TIGERS DEFEAT ALLIANCE 19-6 BEFORE CROWD OF 10,000
TWO PERFECT PLAYS BRING VICTORY HERE
Capt. Red Snyder and Ray Getz Dash For Touchdowns As Every Player Gets His Man; Alliance Scores On Forward Pass In Third Period
By LUTHER EMERY
The Washington high Tigers plowed on toward the Ohio scholastic football title before an overflow crowd of 10,000 fans at Mt. Union stadium, Friday evening and executed two perfect plays to defeat Alliance’s up and coming Aviators 19-6.
It was Alliance’s first lost in five games and the Tigers fifth successive triumph of the season and their eighth in a row.
Perfect Plays Win Game
Two lightning like first period thrusts gave the Massillon eleven its first period margin and it can thank its lucky star that Alliance had not encountered any strong opposition in previous games.
The lightning struck on the second play of the game and the Alliance line, not knowing what it was to be hit, was flattened to the ground by the Tiger forwards as Capt. Red Snyder dashed 70 yards for a touchdown.
Lightning doesn’t strike twice in the same place, they say, but when “Horse” Gillom intercepted an Alliance pass on the third play after the following kickoff, the Alliance linemen again found themselves looking up at the stars while Ray Getz dashed 77 yards for another touchdown.
Alliance Fights Back
Those first two came cheap, but the fire sale ended then and there when the Aviators took time out and decided they must charge. And charge they did, from there on to the final gun, to battle the Tigers on even terms.
Touchdowns were hard to get after that. The Massillon eleven capitalized on Red Henderson’s recovery of a fumble in the second period to shove over a third touchdown from the Alliance 24-yard line, but found it impossible to roll back the Aviator defenses for any more scores. Once they were stopped by inches on the one-yard line and again they lost the ball by less than a foot on the 10-yard stripe.
It was a terrific struggled, with the Tigers showing the effects of the body beating they took at Sharon last week and Alliance, playing an inspired game that bottled the Massillon offense.
Hillis Hume, ace of the Aviator bombers, was all that they said of him. He didn’t break loose for a touchdown dash as he had done in every previous game this year but he was dynamite every time he carried the ball and dangerous until Tiger tacklers brought him to earth.
He tossed the pass that gave Alliance its only touchdown in the third period and he threw a lot of others that would have hit their mark were it not for an alert Massillon secondary.
It was on the fourth play of the second half, following Eugene Grimes’ recovery of a Massillon fumble on the Tiger 35-yard line, that Alliance scored. Stopped once in an attempt to carry the ball, Hume faded back and fired a perfect pass to August Palozzi, who streaked through the Massillon secondary to snare the ball in a leaping catch inside the five-yard line and race into rainbow land.
Save for that, Alliance never got close to the Tiger goal.
The touchdown pass was one of two completed and Alliance made both; Hume tossing another to Palozzi for 28 yards in the closing minutes of the game.
Massillon Relies On Running
Alliance presented a well guarded secondary with which the Tigers took no chances. Though the forward pass has been Massillon’s most potent weapon this year, it was kept undercover last night. Only once did George Slusser pitch and the ball was too high for Gillom to catch in the flat.
Save for their two perfect play executions in the first period and their ability to keep Hume from crossing the goal where others had failed, the Massillon team possessed little in the way of superiority over the Aviators. First downs were 14 to 13 in its favor and Gillom had the edge on Hume in punting.
With low level press box and the crowd standing on chairs on the sidelines, nearly one-half the field was invisible to reporters and it was impossible to collect other statistics on the game. From the middle of the first quarter on to the final gun, the two elevens gathered approximately the same yardage.
The heat of the struggle could be traced on the faces of players after the game. The Tiger eleven which has been wading through the toughest schedule ever arranged for a Massillon team, had additional stripes whipped on top of those sustained at Sharon. Bruised lips and swollen eyes told a painful story in the dressing room. Bill McMichael, right tackle was the most serious casualty. He sustained a charley horse that forced him to the bench for a rest and may cause him more trouble before the season is over.
Injuries kept two Massillon players, Jim Russell, sophomore guard and Bill Zimmerman, blocking halfback, from starting the gamer.
Zimmerman never got in at all but Russell was rushed into the breach when Alliance showed signs of getting dangerous in the fourth quarter.
The crowd had no more than eased back from the thrill of the kickoff when it was shocked by the first two Massillon touchdowns.
Every Player Gets His Man
The plays were so perfectly executed that they are worthy of repetition. It was second down, 10 to go with the ball on the 30-yard line. Snyder’s signal was called. He drove to the line with perfect blocking in front of him. Each of his 10 teammates took out an opponent and Snyder had only to outrun the safety man and that he did in his 70-yard touchdown dash. The Alliance line fell as one on the play as though it were knocked over backward. In reality most of the Aviator players were prone on the ground with only the stars to look at.
