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1950: Massillon 33, Canton McKinley 0

November 18, 1950July 6, 2017
by Eric Smith

22,000 See Tigers Smash McKinley Bulldogs 33-0
Massillon Gridders Win Third Consecutive Ohio Football Championship

By LUTHER EMERY

The ambitions of a coach and football team were realized in Tiger stadium Saturday afternoon as 22,000 fans saw the Washington high school Tigers beat down the challenge of Canton McKinley’s Bulldogs by the impressive score of 33-0 to win their third consecutive state championship and their first Ohio conference crown.

Today Coach Chuck Mather was in possession of his first untied and undefeated seasons in his coaching career and the Tigers were able to boast that they had defeated Canton McKinley by more points than any other Massillon team had been able to measure the Bulldogs in the 55 games that have been played between the two teams since they first met in 1894.

Then too, the Tigers can have the additional honor of being the team that caught up with Canton McKinley. The series is all even now, each school having won 25 games, while five resulted in tie scores. There was a bit of personal pride for the 20 senior members of the squad too – they closed their football careers by having played on three state championship teams.

Not many boys in Ohio have been able to make that kind of boast. In fact only in Massillon have boys played on championship teams during their three years in high school. No other school has been able to win three in a row but Washington high since the Associated Press originated its organized football poll. The Tigers won seven in a row from the season of 1935 through 1941.

While the Tigers will not be officially crowned champions until the Associated Press announces the final standings in its poll this week – there’s no doubt as to how it will turn out – and the Tigers should be a unanimous choice for the title. Anyone voting otherwise will be voting sentiment and not sense for the Massillon team has been on top in the pool from the very first week of the football season.

It is the only time in the history of the poll, according to Fritz Howell, the originator, that one team has held the top rung every week of balloting.

In winning the Ohio Scholastic conference crown the Tigers beat all other teams in the conference.
* * *
THE TIGERS were magnificent in victory – the Bulldogs game in defeat.

There was no question as to the local team’s superiority. It is shown not only in the score but throughout the statistics, and while the Tigers could easily have won by several more touchdowns (they lost the ball three times on fumbles inside the 20-yard line) there also were anxious moments, particularly early in the third quarter when McKinley moved the ball deep into Tiger territory, only to lose it on the 22 when Tom Zeller pounced on Sam Parks’ fumble. It was one of two times the red and black were able to penetrate the danger zone.

The other was in the final period when Lou Mariano uncorked the most brilliant run of the game as he traveled some 100 yards in moving forward 41, ran out of steam and out of bounds on the Tigers 29.

Bill Stoner ended that threat on the next play when he made a brilliant interception of George Ramsayer’s pass on the 18. These two maneuvers accounted for 83 yards of Canton’s 165 net yardage.

The Tigers on the other hand rolled up 432 net yards, all but 54 through rushing. The 54 were made by the completion of two of 11 forward passes. McKinley made all but four of its yards by rushing, completing only one of nine passes for four yards. First downs were 14 to 7 in Massillon’s favor.
* * *
THE GAME ran true to form, and Canton’s hopes of overcoming Massillon power with spirit failed. The Bulldogs though still fighting as the game ended, were as badly a beaten team as ever limped off the field in a Massillon-Canton engagement.

With many of them called upon to play defensive and offensive football in contrast to the two-platoon system used by the Tigers, hardly a play was run off the last seven minutes without time being taken out for one or more exhausted McKinley players. Two of them, Ronald Wilds, who played a great game and who was virtually walking on his knees throughout the second half, and Chuck Gelal were taken to Mercy hospital Canton after the game for observation but were found not to be seriously hurt.

It was Wilds who caused the Tigers most of their trouble. They never knew where he would be – over the center or off to the side and as a result were unable to trap him successfully. Because of his wandering tactics he messed up many a Tiger play. After the game Coach Chuck Mather paid him the tribute of being among the best linemen the Tigers have faced all season.
* * *
THE LOCAL gridders escaped without a serious injury – in fact they haven’t had one all season – and it was their gratitude for this, that before they began celebrating the fruits of victory, they locked themselves in their squad room and before Coach Mather or assistants knew what was going on, were on their knees with one of their number, Ray Lane, leading them in a prayer of Thanksgiving. Voluntary, unrehearsed and coming from the heart, it goes down as a red letter page in their championship history.

