MASSILLON, Ohio — One party clearly has risen above the fray in the ongoing "War of 1894."
For the seventh consecutive year, Massillon Washington has emerged victorious in high school football's most-storied rivalry, beating Canton McKinley Saturday afternoon by a final score of 23-13. The game honestly wasn't even that close, as the Tigers raced out to a 21-0 first-half lead and never let the Bulldogs get within two possessions of tying it up.
Before a packed house at historic Paul Brown Tiger Stadium, Adrell Banks got the scoring started for Massillon (9-1) with a 40-yard touchdown grab from Jaden Slaughter. Running back Willtrell Hartson then took over, rushing for two scores in the second quarter. The second of those was set up by his own long reception.
McKinley (5-5) did manage to make it 21-7 at halftime when Keaton Rode found Alex Vazquez for a 40-yard strike, but lost some momentum late in the third when a wayward long snap went out of the end zone for a safety. Keith Quincy's leaping TD catch closed the gap to 10 with 2:41 to go, but the two-point conversion was no good, all but assuring the eventual Massillon win.
The current seven-game winning streak is the longest by either side in the matchup since 1965, when the Tigers completed their ninth win in a row over the Bulldogs. Massillon has also taken 11 of the last 12 dating back to 2012, with head coach Nate Moore improving his record in the series to 7-1.
Both teams will now head to the OHSAA football playoffs against other fellow rivals from Stark County. Massillon is the top seed in Division II's Region 7 and will host No. 16 Perry on Friday night, while over in Division I's Region 1 sixth-seeded McKinley will battle No. 11 GlenOak at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium.
