History Archives - Page 74 of 140

1970: Massillon 32, Cleveland Benedictine 7

September 18, 1970July 27, 2017
by Eric Smith

Defense plays crusher; Tigers win 32-7

By CHUCK HESS, JR.
Independent Sports Editor

Although there are still eight tough weeks of football left in the 1970 season, the Massillon Tigers gave notice Friday night that they intend to make a determined bid for the state championship.

They haven’t reached that lofty position in five years, but if they continue to play the kind of defense exhibited in a 32-7 victory over a rugged Cleveland Benedictine team before 12,217 at Tiger stadium, this just might be the year.
* * *
BY COACH Bob Commings’ own admission, however, the offense must get better. “We’re not consistent enough,” he explained.

While the Orangemen’s defense was playing 48 solid minutes of crunching warfare, the offense scored 25 points in the first half and only seven in the second. A problem which has plagued them for several years when playing Benedictine.

Had it not been for a miscue by the reserves on a reverse near the end of the game, the Tigers would have had a shutout over Benedictine, something extremely hard to perpetrate on an Augie Bossu coached squad.

“This is the hardest – hitting game I’ve seen since coming to Massillon,” Commings said. “I think the key was that hard hitting. I wanted that shutout for the boys. They earned it.”

Players like Tom Cardinal, Bill and Steve Luke, Larry McLenndon, Mike McGuire, Tim Ridgley and Bob Stephan delivered bone-shattering blows at times as the Tigers continued great pursuit and tackling.

Senior free safety Scott Pattinson had himself quite a night with three interceptions and a fumble recovery.

Offensively the story was senior linebacker Mike Mauger behind some fine blocking again as the senior tailback scored four of the Tiger’s five TDs – all but one coming on marathon runs. He also kicked two conversions and picked up 210 net yards on 11 carries losing only a single yard.

“He looms as a great threat,” Coming commented. “Other teams are liable to key on him.”

Bossu added, “Mauger’s a fine athlete.”

ABOUT HIS team’s failure to move the ball, the veteran pilot explained, “We’ve had the big play in past years, but don’t have it this time. When you don’t get it, you’re in trouble.”

Commings complimented his offensive line’s blocking and particularly patted right tackle Kirk Strobel on the back. “He must have done a great job with Nunery,” Commings explained.

Claude Nunery is a 6-4, 230-pound Benedictine junior tackle through whose territory Mauger did most of his running.

He took off for an 89-yard TD on a pitchout to the left on the first play of the game and with 11:23 remaining; was sprung loose on a block by wingback Bernard Sullivan. The Tigers were penalized for delay on the conversion try, Mauger missed the kick and a procedure penalty was declined.

The Orange and Black took over after a punt late in the first quarter and moved 77 yards in 10 plays for their second score. It was a drive which saw a nifty 20-yard pass from quarterback Dennis Franklin to Sullivan, 16 yards picked up by Cardinal, a 15-yard scamper by Mauger to the five and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty tacked on to the Bennies, putting the ball on the three-yard line.

Mauger went over off left tackle for the six points with 9:47 left in the second stanza. The Tigers were again nicked for delaying the game and Franklin was stopped on the conversion try.

Forcing the Bennies to punt the next time they had the ball gave Mauger another chance and “The Mailman” delivered again for 70-yards and a score with 6:54 left. This time McLenndon and Art Thompson sprung the key blocks. Franklin’s pass to tight end Steve Luke was incomplete, leaving the score at 18-0.

Sullivan recovered a Benedictine fumble on the visitors’ 36 and in three plays the bombs went off again – this time in celebration of a 35-yard Franklin-to-Sullivan pass play with “Sullie” going over from the three, as the clock showed seven seconds left in the half. Mauger booted the PAT.

THE TIGERS’ final tally came with 31 seconds left in the third canto as Mauger came up with another of his patented special deliveries. This time, going over left tackle, again on a pitch, he traveled 80 yards behind some more excellent blocking. He added the conversion.

The score was set up when Pattinson intercepted a Carl Barile pass in the end zone. Mauger’s run came on the next play.

Pattinson had also intercepted on the five earlier in the period and added a 20-yard runback to stop a Benedictine threat caused by Mauger’s punt-return fumble on the Tiger 15.

Just before Mauger’s last romp, Dick Martanovic had interrupted one of Franklin’s option pitches and gave the Bennies a first down on the Tigers’ 34. The defense held.

Massillon took over on the 35, Franklin was plastered while passing on the second play. Don Varvo intercepted for a 10-yard run back to the 30. Then came Pattinson’s return interception on first down.

Benedictine’s only six-pointer occurred when Joe Reccord picked up an errant pigskin on a reverse handoff fumble and scampered 22 yards to the Tigers’ 23. Barile hit Dick Koeth on the three off a tip by Reccord and Reccord again for the TD with seven seconds left. Dick Szabo just managed to get the seventh point over the cross bar.

The Washington high gridders will play on the road the next two weeks with All-American conference clashes at Alliance next Friday and Niles, Oct. 3.

BENEDICTINE – 7
Ends – Reccord, Szabo, Koeth, Jindra, Martanovic.
Tackles – Malley, Nunery, Rochford, Hodakievic, Oriti.
Guards – Downey, Lorek.
Center – Bossu
Quarterbacks – Barile, Szollosi.
Halfbacks – Johnson, Moriarty, Vavro, Petruziello, Favorite.
Fullbacks – Fontana.

MASSILLON – 32
Ends – S. Luke, Spencer, Stephan, McGuire, Clary.
Tackles – Ridgley, Strobel, Weirich, Longworth.
Guards – Kulik, Jasinski, Nussbaumer, Sims, Heath, Groff, Graber.
Centers – Studer, Chovan, Gaddis.
Quarterbacks – Franklin, Pattinson, Dingler.
Halfbacks – Mauger, Sullivan, McLenndon, Weise, Thompson, Wonsick, B. Luke.
Fullbacks – Cardinal, Perry, Willoughby, Fletcher.

BENEDICTINE 0 0 0 7 7
MASSILLON 6 19 7 0 32

SCORING
Massillon
Mauger, 89-yard run (kick failed);
Mauger, 3-yard run (run failed);
Mauger, 70-yard punt return (pass failed);
Sullivan, 35-yard pass-run from Franklin (Mauger kick);
Mauger, 80-yard run (Mauger kick).

Benedictine
Reccord, 3-yard pass from Barile (Szabo kick).

THE GRIDSTICK
M B
First downs, rushing 9 2
First downs, passing 3 8
First downs, penalties 0 1
Total first downs 12 11
Yards gained rushing 303 99
Yards lost rushing 14 37
Net yards gained rushing 289 56
Net yards gained passing 67 112
Total yards gained 356 164
Passes completed 3-16 8-20
Passes intercepted by 3 1
Yards on passes Intercepted 43 0
Kickoff average (yards) 6-51 2-48.5
Kickoff returns (yards) 20 87
Punt average (yards) 3-35 7-31.4
Punt returns (yards) 131 0
Lost fumbled ball 2-4 2-3
Yards penalized 10-80 11-14
Touchdowns rushing 3 0
Touchdowns passing 1 1
Miscellaneous 1 0
Total number of plays 53 71

OFFICIALS
Referee – Irwin Shopbell.
Umpire – Steve O’Dea.
Head Linesman – Don Brown.
Field Judge – Ed Steinkerchner.
Back Judge – Tim Murray.

ATTENDANCE – 12,217.

1970: Massillon 71, Dayton Trotwood Madison 0

September 11, 1970July 27, 2017
by Eric Smith

Commings cautious as Tigers roll 71-0

By CHUCK HESS, JR.
Independent Sports Editor

Bob Commings is concerned again.

For the second successive season, his Massillon Tigers rolled over a hapless Trotwood Madison team and now he’s got a perennially tough Cleveland Benedictine outfit staring him in the face again.
* * *
IN 1969, the Washington high gridders just squeaked by Benedictine in their second game.

The Tigers trampled Trotwood 71-0 before 11,401 in Friday night’s opener at Tiger stadium. It was the most points run up by the Orange and Black since an 82-0 victory over Uhrichsville in the 1918 lid-lifter. It was also the most points scored by Massillon since a 90-0 walloping of Barberton in 1959.

“Like last year it was a little too easy again,” Commings said. “We’ll get our test next week. I just hope we accomplished something. If anybody can afford to be complacent against the Bennies, they’ll get their block knocked off.”

Commings’ game plan of throwing and running off tackle worked to perfection. The gang tackling and pursuit was good as was the downfield blocking.

“Our pursuit covered up for errors a couple of times,” Commings commented. “A good team would take advantage of this.”
* * *
TAILBACK MIKE Mauger scored three times, had two called back, kicked a conversion and amassed 107 yards in the first half. Quarterback Dennis Franklin scored one touchdown, passed for three others and tallied a conversion. Wingback Bernard Sullivan scored a pair of TD’s. Tight end and Co-Captain Steve Luke scored one and added a conversion. Wingback Larry McLenndon converted twice. Attack end Bob Stephan and wingback Bill Wonsick each scored six points. Tailback Rick Weise ran a conversion.

So completely did the Tigers dominate the action, that they rolled up a net 533 yards, including 234 through the air, their greatest passing yardage in quite awhile.

The Orangemen didn’t take long to light up the scoreboard. After a Trotwood punt following its first series, Mauger lugged the mail 51 yards around right end with the help of a key block by Sullivan with 9:47 left in the first quarter. The conversion snap went awry, forcing Mauger into an abortive run.

“Mailman Mike” had two more first quarter TD’s called back, one a 57-yard punt return with the help of a good block by Tim Ridgley and the other a one-yard run. Clipping and motion penalties were the culprits.

