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1943: Massillon 12, Alliance 0

October 15, 1943June 19, 2017
by Eric Smith

Alliance Handed 12-0 Lacing By Tigers In Muddy Battle

ROLL UP TALLIES IN THIRD QUARTER

Washington High Gridders Establish Themselves As Good Mudders By Winning Fifth Straight Game; Played in Torrent of Rain

By FRED J. BECKER
Independent Sport Editor

And now, ladies and gentlemen, you have every right to say that your 1943 Washington high school Tigers are a pretty fair country ball club.

They proved it Friday night in the mud and water at Tiger stadium when they defeated the Aviators of Alliance high school 12 to 0 for their fifth straight victory of the campaign, conquering not only a first class football opponent but the elements as well. Playing under the most adverse weather and field conditions any Massillon team has been called upon to face in a number of years Coach Elwood Kammer’s youngsters accepted their assignment with gusto and came through with flying colors.

SECOND STARK FOE TURNED BACK
In defeating the Aviators, the orange and black took the measure of a worthy foe that prior to last night had lost but one game in four engagements. The victory advances the Tigers, another milestone in their campaign to regain the Stark county scholastic championship they surrendered to Canton McKinley last November when defeated 35 to 0 the first Massillon reverse in 53 games.

Alliance was the second Stark foe to feel the sting of the Tigers’ attack, Canton Lincoln taking at 15 to 0 lacing in the opening game of the season. Canton Timken and Canton McKinley are the two Stark opponents still remaining on the Massillon schedule.

DOWNPOUR FLOODS FIELD

Very little, if any rain had fallen in Massillon for over a month prior to Friday but yesterday afternoon and night the heavens opened up and rain fell in torrents for at least eight hours, turning the Tiger stadium gridiron into a sea of mud and water. A drenching downpour fell steadily throughout the game.
Because of the weather, what would have been the largest home crowd of the season turned out to be the smallest to see the Tigers in action in five games. Less than 6,000 hardy souls braved the deluge to sit through a soaking downpour and watch the Tigers slosh to their triumph over the Aviators. Had the weather been dry a crowd of at least 18,000 would have been on hand. As it was only the most ardent and enthusiastic Massillon and Alliance supporters braved a thorough soaking and flirted with pneumonia to watch the contest.

Naturally when the heavens opened up Coach Kammer and his assistants were a bit worried as to how their charges would perform on a wet field. Their four previous games had been played under ideal weather conditions and on a dry and solid gridiron. But the Tigers showed their tutors they could deliver the goods in fair weather or foul. They proved themselves a first class aggregation of mudders as they smashed their way to a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter to sew up the ball game.

Because of the slippery condition of the field and the steady downpour the Tiger machine did not function with the smoothness it was expected to show and probably would have displayed had the footing been firm. But battling against the handicap of adverse weather and a stout Alliance team that was tough defensively from start to finish the Tigers recorded a notable achievement and earned the praises, not only of their coaches, but of the fans who sat in on the rain saturated contest.

ALLIANCE NEVER DANGEROUS

Alliance, weakened by the loss of Bill Rodgers, its triple-threat backfield ace, laid up with an injured knee cartilage since the East Liverpool game two weeks ago, was never dangerous in an offensive way, never moving the ball beyond the Massillon 40 and never threatening to get within scoring range. Bill Rodgers entered the game at the start of the fourth quarter but was in only long enough to get off a nice punt for the Aviators. Then Coach Leonard (Dutch) Hoppes called him back to the sidelines.

The Tigers dominated play throughout the game. True their offense did not function as it did against Steubenville or Akron St. Vincent’s but considering the conditions under which they played they did right well in their ground gaining and the poor footing and an unfortunate penalty cost them at least two touchdowns in the first half. It would have been interesting to see what would have happened had the battle been staged on a dry field.

The Tigers clear cup superiority over their enemies from the eastern end of Stark county is shown in the statistics. The Massillonians made 10 first downs to one for Alliance, that Aviator first down coming late in the game when the Tigers were ruled guilty of interfering with an Aviator pass receiver. Alliance never came close to moving the chain through its offensive punch.

Despite the steady downpour and the slippery condition of the field the Tigers handled the ball well and few fumbles were made. The Tigers tried nine forward passes and completed two for 39 yards. Alliance, with Jack Robinson taking the injured Bill Rodgers’ place as the passer, tried 10 aerial heaves, most of them to Frank Rodgers, Bill’s brother, and completed but one for five yards that completed pass being the one on which interference was ruled. Massillon intercepted on pass.

In the ground gained department the Tigers greatly excelled the Aviators, having a total gained yardage from scrimmage and passes of 230 with a loss of 30 for a net gain of an even 200. Alliance had a total gain of 27 yards and a net loss of 29, winding up with a minus two.

CENTER OF LINE SHINES

Probably the most outstanding part of the Tigers performance was its work on defense. Alliance has some first rate ball luggers in Jack Robinson, Ray Allcorn and Dick Seidner, who replaced the injured Rodgers, but the orange and black forward wall smothered them quite effectively, doing a thorough job of smashing most of Alliance’s attempts to gain ground through the line or around the ends. The Aviators’ line also distinguished itself, the Tiger backs finding the alert Alliance forwards hard to skirt or knock out of a play. The Tigers, however, did find one weak spot in the Alliance defense and they rammed through it with telling effect in the second half.

The center of Massillon’s line with Bob Williams at center and Julius Tonges and Bill Gable on the guards, played its best game of the season last night. Williams submarined the Alliance backs time after time and his tackling was a bright spot in the battle. Tonges and Gable were in mud and water and the ball game up to their necks. The balance of the line with Belch and Arrington on the tackles and Willmot and Jasinski at the flanks soaked up a lot of water but did a thorough job of stopping the visiting firemen.

Henry Mastriann continued to impress as a steady and excellent line plunger ripping the center of the Aviators’ line apart consistently for good gains. Captain Bob Wallace found the going rather tough but completed a number of nice gains and Romeo Pellegrini got away often enough to keep the Aviators constantly in hot as well as cold water, and his fine running was directly responsible for Massillon’s second touchdown. The muddy field made Glenn Keller’s blocking assignments rather difficult but he was in the ball game all the time and his recovery of an Alliance fumble set up the first Massillon points.
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Even the second team, which took over late in the fourth quarter, acquitted itself well in its initial test in mud and water.

ROUGHNESS QUICKLY HALTED

Somewhere along the way the Alliance boys must have gotten the impression that some tactics frowned upon by the rule-book would be necessary to get along with the Tigers. Anyway on the first two plays of the game the Aviators were handed two 15-yard penalties for unnecessary roughness. Frank Rodgers kicked off to Don Willmot to start the watery contest and Don lugged the leather back to his 33 before being stopped. The officials promptly stepped in and marched off 15 more yards because of roughness by Alliance.

Then Wallace skirted left end for 11 yards and some more Alliance high jinks were uncorked with the result that Captain Bob came up with a neat shiner under his left eye and Alliance soaked up another 15 yard penalty for roughness, taking the ball to the Alliance 24. Then Referee Earl (Monk) Gross stepped into the picture and from the stands it looked as if he delivered a short but very pointed lecture to the Alliance boys. From then on and through the remainder of the game they were nice lads, playing football as the
rule-book says it should be played.

The Tigers seemed to be on the way to an early touchdown but a break of the game, and the breaks in such a contest as last night are frequent and both good and bad, halted their march toward the Alliance goal. The break came when Pellegrini got away around his right end and out into the open only to slip and fall on the alliance 25 where the Tigers had to surrender the leather, having failed to make the necessary yardage.

Another Massillon march a few minutes later was sidetracked when the Tigers were set back 15 yards for holding. Late in the first quarter Allcorn got off a quick kick from midfield that turned into a good break for the Tigers. The ball struck one of Allcorn’s teammates and Willmot got it just beyond the line of scrimmage and lugged it back to Alliance’s 36. Mastriann sloshed through the center of the Aviators’ line three times and toted the ball to Alliance’s 23 as the quarter ended.

PENALTY COSTS TOUCHDOWN

Then came a break that really hurt the Tigers. On the first play of the second period Pellegrini tucked the leather under his arm and set sail around his right end, racing 23 yards down the sideline and across the goal only to lose the points when the officials ruled the Tigers guilty of holding, calling the ball back and inflicting a 15-yard penalty on the local boys, putting the ball on the Alliance 38-yard line. A Pellegrini to Jasinski pass made up this penalty and more, taking the ball to Alliance’s 13 but here the Tigers bogged down and Alliance took the ball on its own 10.

Allcorn punted but the ball went straight up in the air and out of bounds on Alliance’s 17. But once again the Tigers could not take advantage of the scoring opportunity and the Aviators stopped them on the 15. From here on until the end of the period play was confined within Alliance’s 40-yard line but the Tigers could not strike hard enough to get within sight of the visitors goal.

The Tigers got their one big break of the ball game at the start of the third quarter and it was the break that paved the way for their first points and victory.

Dick Arrington kicked off to Alliance and he kicked the ball straight down the field. Robinson got his hands on the ball but it slithered out of his fingers and Glenn Keller pounced on it on Alliance’s 15-yard stripe. And six plays later the Tigers hit pay dirt for their first touchdown.

Mastriann ramming through that weak spot in the Alliance line made a first down to the three in two plunges and then came back to make one more on his third attempt. Vic Turkall who had replaced Pellegrini at the start of the third period, picked up another yard to the two and Mastriann sloshed one more to the one. Pellegrini returned to the game and on the next play Captain Wallace lugged the leather over for the first Massillon touchdown. Mastriann didn’t get a chance to try for the point from placement. The ball slipped out of Pellegrini’s hands and Romeo picked it up and tried a forward pass that failed.

A short time later the Tigers were again knocking at the touchdown door and their knocks brought results.

65 YARD MARCH FOR SCORE

Gaining possession of the ball on their 35-yard line after Seidner had punted, the Tigers started a march of 65 yards for their second touchdown, two neat runs by Pellegrini featuring the unbroken advance. Seven plays were required in this 65-yard march.
Mastriann still plugging away at the weak spot in the center of Alliance’s line made 18 yards in two plays. Massillon received a five yard penalty for too much time out in the huddle but Mastriann picked up three of these in another line smash. Then Pellegrini let out all his sails and churned his way through mud and water wide around right end and down the field for 36 yards before Alliance dropped the anchor on him on the Aviators’ 16 yard line. It was one of the prettiest runs of the water-logged battle. Wallace hit off left tackle for six and Mastriann sloshed through the line for two. Then once again Pellegrinni launched another sailing expedition and this time he did all right and largely without any help from his teammates.

Fading far back Romeo nimbly picked his way through the mud, ducking would be Alliance tacklers here and there and finally cutting loose with a burst of speed that carried him by the entire Alliance team and across the goal line for Massillon’s second touchdown. This time Mastriann got a boot at the ball from placement but the attempt was wide.

From here on in Massillon had no more scoring opportunities and in the fourth quarter Kamer began pulling out his soaked regulars and substituting his second team and late in the game the entire second string aggregation was getting a chance to get its uniforms wet. Alliance, thwarted on the ground went to the air in a desperate attempt to score but got exactly nowhere on its aerial attack. It did however, register its only first down of the game late in the third quarter when the officials ruled Massillon interference on a pass play.

Massillon’s second stringers in the game when it ended were Turkall, Wilbert, Pedrotty, Bertrus Webb and Donald Sedjo in the backfield and Wilmer Luke, Dick Ielsch, Bob Richards, John Profant, Francis Cicchinelli, Larry Berger, and Bob Clark on the line.

Statistics
Tigers Alliance
Total first downs 10 1
Yards gained by rushing 101 22
Yards lost by rushing 20 20
Net yards gained by rushing 161 7
Forward passes attempted 9 10
Forward passes completed 2 1
Yards gained by passing 39 5
Total net yardage rushing
and passing 200 -2
Passes had intercepted 0 1
Number of punts 6 10
Average distance of punts 31 31
Number of kickoffs 2 1
Average distance of kicks 47 48
Number of fumbles 4 3
Times ball lost on fumbles 1 2
Number of penalties against 4 4
Yards lost by penalties 40 40

1943: Massillon 33, Steubenville Wells 6

October 8, 1943June 19, 2017
by Eric Smith

Slashing Tiger Ground Attack Trims Big Red 33 To 6

LOCAL LADS SHOW POWER DRIVE

Entire Massillon Team Plays Brilliant Game With Wallace, Pellegrini And Mastriann Sparking Attack With Long Gains

By FRED J. BECKER
Independent Sports Editor

A dream of conquest that had been carefully nursed along for a month by the Big Red football team of Steubenville Wells high school today lay scattered in the dust and dead brown grass in Harding stadium in the eastern Ohio river city.

Striking with all the savagery of the jungle cat from which they get their name, the Tigers of Washington high school, Friday night chewed the Big Red into shreds and wiped out for another year, at least, Steubenville’s hopes of conquering the orange and black when they registered a very, very convincing 33 to 6 victory before a capacity crowed of over 7,000 howling fans jammed into Steubenville’s Harding stadium tighter than the OPA today would ever permit sardines to be rammed into a can.

Achieved Triumph the Hard Way

The Tigers achieved their triumph the hard way – by plunging and running through and over the Stubbers, by smashing great, gaping holes in their defense wide enough to drive a tank through, in short by simply smashing to smithereens any defense the Big Red thought it might have had and blasting to bits, so thoroughly, any idea the eastern Ohio gladiators had that they were the equal or superior of the Tigers that today all the Stubbers have to console themselves with as they nurse their bruises and shattered spirits is the thought that they were lucky the score was not higher.

For Steubenville it was the first defeat in four games; for the Tigers it was their fourth straight victory of the 1943 campaign and a demonstration of the growing power that has been theirs as each succeeding week rolls by.

Tigers Show Improvement

More than 500 Massillon rooters were among the more than 7,000 persons who witnessed the combat under ideal weather conditions. They saw an exhibition of slashing Tiger power that at times, to Steubenville players and fans, must have been awe-inspiring. For the thousands of Massillon fans who were unable to get to the scene of battle it can truthfully be reported the Tigers Friday night were a harder driving, harder hitting outfit than they have been at any time this season.

Their tactics were savage, to say the least, but clean. The chips were down once again and the Tigers last night were playing for keeps. As a matter of fact it seems the chips are down everytime the Tigers take the field and each time in four big engagements they have come through and each time they have looked better while fulfilling their pledge to keep Massillon football on top of the scholastic heap in Ohio and elsewhere.

