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1954: Massillon 21, Akron Garfield 13

November 12, 1954July 8, 2017
by Eric Smith

Tigers Beat Garfield 21-13 Massillon Gridders Overcome 6-0 Deficit
To Win 8th Of Season

By LUTHER EMERY

BEAT McKINLEY!

The crowd roared at Tiger stadium last night with the final gun that ended the Massillon gridders’ 21-13 squeak over Akron Garfield their eighth win of the season, and we have reason to believe that McKinley had as much to do with the close score as Garfield. The Tigers just couldn’t get the game off their minds.

McKinley and fumbles we should say aided the enemy for the Tigers fumbled five times, lost the ball three times, twice when within easy reach of touchdowns.

But there was also a dent in the Massillon armor, especially in the second half, when the local gridders permitted Garfield to hold the ball for long periods at a time while banging out first downs.

The Massillon offense was good enough the last two periods, but it couldn’t get the ball enough. It scored three of the four times it got the leather and had the pigskin on the
nine-yard line with a first down coming up when the games ended the fourth offensive trip.
* * *
THE DEFENSIVE leaks must be plugged if the Massillon gridders realize their post-game ambition of BEAT McKINLEY in the state championship battle to be played here at 2 o’clock next Saturday afternoon.

That goes for both line and secondary. The latter permitted one pass to go through for a touchdown and another to produce a first down on the one-yard line which also led to a touchdown.

Garfield lived up to its advance predictions of being a good football team.

Playing without the services of their triple threat back, Bill Miller, who injured an arm Thursday, the Presidents displayed a good offense, mixing up split T with single wing that struck particularly hard at the center of the Tigers line, and on optional sweeps.

The Akron gridders led the local team 6-0 at the half, but somehow Massillon fans did not appear too uneasy during intermission for they had seen their team lose two likely touchdowns through fumbles and another through the expiration of time in the first and second quarters.
* * *
IT TOOK ONLY four plays to tie the score when the third period got under way and Tom Morrow’s deadly kick put the locals in the lead.

They made a 14-6 early in the fourth period and might have done it sooner had not Garfield held the leather for nine plays.

Then Garfield aided by a 15-yard penalty inflicted on Massillon for roughing the punter after it had the Presidents stopped, helped the latter score a second touchdown on a
nine-yard pass over the line which with the point from placement brought the score to
14-13, too close for comfort of conversions looked awfully big for three and one-half periods of the game.
* * *
THE TIGERS might have broken Garfield’s back early in the contest had they scored in their first touchdown attempt. They took the kickoff and in two plays were on the six-yard line. Fromholtz carried the third play, went to the goal line where he fumbled when tackled and Garfield covered with the nose of the ball just three inches away from the chalk line. It was on this play that Fromholtz hurt his arm and had to be removed.

After an exchange of punts, Garfield got the ball on its own 20 and went all the way, using up almost 10 minutes to run off 15 plays. A 25-yard pass from Sterling Shepherd to Don Olenick and a nine-yard toss from Joe Amedio to Shepherd figured prominently in the drive. The latter pass brought a first down on the one-yard line and Al Mobley in two plays bucked it over for the score.

The Tigers blocked Washknock’s attempted kick for the extra point and Garfield led 6-0.
* * *
FLOYD was downed with the following kickoff on his own seven and the teams took turns fumbling the ball. The Tigers after Dave Canary covered a Garfield fumble on the Massillon 25, drove all the way to the Farfield 13 where on first down Ron Boekel fumbled and Garfield covered.

The orange and black made one more threat, a pass, Crescenze to Floyd putting the ball on the 10-yard line with first down coming up when the half ended.

Garfield received to start the third period but Stavroff intercepted Chris’ pass and was downed on the Massillon 45. Floyd raced 23 yards to the Akron 32. Yoder lost four yards on a fumble, but Crescenze shot the ball to Robert Williams for 30 yards and a first down on the six. Floyd lost no time going over for the T.D. that tied the score and Morrow put the locals in the lead.

Garfield took seven plays to make two first downs, but couldn’t make another in four downs and the Tigers took over on their 25 with a couple of minutes left in the period. By the time the quarter ended they were down to the Garfield 17, thanks to a 17-yard run by Crescenze and a 14-yard pass to Yoder.

On the second play of the final period, Boekel went 13 yards around his left end to score and Morrow’s extra point made it 14-6.

But Garfield wasn’t at all upset about it.

The visitors got the kickoff on their 28 and clicked off four first downs as they went the distance. The Tigers had them stopped on the Garfield 41, but the Presidents’ punter was roughed and Garfield was favored with a 15-yard penalty which brought a first down on the Massillon 44.

A 32-yard pass, Sehpherd to Amedio, did the damage, giving Garfield a first down on Massillon’s 12. Chris moved it three yards nearer the goal and on third down tossed to Olenick for the touchdown Washknock booted the extra point and it was 14-13.

The visitors John Taylor got off a short kick that Bob Williams ambled back with to the Akron 41. Boekel moved it up a yard and Floyd shot around his right end, setting up some fine blocking ahead to go 58 yards for the final score. Again Morrow kicked the extra point.

The play of Olenick and Dick White, Garfield ends, and that of Chris and Mobley were highlights of the visiting team.

Crescenze’s passing and Floyd’s running stood out for the Tigers offensively.

The line-up and summary:
MASSILLON
ENDS – Lorch, R. Williams, Canary, Houston, Hagle, Francisco.
TACKLES – B. Williams, Hill, Schumacher, Moore.
GUARDS – R. Maier, Holloway, Morrow.
CENTER – Rohrbaugh.
QUARTERBACKS – Crescenze, James, Speck.
HALFBACKS – Floyd, Fromholtz, Yoder, Stephens, Stavroff.
FULLBACKS – Boekel, Cocklin.

AKRON GARFIELD
ENDS – Olenick, White, Winters, Bell.
TACKLES – Fink, Compton, Parker, Genda.
GUARDS – Washknock, Aulina, R. Parks. W. Parks.
CENTERS – Vegh, Cox.
QUARTERBACK – Chris.
HALFBACKS – Amedia, Shepherd, Stephens, Taylor, Cianciola.
FULLBACK – Mobley.

Score by periods:
Massillon 0 0 7 14 21
Garfield 0 6 0 7 13

Touchdowns:
Massillon – Floyd 2; Boekel.
Garfield – Mobley; Olenick.

Points after touchdown:
Massillon – Morrow 3 (placekicks).
Garfield – Washknock (placekick).

Officials
Referee – Titus Lobach.
Umpire – Paul Tobin.
Head Linesman – Mack Shaffer.
Field Judge – Dave Klocker.

STATISTICS
Mass Garf.
First downs 16 15
Passes attempted 8 11
Passes completed 6 6
Had passes intercepted 0 2
Yards gained passing 120 114
Yards gained rushing 241 125
Total yards gained 361 239
Yards lost 5 26
Net yards gained 355 213
Times punted 1 2
Average punt (yards) 26 18
Yards punts returned by 0 0
Times kicked off 4 3
Average kickoff (yards) 53 31
Net kickoff returns by 4 52
Times fumbled 5 6
Lost ball on fumble 3 1
Times penalized 4 5
Yards penalized 40 25

1954: Massillon 34, Barberton 14

November 5, 1954July 8, 2017
by Eric Smith

Long Tiger Runs Beat Barberton 34-14

By LUTHER EMERY

Barberton’s aerial minded Magics were handed a 34-14 trimming by the Washington high Tigers here Friday night, for their worst defeat of the season.

The autumn’s best crowd of 12,242 fans was treated to a wide open game as the Barberton quarterbacks threw 19 passes and the Tigers 10. Fourteen of the throws were completed, five by Massillon and nine by Barberton and one of the Magic throws was turned into the longest run of the year when Homer Floyd intercepted on his goal line, ran back three yards in a wide arc before heading full steam down the field for a touchdown. His run was 103 yards from the deepest point and he covered close to 153 yards as he swept from one side of the field to the other.

As expected, the Magics depended mostly on their pass offense for gains, picked up 125 yards in this manner and scored two touchdowns on throws of eight and 53 yards, the latter coming with only 48 seconds of the game left to play.

The Tigers scored five touchdowns, two in the first period, one in the third and two in the fourth and were stopped on three other occasions, twice by penalties and one by the clock, for what undoubtedly also would have been scores.

Barberton, which this year held Alliance to a one point 21-20 victory, was beaten all the way, but was dangerous every time it got the ball because of the throwing ability of George Izo, six-foot two-inch, 188-pound back. He would have been a better percentage of completions had not his receivers on two occasions dropped balls that were in their arms.

It was a typical Massillon-Barberton game, hard played and replete with injuries, although none was considered serious.

Jim Houston, worst injured of the Massillon players, was shaken up the first half but was O.K. for second half use, although he was kept out of the game.

Early in the game the special defense cooked up by Coach Tom Harp to stop the Barberton passing attack worked to perfection and three of the first six heaves of the Magics were intercepted while the other three were grounded.

Then Barberton began hitting and completed five in a row and nine of 13.

Izo and Luck, who threw the Magic passes, had all the time in the world to get the ball away. Standing deep behind the scrimmage line, they were given terrific protection. On only a couple of occasions were they rushed.

The Tiger gridders moved the ball well, piling up 420 net yards and would have done much better had it not been for penalties and a couple of inopportune fumbles.

They scored the first time they came into possession of the ball and had to overcome a
15-yard penalty to do it.

The payoff play was a 55-yard dash around left end by Dick Fromholtz in his first start as an offensive halfback in several weeks. Not a hand was laid on him as he set up his blocks well.

The second Massillon touchdown came on Floyd’s interception after Barberton had marched the ball from its own 26 to the Massillon 23.

Homer picked off the pigskin on the run, headed to his right in an arc to outrun a couple of Magic tacklers. Then down the east side line he went while blockers piled up a host of Barberton tacklers. He had to shake himself free of the last man, and that he did, to gain the open field.

He was so far in front he just trotted out the last 15 yards.

Barberton scored it first touchdown in the second quarter with a drive that started from its own 45.

Tom Nevling, running hard, got a first down on the Massillon 40, and took a fourth-down screen pass from Izo to go all the way to the 9.

