Eric Smith, Author at MassillonTigers.com

1948: Massillon 34, Steubenville 21

October 8, 1948June 28, 2017
by Eric Smith

Tigers Whip Steubenville 34-21
Massillon Gridders Stave Off Late Surge By Big Red Gridders

By LUTHER EMERY

MASSILLON 34, STEUBENVILLE 21!

Read it, thank your lucky stars it ended that way and give Chuck Mather’s Tigers and Howard Brinker’s Big Red boys a pat on the back for having played one of the finest offensive football games seen in Tiger stadium in many a moon.

It was a game long to be remembered, a battle of touchdowns, with both teams too strong offensively for the other’s defense and each ready to take advantage of every break and scoring opportunity.

Steubenville showed its power in the first two minutes by marching the ball from kickoff to the Tiger goal line, and the Tigers let the Big Red know they were not to be trifled with by tying up the count two minutes later.

That’s the kind of football you read about in story books and seldom see. But it was on display in real life before 18,000 fans in Tiger stadium Friday evening and what a game it turned out to be.

The Tigers were the better team on the field, on the scoreboard and statistically, but they were playing with dynamite when with a 27-7 lead they gave the Big Red an opportunity to light their fuses in the fourth quarter. The latter exploded with two touchdowns within four minutes of each other that had everyone on the seat’s edge wondering what was coming next.
* * *
IT WAS one of those games in which anything was apt to happen at anytime with breaks playing an important part in the scoring. Each team fumbled five times and only one of the 10 fumbles was recovered, that by Massillon. The visitors had their butter fingers the first half and the Tigers made the most of every break. In the last two periods it was the Massillon team that couldn’t hold the ball and the Big Red who seized the opportunity to turn the bobbles into touchdown drives.

Had the breaks only gone Steubenville’s way, the Tigers could easily have been the loser, for the Big Red was strong at the tackles and had speed and deception in the backfield of a caliber good enough to defeat most of its opponents this season.

However, the Tigers, despite a series of bad breaks which cost them two certain touchdowns, got help on a couple of others and emerged on the long end of the score.
We believe the Tigers the better team, possibly by as much or more (unreadable….) between the two scores, but we also are certain that no one can toy with Steubenville this year and get away with it.

No one visioned a possible 28-17 Steubenville victory on the scoreboard anymore than did Massillon’s Chuck Mather after the Big Red had scored its third touchdown with five minutes of the game remaining to be played.
* * *
MATHER, with a 27-7 lead built up in the first two periods, was playing the part of a good fellow and allowing as many members of his team as possible to get in a period or two of football for experience which would also apply toward that letter M which is the goal of every varsity player. He used 25 in all and had quite a patched up lineup in the ball game when lightning struck twice within four minutes and the Big Red crept up to within six points of his team. There were long seconds and dark moments until Mather’s regulars could again take over and surge to their fifth touchdown and put the game on ice.

It takes a good team to do that and the Tigers’ comeback attests to the quality of the team even more than the 34-21 margin of victory.

Massillon fans were proud of their team for that. They liked the way their Tigers came right back after being swept off their feet to match Steubenville’s first period touchdown and make the visiting fans swallow their cheers and they liked the way they retained their fourth period calm when, with but a six-point lead and the possibility of another disastrous fumble turning victory into defeat, they drove 71 yards for their fifth and last touchdown.

It was considered a test game for the Tigers and they passed the examination by a sufficient margin so as to convince the skeptics of their ability.

Regardless of breaks, any team that can roll up 27 points on Steubenville in two periods this year is a good football team and we have an idea no other will bag that many against the Big Red in two consecutive periods the remainder of the season.
* * *
THE TIGERS were hitting and running hard. To pick out an outstanding performer from just watching the game would be an injustice to any boy. We’ll let Chuck Mather decide that from the pictures. All members of the starting backfield, Jack Hill, Clarence Johnson, Irvin Crable and Capt. Al Brown, ran well and each had a part in the scoring, while the line ripped openings in the Steubenville forward wall that the backs poured through for long gains.

They rolled up 489 yards from scrimmage which is more yards than any Massillon team has made in a single game since the middle of the 1943 season. Their improved passing attack gained 138 of these yards for them, while they got the remaining 351 on running plays. Steubenville made 322 yards, of which 80 were on passes and 242 on ball carrying. First downs were 18 to 12 in the Tigers’ favor.

Between them, Clarence Johnson of the local eleven and Gino Leilli, of Steubenville kicked seven off eight attempted goals which is some placekicking for high school boys. The only miss was Johnson’s second of five attempts. The ball went wide of the uprights.

The Steubenville backs, Harry Thompson, Nick Tsangeos, Bob Jones and Waddell Snyder, caused the Tigers no little trouble and Robert Beattie with a little better receiving would have had a good percentage of pass completions. He can toss the ball well and several of his pegs marked down as pass failures went directly into the arms of teammates.

The Steubenville ball carriers in fact caused trouble the very first time they came into possession of the ball. They brought the kickoff back to the 35-yard line and on the first play of the game exploded a bomb in the Massillon line that permitted Snyder to run to a first down on the Tiger 48. Next time he carried he made it to the 36 and just when it appeared the Tigers would stop this first threat, Beattie dropped back and fired a 27 yarder to Tsangeos for a touchdown. Leilli added the extra point and there was great joy on the Steubenville side of the field.
* * *
THE MERRIMENT was soon dispelled; however, when on the first play after kickoff, Johnson whipped a “Long Tom” to Crable who went all the way to the Steubenville 13 before he was hauled down from behind. It was a 59-yard effort. Brown sliced to the eight, but two more attempts by Brown and Crable gained but a yard leaving fourth down and the ball still seven yards from the goal. Johnson was fired through left guard for the touchdown and he kicked the extra point from placement to tie the score.

The Tigers got the first break of the game when Snyder fumbled the opening play after the kickoff and Ray Lane, Massillon linebacker, pounced on the ball on the Stub 21. Johnson took a short lateral and circled his right end to the eight. On fourth down Crable went over on a double reverse. This time Johnson missed the extra point and the score stood at 13-7.

Another break set the Tigers up for their third touchdown when Bill Paul pounced on Tsangeos fumble on the locals’ 46. The goal was still 54 yards away, but Hill slipped a pass to Johnson for a first down on the 37 and another to Crable took the ball to the 17. On a delayed trap, Brown went to the four-yard line and hit off right tackle for the remaining distance.

Steubenville came back from the kickoff with a drive that got to midfield when Takacs covered Tsangeos’ fumble which rolled back to the Big Red 36. When two plays failed to gain, Hill rifled the ball to Crable. Beattie managed to get in the way and partially block it, but as the ball was falling to the ground, Crable dove for it and came up with the leather in his arms and a first down on the 16. Crable picked up three and when Hill was bottled up trying to pass, he ran for it and went over the goal standing up for the Tigers fourth touchdown of the half.

The locals were knocking again when the half ended and had the ball on the Big Red
five-yard line.

Neither team scored in the third period but each had the ball too close to their opponent’s goal for comfort. Steubenville got in position by covering Brown’s fumble on the Tiger 19. The Big Red marched to a first down on the Tiger seven, but here the local team held and took the ball away after four downs on the four-yard line.
* * *
A PARTIALLY blocked punt by Ronald Patt, sub center, gained the ball for the Tigers toward the end of the period on the Steubenville 48. Crable took a pass from Hill for a first down on the 30 and the Tiger quarterback tossed one to Ben Roderick for what would have been a first on the one-yard line, but the Tigers were declared in motion and were penalized five yards.

A 30-yard run by Snyder that put the ball on the 15-yard line set up Steubenville’s second touchdown. A fourth down pass to Bob Turrnetine put the ball on the five and two plays later Snyder went over for the touchdown.

Crable’s fumble, which Nick Tsangeos covered on the locals’ 49-yard line started Steubenville off on its last scoring spurt. Snyder and Jones lugged the leather to the 14 and Beattie’s pass to Turrentine provided a first down on the one-yard line. Jones went over for the six points. Leilli kicked the 21st and both Massillon and Steubenville fans had visions of a possible Big Red victory.

Mather sent his regulars back into the fray and the offensive unit operated as though it had no knowledge of the score. The boys started with the kickoff on the 29 and Johnson bulled his way through to midfield. He hit for nine more and Brown ambled to the 21. Crable went to the 18, then to the six and fourth down Brown circled his right end for a touchdown with only 33 seconds remaining to be played. By controlling the ball the last five minutes the Tigers had not only saved their game but had increased their margin of victory.

For the most part, members of the team emerged from the contest unscathed, and should be in good shape for the next week’s hot contest at Alliance.

GREAT GOING

MASSILLON
ENDS – SLICKER, HOUSTON, Streeter, Studer, Gleason.
TACKLES – KRISHER, TAKACS, Jones, Pizzino, Schumacher.
GUARDS – MORROW, PAUL, Reichenback, De Walt, Ebbert.
CENTERS – McVEY, Patt.
QUARTERBACKS – HILL, James.
HALFBACKS – JOHNSON, CRABLE, Roderick, Bush.
FULLBACKS – BROWN, Lane.

STEUBENVILLE
ENDS – TUREENTINE, FRALEY, Delave.
TACKLES – WICKHAM, MORATES.
GUARDS – D’ALFONSO, STACY, Bickerstaff.
CENTER – DUNCAN.
QUARTERBACKS – BEATTIE, Leilli.
HALFBACKS – THOMPSON, TSANGEOS.
FULLBACKS – SNYDER, Jones.

Score by periods:
Massillon 13 14 0 7 – 34
Steubenville 0 7 0 14 – 21

Touchdowns:
Massillon – Brown 2; Johnson; Crable; Hill.
Steubenville – Tsangeos, Snyder, Jones.

Points after touchdown:
Massillon – Johnson 4 (placekicks).
Steubenville – Leilli 3 (placekicks).

Referee – Rupp.
Umpire – Gross.
Head Linesman – Boone.
Field Judge – Jenkins.

Statistics Of The Game
Mass. Steubenville
First downs 18 12
Passes 13 13
Passes completed 6 5
Passes intercepted 0 0
Yards gained passing 138 80
Yards gained rushing 351 242
Total yards gained 489 322
Yards lost 20 7
Net yards gained 469 313
Times punted 1 3
Punts blocked 0 1
Average punt (yards) 36 10
Punts returned by (yards) 0 13
Times kicked off 6 4
Average kickoff (yards) 49 43
Kickoffs returned by (yards) 37 109
Times fumbled 5 5
Lost ball on fumbles 4 5
Penalties called on 9 1
Penalties refused by 0 1
Times penalized 8 1
Yards penalized 60 5

History

1948: Massillon 28, Youngstown South 7

October 1, 1948June 28, 2017
by Eric Smith

14,000 See Tigers win From Youngstown South 28-7
Massillon Gridders Beat Mahoning County Team For Third In Row

By LUTHER EMERY

A stubborn Youngstown South high school football team, was upset 28-7 by the Washington high school Tigers before 14,000 people here Friday evening and fans are still wondering how strong the Massillon team actually is.