You can name your own individual starts. We’ll take both platoons as our champions and not single out anyone for special honors. Fred Waikem, Bob Howe, Lane and Ernie Russell made the touchdowns. Waikem two of them, but without the assistance of the big Tiger line, the blocking of their teammates and the ability of the defensive platoon to throw back McKinley’s challenge to gain ground, the glories of victory might not have been attained.

Every player made his contribution to seeing that the Tigers won the title. Tom Zeller flopped on a couple of Canton fumbles at the right time, Stoner and Bob Khoenle pulled down Bulldog passes to regain the ball for the Tigers, Jerry Krisher booted three points from placement after touchdown, Wilfred Brenner caught one pass and Russell another with Fred Close doing the pitching as well as handling the ball like a magician from his
T-quarterback position. Frank Gibson, Glenn Tunning, Jim Reichenbach, Jim Schumacher and Cliff Streeter beat down the McKinley line time and again to open touchdown avenues for the ball carriers, and always there was that fine defensive line of Allen Murray, Jim Geiser, Rudy Grunder, Dick Woolbert, Tom Zeller, and Jack Strobel to smash the charge of the Bulldogs so that the line backers Chuck Vliet, Joe Gleason and Lane could lower the boom with head-on tackles. There are three line backers Coach Mather and Elwood Kammer, his secretary of defense, wouldn’t trade for any other three boys in the state.
* * *
THE BRUNT of the ball carrying was shared by Howe, Russell and Waikem. Big Bob lugged it 21 times for a net of 126 yards, while Russell and Waikem each had it 13 times for net gains of 139 and 100 yards respectively.

Mariano’s long run of 41 yards gave him the edge over parks in the ball carrying department for the Bulldogs. Each carried 17 times, Mariano gaining 83 net yards and Parks 45. Leuby Popoff plunged for 33 in six carries.

Seldom has a Massillon-Canton game been played under a more favorable setting. Sunshine and a temperature that was not too cold made it pleasant for both fans and teams.

Only a strong breeze interfered with the game, passers having difficulty throwing against it and receivers misjudging the carry of the ball as it rode the wind right out of reach of their outstretched arms.
* * *
THE TIGERS had set as their point objective – to beat McKinley by a greater score than any other Massillon team. They succeeded by a point but failed by two points from reaching the greatest point difference of 35, set by the Canton McKinley team of 1942 which shellacked the Tigers 35-0.

The Massillon team the following year, 1943 was undefeated and untied and this season is the first perfect one since that time. The 1945 eleven was undefeated, but was tied five times.

Ever since he began coaching at Brilliant in 1937, Chuck Mather has never had a perfect season. He has been undefeated on several occasions but always there was a tie to spoil the mark of perfection. He wound up with a perfect record at Leetonia one year, but stuck his neck out in a post-season game with Salem which ended in a tie.
* * *
THE TIGERS had hoped to score a touchdown the first time they got the ball against the Bulldogs but failed to do so and had to await a second chance. Then they marched 68 yards for the marker and crossed the Bulldog goal after seven minutes and 36 seconds of the first period had expired.

They score again in the second quarter after Zeller covered a Canton fumble on the Bulldog 39, and wound up the game in grand fashion by pushing over three T.D.’s in the final period on drives of 42 yards, 47 yards and 71 yards.

Seldom have seen a ballgame in which the ball was lost so many times on fumbles. The Tigers fumbled four times and lost the ball on three of them, while Canton lost the ball on all of its five fumbles. In other words one of nine fumbles made by the two teams was recovered and that by Massillon.
* * *
UNFORTUNATELY the game got a bit rough in the last period which resulted in two players being ejected by the officials. Had the officials asserted their authority earlier they might have prevented some of the punches that preceded the expulsion.

The hardest any ball carrier hit a player here this season occurred late in the game when Bob Howe ran over Mariano. The latter gamely picked himself off the ground shaken but uninjured.

