HIGH GRIDDERS OUTPLAYED SOUTH ELEVEN DESPITE OFFICIALS
LOCAL OFFENSE IN 4TH QUARTER CRUMBLES SOUTH

Despite the fact that they received the rawest deal that has ever been handed to a Massillon high school athletic team on a foreign field, the orange and black gridders of Washington high school last Saturday afternoon decidedly outplayed Youngstown South in that nightmare contest at Youngstown which was spoiled by the partial work of the officials and which finally resulted in Coach David B. Stewart calling his boys off the field and forfeiting the game to South. South was leading 19 to 14 at the time. Coach Stewart, no longer able to stand for the dirty treatment his players were receiving, took his team off the field.

This occurred in the fourth quarter with still seven minutes and 10 seconds to play and not merely a few seconds as Youngstown papers would have the public at large believe and South was weakening so rapidly that had the officiating been neutral the local team would have finished the game ahead. South was on its last legs, at that sage of the game. Massillon had just finished carrying the ball the entire length of the field for a touchdown and was well on its way to another, the touchdown that would have won the game, when the partial officials inflicted an entirely uncalled penalty upon Massillon and Coach Stewart waved his boys off the field.

South’s line was crumbling before the steady plunges of Kammer, Define and King like an egg shell. The Youngstown warriors were done and only the unfair and unsportsmanlike tactics of the officials saved the day for South, but it was no clean cut victory.

After Coach Stewart took his boys off the field, the crowd of about 7,000 fans started milling around the field. Among them were about 2,000 Massillon rooters but no near riot resulted as Youngstown papers declare. The Massillon fans, disgusted with the treatment accorded their team, hurriedly left the field. The fair minded Youngstown people, of whom there were many, also left the field without saying a word.

A mob of curious Youngstown spectators hung around the dressing room of the local team until a plain clothes officer rushed frantically into a nearby drug store and put in a riot call to the Youngstown police station for all the reserves and the flying squadron. His action probably made some rather near-sighted Youngstown people believe a near riot was pending but the near riot was created by the Youngstown fans who were soon dispersed once the police arrived on the scene.

The various charges lodged against Massillon fans, the actions of Coach Stewart and Youngstown’s view of the playing of the Massillon team can be contradicted in no uncertain terms but about the only comment that is necessary is that the account of the game which appeared in a Youngstown newspaper Sunday was the work of a writer who was just as biased and prejudiced as were the officials and who showed that he knew even less about football than the three alleged officials who attempted to handle the game, if that is possible.

Other high schools in the state know Massillon well enough to know that Massillon does not cry when it is beaten fairly and that it has always played the game on the level which is more than can be said for Youngstown South judging from the numerous protests lodged by other schools which have taken their teams to Youngstown for games and bumped into similar situations.

It was too bad that what would have been a rip roaring game of football between two evenly matched teams should have been entirely ruined by a set of incompetent and partial officials. South had a first class team that excelled Massillon when it came to forward passing but was greatly out played by the orange and black when it came to line plunging.

South scored a touchdown in the first quarter when after receiving a punt in midfield several forwards and a 15-yard run by Murphy took the ball to Massillon’s four yard line from where Murphy took it over.

Massillon went into the lead in the third quarter when on the second play Bill Price, tow headed end, scooped up a fumble punt and ran 35 yards for a touchdown. Edwards kicked goal and put the local team one point in front.

South’s second touchdown came entirely through the work of Head Linesman Thomas and Umpire McKay. South gained the ball in Massillon’s territory on a fumble and rushed it to the two-yard line with goal to gain on fourth down. Then South’s attempted forward was grounded behind its own goal line but Head Linesman Thomas penalized Edwards for alleged offside play and put the ball on Massillon’s one-yard line from where Collins squirmed over when officials let him advance the ball after being downed.

South’s third and last touchdown came on a long pass from Collins to Reese. It was good for about 30 yards and took the ball over Massillon’s goal line. Define failing to tackle Reese as he dashed across the line.

Then Massillon began to play football in earnest. On the kickoff Define ran the ball back to midfield and steady pounding at the Youngstown line by Define, Kammer and King carried the oval straight up the field without a break and across South’s goal line. Edwards kicked goal.

South again kicked off to Massillon and Define carried the ball back to midfield only to have it called back to the 20-yard line when Umpire McKay called a penalty on McCarthy for alleged holding. Then a 15-yard penalty was inflicted and it was at this point that Stewart called his team off the field.