The Tigers looked better Friday night in all departments of the game than they did in their exhibition a week ago against Akron St. Vincent’s with one exception – forward passing. Their aerial game did not click last night, only one pass good for 12 yards, being completed by the jungle cats. But they did not particularly need an overhead attack against the Big Red, not when their ground plays were working with such smooth and deadly precision.

As for Steubenville’s Big Red, it lived up to all the advance information received here except one thing. The Stubbers were reported to have a fast, hard fighting ball club. They did have. They also were reported to possess a deadly aerial attack. And they had that, their one and only touchdown being set up through a long forward pass. Steubenville’s defense was never touted very highly and last night against the deadly penetrating attack of the Tigers, it resembled a piece of Swiss cheese in which there are more holes than cheese.

In only one thing did the Stubbers not live up to advance information. That was in their backfield where they were said to have two guys – Captain Dick Roush and Louie Zuk, who were as fast as the wind, and Dick Fletcher, a line-cracking fullback. These boys may be every bit as good as they were hailed, but against the Tigers they failed to look impressive. The Massillon boys nailed them and nailed them hard. Roush and Zuk, nursing injured legs, might not have been up to par, but Fletcher was in good shape and showed his ability on a few occasions by dashing through the Tiger line for some good gains. But he never got too far away to cause the Bengals any worry.

Brilliant Powerful Offense

Displaying a brilliant offensive attack in which Captain Bob Wallace and Romeo Pellegrini, behind almost perfect interference that was beautiful to watch, ran wide through the tackles or around the ends for big gains and with Henry Mastriann cracking right through the heart of the Big Red line for substantial and consistent yardage, the Tigers five times rolled back the Stubbers and chalked up touchdowns. Three times Mastriann converted on placekicks and for once the orange and black seems to have a dependable lad for this job, a task which some day may mean the difference between defeat and victory.

To pick out an individual hero would be an almost impossible job and unfair to the other boys. They all played their heads off and their performance was what one has come to expect of a Washington high school football team. The line performed splendidly, ripping the Steubenville forward wall to shreds. Individually the players tackled like demons.
In the backfield Captain Wallace ran and plunged like nobody’s business. It was by far Bob’s best offensive exhibition. He had plenty of that old drive last night. Pellegrini was his usual brilliant self, ripping off long gains and scoring four of Massillon’s five touchdowns. Wallace scored the other. Mastriann continued to prove his worth, particularly in the second half when he seldom failed to gain when given the ball. He’s another boy who has plenty of drive.

And don’t forget the blocking and defensive work of Glenn Keller who led a lot of those sweeps around the ends until he was forced out late in the game with an injured arm. It was Wallace to the left, Pellegrini to the right and Mastriann through the line with such destructive success that the Steubenville boys will be dreaming about them for some time.

Then there was big Tom Jasinski whose punting last night was something to watch. Big Tom really put his foot behind the ball, several of his kicks going well over 50 yards.

Coach Elwood Kammer made nine substitutions in the backfield and line during the game and each and every boy did his part and did it well.

Argument About Ball

An argument between Kammer and Coach Bill Ellis before the game about the color of the ball to be used did not help the Big Red any, because it just made the Tigers that much more determined to mow’em down. A week ago Kammer had talked with Ellis by telephone about the ball and Ellis agreed it would be all right to use a white ball. Before the game last night he came to the Tiger dressing room and said a white ball was out. He wanted to use a dark brown ball. A rather heated argument ensued with a natural tan ball finally being decided upon.

The statistics show the Tiger superiority over the Big Red in everything except forward passing. The orange and black made 15 first down to eight for Steubenville. Massillon gaine 373 yards from scrimmage with a loss of 15 for a net gain of 358 yards. Steubenville gained 76 yards from scrimmage with a loss of 17 for a net gain of 59. Massillon tried nine passes and completed but one. Steubenville tried 20, 16 of them in the first half and completed seven, six in the first half, for a net gain of 140 yards. Each team intercepted three passes.

With Louie Zuk in the game, the Stubbers were a ways more dangerous through the air. This lad is really a passing wizard but the Tigers learned quite a lot in the first half when the Stubbers were going wild on passes and they practically erased this threat in the final two periods with the result that Steubenville’s attack subsided like a punctured balloon.

Steubenville received to open the game and threw a scare into the Tiger camp early when Ray Ensell, heaved a pass to Bill Snyder that brought an overall gain of 32 yards before Snyder was pulled down on Massillon’s 26. But then two Big Red passes were batted down and the Tigers took the ball on their 23. With Wallace dashing wide through left tackle, Pellegrini doing the same at right tackle and Mastriann plugging through the line the Tigers rushed the ball to Steubenville’s 49 before being slowed down. Here Jasinski punted but the Tigers got a break when the Big Red was guilty of roughing the Massillon punter and were penalized down on the Stubber’s 35. Pellegrini dashed wide through right tackle to the 17, Wallace scampered around left end to the 10 and then when it looked as if points were soon to be put on the board for Massillon, Pellegrini fumbled and Flectcher covered for the Big Red on its 10.

Ensell got away a quick kick but Massillon’s next bid was soon checked when Ensell intercepted a Pellegrini pass on his 41. But Pellegrini did the same thing for the Tigers, snaring Ensell’s pass on his 40 and lugging the ball back to the Big Red’s 46. The Tigers, however, were guilty of clipping on their 45 and a 15 yard penalty took the ball back to their 30.

But the first Massillon touchdown was in the making and in six plays the Tigers carried the ball 70 yards for their first score. Running behind beautiful interference Wallace and Pellegini skirted the ends for heavy gains.

First Tiger Score

Wallace breezed around left end for 11 yards to his 41. Pellegini whizzed around right end for 32 to Steubenville’s 27. Mastriann made two at the line and then Wallace racing down the left side of the field on a spectacular dash, got as far as the two yard line before being forced out. It was a 23-yard gain. Mastriann was stopped without gain and then Pellegrini, behind a wall of interference and a big hole at right tackle, went over for the first Tiger points. Mastriann’s placekick was good and the Bengals were out in front 7 to 0.

Zuk, because of a leg injury, did not start the game but Coach Ellis sent him into action after Massillon’s score and immediately the Big Red passing expert made his presence felt. Early in the second quarter he heaved a pass to Chadnock good for 15 to put the ball on Massillon’s 45. His next pass to Robinson was incomplete but then he flipped a long one to Snyder and before the dusky Steubenville end had been brought to earth he had gained 34 yards and carried the ball to Massillon’s 13, giving the Stubbers a distinct scoring threat. Here the Tigers dug in and Captain Roush gained six yards in three attempts and Zuk’s pass to Porter was incomplete. The Big Red was offside on this play and the Tigers refused the penalty, taking the ball on their seven. Pellegrini and Wallace in two plays carried the ball to Massillon’s 47 but here the attack was slowed and Jasinski then got off one of his fine punts, hoofing the ball over the goal line. With the ball on their 20, the Stubbers made a first down before Jasinski intercepted a Zuk pass on the Big Red’s 44. But Pellegrini’s attempted pass backfired. Roush intercepted and returning from his 35 to the 46.

Pass Aids Stubbers

A Zuk-Roush pass was good for 17 yards to the Tiger 38 but here the Bengals checked the enemy’s aerial game only to run into a bad break when they were penalized 15 for roughing the kicker, when Ensell punted. This gave the Stubbers a first down on the Massillon 28. Zuk tired a pass to Ensell, which failed, and then heaved one to Gillam good for five. Zuk’s next long heave to Snyder on the goal line was batted down but he was more careful on his next one, dodging Tiger tacklers until he found Chadnock out in the clear and rifling the ball to the Big Red fullback who carried it to Massillon’s four for a gain of 19 yards. Roush made two at the line, Fletcher was halted without gain but on the third play Roush went over for Steubenville’s first and only touchdown. Roe’s attempted placekick was wide.

In the second half two Steubenville fumbles, covered by the alert Tigers, paved the way for two Massillon touchdowns and definitely washed the Stubbers out of the ball game. They never got inside Massillon’s 20 in the last two periods and their aerial game bogged down with a thud.

Along with their ground gaining sweeps the Tigers introduced a new play in the last half which confused the Stubbers no end and resulted in a lot of fine gains through the line. With a flanker dropping far out on the end, Mastriann would take the ball and plunge through for hefty gains.

The Tigers reeled off two first downs after taking the kickoff to open the third period before they were stopped and Jasinski punted to the Big Red’s six yard line.

Fletcher, however, fumbled on the first Big Red play and Mastriann covered on the Stubbers’ 11 yard line. Pellegrini lost three on a reverse but Wallace picked up eight at left end. Mastriann on a spinner plunged to the two-yard line and then Pellegrini went off right tackle for the touchdown. Mastriann converted and the Tigers were out in front 14 to 6.

On the first play after Massillon kicked off to the Big Red, Chadnock fumbled on his 38-yard line and Julius Tonges pounced on the ball. Wallace running wide around left end, sailed down the sideline on a beautiful dash that did not end until after he had planted the ball behind the Big Red’s goal line. On his 38-yard sprint his final splurge to the Steubenville goal was helped by Jasinski who took out the last Big Red tackler between Bob and the goal line. Mastriann’s placekick was wide.

53 Yards in Six Plays

Shortly after another Massillon touchdown was in the making Zuk punted and Willmot was downed on his 47. Six plays later the Tigers had covered 53 yards and registered their fourth touchdown. Pellegrini made seven at right end. Mastriann picked up 12 in two smashed through the line. Wallace gained seven at left end and Mastriann through tackle went to the Big Red’s 12. Pellegrini zoomed around right end behind fine interference for the remaining distance and another touchdown. Mastriann’s placekick was good.

Massillon’s fifth and final touchdown came early in the fourth quarter and again the Tigers marched 62 yards without giving up the ball. It started when Willmot intercepted a pass and raced it back 33 yards to Steubenville’s 38. Wallace made nine at left end with Wilbert Pedrotty, who had replaced the injured, Keller, helping him along with a neat block. Pellegrini swept right end but Willmot was guilty of holding and incurred a 15-yard penalty, taking the ball back to the Stubbers’ 43. Mastriann and Wallace lugged the leather to the Big Red’s 22 in two plays. Two more plunges and Mastriann had marched to the 12.

A five-yard penalty for having a man in motion, set the Tigers back to the 17. Wallace made one, Pellegrini’s attempted pass to Mastriann failed but on the next play Romeo tossed the ball to Wallace for Massillon’s first and only completed forward. It was good for 12 yards to the four from where Pellegrini skirted his right end for the fifth Tiger set of counters. Mastriann was wide on his placekick.

Fletcher sparked a last-minute Steubenville drive but the Big Red failed to get beyond midfield and Zuk was vainly trying to connect on passes as the game ended.

A Big Night

Mass. – 33 Pos. Steub. – 6
Willmot LE Snyder
Arrington LT Barsuk
Tonges LG Roe
Williams C Lawrence
Gable RG Miller
Belch RT Schaeffer
Jasinski RE Porter
Keller QB Chadnock
Pellegrini LHB Ensell
Wallace RHB Roush
Mastriann FB Fletcher

Score by quarters:
Massillon 7 0 20 6 – 33
Steubenville 0 6 0 0 – 6

Touchdowns: Pellegrini 4, Wallace, Roush 1.

Points after: Mastriann 3 (placekicks)

Substitutes: Massillon: Berger, Heltzel, Luke, Ielsch, Pedrotty, Profant, Sedjo, Webb, Turkall.
Steubenville: Robinson, Hastwell, Zuk, Gillom

Referee: Cavanaugh. Umpire, Gannon,
Headlinesman, McFee.

Statistics
Tigers Big Red
Total first down 15 8
Yards gained by rushing 373 76
Yards lost by rushing 15 17
Net yards gained by rushing 358 59
Forward passes attempted 9 20
Forward passes incompleted 1 7
Yards gained by passing 12 140
Passes had intercepted 3 3

1943: Massillon 46, Akron St. Vincent 0

October 1, 1943June 19, 2017
by Eric Smith

15,000 Watch Tigers

BRILLIANT ATTCK RIPS FOE APART

Orange And Black In Great Reversal of Form And With Deadly Passing Attack Smashes To Third Triumph And Biggest Win Of Season

By FRED J. BECKER
Independent Sports Editor

The only Tigers four-legged variety we know about are those we’ve seen in a circus menagerie. They’re big, power looking beasts arrayed in a sleek coat of orange and black with a ferocious twinkle in their eyes. They’re nice to look at but we have always been glad a sturdy cage of steel bars has separated us. We have never had a yearning to meet one out in the open.

Now Massillon is the habitat of another type of Tiger – two-legged variety – commonly known as the Football Tiger. They turn him loose about once a week each fall on what they call a gridiron and brother, when he’s in the mood he’s just as ferocious as the four-legged variety must be when he’s roaming the jungles. If you don’t believe it drop a note to Akron St. Vincent’s high school where you probably will be quickly informed that the only safe place for any Tiger – four-legged or two-legged – is behind steel bars, at all times.

Irish Are Badly Mauled

And they should know for they tangled with the two-legged Tiger as recently as Friday night out at Tiger stadium and the boys who tried to stop him will be a long, long time recovering from the artistic mauling they took. The scars of their wounds will leave an imprint on the pages of football history for years to come.

All of the above is a preamble to the statement that the Tigers of Washington high school, in a blood thirsty, savage mood, last night, ripped apart what had been touted as a sturdy, formidable Akron St. Vincent’s football team 46 – 0 in an almost unbelievable display of football ability that left a great gathering of at least 15,000 frenzied fans pop-eyed and pinching themselves when it was over to make sure that what they had just witnessed had been real and not a dream.

Third Straight Win

It was Massillon’s third straight victory of the 1943 campaign and the biggest crowd of the season sat in on the kill. The two previous Tiger victories had not been impressive or inspiring. They had been achieved in a more or less ordinary manner by what appeared to be an ordinary football team. The impression prevailed that if those Tigers ever really got in the mood to go places they could.

Well the impression was quite correct for last night the Tigers were in that kind of a mood and the manner in which they manhandled the green and white clad Irish of Akron must strike terror in the hearts of the opponents still remaining on the Massillon schedule.

Those Tigers have everything it takes to be a mighty fine football team. They showed it last night and when the chips are down they’ll do to string along with.

