Tigers Show Power In Defeating Akron Central 49-0
44 Massillon Players Given Chance To Show In Opening Grid Game
By LUTHER EMERY
Chuck Mather could have named his score and made it Friday evening when the Washington high Tigers defeated Akron Central 49-0, but he chose to substitute freely and thus kept from doubling that figure.
Because of the liberal substitutions, 44 wearers of orange and black had an opportunity to perform before the nose counted crowd of 11,103 fans in the opening game of the 1950 scholastic season here.
A big, rugged line, faster than one would expect for its size, and enjoying a weighty advantage over its Rubber City opponent, blasted holes for the Tiger backs to romp through at will and with safety.
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THE MASSILLON gridders smashed to three touchdowns the first period, and added two more the second quarter to lead 35-0 going into the second half. They grabbed two more T.D.’s in the first three minutes of the third quarter, and from there on in the parade to and from the bench was under way. One had a fairly good idea who was playing the first two periods but after that the changes came so rapid boys were in and out of the game before you awoke to the fact that they were even in uniform.
It is too early to say how good the 1950 edition of Tigertown is, and until a stronger team than Akron Central comes along, it will be hard to judge the potential strength of the eleven, but the squad showed sufficient last night to convince most fans that it will take a lot of football to upset the Bengals this season.
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MATHER tried to brush off the score as “one of those things” but underneath his remarks one could discern that he was pretty well satisfied with the performance.
“We still need a lot of smoothing up,” he said, “But I liked the way some of the boys worked.” He said the game was considerably rougher than it appeared from the stands, and there were quite a few split lips and scratches when the boys hit the showers, and rinsed off the dirt and perspiration. There were no serious injuries however. Leg cramps caused the removal of two players, Ernie Russell and Bob Grier.
Mather used a partial double platoon system, keeping three of his offensive players in the lineup for defense, and sending eight substitutes in to make up the remainder of the team.
The game was uninteresting from a standpoint of a contest for there was no doubt from the opening gun but that the local team would make a run-away of the score.
Some sensational passing and running plays sparked the interest of fans. There was a surprising lateral from Fred Close to Bob Howe followed by the latter’s long pass to Cliff Streeter, good for 53 yards and the first touchdown. There was a 56-yard punt return by Bill Stoner for the second score and a 47-yard jaunt off the trap by Howe for the third set of points. There was a 22-yard run by Fred Waikem in which he threaded his way through a broken field for a touchdown, a 32-yard peg from Close to Streeter for another and a 50-yard run by Ray Lane for still another.
In fact all of the touchdowns came on plays from way out in the ball park with the exception of one which Waikem made from the nine-yard line.
The other points of the game were five scored after touchdowns, four of them by Jerry Krisher and one by Howe and a safety in the last five seconds which resulted from Central’s Lalo Biazeff being tossed behind his goal while attempting to punt.
The Tigers rolled up 499 yards from scrimmage, 345 by rushing and 154 by passing and registered 13 first downs to Central’s five.
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THE VISITORS only once reached the 20-yard line, that in the fourth quarter when Tiger fourth stringers composed most of the local team’s line-up. The youngsters held for downs and then marched back to come within a yard of scoring a touchdown.
The work of Guards Glenn Tunning and Jim Reichenbach stood out for the Tigers offensively, while the play of Chuck Vliet, Jim Geiser and Joe Gleason was something to watch from a defensive point of view.
Jim Schumacher and Frank Gibson did well at the tackles as did Wilfred Brenner and Streeter on the ends.
Lee Nussbaum, sophomore fullback, had some trouble holding on the to ball, but this was a case of first night jitters, and his hard running when he did retain possession gave promise of a good future for him.
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THE TIGERS headed for the oats bin the first time they got the ball, but their drive, which began from the 30 where they brought the kickoff, petered out on a fumble which Central recovered on its 18 to end the threat. This opening burst of offense, however, was sufficient to spell the doom of the visitors because the next time the Tigers got the pigskin, Howe on the first play passed to Streeter who grabbed the sphere and went over. It was a 53-yard gain.
Central was stopped after the following kickoff and when Blazeff punted, Stoner grabbed the ball on his own 46-yard line, headed to his right then suddenly reversed his field and went 56 yards to score. The Tigers’ third score of the opening period came after Blazeff’s punt rolled out of bounds on his 47-yard line. One the next play, Howe was fired through on a trap play for a touchdown. Krisher kicked the extra point after each of the first three touchdowns.
