Category: <span>History</span>

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo

1928: Massillon 12, Warren Harding 0

MASSILLON GRIDDERS SPRING SURPRISE SATURDAY AND TROUNCE WARREN 12 TO 0
OUTCLASS VISITORS IN EVERY QUARTER; HESS SCORES TWICE

Digging their cleats into the soggy turf of Massillon Field the Washington high gridders played their best game in two years Saturday afternoon and put to route the highly touted Warren high crew by a score of 12 to 0.

And in spite of the fact that the victory surprised even the most optimistic Massillon fans, the score does not even indicate the margin by which the youthful tigers outplayed the invaders from the Trumbull county city. It might have been an off day for Warren but nevertheless the visitors played hard and used practically every trick formation they knew in an effort to overcome the Massillon team. But the Washington high gridders were awake for a change, and they did not play as though they wore steel shoes. They were out to best Warren and this they did in a most decisive manner.

They had four other chances to score and had crossed their opponents goal line a third time, but the ball was brought back when both teams were declared offside. Warren worked the ball into Massillon territory but once during the entire game, the visitors advancing the ball to the two-yard line, where a forward pass failed to make first down by a few inches and Massillon gained possession of the oval.

Scoring honors for the day went to George Hess, who after three weeks of ineligibility returned to the lineup to score both touchdowns, one on an 85-yard run after taking the kickoff at the start of the second half and the other in a dive over the goal from the two-yard line.

Warren came to Massillon Saturday in high spirits and expected to score its second victory over Massillon in seven years. Backed by an excellent record for the season, with Akron East and Sharon, Pa., two of its victims, the visiting eleven was a heavy favorite to defeat the orange and black. And the Warren team at times flashed an attack that seemed deadly but the rallies quickly flickered out while the Massillon offense was ablaze the greater part of the time. Warren’s offense clicked smoothly and faultlessly, but it was turned back by the Massillon line quite often for losses.

In spite of the fact that the victory was pleasing to Massillon fans the Washington high team should not become so satisfied with the result that it will be caught asleep in its game with Barberton next Saturday. Some of the Warren followers blamed over-confidence for the defeat of their team and even though an excuse does not seem probable, yet the youthful tigers should guard against just that sort of thing by drilling all the harder this week for Barberton and Canton McKinley which will put in its appearance here next week.

Carrying the ball deep into their opponents’ territory several times during the first two periods, the local eleven was turned back as it neared the Warren goal and the first half ended without a score being made. Play, however, was decisively in favor of the orange and black, Warren not working the ball into Massillon territory on a single occasion.

The second half, however, opened dramatically. Even though their team had shown a good punch in the first two periods, Massillon fans were still doubtful when Puegner, Warren end, and former Massillon boy, kicked off to George Hess to start the third period. And with that kick came the fireworks of the game. Hess took the ball on his own 15-yard line, and ran in about as straight a line as any surveyor could lay, for the Warren goal. His teammates got busy and the Warren tacklers hit the turf when they attempted to get close to Hess. “Ike” Lewis took out two men who stood between Hess and the goal line, and with two or three players chasing him, Hess galloped across the Warren line. Largely due to the superior interference accorded him by his teammates, scarcely a hand touched him during the entire run.

It was the kind of spectacular play that always bobs up in a Warren game, and as usual took the heart out of the Warren boys. It was two similar long runs by Vince Define five years ago that upset Warren and three years ago two intercepted passes followed by long runs by Laughlin and Kammer defeated the Trumbull county boys. Thus they had a right to become discouraged after they saw Hess waltzing away for a touchdown.

The second score came in the same period, and although Hess made the points, the entire Massillon team, and especially a punt by John Kester, made the score possible.

The local eleven had the ball on the 39 yard line when Kester stepped back and kicked the ball outside on Warren’s nine-yard line. Latimer returned the punt but it went outside on the 25-yard line. Hess struck for a yard. Buttermore crashed through for six and made two more on his next attempt. Schnierle carried the ball to the 10-yard line for a first down. Buttermore went over on the next play but both sides were declared offside and the ball was put in play on the two-yard line. Hess then drove through for a touchdown. Kester’s kick was wide just as Schnierle’s was after the first touchdown.

Kester missed a hard luck touchdown just before the third period ended when he struck off right tackle and by clever running carried the ball across the Warren goal after a run of 28 yards. Both teams, however, were declared offside on the play and the ball was brought back. The local eleven soon was headed for another touchdown but the threat was spoiled by a 15-yard penalty. In transferring the ball at the end of the third period, the officials made a mistake. The period ended with the ball on the 19-yard line, but the officials put the pigskin in play on the 21-yard line when the fourth quarter opened.

The orange and black made a dozen first downs to Warren’s five and was penalized 70 yards to 65 yards for Warren.

The local team completed its first two forward passes of the year for gains Saturday, one bringing seven yards and another 10. Three passes were incomplete and two intercepted. Warren completed three passes out of 10 attempts for a gain of 43 yards. Seven were incomplete.

The American Legion drum corps helped to entertain the small crowd by participating in the raising of the colors, and drilling on the field between halves. It was unfortunate that the day was not a brighter one and that more fans were not in the bleachers to see the drum corps go though its maneuvers. The drum corps was the third musical organization at the game, both Warren and Washington high schools being represented by bands.

One of the features of the game was the punting of John Kester. His boots traveled long when punting from his own territory, but when in the land of the enemy he placed his punts out of bounds anywhere from the one-yard to the 15-yard line.

Lineup and summary:

Massillon Pos. Warren
Potts LE Puegner
Buttermore LT Afills
Garland LG Canzonetta
Lewis C Dahringer
Fisher RG Mock
Goodman RT Schatzel
Houriet RE Titus
Worthington QB Boyd
Kester HB De Santis
Watkins HB Rogers
Hollwager FB Latimer

Score by periods:
Massillon 0 0 12 0 12

Substitutions:
Massillon – Hess for Worthington, Schnierle for Hollwager, Blatz for Fisher, Geis for Goodman, Mann for Garland, Slinger for Buttermore, Buttermore for Watkins, Fisher for Geis.
Warren – Dick for Mock, Ott for Boyd, Chance for Latimer, Latimer for Chance, Howell for Titus.

Touchdowns – Hess 2.

Referee—Barrett.
Umpire—Maurer.
Headlinesman—Kirk.

Henry Potts
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo

1928: Massillon 0, New Philadelphia 0

MASSILLON AND NEW PHILADELPHIA BATTLE TO SCORELESS TIE IN ANNUAL TILT
PENALTIES HINDER ATTACK OF ORANGE AND BLACK RUNNERS

With rivalry at white heat, New Philadelphia fans cheering and Massillon fans booing, the orange and black of Washington high and the red and black of New Philadelphia high battled to a scoreless tie at the latter city, Saturday afternoon.

Tired and weary were the two elevens as they plodded from the field at the close of the game, and tired were the fans who were in the bleachers 45 minutes longer than necessary due to the late arrival of the Massillon team, but the person who minded it most was Referee Hamm who stepped off 100 yards in penalties inflicted on the Massillon team, thereby proving himself the best ball carrier of the day.

The many penalties inflicted on the local eleven, principally for holding and offside, brought a storm of protest from the Massillon delegation of 1,200 rooters who were huddled in one section of the bleachers. They saw their team score a touchdown that would have meant a victory and saw the ball brought back and put into play again. They saw the official step off a quartette of 15-yard penalties and a quintette of five yard penalties, that interfered with nearly every attempt to advance the ball. And with the final crack of the gun, a section of this embittered crowd, swept upon the field, fists clenched, ready for action, but was finally dispersed by a squad of police ready for just such a demonstration. Fists flew at intervals, but fortunately no one was injured and the prompt action of the law saved further trouble.

But in spite of the penalties, whether fair or unfair, the game ended with a score that compared favorably with the play of the two teams. Whether or not the orange and black could have scored a touchdown had not penalties interfered no one knows, for the New Philadelphia line was scrapping and scrapping hard. Neither team showed any great offense, both scoring but two first downs each, although the local eleven gained by far the most ground from scrimmage.

The “touchdown” was scored in the last few minutes of play when Jack Schnierle intercepted a New Philadelphia pass on the 35-yard line and scampered across the goal. But the ball was called back, the headlinesman declaring that Hollwager interfered with the supposed receiver, and New Philadelphia was given the ball at the point where the alleged interference occurred. A wild howl went up from the Massillon stands when Schnierle scored the “touchdown,” but an even greater noise rent the air when the ball was brought back, the Massillon fans adding their boos to the bedlam that took place.

With the six points ruled out, the local gridders got angry for the first time in the game and showed their best offense of the day. They carried the ball two minutes later to the red and black’s 34-yard line where Hollwager fumbled and Hensel recovered for New Philadelphia. A minute later they started another offensive march which was stopped abruptly by a 15-yard penalty for holding, and the game came to a finish a few seconds later.

The last minute attack was the only offense the Washington high eleven uncorked. In the first place, it was playing nothing but straight football and in the second place could do little against the fighting forward wall of the red and black and the penalty hazard.

The strength of the red and black’s line was somewhat surprising although it lived up to the advance dope that the game would be a similar battle to the Conneaut affair of a week ago. The Tuscarawas county gridders, however, were even less helpless on the offense than the local team, ball carriers frequently being tossed for losses, but while Massillon was penalized 100 yards during times in which it was in possession of the ball, the red and black was set back but 15 yards when it had the pigskin. One other penalty was charged up to New Philadelphia when the local eleven had the ball but it did not help the orange and black any for it followed a 15-yard penalty inflicted on Washington high on the previous play.

