Inspired Mansfield Team Upsets Tiger Gridders 16-12
Massillon’s String Of Victories Snapped At 10 Consecutive Games
By LUTHER EMERY
Augie Morningstar was the toast of Mansfield today and rightfully so, for his Mansfield Tygers scored their first victory in 14 years over the Washington high Tigers here Friday evening before a nose counted crowd of 19,773 spectators.
The defeat dashed Massillon’s hopes for an undefeated season, left the state championship up in the air for a wide open scramble, and snapped the local team’s own victory streak at 10 consecutive games.
It does not mean the Tigers are completely out of the championship race. All of the state’s major teams with the exception of Canton McKinley have suffered one setback, and most teams still have four games yet to play.
It does mean that the Massillon gridders to attain any recognition whatsoever, must dig in as they did after their only loss last year to Alliance and clean up on the rest of the slate.
“It does you good to lose once in a while,” said Massillon Coach Chuck Mather after the game, though the look of disappointment on his face told that he wanted to win it the worst kind of way. “Losing makes you appreciate winning, all the more. We will start all over again,” he said.
The Tiger coach had nothing but praise for Morningstar’s Tygers and said they rewarded their fans for the support and spirit accorded them the past week.
That spirit was reflected in the general play of the visiting team, which beat the Tiger line to the charge a greater part of the evening and who did most everything right.
The play of the local eleven was considerably different. It lost the ball three times on fumbles, one placing Mansfield in position for its first touchdown and the other two coming in the clutch in the fourth quarter with Mansfield ahead and only minutes left in play. A 15-yard penalty for clipping when Mansfield was trailing 12-7 which set the locals back to Mansfield’s eight didn’t help matters either.
In fact, this particular play was the turning point of the game, for the next time the visitors got the ball they drove and passed their way to the game winning touchdown.
On the other hand, Mansfield had a good chance to go ahead in the third quarter when a Tyger secondary man dropped a Massillon pass with a clear field ahead of him. The ball was in his hands and he had nothing to do but run but he failed to hang on to it.
* * *
MANSFIELD scored the first points of the game early in the first quarter, when A.C. Jenkins, power running fullback, bulled his way through for the last yard on a 26-yard march that began when Walter Maurer covered Clarence Johnson’s fumble.
The Tigers took the following kickoff, were well on their way to six points when the period ended and got them on the first play of the second quarter when Ace Crable circled his right end for the last 12 yards on a pitch-out. It was a drive of 65 yards.
The locals scored the next time they got the ball too, when Mansfield fumbled in midfield while attempting to punt on fourth down. It took only three plays to go the 50 yards, Crable reeling off 15, Johnson 26 and Jacobs the last nine. Both of Jerry Krisher’s attempted placekicks went wide of the uprights while Mansfield made good on both of its extra points.
Leading by 12-7, at half-time, there were few in the stands but who thought Mansfield would win the game if it could score the next touchdown. It did.
* * *
THE TIGERS made two bids to score before Mansfield struck. Immediately after the kickoff the locals drove to what would have been a first down on the 16-yard line, but a
15-yard penalty for clipping spoiled the effort and they eventually surrendered the ball on the 19. Their next bid took them to the eight but a clipping penalty nullified the gain and put them clear back on their own 31 from which they were forced to punt.
Mansfield saw it was time to strike and strike it did. Getting the ball on their own 37, the visitors opened the fourth period with a devastating passing attack. Don Cline hurled the ball to Jack Bargahiser for 23 yards and a first on the Tiger 40. Esker Jordon gained three and Cline flipped another to Ed Demyan for a first down on the Tiger 22. Tucker made seven yards on two tries and on third down, Cline found his mark in Bargahiser behind the Tiger goal and hit him for six points.
The Tigers took the kickoff and although Crable was stopped without a return, he almost got away on a left end sweep the next play and ran to his 47 before being downed. Mansfield braced and held for downs, however. So did the Tigers and with time fleeting they gained the ball in midfield. Jacobs fumbled on the first play and the alert Maurer pounced on the ball to regain it for Mansfield. Again the Tigers held but when Mansfield punted, Crable fumbled the ball as he attempted to pick it up with the hope of getting away and Demyan covered on the Tiger 14-yard line.