Going into the game heavy favorites to win as they pleased, the orange and black gridders found themselves face to face with stiff opposition and a screwy assortment of defenses that often bogged them down offensively and stemmed the flow of points that had been expected to pour over the Youngstown goal.

Touchdowns were hard to get for the Tigers, but they did manage to shove over three in the second quarter after a scoreless first period, and added another in the fourth to match South’s only scoring effort of the game in the final frame.

Twenty-eight points should be enough to satisfy most any fan, but Massillonians have been hungering for touchdowns for several years and one T.D. only whets the appetite for another and another.

Frankly South came out with more opposition than most folks, players included, had anticipated. After floundering around in their opener with Youngstown Ursuline, which they lost, the South boys have been improving each week, and last night’s showing was a better performance than a week ago when South whipped Boardman 20-0.
* * *
“THEY HIT HARD,” was the way several members of the Tigers team described the Youngstown eleven after the game, and the visitors did make the local team give ground frequently during the evening.

Statistics however were all in the local’s favor, 14 first downs to 11 and 434 yards gained from scrimmage to South’s 235. Then too, one goal line crossing and what would have been another, were nullified by penalties which set back the Massillon team and ruined both attempts.

Coach “Chuck” Mather, however, does not like opponents making 235 yards against his team. That’s enough to win an average football game and certainly calls for some intensive defensive preparations for Steubenville’s Big Red who invade Tiger stadium next week, undefeated and with one of the best early season offensive showings of any team on the schedule. After that game Massillon fans will know more about the strength of their team.

But don’t sell this Massillon team short. Mather hasn’t let any one combination in long enough to get acquainted, but there’ll come a time. He used 25 players last night.

The Tigers’ blocking looked better than it did a week ago against Canton Lincoln though there were instances when a missed block meant the difference between a small gain and a touchdown. There were also signs that the many clipping penalties charged against local players in Canton last week may have made them dangerously cautious.
* * *
THE TIGERS showed improvement in their passing department too, as they completed four of six attempts for two touchdowns and a total gain of 49 yards. The prettiest pass of all; a screen, from Jack hill to Don Slicker, good for 80 yards and what would have been a fourth period touchdown, didn’t count because of a clipping penalty.

South’s determined defense spoiled some of Mather’s plans to give more sophomores a taste of varsity competition before he attempts to tear down murderer’s row, but it looks as though the boys will have to wait a long time to get into a game what with Steubenville, Alliance, Mansfield, Warren, Toledo Waite, Barberton and Canton McKinley lined up for the next seven weeks of competition.

Nevertheless, 25 players got a chance to show what they could do against South, and some of them were in and out of the lineup continually throughout the evening.

Biggest improvement in the scoring department was the placekicking of Clarence Johnson for points after touchdowns. Prior to last night the Tigers had scored but three extra points in 11 attempts. Johnson, finally keeping his head down, booted all four chances through the uprights last night which brought a lot of joy to teammates, coach and fans. He can kick’em through all day in practice but in games has had a tendency to lift his head to see if the ball was going where he had aimed it. The result was the same as a raised head in golf—a topped ball—and most of Johnson’s boots prior to last night were just that kind. “Kick the ball, spit on the ground at the spot you kicked it before you look up,” Mather told Johnson in an effort to correct the fault.

He did last night and four points were the result.
* * *
PENALTIES and inability to coordinate their attack stymied the Tigers at intervals throughout the game, though they generally were able to move forward with the ball.

They were well on their way after taking the opening kickoff when they lost the ball in midfield on a fumble, South stopped them on their second attempt, but the third time they got the pigskin they launched a drive that swept 64 yards to a touchdown. The point parade actually got underway in the closing minutes of the first period when Irvin Crable brought a South punt back to his 36. The Tigers were up to the South 25 when the period ended and on fourth down and on the second play of the second period, Don James fired a floater to Crable who caught the ball in the end zone for the six points.

Scores came quicker after that and the Tigers scored touchdowns the next two times the came in possession of the ball. Their second set of points came on a 63-yard drive with Johnson running up the alley for 31 yards and the score. It wasn’t long thereafter until another 63-yard march moved to the eight-yard line where Hill fired the ball into the end zone to Jack Houston who caught the pigskin while running laterally with the goal line.

Most folks figured the Tigers would run South out of the stadium in the second half but ‘twas not so, and play was fairly even throughout both periods. South worked the ball as close to the Tiger goal line as the 25-yard line after taking the second half kickoff and the Tigers regaining the ball, got down to the three where a 15-yard penalty set them back and ruined the scoring opportunity.
* * *
THE FOURTH period was nearly a third gone before South managed to score. Starting from their own 23, the visitors ran and passed their way to the Massillon one-yard line where Angelo Danessa plunged it over on third down. A pass, Byrdy to John Guerriero, produced the extra point.

Six plays after the following kickoff the Tigers scored the last points of the game, Crable running the last 25 yards for the touchdown.

The running of Halfback Davis from the single wing and the passing of Sonny Friend and Davis were outstanding to the visitors’ offensive contribution.

While the game did not gain the Tigers any particular amount of prestige in state scholastic circles because of South’s previous showings, it served to give Washington high a 5-4 edge in football games played between the schools at intervals in the past 31 years. Prior to last night each team had won four in the series which dates back to 1917.

The Tigers were fortunate to finish the contest without serious injury to any player. Jack Houston was touched up a bit but the injury is not considered serious enough to keep him out of the lineup.

VICTORY NO. 3

MASSILLON
ENDS – SLICKER, HOUSTON, Streeter, Studer.
TACKLES – TAKACS, JONES, Krisher, Stanford, Schumacher.
GUARDS – MORROW, PAUL, Reichenbach, Ebbert, Laps.
CENTER –MCVEY.
QUARTERBACKS – HILL, James.
HALFBACKS – CRABLE, JOHNSON, Sine, Bush, Roderick Crone.
FULLBACKS – BROWN, Lane.

YOUNGSTOWN SOUTH
ENDS – POPOVICH, GUERRIERO, McBride, Schossel.
TACKLES – DeLUCIA, BAKER, Evans, Oliver, Masucci.
GUARDS – BRIACH, BEACH, Goist, S. Danessa, Lamarco, Baumiller.
CENTERS – STEELE, Davies.
QUARTERBACKS – FRIEND, Byrdy.
HALFBACKS – HARMICAR, DAVIS, Keln, Manolukas, Hall.
FULLBACKS – A. DANESSA, Stawaski.

Score by periods:
Massillon 0 21 0 7 28
South 0 0 0 7 7

Touchdowns:
Massillon – Crable 2; Houston; Johnson.
South – A. Danessa.

Points after touchdown:
Massillon – Johnson 4 (placekicks).
South – Guerriero (pass).

Referee – McPhee.
Umpire – Brown.
Head Linesman – Hodnick.
Field Judge – Rainsberger.

Statistics Of The Game
Mass. South
First downs 14 11
Passes attempted 6 15
Passes completed 4 3
Had passes intercepted 0 1
Yards gained passing 49 93
Yards gained rushing 385 142
Total yards gained 434 235
Yards lost 36 20
Net yards gained 393 315
Times punted 2 3
Average punt (yards) 29 37
Punts returned by (yards) 31 13
Times kicked off 5 2
Average kickoff (yards) 47 39
Kickoffs returned by (yards) 35 70
Times fumbled 6 3
Lost ball on fumbles 2 0
Times penalized 6 4
Yards penalized 60 50
Penalties refused 2 1

History

1948: Massillon 25, Canton Lincoln 0

September 24, 1948June 28, 2017
by Eric Smith

18,000 See Tigers Beat Stubborn Lincoln Lions 25-0
Touchdowns Come Hard For Washington High In Hard Fought Game

By LUTHER EMERY

The Washington high school football team whipped Canton Lincoln 25-0 before 18,000 in Fawcett stadium Friday evening, but Massillon’s sizeable delegation scratched heads and wondered if the Tigers were really as strong as they thought they were while Coach “Chuck” Mather, the gleam gone from his eye, shook his head and said, “We were not sharp.”

The fact is the local eleven, with two of last week’s regulars sidelined, were not sharp and caught Lincoln on a night when the Lions were giving all they had in an effort to score their first victory over a Massillon eleven.

Most fans expected a river of touchdowns from the Massillon team and it started that way when Al Brown romped 21 yards to score on the first play from scrimmage, but thereafter they were hard to get.

You can compile a lot of reasons why the score was not larger, penalties, injuries, and frequent substitutions, but likewise do not overlook the determination of the Lincoln team, which greatly out-weighed the Tigers from guard to guard and forced the Massillonians to rely on sweeps for their gains.

True the Tigers missed several touchdowns because of penalties and probably could have rolled up more points had Coach Mather elected to play his first stringers more, but with it all, the locals were not “high” so to speak, for the game.

“We tried to get them up there,” Mather said after the contest, “but we had a hard time getting coordinated for this one.”
* * *
WHAT’S MORE, the Tigers couldn’t get Lincoln lined up very often for a good punch. The Lion ends rambled around, and tacklers, according to the boys, frequently turned their backs on the Massillon interference just as the latter were throwing their blocks. This resulted in numerous clipping penalties which upset the locals’ offense and nullified a couple of fine runs for touchdowns.

The boys, however, were not blocking with the same vicious precision that enabled them to walk away with Cathedral Latin 44-13 last week in their opening game of the season, and judging from Mather’s remark after the contest, “We’ve got a lot of work to do,” there will be some long sessions on the practice field next week.
* * *
DEFENSIVELY, the local team played a better game than it did last week against Latin. Whereas Latin gained 322 yards, Lincoln was held to 163. The Tigers actually gained more yards than they did against Latin, 352 to be exact compared with 332, but there wasn’t as much oats in the nose bag.

No doubt Mather made little effort to run up a large score, or else he would not have substituted so freely or experimented with some forward passes when his backs could have swept Lincoln off the field.

He used the contest to test a number of things as well as give a lot of boys a chance to get game experience and 31 of them profited because of it.