The Tigers were to go on to draw 138 yards in penalties, causing Commings to warn again about the “colossal mistake.”
* * *
MAUGER GOT into the act again with 9:02 left in the second quarter following a poor punt – one of several during the night which continuously gave the Tigers good field position. He was boxed in off right tackle and skirted end for 25 yards on first down, following with a conversion kick after Franklin had scored two points, only to have the Orange and Black flagged for an illegal shift.

Stephan, a junior, batted down an attempted first down pitchout off Trotwood’s
wishbone-T following the kickoff. The ball bounced from the 17 to the 10 where Stephan picked it up and sped into the end zone with 8:36 left. McLenndon ran the conversion.

On the Tigers’ next series, Franklin ran in from the nine on a second down, left side option with 3:05 remaining. He also rolled out to the left for the conversion.

Roger Groff picked off a fumble on the Trotwood 17 right after the kickoff. On the next play, Franklin found Sullivan on the one for the score at 2:06. He hit Luke for the conversion.

Massillon received the second half kickoff and Franklin combined with Luke again on a second down play for 66 yards with Luke running 35 at the 10:57 mark. Franklin failed to connect with Sullivan on the conversion.
* * *
“DENNIS THE Menace” hit Sullivan again for 25 yards and a TD at 10:14 on first down after Roger Groff had recovered a fumble. Junior Scott Dingler was off target to Sullivan on the conversion.

It was Mauger’s turn again as he returned a punt 79 yards with four blockers in front of him with 8:32 left. McLenndon added the conversion.

Dingler cranked up with 11:25 left in the game and connected with end Kevin Clary for a 73-yard, pass-run with Clary running 35 yards. Dingler failed to hit Sullivan for the conversion.

Wonsick, a junior, finished the slaughter at 1:34 on a 42-yard right-side first down reverse. Weise, another junior, ran the conversion.

TROTWOOD – 0
Ends – Dewey, Windmiller, Schweigert, Speaks, Rohrer, Blankenship.
Tackles – Bayes, Harrison, Phillips, Byrd, Ferguson, Morgan.
Guards – Sadow, Boehme, Rufener, Garber, Niswonger, Domsitz.
Centers – Bell, Kelchner.
Quarterbacks – Jensen, Roush. Schlee, Landis.
Halfbacks – Truesdale, Owens, Cyr.
Fullbacks – Parkhill, Brewer.

MASSILLON – 71
Ends – S. Luke, Spencer, Yackee, Clary, Tisdale, McGuire, Smith, Stephan, Vogt, Turley.
Tackles – Ridgley, Strobel, Weirich, Houser, Janikis, Longworth, Cooper, Dodd, Peters, Miller.
Guards – Jasinski, Kulik, Nussbaumer, Christoff, Sima, Jellel, Heath, Marsh, Shumar, Smith, Maier, Groff, Graber, Heck.
Centers – Studer, Chovan, McCabe, Allman, Gaddis.
Quarterbacks – Franklin, Dingler, Pattinson.
Halfbacks – Mauger, Sullivan, Weise, B. Luke, Schultz, Thompson, Wonsick, Ely.
Fullbacks – Cardinal, Perry, Willoughby, Fletcher.

SCORING
Massillon
Mike Mauger, 51-yard run (kick failed);
Mauger 25 yard run (Mauger, kick);
Bob Stephan, pitchout bat and 10-yard fumble recovery, (Larry McLenndon, run);
Dennis Franklin, nine-yard run (Franklin, run);
Bernard Sullivan, 17-yard, pass-run from Franklin (Steve Luke, pass from Franklin);
Luke, 67-yard, pass-run from Franklin (pass failed);
Sullivan 25-yard pass from Franklin (pass failed);
Mauger, 79-yard punt runback (McLenndon, run);
Kevin Clary, 73-yard pass-run from QB Scott Dingler (pass failed);
Bill Wonsick, 42-yard run (Rick Weise, run).

OFFICIALS
Referee – Joe Romano.
Umpire – Tony Kramer.
Head Linesman – Irwin Shopbell.
Field Judge – Harvey Hodgson, Jr.
Back Judge – Robert Wallace.

Attendance: 11,401.

THE GRIDSTICK
M T
First downs rushing 12 4
First downs passing 6 0
First down penalties 0 2
Total first downs 18 6
Yards gained rushing 299 129
Yards lost rushing 0 25
Net yards gained rushing 299 104
Net yards gained passing 234 0
Total yards gained 533 104
Passes attempted 10-7 2-0
Kickoff average (yards) 11-45.0 1-26.0
Kickoff returns (yards) 0 95
Punt average (yards) 2-28.5 10-29.8
Punt returns (yards) 123 2
Fumbles lost 1-2 3-9
Yards penalized 13-138 3-21
Touchdowns – rushing 4 0
Touchdowns – passing 4 0
Miscellaneous 2 0
Total number of plays 43 65

Tigers must be consistent
vs. Bennie
Beware second half!

By CHUCK HESS, JR.
Independent Sports Editor

Cleveland Benedictine has not beaten a Washington high football team since 1962, but Augie Bossu’s charges seem to be getting closer all the time – with second half rebounds.

Bob Commings, WHS skipper, remembers all to well the scare thrown into his team in 1969 when the Bennies almost pulled the contest out of the fire, but fell short 22-20.
* * *
THE TIGERS had a 22-7 halftime lead and all seemed well. The Bennies’ Bob Kacvinsky had scored first from a half-yard away and Wayne Bacik kicked the extra point.

Darnell Streeter had run seven yards and Mike Autrey, two, with Autrey also scoring on a 40-yard screen pass from Gary Herring. Denny Franklin had tossed two conversion
passes – one to Larry Harper and the other to Streeter.

But, Kacvinsky got into the act once again, scoring in each of the last two periods on two and 27-yard runs. Bacik added another conversion kick.
The Bennies also had a long kickoff return TD called back due to a penalty.

In 1968, Bob Seamans’ final season here the Orange and Black raced to a 26-7 halftime lead only to have the Bennies come steaming back again as the game ended 34-19. Marc Malinowski scored twice for the Tigers – on five and three-yard runs; Streeter romped two and 56 yards and Co-Captain Larry Shumar carried an interception back 15 yards.
* * *
MALINOWSKI hit Mark McDew and Tom Robinson for conversions.

Benedictine took a 6-0 halftime lead in 1966, but the Tigers scored 20 points in the last half. Will Foster ran for two one-yard scores. Tommy James went over from eight yards away. Kevin Henderson ran a conversion.

In Earle Bruce’s final campaign (1965), the Tigers led 14-0 at halftime only to see the Bennies score 12 points in the final quarter in the withering Tiger stadium heat as the WHSers held on for a 29-12 win.

Walter Lemmon scored from one and two yards out; James from 24 yards away and Craig Maurer on a 35-yard scamper. Dave Sheegog passed for two conversions – one to Bill Williams, the other to James – and Bill Pearch booted a conversion.

The point is that lately the Tigers haven’t played a full game of good football against the Bennies. Commings, therefore, has been reminding his charges this week that a consistent performance is necessary Friday night if the Orange men are to come out on top.

The series stands at 13 wins for Massillon, two for Benedictine with 393 points scored by the Tigers and 139 by the Bennies.

1969: Massillon 7, Canton McKinley 14

November 8, 1969July 27, 2017
by Eric Smith

Pride is still the word in Tigertown

By CHUCK HESS, JR.
Independent Sports Editor.

Pride has been a key word with Bob Commings all season.

Over and over again the Tiger football coach has told his charges that individual pride is what makes a great player. When 11 players have individual pride, a team has pride and becomes great.
* * *
TODAY THE Washington high gridders are a proud team and their pride has swelled into Tigertown pride – a pride that will probably manifest itself in the biggest crowd to ever turn out for the annual football banquet come Nov. 29 at the WHS cafeteria

The Orange and Black lost the season finale 14-7 to arch-rival Canton McKinley in the 74th renewal of the ancient grid classic before 22,200 fans Saturday afternoon at Fawcett stadium in Canton. They also lost the All-American conference title to the Bulldogs, but the Tigers became great in the eyes of their fans.

It took the Bulldogs 47 minutes and 43 seconds to get their win and a 9-1 record while the WHSers ended 7-2-1, but the Pups knew they were in a game. The Tigers hit hard and ran hard the whole afternoon. They played better football and practically stopped the Bulldogs cold.

But for a senior quarterback named Joe Babics, some finesse at key moments, a couple of penalties and a great break made by the Bulldogs, it might have been a different story.

Bulldog fullback Rocco Rich, tailback Rich Brown and wingback Ed Floyd got almost nowhere. Admittedly Brown, who had been injured a couple of weeks ago, was not in the best of condition, operating on a gimpy ankle.

“We won the real warfare,” a tired Tiger game Co-Captain Darnell Streeter said afterwards. He referred to the statistical column where the Orange and Black amassed 15 first downs to McKinley’s 11 and 255 total yards to the Bulldogs’ 172.
* * *
STREETER PICKED up 72 yards in 16 carries and Autrey 74 in 17.

Both of McKinley’s touchdown drives featured outstanding outside running by Babics, dictated by a great inside Tiger defense. Fifteen-yard face mask penalties and an interception by Rich on the second drive also helped.

Outside of the two TD jaunts and a long pass to the Massillon 30 at the end of the first half,

McKinley failed to get out of its own territory.
Rich’s pilfer came after the Tigers had forced a punt and had taken over on their 47 with 2:06 left in the game. Quarterback Gary Herring found wingback Larry Harper down the middle on the McKinley 43, but Harper was hit hard, the ball bounced into the air, Rich grabbed it and got back to the Orange and Black’s 47.

