TIGERS TURN BACKS ON 6-0 UPSET AND CENTER ATTENTION ON ALLIANCE
ORANGE AND BLACK DETERMINED TO MAKE FANS FORGET DEFEAT
By LUTHER EMERY
Too much Joe Williams, over-confidence, a break, an unfair decision or whatever you say was responsible for last Saturday’s 6-0 defeat at Barberton, Washington high school gridders today turned their backs on the disaster and pointed for the first game of the Stark county series with Alliance here, Saturday.
It was hard to swallow, but the taste of the bitter can best be removed by the sweet and that’s the aim of the Tigers this week, a convincing triumph over Alliance, a team that Barberton trounced 19-0 a week ago.
Tigers Dull Saturday
There were few who expected Saturday’s defeat and perhaps that more than anything else was responsible for the upset. The Tigers had been warned, perhaps not enough, perhaps too much, but whatever the trouble was they were dull while Barberton was on edge, playing a game that even far eclipsed the fine showing it had made against Alliance.
While the penalties were against them, the Magicians on the other hand received the breaks, breaks that they partially made through hard tackling and breaks that were the gift of the officials. It was one of the latter that placed the purple in position to score the only touchdown of the game.
It was third down with five to go on the 20-yard line when Litwak stepped back and hurled a long pass intended for Jumping Joe Williams. D.C. McCants ran back, whirled and touched the ball with both hands, almost catching it, but it fell to the ground. It looked incomplete until Umpire Ed Garman charged McCants with interference and declared the pass complete, giving Barberton a first down on the six and one-yard yard line. If there was any interference, I for one did not see it.
Williams Goes Over
Williams made two yards. Litwak sneaked through for a yard and Williams got barely half a yard on the third down. With fourth down up, Williams circled his own left end for a touchdown, going over the stripe standing up. Kumse missed the attempted placekick.
It was the first time this season that the Tigers had been scored on. This in part demoralized the team, but what was to follow completely wrecked its morale.
Barberton kicked off to McCants who was tackled on the 25-yard line. The Tigers looked fighting mad as McCants fought his way for 12 yards, but he fumbled when tackled and Hackney covered the ball for Barberton on the 37-yard line. The Tigers staved off Barberton’s attempts to gain and took possession of the ball on downs on the 32-yard line. On the very first play Shrake shot through the right side of the Barberton line for a dash that probably would have been a first down but he fumbled and once more Barberton recovered and once more the Tigers were in the hole. Whatever fight they had in them they lost after the second fumble.
Werner Stops Threat
Going deeper into it you find that the Tigers had but one good scoring opportunity all afternoon that coming late in the second period when they carried the ball from their own five-yard line to the Barberton nine-yard stripe with third down and three yards to go and lost the ball when an attempted field goal went wide of the posts.
Credit for stopping this Massillon attack must be given to Lewis Werner, a substitute end who played his first football of the season for Barberton Saturday.
Werner, a veteran last year who has been out all this season with an injured knee, was substituted for Reis when the Tigers made a first down on the 16-yard line. McCants made four on a spinner and Shrake cut through his left side for three more. With third down and three yards needed for a first down, Shertzer brought Krier around his right wing. Werner broke through however, and turned the play in and Krier was dumped for a four-yard loss. That was the turning point of the game. Krier attempted to placekick on the fourth down but the ball sailed wide of the goal posts and Barberton took possession of the pigskin.
Barberton Perks Up
Spurred by successfully stopping this Massillon attack, Barberton turned to the offensive and in four plays carried the ball 22 yards before the half ended hostilities.
The second half was all Barberton. The Magics put the Tigers in a hole at the start when Krier was tackled with the kickoff on the seven-yard line. This kept play in Massillon territory all the time until Barberton pulled through with its touchdown.
The rest you know. The Tigers lost courage and there was less fight than ever. They tried desperately to score with forward passes in the closing minutes of the game but only one was completed, that for a gain of 10 yards, while an intercepted pass stopped one of their rallies.