A pass, Izo to Bob Hunter, lost a yard, but another to Duane Sickles produced a first down on the eight. Izo then tossed to Luck for the remaining distance.

The Tigers took the following kickoff all the way from their 37 to the Barberton five when time ran out and the half ended.

A 69-yard run by Jerry Yoder set up the third period touchdown. Starting from the 34 he bulled his way, without too much help, to the seven-yard line before a Magic tackler caught him. Floyd picked up three and Yoder went through for the points.
* * *
A 90-YARD DRIVE produced the fourth T.D. A 12-yard run by Yoder netted a first down on his own 29. Boekel set up the score with a 53-yard run to the nine. Three downs only gained six yards but on fourth down Yoder circled his left end for the points.

The score mounted to 34-7 with the second team in the game. The seconds took the ball on their 37 and went 63 yards to score. Figuring strongly in the march was a pass from Don Humes to End George McConnell who made the prettiest catch of the year for a first down on the 13, a gain of 38 yards. Don Duke took it over from the six on fourth down.

Barberton scored its second touchdown on the second team with only 48 seconds left to play when Izo threw the ball to Luck for a gain of 2 yards and the six points.

The Magics had the Tigers well scouted and stopped fleet Homer Floyd in his tracks most of the night. Save for his lone touchdown dash with the intercepted pass, he was unable to break into the open.

With such a close watch kept on Floyd, the Magics overlooked the ball carrying ability of the right halfback and Fullback Boekel, and as a result they were able to amble for long gains.

Harp also came up with another placekicker last night in the person of Tom Morrow, a substitute. Morrow, who has been getting added distance each week to his kickoffs, converted four of the five placement kicks after touchdowns into extra points.

The game was the eighth on Massillon’s schedule. With seven victories and one defeat to their credit, the Tigers next week will tangle with once-beaten Akron Garfield here. Garfield’s only loss was to Barberton 13-6. It plays Kenmore tonight.

The line-up and summary:
MASSILLON
ENDS – Houston, R. Williams, Canary, Lorch, McConnell, Francisco, Nagle.
TACKLES – B. Williams, Hill, Schumacher, Graber, Moore, Blocher, D.K. Maier.
GUARDS – Holloway, R. Maier, Ertle, Barrett, Fisher, Morrow.
CENTERS – Spicer, Rohrbaugh, Speck.
QUARTERBACKS – Crescenze, Humes, James.
HALFBACKS – Floyd, Fromholtz, Yoder, Duke, Brown, Cocklin, Stephens.
FULLBACKS – Boekel, Archibald.

BARBERTON
ENDS – Adams, Horning, Millhoff, Iverson, Brasko, McElroy, Smith, Thombs.
TACKLES – Koladin, Bauer, Leonhardt, Brown, Gonslewski.
GUARDS – Smith, Incorvati, Mottric, Chaykoski, Finn, Pamer.
CENTERS – Mace, Gardner.
QUARTERBACKS – Izo, Luck.
HALFBACKS – Cole, Nevling, Cheatham, Bartes, Jones.
FULLBACKS – Sickles, Hunter.

Score by periods:
Massillon 14 0 7 13 34
Barberton 0 7 0 7 14

Touchdowns:
Massillon – Fromholtz; Floyd; Yoder 2; Duke.
Barberton – Luck 2.

Points after touchdown:
Massillon – Morrow 4 (placekicks).
Barberton — Izo (placekick); Adams (pass)

Officials
Referee – Smith (Elyria).
Umpire – Machock (Elyria).
Head Linesman – Russ (Youngstown).
Field Judge – Hinton (Canton).

STATISTICS
Mass. Barb.
First downs 17 8
Passes attempted 10 19
Passes completed 5 9
Had passes intercepted 1 3
Yards gained passing 86 125
Yards gained rushing 369 83
Total yards gained 445 188
Yards lost 35 25
Net yards gained 420 163
Times punted 2 5
Average punt (yards) 31 35
Yards punts returned by 0 10
Times kicked off 6 3
Average kickoff (yards) 40 37
Yards kickoffs returned by 33 89
Times fumbled 6 3
Lost ball on fumble 2 1
Times penalized 3 1
Yards penalized 35 2

1954: Massillon 12, Warren Harding 7

October 29, 1954July 8, 2017
by Eric Smith

Tigers Beat Warren In Fourth Quarter
Orange And Black Come From Behind To Defeat Spirited Panthers 12-7

By LUTHER EMERY

A fired-up Warren Panther gave the Washington high Tigers a terrific battle before 11,000 fans in its home den Friday evening, but had its prey snatched from it in the fourth quarter just when it appeared another autumnal upset was in the making.

The Tigers won, 12-7, but it took a great goal line stand to seal it.

It was a whale of a game, evenly played most of the way, but with Massillon having just a little more of what was necessary in the pinches to score and to keep from being scored on.

It was anybody’s contest from beginning to end.

Warren, all fired up at the start, took the play away from the Tigers, kept them in the hole the entire first half and never allowed them over the midfield stripe. The Panthers at the same time were stopped once on the one-half yard line in the first period and succeeded in pushing over a T.D. in the second to lead 7-0 at intermission.

Coach Tom Harp stoked his Tigers with enthusiasm between halves and they came out a different ball team the third quarter.
* * *
DENIED a touchdown in their first bid, they covered a Warren fumble on the 28-yard line and passed for a touchdown on the second play, Dick Crescenze to Dick Fromholtz. But Big Bob Williams’ attempt for the extra point was partially blocked and Warren still led
7-6.

The Panthers were still in front going into the fourth quarter but the Tigers struck back with their best march of the night, a drive of 87 yards that actually amounted to 102 yards with a 15-yard penalty added, to score a second touchdown, which iced the game.

But the gate was not closed on the Panthers until the last half minute of the game. Then it was the Tigers stopped a belated Warren drive on the four-yard line, took the ball, and froze it to run out the clock.

What happened before that last Warren effort only prefaced the excitement that bubbled and gurgled from the stands as Warren urged its team to score and Massillon fans pleaded for their eleven to turn back the threat.

Everything was packed into the fourth period drama. The Massillon fans rejoiced when Jerry Yoder toured his left end for 19 yards and six points, to give the Tigers a 12-7 lead, and moaned when Williams’ second attempted kick went plenty high but just wide of the uprights.

There were moans and hurrahs when the Tigers’ following kickoff bounced through the hands of two Warren players to stop on the five-yard line.
* * *
THEN WARREN set its sights on a winning touchdown and began to march. Once the Tigers seemed to have the Panthers stopped but that’s when John Theoharis stepped back and fired a 42-yard pass to left end Don Zerial. Homer Floyd and Andy Stavroff, Tiger defenders went up in the air trying to intercept the ball. All three seemed to hit it but it only made a more perfect catch for Zerial as it bounded into his hands while he was traveling full speed. Stavroff turned and went after Zerial. It was evident he couldn’t grab him around the legs so he made a desperate lunge, he caught hold of his shirt and down went Zerial for a first down on the 14, with only a couple of minutes left to be played.

Nate Reed, a substitute halfback, was turned loose twice and he picked up eight yards. With the ball on the six and only two yards needed for a first down, the Tigers showed their grit. They yielded a yard to Giles, but when Hamilton attempted to circle right end he was thrown for a yard loss and the Massillon gridders took over with only 30 seconds left to play.

Crescenze played it safe after that, carried two straight times, getting a first down on one carry and just dropping on a knee the second time to run out the clock and seal the Massillon victory.
* * *
THE MASSILLON gridders were jubilant as the last shot was fired and the Tiger band took over the cheering. The victory was even more satisfactory to the local gridders when told that Coach Chuck Riffle of the Panthers was supposed to have said that Massillon was a first half ball team.

It wasn’t last night and because the local team took charge in the second half it still is a top contender for the state title along with Canton McKinley, which last night whipped previously unbeaten Alliance 26-6.

Maybe news of Canton leading Alliance at the half helped to fire the Tigers for their second half charge. Whatever it was they came out with a complete reversal of form, used the forward pass effectively for the first time this season in their two touchdown marches and kept Warren bottled up, save for that breath-taking last minute surge of the Panthers.

Statistically the Tigers had a little better of the argument too. They made 12 first downs to Warren’s 10 and gained 239 net yards to Warren’s 190. Each team completed four passes, the Tigers gaining 76 yards with passes and Warren 65.

Warren used a short pass over the line of scrimmage effectively the first half, but for some reason failed to use it the second half even though the zone was frequently unguarded.
* * *
THE TIGERS not only passed to their first touchdown, but mixed three completed passes in the series of plays that led to the second T.D. One went to Robert Williams for 17 yards, another to Ken Lorch for seven and a most important one to Jim Houston for 23 that helped to overcome a 15-yard penalty.

The Tigers also moved the ball on the ground and the second half more than they did the first. They depended too much on Homer Floyd the first two periods, but used him as a decoy often in the last two periods in which Ronald Boekel and Yoder gained considerable yardage.

Warren threw a scare into the Tigers early in the game. The brimstone breathing Panthers kicked off to Massillon and smothered everything the locals tried on the first series of plays for a loss of eight yards.

Tom Stephens barely got his punt away to his own 38.

Running hard, they ripped off three straight first downs, the last on the seven-yard line. Here the Tigers braced and took it away from Warren on the one-half yard line.

Warren continued to play in Tiger territory and the Tigers in two punt exchanges couldn’t get the Panthers out of their yard. Then Warren struck from the Massillon 44, marched to three first downs with Giles going over on fourth down from the five-yard line. Jack Begala kicked the extra point and Warren led 7-0.

The Tigers could no nothing next time they got the ball and the half ended shortly thereafter,
* * *
WARRREN received to start the third period but was forced to punt, the Tigers getting the ball on their own 27. Floyd got off a 12-yard run and Boekel in two dashes went 54 yards for successive first downs on the Warren 27 and 15.

Warren braced and limited the next three Tiger chargers to seven yards. An attempted pass on fourth down was batted down by Giles and Warren took over on its eight.

