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Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1965: Massillon 22, Niles McKinley 8

Tigers Turn Back Niles Threat 22-8
All Points Scored In 2nd Quarter

First Place Berth Enhanced

By CHUCK HESS, JR.

“Satisfied – real satisfied.”

So goes the old cheer and so go the thoughts of Massillon football fans today. They’re satisfied that their Tigers showed Niles McKinley high which of the 2 teams plays the tougher football in the state with a convincing 22-8 victory Friday night at Tiger stadium.

After their second victory in as many years over the Red Dragons following a 29-year lapse in play between the 2 schools, the Washington high team hopes that Niles fans are also satisfied – satisfied that their challenge hurled at the Tigertowners has been answered.

Program Cover

* * * * *
THE BIGGEST CROWD of the season – 16, 533 – saw Massillon score 3 times in the second quarter on the legs of senior quarterback Dave Sheegog and then hold the Red Dragons at bay with a tremendous defensive performance. And when you hold a powerful team like Niles, undefeated in 4 games, to one touchdown, you’re doing something!

Twice in the third quarter the Orange and Black had promising drives stopped by penalties. Sheegog lost his footing in the first quarter on fourth down, bringing a third drive to a screeching halt. A fumble stopped a fourth down try in the second period.

Credit must be given to the Niles team which didn’t give up at halftime and fought back to hold Massillon scoreless after the intermission. Meanwhile Red Dragon senior quarterback Ray Muche made it a unanimous night for signal-callers in the scoring department with a last period touchdown on one of Niles’ only 2 real drives of the night.

Massillon’s fifth straight victory of the season, 23rd straight since 1963 and 23rd straight at home since 1962 put the Tigers into a tie for first place with Warren in the All-American High School football league. Niles and Canton McKinley are tied for second in the 4-team circuit.

But lest his charges become too complacent after getting their boss his 38th straight victory including this year’s all-star tilt, Tiger Coach Earle Bruce cautioned, “Now we must prepare for a fine Steubenville team.” The skipper was well aware that the trip to Big Red country next week could see a long ride back if the Orangemen aren’t careful.

“Niles really fought back,” Bruce continued. “I’m proud of the Tigers’ efforts against them. This was the fist time we were up all season.”

Bruce went on to pat senior halfback Walt Lemon on the back for his fine running which picked up long yardage several times right when it was needed. He thought junior Will Foster, playing fullback in place of the injured Terry Manson after only 3 days practice, showed well, especially in faking into the line. Bruce was happy with junior defensive tackle Mike Sherrett’s play and thought Sheegog played well again. But Bruce also emphasized that this was another fine “team effort.”

The only thing that discouraged Bruce was that “we’ve dropped too many passes.”

* * * * *
A DISCONSOLATE Bob Shaw said, “I’m proud of the way our boys came back in the second half after being down 22-0 and completely dominated play. We had 5 or 6 juniors in there all the time and they were tremendous under pressure. But we made too many mistakes. Massillon has a fine team which made its own breaks and didn’t give us room to operate in the first half.”

After forcing Niles to punt following the Dragons’ reception of the opening kickoff, the Tigers moved from their 40-yard line to the Niles 9, a distance of 51 yards, using up 12 plays, all on the ground, and 7 minutes on the clock. Sheegog went off the left side on fourth down but slipped on the wet turf and failed to get the necessary yardage by only inches.

The Bengals got the ball again on the following punt with 36 seconds left in the period. Sheegog hit Lemon down the middle with a 13-yard pass to the Niles 33 for a first down. Foster picked up 21 more off guard to the 13 for another first down to end the quarter.

Tommy James took the ball to the 11 to open the second stanza. Sheegog then cut off left tackle and out to the left side for the score with 11:20 remaining. Lemon ran the conversion on a fake to Foster and pitchout to the right.

Minutes later Sherrett hopped on a fumble at the Niles 21. After a loss to the 24, Paige picked a Sheegog aerial out of 3 Dragon defenders’ hands at the 7 for a first down. Foster ran to the 4. Sheegog faked to Foster and went around right end with 8:35 remaining. Foster converted on a pitchout to the left.

Shortly thereafter Paul Marks pounced on a Niles fumble on the Dragon 47. Lemon ran 20 yards but Jim Kines came up with a Massillon bobble on the 23.

After an exchange of punts, the Bengals took possession on their 37. Lemon was off again, this time through the center, and almost broke away but tripped at the Niles 44 after a fine 19-yard run. Sheegog ran 20 yards to the 20, going around right end and back into the middle.

A face mask penalty gave Massillon the ball on the 10, third down. Lemon shot to the 2 and Sheegog went through the middle into pay dirt. Foster didn’t quite make the end zone on a pitch to the right on the conversion run.

When the first half ended, Massillon had rolled 218 net yards to Niles’ 46 and 13 first downs to the Dragons’ 1. Niles got out of its own territory only once, with the help of a penalty.

* * * * *
FINAL FIGURES showed Massillon with 298 yards to Niles 149 and 15 first downs to the Dragons’ 7. Niles out-gained the Obiemen in the second half but not by much, 103-80 yards.

The Tigers received to start the second half and on the third play Lemon rocketed off right tackle, got away from a would-be tackler at the Niles 45 and raced to the 16. But 2 delay penalties and an incomplete pass stopped the drive after a first down on the 5.

After a punt, the Tigertowners moved from the Niles 45 to the 30 but a motion penalty on a fourth down play on which Tommy James made the first down, kayoed the drive.

Niles took over on Massillon’s 39 and used up the next 7 minutes and 16 plays to get its lone score. Muche and junior fullback Gary Bletsch did most of the carrying. Bletsch went over on fourth down from the 2 with 7:32 remaining in the last quarter. Muche went through the center on a broken play for the conversion.

The Orange and Black stopped on its next series and when a fourth down delay penalty had Rick Healy kicking from around his 15, Bruce “thought this might be disastrous.” But Healy kicked well to the Niles 39.

Muche ran back to Massillon’s 39 for 22 yards. The Dragons drove to the Massillon 3 with a key play being a 15-yard pass from the 22 to the 7 and a first down via end Larry Cella from Muche.

Muche tried to go around the right end on fourth down but junior monster Ron Muhlbach and senior end Bill Williams hauled him down for no gain.

Bruce commented, “That was a marvelous goal line stand!”

Healy was forced to boot from the end zone on the next series and got the ball to the Massillon 49. The clock ran out 3 incompleted passes later.

NILES – 8
Ends – Kay, Ryan, Cella.
Tackles – Zobitz, Lukz, Samu, Rossi.
Guards – Fuda, Law, Pirigyl.
Center – Johnson.
Quarterbacks – Muche, Kines.
Halfbacks – Owen, Dunningan, Henry, Button, Mawby, Simeone, Gresley.
Fullbacks – Brutz, Bletach, Hilty.

MASSILLON – 22
Ends – Paige, McGuire, Williams, Gallion, Griffin.
Tackles – Hartley, Campbell, Neago, Sherrett.
Guards – Whitfield, Richards, Rose, Kraft.
Centers – Marks, Williams.
Quarterbacks – Sheegog, Doolittle.
Halfbacks – Lemon, James, McFadden, Muhlbach, Healy, Smith.
Fullback – Foster.

Score by quarters:
Niles…………….. 0 0 0 8 – 8
Massillon……….. 0 22 0 0 – 22

Touchdowns: Massillon – Sheegog 3 (11, 4 and 1-yard runs).
Niles – Muche (2 yard run).

Extra points: Massillon – Lemon 2, Foster 2.
Niles – Muche 2.

Statistics
Mass. Opp.
First downs—rushing 12 5
First downs—passing 2 2
First downs—penalties 1 0
Total first downs 15 7
Yards gained rushing 281 115
Yards lost rushing 16 15
Net yards gained rushing 265 100
Net yards gained passing 33 49
Total yards gained 298 149
Passes attempted 9 13
Passes completed 3 5
Passes intercepted by 0 0
Yardage on passes intercepted 0 0
Times kicked off 4 2
Kickoff average (yards) 54.5 31.5
Kickoff returns (yards) 9 60
Times punted 3 6
Punt average (yards) 34.0 30
Punt returns (yards) 22 40
Had punts blocked 0 0
Fumbles 1 4
Lost fumbled ball 1 3
Penalties 5 1
Yards penalized 35 8
Touchdowns rushing 3 1
Touchdowns passing 0 0
Touchdowns by interception 0 0
Total number of plays 60 55

OFFICIALS
Referee – Howard Wirtz (Cincinnati).
Umpire – Harold Rolph (Ironton).
Head Linesman – George Ellis (Akron).
Field Judge – Chuck Hinkle (Canton).

Attendance – 16,533.

Dave Whitfield
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1965: Massillon 22, Alliance 6

Tigers Surprise Selves With 4 Fumbles
Win Over Alliance Comes Hard

By CHUCK HESS, JR.

It was a typical Massillon-Alliance game – rough, rugged and marked by that usual Mel Knowlton surprise. The Aviators, once again, were as irritating as that grain of sand which brings on a pearl in an oyster.

Traditionally Alliance gives the Tigers cause for thought. And you can be sure Coach Earle Bruce will have his charges doing just that in the coming week following their 22-6 win before 12,199 fans at Tiger stadium Friday night.

Program Cover

Bruce hit the proverbial nail on the head after the game when he said, “We’ll find out next week if the Tigers are really Tigers. We’re challenged. Niles is coming into our territory.”

He added, thoughtfully, “This team hasn’t been up for a game yet. I’m anxious to see what we can do when we’re up.”

Although the Washington high team had its troubles, the Bengals must be given a pat on the back for holding the Aviators at bay despite 6 bad breaks.

“We had 4 fumbles and 2 pass interceptions,” Bruce said, “but we won the game. I’m pleased with the boys on this count because Alliance played a whale of a game!”

* * * * *

ALLIANCE, known for its end sweeps, made a lot of yardage that way, especially on pitchouts to senior halfback Bruce Walker running behind fine interference. “They’re running away from our monster,” Bruce explained. (The Aviators ran to their weak side with Walker gaining 91 yards.)

“There was one time when they must have swept into the sidelines 13 of 15 times,” Bruce said. “But there was no major breakthrough. They had to work for everything they got. We really hit them hard.”

Bruce was unhappy about his pass rushing. “We didn’t contain their passer well at all,” he explained.