The Tigers lost the toss and McKinley elected to receive. The Bulldogs gained nine yards and advanced the ball to the 28 in three attempts from which spot Ramsayer punted to Stoner who caught the ball on the 50 but was dropped in his tracks. Waikem went for two yards and Howe 11 for a first down on the 37. McKinley drew an offside penalty, putting the ball on the 32. Russell added a yard. Two passes went for naught and Howe stumbled and lost a yard.

Canton took over the ball on its 32, Mariano and Parks gained eight yards on three attempts and Stoner returned Ramsayer’s punt two yards to his 32. The Tigers broke Howe loose for a 45-yard run. Out in the clear, he was caught in a diving, desperation tackle by Parks who managed to snag one heel, enough to throw Howe off balance on the 23. Howe went for six more to move the ball to the 17. Close picked up a Tiger fumble, eluded two Bulldog tacklers, then sped around left end for a first down on the seven. Howe put it on the three and Waikem went the last three on a quick opener. Krisher’s attempted kick was wide of the uprights and the Tigers led 6-0.
* * *
NEITHER TEAM was able to gain an appreciable amount of ground in the remainder of the first period and in the first half of the second quarter until Zeller pounced on Parks’ fumble on the Bulldog 39. Howe and Russell gained but three yards in two attempts and the Tigers drew a five-yard penalty after Waikem had gone for what would have been a first down. He struck right back, however and in two plays took the leather to the 27. Close was tossed for a loss of three but Waikem was running hard and picked up 13 for a first down on the 17. He went for another eight to the nine and Howe exploded through his left guard from that point for the touchdown to give the Tigers a 13-0 lead.

The Tigers made two more bids for touchdowns in the same period. After Khoenle had gotten the ball for the Tigers by intercepting a McKinley pass, Waikem missed a first down by inches on the 19 and Canton took over.

The longest pass of the game, a 45-yard peg to Russell produced a first down on the 16 but Waikem fumbled on third down and the Bulldogs covered the ball on their 14 to end the threat.

The Tigers received at the start of the second half and got seven yards over the midfield stripe before stopped by Canton which forced Reichenbach to punt. He got off a good kick but it bounced back 15 yards to the McKinley 34.

The McKinley offense, which gained but one first down the first half, flashed for the first time during the afternoon and the Canton stands had good reason to shout with joy. It was Mariano for 11 yards, Parks for 12, Mariano and Parks for a first down on the Tiger 29. Mariano for four more and then a fumble by Parks that the Tigers covered on their own 22. The fumble was one of many bad breaks received by the Bulldogs throughout the day. It stopped what looked like a sure touchdown drive.
* * *
THE TEAMS took turns punting and fumbling the rest of the period. Zeller covered one Canton fumble on the Bulldog 22, but the Tigers obliged when Howe fumbled on the 13 and Canton covered. On the next to the last play of the quarter Stoner covered Parks’ fumble on the Canton 42. Howe reeled off 13 yards to end the period and set the Tigers in forward motion.

Waikem ran for 12 more and a first on the 17 but the drive petered out when Wilds bounded in to cause Close to fumble a hand off, Gelal covering for McKinley. Stopped with a net gain of three yards on as many plays, Ramsayer punted poorly to the Tiger 29. On the first play Russell went through left tackle for a touchdown and Krisher’s extra point made the score 20-0.

The Tigers fourth touchdown came soon after Mariano’s brilliant 41-yard run to the Massillon 29. Almost every Tiger player got a hand on him it seemed, some of them taking two shots at him as he headed for the west sidelines then reversed his field and shook off tacklers until he went out of bounds.

On the next play Ramsayer fired a long pass that Bill Stoner knocked down with one hand and grabbed with the other on the 18. It was mostly Waikem the rest of the way down the field. He ran 27 yards to his 45, and after Russell had moved it over the midfield stripe, too off on a 47-yard jaunt to the Promised Land.

