MASSILLON – Capitalizing on four pass interceptions and a fumble, the Massillon Tigers defeated a rangy Youngstown East team 39-12 before 9,000 fans Saturday in their last 1941 appearance in Tiger stadium.
The big East team proved to be no breather for the Tigers, scoring more points and making more first downs than any Massillon opponent to date. Coach Bud Houghton kept his first team in the game until late in the final period to insure the eighth victory of the season.
The Youngstown team could get nowhere playing straight football but in the second quarter resorted to a passing attack which netted them 131 yards and both their touchdowns. Dunlevy heaved most of East’s 25 passes with Lou Gabriel doing some effective receiving.
The Tiger line again proved its worth by stopping the Oriental ball carriers cold while their own backs were able to pick up 319 yards. Blunt provided the most spectacular run of the day when he streaked wide around his own left end 64 yards for the third touchdown early in the second quarter.
Adams Scores Opener.
Bob Graber, a junior, played one of his best games, intercepting two passes to set the stage for touchdowns and scoring another himself. Chuck Holt, another junior back, was the first quarter hero, covering a fumble on the second play of the game to provide the break for the first Tiger touchdown. He also intercepted one of Dunlevy’s passes a few minutes later and twisted 29 yards for the second score.
As had been their custom the Tigers wasted no time in scoring. Holt recovered Wayland’s fumble on the East 24 and six plays brought the ball to the two from where Dick Adams took it through right tackle for six points. His kick for the extra point was no good.
Holt’s touchdown came shortly afterward when be intercepted a pass on the East 29 and went over. Adams converted.
Blunt Runs 64 Yards.
Massillon scored again early in the second quarter when Graber intercepted an Oriental pass on his own 36. On the next play Blunt swept end for his 64 yard run and Massillon’s 19th point. Holt made the extra point.
A moment later Graber intercepted another pass. Holt carried to the East 19 and a pass, Graber to Cardinal, took it to the one, where Cardinal hurdled the line for the score. Holt’s kick was no good.
The first Youngstown touchdown came as a result of a drive from their own 35. A pass, Dunlevy to Gabriel, was good for 24 yards and another pass to Gabriel in the march.
The Orientals showed their respect for the Tiger line by not trying to buck their way the remaining four yards. Instead they tried four passes, all of which were grounded, and Massillon took the ball.
East got it back a moment later, however, by covering Blunt’s fumble on the 12-yard line. This time the visitors were not denied. Dunlevy threw a perfect strike to Vicarel, who fell over the goal after catching the ball. Wayland was thrown back trying to carry the ball over for the extra point.
Neither team threatened seriously until the last half-minute of the fourth quarter, when Adams intercepted an East pass on the 39-yard line. The ball was moved up to the 30 where Adams threw over the secondary to Junior White, who caught it in the end zone. The game ended as soon as the Tigers completed their try for the extra point, Adams kicking it over.
The Tigers had the edge in statistics, making 12 first downs to East’s nine and gaining the net total of 343 yards to East’s 148. East made 131 of its net yards on forward passes, while the Tigers made 48.
The locals attempted nine passes and completed two while East tried 25 and worked 10 of them.
Robinson Gets In
The game marked the appearance of Herman Robinson, veteran left end, for the first time this season. He played the last couple of minutes but still favored the injured knee that has kept him on the bench all season.
Enough for the East-Massillon game. The fans have forgotten it already anyway. They are thinking of the tilt at Canton Saturday and so are the Tigers.
They will work out behind closed doors this week with all spectators barred from the field. The Massillon boys emerged from the East game without suffering any injuries, and John Hill, right guard, a contact man on practically every play will be O.K. for the McKinley game. He has been kept out of the last two games because of an injured leg, but it is strong as ever now.
The coaches broke up the squad into groups Sunday and each took a hike as a limbering up process. Serious workout for Saturday’s encounter will begin tonight.
It will be the 46th meeting between the teams since 1894. Canton has won 22 games, Massillon 20, and three have resulted in tie scores. The Tigers have won the last six encounters, a streak that started in 1935 after three years of domination by McKinley.
As the teams go into their final week of practice, the game looks like a tossup, despite the better showing made by the Tigers against two of four common opponents.
Both Tied Mansfield
Both teams tied Mansfield, Canton playing a scoreless tie, Massillon battling to a 6-6 score. The Tigers defeated Steubenville 58-0, Canton won 58-8. The Tigers defeated Warren 21-0, Canton lost to Warren 13-7, with breaks and blocking punts playing an important part in both games. The Tigers defeated Alliance 46-6, when the latter virtually quit in the second half, while Canton edged Alliance 18-13.
The game looks like a tossup despite the latter two scores, because scores frequently have meant so little in past Massillon-Canton game performances.
The Tigers looked like winners by half a dozen touchdowns two years ago, but they were glad to settle for a 20-6 triumph. Last year they trailed up to the last two minutes of the half when a well executed pass put them ahead 7-6. They eventually won 34-6, by routing the Bulldogs the last quarter.
Last year’s 34 points were the most made by either team since Canton whipped Massillon 45-0 back in 1907. In all the years of rivalry, the victor has on but six occasions scored more than 21 points.
Each team has had five opponents cross its goal this season. Six touchdowns have passed over the Tiger payoff stripe, while Bulldog opponents have scored 10 touchdowns on them.
Five of the six touchdowns chalked up against Massillon were scored on passes. Only once was the ball run across, that coming on the return of a kickoff in the Marblehead, Mass., game. Canton has scored 268 points for the season to its opponents’ 66 points, while the Tigers have scored 282 points to their opponents’ 32.
Following is a record of Massillon-Canton rivalry since 1894 and the scores this year:
Toledo Gains Early Lead With Forward Passing Attack, But Fast Massillon Backs Get It Back and Send Score Soaring
By Luther Emery
Ten thousand fans were still thawing out today after shivering and stomping their feet through four periods of near-freezing temperatures at Tiger Stadium, Friday evening, while their Washington high football team was handing Toledo Waite a 39-7 beating to stretch the Massillon undefeated streak to 41 games.
If you have thawed out, you might chance continuing on with this story, but if you are still chilly, turn away from the cold facts or you will start shaking all over again.
Still a Remarkable Crowd
What a difference in the weather last night when compared with that of the Toledo Waite game of 1940, and what a difference in the crowd. And yet last night’s turnout was almost as remarkable.
A year ago, 22,000 fans sat through a driving rain and 5,000 more peered through the fences because they couldn’t get tickets to see a game that had been ballyhooed for eight months, a grudge battle with undefeated rivals for the 1939 state title pitting their perfect records against each other.
The Tigers won that game 28-0 and are still undefeated. But Waite came to Massillon last night with three victories in seven games including losses in its last two starts, and yet 10,000 persons stuck their chins out and took a worse beating from the weatherman than the Toledo football team received at the claws of the Tiger.
A high wind, and near-freezing temperatures made it downright cold, but the fans, most of them, stuck it out to the last despite the fact that the result was a settled issue by the middle of the third period.
Waite Pulls a Thriller
It was an inspired Waite team that met Massillon last night, eleven Indians who fought tooth and nail the first half to ambush the Tigers, score a touchdown the first period and uphold the beat traditions of Maumee gladiators with a courageous display of defense that staved off two Tiger scoring threats in the second period and left Massillon holding the slim edge of 12-7 at halftime.
The game was in no sense secure when the third period got underway, but with the mercury flirting with the low 30’s it didn’t take the Tigers long to put it on ice in the third quarter with two rapid fire touchdowns.
It was a game filed with the spectacular, long runs, and passes, what many fans like and stayed to see.
It stated off faster than the 35-mile an hour gale that howled through the stands and made the light poles sway. Ere four minutes had expired, each team had shoved over a touchdown and fans were wondering what next was coming off.
It took just three plays for the Tigers to get their’s. Junior White got off to a flying start by returning the kickoff 41 yards to the Waite 37, then slipping to the 21 on the next play, from which Dick Adams’ twisted his way for the touchdown.
That was that and Massillon fans leaned back in their seats waiting for the kill, but they themselves were about to be scalped as the Indians took the kickoff and charged back with three rapid-fire passes, two over the line and into the flat that brought a first down on the five-yard line. There Bob Albright rared back and pegged the ball straight over the line to Harry Wright who took his footsies off the ground for a moment to make the catch. When Dick Jensen kicked the extra point, the Tigers found themselves trailing for the second time this year.
Sends Blunt In
None was more concerned than Coach Bud Houghton, for he shoved his ailing captain, Fred Blunt, into the game and the fur began to fly. It that’s the way colds effect Blunt, it might be a good idea to blow a few bacteria his way every week. All he did was grab the ball on his 44-yard line, and head for left end with Joe De Mando thundering along in front to block out the last tackler, while “Pokey” did the whole 56 yards in one stretch. It wasn’t too encouraging yet, when Adams failed to carry the extra point across, for no one knew when Waite might connect again with its passes and take the lead.
For some reason or other, however, the Indians tossed a couple away and quit throwing. The Tigers apparently solved the attack and set up a defense for it. Not another pass did Waite complete after its touchdown. In fact but five more were attempted.
The Indians had hard luck handling the ball. They lost it four times on fumbles, and on three of the occasions the Tigers were quick to seize the break and capitalize on it.
That is not saying that Massillon did not deserve the victory. It was faster and more powerful. Had Waite hung on to the ball a little better however, and gotten away good fourth down punts, the Tigers would have had to have traveled a greater distance to get to the promised land, and consequently the score might not have been as large.
One of these fumbles gave the local gridders a scoring opportunity in the second period when they covered a Waite muff on the 28-yard line.
Here the Indians demonstrated their pluck and only yielded two yards on a pass and three running plays.
Here’s Real Stone Wall
But that was only a sample of what they could do defensively. It wasn’t long after that a brilliant 31-yard run by Blunt helped to get the ball to a first down on the Waite five-yard line. Here the Indians came through with a goal line stand that had Massillon fans worried at the half for they gave the Tigers but two yards on four running plays and took the ball away from them on the three-yard line.
The Indians must have played themselves out doing it however for along came the third period and with Chuck Holt as the spearhead of the drive, the Tigers marched from where they got the kickoff on the 18 to the Waite 16-yard line where Holt tore through the left side of the Waite line to score. This time Adams kicked the extra point and Massillon went to the front 19-7. And it was 25-7 shortly afterward when Holt broke through left guard again and dashed 51 yards for a touchdown. The Tigers had gotten the ball on a fumble just before Holt’s sprint. Vernon Weisgarber covered Bauman’s muff.
Another muff in the same period, this one by Jim Lamoreaux, right halfback, was covered by George Dolmos, substitue tackle, and set the locals in motion for a successful march. Holt plunged for a first down on the 15-yard line and Adams’ well thrown pass was snared in the end zone by Joe De Mando for the touchdown. Adams kicked goal and it was 32-7.
De Mando covered a fumble by Beauman on the 32-yard line in the fourth quarter to ring up points again. White and Holt hugged the ball to the seven from where Graber took it over for six points and repeated on the attempt for the extra point.
That’s all the scoring there was.
Only twice did Waite work the ball into Tiger territory, once on its successful touchdown series and again in the last minute of the fourth period when Albright ran some 27 yards to reach the Massillon 40.
That the Indians were thoroughly outplayed, is clearly shown by the statistics, 14 first downs to eight and a net total of 402 yards from ball carrying to 70 yards.
Coach Houghton started a backfield with only one regular, Chuck Holt. As the game moved into the clutch, however, the regulars one by one began to recuperate and take their places on the field. Fred Cardinal, Blunt, and Graber, all saw service, but John Hill, and Don Armour are still on the sidelines with injuries.
The game was Massillon’s last night attraction of the season, Youngstown East will play here next Saturday afternoon.
Good First Half
Massillon Waite Bray LE V. Smith Paulik LT Jensen Wallace LG Schick Fuchs C Kives Kanney RG Saam Weisgarber RT Oatley De Mando RE Wright Power QB Links Adams LH Lamoreaux White RH Albright Holt FB Bauman
Massillon Gridders Score Touchdowns In First Second and Fourth Periods To Win Important Game Before 10,000 Rain-Soaked Fans
By Luther Emery
The films are undeveloped and so is the Warren football team when it comes to matching the skill of the Washington high Tigers. They went over the Hill on a muddy road to a 21-0 victory Friday evening before 10,000 rain soaked, thrill choked fans in Warren Harding stadium and thereby surmounted one of the big obstacles in their bid for a seventh consecutive state championship.