The Aviator passer, junior quarterback Larry Libis, was the 1965 Knowlton surprise. He had played in only one offensive play before Friday night.

“We had to gamble on Libis,” Knowlton said. “He looks like he’s going to be a good one.”

The 6-foot, 155-pounder handled the ball well, should be a good passer with more experience, and scrambled well when rushed. Twice he got away for long gains on broken plays.

Bruce also lauded Libis. “He looks like a real find,” the Earle of Tigertown said.

Knowlton was very happy with his charges. “Our kids battled all the way,” he said. “They played a good game for the first time this year.”

Knowlton thought gang tackling and pursuit on the part of his team was good. “They played well defensively,” he said. “They had to; Massillon has such strong runners and that Sheegog is tough.”

* * * * *

THE GAME turned out to be a ground war with Massillon out-rushing Alliance 221 net yards to 151. Neither team passed much but the Tigers got 2 of their 3 touchdowns via the aerial route and a pass set up another.

Massillon completed 5 of 10 aerial attempts for 90 yards, Alliance 5 of 12 for 44. Total yardage was 311-195. First downs were close, 13-10.

The Tigers got yardage almost everywhere they ran but could use better blocking. The Aviators stuck to the outside after they found the likes of middle guard Fred Williams and linebackers Paul Marks, Will Foster, John Rose and Rick Richards stacking things up.

The Orange and Black was its own worst enemy for the first half, losing all 4 of its fumbles before the intermission, killing promising drives 3 times and a possible scoring setup the fourth. Two of the fumbles gave Alliance the ball, in Massillon territory, one time necessitating a great goal line stand by the defending state champions.

Alliance had almost twice as many plays as Massillon in the first half, 39-22. Total for the game was 64-50 in favor of the Aviators who displayed a fine possession game.

As Bruce remarked, “they sure kept the ball from us and you can’t score without the ball.”

Bill Williams ran the opening kickoff back 16 yards for the Tigers to their 43 as Alliance booted short and low to keep the ball away from Dave Sheegog. Will Foster broke around left end on the first play and raced 47 yards to the Alliance 10.

* * * * *

THE FIRST BENGAL fumble came on the next play. Sophomore Lionel (Doody) Grimes recovered on the 13. But on second down Tiger tackles, Co-Captain Terry Manson and Dick Hartley threw Libis back to the 5.

Alliance Co-Captain Charles Codrea, who had done all the quarterbacking for the first 3 games, punted on fourth down. A fumble resulted on the Alliance 38 where Co-Captain Tim Admonius recovered but the Aviators couldn’t move the pigskin.

The Tigers couldn’t either but on the series following the next punt they were touchdown bound. Sheegog came up with a 15-yard runback to the Bengal 43. “Sweet Walter” Lemon raced off tackle 18 more on the first play to the Alliance 39.

Sheegog hit end Rick Paige with a short pass to the 34. Lemon shot off tackle again for the score with 2:56 left in the first quarter. Sheegog faked to Manson and went left for the conversion.

Shortly after the start of the second quarter the WHS team started out of its own territory after a punt only to fumble on the Alliance 46. Isaac Wright recovered for the Pilots on their 47.

Then Walker started circling the ends on the pitch with key passes of 13 yards to junior Bob Ramsey and 5 yards to Grimes, playing his first game offensively and with an ankle sprained earlier in the week. But with fourth down on the three, Tiger co-captain end Dave Whitfield threw Libis back to the 18.

MASSILLON STARTED another promising drive but fumbled on its 35 with junior Dick McCoy recovering for Alliance on the 39. The Tiger defense stiffened again with time running out in the half and Alliance taking to the air.

The Tigers took over on their 33 with 1:51 remaining. Sheegog completed to Paige for 35 yards to the Alliance 32 with “Ramblin Rick” running 18 of the yards and Libis finally making a shirt-tail tackle to prevent a score for the time being.

Lemon ran to the 30 and then Sheegog let fly to Paige in the end zone on a post pattern with 1:19 left. Sheegog ran the conversion on the same play on which he converted in the first period.

Junior Ron Muhlbach made sure Alliance didn’t get far on the kick runback, ramming Carl Dunn into the grass at the 6 about a minute before the half ended.

Alliance got its only touchdown by driving 54 yards after the second half kickoff. Grimes ran back 18 yards. Then Walker started churning around the ends again and finally scored around the left side from the 2 with 5:30 left. Ramsey tried to go around right end for the conversion but was felled by a pack of Obiemen.

The Aviators got out of their own territory only once after that in the second half. Massillon penetrated Alliance territory 4 times but Gene Jenkins intercepted a pass on his 20 and Libis saved one in the end zone on what looked like a sure TD to scotch Tiger plans. The latter interception came after Manson had recovered a fumble on the 26.

* * * * *

THE FIRST play of the fourth quarter was a punt, which was grounded on the Massillon 39. Sheegog, Lemon, Manson and Foster took turns grinding out yardage on a 61-yard scoring jaunt.

A second down pass to Lemon from Sheegog for 12 yards and a first down on the 11 helped set the stage for the score. Two passes from the 9 were incomplete after a running play. Then Sheegog found Tommy James in the center of the end zone on fourth down even though “Dandy Dave’s” arm was hit. A pitch-play for the conversion failed.

Alliance had one more try after the kickoff but lost the ball on downs on the Massillon 32 with 1:30 left.

The win was the fourth straight this season for Massillon, 22 straight dating back to 1963 and 22 straight at home dating back to 1962. It was the third straight over Alliance.

Bruce’s personal string is at 37 counting the August All-Star game.

ALLIANCE – 6
Ends – Jenkins, Lloyd.
Tackles – Amonius, Wright, Jones, McCoy.
Guards – Artino, Hardy, Woods.
Centers – Popa, Lear.
Quarterbacks – Codrea, Libis.
Halfbacks – Dunn, Ramsey, Baucum, Ross, Grimes.
Fullback – Walker.

MASSILLON – 22
Ends – Paige, B. Williams, McGuire, Gallion, Griffin.
Tackles – Petroff, Campbell, Hartley, Neago, Sherrett.
Guards – Richards, Whitifield, Ross, Kraft.
Centers – Marks, F. Williams, Ehmer.
Quarterbacks – Sheegog, Maurer, Doolittle.
Halfbacks – Lemon, Foster, James, Smith, McLendon,
McFadden, Healy.
Fullback – Manson.

Score by Quarters:
Alliance………….. 0 0 0 6 – 6
Massillon …………8 8 0 6 – 22

Touchdowns: Massillon – Lemon (34-yard run); Paige (30-yard pass
from Sheegog); James (9-yard pass from Sheegog).
Alliance – Walker (2-yard run).

Extra points: Massillon – Sheegog 4 (runs).

OFFICIALS:
Referee – Tony Pianowski (Cleveland).
Umpire – Joe Romano (Mansfield).
Head Linesman – John Agnone (Youngstown).
Field Judge – Bob Ferguson (Marion).

Statistics
Mass. Opp.
First downs—rushing 10 8
First downs—passing 3 2
First downs—penalties 0 0
Total first downs 13 10
Yards gained rushing 231 187
Yards lost rushing 10 36
Net yards gained rushing 221 151
Net yards gained passing 90 44
Total yards gained 311 195
Passes attempted 10 12
Passes completed 5 5
Passes intercepted by 0 2
Yardage on passes intercepted 0 20
Times kicked off 4 2
Kickoff average (yards) 48.2 40
Kickoff returns (yards) 49 53
Times punted 1 5
Punt average (yards) 37.0 30.6
Punt returns (yards) 16 0
Had punts blocked 0 0
Fumbles 4 3
Lost fumbled ball 4 1
Penalties 1 2
Yards penalized 5 30
Touchdowns rushing 1 1
Touchdowns passing 2 0
Touchdowns by interception 0 0
Total number of plays 50 64

Dave Whitfield
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1965: Massillon 38, Mansfield 12

Tigers Romp To 38-12 Win Over Mansfield

Take Advantage Of Visitors’ Miscues

By CHUCK HESS, JR.

They hung the Tiger in effigy but he didn’t stay dead long!

Somebody draped a Tiger dummy in front of a sign in the Massillon dressing room at Tiger stadium where all would be sure to see it. The pre-game message warned the Bengals that Mansfield’s Tygers were untied and unscored upon in 2 games.

Program Cover

The defending state champs got the message all right and romped to a 38-12 victory over Mansfield before 12,377 fans, the season’s second-largest turnout. The Obie-men thus got by the third roadblock along the “Tiger Turnpike to Victory.”

The victory was Earle Bruce’s 36th straight, counting last month’s All-Star game. It was the 21st in a row for the Washington high eleven, 21st straight at home, eighth straight against Mansfield and brought the Bengal-Tyger series to 27-2-4.

It was one of those nights which drew a real team effort offensively and defensively. It would be unfair to cite any one boy as having been better than any other.

* * * * *
A PLEASING omen was signs of the Tiger passing game, heretofore rather tame, coming to life. Two touchdowns came via the aerial route from quarterback Dave Sheegog to split end Rick Paige.

The Tigertowners dominated the statistics with 11 first downs to Mansfield’s 8, 187 net yards on the ground to 86, 72 to 57 in the air and a total of 259 to 143. The Massillon defense threw Mansfield for 40 minus yards in the rushing department, thanks to some fine gang tackling and pursuit, while the Tigers lost only 12. Mansfield gained 64 yards of its ground total while the Bengal reserves were in during the final quarter.

Most of the Tigers’ running was to the outside. The middle of the Mansfield defense was hard to break, because of guys like Bob Westerfield, Eli Marsh and Arnold Swope, filling in for ailing middle guard Bon Ruckman, who played only offensive center.

It was a game of breaks with Massillon picking up 3 of 6 touchdowns after 2 bad fourth down snaps from center and a punt fumble. Mansfield capitalized on a fumble and intercepted pass.

Because of the several breaks the Tigers made for themselves, they weren’t forced to make any sustained drives for TD’s. Three of the 5 times they attempted it the Bengallanders got no further than the Mansfield 40-yard line.

* * * * *
THE TIGERS scored the first time they got their hands on the ball. With second down and one on their own 41, Tommy James broke through on a counter trap to the left and raced to the Mansfield 22, just missing going all the way.

On the next play Sheegog hit Paige cutting towards the end zone flag with “Ramblin Rick” grabbing the ball on the 10 and racing the rest of the way with 8:37 left in the first quarter. A misplay in the Bengal backfield prevented a conversion.