The second touchdown was executed with the same precision. Hume nearly got loose on the kickoff as he raced the ball back from his own 15-yard line and reversed the field to the Massillon 47. When he tried a forward pass, however, Gillom was on the job to gather in the ball on his own 23-yard line. On the very next play Getz ran 77 yards for a touchdown with 10 Alliance men on the ground and one making a futile effort to catch him.
Alliance braced after that and the Tigers had to fight for every yard.
The Aviators’ courage was bolstered when they recovered a Massillon fumble to end another touchdown threat on the 17-yard line.
Play was confined to each eleven’s respective section on the field until the last five minutes of the second period when the Tigers advanced the ball to a first down on the Alliance 25. Wood covered a Massillon fumble on the 24-yard line but on the very next play, Hume fumbled and Henderson pounced on the ball to regain it for Massillon on the 25.
Getz and Snyder rammed to a first down on the 15-yard line and after Snyder and Slusser had picked up four, Fred Toles circled his right end for five more and Snyder rammed through for a first down on the two-yard line. The redhead rammed the ball over the goal on the next play.
That ended Massillons scoring. Getz placekicked the first point through the bars but missed on his last two attempts.
Alliance Scores On Pass
The half ended at 19-0 but Alliance made the most of a break on the opening kickoff of the second half to score. Snyder brought the kickoff to the 35, but a fumble on second down with eight to go was covered by Alliance’s Grimes on the Massillon 35. Hume picked up five yards and on second down backed up and shot the ball to Palozzi for the touchdown. Two Massillon men were near the Alliance end when he snared the pass but they were off balance and couldn’t’ get to the ball. Two steps and he was over the goal after the catch.
The Tigers struck right back with a terrific drive that carried the ball to the four-yard line. where they lost it on fourth down by inches.
Alliance worked it right back up the field to the Massillon 43 before it was required to punt. Then back came Massillon to carry the ball from its own 15 to the Alliance 14 where again it lost the pigskin by inches.
An exchange of punts and Alliance unleashed its last bid, a long pass that Hume threw from the 32-yard line to Palozzi who caught it on the Massillon 40. A five-yard penalty and a bad pass from center, sent the Aviators reeling back to their own 35 where the game ended.
Call the last three periods what you may, a let down on the Massillon team or an inspired Alliance eleven bottling the Tiger offense and making it look bad, the game was worthy of the patronage it received.
The crowd was the largest that ever saw a football game in Alliance, exceeding the previous record attendance of 1932 when Alliance won its last victory over the Tigers.
Alliance capitalized on this game every two years and the lust for finances resulted in the stadium being oversold. So much so in fact that persons who plunked down their 75 cents for a seat stood throughout the game and many of them could only see one-half the field.
A large section of the crowd was composed of Massillon fans. The Massillon-Alliance Rd., was one continual string of autos from 6 p.m. until game time and cars were bumper to bumper on the return trip.
Give That Band A Hand
The Tiger band was splendid as it went through its best exhibition of the season. A tin soldier number, with the young musicians acting the part brought down the house. Then too the band, maneuvering quickly and without hesitation, formed an airplane, with rolling drums indicating the roar of the “motors”. Persons situated in the top of the stands declared it one of the best formations they have ever seen. Block letters were also formed in front of the Alliance and Massillon sections.
Too much praise cannot be given the young musicians for their performance, the result of tireless work, five nights a week.
Praise for the band was not confined to Massillon fans alone but to Alliance spectators as well. They joined the local delegation in giving the young musicians a tremendous cheer during their maneuvers and when they walked off the field.
The Alliance band also gave a pleasing drill between halves, with two acrobatic girl drum majors in the lead. The Alliance band is handicapped with lack of time and a place to practice.
The young Massillon musicians were accorded rather rough treatment on their return trip through Canton. Jubilant over their team’s victory, their cheers were met with a barrage of tomatoes and garbage.
A Hard Battle
Massillon Pos. Alliance
Toles LE Cironi
Henderson LT Taylor
Lucius LG Zupanic
Martin C Dawson
Houston RG Chester
McMichael RT Chernikovich
Gillom RE Grimes
Slusser QB Hume
Getz LH Murari
Clendening RH Wood
Snyder FB Koch
Score by periods:
Massillon 13 6 0 0 19
Alliance 0 0 6 0 6
Substitutions:
Massillon – Russell, lg; Sweezy, rt.
Alliance – Palozzi, le.
Touchdowns:
Massillon – Snyder 2; Getz.
Alliance – Palozzi.
Point after touchdown:
Massillon – Getz (placekick).
Referee – Rupp.
Umpire – Jenkins.
Head Linesman – Howells.