An argument ensued between halves between Coach Elmer McGrew and the referee, over clipping which occurred a few seconds before the end of the half, Houriet was clipped from behind while going down under a punt. The officials saw the clipping but declared that it occurred after the ball had been caught and carried out of bounds by the New Philadelphia safety man. The result was that New Philadelphia was given the ball at the point where the runner went out of bounds, Captain Potts declining a penalty which would have made a difference of about two yards in the position of the ball. However had the clipping occurred before the runner went out of bounds then New Philadelphia would have been penalized nearly to its goal line. The referee argued that his eyesight was good but from the sidelines it appeared that the runner was fully eight yards inside the boundary line when Houriet was clipped.

The red and black counted the game as somewhat of a moral victory. Rooters were enthusiastic over the scoreless tie and in spite of the fact that all the breaks were against the local eleven the wearers of red and black ribbons had a right to be proud of the scrappy game their team put up.

The Massillon eleven should make certain after this that it gets to the field on time. Fans waited in the bleachers 45 minutes after game time before the local team appeared on the field. At least one-half hour of the delay was due to a broken axle on the bus when the team was dressed and ready to leave the school for the field, but barring the accident the Massillon team would have been 20 minutes late.

The officials were prepared to step off a 25-yard penalty for being tardy but did not do so at the request of officials of New Philadelphia high school, which Massillon fans consider very sportsmanlike.

Watkins showed well at halfback in his first game in the backfield, while the playing of Potts and Houriet on the ends was the feature of the Massillon play. Honors were even between Kester and Knauss in punting.

Whether or not the referee was partial to New Philadelphia, Massillon fans can settle in their own minds, but it is not good sportsmanship to threaten to “beat up” the officials. It leaves a bad reputation for the school and makes it all the more difficult to obtain good officiating.

Lineup and summary:

Massillon Pos. New Phila.
Potts LE Keiser
Slinger LT Sherer
Fisher LG Hensel
Lewis C Alexander
Blatz RG Wheatley
Goodman RT Bebout
Houriet RE Douds
Worthington QB Rohrbach
Kester HB Byrd
Watkins HB Foutz
Hollwager FB Knauss

Substitutions:
Massillon – Schnierle for Watkins, Minger for Potts, Potts for Fisher, Francis for Hollwager, Garland for Potts;
New Philadelphia – Marsh for Bebout, Hurst for Keiser, Bebout for Marsh, Hammond for Bebout.

Referee—Hamm (Kenyon).
Umpire—Burghalter (Heidelberg).
Headlinesman—Kiefer (Ohio State).

Henry Potts
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo

1928: Massillon 12, Conneaut 6

WASHINGTON HIGH GRIDDERS RALLY IN LAST FIVE MINUTES TO BEAT CONNEAUT
KESTER’S RETURN OF PUNT GIVES ORANGE AND BLACK VICTORY

With five minutes to go and Conneaut backed to its goal line, the orange and black tigers of Washington high finally pulled themselves out of the mud on Massillon Field, Saturday, made one desperate effort and pushed across a touchdown that brought a 12 to 6 victory over the invading gridders from the northeastern Ohio city.

Conneaut, woefully weak on offense, made up for its failure to carry the ball by standing firmly on its own soil and battling viciously when the Massillon tiger threatened to cross its goal line. Within the shadow of its goal posts, Conneaut was shoved back a half a dozen times, but the game little band of blue clad warriors refused to yield and turned back the thrusts of the Massillon backs time after time to take possession of the coveted pigskin and boot it safely out of danger.

Scoring on a break in the first few minutes of play when Coach Elmer McGrew’s sophomores and juniors were on the field of duty, the Conneaut gridders made a determined stand until the middle of the second period when the Massillon eleven scored its first points. But even so, the blue clad gridders did not falter for a tie score would be more than satisfactory for them and much better than they had even dreamed of earning. So they dug their cleats into the soggy turf, matched their fight against the weight of the Washington high line and almost accomplished their purpose. In fact the stand of the Conneaut team threw such a scare into the Massillon bench that Buttermore, giant tackle, with one hand in splints and swathed in bandages, rushed into the fray to wipe out part of the defense of the visitors and drill holes for the Massillon backs.

Conneaut nearly accomplished its purpose, a tie score, and might have done so, had it not been for John Kester snatching a punt out of the air on his own 37-yard line and dashing to within five yards of the Conneaut goal before being forced out of bounds. Five minutes were left to play when Kester made his run and he followed it up with two plunges into the Conneaut line which carried him across the goal for the winning points of the game.

Sharing honors with Kester in scoring for the orange and black was “Chippy” Hollwager, tall and slender, who tore the center of the Conneaut line to pieces to register the local eleven’s first touchdown of the game.

The touchdown followed a determined drive of the youthful tigers from mid-field. Carrying the ball to the 15-yard line on line bucks and end runs with all the Massillon backs participating, but stopped momentarily by the sturdy defense of the Conneaut gridders, a substitute was shot into the ranks of the youthful tigers. A whispered order, “Give the ball to Chippy,” must have been issued for five times in succession. Hollwager took the pigskin and at the end of his fifth plunge he was across the Conneaut goal line. The fact that the youthful tigers failed to score more than 12 points, indicates that both attempts to score touchdown by line bucks were frustrated.

Conneaut’s touchdown came as a result of a break in the game. A long punt by Hamilton, the ruthless clipping of a Massillon player which brought the ball back to the local team’s one-yard line, and a bad bounce following one of Kester’s punts were largely responsible for the points.

To start with, Hamilton punted from his own 20-yard line past John Kester to the Massillon 20-yard line. When a Massillon man was caught clipping illegally on the punt, the ball was taken back to the one-yard line.

Kester immediately attempted to punt it out of danger. His kick went away all right. The ball sailed through the air to the 35-yard line before hitting the ground, but it rebounded with one of those boomerang bounces, and before the local team could down it it had rolled back to the 15-yard line. Then came Conneaut’s only offensive and only first down of the day. Two cracks at the line gained eight yards but the visitors were offside and were penalized five yards. Not discouraged, Samppi, quarterback, called for a lateral pass, took the ball, flipped it to Hamilton, who skirted the Massillon right end for a touchdown. The try for the extra point was low.

That was the only splurge of offensive strength that Conneaut could muster and it came at the right time. McGrew’s shock troops were on the field at the time and they were quickly replaced by the seniors who for a time failed to make any better impression with the handful of fans who stood in the stands because Jupiter Pluvius arrived first at the field and drenched the bleachers.

Thirteen first downs were rolled up by McGrew’s warriors to Conneaut’s single 10-yard gain, and the ball was continually in Conneaut territory, not because of Hamilton’s punting, for outside of his team’s defense, his kicking was the next best feature of his team, but largely because the local team picked up 10 to 15 yards every time it was in possession of the ball, and with Kester punting every bit as good as Hamilton, the visitors thus were unable, except on the one occasion, to come out of their own territory.

Forward passes were a joke Saturday. The water soaked ball on every occasion refused to fall into the hands of its intended receiver with the result that three Massillon passes were incomplete and one was intercepted, while a Conneaut pass was intercepted. Conneaut suffered many penalties for being offside, largely as a result of Maney’s over eagerness to tackle the Massillon ball toter. Seven times the visitors were set back for this offense, and coupled with a 19-yard penalty for tripping, it cost them 54 yards during the afternoon. Massillon was penalized 37 yards.

The failure of the local eleven to score more than 13 points against Conneaut, however should not be too severely criticized.

Although the visitors were expected to be easy, due to the fact that they hadn’t won a game this season and tied but one team, yet they never have been trampled over by their opponents. Conneaut has not bowed to any team this year by as large a number of points as the youthful tigers have been defeated by, and the game played by the northeastern Ohio team Saturday was its typical 1928 brand, weak offensively, but strong on the defense.

Lineup and summary:
Massillon Pos. Conneaut
Willison LE Hirsimaki
Maier LT Maney
Herman LG Lyons
Potts C Zumpft
Pfeister RG Maukonen
Goodman RT D. Mosher
Houriet RE J. Mosher
Lewis QB Samppi
D. Hess LH Mumalainen
Worthington RH Hamilton
Kester FB Cantlin

Score by periods:
Massillon 0 6 0 6 12
Conneaut 6 0 0 0 6

Substitutions:
Massillon: Schnierle, lh; Hollwager, rh; Blatz, rg; Slinger, lt; Fisher, lg; Francis, lh; Buttermore, rt; Mann, lt; Watkins, le; Malone, re; Worthington, lh; Minger, rg,
Conneaut – Brewster, lt; Ritari, lh.

Touchdowns – Hamilton, Hollwager, Kester

Referee—Walsh.
Umpire—Barrett.
Time of periods—12 minutes.

Henry Potts
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo

1928: Massillon 0, Akron South 19

SAUER RACES THROUGH MASSILLON TO GIVE SOUTH HI 19-0 VICTORY
SCORES 18 POINTS ON BRILLIANT RUNS; TIGERS LACK PUNCH

‘Twas a Sauer day for Akron, Saturday, but a bit more sour for Massillon than Akron for the maroon and gold of South high school swept over the orange and black of Washington high to score a 19 to 0 victory.

It was sour for Massillon because the defeat was a bitter pill for the local team to swallow, and it was Sauer for Akron, because a young gentleman by that name scored 18 points and also helped in scoring the 19th point.

Sauer was sweet. It sounds funny but true nevertheless. And his speed and manner of running quite upset the youthful tigers of Washington high, for twice he slipped away for runs of 70 yards for touchdowns and ran so fast that as a spectator said, “even his shadow had a hard time keeping up with him.”

With the cool air brushed over the field by a moderate wind, and the autumn sun concealed behind a blanket of clouds, the day was a fitting one for a football game.

Orange and black streamed from many a coat lapel as did the gaudy maroon and gold colors of the rabid Akron rooters who went wild with joy when they saw the tow-headed Bill Sauer rush into the game in the second period when everything appeared headed for a Massillon victory.

Why all the flash of color and noise from the Akron stands just because a substitute was entering the game? queried Massillon fans. Just something to yell about. The Massillonians had done all the yelling so far for their team was the only one to score a first down or even come close to scoring.

