GAME UPHILL RIGHT BRINGS TRIUMPH TO PLUCKY HIGH ELEVEN
Arvine “Tink” Ulrich midget half back of Washington High school’s football team, last Saturday afternoon for the first time in three weeks donned war paint and, ably assisted by 10 other fighting warriors, carried the orange and black banner of the local school to a 14 to 7 triumph over Rayen High of Youngstown, in one of the most brilliant scholastic encounters ever staged on the Pearl street gridiron. Greatly outweighed and with its captain “Chuck” Hess and its star defensive center Ted Roth on the sidelines because of injuries the youthful Tigers by one of the gamest uphill fights ever fought on any battlefield cam through with one of the most spectacular and entirely unexpected victories ever registered by a local high school team.
For three weeks Ulrich had been laid up with an inured knee sustained in the Youngstown South game. Coach Stewart did not intend to use “Tink” Saturday unless forced to. Early in the second quarter an injury to a local player made Ulrich’s entrance into the fray necessary, and the little plunging halfback nobly responded to the call. From then on the tide of the battle turned but it was not until the fourth quarter that Ulrich really demonstrated his greatness by scoring Massillon’s first touchdown by some mighty fine line plunging and paving the way for the second by a brilliant dash of 40 yards through the visiting eleven.
Rayen was confident of victory. The Mahoning county school knew that injuries had riddled the orange and black and greatly weakened its defensive strength. It expected to teat Massillon even worse that it did McKinley High of Canton which it defeated two weeks ago by a 10 to 7 count. The Youngstown school felt so confident of winning that it planned to achieve the victory over the orange and black with the same team that had defeated Canton.
That the invading aggregation forgot to reckon with the indomitable fighting spirit of Coach Stewart’s gritty lads. They forgot that overcoming a tiger with its back to the wall is a Herculean task. Massillon had its back to the wall Saturday and the orange and black fought with all the fury and desperation of a tiger at bay.
Striking out with the unleashed fury of a hurricane the local team in the final quarter swept Rayen off its feet by a wonderful rally, tied the score hanging up a touchdown early in the fourth period and then swept on to victory by a brilliant drive that carried the ball three quarters of the length of the field. The final orange and black charge was a suitable finish to a battle that had raged fiercely up and down the field during three periods of hectic strife.
That final fighting comeback covered the orange and black lads with a halo of glory. They had fought a game battle against a much heavier foe and they deserved to win for against a stouter foe they never once had showed any indication of displaying the white flag. They were in the game to fight to the finish and to know how well they fought one has but to recall the score. It was a sad blow for Rayen, that 14 to 7 setback. It was the first reverse of the season for the husky Youngstown eleven but they drank manfully from the bitter cup.
It was only by a break that Rayen scored its touchdown against Massillon in the second quarter. And until the orange and black commenced its victory march in the final period those seven points looked like a mountain to all but the struggling Massillon warriors.
Ulrich’s sensational work by far was the outstanding feature of the battle. “Tink” was everywhere on defense and a veritable battering ram on offense. The game also served to uncover a new backfield star in Boerner, who since injuries riddled the regular backfield, has been doing duty behind the line. His line smashing drives were features of the contest.