The game was all but over then. Mansfield played it smart, taking as much time as possible on each play while the seconds were ticked away. The Tigers eventually gained the ball on downs on their own seven, but when Don James dropped back behind his goal to hurl one desperate pass, he couldn’t find a receiver and when he tried to run, was swarmed over by Mansfield players and downed behind his goal for a safety and two points.
The Tigers booted the following free kick only four yards with the hope of recovering but Mansfield took over and the gamed ended two plays later.
* * *
THEREIN you have the touchdown plays which led to the Tigers’ first loss of the season and Mansfield’s first victory in 14 years of competition with Massillon teams. The locals have won 10, and three games have ended in tie scores.
It was the third time since 1937 that Mansfield has played the role of spoiler to end Tiger victory streaks, and on two previous occasions, just as last night, came into the game as the underdog.
Russell Murphy’s 1937 team gained a 6-6 tie to end an undefeated string of 21 in a row when Paul Brown was coach here. The 1941 team coached by Paul Snyder put a kink in a chain of 38 straight victories with a 6-6 tie against a team coached by Bud Houghton. Mansfield muffed opportunities by missing the points after touchdown. Last night it did not miss.
* * *
THE TIGERS kept Tucker, Ohio’s fastest high school back pretty well bottled up, but had trouble stopping Jenkins and Jordon who swept through center on a fake lateral that looked much like one introduced by the Forty-Niners in the All-American conference two years ago.
Inability to stop Cline’s passing in the fourth quarter, however, led to the locals’ downfall. Second guessing the Tigers’ offense, it appears that after scoring their second touchdown in the second period they would have done better to have continued carrying the ball instead of tossing passes for they had Mansfield on the run at this stage of the game.
The game was a hard fought contest with players of both teams showing the effects of the contest. Morningstar feared his star guard Tom Weaver may have sustained a fractured hand.
Jacobs, Jim Reichenbach and Crable were shaken up considerably, as was Ronald Patt. Crable, a marked man, played a whale of a game under these conditions. Injuries hampered Jacobs throughout the last half and Reichenbach got in for only a few plays because of an injured leg.
Statistically the teams were about even.
First downs were the same, each, but the Tigers had an edge in net yards gained, 239 to Mansfield’s 197. But they still pay off on points.
One For Augie
MASSILLON
ENDS – SLICKER, GLEASON, Studer.
TACKLES – KRISHER, DUKE, Schumacher, Tunning, Stanford.
GUARDS – SHINE, REICHENBACH, Laps.
CENTERS – PATT, Turkal, Vliet.
QUARTERBACK – JAMES.
HALFBACKS – JACOBS, JOHNSON, Waikem, Lane.
FULLBACKS – CRABLE, Grier.
MANSFIELD
ENDS – DEMYAN, BARGAHISER.
TACKLES – WEAVER, BUSCH, Wise.
GUARDS – MILLER, TIPPER, Lindsay.
CENTER – MAURER.
QUARTERBACKS – CLINE, Marchant.
HALFBACKS — BRICKER, TUCKER, Jordon.
FULLBACK – JENKINS.
Score by periods:
Mansfield 7 0 0 9 16
Massillon 0 12 0 0 12
Touchdowns:
Mansfield – Jenkins; Bargahiser.
Massillon – Crable; Jacobs.
Points after touchdown:
Mansfield – Tipper 2 (placekicks)
Safety – Mansfield
Referee – Lobach.
Umpire – Rupp.
Head Linesman – Shill.
Field Judge – Dunton.
Statistics Of The Game
Mass. Mansf.
First downs 11 11
Passes attempted 10 9
Passes completed 3 4
Had passes intercepted 1 1
Yards gained passing 47 69
Yards gained rushing 205 138
Total yards gained 252 227
Yards lost 13 30
Net yards gained 239 197
Times punted 1 2
Average punt (yards) 30 42
Yards punts returned by 13 0
Kickoffs 4 3
Average kick 29 35
Yards kickoffs returned 22 15
Fumbles 4 1
Lost ball on fumbles 3 0
Times penalized 3 6
Yards penalized 35 50