On the next series, Mansfield drove to the Massillon 43 and was forced to punt. Sheegog gathered to the pigskin on his 7, cut to his right and raced 93 yards for a score. He had some fine blocking along the way. The tally came at 4:45. Junior quarterback Craig Maurer passed to junior fullback Will Foster for 2 extra points.

Mansfield came back after the kickoff and a punt when Dan Coe fell on a fumble on the Bengal 28. A 15-yard face mask penalty followed. Then the Tigers appeared to have the Tygers stopped on the 18 on fourth down. But quarterback Harry Waldman bootlegged left and tossed to end Chris Alexander in the end zone with 1:06 left. A pass to end Dan Arnett on the conversion attempt was incomplete and the scoreboard read 14-6.

Massillon got a 21-yard runback by Sheegog on the ensuing kickoff and started a 65-yard TD jaunt with 50 seconds left in the welcome frame. A pass interference penalty kept the drive going.

Three plays into the third quarter with third down, 8 on the Mansfield 49, Sheegog hit Paige on the button hook left on the Tyger 30 with Rick sprinting the remainder of the distance for the Bengals’ third TD with 11:02 remaining. A pass to Lemon for the intended conversion was incomplete.

* * * * *
ON FOURTH DOWN on Mansfield’s 2nd following series, Junior Parr dropped back from the 12 to punt. A bad snap ended in Parr being crushed to the earth on the 3 by Terry Manson.

He busted off left guard on the next play for a score with 3:01 lit up on the scoreboard. Manson also tried the conversion but was brought down short of the mark with the score remaining 26-6.

On fourth down in the next series, the snap went past Parr into the end zone. Dave Whitfield, theTigers’ right defensive end, smashed into Parr in the end zone after the Tyger punter had retrieved the pigskin. It bounced loose and the other end, “Wild Bill” Williams, pounced on it for the score. With 1:17 left Bill Pearch’s conversion kick was wide left.

Mansfield got the only score in the third stanza. Tom Osgar, a defensive back, grabbed off a Maurer pass on the Massillon 45 and raced back to the 38.

Seven plays later, Mansfield had its second and last touchdown. Parr went over right tackle from the half-yard line at 3:13 on second down. He had run 15 yards to the 2 and another 1 1/2 on the 2 plays previous. Paul Marks intercepted Waldman’s conversion pass.

* * * * *
MASSILLON’S LAST score came when Mansfield fumbled Rick Healy’s punt on the first play of the last quarter. The ball bounced off a safetyman’s hands at the 20 and rolled to the 7 where Loren (Stretch) McGuire wrapped his long frame around it. Foster ran to the one and then into the promised land off left tackle on the next play with 10:57 left. Pearch’s conversion kick was blocked.

Nobody came close to scoring after that.

Bruce commented after the game. “I’m pleased at our performance because we beat a tough team. We got a lot of breaks, Mansfield isn’t that bad. Our defense was good this week. We were hitting, not catching.”

A youthful Gary Prahst said of his Mansfield eleven, “We gave them 4 touchdowns. We didn’t play good. But I don’t want to take anything away from Massillon. They’re good. Sheegog is excellent.”

Prahst felt this loss would not hurt the morale of his team which starts Buckeye conference play next week. He said he had thought his team would be able to move the ball against Massillon easily but couldn’t. When asked about the poor punt centers, Prahst said his boys weren’t nervous but had had that trouble before.

Prahst was exuberant over the play of Marsh, calling him “a real leader.”

Alliance comes to town next Friday for the Orange and Black’s fourth straight home game.

MANSFIELD – 12
Ends – Allen, Alexander, Arnett.
Tackles – Palm, Swope, Coe, Socea.
Guards – Adams, Windbigler, Reedy, King.
Center – Ruckman.
Quarterback – Waldman.
Halfbacks – Luckie, Osgar, Jefferson, Westerfield, Davis.
Fullbacks – Marsh, Swarn, Parr.

MASSILLON – 38
Ends – Paige, B. Williams, Mcguire, Crone, Riese, Healy.
Tackles – Petroff, Campbell, Hartley, Neago, Ehmer,
Croop, Rhine, Sherrett.
Guards – Whitfield, Richards, White, Kraft, Rose, Porrini,
Mazon, Beiter.
Centers – Marks, F. Williams, Gallion.
Quarterbacks – Sheegog, Maurer, Doolittle.
Halfbacks – Foster, Lemon, James, McFadden, Muhlbach.
Fullbacks – Manson, Hauenstein, Reed.

Mansfield……………….. 6 0 6 0 – 12
Massillon……………….. 14 18 0 6 – 38

Touchdowns: Massillon – Paige 2 (23 and 49-yard passes from Sheegog);
Sheegog (93-yard return); Manson (2-yard run);
B. Williams (recovered fumble in end zone);
Foster (one-yard run).
Mansfield – Alexander (17-yard pass from Waldman);
Parr (half-yard run).

Extra Points: Massillon – Foster 2 (pass from Maurer).

Statistics
Mass. Opp.
First downs—rushing 8 5
First downs—passing 2 3
First downs—penalties 1 0
Total first downs 11 8
Yards gained rushing 199 126
Yards lost rushing 12 40
Net yards gained rushing 187 86
Net yards gained passing 72 57
Total yards gained 259 143
Passes attempted 6 13
Passes completed 2 6
Passes intercepted by 1 1
Yardage on passes intercepted 13 20
Times kicked off 7 3
Kickoff average (yards) 50.1 47.0
Kickoff returns (yards) 43 149
Times punted 3 5
Punt average (yards) 42.0 38.1
Punt returns (yards) 116 0
Had punts blocked 0 0
Fumbles 3 2
Lost fumbled ball 1 2
Penalties 4 4
Yards penalized 60 39
Touchdowns rushing 2 1
Touchdowns passing 2 1
Touchdowns by interception 0 0
Miscellaneous 2 0
Total number of plays 46 57

OFFICIALS
Referee – Howard Wirtz (Cincinnati).
Umpire – Harvey Hodgson, Jr. (Massillon).
Head Linesman – Bill Makepeace (Cincinnati).
Field Judge – Jack McLain (Columbus).

Dave Whitfield
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1965: Massillon 29, Cleveland Benedictine 12

Tigers Sweat Out Victory Over Benedictine

Heat Takes Toll of WHS Linebackers

By CHUCK HESS, JR.

“It’s hot out there tonight!”

End Loren McGuire didn’t know it but his pre-game statement in the locker room Friday night was to be a prophetic one.

Forty-eight minutes later in that same locker room, fullback Terry Manson provided the proof. Swathed in wet towels and ice, he lay on the training table minus 15 pounds, nearly exhausted from the high temperature and humidity on the Tiger stadium gridiron after playing one of the finest games of his career.

The sweltering atmosphere in the stadium played a key part in Washington high school’s 29-12 conquest of a fine Cleveland Benedictine high school team, which also felt the effects of the heat, before 12,892 fans. The Tigers took a 22-0 lead into the final quarter but the Bennies didn’t quit and came up with 2 touchdowns Massillon fans thought Benedictine didn’t have left.

During the final stanza in the stadium sweat-box, the Tigers were minus their first 3 linebackers, Paul Marks, Dave Whitfield and Will Foster, all with leg cramps, apparently brought on by the heat. Safeties Dave Sheegog, who had done a lot of running previously, and Rick Paige were tired by the heat. Manson was missing from middle guard.

************
“I’M CONCERNED about keeping players in the game,” Tiger Coach Earle Bruce said afterwards. “You just can’t lose players like that in a big game and not get hurt.”

Larry Zelina, junior halfback whom Bruce said is a “great ballplayer” and who Augie Bossu, Benedictine boss said, “gave a real effort,” scored both of the last quarter touchdowns for the Bennies. He ran a punt back 17 yards to the Massillon 47-yard line, then carried on 4 of the next 8 plays and went through the center on third down from the 17 with 6:05 left in the game to make the count 22-6. He failed to pick up the 2 extra points.

Zelina got into the act again, after a Massillon fumble, with 2:14 remaining. He scored on a 57-yard pass play from quarterback Jim Betts, running the last 40 yards. Betts missed the conversion on a run. Zelina had picked up 17 yards on the 2 plays previous to the TD maneuver, for a first down.

Zelina gained 170 yards unofficially rushing and running back kicks. He caught 2 passes for 70 yards. The non-TD catch being for 13.

Sheegog picked up 126 yards for the Tigers.

Manson was another key figure in the victory. He latched onto a fumble which set up the Tigers’ second touchdown and his running readied the stage for the third.

*************
DEFENSIVE tackle John Rose, a senior, probably played his best game, throwing Benedictine runners for key losses.

Halfback Walt Lemon scored 2 TD’s for the second week in a row.

MANSON jumped on a Bennie bobble with the score 6-0 in favor of Massillon early in the second quarter. The Tigers had scored only seconds before. Two plays after the recovery on Benedictine’s 13, Sheegog raced to the one. Lemon went between right tackle and right guard for the 6 points with the scoreboard showing 6:27. Sheegog passed to Bill Williams for the conversion.

Lemon had gone in from the 2 on the same play only 32 second before for the first TD of the game following a scoreless first quarter. The paydirt plunge followed an 85-yard drive which had started late in the first period after a Benedictine punt.

The touchdown was set up on the 12th play of the drive with fourth down on the 18. Sheegog passed to Lemon on the screen to the 2. “Sweet Walter” scored on the next play.

Benedictine failed to get going before the intermission. Bossu said, “We had no offense in the first half.”

MASSILLON drove 59 yards for a score after another fine punt return by Sheegog in the third quarter. Manson carried for 7 straight plays, bullying his way through the middle of the big Benedictine line for all but 5 of the 59 yards. Those 5 coming on an illegal procedure penalty.

On the eighth play Sheegog faked to Manson who went into the line again beautifully. But the handoff was to Tommy James on the 24. “Tailspin Tommy” revved up his engine and swooped past the startled Benedictine team on a scissors play for the score with 5:45 remaining. He caught a pass from Sheegog for the extra 2 points.

The Obiemen weren’t through. They came back again with 6 seconds left in the game. Rick Healy was roughed on a punt and Massillon got a life on the Benedictine 35.

Junior quarterback Craig Maurer kept on the first play, saw daylight and was off for the final tally of the night. He eluded 2 Benedictine safetymen with some neat faking to go the last several yards. Place-kicking specialist Bill Pearch put the finishing touches on the night.