The Panthers got out to the 28 where Holloway pounced on a fumble for the Tigers. On the first play Crescenze found Yoder open in the end zone but he dropped the ball. However, it would not have counted since the Tigers were offside and were penalized back to the 33. Using the same play with Dick Fromholtz now at the halfback spot, Crescenze whipped a beauty to him in the end zone. A chance to knot the score was missed when Warren blocked the extra point.

It was clear that the Tigers now had the power to move the Panthers on offense.

They forced them to punt after the kickoff and Trice got off a beauty to the Massillon 13. Here began the winning drive.

Boekel and Floyd only got three yards on the first two plays, so Crescenze whipped a pass to Bob Williams good for 17 and a first down on the 33. Floyd made six at right end and on a quick opener, being nabbed by the last defensive man after making a first down on the Warren 49. Crescenze pitched to Ken Lorch for seven and Floyd made a first on the 37.

Boekel rammed for a first but the Tigers were penalized 15 yards for an illegal play. Crescenze made up for it with a fine pass to Houston for 23 and on a keeper play went to a first down on the 23. Floyd made four at right end and on the next play Warren was completely fooled as Yoder came around his left end for 19 yards and the winning touchdown.

There followed Warren’s frantic drive and that was the end of it.

The Massillon gridders will meet Barberton here next Friday evening.

STATISTICS
Mass. Warren
First downs 12 10
Passes attempted 8 5
Passes completed 4 4
Had passes intercepted 0 0
Yards gained passing 75 65
Yards gained rushing 173 136
Total yards gained 248 201
Yards lost 9 11
Net yards gained 239 190
Times punted 4 3
Average punt (yards) 36 37
Yards punts returned by 7 26
Times kicked off 3 2
Average kickoff (yards) 46 48
Yards kickoffs returned by 19 43
Times fumbled 2 2
Lost ball on fumble 0 1
Times penalized 3 3
Yards penalized 35 15

1954: Massillon 34, Cleveland Benedictine 7

October 22, 1954July 8, 2017
by Eric Smith

Tiger Gridders Beat Benedictine 34-7
Massillon Team Rolls Up 20 Points In First 10 Minutes of Contest

By LUTHER EMERY

You explain it. We can’t figure it out.

For 10 minutes Friday evening the Washington high school football team ran wild through Cleveland Benedictine to score three touchdowns and lead 20-0 going into the second period.

Then Benedictine braced, yielded but two more touchdowns, one in the last 22 seconds of play and scored one itself. The final was 34 to 7.

The score is bigger than many had expected it to be over the previously undefeated Cleveland team, but the point that had fans wondering is what happened to fire up the Bengals in the second half and what cooled the Tigers off.

It was Massillon’s fifth victory in six games and should look good to the pollsters, considering status.
* * *
THERE WERE all kinds of explanations after the game, for the second half lapse. Each of the 10,150 fans probably had an opinion.

Many thought Benedictine was scared at the start of the game.

Certainly the Benglas looked like anything but a football team the first quarter. Their offense was impotent; their defense inadequate and they bobbled the ball, which cost them a lot of breaks.

The Tigers on the other hand ran around at will. They drove from their own 39-yard line for their first touchdown, scoring after an exchange of fumbles on the three with Homer Floyd going across with six minutes and 45 seconds left to play. Two minutes and 22 seconds later Floyd caught a punt and raced 64 yards for another touchdown. In another two minutes Ken Lorch was on top of a Benedictine fumble on the 27 and Ronald Boekel was skirting end on a pitchout for the score.
* * *
BENEDICTINE showed signs of bracing after that point and it took the Tigers most of the second period to score another. They consumed 10 minutes driving from their own 19 to the two-yard line where Boekel bucked it over.

And it was even tougher the second half.

Coach Tom Harp thinks his team relaxed with a 27-point lead and couldn’t get back on its game the last two periods.

At any rate Benedictine played the Tigers on even terms in the scoring columns those two quarters and out-gained the locals in yardage.

“I’ll be anxious to get a look at the movies and see just exactly what did happen,” Harp said in the locker room after the game. “The defense we were playing should have stopped them. If someone wasn’t carrying out his assignment, then we will have to make the necessary corrections.
* * *
BENEDICTINE came out all fired up for the second half and completed a 31-yard pass from Quarterback Mel Smolik to Fullback Chuck Piazza for a third period touchdown while checking all Massillon scoring efforts until the last 22 seconds of the game when Floyd broke away for a 50-yard T.D. run.

Where the Tigers gained 172 yards to Benedictine’s 30 the first half, the latter gained 171 yards to Massillon’s 106 in the second half and 50 of the 106 came on Floyd’s jaunt.

We are inclined to believe there was both opening nervousness on the part of the Tigers after the latter rolled up 20 points so quickly.

Coach Harp experimented with some new formations after gathering the 20 points which also slowed up his offense.

After all, the Benedictine team of the second half was the kind of team we had expected to see at the start. It has been gaining quite a reputation in Cleveland the last few years and had a three-won two-tie record when it came here last night.
* * *
THE LOCALS had the better of the statistics for the total game, making 266 net yards to the Bengals’ 184 and that does not include Floyd’s 64-yard touchdown punt return. The Tigers also registered 14 first downs to the Bengals’ eight.

Had the locals’ passing been better they could have moved easier, too, as the visitors at times threw virtually a nine man line against them. Six of 16 were completed for 86 yards, while Benedictine completed six of 13 for 81 yards.

Floyd stole the show.

The slippery halfback did some fine running. His break away on the 64-yard punt return was a beauty and he was accorded some great assistance by blockers after he raced over the midfield stripe.

His last T.D. was almost as fancy. He struck through tackle then cut sharply to the right to run around his foes while his teammates walled off the sideline.
* * *
THE TIGERS received a lot of hard bumps and bruises in the game, but none appeared seriously hurt with the possible exception of big Bob Williams, who got a hard jolt in the second period. With him unable to placekick, the Tigers ran their last two points after touchdown, Floyd getting both of them.

Recovered fumbles and intercepted passes caused the ball to change hands 11 times. These stopped drives of both teams throughout the game.

The Tigers, in fact, fumbled in their first touchdown drive on the three-yard line and Benedictine recovered. But the Bengals obliged by immediately fumbling and Massillon recovered at almost the same spot where it had previously lost the ball. This time it continued on for the T.D.

The victory was Massillon’s fifth in six games. Next Friday the local team travels to Warren to meet the Panthers, who rolled over Youngstown Chaney last night 48-6.

The line-up and summary:
MASSILLON
ENDS – Houston, R. Williams, Canary, Lorch.
TACKLES – B. Williams, Hill, Moore, Graber, Schumacher.
GUARDS – Holloway, R. Maier, Barrett, Tracy.
CENTERS – Rohrbaugh, Morrow, Roan.
QUARTERBACKS – Crescenze, James.
HALFBACKS – Floyd, Yoder, Stavroff, Fomholtz, Brown Stephens.
FULLBACKS – Boekel, Archibald, Cocklin.

BENEDICTINE
ENDS – Lewandowski, Reynolds.
TACKLES – Brown, Filakosky, Tirpak.
GUARDS – Palenchar, Ranallo, Pussteri, Cira, Locker, Coppola, Hidiak, Leopold, Pezak, Canzoni.
CENTERS – Kestner, Rakosky.
QUARTERBACKS – Smolik, Fruscella.
HALFBACKS – Kubinski, Mastandrea, Yarris.
FULLBACKS – Piazza, Paci.

Score by period:
Massillon 20 7 0 7 34
Benedictine 0 0 7 0 7

Touchdowns:
Massillon – Floyd 3; Boekel 2, Benedictine – Piazza.

Points after touchdown:
Massillon – Williams 2 (placekicks),.Floyd 2 (carried),.Benedictine – Cira (placekick).

Officials
Referee – Shaffer (Ottawa).
Umpire – Lymper (Mansfield).
Head Linesman – Wisecup (Cleveland).
Field Judge – Walker (Columbus).

STATISTICS
Mass. Ben.
First downs 14 8
Passes attempted 16 13
Passes completed 6 6
Had passes intercepted 2 3
Yards gained passing 86 81
Yards gained rushing 192 120
Total yards gained 278 201
Yards lost 12 17
Net yards gained 266 184
Times punted 3 5
Average punt (yards) 23 31
Yards punts returned by 64 15
Times kicked off 6 2
Average kickoff (yards) 42 27
Times fumbled 4 3
Lost ball on fumble 3 3
Times penalized 3 7
Yards penalized 38 55

1954: Massillon 18, Mansfield 0

October 15, 1954July 8, 2017
by Eric Smith

Snarling Tigers Claw Mansfield 18-0
Orange and Black Play Best Game Of Season In Defeating Old Rival

By LUTHER EMERY

The Tiger is snarling again.

It bared its fangs at Mansfield Friday evening and whipped the team to which it was supposed to lose.

The score was 18-0 and a stunned Mansfield crowd couldn’t believe it. Neither could many Massillon fans who traveled the 55 miles to Mansfield fully expecting to see the orange and black lose.

But the Tiger became of age last night, played as it hasn’t at anytime this season and deserves a better rating among the Ohio high schools next week.

A surprising turnout of 12,600 fans attended the game, and unless you are dripping at the neck, running at the nose, feeling the need for a new hair wave, shoe shine or suit press, you can’t appreciate the kind of night it was nor the job turned in by the football team.
* * *
THE MASSILLON gridders gave their all. The linemen charged as they haven’t before this season and to say they ate up the gridiron isn’t speaking figuratively. A look at their faces in the locker room after the game and you would know what we mean.

They were caked with mud as though prepared for a clay massage, except that they had it in their eyes and teeth too. But they were a happy bunch. It’s been a long time since a Massillon team let go with as much enthusiasm after a game as the Tigers did last night. They knew they had accomplished something – something many had said they couldn’t – and had won a big victory. They knew they were now the football team they have been striving to be, and they were happy about it.

No sooner had the last gun been fired until they made a rush for the bench, grabbed their young coach Tom Harp, hoisted him on their shoulders and carried him off the field.

In the dressing room they cheered, whooped it up, congratulated each other and accepted the congratulations of fans who poured in. For a time it was bedlam, and anyone in the dressing room during those minutes came out with a souvenir of the gridiron – badly soiled clothes from brushing against the slimy suits of the players.

