Martin’s Ferry Ties
In
Season’s Opener, 7-7
Outweighed but not out gamed orange and black gridiron
warriors of Washington High school Saturday afternoon fought desperately to
emerge from their first scholastic battle of the 1920 campaign with Martin’s
Ferry, last year’s champion’s of the Ohio River Valley with a 7 to 7 tie, the
contest being staged on the school’s new athletic field on Pearl street.
Having an advantage of at least 10 pounds to the man
in weight, the purple and white eleven of the Southern Ohio city, put its best
foot forward to subdue the local gridders, and while
they came mighty close to achieving their ambition in the last quarter, the
grit and determination of the youthful Tigers rose above the brawn and strength
of the invaders and held the enemy in check when defeat seemed imminent.
Sheer pluck and aggressiveness saved Coach Snyder’s
lads from defeat. Exhibiting a tendency
to fumble at critical stages of the contest, the orange and black never lost
hope or never gave up trying to win, although it was handicapped because of
lack of a smooth working machine and an offensive that was able to pierce the
Martin’s Ferry eleven.
The youthful Tigers did not win Saturday because they
did not resort to an open attack but relied mainly upon line plunges to make
their gains. Had they attempted to piece
the defensive wall of their opponents by an aerial attack they might have
emerged from the strife a victor for of the two forward passes that the local
team attempted one resulted in their lone touchdown.
But it was the team’s first game and the faults, which
cropped out during the melee should be ironed out by Coach Snyder during the
coming week. The material is there –
plenty of it for a great eleven and with more attention to open work and
forward passes the orange and black should develop into a winner.
Fumbles twice were costly to the local
aggregation. Once in the second quarter
Hess dropped the pigskin after a dash around end, and Marker, Martin’s Ferry
halfback, picked it up and scampered 29 yards for the visitors set of
counters. Again, in the third quarter
after a steady march of 40 yards towards Martins Ferry’s goal, Greenfelder dropped the ball on the 19-yard line and
Then the youthful Tigers started an offensive toward
the visitor’s goal which did not end until the ball had been placed back of the
goal posts for a touchdown. Greenfelder, Graybill and Hess
ripped open the visitors’ line for steady gains, carrying the ball to the
18-yard line where Graybill shot a long pass to left
end Fashnacht who grabbed it and was downed on
Martin’s Ferry’s one yard line. Greenfelder then plowed through left tackle for the
touchdown and a moment later kicked goal.
In the second
Play was even in the third quarter until near the
close. Martins Ferry started off with a
rush marching the ball from its 20-yard line to
The orange and black was on the defensive most of the
final quarter, having to kick against a strong wind which left the punting
advantage very much in favor of the enemy.
Martin’s Ferry succeeded in working the ball within
Massillon made nine first downs to eight for the
visitors, six of the local team’s downs coming in the first quarter while
Martin’s Ferry made five in the third. Massillon punted six times, Greenfelder
doing the kicking, while the visitors kicked five times.
Martin’s Ferry completed two forwards and failed in
six other attempts. Quarterback Evans
was the shining light for the visitors being the only backfield man able to make
any gains against the orange and black. Greenfelder showed to good advantage for