Author: <span>Eric Smith</span>

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1953: Massillon 35, Steubenville 6

Tigers Rip Big Red 35-6
Capacity Crowd Sees Massillon Gridders Win Fourth Game Of Season

By LUTHER EMERY

A hard hitting Steubenville football team gave the Washington high school Tigers their stiffest battle of the season Friday evening but did not have enough to keep the Bengals from winning their fourth victory of the autumn campaign and their 17th in a row.

The score was 35-6 and the margin of Massillon victory might have been four touchdowns more had it not been for a couple of fumbles, a disagreement of officials and the expiration of time. We will get around to all that before the end of this story.

What matters most was that the Tigers kept their slate clean while removing the Big Red from the undefeated list in the state. What we regret is that it had to be done at the expense of an ex-Massillonian, Ray Hoyman, coach of Steubenville.

But there’s no time for sentiment on the football field, and there was none of it displayed in the game as the two teams battled it out throughout the night.
* * *
YOU HAD only to visit the Tigers dressing room after the contest to know the players had been through their most grueling contest of the season.

Several were limping and there was scarcely a lad who did not leave some skin behind in Harding stadium.

“That was the hardest hitting team we have met this year,” said Coach Chuck Mather as he gave the squad the once over after the game.

Tom Fisher had an injured leg, which could bench him for quite a spell; Chuck Lentz was banged up; John Traylor was limping and the merthiolate was being daubed around freely.

It was testimony of the brand of football the Big Red put up in defeat, and evidence that the Tigers had to be good to survive.

A capacity crowd of more than 9,000 attended the game and over a third of it was composed of Massillon fans.

The local delegation had plenty of opportunities to cheer as their favorite team slammed over five touchdowns through some sensational running and passing, and lost four others that might just as well have been marked up to their credit.
* * *
STEUBENVILLE folks had a jolly time themselves when their fleet back, Jim Johnson, intercepted a Tiger pass and went for the works in the last 37 seconds of the game.

It didn’t mean anything as far as getting close to victory was concerned but it was something to cheer about.

Of more interest from a local standpoint were the touchdowns that were not made. Twice the Tigers lost the ball on fumbles when within an arm’s reach of the goal line, and twice more they were denied scores, once through a difference of opinion of officials and again through the expiration of time.

The official twist came near the end of the first half when John Francisco apparently went over from the three-yard line. The head linesman, Glen Dicken, indicated a touchdown. The field judge disagreed and the referee took the field judge’s opinion. The Tigers had but two seconds left after that one and Rich Crescenze fumbled in his hurry to get off another play as the half ended.

Then at the end of the game the Massillon boys had a first down on the seven-yard line with precious seconds ticking away. Their timeouts already used up, Joe Eaglowski faked injury in an attempt to get a timeout, but the officials did not see him and time ran out before the ball could again be put in play.
* * *
THE ORANGE and black struck swiftly in the opening minutes of each half. An unintentional onside kick at the start of the game was covered by John Francisco on the Big Red 39-yard line. Six plays later, Crescenze passed 26 yards to Jim Letcavits for the touchdown, with the game only two minutes and 42 seconds old.

Then to start off the second half, John Traylor gathered in the Stubber kickoff on the 10 and raced 90 yards to score.

Sandwiched between these two touchdowns was a 44-yard touchdown pass, Crescenze to Traylor.

The locals scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Billy Stone went over from seven yards out on the first play of the quarter to climax a 40-yard march. Francisco bucked across the final six points from the one-yard line and Tom Boone completed a perfect evening of placement kicking by booting his fifth point after touchdown.

The Statistics show the Tigers’ superiority as good if not better than the score.

The locals made 31 first downs to the Stubbers three and gained 454 yards from scrimmage to 113 yards.

Where they failed was in loose ball handling. They fumbled seven times, losing the ball on four of the occasions.

Penalties hurt at times too. The Tigers lost 95 yards while Steubenville lost 47 for rule infractions.
* * *
THE TIGERS rolled up their yardage in, every possible way. They made much of it on the ends, hoping to spread the Big Red defense for quickies and counters through the line and they opened the secondary, particularly early in the game with some well placed passes. Crescenze and Carl Porter hit five receivers for two touchdowns and 133 yards.

Steubenville had a set of fast backs who were dangerous when loose. Fastest of all was John Stinson, a substitute who hadn’t intended playing this year because of a twice fractured leg. He didn’t pick up too much yardage since he only carried a couple of times. Next in line and a great back was Fred Hudson who was a threat every time he carried the ball. Jim Morgan and Jim Johnson, other backs, were also dangerous.

On the line, Veteran Tackle Bill Kerr played a whale of a game. Said Eaglowski, “He was the kind of guy who would smile and wink at you and then proceed to knock you to pieces.”
* * *
THE TIGERS had their good boys too. Francisco, Traylor, Homer Floyd and Billy Stone all ran well. Homer had a case of fumbleitis, largely because the Stubbers were tackling the ball.

Jim Letcavits looked good again at end and Bruce Schram at tackle, and you can’t start mentioning people without getting into Boone’s five placements after touchdowns and his fine kickoffs.

Here’s how the scoring went:

Steubenville won the toss and elected to receive. Boone kicked off, hit the ball on the side of his foot and Francisco grabbed it for the Tigers on the Big Red 39. Traylor and Francisco made it first on the 27, Traylor hit for five, but Crescenze covered a fumbled handoff for a loss of three. The Big Red line swarmed over Francisco for a yard loss. Then Crescenze stepped back and shot a pass to Letcavits for 26 yards and the first T.D. of the game. Two minutes and 42 seconds had expired.
* * *
THE TIGERS started next time from their 37. Traylor ripped off 10 after Floyd had failed to gain. Floyd went to the Big Red 44 and Crescenze pitched to Traylor for the remaining 44 yards and a touchdown. Five minutes and 56 seconds of the game had passed by on this one.

The Tigers didn’t threaten again until midway in the second period when they recovered Hudson’s fumble on the Big Red 24. Floyd raced to a first on the 15. Floyd raced to a first on the 15. Francisco made four and Floyd fumbled but recovered for a gain of three putting the ball on the eight. Francisco drove to a first down on the four. Floyd fumbled within reach of a touchdown and Johnson recovered for Steubenville.

The locals drove to the goal line the next time they got the ball as the last seconds were being ticked off on the clock. With 21 seconds to go, Francisco apparently went over from the two. The head linesman, we thought, as did Coach Mather, signaled for a T.D., but was overruled by the referee. Time was called with two seconds to go. Crescenze attempted to buck it over but fumbled and another touchdown effort was lost.

The third quarter got under way in dazzling fashion for the Tigers. Traylor gathered in the kickoff on the 10 and raced straight up the alley 90 yards to score in the first 16 seconds of play.

The Tigers next got the ball on a punt on their 25. Francisco and Traylor got off good runs as the ball was moved to a first on the 16. Floyd took it to the eight had the ball pulled from his arms and Steubenville covered. A third T.D. was lost.
* * *
AS THE THIRD period was fading the Tigers launched their fourth successful touchdown drive. Traylor was downed with a Big Red punt on the latter’s 40. Stone smacked for 15 and again raced to a first on the 12. Stone circle right end on the first play of the fourth period for the touchdown.

Floyd set the Tigers in motion for their final points when he hauled in one of Nick Medves’ passes on the Steubenville 46. Stone hit for 10 and after an exchange of five-yard penalties for delays, Porter circled left end for 23 yards and a first on the 13. Stone was stopped without gain but Halfback Andy Stavroff ran to the six.

A five-yard penalty on Steubenville for offside put the ball on the one and Francisco was given the honor of bucking it over.

Only 37 seconds of the game remained to be played when Johnson intercepted Porter’s pass and ran 65 yards for the Big Red touchdown. But even in those last 37 seconds the Tigers almost got another. They brought the kickoff back to their 45 and Stone almost got away as he ran to a first on the seven. It was at this point that Eaglowski played injured but nobody saw him until the game as over. A fourth touchdown lost.

The line-up and summary:
MASSILLON
ENDS – Letcavits, Lentz, Boone, Lopez, Lorch.
TACKLES – Schram, Dean, Williams, Maier, Woolley.
GUARDS – Agnes, Eaglowski, Gardner, Shilling.
CENTERS –Fisher, Grant.
QUARTERBACKS – Crescenze, Porter.
HALFBACKS – Traylor, Francisco, Longshore, Stavroff.
FULLBACKS – Floyd, Stone.

STEUBENVILLE
ENDS – Thomas, Starlipper, Pettress, Wilson, Fulton.
TACKLES – Snyder, Kerr, Underwood, Snair.
GUARDS – Starr, Bickerstaff, Brandt.
CENTER – Moncilovich.
QUARTERBACKS – Medves, White.
HALFBACKS – Johnson, Hudson, Stinson, Callas.
FULLBACKS – Morgan, Pylia.

Score by periods:
Massillon 14 0 7 14 35
Steubenville 0 0 0 6 6

Touchdowns:
Massillon – Letcavits; Traylor 2; Stone; Francisco.
Steubenville – Johnson.

Points after touchdown:
Massillon – Boone 5 (place kicks).

Officials
Referee – A.L. Walsh (Elwood City).
Umpire – Sam Hodnick (Canton).
Head Linesman – Glen Dicken (Pittsburgh).
Field Judge – Hub Radnour (Pittsburgh).

STATISTICS
Mass. Steub.
First downs 21 3
Passes attempted 15 7
Passes completed 5 1
Had passes intercepted 1 2
Yards gained passing 133 7
Yards gained rushing 321 106
Total yards gained 454 113
Yards lost 21 18
Net yards gained 433 95
Times kicked off 6 2
Average kickoff (yards) 45 37
Yards kickoffs returned by 100 93
Times punted 3 7
Average punt (yards) 37 34
Yards punts returned 63 13
Times fumbled 7 2
Lost ball on fumbles 4 1
Times penalized 9 9
Yards penalized 95 47

Jim Lectavits
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1953: Massillon 40, Lima Central 0

Tigers Whip Lima Central 40-0
Orange And Black Play Best Game Of Season Before Crowd Of 12,807

By LUTHER EMERY

Displaying their best football of the season, the Washington high school Tigers whipped Lima Central 40-0 before a crowd of 12,807 fans here Friday evening with the second team playing offense the entire second half.

There’s no telling what the final score would have been had not Coach Chuck Mather of the Tigers opened the gates of mercy in the last two periods and filled his ranks with one substitute after another. He had 41 in the game before it ended, and still the score kept mounting.

Program Cover

Coach Seraph Pope of the visiting Dragons almost kept pace with Mather. When he saw victory fleeting, he too substituted liberally with the result that you had sophomores and juniors playing each other most of the final period.
* * *
THE TIGERS were high last night and they put on a display of hard running and passing
that quickly overcame Lima’s early first period spurt that penetrated deep into Massillon territory.

“Maybe we were too high,” Mather said after the game. “But then it was about time we were getting up there.”

“I had no desire to run up a score for the sake of the football poll,” he said. “That’s why I let the younger boys play in the second half.”

The game produced a lot of sensations as well as some zany football. There was a brilliant 40-yard pass from Rich Crescenze to Halfback John Traylor for the Tigers’ first score of the game with only 53 seconds remaining in the first period. There was a brilliant run by Homer Floyd, as hard a one as you would want to see for 32 yards and the locals’ second touchdown; a 16-yard scoot by Traylor for the third and a 36-yard peg from Crescenze to Tom Boone for the fourth.

There was a blocked punt by Jim Letcavits that was converted into a touchdown and a T.D. by Andy Stavroff, who went through standing up for the Tigers’ last score of the game.

