 5-2 Mentor. That just leaves the regular season finale against one of Stark County’s hottest teams, archrival McKinley, which is 5-2 and on a f ...
Anytime