The final touchdown came after Ramsayer had punted out on the Tiger 29. Close’s pass to Brenner gained nine yards and Waikem ambled for nine more. Howe went for four, Russell eight, and a 15-yard penalty inflicted on Canton for unnecessary roughness put the ball on the 26. Howe cut the distance by 19 yards on a jaunt around right end and lane went the last seven through the left side of the line.

State Champions

MASSILLON
ENDS – Murray, Zeller, W. Brenner, Streeter, B. Brenner.
TACKLES – Geiser, Grunder, Gibson, Schumacher, Strobel, Mitchell.
GUARDS – Gleason, Woolbert, Tunning Reichenbach, J. Howe.
CENTERS – Krisher, Dowd, Martin.
QUARTERBACKS – Stoner, Close, Francisco.
HALFBACKS – Khoenle, Russell, Waikem, Grier, Lane.
FULLBACKS – Vliet, Howe, Stewart.

McKINLEY
ENDS – Killins, Gelal, Zander, Singleterry, Poole.
TACKLES – Dempsey, Ruble, Winderl.
GUARDS – Wilds, Price, Edwards, Shaffer.
CENTER – Dividio.
QUARTERBACKS – Ramsayer, Schrade.
HALFBACKS – Parks, Mariano, Horner, Prophet.
FULLBACKS – Popoff, Cast.

Score by periods:
Massillon 6 7 0 20 33

Statistics
Mass. Canton
First downs 14 7
Passes attempted 11 9
Passes completed 2 1
Had passes intercepted 1 2
Yards gained passing 54 4
Yards gained rushing 414 181
Total yards gained 464 185
Yards lost 32 20
Net yards gained 432 165
Times punted 4 7
Average punt (yards) 22 28
Yards punts returned by 44 8
Times kicked off 6 1
Average kickoff (yards) 44 35
Yards kickoffs returned by 12 66
Times fumbled 4 5
Lost ball on fumbles 3 5
Times penalized 4 3
Yards penalized 40 25

History

1950: Massillon 35, Barberton 6

November 10, 1950July 6, 2017
by Eric Smith

Tigers Smash Barberton’s State Championship Hopes
Local Team Tightens Hold On Ohio Crown By Trouncing Magics 35-6

By LUTHER EMERY

If a lot of Massillon football fans have heart aliments today, blame it on the Washington high school Tigers who last night spotted Barberton a six-point lead, then rose in all their power to score 35 points the last two periods to whip the Magics 35-6 before a capacity crowd of 22,000 in Tiger stadium.

It was Barberton’s first loss of the season, its last game of the season, and knocked it out of any chance of claiming the Ohio high school football title and left Massillon without a good challenger for the crown.

The Tigers have one game yet to play, that the traditional battle with Canton McKinley next Saturday afternoon, preparations for which already started with a little pre-game rally in the stadium immediately after the Barberton victory.

The throng that turned out to see the state’s two titans battle it out last night was one of the largest ever to attend a game in the Massillon stadium, and was treated to one of the best games ever played here.

For two periods Barberton had a grasp on the state championship as the Magics scored a second period touchdown on a 25-yard pass from Dick Hunter that Bob Harris caught brilliantly in the end zone. It was the fist time the Tigers had trailed this season and when they went to the dressing room at half-time the game was very much in doubt.

They won it there. Coach Chuck Mather and his assistants showed them what was wrong – how they should spread their defense more to combat the Barberton offense and how to take out a tackle who had been playing in the Massillon backfield most of the first half.
* * *
WHEN THEY came out for the second half the only likeness of the two first half teams was their uniforms. Where Barberton Magic had practically matched the Tigers yard for yard the first half, it failed to dismay anyone the last two periods. The locals were complete masters of the situation. Where Barberton had scored six points the first half and rolled up 115 net yards, it was held scoreless the last two periods with the net gain of six yards. The Tigers on the other hand shoved their offense in high gear to score five touchdowns, kick as many points and roll up 168 net yards from scrimmage compared with 115 yards the first half.

The Tigers second half attack came like a bolt out of the blue. Massillon fans were hoping but few expected the avalanche of 35 points to pour over the Barberton goal the last two quarters when the locals were able to score none the first half.