Bossu acknowledged that Manson’s fumble recovery and James’ TD run were key plays, as did Bruce.
Bruce was discouraged about his team’s offside penalties on defense and felt that the Tigers played a poor last quarter. He thought Benedictine shouldn’t have scored.

Final statistics showed how close the game was. Total net yardage gained was 284 for Massillon to 225 for Benedictine and 15 first downs to 10 in favor of Massillon. But the Tigers picked up 246 yards on the ground compared to the Bengals’ 129.

The Orange and Black had trouble with its passing game again, missing at least 3 aerials which looked like TD shots.

It was the 20th straight win for Massillon and third straight over Benedictine. The series now stands at 9-2 in Massillon’s favor. Bruce stretched his personal streak to 35, counting the All-Star game in August.

Benedictine’s season record is 1-1.

Mansfield senior high comes in next week.

************
Swell (tering) Win

BENEDICTINE – 12
Ends – Marcoguiseppe, Pilcavage, Grimm, Kane.
Tackles – Inman, Drongowski.
Guards – Daray, Hyclak, Busi, Russ, Morgan.
Center – Baumbick.
Quarterbacks – Betts, Mihalek.
Halfbacks – Zelina, Kucera, White, Novak.
Fullbacks – Scanlon, Sirecuss.

MASSILLON – 29
Ends – Paige, McGuire, Healy, B. Williams, Humphrey,
Crone, Riese, Griffin.
Tackles – Hartley, Neago, Petroff, Campbell, Sherrett.
Guards – Whitfield, Richards, Kraft, Rose, Mazon, Porrini.
Center – Marks, F. Williams, Ehmer, Gallion.
Quarterbacks – Sheegog, Maurer, Doolittle.
Halfbacks – Lemon, Foster, James, Muhlbach, McLendon.
Fullback – Manson.
Placekicker – Pearch.

Score by quarters:
Benedictine…………… 0 0 0 12 – 12
Massillon …………….. 0 14 8 7 – 29

Touchdowns: Massillon – Lemon 2 (1 and 2-yard runs), James (24-yard run),
Maurer (35-yard run).
Benedictine – Zelina 2 (17-yard run and 57-yard pass from Betts).

Extra points: Massillon – Williams 2 (pass from Sheegog), James 2 (pass from Sheegog),
Pearch 1 (kick).

Statistics
Mass. Opp.
First downs—rushing 11 6
First downs—passing 2 4
First downs—penalties 2 0
Total first downs 15 10
Yards gained rushing 264 140
Yards lost rushing 18 11
Net yards gained rushing 246 129
Net yards gained passing 38 96
Total yards gained 284 225
Passes attempted 9 13
Passes completed 2 5
Passes intercepted by 0 0
Yardage on passes intercepted 0 0
Times kicked off 5 3
Kickoff average (yards) 55.0 42 2/3
Kickoff returns (yards) 68 60
Times punted 5 6
Punt average (yards) 33.0 38
Punt returns (yards) 55 20
Had punts blocked 0 0
Fumbles 2 2
Lost fumbled ball 1 1
Penalties 6 7
Yards penalized 50 55
Touchdowns rushing 4 1
Touchdowns passing 0 1
Touchdowns by interception 0 0
Miscellaneous 0 0
Total number of plays 64 51

Officials
Referee – Octavio Sirgo (Canton).
Umpire – Ed Corsi (Cleveland Heights).
Head linesman – Sam DiBlasi (Canton).
Field Judge – Steve Herring (Lyndhurst).

Dave Whitfield
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1965: Massillon 50, Cleveland Glenville 0

Tigers Claw Cleveland Glenville 50-0

Bengals’ Defense Shares Opening Night Limelight With Sparkling Offense

By CHUCK HESS, JR.

They ran it here! They ran it there! They ran that pigskin everywhere!

Like “Hurricane Betsy,” which dropped some of its remaining rain on Tiger stadium, the Massillon Tigers roared up and down the gridiron for 48 minutes in their opener Friday night. They left the plucky but out manned Cleveland Glenville Tarblooders in the devastation of a 50-00 shellacking before 10,253 fans.

Program Cover

The Washington high eleven had its ground game operating to perfection in its first quest for a 21st state championship. The Orange and Black line chopped down the opposition like a machete fells sugar cane. The backs hit their holes like a scared rabbit evading a hunter’s gun.

But the defense deserves a pat on the back, too, for its multiple-player, bone-crunching tackles and lightning-like charges. The Tarblooders were held to a minus 3 yards on the ground, losing 76 yards.

************
GLENVILLE got only 2 sustained drives going all night but was stopped both times by a determined Tiger defense. The Tarblooders moved from their 41-yard line to the Obiemen’s one-foot line in the first period and from the Massillon 48 to the 5 in the fourth quarter.

Had Glenville scored in the driving rain, which hit in the first quarter and kept on sporadically the rest of the night, the Tarblooders might have tied the score. It was 8-0 at the time. But halfback Johnny Pollard was stopped short.

“I thought we were over and so did Pollard,” Glenville coach Phil Crawley said later. “That hurt us and so did the fact we have a lot of green kids and Massillon has a lot of depth. We figured we would be in trouble on those 2 counts.

Tiger Coach Earle Bruce thought, “Those 2 goal line stands helped a lot, especially since some of the younger boys were involved.” Bruce was happy that a lot of juniors got a chance to play and that he had the opportunity to get his running game into shape. He felt the rain hampered his team’s ground efforts.

The wet stuff not withstanding, the Bengals rolled up 337 net yards to 80 for Glenville and 19 first downs to 6. The Tigers gained nothing through the air in 5 tries.

The rain played havoc with the ball-handling, 10 fumbles resulting. Massillon lost 3 of 4 and Glenville 2 of 6.

************
THE TIGERTOWNERS scored in every quarter with the most points – 20 – coming in the second. Several players figured in the fireworks. Quarterback Dave Sheegog scored 2 touchdowns, 2 conversions and passed for 2. Halfback Tommy James, Jr., tallied twice for 6-pointers. Halfback Walt Lemon got 2 and a conversion and halfback Will Foster one. End Rick Healy got the other conversion.

The defending state champions scored the second time they got their hands on the ball. They almost went in the first time after a pass interception but fumbled on the Glenville 13.

Safety Rick Paige intercepted another Glenville aerial on the Tarblooder 35 and ran it back to the 8. Lemon got the call on the option play to the right on the next play and “Sweet Walter” scored with 7:07 left in the first quarter. Sheegog converted via a run.

After stopping Glenville on the one-foot line, the Tigers ground machine, with Sheegog, Foster, Lemon and fullback Terry Manson all taking turns, moved the pigskin to the Glenville 42. Lemon shot off left tackle for the remaining distance with 9:35 remaining in the second canto. The conversion attempt missed when a fumble occurred on the option.

The Tigers scored the next 2 times they got the ball in the second quarter, after bottling up Glenville in its own territory. The first chance came when tackle Dick Hartley made a teeth-rattling tackle which threw Glenville to its 14 after a bad fourth-down snap.

************
JAMES, bringing back memories of his famous father’s 1940 running, carried to the 3 on the first play. Foster, like James a junior, slanted left for the TD on the next play for a 20-0 lead at 7:26. The conversion attempt went awry.

The third second-period score came when Paige intercepted a pass on his 45 and
long-legged it back to the Glenville 38.

Four plays later, with first down on the 26, James saw daylight between left guard and left tackle and “Red, Jr.” was gone for a score at 3:27. Sheegog kept for the conversion.

Paige intercepted another pass near the end of the half on his 35 and returned to the Glenville 32. This time “Ramblin’ Rick” was injured and sat out the rest of the game with a left bruise, which does not appear too serious. Sheegog came up with a slight “Charlie Horse.”

A Tiger fumble on the 22 aborted this scoring try.

************
THE BENGALS activated the scoreboard lights twice in the third stanza. Driving straight down the field on the ground after the kickoff, the Tigers scored at 7:44. They covered 67 yards in 10 plays with Sheegog keeping off the “I” on first down from the 7. “Dandy Dave” tossed to Healy for 2 extra points.

Another bad fourth-down pass from center and fumble gave Massillon the ball first down on the Tarblooders’ 7. Three plays later Sheegog went off the right side for the Tigers’ sixth TD. Sheegog passed for the conversion with the ball bouncing off end Bill Williams’ hands and into the outstretched arms of Lemon.

The final Massillon score came at 8:16 of the fourth quarter. Safetyman Craig Maurer ran back a punt from his 40 to Glenville’s 40. Four plays later it was “TJ” again. This time James slipped through a trap hole at left guard on first down from the 9. The conversion missed.

Bruce felt that Lemon, Foster and James ran well. He thought junior Mike Kraft did a good line backing job but generally was pleased overall with his team’s performance.

Although he wouldn’t admit it, the Skipper was obviously running under wraps. He must play a tough Cleveland Benedictine team here next week in the second of 5 straight home games. Benedictine defeated Cleveland St. Edward 13-12 in its opener last night.

A Good Start!

GLENVILLE – 0
Ends – Stewart, Smith, Bullard.
Tackles – Wilson, Binder, Gibbs.
Guards – Kince, King.
Centers – Greene, Kitt.
Quarterback – Patrick
Halfbacks – Harris, White, Dean, Holton, Pollard.
Fullbacks – Reese, Robbins.

MASSILLON – 50
Ends – Healy, Griffin, Gallion, Moyer, B. Williams, Humphrey, Crone,
Paige, Riese, Russell.
Tackles – Petroff, Hartley, Campbell, Neago, Croop, Sherrett.
Guards – Rose, Kraft, Beiter, Mazon, Whitfield, Richards, Porrini.
Centers – Marks, Ehmer, Croop, Williams.
Quarterbacks – Sheegog, Maurer, Doolittle.

Halfbacks – Lemon, Smith, McLendon, James, Foster, Muhlbach,
McFaden.
Fullback – Manson

Score by quarters:
Glenville………………… 0 0 0 0 – 0
Massillon……………….. 8 20 16 6 – 50

Touchdowns: Sheegog 2 (7 and 2 yard runs); Lemon 2 (8 and 42 yard runs);
James 2 (26 and 9-yard runs); Foster 1 (3-yard run).

Extra Points: Sheegog 4 (2 runs); Lemon 2 (pass from Sheegog);
Healy 2 (pass from Sheegog).

