Tigers Blast Alliance 44-7 In Touchdown Splurge
Webb Thrills Crowd With 3 Long Dashes; Aviators Score On 60 Yard March
By FRED J. BECKER
A point hungry Tiger, whose fangs had been dulled but not quite knocked out during the past two weeks, came roaring back Friday night at Tiger stadium to stage its greatest and most satisfying touchdown orgy of the 1945 scholastic football campaign.
Ripping and slashing along at a pace that even exceeded their great demonstration against the Red Riders of Weirton, W. Va., three weeks ago, Coach Augie Morningstar’s victory parched Bengals last night demonstrated, not only to their supporters but to themselves, that they possess a touchdown punch as they stream-rolled their way to a convincing 44 to 6 triumph over a band of formidable and fighting Alliance Aviators.
Tigers in Brilliant Exhibition
Held to tie scores the past two weeks after rolling up victories in their first two combats, the Tigers last night gave a scintillating all-around exhibition of football ability as they ran, plunged and passed their way to a seven touchdown spree to chalk up their third victory without defeat and their largest score of the season.
And it is well for the orange and black that if found its mislaid touchdown wallop for the scrappy Aviators invaded Massillon for their annual shindig with the Tigers primed to put up a whale of a fight and they did throughout most of the contest, marching 60 yards in the first quarter to score their lone touchdown and take a momentary lead by adding the extra point.
Regain Lead In Quick Order
But that Alliance touchdown just seemed to spur the Tigers on and before the game was over the Aviators were reeling before the lethal blows delivered by Morningstar’s warriors as they uncorked a touchdown parade that must have brought joy to the hearts of those Tiger fans who were beginning to have a faint suspicion that their boys might not have what it takes when the chips are down.
Any suspicions of that nature were thoroughly dispelled last night. The Tigers do have what it takes and the victory they registered over their old Stark county rival should make them mighty hard to handle from here on out, even though they do have such tough babies coming up as Mansfield, Warren, Cathedral Latin and Canton McKinley.
Last night’s victory was a sweet morsel for Coach Morningstar and his gladiators but it was a rather costly triumph. It was a typical Massillon-Alliance shindig with the Aviators inflicting quite a lot of punishment, and some of it a bit off color. Late in the game the Aviators were penalized half the distance to the goal for slugging.
Three Massillon players were quite severely injured with Bob Waltz, regular left guard, probably being lost for the balance of the season.
The stocky lineman had the ligaments in his left knee torn in the first half and it is doubtful if he will see any more action.
Gene Krisher, right tackle, had three front teeth knocked out, while Tom Brooks, right guard, sustained a badly cut lip that required two stitches to close. Both boys, however, remained in action until late in the game. Brooks having his damaged lip sewed up between halves.
Webb Paces Tigers
Burt Webb, nimble footed Negro halfback, paced the Tigers in their touchdown parade, galloping over the Alliance goal line to score four of Massillon’s tallies. Jack Zeller, Gene Zorger and Dan Byelene registered the other three.
Offensively the Tigers looked like a million dollars with Webb thrilling a crowd of 13,500 by three beautiful touchdown gallops, one for 53 yards, another for 31 and then a truly hair raising dash of 75 yards after intercepting an Alliance pass. Zeller scored his touchdown on a nifty forward pass from Don McGuire that was good for an overall gain of 53 yards. Zorger and Byelene scored on short plunges while Webb also tallied his fourth set of counters on a short dash through the line.
Except for those first few minutes in the opening quarter when the Aviators hit the Tigers with everything except the water bucket to march 60 yards for their lone touchdown, the orange and black dominated play. After the Aviators had tallied, the Bengals took a new lease on life and from then on their defensive play improved with the result that the Aviators threatened no more during the remainder of the battle and wilted rapidly in the last two quarters as the effect of Massillon’s deadly tackling began to reap its toll.
Once again the entire Tiger team distinguished itself by its fine defensive play and the work of the line on offense also showed great improvement over that of last week when Steubenville Wells held the orange and black to a 7 to 7 tie. Interference and blocking for ball carriers also was much better.