But the folks of the would-be Zeppelin city had an idea of what was about to happen for they knew that Bill Sauer is the fastest runner in Akron and isn’t slowed down a bit when in football togs.

That was in the first few minutes of the second period. Previous to that Massillon fans had seen their hopes rise and fade when the youthful tigers carried the ball deep into South territory, once to the 13-yard line, only to lose it on downs. South hadn’t even worked the ball into Massillon territory and when Sauer entered the game the locals were in possession of the ball in midfield. Twice the orange and black slashed the Akron line, for gains of seven yards but a yard was lost on the third attempt. With fourth down coming, the tow-headed substitute, dropped back from a halfback position to safety man. Coach Weltner chuckled. John Kester punted, and Sauer ran. Catching the ball on his own 28-yard line he eluded two tacklers and headed for the sideline. Like a horse with the string-halt he ran, only there wasn’t any “halt”. Legs kicking high, knees nearly touching his chin, Sauer was a difficult gridder to tackle, and before the Massillon players or fans knew what had happened, he was behind the goal line, waiting for the referee to catch his breath in order to blow his whistle.

That turned the tide of battle. After Sauer had passed to Larson, an end, for the extra point, the Massillon eleven went back in the game, somewhat downhearted, but far from beaten at any rate. A few minutes later Sauer fumbled and Slinger scooped up the ball and raced back to the Akron 10-yard line before being tackled, but the referee ruled the play out and gave Akron the ball. That was a tough break for the local eleven. The bark of the timekeeper’s gun kept the youthful tigers from another chance to score when the half ended with them in possession of the ball on the Akron 23-yard line.

Sauer was placed on the bench when the second half started. Weltner awaiting an opportunity to duplicate his stunt of the second period. It came, not in the third quarter but at the beginning of the fourth period. Massillon had just shown a burst of offense that carried the ball to the 11-yard line, threatening to tie the score, but fumbled on the first down, Akron recovering. The Akron gridders then began their only real offensive march of the day. They paraded from the 11-yard line to the Massillon eight-yard line before the third quarter ended. But with the orange and black bracing, and the South backs weakening under the battering they took in carry the ball down the field, Weltner beckoned to Sauer, and the human bit of lightning sped toward the two teams already lined up to play. There’s no need telling the rest but just to complete the story, Sauer tucked the ball under his arm and plunged across the goal line for his second touchdown. This time his pass was knocked down by Lewis, and the extra point was foiled.

But the lineup credits Sauer with six more points.

A few minutes later he took the ball from scrimmage on a shift play, which many Massillon fans thought to be illegal, galloped for 70 yards and a touchdown. This time his pass to Porter was complete, but the referee stepped in, declared the point did not count. That concluded the scoring for the day and did it with a spectacular finish.

Followers of sport have heard of a lot about one-man teams, and Saturday’s game furnished a good example. When Sauer wasn’t in the fray the orange and black outplayed the Akronites, but with the big-tow-head in the lineup, the maroon and gold gridders not only showed their offensive punch but braced on defense and stopped the attacks of the local backs.

The Massillon gridders solved the baffling formation of the South gladiators too late to do any good, other than giving the Massillon fans the unexcelled pleasure of seeing the ghost of the Akron team tossed for losses instead of gains.

But in spite of the score, the orange and black made eight first downs, only two less than the number totaled by the Akron gridders. The youthful tigers, however, were helped out somewhat in their efforts to carry the ball by penalties, while South frequently lost ground through the power of the referee. The Akron gridders were penalized 100 yards, while the youthful tigers were set back 55 yards.

South’s tight pass defense made the local eleven look foolish when attempting to use the aerial game. Thirteen times signals were called for forward passes. Twelve times the ball was batted down and once it was intercepted but on one of the occasions, the referee ruled that an Akron gridder interfered with a Massillon man’s attempt to try to catch the ball and declared the pass completed.

Akron only tried four passes, two of which were completed for a gain of 20 yards. The others were wasted.

The Washington high gridders missed George Hess in the backfield. Hess, who was ineligible, would have provided the extra offensive punch that might have enabled the local team to have bucked across a touchdown. As it was, “Chip” Hollwager probably played the best offensive game for the local eleven, although Schnierle, who is an in and outer, made two good runs. Kester’s punts, as usual, kept the ball in Akron territory the greater part of the game.

Massillon fans were given the run around as soon as they entered Akron. In the first place, the road, over which they were directed to the stadium by an official of South high, was closed, and the machines had to detour. Then when they reached the field, the local sport enthusiasts, at least a great many of them, had to march clear around the fence before they found the entrance gate. After that, well that has already been told. Sauer did the rest of running around. The playing field, however, was covered with about as good a sod as any field the local eleven has trod upon this season, making it easier falling than on the pebbles of Massillon Field.

After Coach McGrew realized he was hopelessly beaten he freshened his ranks with many substitutes in order to give them experience in varsity competition for next year.

Lineup and summary:

Massillon Pos. Akron South

Schnierle LE Winkleman

Slinger LT Robinson

Fisher LG Kraus

Potts C Huth

Blatz RG Hartz

Goodman RT Burke

Houriet RE Larson

Lewis QB Porter

Hollwager LH Gablac

Kester RH Brundage

Buttermore FB Hedderly
Score by periods:
South 0 7 0 12 19

Substitutions:
Massillon – Watkins re, Mann lg, Worthington, fb, Hess lh, Garland rt, Francis rh, Malone re, Geis rt, Willison c, Herman lt, Minger rf, Pfister lg, Toles lh.
South – Sauer lh, Perry c, Kazan lg.

Touchdowns – Sauer 3.
Point after touchdown – Larson (pass)

Referee—Kirk.
Umpire—Daum.
Headlinesman—Anderson.

Henry Potts
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo

1928: Massillon 13, Alliance 0

HIGH GRIDDERS BEAT ALLIANCE 13 TO 0 TO WIN FIRST GAME OF COUNTY SERIES

WHIRLWIND OFFENSE IN OPENING MINUTES DEFEATS OLD RIVAL

Believing that the early bird catches the worm, Coach Elmer McGrew, of Washington High, unleashed his tigers in the Mount Union stadium Saturday afternoon with strict orders to cross the goal line of the Red and Blue of Alliance at the earliest opportunity.

And they did just that thing and thereby won their first game of the Stark county series by beating Alliance 13 to 0. Just how obedient those boys wearing the orange and black were can be seen from the fact that they took the kickoff and marched 70 yards down the field for a touchdown.

That was the first score, and the six points looked bigger and bigger to Alliance fans as the game progressed, and smaller and smaller to Massillon fans when the red and blue began an offensive in the last period that threatened the local team’s goal.

In fact Alliance threw such a scare into the hearts of the youthful tigers in the last 10 minutes of play that they went out and produced another touchdown in order to make their score secure. However the same touchdown would not have been necessary to insure victory, because the final gun cracked while Schnierle was racing toward the red and blue’s goal line, and the last seven points were of no good other than making the local team’s score look more impressive.

The game was a splendid one from start to finish. It proved quite emphatically that McGrew’s gridders found themselves in the fracas with Wooster a week ago, and provided enough thrills to satisfy the 3,000 lovers of football, who filled the stands.

One thrill came when George Hess stepped away for a 30-yard run on the third play of the game. Another came when John Kester got off a beautiful punt that went 60 yards against the wind, and still another resulted when Keefe, flashy Alliance quarter, dashed away for a long gain after taking a lateral pass. But the best apples grow on the end of the limb, and so the most spectacular and unusual play of the game came in the last few seconds when Schnierle raced 35 yards from the line of scrimmage for a touchdown, the gun cracking when he had traveled but half the distance.

Had it not been for the whirlwind attack of the youthful tigers in the opening minutes of the game, the result might have been a scoreless tie, for after the first six points were produced the red and blue braced and turned back every other scoring threat. Had it not been that the local team was leading by six points with only a few seconds of the game remaining to be played, it is doubtful if the orange and black would have scored its second touchdown, for Quarterback Keefe took one desperate chance to score, and tossed a forward pass from his own 35-yard line which was grounded, giving the local team the ball. Schnierle’s long run for a touchdown and the end of the game came on the next play.

The way the orange and black tore the Alliance line to pieces on its opening march for a touchdown gave evidence that the game would be a one-sided contest, but the Alliance line braced suddenly and stopped the plunging Massillon backs. The Massillon attack showed itself at other stages of the game, but lacked the consistency necessary to score touchdowns. A penalty also ended one scoring threat of the youthful tigers.

Alliance showed a plucky team. Its forward wall stood up well under the battering of the Massillon backs and the ends appearing exceptionally strong in turning in runs around the flanks. The red and blue’s six first downs were made largely as a result of end runs and several forward passes.

The Alliance gridders wanted to win the game badly. Coach George Wilcoxen, before the game, declared that if his eleven could take the measure of the local gridders he believed that the victory would provide the necessary confidence to make the team a winning one for the remainder of the season. Such was the case a year ago, when Alliance, after beating the orange and black, went out and defeated everything in sight with the exception of Canton McKinley. In fact it was over-anxiety that partly contributed to Wilcoxen’s defeat Saturday, for his team was penalized six times for being offside, and several of these penalties stopped threatening Alliance offensive drives. A few aided the orange and black in its goalward march. The two penalties, however in the latter instance only helped out by a few yards for a play by play account of the game shows that in one case the Massillon back had plunged for four yards, which were given up for the five-yard penalty, while the other penalty helped but little, for it came just before George Hess got away for his long run of 30 yards. Alliance also received two penalties for not completing two consecutive forward passes, and twice suffered reverses of 15 yards for holding. All told the red and blue was set back a total of 70 yards, while the youthful tigers lost 35 yards in penalties.

In first downs the local team excelled its rivals, making the necessary yardage on 12 occasions, while the red and blue could make the distance but six times.