And after that convincing triumph is there any one round brave enough to say that scholastic football as played in Akron has any right to be compared with that played in Massillon? The Tigers Friday night certainly made monkeys of we typewriter jockeys and a lot of others who for a week had been predicting that St. Vincent’s had at least an even chance of winning. But we don’t mind. The Tigers, by their none too impressive showing in their first two games had paved the way for those predictions and then thoroughly aroused that such a situation could exist went out and showed what they really could do when faced with a possible defeat and the shattering blow to Tiger prestige which would follow such a defeat.

Brilliant Passing Attack

The Tigers last night looked and acted the part of a great football team. They did everything and did it right. Offensively they smashed through the sturdy St. Vincent’s line and skirted the ends almost at will and they had something else – a forward passing attack that clicked with amazing regularity and precision.

Up until last night the Tigers aerial attack had been almost nil. They had completed but one pass in two games and that brought them exactly nothing. But it was a different story Friday night –quite a different story.

Seven touchdowns were rolled up by Coach Elwood Kammer’s amazing lads and forward passes set up or were directly responsible for four of them. Two sets of counters were made on aerial heaves, two others were made possible by successful passes, one came through rushing, one an intercepted pass and a blocked punt paved the way for the other.

Defensively the Tigers were supreme. The invading Irish were inside Massillon’s 20 yard line only twice, getting the ball to the 15 in the second 2quarter by recovering a Massillon fumble and in the fourth quarter getting as far as the nine yard line through the help of a long forward pass.

For two weeks Massillon fans have been waiting for Captain Bob Wallace to take off the wraps and go to town. Bob this fall was moved from the line to a backfield post and in the first two games the Tiger leader’s offensive playing left a lot to be desired. But last night young Mr. Wallace really took off the wraps and proved that the Tiger coaches were right when then decided to shift him to the backfield. On the strength of his showing last night Wallace is a pretty fair man in a ball totin’ job. The Massillon captain ran the ends for big gains, caught passes, and played quite a defensive game, blocking two punts, one setting up a Massillon touchdown.

Tigers Perform Well

But don’t forget the other three boys in the Tiger backfield – Romeo Pellegrini, Henry Mastriann, and Glenn Keller. They did all right – quite – all right. Pellegrini, who sparked the Tigers in their first two games by his long runs, went to pitching forward passes in a big way last night and he tossed plenty of strikes into the waiting arms of Tom Jasinski, Don Willmot and Wallace. Mastriann played his usual steady game, smashing through the Akron line for numerous gains and Keller was in there all the way doing a good job of blocking on offense and a fine piece of work on defense.

The same was true of the line. The forward wall ripped huge holes in the Irish defenses for the Massillon backs to ramble through and on defense they completely smothered Akron’s attempts to gain. A lot had been said about the speed of John Schlosser and Jim Wilhite, Akron’s two standout backs, once they got by the line of scrimmage.

Well maybe that’s true but last night the Tigers didn’t give them a chance to turn loose their speed. The Akronites were generally smothered long before they ever had a chance to get out in the open.

That sturdy Tiger line did its job in a most effective manner from Jasinski on the one flank to Willmot on the other. The Tiger ends really showed their worth last night. They got out in the open to receive Pellegrini’s accurate passes and their defensive performance was fine. Dick Arrington and Bob Belch and Larry Berger on the tackles, Julius Tonges and Bill Gable on the guards and Bob Williams at center were just too many Tigers for the Irish to handle.

It has always been said that Pellegrini could toss passes if he was afforded the right kind of protection and the receivers got out where they should be. Well Pellegrini got the right kind of protection last night and the receivers were where they should be and Romeo had himself a great time pitching strikes.

Tigers Score In Every Quarter

Massillon scored on touchdown in the first quarter, three in the second, one in the third and two in the fourth. Statistics readily show the Tiger superiority. Massillon made 15 first downs to seven for St. Vincent’s. The Tigers completed seven of 15 passes for 156 yards, two of which were good for touchdowns. Akron tried 16, completed five for 83 yards. Massillon intercepted four Akron passes while one Tiger aerial was intercepted by the Irish.

The Tigers had a net gain of 402 yards from all types of plays while Akron had only 83.

It took the Tigers a little better than eight minutes to ring up their first set of counters. Massillon received but was forced to punt and Schlosser reeled off a first down in three plays. Bill Latham, however, lost 15 on a bad pass from center and Russ Smith, St. Vincent’s little southpaw passer and kicker and a mighty game little kid, lost seven more on another bad pass. Then Wallace busted through to block Smith’s punt, the ball going to Massillon on Akron’s 17. The Irish once again checked the Tigers and held for downs, taking the ball on their 15. A 15-yard penalty for holding took the ball back to St. Vincent’s 3 and then Smith punted from behind his goal line to the Irish 43-yard line.

Mastriann Scores First

Here the Tiger machine began to function. Pellegrini swept around right end for nine, Mastriann plugged the line for six and a first down. He rambled through the Akronites for 11 more on the next play to put the ball on the 17. Again Mastriann hit for five and Pellegrini went for two. The Tiger fullback on a spinner drove to the Akron four yard line but the play was called back and a five yard penalty on Massillon for offside took the ball back to the 12. With second down and seven to go Pellegrini flipped a pass to Jasinski who was downed on the Akron one-yard line. Mastriann plunged once and it was a Massillon touchdown. He place-kicked for the extra point.

Early in the second quarter Mastriann fumbled and Akron covered on the Tiger 15-yard line. The Irish threat, however, was soon erased. The visitors could get nowhere, either by running or passing and Massillon took the ball on downs on its 15. Mastriann and Pellegrini engineered two first downs on line plunges and end sweeps and then Wallace took off the wraps and began to run. With the ball on Massillon’s 40, Wallace dashed wide around end and when he was brought down he was 20 yards closer to Akron’s goal, the ball resting on St. Vincent’s 40. Mastriann hit for nine and once again Wallace found a big opening at left tackle and scampered 23 yards to Akron’s seven before being halted by Smith. Once more Wallace hit the left side and this time he was stopped two feet from the goal line. On the next play he went over for Massillon’s second touchdown. Pellegrini passed to Willmot for the extra point.

Kammer began to send in some of his reserves but the Tigers were traveling under a full head of steam by now and there was no stopping them.

Akron received and on the first play after the kickoff Glenn Keller intercepted a pass from Schlosser in midfield and dashed 50 yards down the west side of the field on a beautiful run for the third Tiger touchdown. Pellegrini and Gable were among the Tigers who blocked out Akronites who might have stopped Keller’s goalward dish. Mastriann’s place kick was wide.

A 15-yard penalty for offensive interference cost Massillon a chance for another touchdown a bit later and Akron gained the ball but was forced to punt. By this time Kammer was sending in a steady stream of substitutes and at one time Wallace was back on the line with Williams shifted from center to tackle, but when Willmot intercepted Wilhite’s pass on the Massillon 20 the Tiger team went back to its original lineup. Pellegrini hit for 10 as the quarter ended and Mastriann opened the fourth with an eight-yard gain on a spinner. Wallace raced around right end for 18 to Akron’s 45. Mastriann hit the line for six but Pellegrini was tossed for a nine-yard loss. Then the Tigers dusted off the old Stature of Liberty play and Wallace grabbed the ball and raced wide around left end for 14 yards and a first down on Akron’s 34. A five yard penalty on Akron for delaying the game put the ball on the 29 from where Pellegrini and Jasinski again teamed up for another Massillon touchdown.

Jasinski and an Akron player made a bid for Pellegrini’s pass and the ball bounded into he air but when it came down Tom was there to grab it and scampered 15 yards for thescore.

Massillon’s entire second team went into the game and Akron threatened when Gauthler grabbed a long pass from Longville and raced to Massillon’s 16, before being stopped by Don Stevens. The Tiger regulars were rushed back in and they checked the Irish, taking the ball on Massillon’s nine. Pellegrini clipped off a first down. Wallace raced around left end for 18 to his 41 and then Pellegrini passed to Wallace for 15 to the Akron 44. Another Pellegrini to Wallace pass was good for 29 and the ball was on Akron’s 15 from where Pellegrini raced around right end for the seventh and final Massillon touchdown.

Nearly every member of the Massillon squad got into the game and all of them came out in good physical condition. Mastriann sustained a slightly injured hip and Keller had a slight cut inside his mouth.

Happy Tiger Team

It was a happy Tiger team that romped in the dressing room after the game. And they had reason to celebrate.

Coach Kammer, while highly pleased with the job his boys had done, was already thinking about something else – that something being next Friday’s game at Steubenville.

“The kids did all right tonight, “ said Kammer, “but don’t forget next week comes Steubenville and that’s going to be something different.”

Over in the St. Vincent’s dressing room Eddie Wentz, capable and affable coach of the Irish, sadly shook his head and wondered what kind of a blitz had struck his team.

“Gosh, I thought we had a better ball club than that,” said the Akron coach. “Those boys of mine seemed to be pretty badly scared out there for some reason and nothing seemed to work right.”

Well, Eddie, those Tigers were torrid enough to frighten most any foe last night.

And Tigers, keep’em frightened, particularly in Steubenville.

What A Tiger!

Massillon – 46 Pos. St. Vincent’s
Willmot LE Kil
Arrington LT Sovach
Tonges LG
Williams C Gaffney
Gable RG
Belch RT
Jasinski RE Gauthler
Keller QB Smith
Pellegrini LH Schlosser
Wallace RH Wilhite
Mastriann FB Latham

Score by quarters:
Massillon 7 20 7 12 – 46
St. Vincent’s 0 0 0 0 – 0

Touchdowns: Mastrainn 2, Wallace, Keller, Jasinski 2, Pellegrini,

Points after touchdown: Mastriann 2 (placekicks), Willmot (pass), Jasinski: (pass).

Substitutes: Massillon – Berger, Luke, Heltzel, Webb, Stevens, Pedrotty, Sedjo, Profant, Richards, Ielsch, Cicchinelli, Clark, Slusser.
St. Vincent’s – Kelly, Kertesz, Falkensten, Thorpe, Longville, Suscinski, Timma, Raff, Laterza, Cook, Mariola, Mald, Alburn.

Referee – Boone. Umpire – Rupp.
Headlineman – Graff. Field Judge – Shaffer.

Statistics
Tigers Akron
Total first downs 15 7
Yards gained by rushing 263 51
Yards lost by rushing 23 50
Net yards gained by rushing 246 1
Forward passes attempted 15 16
Forward passes completed 7 5
Yards gained by passing 156 82
Passes had intercepted 1 4
Total net yardage passing
and rushing 392 83
Number of punts 1 6
Average distance of punts 14 23
Number of kickoffs 8 1
Average distance of kicks 28 35
Number of fumbles 3 2
Times ball lost on fumbles 1
Number of penalties 7 4
Yards lost by penalties 65 30

1943: Massillon 13, Akron West 6

September 24, 1943June 19, 2017
by Eric Smith

Tigers Fade Badly In Second Half But Trim West 13-6

GOOD FIRST HALF BRINGS TRIUMPH

Henry Mastriann And Romeo Pellegrini Shine Offensively As Local Team Scores Second Victory Of Season Over Rugged Foe

By Fred J. Becker
Independent Sports Editor

Whenever a task looks too easy beware!

That apparently was the case Friday night when the Washington high school Tigers stacked up against Akron West in their second engagement of the 1943 gridiron campaign at Tiger stadium. A crowd of nearly 10,000 saw the orange and black score its second straight victory of the season but the Massillon gridders were decidedly lucky to pull through with flying colors. They had a mighty close shave, one of those shaves that leaves the skin broken in many places and the only reason they are hailed as victors today is due to the fact that they played some real football in the first half when they tallied the points that brought them their margin of triumph.

For years there apparently has been no comparison between the type of scholastic football played in Massillon and that put on display in Akron. For years an Akron school has not been able to find a place on a Tiger schedule. This year because of wartime conditions and travel restrictions two Rubber City schools were given spots on the Massillon schedule and unless the Tigers are very careful they may regret it for a long, long time.

Real Test Comes Next Friday

And because of the narrow margin by which the Tigers conquered the West high Cowboys last night, an Akron school next Friday night will come to Massillon with better than an even chance of taking a fall out of the nationally famous Tiger football machine. That school will be Akron St. Vincent’s.

One of these days the public, in general, and the members of the Tiger team, in particular, are going to believe Coach Elwood Kammer when he makes the statement that his squad is going to face a formidable foe. A week before the opening game of the season against Canton Lincoln, the Massillon mentor declared that the Lions would give his ball club a whale of a fight. They did just that before succumbing to a second half Massillon drive that netted two touchdowns and a safety for a 15-0 triumph.??????

Kammer Calls Turn

All this week Kammer has been warning both fans and players that Akron West’s big, rugged outfit would be hard to beat. And once again he called the turn but this time it seems the Tigers very nearly beat themselves. Plenty of credit must be given the Cowboys for the game and spirited battle they waged against the Tigers but to this sideline observer it looked very much as if Tiger over-confidence in the second half, rather than Akron West ability, nearly proved the undoing of the Massillon gladiators.

Twice in the first half the Tigers smashed their way through the beefy Akronites to touchdowns. In those two periods the Tigers had accomplished what it took Akron St. Vincent’s an entire ball game to do last Saturday night when the Irish whipped the Cowboys 12 to 0. The touchdowns came without too much exertion on the part of the Tigers and when they entered the second half of the ball game they must have figured that they were facing something easy and turned off the steam.

Something happened at any rate for the Tigers put up a rather miserable performance during the last two quarters while Akron West came out fighting mad and displayed a determination that gave them the upper hand and enabled them to decisively outplay the Tigers, giving them the honor of being the first team in 1943 to score on the Massillonians, their touchdown coming on a short forward pass in the fourth period which found the Tigers grimly trying to hang on to the margin they had built up in the early stages of the battle.

The Tigers had an awfully close shave last night and they should learn quite a lesson from their experience. At least they should know now that it never pays to take an opponent too lightly. Over confidence has wrecked many a team on the threshold of victory and the Tigers, unless they profit by last night’s game, are going to lead once too often with their chin – and boom, they won’t have any chin left to lead with anymore.

Kammer all week apparently foresaw just what happened Friday night. His players were none to alert during practice sessions and try as they would, Kammer and his assistants could not snap them out of it. As late as Thursday afternoon the Tiger boss told his charges in no uncertain language what they were likely to face last night. It had some effect on the team in general during the first half for the Tigers looked like a much improved ball club in the opening two periods but the ease with which they gathered their two touchdowns must have done something to their mental attitude because their showing in the last half was just the reverse of the type of ball they had played in the opening chapters.