Statistically the game was as much in his favor as the number of points scored. The passing attack left much to be desired but the locals did manage to complete four of 14 for 90 yards and held Lincoln to one completion out of 12 attempts for 33 yards. Two Lion passes were intercepted. First downs were 16 to 6 /in the locals’ favor despite 90 yards lost through penalties. Lincoln wasn’t penalized a yard. In fact the officials only called two penalties on the Lions, both for being in motion, and the Tigers refused both. Twelve penalties were called on Massillon, Lincoln refusing four, including a 15-yarder.
* * *
THE WAY the game started off it looked as through the Tigers would make a runaway of it. They stopped Lincoln after the kickoff and Ray Lane broke through to block John Mallcheck’s punt which Roderick covered on the 21. On the first play Al Brown swept right end for a touchdown as Tiger blockers lowered the boom on would be tacklers.

The locals had to score their second one twice before they could keep it. Brown went 14 yards for it the first time but the ball was called back on a clipping penalty. Four plays later, Edie Bush swept his right end for the six points and Clarence Johnson booted the extra point from placement.

That ended the scoring for the half with neither team threatening seriously. The Tigers once were down to the 15 but were set back on penalties while Lincoln in its only offensive outburst of the two periods, lost the ball on a fumble on the Tiger 27.

The third period was almost over before the Tigers could score again and then it took a blocked kick to do it. The locals marched the second half kickoff back to the Lincoln
10-yard line where the Lions took the ball away from them on downs. The Tigers held, however and when Mall check attempted to punt, Roderick broke through and blocked the ball. It rolled to the one yard line where Lincoln covered but it was fourth down and Massillon’s ball. Brown knifed through the left side of the Lincoln line for the touchdown to bring the score to 19.

On the first play of the fourth period, Brown went 63 yards for another touchdown which was not allowed because of a clipping penalty, and the Tigers were forced to punt, Don Studer getting off a beauty to the Lion 35. From this point Lincoln staged its best offense of the evening and moved the ball through a Massillon team filled with second and third string men to the 14-yard line where the drive petered out and the Tigers took over. A couple of passes thrown by Brown and Jack Hill helped take the ball to the 13-yard line where Johnson lugged it over on a reverse for the last points of the game.
* * *
THE VICTORY was the Tigers’ fifth over Lincoln in the last six years; one game that of 1945, ended in a tie score. The 25 points were four short of the 29-0 victory tabulated by the locals in 1946.

While the Tigers were not brilliant in victory, there were bright spots in their lineup. Coach Mather was pleased with the running of Capt. Brown and the defensive work of Johnson, “I felt they were outstanding in these departments,” he said after the game. “We can tell more once we have had a chance to look at the pictures.”

He was noticeably disappointed at the failure of some of his players to “tee off” when blocking Lion tacklers, for there were numerous instances when a good block would have turned a ball carrier loose for many more yards than he otherwise gathered because of a teammate’s mediocre effort.

The Tigers played the game without the services of two regulars, Mike Takacs, who suffered an attack of appendicitis and Irvin Crable, the sophomore flash, who failed to report for practice Thursday without notifying anyone, in violation of a strict coaching rule. He was in uniform, but his position was filled by Eddie Bush who was groomed for the spot during the former’s absence. Art James filled Takacs’ shoes.

After the game there wasn’t the hilarity in the Tiger dressing room such as greeted the conquest of Cathedral Latin last week. The boys knew they hadn’t played the brand of football they put out a week ago and were thinking it over among themselves.

However, they had their customary dinner after the game and returned to Massillon at midnight, ready for a weekend of rest before starting preparations for their third contest of the season next week with Youngstown South high.

VICTORY NO. 2

MASSILLON
ENDS – RODERICK, HOUSTON, Streeter, Gleason, Studer, Slicker.
TACKLES – A. JAMES, JONES, Stanford, Pizzino, Schumacher.
GUARDS – REICHENBACH, MORROW, Paul, DeWalt, W. Houston, Laps.
CENTERS – MCVEY, Krisher, Patt.
QUARTERBACKS – HILL, James.
HALFBACKS – BUSH, JOHNSON, Grier, Shine, Crone.
FULLBACKS – BROWN, Lane Ebbert, Howe.

LINCOLN
ENDS – LOVE, MOORE, Halter, Bush.
TACKLES – MALLCHECK, WINTERS, Ferrall.
GUARDS – STEWART, BACHTEL, Drunkenbrod.
CENTERS – MALLOY, Cairns.
QUARTERBACKS – NEEL, LeBeau.
HALFBACKS – DUELL, BREMKAMP, Toy, Schoeppner, Poffeh.
FULLBACKS – DIUK.

Score by periods:
Massillon 13 0 6 6 25

Touchdowns:
Massillon – Brown 2; Bush; Johnson.

Points after touchdown:
Massillon – Johnson (placekick).

Referee – Russ.
Umpire – Gross.
Head Linesman – Hodnick.
Field Judge – Schlemmer.

Statistics Of The Game
Massillon Lincoln
First downs 16 6
Forward passes 14 12
Passes completed 4 1
Had passes intercepted 0 2
Yards gained passing 90 33
Yards gained rushing 262 130
Total yards gained 352 163
Net yards lost 19 14
Net yards gained 333 149
Punts 2 5
Punts blocked 0 2
Average punt (yards) 41 22
Yards punts returned by 10 12
Kickoffs 5 1
Average kickoff (yards) 50 50
Kickoffs returned (yards) 25 77
Penalties called on 12 2
Times penalized 8 0
Penalties refused by 2 4
Yards penalized 90 0
Fumbles 1 4
Lost ball on fumble 0 1

History

1948: Massillon 44, Cleveland Cathedral Latin 13

September 17, 1948June 28, 2017
by Eric Smith

Hard Blocking Tigers Smash Latin 44-13
16,000 Spectators See Massillon Gridders Get 25 Points First Period

By LUTHER EMERY

A rip-roaring band of Washington high school Tigers chased the proud Cathedral Latin Lions out of its stadium jungle Friday evening with a 44-13 pasting that rocked the Ohio scholastic football firmament.

Striking with lightning speed, the Tigers scored in the first 35 seconds on the second play of the game. The 16,000 shocked fans had hardly settled back in their seats before another marker went up on the board and by the time the first period was over the score read 25-0.

Two more touchdowns in the second period and another in the first two minutes of the third only served to mount the score and raise the fever of the Massillon fans who like to see their opponents melted away with touchdowns. Latin scored in the second and third periods directly or indirectly through forward passes, the second coming when second and third stringers made up the Massillon team.

Lights burned late in Tigertown last night as fans sat up to replay the game over and over again. They hadn’t had so much to make whoopee over in several moons, for it was the Tigers’ first victory over Latin since 1942 and only once in nine years of competition, 1940, did they roll up as many points; it as 64-0 that year. Likewise the 44 points represented the largest Massillon score since the Tigers beat Alliance 44-7 in 1945.

It could have been larger, most everyone believes had Coach “Chuck” Mather desired to make it so, but he gave 31 members of his squad an opportunity to play in the game and there was a lot of happy faces and some proud moms and pops because of it.

Mather, who overnight became “Mr. Football” to Massillon fans, was just as proud of his team. “I was well pleased with the boys,” he said after the game, as he massaged the side of Jim Schumacher, who was touched up a bit, not seriously, in the game. “I didn’t expect them to win anything like that,” he continued. “But we must remember that this is only one. We must forget about it now. We have nine more to play, and I can’t call this a good football team until after Nov. 20.”

That’s about all the coach had to say. He and his assistants, Carl Schroeder, Paul Schofer, Lauri Wartianinen and Dave Putts, were too busy looking after the welfare of the players to make sure everyone was all right, to take time for lengthy conversations.
* * *
THE VICTORY maintained the Tigers’ modern victory margin over opponents on its schedule. Had Latin won it would have been the only team that could have boasted an even over-all record with the local school in the last 15 years. The Lions are now trailing the Tigers three victories to five with one tie score.

From the statistics you never would have believed the game so one-sided, all of which goes to show how surely touchdowns, not first downs win games. Latin excelled in first downs, getting 12 to the Tigers’ seven, and only trailed by 10 yards, 332 to 322 in yards gained.

But the Tigers ran the string out when they got going while the Lions, who roared loudly in midfield, only whispered when they got within scoring range.

Nevertheless the visitors’ ability to roll up 322 yards, will give Coach Mather plenty to talk about when he gets his team out for practice Monday in preparation for next week’s game with Canton Lincoln in Fawcett stadium.

Mather had feared his defense was a bit on the weak side, but likewise was almost as certain that his offense could score. It did – and how! In addition to the seven touchdowns made by the Tigers they had four others called back because of penalty infractions. They made good on one of the four but eventually lost the ball on the other three occasions; all of which again causes us to wonder why we ever go to the trouble of keeping statistics.
* * *
THE TIGER offense was predicated on hard blocking. Not for a good many years has a Massillon team spilled opposing tacklers downfield with the consistent precision of last night’s gridders.

The long runs of Sophomore Irvin Crable, Capt. Al Brown and Clarence Johnson were pretty to watch but they were made possible by the chopping down of a lot of human flesh along the trail to the goal line.

When they swept the ends they threw everything but the goal posts at Latin and had men ahead of the ball carrier on most every occasion.

With blocking of this type “twas no wonder the Tigers made four touchdowns in just five plays from scrimmage in the first quarter.

That must be a high school record, though nobody seems to know.

It went like this.

On the second play of the game, Crable went 49 yards to score. The next time the Tigers got the ball, Al Brown, on second down, went 61 yards for a touchdown and had Clarence Johnson to thank for nearly knocking the last Latin tackler out of the lot. The very next time the Tigers got the ball, Crable took the leather on first down and raced 55 yards on a reverse to score. And as though that were not enough, Latin fumbled after the kickoff that followed and the ball pounced in the air into the arms of Jack Houston who ran 22 yards to score.

So there you have it; four touchdowns with the Tigers only having run five plays from scrimmage. The boys will talk about this a long time.
* * *
STRUCK with this kind of dynamite “tis a wonder that Latin ever recovered sufficiently to give the locals any opposition at all in the last three periods. But it did.

In fact it must have made the Lions Coach feel pretty good to see them strike back and score touchdowns. In the second and third periods while holding the Tigers to two in the second and one in the third; admittedly this was made partially possible by wholesale substitutions in the Massillon ranks, but the Lions showed their spunk just the same and should be a better football team for it in future weeks.

The Clevelanders were hardly the football team they were in former years. With last year’s subs playing most every position and their best ball carrying threat Dominic Cardaman, sideline with injuries, they didn’t have the fire of some Latin teams we have seen in the past.

However, they were big enough, handled the ball deceptively and turned up a good ball carrier in John Nieser.