But they struck quickly, pushing over a T.D. the first time they got the ball with only two minutes and nine seconds of the period having expired.

It came when Harris’ punt was blocked by Allen Murray and Cliff Streeter picked up the ball and ran it back to the 15-yard line. It took four plays to get it over, Bob Howe finally lugging it across the last 10 on a lateral sweep around left end. Jerry Krisher kicked the extra point that made the score 7-6 and punt the Tigers in front to stay.
* * *
AS IT TURNED out, that would have been enough, but the point hungry Tigers struck back later on in the third period with a 43-yard march that ended with Freddie Waikem going over on fourth down from the two-yard line.

The fourth quarter had hardly gotten under way until the Tigers struck again, to finish a drive they had started in the third period. It began on the Barberton 42 and ended with Waikem going over from the one-yard line.

With only three minutes and 48 seconds of the game left to play, the locals scored their fourth touchdown. It began with Bruce Brenner covering Hunter’s fumble on the Barberton 42 and ended with Howe smashing over the goal line from three yards out.

Only seconds remained when the final touchdown was scored. A 50-yard punt return by Bill Stoner put the ball on the Barberton 23. Freddie Close’s pass to Wilfred Brenner moved it up to the four-yard line and Howe went over for the six points. The game ended on the next kickoff.
* * *
THAT’S THE WAY the touchdowns were made and while it reads easy in the summary, it was far from that.

The Magics, wired to top pitch, didn’t come to Massillon just for the ride. They were convinced in their own minds they could beat the Tigers and they played superb ball until the power and weight of the local team began taking its toll as the game progressed.

The visitors were literally brilliant at times, particularly Harris who intercepted two passes the first half with almost impossible catches and scored the Magics’ touchdown with a leap high in the air to take the ball away from two Massillon defenders who were in just as good a position to block it.

Both teams got bad breaks, but the devil seemed more unkind to Massillon than Barberton the first half.

The Tigers, for instance were well on their way to tie the score in the second period when Howe lost the ball on a fumble on the five-yard line which probably would have been a first down coming up had he held on to it.

A fumble and two intercepted passes mean throwing away three opportunities to advance the ball.
* * *
THE STREAK of hard luck and the apparent inability of the Tigers to rally their forces had local fans wondering the first half if this was going to be a repetition of the 1949 Mansfield game, which was the last game lost by the Tigers.

Probably every fan in the stands thought Tiger Coach Chuck Mather got up his dander between halves, but he says he didn’t, and took the time to try to correct his team’s mistakes.

“The boys just decided they had to win this one,” he said, “so they did.”

It was evident from the first tackle on the kickoff opening the second half that the Massillon gridders were charged for greater action. They tackled more viciously and Barberton’s attempts to advance the ball gained but three yards on three plays and when they tried to punt out, Massillon linemen broke through to bat down the leather, which made it possible for Streeter to scoop it up and get down to the 15-yard line and pave the way for the locals first T.D.

The locals threw a scare at Barberton several times in the first half but always the Magics managed to wiggle out of it. After experiencing their first bad break when Ernie Russell slipped on the four-yard line with the kickoff, Freddie Waikem on the first play from scrimmage broke through the entire Barberton team, had a lead of six feet but couldn’t hold it and was hauled down from behind on his 47. A five-yard penalty on a pass play that would have netted a first down in Barberton territory ended that particular threat. A punting duel ensured and when Harris intercepted Close’s pass on the Barberton seven he started the Magics on a drive that went 93 yards to score. There was no luck involved – just good, hard running by Charlie Mitchell and Hunter combined with two passes, thrown by Hunter to Harris, one of 17 yards and another of 25 that produced the Barberton touchdown. It was registered on the third play of the second period. Hunter’s attempted kick was wide of the posts.
* * *
THE TIGERS charged back with the ball after the kickoff, Howe getting away for a
39-yard run to the Barberton 25 that was called back when the Tigers were charged with offside.

With the help of a 15-yard penalty for roughing the kicker, the Tigers got back to a first down on the Barberton 24 but there they faded and the visitors took over the ball.