Watch Our For Irish

On the strength of their showing last night Akron West must have been a way-off form a week ago as Akron St. Vincent’s has a mighty powerful team. Probably a little of both is true and the Tigers had better be convinced right now that they are in for something more than a pink tea party next Friday night when Eddie Wentz leads his fighting Irish to Massillon. They are going to have to fight all the way without any letup, if they hope to conquer the Irish.

Although greatly outweighed, the Tigers possessed enough offensive ability in the first half to run around and through the hefty Cowboys for two touchdowns. Defensively they effectively checked all of Akron West’s offensive thrusts, even though the visitors’ offense was sparked by a pair of pretty fair ball toters – Jim Hamm and Chet Hayth. Sitting on the Akron bench out of the game with a twisted knee, was Wes Wassity, Akron’s ace backfielder, a fine passer and runner. Also out of the lineup was Bill Mohler, 240 pound tackle. One shudders to think what might have happened to the Tigers had Wassity been in the ball game, particularly in the second half when the Cowboys were high and the Tigers coasting along on the laurels they had amassed in the first half.

It required but six plays to register Massillon’s first touchdown in the opening period. The Tigers received and marched right down the field for 65 yards and their first points. It took only four plays to make the second touchdown in the second period after Massillon had gained possession of the ball on Akron’s 23 through a punt. Easy wasn’t it? – yes, almost too easy, thought the Tigers and then the roof fell in on them during the second period.

Fullback Henry Mastriann was the Tiger who scored both Massillon touchdowns. Halfback Romeo Pellegrini was the lad who set the stage for both sets of counters by a continuation of the brilliant open field running he displayed against Canton Lincoln a week ago. Mastriann did a splendid job of battering his way through the big Cowboy line for the two Massillon touchdowns and Pellegrin had just too much speed for the Akronites. But that, however, was in the first half. Neither boy could be shaken loose for any consistent gains in the second half and Pellegini finally was forced to leave the game with a gash under his right eye.

Dick Arrington who had played a whale of a game at tackle, also had to leave the contest when injured and neither Pellegrini or Arrington were in the battle when the Cowboys launched their successful touchdown thrust in the fourth quarter. Had they been, West might not have scored. But that’s wishful thinking now. The fact remains West did score and darn near upset the Massillon applecart because a none too alert Tiger team was not functioning anywhere like it did in the first half.

Pellegini Steps Off 47 Yards

Massillon received and Tom Jasinski took Jim Hamm’s opening kickoff and lugged it back to his 35 yard line before being stopped. Wallace smashed through left tackle for nine and Mastriann cracked open the left side of Akron’s line for five more and a first down in midfield, Wallace fumbled, recovered but lost five yards.

Then Pellegrini on a weak side reverse scampered wide around Akron’s left end and sailed down the east side of the field for 47 yards to the Cowboys’ two yard line before being brought to earth. It was a beautiful run with some fine blocking and interference on the part of Romeo’s teammates. Wallace smashed into the line, being stopped a half yard from pay dirt. On the next play Mastriann lugged the leather through his right tackle and into the promised land for the first Massillon touchdown. Arrington’s place kick was good and the Tiger machine was running in high, seven point to the good in a little over three minutes of play.

That the Cowboys were going to depend a lot on passes became apparent soon after they received the ball on the kickoff. One aerial attempt failed and they were stopped on the ground and Jack Wigley punted but Pellegrini fumbled —another bad trait which the Tigers were guilty of often during the game – and Jim Hamm covered for the Cowboys on Akron’s 46. Hayth tried a pass to Jim Hamm that was incomplete and Wigley made three at the line. In trying to get another aerial under way, Hayth failed to find a receiver open and was tossed for a 16 yard loss by Williams, Arrington and Tonges. Wigley then punted to Willmot who was tackled on his 42. Pellegrini tried a pass to Jasinski which was promptly intercepted by Jim Hamm who ran it back 20 yards to the Massillon 35 before being grounded by Richards and Keller.

Akron completed on pass for no gain and had another knocked down by Jasinski but when Wigley attempted another long heave to Jim Dew, the officials ruled Jasinski guilty of interference and the Cowboys were given the ball on the Tiger 15. West, in position to score, saw its passing attack flutter away along with a chance to tally points when Dew muffed a pretty pass from Hayth that would have given the Cowboys a substantial gain. Instead it cost them the ball on downs and they surrendered it on the Massillon 15. Massillon advanced the ball to its 48 yard line before the quarter ended, making two first downs along with a pretty 17-yard run by Mastriann.

West, however, checked the Massillon advance early in the second quarter and Jasinski punted to Akron’s 14 yard line. Arrington put a damper on West’s ground gaining hopes by crashing through and flooring Wigley for a 12 yard loss and Wigley then punted to his 23 yard line where the ball was downed.

Once again the Tiger offense set out in high gear and in four plays the Tigers had their second touchdown. Mastriann going over from the one yard line. Pellegrini made 17 yards in two thrusts through tackle. Mastriann cracked the line for five and then went over on the next play. Arrington missed the attempted conversion and the Tigers were ahead 13-0, sailing smoothly ahead on a calm and unruffled sea – so they thought! My, but what a storm blew up in the second half.

Tigers First Good Pass

Nothing much happened during the remainder of this quarter, except that it saw the Tigers connect for their first successful forward pass of the season. After Turkall, who had replaced Pellegrini, fumbled and recovered an Akron punt, Mastriann tossed a pass over the line to Willmot that was good for a first down. It was the only one the Tigers completed all evening.

Two fumbles, one by each team marked play early in the third quarter. Akron received and on the second play Jack Hamm, the little Hamm of the Hamm brother combination, fumbled and Arrington covered on Akron’s 38. But on the first Massillon play Mastriann fumbled when tackled, after a gain of 10, and Jim Dew covered on his 31 for Akron. That fumble was costly as it might have halted another Tiger touchdown march and from that point on the Tigers were never very ferocious. Another Massillon thrust was checked a bit later when after taking an Akron punt and reeling off a first down the Tigers were rudely stopped when Pellegrini was tossed for a 17 yard loss while trying to uncork a forward pass. It was on this play that he sustained the gash under his right eye and was forced to leave the battle.

The stage was set for Akron’s lone touchdown late in the third quarter. The Cowboys were forced to punt and Vic Turkall was in the safety spot. The ball struck the ground in front of him and bounced against his leg before he could grab it. Rice, Cowboy end, promply fell on it on Massillon’s 49 and the inspired Cowboys opened the drive that was to bring them their points.

Wallace knocked down a pass from Wigley, intended for Jim Hamm but Hayth connected on one to Jim Dew that was good for a first down, taking the ball to the Tiger 30. It was a short pass over the line but a beauty. Arrington was hurt on this play and was replaced by Belch. Then a series of line smashes gave West another first down when Jim Hamm dove over the center of the line on the fourth play to take the ball to the Massillon 19 as the quarter ended.

Massillon rallied at the start of the fourth and checked the Cowboys, taking the ball on downs on its 13. Jasinski, however, was forced to punt and Akron got the ball on the Tiger 46. A Wigley to Jim Hamm pass was good for nine and again Jim Hamm dove over the Massillon line for another Akron first down on the 34. Hayth had to leave the game a short time later because of a leg injury, being replaced by Prinkey. Wigley finding no Cowboy pass receiver open, tucked the ball under his arm and sailed around Massillon’s right end to the 20 before being nailed by Bob Williams on one of the best and hardest tackles on the game. The big Massillon center came from nowhere like a shot to stop Wigley.

Pass Brings Akron Score

After two line plays a Wigley to Jack Hamm pass filed but then Wigley heaved the ball to Stafford who took it on the Tiger five yard line where he was forced out of bounds. Jim Hamm plunged for two and then Wigley neatly flipped the ball over the Tiger line into Jim Hamm’s arms and Hamm was over for Akron’s touchdown. Wigley’s attempted place kick was blocked.

With the clock running out, Massillon received and this time held on to the ball long enough to make a first down to Akron’s 47. But then Mastriann fumbled but recovered with a loss of two but another Tiger first down to Akron’s 36 was recorded as the ball game ended.

Massillon made nine first downs, Akron seven. The Cowboys held a distinct edge in the second half, registering five first downs to three for the Tigers. Massillon punted four times, Akron kicked seven times.

Massillon completed one pass out of four for 13 yards and had one intercepted. The Cowboys tried 17 aerial heaves, completed five for 47 yards. The rest were incomplete. Massillon gained a total of 214 yards from all types of plays and lost 32 for a net gain of 182 yards. Akron gained 148 yards but had a loss of 55 for a net gain of 83.

Showing well on defense for Massillon were Arrington, who tackled hard until hurt, Richards, the little lad who replaced Bob Gable, benched by illness, Mastriann , Tonges and Williams. Berger also got into his share of plays. F. Azar, McCombs and George played strong defensive games for the Cowboys.

A Close Shave

Massillon Pos. Akron West
Willmot L.E. Dew
Arrington L.T. Knowlton
Tonges L.G. Gustely
Williams C F. Azar
Richards R.G. George
Berger R.T. McCombs
Jasinski R.E. Stafford
Keller Q.B. Jack Hamm
Pellegrini H.B. Wigley
Wallace H.B. Jim Hamm
Mastriann F.B. Hayth

Score by quarters:
Akron 0 0 0 6 – 6
Massillon 7 6 0 0 – 13

Touchdowns: Mastriann 2; Jim Hamm.

Points after: Arrington (place kick).

Referee – Russell Rupp. Umpire – Boone.
Headlinesman – C.J. Graff. Field Judge – C.W. Rupp.

Substitutes: Massillon – Belch, Luke, Turkall, Profant,
Cicchinelli, Webb.
West – Rice, Bivington, Stafford, Prinkey.

Statistics
Tigers West
Total first downs 9 7
Yards gained by rushing 201 101
Yards lost by rushing 32 55
Net yards gained by rushing 169 46
Forward passes attempted 4 17
Forward passes completed 1 5
Yards gained by passing 18 47
Total net yardage rushing
and passing 182 93
Passes had intercepted 1 0
Number of punts 4 7
Average distance of punts 35 30
Number of kickoffs 3 2
Average distance of kicks 39 37
Number of fumbles 5 2
Times ball lost on fumbles 3 2
Number of penalties against 2 1
Yards lost by penalties 10 5

1943: Massillon 15, Canton Lincoln 0

September 17, 1943June 19, 2017
by Eric Smith

Second Half Splurge

PELLEGRINI SCORES TWO TOUCHDOWNS

Washington High Football Team Scores Victory In First Game of 1943 Season Before Surprisingly Large Crowd Of Over 13,000

By Fred J. Becker
Independent Sports Editor

Rolling again are those Tigers of Washington high school. Kept away from pay dirt during the first two periods and rather badly jolted by a determined enemy offensive in the opening minutes of the battle, Coach Elwood Kammer’s young orange and black warriors came surging back in the final two periods Friday night at Tiger stadium to roll up two touchdowns, a point after touchdown and an automatic safety through the medium of a blocked punt to defeat a hard-fighting, courageous Canton Lincoln high team 15 to 0 in their opening combat of the 1943 scholastic football season before a crowd that passed the 13,000 mark.

It was a victory No. 1 in a string which Massillon’s young Tigers hope to roll up to 10 before the end of November and the start of a new series of triumphs which they hope will erase the memory of the Canton McKinley defeat last November when a Massillon streak that had mounted to 52 games without a defeat was snapped by a 35-0 Bulldog triumph.

Hard Fought Ball Game

It was a tough ball game from start to finish. Both teams put everything they had into it and not until the fourth quarter was well under way did the Tigers hold the upper hand and a margin sufficiently large to permit their supporters to take a free and easy breath. It was a well deserved victory for the Tigers and a defeat without disgrace for Junie Ferrall’s Lincoln Lions.

The lads from the city which annually produces Massillon’s biggest gridiron rivals fought their hearts out and the local lads will not meet many teams during the next two months able to match the Cantonians in defensive ability. A brick wall wouldn’t be much harder to dent than the defense which the Lions showed last night.

Those who witnessed the game know now that Coach Kammer was not just doing a lot of talking when he said the Lions would be about the toughest foe any Tiger team had ever been called upon to face in an opening engagement. The Lions proved Friday night that every word Kammer said was true.

Tigers Rough In Spots

They were hard to beat – mighty hard, in fact, and in chalking up a 15 to 0 triumph over the east enders the Tigers are deserving of a lot of credit. Only a hard-driving physically fit team could have turned the trick and the Tigers were that kind of a ball club last night. Sure they made mistakes, sure they didn’t complete one pass all night and both on offense and defense they were rough in spots but always remember that the Tiger team last night was one of the youngest to ever represent Washington high school, but they are youngsters with a mighty fine fighting spirit and now that they have had their baptism of fire they’ll be a better ball club and some of the mistakes made last night will not occur next week or in the weeks to come.

The Tigers very definitely have possibilities and they’ll get better as the season grows older.

A surprisingly big crowd, one which surpassed even the expectations of the Tigers’ most optimistic supporters, sat in on last night’s engagement and were treated to a really fine football game, a contest that was interesting all the way and a battle royal from the opening kickoff to the final blast of the referee’s whistle.

Two beautiful runs of 21 and 29 yards respectively by Romeo Pellegrini, a swarthy hard hitting junior, aided and abetted by splendid interference, brought home the bacon for the Tigers. Another two points were added on an automatic safety when quarterback Glenn Keller blocked a Canton punt, driving the ball back beyond the end zone.

There were no outstanding stars on the Massillon team last night. Every boy gave the best he had while he was in the game. The Tiger line acquitted itself in fine shape. It had a hard customer to handle in Captain Mike Rejina of the Lions, a big, bruising back who could run and plunge and around whom the Canton offensive was built but they stopped Mike before he got too troublesome, even though in addition to his running ability he proved himself to be a capable southpaw passer and kicker.

Pellegrini Shines On Offense

Pellegrini spearheaded the Massillon attack. He got away for a lot of fine gains and his two touchdown gallops were beautiful to watch. Defensively such boys as Capt. Bob Wallace, Bob Williams, R.C. Arrington, and Henry Mastriann performed in a highly creditable manner.

Although its forward passing attack failed to click, not one in seven attempts being good, the Tigers held a 12 to 6 advantage over the Lions in first downs. The Tigers gained a total of 203 yards while the Lions were held to 146 yards. Lincoln completed four passes out of 11 for 59 yards and had one intercepted. The Tigers fumbled five times, and recovered two.