It was Massillon’s 40th game without a defeat, and it was earned the hard way – by making breaks and taking full advantage of them. It was Warren’s first loss of the season.
Warren Had Drive and Power
Playing on a slippery field that after a few minutes made it practically impossible to identify players unless you could pick them out from their positions, the Tigers found themselves pitted against a spirited Warren team that had drive and power.
Don’t take anything away from Pierre Hill’s Presidents. In the rain and mud, they looked the best eleven the Tiger have faced this season and they were out to win.
Both teams had their minds set on victory. So high were they keyed that they literally jumped at each other the first quarter, leaping offside so often that the officials twice had to call them together and urge the captains to take it just a little easier to so as not to delay the game.
A Thrilling Game
To the folks who sat at home and followed the game by radio and special wire it must have been a thriller; to the fans whose faces were washed with rain all evening it was a killer-diller.
The boys played for keeps on both sides, but there was none of the episode of flying fists that so many fans had anticipated.
In fact fans who didn’t get tickets, were probably only too glad to stay home, while those who did, were so drenched and cooled off by the rain that they kept their hands in their pockets. There was no reason for anything otherwise and more grumbling was heard among Warren general admission patrons who paid 83 cents to stand ankle deep in mud at the ends of the field, than was voiced by anyone else.
It was a football game from start to finish, just as so many other Massillon-Warren games have been. The Tigers looked the smoother team and had more speed, but they couldn’t use it on the sloppy gridiron, fumbled frequently and had a hard time moving their heavier opponents who ganged them on the line of scrimmage because they knew a wet ball made passing practically prohibitive.
It was more of a game than the score would indicate. Only twice all evening did the Tigers actually carry the ball over the middle stripe – they got it in Warren territory on other occasions, through three blocked punts and punt exchanges. Likewise they were in the hold the greater part of the second period with their backs twice against the goal as a result of fumbles.
Tigers Seize Opportunities
The difference in the two teams was that the Tigers took advantage of their scoring opportunities while Warren lacked the power to shove across a touchdown and on one occasion showed poor judgment in accepting a penalty when a decline would have left them in possession of the ball on Massillon’s one and one half yard line.
Two blocked punts and a brilliant 80-yard run by Capt. Fred Blunt produced the Tigers three touchdowns.
The game was only a few minutes old when on the first exchange of punts, big Joe De Mando got his carcass in front of Charley Scarpaci’s punt on the 80-yard line and blocked the ball so hard that it bounded across the goal line. De Mando dove for the ball lost it, but Karl Paulik stretched himself across the leather for the touchdown. As offside penalty on the attempted point for touchdown put the ball on the one yard line where Chuck Holt banged through for the extra point.
The Tigers were fighting hard to hold their seven-point lead and Bob Graber had twice punted them out of danger when Fred Blunt suddenly electrified the fans with the feature touchdown run of the evening, midway in the second period that saw him shake himself loose from Don Byrnes, who almost nailed him for a five-yard loss, he ran 80 yards up the sidelines behind fine blocking, without another hand being laid on him. This time Graber rammed the extra point over to make the score 14-0.
The thrills weren’t over with yet, for the Tigers developed a bad case of butterfingers and Warren recovered two fumbles on the nine and 10-yard lines. Both times the vaunted Tiger line bristled like a Halloween cat and smashed the attempts of the Presidents to legislate a touchdown.
They were helped by a bit of poor judgment on Warren’s part on the second effort when Capt. Scarpaci preferred a second down on the five yard-line to a third down on the yard and a half line. He wound up by losing the ball, and it was Warren’s last serious bid.
Blocked Punt Again
A blocked punt by Bob Wallace in the fourth quarter that Massillon recovered on the Warren 16-yard line paved the way for the last touchdown. Blunt ripped around his left wing for eight yards and hit a man for a first on the three-yard line. Graber turned loose a power play at right tackle and carried the ball himself for the touchdown. He struck for the extra point.
That in brief describes the scoring plays but it only touches on the performance of a few of the players. Though mud and rain games usually result in two teams locking themselves in a grunt and groan match in the middle of the field, nothing of the sort took place last night and there were thrills every minute.
Never will you see a better punting duel than that put up in the second period between Scarpaci and Graber and there wasn’t a Massillon fan who wouldn’t have taken his shirt off his back and given it to Graber were it not for the fact that Graber had no need for two wet shirts.
Once Scarpaci punted dead to the one-yard line. The Tigers were battling to hold a seven-point lead then, and the seven looked small enough. In the fact of a hard charging Warren line, Graber fell back into the end zone and kicked the ball out to the 45-yard line where Larry Larson scooped it up and came back to the 34. The Tigers held, and Scarpaci again pointed his toe at the coffin corner and angled the ball out on the two-yard line. Once, more Graber dropped back and sent the ball spiraling from behind his goal to the 45-yard line, this time with no return. The next time Scarpaci kicked into the end zone, the Tigers got the ball on their 20, and Blunt came though for his 80-yard touchdown dash. After having seen their team in such deep trouble its no wonder the Massillon fans went nearly hysterical and drank large portions of raindrops as they shouted in glee.
Then there followed the brilliant goal line stands by the Tiger forward wall in which every man from one flank to the other had to do his everlasting best.
In Trouble Often
It seemed as though the local team would never get out of trouble. The first setback came when Blunt fumbled a none too good pass on the 33-yard line and the ball rolled back to the nine where Bill Lahto recovered for Warren. Tony Marcarello and Mike Georges wound up two attempts with exactly nothing gained and Don Armour and Blunt batted down passes behind the goal on the third and fourth downs to take possession of the ball.
Less than a minute remained to play, and the Tigers elected to carry the ball and not make any effort to gain ground, hoping to stall out the half. On the second play, however, Dallas Power, who was sent in as a substitute, lost control of the greased pigskin and Frank Superak recovered for Warren on the 10-yard line.
Scarpaci’s pass was grounded but Marcarello ran hard to the one and one-half yard line. Massillon was offside on the play, and Scarpaci took the penalty in preference to the ball which left him possession of the leather on the five-yard line. He picked up one yard at right tackle, but the Tiger linesmen stopped Marcarello in his tracks and knocked down his pass on fourth down. The half ended one play later.
For the most part, play in the third quarter was confined to the back yard of each team. Late in the period, however, Graber made a brilliant 25-yard return of Scarpaci’s punt to lug the leather past midfield to the Warren 38. Here the Presidents held, and for some reason or other the Tigers tried to run for seven yards on fourth down, and lost the ball on the Warren 43. Then it was the President’s turn to invade Tiger territory and they came over the midfield stripe to the Massillon 41, where Wallace broke through and partially blocked Scarpaci’s kick to take the ball on the Massillon 24.
At the outset of the fourth quarter the Tigers threatened when Blunt intercepted one of the eight passes attempted by Warren and raced from his 45 to the Warren 25. He fumbled on second down, Georges recovered for Warren to end the threat.
It’s Wallace again
On the following sequence of plays, Wallace broke through to block Scarpaci’s punt and set the stage for the Tigers third and final touchdown.
Statistically, the difference between the two teams wasn’t as great as the 21 points. Were it not for Blunt’s 80-yard dash, the number of yards gained from scrimmage would have been almost the same. The Tigers gained a net total of 167 to Warren’s net total of 81. Each team made three first downs, a penalty helping Warren to one of its trio.
Neither team tried a whole lot in the way of passing. Warren tossed eight and completed one for a loss of two yards, while Massillon’s two passing attempts were unsuccessful.
Warren held on to the ball far better than the Tigers and as a result did not get itself into difficulty because of fumbles. The Tigers had seven bobbles and lost the ball four times, while Warren had but one fumble and recovered.
With the exception of Don Armour, the Massillon gridders emerged from the game in good condition. He injured a knee early in the fourth quarter after having played a good defensive game. The extent of the injury could not be determined last night but it appears as though it might be serious.
Many Massillon fans are of the opinion that the Tigers would have run away with Warren on a dry field. Hazarding a guess at such a score would be second guessing and it must be remembered that a wet field also hampered the Warren offense, especially in the department of forward passing.
Warren packed a good wallop in its power plays and usually had men ahead of the ball carrier.
Joe De Mando who entered the game with a severe cold was brought home and placed in the city hospital, just to make certain that he would receive careful attention.
Well, the films will be mailed back to Warren again. The two rolls of movie film taken from Warren scouts when they attended the Cathedral Latin game here last month will be returned to Warren shortly.
The films were given back to Warren 10 days ago, but Warren mailed them back to Massillon again. L.F. Kemp principal of Washington high has them in his possession but will return them shortly.
Sweet Victory
Massillon Pos. Warren Bray LE Georges Paulik LT Superak Wallace LG Byrnes Fuchs C Kujala Hill RG Kelson Weisgarber RT M. Graham De Mando RE Lehto Cardinal QB McKinney Graber LH Larson Blunt RH Scarpaci Holt FB Marcarello
Tigers Prove Themselves Better Team in Midfield, But Mansfield Defense Is Tough Inside the 25-Yard Line
By Luther Emery
All good things must come to an end and they did at Tiger Stadium Friday evening when an inspired Mansfield high school team beat the statistics to tie the Washington high school Tigers 6-6 and thereby halt the Massillon consecutive victory streak at 38 games.
It wasn’t as bad as it could have been, for the score could just was well read 7-6 either way, but neither team could make the extra point. So Mansfield for the second time in seven seasons puts an end to the Massillon streak with a tie score.
Ended Streak in 1937
The Tygers stopped a 21-game string in 1937 with a 6-6 tie and still have the distinction of being the only Ohio high school team to successfully tie a Massillon eleven since Canton McKinley twisted the Bengal’s tail in the finale of the 1934 season.
Twenty-two thousand fans and 3,000 others who mounted the hilltops after being turned away at the gate, saw each team score its touchdown in the second quarter, Mansfield first, then Massillon. They too, saw an infuriated Mansfield team hurl back threat after threat in the last half to maintain the tie with brilliant goal line stands.
Massillon hammered in Mansfield territory throughout the entire second half, losing the ball once on the 17-yard line, again on the nine, again on the one, again on the 29, again on the 24, and still again on the 22. Once in the second quarter the ball was surrendered on the Mansfield 16.
The Tigers moved easily enough in midfield, but once inside the 25-yard line, it was like banging into a stone wall. Two big ends, Joe Romano and Bob Winbigler, and a hard tackling secondary led by Bill Doolittle made life miserable for Massillon ball carriers, when they tried to gain ground in pay dirt.
Statistics and Points Differ
The local team complied an impressive quantity of yardage, 273 yards to Mansfield’s 58 and 16 and first downs to one, but statistics tell one story and points another. The Tigers offensive efforts were confined principally to territory between the 20-yard lines. They were stopped all but once by the withering Mansfield defense when they got inside the 10, and although it seemed as though they would just have to score a second time, they didn’t.
Mansfield too found the Massillon defense hard to penetrate. Only once did the Tygers work the ball into Tiger territory, but they got it there two other times on breaks. They could still be hammering away without denting the forward wall, but they called the right play at the right time in the second period and a screen pass, from Ken Krupp to Bill Doolittle that caught the Massillon line completely off guard, was good for 27 yards and a touchdown. Even then Bob Graber might have successfully made the tackle, had he not run over an official and thereby got blocked out of the play.
When the ball was snapped to Krupp, the Mansfield linemen moved forward, then stepped aside and allowed the Tiger linemen to charge through. Doolittle caught the pass only a few feet past the line of scrimmage, cut sharply to his right and headed down the sidelines with practically no one to stop him.
Doolittle tired to placekick the extra point and by a few scant feet the Tigers missed defeat. The ball was bar high, but too far to the right.
The Tigers charged back with a grim determination that made Massillon hearts swell with pride. Graber returned Duke Weber’s kickoff to his 37, and in three plays he and Holt took the leather to midfield. Fred Blunt on a deep weak side reverse raced to the 31-yard line and Holt smashed to another first on the 19 in three plays.
Adams Scores
A three-yard loss on a sweep by Adams was nullified when he tossed a pass to Joe De Mando for a first down on the nine-yard line. A five-yard penalty against Mansfield for offside advanced the ball to the four-yard line when Adams on the first play circled the right end for the touchdown. He too, tried to kick the extra point from placement but he topped the ball and it bounded under the uprights.
