Massillon takes down St. Edward for second straight season and puts Ohio on notice

MASSILLON, Ohio - Massillon players could be heard screaming after Friday night’s 15-13 win over St. Edward that the opponent didn’t know about the Tigers.

But after knocking off the two-time defending Division I state champions for the second straight season, the entire state will know about Massillon.

“We just go out and play hard and we prepare for games like this all year,” Massillon head coach Nate Moore said. “Then you want to get out there and make plays to win the game and we made enough plays tonight to win.”

Senior quarterback DaOne Owens was the catalyst on offense for Massillon, running the ball 26 times for 176 yards and a pair of touchdowns, as well as a two-point conversion.

“First of all, he's a great kid, great teammate, was a captain for us tonight,” Moore said of Owens. “He's also a great player. He's a great football player first, he’s a great quarterback also and I’m proud of him.”

St. Edward, the No. 1 team in the SBLive Ohio Power 25 and No. 8 in the SBLive/Sports Illustrated Power 25, took an early lead with a Thomas Csanyi touchdown pass to Brandon White for 31 yards midway through the second quarter but the PAT was blocked.

Csanyi was playing in place of St. Edward starting quarterback Casey Bullock, who watched the game on crutches from the sideline. Csanyi finished the game 14-of-29 for 153 yards and a pair of touchdowns and one interception.

“It's a tough deal to come in here and do something like that for your first start against a great defense like that with a bunch of returning guys,” St. Edward head coach Tom Lombardo said. “I thought he did fairly well. It's tough to put a quarterback that hasn't played before in (a situation like that). As the game went on, I though he made some good decisions.”

Massillon, No. 4 in the SBLive Ohio Power 25, answered on the ensuing drive with an 8-yard touchdown run by Owens and the PAT by Vinny Keller made it 7-6.

Owens then scored from 20 yards out midway through the third quarter and converted the two-point conversion to make it 15-6.

“The game came down those extra points,” Lombardo said. “They block an extra point and then make a (two-point conversion) and now we have to chase a two-score game.”

Csanyi connected with Brian Sullivan on a 7-yard touchdown pass with 1:10 left in the game, but Owens recovered the onside kick for Massillon to seal the game.

It was a physical battle all night long and one of the most physical players for Massillon on the defensive side of the ball was senior Dorian Pringle. The Bowling Green commit had two sacks, three tackles for loss and 10 total tackles for the Tigers.

“(He is) one of the best players in Ohio,” Moore said of Pringle. “He's another special kid. Great kid, leader, hard worker, and a great football player. I couldn’t have enough good things to say about him.”

With Pringle flying around and making his presence felt on seemingly almost every play, the Eagles could not get their ground game established and ran for just 59 yards on 31 carries as a team.

“Our guys went out and played hard and hit and were physical,” Moore said. “We know we needed to equal what they brought to the table with their offensive and defensive lines and I'm just proud of our guys.”

-- Ryan Isley | ryan@scorebooklive.com | @sbliveoh