OFFICIALS
Referee – Harvey Hodgson, Jr. (Massillon).
Umpire – Jack McLain (Columbus).
Head Linesman – Bud Shopbell (Canton).
Field Judge – Don Welsh (Wooster).

Statistics
Mass. Opp.
First downs—rushing 17 2
First downs—passing 0 3
First downs—penalties 2 1
Total first downs 19 6
Yards gained rushing 351 73
Yards lost rushing 14 76
Net yards gained rushing 337 (3)
Net yards gained passing 0 83
Total yards gained 337 80
Passes attempted 5 17
Passes completed 0 3
Passes intercepted by 3 0
Yardage on passes intercepted 36 0
Times kicked off 8 1
Kickoff average (yards) 42.2 28
Kickoff returns (yards) 0 157
Times punted 0 3
Punt average (yards) 0 25½
Punt returns (yards) 62 0
Had punts blocked 0 0
Fumbles 4 6
Lost fumbled ball 3 2
Penalties 2 3
Yards penalized 30 35
Touchdowns rushing 7 0
Touchdowns passing 0 0
Touchdowns by interception 0 0
Miscellaneous 0 0
Total number of plays 54 56

Dave Whitfield
Massillon vs. McK - Throwback (Large) History

1964: Massillon 20, Canton McKinley 14

TIGER CHAMPS AWAIT CROWNING

State Title Assured By Comeback Victory Over McKinley, 20-14

By STEVE HAPANOWICZ

There’s no truth to the rumor the ABC Television Network has offered the 1964 Massillon Tigers mass employment as scriptwriters.

The network well might hire the Tigers because the Ohio State high school football champions came up with as great a finish to a perfect season as any scriptwriter could dream up in his wildest imagination.

Program Cover

Trailing 14-0 going into the fourth quarter of Saturday’s game against Canton McKinley, a game that had the state championship at stake, an undefeated season hanging in the balance, 22,685 emotionally charged fans watching in Tiger stadium and un-numbered thousands viewing on television, the Tigers staged one of the greatest come-from-behind victories any Massillon team has put together to win 20-14.

The Tigers, who led the Associated Press poll voting as the No. 1 team in the state most of the season, should be officially crowned state champs when the final poll comes out Tuesday.

Outplayed by the hard hitting McKinley squad, stopped at the 1-yard line by the McKinley defense in the second quarter, stopped again at the 14 and at the 3-yard line in the 3rd quarter, Massillon for better than 2½ quarters of the game was a toothless Tiger held at bay by a pack of angry Bulldogs.

BUT THEN the unwritten script began to unfold, putting junior quarterback Dave Sheegog in the starring role. Sheegog, 5’ 10”, 170-pounds, came into the contest on offense when regular quarterback Steve Kanner went out with cramps in his leg. The Tigers started to move with Sheegog at the controls and by the time the gun went off signaling one of the greatest mob scenes ever seen in the stadium, the Tigers were on top, with a brand new set of teeth that look like they will last another year.

There were other hero’s in the Tiger comeback that will rate as one of the greatest in Massillon football. Gene Biddle replaced the injured John Muhlbach at center in the second half when Muhlbach sustained a severely bruised hip; Jim Lawrence, who was the most consistent runner for the Tigers beside Sheegog, and Walt Lemon who took some of the pressure off Sheegog in the late stages of the drive with his running.

Determination and persistence paid off for the Tigers who kept the pressure on McKinley despite the 14-point deficit and wore down the Bulldogs. McKinley played almost the entire game without Ed Jones, the roving cornerback, in the “monster” defense and Larry Haines who broke a finger in the second quarter, but managed to come back and almost bring the Bulldogs into the lead with a drive in the wining second of the ball game. In the final analysis, Massillon’s depth told the story. The Tigers had Sheegog, Biddle and Lemon.

The Bulldogs broke on top with 5:32 left in the first quarter. Massillon took the opening kickoff and on the third play from scrimmage lost the ball on a fumble by Ed Herring on the McKinley 49. With Kalogeras banging into the line for consistent yardage and Fred Mathews picking up a 12-yard gain, the bulldogs took 11plays to get to the 9 from where Haines hit Emanuel Bradley all alone in the end zone for the first score. Guard Henry Vafides kicked the extra point to make it 7-0.

Sheegog fumbled the ensuing kickoff with the Bulldog’s guard Tom Bradbury recovering on the Massillon 19. Kalogeras picked up 15 yards on 4 carries. With a third and 9, Haines hit end Nick Roman with a pass but Roman was stopped inches short of the goal. With fourth and inches, Kalogeras plowed over for the score. Vafides kicked what was to be the Bulldog’s final point.

************

THE TIGERS MOUNTED one offensive more in the second quarter moving from their own 46 to the McKinley 1. A penalty against McKinley for grabbing a facemask gave the Tigers the ball at the Bulldog 10 with first down. Lawrence picked up a yard up the middle, Kanner sneaked out for 3 and Hewitt went 5 to the one. With fourth and 1 Lawrence went high into the middle of the line but McKinley replused him short of the goal.

The third quarter looked no better for the Tigers despite the recovery of 2 McKinley fumbles. On the second play from scrimmage following the kickoff for the second half, Willie Hall fumbled and end Wes Goodnough recovered at the Bulldog 23. Lawrence gained 6 yards in 2 carries and Herring 3. With the ball at the 14 the Bulldogs held Lawrence on a fourth and 1 to no gain.

McKinley moved the ball to the 21 when Will Hall fumbled and Massillon’s Tom Whitifield recovered on the 19. Lawrence picked up 6 to the 13 and another 5 to the 9. After a 2-yard loss, Bobby Hewitt carried to the 4. Lawrence gained a yard and on fourth and 3 Herring was stopped at the 2 by Mathews the last man with a chance to get him.

After moving to the 11, the Bulldogs punted, Romans’ kick coming to rest at McKinley 40. There were 3 minutes and 54 seconds left in the third quarter when the Tigers started their greatest comeback in many a year.

Hewitt picked up 2 and Kanner 3. Kanner left the game and Sheegog came in. Giving a sign of things to come, Sheegog picked up 10 yards on a roll out. Hewitt picked up 4 on a second down and with third and 6 Sheegog hit end Ken Gillmore with an 8-yard pass putting the ball on the 13 with a first down coming up. Lemon squirted off for 6 yards as the quarter ended. With second and 4, Herring went to the 4 and then to the one from where Lawrence scored the first touchdown at 10:11. The extra point run by Lawrence failed and the score stood at 14-6.

McKinley couldn’t move the ball and punted to the Tiger 39 where the Tigers started a 9 play 61-yard drive. Sheegog picked up 6 yards and then hit Herring with a pass up the middle to the Bulldog 35. Lawrence gained 4 and Lemon 9 before Sheegog hit Lawrence with a pass at the 10. Lemon picked up 7 to the 3 and Lawrence 3 more.

Sheegog gained a yard to the 2 and with fourth and 1 Hewitt just made it over the goal line for the score. Sheegog tied the score at 14-all by scoring the extra points over the left side with 3:32 left in the game.

************

McKINLEY TOOK Paul Marks’ kick to the 12 and gained 6 yards in 3 carries. Roman punted to the Massillon 45 where Sheegog fielded the ball and returned it 33 yards to the Tiger 17.

Massillon missed connections on a pass and Sheegog gained 3 yards to the 14. With third and 7 Sheegog faked to Lawrence going into the line, kept the ball and went over right tackle. He broke into the clear only to be met by McKinley’s Ray Kinnard at the 3 and Mark Mathieu at the 1, but he just strained forward for the touchdown that put the Tigers ahead 20-14 with 54 seconds remaining.

But the ball game wasn’t over. With 48 second left on their own 24 the Bulldogs moved to the 42 on an 18-yard gain picked up by Haines. A halfback pass from Mathews to Hall picked up 8 yards and another pass from Haines to Mathews, the Bulldogs most dangerous runner, put the ball on the Tiger 24. On first down, Haines tried to hit Mathews with a pass inside the 5-yard line but Dave Whitfield deflected it and Mathews never had a chance for it with 11 seconds left. Mathews got another pass to move it to the 17. Thinking time had run out Massillon fans swarmed on the field, but with 1 second left to play, officials and 15 Massillon policemen cleared the field and McKinley tried one more play, Haines throwing the ball to center Jim Roman after being rushed by the Massillon defense.

Bedlam reigned for a long time on the field and in the Tiger locker room.

Coach Earle Bruce being congratulated in a packed office said, “I still can’t believe it.” Asked if he made any adjustments in the second half, Bruce replied, “No. Sheegog came through with flying colors. He’s a calm, cool and collected quarterback. We went with the quarterback keep off the inside belly series. Our game plan was to run the ball. We fumbled in the first half and didn’t in the second. Physically we came on in the second half.”

Asked if he thought the Tiger could come back while trailing 14-0, Bruce said. “You know, once you’ve come back, you always think about coming back,” Bruce said referring to the Niles game. “They just made mistakes in the second half. We made ours in the first half.”

************

FOR DON NEHLEN, who brought the Bulldogs up to contention for the state title after taking over a team that was 6-4 last year, it was a bitter defeat.

“Massillon didn’t beat us. We beat ourselves. Our mistakes beat us,” he said after the game.
“Sheegog was great for them, but Kalogeras was by far the best football player on the field. We just didn’t have quite the depth.”

Asked if his team tired late in the game, Nehlen said, “No, I don’t think so. You’d look that way too if you had your back to the wall like that. Let’s just say our daubers were down a bit.”

Nehlen was unhappy with the officiating.

“We recovered 3 of their fumbles, but we didn’t get the ball. None of the officials even looked at it,” he said.

Statistically, Massillon had the slight edge getting 215 yards to 214 for the Bulldogs and 10 first downs to McKinley’s 7. The Tigers got 158 yards rushing while McKinley had 156. In passing it was 58 for McKinley to 57 for Massillon. Massillon held the ball for 57 plays while McKinley had it for 51.

