Tigers Defeat Canton Lincoln 60-0
40 Massillon Players Given Opportunity To Compete In Grid Game
By LUTHER EMERY
Displaying power to spare, the Tigers of Washington high school slapped Canton Lincoln down 60-0 in Tiger Stadium Friday evening and there’s scarcely a person among the crowd of 11,366 but who would tell you that the score could have been much higher had Coach Chuck Mather wanted it to be.
The Tigers combined a hard running attack with improved passing to roll up their sixth victory over Lincoln in seven games, and score more points than were made in the 1947 and 1948 games combined.
The Lions, who have yet to beat the local team, managed to hold the Tigers to a scoreless tie in 1945 when they had the best eleven in the history of the school and one that earned a share of the state championship.
It didn’t take the Massillon juggernaut long to get rolling last night, and after scoring twice in the first period on a forward pass, Don James to Don Slicker, and a 27-yard run by Dick Jacobs it was evident that a lot of substitutes were going to get an opportunity to play a lot of football.
They did.
Coach Mather didn’t clean off the bench, for his sophomores have a game today here with the Warren reserves, but he did give 40 boys an opportunity to get a taste of the leather and that is a lot of substituting.
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THE TIGERS’ 60 points are reflected in the statistics where they made 16 first downs and gained 556 yards, 394 by carrying the ball and 162 by use of the forward pass.
Possessing a weight advantage, the Massillon gridders hit hard, blocked well, and scored almost at will. They kept Lincoln in its own backyard, save for one occasion when the Lions drove to the Tiger 25-yard line only to lose the ball when John Francisco, Massillon’s sophomore quarterback, covered Jack LeBeau’s fumble.
Chuck Mather was well pleased with the performance of his players, but wouldn’t commit himself as to whether he considers this year’s team better than that of last year. “We’ll wait until Nov. 19 to answer that,” he said.
He had a lot to be thankful for too. None of his players was injured seriously. Clarence Johnson was touched up a bit on the hip, but went back in for a few plays after being pulled because of the injury. He only played a few minutes of the game, however.
Lincoln players escaped serious injury too. They carried Guard Waldo Cross off the field on a stretcher when he complained of his back hurting him, but examination by a physician revealed that it was only a bruise and not serious.
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IN GIVING his younger players an opportunity to perform, Mather found several boys who showed they had it in the clutch. Freddie Waikem, substitute halfback, ran hard with the leather as did Glenn, “The Tank”, Tunning. Jim Corbett, fourth string end, showed he knew how to catch a forward pass.
The substitutes, in fact, rammed over three of the touchdowns and the regulars got the other six.
While Lincoln was unable to make much of a contest out of the game, the fans got their money’s worth watching Massillon’s offensive efforts, for the Tigers did most everything – scored on long runs, tossed short and long passes and pulled the old Statue of Liberty play out of the bag for six points.
It was possibly the best executed play of the game, Dick Jacobs taking the ball off the palm of Quarterback Don James and racing 34 yards to score. Longest pass of the game was a 42-yard Big Bertha, Clarence Johnson to Don Slicker that actually traveled 52 yards through the air, considering that Johnson was 10 yards behind the line of scrimmage when he threw the ball.
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THE TIGERS punted but once all evening, Freddie Close getting off a nice kick good for 54 yards, the only time the locals had their backs far enough to the wall to force them to boot the ball.
Mather started Ray Lane at fullback in place of Crable because the Ace was tardy for an afternoon meeting of the squad. Lane played good ball on both offense and defense and scored one of the Tigers’ touchdowns.
In fact six different players shared in the scoring, which speaks well for the team. Slicker, Jacobs, Crable, Waikem, Ernie Russell and Jerry Krisher all got points. Krisher made his six on kicks from placement after touchdowns.
The Tigers scored the first two times they got the ball. Lincoln through winning the toss, elected to kickoff and Clarence Johnson lugged the leather back 11 yards to his 38. Penalties fizzled the Massillon attack until interference was ruled on a James-Joe Gleason pass that produced a first down on the locals’ 47. Lane and Jacobs went to work and moved the ball to the 26 where James rifled it to Slicker for the first points of the game.