Proper officiating would have made the conflict a great game. The South team played a fairly clean game. There were few unfair tactics for either team. Massillon made 13 first downs to 10 and Coach Stewart did not have to seek a loop hole to take his team off the field and avert the stigma of a defeat for had the officiating been right Massillon without a doubt would have won by at least one touchdown.

What a Farce!
Massillon Pos. Youngstown S.
W. Price L.E. J. Reese
McCarthy L.T. Moss
Reis L.G. Didams
Edwards C Fitzgerald
Halco R.G. Schuler
Weldman R.T. Bartholemy
Thomas R.E. Davies
J. Price Q.B. Bailey
Define L.H.B. Murphy
King R.H.B. Baker
Borza F.B. Collins

Score by quarter:
Massillon 0 0 7 7 14
South 6 0 7 6 19

Substitutions:
Massillon – Grant for Borza, Kammer for King, Hise for Reis, P. Smith for Define, King for P. Smith, Define for Grant, Grant for King.

South – Miller for Schuler, Ruth for Bartholmey, Moss for Schuler, Garr for Ruth, Baker for Reese, Leonall for Collins.

Touchdowns – W. Price, Kammer, Murphy, Collins, Reese.

Points after touchdown – Edwards 2, Reese.

Referee – Hart, Lafayette.
Umpire – McKay, Brown.
Head Linesman – Thomas, W. VA.

Time of quarters – 12 minutes.

It’s Time Authorities
At Youngstown South Wake Up
And Banish Their Home-Guard Officials
And Play Square

Youngstown South Saturday won a football victory from Washington high of Massillon at Youngstown by the forfeit route when David B. Stewart, athletic coach of the local school called his boys off the field in the fourth quarter with the score standing 19 to 14 in favor of South and seven minutes and 10 seconds to play. Partiality of the officials and their gross incompetency to handle a football game as it should be handled caused the withdrawal of the Massillon team. South is officially credited with a 1 to 0 victory over the local school.

But it is a victory without honor: a victory so tainted and so beclouded by the disgusting and plainly evident efforts of the officials to see that South won at any cost that no fair-minded lover of clean sports in Youngstown today can do anything but hang his head in shame that such a blot should be cast upon a school the size of Youngstown South.

Coach Stewart in calling his boys off the field when he did took the only action left for him. To have let the game go on in charge of the three persons who were attempting to officiate would have been an insult to his boys and a reflection upon the honor and integrity of the school he represents and the citizens of Massillon who demand that their boys take part in only athletics that are clean and above board.

In this action Coach Stewart was backed by high school authorities and Superintendent of Schools H.R. Gorrell, some 2,000 Massillon fans who had gone to Youngstown to see the game, and hundreds of Youngstown citizens, who becoming disgusted at the weak efforts of the officials to conduct the game as it should have been, joined forces with the Massillon delegation and began to cheer for the orange and black.

The officials were Hart, of Lafayette, referee; McKay, of Brown, umpire; and Thomas, of West Virginia, head linesman, all residents of Youngstown.
Officials Protested
Massillon authorities several days before the game protested the officials South had selected but South refused to change them and it was only after lavish promises from Principal Eaton of South and Coach Ashbaugh that Massillon consented to take its team to Youngstown for the game.

Massillon authorities were so fair minded in this matter and so desirous of giving the officials a chance to show that they were fair and competent that they did not make public any of the details of their controversy with South regarding the officials desiring if possible not to create any animosity against them in the minds of local fans who would attend the game.

But not so with Youngstown South, It’s officials immediately rushed into print in an effort to give Massillon a black eye for asking for competent and impartial officiating.

