Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo

Benjamin, Bivings, Brown Running Stars 13 Points In Final Quarter
Cinch Massillon’s Sixth Victory At Warren

By CHARLIE POWELL

The magic number is now three.

Barberton next week, Akron Garfield the week following and then McKinley…all on Tiger stadium soil…these were the obstacles left in Massillon’s path after win No. 6 was chalked up, 26-6, at the expense of Warren’s Panthers last night at Warren Harding stadium.

The victory, the Tigers’ fifth straight over Warren teams which now trail in the long series that shows Massillon with 24 triumphs, seven reversals and a tie, did not come as easy as the final spread would indicate.

It was a 13-6 ball game for over three quarters.
* * *
AND IT WASN’T locked up by the Bengals until sub halfback Jim Bivings and
antelope-gaited Ivory Benjamin winged off a couple of long runs in the last period.

The Panthers, who had won four and lost two before the contest, were rarin’ to knock the wind out of the Tiger sails but Lee Tressel’s charges gained control of the situation before the first quarter was halfway gone. Halfback Wally Armour cut the gap to 13-6 late in the second period when he dashed 46 yards with a punt but on only two other occasions did the Red and Black knock at touchdown door.

With an assist from a Tiger fumble, Warren reached the 23 in the second period before Dick Brenner, defensive safety, hauled in an errant pass. Warren did not threaten again until after Massillon had its 26 points. This time the Panthers moved to the Tiger 22 before the Orangemen stiffened and took the ball on downs.

For four days the Tigers went about tightening the defense which gave up so much ground to Mansfield and the extra work evidently paid off in a big way.

The statistics showed just how funny a bounce a porkhide will take. Against Mansfield the Tigers had possession only 34 plays as compared to 65 for Mansfield. Last night Warren ran 53 plays to Massillon’s 50.

But the Tigers held the upper hand in just about every phase of the game.

They gained 257 yards on the ground, 47 by passing for a net of 304. The defense, tougher from flank to flank, held the host team to 157 yards including 10 by a lone aerial connection. The Orange had 12 first downs to seven for the Panthers.
* * *
COACH TRESSEL started using substitutes in the first half and before the final horn 38 Massillon players had entered the fray. The fleet Bivings, a junior, was the top gainer – thanks to his 61-yard TD scamper, followed by chuggin’ Chet Brown and the snake-hipped Benjamin. Bivings carried six times for 90 yards, Brown six for 63 and Benjamin 11 for 52. Mike Hershberger, who had a case of indigestion before the opening kickoff and then suffered a leg injury in the second period, carted only six times and picked up 20 yards while husky “Chuck” Beiter, the junior fullback, made 15 in as many trips.

When Hershberger was in action the work-horse, who had been averaging over five yards per try was not his usual self because of his illness. But the injury to his right leg will cause more concern than his tummy. As will the hand injury offensive guard Bob Brown sustained.

Hershberger is likely to miss out on one or perhaps two games while Brown, invaluable as a blocker, could be absent for all three remaining encounters. Only time will tell.

Otherwise the Bengals came out of it in good shape. However, these injuries are enough to keep Tressel a mite worried. Tressel, who pointed out that the tackling showed some improvement, was extremely satisfied by the performances of the shock troopers.

He didn’t name names but one could not overlook the running of Bivings and the defensive play of John Heimann, who replaced Hershberger at halfback on defense. There were other standouts to be sure. The boys were bent on starting to redeem themselves and it looks like they are off to a fine start.

Benjamin had two touchdowns, his other coming on a seven yard slam off tackle on the first play of the second stanza while the fourth Tiger TD was made by Brown, whose
40-yard gallop started the Orange on the right track.

Warren stopped the Tigers after the game opening kickoff and Massillon thwarted the initial bid by the fired-up Panthers. The Tigers worked the criss-cross on Armour’s kick with Benjamin taking the handoff from Hershberger at the Bengal 14 and rushing out to the 30.
* * *
IT REQUIRED the Tigers nine plays to go 70 yards. Hershberger got four and Benjamin zipped for 10 to the 44. Beiter, Brown and Hershberger gained eight in three plays and on fourth down, Benjamin kept the march functioning.

He cut around the right side on a nifty bit of foot-work for eight yards to the 39 and after Hershberger lost one and Bob Rinehart’s pass to Benjamin was short, Brown hit the jackpot.

Getting some excellent blocking, Chet roared around left end for 40 yards as Massillon fans in the crowd of 10,000 roared, and Massillon led with 4:28 left in the heat. With Hershberger feeling badly, Tressel called on Dave Richardson to boot the point.

Massillon capitalized on an unusual fumble for its second touchdown. Warren had to punt from the Tiger 47 and Armour, back to do the booting, missed the ball. Brown dove on it and the Tigers started pounding at the Panther 44.