Commings could have settled for a tie but to his credit, he went after a win.

Eight plays later sub quarterback Joe Shimek, off play action and a sprint out, tossed to Floyd who made a diving catch for the winning TD with 17 seconds left. Shimek followed with his second conversion boot.

Babics executed two key runs off fake action to turn the end, one on first down from the Tiger 47 to the 41with the face mask penalty added. Then on fourth and one on the 14 he sprinted to the two.
* * *
BABICS WAS injured when thrown out of bounds. Shimek came in, handed off twice into the line and then threw the winning pass.

“The proudest guy around has got to be Mr. Shimek and I can’t blame him,” Bulldog Coach Ron Chismar said. “He was our No. 2 quarterback all year and he had the guts to come in when we needed him. And that was a beautiful catch by Floyd!”

Chismar acknowledged that the Bulldogs had gotten a big break via Rich’s interception.

“It takes breaks to win,” he said. “We gave a few away and got some.”

Shortly before the fateful drive the Tigers had punted on fourth and four from the Bulldog 43.

“It worked out the way we wanted it to,” Commings said. “We got the ball back with two minutes to go.”
* * *
McKINLEY’S OTHER scoring jaunt came after the Tigers’ only TD and featured eight plays and 75 yards after a 20-yard kickoff runback by Tom Clifford.

Another deceptive 11-yard end run by Babics with a face mask penalty thrown in and a
31-yard pass to Mark Brown, which put the ball on the Tiger 16, were the highlights.

Babics carried on three of the next five plays and when the Orange and Black stacked its linebackers behind its tackles and left a gap in the center, Babics rammed through from the three on third down with 8:09 left in the second stanza. Shimek booted the PAT.

The Tigers’ score came off a 42-yard drive and a 13-yard interception runback by Don Lewis. The Commingmen’s effort featured eight plays, an 11-yard run by Streeter, who carried seven times, and a 19-yard pass from Herring to Harper who made a brilliant catch just inside the boundary line for a first down at the nine. Autrey scored over guard on fourth down from the one with 11:52 left in the second stanza. Mike Mauger kicked the conversion.

The Tigers ran out of downs after a 27-yard drive to the 32 in the first quarter – following a 39-yard jaunt to the 38 in the third quarter and lost the ball again on downs after Doug Miller had intercepted a pass near the sideline on the McKinley 21 in the third canto. The Orange and Black moved the ball only four more yards.

They had the ball for 21 plays compared to McKinley’s 8 in the third quarter and for 68 compared to the Pups’ 47 over-all, giving the home-standers a good dose of their own ball control medicine.

“Massillon did a fantastic job of defensing us,” Chismar stated.

“We did a fantastic job of hitting them,” Commings opined. “They’re a great team. They fooled us a couple of times but we controlled the ball on them. I couldn’t ask for any better effort than our boys gave.

MASSILLON – 7
Ends – Robinson, Lewis, Byelene, McConnaughead, Maxhimer.
Tackles – Benson, Dorman, Bingle, Celik, Reinerts, Ridgley, Strobel.
Guards, Hout, Midgley, McLin.
Centers – S. Luke, Brand.
Quarterbacks – Streeter, Harper, Mauger, Sheaters, Miller, Ammond.
Fullbacks – Autrey, Cardinal.

McKINLEY – 14
Ends – Turner, M. Brown, J. Martin, Clayton, DiMarzio, Birl, Roman.
Tackles – Ford, Obrovac, R. Martin, Gardner.
Guards – Nemeth, Cook, Hayworth.
Centers – Clark, Pimpas.
Quarterbacks – Babics, Shimek, Stranan.
Halfbacks – Walker, Floyd, R. Brown, Clifford.
Fullback – Rich.

Massillon 0 7 0 0 – 7
McKinley 0 7 0 7 – 14

SCORING SUMMARY
M – FB Mike Autrey, one-yard run, TB Mike Mauger PAT (kick)
McK – QB Joe Babics, throw-run, QB Joe Shimek PAT (kick)
Mck – WB Ed Floyd, throw-pass from Shimek, Shimek PAT (kick)

OFFICIALS
Referee – John Cseh.
Umpire – Chuck Lorenz.
Head Linesman – Milo Lukity.
Field Judge – Ruggiero.
Back Judge – Tonn.

THE GRIDSTICK
M McK
First downs – rushing 9 5
First downs – passing 5 4
First downs –penalties 1 2
Total first downs 15 11
Yards gained rushing 159 95
Yards lost rushing 12 10
Net yards gained rushing 147 85
Net yards gained passing 108 87
Total yards gained 255 172
Passes completed 9-23 7-12
Yardage on passes intercepted 2-18 1-10
Kickoff average (yards) 2-51.0 4-48.3
Kickoff returns (yards) 0 19
Punt average yards 4-33.5 5-38
Punt returns (yards) 5 7
Had punts blocked 0 0
Lost fumbled ball 1-4 0-2
Yards penalized 6-57 2-10
Touchdowns rushing 1 1
Touchdowns passing 0 1
Total number of plays 68 47

A salute to the Tigers
The scoreboard read Canton McKinley 14, Massillon 7, but the Massillon Washington high school football team stood high in the eyes of Massillon fans.

Entering the Saturday afternoon game played in Canton’s Fawcett stadium an underdog by two touchdowns, the Tigers played admirable football for 48 minutes. They lost the game to Canton but won the admiration of Massillon fans for their spirited play. They won the battle of statistics, first downs, yards gained from passing and rushing, but lost on the scoreboard which showed 17 seconds remaining when Canton scored the winning touchdown.

Seldom has a Massillon team played any better football and still lost the game. We salute Coach Robert Commings, his staff and the Massillon Tigers for a job well done.

We congratulate Canton McKinley. The Bulldogs hung on tenaciously, capitalized on opportunity when victory had all but eluded them and scored their winning points on a truly great catch by halfback Eddie Floyd, thrown by substitute Quarterback Joe Shimek.

The McKinley team, one of the greatest in Bulldog history, should be voted state champion on the basis of its schedule, but will probably finish second to Upper Arlington whose opponents were not of the same caliber as those played by McKinley.

1969: Massillon 38, Columbus Marion Franklin 8

October 31, 1969July 27, 2017
by Eric Smith

Orange and Black were behind 8-6 at the half

By CHUCK HESS, JR.
Independent Sports Editor

For three-quarters Friday night it appeared the Washington high gridders were bewitched. But in the goodbye canto, the Tigers gave Columbus Marion Franklin the devil and the Tiger stadium Halloween party turned out to be a treat after all.

The Tigers broke loose for 24 points in the final stanza for a 38-8 victory over the Red Devils from the state capital. A Dad’s Night crowd of 8,407, smallest of the season, watched the home finale.

The Orange and Black did just what Coach Bob Commings feared they would do. They looked ahead to next Saturday’s traditional season-ender with Canton McKinley and Franklin played its heart out in trying to capitalize on the WHSers’ dull play but in the end was out manned. The visitors even led 8-6 at the half.
* * *
“WHEN YOU’RE flat and win 38-8 and nobody gets hurt, you’re thankful,” Commings said. “I’m pleased the kids came out and hit somebody in the second half.”

“We couldn’t go with their depth,” Franklin Coach Dick Mileff said. “I was real proud of our boys. Massillon knew they had been in a game. We knew we had to guard against their momentum.”

It was that momentum which ultimately turned the tide for when the Tigers were able to get the Devils’ pitchfork out of their hides in the fourth quarter, there was no stopping the Commingsmen. Good defensive play enabled the Tigers to keep Franklin bottled up in its own territory throughout the final 12 minutes – with one exception – and enabled the Tigers to be constantly in good field position.

The Orange and Black should have had four scores in the final frame, but after a 43-yard pass-run from quarterback Gary Herring to split end Dan Byelene – the pass traveling 36 yards – a broken play on second down from the one and Roy Enyart’s interception in the end zone thwarted the first attempt.

The Tigers forced a punt, which went out of bounds on the Franklin 38. Wingback Larry “Scooter” Harper picked up 15 yards on an inside double reverse. Fullback Mike Autrey went outside on a pitch for 14 more and then scored on first down from the nine on another pitch with 6:47 left.

Tailback Darnell “Bopper” Streeter’s excellent block enabled Autrey to score the conversion on a pitch to the other side.
* * *
FRANKLIN got as far as the Massillon 49 during its next possession but tackle Bill Dorman and end Ed McConnaughead, Mike Mauger, Mauger and McConnaughead thre Devil runners back 26 yards on the next 3 plays and got the help of a procedure penalty. Massillon took over on the Franklin 20. Harper scampered 20 yards on a double reverse and the Tigers had another score with 1:38 left.

Quarterback Denny Franklin’s pass to Mike Autrey scored two more points.

Dorman helped to set up the last touchdown by blocking a punt, middle guard Elijah McLin raced 11 yards with the recovery and on second down from the 20, Franklin hit Harper in the corner after missing him in the middle of the end zone with 20 seconds left.

McLin scored the conversion on a pitch and the ensuing kickoff ran out the clock.

The Tigers had started the scoring in the second period after Streeter intercepted a 20-yard pass on his 10 and returned 47 yards. In eight plays, including a 13-yard pitch run by Streeter with a personal foul penalty thrown in, Massillon was on the scoreboard.

Streeter went between guard and tackle from three yards out with 5:16 left. Herring hit Harper for the conversion but an ineligible player downfield caused a loss of the try down and nullified the two points.
* * *
A TIGER FUMBLE, recovered by Franklin on the Massillon 43 led to the Devils’ only score after a seven-play drive, which included a personal foul penalty, Bill Taylor’s 10-yard run on a 13-yard pass-run from quarterback Lloyd Ball and a 10-yard pass-run to fullback Bill Harris off a sprint.