Statistics
Mass. McKin.
First downs—rushing 10 7
First downs—passing 4 2
First downs—penalties 1 0
Total first downs 15 9
Yards gained rushing 173 170
Yards lost rushing 15 14
Net yards gained rushing 158 156
Net yards gained passing 57 58
Total yards gained 215 214
Passes attempted 10 7
Passes completed 5 5
Passes intercepted by 1 0
Yardage on passes intercepted 22 0
Times kicked off 4 3
Kickoff average (yards) 46.5 53.3
Kickoff returns (yards) 62 27
Times punted 1 5
Punt average (yards) 34.0 30.6
Punt returns (yards) 52 0
Had punts blocked 0 0
Fumbles 4 3
Lost fumbled ball 2 2
Penalties 0 5
Yards penalized 0 40
Touchdowns rushing 3 1
Touchdowns passing 0 1
Touchdowns by interception 0 0
Miscellaneous 0 0
Total number of plays 57 51

McKINLEY – 14
Ends – N. Roman, E. Bradley, Ring, Chaney.
Tackles – Scott, Miller, Carpenelli, R. Kinnard, Dodd,
Frazier, Shaheen.
Guards – Spencer, Bradbury, Vafides, Ra. Spencer.
Center – J. Roman.
Backs – Haines, Mathieu, Mathews, Hall, Rippey. E. Bradley,
Kalogeras, Dunnerstick.

MASSILLON – 20
Ends – Gilmore, Franklin, Paige, Goodnough, Garcia,
D. Whitfield.
Tackles – Binge, Morgan, Rambaud.
Guards – T. Whitifield, Laursel, Zorger.
Centers – Muhlbach, Biddle.
Backs – Kanner, Sheegog, Herring, Hewitt, Lawrence, Frieg,
Pribich, Manson, Lemmon, Conti, Marks, Schenkenberger.

Massillon…………. 0 0 0 20 – 20
McKinley………… 14 0 0 14 — 14

Touchdowns – McKinley: Bradley (9-yard pass from Haines); Kalogeras (1-yard run).
Massillon: Lawrence (1-yard); Hewitt (1-yard run); Sheegog (14-yard run).

Extra points – Vafides 2 (kicks); Sheegog 2 (run).

Officials:
Referee – Tony Pianowski (Cleveland).
Umpire – Harold Rolf (Ironton).
Head Linesman – Joe Romano (Mansfield).
Field Judge – Russ Kemper (Cincinnati).

John Muhlbach
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1964: Massillon 36, Eastlake North 0

Tigers Set Stage For McKinley Title Duel

Kanner-Paige Passes Trounce Eastlake 36-0

By STEVE HAPANOWICZ

The stage is set. . . Massillon and Canton McKinley meet head on for the state championship next Saturday afternoon in what the politicians call an eye-to-eyeball confrontation.

Both won their ninth straight game Friday night, the Tigers beating Eastlake Willoughby North 36-0 and McKinley romping over Paul Cary’s Cuyahoga Falls team 53-0 at Fawcett stadium.

Program Cover

Massillon and McKinley have run 1-2 in the Associated Press poll most of the season. The poll and its emblematic state championship are at stake in next week’s annual classic between the schoolboy and grid giants.

“We’re looking for McKinley,” said Tiger Coach Earle Bruce in the post game meeting with reporters Friday night. “They want us and we want them. The state championship is on the line Nov. 14,” Bruce said.

************

NEXT WEEK’S GAME, the 69th meeting between the 2 schools, is already sold out. More than 22,000 fans are expected to jam Tiger stadium to witness what promises to be one of the greatest games in the long series.

And the final audience, which sees the clash, may go well into the millions if plans to have the game televised materialize. Adding to the pre-game hoopla is the visit of ABC television coming to make a special feature on the Tigers and the game itself.

The week promises to be one of the most hectic and exciting in Tiger history. But there was a game played last night.

The Tigers started out sluggishly and were never as sharp as they have been in past games. “We were flat,” said Bruce. Massillon didn’t get on the board until 4:38 left in the first quarter after failing to move the ball the first time it had possession.

Willoughby had the ball twice moving once from its own 29 to its 36. The second time the Rangers went from their own 31 to the Massillon 47.

************

THE SECOND TIME the Tigers got the ball, they wasted little time. On the very first play, Steve Kanner hit end Rick Paige with a pass at the Willoughby 42 from his own 28 and the big end went all the way on a 72-yard play for the first of 3 touchdowns he was to score. A kick for the extra point by Dave Paul was wide to the left.

Massillon got the ball again on its own 11 after a punt by Willoughby’s Chuck Hoban. It took the Tigers 11 plays to cover the 89 yards before Kanner found Paige in the end zone again from 21 yards out for the score, making it 12-0. The drive was highlighted by a 14-yard run by Brock Herring. Jim Lawrence, who was to score 2 touchdowns, picked up the extra points on a run around end.

Willoughby got the ball on its own 15 and moved it to the 19 when Hoban went back to kick again. A bad snap from center wound up in the Ranger end zone and Hoban tried kicking out but the ball went out of bounds at the Willoughby 13.

Dave Sheegog came in to quarterback and in 2 plays he carried to the 1 from where Lawrence plowed over to make the score 20-0. Sheegog hit Paige with a pass for the extra points.

Willoughby had the ball for 3 plays when halfback Bob May fumbled at the 29 with Tiger linebacker Paul Marks recovering at the 33. Sheegog hit Walt Lemon with a pass and the junior back carried it to the 18. Three smashes by Terry Manson and Lawrence put the ball at the 7, then Lawrence went over the left side. A pass for the extra points was incomplete and the 28-0 score stood at halftime.

************

BRUCE SALTED his lineup liberally with second-liners and Willoughby, finding its pass receivers held up, went to the ground game. The Rangers moved from their own 29 to the Tigers 24 before running out of downs. Neither team scored in the third quarter.

The Tigers got the ball for the second time in the fourth quarter with 8:04 left to play. From their own 11 the Tigers went 89 yards in 13 plays with the help of a 5-yard penalty.

Runs of 11 yards by Don Schenkenberger, 16 by Hewitt and 15 by Kanner sparked the drive. With a third and 11 on their own 16, Massillon scored its final touchdown when Kanner connected with Paige again. The pass bounced off Willoughby’s safety Bill Nose with Paige getting the bouncing ball about the 2 and taking it in. Paul Shanor ran the extra points, with the clock showing 2:06.

Willougby Coach Vic McIntire blamed the loss on “big mistakes—The long bombs, the bad snap, the fumble.”

“The long bomb has never happened to us this year. Our boys missed their keys,” he said explaining the long passes.

“Masillon has a fine football team,” McIntire said. Not having seen McKinley, and just on what he has been told by others, McIntire said, “If McKinley does a job on defense, they can beat Massillon,” when asked how the Tigers would fare against the Bulldogs.

Massillon gained 359 yards to Willoughby’s 97 and had 16 first downs to the Rangers’ 6. The Tigers hit on 4 of 9 passes while Willoughby hit 4 of 12 for 22 yards. On the ground the Rangers made 75 yards.

Attendance at last night’s game was 9,363.

EASTLAKE WILLOUGHBY NORTH – 0
Ends – Hoban, Kerschensteiner, Nose.
Tackles – Effron, Dodds, R. Carter.
Guards – Fordyce, Zaharewicz, Beccia.
Centers – Mikulak, Flavin.
Backs –J. Carter, Pintaric, Stenot, Noggy, R. Infalvi, Howarth, Lunder,
D. Infalvi, R. May.

MASSILLON – 36
Ends – Paige, Goodnough, D. Whitfield, Crone, Williams, Gilmore, Franklin,
Garcia, McGuire.
Tackles – Morgan, Binge, Hartley, Petroff, Paul, Croop.
Guards – Laursel, T. Whitfield.
Center – Muhlbach, F. Williams, Rambaud.
Backs – Kanner, Sheegog, Pribich, Frieg, Doolittle, Manson, Herring, Hewitt, Lawrence,
Lemon, Schenkenberger, Conti, Marks, Shanor.

Massillon……….. 6 22 0 8 – 36
Willoughby…….. 0 0 0 0 – 0

Touchdowns – Paige 3 (72-yard pass-run from Kanner; 21-yard pass from Kanner;
16-yard pass from Kanner); Lawrence 2 (runs of 1 and 7 yards).

Extra points – Lawrence 2 (run); Paige 2 (pass from Sheegog); Shanor 2 (run).

Officials:
Referee, Howard White (Cincinnati).
Umpire, Robert Strimer (Delaware).
Field Judge – W.P Shaughnessy (Akron).
Head Linesman – George Pappas (Akron).

Statistics
Mass. Eastlake
First downs—rushing 16 6
First downs—passing 4 0
First downs—penalties 0 1
Total first downs 20 7
Yards gained rushing 245 87
Yards lost rushing 10 12
Net yards gained rushing 235 75
Net yards gained passing 124 22
Total yards gained 359 97
Passes attempted 9 12
Passes completed 4 4
Passes intercepted by 0 0
Times kicked off 6 1
Kickoff average (yards) 45.5 42
Kickoff returns (yards) 19 101
Times punted 3 5
Punt average (yards) 38.3 30
Punt returns (yards) 19 10
Had punts blocked 0 0
Fumbles 2 4
Lost fumbled ball 0 1
Penalties 7 2
Yards penalized 55 20
Touchdowns rushing 3 0
Touchdowns passing 3 0
Total number of plays 55 48

John Mulbach
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1964: Massillon 12, Warren Harding 0

Tigers Beat Warren 12-0 For 8th Victory

Lawrence’s 2 TDs Pace Massillon Win

By STEVE HAPANOWICZ

Two possession-type offenses clashed at Mollenkopf stadium in Warren Friday and when the trick or treats were over Massillon out-crunched the Warren Panthers 12-0 before an estimated 13,000 for their 8th straight victory.

Fullback Jim Lawrence’s 2 touchdowns accounted for the Massillon scoring as the senior, 5’10”, 170-pounder proved to be the Tigers most consistent ground gainer and the back the big, stubborn Panther defense couldn’t contain often enough. Lawrence gained 97 yards in 19 attempts, much of it on his own effort.

Massillon’s defense was also tough, especially on running plays, allowing Warren 76 yards rushing. Warren completed 4 of 8 passes for 25 yards via the air and a total of 101 altogether.

The Tigers made 195 yards on the ground and 15 passing on one completion in 4 attempts for a total of 210 net yards.

************

WARREN BLEW a big opportunity early in the first quarter when on the second play from scrimmage the Tigers fumbled and Warren recovered on the Tiger 33. Three smashes into the Massillon line yielded the Panther’s 5 yards and on 4th down quarterback Bruce Brewster passed to halfback James Hill at the 24, but the Panthers were short of a first down.

