Tigers Defeat Cincinnati Elder 42-6
Long Runs And Sharp Passes Produce 16th Straight Grid Triumph
By LUTHER EMERY
Southern Ohio football was given a jolt before 13,005 fans here Friday evening when the Washington high school Tigers administered a 42-6 licking to Cincinnati Elder, 1950 champion of the Queen City.
You would have thought the blow severe enough to make the visitors holler, but they took the defeat gracefully, expressed their thanks for being able to play here, hoped they could be just as good a host when the Tigers go to Cincinnati next fall and departed with the words that they would be better competition in 1952.
Though they scored the same number of touchdowns a week ago in their opener against Toledo Libbey, the Tigers were a smoother football team last night and might have rolled up a considerably higher score had not Coach Chuck Mather substituted freely. He used 44 players, the equivalent of four teams, in an effort to give many of his younger players the benefit of game experience.
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THREE of the touchdowns produced a bit of the sensational while two long passes helped to electrify the fans.
The cheering all came from the Massillon side of the field, for Elder, like Libbey, did not have a band and no more than a handful of rooters accompany it to Massillon.
It didn’t take the Tigers long to impress Elder with the style of football played in northern OhIo. Only four minutes and 34 seconds of the first period had expired when Ace Grooms raced 13 yards for the first score. An Elder fumble had given the locals the ball deep in Cincinnati territory.
From that point on the Tigers managed to shove over at least one touchdown a period. They got two in the second and fourth; while Elder’s lone score came in the last 32 seconds of play.
The Queen City Panthers had threatened on one other occasion, losing the ball on first down on a fumble in the first period on the Tiger 12-yard line.
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THE VICTORY was the Tigers second of the season and their 16th of a string that started in the middle of the 1949 season.
From the score one would be inclined to believe that Elder had little in an offensive way, but the Panthers managed to roll up 13 first downs to the Tigers’ eight and push the locals back 240 yards from the line of scrimmage. The Massillon team gained 354 from scrimmage.
The Tigers altered their defense from time to time during each series in an attempt to confuse the visiting team, but for the most part tossed the equivalent on an eight-man line against the Panthers. Several times visiting backs broke through the forward wall, but the Tiger halfbacks and safety men are fast, and one of the three always managed to tangle the runner’s legs.
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FANS will chuckle all week over the three long passes caught by the local players last night and the two long jaunts for touchdowns. They were the classics of the game. One of the pegs, a 30-yard throw by Paul Francisco to Bruce Brenner produced the first touchdown. Another 45-yard shot from Grooms to Brenner placed the ball in position for another score, and a 50-yard heave by Grooms to Alex Matie in the final seconds of the game was all for nought as time expired before the ball could be put into play on the 20-yard line.
The two best runs of the night also produced touchdowns. Grooms wheeled 53 yards for one and Bobby Joe Johnson 60 yards for the other. Lee Nussbaum had one called back, a fine jaunt of 20 yards around left end, because one of his teammates clipped on the play. Also bulling his way along for a fine punt return was Willie Longshore.
Grooms was easily the leading scorer. Not only did he lug the leather for two touchdowns, but he also kicked six for six from placement from touchdown.
A week ago the movies showed Grooms looking up as he kicked the ball, and the result was three for six. The error was called to his attention. Last night he kept his head down like a good golfer and it paid off. The first five were dead center, the sixth, low and wobbly, but with enough impetus to clear.
There probably would have been more passing in the second period had not the lights gone out on the west poles. Players had a hard time following the ball until repairs could be made.
As it was the Tigers completed three of seven, which isn’t too good a percentage, but the average in yards gained, 42 per pass, is unusually high.
A fumbled Elder lateral covered by the Tigers on the 17-yard line on the first series of plays of the game, got the locals in position for their first touchdown. They moved to the eight, but a five-yard penalty for being offside set them back to the 13. On the first down Grooms romped for six points.
Another touchdown drive was well under way before the period ended. It started when Bob Khoenle intercepted an Elder pass on the latter’s 30. On the first play of the second period Francisco tossed a beauty to Brenner who went all the way for the six points.
A 32-yard punt return by Longshore set up the second touchdown of the quarter. Tom Straughn, Bob Grier and Lee Nussbaum moved the ball to the one where Straughn knifed through for the six points.
The half ended with the score 21-0.
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THE TIGERS scored but once in the third period, and that came on Grooms’ 53-yard run on the first play that followed the kickoff.
A 45-yard pass, Grooms to Brenner, put the ball on the 10 as the third period closed and enabled Bob Grier to lug it over for the fifth T.D. of the game.
The final Massillon score came on Johnson’s very fine 60-yard run.
The Tigers made a gallant stand in the fourth quarter in an attempt to keep their goal line from being crossed for the first time this season. It took the visitors four downs to get across from the four-yard line and then they barely got the ball into pay dirt.
They tried to kick the extra point but Chug-Chug Stewart, of all persons, broke through and blocked the ball.
16th In A Row
MASSILLON
ENDS – Tasseff, Matie. W. Shilling, Brenner, Corbett, Keen, Tarrant, Allison, Sweasey.
TACKLES – Geiser, Kraus, Gibson, Strobel, Younkers, Takacs. Gumpp, Rubio.
GUARDS – Sapia, Khoenle, Tunning, Grunder, Stewart, Moyer, Crone, Snyder.
CENTERS – Roderick, Gable, Kinnins, Fisher, Fabinich.
QUARTERBACKS – Longshore, P. Francisco, Misere, Dommer.
HALFBACKS – Traylor, J. Francisco, Grier, Straughn, R. Johnson, Milncke, Williams.
FULLBACKS – Vilet, Nussbaum, Grooms.
ELDER
ENDS – Bender, James, Kelly, Junker.
TACKLES – Albers, Knowerzer, Burkhart.
GUARDS – Griffin, Durbin.
CENTER – Schiller.
QUARTERBACK – Bockenstette.
HALFBACKS – Caruso, Grainger, James, Sabino.
FULLBACKS – Bachman.
Score by periods:
Massillon 7 14 7 14 42
Elder 0 0 0 6 6
Touchdowns:
Massillon – Grooms 2; Brenner; Straughn, Grier; Bob Johnson.
Elder – Bockenstette.
Points after touchdown:
Massillon – Grooms 6 (placement kicks).
Officials
Referee – Dan Tehan (Cincinnati).
Umpire – Dr. Fred Heinold (Cincinnati).
Head Linesman – Jack McPhee (Poland).
Field Judge – Clyde Moore (Wooster).
STATISTICS
Mass. Elder
First downs 8 13
Passes attempted 7 14
Passes completed 3 2
Had passes intercepted 0 2
Yards gained passing 125 75
Yards gained rushing 229 165
Total yards gained 354 240
Yards lost 20 4
Net yards gained 334 236
Times punted 4 4
Average punt (yards) 32 29
Yards punts returned by 32 2
Times kicked off 7 2
Average kickoff 45 18
Yards kickoffs returned by 53 74
Times fumbled 0 3
Lost ball on fumbles 0 2
Times penalized 5 5
Yards penalized 40.5 35