The second touchdown came three minutes later when Lincoln, held for three downs, punted out its own 38. Crable moved the ball up 11 yards and on the next play Jacobs went the remaining 26 around right end.
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THE LIONS stopped the Tigers next time the locals got the ball, but Crable wheeled over for six points on the third play of the second quarter, with a dash of 46 yards. Lincoln received the kickoff, punted out on the Tiger 30, and on the first play from scrimmage, Crable scampered for 70 yards and another TD.
Mather sent in his substitutes after that and the first time they got the ball they marched it 52 yards with Waikem taking it over form the seven after he and Tunning had lugged it most of the way.
That ended the touchdown parade for the first half.
The Lincoln goal was crossed three times in the third period with the Tigers marching the kickoff back from their 30 to pay dirt. The payoff was a 15-yard run by Crable, but the ball was placed in position for the score on Johnson’s 42-yard throw to Slicker.
Recovery of a Lincoln fumble on the Tiger 43 by Chuck Vliet, paved the way for the next points in two plays. Crable tossed to Slicker for a first down on the Lincoln 34 and Jacobs went the rest of the way on a Statue handoff from James.
With the lineup replenished with substitutes, the Tigers again forced Lincoln to punt the ball going out on the Lions’ 31. Lane scampered 26 to the four-yard line and went over for the score.
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WITH THIRD and fourth stringers being rushed into the game, the locals scored but once in the final period. Jerry Howe set the substitutes in motion when he pounced on a Lion fumble on the latter’s 24-yard line. Two plays later Ernie Russell was traveling 18 yards for the last points of the game.
The score was more than twice as great as any previous victory the Tigers had registered over a Lincoln team in the seven games played between the two schools. The largest previous score was the ……unreadable…..Lions in 1946. Last year the Tigers won 25-0.
Mather will meet with his coaches Sunday to plan the strategy to be followed next week in preparing for the game with Barberton to be played Friday in the Akron Rubber Bowl. Barberton beat Akron South 27-12 last night and South a week ago measured Mansfield 34-27.
The lineups and summaries:
MASSILLON
ENDS – SLICKER, GLEASON, Studer, W. Brenner, Corbett, Houston, Murray, B. Brenner.
TACKLES – KRISHER, SCHUMACHER, Stanford, Roderick, Gibson, Duke, Kalleker, Shilling.
GUARDS – SHINE, REICHENBACH, Kracker, G. Howe, Laps, Grunder, Turkal.
CENTERS – PATT, Dowd, Martin, Vliet.
QUARTERBACKS – JAMES, Close, Francisco.
HALFBACKS – JACOBS, JOHNSON, Waikem, Russell, Tunning.
FULLBACKS – LANE, Crable, R. Howe, F. Grier, Stoner.
LINCOLN
ENDS – HALTER, BUSH, Bleahu.
TACKLES – BACHTEL, GROETZ, Malloy.
GUARDS – DRUNKENBROD, CROSS, Flick, Malhiero, Rich.
CENTER – CAIRNS.
QUARTERBACKS – LeBEAU, Boldt.
HALFBACKS – SCHOEPPNER, DUELL, Dugoli, Greenwald.
FULLBACK – CORY.
Score by periods:
Massillon 14 20 20 6 60
Touchdowns:
Massillon – Slicker; Jacobs 2; Crable 3; Waikem; Russell; Lane.
Points after touchdown:
Massillon – Krisher 6 (placekicks).
Referee – McPhee.
Umpire – Boone.
Head Linesman – Gross.
Field Judge – Jenkins.
Statistics Of The Game
Mass. Lincoln
First downs 16 7
Passes attempted 17 11
Passes completed 7 1
Had passes intercepted 4 1
Yards gained passing 162 22
Yards gained rushing 394 118
Total yards gained 556 140
Yards lost 15 22
Times kicked off 9 2
Average kickoff (yards) 49 34
Returned kickoffs 9yards) 11 138
Times penalized 10 1
Yards penalized 60 5
Times fumbled 2 5
Lost ball on fumble 0 4