Then too there was a pass completion for a loss of 17 yards in which Quarterback Carl Porter ran back 35 yards before getting rid of the ball – and there was the longest yard gain of the year in which Dick Fromholtz on a statue ran over 50 yards to make one.
* * *
LIMA CENTRAL early in the game came out with an offense good enough to cause fans to believe they might live up to their advance rating.

Just as Canton Lincoln walked through the locals in the initial quarter a week ago, so Lima moved from its 28 to what would have been a first down on the Tiger three had not an eager guard got offside and caused the Dragons to be penalized. John Francisco ended the threat with a pass interception behind the goal line and barely got back into playing territory before being tackled.

The teams took turns covering each other’s fumbles and when the Tigers pounced on a Lima muff on the 27, it was like erecting an iron curtain in front of the goal. The visitors never got close enough for conversation again.

The Dragons never quit trying, however. What was supposed to have been an impotent passing attack turned out to be a potent one the first half. They completed five of seven the first two periods, having one intercepted and one incomplete, the last of the half. The Tigers did a better job of breaking up the throwing the last half, principally by rushing the passer.

The Massillon line showed improvement as did the whole team. It shoved the lighter Lima line backward most of the evening and did not permit the visiting forward wall to free the fleet Lima backs. The latter on occasions showed fans they had all the speed they were supposed to have but they didn’t have the blocking to get them into the open.
* * *
THE GENERAL improvement in the Massillon team is the best thing that can be said in its favor. It has gotten better with each game as a good, smart team should do and should keep developing right on through the final contest of the season. That’s what is necessary to become a great team. The Tigers hope to attain that rating.

In winning 40-0 the Tigers gave Chuck Mather his 50th victory since he took the helm of football here. He won nine games in each of 1948, 1949, and 1951 seasons and 10 in 1950 and 1952. This was his third triumph of the current campaign.

Coach Pope, of Lima, who also entered the contest with 49 wins as Central’s coach, will have to wait another week for his 50th.

Highlight of the game from a Massillon standpoint, we thought, was Floyd’s 32-yard run for the second Massillon touchdown. We haven’t seen anything as pretty in years and it brought words of praise from Al White, Lima sports writer. Floyd leaped over one tackler on his sweep and danced around on the ground to get out of the arms of two others before he could free himself for the run of the night.
* * *
HIGHLIGHT for Central was the pass snatching of End Bill Cowden. He made a couple of dandy catches, taking the ball right out of the arms of Massillon secondary.

The Tigers won the game on the statistical sheet as well as the scoreboard. First downs were 17 to 11, net yards gained 348 to 146 and even the punting and kicking off showed a margin of superiority. Tom Boone, in fact, is getting more distance each week with his kickoffs. Where he seldom got the ball beyond the 25-yard line in the opening game, he’s now threatening to kick it over the goal. All of those things will come in mighty handy when the locals encounter stiffer competition.

Lima fans had thought their team might become the victim of stage fright in the opening minutes last night. They were not accustomed to the fanfare and crowds which are part of the Massillon football show.

Instead of wringing their hands, however, they were masters of the situation and went to work with a will that won them the applause and admiration of both friend and foe.

Receiving on the 28 they ran the ball to a first down on their own 48, largely through a
14-yard effort by Halfback Earmon Cook.

Then Quarterback John Henderson began throwing. He hit Dick Dush for 18 yards and a first down on the 34 and on second down tossed to Dush for nine and another first on the 24. He threw to end Bill Cowden for eight and then bootlegged around end to a first on the three only to have the ball called back because a lineman had jumped offside on the play. He pitched to Cowden for six more and Jim Jackson made it first down on the 14. On second down, Francisco grabbed a pass from Henderson behind the goal and ran it out four yards. The Tigers followed with their first, first down of the game, but lost the ball on a fumble on the next down with Cook covering on the 13.

Lima obliged by also fumbling on first down, Russ Maier covering for Massillon on his 27.
* * *
THE TIGERS went to work.

In six running plays they moved the ball to the Lima 40 where Crescenze shot a well-timed pass that Traylor took over his shoulder on the dead run and never broke stride until he had planted the leather behind the goal. Boone gave additional assurance by placekicking the extra point.

The Tigers went over twice before they got another that counted.

Getting the ball through a punt on his own 38, Francisco led a running assault that went to the Lima 14 from which point Traylor broke away to sink his cleats in pay dirt only to find it didn’t count. The Tigers had been caught clipping and were penalized 15. That only served to set the stage for Floyd’s great 32-yard effort already described. Boone missed the try for the extra point.

A punt started the Tigers out again. Getting the ball on their 47, they launched another attack. This time Traylor was in the lead as he got off runs of 24 yards and 16 yards, the latter a touchdown jaunt. Boone kicked this one and it was 20-0.

The Tigers covered a fumble on the Lima 44 right after the next kickoff and in two pass plays had another T.D. The first went to Letcavits for 20 yards and the clincher was hauled in by Boone on the three. He stumbled backward for the remainder. Boone missed this kick and the score was 26-0. It came within a hair of being more as Floyd hauled down a pass with one hand and ran all the way back to the three-yard line before being tackled. The half ended before the locals could put the ball in play.
* * *
THE SECOND offensive team took over in the third period for the local team. Letcavits should get credit for the first touchdown of the second half as he made everything but the points.

Lima attempted to punt on fourth down and Jim broke through and blocked the ball which rolled back to the one yard line. Bill Stone plunged over but it was not allowed – the locals were offside and were penalized five. But that didn’t matter for Willie Longshore made up the distance in one play to score. Boone kicked the 33rd point.

The drive for the final touchdown got under way late in the third quarter and lasted into the fourth. Lima lost the ball on fourth down on its own 48. Longshore got five and Stavroff went to the Lima 35 before the end of the period.

Stavroff picked up seven more and Stone went 23 yards and all the way to the five before being downed. Stavroff got the five on the next play and Boone kicked the extra point to complete the scoring for the evening.

The Tigers emerged from the game in good physical condition.

The sophomores of the squad will travel to New London tonight to play the New London varsity. The juniors and seniors will see their next action Friday night at Steubenville. Tickets for that game will be sold to the public Monday.

The line-up and summary:
MASSILLON
ENDS – Boone, Letcavits, Lentz, Barrett, R. Francisco, Canary, Lorch, Lopez.
TACKLES – Schram, Dean, Woolley, Hill, Williams, Schumacher, Moore.
GUARDS – Eaglowski, Agnes, Holloway, Russ Maier, Shilling, Gardner.
CENTERS – Fisher, Rohrbaugh, Grant.
QUARTERBACKS – Crescenze, Porter, Speck.
HALFBACKS – Traylor, J. Francisco, Stavroff, Longshore, Byrd. Fromholtz, Brown, Duke, Yoder.
FULLBACKS – Floyd, Johnson, Stone, Archibald, Boekel.

LIMA CENTRAL
ENDS – Dush, Dowden, Wisniowski, Reynolds.
TACKLES – Daley, Cook, Laibe.
GUARDS – Gross, Wilson, Campbell, Carnes, Neal, Lhaman.
CENTERS – Pfeifer, Fisher, Folland.
QUARTERBACKS – Henderson, Black, Hamar.
HALFBACKS – Cook, Robertson, Berthold, Jones, J. Fisher.
FULLBACKS – Jackson, Martin.

Score by periods:
Massillon 7 19 7 7 40

Touchdowns – Traylor 2; Boone; Floyd; Longshore; Stavroff.

Points after touchdown – Boone 4 (placekicks).

Officials
Referee – Schaffer (Ottawa).
Umpire – Cooney (Hamilton).
Head Linesman – Lymper (Mansfield).
Field Judge – Wirtz (Cincinnati).

STATISTICS
Mass. Lincoln
First downs 17 11
Forward passes attempted 11 12
Passes completed 5 6
Had passes intercepted 0 2
Yards gained passing 124 50
Yards gained rushing 249 140
Total yards gained 373 190
Yards lost rushing and passing 25 44
Net yards gained 348 146
Times kicked off 7 1
Average kickoff (yards) 48 40
Yards kickoffs returned by 24 118
Times punted 2 7
Average punt (yards) 34 26
Yards punts returned by 48 2
Times fumbled 4 3
Lost ball on fumble 2 2
Times penalized 5 4
Yards penalized 45 20

Jim Lectavits
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1953: Massillon 55, Canton Lincoln 13

Tigers Smash Canton Lincoln 55-13
Massillon Team Comes From Behind After Lions Score First Touchdown

By LUTHER EMERY

An inspired Canton Lincoln football team made a determined first period bid against the Washington high school Tigers before 11,728 fans here Friday evening but succumbed to Massillon’s power and went down to a 55-13 defeat.

The visiting Lions came out strong at the start of the game, grabbed a 6-0 lead with an
86-yard march in 11 plays and momentarily succeeded in stopping the Tigers. But a series of bad breaks were like pouring ice water down their backs and they cooled off as Massillon got the upper hand.

Program Cover

The first period was a dilly, from a standpoint of close scoring, ending with Massillon in front 7-6. Lincoln scored its touchdown the hard way, returning the kickoff 21 yards to the 35 and slam-banging the rest of the way. The Tigers went 57 yards on a minus two for their ball carrying efforts. A 15-yard penalty against Lincoln and interference on an incomplete pass moved the ball from the Massillon 34 to the Lions 13. The interference was called on third down with 12 yards needed for a first down.
* * *
ONCE IN the shadow of the visitors’ goal, the local team struck swiftly, Homer Floyd going over on the first play for the T.D. and Tom Boone kicking the extra point to give the Tigers the lead.

The first was still in Lincoln and after an exchange of punts, the Lions seemed ready to roll again, but with a first down in their grasp, they were penalized 15 yards for illegal use of the hands. They were further cooled off when John Francisco intercepted a forward pass to gain possession of the leather for the Tigers.

After that there was nothing to it.

The Massillon juggernaut began to roll, marched 70 yards to a touchdown in the first minute of the second period, added two more before the end of the half, three more in the third and one in the fourth when the ranks were being filled by the 32 substitutes used by Coach Chuck Mather. Lincoln scored again against these in the last minute of the game.

It was a far better contest than that of a week ago from play on the part of the Tigers and from a standpoint of spectator interest.

There were few times out for injuries or penalties and the officials kept the game moving.

Then too, Lincoln had enough offense to keep the game interesting.
* * *
YOU WOULDN’T believe a team could be beaten as badly as 55-13 and yet show up so well in the statistics. The Lions tallied 20 first downs to Massillon’s 21 and gained 329 yards, sufficient to win most games. The Tigers gained 452 yards and lost 28 for a net of 424. Lincoln finished with a net of 305.

Had it not been for its first period hard luck, Lincoln might have made even more of a fight of it.

However, there should have been no doubt in the mind of any spectator but that the Tigers were by far the stronger team.

They were much smoother than a week ago, though dents were made in their armor at times as the Lincoln backs frequently ripped for yardage and completed 12 of 28 passes.

Coach Mather was in a good mood after the game. “I thought we looked better tonight, didn’t you?” he asked. “We were a lot smoother,” he said, and then hastened off to make a final check of members of the team. He found them in good condition. John Francisco had him worried when he sustained a bruised leg, but it did not appear to bother him to any extent after the game. “I’ll be all right, coach,” said John.
* * *
THE TIGERS were better in several ways – not only smoother in their execution of plays. Tom Boone was kicking off and getting points from placement. He averaged 49 yards on his kickoffs and converted seven of his eight tries for extra point.

Pass receivers were running loose in the Lincoln backfield too, but Rich Crescenze was throwing the ball just a shade too far. Otherwise the Tigers’ percentage of completions would have been higher than four of 14. The 131 yards gained on the four are more impressive.

Long runs and long passes for touchdowns are the reason why the Tigers got so many more points for their first downs than did Lincoln.

