Tigers Defeat Scrappy Steubenville 26-6
Massillon Gridders Held To One Touchdown In First Half Of Game
By JIM QUILTY
There will be good games and there will be bad ones, Friday night’s 26-6 Washington high school victory over Steubenville is classified in the latter category.
Coach Leo Strang’s Tigers, despite hanging up their fifth win of the season and 18th straight over three years, played “spotty ball.” Yet for a team, which had three or four members of its regular unit missing from most of the week’s practice sessions, the performance was passing.
The letdown following the Alliance game came before 11,148 (paid) fans.
Actually it wasn’t until the final play of the third period, when John Larson connected on an 18-yard scoring toss to Chuck Royer, that the Tiger were lifted from the danger zone.
That touchdown and the ensuing two-point conversion by Joe Heflin made it 20-0.
* * *
THE BIG RED, now 1-2-1 in four starts, duplicated the scoring feat with a 70-yard drive after taking the kickoff. Quarterback Bill Hoyman rifled three aerial bulls-eyes during the drive for 35 of the yards and climaxed it with a scoring pass to Len Terry from four yards out.
While the Tigers’ offense lacked its scoring punch the defense again stacked up the Steubenville ground attack when the plot thickened and the Big Red threatened.
After the Tigers’ first big drive of the game had been stopped inches short of the goal, the Big Red rebounded by moving 72 yards to the Tiger 28 before the local defensive giants rose up to cut the drive short.
The Washington high eleven didn’t even manage its first score against Ray Hoyman’s club until 2:39 remained in the first half.
It took Art Hastings recovering from muscle spasms in his right leg to inject a TD shot into the Tigers.
After Bob Baker returned a Hoyman punt to the Bengal 49, Hastings swung around his short side end for 34 yards to the Big Red 17 before being bounced out of bounds by Tom Soboliwski. After three thrusts at the line by Joe Heflin, Charlie Brown and Ken Dean had netted a first down on the seven. Hastings again swept the short side end for the score.
* * *
THE TIGERS wasted little time duplicating the six-point first half when they marched 63 yards for a touchdown after taking the second half kickoff. Dean barreled home from near the eight-yard marker after he and Hastings with a 31-yard sprint, had positioned the score. The 12-0 lead stood as the conversion attempt failed.
The Tigers then put the contest away on the final play of the third period when Larson and Royer covered 18 yards on a scoring pass play. Baker’s punt return from his own 40 to the Big Red’s 38 and the line busting of Martin Gugov and Brown set the touchdown up in four plays.
Joe Heflin added the two-point conversion for a 20-0 margin.
The Big Red then combined its lone six-point drive of the night after Lindsey had returned Dean’s kickoff to the Steubenville 30.
Hoyman connected with Soboliwski on the second play for 18 yards. Several plays later he spotted Ken Potts for six yards. Len Terry then took the aerial play from Hoyman hitting Barnes for 20 yards to the Tiger 18.
Hoyman again took charge with an 11-yarder to Potts to inside the Tiger five. After two running plays gained a single yard, Hoyman and Terry combined for the touchdown. A Hoyman pass on the PAT attempt failed.
Failing to score after Jim Houston grabbed an onside kick on the 50, the Tigers turned the ball over on downs on Steubenville’s 20-yard marker.
* * *
THE BIG RED couldn’t move and a short punt by Hoyman rolled dead on his own 44.
Larson then hit three straight passes, nine yards to Theo Bodiford, 10 to Hastings and the third of 25 yards to Bodiford who juggled the ball around before grabbing it while waltzing into the end zone for the touchdown with only 37 seconds remaining.
Again the conversion attempt failed as the Tigers tucked away their 21st straight win over the Ohio River club.
* * *
A FINAL HEAVE from Hoyman to Paul Cunningham covered 32 yards to Washington high’s 33 as the game ended.
Statistically the Tigers enjoyed nearly a two-and-a-half to one advantage in rushing yardage piling up 239 to 106. Passing the visitors chalked up 91 to Larson’s 76. That cut the total yardage difference of 315 to 197.
The Big Red made a go of it in the first down department with 10 to the Bengals’ 13.
There was only one fumble, that by the Big Red. Charlie Whitfield grabbed it on Steubenville’s 41. The Tigers’ drive which followed bogged down on the invader’s 22.
Foul play didn’t exist, at least noticeably, as only 15 yards in penalties were assessed, 10 against the Bengals, five against the Big Red.
The Big Red Coach Hoyman ranks the Tigers as the best club they’ve met this year with Weirton as a “close second”.
Strang wasn’t in a conversational mood after the contest. But he did pause long enough to size up the Big Red as “an aggressive, hard hitting, hard fighting team, just like all Steubenville teams.”
As for the Tigers, Leo received the type of performance he and the coaching staff had expected following a week of practice attended by only a scattering of regulars.
For the future and the game with Cincinnati Roger Bacon next Friday, Strang won’t know what to expect until this afternoon when he huddles with the staff going over the coaching reports.
Bacon maintained its undefeated mark Friday night mowing down Cincinnati Hughes,
40-0. Past wins have been over Cincinnati Withrow, 55-0, Cincinnati Walnut Hills, 33-0, and Cincinnati Taft, 28-6.
The Bacon eleven ranked 10th in this week’s Associated Press football poll after ranking sixth the previous week.
Chuck McMasters who played all the way for the Big Red at guard and linebacker picked up four tackles and added four assists.
For the Tigers Jim Houston, Charlie Whitfield, Ed Radel, Lawson White, Richard Crenshaw, and George Demis all figured heavily in the defensive tackles.
Victory No. 5
MASSILLON
ENDS – Royer, Ivan, Bodiford, Anzalone.
TACKLES – Spees, Garman, Crenshaw, Herbst, Brugh, Herndon.
GUARDS – Houston, White, Willey, Radel, Whitfield.
CENTERS – Demis, Strobel.
BACKS – Larson, Baker, Null, Heflin, Brown, Hastings, Gugov,
Kurzen, Schenkenberger, Dean, Snively.
STEUBENVILLE
ENDS – Soboliwski, Potts, Ray, Williams, Johnson.
TACKLES – Mazzaferro, Schaeffer, Pyle.
GUARDS – McBride, Capper, B. Simmons.
CENTER – Hulburt.
BACKS – Hoyman, Lindsey, Terry, Barnes, Booth, Shernit, Stratton
Massillon 0 6 14 6 26
Steubenville 0 0 0 6 6
Massillon scoring – Hastings (7, run); Dean 8, run); Royer (18, pass from Larson);
Bodiford (25, pass from Larson)
Extra point – Heflin (run).
Steubenville – Terry (4, pass from Hoyman).
STATISTICS
Massillon Steu.
First downs – rushing 10 6
First downs – passing 3 4
First downs – penalties 0 0
Total first downs 13 10
Yards gained – running plays 256 117
Yards lost – running plays 17 11
Net yardage – running 239 106
Passes attempted 11 12
Passes completed 5 8
Passes had intercepted 0 0
Yard returned –
intercepted passes 0 0
Yards gained passing 76 91
Total yardage
running and passing 315 197
Number of kickoff returns 2 5
Yardage – kickoff returns 9 73
Yardage – punt returns 31 19
Number of punts 2 4
Average length of punts 32.0 33.7
Number of penalties 2 1
Yards lost on penalties 10 5
Number of fumbles 0 1
Own fumbles recovered 0 0
Ball lost on fumbles 0 1