The Tigers played their only football in the first half. They made a bid for a score in the first period when McCants’ long punt placed Barberton in a hole and forced Williams to kick from near his goal line. He punted out of bounds on the 35 and McCants in two attempts made a first down on the 25. Shertzer’s pass on the first down was a bit too high for Lohr to reach. On the next three plays the Tigers gained eight yards and lost the ball to Barberton on the 17-yard line. Williams pulled his team out of the hole a moment later by a brilliant quick kick that sent the Tigers back to their 27-yard line.
Referee Knocked Out
As for the Massillon team, it was in good condition. Time only had to be taken out for Shertzer who was injured in tackling Williams. Dutton replaced him. Barberton suffered several injuries, Kumse, star guard being forced out of the game temporarily.
Among those knocked out Saturday was Referee Eddie Howells. Eddie took a dive for the ball and got kicked in the head during the pileup. His assistant officials came to his aid and play was resumed within a few minutes.
Massillon had the edge in first downs and made eight to Barberton’s six. One of the latters was made on a penalty. All eight of the Tigers’ were earned.
The Tigers tried seven passes and completed one for a gain of 10 yards. One was intercepted. Barberton hurled half a dozen and completed one for a 10 yard gain.
Massillon probably had more fans at the game than Barberton. Route 21 looked like a long funeral procession as the Massillon cars streamed home. It is estimated that 5,000 saw the game.
In defeating Massillon, Barberton probably won the N.E.O. Big Ten title though Dover may tie for the honor.
Lineup and summary:
Massillon Pos. Barberton
Lohr LE Reis
Birkish LT Merkum
Porter LG Kumse
Monroe C Freano
Snavely RG Hackney
Buggs RT Johnson
Heisler RE King
Shertzer QB Litwak
Krier LH Evans
Shrake RH Hill
McCants FB Williams
Score by periods:
Barberton 0 0 6 0 6
Substitutions: Massillon – Dutton for Shertzer; Mellinger for Shrake.
Barberton – Werner for Reis; Bedingfield for Kumse; Kumse for Bedingfield.
Touchdown:
Barberton – Williams.
Referee – Howells (Sebring).
Umpire – Garman (Ohio State).
Head Linesman – Pund (Georgia Tech).
TIGER DEFEAT
BIG SURPRISE IN OHIO RACE
Other Outstanding Scholastic Elevens
Score Victories
Barberton’s 6-0 surprise victory over Washington high Saturday furnished the biggest upset registered in Ohio scholastic football circles last week and dropped Massillon from the list of undefeated teams.
All the other outstanding high school aggregations ran true to form and came through with smashing victories.
Canton McKinley’s big red juggernaut continued to pile up points almost at will when it swamped Columbus Aquinas, a future Massillon opponent, 66-0. McKinley meets East Liverpool next Saturday and a week later takes on Steubenville.
Mansfield’s undefeated team, which last week hurled a challenge at five of the leading outfits in the state for a post season game, rested Saturday. Springfield has accepted Mansfield’s challenge.
The Springfield gridders last Friday night buried Dayton Stivers under a 67-0 score. They also meet McKinley during the regular season, playing the east enders two weeks before the Massillon conflict.
Steubenville kept its slate clean by downing Akron North Saturday but had a difficult job, coming through with a 12-0 victory.
Over in Pennsylvania one of the big surprises was the 7-0 victory Grove City scored over Sharon, coached by David B. Stewart, former Washington high grid tutor. It was Sharon’s first defeat in two years.
Now that the game with Jimmy Price’s Magics is over and the Barberton gridders have inflicted the first defeat on the local Tigers, Coach Paul Brown and his boys this week will begin intensive training for the big game here next Saturday with Alliance high the first combat of the season involving Stark county teams. Barberton trimmed Alliance a week ago by three touchdowns but the eastern Stark county lads probably will give the Tigers a real argument, Saturday.