The fancy stuff provided additional entertainment for the fans and served notice on future opponents they have to stop half a dozen backs to beat Massillon.

Slickest run of them all produced the orange and black’s third touchdown in the second period. Capt. Fred Schmidt of the visitors got off one of his few good punts that Johnny Francisco took on the 16. Johnny started for the sideline in a wide arc and slipped the ball to Floyd who was coming from the opposite direction. Francisco was on the 10 when he made the handoff and Floyd tore full steam along the east sideline behind fine blocking to race 90 yards and across the north goal with the ball.
* * *
THE FOURTH T.D. came on a pass from Crescenze to Traylor good for 52 yards and almost as many cheers. Another in the third to Boone gained 25 and a touchdown while Francisco went 20 yards and Bill Stone 33 yards for other third period scores. The last one was lugged over by Willie Longshore on an 18-yard jaunt around left end.

The victory was the second of the season for the Tigers and the defeat was the first of the year for Lincoln. Washington high now has 15 triumphs in a row or 35 in its last 36 games. The record will be threatened next Friday night when Lima Central, boasting one of its best teams in years, comes here.

It will be the first engagement between teams of the two schools and interest is so high in Lima that the school is chartering a special train for students and fans and two radio stations are making tape recordings to be played back Saturday to their home-town fans.
* * *
THE TIGERS kicked off to Lincoln to start last night’s ball game and it seemed just what the Lions wanted. They got back to the 35 with the ball and reeled off five first downs as they passed and marched their way to the two. They sent little Vic DeOrio into the slot and he got over for the six points.

Longshore brought Dave Muntean’s kickoff back to the 34. Traylor was thrown for a loss of four but Lincoln was penalized 15 yards. The Lions dropped Francisco for a two-yard loss and Crescenze’s attempted pass was grounded. On third down he fired again and this time interference was called on the incompleted pass and the Tigers were given the ball on the 13. Floyd went over on the first play and Boone’s extra point made it 7-6.

Francisco’s interception of Don Nehlen’s pass on the 42, set the stage for the next score. Francisco and Traylor in five plays took the ball to the six, but it took four more to get it over from that point, Francisco diving across for the score. This was the only extra point attempt missed by Boone.

Next came Floyd’s long punt return after taking a handoff from Francisco.

Two passes produced the fourth Tiger score. Crescenze tossed 20 yards to Jim Letcavits and then the 52-yarder to Traylor.

A poor Lincoln kick that went out of bounds on the Lion’s own 25 paved the way for the fifth score early in the third period. On the first play after the punt, Crescenze threw 25 yards to Boone to score.

A rhubarb that followed the point after touchdown ended with the ejection of Floyd from the game and a 15-yard penalty on the Tigers on the following kickoff.

The officials held Floyd had punched a Canton tackle. Floyd’s version was that the Canton tackle had him pinned on the ground, was roughing it up and wouldn’t get off of him. Floyd said he had to force him off. The violation occurred after the extra point had been made.
* * *
AL SHILLING recovered a Lion fumble in midfield to get the Tigers off to their sixth T.D. Stone in two plays went to the 20 and Francisco the rest of the distance.

Stone scored on the first play of the fourth quarter on a 33-yard run to cap a 75-yard march in which Traylor and Francisco both got off long runs.

The Tigers’ final points were scored midway in the fourth quarter. Starting from their own 32, Stone hit for four, Francisco for 32. Traylor for 14 and Longshore went the last 18.

Lincoln took the following kickoff on its own 23 and marched 77 yards to score. DeOrio going over for the points.

The line-ups and summaries:
MASSILLON – 55
ENDS – Letcavits, Lentz, Lopez, Barrett, B. Francisco, Canary, Lorch, McConnell.
TACKLES – Schram, Dean, Woolley, Blocher, Hill, Moore, Feather.
GUARDS – Agnes, Eaglowski, K. Fisher, Shilling, Holloway, R. Maier, Gardner, Speck.
CENTERS – T. Fisher, Grant, Rohrbaugh, Spicer.
QUARTERBACKS – Crescenze, Porter.
HALFBACKS – Traylor, J. Francisco, Fromholtz, Duke, Longshore, Yoder, Wallace, Byrd.
FULLBACKS – Floyd, Stone, R. Johnson, Archibald, Boekel.

LINCOLN – 13
ENDS – Langman, Muntean, Hoobler, Harpst. Gillspie.
TACKLES – Sedlock, Capper, Brooks.
GUARDS – Kelly, Felton, Grainger.
CENTERS – Bryant, Parks.
QUARTERBACK – Nehlen.
HALFBACKS – DeOrio, Schmidt, Meiser, Volzer.
FULLBACKS – Ujcich, Zettler.

Score by periods:
MASSILLON 7 20 14 14 55
LINCOLN 6 0 0 7 13

Touchdowns:
Massillon – Floyd 2; Francisco 2; Traylor; Boone; Stone; Longshore.
Lincoln – DeOrio 2.

Points after touchdown:
Massillon – Boone 7 (placekick).
Lincoln – Schmidt (placekick).

Officials
Referee – Pianowski (Cleveland).
Umpire – Jones (East Cleveland).
Head Linesman – Machock (Elyria).
Field Judge – Ballenger (Kent).

STATISTICS
Mass. Lincoln
First downs 21 20
Passes attempted 14 28
Passes completed 4 12
Had passes intercepted 1 2
Yards gained passing 131 94
Yards gained rushing 321 235
Total yards gained 452 329
Yards lost 28 24
Net yards gained 424 305
Times kicked off 10 2
Average kickoff (yards) 49 44
Yards kickoffs returned by 32 152
Times punted 1 6
Average punt (yards) 30 27
Yards punts returned by 103 6
Tiimes fumbled 0 4
Lost ball on fumble 0 2
Times penalized 3 4
Yards penalized 35 50

Jim Lectavits
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1953: Massillon 39, Akron Garfield 0

Tigers Defeat Akron Garfield 39-0
Crowd of 10,370 Sees Massillon Gridders Get Off To Winning Start

By LUTHER EMERY

A sick, Washington high school football team slapped down Akron Garfield 39-0 before 10,370 fans in Tiger stadium Friday evening to begin defense of the state championship crown it has worn the last five yards.

With half the squad suffering from the stomach-ache, the Tiger gridders made many mistakes, but once they become better coordinated, they will be a tough customer for anyone to handle.

Fortunately their opponent last night was Garfield, a good and willing football team, but not as experienced and as sturdy as some of the future foes on the orange and black’s schedule.

“I don’t know what it was,” Coach Chuck Mather, said after the game. “Maybe it was just nervous stomachs from the first night performance.”

Whatever the reason, about half of the team complained throughout the game of aching and sick stomachs. That was one reason why Mather moved several players in an out of the contest so many times. All told, he used 32 players.
* * *
THE SCORE was below the advance prediction of most fans. A stubborn Garfield team that battled right up to the end was one of the reasons for it being so. Also holding down the total were 100 yards in penalties and the loss of the ball three times on fumbles.

“We will look a lot better when we get more coordinated,” Mather said after the game. “We need to improve our downfield blocking. We could have had a couple more touchdowns with better blocking.” The Tiger coach singled out Halfback John Francisco for special praise for his hard running.

The Tigers scored in every period, getting two touchdowns in each of the second and fourth quarters. Garfield threatened but once, completing a pass to within two yards of the Tiger goal only to have the ball called back on a penalty.

Mather’s reference to lack of coordination shows up better in the yards gained column than on the scoreboard.
* * *
THE TIGERS gained 499 yards, 108 through passing. That kind of offense usually produces more than six touchdowns, especially when there’s a cheap one in the group.

However, penalties and fumbles at the wrong time helped to nip touchdown bids.

Because of the penalties and the great amount of substitutions, the game was slow from a spectators’ standpoint, and large portions of the crowd began to leave early in the fourth quarter, knowing the Tigers had the game in the bag. As a result they missed a couple of the best runs of the game.

Though Mather complained of his blocking, some good ones were thrown during the course of the evening. Johnny Traylor tossed a beauty once for Francisco and we saw Ronnie Dean take two men out of a play on one occasion.

The Tigers completed five of 12 passes and the percentage would have been higher had the receivers done a better job of holding the ball. Three were dropped, that should have been caught – all deep in enemy territory.

Not a Massillon pass was intercepted, while Garfield had three taken away by Tiger secondary men. The visitors threw 11 and completed two for 11 yards.
* * *
THE MASSILLON defense on the whole was good enough. Not only was the pass defense operating well, but the line playing against a single wing offense with which it was not too familiar, held the visitors to a total of 80 yards gained and threw them for 54 yards in losses, leaving them a net gain on the ground of only 25 yards.

Top scorer of the evening was Traylor with three touchdowns. Aside from throwing some good blocks he also punted well, getting off one 48-yard beauty that rolled dead on the
two-yard line.

Hardest runner was Francisco who squirmed his way for a lot of fine gains. His first effort and incidentally it was the Tigers’ initial play from scrimmage was a 66-yard sprint to the three-yard line where he stumbled and fell in the open after being knocked off balance.

Traylor had set him free around the 20 with a beautiful block.

Traylor in two plays went over for the score, the first of the game.

That was all for the quarter that ended 6-0.

The second period was almost two-thirds gone before the locals scored again. It was a cheap one.

Willie Longshore gained position for the points when he covered a Garfield fumble on the one yard line.
* * *
FRANCISCO went over on the first play but the ball was called back and the Tigers penalized five yards for being in motion. Crescenze was tossed on the nine for a three-yard loss, but he hit Boone with a pass in the corner for the score. Boone missed the uprights on the extra point attempt.

The next points came quickly as Billy Stoner returned an Akron punt to his 41. In two plays the Tigers were over, Homer Floyd touring right end to the 19 and Traylor coming around the left for the T.D. Another missed kick and the score stood at 18-0 at the half.

Massillon received to open the third period and never gave up the ball until it was over the Akron goal. Starting from the 35, Traylor went around left end for 20. Francisco whirled for five but a 15-yard penalty for clipping shoved the leather back over the midfield stripe. Traylor made up for it on the next play by tearing to the 32, and Crescenze went around end to the 10. Francisco took the ball over in two plays and Boone kicked the extra point to make the score 25-0. That’s where it stood until the fourth quarter, when Boone intercepted a Garfield pass and scampered back to his 27. A couple of well executed passes, one to Traylor and another to Floyd took the ball into Akron territory.

Next paragraph unreadable
* * *
THE LAST T.D. came with 50 seconds to play. The locals had backed Garfield to its own
six–yard line and the punt out was none too good, going only to the 28. Dick Fromholtz made six yards on a reverse and Francisco on a quickie raced to the two-yard line. The honor of going over was given to Floyd and he barely made it in a plunge at the middle, Boone kicked this one too and the game was over two plays later with Andy Stavroff intercepting an Akron pass and running all the way to the 13 before being tackled.

While the Tigers’ play still has many shortcomings, one obvious weakness was in the kickoff. The ball was short on most occasions which results in a gift of from 15 to 30 yards to the opponent. Garfield brought one kickoff back to its 49, another to the 44, others to the 38, the 35 and 36. The only two good kickoffs were stopped on the 24 and the 16.

Garfield’s offense was centered largely in a speedy halfback, Richard Gibson, who gained most of the visitors’ yards.

MASSILLON
ENDS – Lentz, Letcavits, Lopez, Boone, Canary, Lorch.
TACKLES – Schram, Dean, Williams, Woolley, Hill.
GUARDS – Agnes, Eaglowski, Shilling, Gardner, K. Kisher, Holloway, Maier.
CENTERS – T. Fisher, Grant.
QUARTERBACKS – Crescenze, Porter.
HALFBACKS – Traylor, Francisco, Fromholtz, Stone, Longshore, Duke.
FULLBACKS – Floyd, Archibald, Stavroff, Boekel.