The Lions, fortified by three practice games with other schools, began to get troublesome right from the opening kickoff and threw a big scare into the orange and black camp before being halted on the Massillon 10.

Early Lincoln Splurge

The visitors received, Arrington kicking out of bounds with the Lions putting the ball in play on their 35.

Right away Capt. Rejina and Jim Watson began to make life miserable for the Tigers and in a series of end sweeps and line smashes carried the ball deep into Massillon territory. It looked quite dismal for the Tigers for a few minutes but they managed to pull themselves together and repel the invaders on the Massillon 10 yard line. Then the Tiger offensive began to move and three first downs in succession carried the ball to Massillon’s 45 yard line.

Here the march slowed down and Pellegrini attempted a pass. It was intercepted by Watson on the Lions’ 35. This time, however, the Tigers stopped young Mr. Rejina and he was forced to punt soon after the second quarter began. His kick went out on the Massillon 34 but the Tigers couldn’t go anywhere and Tom Jasinski booted one to Rejina who was downed on his 44. Once again the Tigers held and when Cheyney attempted a pass Don Willmot snared it on his 27.

Here it was that young Pellegrini shifted into high and turned loose an exhibition of running that before the evening was over was destined to bring victory to the Tigers.

Lugging the leather on smoothly working reverses around his right side, Pellegrini stepped off gains of 14, nine, 15, and 18 yards to carry the ball to Lincoln’s 12 yard line. Here the Tiger march bogged down and was wiped out completely when Glenn Keller fumbled and a flock of Lions covered the ball on the visitors’ 17. After making a first down Rejina was forced to punt and once gain the Lions got a break when Pellegrini fumbled the kick and Bill DeGarmo recovered for Lincoln on the Massillon 30. Massillon, however, held and took possession of the ball a few seconds before the second quarter ended.

Pellegrini Hits Pay Dirt.

Massillon received to open the third period and after an exchange of punts set in motion the offensive thrust that produced the first Tiger points. Rejina punted out of bounds on the Massillon 47. Mastriann hit the line for four, then made it a first down. Keller made two and Wallace one before Pellegrini set sail for six before being forced out of bounds. Mastriann made it a first down on Lincoln’s 21. Here the Lions took time out to talk it over but on the next play Wallace flipped the ball to Pellegrini on another reverse and the Tiger halfback, with good blocking ahead of him raced around Canton’s left end for 21 yards and into the promised land. He scored the extra point on a dash through the line and Massillon fans began to breathe easier and tell each other that it was a pleasant evening after all, even though a bit chilly.

The touchdown put new confidence into the Tigers and they began to smack Mr. Rejina around quite lustily, so much in fact that he began to lose some of his effectiveness. A fumble by Vic Turkall gave Lincoln the ball on its 21 but set the stage for the safety. Rejina lost 10 on a bad pass from center and when he attempted to punt his team out of danger, Glenn Keller broke through and blocked the kick, sending the ball beyond the end zone and giving Massillon two points on an automatic safety.

Canton kicked from its 20 and Turkall brought the ball back to the Lions 45 as the period ended. With Pellegrini, Mastriann, and Wallace sparking the Tigers in a steady march toward the Canton goal the Massillonian’s soon were within striking distance of another score shortly after the fourth quarter opened. But with their goal line threatened the Lions put on a brilliant stand that shattered the Tiger march inches away from the goal line.

With the ball on Canton’s seven yard line, Mastriann plunged to the one-yard marker. He was stopped inches away from the goal on his next try only to see the ball go back to the six because the Tigers were offside. Wallace was tossed for a one yard loss but Mastriann made two on his next try and Pellegrini drove to the one yard line with fourth down coming up. Mastriann tried for the score but was smothered without gain by the aroused Lincoln Lion line.

Prize Play Of Game

Then Rejina punted from behind his goal line and here came the prize play of the game and Massillon’s second touchdown. Taking the ball on Canton’s 29, Pellegrini twice eluded tacklers who had a hold of him but couldn’t floor him. Then the Tiger speedster set sail to his left, racing toward the sideline as a wall of interference, that formed, as if by magic and which must have included every member of the Tiger team, completely blotted out the white jerseyed Lions and permitted Pellegrini to scamper the remainder of the distance unmolested for the touchdown. Wallace’s attempted place kick failed.

With practically all Massillon second stringers in the lineup the hard-to-beat Lions made one more serious threat to score late in the quarter. It came when Rejina tossed a long pass to Lessig who was pulled down on the Massillon 40 after an overall gain of 40 yards. Kammer rushed his first stringers back into the battle and on the first play Willmot intercepted a Rejina pass to erase the Canton threat. The game ended shortly after with Lincoln again in possession of the ball but not going anywhere.

There may have been some of us in Massillon who thought the Tigers would be a better club with more speed but Junie Ferrall, the Lincoln coach, thinks they have plenty of speed. Chatting in the Canton dressing room after the game Ferrall declared the Tigers were faster than any team his Lions played last year, even faster, he said, than Lorain, the only outfit to halt the Lions in 1942.

Calls Local Team Fast

“That Massillon team looked awfully good out there tonight,” he said. “They handled the ball exceptionally well and they were plenty fast.”

None of his boys sustained any serious injuries. They were a bit downcast because they had their hearts set on whipping the Tigers.

Over in the Tiger dressing room a jubilant scene was taking place as the happy Tigers celebrated their initial triumph.

Of course Kammer was not surprised at the fight put up by the Lions. He had seen just that kind of a game coming up for the past two weeks and he was glad his boys were able to emerge on top.

“You kids played a credible game tonight,” he told the boys, “but you need lots more work. We didn’t complete a pass and we need a passing attack that will function if our ground offense is going to get anywhere. Your good physical condition was a big factor in your victory.

Victory No. 1

Massillon – 15 pos. Lincoln
Willmot L.E. Lessig
Arrington L.T. Wilkins
Tongas L.G. Manly
Williams C DeGarmo
Gable R.G. White
Berger R.T. Robertson
Jasinski R.E. Heckaman
Keller Q.B. Martelli
Pellegrini H.B. Watson
Wallace H.B. Cheyney
Mastriann F.B. Rejina

Score by quarters:
Massillon 0 0 9 6 – 15

Touchdown: Pellegrini, 2

Points after touchdown: Pellegine, (plunge)

Safety: Keller

Referee: Gross; Umpire: Graf;
Headlinesman Long; Field Judge Rupp.

Substitutes: Massillon – Profant, Heltzel, Belch, Turkall, Luke, Parsittie, Sedjo, Pedrotty, Clark, Green, Richards, Cicchinelli, Ielsch.
Lincoln – Beatty, P. Permar, Hartline, J. Permar, Shriver, Hayden, Pelligrino, Kendig, Oberlin, Miller, Latimer.

Statistics
Tigers Lincoln
Total first downs 12 6
Yards gained by rushing 232 87
Yards lost by rushing 32 28
Net yards gained by rushing 210 59
Forward passes attempted 7 11
Forward passes completed 0 4
Yards gained by passing 0 59
Total net yardage rushing &
passing 210 118
Passes had intercepted 0 1
Number of punts 5 7
Average distance of punts 34 28
Punts blocked 0 1
Number of kickoffs 3 2
Average distance of kickoffs 24 32
Number of fumbles 5 0
Times ball lost on fumbles 2 0
Number of penalties against 2 2
Yards lost by penalties 20 20

Open Meeting For Tiger Fan

The Massillon Tiger Booster club will
hold its second meeting Monday evening
at 8 o’clock in the auditorium of
Washington high school. It will be another
open meeting and all Massillon football fans,
men and women are invited to attend.

Because the Tigers won the opening game
against Canton Lincoln 15 to 0 Friday night,
the Booster club gathering will have cause for
celebration and a rousing meeting is in prospect.

Coach Elwood Kammer will be on hand to
give the fans a detailed report on the opener
and to tell them something about the team’s
plans for the Akron West game here next Friday.

1942: Massillon 0, Canton McKinley 35

November 21, 1942June 10, 2017
by Eric Smith

BULLDOGS WIN GAME WITH EASE

Tigers Completely Outplayed As Red And Black Rip Local Team To Pieces Last Half To Defeat Orange and Black First Time In Eight Years

By Luther Emery

Now Massillon knows how Canton McKinley, and all the Tiger’s other opponents have felt these last seven years.

Saturday it was the Massillon fans turn to sit in the stands and watch their Tiger team take a thorough 35-0 beating at the hands of one of the finest Canton McKinley teams ever to set foot on a Massillon gridiron.

Canton Keeps Edge in Series

For seven long years, the Tigers have been lashing the whip in Ohio gridiron circles. Saturday, in the closing game of the eighth year, they were on the receiving end, with none other than their old rival, Canton McKinley, administering a sound threshing in the 47th game to be played between the two elevens since 1894. The victory gave Canton 23 victories in the series, left Massillon with 21 and three have ended in tie scores.

The defeat was Massillon’s first in 53 consecutive games, a string that began in November 1937 after the Tigers had lost to a fighting New Castle team, 7-0. But one tie marred the victory chain, Mansfield holding the 1941 Massillon team to a 6-6 draw.

The defeat was Massillon’s first at the hands of Canton McKinley since the 21-6 paddling the local eleven received in 1934. That likewise was the last time an Ohio team had been able to subdue the terrific Tigers.

Reason For Celebration

So McKinley had reason to celebrate. For seven years the Bulldogs have watched the Massillon fans stream out on the field and parade behind their band after the game. Saturday it was Canton’s turn, and they so rejoiced at the triumph that the officials had to call the game, despite the fact that there was time left for one play.

The celebration went on into the night, carried through Sunday and will be resumed today when McKinley high practically declares a holiday to laud the achievement of their coach Herman “Bup” Rearick and his Bulldogs.

Massillon never knew a celebration such as the Bulldogs will be treated to. Victories have been so many for the Tigers the past seven years that they have been taken for granted by fans and students, and they accepted defeat with no more signs of emotion than exhibited in their triumphs.

The sympathy of the fans went to Coach Elwood Kammer and his Tiger team. It was the first losing game for the senior members of the squad, the first loss for Kammer as a high school coach.

There was no disgrace in losing to the Bulldog Saturday. He was terrific, and when animosities created with 48 years of rivalry are put aside in favor of common sense, the Tigers could have been beaten by no better opponent than their old Stark county rival, McKinley.

Canton reached its peak Saturday afternoon and played a near perfect game of football before the crowd of between 20,000 and 22,000 spectators. The Bulldogs scored five touchdowns, three points after touchdown, a safety, and had two other touchdowns called back because of penalties.

That set a new scoring record for the Massillon-Canton series, something no one even dared to dream about before the game.

Canton’s Day

It was McKinley’s day. Practically everything the Bulldogs tried worked, and it was one of those days when the victors were even opportunists, intercepting passes and being Johnny on the spot for fumbles.

It was anything but a day for Massillon. The only break the Tigers had was the weather. They wanted a dry field, and the footing was fairly firm. The rain stopped before they peeled the tarpaulin from the gridiron, and while the sod was a bit soft, it was anything but muddy. The Tigers got off to a poor start when a punt went straight up in the air on the 32-yard line, and in their anxiety they contributed 15 yards in penalties that left the Bulldogs but 17 to go in their first touchdown drive and they gave away 10 more yards on the red and black’s second touchdown jaunt.

A poor start was anything but what the Tigers had hoped for. Their strategy was to score as quickly as possible, with the hope of breaking down the Bulldog spirit so prevalent the last two weeks, and at the same time ease the pressure on four cripples who were pieced together with bandages in order to get them on the field.

The Massillon eleven was not badly outplayed the first half, though Canton from the start looked the stronger team and the eventual winner. Three five-yard penalties, one of which gave the red and black a first down on the Tiger five-yard line helped them to their first touchdown after a poor punt, and another five-yard penalty gave the red and black a first down on the 20-yard line in the second touchdown drive after the Tigers had only yielded seven yards in three attempts. The second touchdown came with less than a minute of the half remaining to be played.

The Tigers gained 88 yards t he first half, all by rushing, to 109 for Canton, 19 of which were made by passing.

It was in the second half that McKinley rose up in all its might to subdue the Tiger and knock him loose from his throne with a deluge of 23 points. Only a merciful gun kept the score from being any larger.

Nine of the points crossed the Tiger goal in rapid succession just when it appeared that the local team might salvage a scoreless third period out of the contest and 14 more were piled over a tiring but still scrapping Tiger team.

The Bulldogs victory throws the state championship race into an awful mess. In percentages, the Tigers have a better record than Canton, for the Bulldogs were tied by one of their own schools, Lincoln, and lost 21-13 to Steubenville, a team that Massillon whipped 33-13. The Big Red will put in a claim for a share of the title, and there probably will be a lot of shouting from several “podunks” that haven’t played anybody but that have finished the season with an undefeated record. Most sportsmen will say you have to beat the champ to win a title and Canton has the honor of being the first Ohio team to do it since 1934; but Steubenville will more than likely object, for the Big Red will boast that it is the team that beat the team that beat the champ and has a higher percentage of victories this season. Oh, well.

The statistics were all in favor of McKinley, 17 first downs to Massillon’s 10 and 304 yards gained in rushing to Massillon’s 166. In fact when you analyze the gains by quarters you find the Tigers seldom had the ball the last period and only tried two running plays the entire fourth quarter.

Though the local team carried the ball into Bulldog territory three times during the game they only threatened once. Their first march followed the Bulldogs, first touchdown, the Tigers striking back with a drive that moved from their 20 to the Bulldog 41, where Graber on third down with seven yards to go, tried to snap a pass over the center of the line to Bray, but Abe Aslanides intercepted on his 35 to end the threat.

The second march came the next time the Tigers got the ball and likewise started from their 20. They moved it to the bulldog 40 where they were forced to punt.

Fumble Ends Threat

The last effort, in the fourth period was their best. Starting with Chuck Holt’s interception of Earl Louck’s pass on the 39-yard line, they overcame a five-yard penalty to move up to the 28-yard line on passes. Bob Graber tossed one to Don Willmot who put a lateral into Fred Cardinal’s hands for a first down in midfield. Another fell into Tom Jasinski’s fingers for a first on the 34 and another to Cardinal took the ball to the 28. There Holt on a running play crashed through the weak side and raced to the 10-yard line. He appeared to have generated enough momentum to go over, but when bumped, the ball flew out of his hands and into the arms of Jack Crider, who got back to his 28 before being downed. No once could have lateraled it any better.

