Massillon Washington Blitzes Teays Valley 48-14 in Regional Semi

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Defending Division 2 state football champion Massillon Washington showed why they are a good bet to repeat that feat in 2024 as they sailed past Teays Valley 48-14 in the regional semis Friday at Zanesville’s John D. Sulsberger Memorial Stadium.

The Tigers used every facet of their game to defeat the Vikings, rolling up a 42-7 halftime lead, despite only running four plays from scrimmage in the first half. Their defense was also stellar.

Photos: Aaron Glandon of Litter Media

Their first two scores came on punt returns of 50 and 80 yards by Tyler Hackenbracht. After regaining the ball on the Vikings 7 yard line on a muffed punt snap handle, they scored on the next play on a Mylen Lenix run for a 21-0 advantage with 4:21 left in the opening quarter. Their next possession took only two plays, when quarterback Jalen Slaughter found Braylyn Toles over the middle for a 77 yard scoring strike with :58 remaining in the first quarter for a 28-0 lead.

Teays Valley got on the board with 4:48 of the second period, going 73 yards in 13 plays as Brady Farmer hit Luke Burgett on a 6 yard TD pass for a 28-7 score.

But on the ensuing kickoff, Massillon Washington’s Tyler Hackenbracht pulled off the hat-trick with a 100 yard return for the touchdown and a 35-7 margin. Ja’Meir Gamble would then rumble 52 yards on their next play from scrimmage for a 42-7 lead at 3:05 to play, which would be the halftime score.

The continuous clock prevailed most of the second half, but briefly took a pause when Teays Valley’s Tyler Tietz wrestled the ball loose from Washington’s Peytton Mitchell, and ran it 36 yards for the score to shave the margin to 42-14 with 7:59 remaining in the third quarter. The continuous clock was turned back on when the Tigers went 50 yards in 11 plays, capped off on a 3 yard TD run by Mitchell for the 48-14 lead, which would end up as the final margin.

Massillon Washington had 237 total yards from scrimmage, compared to Teays Valley’s 131. The three special team scores that totaled 230 yards for the Tigers stole most of their headlines for scores.

(11-2) Massillon Washington advances to play Big Walnut for the Division 2/Region 7 Regional Championship at a site to be determined. Teays Valley concludes their season and longest football playoff run in program history with an (8-5) record.