HOLT AND BRAY CARRY THE MAIL
Massillon Backfield Men Lug Leather For Many Yards While Graber Throws Strikes To Jasinski And Willmot
By Luther Emery
They came, they saw, but they did not conquer. Several thousand football fans of Weirton, W. Va., their hopes high for victory, wended their way home from Tiger Stadium, Friday evening disappointed but not all disgruntled with the performance of their high school football team.
They were part of a crowd of 16,632 fans who saw the Red Raiders badly beaten 26-6 by a superior Massillon eleven, but they found satisfaction in their six points, the first scored against the Tigers this season and the first ever made against Massillon by a Weirton team.
A Capacity Crowd
The crowd which from all indications will go down in the 1942 records as one of the largest of the season, was treated to football de-luxe as only seen in Massillon and the Weirton team and band had much to do with it.
The Red Raiders, noticeably on edge for the contest which they considered their greatest opportunity to beat Massillon, scrapped from the opening gun to the final whistle and kept apace, with the Tigers in scoring the second half.
They tossed laterals, combination laterals and passes and otherwise tried to give the spectators their money’s worth, even though it was evident after the middle of the second period that they couldn’t wrap up a victory for their loyal hometown followers.
The Weirton band was all they said it would be, an organization that is developing rapidly and which will be remembered as one of the best to set foot in Tiger stadium this year.
Though Weirton scored six points the second half, as many as the Tigers could tally, it wasn’t enough and did not make up for the trouncing they received the first two periods, when the Massillon eleven played the game for “keeps.”
Fine First Half
The Tigers seemed to do everything right the first half, but the backfield sputtered the last two periods and couldn’t get coordinated for more than the one touchdown drive.
Do not forget that a shifting Weirton defense had something to do with Massillon’s troubles. “It was doggone tough trying to figure out what to do,” said Coach Elwood Kammer after the game. “The way they ganged up on us made it tough for the ball carriers.”
Carl Hamill, the Weirton coach, was complimentary of the Tigers performance. “You have a good team,” he said. “We figured you had a couple of ends who could catch the ball and we tried to set up a defense for them, but they caught it anyway. I like to see boys fight for the ball the way they do. A couple of the passes they caught in the first half really hurt us.”
The Tiger gridders for the most part emerged from the game in fairly good condition. Fred Cardinal, Karl Paulik, and Barney Wallace sustained charley horses and Don Willmot twisted an ankle. None of the injuries is believed serious.
The hats were off to Keve Bray and his performance made you wish that some others would do well to harvest a few boils. Keve didn’t have a chance to practice this week, because of boils in each armpit. They were lanced only Thursday, but when the Tigers trotted out for the kickoff, Keve was at right halfback as usual. Despite his boils, he played a fine game and his hard running and pass reception produced two touchdowns and helped to account for others.
Rivaling Bray for ball carrying ability, was Capt. Chuck Holt, who slam-banged his way through the Red Riders’ line for many a long gain.
Bob Graber, though he gained little ground carrying the ball, had his fun throwing strikes at the Tiger ends and backs. He had himself a big first half.
As a blocker, Cardinal hits to kill. In fact he smacked himself right out of the game with a series of hard smashes that aggravated an old shoulder injury and put him on the sidelines.
Line Gets Jump
The Tiger line, for the second straight game got the jump on its heavier opponent and moved Weirton backward most of the evening.
Football games are won and lost on the line, so the Massillon trenchmen get their share of credit for the 26 points, even though they did bulge sufficiently to allow Weirton’s Ted Bouyoucas to knife through for the first points scored against them this season.
Out of the score came the revelation that the Tigers can take it, and hand it back – for they bounced right back to score their fourth touchdown of the game early in the fourth quarter, and were driving for another when the end came.
There were no flukes connected with any of the Massillon touchdowns. They worked hard for them. An 80-yard march with Holt carrying that last 34 yards, produced the first. An 85-yard drive got the second, with Bray sweeping in the last 15; a series of passes from Graber, produced the third, Bray gathered a short peg over the line for the points and a 48-yard march got in the fourth and final score, Graber carrying the leather across from the five-yard line.
