Nine-game schedule awaits Massillon Tigers football team for 2022 high school season

MASSILLON – An open week before the McKinley game, 7 p.m. home kickoffs and two reigning state championship teams highlight the Massillon Tigers' 2022 schedule.

The nine-game schedule, released by head coach Nate Moore on his Twitter account Monday afternoon, marks the first time since 1957 the Tigers haven't played at least 10 games in the regular season. That team, coached by Lee Tressel, went 8-1 with a loss to eventual Associated Press state poll champion Benedictine.

What Massillon may lack in a full 10-game slate, it more than makes up for in caliber of competition. The schedule features two home games against teams which won state championships in 2021.

St. Edward, which won Ohio's Division I state title last December, returns to Paul Brown Tiger Stadium in Week 5 on Friday, Sept. 16. The Eagles have become a regular on Massillon's regular-season schedule the last three seasons after having been a consistent scrimmage opponent previous to then.

Delaware's Class 3A state champion, Middletown, comes to Massillon for a Week 7 game on Friday, Sept. 30. The Cavaliers have appeared in 19 Delaware state title games in their history, winning eight.

Another team with championship pedigree returns to Massillon's regular-season schedule as the season opener when Cincinnati Moeller visits Paul Brown Tiger Stadium on Friday, Aug. 19. The Tigers, who are 2-10 all-time in the series, haven't played the Crusaders since a 2006 game in Cincinnati's Paul Brown Stadium.

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The only other newcomer to the schedule is in Week 3, when Massillon and Mansfield Senior renew what is the fourth most-played series in Massillon history on Friday, Sept. 2 at Mansfield's Arlin Field. The Tigers, who are 43-4-5 all-time against the Tygers, have not played a game against Mansfield since 2005.

The trip to Mansfield is one of two road games on Massillon's schedule. The week before, the Tigers travel to GlenOak on Friday, Aug. 26.

Weeks 4, 6 and 8 will feature the same opponents as last year, as Warren Harding, Austintown Fitch and Canisius, N.Y., all come to Massillon. The Tigers won at Warren and at Fitch a year ago, while also beating the Crusaders at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

The current open date for Massillon falls in Week 9. That gives the Tigers 14 days between the Canisius game and the 133rd meeting against archrival McKinley.

According to the schedule tweeted out by Moore, all of Massillon's Friday night games, including the home games, will kick off at 7 p.m. It marks the first time the Tigers have regularly-scheduled 7 p.m. home kickoffs after being at either 7:30 or 8 p.m. in previous seasons.

Massillon is coming off an 11-4 season which ended in the program's record fifth consecutive Division II regional championship game. The Tigers have won at least 10 games in each of the last five years, a school record, with three consecutive title-game appearances from 2018-20.

Reach Chris at chris.easterling@indeonline.com.

On Twitter: @ceasterlingINDE

This article originally appeared on The Independent: Massillon Tigers to play nine games in 2022 football season