One Play Away From Perfect Year
By CHUCK HESS,
JR.
“Only one play away from an undefeated season.”
As one looks back today on the 10 games which the
Washington high grid team played this year and also contemplates the final
Associated Press poll due Tuesday, Tiger Coach Bob Seaman’s words sum it up
pretty well.
* * *
EVEN WITH
the Tigers’ 20-15 victory over Canton McKinley at rain-pelted Fawcett stadium
last Saturday afternoon before a full house of 20,500 to write a 9-1 finish to
the 1967 season, it’s not likely to be enough to bring the Bengals a state
championship.
Undefeated Upper Arlington (10-0) will probably be
the King-pin come Tuesday as the result of that fourth and 7 counter play
recalled by Seaman after the victory over McKinley. It was that strategy which led to Arlington’s 7-6 win over the
Tigers.
But “Operation Comeback ‘67” can still be rated a
success in the minds of the fans of the Orange and Black. For their team has bounced back from a 4-5-1
season to probably second place in the state and the championship of the
All-American Football Conference.
The last win came every way but easy. The Tigers shot out to a 12-0 first period
lead but barely got out of the game alive against an outstanding Bulldog eleven
coached by Ron Chismar. Only a
last-minute pass interception by junior Halfback Bert Dampier staved off
disaster.
The Pups had the ball on the Massillon 14-yard line,
third and 7 after a 51-yard pass-run play from Quarterback Ted Bowersox, who
had previously scored twice, to Wingback Gerald Davidson. His 33-yard run after the catch found him
going out of bounds on the 17. Bowersox
tried to hit Davidson again in the end zone but Dampier came down with the
pigskin for a touchback and Massillon ran out the clock.
* * *
IT WAS THE Bengals defense which did the job as the offense
never really got going after the first quarter. One drive in the second quarter got as far as the McKinley 35 but
Bowersox intercepted a pass on the 30 to stop the threat.
The Tigers had the ball for 6 series in the second
half, not counting the final one when they ran the clock out. The WHS eleven got only one first down and
that was via a personal foul penalty.
The Bulldogs outstanding job of pursuing led by
Middle Guard Gaylord Sweat, effectively throttled the Seaman-men. Seaman said McKinley did a “good job of
getting to the ball.” Chismar said his
charges did a “great job. It’s a shame
they couldn’t have won.”
The Tigers were paced by a superlative defensive
secondary, which allowed the Bulldogs to complete only 6 of 24 passes. Dampier, besides his game saving
interception, also aborted a McKinley drive with an interception on his 15 in
the third period.
Manson was in the game due to a first quarter ankle
injury suffered by Co-Captain and Quarterback Trevor Young. Junior Marc Malinowski was forced to vacate
his safety spot to do the signal calling and showed promise for next year. However, Young’s absence affected the
offensive timing.
* * *
THE BENGALS’ other co-captain, Linebacker Ron Ertle, was all over
the field again. Both ends, Tim
Richards, and Russ Fenton, did a good job of containing Bowersox.
Linebacker Hoyt Skelton recovered a fumble on the
Bulldog 38 in the third quarter. But
the Tigers couldn’t move the ball.
Shortly thereafter, Tom Houser downed a Malinowski
punt on the 3 to put McKinley into a deep hole. On the third down in the ensuing series, Bowersox faded to the
end zone from the 5, and hit End Jim Iams in the flat. But “Monster” Larry Shumar, weighing only
152 pounds, decked the 175-pound end for a safety, one of several nifty plays
by the diminutive junior during the afternoon.
Junior Tailback Jim Smith led the offense by scoring
one of the first period touchdowns and collecting 99 net yards in 18 tries for
a season’s total of 1,011. Art
Hastings’ 1,274 in 1969 marked the last time a Tiger had over 1,000 yards.
Malinowski got the other welcome frame tally.
But the most spectacular score was Mark McDew’s
90-yard runback of the second half kickoff for the Tigers’ third touchdown
behind some fine blocking. Only 10
seconds ticked off the clock. Smith
missed on the conversion run.
* * *
SMITH’S SCORE came over left guard on first down from the one with
6:05 left in the first quarter. The
75-yard drive took only 5 plays. Smith
set up his own score with a
54-yard blast through the center which put the ball
on the one. McKinley Co-Captain Ron
Martin made the tackle.
Then came the conversion keeper on which Young got
hurt.
