Look: Jalen Slaughter, DaOne Owens' Massillon (Ohio) replacement, fires deep dime for touchdown

Massillon doesn't miss a beat after losing starting QB over eligibility questions relating to transfer

No DaOne Owens? No problem early for Massillon, which jumped out to an early lead Friday night with a beautiful deep ball from backup quarterback Jalen Slaughter.

Massillon (Ohio) took a 7-0 lead over Middletown (Delaware) in Friday night high school football when the lefty QB fired a 53-yard dart to Braylyn Toles for a touchdown.

Shortly before the game it came to light that senior three-star starting Massillon quarterback DaOne Owens wouldn't play Friday as questions about his eligibility are in the process of being answered by the Ohio High School Athletic Association.

Sources told SBLive's Ryan Isley that the issue of eligibility stems from requirements set forth by the OHSAA if a player should transfer from one public school in Ohio to another as outlined in Bylaw 4-7-2. 

Any player who transfers from a public school to a public school would be eligible to play the first five games of the football season and then would be deemed ineligible starting in Week 6. 

Owens played the first five games this season after transferring from Copley before the school year started.

Slaughter led Massillon to the state semifinals as a sophomore last season, so he's no stranger to the big stage.

Massillon entered the game 5-0 and No. 1 in the SBLive Ohio Power 25.

By the second quarter, Slaughter added another touchdown pass and Massillon was cruising with a 28-0 lead. 

.@Jiggy_j12 with the pass, @EmyLouisJr1 with the catch and the toe drag swag for a @MTigerFB TD.

Massillon leads Middletown (Delaware) 28-0 with 719 left 2Q. pic.twitter.com/DqKzODAIRv

— Ryan (@Isley23) September 22, 2023

Check SBLive Ohio later for a full report from the game.

(Massillon photo by Jeff Harwell)

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-- Mike Swanson | swanson@scorebooklive | @sblivesports