GARFIELD
ENDS – Olenick, Williams, Parks, Bolender.
TACKLES – Vance, Fink, Compton, Bridges.
GUARDS – Cox, Williamson, Zoval.
CENTER – Kirk.
QUARTERBACKS – Quintrell, Brittson.
HALFBACKS – Gibson, Marts, Miller, Amedeo.
FULLBACKS – Tunstall, Mobley.

Score by periods:
MASSILLON 6 12 7 14 39

Touchdowns: – Traylor 3, Francisco, Boone, Floyd.

Points after touchdown: – Boone 3 (placekicks).

Officials
Referee – Rupp.
Umpire – Klocker.
Head Linesman – McPhee.
Field Judge – Don Hamilton, Jr.

STATISTICS
Mass. Garfield
First downs 15 6
Passes attempted 12 11
Passes completed 5 2
Had Passes intercepted 0 3
Yards gained passing 108 32
Yards gained rushing 391 80
Total yards gained 499 112
Yards Lost 11 54
Net yards gained 488 58
Times punted 2 8
Average punt (yards) 44 27
Times kicked off 7 1
Average kickoff (yards) 40 45
Times fumbled 5 5
Lost ball on fumbles 3 1
Times penalized 12 7
Yards penalized 100 55

Jim Lectavits
Massillon vs. McK - Throwback (Large) History

1952: Massillon 41, Canton McKinley 8

TIGERS BEAT BULLDOGS 41-8 IN BID FOR FIFTH STATE TITLE
Await Outcome Of Final Press Poll;  Massillon Gridders End Undefeated Season With Victory Over Old Rival

By LUTHER EMERY

Having completed an undefeated season by whipping Canton McKinley 41-8 here Saturday afternoon, the Washington high Tigers today awaited the final Associated Press poll of the season Tuesday which is expect to name them state champions for the fifth straight year.

Program Cover

Virtually all but one of the writers who saw the Tigers maul the Bulldogs were ready to give Massillon the title after the game. Springfield’s representative, Dan Hoyt, wasn’t convinced, and remained loyal to his own Wildcats, for which we don’t blame him one bit. “I’d like to see the two teams meet, it would be a good game,” he said. Dan didn’t think McKinley very strong, but he should remember that the Bulldogs came within two points of beating Mansfield as badly as the latter was beaten by Springfield Friday.

The Cleveland, Canton and Akron papers in their Sunday write-ups gave the Tigers the title, which shows the line of thought of some of the boys.

The ballots were being cast today and Tuesday the results should be known.
* * *
THE TIGER victory over McKinley, scored before a paid attendance of 17,830, climaxed a great season for the Tigers and the team will go down in Massillon pigskin history as one of the greatest.

The victory extended to two games the Tiger edge over the Bulldogs in their 57-game series that dates back to 1894. Massillon has now won 27, Canton 25, while five ended in tie scores.

The triumph brought Massillon’s victory string to 13 games. It was the 47th win for Chuck Mather since he took over the helm here in 1948, and his second undefeated season.

His 1948, 1949 and 1951 teams each lost one game.

“I wouldn’t say this team was better than the undefeated 1950 team,” Mather said after the game. “We had a good bunch of fellows then, too. But I will say this was one of the best and certainly a fine bunch of players to work with.”
* * *
THE TIGER COACH gave them all a big pat on the back as he made the rounds in the hilarious locker room after the game.

The players themselves bore the marks of a hard-fought contest. They were scratched and bruised, and Fullback Lee Nussbaum, who emerged from the contest as the leading ground gainer, didn’t know the score. He had suffered a slight concussion which had him somewhat foggy for several hours.

Coach Mather gave the Bulldogs credit for playing a hard game and was even louder in the praise of his opponent after looking over the motion pictures Sunday. “If we hadn’t been up we would have lost this one,” he said. “Do you know they hit us three times as hard as we were hit all season? They were playing their hearts out. So were our boys and that’s the only reason we won.”

The hard play caused tempers to flare and Bob Khoenle and Sam Williams of Massillon and two Canton players were tossed out by the officials; Williams in the third period and Khoenle in the fourth.
* * *
MATHER was critical of the officiating. “It was the poorest officiated game I ever saw and you can quote me as saying so,” he said after going over the pictures.

Mather was a little disappointed in Misere’s performance until he saw the pictures. “After watching the pictures I admire how that little fellow stayed in there and took it. He really got a going over when passing,” he said.

Mather said he wasn’t going to single out any individual for praise. “They all did well, otherwise we couldn’t have won,” he said.

We noted, however, that he was particularly pleased with the way Nussbaum came through in his last high school game. He broke the Bulldogs’ back on the opening play from scrimmage with an end sweep of 40 yards and he finished the day with a fraction less than nine yards per try for the 21 times he carried the ball.
* * *
LEE GAINED 181 yards, John Traylor 93, John Francisco 54, John Tasseff 40 and Clarence Stewart 21.

The Tigers rolled up 390 yards by rushing, lost 28 for a net of 362. They gained 65 yards by passing, giving them a net of 427.

Their total offense in victory was as superior to the Bulldogs as the score on the board. McKinley gained 70 yards rushing and lost 21 for a net of 49. They gained 121 yards passing for a total net offense of 170 yards. First downs were just as one-sided, 22-7 in favor of the Tigers.
* * *
WHILE the ball carriers were having a track meet, the Tiger line and defense should be given a big share of the credit.

The linemen, Bob Khoenle, Sam Williams, Jim Geiser, Bruce Schram, Bob Clinage, Bob Kraus and Frank Corral slit the Bulldog forward wall wide open and consistently made big holes for the ball carriers to romp through. Their charge at the same time so bottled up the Bulldog backs that they spent much of their time running in their own backfield.

John Goodrich, ace of the Canton team, for instance, gained but 11 yards and lost seven, for a net gain of four in the eight times he carried the ball. Leading ground gainer was Dick Albert, the Canton ball carrier who had 21 yards to show for the five times he sneaked through center with the pigskin from his quarterback position.

The Tiger blocking was likewise something to behold. It was at its best on a 33-yard punt return by Traylor and a 32-yard run for the second touchdown of the game from a deep reverse. Johnny had five teammates convoying him over the goal line.
* * *
HARDEST TOUCHDOWN run was that unleashed by John Tasseff substituting for Johnny Francisco when the latter injured his leg. It was a 31-yard fourth period effort in which Tasseff raced down the sideline and without too much help shook off three Canton tacklers in disdain as they took their turn at trying to bring him down. The run produced the Tigers’ fifth T.D.

The game had its oddities, and two of them combined to give McKinley a safety, its first points of the game.

Willard Grimsley, who played a great defensive game for Canton and whose hard tackling stopped what might have been two or three more Tiger touchdowns, got off a beautiful
49-yard punt in the fourth quarter that stopped dead just inches short of the goal. We had not seen such a kick this season. Traylor stood with his heels against the end zone line as though to punt back, but ran with the ball. He barely got out, but Misere was caught pushing in the end zone which gave McKinley two points.
* * *
THE TWO POINTS seemed to pep up the Bulldogs because they took the following free kick on their 47 and in three plays had a touchdown, Albert tossing to Kenny Young for 49 yards and the score.

It was actually the only Bulldog threat. Canton never got over the 50-yard line the first quarter; got no closer than the 42 the second, and otherwise made its deepest penetration to the third when it marched to a first down on the 32 only to lose the ball on John Climo’s pass interception on the 14-yard line.

In addition to their touchdown bid the Bulldogs twice barely got over the 50-yard line in the fourth quarter, reaching the 42 both times.

The Tigers, on the other hand were dangerous every time they had the ball. Two 15-yard penalties for clipping and a couple of intercepted passes probably kept them from scoring two or three more.

In fact an intercepted pass stopped the initial march that might have gone for a score. This break however, was offset by Sam Williams, covering a Canton fumble on the seven and one-half yard line on the series of plays that followed.
* * *
WINNING the toss the Tigers elected to receive.

Traylor brought the kickoff back to the 26 and on the first play Nussbaum whirled around left end and went 40 yards to the Canton 34 where he was knocked out of bounds. Three plays gained but six yards and Misere’s fourth down pass was intercepted by Bob Washburn on the Canton 14.

The Bulldogs gained but a yard on two plays and Washburn fumbled on third down; Williams covering on the seven and one-half. The Bulldogs yielded ground stubbornly. Nussbaum carried twice and gained but three yards. Traylor on third down put the ball a foot short of the goal with a terrific lunge and Nussbaum took it over. Four minutes and 42 seconds of the period had expired. Tom Boone kicked the extra point, 7-0.
* * *
THE TIGERS stopped the Bulldogs on the 31 on the next series of plays forcing them to punt. Traylor made a brilliant 33-yard return to his 45. On second d own Misere tossed to Francisco for 29 yards and a first down on the 23 but the Tigers were penalized 15 for clipping, bringing the ball back to the McKinley 49. (The movies showed no violation). Francisco, Traylor and Nussbaum took turns at lugging the leather to the 20 where Misere was tossed for a 12-yard loss when he couldn’t find a receiver to pass to. That set the stage for one of the prettiest plays of the game, a deep reverse that saw Traylor come around his right end behind superb blocking for 32 yards and a touchdown. Boone’s kick was good. 14-0.

The Tigers were two-thirds of the way through the second period before they scored again. A 15-yard penalty for illegal use of the hands tied them up the first time they had the ball, forcing them to punt. They marched to a touchdown the next time, after getting the leather when Grimsley punted and out on the Massillon 31. Nussbaum put together runs of 16 and 24 yards in the drive that went to the four where the big fullback rammed it over. Boone kicked the extra point. 21-0.

The Tigers were on their way again in the period when Goodrich ended the threat by intercepting Misere’s pass on the Canton 38.

The locals scored the first time they got the ball in the third period but it took a lot of hard football to get it. Climo got the leather by intercepting Albert’s pass on the 14. A 13-yard pass, Misere to Bob Khoenle picked up a first down and the Bulldgos had a 15-yard penalty slapped on them for unnecessary roughness. Misere hurled a sweep pass to Tasseff good for 44 yards and a touchdown that went for naught because of the Tigers’ “illegal procedure”. Some hard running by Nussbaum and Tasseff and Misere’s 23-yard pitch to Khoenle put the ball on the four. On fourth down Misere bucked through center for the last foot and the fourth touchdown of the game. Again Boone kicked the extra point. 28-0
* * *
A 15-YARD penalty wiped out a first down on the Bulldog 30 late in the third quarter, forcing the Tigers to punt. Next time they got the ball which was early in the fourth period, they drove for their fifth touchdown. It started from the Canton 44. With Nussbaum dong most of the lugging, including a 24-yard effort, the Tigers moved the leather to the 31 and set the stage for Tasseff’s fine touchdown sprint. Boone missed his try for point. 34-0

Canton came back to score the safety and the touchdown already recorded here.

Boone’s interception of Albert’s pass and a runback of 16 yards put the ball on the Canton 14 and in position for the final points of the game. Francisco and Traylor took it to the three and Traylor went through the left side for the touchdown. Boone kicked the extra point. 41-8.

10 In A Row

MASSILLON
ENDS – Williams, Khoenle, Letcavits, Crone, Gardner.
TACKLES – Geiser, Schram, Younkers, Gumpp, Rubio.
GUARDS – Clinage, Kraus, Shilling, Agnes, Dean, Fabianich.
CENTERS – Corral, Kimmins.
QUARTERBACKS – Misere, Johnson, Porter.
HALFBACKS – Traylor, Francisco, Boone, Millar, Floyd, Mlincek, Climo, Tasseff, Longshore.
FULLBACKS – Nussbaum, Stewart, Stone.