The student body, whom we have thought has not been enthusiastic as it should be, warmed up – did it before the team ever left for Mansfield we were told – and went all out in its support of the eleven last night.

Students and band lingered around the stadium after most other fans had left to play and cheer.
* * *
THE FIRST Massillon team to go into a game as underdog in years, the Tigers let it be known quickly that they shouldn’t have been placed there.

They scored the second time they came in possession of the ball with seven minutes and five seconds of the first period remaining to be played when Ron Boekel raced 54 yards down the sidelines for a touchdown, out-running (and we still can’t believe it) the fleet-footed Willie Mack and Wilmer Fowler, the track men of the Mansfield team.

They shoved over another from the two-yard line on the first play of the second quarter when Jerry Yoder carrying the ball after covering Fowler’s fumble on the 14. And the third came with only 30 seconds gone of the fourth quarter when Yoder did some fancy stepping around left end for 13 yards.

Bob Williams’ foot skidded off the ball on three extra point attempts but as it turned out it did not matter save to pull down his own conversion average.

That’s a thumbnail sketch of the TD’s, but what went into them and what preserved them calls for a lot more explaining.

Coach Harp had particular praise for the play of the line after the game was well as the defense and the ball handling of Quarterback Rich Crescenze. While Rich fumbled a few handoffs of the slimy ball, Harp thought he did “excellent all-around work, considering the condition of the pigskin.”
* * *
THE LINE, as we have said before, did play its best, and the defense put on some good
old-fashioned snowball tackling that many times stopped Mansfield players in their tracks, or off their tracks, and resulted in fumbles.

To hold three ball carriers like Mack, Fowler and Fullback Jim Witherspoon to 92 net yards on the ground, is doing a lot of tackling, and that’s what the Tigers did last night.

And the linemen opened enough holes to permit Massillon backs to romp 140 net yards.

The Tigers were opportunists last night. They were alert, recovering all six of their own fumbles and covering four Mansfield fumbles.

Their ball hawking ability stopped Mansfield drives including the latter’s first effort when in two first downs it moved the ball from its 28 to the Massillon 39. There it stopped when linebacker Bob Tracy pounced on a fumble on his own 42. Two plays later, Boekel was on his way to the first touchdown on the game.

Ball hawking by Yoder, who pounced on Fowler’s fumble of a lateral on the 14, set up the second touchdown and Joe Holloway ended another Mansfield effort when he covered a fumble by Fowler on the Tiger 45. A fourth Mansfield fumble of a punt was covered by the Tigers late in the fourth quarter, but by that time players were so daubed alike with mud we couldn’t tell who got on the ball.
* * *
AHEAD 12-0 at the end of the half, the Tigers were the fresher the second half and with victory in sight and their ambition realized, seemed to gain in strength the older the game got. At the end they were driving again, having just made their ninth first down of the game in midfield. Mansfield chalked up six first downs during the night.

Because of the wet conditions of the field and the slippery ball, the Tigers for the most part played close to the cuff. They got reckless a couple of times with laterals, one of which brought a much needed first down on the two-yard line, but they didn’t try a single forward pass. For that matter Mansfield only threw one and completed it for a gain of 24 yards.

In playing it safe, the Tigers for the most part punted on third down and, Tom Stephens the kicker, deserves a pat-on-the-back for the way he booted the muddy ball. He averaged 10 more yards than his Mansfield adversary and he got away one booming kick of 48 yards for the line of scrimmage early in the game.

Mansfield, previously undefeated and conqueror of Warren 42-7 last week, had high hopes of winning the state championship this year. The defeat, its first of the season was particularly disappointing to team and fans, one of whom said, “Massillon just has the Indian sign on us.”

The Tygers have only won one game of the series which began in 1936. That was a 16-12 victory in 1949 when Augie Morningstar, now of Massillon, was coaching the Richland county team.
* * *
AT THE CONCLUSION of the 1953 season Mansfield had said it would play Massillon the week before the Massillon-Canton McKinley game or not at all. This wasn’t to the liking of ex-Coach Chuck Mather last year or Tom Harp this year. After Massillon had filled the usual Mansfield date for 1955 with Toledo Waite, Mansfield had a change of heart and suggested a game with the Tigers for the third week in October. A contract which the local team had planned to send to East Liverpool for that date was held up at Mansfield’s request. After last night’s game it is possible that Mansfield will have another change of heart.

At any rate, Coach Bill Peterson after the game told Harp, “we’ll play you the week before the Canton game or not at all.”

So, maybe last night’s game did break the chain of relations.

It was a cleanly played game and neither tam sustained any serious injuries. In fact, the Tigers had none. That’s what usually happens in football when you hit the other fellow harder than he hits you.

A brief resume of the quarters goes like this:
First Quarter
The Tigers received, bringing the kickoff back to the 36 but were forced to punt. Stephens got off a good boot to the Mansfield 28 and the latter rolled up two first downs before fumbling. Tracy covering on the Tiger 42. Boekel hit for four and then went 54 for a touchdown.

The Tigers kicked off and Mansfield got back to the Massillon 42, before a pitchout lost 15 yards and it was forced to punt. The kick went almost straight up, the Tigers getting the ball on the Mansfield 49. Homer Floyd raced to the 30, almost getting loose, but a 15-yard clipping penalty was slapped on Massillon to end the threat. Stephens was thrown for a
12-yard loss attempting to punt, but he got the next one away to the Mansfield 22. Fowler fumbled the first play and Yoder was on the ball for Massillon on the 14. Boekel hit for four and Yoder got one. Then Floyd on a pitchout went to a first down on the two-yard line and there the quarter ended.
Second Quarter
On the first play of the second period Yoder went over for the T.D.

The Tygers got the kickoff and worked the ball up to the Massillon 47, where they were thrown backward twice in a row with Holloway finally getting the ball for Massillon on a fumble.

The teams exchanged punts with neither threatening anymore in the period.
Third Quarter
Mansfield entered the third period without Fowler and he didn’t play the rest of the game.

The teams exchanged punts to start the period, the Tigers having the better of the exchange and getting the ball on the Mansfield 45. They got down to the 30, only to be penalized back to where they started from for clipping. Floyd went for 20, however, and with Boekel and Yoder helping got down to the 16-yard line as the period ended.
Fourth Quarter
Floyd picked up a first down on the 11 and Yoder went the rest of the way around left end with the help of a beautiful block that set him free.

Mansfield made its only serious scoring threat after that. A 25-yard pass, the only one of the night, Mack to Wilbur Hightower, produced a first down on the 28. The Tygers in three more plays got a first down on the 17 and here Massillon braced, threw back four running plays and took over the ball on the 10. The Tigers just kept it the rest of the game, moving to the Mansfield 46 as the game ended, thanks to recovery of a fumbled punt.

MASSILLON
ENDS – Houston, R. Williams, Canary, Lorch, Francisco.
TACKLES – B. Williams, Hill, Schumacher.
GUARDS – Maier, Holloway, Tracy.
CENTERS – Spicer, morrow.
QUARTERBACKS – Crescenze, James.
HALFBACKS – Floyd, Yoder, Fromholtz, Stephens, Stavroff.
FULLBACKS – Boekel, Cocklin.

MANSFIELD
ENDS – K. Wilson, Franta, Burton, Beabout.
TACKLES – Elmas, Moore, R. Johnson, Cooks.
GUARDS – Komjenovich, Senokoslieff.
CENTERS – Gouge, Orosen.
QUARTERBACK – Earnest.
HALFBACKS – Mack, Fowler, Hightower, Bonner, R. Thompson, Dillon, E. Wilson.
FULLBACKS – Witherspoon, Sherrer.

Score by quarters:
Massillon 6 6 0 6 18

Touchdowns – Yoder 2, Boekel.

Officials
Don Kock (Lima).
George Donges (Ashland).
C.H. Speid (Findlay).
Dave Kocker (Akron).

STATISTICS
Mass. Mansf.
First downs 9 7
Passes attempted 0 1
Passes completed 0 1
Yards gained passing 0 25
Yards gained rushing 167 124
Total yards gained 167 149
Yards lost 27 32
Net yards gained 140 117
Times punted 6 4
Average punt (yards) 33 23
Yards punts returned by 0 26
Times kicked off 4 1
Average kickoff (yards) 25 52
Yards kickoffs returned by 8 38
Times fumbled 6 4
Lost ball on fumble 0 4
Times penalized 6 5
Yards penalized 50 45

1954: Massillon 28, Steubenville 0

October 8, 1954July 8, 2017
by Eric Smith

Tiger Gridders Defeat Big Red 28-0
Orange And Black Seal Verdict By Outplaying Foe In Third Period

By LUTHER EMERY

The Washington high Tigers completely outclassed Steubenville for five minutes Friday evening and won a 28-0 victory.

That hardly seems possible but that is just about the way it happened.

The smallest crowd of the season, a disappointing 10,420 fans, turned out for the game which ended football relations between the two schools.

The Tigers achieved their goal of winding it up with a victory, but they were hard pressed for a time to do it.

They scored their first touchdown on the last play of the first half as Halfback Homer Floyd raced 75 yards to score. Time expired while he was somewhere en route. Then with a devastating attack, they ripped Steubenville for three touchdowns in the short space of five minutes in the third period, two of them on runs of 84 and 30 yards by Floyd and another on a little buck through center by Quarterback Rich Crescenze.

Bit Bob Williams kicked all four extra points after touchdown from placement and that’s all there was to it.
* * *
BATTLING in their effort to win at least one game of the 18-game series, Steubenville put up quite a scrap against the Tigers, and save for the local team’s one touchdown effort in the first half, had a little the better of the play. Even on that one there was questionable clipping which brought a mild protest from the Steubenville bench, though it in no way figured in the play and occurred nearly 10 yards behind the ball carrier.

The Big Red threatened three times, twice in the first half and once in the last period. Intercepted passes ended two of the threats and a fumble stopped the third. The nearest the visitors got was 10 yards from the goal line.