That’s all the scoring there was. Mansfield never threatened in the second half, and only once worked the ball into Tiger territory when Doolittle on a bootleg play, took the leather to the Massillon 45 for a gain of 10 yards and the visitors’ only first down of the evening. A pass interception ended the threat the very next play and the Tigers charged back with their final effort of the game that netted three first downs and took the ball to the 22 where a 15-yard penalty for intentionally grounding a pass ended any further hopes for victory. Mansfield wasted the last minute, consuming as many seconds as possible to keep the Tigers from getting another shot at the goal.
It just wasn’t a Massillon night and though Mansfield did not win the game, visiting fans took the score with the same enthusiasm as a victory and celebrated long into the morning.
The Tigers seem to like to get themselves into a hole at the start.
A poor pass from center on fourth down when Adams dropped back to punt gave Mansfield the ball on the Massillon five-yard line the second minute of play. Here the Tiger forward wall rose up with all of its might and the visitors were pushed back 10 yards to the 15 where Massillon took the ball on downs.
Clipping Penalty Helps Visitors
The teams exchanged punts, and Vernon Weisgarber broke through to smear one of the Mansfield efforts and gain Massillon the ball on the 25-yard line. The visitors stopped the threat on the 16 and when they punted out safely, a Massillon player clipped a Mansfield tackler before Graber could pick up the punt and the ball was given to Mansfield on the Tiger 27-yard line, the point where the clipping occurred. Doolittle tried a pass that failed, and then came the successful screen pass that produced the Mansfield touchdown and put the Tigers’ behind for the first time this season.
Mansfield prepared to attempt a field goal after the Tigers had tied the score at 6-6, but never was able to get into position for it. Prior to the game, a member of the visiting team spent his entire warm-up session practicing field goal kicking, and he got quite a few between the uprights.
Now and then you see a team defeated where the statistics were so overwhelmingly in its favor. That could easily have occurred last night. Seldom will a team outplay another by such a wide margin offensively and still salvage nothing more than a tie score.
The Tigers gained 250 yards by rushing to Mansfield’s 56 and lost 24 for a net total of 226 to Mansfield’s net total of 31. Forty-seven yards were gained by Massillon with the forward pass, through six completions in 12 attempts, while Mansfield completed none but its touchdown pass in seven attempts. The Tigers average 51 yards in punts to Mansfield’s 42 yards and had an edge in the kickoffs.
Scouted Thoroughly
It was evident the visitors had the Tigers thoroughly scouted. Their line was strong enough to permit good protection for the secondary and they apparently did not fear any reverses to the weak side. When the Tigers shifted to the left, Mansfield over shifted to stop the long dashes by Blunt and were fairly successful in doing so. Only a couple of times did he get away for substantial gains, the longest of these coming on a deep weak side reverse, a 19-yard run, when the Tigers were staging their only successful touchdown march.
Mansfield’s ace, Lightning Jones, didn’t do anything at all. He carried the ball but four times, lost 12 yards and gained three, for a net loss of nine yards for his evening’s work.
The nearest the Massillon team came to scoring a second time was in the third period when they took the leather 69 yards to the one yard line, where Adams was thrown for a loss when the whole Tyger team jammed up to stop his smash at right tackle.
Massillon looked impressive when they came out for the second half and marched the kickoff back to the Mansfield 17 before losing it on downs by a yard, but as has been said before in this writing, the goal line punch that would puncture the Mansfield defense just couldn’t be found.
Because of the record rolled up by Tiger teams the last four years, one almost loses sight of a couple of things the Tigers can be proud of. While Mansfield is rejoicing over tieing Massillon, the Tigers can boast being the first team to cross the Mansfield goal this season, as well as write a new record in the books for themselves – 39 consecutive games without a defeat more than 10 years ago. The Mansfield record, however, included several tie scores.
The tie score will serve to take a great amount of pressure off the Tigers who have been struggling to weld more links in the victory chain. They can start all over next week – and Warren should be an excellent place to do it.
Start All Over
Massillon Pos Mansfield Armour LE Romano Dolmos LT Arlin Wallace LG Weber Fuchs C Dietzel Hill RG K. Smith Weisgarber RT Butler De Mando RE Winbigler Cardinal QB Doolittle Adams LH Krupp Blunt RH Jones Holt FB A. Brandt
Tear Steubenville Wall Apart As Backfield Men Dance To Long Runs; First Team Plays But Two Periods
By Luther Emery
A powerful Tiger offense that never punted and only once failed to score when it came into possession of the ball, rolled the Big Red Wave of Steubenville back into the Ohio river last night 58-0, before 8,000 amazed fans.
Polished to a keen edge, doing everything right, nothing noticeably wrong, the Massillon juggernaut scored at least two touchdowns in every quarter, despite the fact that the first, second, and third teams were used in the game.
32 Points First Half
The first stringers rolled up 32 points the first half and then retired to allow the second and third teams to carry on. The second eleven scored 13 points in each of the third and fourth periods before retiring in favor of an all-sophomore team that did not score but had the ball on the Big Red 15-yard line when the game ended.
It isn’t often you see a football game where one team never punts, but that’s what happened in Steubenville last night. Not once did the Tiger eleven have to kick the ball, and it only lost it once on downs, that the result of a fumble on fourth down when the third team was in operation. And that was the only time they failed to make a touchdown when they came into possession of the ball.
It was a sad night for Mel Knowlton, who left Massillon last Spring to take over the coaching job at Steubenville. He had the same offense, several kinds of defenses, but lacked the personnel that made up the Massillon team.
Couldn’t Stop Local Team
Knowlton felt badly about it all, but there was nothing he could do about it. It was Massillon’s night and the Tigers clawed the Big Red convincingly for their 38th consecutive victory and their fifth in a row over Steubenville.
The statistics were just as convincing as the points, 534 yards to Steubenville’s 51, and 23 first downs to Steubenville’s 2. Both of the Big Red first downs came as a result of penalties. Never were they able to penetrate the sturdy Tiger forward wall for 10 yards.
Once more it was the old story of a line that so completely outcharged its opponent that backs could run at will -–and they had a big evening. Pokey Blunt, Dick Adams, and Bob Graber all gained more than 90 yards each, while Junior White and Chuck Holt were not far behind. Blunt, Adams, Graber, and White each crossed the Big Red goal twice and even Fred Cardinal found the end of the rainbow when he scored on a quarterback sneak – the first time he has carried the ball.
Even a drizzle of rain failed to check the scoring. In fact it gained impetus with the moisture that began dripping about the middle of the second period. At that it would be something new for the Tigers to play on a dry field. They have had rain their last three games. As expected, Knowlton had a fancy defense prescribed for throttling the Massillon speed. Massillon fans in past years had seen him direct his junior high elevens to upset victories through fancy conniving and spiriting of his team to unheard of heights. They had expected something in the unorthodox and found it a 5-3-1-2 defense with variations of 6-2-2-1 and 5-3-2-1. As the game progressed and the route continued, however, he changed to the more standard 7-1-2-1.
The way the Tiger offense functioned last night, none of the types of defense could stop it. The line hit with such ferocity that Big Red tacklers were grounded in the charge and had little opportunity to break up the interference. The blockers cut down the secondary viciously and scattered Big Red players over the field as though a machine gun had mown them down.
Many Long Runs
It was a night of long runs with Adams, Blunt, and Graber particularly having themselves a big evening. Longest of the runs was an 80-yarder by Adams, a return of a punt that didn’t count because the Big Red kicker was bumped over. Graber jaunted 55 yards after a pass interception to score, and Blunt, Carl Paulik, who has an injured shoulder, and replacing Dave Miller at left guard with Bob Wallace who has been coming along fast.
Though the Big Red looked in better condition and better coached that the disorganized teams of the past two years, it had nothing offensively to penetrate the Tiger attack, and only once was in possession of the ball in Tiger territory. That, too, was the result of the fourth down fumble by the third team that forfeited the ball to the Big Red on the Tiger 43-yard line.
Only five passes were thrown by Steubenville and three of these were intercepted by Massillon, one being turned into a touchdown.
None Seriously Hurt
A quick checkup of Massillon players after the game failed to reveal any serious injuries. Hill sustained a gash over the right eye that laid an egg on his forehead, while Cardinal was bumped hard on the leg in one scrimmage. None of the Steubenville boys was believed injured to any extent.
It didn’t take the Tigers long to show their superiority. They stopped Steubenville after the kickoff and got the ball on a punt on their own 49. It was Blunt, Holt, and Adams for three first downs in a row that ended with Blunt going through left tackle on a reverse for a touchdown. Adams kicked the extra point.
Stopped again after the kickoff Mastrioanni of the Big Red punted out on the Tiger 26. Five first downs that included a 10-yard pass from Graber to De Mando planted the ball on the six-yard line from which Blunt scored his second touchdown on a reverse. This time Holt tried to kick the extra point and missed.
The quarter ended with the score 13-0.
Early in the second period, another Big Red punt went out of bounds on the 46. Blunt reeled off 16 yards to go to the Big Red 30 and Adams took it in two plays to the eight-yard line. A reverse with Adams carrying the ball produced the touchdown. He also kicked goal for the 20th point.
The next drive began from the Massillon 30. Blunt and Graber bore the brunt of the ball carrying as they ripped off gains of 24, 23, and 10 yards. After Graber had planted the ball on the five-yard line, Cardinal plunged through on a sneak and came out of the pileup standing up. The point was missed and the score stood at 26-0.
Pass Starts Another
Junior White went into the game for Massillon and quickly intercepted Poole’s pass on his own 46. Graber fired to De Mando for 37 yards and a first down on the Big Red 17. Graber took it over in three plays. Holt missed a kick for the extra point and the half ended 32-0.
The Tigers received at the start of the third period. Two plays put the ball on the Big Red 47-yard line and Adams took it the rest of the way. He made the extra point attempt and the score was 39-0.
Having lost a touchdown on a penalty for roughing the kicker after Adams had danced his way 80 yards, the Tigers finally get the leather on the 33 and Adams ran it back to the 47. White reeled off eight and Adams tossed 27 yards to Jasinski for a first down on the eight-yard line. White went over for the touchdown. Adams missed the kick and the score was 43-0.
The fourth period opened with the ball on the Massillon 48-yard line. White overcame a 13-yard loss when Adams was thrown while trying to pass and carried the ball to the 34-yard line. Adams and Gibson took it to the 12-yard line and White went the rest of the way. Adams’ attempted kick was blocked.
The last touchdown came quick on the heels of White’s run, when Graber pulled in Poole’s pass on his 45-yard line and raced 55 yards to score. He kicked the 58th and final point.
Third stringers went in for Massillon and had the ball on the Big Red 15-yard line when the game ended.
One could hardly help but feel sorry for Knowlton as touchdown after touchdown sifted through his defense. He simply does not have the players this year. The eleven he started against the Tigers included but four players who won their letters last year and only one of the four approached being a regular.
Big Red fans as a whole, however, have shown a disposition of patience. They haven’t had a winning team for some five or six years, and they have confidence that Knowlton, if given time, will get them back into the headlines.
It’s The 38th
Massillon Pos. Steubenville Armour LE King Edwards LT Doggett Bob Wallace LG Chadnock Fuchs C Kopras Hill RG B. Miller Weisgarber RT Lashley De Mando RE Kennedy Cardinal QB Klein Adams LH Poole Blunt RH Mastrioanni Holt FB Panagel
Break Visitors’ Morale In First Period Goal Line Stand; None Expected So Large A Score
By Luther Emery
The heralded invasion of Alliance’s red and blue Aviators crashed in Tiger Stadium Friday evening and the explosion was still reverberating throughout Ohio today. Not only were the Wingmen downed, but they were grounded with a force that surprised even the most optimistic Massillon fan – 46-6.
Program Cover
When 20,000 fans leaned back amazed at the strength of the Massillon forward wall as it twice weathered goal line stands in the early minutes of the final quarter, they never believed that the game eventually would turn into a rout that at one time reached the fast pace of three points a minute.
Same Margin As Last Year
The Tigers were magnificent, and the margin of superiority over their stubborn foe of many years was exactly the same as last year – 40 points.
Who would have thought it when the first period ended in a scoreless tie, and the half only 6-0 in the Massillon eleven’s favor?
