Football
Football came to Massillon in 1894 with the first high school game was played in Massillon between Massillon High School and Canton Central High School. In the early years, the players consisted of working boys because most boys did not attend high school. By 1904 more boys began attending school past 8th grade. 1909 was Massillon’s first undefeated football team. From 1910-1920 high school football in Massillon grew and improved, and by 1916 they were named the Scholastic Champions of Ohio. The school mascot, the Tiger, was adopted from the city's former professional football team known as the Massillon Tigers.
Paul Brown, a 1925 graduate of Washington High School, returned to Massillon in 1932 to begin his renowned coaching career. In his nine years at Massillon, Brown posted an 80–8–2 record which included a 35-game winning streak and 6 state championships.
The Massillon Tigers are historically one of the winningest high school football teams in the United States, second only to Valdosta High School in Valdosta, Georgia. The Tigers have compiled a current record of 802 wins, 242 losses, and 35 ties, through week 8 of the 2010 season. Along with the Canton McKinley High School Bulldogs, the Tigers represent one half of what many consider to be the greatest high school football rivalry in the nation. It is the only high school contest in America to feature odds in Las Vegas. In 119 meetings (1894–2009), Massillon leads the series 64-50-5. Both Massillon and their fierce rivalry with Canton are subjects of the 2001 documentary film Go Tigers!. A total of 23 professional players, 3 NFL coaches and 14 collegiate all-Americans have graduated from Massillon High School.
The Tigers play their home games at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium. The stadium currently holds 16,600 people and is named after former Tiger player and head coach Paul Brown. Besides being the regular season home of the Massillon Tiger Football team, the stadium hosts numerous Ohio High School Athletic Association state football playoff games as well as divisional championship games.
Every fall, the booster club provides a live tiger cub named "Obie" who is on the sidelines for each home football game. So strong is the tradition and history, the booster club provides each baby boy born in Massillon a miniature football.
In the summer of 2008, due to the success of the Tigers' athletic programs, ESPN nominated Massillon, Ohio as a candidate for Titletown USA.
Read more about this topic: Massillon Washington High School
Famous quotes containing the word football:
“In this dream that dogs me I am part
Of a silent crowd walking under a wall,
Leaving a football match, perhaps, or a pit,
All moving the same way.”
—Philip Larkin (1922–1986)
“...I’m not money hungry.... People who are rich want to be richer, but what’s the difference? You can’t take it with you. The toys get different, that’s all. The rich guys buy a football team, the poor guys buy a football. It’s all relative.”
—Martina Navratilova (b. 1956)