So the series has been ended by Steubenville without it having won a game in all the years of play since 1937, and the Tigers getting back on the victory road after their loss, first in 26 games last week at Alliance. It was No. 3 in four games for the Tigers and No. 3 in four games in reverse for the Big Red, whose only triumph was a decision over Cleveland East Tech last week.

The Tigers had a considerable margin in yardage thanks to Floyd who totaled 180 of the locals 399 net yards. Steubenville had a net gain of 195 yards.

The revamped Tiger offense didn’t click too well the first half, and Coach Tom Harp wound up by putting his star runner, Homer Floyd back at halfback. He did most of the gaining, though Don Duke and Jerry Yoder, who started at the halfback spot, picked up some yardage the first two periods.
* * *
DISAPPOINTING from a Massillon standpoint was its passing attack which has been practically nil the last two weeks. Nine were thrown and only two completed for seven yards. Steubenville completed five of 12 for 77 yards.

Best pass uncorked by the Tigers all night produced a touchdown that didn’t count because a Massillon player was offside. Sub Quarterback Don Humes threw to Bob Williams who ran to the 20 and tossed a backward pass to End Bob Jones just as he was about to be tackled. Jones went the rest of the distance. The whole play would have been good for 63 yards.

The Tigers won without being sharp. Steubenville stopped them cold inside the tackles in addition to throttling the local’s aerial weapons. Floyd was the difference. It looked like a scoreless first half until he got away for his 75-yarder. Up to that time the Tigers hadn’t gotten closer than the Stubber 40, while the latter knocked twice on the Massillon goal.

Out-charging the Massillon team, the visitors got down to the 15 in the middle of the second period but Dick Fromholtz ended the threat when he pulled down Quarterback White’s pass behind the goal. Then after the Big Red had recovered a Massillon fumble on t he latter’s 44, White whipped a long pass that Don Wilson caught on the 12, but he fumbled when tackled and Tom Stephens covered for the Tigers. Even the Big Red had the local team stopped but jumped offside when Massillon shifted into a punt formation. The five-yard penalty gave the Tigers a first down and two plays later Floyd ambled 75 yards for the first touchdown with time expiring while he was on the loose. That’s just how close it came to being a scoreless first half.
* * *
IT WAS ALTOGETHER different in the third period however. “Between halves we figured out what Steubenville was doing,” said Harp, “made our corrections and things went all right until they changed on us again.”

Things did go all right. The Tigers kicked off but Stavroff got them the ball by intercepting a pass and running back to the Big Red 40. Floyd and Yoder took turns carrying until they reached the two and Crescenze sneaked it over from that point.

The Tigers kicked off, forced Steubenville to punt, the ball rolling dead on the 16. On the first play Floyd went 84 yards for the orange and black’s third T.D.

They kicked off again and Steubenville fumbled the kickoff on the 30. Dick Roan flopped on it and on the first play Floyd again went for the distance.

What looked like a severe rout for the Big Red stopped there and it got funny, when neither team appeared to want the ball, each throwing passes into opponents’ arms.

Steubenville did manage to penetrate to the 10-yard line before another interception by Stavroff stopped the threat. The Tigers’ only effort in the fourth quarter has already been explained, the lateral off a forward that was not allowed because of an offside penalty.

The line-up and summary:
MASSILLON
ENDS – Canary, Lorch, R. Williams, Jones, Francisco, Houston.
TACKLES – B. Williams, Hill, Blocher, Schumacher, Graber.
GUARDS – R. Ramier, Holloway, Tracy, Fisher.
CENTERS – Spicer, Roan, Morrow.
QUARTERBACKS – Crescenze, Humes, James.
HALFBACKS – Duke, Yoder, Fromholtz, Stavroff, Stephens.
FULLBACKS – Floyd, Boekel, Cocklin.

STEUBENVILLE
ENDS – Wilson, Fulton.
TACKLES – Pettresa, Crawford, Ensell.
GUARDS – Goffali, Starr, Jones, Copps, Anathan, Glannamore, Haverfield.
CENTERS – Moncilovich, Giamnrarco.
BACKS – White, Ray, Ross, Morgan, Porter, Jeter, Yates,
Sizemore, Collins, Callas.

Score by periods:
Massillon 0 7 21 0 26

Touchdowns – Floyd 3, Crescenze.

Points after touchdowns – Williams 4 (placekicks).

Officials
Referee – Tony Pianowski (Cleveland).
Umpire – Jerry Katherman, Jr. (Cleveland).
Head Linesman – Earl Schreiber (Canton).
Field Judge – W.K. Dunton (Warren).

STATISTICS
Mass. Steub.
First downs 16 10
Passes attempted 9 12
Had passes intercepted 2 4
Passes completed 2 5
Yards gained passing 7 77
Yards gained rushing 422 123
Total yards gained 429 200
Yards lost 30 5
Net yards gained 399 195
Times punted 1 4
Average punt (yards) 33 41
Yard punts returned by 0 0
Times kicked off 5 1
Average kickoff (yards) 48 48
Yards kickoffs returned by 18 84
Times fumbled 6 4
Lost ball on fumbles 3 3
Times penalized 1 3
Yards penalized. 5 15

1954: Massillon 7, Alliance 19

October 1, 1954July 8, 2017
by Eric Smith

Alliance Ends Tiger Winning Streak
Aviators Triumph 19-7 To Break Massillon’s String of 25 Victories

By LUTHER EMERY

Mel Knowlton was king of Alliance today and his Aviators were flying high.

Before an overflow crowd of 11,000 fans that expected to see anything happen, the Alliance high school gridders cut Massillon’s 25-game winning streak in Mount Union stadium Friday night by handing the Washington high Tigers a 19-7 defeat.

Two well placed bombs did it.

They were thrown by veteran Quarterback Bill Offenbecher to receivers Frank Kracher and Bob Reda, who made virtually impossible catches as they took the ball out of the arms of Massillon defenders and fell inside the five-yard line.
* * *
IT TOOK all the might Alliance could muster from there on to score. Four downs to make one yard for the first one, three downs plus a penalty to the one-yard line to get the second. But it was enough. The Tigers were licked. The third T.D. coming when it did, didn’t matter.

It was an uphill game for Alliance because Massillon scored first on a 69-yard run by Homer Floyd with only five minutes gone in the first period.

And big Bob Williams made the lead 7-0 by kicking the extra point squarely between the uprights.

Alliance struck back with its first scoring effort in the last two minutes of the quarter after Offenbecher had passed 39 yards to Kracher for a first down on the one. Speedy Tom Barnett barely got over on fourth down to end a valiant Massillon goal line stand. Don Slusser, of the Aviators had his try for extra point blocked by End Jim Houston of Massillon.

And there the scored stood at 7-6 until four minutes had expired of the fourth period. Then again Offenbecher pitched and this time Reda caught the ball on the five-yard
line – a 35-yard pass. The Tigers appeared to have the Aviators grounded until they got too eager and drew an offside penalty that gave Alliance a first down on the one-yard line, Barnett went around right end to score, and Slusser kicked the extra point to put his team in front 13-7.

The Tigers couldn’t get past midfield after that and yielded the ball to Alliance on downs on the Massillon 42. The Aviators went all the way this time with Joel Plummer crossing up the local team as he raced 25 yards on a double reverse to score Alliance’s third touchdown.
* * *
THAT WAS IT. There were only four minutes left and everyone knew as they were being ticked off that the Tigers didn’t have a chance to catch up.

The final gun was a signal for one happy man.

He said he was waiting for this one, thought his team played well and thought the turning point of the game came in the early minutes of the third period when Alliance covered a Massillon fumble when the Tigers ahead 7-6, were driving for a second touchdown on the 12-yard line.
* * *
THE MASSILLON dressing room was the quietest it has been since the evening at Warren in 1951 when the Panthers handed the Tigers their last defeat prior to last night. Since then Massillon teams had won 25 games in a row, three at the end of the 1951 season, 10 each in 1952 and 1953 and two this season.

Now Alliance has ended the streak and as Coach Tom Harp told his players, ‘We will have to start all over.”

Harp complimented Alliance for having a good football team and the two pass snatchers, Kracker and Reda, for their efforts. “We had both of them pretty well covered,” he said, “but they came out with the ball. We lost to a good team.”

The Tiger coach didn’t like the fumble call on Floyd when Alliance was given the pigskin on its own 12, thus ending a Massillon scoring threat which had it succeeded might have changed the outcome. He felt the ball was down and that it should not have been ruled a fumble.

It was one of a series of breaks that went against the Tigers last night. They lost the ball four times on fumbles, had a pass intercepted and were penalized a couple of times when it hurt most.

But that is football and is not intended to take anything away from Alliance.

After all, the Tigers had reached the 12-yard line by recovering an Alliance fumble, on the 21, the only one made by the Aviators all night.
* * *
THE GENERAL run of the game was similar to the Alliance victory of 1948 with the Massillon team spurting and sputtering and the Aviators gaining momentum and playing their hearts out when they saw victory in sight.

The defeat was Harp’s first as a Massillon coach and he should not feel too badly about it because a couple of Massillon’s greatest coaches also suffered their first losses to Alliance, Paul Brown in 1932 and Chuck Mather in 1948. After that they became masters of the Aviators and were never beaten by them again.

Save for letting Alliance get away with the two long passes, the Tigers played a pretty good defensive game. They kept the reputable Alliance ball carriers bottled up most of the time and on only a couple of occasions did the Aviators break loose. The Tigers yielded only 67 net yards on the ground but gave away 79 in passing to give Alliance 146-net yards gained. The locals did a little better, largely the result of Floyd’s 69-yard run. They gained 145 net yards on the ground and 14 passing for 159 net yards.

First downs were six to six.

Actually the Tigers threatened but twice, the time they scored and the time they recovered the Alliance fumble and got to the 12 before fumbling themselves. Otherwise they were bottled up for the most part in their own back yard.
* * *
MOST FANS wondered about a Massillon play in the second period when the ball flew high in the air as it was centered. The center thought Alliance offside and passed it to get a five-yard penalty, but the officials thought differently.

Then there was a little rhubarb at the end of the second half when Alliance uncorked a screen pass that took the ball deep into Massillon territory. Time expired as the play was in motion and Massillon was offside on the play. The officials ruled that Alliance could either take the gain of some 50 yards or the five-yard penalty.