But the Tigers came out a new ball team in the second half, marching the kickoff right back 58 yards for a touchdown, and broke the spirit of the visiting team.
Aviators Quit
The Aviators appeared to quit then and there, and that is something new for a team coached by “Dutch” Hoppes. The loss of a couple of injured players, key men so to speak, may have started it, and there was little left in the way of opposition to the Tigers from there on in.
They shoved four more touchdowns over the Alliance goal in the third period, pushed two across in the fourth, and cleansed the bench of substitutes as all had an opportunity to play.
It was an improved Massillon team that chalked up the 37th consecutive victory for Tiger Town last night. The same hard blocking that featured the 39-0 defeat of Cathedral Latin high a week ago was there, and there were passes to help split the secondary and keep paths open for ball carriers. The forward pass was a potent weapon in Tiger hands for the first time this season, produced one touchdown, helped set the stage for another and produced 104 yards.
More remarkable than the increased offensive power was the defensive demonstration in the first few minutes that developed into one of the most courageous bits of line play ever seen here.
Twice the Tiger forwards threw back the visitors in the shadow of their goal posts, pushing them back from the four to the five-yard line on one occasion after they had had four downs to put it over.
You can hardly get an argument anywhere now but that this line is the best defensive high school line in years. All season it has been throwing opponents backward and seldom yielding an inch of ground. Why in 24 rushes at the Tiger forward wall last night, Alliance could gain but a net of 17 yards. You have John Hill, Joe De Mando, Dave Miller, Carl Paulik, Don Fuchs, and Vernon Weisgarber to thank for that, especially De Mando and Hill. Wonder how many times last night Alliance ball carriers wished Hill and De Mando had never learned to play football?
Toss Opponents Backward
The two boys tackled viciously and time and again crashed through to throw Alliance players for losses. They had a lot to do with limiting the visitors to five first downs, most of which were from passes and gave them the small net gain of 17 yards.
The same line also beat down the visitors offensively, blocking and cutting paths for Fred Blunt, Bob Graber, Dick Adams, Chuck Holt, and Junior White. It was through its efforts that the backs were able to roll up net gains of 418 yards from ball carrying.
Their only fault was inability to hold out the opposition in the early minutes of the game when two blocked punts by Earl Branfield put the Tigers’ in the hole. But their goal line stands made up for it all.
The Tigers were decidedly the better team the first two periods even though the 6-0 halftime score does not show it that way.
The blocked punts at the start got them in a hole and penalties at inopportune times also hurt. In fact, all but 30 second of the entire first quarter were played in Massillon territory, and it was not until three plays before the end of the period that Fred Blunt was turned loose on a brilliant 47-yard dash through left tackle that the orange and black managed to take the leather into the Aviator’s back yard.
That was the first flash of an offense that began reeling off yards as you would run clothes through a ringer.
Long Runs Feature
The Tigers didn’t get a touchdown on this attempt but they pushed it over the next time they laid their hands on the ball and followed with others that stabbed the Aviator line with lightning rapidity. Once Blunt raced 70 yards to score, again Junior White pranced 66 yards into the promised land and then there was a 20-yard touchdown pass hurled by Adams to Don Armour, who played himself a fine game.
None the less startling was the perfect peg from Alliance’s Dick McClure to Captain Joe Rogel, a 16-yard toss, for the Aviators only touchdown.
Alliance crossed up the Tiger secondary on that one. With only a yard to go, the second line of defense was expecting a line plunge. The long count in the Alliance huddle was a tip-off that something else was being cooked up, and Rogel got behind the defenders to make a good catch of McClure’s toss.
Aviators’ Offense Weak
The Aviators manufacture little in the way of offense. Their net gain of 17 yards describes their running attack, but they managed to pick up 89 additional yards on six completed passes.
The Aviators had a couple of light, but speedy backs in McClure and “Bud” Howell, but their linemen couldn’t turn them loose. McClure barely scales 140 pounds, and looks smaller than that in the dressing room.
“The only way to beat you fellows is to get faster boys,” was Coach Hoppes’ comment after the game. “I can’t figure it out – how a team that would hold an opponent to six points the first half could collapse so completely the second.
A lot of other fans couldn’t understand it either, but a survey of the visitors’ dressing room after the game was enough to show that the red and blue took a physical beating as well as a trimming in points. The boys appeared tired, despite their apparent good condition. None was believed seriously injured, though Harry Geltz, a substitute halfback, may have sustained a fractured rib.
An occasional limp was also noticeable in the Tiger dressing room. Don Fuchs, first string center, was among them. Bob Kanney, substitute guard, had a swollen eye, the result of a hard bump he received in the face late in the game.
Herman Robinson, one of two regulars left from last year, who suffered an injured knee the first day of practice, put on his uniform for the first time last night, but he will be unable to play for several weeks. The cast was only removed from the knee Friday.
Knowlton Sees Game
Mel Knowlton, who was an assistant Washington high coach for several weeks this spring before accepting the head job at Steubenville, had his entire staff in the stands to watch the game. “This years team is faster than that of last,” Mel contented after the game. “I don’t know what we can do to stop you next week.” The Tigers play at Steubenville next Friday.
The game had its freak plays, one of which you may not see again in 1,000 football games – a passer completing a pass to himself. It occurred in the second half. Bob Graber threw the ball, a bullet pass that struck an Alliance player and bounced right back into his arms for a four-yard loss.
Getting back to the game, the hair-raising first quarter created a need for better protection for the punter. The Tigers moved the ball well the first time they got it and were inches short of a first down in three attempts. They decided to punt rather than chance a mishap on their own 17, but they had the mishap just the same. The left side of the Alliance line came a busting through as Branfield blocked the ball. Massillon recovered but it was Alliance’s ball on the Tiger 37. Two five-yard penalties for offside gave Alliance a first down and Howell’s dash around left end produced another on the 35-yard line. The Tigers stopped the threat on the 18-yard line when Graber tried to punt out safely. Branfield crashed through again to block the ball and Alliance got it on the nine.
A five-yard penalty for offside on the next play put the leather just four yards short of the goal with four downs to make it in.
Here the Tigers again rose to the occasion just as they did against Weirton and Marblehead. “Red” Artino hit for a yard. McClure failed to gain at right tackle. De Mando broke through and tossed McClure for a three-yard loss and the threat ended when a pass was grounded behind the Tiger goal.
Dick Adams was sent in to punt for Massillon but he wasn’t needed. Blunt made nine, Holt plunged for a first down on the 20.
Holt and Blunt picked up seven more and Blunt shook himself loose for a dash to the Alliance 25-yard line. Though you wouldn’t have said so then, when you look over a play-by-play account of the game, it was the beginning of the end. An incomplete pass and a fumble ended the threat on the 25-yard line and McClure punted back to the Tiger 48.
Tigers Get Touchdown
This time the Massillon eleven was not to be denied. Blunt and Holt, running fast and hitting hard moved to the 15-yard line. Holt fumbled a reverse, but Adams scooped it off the ground and dashed to the 10-yard line before going down. Blunt circled left end for the touchdown. Adams’ attempted kick for the extra point failed.
Fumbles and penalties slowed the game the rest of the second quarter, a 15-yard verdict for holding nullifying a fine 20-yard run by Blunt.
The second half was nothing but a touchdown parade. It stated with a 38-yard march after the kickoff featured by Graber’s 20-yard pass to De Mando for a first down on the 10-yard line. It took Blunt only one play to smash through for the touchdown. Holt kicked the point.
Howell fumbled on the first play after the kickoff and Dave Miller was Johnny on the spot for Massillon on the Massillon 48. Blunt and Adams lugged the leather to a first down on the Alliance 23 and Adams tossed a beauty to Armour for the touchdown. Adam’s kick was wide.
Held after the next kickoff, McClure punted to the Massillon 34. On the very next play, White running heard and fast circled his left end for 66 yards and a touchdown. Not a hand touched him. Adams missed the kick and the score was 26-0.
Alliance Scores
Alliance connected on a 31-yard pass after the next kickoff to advance the ball to the Tigers’ 35-yard line. Hill tossed McClure for a 10-yard loss, but another well executed pass to Fritz and Artino’s plunge brought a first down on the Massillon 26. McClure passed to Branfield for nine yards and on fourth down tossed to Rogel for a touchdown. Branfield’s attempted kick for the extra point was blocked.
Alliance kicked off to Holt who came hard from the goal line to his own 30. On the first play Blunt came around the weak side on a reverse for a 70-yard touchdown dash. The try for the extra point was blocked and the score was 32-6.
Early in the fourth quarter, a 39-yard pass from Graber to De Mando put the ball on the five-yard line. Joe was sent over the goal on an end around play, but the ball was called back and the Tigers were penalized five. Graber took it over and Holt kicked the extra point that made it 39-6.
Holt pulled down an Alliance pass after the kickoff and ran the ball back from his 25 to the Alliance 48. Graber’s pass to Blunt brought a first on the 25. Holt and Graber took the ball to the one-yard line where Graber lugged it over and Holt kicked the extra point.
Second and third teams finished the game for Massillon, Adams, jitterbugging his way at one time to his eight-yard line only to be set back on a 15-yard clipping penalty. There was no further scoring.
Bombers Crash
Massillon Alliance Armour LE Fritz Paulik LT Andreannl Miller LG Bard Fuchs C Ruff Hill RG Maniho Weisgarber RT J. Habien De Mando RE Branfield Cardinal QB McClure Graber LH Howell Blunt RH J. Rogel Holt FB Artino
Scores by periods Massillon 0 6 26 14 – 46 Alliance 0 0 6 0 – 6
Massillon Machine Put Into High Gear As It Splashes To 36th Straight Victory on Wet Gridiron
By Luther Emery
Blocking with the precision reminiscent of the best days of yore, the Washington high Tigers Friday evening removed Cathedral Latin from their path to the tune of 39-0 as they chalked up their 36th consecutive victory on a wet field before 11,221 fans.
The attendance was the smallest of the season, but was surprisingly good considering the rain and was indicative of how the stands would have bulged had good weather prevailed.
Tigers Show Power
It was a vicious, point thirsty Tiger that Coach Bud Houghton and his assistants trotted out on the soggy gridiron last night, and fans stood up and applauded loudly as the Massillon youngsters, blocked and tackled, handled the ball with better timing and clicked as they never before did this season.
This Massillon eleven is coming right along, fans said to themselves as they waded through the moisture on their way home from the game, and they were correct.
The Massillon eleven is improving, getting better in leaps and bounds, and that is a testimony not only to the coaches but to the players as well who are putting into practice on the gridiron what they learn during the week on the training field.
New Tiger Team
From the time the Tigers grabbed the kickoff and marched 49 yards to the Latin nine-yard line, it was evident that a new machine had been tuned up for the orange and black. Even though the first drive failed, and sputtered when a fumble three plays later gave Latin its only scoring opportunity on the Massillon 20-yard line, it was obvious that the Tigers were the better team.
They had the power, the force to roll back a seven and eight-man line tossed at them by Latin and their drive through the center of the visitors’ forward wall led by young Chuck Holt, looked like the plunges that Glenn Williams produced 10 years ago.
Holt apparently is the answer to Houghton’s offensive problem, for he is just the type of crusher that is needed at fullback, and Fred Blunt who prefers cutting his capers from the right halfback spot, did a good job of it there last night.
Holt stood out, because it was his first performance as a starter. There wasn’t a standout in reality for the other members of the backfield, Bob Graber and Fred Cardinal, and the linemen were in the game up to their neck, offensively as well as defensively, and the holes they ripped in the Lion’s den made it far easier for the ball carriers to gain ground than on previous nights when the blocking was a bit spotty.
The Tigers threw everything but the goal posts at their opponents on the sweeps and tacklers were felled as red woods are cut down out where the west ends.
The Massillon eleven was superior in every department of play last night and not only shoved six touchdowns over the Lion goal, three of them in the last quarter, but rolled up 16 first downs to Latin’s two and gained 402 yards rushing to Latin’s 34. Latin’s two first downs were made on completed forward passes, the only department in which the visitors held the edge in yards gained. They made 33 yards to the Tigers 18 but they only completed three of 12 passes to two of seven for Massillon.
Latin Gambles
From the start it was evident the Latin boys were out to gamble, and gamble they did when they threw the wet ball from behind their goal the first time they got their hands on the slippery leather. They had hoped to catch Massillon off guard and score a cheap touchdown, but it didn’t work.
