Tigers’ Long Runs Beat Lincoln 19-0
Bengal Team Shows Improvement As It Chalks Up Win No. 2
By CHARLIE POWELL
Ah, but there was joy in Tigertown.
Reason No. 1 – the good warriors of Washington high turned back the challenge of Canton Lincoln for a prized hard-earned victory. Reason No. 2 – the failure of that “other” team from the burg to the east.
Yep, while Massillon’s explosive ball toters served as a hypo in the 19-0 conquest of the Lions here last night, the mighty McKinley Bulldogs ran into more than they could handle and their 21-game winning streak came to an abrupt end, 31-7, at the hands of a do-nothing-wrong Warren crew.
So there was plenty to laugh and talk about. In fact McKinley’s setback was just as much the center of conversation today as the Tigers’ second win in as many starts and their 12th in a row over a Lincoln team.
The noise from most of the 11,954 fans at the stadium last night was good noise every time Massillon scored or a member of the orange and black turned in a long run. But you should have heard the roar when the house heard the announcement that Warren was paddling the Bulldogs at the half.
* * *
RIGHT HERE and now let’s add a sober note: the Tigers will meet Warren here Oct. 25. Prior to that date they will face stern tests in Alliance, Steubenville, Cleveland Benedictine and Mansfield, in that order.
It will be out of the frying pan into the fire because Alliance comes here next week. Apparently, the Tigers have still a long way to go. Neither the offense or the defense are up to snuff in Coach Lee Tressel’s book. He said as much following last night’s fracas, a hard, cleanly played one on a soggy turf.
But don’t get Tressel wrong. Last night the Tigers played a good ball club. The Lions have plenty of size and speed and it will require them some time, also, to function without some ping in the motor.
If you didn’t before, you will know now that Lincoln was no push-over by looking at the statistics.
The Lions made 11 first downs to Massillon’s 10 and it was close in total net yards gained with the Tigers grinding out 211 to Lincoln’s 186. Lincoln completed three of seven passes for 39 yards while neither of two Tiger aerials clicked.
The offense smoothed out a little bit and Tressel said, “we didn’t make as many mistakes offensively but on defense there were more glaring errors.”
However, he quickly pointed out that Lincoln was a better team than Akron South. The Lions kept shifting their trenchmen and linebackers and 9 and 10-man lines frequently greeted the attackers.
* * *
THE TRESSELMEN sat on their lead after a pair of fancy dashes by Ivory Benjamin and Jim Hershberger’s place kick made it 13-0 at the half. With conditions as they were, they weren’t taking any chances by going to the air lanes.
The defense kept the goal line uncrossed after taking its belt up a notch on three different occasions. Three times the invaders had the Tigers with their backs to the wall with drives reaching the orange 3, 9 and 17-yard lines.
Lincoln controlled the ball most of the first, third and fourth quarters and the entire final period was played in Massillon territory.
But the break-away backs spelled the difference.
With less than two minutes gone in the second panel, Benjamin showed his heels on a
37-yard touchdown scamper. A few minutes later it was his 54-yard punt return that put the locals in business. They didn’t score that time as the bid ended at the Lion 13 but Al Pierce, the scrappy junior end, recovered a fumble and the Tigers had a second touchdown as Benjamin turned the right flank for the final 17 yards.
Sub Halfback Jerry Allen, one of the fastest boys on the squad, came off the bench early in the third period and inserted a 35-yard jaunt that paved the way for a 10-yard TD run by another sub Halfback, Corky Pledgure.
That was it. Massillon stopped a Lincoln bid at the nine just before the end of the period, then spent the rest of the game keeping the Paul Dellebra-coached outfit away from pay dirt.
* * *
ALTHOUGH the Tigers failed to muster more than one sustained drive, the blocking showed improvement over the opening game.
There was quite a few telltale downfield blocks on the long gainers by Gene Stewart, Benjamin, Allen, et al.
Mark Anthony went most of the way at quarterback and there was little difficulty in the timing and ball-handling departments. However, Chuck Beiter’s running was noticeably absent.
The muscular fullback carried only five times for 23 yards as Tressel gave him as much rest as possible. An oxygen mixture alleviated his asthma.
Benjamin, the club’s chief ground gainer, made 92 yards in 14 trips with the mail while Stewart netted 29 in three carries and Allen 36 in three. For Lincoln Saimes carried nine for 42, DeOrio 13 for 34 and Lyke 10 for 39.
* * *
THE CANTONIANS gave a display of their tight T offense after receiving the
game-opening kickoff. From their own 38 they marched all the way to the Tiger two as Vic DeOrio, George Saimes, Dick VanBethuysen, Jerry Pikna, Jerry Lyke and Tom Dinkins hit the inside.
A pass play, VanBenthuysen to end Gary Anderson, was good for 15 yards and all the runs did not gain more than five yards on any one play. Lincoln had four downs to make the last 11 yards but the Bengals repulsed the enemy and with 4:39 remaining in the quarter took over at the two.
Massillon’s blocking was conspicuous by its absence and the first time the Tigers had the pigskin and they were forced to punt. Dinkins punted right back with his boot going into the end zone. And from their own 20, the orangemen started to get serious.
After Beiter made one, Anthony sped for 10 on a keeper around the right side and on the first play of the second frame. Stewart hit off left tackle and picked up 18 yards with Saimes, the last man having a chance to get him, bringing him down on the 49. Anthony kept again, this time for 14 yards to put the ball on the 37 and then came Benjamin’s first touchdown which broke the ice.
