A street party broke out in Massillon after the football team won a state championship in Canton.
Nov. 30, 2023 was as loud as it gets in high school football these days.
The recruitment of Massillon’s star quarterback was strikingly quiet.
After the noise of NCAA Division I business blew over, DaOne Owens signed with NCAA Division II Slippery Rock. Head coach Shawn Lutz is still celebrating.
Massillon quarterback DaOne Owens stands with his teammates during the national anthem before playing St. John’s (D.C.), Friday Sept. 29, 2023.
Lutz regards Owens as one the best catches Slippery Rock has made since he arrived in 1996 as a graduate assistant — he became head coach in 2016.
Lutz relates to Stark County celebrations, having played in two of the most famous games in Jackson High School history (see below).
Larry Taylor, who was Lutz’s basketball coach at Jackson, regards him as “probably the best kept secret of a success story in Stark County.”
“I’m super proud of Shawn,” said Elmer Schuetz, who coached Lutz in football at Jackson. “I mean that from the bottom of my heart.”
Lutz had Slippery Rock rolling in 2019, a 13-1 year that stretched into the national semifinals. Then the COVID-19 meteor hit, wiping out the 2020 season.
The reboot has gone well. Wrapped around the lost season, Lutz has taken The Rock to the playoffs five straight years, second-longest streak in the USA in Division II.
Schuetz regularly attends Slippery Rock games, roughly 100 miles east of Massillon and 50 miles north of Pittsburgh.
“Shawn is a great recruiter who can relate to the kids he’s bringing in,” Schuetz said. “DaOne Owens was a really good signing.
“I was talking to Shawn and he said, ‘Guess who we’re going to sign?’ I said I didn’t know. ‘He said, ‘The quarterback from Massillon!’ I said, ‘Get out.’ That kid beat Hoban. He beat St. Ed’s….
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/jackson-grad-shawn-lutz-unsung-100436204.html
Author : The Repository
Publish date : 2024-05-24 10:04:36
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