Ball sneaked over from the one on the next play (first down) with 17 seconds left in the first half. Ball hit Taylor for an 8-6 lead.

Hall slipped on a fourth down run in the third quarter and the Tigers took over on their 19. Ten and 13-yard runs by Harper, an 18-yarder by Autrey and a 26-yarder by Streeter gave added impetus to a seven-play TD drive.

Streeter capped the drive off with 56 seconds left. Herring circled end for the two extra points.

The Tigers muffed two first quarter chances when fourth down passes from Franklin’s 10 and 28 were incompleted.

Until the fourth stanza, the Orange and Black had trouble stopping Franklin’s possession game with Harris picking up key yardage off tackle. He ended with 87 net yards in 25 carries while Streeter had 101 without a loss in 14 and Autrey 62 without a loss in nine.

Franklin had 71 plays to Massillon’s 51, also attesting to its ability to control the ball.

Massillon’s record rose to 7-1-1 as the result of the non-league game. Franklin dropped to 4-4-1.

FRANKLIN – 8
Ends – Mills, Farris, Enyart, Shackleford.
Tackles – Vanover, Davis, Wiggins, Conner, McDowell.
Guards – Charmon, Turner, Hughes.
Center – Harold Fields.
Quarterbacks – Ball, Ryan, Bullock, Ryan.
Halfbacks – Bossey, Johnson, Ross, Mason, Brookins, Taylor.
Fullbacks – Harris, Lattimore.

MASSILLON – 38
Ends – Byelene, McConnaughead, Lewis, Robinson, Maxhimer, Cline.
Tackles – Dorman, Ridgley, Midgley, Strobel, Celik, Reinerts.
Guards – Midgley, Hout, Benson, Ferguson, Jellel, Sims, Pifer, Eckroate.
Centers – S. Luke, Brand.
Quarterbacks – Franklin, Herring, Fromholtz.
Halfbacks – Mauger, Lombardi, Streeter, Ammond, Harper, W. Luke, Sullivan, Sheaters, Clarey.
Fullbacks – Autrey, McLin, Cardinal.

Franklin 0 8 0 0 – 8
Massillon 0 6 8 24 – 38

SCORING SUMMARY
M – TB Darnell Streeter, two-yard run.
F – QB Lloyd Ball, one-yard run, HB Bill Taylor PAT (pass from Ball).
M – Streeter, four-yard run, Herring PAT (run).
M – FB Mike Autrey, nine-yard run, Autrey PAT (run).
M – WB Larry Harper, 20-yard pass, Autrey PAT (pass from Franklin).
M – Harder, 22-yard pass from Franklin, McLin PAT (run).

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING
Massillon
Att. Net. Avg.
Streeter 14 101 7.2
Autrey 9 62 6.9

Franklin
Att. Net. Avg.
Harris 25 87 3.5

OFFICIALS
Referee – John Cseh.
Umpire – Henry Mastrianni.
Head Linesman – Robert Donal.
Field Judge – Robert Whetstone.
THE GRIDSTICK
M F
First downs – rushing 16 8
First downs – passing 3 4
First downs – penalties 0 2
Total first downs 19 14
Yards gained rushing 247 127
Yards lost rushing 6 38
Net yards gained rushing 241 89
Net yards gained passing 97 64
Total yards gained 338 153
Passes completed 6–16 7–18
Passes intercepted by 2 1
Yardage on passes intercepted 77 2
Kickoff average (yards) 6–50.4 2–21.5
Kickoff returns (yards) 0 45
Punt average (yards) 1–26.0 5–33.0
Punt returns (yards) 22 0
Had punts blocked 0 1
Fumbles 2 0
Lost fumbled ball 2 0
Yards penalized 7–65 3–28
Touchdowns rushing 4 1
Touchdowns passing 1 0
Total number of plays 51 71

1969: Massillon 33, Warren Harding 14

October 24, 1969July 27, 2017
by Eric Smith

Tigers ‘scoot’ past Panthers 33-14

By CHUCK HESS, JR.
Independent Sports Editor

The football was pitched as successfully Friday night at Tiger stadium as a winner’s horseshoe in a championship match.

The scoot play, as Coach Bob Commings calls it, was the key ingredient in the Washington high offensive grid recipe as the Tigers pummeled Warren Harding 33-14 before 10,223.
* * *
IT WAS Massillon’s sixth win against a loss and a tie while Harding slipped to 3-5. The Tigers moved up from fourth to third in the All-American conference standings.

Steubenville took over first place with a 20-14 win over previously undefeated Canton McKinley which dropped to second. The Bulldogs are 3-1 while the Big Red are 2-0-1.

Not only did the power pitch to backs Darnell Streeter, Mike Autrey, and Mike Mauger work well, but the Tigers added some screen passes to Autrey and sideline tosses to wingback Larry Harper for a well-rounded offensive effort.

“All of our backs were really running,” Commings explained. “We blocked a pretty good football game and got a good game out of quarterback Gary Herring again.”

Herring threw the majority of the 10 completions in 15 attempts for the Tigers’ 153 yards passing. Streeter picked up 128 of the Orange and Black’s 275 net rushing yards in 13 carries while the other half of the WHSer’s one-two punch, Autrey, gained 73. Mauger iced the cake with 44.
* * *
HARPER CAUGHT four passes to add 52 yards to his league-leading total.

“One of the biggest things we’ve got going for us right now is that we have a lot of offense,” Coming commented. “They took away our trap so something else worked. Our power pitch is one of our better plays. It worked so we stayed with it.”

The Tigers’ five touchdowns found Mauger and Streeter with two each and Autrey, whose TD jaunts seem to draw more red flags than picnic food does flies – one.

Herring and Autrey combined for a 65-yard screen pass score near the end of the second quarter. But an illegal use of the hands penalty on the 20 nullified Autrey’s great run.

A 15-yard penalty was tacked onto the bench and Commings rushed onto the field as if shot out of a slingshot, but did not incur a third long-distance step-off.
* * *
ANOTHER POTENTIAL touchdown was lost on a fumble.

Streeter got the game off to a breathtaking start when he took a pitch to the left, cut back and raced the tacklers on a 67-yard route to the two on the first play from scrimmage. His run featured a fine escape move on the 20.

Two plays later Mauger slipped between end and tackle for the score with 10:40 left in the initial stanza and Mauger booted the conversion for a 7-0 lead.

The next time the Tigers got possession, an 80-yard, 10-plays drive got them their second counter. Thirteen and 16-yard Herring-to-Harper aerials were key plays.

Autrey blasted through the middle from the 15 on the first down for the score with 3:06 left in the first quarter. A good head-first second effort at the one helped. Herring’s keeper scamper made it 15-0.
* * *
WARREN COUNTERED with a 70-yard, 13-play scoring trek with fullback Marv Simmons and tailback Tyrone Cooks doing most of the carrying on power stuff. Simmons dove over from the one on first down with 9:46 left in the second stanza, but failed on the conversion run.

It was the only long drive of the night for Warren and consumed 5:14.

With three seconds left in the third quarter, Massillon counted again, moving 43 yards in seven plays after a short punt. Streeter charged over from the half-yard line, but Harper couldn’t catch Herring for two more points.

Diminutive cornerback Doug Miller intercepted a pass on the Warren 25, returned eight yards and another Tiger TD was in the making. On fourth down from the 24, Herring rolled left, threw across field to Streeter on the 15 and “The Bopper” made a determined run for pay-off land, leaping over one prostrate Black Panther and racing by a couple of others.

His score came with 10:10 left in the goodbye canto. Autrey’s conversion run on the pitch was short by a gnat’s eyelash.
* * *
THE TIGERS took over on their 17 after a punt and 17 plays and 83 yards later Mauger took a pitch and raced over on third down from the four. His kick was low and the score was 33-6 with 47 seconds left.

He helped his own cause with a 17-yard pitch run while Harper chipped in with a 12-yard double reverse.

Cooks ended the game with as thrilling a run as Streeter had opened the evening. On the first play after the kickoff, quarterback George Jerina faded from the 27, found Cooks on the 44 and he was touchdown bound. Jerina’s pass to halfback Gary Pestrak ended the scoring with 14 seconds left.

THE GRIDSTICK
M W
First downs – rushing 15 7
First downs – passing 9 2
First downs – penalties 1 2
Total first downs 25 11
Yards gained rushing 279 128
Yards lost rushing 4 23
Net yards gained rushing 275 105
Net yards gained passing 153 106
Total yards gained 428 211
Passes completed 10–15 5–11
Passes intercepted by 1 0
Yardage on passes intercepted 13 0
Kickoff average (yards) 6–47.8 3–39.0
Kickoff returns (yards) 32 102
Times punted 0 4
Punt average (yards) 0 32
Lost fumbled balls 1–2 0–1
Yards penalized 5–45 2–6
Touchdowns rushing 4 1
Touchdowns passing 1 1
Total number of plays 66 50

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING
Massillon
Att. Net. Avg.
Streeter 13 128 9.8
Autrey 22 73 3.3
Mauger 8 44 5/5

Warren
Att. Net. Avg.
Simmons 16 63 3.9
Cooks 12 32 2.6

1969: Massillon 52, Hamilton Garfield 12

October 17, 1969July 27, 2017
by Eric Smith

Tiger offense improved in 52-12 win
Streeter scores 3 touchdowns Herring throws for three scores

By CHUCK HESS, JR.
Independent Sports Editor

Bob Commings’ remedial course in blocking began to pay off Friday night as the Washington high offense began to move again.