Everyone in the Massillon stands was hoping Chuckie would get the touchdown. With Graber useless as a runner because of an injured ankle, Holt shouldered the burden of the ball carrying. Twenty times he lugged the leather during the afternoon, often going three times in a row.

The rest of the running was left to Keve Bray, who carried the ball 11 times. Graber carried it but once. Bray gained more yards the first quarter than all of the Canton players together. He ran 46 yards in six attempts, while the combined first period yardage of the Bulldog backs was 29 yards.

Canton is heaping words of praise on Tony Dominick and Jack Crider for their great performances. Spear-headed by a fast charging line that knocked the Tiger forwards on their heels the last half, Dominick and Crider tore the locals apart the last half. Dominick ripped through center where all the courage of little Dave Edwards and Barney Wallace couldn’t stop him. Willie Crider slipped in and around the tackles bringing his performance to a peak with a 47-yard touchdown jaunt. Ernie Parks, the fleet-footed giant of the Bulldog backfield was held well in check. He only gained a net total of 36 yards in 12 attempts but his weight and elongated body helped to wear down the Massillon eleven that spotted the red and black 14 pounds to the man in weight.

There was no lack of courage on the Massillon line and it wasn’t any fun for 150-pound Edward , 140 pound Wallace, and 150-pound Bray to have 192-pound Bob Zimmer, 193-pound Parks, and 172-pound Dominick come pounding through the center of the Massillon forward wall. Coach Elwood Kammer occasionally relieved the Massillon lightweights and sent Bob Williams and Bob Kanney into the game for defense.

There was no lack of courage when fellows like Bob Wallace with a badly damaged leg; Graber with a sore ankle; Cardinal with two injured shoulders and a damaged foot; Karl Paulik with an injured shoulder; and Tom Jasinski with a charley horse would stay on the firing line against a heavy eleven in tip-top condition.

Took Defeat Gamely

The Tigers have no alibi to offer that anyone quit trying. They simply got the whipping that they knew was coming sometime or other and they took it, painful as it was, without a whimper. That was their answer to the question many have asked – how will Massillon take defeat? The Tiger Booster club will have an opportunity to give its answer Tuesday evening when it meets in the Washington high auditorium.

To recount the scoring plays, here is what happened.

The Tigers received, Cardinal getting the ball and coming back to his 20. Three plays gained eight yards so Romeo Pellegrini, who started in place of Graber, dropped back to punt. The ball went straight up going only four yards from the line of scrimmage, so Canton took over on the Massillon 32. Crider hit for two yards, but Massillon was offside and drew another penalty giving Canton a first down on the 22-yard line. With Dominick carrying the ball twice and Crider once, the Bulldogs moved up to a first down on the 10-yard line.

Three substitutes raced on to the field for Massillon, Graber, Bob Wallace, and Bob Williams. The Tigers were charged with delaying the game and drew another five-yard penalty giving Canton a first down on the fire-yard line. Dominick was stopped without gain, but he got four yards his next effort and went over on the third attempt. Crider’s attempted placekick for the extra point was wide.

The Tigers came back with a couple of offensive bursts that bogged down after passing the midfield strip and the Bulldogs finally took over when Graber punted over the goal. Here an 80-yard touchdown drive was lunched. After Crider had drive for two yards, Dominick in two attempts crashed a first down on his 32. Parks made nine yards, his best effort of the day, and Dominick picked up the rest for a first down on his 44. Two more plays and Dominick had another first on the Tiger 44. Crider hit for four yards, but the Tigers drew a five-yard penalty on the next play. Parks was tossed for a three-yard loss, but Crider made up for it by tossing a flat pass to him that netted a first down on the Massillon 32. Dominick got six yards in two attempts, but the Tigers with hopes of halting the Bulldog drive, were guilty of offside on third down and the five-yard penalty gave Canton a first on the 21-yard line. Dominick and Crider on two plays powered their way to a first down on the nine-yard line. Parks and Crider were held to a total of three yards but Crider crossed the Tigers up on third down and flipped a short pass to Dale Haverstock who got to the one foot line. It was only a matter of form for Dominick to crash through for the touchdown. Crider’s attempted placekick was blocked and the score was 12-0. Only seconds remained to be played, and the half ended two plays later with one Massillon pass knocked down and the second intercepted by Crider on the 34-yard line.

Canton Gets Safety

The Tigers stopped Canton drives twice in the third period before the Bulldogs finally scored on a safety. The first drive reached the 35-yard line after recovery of a Massillon fumble there. The second went to the six-yard line where the locals recovered a Canton fumble. Trying desperately to do something Graber twice passed from behind his goal. Once Haverstock missed a sure touchdown when the ball slipped through his hands as he tried to intercept it. Punting on third down, Graber was rushed by Zimmer, Bulldog quarterback, who blocked the ball and fell on it back of the end zone for an automatic safety that gave Canton two points.

The Tigers kicked out from the 20-yard line and Vic Wernet got back to the Massillon 48. Parks made a yard and then Crider went for the works in a beautiful dash through center in which he outran the Massillon secondary. Chuck Holt made a desperate effort to get him with a diving tackle on the five-yard line, but Crider faded away. This time Hank Smith was rushed in to sweep right end for the extra point and succeeded, bringing the score to 21-0.

The Bulldogs gained at will from there on in. They kicked off to Massillon, and on second down, Crider intercepted Graber’s pass and went for a touchdown only to have the ball called back because a Canton player clipped. It made no difference, for the red and black just powered their way right on through for 48 yards with Parks scampering around left center for the last seven and Crider pitching to Jasper Harris for the extra point.

The next one followed the Tigers best bid of the day when Crider recovered Holt’s fumble on the 10 and went back to his 28. It was first Dominick and then Crider, with the latter getting off one 32-yard run, until the four-yard line was eventually reached. Then Crider went over for the touchdown and Dominick place-kicked the extra point.

On the last play of the game, Bill Cook, sub center went 30 yards with a pass interception for a touchdown that didn’t count. Time expired during the run and the spectators poured on to the field. But McKinley was offside on the play. The Tigers would have taken a fine-yard penalty and there would have been one more play. The officials looked at the crowd and thought what’s the use. Massillon would have held the ball anyway, so they called the game.

Chain Is Cut

Massillon Pos. McKinley
Willmot LE Haverstock
Edwards LT Jordan
Kanney LG Wernet
B. Wallace C Lombardi
Weisgerber RG Schuster
Paulik RT Bell
Jasinski RE Harris
Cardinal QB Zimmer
Pellegrini LH Crider
Bray RH Parks
Holt FB Dominick

Score by periods:
McKinley 6 6 9 14 – 35

Substitutions – Massillon: Yelic, t; Williams, c; R. Wallace, g; Power, fb; Graber, lh.
McKinley: Aslanides, qb; Zufall, g; Hall, g; Garafolo, t; Tucci, t; Smith, hg; Thomas, hb; Schwalenberg, e; Cook, c; Loucks, fb; Rotunno,e.

Touchdowns – Dominick 2, Crider 2, Parks.

Points after touchdown – Smith (carried, Harris (pass from Crider), Crider (placekick).

Safety – Zimmer

Referee – Reese.
Umpire – Gross.
Headlinesman – Lobach.
Field judge – Long.

Statistics
Mass. Cant.
First downs 10 17
Line plays 32 58
Yards rushing 136 304
Yards lost rushing 9 6
Net gain rushing 125 298
Yards passing 47 31
Net yards gained 172 329
Passes attempted 12 8
Had passes intercepted 3 1
Passes incomplete 5 2
Fumbles 4 2
Lost ball on fumble 2 1
Times penalized 6 3
Yards penalized 30 25
Times punted 4 2
Punts blocked 1 0
Average punt (yards) 24 26
Yards punts returned 0 38
Kickoffs 2 6
Yards kickoffs returned 51 0

Booster Club Meets Tuesday

Massillon’s undefeated string of 52 games has been broken and that calls for all the more effort on the part of members of the Tiger Booster club.

The Boosters will not meet tonight, but they will gather Tuesday evening and will elect officers for 1943 as well as make plans for their annual banquet. It will be an open meeting. The pub

1942: Massillon 13, Erie, PA East 6

November 13, 1942June 17, 2017
by Eric Smith

TIGERS RUN INTO A SURPRISE AT ERIE

(Special to The Evening Independent)

ERIE, Pa., NOV. 16 – A scrappy Erie East high band of Warriors gave the highly-touted championship Massillon Tigers quite a “surprise party” here Saturday afternoon. But the Ohioans managed to eke out a 13 to 6 decision on a snow-covered field before a scant gathering of 6,000 fans.

It was as close a call to defeat that the Tigers have had since they began their streak in 1937 that has seen them go through 52 games without a defeat, although a Mansfield tie mars the 1941 season.

There was a reason why they should enjoy only a seven-point advantage when hostilities were ended on Saturday.

There were seven good reasons – the East high forward wall, which consistently broke through the Massillon offense to spill ball carriers for sizable losses.

Tigers Have Edge In Statistics

However, class told and the Tigers held a decided edge in ground gaining. The Ohio backs being especially adept at skirting the ends. In the net yards rushing department the Tigers picked up a total of 156 yards as compared to 31 for East.

And speaking of statistics they pretty well tell the story.

The Tigers rang up 11 first downs against nine for the Warriors. They batted .500 in pass completion’s, connecting on four out of eight attempts for 80 yards, while Warrior passes were the rule rather than the exception as the Hydemen tossed 19, completing only five for a gain of 78 yards.

But of course, there is a story behind the story buried deep down in the statistics. There you’ll find that Massillon fumbled on six occasions – and on six occasions there was a Warrior atop the ball when the pileup was finally untangled.

And you’ll find also that East’s John Swanseger, complied a punting average of 43 yards against a 39-yard average by Massillon’s Romeo Pellegrini, and to make the story complete it should be added that one of Swanseger’s punts that rolled out of bounds on the Tiger four-yard line set the stage for the East score.

Those two items were the factors chiefly responsible for the surprising showing of the Hydemen, who were supposed to be just another team with eleven guys named “Joe” in the lineup. Then too, it was figured that East would be a good game to rest up the regulars for the coming Canton McKinley clash this weekend. East didn’t like that idea and put up a battle.

Tigers Score Early

The two touchdowns by the Massillonians came before East shook off a bad case of what appeared to be stage fright or a recent accurate facsimile.

The first one came about three minutes into the first canto—in fact it was on the sixth offensive thrust of the game.

An exchange of kicks that saw the Warriors finally wind up with the ball in their possession set the state indirectly.

Several running plays failed to solve the Massillon defense and Swanseger faded back of the 50-yard line and chucked one downfield only to have it intercepted by Fred Cardinal, Massillon quarterback, who returned it to the East 30.

The Tigers tried a pass that was grounded. Then Pellegrini, sophomore flash, who was one of the game’s offensive stars, lost four yards at right end. On the next play he dropped back and tossed a pass to Fullback Charles Holt that was good for 24 yards, when Holt reversed his field on the East 13 and romped over. A sneak through the line from place kick formation was smashed by the Warriors as the Tigers strove for the point after touchdown.

Steals the Ball

A smart play by Karl Paulik, Massillon right tackle, set up the Tigers’ second touchdown. Paulik “stole” the ball from the grasp of an East runner on the Warriors’ 29-yard line and after a Pellegrini to Willmot pass had picked up nine yards, Holt went into action.

Aided by an eight-yard jaunt by Keve Bray, Holt moved the ball up to the one-yard stripe and it was only a formality for him to smack the line for the score.

Cardinal sent a placement kick through the uprights for the extra point.

(Next line unreadable)

The recovery of a Massillon fumble by Frank Barnowski, East right end, on the Tigers 10-yard line, set in motion the Warriors’ touchdown drive in the second period.

A five-yard penalty and a grounded pass stalled the Warriors before they even got started. But (name unreadable) dropped back and tossed a pass to Klimow, who ran to the Massillon 15 for a first down. Grunzel lugged the leather to the 10 on the next play. However, a five-yard penalty set the Hydemen back again.

But Dellnski was still in the game as the Tigers found out a moment later when he ripped around right end behind perfect blocking and shook off a couple tacklers. (unreadable text) Then Klimow pranced across the goal for the score on the next play. (try for extra point text unreadable)

That’s the story of the scoring but there was plenty of action in this ball game beside the touchdown moments.

Lose Ball On Fumbles

For instance in the third stanza with the aid of a 15 yard-penalty the Tigers marched to the East 28, but there Pellegrini fumbled and Klimow pounced on the leather for the Warriors, who also aided by a 15-penalty for Massillon drove to the Massillon 36 where the attack stopped when Bray intercepted an East pass.

After one of Swanseger’s punts had rolled over the goal line later in the third period, the Tigers started on their 20 and using power alone, as only the Tigers can, battered their way to the 30 as the period ended.

Several seconds later Bray fumbled and the Warriors covered on the East 31.

The rest of the game was a see-saw affair with the Warriors countering almost punch for punch with the Tigers.

The halftime show by the Massillon band was featured by the Tigers’ strip tease routine as the band provided a musical backdrop.

This alone would have brought down the stadium roof with applause if stadiums had roofs.

Not Comforting

Massillon – 13 Pos. East – 6
Willmot le Santi
Edwards lt Perantoni
Bob Wallace lg Katoski
Williams c Kelleher
Weisgarber rg Mahon
Paulik rt Burek
Kanney re Baruowakl
Cardinal qb unreadable
Pellegrini lh Swanseger
Bray rh Dellnsky
Holt fb Grunzel

(Rest of information here unreadable)

Statistics
East Massillon
First Downs 9 11
Yards Gained Rushing 78
Yards Lost Rushing 17
Net Yards Gained Rushing 31 156
Forward Passes Attempted 19 8
Forward Passes Completed 5 4
Forward Passes Intercepted 0 2
Yards Gained by Forward Passing 78 80
Lateral Passes Attempted 0 1
Yards Gained by Lateral Passes 1 0
Punting Average (from scrimmage) 43 39
Total Yards Kicks Returned
Fumbles 1 6
Own Fumbles Recovered 0 0
Rest of information is unreadable

1942: Massillon 34, Toledo Waite 14

November 6, 1942June 17, 2017
by Eric Smith

INDIANS’ PASSES DAZZLE THRONG

Visitors Make More First Downs Than Massillon But they Pay Off On Points, So Tigers Stretch Undefeated String to 51 Games

By Luther Emery

The war drums of the Toledo Waite Indians were still ringing in the ears of the Washington high school Tigers today as they looked at the statistics and wondered how they ever escaped being ambushed in last night’s game at Tiger stadium.

