SUNBURY, Ohio — Massillon is done losing to Big Walnut in the playoffs. After a scoreless first half, the Tigers scored three second-half touchdowns and shut out the Golden Eagles 21-0 on Friday night, November 13, in an OHSAA Division II, Region 7 semifinal — the same Big Walnut program that had ended Massillon’s season in the Region 7 finals in both 2024 and 2025, according to The Repository’s game report.
The breakthrough came midway through the third quarter. Quarterback Rasmus Haines capped a nine-play drive with a 42-yard touchdown pass to Gio Jackson with 6:59 left in the third, dropping the ball between two defenders, The Repository reported, and Matteo Herrera’s extra point made it 7-0 — the game’s first points after nearly 31 scoreless minutes.
Gary Yeager took over from there. Five minutes after the Haines touchdown, Yeager broke a 72-yard touchdown run with 1:36 left in the third quarter, and he added a 19-yard scoring run with 8:49 left in the fourth, finishing with well over 100 rushing yards as Massillon fans chanted his name, according to The Repository.
The first half was a defensive standoff. Big Walnut missed a 41-yard field goal in the first quarter, and Massillon missed a 45-yard try in the second after a personal-foul penalty pushed the Tigers back from the Big Walnut 11. At halftime, Massillon’s Savior Owens led all rushers with 55 yards on 12 carries, while Big Walnut senior Nolan Buirley had 27 yards on 12 carries, The Repository reported.
The night had the feel of a final from the moment the gates opened. Kickoff had been pushed back to 7:30 p.m., and Massillon fans filled the stadium parking lot to tailgate more than two and a half hours early, The Repository reported — a visiting crowd treating a regional semifinal in Sunbury like a home game.
Big Walnut played without its standout quarterback. Senior Eli Stumpf, who quarterbacked the Golden Eagles’ playoff wins over Massillon the last two years, was injured in last week’s regional quarterfinal against Louisville and did not play; senior tight end Jackson Bowers stepped in at quarterback, according to The Repository. Big Walnut’s season ends at 11-1, its only loss coming in its final game.
The shutout was Massillon’s third in a row and its fourth of the season, following last week’s 48-0 rout of Columbus DeSales. The Tigers, now 11-1, also own a 23-21 win at St. Edward on September 18 — still the only loss on the Eagles’ record — and a 31-0 win over archrival Canton McKinley on October 24. Their only defeat came against Cornerstone Christian of Texas.
The win continues a postseason run that Massillon’s quarterback framed as a matter of focus. “We’ve learned to focus on handling each moment the right way, to stay in our small world, blocking out all the distractions,” Haines told The Repository before the game. “We’ve got one goal in mind, and that’s to keep this season rolling.”
What we know — and what we’re still waiting on: Massillon’s opponent and the stakes are set, but the regional final’s site is not. Columbus Watterson beat New Albany 45-12 in the other Region 7 semifinal for its 41st consecutive win, and the OHSAA will announce regional-final sites on Sunday, November 15, according to The Repository’s bracket report. Watterson, last year’s Division III state champion now playing in Division II, routed New Albany behind that long winning streak and will be the top seed Massillon has to go through.
Friday’s semifinal capped a full night of central Ohio playoff football — our preview of the night is at Thirteen Central Ohio Teams Chase Regional Finals in Friday Playoff Semifinals — and the Stark County side of the bracket produced its own classic, covered in McKinley Gets Another Shot at Mentor in Regional Semifinal Rematch Friday.
For Big Walnut, the loss closes an 11-1 season that included a second straight deep playoff run and back-to-back wins over Massillon before Friday. The Golden Eagles graduate a senior class led by Buirley and Bowers that carried the program to consecutive regional finals.
What happens next: Massillon (11-1) meets Columbus Watterson (11-0) in the Division II, Region 7 final on Friday, November 20, at a site the OHSAA announces Sunday. One more win sends the Tigers to the state semifinals — and sends them there having finally cleared the opponent that stopped them two years running.
Photo: SilentMatt Psychedelic, CC BY-SA