WARREN HARDING Super Mario beats Massillon with OT run

Mario Manningham's 20-yard run gave the Raiders a 15-12 victory.
By ERIC HAMILTON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
WARREN -- Super Mario struck again.
Warren Harding High standout Mario Manningham found yet another way to beat Massillon, scoring on a 20-yard gap play in the second overtime to lead the Raiders to a 15-12 victory over their long-time rival.
"Mario is a special player and everyone we play knows that it's just a matter of time before he gets the ball and does something good with it," said Warren Harding (6-3) coach Thom McDaniels.
"Whether we throw it to him or hand it to him, we trust that he'll come up big."
McDaniels hinted during the week that Manningham would see more time in the backfield, as an opportunity to get him more touches. The strategy proved to be a sound one.
Near miss
Warren Harding almost didn't need overtime to secure the win.
Massillon's Steve Schott put the Tigers ahead with a 32-yard field with 4:25 remaining in the fourth quarter. But with the help of a Massillon personal foul penalty, the Raiders' drove to the Tigers 13 with under 10 seconds to go.
With two seconds remaining, Omar Omar's 30-yard field fell just short to set up the overtime.
In the first overtime, both teams squandered opportunities to pull ahead, missing field goals.
After Schott failed on a 37-yarder, the Tigers took over at the Warren Harding 20 to begin the second overtime.
Massillon (4-5) got inside the Raiders' 3-yard line on a run by Quentin Paulick. On fourth down, Schott drilled a 20-yarder to give the Tigers 12-9 lead.
That's when Manningham took over. He took the pitch from quarterback Roger Matlock and sprinted 20 yards on the first play for the game-winning points.
Best-blocked
"That was easily our best blocked gap play all night," said McDaniels. "Richardson did a nice job of kicking out the end and Mario knows what to do with the ball after that."
In the first half, Warren Harding's offense couldn't get anything going. Massillon held the Raiders to just 54 total yards and just one first down.
Despite giving Massillon prime field position, Warren Harding's defense played tough. The Tigers lone score in the first half came on a 6-yard pass from Paulick to Wayne Gates. The PAT failed.
"Our defense did a good job in the first half, outside of a few third-and-long situations," said McDaniels. "That gave us a nice effort when we needed it."
Omar got Harding to within 6-3 with a 25-yard field goal just before the intermission.
The Raiders took their first lead of the contest (9-6) with 10:57 remaining in the fourth on a Mastlock to Manningham 5-yard TD pass.
Schott knotted the score at 9-all with a 32-yard field goal with 4:25 remaining in regulation.