A crowd of 16,621 fans looked on amazed as the Indians outgained the Tigers from scrimmage and rolled up more first downs, but lost 34-14. It was Massillon’s 51st consecutive game without a defeat.

Waite Expected to Spring Upset

Jack Mollenkopf brought Waite to Massillon, convinced that the Tigers were ripe for a trimming. He had planned to ambush Massillon with a passing attack that had been developed but not entirely uncovered this season until last night’s battle.

He, too, knew that he had a better team than most people had credited him with, and most of all, a team that wouldn’t quit.

Having carefully studied and scouted the Tiger team, Mollenkopf thought he was all set to spring the biggest upset of the 1942 football season and might well have done so with the assistance of good luck and the fulfillment of a few “ifs.”

Take out the blocked punt that produced the third Massillon touchdown, remove a couple of costly Waite fumbles, and substitute completed passes for two “touchdown” passes, one of which was dropped by the receiver and the other intercepted by a Massillon gridder, and you might well have had a tie score. On the other hand, the Tigers too can play the “if” game, and from their viewpoint they might have won by more points had they 10 seconds more time left in the first half which ended with them in possession of the ball, first down and goal to go on Waite’s one yard line.

Mollenkopf Ambushed

Mollenkopf admitted that while he had set a trap for Massillon, he was ambushed himself by the throwing of Romeo Pellegrini, who replaced the injured Bob Graber at left halfback.

“I never knew that little fellow could throw so far,” the Toledo coach said after the game as he ground a crust of bread between his fingers at the dinner table. “I never knew Massillon to throw from the left, either. I was fooled there.”

The play-by-play account shows that Pellegrini completed passes of 57, 51, 14, and 15 yards for touchdown. In fact it was the first time this season that the forward pass developed into a potent scoring weapon for the Tigers, and it was well it did, for they did not run the ball over once last night. Their fifth touchdown was the result of a blocked punt.

Some of the things that Mollenkopf figured on were correct. The Tigers were ripe for some trouble and have been getting riper since their defeat of Steubenville. They have two games to go, both Saturday afternoon contests – Erie East next week and Canton McKinley two weeks hence. The locals should begin coming up again, and it is hoped the rebound will be too much for both Erie East and McKinley.

In Waite the Tigers found a better than average team that had been underestimated by most fans, and possibly the players sensed this same feeling of superiority.

Better Waite Team Than 1941

“It is a far better team than I had last year,” Mollenkopf confided after the game, “and we would have done a lot better this season had it not been for several unfortunate breaks.”

The Toledo coach was especially proud that his team did not quit on him, and it was one of few teams that have not folded under Tiger pressure.

The Indians were battling just as hard at the end of the game as they were at the start, and were on their way to a last minute touchdown, when an intercepted pass ended in a safety that gave them two points.

It has been three years since the Tigers have had to explain their victory to readers of the statistical column. From yards gained and first downs you would have thought Waite a certain winner. The Indians made 14 first downs to the Tigers 10 and gained 259 yards to the Tigers 230 yards but Massillon converted its yardage into scores instead of first downs to win 34-14.

The long shot touchdown passes to Willmot and the other two pegs to Cardinal and Holt, don’t show in the first down column through all covered more than 10 yards. The yardage is figured I, however and there’s just nothing you can do about trying to explain why Waite gained more yards except to say that the Indians had a good defense and a tough defensive end in Harold Raether.

The Tigers only gained 73 yards lugging the ball last night and made 173 yards with their passes, which is better passing than they have done at anytime this season and poorer running.

A Fine Passer

Waite’s passing attack was the fanciest thing seen here in a forward pass way for several seasons. You can give most of the credit to straight-shooting Joseph Horvath and if Uncle Sam needs a grenade thrower to clean out machine gun nests, Horvath has our recommendation. He pitched so accurately that he seldom missed his mark and most of the night did all the throwing to the same man, Paul Hrabovsky, Indian quarterback.

They worked pass after pass all evening, connecting for three of 17 yards, 22 yards and eight yards, in the series that led to their first touchdown, and completed two more, one for 32 yards and another for 11 in the second touchdown march. Mixed in the latter effort was an 18-yard toss to Raether.

Second guessers might accuse both teams of a poor selection of plays at intervals during the game. Waite, for instance advance the ball to the Tiger 25-yard line on passes in the third quarter, then ran four consecutive ground plays for a net loss of 13 yards. The Tigers at one time worked into Waite territory, then with only two yards necessary for a first down, wasted two attempts trying to pass and were forced to punt.

The Tigers pushed over two touchdowns before Waite could score. Midway in the first period, when Waite was pressing its secondary to stop Tiger ball carriers, Pellegrini raced back and fired a long pass over the heads of the Indians’ safety to Willmot, who had to wait for the ball to float into his arms. He still had time to go the rest of the route for 51 yards. The pass changed the complexion of the game, for only two plays before, Willmot went high in the air to spear one of Horvath’s passes that had touchdown written all over it, for Hrabovsky had gotten behind Willmot and would have went for the works had not the latter left his feet to haul in the leather and return 29 yards to his 49-yard line, from where the Massillon touchdown pass was completed. Cardinal kicked the extra point that followed to give the Tigers a 7-0 lead.

The local team struck back quickly for a second touchdown when Pellegrini kicked off and covered Howard Schatzke’s fumbled return on the Waite 41. Pellegrini ran to the 26 and Holt plunged to the 15 but a 15-yard penalty for holding put the Tigers back momentarily. Here the old Statue of Liberty was hauled out of the bag, and Bray, taking the ball from Pellegini, ran 22 yards to the 20-yard line. Holt plunged for a first down and Pellegrini tossed to Cardinal for the rest of the distance. He again kicked the extra point to bring the score to 14-0.

Waite Comes Back

Waite took the following kickoff and did not stop until it crossed the Massillon goal. A poor kickoff went out of bounds on the Indians’ 49. Lamoreaux was thrown for a six-yard loss, so Horvath began tossing to Hrabovsky, once for 17 yards, again for 22 yards which brought a first down on the 18-yard line, and another for eight yards. A five-yard penalty for off-side gave the Indians a first down on the Tigers’ four-yard line and here the Massillonians bristled in good old fashioned spirit. Louis Smith hit for three yards, but the ball still remained on the one-yard line after the next two plays. Waite didn’t shift on fourth down, however, and with a quick opening play, Horvath broke through for the touchdown. Richard Wandtke was sent in to hold the ball for the attempted kick but fumbled it and the Indians lost the point.

The Tigers scored their only touchdown of the period on a blocked punt. Horvath intercepted Pellegrini’s pass on the seven-yard line after the Massillonians had carried the kickoff deep into Toledo territory. Horvath tried to punt on first down, but Barney Wallace got his face in the way of the ball, blocked the punt and Chuck Holt scooped up the leather and ambled over for the score. Cardinal’s kick for the extra point was wide.
The Tigers tried for another in the period and nearly got it. Time expired as Pellegrini tossed to Bray for 23 yards and a first down on the one yard line. Waite was offside. The Tigers had the choice of the ball or the penalty. They took the ball, which meant the half was over. Had they taken the penalty, Waite would have been penalized which would have placed the ball on the 19-yard line and there would have been time left for one play.

The fans didn’t understand the ruling and thought the officials had wasted precious seconds, conferring with the Massillon players which caused time to expire before the ball could be put in play again. As a result they let out a big boo when the arbitrators walked off the field. The ruling was explained during intermission.

Scoreless Third Period

Neither team scored in the third quarter, Waite advancing he greatest distance, reaching the Massillon 25-yard line on one occasion.

The Tigers got in motion early in the fourth period, however and passed and ran their way 88 yards. A 17-yard toss to Cardinal moved the ball into position for a 15-yard toss to Holt for the touchdown. Cardinal booted the extra point.

The last score came shortly after when Pellegrini again caught the Waite secondary asleep and tossed the ball to Willmot for 56 yards and a touchdown. Willmot caught the ball on the 15-yard line, which means the leather traveled approximately 56 yards through the air, since Pellegrini was almost 15 yards behind the line of scrimmage when he fired. Holt plunged the extra point.

Coach Kammer sent in his second team, and Waite soon was knocking on the Tiger door. Horvath tossed to Hrabovsky for 32 yards, and another for 11 yards put the ball on the Tiger 25. A peg to Raether advanced it to the seven and the Massillon first team went in. That made too many times out and the Tigers were penalized five yards to the two, from which Louis Smith exploded for the touchdown. Another attempt for the extra point was muffed.

The Indians still were not stopped. The next time they got the ball they struck back, Horvath tossing to Hrabovsky for 34 yards and nine yards. He tried to pitch for the touchdown, but Sam Yelic hauled to the leather on the one-yard stripe and began to run with the ball. He was tossed behind the goal for a safety and two points for Waite. The game ended before the Tigers could kick out.

Still Winners

Massillon Waite
Willmott le Collins
Williams lt V. smith
R. Wallace lg Lehman
B. Wallace c Kimpon
Weisgarber rg Foster
Paulik rt Westenkirchner
Jasinski re Raether
Cardinal qb Hrabovsky
Pellegrini lh Horvath
Bray rh Lamoreaux
Holt fb L. Smith

Score by periods:
Massillon 14 6 0 14 – 34
Waite 0 6 0 8 – 14

Substitutions – Massillon: Power, Fulton, Oberlin, Gable, Schuler, Tongas, Profant, Turkall, Yelic, Kanney, Mastriann.

Touchdowns – Willmot 2, Holt 2, Cardinal.

Points after touchdown – Cardinal 3 (placekicks), Holt (carried)

Safety – Yelic (two points for Toledo).

Referee – Slutz.
Umpire – Boone.
Headlineman – Harlow.
Field judge – Rupp.

Statistics
Mass. Waite
First Downs 10 14
Yards Rushing 72 103
Yards Lost Rushing 16 34
Net Gain Rushing 57 69
Yards Passing 173 190
Total Net Gain 230 259
Passes Attempted 14 19
Passes Completed 6 12
Times Punted 4 3
Average Punt (yards) 32 34
Times Kicked Off 6 3
Times Penalized 9 4
Yards Penalized 65 20
Fumbles 3 4
Lost Ball on Fumble 0 3

1942: Massillon 32, Warren Harding 0

October 30, 1942June 17, 2017
by Eric Smith

WEISGARBER HAS LARGE EVENING

Crowd of 13,467 Fans Sees Tiger Lineman Throw Warren Runners For Four Losses In A Row; Graber Injured

By Luther Emery

The Washington high Tigers ran their undefeated string to 50 games Friday evening in a slugfest with Warren Harding high in Tiger Stadium that ended in a 32-0 triumph for the Tigers and injury to their triple threat halfback, Bob Graber.

There is news to both, but at this stage of the season with Canton McKinley only three weeks away, injuries are more important to the Massillon fan’s eyes, and that’s why so many flocked into the Tiger dressing room after the game.

Sprained Ankle

Graber sustained a severe sprain to his left ankle, while tackling Warren’s fine fullback, Tony Marcarello, in the fourth quarter. An examination after the game failed to reveal any broken bones, but x-ray pictures will be taken today in order to thoroughly establish the extent of the injury.

Graber’s injury was the climax of the roughest and toughest game played in Tiger Stadium this year in which players more than once appeared to lose their temper. Only one penalty was called for unnecessary roughness, that when a Warren player was caught slugging, but throughout the evening, players showed a willingness to pile on.

The crowd of 13,467 even warmed up to the temper of the game, and several times booed the fisticuffs.

Tigers Not In Form

Still showing a tendency to fumble, and giving a poor exhibition of forward passing, the Tigers were not in form last night. They played, good hard football the first half, when they established their superiority over the visiting team and toyed with Warren the rest of the way, throwing pass after pass but only completing two out of 13 attempts for the small gain of 29 yards.

Thirty-two points as a whole are enough for any game, but the Massillon gridders did not appear to be point hungry last night. The drive they exhibited early in the game, faded the last half, and injuries immediately began to crop out.

The Tigers found in Warren just what they expected, a heavy but slow team. It may be the locals were themselves down the first two periods pushing the Presidents around. At least they looked as bad off and exhausted after the game as at anytime this season, though the only serious injury appeared to be to Graber’s ankle. Bob Wood, of Warren was carried from the field in the second half but only received a slight sprain it was revealed.

The Tigers crossed the Warren goal twice in the first period, and once in each of the remaining periods, and were denied a sixth touchdown because of a clipping penalty.

Warren threatened the Massillon goal but once, and then lost the ball on second down, when Bob Wallace covered a fumble on the four-yard line.
Vernon Weisgarber and Bob Wallace grabbed the limelight as linemen last night. The former, playing his third year of varsity football never gave a better exhibition than he did in the first quarter when he tossed Warren ball carriers for four losses in succession that totaled 21 yards. In addition he recovered a couple of Warren fumbles. Bob was battling hard throughout the night too and had a big share in the Tiger defensive line play.

Warren, as expected, showed Massillon some offense in Marcarello, who is an A-1 fullback who drives hard and does not quit driving until his nose is on the ground.

The statistics show the Tigers only gained two more first downs than the Presidents, the total was 12-10, and rolled up 332 yards to 142 yards.

You can put it down in the book that most of Warren’s 142 yards were made by Marcarello. What Coach Elwood Kammer wouldn’t give for him now that Graber has gone lame?

Two Touchdowns, One Counts

You can give Keve Bray and Chuck Holt credit for gaining most of theTiger yards. They turned in the two prettiest runs of the evening. Keve’s counted. Holt’s did not. The former’s produced the last touchdown of the game, a 74-yard gallop on a deep weak side reverse that was accompanied with a screen of fine blocking. Bray took the ball off Romeo Pellegrini almost on the east side line, and then ran fast across the field toward the west side line. He followed the great circle route, had the speed to do it and outlegged the first couple of Warren players who caught on to what was taking place. At the 50-yard line he saw his blockers forming, so he cut over toward the middle of the field to gain their support and they cut down the Warren tacklers one at a time. He found himself still in good company when he crossed into the promised land.

There wasn’t any milk and honey served up to Holt on a near similar dash in the second quarter, but his run was just as spectacular. He intercepted Tony Marcarello’s pass on his own 20, and through his own power driving and some good blocking ran straight up the middle of the field for what appeared to be a touchdown. A clipping penalty was called on the Tiger 38-yard line, however, the touchdown was denied and the Tigers were set back to their 23-yard line.

