TIGERS CRUSH STUBBORN ALLIANCE GRIDDERS 47-0
HILLIS HUME UNABLE TO CROSS GOAL LINE
State’s Leading Scorer, Always A Threat, Proves Better Punter Than Runner As Season’s Largest Crowd Looks On
By LUTHER EMERY
The Washington high Tigers defied the air raid of the Alliance Aviators Friday evening and turned back the bombers 47-0 before the largest crowd that has ever attended a football game in Massillon exclusive of Massillon-Canton McKinley games.
Between 16,000 and 17,000 fans overflowed Tiger Stadium to form a background for a setting of color that has gained the Massillon gridders a wide reputation in the state.
Aviators Weaken Last Period
For three periods the two undefeated elevens were locked in terrific combat, but Alliance gradually weakened in the fourth quarter and the tiring Aviators could not gear themselves to the phenomenal speed of “Pokey” Blunt, Tiger substitute halfback and the hard running of George Slusser.
By sheer strength and force the Tigers managed to shove over a touchdown in each of the first two periods to lead 13-0 at the half and they got a cheap third one in the opening minutes of the third quarter when they recovered an Alliance fumble on the six-yard line.
But even in the face of 20 points the Aviators lost none of their grit and refused to be scared by the four-time Ohio champions. They yielded ground stubbornly as they fought back yard by yard, until finally the local eleven managed to crash through for a touchdown in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter.
Aviators Finally Crash
Those were the points that finally broke down Alliance. Gains came easier thereafter and the Tigers crossed the goal line three more times on long runs by Slusser and Blunt.
Never did Alliance get near the Tiger goal. Twice in the second period the Aviators carried the ball by the midfield stripe, but never got closer than the 40-yard line. Only once in the last half did they get into Massillon territory and that came on a fancy return of a kickoff by Hillis Hume, star back of the Aviators, who tucked the ball under his arm and raced 33 yards before being downed on the Tiger 49-yard line. He picked up a yard from scrimmage, but on the second play, Horace Gillom regained the ball for the Tigers when he intercepted Hume’s pass and ran the ball back into Alliance territory.
Hume was a constant threat. There was no letting down one minute in vigilance or the Alliance star would have gotten away. The state’s leading scorer, he made two good runs from scrimmage, one for 17 yards and one for 14, but his best effort was the brilliant return of Getz’s kickoff early in the fourth quarter. He nearly got away, but was bottled up on the sidelines just as he crossed the midfield stripe.
The Tigers had every respect for Hume. On only two occasions did he get the kickoff. All other times, Getz carried out his instructions and kicked the ball out of bounds as far back as possible. Coach Paul Brown didn’t want any part of Hume in an open field such as a kickoff provides. The Alliance ace was accorded little support on his ball carrying efforts from scrimmage, so hard did the Massillon tacklers charge in.
He carried the ball 15 times, gained 45 yards and was thrown for a total of six yards in losses.
But while Hume did not sparkle in running last night, he attracted attention in another way with his accurate punting. The statistics show Gillom averaged more yards on his kicks, but Hume’s ability to place the ball out of bounds in the vicinity of the five-yard line contributed a major portion to the Alliance defense.
The punting throughout the night was the best that has been seen here in years. Each team kicked five times; Gillom averaging 43.4 yards and Hume 38.4 yards from the line of scrimmage.
Gillom Kicks A Beauty
Gillom got off a dazzling punt from the goal line in the second period; Hume taking the ball on his own 33. While the ball actually traveled 67 yards, punts are computed from the line of scrimmage and as a result the boot can only be listed in the statistics at 56 yards.
The Tiger eleven, playing without the services of two regulars, Capt. Earl Martin and Fullback Bill Zimmerman, displayed all of their vaunted power in routing the Aviators. They mouse trapped the tackles for their first touchdown, completed two out of four passes for 48 yards and gained 414 additional yards by rushing. Of the 414 yards, 189 were made as the Aviators weakened in the fourth quarter. First downs were 14 to five in Massillon’s favor.
The Tigers followed the usual procedure of trying to crush their opponents’ morale by scoring the first time they got the ball. They succeeded but it took 12 plays to march the ball 63 yards. Two mouse traps were set to catch the touchdown and both worked. Ray Getz whirling around right end for 12 yards on the first and Gillom following around left end for the last 17 and a touchdown.
The Tigers began another drive late in the opening period from their own six-yard line that went far into the second period before the Alliance goal was finally reached. Alliance actually had stopped the drive back on the Massillon 35-yard line, but a 15-yard penalty for roughing Gillom when he punted, moved the ball up to midfield and enabled the locals to continue their attack. The teams battled over every yard of ground the remaining 50 yards. Red James finally going over from the two-yard line. Getz kicked goal.