The Tigers forced Barberton to punt, and the Massillon eleven once again moved the ball well and was apparently headed for a touchdown when Howe’s fumble was recovered by the alert Dick Stefanic on the five-yard line.
* * *
MASSILLON FANS would much rather have received the kickoff at the start of the second half than booted the ball to Barberton, but as it was it turned out better the latter way when Streeter ran Harris’ blocked punt back to the 15-yard line. Four plays netted but five yards, so the ball was pitched out to Howe who ran hard to his left for the touchdown while his teammates did a good job of taking out the Magic secondary.

Howe did most of the lugging on the second touchdown drive after Harris had kicked out on his own 43. On the first play big Bob ran around left end for 19 yards and a first on the Barberton 24. He went for eight more, Waikem for 10 and How for four more. On another pitch-out, Howe got down to the four-yard line where Waikem knifed through tackle for the score.

The Tigers started their third touchdown in the last minute of the third period after Harris had punted out on his 42. Waikem went around right end for 10 before the period ended. He took it two more times for five and 23 yards, dribbling the ball the second time, but recovering. Howe moved it to the one where Waikem went over.

The boys did a lot of hammering to get their fourth touchdown after Bruce Brenner recovered Hunter’s fumble on the 42. Howe got down to the 23 in two tries, Russell hit for eight and Waikem for two and a first down on the 13. Waikem in two tries got a first down on the three where Howe went over.
* * *
BARBERTON got its first, first down of the second half on the next series but the forward motion was throttled and Stoner took Harris’ long punt and raced brilliantly 50 yards up the sideline to a first on the 23. It only took three plays to get it over from there, Close passing to Wilfred Brenner for eight and 11 yards and Howe taking the ball over on a right end sweep.

The Tigers won the game not only on the scoreboard but in the statistical column as well. Only in the art of forward passing were they beaten. They had a hard time passing, and didn’t complete a throw until the last series of the game.

They made 13 first downs to Barberton’s seven and gained 293 net yards from scrimmage to Barberton’s 121.

In one department, punting, the Tigers had a terrific advantage, Jim Reichenbach kicking a charmed ball that bounced right for him for a 43,6 average, while Harris, always, rushed by the Tiger line, had one punt blocked, and kicked another straight up in the air for a 25.8 average.
* * *
EVERYBODY had their favorite players, but offensively from this department we thought the hard running of Bob Howe stood out for the Tigers. He big boy is just beginning to come in to his own as he demonstrated on one occasion when he rammed for five yards with five Barberton players on his back.

Defensively the whole Tiger team played great ball, but the line backing of Joe Gleason and Ray Lane, particularly in stopping Barberton’s end sweeps and reverses, had plenty of sparkle. On one occasion in particular, Lane knocked out three blockers and got a hunk of the ball carrier. That is desire.

Barberton’s Hunter, Harris and Mitchell played well on offense, while Tackle Ed Balash stood up well defensively.

Coach Junie Ferrall of the Magics came over to the Tiger dressing room after the game, congratulated Coach Chuck Mather and was told by the latter, “We had a good bit of weight on you, June.”

“I was afraid we couldn’t stand up the whole game,” the Barberton coach replied, “You have a great team.”

Amen.

Statistics
MASS. BARB.
First downs 13 7
Passes attempted 8 13
Passes completed 2 6
Had passes intercepted 3 0
Yards gained passing 19 52
Yards gained rushing 287 97
Total yards gained 306 149
Yards lost 13 26
Net yards gained 293 121
Times punted 3 10
Average punt (yards) 43 25
Yards punts returned by 71 0
Times kicked off 6 2
Average kickoff (yards) 43 47
Yards kickoffs returned by 3 86
Times fumbled 3 2
Lost ball on fumbles 1 1
Times penalized 6 2
Yards penalized 80 20

History

1950: Massillon 39, Toledo Waite 0

November 3, 1950July 6, 2017
by Eric Smith

Tigers’ Hard Running Attack Smashes Waite 39-0
First Team Rolls Up 33 Points First Half Then Retires To Bench

By LUTHER EMERY

A terrific running attack packed with hard blocking smashed Toledo Waite 39-0 before 9,592 fans in Tiger stadium Friday evening and gave Washington high school its eighth straight triumph of the season.

