The anticipation rumbled through the bleachers as the Massillon Tigers ran onto the field against Canton McKinley — a famed high school football rivalry that began in 1894. “The whole season builds up to that game,” says Caitlin Bourque, a photographer for Tiger Legacy: Stories of Massillon Football. With 86 photographs from newborns with Tigers footballs to a fan’s funeral adorned with Tigers gear, the book ($45, Daylight Books) tells the behind-the-scenes story of Massillon and its unbreakable fandom. Bourque, and a team assembled by Kent State University instructor Gary Harwood and assistant professor David Foster, spent four years documenting in Massillon, where Hall of Famer Paul Brown once coached and the NFL traces its roots. But Tiger Legacy isn’t a history book. “It’s alive,” Harwood says. “The story is still unfolding, and everyone is a part of it.” tigerlegacy.net
Massillon Tigers Football Legacy Roars to Life
New book tells story of the legendary high school football team and the community’s unbreakable bond.