But while the line fired out much better than in the previous two weeks in a 52-12 win over Hamilton Garfield on homecoming night at Tiger stadium, Commings would like to see more improved technique.

The Tigers’ fifth win in seven games, including a loss and a tie, came before a home-coming crowd of 9,170 smallest of the season. The Griffins fell to 3-4 in the non-league affair.
* * *
BEFORE FRIDAY, Massillon had scored only once in the last eight quarters. This time the Obies counted in each quarter as senior tailback Darnell Streeter crossed into that payoff land paved with streets of goal five times, three times for touchdowns.

Quarterback Gary Herring threw two six-pointers and two two-pointers, one of each to split end Dan Byelene, starting his first game. The senior played two years ago but did not come out in 1968.

The Tigers had some defensive problems with the triple option with which Niles handcuffed them three weeks ago. With Griffin backs running merrily around the ends, Hamilton netted 131 yards rushing to the Tigers’ 100 before the intermission. But Commings placed an end on the pitch in the second half and held the Giffs to 68 yards rushing while Massillon gained 104.

The big difference was in passing as the Orange and Black completed seven of 14 while Hamilton connected on only two of a like number with totals of 206 and 27 respectively.

The Tiger defense picked off four of seven Hamilton fumbles and Griff receivers – perhaps hearing the pitter-pat of Tiger paws behind them – mishandled three potential touchdown passes. One, in the first quarter, would have gone for 61 yards, and might have helped to get Lou Florio’s charges off to a flying start.
* * *
HAMILTON APPEARED to be rolling after the opening kickoff when Tiger Junior line backer Tom (Beanie) Cardinal recovered a fumble at the Griffins’ 48. In seven plays the Obies had their first score.

Streeter carried six times for 41 yards, “The Bopper” going the remaining 20 on second down through the middle with 7:01 left. Herring added two points on a keeper.

End Mike Mauger picked up another fumble after a punt hit a Tiger defender, with Hamilton recovering on the Massillon 38. Mauger added an eight-yard run to the recovery and the WHSers took over on the Hamilton 42.

Herring lofted one to Byelene on the one and fullback Mike Autrey added a conversion run to make it 16-0 with 2:19 left in the welcome stanza. Although this was Autrey’s only score, his continued hard-nosed running, coupled with Streeters, put the spotlight again on one of the best one-two punches around.

With halfback Roy Kidd returning the kickoff 24 yards, the Griffins were off on a 12-play, 67-yard scoring romp aided by a 29-yard option jaunt by halfback Barry Allen and a
20-yard fourth-down, pass-run from quarterback Dan Wells to Allen for a first down on the Massillon 16.
* * *
THREE PLAYS later, Kidd took a six-yard scoring pitch with 10:04 left in the second quarter. Wells missed on the conversion keeper.

Massillon scored in five plays after the touchdown after Mauger got things started with a 30-yard kickoff runback to the Massillon 46. Autrey picked up 31 yards and Streeter romped 19 yards off tackle on a pitch of the score with 7:58 remaining and slashed off tackle for the conversion counters.

Linebacker Pat Midgley, who along with Cardinal, proving a good team for the Orange and Black, picked up a Griffin fumble on their 32, but on the next play halfback Steve Luttrell intercepted a pass on the 11 and added a 37-yard runback. A fumble, not lost this time, aborted the effort.

However, Allen ran the next punt back 31 yards in midfield and Garfield had its last TD in nine plays. A 14-yard third down keeper by Wells aided the cause by providing a first down on the Tiger 11.

Three plays later Kidd again scored on a pitch. Cardinal decked Wells on the conversion pass try and it was 24-12 with 1:41 left.
* * *
STREETER’S KICKOFF runback was for 27 yards to the WHS 39. A 25-yard Herring to Larry Harper pass-run put the ball on the Hamilton 34. Herring and Streeter executed a screen pass touchdown on the next play and Herring hit Streeter again for the conversion with 59 seconds left.

An ineligible-receiver-down-field penalty was called and then rescinded.

Streeter’s 20-yard runback of the second half kickoff ignited a five-lay 65-yard TD effort. Autrey, “old reliable,” gained 21 of the yards. Junior tailback Mike Mauger was given the task of scoring on a 36-yard draw with 9:33 left. Herring hit Byelene for the conversion.

Tackle Bill Dorman recovered a Hamilton fumble on the Tiger 27. Thirteen plays later it was gold carat time again for Massillon. A 41-yard Herring-to-Harper pass-run, which saw Harper execute a beautiful escape at the Tiger 40 and tightrope the sideline to the Giffs’ 38, and a pass interference call helped the drive.

Successive passes to Harper, a junior wingback, on the 13 and into the end zone accounted for the score with 58 seconds left in the third quarter. Herring was rushed but got the later pass away and “The Scooter” leaped into the air at the end line to snare the spheroid. Streeter missed the conversion.
* * *
THE FINAL Tiger tally came with the Cubs playing Harper’s 18-yard punt runback set the stage for a six-play 32-yard drive. Quarterback John Fromholtz found end Mike Cline for a 23-yard pass run to the four.

On the second play fullback Cardinal rammed home between guard and tackle with 1:40 left in the game. Fromholtz got decked in attempting to pass for two more points.

HAMITON – 12
Ends – Bennett, Wells, Fowler, Townsend.
Tackles – Helton, McDaniel, Dennis Briggs, Davis, Brown.
Guards – Sexton, Petrak, Rogers, Barnaky, Alexander, Turner.
Centers – Arndt, Cadle, Lancaster.
Quarterbacks – Wells, Turpin.
Halfbacks – Rod Harbrecht, Jones, Kidd, Don Briggs, C. Jackson, Allen, Luttrell, Floyd.
Fullbacks – G. Jackson, Harrison, Schmitz.

MASSILLON – 52
Ends – McConnaughead, Robinson, Cline, Maxhimer, Byelene, Pribich, Snyder, Lewis.
Tackles – Ridgley, Heck, Bingle, Reinerts, Celik, Strobel, Dorman, R. Luke.
Guards – Miller, Pifer, Jasinski,Kulik, Indorf, Ferguson, Midgley, Hout, Eckroate, McLin, Sims.
Center – S. Luke.
Quarterbacks – Herring, Fromholtz.
Halfbacks – Streeter, Harper, Mauger, Gamble, Sheaters, Brand, B. Luke, Ammond, Pattinson.
Fullbacks – Autrey, Cardinal.

Massillon 16 16 14 6 52
Hamilton 0 12 0 0 12

SCORING SUMMARY
M – TB Darnell Streeter, 20-yard run, Herring PAT (run).
M – E Dan Byelene, 42-yard pass-run from QB Gary Herring, Autrey PAT (run).
H – HB Roy Kidd, 11-yard run.
M – Streeter, 19-yard run, Streeter PAT (run).
H – Kidd, six-yard run.
M – Streeter, 32-yard screen pass from Herring, Streeter PAT (run)
M – TB Mike Mauger, 36-yard run, Byelene PAT (pass from Herring).
M – WB Larry Harper, 13-yard pass from Herring.
M – TB Tom Cardinal, three-yard run.

THE GRIDSTICK
M H
First downs – rushing 13 12
First downs – passing 7 1
First downs – penalties 1 0
Total first downs 21 13
Yards gained rushing 235 218
Yards lost rushing 31 19
Net yards gained rushing 204 199
Net yards gained passing 206 27
Total yards gained 410 226
Passes completed 7–14 2–14
Passes intercepted by 1 1
Yardage on passes intercepted 0 33
Kickoff average (yards) 8–46.5 3–46.3
Kickoff returns (yards) 80 89
Punt average (yards) 3–43.3 4–30.5
Punt returns (yards) 36 32
Lost fumbled ball 1–2 4–2
Yards penalized 2–30 3–25
Touchdowns rushing 4 2
Touchdowns passing 3 0
Total number of plays 52 67

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING
Massillon
Att. Net. Avg.
Darnell Streeter 12 82 6.8
Mike Autrey 11 84 7.6

Hamilton
Att. Net. Avg.
Barry Allen 16 67 4.2

OFFICIALS
Referee – Milo Lukity.
Umpire – Jack Werkowitz.
Head Linesman – Howard Eckert.
Field Judge – Hugh Davis.

1969: Massillon 0, Steubenville 0

October 10, 1969July 27, 2017
by Eric Smith

It was an unhappy night for Tigers
Flags fly as offense fails; defense clicks

By CHUCK HESS, JR.
Independent Sports Editor

You could have called it “The Battle of the Frustration Bowl” or “The Saga of the Red Flags” but anyway you sliced it, it added up to an unhappy night.

It was all defense before an estimated 13,000 standing room only crowd Friday night at Harding stadium in Steubenville as the Massillon Tigers and Steubenville big Red battled to a scoreless deadlock. The Tigers have scored only six points in the last eight quarters.

On fourth down from the 38, Herring tried to hit Lewis again, this time in the end zone, but halfback Tom Mitchell knocked the ball down.
* * *
DURING THE last minute of the game, a Tiger fumble of a Steubenville punt was recovered on the Massillon 33 by guard Ross Daniels but a five-yard motion penalty was assessed the Big Red by linesman Frank Wahl, forcing a re-punt and Massillon ran out the clock.

Late in the second quarter Steubenville was fourth down three on the Massillon 10. A procedure penalty put the Big Red back to the 15 from where halfback Jim Steiner’s
25-yard field goal try was blocked by Bill Dorman.

There were two other scoring threats, both by Massillon. In the second quarter, Lewis picked up a Steuber fumble on the Massillon 48 at the 5:36 mark. A 24-yard pass-run from Quarterback Denny Franklin to wingback Larry Harper put the ball on the 19, but on fourth down three, end Henry Hill, trouble-some all night, tossed Franklin to the 19.