However, if it took the gain, the half would be over, but if it took the penalty it would be able to run one more play. So it took the penalty. Knowlton protested that he should have been given another play from the point of the gain.

The local team came out of the game in fairly good condition. Quarterback Rich Crescenze had a pair of black eyes and was ill and there were the usual bruises and bumps. None, however, appeared serious.

The squad ate in Canton on the trip home. Appetites aren’t as big when you lose and the food not as good, the players learned.

Briefly, here is a quick resume of the game:
FIRST QUARTER
Massillon won the toss and received. After an exchange of punts the Tigers got the ball on their 26. Floyd gained five yards and on third down raced 69 yards around his right end to score. Bob Williams kicked the extra point.
Massillon 7, Alliance 8.
Massillon kicked off to Alliance and the Aviators came all the way from their 37, getting a first down on the Massillon 41 and then the Offenbecher to Kracker pass for 39 yards and a first down on the one. Three times the Aviators crashed the Tiger line but were thrown back. On fourth down Barnett got over by inches. Slusser missed the attempted placekick.
Massillon 7, Alliance 6

SECOND QUARTER
After a kickoff and exchange of punts Massillon got into Alliance territory but, with a yard needed for first down, lost the ball on a play mix-up and Alliance took over on its 44. The Aviators w ere forced to punt and Alliance intercepted a Crescenze pass on the Tigers’ 20. The locals stopped the threat and took over on the 11. Neither team threatened anymore in the period.
THIRD PERIOD
Alliance fumbled on the second play after the kickoff and Floyd covered on the 21. In three plays Floyd was on the Alliance 12 when the officials ruled he was not down as he fumbled and Alliance took over. Alliance made one first down before it punted, and the Tigers came back over the midfield stripe with the ball only to lose it on a fumble on the Alliance 44.
FOURTH QUARTER
Alliance gambled for two yards on fourth down and got it on the Massillon 44. Then came the Offenbecher to Reda pass that gained a first on the five. Plummer hit once for a yard, tried again and got another yard but Alliance was offside and penalized back to the nine. Plummer gained three. On the next play the Tigers were offside and Alliance was given the ball on the one. This time Barnett made it around right end. Slusser kicked the extra point and Alliance went to the front 13-7.

Eight minutes remained to be played. The Tigers brought the kickoff back to their 31 and Floyd got up to a first down on his 43. There the attack fizzled as a recovered fumble lost two yards. Boekel failed to gain, a pass was grounded and an attempt to carry on fourth down fell short. Alliance took over on the Massillon 42, worked it to the 25 and Plummer went the rest of the way on a double reverse. Slusser missed the try for point.
Alliance 19, Massillon 7
Massillon made one first down after the kickoff on a screen pass to Floyd that took the ball to the Tiger 38, but a pitch-out went wide and lost eight yards and the locals wound up punting to Alliance. The game ended after one play.

MASSILLON
ENDS – Canary, Lorch, Williams, Houston, Jones, Francisco.
TACKLES – R. Williams, Hill, Moore, Schumacher.
GUARDS – Holloway, R. Maier, Tracy, Fisher.
CENTERS – Spicer, Morrow, Roan.
QUARTERBACKS – Crescenze, James.
HALFBACKS – Fromholtz, Floyd, Stavroff, Brown, Duke, Stephens, Yoder.
FULLBACKS – Boekel, Archibald.

STATISTICS
Mass. All.
First downs 6 6
Passes attempted 7 6
Passes completed 1 3
Had passes intercepted 1 0
Yards gained passing 14 79
Yards gained rushing 162 83
Total yards gained 176 162
Yards lost 17 16
Net yards gained 159 146
Times punted 4 4
Average punt (yards) 40 32
Yards punts returned by 0 22
Times kicked off 2 4
Average kickoff (yards) 38 47
Yards kickoffs returned by 62 10
Lost ball on fumbles 4 1
Times penalized 4 5
Times fumbled 5 1
Yards penalized 30 35

1954: Massillon 47, Canton Lincoln 0

September 24, 1954July 8, 2017
by Eric Smith

Tigers Beat Lincoln 47-0 for 25th Straight
Floyd Romps To Three Touchdowns; Lions Fail To Reach 50-Yard Line

By LUTHER EMERY

Scoring twice in every period with the exception of the second, the Washington high school Tigers chalked up their 25th victory in a row Friday night when they defeated Canton Lincoln 47-0 before a crowd of 11,347 fans.

Sparked by Homer Floyd, veteran back, who got all three touchdowns, scored in the first half, the local gridders were masters of Lincoln from the start and whipped them just as badly in the statistical column as on the scoreboard.

Though the offense of the varsity seemed to bog down midway in the third period, the Tigers never-the-less finished with a net gain of 357 yards while the Lions wound up with a net of 47. First downs were 16 to 4.

The small amount of yardage gained by the visiting team stands as a testimony to the Tiger defense which had Lincoln bottled up throughout the night. Not once did the Lions get over the midfield stripe and they were forced to punt five times, one of which was blocked. The Tigers didn’t punt the entire game.
* * *
THE MASSILLON offense flashed at times and sputtered on other occasions; the same for the downfield blocking. A lot of crisp blocks helped turn some of the ball carriers loose, but Jerry Yoder made the fifth touchdown by fighting his way alone for 18 yards.

When the first team slowed down Coach Tom Harp tossed in his second team and the eager beavers put over two touchdowns in the fourth period the last one with only three seconds remaining to be played. It was a 31-yard pass by Don Humes that Bob Williams caught in the end zone.

Floyd was the difference between the teams the first half. He went 32 yards the fist time he carried the ball and raced 51 yards for the Tigers’ third score.

Anchored by Dave Muntean, Lincoln put up a stiffer defense than did Struthers last week which was beaten 68-0 by the Tigers. The big Canton end caused the locals a lot of trouble and tossed Rich Crescenze for a 16-yard loss on the Tigers’ initial touchdown drive.

Crescenze crossed him up two plays later, however, when he handed off to Andy Stavroff on a statue that more than overcame the loss and gave the Tigers a first down on the 18. Ronnie Boekel lugged it to the seven and Floyd shot through tackle for the touchdown to end the drive that had its beginning on the Tiger 27. Two-thirds of the period had expired when the Tigers scored.
* * *
JOE HALLOWAY, a ball hawk, covered Dale Grinstead’s fumble on the Lions’ 28 to get the Tigers set for their second touchdown. A six-yard pass, Crescenze to Ken Lorch coupled with three line plays put the ball on the 12, where Floyd took it over with only seven seconds of the period left to play.

The Tigers scored their next TD on three plays after getting the ball on a punt on their own 35. Dick Fromholtz slipped through for three. Crescenze tossed to Lorch for 11 and a first down on the Massillon 49 and Floyd went the remaining 51 yards for the T.D.

That was all the scoring in the first half though a 31-yard pass. Crescenze to Dave Canary put the ball on the seven as intermission arrived.

The Tigers took the kickoff at the start of the third period and scored quickly. Floyd got it in position with a 53-yard run to the Lincoln nine and Dave Archibald took it over from a yard out.

Big Bob Williams started the locals to rolling for their fifth score. Backing up the line, he intercepted a Lincoln pass and took it back 10 yards to the 27. An eight-yard pass, Crescenze to Lorch helped advance the ball to the 18 from which Yoder made his spectacular run for a touchdown. Most of the Lincoln team had a hand on him at one time or another but he was able to shake himself loose and get over the goal line.
* * *
LINCOLN bristled after that and twice stopped the first team once after it had made a first down on the eight, and again after it had a first down on the 13.

So Harp tossed his second team into the game and the boys, eager for action, went right to work. With Don Duke as the spark plug they started from midfield. They ran the ball to a first on the 36, were thrown back temporarily, but a Humes to Williams pass gained 24 yards and coupled with a penalty leveled on Lincoln for roughing it, gained a first down on the one. Duke went over.

The last TD as already mentioned was scored with but three seconds showing on the clock when the play got under way. Time expired as Humes passed 31 yards to Williams in the end zone.

The Tigers emerged from the game in good condition. Ronald Boekel, fullback was injured early in the third period when temporarily knocked out by a blow on the jaw. He could have gone back into the game, but was kept on the sideline by Coach Harp. Fromholtz was removed with a leg cramp.

The Tigers did not pass as much last night as they did in their opening game. Crescenze and Humes only threw 10 times and completed six for 103 yards. One was intercepted. Lincoln tried 13 passes and completed one for seven. Two were intercepted.

The Lions showed little offensively. They only gained a total of 69 yards and were thrown for 22 yards in losses.

Harp used 35 players in t he game, doing most of his substituting the last period.

Monday he will being preparations for next Friday’s invasion of Alliance, one of the toughest teams on the Massillon schedule, which last night beat Youngstown Ursuline 45-0.

The line-up and summary:
MASSILLON
ENDS – Canary, Lorch, Williams, Houston, Francisco, Jones, McConnell.
TACKLES – Williams, Hill, Maier, Graber, Kreiger, Schumacher, Blocher, Moore.
GUARDS – Russ Maier, Holloway, Fisher, Tracy, Barrett.
CENTERS – Spicer, Rohrbaugh, Roan, Morrow.
QUARTERBACKS – Crescenze, James, Humes.
HALFBACKS – Floyd, Fromholtz, Stavroff, Yoder, Duke, Stephens.
FULLBACKS – Boekel, Archibald.

LINCOLN
ENDS – Muntean, Lombardi, Gillespie, Ellison, Alvarez, Pelger.
TACKLES – Sedlock, Mulheim, Bowen.
GUARDS – Grainger, Felton, Ross, Schmidt, Vogelsang.
CENTER – Parks.
QUARTERBACKS – Griffen, Dinkens.
HALFBACKS – Zettler, Grinstead, Care.
FULLBACKS – Worstell.

Score by periods:
Massillon 13 7 13 14 47

Touchdowns – Floyd 3; Archibald; Yoder; Duke; Williams.

Points after touchdown – Williams 5 (placekicks).