They were first to score in the second quarter as a well aimed pass off the arm of John Wise, floated into the hands of Charles Pulka who raced to the seven-yard line before being downed. The overall gain was 49 yards. It only took one play for John Nieser to get it over, and the Tigers were completely fooled by a bit of deceptive ball handling as the good Latin fullback raced over the goal line, entirely unmolested.
* * *
A 36-YARD reverse around left end by Johnson after Latin had lost the ball on downs, produced the local team’s fifth touchdown, and Capt. Brown carried an intercepted Latin pass back to the 17 to set up the seventh. Jack Hill fired the ball to Dick Shine for 22 yards and the points.

The Massillon gridders scored to the first two minutes of the third period after Art James recovered a Latin fumble on the 19-yard line. Line plays carried the pigskin to the one yard line where Hill tunneled through center for the touchdown.

The last touchdown of the game was scored by Latin in the same period when Wise tired a 44-yarder to Robert Jarzemba for six points. Shine fell down as he pivoted to cover Jarzemba, and the latter had no one to bother him in his catch or run.
* * *
BEN RODERICK was perhaps the most unfortunate player on the Tiger team. Twice he caught touchdowns one a 31-yarder in the second period and the other a 57-yard play in the fourth quarter, but neither was allowed because of penalties. Eddie Bush also went 17 yards for a touchdown in the second period which was not allowed. However, in this instance the Tigers scored two plays later on Hill’s pass to Shine. Al Brown also scored a second touchdown that did not count in the fourth period when he waltzed over from seven yards out, but the Tigers had two men in motion on the play and the score was rightfully denied.

Fortunately the local team emerged without any serious injuries. There were the usual bumps and bruises but from all indications no one was hurt badly enough to be kept out of action next week.

The uniforms worn by the Tigers only arrived one hour and 45 minutes before game time which caused a lot of hustle in the Massillon dressing room prior to the start of the contest as shirts had to be hastily fitted on players. That accounts for no numbers being listed in the program for Massillon players.

A Fine Start

MASSILLON POS. LATIN
Roderick LE Putka
Jones LT Hilinski
Morrow LG Maruna
McVay C Glowic
Reichenbach RG Zoller
Takacs RT Cooney
Houston RE Lambert
Hill QB Wise
Crable LH Mullin
Johnson RH Immarino
Brown FB Nieser

Score by periods:
Massillon 25 13 6 0 44
Latin 0 6 7 0 13

Substitutions:
Massillon – Gleason, Streeter, Studer, Slicker, ends; DeWalt, W. Houston, Laps and Paul, guards; Art James, Mitchell, Schumacher and Stanford, tackles; Krisher and Kent, centers; Don James, Bush, Grier, Crone, Shine and Lane, backs.
Latin – Jarzemba, Langowski and Trombo, ends; Clark, tackle; Marco and Jaskoe, fullbacks.

Touchdowns:
Massillon – Crable 2; Brown; Shine; Johnson; Houston; Hill.
Latin – Neiser; Jarzemba.

Points after touchdown:
Massillon – Johnson; Brown (placekicks).
Latin – Wise (placekicks).

Referee – Lobach.
Umpire – Jenkins.
Head Linesman – Boone.
Field Judge – Gross.

Tiger-Latin Statistics
Mass. Latin
First downs 7 12
Passes 17 17
Passes completed 3 4
Had passes intercepted 1 8
Yards gained passing 32 132
Yards gained rushing 500 190
Total yards gained 332 322
Yards lost 28 37
Net yards gained 304 285
Times punted 2 2
Average punt (yards) 29 36
Times kicked off 8 3
Average kickoff (yards) 50 33
Punts returned (yards) 15 12
Kickoffs returned (yards) 35 133
Fumbles 1 3
Lost ball on fumbles 0 3
Times penalized 6 4
Yards penalized 50 30

History

1947: Massillon 0, Canton McKinley 14

November 22, 1947June 27, 2017
by Eric Smith

Canton McKinley Too Strong For Tigers, Wins 14-0
Massillon Gridders Go Down Fighting Before Heavier Bulldog Eleven

By LUTHER EMERY

The Washington high Tigers were putting their grid togs in moth balls today after having sustained their fourth defeat of the 1947 campaign in the season’s finale with Canton McKinley Saturday afternoon before an overflow Fawcett stadium crowd of more than 24,000.

The Bulldogs outmanned the Tigers to win 14-0 but the latter went down fighting after a series of disheartening breaks cut short their every offensive effort. It was the 25th triumph for McKinley in 52 games between the schools. Massillon has won 22 and five ended in tie scores.

The Tiger defeat wrote new modern history for a Massillon football team. It was the first time since 193 that a team had lost four games in a season; it was the first time the Bulldogs had ever succeeded in beating the locals in five games played at Fawcett stadium, and it was the first time a Tiger team had failed to score at least one touchdown in 20 games.

Yet the Massillon gridders gave a better account of themselves Saturday afternoon than most Tiger fans had expected. Out weighed both on the line and in the backfield, they forced the Bulldogs to fight for every yard, gave ground stubbornly, and never gave up until the final gun ended hostilities.

McKinley was distinctly the better team and nobody will try to take any glory away from the red and black for the triumph. It only made one more first down than the Tigers, which were nine to eight, but the net yardage was 243 for Canton to 103 for the local team.
* * *
THE BULLDOGS scored twice, the first time in the closing minutes of the first period when John Colceri scampered around right end for the last four yards and the second when Slippery Ray Hamilton eluded a Tiger substitute and raced 15 yards over the locals’ goal in the opening minutes of the fourth period.

The Bulldogs were stymied on three other occasions inside the 20-yard line while the Tigers made but one serious bid, that coming in the second period when Clarence Johnson fumbled and lost the ball on the Canton five-yard line.

The Tigers pinned their offensive hopes on the forward pass, but Coach “Bup” Rearick had anticipated the Massillon bombing attack and had drilled his team all week in aerial defense. As a result McKinley intercepted more passes than the Tigers completed, the interceptions halting the locals’ offense on no fewer than seven occasions.

Even so, the Tigers passing attack was a constant threat, and better thrown passes on two occasions would have scored Massillon touchdowns for the receivers were in the open.

However, McKinley likewise had an opportunity to score two touchdowns via the same route but muffed the opportunities when the receivers dropped the ball.
* * *
IN DEFEAT, the Tigers produced two outstanding players Saturday in Co-Captains Earl Johnson and Morrie Eberhardt. Their performances were an inspiration to fans in the stands, both friend and foe alike. It was Eberhard’s best game of his scholastic career which ended with the expiration of the fourth quarter. It was also the last for Earl Johnson, Ronald Willaims, Paul Olenick, Julius Wittmann, John Badarnza, Gene Schludecker, Bill Edie, and Eddie Farrie. The other 25 members of the squad will be back again next fall.

The Tigers who had predicted their offense on an open brand of football found a slippery field awaiting them when they arrived in Canton despite efforts to protect the gridiron with a tarpaulin. Pools of water flooded portions of the field which for the most part was greasy.

The team emerged from the game without serious injury, Williams getting a cut on the forehead and Ben Roderick a charley horse. The same could not be said for the Bulldogs, whose center, Ed Pucci was the victim of an unfortunate accident in the second quarter which resulted in a fracture of the left leg. He was carried from the field. The accident occurred during a scramble for a Massillon fumble which McKinley covered on its
five-yard line to end Massillon’s only serious scoring threat.

The game as a whole was cleanly played.

Bulldog luck prevailed from the start when the red and black won the toss and elected to receive. Clarence Johnson kicked off and Hamilton returned form his 13 to the 30 where he was tackled by Earl Johnson. When three downs netted only six yards, Hamilton kicked to Dick Jacobs who was tackled without return on his 38.
* * *
TWO INCOMPLETE passes and a three-yard running play forced Jacobs to punt on fourth down to the Canton 15-yard line. The Bulldogs charged back to score their first, first down of the game on a 16-yard run by Hamilton, but the Tigers braced and held on the next series forcing Hamilton to punt. He kicked to the 17-yard line where the ball rolled dead, and Jacobs returned the kick when three plays netted nothing. Hamilton catching the ball on the Tiger 45 and returning to the 35. The Bulldogs launched their first touchdown drive from this point. Eli Popa hit for a yard and Rogers flipped a pass over the center to Nick Stevenson who got to the 17. Hamilton picked up three and Wetzel in two drives reached the six-yard line. Wetzel and Hamilton had only made a yard each when Colceri entered the game as a substitute. On the first play he was tossed a lateral and he went around right end standing up. Hamilton carried over for the extra point and the score was in McKinley’s favor

Jacobs brought the kickoff back to the 32 and made a brilliant catch of Hill’s pass for a first down on the Bulldogs 39-yard line just as the first period ended.

Johnson fired a long pass that had a bit too much arch and was too slow reaching Jacobs who was 10 yards behind any Canton player. The Bulldog secondary, however had time to get to the ball and bat it down just as it was about to nestle into Dick’s hands. On the next play, Popa intercepted Hill’s pass on the 18 and McKinley moved the ball to his 44 where Eberhardt broke through to smear Rogers on a handoff and covered the fumble on the Bulldog 39. Hill tossed to Earl Johnson for a first down on the 10-yard line. A second pass was incomplete. Clarence Johnson bored through to the five-yard line where he fumbled when tackled and Hamilton covered for McKinley. Pucci fractured his left leg on this play. Having gained but six yards in three downs Hamilton kicked to Jacobs who came back to the Canton 42 on a six-yard return. The Tigers were thrown back a yard in three tries and Jacobs kicked out on the Bulldog 25.

The Bulldogs got back to the 45 where Hamilton was forced to punt, the ball going out on the Tiger seven. The Tigers rushed back to their 33, but a pass over the line was intercepted by Nick Stevenson who got back to the 28. The Bulldogs had time left in the half to toss but one pass and it was grounded, so the half ended with Canton leading 7-0.
* * *
THE TIGERS were penalized 15 yards on the second half kickoff to their own seven-yard line. Hill attempting to pass on second down was bottled up and ran with the ball to a first on his 26. Wetzel intercepted Hill’s pass on second down and got back to the Massillon 14, but the Tigers braced and took the ball on the nine where the Bulldogs’ fourth down pass was dropped by Nick O’Brovac for what might have been a touchdown.

Their offense stopped again by McKinley, the Tigers punted to the 33 and the Bulldogs got back to the 21 where the Tigers braced and held again. Here they executed their best play of the game when Hill tossed into the flat to Roderick and the latter pitched a lateral to Brown who raced down the sideline to the Canton 42. The last Bulldog tackler managed to tick Al enough to cause him to lose his balance and fall, otherwise he would have went the route. Clarence Johnson got loose on the next play and ran to the Canton 20 where he was caught from behind, but the threat ended when Stephenson intercepted Hill’s second down pass on the 16. The Tigers only yielded three yards on four downs and Hamilton punted to Brown who fumbled the ball, picked it up, but was thrown without a return, on his 34 as the third quarter ended.