The Tigers threatened once in the first period when with 4th and 11 on the Warren 33 quarterback Steve Kanner hit halfback Brock Herring in the end zone with a pass, but Herring couldn’t hang on with an over-the-shoulder grab.

Each team had the ball one more time before Massillon took over on its own 34 with 7:25 left to be played in the second quarter. The Tigers moved the 66-yards in 9 plays with Lawrence scoring from 11 yards out. Key play’s in the drive were a 13-yard run by Herring, a 12-yarder by Lawrence and a 15-yard pass from Kanner to Rick Paige that put the ball on the 11 and set the stage for Lawrence’s touchdown on the very next play.

The third quarter Warren had the ball for 7 plays, moving from its 31 to the Tiger 44 before punting to the Tiger 35. Massillon moved from the 35 to the Warren 20, but with 4th and 3 Kanner was thrown for a loss to the 25. Warren kicked after getting only to its 31. Massillon drove down to the Warren 28 in 9 plays covering the end of the 3rd and the start of the 4th period, but couldn’t connect on a 4th and 11 pass.

Warren took over on its own 28. Brewster was thrown for a loss of 11 yards back to the 17, a run netted no gain and on 3rd down Brewster was thrown for a 5-yard loss by Goodnough, Larsuel and Muhlbach. Larsuel was especially effective harrying the Warren passing game. Al Anderson kicked to the Warren 36, the ball rolling out of bounds.

FROM THE 36 it took the Tigers 8 plays to score. Kanner picked up 5 and Hewitt 9 for the first down at the Warren 23. Herring got 3 and Lawrence 9 for another first down at the 11. Lawrence made 4 through the line and then picked up 3 more to put the ball on the 4. Hewitt took it to the 2. With 4th and 1 needed for a first down Lawrence leaped over the Warren right side for the score. The extra point try failed.

Bill Stredney substituted for Brewster and moved the Panthers from their own 25 to the Massillon 20 for the deepest penetration the Panthers made on their own, mainly on a
20-yard run by fullback Dave Binko. Two incomplete passes and two runs gave Massillon the ball on its own 20. The drive started with 4:15 seconds left to play and ended with Massillon getting the ball with 44 seconds showing on the clock.

Warren Coach Ben Wilson felt the difference in the game was Massillon’s speed. He termed his team’s inability to capitalize on the Massillon fumble at its own 33 in the opening minutes of the game as the turning point in the contest.

Asked to compare Massillon and McKinley, which beat Warren 34-8 in the second game of the season, Wilson said, “McKinley is stronger physically than Massillon. Massillon is quicker than McKinley. They’re (Massillon) very aggressive.”

Coach Earle Bruce credited Warren with its effort. “Warren played one of its finest games of the year. They did a great job defensing our offense. They played big and tough.” Bruce was unhappy with the Tiger offense saying, “Our halfback’s weren’t running very well.” Defensive work pleased the Tiger mentor.

MASSILLON—12
Ends – Garcia, Franklin, Gilmore, Paige, Goodnough.
Tackles – Binge, Morgan, Rambaud, Hartley.
Guards – Larsuel, T. Whitfield, D. Whitfield.
Center – Muhlbach.
Backs – Sheegog, Frieg, Kanner, Manson, Lawrence, Conti,
Hewitt, Herring, Marks, Schenkenberger.

WARREN – 0
Ends – Totterdale, Ochtyun, Turner, Franklin.
Tackles – Capers, Clark, Hrenko, Shively, Kujals.
Guards – Montagna, Kermode, Argeras, E. Johnson, Schumacher.
Centers – Toda, Benson.
Backs – Brewster, Stredney, Krataas, Butler, Dishong, Hill, Binko.

Massillon………. 0 6 0 6 – 12

Touchdowns – Lawrence 2 (runs of 11 and 2 yards).

Officials:
Referee – Jim Langhurst (Williard).
Umpire – Paul Tobin (Akron).
Head Linesman – Phil Dienoff (Akron).
Field Judge – Bernard Wilhelm (Akron).

John Mulbach
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1964: Massillon 34, Altoona, PA 18

Tigers ‘Owned” Lion Defense In 34-18 Win

Altoona Coach Lauds Massillon’s Blocking

By STEVE HAPANOWICZ

A few years ago when the Green Bay Packers ruled the professional football roost, Coach Vince Lombardi made it a point to play to the opponent’s strength, beat him at his own game.

The Massillon Tigers played to the Altoona, Pa., strength, a tough defensive line, and overpowered the Mountain Lions on the ground for a 34-18 victory Saturday night in as an exciting a ball game as the 16,109 fans present at the weekend’s colorful inter-state game will see this season.

Not since 1954 has anyone scored 34 points on the Mountain Lions and the bulk of the credit belongs to the center of the Tiger offensive line, guards Larry Larsuel and Tom Whitfield and center John Muhlbach.

“THEY OWNED US down the middle in the second half,” said Altoona Coach Earl Strohm, headman of the Lions now in his 11th year at the Pennsylvania football
power house. The veteran coach was especially impressed with Larsuel, terming the senior all-county and all-state guard “a real good football player.”

Trapping the Altoona defensive line, the Tiger trio opened up holes for halfbacks Brock Herring and Bob Hewitt and fullback Jim Lawrence who played one of the best games of his career. Herring scored 4 touchdowns one of them a 37-yard run where he bolted through a hole and past the Altoona secondary before it realized what was happening.

************

Lawrence scored once, but the 186-pound senior was the Tigers’ bread-and-butter man getting yardage in crucial situations and faking beautifully when he wasn’t carrying the ball. Lawrence carried 22 times for 166 yards averaging 7 yards per carry. All told the Tigers rolled up 340 yards on the ground, with Herring carrying 19 times for 137 yards and a 7-yard average.

While the Tigers ground out the winning score, Altoona hit a porous Tiger pass defense with 9 completions in 19 attempts for 216 yards including 2 touchdowns of 62 and 42 yards.

Lion quarterback Dick Frasca connected on 8 of those to show Massillon fans one of the best high school passers seen this year. He also turned receiver on the last scoring effort taking a pass from halfback Buddy Geis, his best receiver, and stumbling into the end zone from 15 yards out for the final Altoona score. It was a 42-yard play. Frasca will be back next year when the Tigers go to Mansion Park in Altoona for a return match.

************

MASSILLON SCORED its first touchdown with 2:01 left to play in the first quarter when Herring went over from the 6 to cap a 56-yard drive in 8 plays.

The Tigers took a 12-0 lead in the second quarter when Herring went 9 yards to climax a 10-play, 64-yard drive highlighted by a Herring 14-yard gain and one of 13 yards by Hewitt. There were 7 minutes and 12 seconds left to play when Herring scored as Lawrence faked into the line, complementing quarterback Steve Kanner’s deft ball handling.

Altoona got back into the game as Frasca hit end Dave Thompson with an 11-yard pass and Geis with a 42-yard pass play up the middle, the shifty Geis lugging to the 14. Mike Reid, the Altoona 225-pound fullback just returning to offensive action and still slowed by a knee injury picked up 2 yards and halfback Dick Beard 5. On the following play Reid fumbled after being hit about the one, the ball squirting into the end zone where Mike Grove, the Altoona center, recovered for the touchdown.

Altoona tied it up with 4:51 left in the 3rd quarter when Frasca hit Geis with a 24-yard pass at the Massillon 38. Geis went down the east sideline the 38 yards for the score on a play covering 62 yards, bringing the better than 2,700 Altoona fans, who accompanied the Lions to their feet.

The score was set up when Altoona drove from its own 24 to its own 45 where with 3rd and 10 the Lions were called for holding. Massillon chose to accept the penalty making it 3rd and 25 instead of 4th and 10 and a punting situation coming up. With 3rd and 25 Frasca hit Geis with the 62-yard pass play.

************

MASSILLON BOUNCED back, starting a 74-yard drive with Lawrence going over from the 3 with 11:19 left to play in the fourth quarter. The Tigers picked up the extra points when quarterback Dave Sheegog lateraled to Herring just as he was about to hit the ground. The score put the Tigers ahead 20-12.

Altoona couldn’t move the ball past the 47 on the next series and lost 2 yards on a 4th and 3 situation with the Tigers taking over on the 45. Lawrence made 11 to the 37 on the second play and on the 3rd play Herring bolted out of a quick opener up the middle for the score.

The Tigers drove 58-yard in 11 plays featuring a 24-yard run by Herring to score from the 7 with Herring cutting over center for the TD. Kanner’s pass to end Rick Paige for the extra points made it 34-12 with 1:26 remaining.

On the following kickoff, Paul Marks tipped the ball, which rolled only 2 yards and the Lions had it on the 42 since it did not travel the necessary 10 yards.

On the next play, Geis got the ball started around his right end, stopped and hit Frasca who had gone down the west side with a pass at the 15. Frasca was almost tripped up but stumbled to the 2 where he lunged into the end zone for the score. A kick by Reid failed and the game ended 34-18.

************

COACH EARLE BRUCE called the Mountain Lions, “a tough ball club, with the best passer we’ve seen, and a good receiver in Geis.” While happy with the victory, Bruce said the outcome would call for some “real analyzation” of the Tigers pass defense.

Based on the game movies, fullback Lawrence was named player of the week for his running and faking. Lineman of the week was guard Tom Whitfield with Larsuel the runner-up. Back of the week was Herring, followed by Lawrence and Paul Marks who made 9 tackles and 10 assists on defense.

ALTOONA – 18
Ends – thompson, Ellis, Steinbugl, Williams.
Tackles – Kaltenbrunner, Ebersole, Showalter.
Guards – Hobson, Jeffco, Phillips, R. Geis, Nedimeyer, Brenner.
Center – Grove.
Backs – Frasca, B. Geis, Andros, Lepore, Beard, Reid, Noonan, Russo.

MASSILLON – 34
Ends – Franklin, Gilmore, Williams, Paige, Goodnough, D. Whitfield, Garcia.
Tackles – Morgan, Binge, Rambaud, Croop.
Guards – Larsuel, T. Whitifield, Richards.
Center – Muhlbach.
Backs – Kanner, Sheegog, Pribich, Frieg, Hewitt, Herring, Manson, Conti,
Foster, Shanor, Marks.