The Lions time and again pitched from deep in their own territory and did their very best to make a game of it to the very end despite discouraging pass interceptions and blocked punts.
The game produced more than one thrill as Joe De Mando blocked one punt, Bob Kanney another, and Blunt, Graber, and Junior White got away to long touchdown jaunts. Then there were the fumbles that stopped both teams at intervals, a dribble by Graber that bobbed right back up into his arms, a loss by Dick Adams after a brilliant run that had him heading for the open field when the ball slipped out of his arms like a greased pig.
There might have been other touchdowns ,too, with a few ifs. Twice denied touchdowns in the last 30 seconds by the rules, the Tigers had the ball on the one-yard line with first down coming up when the game ended.
Only the Tiger passing game fell short last night but it was not a fair test, considering the wet field and slippery ball. If the passing improves next week at the same rate as the running attack, the orange and black will be in good position to play host to Alliance’s Aviators here next Friday in what undoubtedly will be their stiffest test of the season to date. Alliance defeated Akron St. Vincent’s last night 25-0.
Herb Eisle, the Latin coach, was very complimentary after the game and hurried to the Tiger dressing room just as soon as he had given his boys the once over and found none seriously hurt.
“You have another fine team here in Massillon,” he said. “We always learn a lot when we come here. Our boys do too. We go home, and we are pretty tough to lick thereafter.”
Ends 10 -Game Streak
Eisle isn’t certain how this year’s Latin team compares with that of last year’s eleven which took a 64-0 beating here. The 1940 team only lost one other ball game, and the Lions came here last night with a victory string that was severed at 10 games.
Two movie cameramen, reportedly from Warren, came to Massillon last night hoping to learn a lot too, but their identity was discovered after they had posed as being from Cathedral Latin, and their films were confiscated.
The Tigers had something for them all to look at last night – even though it was little more than straight football. The fancy stuff can come later and will now that the eleven has gained the confidence essential to a green team.
The local eleven looked like the orange crushers of state championship years as they pushed the Lions around the first period, and even though they failed to score, they were causing trouble all the time.
Their first successful drive began when Graber pulled down Dick Brown’s pass on his 41 and got back to the Lion 36. Two plays gained but three yards as the lion’s stiffened with eight men on the forward wall, so Graber appropriately tossed to Cardinal for a first on the 19. Holt and Blunt took two smacks at the line and moved the ball to the five-yard stripe. Graber knifed his way a yard short of the goal and Holt took it over. Holt tried to hurry his point after touchdown and kicked the ball low and to the side.
When a fumble stopped the next march on the 24-yard line, Joe De Mando went to work and blocked one of Frank Tercek’s punts to give the Tigers another chance from the 23. The half was nearly over. In fact the series began with only a minute and seconds remaining, but Adams managed to flip the ball to Holt on fourth down for a touchdown and he kicked the extra point that made it 13-0. The half ended on the kickoff, and there followed a blackout caused by a blown fuse that left both teams in the dark for 25 minutes before play could be resumed.
March Back With Kick
The third quarter saw Latin a beaten team. The visitors chose to kickoff and the Tigers launched a march from the 35 that ended with Blunt circling end for eight yards and a touchdown. Pokey had set up the touchdown with runs of 12 and 14 yards. Adams’ attempted kick was wide and left the score at 19-0.
There was no further scoring in the period despite a 48-yard run by Holt from a pass interception and a 30-yard sprint by Blunt, but the fourth quarter was a dizzy one and had its reward in points.
Kanney got through to block Julius Suky’s punt, and De Mando scooped up the ball on the 15-yard line and raced over for the touchdown. Holt’s toe made it 26-0.
Another touchdown followed in a flash. Stopped in efforts to gain ground, Tercek kicked out on the 31-yard line and Graber in two plays, was over. Holt missed his try for point.
With an entirely new Tiger team in the game the ball came into Massillon’s possession on the Latin 37-yard line. T.Y. Gibson moved the ball up three yards and Junior White reeled off the remainder in a dash around left end. Just to add insult to injury, Adams circled the other flank for the extra point.
Same Old Tiger
Massillon Latin Armour LE Tercek Paulik LT Mahon Miller LG Rigot Fuchs C Mazurowski Hill RG Daley Weisgarber RT Phillips De Mando RE Paltoni Cardinal QB Dillon Graber LH Brown Blunt RH Cusineau Holt FB Sukys
THE DELICATE wheels that make up the Massillon high scheme of football attack moved with precision of watchworks last night and the Tigers scored their 36th straight victory with an impressive 39-0 triumph over Cleveland Cathedral Latin at Massillon stadium.
A crowd of 11,220 rain-socked spectators watched the gallant Cleveland eleven, with a string of 12 consecutive wins, hold the powerful Massillon team in check for the first 12 minutes of play.
Then the Tigers roared into action in the second period and their well-timed blocking and deception produced glittering long runs and six touchdowns in the final 36 minutes.
For the first quarter the Clevelanders, clearly outmanned, put up a grim battle, holding the count even and threatening within 20 yards of the Massillon goal.
Three minutes after the second period opened Massillon pulled the throttle and from there on it was just a breeze.
Chuck “Zeke” Holt made the first touchdown over his right tackle from the three-yard mark.
A blocked kick late in the second quarter set the stage for another Tiger opportunity. Massillon, working against the clock, took to the air.
There were two minutes to play when Don Armour jumped on Bob Dillon’s fumble on the Latin 22. Two tosses from Dick Adams failed to hit the target, but finally one by the same boy to Holt paid for 22 yards and a touchdown just before the half ended.
Hardly had the echo of the opening whistle of the second half faded away when Fred “Pokey” Blunt, on a reverse that started on the 12-yard line, took the ball back to the other side and behind a wall of interferers, reversed his field and carried on to a touchdown.
The fourth Massillon tally was a gift. Julius Sukys, Latin fullback, trying to get away a quick kick, found the Tiger line smothering him. The ball popped into Joe Demando’s hands and from the 12-yard line he scored over the final white stripe.
Bob Graber produced the big thrill of the game when he dashed 23 yards through the entire Latin team for the fifth score.
The enthusiasm of the Massillon substitutes was evident when Coach Bud Houghton sent them into action late in the final quarter. A 60-yard procession with Junior White racing around left end for 27 yards and a touchdown gave Massillon its final points.
Massillon Pos. Cathedral Latin Armour le Tercek Paulik lt Mahon Miller lg Rigot Fuchs c Muzurowski Hill rg Dailey Weisgarber rt Phillips Demando re Paltoni Cardinal qb Dillon Graber lh Brown Blunt rh Cousinean Holt f Sukys
Scoring by periods Massillon 0 13 6 20 – 39 Latin 0 0 0 0 – 0
Passes Electrify Crowd, But 85 – Yard Return Of Kickoff For Touchdown Was Outstanding Thrill in 28-6 Massillon Victory
By Luther Emery
The magic of Marblehead, Mass., revealed itself to 17,864 cheering fans in Tiger Stadium Friday evening but it was not sufficient to keep the Washington high Tigers from extending their victory string to 35 consecutive games.
Showing an improved offense that at times flashed old time power, the Tiger gridders capitalized on breaks and alert second-half play to triumph 28-6 over the visiting Magicians.
Passes Fail to Score
Marblehead’s magic lay in its forward passes, but the offense backfired under an altered Massillon defense in the second half, and threatened but once.
Though always in front, the Tigers were near panicky at times in the first two quarters when the Magicians unwielded their throwing arms to toss bullseyes into the Massillon secondary for long gains. Fans edged forth on their seats with every pitch, expecting sooner or later for one to connect for a touchdown.
Once a tremendous effort from Herb Carey to Harry Odell, nearly set up six points, but the Magic player slipped as he headed for the Tiger goal with no one in the way to stop him, and fell on the 19-yeard line. The ball soared 53 yards though the air that time and the pass was exceeded only in high school circles in these parts by the mighty 55-yard shot Mike Byelene tossed at Niles in 1935. Mike, who is in the army now, was watching from the press box last night.
A blocked punt, a hard tackle and a smashing run of 23 yards produced two touchdowns and a safety and helped relieve the tension of Tiger fans as the score amounted to 14 points with only 55 seconds of the first half remaining.
Then the visitors shot the works and the Massillon fans couldn’t help but stand up and cheer at the brilliance of Herbie Carey, Magic fullback, who picked up a fumbled kickoff and raced through the whole Tiger team for 85 yards and a touchdown, to bring the score to 14-6.
Fans Uneasy At Half
It was the touchdown that kept everyone in the stands at half-time and held them there throughout most of the third period, for with dangerous runners like Carey and a passing show such as the Magicians put on, fans expected anything to happen any moment. And it was just about that fast, too.
The complexion of the game changed so rapidly you could hardly keep up with it. It seemed the visitors just had to score, but their passing attack fizzled when they got dangerous and usually ended with an interception by a Tiger player. The Massillonians had five of them last night, two stopping critical drives.
The interceptions were not just breaks. They were the result of a well planned defense concocted between halves by the Tiger coaches.
Where protection of the secondary was left to four men the first two periods, the ends began dropping back the last half to provide a six-man defense against passes. Even then, the Magicians managed to sneak one through now and then, but they waited too long to try to run with the ball against this weakened line. They tried it only twice the third period and gained four yards on one attempt and one yard on the second. In the fourth they carried it four times and averaged better than seven yards per attempt.
The Tigers had all the better of the statistics, with the exception of passing where they looked woefully weak. First downs were 13-8 in their favor. They gained 312 yards carrying the ball to the Magicians 40 and averaged 39.5 yards on their punts to 23.2 yards.
Magicians Better Passers
The passing was all in the Head’s favor. They completed nine for 163 yards, and had 10 grounded and five intercepted. The Tigers completed two for 24 yards, had one intercepted and 11 grounded.
Outshining the offense for the second straight game, the line played fine defensive ball. The Head could still be hammering it and still wouldn’t have a touchdown. Rarely could a visiting player get over the Massillon trench, which fought with backs to the goal with the same dogged determination as the Russians in their defense of Leningrad.
When two perfect passes carried the Magicians 30 yards to the Massillon three-yard line, the forward wall reinforced by one of the secondary withstood the thrusts of Herb Carey, the Head’s great fullback and captured the ball, after throwing the visitors backward two yards. Only by means of the forward pass could the Head advance, which is vividly shown in the statistics in that only 40 yards were gained by the visiting ball carriers.
The Massillon offense showed improvement too, even though it did sputter several times at critical moments. It was good for three perfect plays for touchdowns, two by Capt. Fred Blunt and the third by Bob Graber, and at intervals showed flashes of old time power.
One of the touchdowns came in the last minute while Coach Bud Houghton was testing his experiment of using Chuck Holt at fullback and Fred Blunt at right half-back. “Pokey” went 23 yards for it as he measured his tacklers, then turned on the steam to circle them.
The game had its casualties and may prove a costly one, for Kevie Bray, who held down most of the pass defense work the first half, was carried from the field with an injured leg in the middle of the last period.
Dave Larkin, giant Marblehead tackle, suffered a similar injury. He did not start the game because of an injury received in last week’s opening game at Marblehead, but entered as a substitute.
Graber’s Punting Helped
If there was any single individual piece of work that sparkled for the Tigers it was the punting of Graber. He really laid his foot to the leather last night and through two tremendous boots, punted the Tigers out of a second period hole and set the Head clear back to its own seven-yard line where Bob Kanney broke through to toss tantalizing Ed. Barry for a safety and two points for the Tigers.
They may not look precious to you now, but they were bit last night with Marblehead threatening to bomb the goal line every time it grabbed the ball.
The two points came on top of a first period touchdown that Dallas Power, subbing for Lawrence Cardinal, scored when he threw his body over the ball after Joe De Mando had blocked Barry’s punt. Graber set the stage for that one too when he angled the ball out of bounds inside the 10-yard line. Not wishing to take any chance on a fumble, the Head tried only one play, then sent Barry back to punt. De Mando eluded the blockers and hit the leather with a thud. No more did it go over the Head goal until Dallas took off in a power-dive that recovered the leather for a touchdown for Massillon. Adams couldn’t get the kick away and it was 6-0.