Colceri intercepted Hill’s third down pass and got back to the Tiger 35. The Tigers were penalized five yards for too many times out and Hamilton went for a first down on the 15. On the next play, he circled his left end for a touchdown, and Colceri carried the ball over for the extra point.

On the first play after the kickoff which Johnson brought back to the 33, Hill passed to Earl Johnson who caught the ball along the sideline and nearly broke away before he was tackled from behind. He fumbled going down and McKinley covered on it own 48. A 15-yard clipping penalty set the Bulldogs back, but aided by a 47-yard dash by Hamilton they moved the ball to the Tiger 12 where the locals threw them back and took the ball on the 13.

A 15-yard penalty on McKinley for unnecessary roughness moved the ball forward for the Tigers but Popa took it away from them when he intercepted Hill’s pass on his 45. The Bulldogs got back to the Massillon 36 where Paul Olenick covered Hamilton’s fumble, but the Tigers were thrown backward trying to pass and Canton took over on fourth down on the 18-yard line. Once more the local team rose to the occasion and stopped the red and black on the 12 but the game ended three plays later with the interception of Clarence Johnson’s pass.

The Tigers’ record for the season shows six victories and four defeats. Other losses were administered by Cleveland Latin, Warren, and Barberton.

McKinley wound up the year with nine victories and a one point loss to Canton Lincoln, that beat the Bulldogs out of the state championship claim. As it is Canton Lincoln is Canton city champion, McKinley is Stark county champion and possible runner-up to Barberton for the state title.
Hopes Crushed
MASSILLON POS. McKINLEY
E. Johnson LE O’Brovac
Eberhardt LT Austin
Williams LG John Kostas
Olenick C Pucci
Houston RG Jim Koslaw
Wittmann RT Warren
Roderick RE Stevenson
Hill QB Rogers
Jacobs LH Wetzel
Brown RH Hamilton
C. Johnson FB Popa

Score by periods
McKinley 7 0 0 7 14

Substitutions: Massillon – Takacs, fb; Badarnza, qb; Resh, lh; McVay, c; Morrow, lg; Farris, rg; Studer, le; Schludecker, le.
McKinley – Colceri, lh; Byers, g-c; D. Weber, g; Ghezzi, g; Moreno, fb.

Touchdowns:
McKinley – Colceri; Hamilton.

Points after touchdown:
McKinley – Hamilton; Colceri (carried).

Referee – Lobach
Umpire – Brubaker.
Head Linesman – Jenkins.
Field Judge – Shafer.

History

1947: Massillon 21, Akron St. Vincent

November 14, 1947June 27, 2017
by Eric Smith

Tigers Beat St. Vincent’s 21-0, Prepare For Buldogs
Massillon Gridders Win Sixth Contes On Long Touchdown Runs

By LUTHER EMERY

Having defeated Akron St. Vincent’s 21-0 to end a three-game losing streak and annex their sixth victory of the season, the Washington high Tigers today began preparations for the 52nd game between Washington high school and Canton McKinley which will be played Saturday afternoon in Fawcett stadium before a capacity throng of some 25,000 people, Massillon has won 22, McKinley 24 and five ended in a tie.

While the Tigers were having a difficult time measuring the so-called in-and-out St. Vincent’s team Saturday afternoon, the Bulldogs warmed up for the contest by whipping Lakewood 20-6 in a mud battle in the northern Ohio city. The victory was the eighth in nine games for the Bulldogs who have been beaten only by Canton Lincoln high.

Coaches “Bud” Houston of Massillon and “Bup” Rearick of McKinley, won under wraps and both substituted freely, though the lead over St. Vincent’s did not reach the point of sufficiency early enough to permit the Tiger coach to send in substitutes in wholesale numbers as he had hoped to do.

As a result, quite a few of the boys will undoubtedly finish the season without having participated in a single game.

The smallest crowd of the season and one of the smallest to see a home game since the Tigers rose to power 13 years ago was scattered through the stands for the St. Vincent’s game.

It is doubtful if the figure reached 4,000.

The outcome was a duplicate of the Barberton-Massillon game to reverse.
* * *
ST. VINCENT’S which pushed the Tigers over the gridiron a considerable portion of the afternoon, had momentary lapses that Massillon gridders took advantage of and romped to three touchdowns.

The first was a 73-yard return of an intercepted pass by Dick Jacobs which ended an Irish scoring threat and the other two were jaunts by Halfback Al Brown, a 91-yard runback of the St. Vincent’s kickoff that opened the second half and a 28-yard fourth quarter jaunt that buttered the bread with more points. Gene Schludecker booted all three extra points from placement and that briefly tells the story of the scoring.

Although from a spectator’s standpoint the Tigers appeared the stronger team and looked like the usual Massillon team the week before a Canton McKinley game when more attention is focused on the Bulldogs than the opponent at hand, play from a standpoint of offense was fairly equal. The Irish gained more first downs, eight to five and gained within two yards of the local team on the ground and in the air. Total offense was 157 yards for Massillon and 155 for St. Vincent’s while net offensive was 143 to 108 respectively.

The Irish came out with a lot of fancy plays from their T and double wing-back systems and many were executed with precision timing to the delight of the spectators.
* * *
WHILE the visitors never got close to the Massillon goal, they took the center of the Tiger line apart frequently and worked a number of nifty passes between the 30-yard markers.

Once they marched from their own 15 to the Tiger 24, a distance of 61 yards which stopped with Jacobs snaring one of Johnny Cistone’s passes in the flat and scampering 73 yards for his first period touchdown. Jake roared through with the ball at top speed and surprised many Tiger fans with his fast footwork as he hoofed it for the goal line.

The visitors got inside the Tiger 30 again in the third period but lost the ball on a fumble on the first play of the fourth quarter. Except for these two occasions, the Irish seldom got by midfield.

The Tigers had troubles of their own moving the ball which helps account for the Irish getting more first downs than the local team. Eight passes were thrown, but only one of the eight hit its mark. Not all were the fault of the passers, however. There were two occasions when the receivers should have caught the ball.

St. Vincent’s followers seemed to think after the game that their team had one of its better afternoons. The Irish have been in-and-outers this season and have played a lot of good football. They had a little more success with their forward passes than did Massillon, completing six of 16 for 52 yards.

While Brown was the Tigers’ out-standing offensive star by virtue of his two touchdown runs, the defensive burden was born by Julius Wittmann, who has played a whale of a lot of football the past three weeks. Defensively, he several times stopped St. Vincent’s ball carriers before they could get started and occasionally tossed them for losses.
* * *
IN MARKED contrast to the small crowd that saw the Massillon-St. Vincent’s game, the largest crowd ever to see a Massillon-Canton McKinley contest will turn out for this week’s game in Fawcett stadium. The regular and temporary seating capacity of the stadium is being augmented this week by additional seats from Massillon which will be erected in front of the southwest stands.

Whatever strategy the coaches of the two teams have devised from scouting reports as a means of beating each other will be passed on to their respective squads this week.

Both teams will practice through Thursday, hold a brief warm-up Friday and then settle down to await the opening kickoff.

Canton McKinley by virtue of its better record and especially because of its one-sided victories over Warren and Steubenville, is favored to win. The Bulldogs whipped Warren 32-7 and Steubenville 48-6, while Warren beat Massillon 20-13 and Steubenville gave the Tigers the hardest kind of a scrap before bowing 13-12.

However, players have a habit of rising to great heights in Massillon-Canton games to play their best of the season and hopes for a Massillon victory ride with this kind of performance. The McKinley record isn’t sufficiently impressive to scare anyone, for the Bulldogs were beaten 7-6 by Canton Lincoln which was defeated 13-7 by Massillon, and both teams played an almost identical game with Alliance, the Tigers winning 20-6 and McKinley 20-7.
Sixth Victory
MASSILLON – 21 POS. AKRON ST. VINCENT’S – 0
E. Johnson LE Wahl
Eberhardt LT Cox
Williams LG McGrath
Olenick C Costello
Houston RG Goehler
Wittmann RT Blanco
Roderick RE Haas
Hill QB Brown
Jacobs LH Pitts
Brown RH Goyle
C. Johnson FB Halamay

Score by periods
Massillon 7 0 7 7 21

Substitutions:
Massillon – Badarnza, qb; Grier, rh; James, rh; Resh, lh; Takacs, fb; Morrow, lg; Edie, rt; Jones, lt; Studer, le; Schludecker, re; McVay, c; Paul, rg.
St. Vincent’s – Cistone, qb; Ondecker, lg; Rossi, rh; Longville, lh; Shields, rg; Schlosser, lh; Whitmyer, lt; Moss, le; Cahill, rg; Leffler, qb; McMullen, fb; Wolfe, fb.

Touchdowns:
Massillon – Jacobs; Al Brown 2.

Points after touchdown:
Massillon – Schludecker 3 (placekicks).

Referee – Slutz.
Umpire – C. Rupp.
Head Linesman – Rainsberger.
Field Judge – Lobach.

Statistics
Mass. Akron
First downs 5 8
Passes 8 16
Passes completed 1 6
Had passes intercepted 2 2
Yards gained passing 9 52
Yards gained rushing 148 103
Total yards gained 157 155
Yards lost 13 47
Net yards gained 144 108
Times punted 4 7
Average punt (yards) 35.2 33.8
Times kicked off 4 1
Average kickoff (yards) 44.2 51
Yards punts returned 21 12
Yards kickoffs returned 91 61
Total kicks returned 112 73
Times fumbled 1 2
Lost ball on fumbles 1 0
Yards lost penalties 42 17

History

1947: Massillon 12, Barberton 26

November 7, 1947June 27, 2017
by Eric Smith

Barberton Beats Tigers 26-12 Claims State Title
30,000 See Gondor And Goudy Pace Undefeated Magics To Big Victory

By LUTHER EMERY

A couple of G-men, Dick Goudy and Paul Gondor, racing 74 and 88 yards respectively to touchdowns, gave Barberton high school the right to claim the Ohio scholastic football championship Friday evening when they closed an undefeated season here by plastering a 26-12 defeat on the Washington high Tigers before an inside and out throng of some 30,000 people.

Goudy and Gondor were magnificent in their long touchdown dashes, when supported by fine blocking into the open field, they faked the secondary out of tackling position.

Defensively the Tigers had only a couple of lapses, and that’s all speed merchants like Gondor and Goudy needed to go the route. Otherwise they were not able to gain too much ground through the Massillon line.

The Magics scored two other touchdowns, one, their first of the game, following a lucky pass deflection and the second coming after a poor pass from center gave them the ball on the Tiger 27-yard line.

The game was one of exciting long runs, and Gondor and Goudy did not do all the entertaining, for Massillon’s second touchdown came on a 27-yard run by Clarence Johnson, Tiger fullback.

