Tigers Defeat Mansfield 56-6 For Sixth Victory
Alert Massillon Team Capitalizes On Series Of Breaks To Beat Foe
By LUTHER EMERY
A snarling band of Washington high school Tigers wreaked vengeance in Mansfield Friday evening and brought home a gratifying 56-6 victory over the only team that beat them last year.
It was the Tigers’ sixth straight victory of the season and Mansfield’s third loss of the year.
The game was more bitterly fought than the score would indicate. Don’t let it fool you. The overflow crowd of 14,000 or more fans received plenty of thrills during the first two and one-half periods until Mansfield, victim of two consecutive bad breaks in the third period opened wide the gates and the Tigers poured through with touchdowns to victory.
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THIRTY-FIVE of Massillon’s points went over the goal line in the last 18 minutes and breaks, which cost Mansfield a second touchdown, provided two for the Tigers.
‘Twas well Mansfield did open the doors, for the Tigers were not sharp themselves. At least Coach Chuck Mather and many of his fans didn’t think so, and although Massillon looked the stronger team most of the evening, without the smiles of lady luck, the margin of victory would not have been so great and there would have been no drippings for fans to feast on today.
Ray Lane capitalized on two breaks for the Tigers, grabbing a fumble out of the air on one occasion in the third period and racing 16 yards to score and intercepting a pass and running it back 40 yards into pay dirt for the local team’s eighth and last touchdown of the game.
Covering of a Mansfield fumble on the six-yard line put the locals in position for another of their touchdowns and intercepted passes by Chuck Vliet and Bill Stoner helped set up two more.
The blow that killed Mansfield came in the third period. Up to that time the Tygers had been giving the local team a hard time and the score was 21-6 in Massillon’s favor when Halfback John Auer broke through the center of the line and raced 96 yards for what looked like a touchdown until the ball was called back and Mansfield penalized for being offside. On the very next play John Todd smashed through for 12 yards but the ball squirted from his hands when hit by a Tiger tackler, and popped into the outstretched arms of Lane. He knew what to do with it and was over the Mansfield goal in a leap and a bound. Thus instead of the Tiger lead being cut to one touchdown, it soared to a three touchdown lead.
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MANSFIELD was finished then and there. The Tygers lost spirit and the local team found it easier to score and by the end of the game, Mansfield was a badly beaten team.
It was the first time this season that the breaks had come Massillon’s way, and for the defensive platoon it must be said that it had much to do with making many of the breaks.
The defensive team actually grabbed the honors last night. Without its hard and sturdy tackling and alert pass defense, the game would have been much closer, for the Tiger offense found it hard to go all the way.
The team would click for one, two or three first downs, only to be snuffed out by the Mansfield defense. It gained 334 yards, 85 by passing and lost 39 for a net sum of 295 yards, while Mansfield was held to a net gain of 119 yards of which 52 were made by passing. First downs were 10-4 in favor of the Tigers.
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THE TIGERS had a hard time completing their passes, partially because of poor receiving. Mansfield fared little better with its passing and had five passes intercepted, a figure which should have reached eight or 10 had Massillon players had a little more glue on their fingers. Where Massillon completed five of 15 passes; Mansfield completed but four of 23.
Apparently Coach Augie Morningstar had picked passing as the Tigers weakness, for he kept throwing all evening even though his team was meeting with a little more success in this department than it was at carrying the ball.
The hard hitting Mansfield running attack that looked good here last year, was missing completely. Save for two quick opening thrusts by Auer, the ball carriers had little to be happy about.
Jerry Krisher added eight more points after touchdown to boost his current string without a miss to nine. He has now kicked 24 of his last 25 attempted points from placement. His season’s total is 31 of 35, though he has actually scored 32, having run over an extra point in the opening game of the season.
Jerry missed the uprights once against Latin and Alliance and twice against Canton Lincoln.
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THE TIGERS had to cross the Mansfield goal twice before they scored a legal touchdown. They first time they got their hands on the ball they began a march from the Mansfield 47. On the third play from scrimmage, Ernie Russell went 34 yards to score but the ball was brought back and the Tigers penalized five yards for being offside. Bob Howe tried to pass to Streeter but overthrew his mark. Freddie Waikem dashed 47 yards to the two-yard line and Howe went over for the six points. Jerry Krisher kicked the first of eight consecutive points after touchdown.