Massillon ……………… 6 6 0 22 – 34
Altoona ……………….. 0 6 6 6 – 18

Touchdowns – Massillon: Herring 4 (runs of 6, 9, 37 and 7 yards);
Lawrence (3-yard run).

Altoona: Grove (covered fumble in end zone); B. Geis (62-yard
pass-run) from Frasca; Frasca (42-yard pass-run from B. Geis).

Extra Points – Herring 2 (run); Paige 2 (pass from Kanner).

Officials:
Referee – Harvey Hodgson (Massillon).
Umpire – Joe Romano (Mansfield).
Field Judge – Tony Pianowski (Cleveland).
Head linesman – Jack McLain (Columbus).

Statistics
Mass. Altoona
First downs—rushing 18 6
First downs—passing 0 8
First downs—penalties 0 0
Total first downs 18 14
Yards gained rushing 340 102
Yards lost rushing 0 2
Net yards gained rushing 340 100
Net yards gained passing 11 216
Total yards gained 351 316
Passes attempted 3 19
Passes completed 2 9
Passes intercepted by 0 0
Yardage, passes intercepted 0 0
Times kicked off 6 4
Kickoff average (yards) 36.6 48.75
Kickoff returns (yards) 82 85
Times punted 3 2
Punt average (yards) 41.3 33
Punt returns (yards) 9 0
Had punts blocked 0 0
Fumbles 1 4
Lost fumbled ball 0 1
Penalties 3 2
Yards penalized 15 20
Touchdowns rushing 5 1
Touchdowns passing 0 2
Touchdowns by interception 0 0
Miscellaneous 0 0
Total number of plays 55 51

John Mulbach
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1964: Massillon 55, Cleveland Benedictine 0

Tigers Rock, Roll Benedictine In 55-0 Waltz

Herring Is Top Back In Biggest Win Of Series

By STEVE HAPANOWICZ

A bunch of Swingin’ Cats dug the Bossu-Novak beat provided by the Benedictine Bengals at Tiger Stadium Saturday night and turned what was expected to be a Pier 6 brawl into a waltz.

It was the wildest party of the 10 rock’em sock’em football socials played between the 2 foes and when it was over the mighty Massillon Tigers walked off with a 55-0 victory.

The 11,097 who saw the game were amazed at the outcome. Never did they expect to see a Benedictine team beaten as badly as this one. Not since 1961 when the Benies lost 40-0 to Cleveland Holy Name had the Benies had such a score rolled up against them. It was the worst beating the Benies have suffered in the series with Massillon, which now stands at 8-2 in the Tigers’ favor.

Benedictine Coach Augie Bossu, obviously unhappy with the outcome, was asked if he had any comments on the game and came back with a standard reply, “What can you say? We got beat by a good ball club.” Asked if the absence of his 2 stars, halfback Larry Zelina and Captain Greg Betts, both out with leg injuries, hurt his club, he replied, “How the heck should I know? You can’t tell what they would have done. I won’t take away from their (the Tigers) effort.”

************

AND IT WAS quite an effort by the Tigers who almost duplicated their 58-0 victory of last week over Steubenville.

The Tiger touchdown parade started after Benie quarterback Glenn Novak picked up 9 yards on 2 roll outs, failed to get the necessary yard on a 3rd and 1 at the Benie 44 and booted to the Tiger 36 where Dave Sheegog ran it back 2 yards.

Halfback Edgar Herring got 6 yards in 2 tries and then his running mate Bob Hewitt broke inside the Benie left end from his own 44 to the visitors’ 9 for a 47-yard gain. Herring went off tackle for 9 yards for the touchdown and the Tigers were on the scoreboard with 8:04 to be played. Herring made the 2 extra points on a run over his left side.

Benedictine had the ball for 2 plays including the kickoff when safety man Nick Pribich intercepted a Novak pass on the 50 for the Tigers. A Massillon pass was incomplete and on second down, Hewitt went off his right side and down the west sideline for a 50-yard touchdown romp. Fullback Jim Lawrence scored the extra points and the Tigers led 16-0 with 5:57 to play in the first quarter.
Benedictine moved from its 32 to its 47 where Konrad Kmetz punted out of bounds at the Massillon 22. Massillon moved from its 22 to the Benie 47 in 9 plays where Kanner punted to the 12 when the Tigers ran out of downs. Jack Dienes returned to the 15.

THE BENIES picked up 5 yards in 3 tries and Kmetz went back to kick on a 4th and 5. However, linebacker Paul Marks broke through and blocked the kick and defensive end Dave Whitfield picked up the ball about the 6 and went in for the score making it 22-0 with 9:06 to go in the second quarter. The extra point try failed.

Three plays netted the Benies 7 yards after the kickoff and Massillon got the ball on a punt at its own 48.

Seven plays later a 52-yard drive sparked by an 11-yard gain by quarterback Steve Kanner and another dazzling run, this one for 20-yard by Hewitt, was climaxed by an 8-yard cut off tackle for a touchdown by Lawrence. Hewitt picked up the extra points and a 30-0 score with 4:38 left to be played in the first half.

The half ended with the Tigers in possession on the Benie 44.

In the third quarter an 8-play, 49-yard Tiger drive stalled on the Benie 10, wasting a
25-yard gain by Herring. With a 4th and 13 for Benedictine on its own 13, the Tigers blocked a punt and recovered the ball in the end zone, but an offside penalty nullified the score and Kmetz kicked out to his 45 where Sheegog returned it to the 25. The Tigers moved in to the Benie 18 from where Herring ran a gauntlet of Benedictine tacklers, twisting out of the arms of the last one at the 5 and scored to make it 46-0.

************

THE CLEVELANDERS then made their deepest penetration to the Massillon 10 from their own 34 in 12 plays. With a 4th and 1 on their own 14 as a result of a penalty, the Bengals’ tried to pass but Tiger safety John Frieg intercepted at the 5 and returned to the 18.

An 82-yard drive in 12 plays highlighted by a 15-yard run by Terry Manson and aided by a 15-yard penalty on the Benies ended when halfback Walt Lemon scored for 19 yards out to make the score 42-0. Junior place-kicker Bill Pearch made his first conversion of the season to put the score at 43-0.

Benedictine never got past its 46 on the following series and punted to Sheegog at the 16, the junior quarterback returning to his 33. The Tigers moved to the Benie 34 from where Sheegog connected with end Rick Paige who took the pass on the 25 and went down the sideline, lunging into the end zone for the score making it 49-0.

Co-captain Don Schenkenberger recovered a Bengal fumble on the Benie 48 with 41 seconds left in the game. The Benies were called for offside and when a disgusted Bengal kicked the official flag, a 15-yard penalty for unsportsman like conduct was called on the visitors putting the ball at the Benie 28. Sheegog hit end Phil Garcia with a 12 yarder putting the ball on the 16. Two passes failed before Sheegog found Paige alone in the end zone for the final tally with 6 seconds left.

Massillon Coach Earle Bruce’s only comment along with surprise that the Tigers were able to score so much on Benedictine, was that his team came up with “a real good offensive effort.” He added, “We had some good blocking, especially at the point of attack by tackles Dennis Morgan and Dennis Rambaud.” Morgan got his man 90 per cent of the time and Rambaud 80 per cent.

ON THE BASIS of the movies grades, John Muhlbach, center and co-captain, was named player of the week, guard Tom Whitfield the lineman of the week and Edgar Herring the back of the week.

Muhlbach received an overall grade of 67 per cent and was credited with 10 tackles and 1 assist. Whitfield got a 66 per cent grade, was accredited with 4 tackles and 6 assists, applied pressure on the Benedictine passer, and blocked a Benedictine punt.

Herring got an 84 per cent grade. The movies showed Herring did a real fine job of blocking.

BENEDICTINE – 0
Ends – Petrus, Hodakievic, Ciccone, Kane, Pilcavage.
Tackles – Iwan, McManamon, Koprowski, Inman, Russ.
Guards – Busi, Morgan, Treska, Hyclak, Braschwitz.
Center – Baumbick.
Backs – Novak, Ellis, Kmetz, Marn, Dienes, Scanlon, Roff, Mihalek, Grim.

MASSILLON – 55
Ends – Goodnough, Paige, Crone, B. Williams, Gilmore, Franklin,
Garcia, McGuire, Pollock, Lash, D. Whitfield.
Tackles – Croop, Morgan, Binge, Hartley, Petroff, Paul, Anderson.
Guards – Zorger, Larsuel, Richards, Whitfield, Mazon, T. Whitfield.
Centers – Muhlbach, Biddle, Rambaud, F. Williams, Hartman.
Backs – Kanner, Sheegog, Pribich, Frieg, Schenkenberger, Marks,
Shanor, James, Foster, Herring, Hewitt, Lemon, Schaar,
Lawrence, Healy, Conti.

BENEDICTINE …………… 0 0 0 0 – 0
MASSILLON ……………. 16 14 6 19 – 55

Touchdowns – Herring 2 (runs of 9 and 18 yards), Paige 2 (passes
of 34 and 16 yards from Sheegog), Hewitt (50-yard
run), D. Whitifield (6-yard run with blocked kick
recovery), Lawrence (8-yard run), Lemon (19-yard
run).

Extra Points – Herring 2 (run), Lawrence 2 (run), Hewitt 2 (run),
Pearch 1 (kick).

Officials:
Referee – Don Welsh (Wooster).
Umpire – Russ Kemper (Cincinnati).
Head Linesman – Clarence Rich (Canton).
Field Judge – C.W. Rupp (Cuyahoga Falls).

Statistics
Mass. Ben’e
First downs—rushing 18 5
First downs—passing 4 4
First downs—penalties 2 0
Total first downs 24 9
Yards gained rushing 397 109
Yards lost rushing 4 57
Net yards gained rushing 393 52
Net yards gained passing 79 75
Total yards gained 472 127
Passes attempted 17 13
Passes completed 4 5
Passes intercepted by 2 0
Yardage, on passes intercepted 0 0
Times kicked off 9 1
Kickoff average (yards) 47.2 33
Kickoff returns (yards) 12 166
Times punted 2 6
Punt average (yards) 25.5 30.3
Punt returns (yards) 49 4
Had punts blocked 0 1
Fumbles 1 2
Lost fumbled ball 0 1
Penalties 1 7
Yards penalized 5 54
Touchdowns rushing 5 0
Touchdowns passing 2 0
Touchdowns by miscellaneous 0 0
Miscellaneous 1 0
Total number of plays 66 54

John Mulbach