Officials
Referee – Tobin (Akron).
Umpire – Bloom (Lorain).
Head Linesman – Shopbell (Canton).
Field Judge – Murphy (Cleveland Heights)

STATISTICS
Mass. Lin.
First downs 16 4
Passes attempted 10 13
Passes completed 6 1
Had passes intercepted 1 2
Yards gained passing 103 7
Yards gained rushing 254 62
Total yards gained 357 68
Yards lost 33 22
Net yards gained 324 47
Times punted 0 5
Had punts blocked 0 1
Average punt (yards) — 33
Yards punts returned by 57 —
Times kicked off 7 1
Average kickoff (yards) 42 45
Yards kickoffs returned 17 88
Times Fumbled 3 1
Lost ball on fumbles 0 1
Times penalized 5 3
Yards penalized 35 32

1954: Massillon 68, Struthers 0

September 17, 1954July 8, 2017
by Eric Smith

Tigers Defeat Struthers 68-0
Massillon Gridders Get Off To Fast Start In Defense Of Title

By LUTHER EMERY

Tom Harp made his debut with the Tiger football symphony Friday evening and 9,593 fans applauded the scoring crescendo that buried Struthers high under an avalanche of points, 68-0.

It was an impressive start for the 27-yard-old coach who is now at the helm of Massillon football after but three years of understudy work at Carrollton high.

He was happy after the game, so were the fans, and more important, the boys who helped start the 1954 season with a bang whose import was being discussed long after the echo of the bombs that were shot off after the 10 touchdowns had faded.

The victory got the Tigers off to a good start in defense of the state title they have won the last six years, and 49 players had a hand in fashioning it. Harp tossed that many into the melee and the more he substituted the more the score grew. The youngsters often looked smoother than the first team that had worn down Struthers during the first two periods.

Harp, in fact kept his first team on the bench after the first few minutes of the third quarter and permitted the second, third, fourth and some of the fifth team to carry on. It prompted the prize remark of the night in the press box when one reporter chirped, “I wouldn’t want to be a member of Massillon’s first team – you don’t get to play.”
* * *
WHILE HARP was pleased after the game and was willing to be quoted so, he also followed his remarks with a note of caution that Struthers wasn’t very strong and that there are a lot tougher teams to be faced in the future, including Canton Lincoln, next Friday’s opponent in Tiger stadium.

He saw plenty of signs of improvement for his team too. He even saw them between halves of the game, when his squad took a quick look at motion pictures of the first quarter which were processed during the second period and made ready for showing when the team trotted into the locker house at intermission.

They probably didn’t contribute much “to last night’s victory because of the one-sided opposition – a Mickey Mouse film would have been just as good – but they did prove that Harold Kiplinger, the team’s photographer can get’em out on time and in a tight game may provide the squeeze that will get the Tigers through.

The locals were most effective on their sweeps and in their passing game. They scored a few gains up the middle, including the first TD, but as Harp says, they can still stand a lot of polishing.
The Tigers got off to a flashy start as though to show fans they know what this game of football is all about.

On the fourth play from scrimmage, stocky Ronald Boekel exploded up the middle for a 78-yard touchdown run, and on the very first play after the Tigers next came into possession of the ball, Homer Floyd went 79 yards to score.
* * *
THAT STARTED the parade which saw still another touchdown scored in the first period, two in the second, three and a safety in the third and two more in the fourth.

To get them the Tigers rolled up the tremendous total of 630 net yards from scrimmage to 83 net yards for Struthers. Thus the one-sided score is carried right on into the statistics. What is more, only once did Struthers get into Massillon territory. A 10-yard screen pass helped to carry the visitors to Massillon’s 38 where they were forced to punt.

Thereafter, Harp’s boys kept them shut up in their own back yard.

Fumbles and intercepted passes also helped throttle what little offense Struthers had to offer. Joe Holloway was a ball hawk as he covered at least three Struthers fumbles, and intercepted a pass.

The Tigers made 17 first downs to Struthers’ four and gained 138 yards through completion of six passes. The visitors completed five of seven passes good for 28 yards.

The Tigers punted but once, Tom Stephens booting the ball over the goal on a short kick. A shift employed for punt formation pulled Struthers offside three times. Twice they were penalized but once got back before the ball was put in play.
* * *
THE FIRST two touchdowns by Boekel and Floyd helped the yardage summary considerably. The third came late in the opening quarter after Holloway had intercepted a pass and got to the Struthers’ 40. A 15-yard clipping penalty set the locals back but Crescenze got off a peg to Floyd who went all the way to the 16. The drive wound up with Boekel ramming through for the last eight yards.

Two passes produced the fourth touchdown of the game. The first, Crescenze to Andy Stavroff was good for 17 and the second – the payoff – Crescenze to Floyd netted 38 yards…and Homer did a swell job of running on it.

A Crescenze to Bob Williams pass produced the fifth TD on a 17-yard gain with only 20 seconds of the half left to play.

Jerry Yoder started the second half of flopping Sam Williams behind his goal on a 10-yard loss for a safety. Struthers kicked off from the 20 and on the first play from scrimmage, substitute Dick Fromholtz went 35 yards with a lateral for the sixth touchdown.

The Tigers started from the Struthers’ 41 for their seventh and had to make up a 15-yard penalty en route. It was slam, band most of the way, and set up by a 25-yard toss from Quarterback Don Humes to Fromholtz. Fromholtz finally knifed over for the score from one yard out.
* * *
BOB TRACY set the locals in motion for their eighth when he hauled in a Struthers pass on the 45 and raced back 30 yards to the 15 before being downed. They boys ground out the rest of the distance. Halfback Don Duke taking it over from the three.

It took a march of 78 yards to get the ninth. Johnny James tossed 13 yards to Bob Jones to start the waltz and Duke finished it up with two long runs, one to the 27 and the next for the rest of the distance.

Time expired while the Tigers were scoring their last touchdown. Jerry Yoder skirting his left end for 33 yards.

Big Bob Williams, who was kicking wide of the goal at first, booted four of the five points he attempted the last half. The one missed point was blocked. He only kicked two of five the first half.

Only player injured last night was Cameron Speck, a linebacker, who was taken to the Massillon city hospital for X-rays. He sustained a contusion on the back. His condition was reported good by the hospital this morning.

The line-ups and summaries:
MASSILLON
ENDS – Canary, Lorch, McConnell, Nagle, Francisco, Jones, Houston, Wallace, Bob Williams.
TACKLES – Big Bob Williams, Hill, Schumacher, Graber, Kreiger, Hofacre, Blocher, D. Maier, Moore, D.K. Maier.
GUARDS – R. Maier, Holloway, Tracy, Fisher, Ertle, Kasunich, Barrett.
CENTERS – Spicer, Rohrbaugh, Morrow, Gentzler, Dowd, Roan.
QUARTERBACKS – Crescenze, James, Humes, Speck.
HALFBACKS – Floyd, Stavroff, Yoder, Fromholtz, Duke, Radtke, Copeland, Chengery. Stephens.
FULLBACKS – Boekle, Archibald, Cocklin, Chet Brown.

STRUTHERS
ENDS – Rauch, Nugen, Walters.
TACKLES – Jacubec, Yurko, Johns.
GUARDS – Dodson, Repasky, Dandgraff, Echman, Carlucci.
CENTER – McComish.
QUARTERBACK – Vlosich.
HALFBACKS – Wilson, Williams, Stricklin, Morocco, Smrek, Aey, Sam Williams.
FULLBACK – Pavianansky.

Score by quarters:
Massillon 19 13 23 13 68

Touchdowns – Boekel 2; Floyd 2; Bob Williams; Fromholtz 2; Duke 2; Yoder.

Points after touchdown – Big Bob Williams 6.

Safety – Massillon

Officials
Referee – McPhee (Polant).
Umpire – Dickens (Alliance).
Head Linesman – Less (Youngstown).
Field Judge – Lindsay (Youngstown).

STATISTICS
Mass. Stru’s.
First downs 17 4
Passes attempted 14 7
Passes completed 6 5
Had passes intercepted 1 2
Yards gained passing 138 28
Yards gained rushing 496 87
Total yards gained 634 115
Yards lost 4 32
Net yards gained 630 83
Times punted 1 7
Average punt (yards) 15 24
Yards punts returned by 5 0
Times kicked off 10 1
Average kickoff (yards) 47 39
Yards kickoffs returned by 13 165
Fumbles 1 9
Lost ball on fumbles 0 4
Times penalized 7 8
Yards penalized 95 40

1953: Massillon 48, Canton McKinley 7

November 21, 1953July 8, 2017
by Eric Smith

Tigers Smash Canton McKinley 48-7
MASSILLON AWAITS OUTCOME OF FINAL FOOTBALL POLL
Victory Should Bring Sixth Consecutive Ohio Title To Local School

By LUTHER EMERY

Massillon today awaited the outcome of the final Associated Press poll which is expected to name the Washington high school Tigers state champions for the sixth consecutive year.

Writers among the 16,500 people who saw the Massillon gridders slash Canton McKinley to pieces in the first half of their traditional game in Fawcett stadium Saturday afternoon and win 48-7 are convinced the local team deserves the state crown.

The triumph was the Tigers 23rd in a row and completed two consecutive undefeated seasons. It was the 57th victory for Coach Chuck Mather and his staff since they took charge of Tiger football in 1948. They have lost but three games, one each in the 1948, 1949 and 1951 seasons. They also were undefeated in 1950. The win over McKinley likewise was Massillon’s 28th of the 58-game series that started in 1894. McKinley won 25 and five ended in tie scores.
* * *
THE TIGERS were terrific.

Their first half offense was the most devastating, most perfect we have ever seen.

You have probably heard and read most of the figures by now, but they are worth repeating here.

In the first four plays from scrimmage the Tigers got three touchdowns. It took them six plays to get their fourth, two their fifth and one their sixth. In other words, their remarkable offense produced six touchdowns in 13 plays from scrimmage. Anyone want to dispute their claim to state champions.

They rolled up a 42-0 lead in one and one-half periods, after which Coach Chuck Mather opened the gates of mercy and began giving his senior substitutes as much action as possible in their final high school game.
* * *
McKINLEY recovered a fumble inside the 15-yard line in the last two minutes of the second period and scored in the last second to produce its only points of the game. There wasn’t even time left for a kickoff.