A 19-yard run by Graber had the Tigers knocking again after the next exchange but they lost the ball on the 13-yard line. A five-yard penalty and a 15-yard pass helped the Head advance the pigskin to midfield and here the Magicians put on a show. The ball was snapped to Carey, who faded back to pass but found himself hounded by two Tiger tacklers. He raced back 19 yards and finding he couldn’t elude them, rared back and fired the ball up the center of the field.
Dick Adams had come in from his safety position to look the situation over and by the time he discovered what was happening Harry Odell was streaking down the field behind him.
Stumbles In Open Field
The ball just kept on sailing and nestled into the arms of Odell who turned and raced for his goal, with no one to stop him. He must have mistaken the 20-yard stripe for a new white clothes line for he tripped and went down in a heap and away went six points for the Head. It’s hard telling what might have been the result had the visitors chalked up this score.
They succeeded in working another pass that took the leather to the three-yard line where the gallant stand of the Tigers has already been described. Two line bucks and a sweep netted the loss of two yards and a pass on the fourth down was grounded. You could see who the Head depended on in this series, for Carey handled the ball all four times.
Graber banged a beautiful punt from behind his goal to midfield and in another exchange along with a 31-yard dash by Dick Adams after a pass interception had the Head rocking back on its own seven-yard line. Kanney’s desperate tackle that sent Barry reeling behind his own goal for a safety and two points for Massillon followed.
An exchange of punts and Marblehead was back at the Tiger front door again as three passes gained 53 yards but Carey fumbled and Blunt promptly covered the ball on the Tiger 19. Here the Massillon gridders launched their best offense of the evening. Adams nearly got away as he streaked on a reverse to the weak side for 26 yards. The march continued to the 23-yard line where with fourth down coming up and a yard to go Graber slashed through for 23 and six points. Adams missed the kick, but the score was 14-0 and Massillon fans had reason to suspect that Marblehead was ready to crack.
But they forgot to examine the names of the players – Sullivan, O’Dell, Carey, Kelley, Bardy and Barry. They forgot the Irish in that team, but they didn’t forget it for long, because it was on the following kickoff that Carey scooped up Shephard’s fumble and raced 85 yards for a touchdown that was the most electrifying offensive effort of the night. He missed his attempted kick for the extra point.
Twenty-two yards was as near as the visitors could get to the Tiger goal the second half, but the Massillon team looked better from the start of the third period and they marched the kickoff to the 12-yard line where they lost the leather on a fumble.
A muffed punt by Adams gave the Head a chance on the 22-yard line but Bray arose to the occasion to steal a pass and recover the ball. Toward the close of the quarter, he intercepted another of Carey’s passes on the visitors’ 44-yard line and in one play, Blunt went through for a touchdown on a fine bit of running. This time Adams kicked the extra point.
A drive of 40 yards through an apparently tiring Marblehead team, produced the Tigers last touchdown, Blunt dashing the last 23 from the right halfback position with 55 seconds to go and Adams kicking the extra point.
More Thrills
Massillon Marblehead Bray LE O’Dell Paulik LT Brady Miller LG Bray Fuchs C Hamilton Kanney RG Hawkes Weisgarber RT Remick De Mando RE Kelley Power QB Sullivan Graber LH E. Berry Adams RH Hammond Blunt FB Carey
Score by Period Massillon 6 8 7 7 28 Marblehead 0 6 0 0 6
Blunt Registers Only Touchdown 19,500 Fans Pack Stands to See Massillon Capture 34th Straight Victory in Thrilling Football Show At Tiger Stadium
By Luther Emery
Washington high’s victory record of 33 consecutive games, hung in the balance at Tiger Stadium Friday evening while 19,512 fans gasped, but by the narrow margin of six points and six inches, the string was lengthened to 34 at the expense of Weirton, W.Va., and the Tigers congratulated themselves for escaping unscathed.
Program Cover
The six points represent a tremendous effort by the veteran Massillon fullback Fred Blunt when he carried the ball over the Weirton goal from the eight-yard line in the third quarter for the only touchdown of the game and Massillon’s only serious threat. The six inches represent the scant margin by which Weirton missed two touchdown passes in the last minute.
The Great Show
So the Tigers won 6-0, a thrill packed victory that was commensurate with the thrilling performance by the Weirton and Tiger bands that made your spine tingle with patriotism and love for a country in which people of all races and nationalities will rub elbows and rise as one in a salute to America.
You asked for them, and you are going to get them – close scores. There will be no parading out of the gates at the end of the half this year – there was none last night.
Right down to the last five seconds the teams battled and the result hung in the balance to the very last play. Massillon fans were glad to settle for six points, though Coach “Bud” Houghton and his staff had hoped to win by two or three touchdowns, even though they did truly respect the ability of the enemy.
Weirton Passes Just Miss the Mark
Twice in the last minute, once with five seconds remaining to be played, Weirton nearly scored touchdowns. With slightly better passing it would have succeeded, for its men sneaked beyond the Tiger secondary and there was nothing left to stop them.
But Kevie Bray, who played a fine defensive game all evening, leaped high in the air to pull down one of Guido De Veechis’ long passes. Six inches higher and he couldn’t possibly have reached it and it would have been an easy catch for Pete Zinaich, Weir quarterback. Again with only time left to run a play, a pass to Kraina was a bit short. Had he caught it, he too, would have crossed the goal. It was the first time since the Washington high Tigers’ 6-0 defeat of Canton McKinley in 1935, that Massillon fans have been pulling for the timekeeper to shoot his gun.
Tiger football lovers have been accustomed to seeing the kill in the first quarter, and have turned out in record crowds despite their protests of large scores.
Things will be more interesting from a rivalry standpoint this season, judging from last night’s game, and the stands should be crowded most of the season, with neighbors and opponents bringing their dollars, hoping to be on hand when the Massillon record ends.
But this year’s Tiger team is going to take a lot of hammering before it ever goes down. Last night’s games was the first for 10 members of the starting lineup, and although there were noticeable weaknesses, they were not flaws but what can be corrected with more attention and experience.
There’s the making of a good team there and don’t sell them short. “We learned a lot tonight,” Coach Houghton said after the game, “and we will be out to change things around next week.”
Faults Easy To Correct
Most noticeable was the weakness of the secondary against passes, poor ball handling, partially accountable to uncertain passing from center, and jittery fingers.
The coaches should have no great difficulty overcoming all three and when they do – watch the score mount.
The ball handling caused frequent interruptions in the timing that were just sufficient to throw the offense off balance. Coach Houghton had seen it coming. He expressed the belief as early as Monday that his team was going a bit stale. Apparently it reached its peak a week ago and had been sliding backward since. “That one will do us all a lot of good,” he said.
The Tiger team was under more pressure last night than any eleven in the history of Massillon. It had a record to maintain, a record of 33 consecutive victories that had helped net six straight state championships. It had to perform before the largest opening night crowd in Tiger football history and 10 of the 11 men in uniform had never before started a game.
Teams Gunning for Them
The players knew too that with the loss of 10 of their 1940 starters and their entire coaching staff every team on the schedule would point to overthrow them. These conditions, too, may have been part of the cause for jittery fingers that lost the ball four times on fumbles and slowed the offense with bobbles before the ball carrier could pick up his blockers.
But the Tigers got by last night and beat a toughie, too. A team that lived up to the prediction of being one of the hardest marks on the schedule.
The Red Riders were high for the game. They tackled fiercely and hit hard, and on the admission of their own coach are a vastly improved ball team over that of last year. “We have spirit this year,” said Carl Hamill. “Of course we wanted to win badly and we nearly got our touchdown with those last minutes passes, but we don’t mind losing to you. I think both teams are good teams and are the kind that will improve as the season ages.”
The game produced what the Siegfried and Maginot lines were supposed to do in this second World War. It was a battle between two defensive bulwarks that would smear gains with counter attacks that frequently ended in net losses.
Good Defensive Team
The Tigers in all their championship years never looked better defensively than they did last night save for their forward pass defense. The line charged hard, tackled fiercely and held Weirton to a net gain of 24 yards for its 31 ball carrying attempts.
This line will absorb a lot of beating. It will be to the Tigers what a good pitcher is to a baseball team, and may be able to make up for the deficiencies of the offense.
Guido De Veechis was a good halfback. He was unable to play in the Tiger game last year because of injuries but was picked out at that time by Paul Brown in a scouting trip as the outstanding ball carrier on the Red Rider team. He ran hard and fast but was held to the low average of one yard per ball carrying attempt. Fans feared he might break loose at any moment, and he was just that dangerous, but the Tiger linemen never let him get away.
Weirton’s forward wall was almost as good. The Tigers gained more yards through it, a total of 126 in fact, but the Red Riders were on top of everything, were over-shifting to break up Tiger blocking assignments, were hopping seven men into the line most of the night and were high as a kite.
Weirton didn’t come to Massillon last night just to play a ball game and walk home with a sack full of dough. The Riders were here to win and they came closer to it than any team since New Castle last twisted the Bengal tail in the middle of the 1937 season. To be truthful it was the first time a Massillon team failed to score in the first half since the 1937 New Castle game.
It may have been smart football on the part of individual players but more than likely it was the result of careful planning by Coach Hamill, that the Red Riders appeared to know where the Tigers were moving all the time and what to do about it. The Massillon offense wasn’t new to them. They used virtually the same system themselves, and the fact that both teams were using the same plays may in some way account for the defensive work excelling their offensive efforts.
Bray Save the Day
To Bray, a lean junior assigned the task of backing up the line, goes credit for saving the ball game, for Massillon. Twice he leaped high to intercept Weirton passes within the shadow of his goal that had “touchdown” written all over them.
Early in the game he pulled down one of De Veechis’ passes on the 10-yard line. Had that one connected there’s no telling what the result might have been for it came on the Riders’ first series of plays.
Late in the game he made an even greater interception, after committing the unpardonable mistake of allowing the receiver to get behind him. Bray saved his skin with a leaping catch on the nine-yard line that would have been a sure-fire touchdown for Weirton.
Offensively neither team had anything to crow about. Weirton made three – touchdown bids, and the Tigers one.
The local team had the edge in punting and through two fine boots by Dick Adams, and a defense that seized the advantage, the Tigers worked themselves out of a hole they got into on a fumble by Bob Graber on the third play of the game.
It took a period and a half to do it, but a booming, 49 yarder grounded the pigskin back on the Weir 18-yard line and forced the Riders into their own back yard the rest of the half.
The Tigers never threatened the first half. In fact, if you want to know the cold truth, they only made one first down to Weirton’s three.
Massillon Offense Perks Up
In the second half it was a different story. The Tigers showed improvement from the start of the third period until their offense took on new strength. The blockers hit harder and a well-placed punt by Adams that went out of bounds on the Weir three-yard line put the Riders in a hole. J. Kraino punted out poorly to the 24, but Adams fumbled and Torchip flopped on the ball on his 24. R. Kraino fumbled on the next play, however, and the break this time went to Massillon with Chub Paulik covering the pigskin on the Weir 21. It set up the touchdown. White picked up two yards at left tackle. Adams passed over the goal, but in a second attempt tossed an accurate shot to Fred Cardinal who took the ball on the 15 and advanced to the eight for a first down.
With their backs to the goal, Weirton went into an eight-man line, three backing it up. The ball was snapped to Blunt, the Tigers charged, and right over right guard Pokey raced to pivot and whirl his way for the only touchdown of the game. Adams’ attempted kick for the extra point was blocked. Massillon fans would have felt a lot more comfortable in the closing stages of the game had the kick been successful, for the one point could have meant a lot had Weirton ever got over the Tiger goal.
The Tigers staged one other offensive effort in the last quarter, but only got to the 30-yeard line when Weirton braced and forced them to punt.
Next week the local eleven will face Marblehead, Mass., in Tiger stadium. Tickets for the game are now on sale at the high school ticket office. Marblehead opens its season this afternoon and two Tiger scouts, Jim Hollinger and Tom Evans, Lorin Andrews and Longfellow coaches, will be in the stands for the game.
A Close Shave
Massillon Pos. Weirton Bray LE Torchip Paulik LT Miller LG Fuchs C Hill RG Weisgarber RT De Mando RE Cardinal QB P. Zinaich Graber LH De Vecchio White RH J. Kraino Blunt FB R. Kraino
Score by Periods Massillon 0 0 6 0 – 6
Substitutions – Massillon Adams lb; Weirton – Mest,?? g; Zgueski, e; E. Heaton, lb; Bouyoueas, qb; Garan, lb; and Haun, l.