With big Bob Howe, Ernie Russell and Freddie Waikem ripping off long gains, the Tigers were unstoppable until Coach Chuck Mather took matters in hand and himself checked the onslaught by filling the ranks with substitutes the last two periods of the game. Not a regular played offensive football in the second half, and 42 players in all got into the melee.

A driving rain isn’t supposed to be good for offensive football, but the Tigers plunged into the dampness as though they were out to win dashes in a swimming race.
* * *
RAY LANE went over for the first touchdown from three yards out on the seventh play of the game. Then came three T.D.’s in a row with the Tigers scoring on the first play from scrimmage after getting possession of the ball. Howe romped for two of them on runs of 63 yards and 84 yards and Fred Close tossed to Cliff Streeter for 60 yards and the fourth touchdown of the game. It took two plays to get the fifth, Ernie Russell crossing the goal on a 24-yard jaunt.

That represented all of the scoring in the first half and with undefeated Barberton coming up for a game next week, that was enough. Mather rested his team the last two periods and the subs were able to score but once, Paul Francisco tossing a six-yard pass to Tom Zellers in the fourth quarter for the final score. Jerry Krisher had his poorest night of the season at kicking extra points, missing on half of his attempts as he booted the wet ball over three out of six times.

It was a small crowd, as Massillon crowds go, but a grave group of fans who sat in typical Massillon-Toledo Waite weather to watch the proceedings.

Not once during the entire game did it stop raining and fans dripped out of the stadium in a downpour.

Protected by a tarpaulin which was not skinned off until shortly before game time, the field while slippery was far short of the quagmire it would have been had it not been covered. As it was, the numbers of players were easily legible at the end of the game.
* * *
SELDOM HAS a football team rolled up as much yardage in the rain as the Tigers reeled off last night. They gained 451 from scrimmage including 103 by passing and 348 by rushing, and with only 26 yards lost on scrimmage plays had a net total of 425 for their evening’s performance to 115 for Waite.

Easily the outstanding ground gainer though he carried the ball but three times was Bob Howe. He went 18 on his first attempt to put the leather on the three-yard line in position for Lane to score the initial T.D. of the game, and this effort added to his two touchdown runs gave him 165 yards for three ball carrying attempts. Not bad – 55 yards per try.

Waikem and Russell also ran well, and the hardest luck player on the squad, Bob Grier, had a 76-yard touchdown run called back in the fourth quarter because a teammate was found guilty of holding.

The backs were able to run only because of some superb blocking accorded them. The Tiger line mowed down the Waite forward wall, and end sweeps which provided most of the long bursts, were accompanied by terrific protection and the fanciest downfield blocking seen here this year.
* * *
THERE WAS considerable deception in ball handling, too. This clever slight of hand work on the part of quarterback Close and a good fake by Russell largely made possible Howe’s longest run. Practically the entire Waite team went for Russell who charged up through the middle and most fans also thought he had the ball until they saw big Bob streaking down the sideline with three blockers ahead of him.

You can’t single out any particular blocker without being unjust to the other members of the team. They were all looking for somebody to knock over last night, and that’s the way football games are won. Coach Mather only hopes they will be that sharp next Friday when Barberton comes here.

Not once did the Tigers punt. They were going to try it on one occasion but Jim Reichenbach juggled the wet ball, tried to run with it, tried to boot it on the run, missed it, and the Tigers lost the oval.

If you look in the first down department, however, you would wonder how the local team ever made 39 points and still did not punt. You have to get into the details for the reason. The Tigers only had eight first downs, but long runs for touchdowns do not show in the first down column which is the big reason for the small figure. The locals might have punted on one other occasion but instead lost the ball on downs. Then too they lost the ball twice on fumbles and had three passes intercepted, all of which retards an offense and cuts down on chances of making first down yardage.
* * *
THE TIGERS experimented with several types of defense against Waite’s single wing attack, but could hardly tell from the progress of the game which was the better since Waite did not have too much offensive power. In fact the only time the Indians reached any depth in Tiger territory was through covering a Massillon fumble and intercepting a Tiger pass. They were unable to punch the ball over the 45.
Waite, however, appeared to have plenty of blockers on its sweeps and reverses, but the Massillon secondary came up fast to nail the ball carriers after the first line had spilled the interference.