Warren finished better than its reporters thought it would, but they don’t like the idea of winning moral victories, and are not classifying last night’s contest as such. The Tiger team had them guessing just as it had many Massillon fans confused when the firing was over. They wondered how an eleven so good the first period and a half could fade so badly the remainder of the game.

An analysis seems to indicate that the Tigers concentrated more on a pass rehearsal with a 19-point lead than it did on making more points. At least the offense bogged down once two and three throws were worked into a series.

One shining bit of defensive work loomed in the fourth period when the Presidents made their only bid. Marching from their own 39-yard line, they carried the ball with the assistance of two five-yard penalties to the Tigers’ 20-yard line, where Marcarello broke loose for a 15-yard gain, and planted the ball on the five-yard line with four downs to make it in.

Marcarello was thrown into the Massillon trench to start with but the Tigers refused to yield. Then Luke White was called upon to do his stuff. He went into the pileup on the eight-man line, but lost the ball in the scuffle, and when all of the bodies were exhumed, Bob Wallace was found clutching the ball on the four-yard stripe. This ended the threat.

Moving Day

The Tigers didn’t experience any difficulty moving the Warren beef the first period even though the local line gave away 24 pounds to the man. They did a good job of rendering lard on 265-pound George Bollas, a guard, and forced him out of the game at an early stage of the contest.

Throughout the first half, the local team beat the Presidents to the first foot of ground and hit them so hard at the start, it looked as through the score could be just as high was they wanted.

Warren was the victim of “jitteritis”, or something, and fumbled frequently. On the fourth play of the game, Marcarello fumbled, and Jasinski came up with the ball on the 25-yard line. Capt. Holt deployed his team the width of the field on a spread, and Graber instead of passing, chose to run with the ball and gained seven yards. Bray reeled off 10 around left end and Graber smashed through for the touchdown. Cardinal missed the placekick for the extra point. Two fumbles and an intercepted pass later and the Tigers got the ball on a poor punt on the Warren 33. Holt moved the ball up four yards and Graber, running from a T went to a first down on the 13-yard line. Bray dribbled the ball along four yards and then knifed through left tackle for the touchdown. Holt plunged the extra point over.

Don Willmot recovered Tom Brogdon’s fumble on the Tiger 36-yard line, to start the third touchdown series. Two plays had gained six yards when Holt broke loose and ran 45 yards to the 13-yard line. Graber went over for the touchdown. Holt missed the attempted kick.

The Tigers moved down to the Warren 13 the next time they gained possession of the ball, but surrendered it on downs.

The Presidents’ defense stiffened the third period and threw the Tigers back on the 25-yard line in the opening minutes of the second half. Bray hauled in one of Tony Marcarcello’s passes on the Tiger 44 and, fumbled when tackled, Bob Wallace pounced on the ball for Massillon. Graber passed to Jasinski for 12 yards, one of two passes worked by the Tigers all evening, and another first down. In two attempts Holt lugged the leather through a mass of humanity to the 33-yard line; then plunged to another first on the 13. In three plays Holt and Graber plunged to the one-yard line and Fred Cardinal took it over. He attempted to kick the extra point but it was wide of the uprights.

The final points came in the fourth period on Bray’s 74-yard run from a deep reverse.

String Of 50

Massillon Pos. Warren
Willmot le Ecker
Williams lt Wood
R. Wallace lg Bollas
B. Wallace c Kujala
Weisgarber rg Sicuro
Paulik rt Horvath
Jasinski re Palchick
Cardinal qb T. Moarcarello
Graber lh White
Bray rh Barzak
Holt fb A. Marcarello

Score by periods:
Massillon 13 6 6 7 – 32

Substitutions – Massillon: Edwards, lt; Williams, c; Power, qb; Gibson, rh; Mastriann, fb; Yelic, lt; Kaney, lg; Pellegrini, lh.
Warren: Georges, le; Gillen, lg; Fisher, qb; Crowe, le; Brogdon, lh; Bevan, lt; Martin, rg.

Touchdowns – Graber 2, Bray 2, Cardinal.

Points after touchdown – Holt 2 (plunge and carry).

Referee – Lobach.
Umpire – Brubaker.
Headlineman – Jenkins.
Field judge – Shafer.

Statistics
Mass. Warren
First Downs 12 10
Yards Gained Rushing 327 136
Yards Lost Rushing 24 23
Net Gain Rushing 303 113
Yards Gained Passing 29 29
Total Yards Gained 332 142
Passes Attempted 13 16
Passes Completed 2 2
Had Passes Intercepted 2 7
Passes Incomplete 9 7
Times Punted 2 2
Average Punt (yards) 40 12
Yards Punts Returned 0 18
Times Kicked Off 6 1
Average Kickoff (yards) 51 54
Yards Kickoff Returned 24 88
Times Penalized 6 3
Yards Penalized 60 25

1942: Massillon 32, Mansfield 0

October 23, 1942June 17, 2017
by Eric Smith

CAPACITY CROWD WITNESS GAME

Approximately 9,000 Fans See Bob Graber And Keve Bray Pace Massillon Eleven In 49th Combat Without A Defeat

By Luther Emery

The Washington high Tigers played their poorest football of the season before 9,000 fans at Mansfield Friday evening and were paid the highest possible compliment for it.

They sputtered and they fumbled, and as they walked off the field with a 32-0 victory, their 49th game without a defeat, some Mansfield fans rejoiced, for they had expected to be beaten by as many as 72 points. No greater honor could be bestowed upon any team than to be a moral loser on 32 points.

Revamped Lineup

The Tigers were not at their best but neither were they their strongest. Their blocking quarterback, Fred Cardinal, sat on the bench the entire contest, two of the players, Don Willmot and Barney Wallace, were working on their nerve, and Tom Jasinski was put out in the second period for exchanging blows with a Mansfield substitute.

What the score doesn’t show is a touchdown that was not allowed because of the above mentioned fisticuffs, and the loss of six more points on a fumble at the goal line in the last 15 second.

But Mansfield has had a habit of winning its victories from Massillon the moral way and last night’s was no exception. It’s largely because the Tigers have entered every Mansfield game the heavy favorite only to find the Richland county team geared to top pitch, and ready to play its best brand of football for the season.

Only Team To Tie Tigers

Two of these so-called moral victories were credited to Richland county pigskin history in 1937 and again in 1941 when Mansfield tied the Tigers and on each occasion put a crimp in Massillon victory streaks. In fact Mansfield is the only Ohio eleven to get that near the Tigers since Canton McKinley whipped the local team 21-6 in the last game of the 1934 season.

In 1940 the Massillon eleven traveled to Mansfield, the favorite by 60 points, and wound up
in the 30’s just as it did last night. The Tyger fans rejoiced that their team had held Massillon to its lowest score thus far that season. Snyder had cooked up a right smart defense that foiled the best efforts of the great array of Tom James, Fred Blunt, Ray Getz, and Horace Gillom for the greater part of the first half.

Mansfield was riding in the clouds again last night and during the greater part of the first quarter it was the Tygers not the Tigers who were doing most of the ground gaining.

But lightning split the clouds in the form of Keve Bray ere the first quarter was about to end without a score, and the Tiger halfback raced 46 yards after taking a lateral pass, for a touchdown and Chuck Holt slam-banged his way over for the extra point that showed who was going to set the pace the rest of the game.

It took sensational ones like that to get scores last night – there was no fooling around with this Mansfield team, and the latter probably said the same about the Tigers when midway in the second period, Bob Graber dropped back into punt formation on third down with 15 to go, tucked the ball under this arm and ran 37 yards for a touchdown.

18 Points Last Half

That was enough for the half and the third quarter was well along before another 33-yard run by Graber was followed by a 14-yarder by Bray for the third touchdown of the game.

Fireworks were touched off to set up the fourth score as Bray lugged an intercepted pass 46 yards to the 19-yard line, from which it was put over in two plays with Chuck Holt carrying the ball.

The only forward pass completed by the varsity all evening, a 31-yard toss, Graber to Willmot, set up the final score of the game, with Bray lugging the leather the last five yards to the goal line.

Fumbles and interception of passes made the Tigers look bad. They lost the ball six times on fumbles and had two passes intercepted, which is kicking away a good many scoring opportunities. Since Mansfield also lost the ball several times on fumbles and pass interceptions it appears a wet ball may have been responsible for the loose ball handling. Though the field was not muddy and did not even appear soggy to the fans, it was like a sponge. Players had a hard time getting good footing, and this helped to throw off their timing.

The Tigers sought to split Mansfield with a series of quick opening plays the first half but found the Tygers a stubborn outfit, hard to run through and hard to throw against. They kept five men deployed in their secondary and Graber wasn’t pitching accurately.

Carried Ball Well

The Tiger halfback was running hard, however, and time and again got loose for long gains. It was largely a case of long gains or none. You sat with your chin in your hands when two cracks at the line failed to dent the Mansfield forward wall, but the next moment you were on your toes, when somebody broke loose for 35 yards. Then perhaps all went for naught when the ball was lost on a fumble.

That in brief, was the trend of most of the game, though the Tigers managed to hang on to the leather sufficiently to cross the goal five times, and succeeded in keeping Mansfield behind the 40-yard line.

Long runs do not make a showing in first downs but they account for yardage in the statistics. That’s why the Tigers only made 10 first downs to Mansfield’s six; but on the other hand they had a net total of 300 yards from rushing and 87 more from passing against Mansfield’s net rushing gains of 103 yards and eight yards from passing.

Roland Schmidt, a sophomore halfback, who runs fast and with knees high gained most of Mansfield’s yards in the first quarter and gave the left side of the Tiger line and the backer uppers a series of headaches, before they finally got next to stopping him. He carried the ball for three first downs in three different series of plays the opening period, getting away once for a run of 17 yards. He didn’t do much the last three periods.

Three Sophomore Backs

Three members of the Mansfield backfield were sophomores, which looks as though Coach Snyder’s strategy is to come up with a good team once every three years. He started that way four years ago and wound up with last year’s Mansfield team. He has a flock of sophs and juniors on his squad this season.

One thing about the rules of football, a player can’t defend himself from the rage of an opposing player without being put out of the game.

A good example happened last night and because of it Bray is not credited with a 55-yard touchdown sprint, which would have been the longest run of the game.

While Keve was loping along near the 20-yard line, Jasinski removed the last possible obstacle from his path by nearly knocking Joe Parry, Mansfield guard, into the stands with a vicious shoulder block. Parry was first to swing and Jasinski punched back, and in so doing punched himself right out of the game.

The touchdown was not allowed. The ball was brought back to its original position on the Massillon 45-yard line and both players were put out of the game.

Both teams were equally guilty as far as the rules are concerned, but the penalty governing this type of infraction is far from being equal. The Tigers lost a touchdown, and one of their regular players. Mansfield’s only loss was a substitute player.

Fumble Costs Touchdown

The Tiger second team only played a few minutes last night, and a fumble robbed the youngsters of an opportunity to score. Two passes thrown by Romeo Pellegrini, one for 35 yards to Bill Gable and another for 14 yards to Henry Mastriann, put the ball on the five-yard line. Mastriann plunged to within a yard of the goal, but the ball was lost on a fumble on the next play and Mansfield recovered. The game ended before the Tygers could get going.

The first quarter was almost over and the Tigers found themselves being pushed around by Mansfield, when they cut loose with their first touchdown effort. Starting from his own 20, Graber raced 34 yards around his right end to he Mansfield 46. It looked as though he was loose for a touchdown, but a Mansfield player managed to tag him on the heel causing him to lose his balance and fall. On the very next play, Bray wheeled around his left end behind fine blocking, to pick up the remaining 46 yards and Holt plunged for the extra point.
On the second series of the second quarter, Bray made his fruitless touchdown run, and the ball was restored to the 45. Graber picked up 23 yards to take the ball to the 32, and when two more plays resulted in a net loss of five yards through a penalty, he dropped into punt formation. Instead of punting he ran hard to his right, then cut back to his left and crossed the goal with ease. Holt kicked the extra point and the score was 14-0 at the half.

The Tigers threatened once in the third quarter when they blocked a Mansfield kick on the 20-yard line but they only moved up a yard in four attempts and lost the ball. They stopped Mansfield, too, and Graber brought Lewis’ fine punt back to the Tyger 47. Grabbing a lateral pass he raced around end to the 14-yard line, for a dash of 33 yards, and Bray on the next play was turned loose through left tackle for the remaining distance. Holt missed his attempted kick for the extra point.

Three fumbles and two intercepted passes later, and the Tigers were in position to score their fourth touchdown. Bray grabbed Schmidt’s pass after the Tygers had reached the Massillon 40-yard line and raced to the 19 before he was thrown out of bounds. He turned end to the one yard line on the following play and Holt banged through for the touchdown, but missed the kick for the extra point.

A 29-yard pass from Graber to Willmot planted the ball on the 10-yard line and set up the last score. Power sneaked for five yards and Bray took it over. Holt’s attempted kick was wide of the posts.

Good Enough

Massillon Pos. Mansfield
Willmot le Burrage
Edwards lt Snyder
R. Wallace lg Geattle
B. Wallace c Snowland
Weisgarber rg Hatler
Paulik rt Guy
Jasinski re Lewis
Power qb Rachel
Graber lh Schmidt
Bray rh Zivkoff
Holt fb Boyce

Score by periods:
Massillon 7 7 6 12 – 32

Substitutions – Massillon: Gable, re; Williams, rt-c; Gibson, rh; Bray, le; Oberlin, le; Pellegrini, lh; Mastriann, fb; Schuler, rg; Kanney; Keller; Tongas; Bamberger; Profant; Yelic.
Mansfield: D. Musille, fb; Parry, lg; Zeller, qb; Miller, lt; McBride, Schafer.

Touchdowns – Bray 3, Graber, Holt.

Points after touchdowns – Holt 2, (plunge and kick).

Referee – Gross.
Umpire – Long.
Headlinesman – Boone.

Statistics
Tigers Mansfield
Total First Downs 10 6
Yards Gained by Rushing 316 107
Yards Lost by Rushing 16 4
Net Yards Gained by Rushing 300 108
Net Yards Gained by Passing(a) 87 8
Forward Passes Attempted 11 7
Forward Passes Completed 3 2
Passes Had Intercepted 2 2
Times Ball Lost on Fumbles 6 4
Number of Penalties Against 2 2
Yards Lost by Penalties 10 20

Category: <span>History</span>