Barberton, which came to Massillon with a record of eight consecutive victories and holder of the No. 1 spot in the Ohio football poll was battled on even terms by the Tigers the first two periods which ended 6-6. If anything, the locals even had an edge, for they not only scored one touchdown but thrice took the ball inside the 15-yard line, losing once on downs, a second time on a fumble, and a third time when time expired with the ball on the 15.
* * *
THE MAGICS in fact were first to score, Goudy going over from the one-yard line on second down.

The Tigers got their touchdown in the closing minutes of the half when Al Brown went eight yards to the one yard line and Clarence Johnson banged it across.

Came the third period, and everything was going fine until Goudy broke loose midway in the quarter. The Tigers had the Magics stopped with third down coming up and three yards to go on the latters’ 26-yard line when the lightening struck. Goudy came around the left side of the Massillon line behind marvelous blocking, headed for the sideline, cut back toward midfield and faked two of the Massillon secondary out of tackling position to go 74 yards for a touchdown. His buddy, Gondor, kicked the extra point to give the Magics the lead 13-6.

Massillon still had hopes until the fourth period came around bringing touchdowns quick and fast.
* * *
DICK JACOBS, trying to punt on fourth down got a poor pass from the center and was thrown for a big loss, Barberton getting the ball on the Tiger 27. It capitalized on the break in a hurry as Goudy and Gondor made a first on the 14 and Gondor went the rest of the distance for the T.D. A poor pass from center muffed the try for the extra point and left the visitors leading 20-6.

The Tigers opened up for the first time during the evening and, overcoming a 15-yard penalty, Jack Hill tossed 40 yards to Clarence Johnson for a first down on the Barberton 47. Two passes in a row to Ben Roderick brought another first on the 27 and opened up the Magics’ tight defense. The opening gave Clarence Johnson a chance to run and he waded through right tackle for the remaining 27 yards and the Tigers’ second and last touchdown of the evening. Schludecker’s kick for the extra point was wide, leaving the score 20-12 in Barberton’s favor.

Whatever hope the locals’ still had of catching up was quickly dimmed on the next play when Gondor grabbed the kickoff on his 12, fumbled it momentarily and then set out for a beautiful 88-yard touchdown run along the sideline. This time he kicked the extra point which proved the final counter of the day, although Barberton scored another touchdown at the end of the game that did not count when the gun shot as the ball was being handed to Goudy. The latter tossed over the line for three yards into the end zone to the waiting arms of Danny Yakus, but the officials ruled the play was not yet in motion when time expired and as a result Barberton lost the “touchdown.”

Defensively the Tigers played good ball and for the most part Goudy and Gondor had great difficulty trying to puncture the Massillon line, which is a credit to the Tiger forwards and line backers for the two G-men are hard and shifty runners that any ball club would welcome on its roster.

As has been the case in the past two weeks, the local team was lacking most in offense.

It muffed a golden opportunity in the first quarter when Barberton fumbled a powerful kickoff by Clarence Johnson and only got the ball back to the nine-yard line where the Tiger linemen threw back the Magic’s efforts to move the ball and forced them to punt the pigskin. It was a short kick, going out on the 36 and on the very first play, Brown came around his left end for a dash to the 12-yard line. The Tigers hit’em on the right, then on the left, then two more times on the right, but gained only three yards and lost the ball on downs.

The locals’ offense, however, did produce more yards than it did at Cleveland last week where the Tigers lost, 16-12 to the Latin Lions. Against Barberton the locals made 11 first downs to the Magics’ nine, but long touchdown runs do not count as first downs and hence Barberton out gained Massillon from scrimmage, 304 yard to 259.
* * *
THE TIGERS made a bug hunk of their yardage in the last quarter when they began mixing passes with their ground work which caused both to function to better advantage. They completed five of 10 attempts for 88 yards and had but one intercepted.

Barberton completed two of three and one of the completions was a fluke, the ball being deflected into a Barberton player’s hands by a Massillon secondary defender trying to knock it down. The pass incidentally was a fourth down effort that gave the Magics a first down on the 15 and placed them in position for their initial touchdown of the game.

Fumbles hurt the locals and upset their offense on five occasions. Twice they lost the ball in this manner. So did Barberton and the Tigers turned one of the Magics’ bobbles into their first touchdown of the game as they recovered the leather on the 14-yard line.

Most of the game was played in a driving rain, and a wet ball may account to some extent for some of the loose ball handling.
* * *
THE VICTORY was Barberton’s first over Massillon since the season of 1933 when the Magics won a 6-0 verdict at Barberton. The team, fans and Coach Harry Strobel were jubilant over the triumph which gives them a chance to make a strong claim for the state schoolboy championship. They have a hard hitting eleven that functions smoothly and supports the ball carrier with excellent blocking; the best all-around team the Tigers have faced this season.

The only consolation Massillon can get out of the verdict is that Coach Strobel is an
ex-Massillonian who graduated from Washington high in the mid-twenties. He can write the mythical state title into the records of his success which include a state championship basketball team while at Bellevue high in 1945 and an undefeated football team at Orrville high. A lot of Harry’s old Orrville fans came to Massillon by bus last night to see his tam annex the title.

The defeat as far as Massillon was concerned was the third in a row for the Tigers and you have to go way back to the season of 1932 to find where another Massillon team lost that many games in succession. The Tigers dropped four in a row that year – and it was Paul Brown’s first team. Paul himself was a spectator at last night’s game.

The Tigers as a whole emerged from the game in good physical condition. Dick Jacobs came out with a sore ankle that may put him on the shelf for next Saturday afternoon’s game with Akron St. Vincent’s here. In fact for a time last night it appeared that Massillon might not have either of its halfbacks for service next week.

After the game, Al Brown took exception to criticism leveled his way and walked out of the dressing room with the announcement that he was through. His teammates quickly went into a huddle, however, brought Brown to the residence of Coach “Bud” Houghton where the player apologized and was forgiven.

The game ended the Tigers’ night season. They play their first daylight encounter with St. Vincent’s and the following week will close their season against Canton McKinley in Fawcett stadium.
State Champions

MASSILLON Pos. BARBERTON
Johnson LE Yakus
Eberhardt LT Arvay
Williams LG Freeman
McVay C Santa
Houston RG Carbaugh
Wittmann RT Toneff
Roderick RE Kapish
Hill QB Scarr
Jacobs LH Goudy
Brown RH Gondor
C. Johnson FB Sabol

Score by periods:
Massillon 0 6 0 6 12
Barberton 0 6 7 13 26

Substitutions:
Massillon – Olenick, c; Ferris, rg; Morrow, lg; Badarnza, qb; Jones, lt; Schludecker, re; Resh, rh.
Barberton – Hare, ly; Kulsar, c; Cain, qb; Fugitt, lc.

Touchdowns:
Massillon – C. Johnson 2.
Barberton – Goudy 2; Gondor 2.

Points after touchdown:
Barberton – Gondor 2 (placekicks).

Referee – Lobach.
Umpire – Gross.
Head Linesman – Boone.
Field Judge – Jenkins.

Statistics
Mass. Barb.
First downs 11 9
Passes attempted 10 3
Passes completed 5 2
Had passes intercepted 1 0
Yards gained passing 88 33
Yards gained rushing 174 277
Total yards gained 262 310
Yards lost 3 6
Net yards gained 259 304
Times punted 2 3
Average punt (yards) 39 23
Yards punts returned by 0 0
Times kicked off 3 5
Average kickoff (yards) 48 53
Yards kickoffs returned by 109 97
Fumbles 5 2
Lost ball on fumbles 2 2
Yards penalized 20 10

History

1947: Massillon 12, Cleveland Cathedral Latin 16

October 31, 1947August 23, 2017
by Eric Smith

Cathedral Latin Knocks Tigers Out Of Title Race
Massillon Gridders Defeated 16-12 With 90 Seconds To Play

By LUTHER EMERY

Cathedral Latin high school kicked the Washington high school Tigers right out of the race for the Ohio high school championship before 25,255 fans in Cleveland’s lakefront stadium Friday evening, scoring all of their points in the 16-12 verdict in the final period.

The Tigers had it in the bag until Latin scored its winning touchdown with a minute and 10 seconds to go when Quarterback Bill Petersen bucked the ball over the goal from the one-yard line.

1947 Game Action vs. Cle. Cathedral Latin

It was a game of mistakes and errors with the locals capitalizing on a blocked punt and intercepted pass to score their two touchdowns, and in turn dropping a possible pass interception that could have preserved victory for Massillon.

Despite its close escape from defeat, there’s no denying Latin deserved the victory on a basis of performance. First downs were 13-3 in its favor and it out gained the Tigers both on the ground and in the air for a net total of 231 yards to Massillon’s 82.

The Tigers twice had victory within their grasp but permitted it to slip away in a wild fourth quarter, in which 22 of the game’s 28 points were scored.

The locals possibly erred at the end of the third period when with a 6-0 lead time expired, forcing them to punt against the wind on the first play of the fourth quarter. The wind would have been at their backs had they kicked the ball on third down on the last play of the third period.
* * *
AS IT WAS, Dick Jacobs’ punt was low and short and the ball struck Halfback Joe Raggets who bobbled it and then cut loose on a 45-yard run over the goal. It was only the second time during the night that Latin was able to return one of Jacob’s punts and the first was only a nine-yard effort. The touchdown followed by Substitute Al Habinak’s point from placement put the Lions ahead 7-6, but they didn’t stay there long.

The next time they got the ball, Morrie Eberhardt broke through to smear Petersen’s attempt to pass and the ball flew into the arms of Guard Red Williams who raced 62 yards for a touchdown. Gene Schludecker sent the ball between the uprights on his attempted placekick for the extra point but it didn’t count because Ben Roderick was caught holding. Penalized 15 yards, Schludecker tried it again and missed but the Tigers were still ahead 12-7 with eight and one-half minutes to play.
The Tigers tried to kill time while Latin directed its efforts toward scoring another touchdown. Petersen’s good punt backed the locals up to their seven-yard line and on third down Al Brown was tossed behind his own goal for a safety when the locals tried a deep reverse. That brought the score to 12-9 with six minutes to go.

The Tigers kicked to the Lions who got the ball in midfield and began the final drive that spelled Massillon’s doom.

Petersen tossed to Tom Behm for a first down on the 36. Earl Gentile made four at left end, and Petersen’s pass was grounded. The latter picked out Gentile for his next toss, however, and connected for a first on the 24.