In the third quarter, Autrey and Franklin combined on a 20-yard pass-run with a 15-yard face-mask penalty thrown in. But on second down from the Steubenville 25, guard Ralph DiBacco and Mitchell pounced on another Tiger bobble.

Getting back to the Tigers’ defense, Sheaters and halfback Scott Pattinson, also a sub, turned in some fine pass coverage work. End Ed McConnaughead had a couple of key tackles.

BUT COACH Bob Commings patted the entire defense on the back.

“I thought the kids were fabulous,” he said. “They deserved to win. They hit like crazy! When you take Streeter (Darnell) out and you still do a good job, you can be sure you’ve done well. We had enough offense to win. We scored one TD. Steubenville played a very spirited game.”

Streeter didn’t play in the second half because his jaw, swollen from oral surgery, began to act up. Franklin, for the second consecutive week, got knocked woozy and left near the end of the game.

“It was a good hitting game, real good effort on our part,” Abe Bryan, Steubenville coach who has never beaten Massillon, explained. “A break either way could have changed the game. Our second quarterback Jeff Spahn hurt us so we went back to our injured one, Gary Repella, in the fourth quarter.”

He added, “With the caliber of the two teams, the number of penalties called was not good. I think we had more penalties tonight than all other games put together this year. But we made mistakes.”

Massillon will now take a one-game rest from AAC warfare to return home next Friday against Hamilton Garfield.

Both teams now have 4-1-1 overall records. Massillon is 1-1-1 in the All-American conference, tied with Niles (1-1) for third, while Steubenville is 1-0-1 and second. Canton McKinley (3-0) leads.

THE TIE was the first in the Massillon-Steubenville series since a 7-7 score in 1945 on the same field. It was the third consecutive season in which a Tiger team has been scoreless in at least one game.

A Steubenville team hadn’t held the Orange and Black scoreless since a 1931 68-0 debacle, also in the River City, but on a different field.

So hard-hitting were both defenses that Massillon netted only two yards rushing and Steubenville 46. But Massillon’s 122 in the air enabled the Orange and Black to end with a scant 10 yard advantage in total yardage 122-110.

The Tigers were held to minus 27 yards on the ground in the first half while the Steubers picked up only 33. Neither offensive line could do much blocking for runners or much protecting of passers.

Two key penalties hurt both teams but the one which nullified a fourth quarter Massillon TD was the bitterest pill to swallow. Cornerback Jerry Sheaters, starting his first game, had just intercepted a Steubenville pass on the Massillon 33 with 2:41 left in the game to prevent what looked like a sure touchdown.

QUARTERBACK GARY Herring, tossed a screen pass to fullback Mike Autrey who made one of the finest runs of the season, featuring a neat cut-back, to get into pay dirt.

However, Washington high was called for illegal procedure. Referee Bill Holzwarth said after the game that field judge Robert Walker had detected a lineman in “No Man’s Land” (between the line and the backfield). Since the Tigers did not have seven men on the line, it cost them dearly.

Later in the same series, Steubenville thought it had recovered a fumble at the Tiger 16 when Autrey dropped a screen toss. However, Holzwarth, who initially signaled a first down for Steubenville, changed his mind after consultation with his crew and ruled an incomplete pass.

At the 4:05 mark, linebacker Mark Benson intercepted a pass and ran it back five yards to the Big Red 30. Tailback Mike Mauger swept to the 20. Split end Don Lewis made a catch just in bounds of the 10 off Herring but the WHSers were assessed 15 yards holding.

MASSILLON – 0
Ends – Maxhimer, Robinson, Lewis, McConnaughead, Byelene.
Tackles – Benson, Celik, Bingle, Ridgley, Strobel.
Guards – Jasinski, Hout, Midgley, Ferguson, Miller, McLin.
Centers – S. Luke, Brand.
Quarterbacks – Franklin, Herring.
Halfbacks – Streeter, Mauger, Sheaters, Harper, Pattinson, Lombardi.
Fullbacks – Autrey, Cardinal.

STEUBENVILLE – 0
Ends – DeLenardis, R. Washington, Lesjak, Hicks, Hill, Chorba, Simon.
Tackles – Henry, Stasjulewicz, Stefanidis, Radakovich, W. King.
Guards – DiBacco, Daniels, Beraddelli.
Centers – Barren.
Quarterbacks – Spahn, Repella
Halfbacks – Brown, Mitchell, Livingston, Misselwicz, Steiner.
Fullback – Williams.

OFFICIALS
Referee – Bill Holzwarth.
Umpire – Ken Newlon.
Head linesman – Frank Wahl.
Field Judge – Robert Walker.

THE GRIDSTICK
M S
First downs – rushing 2 3
First downs – passing 5 3
First downs – penalties 0 0
Total first downs 7 6
Yards gained rushing 70 75
Yards lost rushing 68 29
Net yards gained rushing 2 46
Net yards gained passing 120 64
Total yards gained 122 110
Passes completed 9–23 6–6
Passes intercepted by 2 0
Yardage on passes intercepted 15 0
Kickoff average (yards) 1–45.0 1–43.0
Kickoff returns (yards) 10 17
Punt average (yards) 8–41.3 8–36.1
Punt returns (yards) 17 6
Lost fumbled ball 2–3 1–2
Yards penalized 7–55 4–30
Total number of plays 58 55

1969: Massillon 6, Alliance 0

October 3, 1969July 27, 2017
by Eric Smith

Tiger defense withstands squeeze 6-0
Pressure mounts from many offensive mistakes

By CHUCK HESS, JR.
Independent Sports Editor

For awhile Friday night, the Massillon Tiger defense was under more pressure than an orange in a juicer, but was equal to the task. Consequently, the Washington high gridders eked out a 6-0 win over a determined Alliance team.

The victory before 13,001 at Tiger stadium gave the Tigers a 4-1 record for the first half of the season, sent the Aviators (2-2-1) down to a second straight defeat, gave them a share of the All-American conference cellar with two defeats and enabled the Tigers to climb to fourth with a 1-1 slate.

The game marked the last time for Mel Knowlton to coach an Aviator team against his alma mater. He’ll retire at the end of the season.

The contest also closed Massillon’s current home stand. The Tigers will play a third consecutive AAC game next week at Steubenville.
* * *
FOR SEVEN minutes – stretching from near the end of the third quarter to deep into the fourth – Alliance had the ball, knocking at the door from within 22 yards of the Tigers’ goal. The Orange and Black also stopped an Aviator last-ditch effort with 47 seconds left, to apply a tranquilizer to the frenzied Tiger faithful.

The WHS defense got into the pressure cooker because of fumbles. Twice Alliance fumbled back, a timely interception helped another time and a great goal line stand the fourth.

“Our defense was magnificent, but our offense was too sloppy,” Tiger Coach Bob Commings said. “If we had held onto the ball, I’m sure we could have moved it. We just don’t seem to put everything together.”

One of the key defenders for the Tigertowners was junior linebacker, Mike Mauger
(6-2, 190). In the fourth quarter, he recovered two Alliance fumbles and picked up a free ball on a backward pass.

One recovery came on the Massillon 10. Mauger literally stole the ball on the Alliance 33, but when his mates fumbled back to the Aviators he stopped their final drive on the Massillon 37 after 6-3, 180-pound senior end Rick Maxheimer had spun Alliance quarterback, Bob Knowlton around, causing his pass to move laterally and hit the ground. Mauger scooped up the ball and ran for 26 yards to the Alliance 37 from where Massillon quarterback, Gary Herring repeatedly fell on the ball to run the clock out.
* * *
THINGS BEGAN to get sticky for the Tiger defense with 58 seconds left in the third quarter when Alliance junior tackle, Gary Andreani recovered a punt fumble on the Tigers’ 10. Junior cornerback, Larry Harper knocked down a Knowlton pass from the two to kill that Alliance threat.

With Maxheimer punting from the goal line after the next series had fizzled, Alliance junior halfback, Chuck Larsuel ran back from the Massillon 30 to the 22. Senior linebacker Pat Midgley and cornerback, Jerry Sheaters ended the second threat by cutting short senior fullback Rick Trieff’s screen pass jaunt two yards from a first down on the 14.

But senior halfback Larry King recovered another Tiger fumble on the Massillon 21 on the next play. However, Mauger’s second recovery shortly afterwards aborted that threat.

By the time the contest had ended, the ball had changed hands more times, due to fumbles, than a dollar bill in a poker game. Massillon lost four of six bobbles, while Alliance saw three of four go out the window.

Massillon’s lone touchdown came after Harper had made a dangerous diving second quarter catch of an Alliance punt on the Tigers’ 39. Departing from their normal explosive offense to a grind-it-out type, the Orange and Black scored in 12 plays with senior tailback Darnell Streeter carrying five times, hard-driving senior fullback Mike Autrey, three, and Harper two.
* * *
JUNIOR QUARTERBACK Denny Franklin skirted right end on a boot pass with 5:08 left in the period. Senior ends George Golden and Ray Biery brought Franklin down short of the pylon on the identical play to the other side on the conversion try.

Massillon had one other threat going in the first quarter, but ran out of gas at the Alliance 29.

Mauger also helped cut short two other Aviator missions. His blitz in the first quarter hurried Knowlton’s throw and Streeter picked off the bomb on the Massillon 24.

In the second quarter, with Alliance on a drive from it 28 after a punt, Mauger put the breaks on Geltz on a screen pass for a four-yard loss on second down from the Massillon 21. Midgley threw Knowlton four more yards back and Trieff couldn’t catch a screen pass on fourth down.