Touchdown – Blunt
Referee – Slutz Umpire – Gross Head linesman – Schill Field judge — Howell
Parade to 33rd Straight Victory After Scored Upon First Time This Season
By Alex Zirin
MASSILLON, O., Nov. 16 – They still have the nation’s best scholastic football team living here, as Canton McKinley must reluctantly admit.
Massillon Washington’s Tigers, a dream come true, today added another glowing chapter to the remarkable gridiron history of the city.
Smashing the Bulldogs, 34-6, in their 45th meeting, the Tigers recorded their 33rd straight victory.
It was their tenth and final triumph of the season and brought a sixth consecutive Ohio championship.
Also, it was the sixth victory in a row over the Bulldogs, who haven’t won since 1934, and nine seniors closed their schoolboy careers with the distinction of never having been in a losing game.
Not since October of 1937, when New Castle, Pa., turned the trick, have the Tigers suffered a defeat.
A howling crowd of 22,000 – at least – sat through bitter cold to pay tribute to Paul Brown’s splendid machine.
Not even the presence and advice of Jim Thorpe, Mr. Football himself, could help the Bulldogs today.
They were in the game during the first half, but were helpless before the blocking might of the Tigers in the final periods.
Thorpe, hero of the great Canton Bulldogs in 1915-21, was almost unnoticed.
The Bulldogs held a 6-0 lead for a few minutes in the second period after having become the first team to cross the Tigers’ line since the 1939 Canton team turned the trick.
Athie Garrison, McKinley’s splendid back, scored on a 33-yard gallop to boast his scoring total for the season to 152. He leads the state.
But a great play by Tom James and Horace Gillom soon tied the score and, when Ray Getz booted the first of four extra points, the Tigers left the field at half time holding a 7-6 advantage, and they weren’t bothered after that.
Gillom added another spectacular touchdown in the second half, and he was joined by Getz, James and Herman Robinson.
Two touchdowns came in each the third and fourth periods.
The first part of the opening period was fairly even, but the Tigers drove to the Canton 27 shortly before the gun. They lost the ball on downs at that point, but recovered on the 33 when Garrison fumbled and Gordon Appleby recovered.
But, on the third play of the second period, a maneuver went haywire and a wild pass from the Massillon center was captured by Frank Reale on the McKinley 37.
Matt Brown, Tom Harris and Garrison worked to the 33 and then came the touchdown.
Breaking over his left end, Garrison cut back, picked up the interference that formed in a few seconds and ran over the line unmolested.
Neal Rubin came in to try for the point, but his effort was low.
The tying touchdown was the thriller of all thrillers.
With first down on their 45, the Tigers decided on a pass.
Aerial Blitzkrieg
Fading back to his 35, James fired a tremendous forward to his right. Gillom, leaping over the head of Brown on the Canton 25, tipped the ball with one hand, caught it with the other, stiff-armed Brown, broke loose from Ed Snyder and hot-footed down the sidelines for the score. Getz booted the placement and the Bulldogs, although they wouldn’t show it, were licked.
Some 30 seconds later, Gillom almost scored again. He intercepted a Harris pass on the Canton 45 and reached the 14 before a side block and his own momentum drove him to his knees just as the gun sounded.
Gillom’s tremendous second half kickoff forced the Bulldogs into a hole. Garriosn returned deep from his end zone out to his 20. Canton couldn’t gain and James returned the ensuing punt 10 yards to the Canton 30.
In five plays Massillon had its second touchdown. The honor this time went to James, who had alternated with Blunt in bringing the ball to the 3. Getz was accurate and the toll was 14-6.
More Razzle Dazzle
Eighteen plays later, Massillon countered again. The break this time was a blocked punt by Russell that Blunt recovered on the Canton 43. James, Getz, and Blunt used straight football plays to come to the 17 and then the Tigers shot the works.
Getz lateraled to James, who lateraled to Blunt, who lateralted to Robinson, who fired a forward pass to Gillom, standing alone in the end zone.
Getz kicked and the score was 21-6.
Gillom’s mighty catch of a James’ pass sparked the next touchdown, in the fourth period. This time, a spread formation, featuring a triple lateral, brought the ball to the 9, from where Getz ran left end for a touchdown. Getz again was right and it was 28-6.
James’ 61-yard rush though center enabled the scoring of the last touchdown. Robinson climaxed the show by taking a pass away from three Canton guards on the 8 and cutting over the line. Getz finally missed ,but who cared?
There was one big difference between the teams. That was blocking.
MASSILLON CANTON WASHINGTON – 34 McKINLEY – 0
Robinson L.E. Chabek Henderson L.T. Reale Wallace L.G. K. Williams Appleby C Beck Russell R.G. Sirk Broglio R.T. Smith Gillom R.E. Pickard Kingham Q Snyder James L.H. Harris R. Getz R.H. Garrison Blunt F Brown
Canton 0 6 0 0 – 6 Massillon 0 7 14 13 – 34
Substitutions: Massillon – Pizzion, f; Cardinal, rg; White, lh; P. Getz, rg; Adams, rh; Hill, lg; Oliver, lt; Armour, le; Fuchs, c. Canton – Staudt, re; Winters, le; Rubin, re; Hooper, lh; Crider, lh; Pappas, lg; Conroy, lg; Parshall, lt; Chessler, rg; C. Williams, lg.
Massillon-Canton SATISTICS Massillon Canton First downs 14 9 Yards gained rushing 276 146 Yards gained passing 121 59 Yards lost, net 11 17 Passes attempted 6 19 Passes completed 4 7 Passes intercepted by 2 1 Yards lost on penalties 25 6
Tigers, Trailing For First Time This Year, Prove Title Claims
Take Advantage Of McKinley Defect To Score Touchdowns That Give Coach Brown His Greatest Team
BY HARRY YOCKEY Repository Sports Editor
A true champion is one that can overcome all conditions, and Massillon’s terrific Tigers were still perched on the Ohio scholastic football throne today because they proved to the complete satisfaction of 22,000 shivery fans that they had the spirit and ability to stage a comeback after being scored upon for the first time this season.
Looking at the picture from the Canton angle, a weakness that was evident throughout the season defeated the Bulldogs. They just couldn’t throttle Massillon’s aerial attack and that, along with the Tigers’ tricky offense, spelled the difference.
Even Paul Brown, coach of the Tigers, admitted he was worried just a little when Athie Garrison skirted left end for 32 yards and a touchdown. That fine bit of running by the Bulldog star, put the Tigers in a hole for the first time this season and gave Brown an opportunity to learn whether he was going to have the greatest team since he took over the Massillon reins in 1932.
Tigers Take Lead
The Tigers supplied the first part of the answer when Tom James, with the wind to his back, tossed a long aerial to Horace Gillom who went 25 yards for a touchdown with only 45 seconds of the first half remaining. When Ray Getz kicked the extra point he enabled the jubilant Tigers to leave the field with a one point lead.
If the Bulldogs had been playing more alert football, the Tigers probably would have gone scoreless in the first half and the psychological effect on Massillon may have made a great difference in the outcome.
Playing a safety position, Garrison, who must be credited with a note worthy performance, made the mistake of trying to intercept the ball instead of batting it down. The ball went through his fingers and into the hands of Gillom who packed it across the goal line. The play was obvious from the start as only a few seconds remained before the half time gun would have ended Massillon’s chances of scoring. If the McKinley backfield had been playing deeper it could have prevented completion of the pass or at least nailed Gillom before he could slip away.
Fail To Stop Play
Instead, the Bulldogs suffered a blow from which they were unable to recover throughout the last half. Forced to punt against the wind at the opening of the third period, the Bulldogs saw Massillon take the ball on its 30-yard line, plough through for a touchdown and kick the extra point.
That gave the Tigers a more comfortable margin but not a lead that was impossible for the Bulldogs to overcome. But the state champions for the sixth consecutive year resorted to another aerial play that McKinley should have broken up but didn’t. When Getz ran deep with the ball, two Bulldogs were close on his heels but failed to nail him before he had tossed the ball to Herman Robinson who quickly heaved it to Gillom. The latter made a beautiful catch in the end zone.
Incidentally, that particular play had been tried by Massillon on numerous occasions during the season but Saturday marked the first time it paid off.
Gillom again was on the receiving end of an aerial that gave Massillon a first down on the Canton 10 and paved the way for the third touchdown. Garrison was running beside the Massillon star when he caught the ball but was unable to knock the ball down and didn’t nail Gillom until he had registered a 29-yard gain. Getz took the ball across on the next play.
Watch Robinson Score
Failure of three McKinley backfield men to cut down Robinson on a pass play gave Massillon its last touchdown late in the third period. The Bulldogs hit Robinson as he took the ball from James and, thinking they had knocked him out of bounds, watched him run 10 more yards across the goal line to have the officials signal a touchdown that meant little as far as a victory was concerned.
Massillon completed only four passes, but three of them went for touchdowns and the other one paved the way. That, in a few words, is the story of the Canton-Massillon game of 1940.
The Tigers played championship ball against a team that refused to give up until the final gun. But the Bulldogs were playing a rival that Coach Brown after the game labeled as “the greatest team I’ve had the pleasure of coaching.”
The Tigers have been famous for their precision and they committed few mistakes yesterday despite conditions which made ball handling doubly hard. They tackled, blocked, ran and passed in a manner that leaves no question as to their championship ranking.
MASSILLON STORMS BACK AFTER CANTON CROSSES GOAL FIRST
By JACK MAXWELL
TIGER STADIUM, MASSILLON, Nov. 16 – Massillon’s famed Washington High Tigers laid undisputed claim to their sixth Ohio scholastic football championship here this afternoon by turning back their traditional rival, McKinley High school, before a record crowd of 22,000 fans.
The score was 34-6.
By winning Massillon stretched its amazing winning streak to 33 games and its consecutive victories over Canton to six. It was the first defeat of the season for the Bulldogs who had won eight games and tied one.
The victory also helped Massillon move a step nearer an even split with Canton on the 45 games in which the two schools have been matched. The score now stands: McKinley 22, Massillon 20 and three games tied.
At game time it was announced that the stands were filled to capacity and that the crowd would exceed 22,000.
Matthew Brown, fullback, was named acting captain for McKinley, Gillom and Getz, right end and right half respectively, were serving as co-captains for the Tigers.
McKinley won the toss and elected to defend the south goal.
In the initial kickoff Garrison booted the ball over the Tiger goal line and it was brought out to the 20. Advancing the ball seven yards in three tries Gillom punted on the fourth down. Brown fumbled but Garrison recovered on the McKinley 34.
Bulldogs Begin Drive
McKinley began to roll when Harris clicked off three yards around right end and Brown rammed 15 yards to a first down through right guard. An offside penalty on Massillon advanced the ball five more yards, four of which were erased when Garrison was brought down short of the line in an attempt at left end.
Brown picked up three at center. A pass, Harris to Garrison, accounted for 16 more yards. Massillon took the ball when Robinson intercepted a pass from Harris on the Massillon 16.
Massillon made it a first down on its own 30 with Blunt, James and Getz finding holes in the McKinley line. On the next play James cut through right tackle for another first down on the Massillon 48.
Blunt picked up nine yards in two tries through the line and then Getz skirted left end for a first down on the McKinley 39. A four-yard smash by James through left tackle and a six-yard drive through center by Blunt gave Massillon another first down on the Bulldog 29.
McKinley Line Stiffens
Here the McKinley stiffened and the rambling Tigers found it tough going. Blunt picked up two at center and then two more thrusts at the line were stopped. McKinley took the ball on the 29 when a pass, James to Gillom, was incomplete.
Brown picked up four at right end and then McKinley lost the ball on Garrison’s fumble, which was recovered by Appleby. Blunt hit center for two as the quarter ended.
SCORE: McKinley 0, Massillon 0.
Massillon picked up nine yards on two plunges by Getz and Blunt before McKinley took the ball on its own 37 when Reale covered a fumble by James.
Here McKinley started a scoring drive that was climaxed by a 32-yard run around left end by Garrison. Perfect blocking by his teammates plus ability to evade tacklers in the open enabled him to cross the goal line standing up. Rubin’s place kick for the extra point was low. Score: McKinley 6, Massillon o
Garrison’s kickoff was taken by Gillom who was brought down hard on the Massillon 27. On the next play Snyder intercepted a pass on the Massillon 44. Brown was stopped at center and then made two yards on a short pass from Harris.