McGrew’s team improved greatly in one department Saturday and that was in the manner in which it intercepted and knocked down Alliance forward passes. Alliance tried to gain by the aerial route on 14 occasions. Three times it was successful, gaining 42 yards, but eight of the passes were knocked down, while three others were intercepted. The three aerial attempts of the orange and black were unsuccessful.

The long punting of Kester was one of the features of the local team’s play. Kester averaged nearly 50 yards on his boots, which not only were long but also high enough to permit the Massillon ends to camp under the ball when it came down. The ends, however, did not take advantage of the opportunity and although they slipped by the Alliance interference and got down on most of the punts, they usually failed to make the tackle and allowed Keefe to return the ball several times for substantial gains before being thrown. Kester’s first kick was the prettiest of the lot and when the ball twisted through the air it brought a sigh from the fans similar to that heard when a pretty sky rocket explodes in a fireworks celebration.

Saturday was migration day for Massillon fans, and approximately 1,500 from this city followed the local gridders to Alliance. The automobiles formed a long procession as the fans returned home, horns blowing and colors waving.

The high school band was taken to the game, and played frequently. Alliance’s band also made itself heard many times during the afternoon.

The Massillon fans were seated in the concrete bleachers until shortly before the start of the second period when they deserted their section because of a light rain, and made a rush across the field to the covered section on the opposite side.

The game was the first high school tilt played in the new stadium, and Alliance fans have yet to see their school or college teams score a victory on the new field. Mount Union met defeat at the hands of the University of Michigan’s second team when the stadium was dedicated a week ago.

Captain Potts was taken from the game in the fourth period when he was knocked out from a kick on the head. With the exception of a discolored face, however, the captain is O.K. and is ready for another melee.

It has already been told how the second Massillon touchdown was scored and here are the plays that led up to the first.

Watkins kicked off to Kester, who took the ball on the Massillon 10-yard line and returned to the 25-yard line. Schnierle failed to gain on a dash around left end, but Alliance was declared offside on the play and was penalized five yards. Kester plunged for a yard, and Hess then broke through right tackle for a run of 30 yards, carrying the ball to the Alliance 40-yard line. Had he not stumbled over his own feet, he might have slipped away for a touchdown. Schnierle picked up five yards and Hollwager plunged through for a first down on the Alliance 30-yard line. Hess made four yards and Hollwager two more after which Kester rammed through for a first down on the 20-yard line. Alliance took time out and talked things over. With the resumption of play, Hess was tossed for a one-yard loss. Hester picked up two yards and Hess made three more. Hollwager then pushed his way through for a first down on the 10-yard line. Buttermore was given the ball and rammed through for four yards, but Alliance was offside, and Captain Potts took the five-yard penalty in a preference to the gain. Hess made a yard and on the next play Buttermore rammed through for the touchdown. Schnierle missed his try for the extra point.

Alliance came nearest to scoring in the last period when two passes and end runs put the ball on Massillon’s 23-yard line. The chance to score was lost, however, when Keefe fumbled on an attempted pass, Blatz covering the ball which rolled backward to the 37-yard line.

Lineup and summary:

Massillon Pos. Alliance

Schnierle LE Curtis

Fisher LT Miller

Blatz LG Speidell

Potts C King

Goodman RG Clark

Slinger RT Hammontree

Houriet RE Battin

G. Hess QB Keefe

Hollwager LHB Watkins

Kester RHB Dann

Buttermore FB Windland
Score by periods:
Massillon 6 0 0 7—13

Substitutions: Massillon – Lewis, c; Minger, re. Alliance – Daly, le; Curtis, re.

Touchdowns – Buttermore, Schnierle.
Point after touchdown – Schnierle (dropkick).

Referee—Howells (Sebring).
Umpire—Barrett (Sebring).
Headlinesman—Clark (Kenyon).
Timekeepers—Whittacre (Alliance), Rider, (Massillon).

Henry Potts
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo

1928: Massillon 32, Wooster 0

ORANGE AND BLACK SHOWS STRONG ATTACK IN BEATING WOOSTER 32-0
WAYNE COUNTY TEAM OUTPLAYED IN EVERY QUARTER BY TIGERS

Like the Prodigal Son who went out to conquer the world, and returned as meek and humble as an overgrown schoolboy after being spanked by his smaller teacher, so the Washington high school football team returned to its home field Saturday afternoon, somewhat dubious as to the mood of the fans because of the poor showing in the first road game of the season, at Lorain Sept. 29.

But with nothing to lose, and everything in the world to gain, the youthful tigers this time accomplished what they set out to do, and smothered the troop of grid warriors from Wooster high under a 32 to 0 defeat.

No fatted calf gave its life to celebrate the triumph, the wearers of leather and moleskin contenting themselves by feasting on the glories of the victory, while Massillon fans, themselves surprised at the overwhelming score, stand ready to sing aloud the praises of the orange and black.

The team resembled the steam roller of old. A powerful offense that gained yardage at will, crashed through the Wooster line for a quintette of touchdowns that produced the team’s first victory of the year, and incidentally the largest score rolled up by a Massillon machine since the middle of the 1926 season.

Gaining on practically every means of offensive play with the single exception of the forward pass, McGrew’s gridders had the Wayne county team completely baffled and the only thing that saved it from an even more crushing defeat was the fouling of the orange and black eleven, which resulted in many penalties.

This furnished the only dark spot in the team’s play during the afternoon, and Coach Elmer McGrew took immediate steps to remedy the condition while the game was in progress by removing every player on his team caught by the officials violating the laws of the gridiron. These penalties, five of them, of 15 yards each, set back the youthful tigers several times when they were on the march to the Wooster goal line and had it not been for the loss of 100 yards through penalties the local team probably would have run up a much larger score.

Wooster showed nothing, scoring but two first downs. The orange and black forward wall outcharged the Wayne county gridders and either had them on the ground or running backward the greater part of the game. To the line goes a lot of credit for the victory. These seven youths who form the fortification for the backfield and whose praises are seldom sang, opened large holes for the ball carriers Saturday, and outplayed the Wooster gridders with such consistency that but one yard was lost from scrimmage by the orange and black, with the exception of a fumble.

The local team’s offensive strength also was helped considerably by the interference which protected the ball carrier. The interference Saturday was the best that has been given an orange and black ball carrier for several years, and is believed due directly to changes made by Coach McGrew in his backfield during the past week. Both Buttermore and Hollwager are good blockers, and carry the ball well. Hollwager looked good on off tackle dashes, while Buttermore, built like an old fashioned battering ram, showed an ability to lower his head, close his eyes, and drive through the center of the line mowing down the opposing team for several yards as he plunged along. George Hess and John Kester, the other members of the backfield who started the game, also gained their share of yards during the day, Hess gaining more yards than any of the other backs. Hess also ran the team well, mixing up his plays and showed a good example of unselfishness to the others when he permitted Buttermore to buck across a touchdown on two consecutive smashes at the line after the latter had placed it in position for scoring.

In defeating Wooster, however, the local gridders should not feel that they have accomplished a difficult task. It was Wooster’s third defeat in as many games this year, Barberton and New Philadelphia having previously knocked off the blue by scores of 45 to 7 and 6 to 0 respectively. The orange and black players should not get overconfident as a result of the victory, but should let the score give them confidence, sufficient to inspire them to fight all the harder for greater victories.

A game such as the one with Wooster Saturday should have been scheduled for the local team for the first of the season. Such a victory would have given the gridders the confidence necessary to carry on a successful season on the football field. But games cannot always be arranged as you would like to have them and to make the best of a difficult early season schedule, the team now expects to start in this week with Alliance where it left off Saturday with Wooster, and get the jump on Canton by taking the lead in the Stark county series.

Saturday’s game had its thrills and its sighs. The thrills came when Schnierle circled the Massillon right end for 28 yards and a touchdown and when Lewis, shortly after the kickoff in the second half stepped through Wooster’s right tackle for a pretty run of 45 yards and a touchdown. The sighs came when the orange and black’s goalward marches were stopped and set back by penalties. Penalties and an intercepted pass were the only things that kept McGrew’s team from scoring in the first period, when they made five first downs.

In the second period, however, the yards were clicked off with more regularity and by the time first half intermission was reached the Massillon team had not only scored its first touchdown of the season but had pushed across three additional sets of counters for a total of 20 points. During the first two quarters the local team produced 10 first downs, while as far as Wooster was concerned, first downs were as scarce as toes on a peg leg.

The youthful tigers started their first march to a touchdown shortly after the start of the second period, when Schnierle took Zapponi’s punt on his 40-yard line and carried it back to the Wooster 45-yard line. His run was largely made possible by Captain Potts who took two Wooster men out of the play in one dive. Hess made a yard on the next play and Hollwager tore through the line for three more, Wooster, however, was declared offside and Captain Potts took the penalty rather than the gain. Schnierle fumbled after a nice run on the next play and Wooster was again offside, but Captain Potts this time took the gain which gave the orange and black the ball on the 28-yard line. Kester hit left tackle for six yards, but Conrad broke through and tossed Hollwager for a two-yard loss. G. Hess made three yards and Kester five yards, but the ball was called back, both teams being offside. Hollwager then plunged through the line for a first down on Wooster’s 14-yard line. On the next play Buttermore rammed through the center of the line for 13 yards, carrying the ball to the one-yard line. He tried it again and placed the pigskin on the one-foot line and on the next play put it over. Schnierle drop-kicked the extra point.

Additional grief to the Wooster rooters came a few minutes later. Getting the ball on their own 35-yard line, the followers of Obie, marched 65 yards across the visitor’s goal line. Gaining possession of the ball as a result of a punt, Hess on the first play made nine yards. Hollwager followed with two yards, making a first down on Massillon’s 46-yard line. Kester dashed around left end for 14 yards, taking the ball to the Wooster 40-yard line. Buttermore plunged through for four yards but the orange and black was penalized 15 yards for holding. Schnierle picked up 14 yards on the next play on a run around end. Hess made two more and Kester then slipped through for a run of 16 yards, taking the ball to the Wooster 28-yard line. Hollwager made six yards on the first down and Hess then wormed his way through for a gain of 13 yards, being downed on the Wooster nine-yard line. Hess made four yards on his next attempt after which Hollwager carried the oval across. Schnierle’s kick struck the line of scrimmage.

