S—Grebenc 1 run (Franklin kick)
S—Grebenc 3 run (Franklin kick)
M—Grunder 5 pass from Partridge (Geier kick)
M—Winters 71 run (Geier kick)
M—Winters 3 run (Geier kick)
S—Grebenc 1 run (run failed)
S—Grebenc 10 run (pass failed)

By Todd Porter
PARMA They snapped Massillon’s spirits a year ago. Saturday night at Byers Field, St. Ignatius broke the Tigers’ hearts.

A controversial penalty late in the fourth quarter opened the door for the Wildcats to score a touchdown and overcome a Massillon barrage in the second half. Ignatius escaped with a 26-21 win in a game that was a complete turnaround from Iggy’s 49-7 onslaught last year.

“We were right there with a chance to win,” Massillon head coach Jason Hall said. “I feel like we made a statement tonight that we deserve to be considered right up there with everybody else. Am I happy we made a statement? No. I wanted a win, but I’m proud of our kids and the way they played.”

With a little more than two minutes left in the game and the Tigers leading 21-20, Ignatius caught a break. Quarterback Mark Myers was picked off inside the Massillon 5 by Tyler Miller.

But defensive holding on an outside linebacker away from the ball moved it to the 10 and Ignatius scored the game-winner from there.

“It was a play in coverage,” Ignatius head coach Chuck Kyle said. “We got called for a few of those things, too. I didn’t have a great vantage point where I was.”

Officials were escorted off the field and unfortunately for them, they had to walk into the teeth of Massillon fans’ ire.

“I’m not going to make excuses. ... Making excuses is not the Massillon way,” Hall said.

The game was a four-quarter battle that will be one for the ages.

Ignatius got an early 7-0 lead and looked virtually unstoppable when it went up 14-0 in the second quarter. Running back Robert Grebenc, who carried it 40 times for 217 yards and four touchdowns, plowed through the Tiger defense until halftime.

But Massillon didn’t quit, despite a nightmare start. After throwing an interception in the end zone, Tiger quarterback Rob Partridge came back firing. He found Devin Smith for 47 yards to the Wildcat 22.

Then Partridge hit Justin Olack, who turned a short pass into a 17-yard gain by breaking one tackle and jumping over another. Two plays later from the 5, Partridge threaded a needle to Bo Grunder to cut the deficit to 14-7.

The Tigers danced their way to the halftime locker room. They didn’t have the lead, they had momentum.

“Our kids heard the talk, they’re online,” Hall said. “People said if Ignatius got up early, Massillon would fold. Our kids handled adversity ... that was their way of saying this is going to be a dogfight and our kids should definitely be considered in the Division I race.”

The call of the game came early in the third. Massillon faced fourth-and-less-than-1 from its own 29. Hall didn’t hesitate to go for it.

“That was my way of saying to our guys, ‘This is our time, we’re gonna do it,’” Hall said. “If you read Joe Paterno’s book there’s a quote, ‘In order to win, you got to take a chance to lose.’”

Running back Alex Winters took a handoff and bounced around right end. He didn’t stop until 71 yards later and the game was tied.

After an Iggy drive, Massillon got the ball back at its own 15. Partridge threw a bomb on the first play that was caught by Smith for an 82-yard gain to the Iggy 3. Winters scored on the next play for a 21-14 lead.

The Wildcats, however, picked off Partridge later in the fourth near midfield. They turned that into a Grebenc TD, but the PAT snap was botched and the Tigers still led.

Until the penalty.

So close to a paramount win, Tiger players walked, dejected, off the field.

“I’ll never tell my kids to be OK with losing,” Hall said. “Now, they have to handle it. ... I want this to eat at them tonight to where they can’t sleep.”

Yeah, but the nightmare from a year ago is over.

Perhaps Massillon is back.