A beautifully placed punt by Staudt who entered the game merely to kick, set Massillon back on its seven yard line after Garrison had dropped a long pass from Harris. Gillom, standing behind his own goal line, punted 54 yards to Garrison who returned to the Massillon 45. After two tries at the line by Garrison and Brown and a short pass, Harris to Brown, had yielded nine yards Garrison punted out on the Massillon 20.
James made it a first down on the Massillon 31 on a dash around right end and a slash through right tackle. Three more plays by James and Getz gave Massillon another first down on the Massillon 45.
Gillom Scores On Pass
On the next play James faded back and heaved a long pass which Gillom picked out of the hands of Garrison on the 25 and then rambled on across the goal line to score. The ball traveled 55 yards. Getz place kicked for the extra point. Score: McKinley 6, Massillon 7.
Garrison returned Gillom’s kickoff over the goal line to the McKinley 20. Garrison, Brown and Harris were dragged down for small losses before Harrison punted to James who returned to the McKinley 30. Blunt picked up eight around left end on a deep reverse and then James made it a first down on the McKinley 17 at right end.
Blunt rammed center and cut back to reach the McKinley 5. James went over to score through right tackle and Getz place kicked the extra point. Score: McKinley 6, Massillon 14.
Kick Over Goal Line
Gillom kicked over the goal line and McKinley took the ball on its 20. Two plays short of 10 yards by Garrison and an offside penalty on Massillon gave McKinley a first down on its punt. His kick was partially blocked by Russell and Massillon took the ball on the McKinley 43.
Here Massillon started another scoring drive with James, Getz and Blunt alternating on off tackle smashes and culminating with a dazzling end around pass from Getz to Robinson to Gillom for a touchdown. Getz place-kicked the extra point. Score: McKinley 6, Massillon 21.
Garrison returned Gillom’s kick to the 27 and Brown picked up a yard at right end as the quarter ended. Score: McKInley 6, Massillon 21.
As the fourth quarter opened Harris passed to Garrison for eight. An offside penalty gave McKinley a first down on its 42. Two passes from Harris to Brown and Garrison gained six yards. Harris failed to gain and Staudt came in to punt out of bounds on the Massillon 30. James went back to pass and then elected to run for a first down on the Massillon 47. Blunt hit right guard for six.
James picked up eight yards at right tackle and then passed to Gillom for 29 yards and a first down on the McKinley 10. A 15-yard penalty put the ball back on the 25. On the next play James ran it up to the McKinley 10 and Getz skirted left end to score. Getz place kicked the extra point. Score: McKinley 6, Massillon 28.
McKinley made another scoring threat late in the fourth period when Staudt, called in for a punt, passed to Garrison who galloped 24 yards to the Massillon 27.
Massillon scored again in the closing minutes of play when Robinson took a pass from James on the McKinley 9 and went over for a touchdown. Getz failed to place kick.
M’KINLEY BOWS TO VAUNTED FOE IN SECOND HALF
Scores First Touchdown And Then Collapses; Massillon Denomination Complete
By JACK MAXWELL
Massillon’s mighty Tigers scaled new heights Saturday and today retained a domination of Ohio scholastic football that was almost incredible for its completeness.
Unleashing the full fury of a perfectly coordinated attack in the second half, the talented charges of Coach Paul Brown swept over a courageous but badly out classed McKinley High school team 34-6 at Tiger stadium in Massillon Saturday afternoon.
Accomplished before a capacity throng of 22,000 amid all the color that only a long and intense rivalry can produce, the triumph was a glorious one on so many counts that jubilant Massillon fans were consulting the records today to make sure they missed nothing in their prolonged celebration.
Unbeaten in 33 Games
The victory enabled the Tigers to clinch their sixth consecutive state championship, lengthened an amazing winning streak to 33 games, marked the sixth straight conquest of their most bitter rival and was the most decisive Canton defeat in the 45 contests of an inter city series that began in 1894.
Combining perfect timing, great blocking, deadly passing and spirited defensive play in a manner that was an eloquent tribute to the coaching genius of their mentor, the Tigers drew away with a four touchdown barrage in the second half after leading an aroused McKinley eleven on 7-6 at the intermission.
Although sub-freezing temperature and a chill wind made the role of spectator none too comfortable, the battle was fought under excellent playing conditions. A field that had been protected for nearly a week by a tarpaulin afforded secure footing and each team was able to use its full repertoire of plays.
Bulldogs Fight Stubbornly
Even though they suffered a setback of unforeseen proportions, the previously unbeaten Bulldogs of Coach Johnny Reed did nothing to disgrace the school or city, which they represented. On the contrary, they battled their hearts out from opening whistle to final gun, but their best simply wasn’t good enough. McKinley fought the Tigers on even terms for the entire first half, and scored the lone touchdown made against Massillon this season on a scintillating 31-yard gallop by Athie Garrison in the second quarter.
The Bulldogs received a disheartening blow with 30 seconds left in the first half when a long pass from Tom James to Horace Gillom clicked for 55 yards and a touchdown.
When Ray Getz converted on an accurate placement, the McKinley gridders trailed 7-6 when they went to the dressing room at the intermission instead of holding command.
In the face of a Massillon onslaught terrific in its intensity, the Bulldogs never were able to reveal their true form in the second half and were on the defensive most of the time.
Pass Defense Vulnerable
A faulty pass defense that had been the major McKinley weakness all season made the difference between an extremely close duel and a lopsided Massillon victory. The Tigers attempted only seven passes, but of their four completed ones three went for touchdowns and the other advanced the ball deep into Bulldog territory.
As always, deception and crushing blocking were the twin keys to Massillon success. McKinley stopped the Tigers’ straight running attack frequently, but each time the danger seemed past the Tigers pulled a tricky reverse, a wide sweep behind a wave of interference or a pass to continue their drive.
Worst previous Canton defeats in the ancient rivalry were 24-0 in 1922 and 31-6 in 1929. Otherwise three touchdowns were the largest margin of victory for Massillon. Canton triumphed 44-0 in 1907 to inflict the most crushing defeat of the series in which Canton still leads, 22 wins to 20. Three games ended in ties.
Gillom And James Star
Achievements of the Tigers have come through teamwork, and yesterday’s victory naturally was a group proposition.
Yet Horace Gillom, brilliant Negro end closing a star studded scholastic career, and diminutive Tom James, another senior, were the spark plugs of a powerful machine.
Gillom caught three passes, two for touchdowns, averaged 46 yards on two punts and made tackle after tackle. James directed the offense in fine style, threw all but one of the completed aerials and broke loose repeatedly in the second half, once on a 61-yard gallop. He finished as the leading ball carrier in the fray with an average of 9.2 yards.
Fred Blunt carried the brunt of the offensive burden in the first half, and Ray Getz also reeled off several long runs in addition to scoring one touchdown and kicking four extra points in five tries. Jim Russell and Bill Wallace at the guards were defensive bulwarks and Herman Robinson, Gene Henderson, Gordon Appleby, Eli Broglio, and Dick Kingham all were superb. Only Blunt and Robinson return next year.
Garrison, Brown Sparkle
Heroic in defeat were Athie Garrison and Matthew Brown. Although watched closely by the Tigers, Garrison boosted his season scoring total to 152 points, drove with tremendous power and certainly must be labeled the greatest running back in McKinley history. He averaged 3.8 yards for 11 ball-carrying attempts.
Captain and field general, Brown was the heart and soul of the Bulldogs, both on offense and defense. He carried the ball 14 times for a 2.9 average, had a hand in most of the tackles and still was trying with might and main when the final seconds ticked away. Frank Reale, a rugged tackle; Ed Snyder, a sophomore quarterback, and Don Sirk, veteran guard, were other McKinley main stays.
McKinley forced the Tigers to punt after the opening kickoff and proceeded to institute a march that carried to the Massillon 16 before it was stopped by Robinson’s interception of Tom Harris’ pass.
Reale Recovers Fumble
On the third play of the second quarter, James fumbled and Reale covered for McKinley on his own 37. With a 14-yard pass from Harris to Brown as the big advance, the Bulldogs pushed to the Massillon 31. Garrison then sprinted around his left end, cut back behind deadly blocking and dashed for a touchdown. Neil Rubin’s place kick was low.
A few minutes later, James faded back from his own 45 and passed deep to Gillom, who was covered by Garrison. Garrison leaped to catch the ball but it slanted off his fingers into the hands of Gillom, who caught on the McKinley 25 and romped for a touchdown. Getz booted the conversion.
Massillon needed just four plays to stretch its lead in the first five minutes of the third period. James ran for 13 yards, Blunt for five and again for three, and James knifed through right tackle on a reverse to score. Getz’ place kick again split the up rights.
The third Tiger touchdown came after the Bulldogs had thrown back three running plays short of a first down on the McKinley 17, Robinson came around from left end, took the ball from Getz and started around the right end behind a wall of blockers. But he stopped short of the line, dropped back and shot a perfect pass in the end zone to Gillom, who made the catch unmolested.
A 29-yard pass from James to Gillom, and a 14-yard sprint by James that nullified a holding penalty set up the next touchdown early in the last quarter. Getz circled left end from the 10 for the tally and kicked the conversion.
After Garrison had twisted 24 yards on a screen pass to the Massillon 27, the Tigers braced and took the ball on their own 20. James smashed through right tackle and broke clear for 61 yards to the 19, where he was dragged down from behind by Garrison. Blunt and Getz were stopped, but Robinson took James’ pass away from three McKinley defenders near the sideline on the 9-yard stripe and went over for the last touchdown. Getz’ place kick was just a trifle wide. McKinley Pos. Massillon Chabek LE Robinson Reale LT Henderaon K. Williams LG Wallace Beck C Appleby Sirk RG Russell Smith RT Broglio Pickard RE Gillom Snyder QB Kingham Harris LH James Garrison RH Getz M. Brown FB Blunt
Substitutions for McKinley – Rubin, c; Staudt, e; Winters, e; Chessler, t; C. Williams, t: Pappask g; Conroy, g; Crider, hb; Hooper, hb; R. Brown, g; Parshall, t. For Massillon – Pizzino, fb; L. Cardinal, t; Oliver, t; F. Cardinal, g; Fuchs, c; Adams, hb; White, hb; Hill, g; Holt, qb; Bray, e; Demando, e.
Referee – Dave Reese, Dayton. Umpire – Verlin P. Jenkins, Akron. Head linesman – Earl D. Gross, New Philadelphia. Field judge – A.B. Long, Newark.
STATISTICS Mass. McK. First downs, rushing 13 5 First downs, passing 1 3 First downs, total 14 8 Yards gained, rushing 283 113 Yards gained, passing 123 78 Yards lost 25 18 Yards gained, net total 381 173 Passes attempted 7 21 Passes completed 4 10 Passes intercepted 2 1 Passes incompleted 2 9 Fumbles 1 3 Own fumbles covered 1 1 Own fumbles recovered 0 2 Penalties, yardage 30 0 Punts 2 6 Punts, average yardage 46 21.7
22,000 See Tigers Win State Toga
Bulldogs Collapse After Trailing By 7-6 Score At Half
By BOD EDDIOTT
MASSILLON, Nov., 16 – All the devastating power of Massillon high school’s brilliant football team exploded with every inch of its fury in the faces of Canton McKinley’s Bulldogs here today and the Tigers roared to an amazing 34-6 conquest in the 43rd renewal of Ohio’s bitterest scholastic grid fuel.
Massillon’s victory was expected, but nobody looked for the disaster, which struck McKinley after the half time intermission.
As a shivering but thrilled crowd of 22,000 fans watched the peerless Tigers riddle every semblance of a defense the Bulldogs possessed, the charges of Coach Paul Brown completed their greatest season.
The victory was Massillon’s 33rd in a row extending over a four-year period. It was their sixth straight conquest of the Bulldogs and gave them their sixth consecutive undisputed state championship.
Mere words won’t suffice to tell of Massillon’s second half outburst, which netted four touchdowns and turned what looked to be an even game into one of the worst routs in the long Canton-Massillon rivalry.
For those Bulldogs of Coach Johnny Reed were tough for two entire periods. In fact, to an unbiased observer, it looked as if McKinley was the better ball club for almost half the game.
Still Champions
Score by periods: Canton 0 6 0 0 – 6 Massillon 0 7 14 13 – 34