McKinley fumbled on its 40 while driving after the
kickoff McDew recovered and the Orange and Black had its second TD 6 plays
later with 2:40 left. Malinowski ran
off left tackle on a keeper on third and 4 from the 10 after bobbling the ball
and crossed into pay dirt. Twelve and
14-yard runs by Malinowski and Smith had set up the score.
A pass fell incomplete on the conversion try.
Junior Tackle Jon Brandyberry recovered a fumble on
the Tiger 44 and 11 plays later the Pups were on the scoreboard with 4:35
remaining in the second quarter. An
8-yard run by Bowersox, a 10-yarder by Martin and 6 and 9-yard passes for
Bowersox to Davidson and Iams set up the 6-pointer, the latter coming on fourth
down from the 14 and giving the Bulldogs a first down on the Bengal 5.
Bowersox scored through the center on third down
from the one and then kicked the conversion.
On the Tigers’ first try after the kickoff, Bowersox recorded his
interception on the McKinley 30 to stop a drive highlighted by sophomore
Darnell Streeter’s 23-yard kick return and Smith’s 18-yard romp off right
tackle.
McKinley’s other score came with 4:45 left in the
game. The Bulldogs drove 78-yards
following a Tiger punt in the dying seconds of the third quarter. The push took 17 plays.
* * *
THE BIG maneuvers
were a 21-yard pass-run combination from Bowersox to Davidson’s 4-yarder which
netted a first down on the one by a gnat’s eyelash.
Bowersox scored on the next play through the center
and passed to Davidson to make it 20-15.
MASSILLON – 20
Ends – Dampier, Houser, Richards, Twiggs.
Tackles – Snowball, Ricker, Laase, Snyder.
Guards – D. Gipp, Ertle, Whitfield, M. Cardinal,
Doll, Harig, Russell.
Centers – B. Moore, Skelton.
Quarterbacks – Young, Malinowski, Shumar.
Halfbacks – Smith, McDew, Fenton, Staples, Evans,
Hodgson, Manson.
Fullbacks – R. Moore, Streeter.
McKINLEY – 15
Ends – Lewis, McDonald, Iams, Dubose, Roman, Gallus,
Duckworth.
Tackles – Milan, Mancini, Brandyberry, Hoskins.
Guards – Roose, Sweat, Shimek, Harris, Gibbons.
Centers – Downing, M. Bush.
Quarterback – Bowersox.
Halfbacks – Davidson, LeFlore, Truitt, Rich, Walker,
Martin.
Fullbacks – Tibbs, Haines.
Massillon 12 0 8 0 20
McKinley 0 7 0 8 15
Touchdowns:
Massillon –
Smith (one-yard run); Malinowski (10-yard run); McDew (90-yard kickoff return).
McKinley – Bowersox 2
(one-yard runs).
Safety:
Massillon –
Shumar (tackled Iams in end zone).
Extra points: McKinley – Bowersox 3 (kick and
run).
INDIVIDUAL RUSHING
Massillon
Player Att. Net. Ave.
Smith
18 99 5.5
McDew
5 17 3.4
Moore 4 14 3.5
Malinowski 14 25 1.8
McKinley
Player Att. Net. Ave.
Bowersox 14 36 2.6
Tibbs 6 17 2.8
Referee – George Ellis.
Umpire – Chuck Lorenz.
Head Linesman – Jack McLain.
Field Judge – Tom Ascani.
Attendance: 20,500
THE GRIDSTICK
Mass. McKin.
First downs –
rushing 8 8
First downs –
passing 0 4
First downs –
penalties 1 1
Total first downs 9 13
Yards gained
rushing 183 140
Yards lost rushing 25 15
Net yards gained
rushing 158 125
Net yards gained
passing 6 89
Total yards gained 164 214
Passes completed 1-3 6-24
Passes intercepted
by 2 1
Yardage on passes
intercepted 15 13
Times kicked off 4 4
Kickoff average
(yards) 49.8 43.5
Kickoff returns
(yards) 139 81
Punt average 7-35.4
6-39.3
Punt return (yards) 6 6
Had punts blocked 0 0
Fumbles 2 3
Lost fumbled ball 1 2
Penalties 5 5
Yards penalized 32 65
Touchdowns rushing 2 2
Touchdowns passing 0 0
Touchdowns by
interception 0 0
Miscellaneous 1 0
Total number of
plays 53 72