Outstanding defensively were the fine performances of Tony Uliveto, who replaced injured Bob Waltz, Merle Darrah, Krisher, Brooks, Zeller, Captain Fred Bonk, Jim Young and Bernie Green. Webb also played a bear of a game on defense, several times nailing Alliance runners after they had gotten into the clear. Virgil Edie, Gene Yost and McGhire also nailed a lot of Alliance ball toters.
Score In Every Quarter
The Tigers piled up two touchdowns in each of the first three quarters and then finished their night’s chore with one in the fourth.
The second team started the fourth quarter and scored the final touchdown. Third stringers went into the battle late in the final period.
It took just three plays for the Tigers to chalk up their first touchdown. Zeller took Maccioli’s kickoff and ran it back from the 30 to the 40. Webb went around d right end for our and McGuire rammed through left tackle for three.
Then Webb knifed through right tackle, cut back sharply to his left, turned loose the steam and in a jiffy was out in the clear and racing unmolested for the Alliance goal. He made it with yards to spare, completing a 53 yard gallop for Massillon’s first points.
Virgil Cocklin, the sophomore placement kicker, went in to try for the extra point but missed.
Then it was Alliance’s turn to take the spotlight and the big boys from the eastern section of Stark County made the most of their chance.
Aviators On The Move
Dick Strait, one of Alliance’s backfield speedsters, took McGuire’s kickoff on his 15 and raced it back to the Alliance 40 before he was tagged by Waltz and McGuire. Then the Aviators began to move and in 13 plays they had marched the ball 60 yards without a break for what proved to be their only touchdown.
With George Balogh, husky backfielder, spearheading the drive, the Aviators opened gaping holes in the Tigers line as they smashed steadily down the field. On their first offensive play, Balogh rammed through the line and was headed for pay dirt until Webb brought him down after a gain of 15 yards. Strait and Balogh made seven in two plunges and then Strait passed to left and Ed Krahling for 13 yards to put the ball on Massillon’s 29. Again Webb averted a touchdown by nailing Krahling after he had dashed into the open.
Balogh, Strait and Dean Russ, fullback, began to hammer the Tiger line for steady gains and soon the Aviators were on the Massillon four yard line for a first down. Strait smashed for two and then Blagoh plunged over for the points. Maccioli made the extra point by running across the goal line after taking a lateral from Strait and this point put the visitors ahead 7 to 6.
But not for long.
Zorger took the Alliance kickoff and raced it back to his 36 and five plays later the Tigers had chalked p their second to9uchdown to forge back into the lead where they stayed the rest of the battle. This time they took to the air to tally and the aerial assault hit the Aviators with the force of a block buster.
McGuire Pitches, Zeller Does Rest
McGuire, Webb and Zorger clicked off a first down in four plunges to the Massillon 47. Then McGuire decided to unlimber his pitching arm for the first time in the game. His effort was a beautiful long pass which nestled in Jack Zeller’s big hands far ahead of any Alliance warrior and Jack scampered about 20 yards for the second set of counters. The play was good for 53 yards. This time Webb plunged the ball over for the extra point and the Tigers were leading 13 to 7.
But Alliance was to be rocked plenty before the evening was over. Early in the second quarter Zeller took a punt from Strait and was downed on the Alliance 44. Webb’s feet were still hot so he ripped through right tackle again, cut back and raced to the Alliance 31 before being tackled, a gain of 13 yards. The next time Bert went to his right again, but this time he dashed around end and behind fine interference raced into the open and gave those hot feet the signal to go and when it was all over he had covered 31 yards on another brilliant dash for Massillon’s third set of counters and his second touchdown of the evening.
But young Mr. Webb’s torrid tootsies had not yet cooled off and he was still to turn in the game’s most thrilling run.
The Aviators were still fighting and after taking the kickoff they drove to Massillon’s 25 but there they were checked when Zeller intercepted a pass tossed by Balogh. However, the play put Massillon in a tough hole because Zeller made an illegal lateral to Zorger when he was about to be tackled and the officials slapped a penalty on the Bengals that took the ball back to the Massillon one-yard line.
McGuire punted to Krahling who was tackled on Massillon’s 32. This set the stage for Bert’s biggest thriller. After two plays Balogh uncorked a pass. Webb was at the right spot to intercept it, taking the ball on his 25 and then with his teammates clearing a path for him he raced 75 yards down the west side line for his third touchdown. Cocklin made good on his placement kick but the Tigers were guilty of holding and the point was erased. Set back 15 yards the Tigers tried a forward but it miss fired.