Petersen again tried to pass but was thrown for a six-yard loss. He came right back, however, to hit them for a first on the 13-yard line. Another pass was almost intercepted by Olenick, but he dropped the ball. The Lions on the next play crossed up the Tigers and sent Joe Pilla crashing through center for a first down on the one-yard line. It looked as though Pilla went over before an orange wave bent him back. Petersen took it on the next play, was stopped momentarily a yard behind the line of scrimmage but had the drive to propel himself over the goal. Again Habinak placekicked the extra point, and the game ended three plays later with the Tigers making a first down on their 40 on a pass; Jack Hill to Roderick and Brown gaining three yards on a reverse.
* * *
THE DEFEAT was the second in a row for the local team which last week was bumped
20-13 at Warren. Latin’s record now reads six victories and one loss, the lone defeat being an upset by Cleveland Holy Name.

Latin presented a strong forward wall which the Tigers were unable to penetrate. Their only sizeable gain on the ground was a 36-yard run by Al Brown in the closing seconds of the first period which put the ball on the Latin 40. He was ahead of the pack, but was hauled down from behind.

Deduct that 36-yarder off the statistics and you have the Tigers gaining but 58 yards the rest of the ball game.

Latin strong armed the locals for the most part with a seven-man line when playing in Tiger territory. In the open field they used a six-man line with five men covering the secondary for passes. The Tigers had pinned their offensive hopes on the forward pass, but they only tossed six and completed two, one on the next to the last play of the game. Receivers frequently got into the open but the passer overthrew them.

The first half of the game was a defensive battle for the most part with neither team threatening as Jacobs and Petersen staged a punting duel to keep the elevens bottled up in their own back yards.
* * *
BOTH ELEVENS have been known all season as second-half ball clubs, but the third quarter was well along before anything sensational happened.

The Tigers who on several occasions came close to blocking Petersen’s punts, finally succeeded as he attempted to boot the ball from his 40-yard line. The ball bounced back to the 20 where Early Johnson scooped it up and raced for a touchdown. Schludecker missed the attempted kick for the extra point.

Based on the Tigers’ defensive showing up to this stage of the game, the six points looked good, for they had succeeded in stopping Gentile most of the time and had so rushed Petersen that he was unable to get the ball to receivers.

What happened, however, you already know but Massillon fans will replay the remainder of the game a good many times this weekend pointing out where a few “ifs: might have changed the final result.

Knocked from their state championship ambitions, about all the Tigers have left to do is to play the role of the spoiler with Barberton and Canton McKinley, each of which represents a sizeable object on anybody’s schedule.

Fortunately the local team escaped without injuries and remained in Cleveland last night where it will view the Notre Dame-Navy game today.
Sad But True
MASSILLON POS. LATIN
E. Johnson LE Saunders
Eberhardt LT Calto
Williams LG Zeller
McVay C O’Day
Houston RG Riousi
Wittmann RT Campanelli
Roderick RE Behm
Badarnza QB Petersen
Jacobs LH Raggets
Brown RH Pilla
C. Johnson FB Gentile

Score by quarters:
Massillon 0 0 6 6 12
Latin 0 0 0 16 16

Substitutions:
Massillon – Olenick, c; Farris, rg; Schludecker, re; Resh, lh; Jones, lt; Morrow, lg; Hill, qb.
Latin – Zieler, lg; Maruna, lg; Cooney, lt; Putka, lt; Wise, qb; Mullin, fb; Habinak, hb.

Touchdowns:
Massillon – E. Johnson; Williams.
Latin – Raggets; Petersen.

Point after touchdown:
Latin – Habinak 2 (placement).

Safety – Latin.

Referee – Brubaker.
Umpire – Brown.
Head Linesman – Wisecup.
Field Judge – Calhoun.

Statistics
Mass. Latin
First downs 3 13
Yards gained rushing 94 189
Yards gained passing 19 58
Total yards gained 113 247
Yards lost 31 16
Net yards gained 82 231
Passes attempted 6 15
Passes completed 2 5
Had passes intercepted 0 1
Times punted 7 9
Average punt (yards) 32 31
Had punts blocked 0 1
Punts returned by (yards) 37 54
Fumbles 4 1
Lost ball on fumbles 1 1
Yards penalized 20 20
Times penalized 2 2

History

1947: Massillon 13, Warren Harding 20

October 24, 1947June 27, 2017
by Eric Smith

Warren Blasts Tigers From Ranks Of Undefeated
Massillon Gridders Beaten 20-13 By Fast Charging Harding Line

By LUTHER EMERY

A fast charging Warren line blasted Massillon Washington high school from its Ohio scholastic throne Friday evening by a score of 20-13.

A capacity crowd that filled every inch of the Warren Harding high stadium saw the Tigers fall with a resounding thump into the heap of teams that have already been knocked off the lofty perch this season.

Scoring all three touchdowns in the opening quarter, two of them in the first six minutes of play, the Presidents got the jump on the Tigers and were in command of the game throughout.

Massillon scored 13 points in the last half, actually didn’t deserve that many, and came within two yards of scoring the tying touchdown in the fourth quarter. Warren earned all of its touchdowns, lost another when the half ended with a first down on the Tiger one yard line, and passed up another opportunity by losing the ball on a fumble on the Tiger
three-yard line, which is to say the Tigers were fortunate they were not defeated by a larger score.

The Harding President gained a net total of 322 yards to Massillon’s 163 and made 15 first downs to the Tigers’ six.

Give the game to the Warren linemen. They were terrors last night, surprising even the most optimistic of their fans as they ripped the Massillon line to shreds on both offense and defense to hand the Tigers their first loss of the season. Warren likewise has suffered but one defeat, that a 35-7 whipping by Canton McKinley.

The President linemen out charged the Tiger forward wall from start to finish and blasted large holes for their fast running backs, Walt Corbon, Herb Edington and Leroy Schier. Once in the open, the ball carriers drove hard for many yards to out gain the Tigers on the ground 305 yards to 84 yards.
* * *
NOT UNTIL the last period did the local team begin to look like it had in recent games. Then it began carrying the game to Warren and battled the Presidents on somewhat even terms.

The scrappy spirit of the Massillon team in the face of defeat and its general clean play when taking a beating were about all the local fans had to cheer about. The local gridders tried to pull themselves out of the hole they had gotten into, as they had one in the Canton Lincoln and Steubenville games, and almost did.

That the Tigers were low for the game there seems to be no doubt. They got off to a bad start by fumbling the first three times they got the ball, twice losing the pigskin to Warren which converted one of the bobbles into its first touchdown.

With Al Brown sidelined with injuries save for two plays of the game and Clarence Johnson participating in only a couple of series of plays because of chest pains, the Tigers; offense could not be expected to hit par. Joe Jones sustained a painful shoulder injury which cut down his capabilities and three of the four guards carried injuries prior to the contest.
* * *
INJURIES probably had much to do with taking the spark out of the Massillon machine, while Warren was clicking smoother than any team we have seen this season and shoved the Tiger into reverse gear most of the evening.

The locals tried to pass their way out of difficulty but it was not until the second half that the passers could hit their receivers. The latter had little difficulty freeing themselves but the passers were so rushed by the hard charging linemen that they frequently could not get the ball away.

The game wasn’t three minutes old until Warren had its first touchdown. Things happened fast after the opening kickoff which Ray Resh brought back to his 18-yard line. The Tigers fumbled on the first play from scrimmage and Warren covered on the 16. Then Bill Bevan fumbled on Warren’s first play and Jack McVay covered for Massillon on the 15. And on the very next play the Tigers fumbled again and Robinson covered for Warren on the Massillon 19. That last one set Warren in motion and it moved to the five-yard line where the Tigers held for three downs but on fourth down Edington crossed up the locals’ attack and raced around his right end for the first Warren score. He also placekicked the extra point.
* * *
THE TIGERS were pinned back in their own territory after the following kickoff and punted to midfield. Corbin and Bevan negotiated a first down on the 34 and the Presidents then turned Edington loose for a neat bit of open field running in which Massillon tacklers slid off him as though he had greased pants. He went the route and placekicked the extra point to put Warren ahead 14-0 with only six minutes of the first period played.

Thompson intercepted John Badarnza’s pass on the second play after the kickoff to set Warren in motion again. Starting from their own 39, they used four first downs to take the ball to the seven and on fourth down Robison flipped a pass to Schier in the end zone for the third score. Paul Olenick broke through to block Edington’s attempted placekick.

The Tigers, who failed to show any net gain for their offensive efforts in the first period, threatened twice in the second quarter but didn’t have the punch to get the ball over. Their first effort began when Jacobs recovered a Warren fumble on his own 44. The locals worked the ball as close as the 13-yard line but lost it when Corbin intercepted a pass on his own two.

Warren punted out safely to the 28 and the locals managed to get through for one first down before losing the ball on downs on the 14-yard line. Warren took over from there, rushed the Tigers off their feet and had the ball on first down on the one-yard line as the half ended.

What hopes the locals had of stopping the President’s running attack the last two periods faded right after the kickoff when they took Schludecker’s boot and sallied back to a first down on the 10-yard line. Olenick saved the day by intercepting Robinson’s pass and running the ball back to his 39-yard line.

Jacobs cut loose with a beautiful punt after the next series of plays that rolled out on the four-yard line and set up the Tigers first touchdown. Robinson fumbled on the first play and Mike Takacs pounced on the ball on the four. It took three plays to get the pigskin over; Clarence Johnson lugging it across for the last yards. Schludecker kicked the extra point.
* * *
THE TOUCHDOWN only served to fire Warren up all the more, for it took the following kickoff and came running back to the 11-yard line before Jack McVay covered Corbin’s fumble on the three. Dick Jacobs nearly got away on the first play of the fourth quarter as he raced out to his 36-yard line before being dropped by the Warren safety man. Hill lost 10 yards trying to pass, but he dropped back and fired another, a long one that Jacobs caught past midfield and raced for a touchdown, a gain of 72 yards. Schludecker missed the attempt for the extra point but Massillon fans trumpeted in glee as they saw a possible opportunity to tie the score.

They didn’t have to wait long for that opportunity. It came after the kickoff, when Warren, thrown back by a 15-yard clipping penalty and two of the best Tiger tackles of the evening, was forced to punt. The pass from center was over the kicker’s head and the ball, rolled back to the 10-yard line where it was first down for Massillon. Resh made a yard on the first play and Coach Houghton rushed in Brown and Clarence Johnson. Al circled left end for two, and Johnson in two attempts could get no nearer than the two-yard line where the Tigers lost the ball.