It was evident before the game that the officials were not as well versed in football as they should be. They were seen hastily perusing a rule book before they went on the field. But had they been only incompetent it would have not been so bad. But they were worse. One did not have to know about football to know that Massillon in plain English received a dirty deal.
Some Raw Deal
Here are some of the things the officials were guilty of:
Refusing to penalize South players for unduly roughing Massillon men.
Giving South its second touchdown by taking the ball away from Massillon when it was Massillon’s ball on its 20-yard line and giving South possession of the ball on Massillon’s one-yard line with four downs to make goal.
Use of profane language on the field during the progress of the game by Referee Hart.
Head Linesman Thomas giving South the ball on its eight yard line in the second quarter after a South man had blocked a punt by his own teammate on fourth down. It should have been Massillon’s ball.
Umpire McKay calling a penalty for holding on tackle McCarthy of Massillon in the fourth quarter after Define had returned a kick off 45 yards to midfield. It was after this penalty that Coach Stewart called his team off the field.
The work of Umpire McKay and Head Linesman Thomas was particularly glaring.
In the second quarter a South man went through Massillon’s line for a three yard gain. As he was tackled he dropped the ball but South instantly recovered. It was not a free ball. This happened on the first down and play should have continued with the second down coming. But Head Linesman Thomas ruled it a first down for South.
A short time later South was forced to punt. The ball hit a Youngstown man in the back and bounded back to South’s eight yard line. Referee Hart was about to give Massillon possession of the ball as he should. Out rushed Head Linesman Thomas to inform the official that a Massillon man had blocked the punt and Hart gave South the ball on its eight yard line.
In the same period Bill Edwards jumped into the air and batted down a South forward pass. In doing so he accidentally knocked over a South player. The two fell to the ground in a heap. As he lay on the ground the South player deliberately dug his foot into Edwards face. Head linesman Thomas was standing not two feet away. He saw it. Edwards protested but the Head Linesman “balled” out the Massillon captain and told him he was attempting to illegally tackle a South man.
In the fourth quarter halfback King of Massillon carried the ball for a gain of 14 yards. After he was tackled and on the ground two South players fell on him. Head Linesman Thomas saw what was coming and deliberately turned his back and walked up the field.
One for the Book
In the third quarter with Massillon ahead 7 to 6, South carried the ball to Massillon’s two-yard line. It was fourth down with goal to gain. South attempted a pass which was grounded behind its goal line and it was Massillon’s ball on its 20 yard line. But Head Linesman Thomas rushed in to inform the referee that Edwards had been offside. It was impossible for Edwards to have been offside on that play for he was standing back of his own goal line.

But the referee inflicted the penalty, placing the ball on Massillon’s one yard line giving South four downs to take it over. On the first play Collins went through the line but he was stopped before he reached the goal line. He was lying on top of a heap of players and as the Massillon line relaxed he squirmed over the line and the officials gave South a touchdown.

In the fourth quarter Coach Stewart came to the sideline to inquire of the referee the reason for a certain decision. The referee cut loose with a lot of profanity and immediately penalized Massillon 15 yards.
Another Fine Decision
The straw that broke the camel’s back came a few moments later when Umpire McKay called a penalty on McCarthy for alleged holding. He said the penalty took place on Massillon’s 20 yard line. A 15 yard penalty took the ball back to Massillon’s five yard line. Then Coach Stewart called his boys off the field.

A look of sheepishness crept over the faces of the officials as the Massillon team left the field. They were at a loss to know what to do. The South players gathered in little groups. They also were very quiet. They realized that what for them might have been a great victory had suddenly been turned into a dismal, flat failure. They knew that from then on no other outside team could come into Youngstown and be sure of a square deal.

Fair minded citizens in Youngstown should demand of Principal Eaton of South High school that he never again engage Hart, McKay and Thomas to officiate another game in which South participates. There are men in jail for doing less than that trio did Saturday.

MASSILLON BREAKS WITH SOUTH HIGH

Although no definite action had been taken early today by local high school authorities to sever athletic relations with Youngstown South following Saturday’s game at Youngstown it appeared quite evident that in the future no more athletic contests would be booked with South. H.R. Gorrell, superintendent of schools, this morning said that a meeting probably would be held soon to determine Massillon’s course of action.

South was quick to announce Saturday night that it had cut Massillon off its schedule but South was just a bit too slow for Washington high school authorities knew just about what action they would take the moment Coach Stewart called his team off the field.

Statements made in Youngstown Sunday that Youngstown Rayen had severed athletic relations with Massillon because of a rumpus occurring several years ago were denied today by local authorities who declared that Massillon and Rayen still maintained athletic relations.

Several years ago because of failure to get together on dates Rayen and Massillon did not schedule a football game. It has always been customary to play one of the Youngstown schools here and the other in Youngstown. But while Rayen and Massillon did not meet in football they still maintain basketball relations.

It was not known today whether the local school would take steps to officially notify South that athletic relations were severed or just completely ignore the Youngstown school in the future when athletic schedules are made up.

The following statement was issued today by Superintendent H.R. Gorrell:

“We are always sorry to have a game terminate as did the game Saturday. However, in view of the complaints entered following the game at Youngstown two years ago and repeated prior to this year’s game, we feel entirely justified in the action taken.”

“Games between schools that are hot rivals should always be handled by neutral officials who are acceptable to both schools. Massillon appreciates the good sportsmanship shown by the South team and student body.”

“It was made plain to the Youngstown South officials earlier in the week that the continuance of athletic relations between the two schools would depend upon the quality of the officiating at this game. That makes impossible therefore, games between the two schools for some time to come.”