McKINLEY
ENDS – Sheeler, Umbles, Young, Carter.
TACKLES – Cole, Barber, Kompara.
GUARDS – Wildes, Fach.
CENTERS – Noel, Rehfus.
QUARTERBACK – Albert.
HALFBACKS – Goodrich, Washburn, Grimsley, Bednareyz, Matthew.
FULLBACKS – Good, Burke, Mack.

Score by periods:
Massillon 14 7 7 13 41
McKinley 0 0 0 8 8

Touchdowns:
Massillon – Nussbaum 2; Traylor 2; Tasseff; Misere.
McKinley – Young.

Points after touchdown:
Massillon – Boone 4 (placekicks).

Safety – McKinley

Referee – Tobin.
Umpire – Rupp.
Head Linesman – Schill.
Field Judge – Sebastian.

Statistics
Mass. McK
First downs 22 7
Passes attempted 12 24
Passes completed 4 10
Had passes intercepted 3 2
Yards gained passing 65 121
Yards gained rushing 390 70
Total yards gained 455 191
Yards lost 29 21
Net yards gained 427 170
Times kicked off 8 2
Average kickoff (yards) 38 51
Yards kickoffs returned by 35 128
Times punted 2 6
Average punt (yards) 38 34
Yards punts returned by 35 20
Times fumbled 2 5
Lost ball on fumbles 0 3
Times penalized 6 7
Yards penalized 70 54

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
MASSILLON
Player Times Carried Gained Lost
Nussbaum 21 181 0
Traylor 6 93 4
Francisco 9 54 0
Misere 5 1 24
Tasseff 4 40 0
Stewart 3 21 0
TOTALS 58 390 28

CANTON
Goodrich 8 11 7
Good 5 18 2
Washburn 1 0 8
Albert 5 21 0
Grimsley 4 11 4
Burke 2 9 0
TOTALS 25 70 21

Bob Khoenle
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1952: Massillon 68, Youngstown South 13

Tigers Crush Youngstown South 68-13
Massillon Team Scores Five Touchdowns On 10 Plays From Scrimmage

By LUTHER EMERY

Ever see a football team gain 412 yards from the line of scrimmage and still get walloped 68-13? Or did you ever see a player carry the ball three times and make three touchdowns; or a team make five touchdowns in its first 10 plays?

That’s what happened in Tiger stadium Friday evening when the Washington high school gridders swamped Youngstown South before 8,496 fans, the smallest crowd of the season.

Sports writers couldn’t believe their own statistics at the end of the game and made a recheck before being satisfied that:

South in losing had made 20 first downs and had gained 412 yards from scrimmage.

John Traylor was given the ball only three times and scored on each attempt.

Five touchdowns were scored on the first 10 plays the Tigers’ ran from scrimmage, four of the downs being consumed to get the first one.
* * *
OF COURSE the Tigers made more first downs and rolled up more yardage, 21 and 531. With losses deducted, the locals had 526 but South still had a net of 346, enough to win most football games.

The big hunk of yardage they gained, sort of tempered the shellacking for the visiting Warriors who for some reason or other appeared scared when they set foot in the stadium.

Certainly they were not the football team that had rolled to victory in its last four games including a triumph over Ursuline, the latter’s only loss of the season.

The Tigers, taking advantage of the visitors’ fright, shoved over five touchdowns on their first 10 plays from scrimmage, an almost unbelievable feat, and rolled along on a mass of substitutions the last three periods of the game.

Coach Chuck Mather gave 41 boys a chance to show off before their fathers on Dads’ Night, and there were a lot of proud papas in the group as backs raced to long runs behind some of the sharpest blocking and best timing ever seen in Tiger stadium.
* * *
SIX MEMBERS of the team got into the scoring act, John Tasseff, ably replacing the injured John Francisco, scored three times; so did John Traylor. Lee Nussbaum went over twice, while Clarence Stewart, chugged for one and Bobby Joe Johnson another. Tom Boone, kicking better than anytime this season booted eight of 10 attempts from placement.

The score could have been whatever Coach Mather had wanted it that night. He began filling his lineup with substitutes immediately after the fourth touchdown in the first period, and it went on and on throughout the game. And some of the boys really sparkled. Prominent among them was Roy Johnson, who did a neat job of quarterbacking, and Chug Chug Stewart, who was just about unstoppable. Up front was Jim Letcavits, and we will excuse his fumble in the last minute of the game, which could have given the Tigers the highest point total made by a Massillon team in the last quarter of a century. We’ll excuse it because the team was shooting for a total score. It probably could have set a new all-time high for Massillon teams last week, as well as this, had Mather permitted his regulars to run for most of the game.

In rolling to their ninth straight victory of the season, the regulars barely got warmed up for their finale with Canton McKinley next week, practice for which will begin in secrecy Monday afternoon.

“We are not going to let this one throw us off guard,” Coach Mather said after the game. “We know McKinley will be tough next Saturday and will be prepared to give us our hardest game of the season. So we are going to take extra precautions to be ready for it.”
* * *
THE TIGERS emerged from last night’s clash without any serious injuries. Most seriously hurt is John Francisco, the left halfback, who pulled a muscle in his right leg while (of all things) sprinting in a race for backs at the close of practice Wednesday. John was kept out of last night’s game but he should be ready to go against the Bulldogs next Saturday.

While Chug Stewart did the entertaining in the second half of the game, the boy who grabbed the limelight early in the contest and who put South to rout was little Johnny Traylor. The Mighty Atom had as perfect a night as a halfback could have. He carried the ball three times and scored three touchdowns. He went 85 yards for one, 66 yards for another and four yards for his third. And that friends, was all there was. He didn’t carry anymore. Try to match that one. He should have been wearing No. 77 instead of 52.

While the Tigers had their stars, so did South. Bob Zack, did some good passing and hard running for the visitors and L.C. Morgan was all over the place, running fairly well, and catching passes along with sticky fingers Russell Taylor. Passes accounted for 296 of the Warriors’ yards and they completed 15 of their 37 throws. They would have had a T.D. early in the game had the receiver looked around for the ball in the end zone before Morgan hit him on the back with it. They lost another touchdown later on in being offside on a successful pass play.

The first period was only two minutes and five seconds old when the Tigers got their first touchdown. John Climo gained the ball by flopping on a fumbled lateral on the 10-yard line. Lee Nussbaum went over from the one on fourth down to get the Tiger team into production.
* * *
SOUTH came right back with a fancy attack that moved from its 17 to the Tiger four where Morgan was thrown back to his 15 trying to pass. On the first play, Traylor flanked his line and sped 85 yards for the locals’ second score. It only took a minute and 53 seconds to get another. The Tigers got the ball on the 34 when the visitors; Bob Ripple punted out of bounds. Traylor was turned loose around his left side and he went all the way again with half a dozen Tigers convoying him over the goal.

It took two plays to get the next. Ripple kicked the ball to his 48 where it rolled dead without a return. Bob Misere passed to Khoenle for a first down on the Tiger 36, and then pitched a lateral to Nussbaum who went the rest of the distance.

On the second play of the second quarter, Boone intercepted one of Zacks’ passes on his 48 and it took Tasseff two plays to go the remainder of the distance. He went for 12, then for 40 and the Tigers were in front 34-0.

The Warriors came back with a flourish and crossed the Tiger goal twice before they were allowed a legitimate touchdown. Once Morgan pitched to Bob Scheidemantel for 25 yards, but South was offside and drew a five-yard penalty. The Tigers took the ball on downs, but South regained it on Wesley Overly on the Massillon 49. A six-yard pass, Morgan to Zack and a 40-yarder, Morgan to Traylor put the ball on the three, where Morgan went over for the touchdown.
* * *
BILL STONE’S interception of Zack’s pass and his run back to the 33, set up the Tigers’ sixth touchdown of the first half. Misere pitched out to Nussbaum for a gain of 12 and Tasseff raced 17 yards to the four. Traylor circled end for his third touchdown and the half ended with the score 41-7.

Coach Mather used a second team throughout most of the last half, and the boys showed their strength by taking the kickoff on the 29 and marching straight up the field to score, with Stewart going the last 25 on a pitchout.

The next time they got the ball (through a punt) they marched 74 yards in five plays to score. It went like this: Tasseff 25, Stewart 16, Stewart 11, John Mlincek 11, Tasseff 11 and a touchdown. That concluded the third period point production which ended 54-7.

The fourth period was less than four minutes old when the Tigers scored again. This time they went 55 yards in their march with Tasseff running hard for the last 18.

Another followed in just 31 seconds. Tasseff covered Morgan’s fumble of the kickoff and on the first play Bobby Joe Johnson dashed for the six points – Massillon’s last touchdown.
* * *
SOUTH CAME back with an aerial attack that carried from when the kickoff was downed on the 36 to the Tiger 26. At this point Morgan tossed a screen pass to Bob Durkin who went all the way.

The game was in its closing stages as Mlincek made a fine return of the kickoff to his 40 and then raced 32 yards to his 26. The Tigers moved it forward six more when Roy Johnson pitched a beauty to Jim Letcavits who caught the ball on the 10 and went to the one, where he fumbled when tackled. The ball rolled over the goal line and out of bounds in the end zone, thus becoming a touchback and giving South the ball on its 20.

Had Letcavits hung on the Tigers probably would have scored and rolled up the highest number of points made by a Massillon team since the defeat of Erie East 74-0 in 1940; had they kicked the extra point it would have been the biggest total since the locals won from Alliance, 77-0 in 1924.

The game was unusual for its lack of rule infractions. Only five times did the officials step off penalties and none for more than five yards. The Tigers had three of them and South two.

MASSILLON
ENDS – Williams, Khoenle, Letcavits, Crone, Gardner, Lantz.
TACKLES – Geiser, Schram, Lopez, Agnes, Dean, Rubio, Woolley, Feather, Gumpp Younkers.
GUARDS – Clinage, Shilling, Fabianich, Kraus, Eaglowski.
CENTERS – Corral, Kimmins, Fisher.
QUARTERBACKS – Misere, Porter, Crescenze, R. Johnson.
HALFBACKS – Traylor, Tasseff, Floyd, Longshore, Mlincek, Millar, Boekel, Boone, Climo, Byrd, Bob Johnson.
FULLBACKS – Nussbaum, Stone, Stewart.

SOUTH
ENDS – Chmielewski, Schoessel, Cercone, Burich, Sedlar, Taylor.
TACKLES – McMullen, Marriott, Bergman, Balocco.
GUARDS – Drotlieff, Ripple, Soos, Booker.
CENTER – Soller.
QUARTERBACKS – Durkin, Simon.
HALFBACKS – Morgan, Scheidemantel, McElroy, Tomlin, Mancini,
Overly.
FULLBACK – Zack.

Score by periods:
Massillon 27 14 13 14 68
Waite 0 7 0 6 13

Touchdowns:
Massillon – Traylor 3; Tasseff 3; Nussbaum 2; Stewart, Johnson.
South – Morgan; Durkin.

Points after touchdown:
Massillon – Boone 8 (placement).
South – Durkin (placement).

Referee – Pianowski.
Umpire – Lymper.
Head Linesman – Landrum.
Field Judge – Walker.

STATISTICS
Mass. South
First downs 21 20
Passes attempted 14 37
Passes completed 5 15
Had passes intercepted 4 2
Yards gained passing 89 296
Yards gained rushing 442 116
Total yards gained 531 412
Yards lost 5 66
Net yards gained 526 346
Times kicked off 10 3
Average kickoff (yards) 46 34
Yards kickoffs returned by 51 150
Times punted 1 6
Average punt (yards) 45 34
Yards punts returned by 5 19
Times fumbled 3 7
Lost ball on fumbles 1 2
Times penalized 3 2
Yards penalized 15 10

Bob Khoenle
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1952: Massillon 60, Toledo Waite 19

Tigers Blast Toledo Waite High 60-19
Massillon Gridders Roll Up 47 Points In First Half To Win Eighth Game

By LUTHER EMERY

The Washington high school Tigers drove to their eighth victory of the season here Friday evening through more red flag waving than could be seen on a May Day in Moscow Square.