Neither team got out of its own territory thereafter until the Alliance recovery of the late fourth quarter Tiger fumble.
* * *
INJURIES PLAYED a big part in the game, Commings felt Franklin, who got his thoughts jumbled by a hard tackle near the end of the second quarter was still groggy later in the game, causing two fumbles and that a rash of hand injuries to backs caused some more.

The others were probably caused by the Orange and Black having their backs against the wall and being over anxious, according to Commings.

Early in the second quarter Alliance lost both its starting offensive ends – Biery and Golden – hurting the Aviator offense greatly. Golden, who had a hip injury, came back near the end of the third quarter but couldn’t run his cuts. Biery, who was dazed, came back late in the second and again late in the fourth stanza. His absence also required Larsuel to do the punting.

“We were not able to take advantage of our opportunities due in good part to injures,” Coach Mel Knowlton said. “I thought sure, at half-time, that we would win. We should have won if we had had all of our kids.”

ALLIANCE – 0
Ends – Biery, Golden, Codrea.
Tackles – Crockett, Andreani, Beckwith, Rand and Ron Kuceyeski, Jones.
Guards – Gemberling, Dietrich, Brunie, Schafer, Bruderly.
Center – Kirksey
Quarterback – Knowlton.
Halfbacks – Larusel, Geltz, Hunt, King, Sloane.
Fullbacks – Trieff, Wright.

MASSILLON – 6
Ends – Maxheimer, Robertson, McConnaughead, Reinerts, Byelene, Lewis.
Tackles – Dorman, Benson, Celik, Bingle, Strobel.
Guards – Hout, Midgley, Jasinski, Jellel, Sims, Miller, Ferguson, McLin.
Centers – S. Luke, Ridgley, Brand.
Quarterbacks – Franklin, Herring.
Halfbacks – Streeter, Harper, Sullivan, Mauger, Lombardi, Sheaters.
Fullbacks – Autrey, Cardinal.

Massillon 0 6 0 0 6

SCORING SUMMARY
M – QB Denny Franklin, two-yard run.

OFFICIALS
Referee – Robert Whetstone.
Umpire – Joe Romano.
Head Linesman – John Cseh.
Field Judge – Chuck Hinkle.

THE GRIDSTICK
Mass. All.
First downs – rushing 10 2
First downs – passing 1 3
First downs – penalties 1 3
Total first downs 12 8
Yards gained rushing 203 69
Yards lost rushing 54 15
Net yards gained rushing 149 54
Net yards gained passing 29 74
Total yards gained 173 128
Passes attempted 2-8 11-23
Passes intercepted by 1 0
Yardage on passes intercepted 1 0
Kickoff average (yards) 2-45.5 1-38
Kickoff returns (yards) 16 27
Punt average (yards) 5-32.8 5-36.8
Punt returns (yards) 0 16
Lost fumbled ball 4-6 3-4
Yards penalized 4-53 5-45
Touchdowns rushing 1 0
Total number of plays 65 51

1969: Massillon 20, Niles McKinley 33

September 26, 1969July 27, 2017
by Eric Smith

‘Gales-storm’ sweeps Tigers 33-20

By CHUCK HESS, JR.
Independent Sports Editor

“. . . My head is bloody but unbowed!”

A line from the poem “Invictus” was scrawled across the blackboard in the Tiger stadium squad room by acting game Co-Captain Dave Hout, a senior guard. Above the short poem were written the words, “Tigers read this”.

The poetry served to set the tone for the job ahead for the Washington high football team. Coach Bob Commings and his staff know the Orange and Black must forget the searing thoughts of their 33-20 loss to Niles McKinley and begin to plan their comeback route.

The first hurdle will be the Alliance Aviators who come in next Friday hurting from a 30-8 loss to Canton McKinley, also an All-American conference game. The Bulldogs (2-0) are in the first place with Niles (1-0) second. Massillon and Alliance have one loss and Warren Harding has two.
* * *
FRIDAY NIGHT’S defeat before 18,486 the season’s largest Tiger stadium turnout, was Massillon’s first in three games and extended Niles’ skein to 4-0.

Coach Bob Shaw holds the only two Red Dragon victories over the Tigers in the 10-game series, stopped a personal 25-game win streak for Commings and got Niles its first win at the stadium. The last Shaw-coached victory scissored a 32-game Tiger victory string.
* * *
MEANWHILE, the Niles “Thunder Defense” as it is called by Shaw’s staff, bottled up the Tigers’ ground game and threw a blanket over Tiger receivers. The Orange and Black never stopped trying to come back – Commings gambling several times at crucial moments – but they couldn’t come back as some unfortunate breaks aided the Niles cause.
* * *
“WHAT IT amounts to,” Commings explained, “is what we’ve been saying for three weeks. We have to get total concentration in games and in practice. We played against some inferior teams and got away with it. Tonight we played against a heckuva team and couldn’t get away with it.

“If tonight proved anything, it proved we didn’t have a bunch of quitters,” Commings commented.
* * *
ONE THING the game did prove was that Niles has a tremendous football team led by two tremendous players in tailback Rick Gales and quarterback Ron Fusco – both All-Ohio caliber. It proved Shaw was right in installing the “I” formation this year to take full advantage of the Fusco-Gales combination.

Gales – “The Big Storm” – was never thrown for a loss as he carried 27 times for 152 yards and a 5.6 average.

The AAC’s top back scored three touchdowns and aided in setting up another.

He explained that everything was predicated to stop Gales, but the slant defense strategy didn’t work.

Shaw said Fusco’s quarterbacking was the key. “He did a great job!”
* * *
HE THOUGHT the turning point was the Dragon’s third touchdown just before the end of the second half.

“We did nothing but straight ahead blocking,” Shaw explained. “Gales has the option to run anywhere he feels he can get through.”

Shaw then surprised reporters with the information that neither Gales nor fullback George Harris had practiced this week – Harris because of an injury sustained Monday and Gales because of one sustained last Saturday.
* * *
NILES TOOK the opening kickoff and marched 67-yards in nine plays after an 18-yard runback by Gales. Fusco’s 26-yard end run off a fake to the Massillon 17 and Gales’ slant off the right side for 10 yards to the three set the ball up for flanker halfback Randy Hardy who scored on a pitch on the following play with 8:47 left in the first quarter. A two-point conversion try failed.

The Tigers came back as junior fullback Tom Cardinal streaked 35 yards to the 50 with the kickoff. Four plays later, with 7:01 remaining, Autrey tied the game on an off-tackle trap on second down from the two. Mauger’s kick was wide.

Quarterback Gary Herring and wingback Larry “The Scooter” Harper had teamed up on a 49-yard pass-run combination with Harper running 42 yards.
* * *
HARPER PUT the Tigers into a temporary 12-6 lead when he returned a punt 94 yards, on some great open field running, with 10:03 left in the second stanza. The conversion pass attempt was incomplete.

The Dragons marched 68 yards in 11 plays for their second TD with Gales carrying eight times. A procedure penalty gave Niles a first down on the one. Gales capitalized on the opportunity, slanting over on the next play with 5:58 left. Harris’ kick made it 13-12.

The Tigers started to drive for pay dirt after Darnell Streeter’s 19-yard kickoff runback clicking on medium-length passes. But Niles’ Mark Conway hauled in one of Gary Herring’s aerials on the Niles 20 and the Dragons moved 78 yards in six plays, four of them passes.
* * *
GALES WENT over on first down from the four on another slant. A conversion pass attempt fell incomplete. The clock read 1:22 in the second quarter.

A fumble on the second half kickoff, picked up by Joe Lucarello on the Massillon 14, set up the next Dragon score.

Three plays later, Fusco faked Harris into the line and skirted an end from the 10 for the score with 10:28 remaining in the third quarter. Hardy scored the conversion on a pitch play.

The Dragons scored for the final time after a fourth quarter, fourth down pass from the Tigers’ 24 had fallen incomplete. Gales scored on a pass from Fusco on third down from the seven with 3:51 showing on the clock. A subsequent pass on the conversion try was short.

The Tigers got their last chance with 57 second remaining. Consecutive double reverses by Harper and Bernard Sullivan for 18 and 29 yards, respectively, and a 19-yard screen pass play, with a 14-yard run by Autrey put the ball on the Niles 16. Quarterback Franklin hit Denny Harper in the corner of the end zone as the game ended.

Another pass to Harper was complete for the conversion, but Massillon was called for illegal procedure. Fans streamed onto the field, making it impossible to replay the try so referee Tony Pianowski declined the penalty and gave the Tigers two points.

THE GRIDSTICK
M N
First downs – rushing 9 20
First downs – passing 6 5
First downs – penalties 0 0
Total first downs 15 25
Yards gained rushing 181 281
Yards lost rushing 12 9
Net yards gained rushing 169 272
Net yards gained passing 119 82
Total yards gained 388 354
Passes completed 7–19 6–9
Passes intercepted by 0 1
Yardage on passes intercepted 0 0
Kickoff average (yards) 3–41.0 6–48.0
Kickoff returns (yards) 122 39
Punt average (yards) 2–34.5 5–37.2
Punt returns (yards) 99 0
Lost fumbled balls 1–1 1–2
Yards penalized 3–23 2–10
Touchdowns rushing 1 4
Touchdowns passing 1 1
Miscellaneous touchdowns 1 0
Total number of plays 53 66

Niles Won When
QB Shook Jitters

NILES – Ron Fusco wasn’t having a very good night. He had missed his first three passes and he was tight. But that’s the way it is when you’re a Niles quarterback playing against Massillon in front of 18,046 pairs of critical eyes.

It was late in the second quarter and the game was 12-12 with Niles camped on its own
23-yard line.

