CROWD OF 13,000 SEES TIGERS BEAT LEHMAN 52-0
SECOND TEAM PLAYS OVER HALF OF GAME
Long Pass And Interception Crack Stubborn Lehman Resistance In Second Period; Band Sparkles In Flat Foot Floogie
By LUTHER EMERY
Those Gold Dust twins, Fred Toles and Horace Gillom and an up and coming substitute, George Fabian, by name, pulled downs heaps of glory here Friday evening as the Washington high Tigers stretched their season’s record to eight straight victories and advanced a step in the Stark county series at the expense of Canton Lehman 52-0.
A crowd of between 13,000 and 14,000 spectators, as large as any this season, was treated to another of those football shows that have made this season’s attendance a record in the history of Washington high athletics. Already 87,000 people have seen the Tigers play and two games that will draw at least 25,000 more, remain to be played.
Fabian Leading Ground Gainer
Give every member of the team credit and place the Massillon and Lehman bands high in your praise, but don’t overlook the performance of Toles, Gillom and Fabian.
It was the Gold Dust twins, first Toles, and then Gillom that made a stubborn Lehman team crack early in the second period and it was Fabian in the role of substitute who scored more yards than any other person on the field as well as the honor of making the longest run of the evening.
And while handing out the glory, don’t forget the weatherman, who held off a rain storm for two hours. And keep your fingers crossed, for that is what the Tigers want Nov. 19 when they meet their second Canton foe and arch rival, McKinley high.
McKinley beat Lehman, 48-6 and there you have a comparison.
The Tigers chalked up their 52-0 triumph last night with the first team on the bench for two and one-half periods. The victory was more than anyone had expected in view of Lehman’s achievement last week in trimming the previously unbeaten Columbus North, the potential central Ohio champions.
Tigers Improving
The varsity, from all indications is just beginning to come into its own. Its performances of the last three weeks have heaped surprise on surprise until one wonders just how strong the eleven really is.
It didn’t look a whole lot better than Lehman the first quarter, but Lehman weakened after Toles speared Fuller’s pass to end its only scoring threat and it lost its spirit completely when Gillom six plays later went high into the air to pull down George Slusser’s pass from his own 41-yard line and race 25 yards to a touchdown.
Those two plays cracked Lehman wide open and before the period could end the Tigers had dug their cleats behind the Lehman goal three more times.
“My team appeared to lose all of the fight after that touchdown pass,” said James Robinson, Lehman coach, after the game. “I think I have a better ball club than the score indicates. In fact I know I have.”
Then turning to Coach Paul Brown, Robinson added, “I want to thank you for playing your substitutes, but honestly I wish you would have let your first team continue in the game.”
Brown replied, “Your players are young and –“. But Robinson broke in with, “I know, but if a team can run up 100 points, it has a right to do so. That is my honest opinion.”
Lehman used an unorthodox defense that confused the Tigers in the early stages of the game. The Bears lined up with a five-man line, but hopped one and sometimes two players in as the ball was passed to confuse the Massillon linemen on their blocking assignments.
“It was the only thing I could do,” Robinson said after the game. “I was afraid of that flat pass and I tried to come up with the wings as long as possible.”
Brown was well pleased with the performance of his eleven and most of all he was gratified that none of the first stringers suffered any injuries. To chance injury as little as possible and to give the subs an opportunity to play was the principal reason why he only used his regulars one and one-half periods. A second team carried on for two quarters and the third stringers finished the last half of the fourth period. The second stringers scored one half of the points, the score being 26-0 when they took over the evening’s work.
Tiger Line Shines Again
For the third straight week, the Tiger line played a whale of a game. It held the Polar Bears to two first downs while clearing the way for 16 for Massillon. It yielded but 66 yards from scrimmage and threw back players for 16 yards in losses. It charged forward to make it possible for Massillon backs to gain the net total of 365 yards from scrimmage and it helped the blockers in protecting Slusser so thoroughly that he had loads of time to pick out his receivers and hurl his passes down the field.
