TIGER PASSES TROUNCE AKRON VIKINGS 46 TO 0
Mike Byelene and Dick Shrake Pitch Massillon Eleven to Seventh Victory of Season and 17th Straight Grid Triumph
By LUTHER EMERY
As football players perhaps the Washington high eleven would make a good baseball team. With Bob Glass and Ed Herring taking a day off Saturday afternoon to give their “game” legs a rest, the Tigers batteries worked out against Akron North and pitched a 46-0 victory.
Mike Byelene and Dick Shrake did the flinging and Charley Anderson, Odell Gillom, Dudley Dixon and Frank Wurzbacher the catching. They scored three touchdowns, gained 223 yards from scrimmage, made two points after touchdown and placed the ball in position for one other touchdown, with their passes.
Spectacular Passes
When a line play failed to work, Byelene and Shrake pitched and their receivers caught everything within sight even though they had to reach out and grab it with one hand.
Only two of their passes were intercepted and a couple of others grounded while two of those completed were touchdown plays good for 61 yards and 53 yards, the former tossed by Byelene traveling 50 through the air before it nestled into the arms of Odell Gillom, who caught it way beyond the North safety man to score the first six points of the ball game.
It was the Tigers’ seventh triumph of the season and their 17th consecutive victory.
Tigers Not Impressive
Despite their 46 points and 22 first downs, the Tigers were not impressive Saturday and it is easy to understand why. Their two ace ball carriers were on the bench throughout. Mike Byelene only played one and a half periods, while the entire second team played half of the second period and all of the fourth. In addition to this every player knew that North hadn’t won a ball game all season and no one w as taking any chance on getting banged up with pile driving methods.
Then too, Lu Hosfield, the young North coach, turned up with a cockeyed defense designed to mass the secondary at the point of contact. This frequently stopped the Tiger running attack but opened the way for passing.
The visitors put up a stubborn fight and turned up a good offensive player in Joe Campanale, the only veteran on the team. Give him Massillon’s line and Campanale would go places.
Occasionally the Vikings tried one of the razzle dazzle plays that made them famous in their undefeated season in 1935, but they could gain little ground. A forward off a double lateral early in the ball game was their best effort, but the receiver dropped the forward pass which would have given him a nice gain.
With Glass and Herring on the bench, Dick Shrake and Phil Pizzino got their chance Saturday. Shrake got away several times for long gains, tossed a touchdown pass and one for a point after touchdown and carried two points over after touchdown, while Pizzino scored two touchdowns, one on a run of 39 yards featured by some high class blocking by Don Snavely, Tiger center.
The latter played a whale of a ball game and his blocks on two occasions were responsible for touchdowns. One was on Pizzino’s run, the other when Byelene intercepted a pass and dashed 70 yards for a touchdown.
Brown Checks Rally
Had not Coach Brown taken out his starting lineup and substituted a new team midway in the second quarter, there’s no telling what the score would have been. North was demoralized after the 32nd point went over the goal line and the Massillon coach through the substitutions checked further scoring in the second period.
The Tigers only bagged two touchdowns the last half, one in each of the third and fourth periods, despite the fact the first string line played the entire third quarter.
They started the second half in a bad way by fumbling on the kickoff, North recovering on the Massillon 24-yard line. Two offside penalties and a four-yard gain gave North a first down on the 10-yard line. There the Tiger gridders went into their eight-man line and stopped the drive on the six-yard line.
North never got the ball into Massillon territory again and the first down was one of two the Vikings made all day, the other also being helped by a penalty.
Dixon Goes Over
The Tigers kicked back and when they finally did get the ball again, an intercepted pass stopped their drive. It was not until late in the period that North again began to yield ground, Dudley Dixon going over for the only touchdown in the closing minutes of their period. The second team scored the fourth period touchdown and the last of the ball game. Ernie Edwards spearing one of Dick Shrake’s passes with one hand and dashing 24 yards to score. Another pass, this one to Frank Wurzbacher, who you will see more of next year, produced the 46th point.
As far as the fireworks were concerned, they all took place in the first half.
Byelene, who would rather toss a football than eat, called for a pass the first time the Tigers got the ball. Shrake had just brought a North punt back to his 39, when Byelene took the ball from center, faced back to the 29-yard line and fired at Gillom who streaked down the center of the field. They had North crossed up for the Viking secondary had gathered near the line of scrimmage.
The crowd sensed a touchdown as the ball sailed through the air. It came down into Gillom’s arms on the 20-yard line and he scampered over the goal without anyone touching him.
Anderson Spears One
Only a couple of minutes later the spectacular took place again. This time it was a pass, Byelene to Charley Anderson that electrified the stands. Charley made a spectacular catch as he shook loose a couple of tacklers and dashed 30 yards for a touchdown. The net gain on the play was 53 yards. Shrake scored the extra point on a sweep around his left end.
The quarter closed at 13-0, but on the third play of the second period, Pizzino went across from the one-yard line to end a drive of 60 yards and Shrake again bucked the ball over for the extra point.
North received but did not keep the ball long as Byelene gathered in a long pass on his 30 and running behind Snavely’s fine interference, streaked down the east side line 70 yards for a touchdown. An attempted pass for the extra point was too high for Gillom to reach.
The score reached 32-0 the next time the Tigers got the pigskin. Shrake started it by a
25-yard return of a punt to the 39-yard line. There Pizzino was turned loose through his left tackle and he raced for a touchdown with Snavely taking out the last man in his way.
A new Massillon team went in and with Dudley Dixon doing some nifty running, the subs carried the ball from their own 30 to the 10-yard line where the gun kept them from scoring.
The local eleven emerged from the game without any injuries and prepared to practice this week for the invasion of Massillon field by Columbus East next Saturday.
A small crowd attended Saturday’s game. There were no more than 2,000 fans in the stands that now will accommodate 15,000.
In recognition of the patronage received from fans in Canal Fulton and Jackson township, the management had the Canal Fulton band, and the Canal Fulton and Jackson township football teams as guests Saturday. The Beach City band and the Brewster and Navarre teams will be invited to attend next Saturday’s game.
The Booster club will meet tonight at the school. Booster meetings will be “hot” meetings from now until the Massillon-Canton game.
Still Going
Massillon Pos. North
Gillom LE Slovisky
J. Anderson LT King
Wyatt LG Gingo
Snavely C Capatosta
Miller RG Kochman
Peters RT Phillips
C. Anderson RE Lutz
Byelene QB Yale
Shrake LH Roma
Snyder RH Testa
Pizzino FB Campanale
Score by periods:
Massillon 13 19 7 7 46
Substitutions:
Massillon – MacMichael, t; Toles, hb; Edwards, e; Herman, hb; Swoger, t; Lee, c; Miller, t; Greenfelder, g; Howard, g; Sedjo, g; Wurzbacher, e; Endres, c; Lucius, g; Dixon,hb; Harsh, hb.
North – Bestro, le; Ostroski, hb; Kolodoski, c.
Touchdowns:
Massillon – Gillom; C. Anderson; Pizzino 2; Byelene; Dixon; Edwards.
Points after touchdown:
Massillon – Shrake 2 (carried); Anderson and Wurzbacher (passes).
Referee – Howells.
Umpire – Barrett.
Head Linesman – Boone.