Toledo Waite was their victim and 8,992 fans saw the Tigers run roughshod over the Indians 60-19 while flags were dropping everywhere on the field for rule violations.

Never have we seen so many penalties. The Tigers were penalized 12 times, Toledo Waite seven, and the headache was big enough without trying to add up how many more were called but refused by the two teams.

It reached a high at one time in the second period when Massillon players were penalized on eight consecutive plays. In most instances they were the result of a group of substitutes getting off side or in motion in their eagerness to beat down the foe.
* * *
WITH THEIR offense in high gear, the Massillon boys ran over four touchdowns the first period, had two others called back, and led by 47-0 at the end of the half.

Waite, better organized the last half, outscored the Tigers 19-13 as Coach Chuck Mather filled his ranks with substitutes. A team of Massillon sophomores was on the field part of the time.

The 60-19 score should be enough to get the Tigers additional prestige in the Associated Press poll. It probably could have been 100 to 0 had Coach Mather permitted his first team to play the entire game.

But Chuck opened the gates of mercy early. In fact he began sending in numerous substitutes in the first quarter after the Tigers had scored their fourth touchdown in rapid succession, and the field seemed flooded with humanity from there on in. If you knew who was playing or who played you had better vision than the pairs of eyes of those trying to keep track of players from the press box. We had to call on Chuck after the game to give us the names of all who participated. There were 51 in all.
* * *
THE SUBSTITUTIONS combined with flag waving served to slow the Tiger drive in the second half.
Seldom have we seen a team strike with the power unleashed by the Tigers in the first period of last night’s game. The linemen leveled the Toledo forward wall with their charge and the Tiger backs ran with ease. There seemed to be nothing to it at all and the Waite collapse was complete toward the end of the period when Johnny Traylor went 98 yards for the fourth touchdown of the game. Just two plays before, Lee Nussbaum had gone 99 yards for a touchdown but it was not allowed because the Tigers were in motion.

Mather began pouring in the subs after that and they too got into the scoring act and scored three touchdowns all by themselves in the second period.

Leading by 47-0 at the half, the locals pushed over single touchdowns in each of the third and fourth periods, while Waite was scoring thrice against a defensive team composed of substitutes.

The crowd was the smallest, the game the longest, and the poorest from the standpoint of fan interest and the penalties the heaviest we have seen in many a day.
* * *
THE END of the contest found only about half the spectators remaining in the stands. The wholesale substitutions and the delays and ground lost through the continuous string of penalties resulted in many fans walking out from the third period on.

We’ll defend the substituting for it gave a lot of boys who have been working hard every night, their first opportunity to participate in a game, and that’s a big moment for them and their parents.

Eight Tigers shared in the 60 points, Traylor and Nussbaum each scoring two touchdowns. John Francisco, John Tasseff, Bob Khoenle, Bob Crone and Clarence Stewart getting one each and Tom Boone kicking six extra points.

What fired the Tigers or what caused Toledo Waite to virtually throw up the white flag from the start we will never know.
* * *
IT TOOK ONLY four plays to get the first touchdown from the kickoff, Traylor skirting left end for the last 45 yards and the six points. Only a minute and 42 seconds had expired. Bob Khoenle’s interception of a Toledo pass on the 18, set up the second touchdown and John Francisco lugged it from that spot for the six points. The clock showed seven minutes and 51 seconds of the period remaining. It took only a minute and 11 seconds to get the next one. Sam Williams started it off by covering a Waite fumble on the 35. He snatched a 13-yard pass for a first on the 22 and Francisco lugged it to the 11. A pitchout to Nussbaum was the next play and he went over with all Indians in pursuit.

Traylor’s 98-yard run produced the fourth of the period after one by Nussbaum had not been allowed. Before the period was over Traylor was away for a 51-yard touchdown return of a punt but it was not allowed and the Tigers had to eventually punt.

Continually stopped by penalties a team of Tiger substitutes finally got going and scored again when Roy Johnson pitched to Bob Crone for 18 yards and a first down on the three and Stewart chugged over with the score.

A 36-yard return of a punt by Traylor to the Waite 44, and a 32-yard jaunt by John Mlincek, put the ball on the 12 where John Tasseff took it over for the sixth touchdown of the game. The seventh came when Willie Longshore covered a Waite fumble on the 18 and Johnson promptly pitched to Crone for the six points.
* * *
THE TIGER first team struggled through most of the third period before it could again ram over a touchdown. Interference was called on a 34-yard pass, Misere to Khoenle that put the ball in position on the 18, and Nussbaum took it over on two plays.

The Tigers last points came in the fourth with Misere completing three passes to Khoenle, the last being good for 24 yards and a T.D.

While the Tiger first offensive team played most of the second half, the locals’ defensive unit was composed of second ,third, fourth and fifth stringers. It was against this group that Waite managed to shove over three touchdowns.

The first was made by John McNeil from the one-half-yard line, culminating a drive of 71 yards. The score was 53-0 against Waite at the time. The visitors scored again on a well executed pass, Joe Knosky to Jack Thompson. The play was good for 65 yards. The visitors’ final points were likewise scored on a pass, Knosky to Ron Lane, good for 22 yards.
* * *
THE STATISTICS were just was strongly as the scoreboard in the Tigers’ favor: 23 first downs to seven and 574 yards gained to 216 yards. The percentage of pass completions was not so good; with the receivers being as much at fault as the passers. Only six of 23 Tiger throws hit the mark for 127 yards. Waite completed eight of 20 for 182 yards.

The Tigers’ early period rush was helped a lot through fumbles by Waite and pass interceptions.

The Indians had four fumbles during the night and lost the ball all four times. They likewise had five passes intercepted. In fact their first three passes were intercepted, and when one was finally completed somebody wryly commented in the press box “up to now he has a perfect record.”

The Waite team was the poorest Waite team we have seen, and yet the Indians were supposed to have one of their best this year. We tried to find out what was wrong but always received the answer, “Waite just doesn’t have it this year.”

We knew as much, for the Indians are still looking for their first victory. Their best effort this season was a 14-14- ties with Canton McKinley.
* * *
FOR STATE CHAMPS, the Tigers were guilty of an inexcusable blunder in the fourth quarter when they permitted a Waite kickoff to roll untouched on the field. A kickoff is a free ball, and a Waite player pounced on it to gain the leather on the Massillon 22. Only good that could possibly result from the error was that in as one-sided a contest as that of last night, it didn’t hurt any, and should alert the Tigers so that it will never happen again.
Fans got a bang out of Stewart’s chugging. Once he tried to stiff-arm a Waite tackler, but couldn’t reach his chin.

The Massillon gridders in their fooling around gave Traylor and Francisco an opportunity to throw their first passes of the season. Fans also got a peek at the two boys who will do the quarterbacking next year, Roy Johnson and Richie Crescenze, and wondered where the former got all the power in his small frame to throw the ball 50 yards.

Attention pollsters!

When comparing scores for voting purposes note these:
Springfield 28, Lima Central 0.
Lima Central 21, Toledo Waite 19.
Massillon 60, Toledo Waite 19.

A Bit One-Sided

MASSILLON
ENDS – Williams, Khoenle, Letcavits, Crone, R. Francisco, Getz, Gardner, Speck, Lentz, Longshore.
TACKLES – Geiser, Schram, Younkers, Gumpp, Woolley, Lopez, Rubio, Dean.
GUARDS – Clinage, Shilling, Kraus, Fabianich, Rohrbaugh, Yoder, Eaglowski, Agnes.
CENTERS – Corral, Kimmins, Jones, Grant, Fisher.
QUARTERBACKS – Misere, R. Johnson, Crescenze, Porter, Fromholtz.
HALFBACKS – Francisco, Traylor, Tasseff, Boone, Floyd, Boekel, Byrd, Mlincek, Millar, Climo.
FULLBACKS – Nussbaum, Stewart, Stone, Lorch, Bob Johnson.

WAITE
ENDS – Blanton, Alexander, Schaefer, Lane.
TACKLES – Veres, Durham, Knitz, Barber, Yost, Cummings, Kuebbler.
GUARDS – Alello, Mlynek, Corns.
CENTERS – Scott, Heider.
QUARTERBACKS – Knosky, Galyas.
HALFBACKS – Veler, Thompson, Pickering, Wlodarz.
FULLBACKS – McNeil, Youngs.

Score by periods:
Massillon 28 19 6 7 60
Waite 0 0 7 12 19

Touchdowns:
Massillon – Traylor 2; Francisco; Nussbaum 2; Stewart; Crone; Khoenle; Tasseff.
Waite – McNeil; Thompson; Lane.

Points after touchdown:
Massillon – Boone 6 (placekicks).
Waite – Veres (placekicks).

Officials:
Referee – Rupp.
Umpire – Donges.
Head Linesman – Newman.
Field Judge – Machock.

STATISTICS
Mass. Waite
First downs 23 7
Passes attempted 23 20
Passes completed 6 8
Had passes intercepted 1 5
Yards gained passing 127 182
Yards gained rushing 447 34
Total yards gained 574 216
Yards lost 43 52
Net yards gained 531 164
Times kicked off 9 5
Average kickoffs (yards) 45 43
Yards kickoffs returned by 84 204
Times punted 4 4
Average punt (yards) 37 46
Yards punts returned by 49 32
Times fumbled 3 4
Lost ball on fumbles 2 4
Times penalized 12 7
Yards penalized 106 83

Bob Khoenle
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1952: Massillon 31, Warren Harding 0

Tigers Crush Warren 31-0
Massillon Gridders Beat Rival By Biggest Point Margin In Last 10 Years

By LUTHER EMERY

Little Bob Misere got out of his sick bed Friday evening to pass and guide the Washington high school Tigers to their most important victory of the season, a 31-0 triumph over Warren Harding high school’s tough Panthers witnessed by 15,798 fans in Tiger stadium.

It was Bob, ill with the flu the last three days, who pitched the ball for the first and last touchdowns and otherwise handled the ball well from his quarterback post.

He had Capt. Bob Khoenle and Sam Williams on the receiving end of his touchdown passes and he completed 50 percent of 10 throws for 130 yards.

And right behind Misere as an offensive standout came little Johnny Traylor, who twice raced to two touchdowns and had his greatest effort of all – a 63-yard run – called back because of illegal formation.

In front of them, performing like demons was the big Tiger line which protected Misere, opened holes for Traylor and his halfback running mate, Johnny Francisco, and battered Warren to a standstill most of the game.

Give the Tiger defense a lot of the credit for the victory. Not once did Warren move the ball through its own efforts inside the Massillon 40-yard line. It got into Tiger territory three times by covering Massillon fumbles, but was never closer than 27 yards to the goal.

It was a hard fought contest.

Warren came to Massillon to win and tackled viciously, but was fortunate to escape without more points being scored against it.

Not only was Traylor’s long T.D. run of 63 yards called back, but the Tigers had what appeared to be a first period touchdown in the making when they lost the ball through a fumble on the Warren 14-yard line.
* * *
THEN TOO, the locals gave the ball away to the Panthers three other times on fumbles to halt offensive marches.