The locals were on their way to their second touchdown with a drive that began on the Mansfield 43, when the first period ended. Running hard, Freddie Waikem overcame a five-yard offside penalty to run the ball to the 28. Russell moved it up 16 yards in one attempt and Bill Stoner took it the last 13 on a sweep around his right end.
The Tigers had a chance to score later on in the second quarter when they recovered a fumble on the Mansfield 19, but they eventually fumbled themselves, losing the ball on the 10. They forced Mansfield to punt, however, and Russell ran the ball back well to the Tyger 34. A 15-yard pass from Close to Streeter and a seven-yard run by Howe put the ball on the 12 where Waikem wiggled through to score.
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MANSFIELD capitalized on one of two opportunities to score in the closing minutes of the period. The Tygers covered a fumble on the Massillon eight, but on the first play Joe Gleason intercepted one of Benny Garbetta’s passes and came back eight yards. With less than a minute to play, Close tried to catch Mansfield asleep and tossed a pass that Darce Shasky intercepted and ran back to the 14 before being downed. The Tigers held for three downs, but on fourth down Auer passed to Lee in the end zone for what proved to be Mansfield’s only score of the game.
Mansfield’s bid to narrow the score came in the halfway mark of the third period when Auer raced 96 useless yards for what looked like a touchdown until the ball was called back and Mansfield penalized for being offside. There followed the first of Lane’s two contributions and the Tigers led 28-6.
The locals kicked off but before Mansfield could get beyond its 39-yard mark, Vliet hauled in one of Carbetta’s passes and raced back to the 24. Russell went for four and Waikem for 14. Howe in two plunges went the remaining distance and with Krisher’s boot it was 35-6.
The fourth quarter was well under way when Jack Strobel covered a Mansfield fumble on the six-yard line. Russell was over in two attempts and the score mounted to 42-6.
Two more touchdowns were chalked up in rapid order. Stoner set up the first when he intercepted Robert Matthews’ pass and raced back to the Mansfield 29. On the first play, Close pegged the ball to Streeter for the touchdown. Mansfield again received the kickoff and when attempting to pass, Lane intercepted the ball and committed larceny by running it back for another six points.
That ended the scoring, though the Tigers had another chance when Dick Woolbert blocked a punt and Mitchell fell on the ball on the Mansfield 32.
Victory No. 6
MASSILLON
ENDS – Murray, Zellers, Streeter, W. Brenner, B. Brenner, Corbett., Woolbert.
TACKLES – Strobel, Geiser, Gibson, Grunder, Schumacher, Mitchell.
GUARDS – Reichenbach, Gleason, Tunning, Moyer, J. Howe, Sapia.
CENTERS – Krisher, Dowd.
QUARTERBACKS – Close, Francisco, Khoenle.
HALFBACKS – Stoner, Russell, Grier, Lane, Waikem, Straughn.
FULLBACKS – Vliet, Howe, Nussbaum, Stewart.
MANSFIELD
ENDS – Guy, Diemer, Truax, Fowler, Ewers.
TACKLES – Monastra, Fidler, Lindsay.
GUARDS – Kent, Welker, Esbenshade, Kleer, Stauffer.
CENTERS – Maurer, Means.
QUARTERBACKS – Carbetta, Matthews, Pesano.
HALFBACKS – Shasky, Todd, Schluter, J. Dawkins, Auer.
FULLBACKS – Jordan, Lee, Ziegler.
Score by periods:
Massillon 7 14 14 21 56
Mansfield 0 6 0 0 6
Touchdowns:
Massillon – Howe 2; Lane 2; Stoner; Waikem; Russell; Streeter.
Mansfield – Lee.
Points after touchdown:
Massillon – Krisher 8.
Referee – Dr. Fred Heinold.
Umpire – Earl Gross.
Head Linesman – Elsaes.
Field Judge – Russ.
Statistics
Mass. Mans.
First downs 10 4
Passes attempted 15 23
Passes completed 5 4
Had passes intercepted 3 5
Yards gained passing 85 52
Yards gained rushing 249 84
Total yards gained 334 136
Yards lost 39 17
Net yards gained 295 119
Times kicked off 9 2
Average kickoff (yards) 49.2 51
Yards kickoffs returned by 43 167
Times punted 4 8
Average punt (yards) 43.5 30.5
Yards punts returned by 70 0
Times fumbled 3 3
Lost ball on fumbles 2 3
Times penalized 9 3
Yards penalized 65 25