The third set of points in the quarter were scored as a result of Houriet intercepting Strock’s pass on the 40-yard line and carrying the ball back to the 28-yard line, from which Schnierle took the ball across on the next play on a sweeping run around Wooster’s left end. He gave himself another point by kicking goal.

The big parade of the day, however, came in the second minute of the third period. Wooster had just made its first offensive threat which came to a sudden ending when Captain Potts intercepted Strock’s pass in midfield. Three plays and two penalties finally found the ball on the Wooster 43-yard line, from where Ike Lewis, sophomore quarterback, made a dash for a touchdown. It was the most spectacular run of the day. Getting started slowly, Lewis sidestepped a flock of tacklers until only the safety man was in his path to the goal. A quick change of pace got rid of him, and the Ike scampered across the goal. Again the try for point was low.

From then on Coach McGrew began refreshing his ranks with substitutes in order to give his younger players a taste of gridiron roughness. The result was that the youthful tigers after many threats, finally started on their last scoring march of the day that was realized only 38 seconds before the final gun was fired. It all started when Myers covered a Wooster fumble on the latter’s 26-yard line. Kester made three yards and Hollwager picked up six more. Buttermore then made it first down on the Wooster 14-yard line. On the next play G. Hess slipped through for eight yards, taking the ball to the six-yard line. Kester made a bid for a touchdown, carrying the pigskin to the one-yard line, from where G. Hess plunged it over. Malone’s attempted drop kick went wide of the bar by a few inches.

The orange and black made 17 first downs to Wooster’s two. Wooster completed two forward passes, one for a gain of 11 yards and the other for a loss of a yard. Massillon had two passes incomplete and Wooster six, while one of the local team’s passes was intercepted against three of Wooster’s. Wooster was penalized 35 yards and Massillon 100 yards.

The Washington high gridders gained 417 yards from scrimmage Saturday, divided as follows: G. Hess, carried ball 22 times, 123 yards; Schnierle carried ball six times, 67 yards; Kester carried ball 12 times, 67 yards; Hollwager carried ball 14 times, 61 yards; Buttermore, carried ball seven times, 28 yards; Lewis carried ball four times, 48 yards, and Worthington carried ball five times, 23 yards.

Lineup and summary:

Massillon Pos. Wooster

Schnierle LE Zapponi

Slinger LT Heye

Goodman LG Franks

Potts C Conrad

Blatz RG Cappola

Fisher RT Beach

Houriet RE Dahl

Hess QB Strock

Hollwager RHB Dalby

Kester LHB Kalkas

Buttermore FB Gohen
Score by periods:
Massillon 0 26 6 6 32

Substitutions:
Massillon – Mann for Slinger, Minger for Buttermore, Buttermore for Mann, Lewis for Potts, Potts for Fisher, Worthington for Houriet, Willison for Potts, Potts for Lewis, Lewis for Kester, Fisher for Potts, Potts for Willison, Pfister for Goodman, Mann for Pfister, Slinger for Minger, Houriet for Mann, Barrett for Lewis, D. Hess for Barrett, Kester for Worthington, McGinnis for D. Hess, Malone for Schnierle, Myers for McGinnis, Francis for Houriet, Toles for Buttermore, Wolfe for Hollwager.
Wooster – Drabanstatt for Franks, Richardson for Kalkas, Noscar for Beach, Franks for Drabenstatt, Drabenstatt for Dall, Haldeman for Zapponi, Paulmier for Richardson, Beach for Noscar, Noscar for Conrad, Zaugg for Dalby, Edwards for Drabenstatt, Holleran for Gohen.

Touchdowns – Buttermore, Hollwager, Schnierle, Lewis, G. Hess.
Point after touchdown – Schnierle 2 (drop kick).

Officials—Referee—Howells; umpire—Schnake; headlinesman—Walsh.

Henry Potts
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo

1928: Massillon 0, Lorain 20

LORAIN PASSES WAY TO 20-0 VICTORY OVER WASHINGTON HIGH SCHOOL GRIDDERS
ORANGE AND BLACK FAILS TO FLASH ANY OFFENSIVE ATTACK

Lorain, the tornado swept Lake Erie city, battered by the winds four years ago, knows the power of air, and harnessed the ozone last Saturday afternoon to pass its way to a 20 to 0 victory over the orange and black of Washington high school.

Lorain was entertaining fears of a second tornado Saturday when the Washington high eleven blew into the city, but as the game proceeded the host team showed that it knew a little more about tornadoes than the Massillon eleven and preceded to sweep the local gridders off their feet. It was a false wind that blew from Massillon. The orange and black showed nothing Saturday but a good punter and a strong line from tackle to tackle and was completely outclassed by its opponents.

Lorain, in beating the local team, shook off the jinx that follows dedications of football stadiums, and in a colorful and brilliant manner opened its new field to athletics.

Massillon was honored by having the opportunity to play the first scholastic game in the new stadium. No athlete was permitted to trod on the heavy turf until last Wednesday when the Lorain gridders began prepping on the new field for the “hard” tussle with the orange and black. Only five minutes before the referee’s whistle sounded for the start of the duel, the Stars and Stripes were raised to be fanned by the breeze for the first time from the top of the new flagpole. It was the formal opening of the stadium and approximately 3,500 fans, one-fourth of whom were from Massillon, gathered for the event.

The dedicatory exercises were simple. Led by the flag and the school’s pennant, a parade formed in front of the Lorain bleachers and proceeded to the flagpole, marching to music of the Lorain high school band. The two football squads, Lorain’s 95 strong, followed the band as well as officials and coaches. As customary, Old Glory was raised to the tune of “the Star Spangled Banner,” at the conclusion of which the whistle sounded and the teams took the field.

Lorain found in Massillon, Saturday, a team with a stout line, weak on the ends, with a good punter, and weak offense. The Lorain gridders failed to gain through the orange and black’s line, but skirted the ends for substantial gains and hurled passes for touchdowns.

The game had hardly started until Giasomo, as speedy a back as ever tucked a ball under his arm, took a pass from Chaszar and scampered 35 yards around Massillon’s right end for a touchdown. Jones missed his attempted kick, but Massillon was ruled offside on the play by the referee and the point counted. Chaszar scored Lorain’s second touchdown on a run around Massillon’s left end. The ball was placed in a scoring position as a result of Hageman recovering a Massillon fumble on the 35-yard line. A Massillon man offside again contributed the extra point to Lorain. The home team’s third set of points came in the middle of the fourth quarter, the result of another pass from Chaszar to Giasomo, who ran 29 yards before crossing the goal line. Again Lorain failed on the try for point, and Massillon did not get offside on the play.

The orange and black seldom had the ball in Lorain territory, due to the fact that the local team failed to show any offensive strength. The nearest the youthful tigers came to the windy city’s goal was the 23-yard line, but with fourth down and three yards to go a pass fell short of its receiver and the ball went into Lorain’s hands. The local team never came close after that, being kept behind the 40-yard line by the scrappy Lake Erie gridders.

The orange and black made but two first downs, and one of these as a result of a 15-yard penalty. Lorain made the required yardage eight times.

The local team’s forward passing attack was woefully wear. Two passes out of 14 attempts were completed for a gain of seven yards, while Lorain completed five passes out of 13 attempts for a gain of 81 yards. Four of Massillon’s passes were intercepted while Captain Potts and Houriet grabbed three of Lorain’s heaves.

The local team finished the game in good shape. Garland was the only player hurt and forced to take time out. He suffered an injured leg.

Had it not been for the punting of Kester, the Lorain gridders might have scored more points. Kester had the advantage on Chaszar in kicking, but the Lorain team gained on exchanges of punts due to the superior runs of Giasomo in returning the ball.

Captain Potts played a fine defensive game for the youthful tigers. In addition to pulling down two Lorain passes and batting down several others, he made it his business to get into practically every play that came through the line or around the ends. The Lorain runners were accorded good interference on their sweeping end runs and the orange and black ends were boxed out of most every play.

The Lorain team had only two lettermen on it, but was picked from a squad of 105 youths who reported to Coach McCaskey at the opening of the season. Ninety-five members of the squad were in uniform Saturday, the lightweights playing a preliminary to the varsity tilt in which they took a 21 to 0 beating from Wellington high school.

A large number of Massillon fans attended the game. Orange and black colors were in evidence everywhere and it is probable that one-fourth if not one-third of the crowd was from this city.

Lineup and summary:

Massillon Pos. Lorain

Geis LE Fabian

Buttermore LT Romoser

Blatz LG Hageman

Potts C Glorioso

Fisher RG Arbanic

Garland RT W. Andonka

Minger RE Andrews

Lewis QB Giasomo

Schnierle LHB Jones

Kester RHB Pincura

Hollwager FB Chaszar
Score by periods:
Lorain 7 7 0 6 20

Substitutions: Massillon – Slinger for Geis, Mann for Garland, Houriet for Hollwager, Hollwager for Minger, Geis for Slinger, G. Hess for Lewis. Lorain – Ursic for Andrews, Newman for Romoser, McGue for Urbanic, B. Andorka for Newman, Lepkowski for Jones, J. Pincura for McGew.

Touchdowns – Giasomo 2, Chaszar.

Officials—Referee: Houghton (Oberlin); Umpire: Close (Oberlin); Headlinesman: Johnson (Navy).

Henry Potts
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo

1928: Massillon 0, Akron East 2

AKRON EAST SCORES SAFETY TO BEAT WASHINGTON HIGH 2-0 IN OPENING GAME
CONSECUTIVE BREAKS COSTLY; OFFENSE OF LOCAL TEAM IS WEAK

Safety brings its rewards. It saves lives, and property and—it wins football games.