Not once did the Tigers punt the entire game. On several occasions they had to go for yardage on fourth down, but they made it every time with but two exceptions, one being stopped on a mix-up in plays.
The loss was only Warren’s second of the season. The Panthers came here boasting victories over Collinwood, Canton McKinley, Campbell, Mansfield and Cleveland East Tech. Their lone loss was to Cleveland Benedictine, which Dick Olmstead, Warren Tribune sports editor, says couldn’t begin to match the Tigers.
* * *
THE 31-POINT margin of victory was the biggest spread of points between the two teams in the last 10 years of competition.

The margin of victory over an opponent as strong and reputable as Warren should help convince the pollsters who have been participating in the weekly balloting to pick the leaders in the Ohio high school race.

Warren ranked ninth in the pool the past week, was among the leaders in the last year’s balloting and was the only team to defeat the Tigers in 1951. Were it not for that loss the Massillon gridders would now own a string of 31 victories.

The Tigers probably had that in mind when they turned on the steam last night.

They had to turn it on to overcome the series of disheartening breaks that beset them the first half. Coach Chuck Mather substituted freely in the later stages of the game. He used 26 players in all as he gave a flock of juniors a chance to see more action.
* * *
MATHER was jubilant, and there was a bigger crowd and more rejoicing in the dressing room after the game – indicative that the Tigers had won the big one.

Gridiron music reached our ears as we walked into the dressing room and we even looked around to see if Ernie Godfrey, Ohio State’s assistant coach and noise maker, had brought along the record player he used to key the Bucks for their win over Wisconsin. However, we found the Tigers had their own chairman of noise, who took over in the equipment room.

It all was good.

It’s just as we said – the big one was in the bag.

There are three more to go – Toledo Waite, Youngstown South and Canton McKinley, none as powerful as Warren, but any one capable of doing things when it is up and the opponent down. The Tigers cannot afford to be down from here on in.

All of the Tigers’ five touchdowns came like bolts out a starry sky. The teams had battled through a scoreless first quarter and a third of the second quarter had gone by when the orange and black found itself with the ball, fourth down to go, on Warren’s 10-yard line and three yards needed for a first down. Cooly, Quarterback Misere stepped back, flipped the ball to Capt. Khoenle who went right on over for the first touchdown of the game.
* * *
THE PERIOD was two-thirds gone when Warren’s Dave Preston punted the ball to the Massillon 13. The Tigers drove for two first downs to their own 44, where Traylor broke up through his left tackle and supported by some very fine blocking, went 56 yards to score the second touchdown of the game.

With Massillon leading 13-0 at the half, the teams throttled each other’s scoring efforts in the third period, the Tigers messing up one of their own opportunities by the illegal formation on which Traylor had crossed the goal after a 63-yard run; the fanciest bit of footwork of the game.

The fourth period was less than half a minute old, however, before the Tigers struck for the third time, and again it was a quickie with Traylor scooting for 33 yards to climax a drive that began when Warren lost the ball on downs on its own 28.

Khoenle furnished more fireworks four minutes later when Warren’s Jim Seem got off a wobbly pass when he tried to throw while being tackled. Bob gathered it in on his 45 and set free with a fine block by John Climo, went 55 yards for the Tigers fourth touchdown.
* * *
THE LAST POINTS rode in one the arm of Misere to the waiting hands of Sam Williams, who pulled in the leather near the goal line and went over for a net gain of 45 yards.

The longest pass of the game did not count, a 49-yarder in the first period that Misere threw to Traylor which would have provided the Tigers with a first down on the Warren 14-yard line. But Johnny fumbled when tackled and Warren recovered.

While the Tiger offense rolled to 31 points, 17 first downs, and 363 net yards from scrimmage, its defense was putting up its best exhibition of the season.

Mather used a defense with quick changing variations designed to confuse the Panthers. It succeeded and the visitors were bumping their heads into Tigers all evening. They gained but 68 net yards rushing and were held to five first downs. Not since the 1942 team beat Warren 32-0 has there been as big a spread of points in a Massillon-Warren game. Closest to it was in 1948 when the Tigers won by a 25-point margin.

Warren’s defensive ends, Jack Vair and Phil Reed throttled most of the Tigers’ end sweeps last night. “We just couldn’t handle then,” Mather said after the game. “I thought their work was outstanding.”

Because of the defensive ability of this pair, Fullback Lee Nussbaum was given a rough evening and practically got nowhere on his runs from a pitchout.

While Warren backs did little running from scrimmage, the way they returned kickoffs was evidence of what could have happened had not the Tiger line and linebackers kept Jim Rogers, Salvi Merolla and Bob Barbutes bottled up on the line of scrimmage. The Panthers returned kickoffs for 28, 21, 33, 19, 15 and seven yards ,or a total of 123 yards, and almost got away a couple of times for touchdown runs.

The line-ups and summary:

MASSILLON
ENDS – Williams, Khoenle, Letcavits, Crone,
TACKLES – Schram, Geiser, Dean, Gumpp.
GUARDS – Clinage, Kraus, Agnes, Shilling, Fabianich.
CENTER – Corral.
QUARTERBACKS – Misere, Crescenze.
HALFBACKS – Francisco, Traylor, Boone, Tasseff, Floyd, Longshore, Stone, Climo, Millar.
FULLBACK – Nussbaum.

WARREN
ENDS – Vair, Sibera, Kelly.
TACKLES – Tayala, Baker, Simmons, Nagy, Luoma.
GUARDS – Riffle, Simone, Bowen, Canzonetta.
CENTER – Pincipi.
QUARTERBACKS – Seem, Preston.
HALFBACKS – Barbutes, Merolla, Venetta, Smith, Maniatis.
FULLBACKS – C. Rogers, Reed, Dubasik.

Score by periods:
Massillon 0 13 0 18 31

Touchdowns:
Massillon – Khoenle 2; Traylor 2; Williams.

Points after touchdown:
Massillon – Boone (placekick).

Referee – Jack McPhee.
Umpire – John Russ.
Field Judge – Irvin Shopbell.
Head Linesman – Andy Lindsay.

STATISTICS
Mass. Warren
First downs 17 5
Passes attempted 10 14
Passes completed 5 4
Had Passes intercepted 1 2
Yards gained passing 130 31
Yards gained rushing 248 98
Total yards gained 378 129
Yards lost 15 30
Net yards gained 363 99
Kickoffs 6 1
Average kickoff (yards) 50 55
Yards kickoffs returned by 20 123
Punts 0 5
Average punt – 32
Yards punts returned by 8 –
Times fumbled 7 6
Lost ball on fumbles 4 2
Times penalized 4 3
Yards penalized 20 25

Bob Khoenle
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1952: Massillon 40, Mansfield 0

Tigers Unleash Power To Humble Mansfield
Massillon Gridders Roll Up 33 Points In First Half And Win 40-0

By LUTHER EMERY

A band of aroused Tigers struck five times in the first half and once more in the second, Friday evening, t hand Mansfield its worst defeat of the season, a 40-0 licking in its own backyard, before an overflow crowd of 13,000 spectators.

Surprising even their most optimistic fans, the Massillon gridders opening up with a devastating attack from the first whistle, shoved over 33 points in two periods, and coasted in while Coach Chuck Mather tossed in 27 players against the hard pressed Mansfield team.

It was the first time this season that the Massillon eleven had tied into a foe as viciously as did the Tiger team last night. It had gotten into the habit of being beaten to the punch in the opening minutes and having to come from behind to gain the lead.

Not so last night. The Tigers not only flashed power and legged it for long touchdown runs but they played defensive ball, particularly in the first half when they only allowed the Mansfield eleven a net gain of 31 yards, while rolling up 194.
* * *
JOHN FRANCISCO and Bob Khoenle emerged the heroes of the game. Hard running Johnny scored three touchdowns, one of them on a 34-yard run, while Capt. Bob intercepted three Mansfield passes to help the Tigers control the ball.

Playing without fleet Johnny Traylor, who injured a leg two weeks ago and hurt it again last week, the brunt of the offensive work was carried by Francisco and Fullback Lee Nussbaum, who seemed to hold the center of Mansfield attention. Between them they did most of the leather lugging, though John Tasseff, carrying the ball for only the third time this season, reeled off the Tigers last touchdown run with a power burst of speed for 56 yards, the longest jaunt of the game.

The visitors had Nussbaum’s end run plays well scouted. He lost about as much as he gained on them, though he did rip off a number of yards through other holes and scored once on a wedge power play from the six-yard line. Bob Misere tallied the sixth touchdown on a buck through center with the ball inches short of the goal line. Tom Boone kicked the four extra points and missed two others.

Coach Bill Peterson wasn’t at all complimentary after the game. He appeared to think Mather’s Tigers were too touchdown hungry and that Mather was trying to run his team out of the ball park. It looked that way the first half and the Tigers almost did, but the fact, that they scored but seven points the last two periods didn’t in any way soothe Bill’s soul.
* * *
BETTER DEFENSIVE play on Mansfield’s part and considerable substituting by Coach Mather, held down the score the last two periods. The Tiger mentor used 27 players in the game putting in most of his replacements the last two periods.

Mansfield, in fact, played the Tigers on almost even terms the second half, making more first downs gaining virtually as many yards but failing to score.

Mansfield had few scoring opportunities. Only once did it get close, that coming right at the end of the second period on a pass interception on the Massillon 15-yard line. The gun cracked before the ball could be put in play. The Tygers penetrated their deepest toward the end of the game when they pushed through to a first down on the Massillon 31, only to have a pass intercepted by Khoenle on the next play.

Later on they managed to again cross the 50-yard stripe but when they reached the 40, they had another pass intercepted by Tom Boone and the game was over.
* * *
FROM THE START it was evident that it wasn’t Mansfield’s night. The Tygers drew a 15-yard penalty on the first kickoff for being late on the field and though they managed to stop Massillon’s first offensive effort, they were found wanting the second time the Tigers got the ball.

Starting from their own 22, they overcame a five-yard penalty for being in motion as Nussbaum reeled off 16 yards and Francisco got loose for 45 and a first down on the eight.

John Climo got his chance and went for two and Francisco shot through right tackle standing up for the touchdown and first points of the game. Boone missed the attempted kick for the extra point.

Four minutes and 45 seconds of the period remained to be played and in that small space of time, the Tigers stopped a Mansfield offensive effort, took the ball on a punt and scored again. Francisco again angled the leather into position with a 24-yard return of a punt that put the ball on the 26. He moved it on up to the seven by catching a 15-yard pass from Misere and Nussbaum went over just as the period ended. Again Boone missed the try for the extra point and the quarter closed 12-0.

No one foresaw the rout of Mansfield in the second period.

This time it was Khoenle who got the ball for the Tigers through a pass interception and set them in position on the 32. A five-yard penalty took the leather back to the 37 but it mattered naught for Francisco bolted through for 34 yards and his second T.D. This time Boone kicked the extra point and made the score 19-0.
* * *
IT WASN’T long until the point total ran up to 26, thanks to Khoenle again intercepting a Mansfield pass on his 28 and running it back to the 13. On the first play Francisco cleverly circled this right end for the score.

Climo furnished the next taste of poison for Mansfield when he pulled down a Tyger pass on the 28. A pass to Sam Williams got a first down on the 15 and another to Khoenle put the ball on the three. Nussbaum virtually laid it on the goal line from which spot Misere rammed over and Boone kicked the 33rd point.

Neither team threatened in the third period and the Tigers struck but once in the fourth when Tasseff got away to his 56-yard run.

The Tigers had another in the making when Jim Letcavits caught a fine pass from Misere and then fumbled, losing the ball on the 16.

Give Tackle Dick Guy (No. 44 to you folks who were at the game) a lot of credit for playing a good defensive game for Mansfield. Bobby Joe Johnson, breaking into the Tiger lineup for the first time this season probably wonders what he ever did to Guy to make him made at him. Bobby couldn’t even get his best foot forward before Guy would nail him.