Warren punted out and the Tigers got back to the 26 on a pass, C. Johnson to E. Johnson, but Warren covered up and the locals again lost the ball on downs, with two minutes and 45 seconds remaining to be played. The game ended with the Tigers in possession of the ball on their own 33-yard line.
A Real Whipping
Massillon Pos. Warren
E. Johnson le Yurtin
Eberhardt lt Scott
Williams lg Lawrence
Olenick c Pollick
Houston rg Doulo
Wittmann rt Fetsko
Roderick re Manyak
Badarnza qb Robinson
Jacobs lh Edington
Resh rh Corbin
C. Johnson fb Smith

Score by periods
MASSILLON 0 0 7 6 13
WARREN 20 0 0 0 20

Substitutions:
Massillon – Takacs, fb; Hillk qb; McVay, c; Ferris, rg; Morrow, lg; Jones, lt; Brown, lh; Grier, rh; Schludecker.

Warren – Minnick, lg; Bevan, fb; Schier, lh; Doing, lt; Williams, rh; Thompson, qb.

Touchdowns:
Massillon – C. Johnson; Jacobs.
Warren – Edington 2; Schier.

Points after touchdown:
Massillon – Schludecker (placekick).
Warren – Edington, 2. (placekicks).

Referee – Lobach.
Umpire – Gross.
Head Linesman – Lindsay.
Field Judge – Brown.

Statistics
Massillon Warren
First downs 6 15
Yards gained rushing 84 305
Passes attempted 17 7
Passes completed 3 3
Passes had intercepted 2 1
Yards gained passing 109 26
Total yards gained 193 331
Yards lost 30 9
Total net yardage 163 322
Times kicked 3 4
Average kicks (yards) 40 55
Times punted 3 3
Average punts (yards) 39 40
Average return of kicks 19 15
Average return of punts 10 0
Fumbles 5 6
Fumbles recovered 2 2
Fumbles lost 3 4
Times penalized 4 5
Yards penalized 30 32

History

1947: Massillon 27, Mansfield 0

October 17, 1947June 27, 2017
by Eric Smith

Tigers Defeat Mansfield 27-0 In Rough Football Game
21,000 Spectators See Massillon Team Score In All But One Period

By LUTHER EMERY

The Washington high Tigers whipped Mansfield 27-0 here Friday evening in a bruising battle that left a bad taste in the mouths of a lot of people.

The Tigers scored in three of the four periods and the game ended with the 21,000 fans, largest crowd of the season, squaring off in a booing contest that sounded like a Florida hurricane. Here Massillon again won but only because it had more fans in the stands.

While the ethics are not of the best, booing is an outlet for a fan to show his displeasure at incidents in a game, and last night’s chorus of raspberries developed when the heated tempo of the game reached into the stands and afflicted the fans with a fever comparable to that displayed on the field where punching was going on in the pileup and rough treatment in general was meted out.

Mansfield started it after the Tigers had scored their third touchdown. The price was heavy for both sides. Massillon lost its fleet halfback, Al Brown, who was removed with a sprained ankle that may put him on the shelf for several weeks, while two 15-yard penalties in a row, one following Brown’s injury, put the ball on the one-yard line in position for the Tigers’ fourth touchdown.

The local team was not without sin and drew an unnecessary roughness penalty of 15 yards for playing tit for tat. When the game was finally over, one Mansfield player, Quarterback Harry Osbun had to be carried from the field, and Fullback Charles Jenkins was helped off by his teammates.
* * *
THE OFFICIALS, seeking to keep the game under control, tossed out a player of each team while inflicting the penalties.

“I was sorry it ended that way,” Mansfield Coach “Augie” Morningstar, a former Tiger gridder and coach of the 1945 Massillon team, said after the game. “I started yanking players, trying to hold them down, but didn’t get them out soon enough.”

Washington high Coach “Bud” Houghton who had Morningstar as his line coach in 1941, was bitter after the game as he left to take Brown to the Massillon city hospital for X-ray pictures of the injured ankle. “I still believe as I did last year; that we should scratch Mansfield off the schedule,” he said. “We run into this every year.”

As events turned out, Houghton would have been wise to have pulled his star performers after the 20-point lead and saved them for games to come. Fortunately Brown was the only local gridder seriously injured. His loss would be a serious blow to the Tigers in weeks to follow.

The victory was Massillon’s fifth of the season and the third in a row over a former member of the Massillon coaching staff. Steubenville and Alliance, coached by Howard Brinker and Mel Knowlton, respectively, both former coaches in the local system were defeated during the previous two weeks. The defeat was Mansfield’s second in six games, the team having lost to Springfield last week after beating Fort Wayne North, Cleveland East, Sandusky and Portsmouth in a row.
* * *
THE TIGERS continued to show improvement last night which is the most heartening part of their performance this season. While their defense was fooled a couple of times by Mansfield, they never permitted the visitors to get nearer than the 20-yard line, and they limited their ground work to 150 yards gained. Thirty-nine were gained passing.

The locals’ offense on the other hand rolled up 298 yards on the ground, 73 in the air and with better judgment would have produced five touchdowns instead of four. They lost one in the second period when with inches to go on fourth down and the ball two yards short of the goal; they tried a lateral on an end sweep that boomeranged and gave Mansfield the ball.

The Tigers however were by far the superior team and made fewer errors than in past weeks.

Had their passes worked earlier in the game they might have made a rout of it for Mansfield appeared vulnerable to forwards, and Massillon failures were largely the result of inability of the passer to get the ball to the receivers who had no difficulty freeing themselves in the open.
* * *
MANSFIELD used many defensive variations in attempts to stop the Massillon running attack, but Brown, Dick Jacobs and Clarence Johnson moved more consistently than at any time this season and were forced to punt only once during the evening.

Brown got off the longest run, a 59-yard jaunt that was shortened in the official count because of a 15-yard clipping penalty.

Mansfield presented a hard runner in Tommy Tucker, a scat back who almost got away twice before he was trapped along the sidelines.

The game started off as though the objective was a test in generosity, when the teams began fumbling into each other’s hands, but it certainly did not end that way.

A poor punt, partially ticked by a Massillon player after the kickoff gave the Tigers the ball on the Mansfield 44, but Clarence Johnson fumbled on the 22 and Mansfield covered.

After an exchange of downs Mansfield fumbled and Jack McVay pounced on the leather to get Massillon the ball on the visitors’ 23. That act sparked the Tigers into action and they surged forward with Brown and Clarence Johnson lugging the leather most of the time in a march that ended with the latter going over from the one-yard line. Gene Schludecker kicked the extra point and the Tigers led 7-0.
* * *
NEITHER TEAM scored in the second period though the Tigers passed up two golden opportunities. They marched the ball from their own 34 to the visitors’ two-yard line where with inches needed for a first down they lost the ball as Clarence Johnson was thrown trying a sweep off a lateral on fourth down. They moved again to the 18 where they lost the leather on an intercepted pass with some 15 seconds of the half remaining to be played.

They came out in the third quarter in a business like manner, took the ball on the kickoff on their 37. They marched 63 yards with John Badarnza sneaking it over. A 31-yarder by Brown and a 19-yard dash by Jacobs were the longest runs in this series of advances. Jack Hill tried to run with the ball for the extra point when he received a high pass from center, but was thrown before he could cross the goal line, leaving the Tigers in front 13-0.

Taking the ball away from Mansfield, when the latter tried for yards after the kickoff only to lose the ball on downs, the Tigers marched from their 49 to the 24 where Jack Hill pegged a touchdown pass to Ben Roderick who caught the ball on the five-yard line and managed to keep inside the side stripe until he got over the goal. Schludecker booted the 20th point and the decks were cleared for action. Each team gave the other the ball on a fumble and that did not help matters any. Neither was it soothing when the Tigers lost 12 yards on one hitch and the ball on another while trying to pass.
* * *
MANSFIELD did not like it when the ball was called back after left Halfback Osbun had made a beautiful run to the Tiger 17 but the officials said both sides were off-sides and their word stood. Then Osbun was tackled so hard on the next series that he fumbled and the Tigers recovered. Brown immediately ran from his 32 to the nine-yard line, but a clipping penalty moved the ball back to the 40. Brown went to the 25-yard line on the next play and was knocked out in the pileup. He was removed from the game. A 15-yard penalty for unnecessary roughness put the ball on the 11-yard line. Badarnza tried to pass to Jacobs but the ball was beyond his reach. In the melee that followed a Mansfield player was put out of the game and the visitors were penalized to the one-yard line.

The chorus of boos, which began when Brown was knocked out rose in a huge crescendo as the referee stepped off the penalty yard by yard.

Badarnza bucked the ball over for the touchdown and Schludecker again kicked the extra point to bring the score to 27-0.

The scoring was over, but not the booing nor the roughing, for on the following kickoff the Tigers were charged with unnecessary roughness and drew a 15-yard penalty. That gave Mansfield a chance to join in the booing. The game ended with Joe Miller passing to Jenkins who was tackled so hard on the 20 by Sophomore Fred Grier, that he did a complete somersault in the air and came down with a thud that knocked him out momentarily. Osbun was kayoed on the same play and had to be carried from the field while Jenkins was helped off on the shoulders of teammates. There was no cheering from either side, just a general booing between rival fans. None of the Mansfield players was believed seriously injured, however though Morningstar, after the game, said his team was “touched up quite a bit.”
Fifth Victory
MASSILLON POS. MANSFIELD
Johnson LE Demyan
Jones LT Paetch
Morrow LG Jim Miller
Olenick C Russell
Houston RG Keiser
Wittmann RT Logan
Roderick RE V. Weaver
Badarnza QB Joe Miller
Jacobs LH Osbun
Brown RH Gregorio
Johnson FB Jenkins

Score by periods:
Massillon 7 0 13 7 27

Substitutions: Massillon – Williams, gl; Jones, lt; McVay, c; Schludecker, re; Takacs, fb; Resh, lh; Grier, rh; Hill, qb. Mansfield – Tucker, rh; Cline, lh; Ferguson, qb; Letizia, lh; T. Weaver, le; Chamerblin; Daley; Gruber; Carver.

Touchdowns:
Massillon – C. Johnson; Badarnza 2; Roderick.

Points after touchdown:
Massillon – Schludecker (placement).

Referee – C.W. Rupp.
Umpire – E.C. Kreiger.
Head Linesman – H.C. Pearce.
Field Judge – Ralph Shafer.
Statistics
Massillon Mansfield
First downs 16 9
Yards gained rushing 298 150
Passes attempted 8 6
Passes completed 3 3
Passes had intercepted 1 1
Yards gained passing 73 39
Total yards gained 371 189
Yards lost 36 18
Total net yardage 335 171
Times kicked 5 1
Average kicks (yards) 48 42
Times punted 1 3
Average punts (yards) 19 26
Average return of kicks 19 11
Average return of punts 5 0
Fumbles 3 3
Fumbles recovered 0 1
Fumbles lost 3 2
Times penalized 8 5
Yards penalized 80 50

Author: <span>Eric Smith</span>