By the score of 2 to 0 did the orange and black tigers of Washington high school fall before East high of Akron at Massillon Saturday afternoon in the opening game of the gridiron season, and those two points were the only ones scored during the entire 48 minutes of play.

Safely and safety, with a few other words linked between, tell the story in short order. The Akron punter kicked the ball safely out of danger to the Massillon safety man who failed to play it safely and was tackled behind his own goal line for a safety.

It all happened so quickly that even the Akron East fans in their surprise did not applaud the scoring of two points that won the football game for their team. Neither did the followers of the orange and black feel downcast for few thought that two points would decide the football game. But as some one rightfully said on the bench between halves, “two points are pretty handy things to have,” and they were extremely valuable Saturday.

A warm September sun, a crowd of 2,000 or more, two bands, and a “peppy” student body, made a colorful setting for the game. The rooting section sensing the handicap under which the team was playing, with two veterans on the bench through injuries, kept up a lively din during the afternoon and went down cheering as the team went down fighting.

An old, old story was retold in East’s victory only it was lengthened somewhat Saturday afternoon. Instead of a break it was a couple of breaks that decided the game. True the breaks were evenly divided between the two teams, but the rubber city gridders were fortunate enough to get two breaks in a row and that produced their victory. The first break, a recovered fumble, gave East the ball. While the second, a muff by Schnierle, and a little thoughtless playing when, in an effort to return the punt he stepped and was tackled behind his goal line, gave Akron its two points.

One wouldn’t be fair if he didn’t say that Akron deserved to win, but one also wouldn’t be doing justice to the strong defense of the local gridders if he didn’t add—but by no more than two points.

The score just about revealed the relative merits of the two teams. East made three first downs to the youthful tigers’ one, one coming as a result of a forward pass. Akron ball carriers found it impossible to gain ground as did the Massillon gridders. Neither team failed to register two consecutive first downs. These two statements tell what a defensive battle was staged on Massillon Field Saturday afternoon. But it speaks better for Massillon than it does for East for Akron had a veteran backfield while Massillon’s was green.

Three of the backfield men on the Akron team were veterans of last year, and Pokorosky, the captain, is looked upon as the best ball carrier in all six of Akron’s high schools. Thus the Summit county school was considered as having a great offensive team. The quartette looked worthy of the reputation when it lined up and ran off plays rapidly, but the fast charging Massillon line broke up the plays before the ball carrier could get underway and that took the punch out of the Akron offense. Even the highly touted Pokorosky found out at the close of the game that he had lost more yards than he had gained during the afternoon.

With Coach Elmer McGrew’s defense looking the strongest the school has had in three years, encouragement is given to the hope that this year’s football team will become a winner as the season progresses.

The offense, hampered by inexperience and stage fright, should function better as the season advances. Where East had three veterans of last year in the backfield, Coach McGrew did not have a regular backfield man in the game. Schnierle, a letterman, alternated at end and halfback last year, while George Hess was a substitute in 1926. Houriet, was on the squad last fall but only played a few minutes. Kester and Don Hess, the other youths used Saturday are sophomores and last year played at Longfellow and Lorin Andrews junior high schools respectively. With additional experience the backfield should develop on a par with the defense.

Buttermore Stars.

If there was an individual star in the game it was Buttermore who played a combination tackle, guard and end position on the left side of the line. Buttermore repeatedly dived over the line of scrimmage and picked off the runner for a loss of several yards. His 200 pounds could be found anywhere on the ground, under, or near most every play.

The fact that the game was a defensive battle wiped away most of the thrills usually accorded an evenly fought gridiron game, but other features during the day’s play were Kester’s long punts and Morgan’s run of 40 yards before being tackled by Kester on the seven-yard line.

Another noticeable factor of the afternoon was the wonderful condition of both teams for the opening game of the season. Time out was called but once for both sides and the injuries were of such a minor nature that both players resumed play and apparently were not slowed up by the bumps.

The orange and black scored its only first down during the last minute of play, when the quick calling of signals caught the Akron gridders off balance and produced 28 yards on four cracks at the Akron line, the longest run being a 17-yard off tackle dash by Schnierle. This sudden spurt of offense might help the backfield to find itself in the game with Lorain next week.

The aerial game of the local team was somewhat disappointing. Hollwager, who showed fine ability at receiving forward passes in scrimmage sessions last week, evidently was struck with a bad case of stage fright, and dropped one ball that might have resulted in a touchdown for the local team. The youthful tigers on one other occasion at the start of the second half caught the Akron gridders asleep and might have scored a touchdown had the pass to Houriet been more accurate. As it was, the local team failed to complete a single pass in six attempts, one of which was intercepted, while East completed two passes for a gain of 16 yards, four attempts being batted to the ground by Washington high backs.

East lost more ground than the orange and black on penalties, being set back a total of 40 yards while Massillon was penalized but 10 yards. A 15-yard penalty on one occasion spoiled an Akron scoring opportunity.

The game got underway on scheduled time, Capt. Potts winning the toss and electing to receive the ball and defend the south goal. Fontaine kicked to Buttermore who returned from the 33 to the 38-yard line. Schnierle made three yards at left tackle but G. Hess lost four yards when the line failed to hold. Schnierle then got off a beautiful kick that was downed by Massillon on East’s one-yard line. Pokorosky returned the punt to his own 31-yard line. George Hess hit center for three yards, but Schnierle’s pass to Hollwager was high. Houriet got two yards at center and Schnierle’s pass to Hollwager was high. Houriet got two yards at center and Schnierle’s pass to Hollwager was batted down, giving Akron the ball on its own 26-yard line. Ostravich slipped through for a gain of five yards and Fessler picked up two more, but when Ostravich failed to gain on his second attempt, Capt. Pokorosky punted out of danger to Massillon’s 48-yard line, Schnierle returning to the Akron 45-yard line. Houriet fumbled on the first play and Tayman recovered for East. Pokorosky gained two yards and Ostravich made four through the left side of the Massillon line. Pokorosky gained another yard and on the next play punted to Massillon’s 14-yard line. Hollwager dropped Schnierle’s pass, losing a wonderful chance for a long gain and a possible touchdown. Schnierle punted to the Akron 48-yard line. Ostravich gained two yards and Pokorosky another. Fontaine’s pass was batted down by Houriet, and East was penalized five yards for the backfield being in motion on the play. Pokorosky got off a nice kick to the Massillon 16-yard line, Schnierle returning five yards. Houriet made three on an end run and Schnierle got off a poor punt that went out of bounds on his own 43-yard line. Ostravich gained four yards as the quarter came to a close.

Second Quarter

Buttermore tossed Pokorosky for a five-yard loss. East was offside and was penalized five yards. Pokorosky punted to the Massillon five-yard line. Schnierle got off another poor kick, the ball going out of bounds on his own 14-yard line. Fessler made but three yards on two attempts and Morgan gathered in but one yard on an end around play. Pokorosky’s attempted dropkick rolled on the ground and Washington high was given the ball on its own 20-yard line. Kester entered the game and immediately punted to the Akron 40-yard line. Morgan picked up three yards on an end around play but G. Hess tossed Pokorosky for a one-yard loss. A pass Fontaine to Pokorosky brought the first down of the game, the latter being tackled on the Massillon 33-yard line. Fessler picked up two yards through center and Morgan failed to gain on a triple pass. Pokorosky missed his field goal, Massillon being given the ball on the 20-yard line. Schnierle gained one yard in two attempts after which Kester punted to Ostravich in midfield, who fumbled the ball when tackled, Houriet recovering on Akron’s 44-yard line. Houriet gained two yards on a run around right end. Schnierle gained three more but the orange and black was penalized five yards for the backfield being in motion. G. Hess failed to gain and Walker covered Houriet’s fumble on the next play. Fontaine was thrown for a 10-yard loss on an end around play. Pokorosky gained a yard. Pokorosky punted to Schnierle who dropped the ball near the 18-yard line, the latter chasing the ball back to within a yard of his own goal line, where he picked it up while on the run and was tackled back of the goal line giving Akron a safety.

The Massillon team lined up for a free kick on the 20-yard line, Kester booting the ball to Morgan who carried the ball back to the Massillon 18-yard line before being tackled. Ostravich picked up four yards through left tackle, but failed to gain on his second attempt. Morgan made but one yard on an end around play and the half ended with the ball on the orange and black’s 11-yard line.

Third Quarter

Fontaine kicked to Schnierle on the 20-yard line who returned the ball 10 yards before being tackled. An attempted pass to Houriet was out of the latter’s reach, which had he caught might have resulted in a touchdown. Houriet failed to gain, and Kester punted to the Akron 30-yard line, East fumbling and Massillon recovering on the 25-yard line. George Hess made five yards but the orange and black was penalized five yards for being offside. Hess made another five yards, but Schnierle failed to gain. On the fourth down Kester attempted a drop kick which went into the hands of Ostravich who returned to his own 28-yard line. Ostravich made seven yards on a sneak play. Pokorosky picked up another but the East team was penalized 15 yards for not stopping on the (missing text–shift). Pokorosky then missed a field goal by a foot.

Massillon again gained the ball on her own 20-yard line. Schnierle made two yards through left guard. Kester punted to the Akron 48-yard line. Morgan made five yards on a double pass and Ostravich slipped through for the longest run of the game, a 40-yard dash to the Massillon seven-yard line where he was thrown by Kester, safety man. Ostravich lost one yard. Fessler made two yards placing the ball on the six-yard line. Morgan lost a yard and Pokorosky failed to gain, but officials again declared the Akron backs failed to stop on the shift and penalized the team 15 yards. An attempted pass was grounded and the orange and black took the ball on the 22-yard line. Schnierle lost 12 yards on a fumble. Kester punted high to his own 35-yard line as the quarter ended.