John Climo, filling in for the injured Traylor, played the bulk of the game on both offense and defense and showed the scars of battle when it was over. His face was marred with bruises and a couple of times he had to take time out because of cramps in his legs. Otherwise the Tigers escaped without serious injuries.

The game went down as just another defeat for Mansfield in its long rivalry with Massillon that dates back to 1936. Only once has Mansfield beaten the Tigers, Augie Morningstar’s team doing it here in 1949. There have been three ties along the way, 1937, 1941, and 1948.

The line-up and summary:

MASSILLON
ENDS – Williams, Khoenle, Letcavits, Longshore.
TACKLES – Schram, Geiser, Agnes, Younkers, Gumpp, Dean.
GUARDS – Clinage, Kraus, Fabianich, Shilling.
CENTER – Corral.
QUARTERBACK – Misere.
HALFBACKS – Francisco, Climo, Tasseff, Boone, Stone, Johnson, Floyd, Millar, Traylor.
FULLBACKS – Nussbaum, Stewart.

MANSFIELD
ENDS – Shasky, Fry, Smith.
TACKLES – Eliot, Guy, McGinty, Steele, Moore, Kirk.
GUARDS – B. Diemer, M. Rupp, G. Yeakam.
CENTERS – Garrett, Meane.
QUARTERBACKS – Carbetta, Henkel.
HALFBACKS – E. Mack, Jones, Todd.
FULLBACKS – N. Diemer, Shauck, Thompson.

Score by periods:
Massillon 12 21 0 7 40

Touchdowns:
Massillon – Francisco 3; Nussbaum; Misere; Tasseff.

Points after touchdowns:
Massillon – Boone 4 (placekicks).

Referee – Vogelgesang.
Umpire – Pasini.
Field Judge –Walker.
Head Linesman – Moore.

STATISTICS
Mass. Mansf.
First downs 11 11
Passes attempted 9 19
Passes completed 4 4
Had passes intercepted 1 5
Yards gained passing 44 80
Yards gained rushing 319 132
Total yards gained 363 212
Yards lost 23 36
Net yards gained 340 176
Times kicked off 7 1
Average kickoff (yards) 47 27
Yards kickoffs returned by 7 68
Times punted 4 7
Average punt (yards) 32 34
Yards punts returned by 59 17
Fumbles 2 4
Lost ball on fumbles 1 0
Times penalized 7 6
Yards penalized 55 50

Bob Khoenle
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1952: Massillon 27, Alliance 21

11,000 See Tigers Defeat Alliance 27-21
Massillon Gridders Win Dizzy Game From State’s Seventh Ranking Eleven

By LUTHER EMERY

If you are dizzy today you must have been one of the 11,000 fans who saw a dizzy football game Friday evening in Mt. Union stadium, in which the Washington high Tigers shaded the Alliance Aviators 27-21 in a thrilling game that had everything including:

Two consecutive kickoff returns for touchdowns, one the season’s longest run, 104 yards by John Francisco, the other a 77-yard effort by Lee Nussbaum.

Two passers completing 50 per cent of their tosses.

The losing team making 16 first downs to the winner’s 11 and gaining exactly the same net yardage from scrimmage.

It was a thriller-diller of a contest with Alliance playing inspired ball, throwing and completing passes all over the gridiron to control the leather, but never able to regain the lead after dropping it in the second period.
* * *
THE AVIATOR fans were so jubilant after the contest that they did much of the horn blowing. Most of them expected to see their team beaten by three touchdowns, and were happy that they had been treated to as close a score.

Coach Chuck Mather and his Massillon crew, on the other hand, were not so happy. Remembering a couple of fumbles and intercepted passes that gave the ball back to the Aviators, they seemed to think they had not played a particularly good game. But in their disappointment at not having rolled up a larger score they apparently forgot that they were playing the No. 7 team in the state and one that we believe deserves an even higher ranking. Futhermore, the Aviators had six regulars back for their offensive team; the Tigers none.

Rarely will you see a team return two consecutive kickoffs for touchdowns and yet only win by six points. That’s the kind of dizzy game it was, and that’s why the Tigers are still undefeated today.

Thus Francisco and Nussbaum emerged the heroes of the contest, but only because they had some excellent blocking in front of them.
* * *
JOHN in particular received able support. The Tigers were leading 14-7 when they lined up for the kickoff at the start of the second half. Burwell Baddelely’s kick bounced on the 15 and over the arms of Francisco when he tried to take it. Most people thought it hit John, and thought that was the reason why he picked up the ball then hesitated four yards behind the goal, before running with it.

“I was just trying to decide what to do,” said John, when asked after the game the reason for the temporary pause.

Maybe the pause threw the Aviators off guard, but whatever it was, Johnny ran right out through them while his blockers chopped down tacklers. One Tiger peeled off three at a time. We combed the locker room after the game, but none took credit. John Tasseff got one tackler, Andy Fabianich two, and Sam Williams cut down two as Francisco bolted out of the end zone and headed up field.

Bill Burger of Alliance took after him at the 30 but neither Francisco could gain nor Burger close the gap in the race for the goal line. A Tiger blocker had in mind throwing a block on Burger at midfield, but did not have good position and surely would have clipped had he attempted it. Francisco with a five-yard lead outdistanced his pursuer the last 15 yards and could hardly stand up from exhaustion after he got into the end zone.
* * *
THE TOUCHDOWN would have caused many an opponent to have blown sky high, but not Alliance, for the Aviators were waiting for this game and it wasn’t long before they had another touchdown for themselves on a well aimed 28-yard pass from strong-armed Len Dawson to End Ray Olds.

That brought the Aviators up to within striking distance again, 20-14, but only for a moment, for next time they kicked off, Nussbaum gathered in the leather on the 23 and went 77 yards to score. He was through the whole Alliance team in a jiffy, and there was never any doubt once he got going that he would out run’em all.

Touchdowns on consecutive kickoffs!

We haven’t heard of that in a long time, but it still didn’t kill off Alliance. The Aviators had a great passing weapon in Dawson and some smart receivers and they just kept throwing until three completions took the ball to the eight from which the Aviators hammered it over with Dawson sneaking through from his quarterback spot for the last six inches.
* * *
TIGER FANS were mighty happy Alliance didn’t get the ball anymore, and to keep them from it the locals had to make a desperate play on fourth down with seven to go to control the leather. They succeeded and were marching toward the Alliance goal for what might have been another T.D. when the game came to an end.

That accounts for the second half scoring.

What went on to the first half was almost as startling except that it was at the beginning instead of toward the end of the game.

Alliance, after recovering a Massillon fumble on the Massillon 29, was first to score. A
24-yard pass, Dawson to Olds produced it, the latter going up in the air to take the ball right out of the arms of a Massillon defender in the end zone.

An Alliance fumble, covered by Ronnie Agnes on the Tiger 48, was the start of the local team’s first touchdown drive which was scored principally through the Alliance specialty – forward pass. Bob Misere began pitching and hit Capt. Bob Khoenle twice for 27 yards and 14 yards. That got the ball down to the 11 where Traylor shot around his left end for the points. Tom Boone’s kick tied it up 7-7.
* * *
THE NEXT ONE came cheap for the Tigers, thanks to their defensive unit. They got to breaking through on Dawson, tossed him for a couple of losses and when he dropped back close to his goal line he was rushed so badly he was unable to get the ball away.

The Tigers took over on the two but were forced back to the six when Misere couldn’t find anyone to hand off to. He hit Khoenle, however, with a pretty jump pass over center that Bob took in the end zone for six points. Boone made it 14.

It appeared as though that Tigers had the Aviators at the breaking point when they marched down to the Alliance 16 next time they got the ball, but they lost it there on a first down fumble and the Aviators took over.

It wasn’t difficult to pick out the Alliance star. Dawson was the individual. Not only did he complete 16 of 32 passes for 220 yards, but he also punted, kicked the three extra points, passed for two of the touchdowns, scored the third himself and kicked off part of the time. Without him Alliance would not have too much armor. The Aviators appear only to be able to run because of Dawson’s threat as a passer. They have a hard-hitting back in Homer Young, who did most of the ground work, scoring principally on a short pitch on an end sweep.
* * *
DAWSON was not at his best physically for the game either. He injured his left shoulder last week which kept him out of practice the first two days of the week according to Alliance newspapermen.

While Misere of the Tigers did not throw nearly as passes, he had the same percentage of completions. In fact, Bob had the better of it the first half when he completed four of six while Dawson was completing seven of 12.

The Tigers tried only two passes the second half, and did not complete either. One was intercepted.

Yardage of the two teams was the same, the Massillon statistician showing both teams with a net 234.

The Aviators actually gained the most, 334, but they also lost 100 when Tiger tacklers broke through to smear Dawson while attempting to pass or to nail Young on pitchouts.

The local team made 179 yards on the ground and 69 through the air for a total of 248, but only lost 14 from scrimmage, giving the same net gain from scrimmage as Alliance 234 yards.

The Tigers ran 22 plays from scrimmage the second half. You don’t run a lot of plays and gain a lot of yardage from scrimmage when you return kickoffs for touchdowns. However, if you add the kickoff returns to yards gained from scrimmage you have 429 for the Tigers to 303 for Alliance. After all, that yardage represents the difference.

The Tigers emerged from the game in fairly good condition with the exception of Traylor, who aggravated a leg injury.

The play of the Alliance team was a fine tribute to Mel Knowlton, native Massillonian and former junior high and high school coach here, and Julius Tongas, another Massillon man and assistant to Mel.

Mel really had his team riding high for the contest. It was the third straight week the Tigers have been called upon to face a team in which a former Massillon man was a member of the coaching staff.

Two weeks ago the Tigers played Steubenville coached by Ray Hoyman, ex-Massilonian. Last week they played Barberton where Fred Cardinal, ex-Massillonian, helps out. Next week they meet Mansfield where Bill Peterson, another ex-Massillon assistant coach, is head mentor.

The line-ups and summary:

MASSILLON
ENDS – Crone, Khoenle, Williams, Letcavits.
TACKLES – Schram, Geiser, Younkers, Dean.
GUARDS – Clinage, Kraus, Fabianich, Agnes.
CENTER – Corral.
QUARTERBACK – Misere.
HALFBACKS – Traylor, Francisco, Tasseff. Climo, Boone.
FULLBACKS – Nussbaum, Stewart.

ALLIANCE
ENDS – Aton, Olds, Giovanatto.
TACKLES – Galehouse, Fucci, Kracker, Deack, Jones.
GUARDS – Stanish, Stranges, Tasker, Zavarelli.
CENTER – Feller.
QUARTERBACK – Dawson.
HALFBACKS – Burger, Davis, Baddeley, Hawkins, Boring.
FULLBACK – Young.

Score by periods:
Massillon 7 7 13 0 27
Alliance 7 0 7 7 21

Touchdowns:
Massillon – Traylor; Khoenle; Francisco; Nussbaum.
Alliance – Olds 2; Dawson.

Points after touchdown:
Massillon – Boone 3 (placements).
Alliance – Dawson 3 (placement).

Referee – Tobin.
Umpire – Russ.
Head Linesman – Lindsay.
Field Judge – Holzbach.

STATISTICS
Mass. All.
First downs 11 16
Passes attempted 8 32
Passes completed 4 16
Had passes intercepted 2 0
Yards gained passing 69 220
Yards gained rushing 179 114
Total yards gained 249 334
Yards lost 14 100
Net yards gained 234 234
Kickoffs 5 4
Average kickoff (yards) 47 43
Yards kickoffs returned 195 69
Punts 2 4
Average punt (yards) 15 32
Yards punts returned 0 0
Fumbles 2 3
Lost ball on fumbles 2 1
Times penalized 6 5
Yards penalized 40 32

Bob Khoenle