Alliance struck back after the second touchdown with its first threat of the game as Hume got away for one run of 17 yards to carry the ball into Tiger territory. The Tiger linemen entrenched themselves on the 42-yard line, however, and forced Hume to punt. He placed a beauty out of bounds on the five-yard line.
The Tigers threatened again in the closing minutes of the half when Slusser pegged a pass to Getz from the Alliance 32. Getz got down to the five-yard line before he was tackled. A five-yard penalty moved the ball back 10 yards from the goal and an attempt to set a mouse trap lost 15 more when the ball was fumbled.
Break Sets up Touchdown
Alliance had just succeeded in stopping a Tiger drive and had forced Gillom to punt out of bounds on the 12-yard line, when a break in the game put the ball in position for the Tigers third touchdown in the third period. An Alliance fumble was covered by Massillon on the six-yard line and on the first play Clendening went through his right tackle for the touchdown without a hand being laid on him. Getz kicked the point.
The fourth touchdown drive began late in the third period when Slusser intercepted Hume’s pass on the 30-yard stripe and stepped off four yards before being tackled. Nine plays were run off before Roscoe Clendening finally plunged over from the two-yard line. Getz’s placement kick increased the score to 27-0, the touchdown coming early in the fourth quarter.
Hume got away to a 33-yard run on the following kickoff and the Aviators worked the ball into Tiger territory only to lose it when Gillom intercepted Hume’s pass and ran back to the Alliance 34. Slusser, cut hard through tackle and ran around Hume in a 34-yard touchdown dash.
The Aviators came back with another drive that barely got over the 50-yard line before it was finally smothered and Hume was forced to punt out on the Massillon 17.
Clendening in two attempts smashed to a first down on his 29 and that set the stage for Pokey Blunt. He ripped off 48 yards for a first down on the Alliance 23 and after Clendening was thrown for a two-yard loss. Blunt ran another 25 yards for a touchdown around left end. Again Getz kicked goal.
The Tigers kicked off to Alliance and on the first series, Bob Foster pulled down one of Hume’s passes and ran back five yards to the Alliance 39-yard line. Slusser moved the pigskin to the 32 and Blunt was again paged to take the ball around left end on a deep reverse for the remaining 32 yards. Getz kicked another point, his fifth in seven attempts, to end the scoring at 47 points.
Last Period Scoring Saves Wagers
The Tigers’ 27-point barrage in the last quarter saved the day for quite a few sportsmen who gave away 30 points in wagers. They were plenty nervous the first three periods of the game.
The victory was the Tigers’ seventh straight over Alliance. Not since 1932 have the Aviators succeeded in taking the measure of the local eleven – but Alliance is building this year and there may come a day.
The victory was Massillon’s 18th straight and the defeat was the first of the season for Alliance.
As expected the Aviators tried to confuse their Tiger opponents defensively. They frequently hopped a seventh man into their six-man line and at times presented a 6-2-3 defense for pass protection.
What hopes Alliance had of bombing the Tigers with touchdowns were blasted by a good pass defense that five times turned Alliance aerial attempts into boomerangs. These pass interceptions helped stop Alliance drives. The hard charge of the Massillon line rushed Hume and he had little time to pick out his receivers.
18 For Tigers
Massillon Pos. Alliance
Getz LE Welbush
Pedrotty LT Chernikovic
Russell LG Iannotti
Appleby C Dawson
Henderson RG Stoica
Swezey RT Comsa
Gillom RE Stanfield
Foster QB Hume
Slusser LH Rogel
James RH McGregor
Clendening FB Zupanic
Score by periods:
Massillon 6 7 7 27 47
Substitutions:
Massillon – Kingham, fb; Fabian, lh; Blunt, rh; Rogich, c; Pizzino, fb; Kester, le; Moody, re; Cardinal, rg; Wallace, lg; Broglio, lt; Croop, rt; White, rh.
Touchdowns:
Massillon – Gillom; James; Clendening 2; Slusser; Blunt 2.
Points after touchdown:
Massillon – Getz 5 (placekicks).
Referee – Lobach.
Umpire – Jenkins.
Head Linesman – Howells.
Game Statistics
Mass. Alliance
First downs 14 5
Yards rushing 414 50
Yards passing 48 28
Total yards gained 462 73
Yards lost 19 14
Net yards gained 443 59
Passes completed 2 3
Passes intercepted 5 0
Times penalized 6 2
Yards penalized 60 10
Lost ball on fumbles 0 1
Times punted 5 5
Average punt (yards) 43.4 38.4
Punts returned (yards) 7 23
Times kicked off 8 1
Kickoff returns (yards) 32 39