Fourth Quarter

Morgan lost five yards on an end run and fumbled, Pokorosky recovering. Ostravich made two yards after which Pokorosky punted to the Massillon 12-yard line. Houriet lost four yards and Kester kicked back and out of bounds in midfield. Shaffer lost a yard on a guard around play. An Akron pass was incomplete and a second pass, Pokorosky to Morgan gained a yard. Pokorosky punted to Massillon’s 10-yard line. Schnierle made three yards and Kester booted the ball out of bounds on Akron’s 37-yard line. Pokorosky gained four yards, Ostravich failed to gain and Fessler picked up two more. Pokorosky kicked to the Massillon 22-yard line. Schnierle and Houriet failed to gain and a pass was grounded. Kester punted to the Akron 45-yard line. Ostravich made three, and Buttermore tossed Pokorosky for a three-yard loss. Morgan was pushed back three more yards and East was penalized five yards. Pokorosky punted to Kester who was downed on the 33-yard line. Kester rammed center for four yards. Schnierle hit through left tackle for 17 yards and Massillon’s first down on East’s 46-yard line. Kester bucked the line for three yards and Schnierle picked up four more as the gun cracked ending the game.

Lineup:

Akron East—2. Pos. Massillon—0.

Fontaine LE Geis

Kinney LT Buttermore

Shaffer LG Mann

Tayman C Lewis

Thomas RG Blatz

Gilbert RT Garland

Morgan RE Hollwager

Pokorosky QB Schnierle

Ostravich HB G. Hess

Fessler HB Houriet

Walker FB D. Hess
Score by periods:
Akron 0 2 0 0 2

Substitutions – Akron East: Taylor for Gilbert; Massillon: Kester for D. Hess, Goodman for Mann, D. Hess for Houriet.

Safety—Schnierle (tackled by Morgan).

Time of periods—12 minutes. Officials—Referee: Howells (W. Va. Wesleyan); Umpire: Barrett (Westminister); Headlinesman: Jenkins (Akron U.).

Henry Potts
Massillon vs. McK - Throwback (Large)

1927: Massillon 0, Canton McKinley 13

WASHINGTON HIGH BOWS TO CANTON
Local Gridders Hold Canton Scoreless for Two Periods, Then Weaken to Lose, 13 to 0

Eleven members of Washington high school’s greatly tossed about football team, dug their cleats into the hard wrinkled turn of Lakeside stadium, Canton, Saturday afternoon and showed 7,500 fans how a never die spirit could hold Canton McKinley’s high vaunted grid machine to two touchdowns and a score of 13 to 0.

For 24 minutes those snarling Tigers from Massillon turned back the desperate thrusts of the attacking Bulldog and for 12 minutes they held a decided advantage over their eastern rivals.

But a defensive game is a hard strain on any team and with the opening of the second half, things took a different turn. The orange and black, battered badly in its efforts to stem the Canton attack, failed to come back with its gallant defensive stand and was brushed aside by a powerful red and black offense which swept across the Massillon goal line after five minutes of the third period had expired. In these few minutes of the game, the condition of the two teams was the deciding factor and the McKinley players showed greater endurance than the youthful Tigers.

Two forward passes tossed by Lab, Canton substitute, carried the ball across the muddy part of the gridiron to within striking distance of the Massillon goal and paved the way for a touchdown. Then Canton’s galloping ghost, Sam Hodnick, forgot about his injured nose and began ripping the orange and black line to shreds. He carried the ball to the 12-yard mark for a first down. It appeared as though the youthful Tigers, fighting within the shadow of their own goal posts, would turn back the Canton threat. Three times McKinley backs smashed at the orange and black. Once it held. Then it yielded three yards and then five more. With fourth down coming, the ball on the four-yard line and two yards needed for a first down, Hodnick’s signal was called and the McKinley ace drove this165-pounds through the left side of the line with a force that carried him across the Massillon goal.

It was McKinley’s first touchdown. It took the red and black gridders 29 minutes to do what they should have accomplished in five minutes if comparative scores mean anything. McKinley scored one other touchdown, that coming when only half a minute of the game was left to play and was a direct result of a poor pass from the Massillon center which Leiber recovered on the orange and black’s 13-yard line. Goss and Maurer plunged the pigskin to the youthful Tigers one-yard line for a first down and Maurer went across on the next play. McKinley had one other opportunity to score, the ball being placed in position on the local team’s 37-yard line as a result of a blocked punt recovered by the Canton gridders, but after passes had carried the oval to within 12 yards of the goal, the McKinley quarterback like President Coolidge, did not choose to carry the ball, but elected to pass and the pigskin was grounded behind the orange and black goal line. The way in which Reese Price brought Hodnick to the earth after he had received a pass placing the ball on the 13-yard line, probably had as much to do with stopping the Canton gridders from scoring on that occasion as anything. Hodnick had evaded several tacklers until Price pounced on him, bringing the plunging fullback down with a heavy thud and injuring his nose, which slowed him up considerably for the remainder of the half.

While McKinley scored twice on three of its opportunities, the orange and black failed to even threaten the Canton goal line, The local lads got the ball once on the red and black’s 37-yard line after an exchange of punts, but there the Cantonians braced and forced the youthful Tigers to punt. Play during the greater part of the game was between the 35-yard markers and with the exception when McKinley scored its first touchdown; the ball was seldom advanced into enemy territory except through a poor punt or a break in the game.

The game Saturday was a case of a well oiled, fine functioning football machine pitted against an outfit with an unbeatable, defiant spirit. When the orange and black squad trotted out on the field it could be likened to that famous painting, “The Spirit of
Seventy-Six.” Several of the players had slight limps, others possessed injuries that they vainly tried to cover and only a great determination to hold Canton to a low score and preserve Massillon’s high score record, kept them in the game. One player, Dommer, a tackle, tossed away his crutches in order to play Saturday afternoon; another with a torn ear and a heavy bandage over the side of his face, went in and mixed it roughly with the Canton boys, while still another took a chance of being put on crutches for a week or more by playing his first game in five weeks, all because Massillon’s record on the gridiron had to be preserved and such it was. The McKinley team failed to do the thing that it most desired: to set a new high score for a Massillon-Canton game. When the two elevens met five years ago with Massillon being much the stronger team, the Washington high gridders set a record by beating the red and black 24 to 0 and that record still stands as a result of Canton being unable to score more than 13 points Saturday.

At that, granting that McKinley did play a better brand of football than the orange and black Saturday, its game was in reality only one touchdown better than the youthful Tigers. While the teams shared evenly in the breaks, McKinley’s were far more valuable for they came in Massillon territory, one of which contributed to a touchdown. On the other hand the youthful Tigers benefited very little by the breaks they received, practically all coming in their own territory, 50 yards or more from the Canton goal line.

First downs also show that McKinley failed to outplay the youthful Tigers by more than seven points. The red and black made nine first downs to Massillon’s four, but four of the host team’s downs were made on their first touchdown march while the others were scattered throughout the game. McKinley failed to make the required yardage a single time in the second period, while the orange and black negotiated the distance twice. The youthful Tigers had an edge on the red and black that period, outplaying the McKinley gridders. Two more first downs were rolled up by the Massillon aggregation in the fourth quarter, one as a result of a forward pass in the last few seconds of the game and the other on a 15-yard run by “Whitey” Laughlin on a triple pass.

The local eleven never managed to get a pass away until the final period because of the fast charging McKinley linemen. On several occasions Grant was smothered for a loss by a host of tacklers when he was attempting to find a man uncovered to receive a pass. Thus the youthful Tigers were unable to harness the air for gains until after the game was lost. McKinley completed three passes for a gain of 65 yards, while the local gridders made three passes, gaining 35 yards.

The Massillonians lost many yards on poor passes from center. Buttermore played a whale of a defensive game and was a regular bulwark in the center of the line, but after the first quarter he was badly used up by the McKinley players and was unable to bend over sufficiently to pass the ball accurately to the backfield receivers. He was taken from the game shortly after the start of the second half and soon after McKinley scored a touchdown. Whether McKinley would have scored had not Buttermore been injured and taken from the game will never be known but the fact remains that he made it miserable for Canton line smashes when he was playing.

The bad passes from center caused Foster plenty of trouble in getting away his punts. In spite of the fact that the ball was rolled back to him on the ground four times, he had only one kick blocked. These grounders, however, did cut many yards off his punts, as he had to boot the ball hurriedly when surrounded by Canton players, with the result that Kauffman had the edge in the punting for the day though that edge was very slight. Had Foster received as good passes from center as Kauffman, there is every reason to believe that he would have out punted the Canton player by many yards.

His punting held the Cantonians in check during the first half but in the third quarter his kicks failed to travel as far and McKinley gained ground on nearly every exchange. To the fans it appeared at the end of the first half that 1926 history might be repeated and the game result in another scoreless tie. Up to that time, each team had scored but two first downs and neither was able to get anywhere in advancing the ball. Captain Laughlin and Grant had smashed the McKinley line twice for the required distance, while Hodnick, through a forward pass and off tackle dashes, had made McKinley’s yardage.

However, with the opening of the third period McKinley showing greater recuperating power began to mix passes with its running attack. The touchdown march started when the Canton gridders took a Massillon punt in midfield. Hodnick made two yards at right end and Kauffman’s pass fell into unpopulated territory. Lab then heaved the ball to Hodnick for 12 yards, placing the ball on the 36-yard line. With the orange and black on the run, Lab tossed another pass to Farrell for a gain of 13 yards, placing the ball on the orange and black’s 23-yard line. Then Hodnick, forgetting the bump handed him by Price, began a series of plunges. Two drives at the Massillon line brought him a first down on the 13-yard line. Sam then struck to his right for two more. Brinson attempted to carry the ball but was smothered in his tracks, after a gain of two yards. Lab then found an opening and gained four more. With the ball only four yards from the Massillon goal and two yards needed for a first down, Hodnick smashed through Massillon’s right guard for a touchdown. Kauffman kicked the extra point from placement.