Ivory hit over right tackle on a quick opener, went straight ahead for 10 yards, then veered toward the east sidelines. He stepped on the gas and easily outran his pursuers into the end zone. Sophomore Halfback Jim Hershberger came in to boot the extra point and it was 7-0 at 10:34.
* * *
THE VISITORS had to punt after gaining nine and Benjamin had the crowd roaring with his 54-yard return of the kick by Dinkins, Ivory fielded the ball at the 44, faked a reverse to Jim Snively, and with the help of some nifty blocking, sped to the Lion nine.
But four plays later the locals were on the Lincoln 13 as Lyke sifted in to nail Anthony for a six-yard loss and a bad exchange cost the locals a yard to offset three-yarders by Beiter and Benjamin.
After VanBenthuysen gained one, Lyke fumbled on the next play and Pierce’s recovery gave Massillon possession at the Lion 17. Center Dan Swartz recovered a fumble at the line of scrimmage following a mix-up in the backfield and on the next play the scoreboard figures changed to 13-0.
Benjamin skirted right end and went over standing up as Beiter’s block erased the last defender with a possible chance of stopping the shifty halfback. Hershberger’s kick was low and to the left and the score remained 13-0 with 3:35 left in the period.
* * *
LINCOLN RETURNED the kickoff to its 34 and after making one first down, stuck to the ground to run out the clock in the first half.
At the outset of the third quarter the Canton team was unable to check the Tiger attack.
They marched 71 yards after Snively returned the kickoff by Dinkins to the Tiger 29. Beiter, Benjamin and Stewart advanced the oval to the Lion 39 before Allen, on a sweep, came up with one of the better individual efforts of the night.
The junior speedster ran like a fullback, shedding tacklers right and left, after he got past the line of scrimmage.
Three times he appeared to be stopped but he buzzed to the four before being grassed. Following his 35-yard sprint, Anthony was thrown for a six-yard loss on a keeper but from the 10 Pledgure dashed across and once again it was a block by Beiter, which made the score possible. Hershberger’s kick was blocked by Anderson at 5:35 but it made little difference.
There was a lot of action crammed in the remaining time. The Lions received and went on the prowl with Saimes and Lyke hitting off the tackles effectively. From their own 42 the maroons moved to the Tiger nine. With the Bengals getting tougher by the minute, the Lions picked up only three yards after getting a first and 10 at the 12.
The locals had to punt out and Lincoln set up shop again, this time from the Tiger 40, shortly after the fourth stanza got under way. On the first play of the quarter Allen swept right end but was tripped up at the 18 after a nine-yard gain, otherwise he might have been long gone.
This time Lincoln moved to the Bengal 17 before tackle John Donat smacked Dinkins for an 11-yard loss. Consequently, when Lyke hit end Wilbur Billings on a 15-yard pass play the enemy lacked the necessary yardage for a first down.
Five plays later Anthony tried a jump pass. Lyke intercepted at the 24 but then fumbled and Tom Heine, Tiger guard, grabbed the ball out of the air on the nine and made like a fullback to the Tiger 22. A few moments later the Tigers had to punt and four plays later halfback, Cornelius Clark intercepted a pass by Dinkins and returned from the two to the eight. Sub fullback Scott Kanney picked up nine and Benjamin 11 as the tussle came to a close.
Apparently the Tigers came through without any serious injuries. They played without the services of end Bobo Hagan who has a badly sprained ankle.
MASSILLON
ENDS – Childers, Williams, Pierce, Snavely, Zorn, Mitchell.
TACKLES – Slabaugh, Slicker, Halter, Donat, Karrenbauer.
GUARDS – Heine, Heimann, Cook, Taylor, J. Kasunick.
CENTERS – Swartz, Reese, Williamson.
QUARTERBACKS – Anthony, Getz.
HALFBACKS – Benjamin, Stewart, Pledgure, Clark, Allen, Hershberger, Snively.
FULLBACKS – Beiter, Kanney, McKey, Dean.
CANTON LINCOLN
ENDS – Billings, Anderson, Dan English, Wetzel
TACKLES – Thewes, Caughey, McCoul, Shyrock, Thompson.
GUARDS – DePasquale, Baird, Paratore.
CENTERS – Knight, Olson.
QUARTERBACKS – Dinkins, Crowse.
HALFBACKS – VanBenthuysen, Saimes, DeOrio, Dave English.
FULLBACKS – Pikna, Wilson.
Score by quarters:
Massillon 0 13 6 0 19
Lincoln 0 0 0 0 0
Massillon scoring: Touchdowns – Benjamin 3; Pledgure.
Extra Points – Hershberger (placement)
STATISTICS
Mass. Lin.
First downs, rushing 10 10
First downs, passing 0 1
First downs, penalties 0 0
First downs, total 10 11
Yards gained, running plays 243 108
Yards lost, running plays 27 18
Net yardage, running plays 211 147
Passes attempted 2 7
Passes completed 0 3
Passes had intercepted 1 1
Yards returned,
intercepted passes 8 0
Yards gained, passing 0 30
Total net yards,
running, passing 211 186
Number of kickoff returns 1 4
Yards, kickoff returns 15 72
Average length of
kickoff returns 15 18.5
Number of punt returns 1 3
Yardage, punt returns 54 15
Average length of
punt returns 54 5.0
Number of punts 3 2
Total yardage on punts 104 44
Average length of punts 34.6 22.0
Number of penalties 4 0
Yards lost on penalties 30 0
Number of fumbles 3 4
Own fumbles recovered 2 2
Ball lost on fumble 1 2