WITH FUSCO off form Niles had stuck almost exclusively to the ground with the elusive Rick Gales doing the bulk of the ball carrying.

Red Dragon’s coach Bob Shaw called time and waved Fusco to him at the sidelines. “Take your time,” Shaw told his passer. “You’re not setting up properly. Don’t hurry your throws. The receivers are open.”

Fusco returned to the huddle, called the play and threw a 12-yard completion. He then proceeded to connect on successive passes of 18, 14 and 19 yards, moving the ball to the Massillon 4 where Gales punched it over for the go-ahead touchdown. George Harris kicked the extra point to give Niles a 19-12 edge which they never relinquished en route to a 33-20 triumph over the Tigers Friday night.

Fusco went on to complete two more aerials, giving him six in a row after those first three failures for a total of 81 yards and one touchdown.

SHAW CALLED that drive, a 77-yarder just before the half, the most important series of the game.

“It gave us the lead and we proved to ourselves we could move the ball. This was a major test for us. We knew that and the kids were a little shaky. But we all grew up a little on that drive,” Shaw related.

While Fusco was worrying Massillon in the air, Gales was giving them fits on the ground. The 5-9, 175-pound, senior halfback tied a school record by scoring four touchdowns on runs of 12, 3, 4 yards and catching a Fusco pass for 7 yards and another tally.

1969: Massillon 60, Toledo Whitmer 0

September 19, 1969July 27, 2017
by Eric Smith

How tough Tigers?
Still unanswered: WHS mauls Whitmer 60-0 before 12,371

By CHUCK HESS, JR.
Independent Sports Editor

It was almost too easy for the Massillon Tigers and that’s not good because Coach Bob Commings still hasn’t gotten a real line on his Washington high team.

A 60-0 laugher over an outclassed Toledo Whitmer aggregation before 12,371 Friday night at Tiger stadium coupled with previous 60-6 and 22-20 victories only compounded Commings’ dilemma. There have been two cases of weak opposition and another of WHS mistakes preventing the skipper from seeing what his charges could do against a good club.

“I really don’t know how good this team is yet,” Commings confided. “Now we must start playing for keeps with Niles coming in next week to start off our league All-American conference campaign.
* * *
DON’T GET the boss wrong. He was plenty happy with his charges.

“We learned something tonight,” he said. “You’ve got to go out and take it to them. Our suicide kickoff squad really played ball and our defense really hit.”

So good was the defense that Whitmer didn’t get out of its back yard until late in the fourth quarter when the subs got in. The Panthers managed only 56 total yards, all on the ground, and failed to complete seven passes.

One of the fellows Commings singled out for his defensive work was end Ed McConnaughead.

“He did a marvelous job,” Commings said.
* * *
THE ORANGE and Black rolled up the exact number of yards on the ground as in the air – 192 – and completed 10 of 16 passes, causing a shell-shocked Norm Decker, Whitmer coach, to remark, “I’d take his third string quarterback!”

It was the most number of passes thrown by the Tigers this season and for good reason.

“We didn’t have the punch we thought we should have down in close,” Commings explained, “so we had to resort to passing. Our problem was we blew some assignments.”

The Tigers scored four times through the air, four on the ground, tallied five conversions via aerials and kicked two. They scored nine of the 11 times they had the ball.

Fullback Mike Autrey tallied three six-pointers, wingback Bernard Sullivan scored two and added a conversion, split end Don “The Hawk” Lewis caught two conversion passes, quarterback Denny Franklin scored a touchdown, threw a TD pass and two conversion aerials.
* * *
QUARTERBACK GARY Herring threw a touchdown and two conversion passes and kicked a conversion, quarterback John Fromholtz threw two TD aerials, one conversion pass and made two timely interceptions and tailback Mike Mauger scored a touchdown and kicked a conversion.

Fumbles aborted Tiger drives the first two times they got the ball when wingback Larry “Skooter” Harper got off a fantastic 44-yard punt runback to the Whitmer 38. Four plays later Autrey went off tackle from the 25 on first down with 3:39 left in the first quarter.

Mauger kicked the conversion.

A 48-yard pass-run play from Franklin to Harper, with Harper racing 37 yards, set up the next score together with an 11-yard Franklin aerial to right end Mike Robinson after Franklin had thrown 20 yards to Lewis for a TD only to have the Tigers in motion.

The drive took nine plays with Lewis eventually getting the score on a six-yard, third down sprint pass from Franklin to the corner with 9:46 left in the second quarter. The same play netted a conversion.

TAILBACK DARNELL, “Bopper” Streeter took off on a 34-yard punt runback to the Whitmer 32. Four plays later Autrey went through the middle from the 10 on the third down with 6:18 left after setting up the score with a 15-yard draw jaunt.

Franklin again found Lewis for the conversion.

After another punt, a 15-yard personal foul penalty on Whitmer and a clipping walk off against the Tigers, Herring found Sullivan with a 40-yarder on the two. After a leaping catch, “Sullie” stumbled into the end zone with 1:05 left. He had missed a TD pass minutes before.

Mauger’s conversion kick hit an upright and bounced back.

Middle guard Elijah McLin picked off a fumble at the Whitmer 32 early in the third quarter. Harper fooled the Panthers with a double reverse for 37 yards to the 14 and Autrey took it from there with an off-tackle jaunt.

HERRING KICKED the conversion.

John Fromholtz, whose No. 13 is proving to be more lucky than the reverse, picked off a pass and added a 20-yard return to the Whitmer 23. Eight plays later on first down from the six, Franklin tried to pass, ran out of a trap and scored.

Herring hit Harper for the conversion on another of those corner capers.

Massillon took over on downs on the Tiger 35 after having relinquished the pigskin the same way minutes before. Five plays and a Franklin-to-Harper 47-yard pass-run later it was touchdown again with 10:35 left in the fourth quarter. Harper caught the pass on the Whitmer 23 and scampered to the 17.

The score was a second down, six-yard pass down the middle to Sullivan who also caught the conversion aerial. Both tosses were from Fromholtz with the score coming with 10:35 left in the game.

Fromholtz picked off another pass and ran it back 23 yards to the Whitmer 34. A 20-yard off-tackle run by junior tailback Mauger and another double reverse – this one by Sullivan for nine yards – helped the Tigers hit pay dirt again.
* * *
MAUGER MADE a diving catch of Herring’s end zone pass with 7:22 left. Fromholtz found tight end Dan Byelene for the conversion.

From then on it was all Toledo with the game ending with Whitmer on Massillon’s 11.

“They were just too quick and too fast for us,” Decker said, “They blew us off the field. They’ve got a real fine team. When we knocked them down, they got up and came back.”

WHITMER – 0
Ends – Rawson, Conrad, Goodrich, Wagner, D. Barber.
Tackles – Chinni, Cherry, Jacquot, Lazette.
Guards – Coates, Pugh, Nowakoski, Howard.
Centers – Sutton, Lotte, Birr.
Quarterback – Curson.
Halfbacks – Oikle, Freels, Dankert, Adler, Berndt, Pointinger, Freels, Fritz, Leist, Good.
Fullbacks – S. Barber, Lantz.

MASSILLON – 60
Ends – Maxhimer, Robinson, Pribich, Snyder, Lewis, Yackee, Byelene.
Tackles – Dorman, Benson, Celik, Bingle, Strobley, Ridgley, Heck, Dodd, Janikis, Lint, B. Nussbaumer, R. Luke.
Guards – Hout, Midgley, McLin, Janikis, Ashcraft, Sims, Jellel, Miller, Kulik, Indorf, Ferguson, Preece, Eckroate, Marsh.
Centers – S. Luke, Brand, Crookston, Chovan.
Quarterbacks – Herring, Franklin, Fromholtz, Pattinson, Immelt.
Halfbacks – Streeter, Harper, Mauger, Lombardi, Sullivan, Ammond, Sheaters, Clary.
Fullbacks – Autrey, Cardinal.

Massillon 7 22 15 16 60

SCORING SUMMARY
M – TB Mike Autrey, 24-yard run, Mauger PAT (kick).
M – SE Don Lewis, six-yard pass from QB Denny Franklin, Lewis from Franklin PAT (pass).
M—Autrey, 10-yard run, Lewis from Franklin PAT (pass).
M – WB Bernard Sullivan, 40-yard pass-run from Herring.
M – Autrey, 14-yard run, Herring PAT (kick).
M – Franklin, six-yard run, WB Larry Harper from Herring PAT (pass).
M – Sullivan, six-yard pass from QB John Fromholtz, Sullivan from Herring PAT (pass).
M – TB Mike Mauger five-yard pass from Fromholtz, TE Dan Byelene from Fromholtz PAT (pass).

THE GRIDSTICK
M W
First downs – rushing 11 4
First downs – passing 7 0
First downs – penalties 1 1
Total first downs 19 5
Yards gained rushing 206 77
Yards lost rushing 14 21
Net yards gained rushing 192 56
Net yards gained passing 192 0
Total yards gained 384 56
Passes completed 10—16 0–7
Passes intercepted by 2 0
Yardage on passes intercepted 34 0
Kickoff average (yards) 9–45.0 1–53.0
Kickoff returns (yards) 25 127
Punt average (yards) 2–45.5 7–33.7
Punt returns (yards) 100 0
Had punts blocked 0 0
Lost fumbled ball 1–2 0–0
Yards penalized 10–80 2–20
Touchdowns rushing 4 0
Touchdowns passing 4 0
Total number of plays 57 55

OFFICIALS
Referee – Robert Whetstone.
Umpire – Harvey Hodgson, Jr.
Head Linesman – Art Cirelli
Field Judge – Beauford Hatfield

Category: <span>History</span>