Briggs made a neat return of the kickoff, carrying the ball back 25 yards to the 48-yard line before being downed. That was one of two runs that featured the orange and black’s play during the afternoon. The other was Captain Laughlin’s 15-yard dash on a triple pass. Following the touchdown, the ball see-sawed back and forth, with neither team threatening to score until the last minute of the game. Then with the ball on the Massillon 28-yard line, Evans passed the oval over Laughlin’s head, McKinley recovering on the orange and black’s 13-yard line. On the first play, Maurer slashed through the left side of the Massillon line for six yards. Goss then hit the same spot for six more and a first down within half a yard of the goal. Maurer, carried the ball across. L. Miller’s kick was blocked.

A large number of Massillon fans attended the game, although not as many turned out as in former years. There were probably 2,000 or more fans from this city present, including Mrs. Mary Merrell, Massillon’s 87-yard old football fan. Mrs. Merrell attended the game, unaccompanied, via trolley car. If you don’t think she’s a rabid fan, you should have heard her discussing the game on her way to Canton.

The roughness that was a common factor in Canton-Massillon games 10 years back has disappeared. Instead of the customary sight of flying fists between halves, the bands of the two schools staged a drill on the field in front of their respective student bleachers. Everything was orderly Saturday. The sidelines were well guarded and the crowd was kept back of a strong fence so that it could not surge on to the field as it did two years ago. It was as orderly a Canton-Massillon game as has ever been played and credit should be given to the Canton management for making it so.

The game ends the season for the two elevens. In point of victories it has been one of the most successful for McKinley which dropped but one game, an early season 19 to 0 contest to Steubenville. The season, however has been just as disastrous for the orange and black as it has been good for McKinley. The youthful Tigers have won three games, lost five and tied one. In the last three years that Canton and Massillon have met, the McKinley gridders have won two games while last year’s contest ended in a scoreless tie.
Lineup and summary:
Canton – 13 Pos. Massillon – 0
Farrell LE Fox
Miller LT Dommer
Samuels LG Henderson
Rittersbaugh C Buttermore
Zeren RG Mauger
Esmont RT Price
Barrett RE Straughn
Kauffman QB Grant
Combs LHB Foster
Brinson RHB Briggs
Hodnick FB Laughlin

Score by periods:
Canton 0 0 7 6 13

Substitutions:
Massillon – Evans for Straugh, Shanabrook for Fox, Fox for Shanabrook, Shanabrook for Evans, Evans for Buttermore, Garland for Dommer, Schnierle for Shanabrook.

Canton – Lab for Combs, Jurekovic for Farrell, Farrell for Barrett, Leiber for Zeren, Maurer for Brinson, Goss for Lab, Lab for Kauffman, Beidler for Jurekovic, Fraunfelter for Samuels, Schubach for Esmont, Green for Hodnick, Harbert for Miller, Kelly for Farrell.

Touchdowns – Hodnick, Maurer.

Point after touchdown – Kauffman (placekick).

Officials:
Referee – Shafer (Akron).
Umpire – Morgan (Youngstown).
Head Linesman – Barrett (Sebring).

Earl Straughn
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo

1927: Massillon 12, Warren Harding 0

WASHINGTON HIGH TRAMPLES WARREN
Orange and Black Score 12 to 0 Victory Over Trumbull County Gridders Saturday

Football gridders of Washington high school unraveled a supposed tightly tied knot of defeat Saturday afternoon and brought forth a 12 to 0 victory over Warren high in a fast game in the Trumbull county seat.

The sun was rapidly setting in the west, casting deep shadows over the field, announcing the approach of evening, when the final whistle blew, ending the contest, a victory for Massillon.

To the 2,000 or more fans who filled the narrow Warren bleachers or stood along the sidelines, it seemed as though the game would never end. The fourth period was a long drawn out affair. Warren only came close to scoring in the entire contest and this threat was turned back by the youthful Tigers. The last 12 minutes of the game, however, certainly seemed like 25 minutes to the fans who began shivering when the strong rays of the sun passed below the horizon.

It was a great showing put up Saturday by the youthful Tigers, who probably played their beat game of the season and at that showed little more than straight football since Canton McKinley’s assistant coach was perched at an advantageous spot in the stands where he could scout the Massillon team.

The local team had a better offensive attack than Warren, showed a little better defense and secured nearly every break of the game. In fact the local school was so favored by the breaks that it recovered within the 20-yard line, but the Warren gridders were equal on these two occasions and held the Massillon threat on the two and three yard lines, respectively.

Warren, however, was by no means a setup for the Massillon team. The host team showed a speedy backfield that could run the ends with ability. The Trumbull county gridders evidently have been scouting the orange and black and had seen the poor showing of the Massillon ends in games earlier in the season. However, the red and white’s sweeping runs around the flanks often resulted in large losses, as the Massillon ends dumped the interference and the secondary defense smothered the ball carrier. Warren was able to do little through the center of the Massillon line. Buttermore, the rolly polly boy holding down that position as a result of the ineligibility of Evans and Pott’s injury, played a whale of a game. He clearly demonstrated to the Warren center that it takes two men and a derrick to hoist him out of a play when it’s coming through the bulls-eye of the line. But Buttermore did not distinguish himself any better than the other 10 wearers of orange and black Saturday, for all played a nip and tuck game. Captain Laughlin bore the brunt of the attack and ripped the Warren line to shreds. He brought a moan out of the Warren rooters’ throats when he intercepted a pass on his own 35-yard line and nearly got away for a touchdown. And the Warren fans had reasons to moan for it was “Whitey” who snagged two Warren passes out of the air two years ago within the 20-yard line and made long runs, one of which resulted in a touchdown.

The lateral pass was used consistently against the Massillon gridders for the first time this season, but never failed to gain more than a few yards and often resulted in losses. The orange and black pulled several tricks out of its bag, one of which worked successfully and resulted in a nice gain.

However, the youthful Tigers played nothing but straight football during most of the game.

Warren might have kept the local eleven from scoring had it had a better punter. Pohto, who did the booting the greater part of the time, had a habit of getting off miserable kicks when standing near his own goal line. This assisted the youthful Tigers considerably in scoring their touchdowns.

Massillon’s first touchdown came in the first minute of the second quarter. Getting the ball on their own 30-yard line on a punt, the local eleven made a determined drive toward the Warren goal line. Laughlin made three yards and Briggs got away for a gain of six. Massillon was penalized five yards for being offside. Laughlin then tore through for five more and on the next play carried the ball to Warren’s 18-yard line. In three more attempts Captain Laughlin had pushed the pigskin to the seven-yard line for another first down. Here the quarter ended and the teams exchanged goals. Briggs made a yard with the opening of the second period. Laughlin made two more. With the ball on the three-yard line, “Whitey” put all his weight behind a plunge that made the red and while line wilt and the Massillon captain was across for the first score of the game. He attempted to buck the ball over for the extra point but failed.

The second touchdown came in the last period. The drive started when Photo’s punt dropped on the 28-yard line. The orange and black had previously carried the ball to the three-yard line where it was surrendered on downs to the Trumbull county gridders. Pohto was hurried with his kick by the Massillon ends and was lucky to boot the ball as far as the 28-yard marker. On the first play, Briggs made nine yards on a triple pass. Laughlin then went through for a yard making a first down on the 18-yard line. Grant made four yards and Schnierle hit left tackle for three more. Laughlin could gain but a yard. With fourth down coming and two yards needed for a first down, Grant heaved a short pass to Briggs that placed the ball on the eight-yard line. Schnierle made a yard and Briggs stepped along the sidelines on the next play not stopping until the goal line was behind him. His attempted drop kick for the extra point was short.

On several other occasions the local team was in scoring position, but lacked the punch to push the pigskin across. Had the youthful Tigers shown a determined touchdown punch they might have run up a score of 24 to 0 on the Trumbull county gridders, but as it was, they lost the ball on the three, four and five-yard line and two other times within the 22-yard line. The nearest Warren got to the Massillon goal was the 16-yard line where the local eleven braced and held for downs. This position of the Warren gridders was attained largely through the brilliant running of Pohto, chunky halfback.

In first downs, the youthful Tigers also excelled the red and white, making the required 10 yards on 14 occasions, while Warren negotiated the distance but six times. The youthful Tigers were penalized 30 yards and Warren 35 yards.

While the orange and black secured nearly all the breaks of the game, yet none of the breaks were directly responsible for touchdowns. Pohto’s two worst punts went out of bounds with the 12-yard line, but on neither of these occasions did the local team muster sufficient strength to score. However, the poor punts did aid materially for they kept the ball deep in Warren territory when play might have been in midfield had Warren had a punter the equal of Earl Foster, who got off a number of nice kicks during the afternoon.

While there was not the Massillon crowd in the stands that attended the last two games played in the Trumbull county seat, a large number of orange and black rooters did attend. No estimate could be made of the size of the Massillon delegation however, since they were scattered among Warren fans.

The defeat was the third for Warren this season, the easterners having previously dropped games to Youngstown South and Rayen high schools. It was the sixth consecutive triumph for a Massillon team over Warren high school.

The lineup and summary:
Massillon – 12 Pos. Warren – 0
Fox LE Puegner
Garland LT Pardee
Henderson LG Baltzly
Buttermore C Lea
Mauger RG Mills
Anthony RT Yeager
Straughn RE Reed
Grant QB Boyd
Foster LHB Pohto
Briggs RHB De Santis
Laughlin FB Lattimer

Score by periods:
Massillon 0 6 0 6 12

Substitutions:
Massillon – Fisher for Garland, Shanabrook for Fox, Schnierle for Foster, Hourriet for Briggs, Minger for Fisher, Mann for Minger.

Warren – Dann for Pardee, Dirk for Mills, Allen for Yeager, Lodge for Pohto, Campbell for Lattimer, Horner for De Santis, De Santis for Horner.

Touchdowns – Laughlin, Briggs.

Officials:
Referee – Morgan.
Umpire – Alexander.
Head Linesman – Howells.

Earl Straughn