CLINTON COUNTY - There will be a walk-through Thursday morning at Clinton-Massie High School's football field. As the 2021 Falcons enter the gates, it is noted that the school won back-to-back state championships in 2012 and 2013.
The press box states the same.
Since they started running the triple-option offense in Clinton County youth ball, the seniors of coach Dan McSurley have had their eyes on a title. They have passed through those stadium gates enough to envision their own class immortalized. The 2017 team was close, getting to the Division IV championship game but falling short against a high-scoring team from Steubenville.
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"A lot of these guys were eighth-graders when we went up there the last time," McSurley said. "Hopefully it's a different scenario. We have a real healthy team. Probably as healthy as we've been all year. This is something every kid dreams about."
Run it again
McSurley has been leading the football Falcons for 25 years. Many of the males in the area learn to walk, then learn the option. Once they arrive at Clinton-Massie High, there's no learning of the offense, just fine-tuning.
Call it old school, but it works. McSurely is in the Clinton County Hall of Fame. He's won the last five Southern Buckeye Athletic and Academic Conference Coach of the Year awards and in 2015 was awarded the Paul Brown Excellence in Coaching Award by the Cincinnati Bengals.
He recalls his current seniors coming to him after winning a sixth-grade championship. They wanted their trophy in his room. Now, they're after more decorative distinction.
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"If you're a kid from Clinton-Massie, you hope to get to this level," McSurley said. "When they were sixth-graders, they won that Monday and brought me that trophy. That trophy is still in my room today. It's really special to me and this community and it's going to be a real honor to take these guys up to state."
Clinton County's Four Horsemen
Seniors Carson Vanhoose, Colton Trampler, Carter Frank and Kody Zantene might be the best four-headed Falcon Clinton County has seen. Zantene has run the offense for years at quarterback, and true-to-form in Division IV SBAAC football, he goes and lays a hit or two on the opposition as a defensive back when not taking snaps.
"It's been a reputation for while now," Zantene said of Clinton-Massie's tough tradition. "We knew it's been four years since we've been up there. It was definitely our main goal to get up there, but now our main goal is to win it all."
Trampler is the fullback where McSurley says the offense all starts. He's 5-foot-11 and 215 pounds and crazy enough to go through a 40-degree practice minus a shirt if allowed. He has 1,085 yards rushing and 13 touchdowns. When not bulldozing opponents, he has eight sacks, 93 tackles, two forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries and two interceptions as an intimidating linebacker.
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"When we were just little kids, the first state teams won," Trampler said. "Since then, it's been the dream for me and the guys to get this chance to go and win a state title."
Trampler had two brothers on the 2017 team that finished as DIII runners-up.
"My family has unfinished business in Canton," Trampler said. "(I'm) hoping to settle."
Vanhoose is the SBAAC rushing leader with 1,848 yards and 27 touchdowns. At 5-foot-9 and 165 pounds he's surpassed 200 yards twice this season (254 vs. New Richmond, 220 vs. Waverly).
If that's not enough, Frank at 6-foot and 195 pounds is just 35 yards way from 1,000 with 16 touchdowns. Zaneene at 6-foot-3 and 190 pounds has added 547 yards and 11 scores along with 56 tackles, two forced fumbles and four interceptions.
As opponents have seen, it's pick your poison behind a well-disciplined offensive line.
"It starts off with our O-line and our other backs all block for each other and make some holes," Vanhoose said. "If you stop one of us, you're not going to stop the other two."
Looking for 14
After an early cancellation, Clinton-Massie lost its opener at Division II Anderson 29-22. Anderson had to score late to win and iced the game converting a 4th-and-10 from their own 11-yard line in the final minutes. Had they not made it, the Falcons might have won or at least sent the game to overtime.
Since that contest, it's been 13 straight in the win column with some astronomical scores: 73 against Batavia, 70 vs. New Richmond and 69 vs. Goshen. They averaged nearly 58 points per game in conference, with well over 90% of the offense on the ground.
"We practice throwing, but if you don't have to, why would you?" McSurley said. "We do the Woody Hayes approach. When you throw the football, three things can happen and two of them are bad. But, we have the capability to throw the football if we need to."
Over the season, quarterback Zantene was 24-for-45 for 592 yards and five touchdowns in 14 games, an average of just more than 42 yards per game. He's dropped back to pass just seven times in the last four postseason games.
"It takes a lot of teamwork," McSurley said of his run game. "We do a lot of communicating and making a lot of adjustments on the fly. Right there before the ball is snapped sometimes, you got to have somebody blocking the right guy. If you're not doing that, the offense is not going to work. It takes a lot of practice and a lot of mental reps."
Brunch in Canton
The Falcons will fly against 11-3 Youngstown Ursuline which has won seven straight. Their losses came against unbeaten Chardon, which plays Badin for the Division III title, Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary and Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph.
If you're looking for a common opponent, there is none. However, Clinton-Massie defeated Columbus St. Francis DeSales 17-7 Sept. 10. DeSales defeated Bishop Hartley of Columbus 31-20 in September. Ursuline's Fighting Irish beat Bishop Hartley 62-58.
Ursuline scored 64 in its regional final over West Branch for a season-high and surrendered 49 points to Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary (which finished 4-7) on Oct. 1.
Clinton-Massie has the morning game Friday at 10:30. After boarding a bus Thursday, the plans are to hit a familiar Amish restaurant near the Canton area.
The Falcons like to eat, hit and run.
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