One For Weirton
Weirton commanded the ball most of the time in the third quarter in its march from the Tiger 42-yard line where a Red Rider came up with Graber’s fumble. The visitors had everything but the book of rules to get them over the hump and into the promised land. Once Cardinal intercepted one of Pete Ziniach’s passes to stop the threat, but Massillon was offside and the penalty gave Weirton a first down on the Tiger 29. Pete Ziniach poured a screen pass to Frankie Wypasek for a first on the Tiger 17, only to have Ted Bouyoucas tossed for a 10-yard loss on the play. That seemed to end another Weir threat. Interference was called on a pass that gave the Riders a first down on the Tiger 16 and nullified Bouyoucas’ loss. Ziniach managed to use the screen pass successfully again as he pegged the ball to Dickie Glover, sub halfback, and the latter got to within nine yards of the goal. He moved it two yards nearer and Bouyoucas lugged it over with room to spare.
It took the visitors 12 plays to get the touchdown, with passes accounting for most of the yardage. In the five ball carrying attempts the Riders gained 14 yards and lost 11.
It was the first time a Weirton team has been able to cross the Tiger goal. The Red Riders were trimmed 48-0 in 1940 and 6-0 last year.
The statistics show the Tigers just as superior as the score. They made 31 first downs to the Riders six and gained 414 yards to their opponents’ 103 yards. Of the 414 yards, 131 were made on eight completed passes while the visitors gained 26 yards on six completed passes.
The Massillon passing attack was brilliant the first half with Graber throwing as though he had his toe in the pitcher’s box and Tom Masinski and Don Willmot making almost impossible catches. Graber threw 14 times the first half and completed eight. The Tigers didn’t gain a yard with their forwards the last half though they managed to complete one for no gain.
Improved Performance
The hard hitting performance of the local team the opening periods showed considerable improvement over their play in the opening game against Cathedral Latin a week ago. Running from both T and single wing, the Massillon eleven smashed viciously at the visitors and ball carriers were accorded good interference. In the early moments Bray gained large sections of territory on sweeps around his left end and Holt pounded the tackles for more yards. The hammering drew the Red Riders’ secondary in and opened the way for a second period passing attack.
Going into the second half 20 points to the good, the Tigers began experimenting with passes in an attempt to improve this weapon. The visitors, however, came back fighting too and the Massillon attack fizzled out. The blockers began missing their blocks and passes were either intercepted or grounded. Then came Weirton’s opportunity and the Riders capitalized.
Coach Kammer started the same team that swung the axe on Cathedral Latin last week.
The Tigers got off to a jittery start, “shades of the 1941 game,” when Holt fumbled the kickoff, but the ball rolled back of the goal, where he went down on a knee, picked it up and then came out to the five. The ball was dead when he covered it behind the goal, however, so the Tigers started their march from the 20.
Holt gained nine yards and Bray put the leather on his 44 with a left end sweep. Two five yard penalties pulled the Tigers out of a hole after the Riders apparently had them stopped. A first down on the Weir 43 set the Massillon team in motion again, but three plays only gained eight and one-half yards. With fourth down coming up and a yard and a half to go, Holt exploded inside right tackle and raced over the goal. He tried to plunge the extra point across but failed.
Another Touchdown
Weirton took the kickoff but had to punt back to Graber who returned from his 15 to the 29. Bray raced around his left end on a lateral for a first down on the Weir 34. He was in the clear, but got bottled up along the sideline. It was a run of … yards. Holt followed it up with a 10-yard gallop and a penalty for defensive holding brought a first down on the 18. Graber and Cardinal moved the ball up three yards and Bray grabbed off the rest of the distance on a sweep over the goal. Holt plunged for the extra point.
The Tigers had to overcome two penalties to score their third touchdown. They started from the 30 when Graber returned a punt from that point to the 45, but were ticketed 15 yards for unnecessary roughness. A pass to Bray advanced the leather to the Weir 47 and Cardinal sneaked through for a first on the 33. Graber passed from there to Holt for a touchdown, but it was nullified with a 15-yard penalty for clipping. Jasinski made up the loss by going over the heads of four Weir secondary to snare a pass on the 10, and another flip to Bray got the six points. Holt kicked the extra one. A pass to Tyre Gibson gave the Tigers a first down on the Weir 10-yard line when the half ended.
The locals did not threaten the third period, and you have already been given the sequence of plays that led to Weirton’s touchdown.
A poor Weirton punt that went nearly straight up in the air gave the Tigers their last scoring opportunity. Getting the ball out of bounds on the Weir 48, Holt raced 24 yards, and cooperating with Graber, moved it to the five-yard line where Graber took the leather over. Holt’s attempted kick for the extra point bounced off the goal posts.