Rinehart unlimbered his arm, hit Benjamin at the 25 and Ivory made it to the 12 – a
32-yard pick-up. Hershberger made five and Beiter was held at the line of scrimmage on the last play of the opening round.

Benjamin whizzed into the end zone standing up on the first play of the second panel and after Richardson’s placement went wide, the Tigers were in front 13-0 with only three seconds gone in the quarter.

After the next kickoff Armour, Grover Danage, Jim Dotson and Jim Abrams carried to the Panther 37 before Armour punted. But Benjamin dropped the ball at the Tiger 26 and Warren recovered at that spot.

Danage got two and Dotson one before Abrams went to the airways. Instead of end Bill Greskovich, his peg reached the arms of Brenner in the end zone. Brenner got out to the two and from that point Massillon began to move. Bivings went into the line up and inserted a 15-yard run but the attack bogged down and Hershberger was forced to punt from the 11 after a clipping penalty and Rinehart’s nine yard loss hurt.

ARMOUR FIELDED the punt on the Tiger 46, went to his right, got free at the Bengal 40 and wasn’t stopped. John Petiela’s placement was wide and it was 13-6 at 3:25.

Massillon was on the prowl again. From the 23 Hershberger made six before Bivings got loose for 12 and following a six-yarder by Benjamin, Rinehart hit sub Larry Washington on a 13-yard pass play. Washington gained six and Benjamin, on a reverse scooted 18. But time ran out on the Tigers after Beiter got to the seven.

Both teams picked up two first downs in a third period, which was dull compared to the others.

On the first play of the final canto Jim Dutton, who did a nice punting job after Hershberger left the field, kicked and Armour was stopped at the Warren 22. The Panthers got a first down but from the 34 Abrams’ pass was hauled in by Bivings, who slid out of bounds at the Tiger 39. On the next play the same youngster went the distance. He got a big hole on the right side, wriggled free at the Warren 41 and outran everybody to touchdownland. Richardson’s kick was wide again but Massillon had a 19-6 lead at 9:36.

Warren decided to take to the air after that. Sub Malone completed one to Greskovich for 12 but the Tigers fouled up a statue-of-liberty play and Armour had to punt. Benjamin grabbed the ball on the Massillon 35, faked a handoff, and skipped down the sidelines with nary a Warren player getting a good shot at him. This time Richardson converted to make it 26-6 at 6:19.

After the kickoff Tim Krier’s kickoff was returned to the 29 and Armour ran for 38 but Massillon braced. The Tigers then were forced to punt and Warren was at its own 47 when the game ended.

MASSILLON – 26
ENDS – Childers, Elavsky, Brenner, Wells, Snavely, Hagan, Williams.
TACKLES – Mercer, Whitfield, Ortiz, Slabaugh, Brownlee, Bixler, Halter.
GUARDS – B. Brown, Meldrum, Kasunick, Heimann, Cook, Heine.
CENTERS – Krier, Kiplinger, Williamson.
BACKS – Rinehart, Benjamin, Hershberger, C. Brown, Beiter, Pledgure. Richardson, Bivings, Garcia, Dutton, Stewart, Washington, Getz, Reese.

WARREN – 6
ENDS – Greskovich, Smith, Tutish, Shelly.
TACKLES – Johnson, Romig, Maras, J. Mnotti, Yaugo, Mrofchak, Rudolph.
GUARDS – Foy, Ostrosky, McCrea, Petiela, Lengel, Hammerchek, Perfetti.
CENTERS – McEwen, Sims.
BACKS – Abrams, Gorby, Danage, Saffold, Dotson, Amour, Szuch,
Spithogianis, Malone, Apple, F. Miller.

Score by quarters:
Massillon 7 6 0 13 26
Warren 0 6 0 0 6

Massillon scoring:
Touchdowns – Brown (run 40); Benjamin (run 7 and punt return 65); Bivings (run 61).
Extra points – Richardson 2 (placements).

Warren scoring:
Touchdown – Armour (punt return 46).

STATISTICS
Massillon Warren
First downs, rushing 10 6
First downs, passing 2 –
First downs, penalties 0 0
Total first downs 12 7
Yards gained rushing 293 183
Yards lost rushing 36 26
Net yards gained rushing 257 157
Yards gained passing 47 10
Total yards gained 304 167
Passes attempted 4 8
Passes completed 2 1
Passes intercepted by 2 0
Times kicked off 5 2
Kickoff average (yards) 46.2 43.5
Kickoff returns (yards) 21 66
Times punted 5 6
Punt average (yards) 32.6 21.0
Punt returns (yards) 81 62
Had punts blocked 0 0
Fumbles 1 6
Lost fumbled ball 1 0
Penalties 2 2
Yards penalized 11 10

Mike Hershberger
esmith