A blocked punt recovered by Paul Martin on the Central 15-yard line started the locals to another score early in the second period. Waikem twice crossed the Central goal, only to have the ball called back and the Tigers penalized for rule infractions. But he tried it again and the third time was legal. Howe booted the extra point to put the Tigers in front 28-0.
Central received the kickoff but on the first series Stoner intercepted Tom Barber’s pass and came back 24 yards before the visitors downed him on their 31. Waikem did a fancy bit of running for the last 22 yards and six points. A high pass from center on the try for the extra point was dropped but Krisher scooped up the ball and bulled his way over for the marker to bring the halftime count to 35-0.
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THE THIRD PERIOD was hardly under way until the Tigers had another touchdown. Blazeff fumbled on the first play after the kickoff and Brenner got on the ball. Close immediately rifled it to Streeter who made a brilliant catch to score his second touchdown of the game. Krisher missed the uprights on his attempted kick for the extra point.
The Tigers scored the next time they came into possession of the leather. They got it on their own 38 and a 12-yard peg. Close to Streeter put the ball in midfield where Lane got loose for a touchdown gallop. Krisher again tried to run the ball over after a high pass from center but this time was thrown before he got to the goal.
Central made its only serious touchdown bid in the last period when it got the ball through a fumble on the Tiger 46. A 10-yard pass, Barber to Dick Ekstedt and a 10-yard run by Mike Shill put the ball on the 25. Three passes failed and on fourth down, Barber’s toss to Ekstedt failed to make the necessary yardage and the Tigers took over on their 20. They were dropped back to their 15 on a five-yard penalty for being off side but launched a march with Nussbaum, Grier, Tom Straugh and Bobby Jo Johnson carrying the ball that got them to the two-yard line where they lost it on downs. They got two points when Blazeff dropped back of his goal line to kick. He never did get the punt away as he was swarmed over by a flock of Tigers who chalked up a safety to hoist their score to 49 points. It was the last play of the game.
The line-ups and summary:
MASSILLON
ENDS – W. Brenner, Streeter, Allison, B. Brenner, Corbett, Murray, Tasseff, Woolbert, Zeller.
TACKLES – Gibson, Schumacher, Geiser, Grunder, Mitchell, Strobel, Younker.
GUARDS – Tunning, Reichenbach, Gleason, J. Howe, Laps, Moyer, Roderick, Sapia.
CENTERS – Krisher, Dowd, Martin.
QUARTERBACKS – Close, Francisco, Khoenle, Sweasey, Misere.
HALFBACKS – Waikem, Lane, Russell, Stoner, Johnson, Milncek, Straughn.
FULLBACKS – Howe, Nussbaum, Stewart, Vliet, Grier.
AKRON CENTRAL
ENDS – Carr, Ekstedt, Seay.
TACKLES – Mathews, Harris, Shill, Boak.
GUARDS – Carter, Dawson, Manos, Mohavics.
CENTERS – McDonald, Bland.
QUARTERBACKS – Barber, Quattrocchi, Lytle.
HALFBACKS – Bennett, Topalu, Hudson, Jeter.
FULLBACK — Blazeff.
Score by periods:
Massillon 21 14 12 2 49
Touchdowns:
Massillon – Streeter 2; Waikem 2; Howe; Stoner; Lane.
Points after touchdown:
Massillon – Krisher four (3 placekicks, 1 carry); Howe 1, (placekick).
Safety:
Massillon – Blazeff.
Referee – McPhee.
Umpire – Peabody.
Head Linesman – Calhoun.
Field Judge – Lobach.
Statistics
Mass. Akron
First downs 13 5
Passes attempted 11 21
Passes completed 5 5
Had passes intercepted 0 3
Yards gained passing 154 61
Yards gained rushing 345 71
Total yards gained 409 132
Yards lost 25 33
Net yards gained 474 99
Times kicked off 8 1
Average kickoff (yards) 47.5 55
Yards kickoffs returned by 23 134
Times punted 1 8
Average punt (yards) 33 24.6
Yards punts returned by 56 17
Had punt blocked 0 1
Times penalized 7 6
Yards penalized 55 42
Times fumbled 7 3
Lost ball on fumbles 5 1