From tackle to tackle, there wasn’t an outstanding performer on varsity or yannigan teams. To name one you must name them all and that is done in the lineup. Every boy made his contribution to the victory which places Massillon on a level with Canton McKinley in the county series. Each team has won two games.
The Tigers resorted to little passing last night. They didn’t need to. In fact, the second stringers didn’t throw one the last two and one-half periods and Slusser tossed but four. Two of these were completed, both to Gillom. The first was good for a gain of 59 yards and a touchdown and the second also to Gillom for 11 yards and a first down on the 12-yard line.
A high wind made punters look good when kicking with their backs to it and just the opposite when kicking against it.
In punting Lehman held its only advantage in the statistics. Wallick averaged 36 yards on his punts while Gillom and Kaspar Lechleiter averaged only 23 yards. However, with one exception all of the Tiger punts were against the wind. The exception was a boot that rode the crest of a wave, 65 yards from scrimmage. Add 10 more yards for the distance Lechleiter stood behind the line of scrimmage and you find the flight of the ball was 75 yards.
Shriver also got off one of the same kind early in the game.
With Lehman tackling fiercely, there was no indication the first quarter of the game would develop into the walk-a-way it did. In fact the Polar Bears came fighting back after the first Tiger touchdown to wage a successful punting duel in the wind. A well placed boot went outside on the Massillon five-yard line and when Gillom tried to kick back, the wind caught the ball and blew it back to the 17-yard line.
Lehmans’ Big Moment
It was Lehman’s big moment and when two plays only gained two yards Fuller tried a southpaw pass to Shriver, Fred Toles was on the job and hauled in the ball on the
eight-yard line to end the threat. In five plays, Getz and Snyder carried the ball to a first down on their 41. There Slusser took the oval, dropped back and pegged it toward the speeding Gillom, who raced in between two Polar Bear players, timed a perfect leap, snatched it away from them and scampered 25 yards for a touchdown. Lehman seemed to realize it was useless after that, for touchdowns came cheaply the rest of the game and even a string of substitutes failed to stem the scoring.
Hooray For Subs
Massillon Pos. Lehman
Toles LE Uebing
Lucius LT Hale
Russell LG Bauer
Martin C Banks
Houston RG Steineck
Henderson RT Wallick
Gillom RE Oyler
Slusser QB Fuller
Getz LH Hankes
Zimmerman RH Shriver
Snyder FB Clark
Score by periods:
Massillon 6 26 14 6 52
Substitutions:
Massillon – Fabian; Pizzino; R. Clendening; James; Lechleiter; Foster; Croop; Sweezey; Page; Wallace; Appleby; Mauger, Brogilo; W. Clendening; Kester; Kingham; Pettay; Oliver; Cardinal; Moody; France.
Lehman – Ashton; Elsaesser; Boone; Wyler; Cromley.
Touchdowns:
Massillon – Snyder; Gillom; Slusser; Getz; Pizzino 2; Fabian 2.
Points after touchdown:
Massillon – Getz 2 (placekick); James 2 (carried).
Referee – Brubaker.
Umpire – Howells.
Head Linesman – Wrobleski.
Game Statistics
Mass. Lehman
First downs 16 2
Yards gained rushing 372 66
Yards lost rushing 7 16
Net gain rushing 365 50
Yards gained passing 70 4
Total yards gained 435 54
Passes attempted 4 5
Passes completed 2 1
Passes incompleted 2 2
Passes intercepted 0 2
Number of punts 6 7
Average punts, yards 23 36
Number of kickoffs 9 1
Average kickoffs yards 46 49
Punts returned, yards 0 9
Kickoffs returned 18 82
Lost ball on fumble 0 4
Yards penalized 35 5
INDIVIDUAL GAINING
(Massillon)
Player Gained Lost Total
Slusser 45 2 43
Getz 40 3 37
Snyder 85 0 85
Fabian 119 2 117
Pizzino 10 0 10
Toles 16 0 16
James 57 0 57
_______ _____ ______
Total 372 7 365