The start of the third quarter still found Webb in a point making mood. He took a poor punt by Strait and was downed on the Alliance 25. The Bengals made little progress until Webb unlimbered a pass to Zorger that was good for 21 yards, putting the ball on the four. Bert was stopped without gain on the next play but couldn’t be stopped a second time and plunged over for his fourth touchdown. Cocklin made good from placement and the Tigers were out in front 32 to 7.
A fumble by Balogh set up Massillon’s sixth touchdown a few minutes later. Uliveto covered the leather on the Alliance 32. Zorger flashed through right tackle and across the goal but the touchdown was ruled out because Massillon’s backfield was in motion.
Zorger Tallies
The Tigers were handed a five penalty but picked up 15 a play later when Alliance was penalized for illegal use of hands. This put the ball on visitors’ 19. McGuire and Webb reeled off 10 yards in two plays and then Zorger rammed to within six inches of the goal line. He went over on the next play. The attempt at conversion failed.
Coach Morningstar began to run in his reserves and they tallied the seventh touchdown in the final period.
After getting an Alliance punt on Massillon’s 44, Bill Gutschall, substitute fullback, touched off the touchdown march with a 21 yard spurt to the Alliance 35. Bob Richards picked up eight. Byelene fumbled but recovered for a loss of nine. Then Dan heaved a pass to Earl Johnson that picked up 14 yards to the visitors’ 22. Byelene and Gutschall lugged the leather to the five in two plays from where Byelene dashed over for the score. Again the attempted conversion failed.
That was all the scoring with the third stringers taking over about two minutes before the game ended.
The points this time far outshone the statistics, although the Tigers held the edge in everything but first downs. These were even, 11 for each team.
Massillon had a net gain of 290 yards, compiling a gross of 313 with a loss of 23. Alliance had a net of 163, with a gross of 177 and a loss of 14.
The Tigers completed three of six passes for 91 yards, one of them for a touchdown. Alliance completed three of 11 for 55 yards and had three intercepted. No Massillon passes were intercepted.
More Like It
Massillon – 44 Pos. Alliance – 7
Zeller LH Krahling
Green LT Vernon
Waltz LG Reese
Darrah C Edwards
Brooks RG Cobbs
Krisher RT Pucci
Bonk RE M. Maccioli
Edie QB Plum
Webb LHB Strait
McGuire RHB Balogh
Zorger FB Russ
Score by quarters:
Massillon 13 12 13 6 44
Alliance 7 0 0 0 7
Touchdowns:
Massillon – Webb 4; Zeller; Zorger; Byelene.
Alliance – Balogh.
Points after touchdown:
Massillon – Webb (plunge); Cocklin (placekick).
Alliance – M. Maccioli (run).
Substitutes:
Massillon – Cocklin, rh; Giloff, fb; Uliveto, lg; Young, lg; Byelene, lh; Yost, qb; Richards, hb; Gutshall, fb; Johnson, le; Bishop, re; Ceckler, rt; Piper, rg; Dowd, c; Schumacher, lg; Chovan, hb; Schludecker, le; Hogan, re; Whitman, c; Olenick, fb; Edie, pb; Smith, lt; Krisher, rt; Sandy, lg; Thomason, rg.
Alliance – Myers, rt; Nixon, lg; A. Maccioli, fb; Tate, c.
Referee – Long.
Umpire – Graf.
Head Linesman – Schell.
Field Judge – Rupp.
STATISTICS
Mass. Alliance
First downs 11 11
Yards gained by rushing 222 122
Passes attempted 6 11
Passes completed 3 3
Yards gained by passing 91 53
Passes had intercepted 0 3
Gross yardage 313 177
Yards lost 23 14
Net yardage 290 163
Number of punts 2 3
Average distance of punts 34 8
Average return of punts 5 3
Number of kickoffs 8 3
Average distance of kickoffs 43 35
Average return of kickoffs 7 17
Fumbles 4 1
Times ball lost on fumbles 1 1
Number of penalties 6 4
Yards lost on penalties 50 60