Mather kept a flow of senior subs in his lineup throughout the last half. This and an improved Bulldog defense, coupled with fumbles and three penalties, held the Tigers to one touchdown the last half, that coming on a blocked McKinley punt.

The Tigers devastating play is revealed in their long runs and long passes for touchdowns and a vicious defense that kept Bulldog ball carriers nailed to the turf throughout most of the first half.

Offensively, there was an 80-yard T.D. run by Homer Floyd, three passes, all for touchdowns, (that’s all he threw the first half) by Dick Crescenze and some remarkable catches by Jim Letcavits, Tom Boone and John Traylor, good for 44 yards, 51 yards and 73 yards respectively. We can still see Wade Watts, Canton McKinley coach, bury his head in his hands after the last one that hoisted the score to 42-0.
* * *
IT TOOK just 32 seconds to get the first T.D. and perhaps we had better take time out right here to account for the six in 13 feature.

Massillon fans were the most surprised lot in the place to see the Tigers win the toss and then elect to kickoff. They always receive when they win the toss. But Saturday at Canton it was different. Coach Chuck Mather informed his Co-Captains, John Traylor and Bruce Schram that if they won the toss they should kickoff because he figured McKinley was better defensively than offensively and he would rather meet them in their weakest department.

It was the right decision.

Ron Boekel gave the ball its hardest boot of the season right into the hands of Nat Harris, the Bulldogs’ ball carrying ace. But Nat was hit so viciously he fumbled and Traylor pounced on the ball on the four. McKinley jumped offside before a play could get under way from scrimmage and the Bulldogs were penalized to the one-yard line. On the first play Crescenze sneaked through from his quarterback spot for six points and Tom Boone kicked the seventh.

The Tigers next got the ball through a punt that rolled dead on the 15. John Francisco put it on the 20 in a slash at right tackle. On the second play of the series, Homer Floyd broke through on a trap play, cut to his right and raced 80 yards down the sideline to score. That made two touchdowns in three plays.
* * *
THE TIGERS kicked off, then took the ball away from the Bulldogs on downs on the Canton 44. On the first play Crescenze shot the leather to Letcavits who made a brilliant catch, almost fell down, but steadied himself with one hand to keep on his feet and race the rest of the distance with Tom Boone removing the first Canton tackler from his path. That made three touchdowns in four plays.

It took a little longer to get the fourth. The Tigers started from their own 25 where they got the ball on a punt.

Traylor made three at left end, and Floyd ran for a first down but a 15-yard penalty was assessed for clipping. Traylor went for 13, Francisco for 10 and Crescenze made it a first down on his 48. Francisco got a yard and Crescenze whipped the ball 51 yards to Boone for the touchdown. That and the point that followed made it 28-0.
Only two plays were needed to get the fifth T.D. Joe Holloway crashed through to block Ken Bandi’s punt and Boone pounced on the ball on the six-yard line. Traylor carried it to the one, going over, but his knee touched a yard short before he laid his arms across the goal. Francisco smashed through with the score and it was 35-0.
* * *
ONE PLAY was needed to get the sixth. A quick kick by Harris rolled to the Tiger 27. Crescenze immediately winged the ball to Traylor who never broke stride as he caught up with it in midfield and raced the rest of the distance to give his team a 42-0 lead.

That just about wraps up the Massillon tale of victory.

In it you have all four backs and the two ends, scoring a touchdown each and with five minutes and 20 seconds of the period still remaining to be played.

Mather began pouring in substitutes, seniors and some juniors. Roy Johnson, a senior, who hasn’t gotten in a whole lot this year, took over the quarterbacking of the team, replacing Crescenze who did not return to the game until the last four minutes of the fourth quarter.

The Tigers fumbled the ball away to the Bulldogs the next time they got it, Canton covering inside the 15. With Sophomore Horace Harris doing most of the running, the Bulldogs marched to the one yard line where Harris went over just was the half ended. John Kompara kicked the extra point and that ended Canton’s scoring for the day.
* * *
THE TIGERS got one more touchdown when Ron Gardner blocked a McKinley punt late in the third period on the 16-yard line. He picked it up and ran across for the six points to end his football career in a blaze of glory. Ronnie has played mostly on defense. The touchdown, the only one he has scored, was just about the biggest thing that could happen to him.

The Tigers had other chances in the third and fourth quarter but penalties, substitutions and an improved Canton defense locked them out.

They were well on their way the first time they got the ball in the third period when McKinley covered a fumble on second down on the 14-yard line. They had what would have been a first down on the 15 had not the ball been called back because of a clipping penalty called against the Tigers and a personal foul against McKinley. The two nullified each other. Then Traylor ran to a first down on the five, but back came the ball again and another 15-yard penalty for clipping that necessitated the only Massillon punt of the afternoon.
* * *
THE TIGERS lost the ball to the Bulldogs on a fumble on the 38 early in the fourth quarter to end another drive. Then again they drove to what would have been third down on the four-yard line with a yard to go for a first down, but the ball was called back and a five-yard penalty slapped on for offside. That put it on the 18 and they lost it on downs on the eight. It was their last effort, for Canton held the pigskin the rest of the way.

So you can see where penalties and fumbles helped throttle the Tiger offense the last half.

The Tigers were just as impressive in the statistics as on the scoreboard. First downs were 13-10 in their favor and they gained 447 net yards to McKinley’s 114 net yards. They completed five of 10 passes for 205 yards. McKinley completed 8 of 13 passes for 49 yards.

The game had its heroes – plenty of them we would say – the 11 offensive starters and those who jumped in for defensive chores – all were in the contest up to their necks. The backfield boys have already been mentioned, but without the line in front of them they could not have shown so brightly. The Tiger forward wall literally tore the Bulldogs to pieces the first half. Give credit to a pair of great ends, Letcavits and Boone; to Bruce Schram and Ronnie Dean, the tackles; to Joe Eaglowski and Russ Maier, who filled in for the injured Ronnie Agnes at guard; and to Tom Fisher, center. And don’t forget Willie Longshore, Gardner, Joe Holloway, Bob Williams, Eddie Fletcher, Chuck Lentz, Ken Lorch, Andy Stavroff, Bill Stone, Carl Porter, Johnson, Jerry Yoder, Ray Byrd, Boekel, Dick Fromholtz, Al Shilling, Jim Woolley, Chuck Hill and Joe Lopez, all of whom had a part in the victory.
* * *
LIGHTS BURNED late in Massillon Saturday night as citizens and students celebrated the victory. The students held a victory dance at the school, citizens celebrated at parties about town and at country clubs.

Everywhere credit was given the team and Coach Mather and his assistants; Carl Schroeder, Paul Schofer, Lauri Wartiainen, Elwood Kammer and Dave Putts.

The questions most asked of them were why they didn’t pour it on; what was the argument over the ball; and was this your best team.

You have Mather’s answer to the first question – he wanted to give all seniors as much action as possible.

His face was red on the second. Crescenze came out of the game shouting, “They are using a rubber ball in there.”

Mather bristled: “They can’t do that,” and shouted to the referee, “Let me see that ball.”

He was shown the ball.

“It was leather,” said Chuck, telling of the incident. “There wasn’t much I could say.”
* * *
WE AGREE with Mather’s answer to the third question that it is difficult to say any team is the best in high school history, but we also agree that this year’s eleven certainly ranks with the greatest on the basis of its 10 straight victories. And we hasten to point out that its opposition has likewise been unusually good as a whole.

It you want to look at it this way, six of Massillon’s opponents only dropped a combined total of five games to teams other than Massillon during the season.

Fremont Ross was beaten only by the Tigers: Warren was beaten only by Massillon and Hamilton; Alliance by Massillon and Youngstown Urusline; Mansfield by Massillon and Warren; Steubenville by Massillon and Warren; and Toledo Waite by Massillon and DeVilbiss. Canton Lincoln lost but two other games in addition to that to Massillon. It was beaten by Alliance and Barberton.

Certainly, the Tiger eleven was one of the most poplar with Massillon fans. The ability of Floyd, Francisco and Traylor to break loose for a touchdown at any moment and the constant threat of Crescenze tossing a touchdown pass provided fireworks every night.

The team is in every sense of the word, a deserving champion.

The line-up and summary:

MASSILLON — 48
ENDS – Letcavits, Boone, Lorch, Lentz, Lopez.
TACKLES – Schram, Dean, Williams, Hill, Woolley.
GUARDS – Eaglowski, Maier, Holloway, Gardner, Shilling.
CENTERS – Fisher, Fletcher.
QUARTERBACKS – Crescenze, Johnson, Porter.
HALFBACKS – Traylor, Francisco, Longshore, Yoder, Stavroff, Fromholtz, Byrd.
FULLBACKS – Floyd, Stone, Boekel.

McKINLEY
ENDS – Roman, Carter, Jackson.
TACKLES – Kompara, Crawford, Cerwinsky.
GUARDS – Wilds, Patrick, Graham.
CENTER – Perdue.
QUARTERBACKS – Dreher, Killians.
HALFBACKS – Bandi, Garman, Matthews, H. Harris
FULLBACKS – N. Harris.

Score by periods:
Massillon 21 21 6 0 48
McKinley 0 7 0 0 7

Touchdowns:
Massillon – Crescenze, Floyd, Letcavits, Boone, Francisco, Traylor, Gardner.
McKinley – H. Harris.

Points after touchdown:
Massillon – Boone 6 (placekicks).
McKinley – Kompara (placekick).

STATISTICS
Mass. McK.
First downs 13 10
Passes attempted 10 13
Passes completed 5 8
Had passes intercepted 0 0
Yards gained passing 205 49
Yards gained rushing 244 122
Total yards gained 440 171
Yards lost 2 57
Net yards gained 447 114
Times kicked off 9 0
Average kickoff (yards) 42 —
Yards kickoffs returned by — 82
Times punted 1 8
Average punt (yards) 30 30
Yards punts returned by 7 3
Had punts blocked 0 2
Times Fumbled 3 3
Lost ball on fumbles 3 2
Times penalized 5 5
Yards penalized 65 22

Category: <span>History</span>