Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo

Washington High And Akron East Battle To Scoreless Tie
ORANGE AND BLACK OUTPLAYS OLD RIVAL AFTER POOR START

By LUTHER EMERY

After staving off several attempts Saturday at Akron of Akron East high to score in the first half, Washington high came back in the last half to push the Orientals back into the same precarious position, but likewise could not register any points and the second football game of the season for the orange and black ended in a scoreless tie.

Both games thus far have resulted in tie scores, the opening engagement being a 6-6 draw with Youngstown East. While there were many fans disappointed at not seeing the Tigers chalk up a victory over their old rubber city rival, the crowd as a whole was content with the tie score, for it was the first time since 1927 that a Massillon team has battled East high on even terms.

East Offensive Deceptive
East, boasting a somewhat heavier team, presented a deceptive and well covered attack in the first half and played rings around the Massillon gridders. In fact the Tigers found it impossible to score a single first down against the Akron boys during the first two periods of play.

East on the other hand made the required yardage five times and moreover kept the ball in Massillon territory most of the time.

East Makes Advance
This time the local team advanced the ball to the 30-yard line from which point Clendening again angled for a break and punted out of bounds on East’s nine-yard line. The Akron team came back with a rush, however and carried the ball past midfield in its only offensive of the second half, but the Tigers got stubborn in their own territory, refused to yield ground and East punted over the goal line. The game ended a short time later with the locals holding the ball on their own 39-yard line.

East scored one more first down than the Massillon team, making eight to the Tigers’ seven, and neither school succeeded in completing a forward pass. East tried it five times and three of these were intercepted. Washington high attempted four passes all of which were grounded.

The Orientals once advanced the ball to the three-yard mark, but here the Tigers’ braced and held for downs when a forward pass on the fourth Akron attempt to advance the ball was grounded.

Massillon Team Takes Offensive
But what East did to Massillon in the first half the Tigers did to the Akron school during the next two periods of play. On the kickoff opening the third quarter, Clendening dashed to midfield before being downed, the last man in his path making the tackle. The run was 35 yards long. Foster plunged through for 15 on the next play and a series of line plunges took the ball to the 32-yard line, in spite of a five-yard penalty inflicted on the Tigers for being offside. On the fourth down Clendening snapped a pass to Brunker, but failed to give the Massillon end sufficient lead, and the ball was grounded. It barely touched the tips of Brunker’s fingers and he had a free path to the goal ahead of him.

The next time the Tigers came into possession of the ball they marched from their own 13-yard line to East’s 34-yard line where the Orientals braced and grounded two consecutive passes to gain possession of the ball. Williams in the rush barely got loose for a touchdown, being tackled by the Akron safety man after a dash through left tackle for 21 yards.

The Tigers gained possession of the ball at the start of the fourth period and began another drive for a touchdown which was stopped on the 30-yard line from which point Clendening placed a punt out of bounds on East’s five-yard line, in a play for a break. Gray, however, was well supported by his line and he punted out of danger and back to Clendening on the 34-yard line. Clendening muffed the ball but recovered for no return. Had he held the pigskin he might have advanced it nearer the goal, for his teammates had cleared a path for him along the sideline.

The game was played cleanly, only one 15-yard penalty being inflicted and that was stepped off against East. The Akron school was penalized once for being offside while Washington high lost 15 yards for this violation.

The locals lacked a fighting spirit in the first half and were fooled continually by East’s deceptive double and triple passes behind the line of scrimmage. The Orientals were exceptionally adept at covering their plays, and time and again a flock of Tigers took after the wrong man. They followed the ball closer in the last two periods, however, and East’s tricks were smothered most of the time.

3,000 See Game
The crowd estimated by East high officials to be 3,000 strong, and a third of this number consisted of Massillon fans, who were given a section of the bleachers to themselves after a 100-yard dash for a ticket.

Both teams presented revamped lineups. Owens, a big All-Akron high school tackle was kept on the bench because on injuries. Injuries also kept Monroe and Krug, Massillon players out of the game. Amic started at fullback but was quickly replaced by Williams. Schimke and Singer held down the guards, and Brunker took Krug’s end.

Summary:
Massillon Pos. Akron
Getz LE Brooks
Price LT Vesper
Singer LG Swiers
Hoyman C Krino
Schimke RG Schenz
Adams RT Craig
Brunker RE Thomas
Clendening QB Gray
Kester LH Garcia
Foster RH Hartline
Amic FB Little

Substitutions:
Massillon – Williams, fb; Heisler, le.
Akron – Kline, re; Garrett, le; Doshna, fb.

Officials:
Referee – Ellis (Youngstown).
Umpire – Howells (Sebring).
Head Linesman – Wagner (Warren).

 

esmith