The Tigers second team played the last half of the fourth period and the youngsters had just succeeded in getting a first down on the Weir 46 when the game ended.
Sweet Victory
Massillon Pos. Weirton
Willmot LE Zgurski
Edwards LT Wargacki
R. Wallce LG Cimino
B. Wallace C Ostovich
Weisgarber RG Mestrovic
Paulik RT Battista
Jasinski RE Wypasek
Cardinal QB J. Ziniach
Graber LH Rojak
Bray RH Bouyoucas
Holt FB P. Ziniach
Score by periods:
Massillon 13 7 0 6 – 26
Weirton 0 0 6 0 – 6
Substitutions – Massillon: Williams, c; Power,qb; Gibson, rh; Kanney, lg; Profant, c; Mastriann, fb; Oberlin, le; Gable, re; Schuler, rg; Yelic, rt; Berger, lt; Pellegini, lb.
Weirton: Daugherty, le; Pulaski, lt; Paris, rg; Grasso, c; Troia, lg; Remenar, rt; Ross, qb; Glover, lh; Kamarec, fb; Collette; Sawchak.
Touchdowns: Holt, Bray 2, Graber, Bouyoucas.
Points after touchdown: Holt, 2 (placekick and plunge)
Referee – Graf.
Umpire – Schill.
Headlinesman – Hazelwood.
Field Judge – Boone.
MASSILLON WHIPS WEIRTON, 26 TO 6
Runs Unbeaten String to 45 as Graber Stars in Passing Role Before 16,632
MASSILLON, O., Sept. 25 – The Massillon Washington Tigers piled up a 20-point lead at halftime and then coasted to a 26-6 victory over the Weirton (W.Va.) High Red Raiders here tonight before 16,632 fans in Tiger Stadium.
In running their unbeaten string to 45 games, the Tigers relied on their ace passer, Bob Graber, who spiced the Massillon offense with a fine exhibition of throwing. The Tiger passer pitched perfect strikes which accounted for two touchdowns.
The Tigers faced a spirited West Virginia attack in the last half. It was all Weirton in the third period. Taking advantage of a fumble by Graber, Weirton drove 42 yards in nine plays. Then Ted Bouyoucas, right halfback, crashed center from the seven for the Raiders only six-pointer.
The Massillon club again hit pay dirt in the final quarter. A 68-yard drive culminated when Graber, running from punt formation, raced off right tackle from the six-yard line.
Aided by two Weirton offside penalties, the Tigers took the opening kick-off and marched 80 yards for their first touchdown. Chuck Holt, speedy fullback, climaxed the drive by knifing through right guard for the last 35 yards.
After receiving the kick-off Weirton picked up only three yards and punted out on the Massillon 31. The Tigers then proceeded to duplicate their first scoring advance. Fine running by Bray produced the marker. Off the T formation he raced 35 yards to the Red Raiders’ 29 and then from the 18, cut around left end for the six-pointer.
Weirton Fans Disappointed
The game belonged in the same category because it was interesting throughout. The outcome, of course, was a great disappointment to the Weirton fans, a majority of whom came here confident of victory. Weirton was well represented at the game.
Particularly pleasing to the Massillon fans was the passing demonstration put on by the Tigers during the first half. As one interested spectator put it.
“I thought Weirton was going to do the passing. Where are some of those 50 and 60 yard passes we’ve been hearing about?”
It was during the Tigers’ aerial show that it was reported that the St. Louis Cardinals were thinking about signing Bob Graber as a pitcher. He certainly pitched that ball last night.
MASSILLON – 26 WEIRTON W.VA. – 6
Willmot LE Zgurski
Edwards LT Wargacki
R. Wallace LG Cimino
B. Wallace C Ostovich
Weisgarber RG Mestrovic
Paulik RT Battista
Jasinski RE Wypasek
Cardinal QB J. Ziniach
Graber LH Rojak
Bray RH Bouyoucas
Holt FB P. Ziniach
Substitutions – Massillon: Tongas, llg; Williams, rg; Kanney, rg; Power, qb; Pellegrini, lh; Gibson, rh; Mastriann, fb.
Weirton – Daugherty, le; Pulaski, lt; Ferielli, rg; Troia, rt; Glover, rh.
Touchdowns – Graber, Holt, Bray 2, Bouyoucas.
Points after touchdown – Holt 2.
