Tahj Dent's 100 Yards to Glory

Buchtel head coach Ricky Powers has seen it all in his days as a former all-state running back at Buchtel, an all-Big Ten performer at Michigan and a former NFL player.

But in the Griffins' 45-29 loss at Massillon Friday, Powers said he witnessed something he had never seen in person. His senior quarterback and starting defensive back Tahj Dent returned an interception 100 yards for a touchdown. The third-quarter score cut Massillon's lead to 17-15.

Powers said the play was incredible because it actually covered about 108 yards because Dent intercepted the pass deep in the corner of the endzone. But the ruling is that it can only be recorded as a 100-yard touchdown return.

``It was something amazing to watch,'' Powers said. ``Massillon's quarterback was trying to throw a pass in the corner of the endzone and Tahj just made a great play.

``From there, the rest of our kids instinctively started finding people to block and Tahj made some great cuts and made it to the endzone. He is a talented kid and this needs to go down in the record books,'' Powers added.

After Dent scored, Powers wanted to take him out to give him a rest. But he said Dent didn't want to come off the field. Dent later scored two more touchdowns- a 35-yard run and an 8-yard run.

Meanwhile, Powers, in his second season after posting an 2-8 last season, is pleased with the effort his team gave, especially playing at such a challenging venue as Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

``The kids didn't quit and that's the beauty of this team,'' Powers said. ``We'll have our growing pains but they are starting to buy into what we're trying to do.''