Buddy Peacock, Waite’s fleet freshman halfback, got into the game early and was easily the best runner on the visiting team. He didn’t gain a whole lot of ground but he is only a freshman and should be a good one some day.

Both teams came out of the contest without serious injuries.

The Tigers lost no time scoring their first touchdown. They won the toss, elected to receive and Streeter brought the kickoff back to his 28. On the first play of the game Russell went 23 yards to the Waite 49. The Tigers were set back yards for being in motion on the next play, but Waikem got back eight and Russell swept left end for a first down on the 36. He took it two more times in succession gaining three yards and 12 yards for a first on the 21. Howe ran hard around right end for 18 yards and a first down on the three and Lane went over from that point.
* * *
WAITE was held for downs on the Tiger 37 after recovering a Massillon fumble and on the first play Howe romped 63 yards to score. Krisher who had kicked the point after Lane’s touchdown, missed this time and the quarter ended at 13-0.

In a little burst of offense, Waite moved the ball from its own 30 to the Massillon 45, but had to punt, the ball going out on the Tiger 16. On the first play Howe swept his left end for 84 yards and his second touchdown.

Stopped again after the kickoff, Williams punted out on the Massillon 40. Close called for a pass play, ran back and fired the ball to Streeter who made a good catch on the 35 and ran the remaining distance to score. Krisher’s point made it 27-0. Bill Stoner covered a Waite fumble on the second play after the kickoff, on the 30-yard line. Waikem ran for six yards and Russell went through on a quick opener for the remaining 24. Krisher missed this attempted kick and the score at the half stood at 33-0.

The second, third and fourth stringers hammered away throughout the last two periods but it was not until midway in the fourth that they were able to score. Once Lee Nussbaum got off a 26-yard run to the 18 but the attack faded when Waite recovered a fumble on its 15. When they finally did score the subs took the ball on downs from Waite on the Indians’ 41 and overcame a couple of five-yard penalties on a pass, Paul Francisco to Bill Stoner that netted a first down on the 17. Francisco was thrown for a 13-yard loss trying to pass, but Nussbaum got back eight of them and Grier on a double reverse ran hard to the six-yard line where Francisco tossed to Zeller for the final touchdown.

Victory No. 8

MASSILLON
ENDS – W. Brenner, Streeter, Murray, Zellers, Corbett, B. Brenner, Tassoff, Keen, Allison.
TACKLES—Gibson, Schumacher, Grunder, Geiser, Strobel, Martin, Woolbert, Mitchell.
GUARDS – Tunning, Reichenbach, Moyer, Gleason, J. Howe, Corral, Snyder.
CENTERS – Krisher, Dowd, Gable.
QUARTERBACKS – Close, Francisco, Misere.
HALFBACKS – Waikem, Russell, Stoner, Nussbaum, Khoenle, Grier, Straughn, Lane, Climo, Vliet.
FULLBACKS – R. Howe, Stewart.

TOLEDO WAITE
ENDS – Davis, Turner, Galuzny, Whitner.
TACKLES – Cummings, Poose, Carter, Thomas.
GUARDS – Koroloff, Ahumada, Fromley, Tschirret.
CENTERS – Gunner, Keaton.
QUARTERBACKS – Petroff, Smith.
HALFBACKS – Zieroff, Eckardt, Peacock, Blanton, Kohn.
FULLBACKS – Sterger, Williams, Galyas.

Score by periods:
Massillon 13 20 0 6 39

Touchdowns: Massillon – Lane; Howe 2; Streeter; Russell; Zeller.

Point after touchdown: Massillon – Krisher 3 (placekicks).

Referee – Tehan.
Umpire – Heinold.
Head Linesman – Dunton.
Field Judge – Gross.

Statistics
Mass. Waite
First downs 8 6
Passes attempted 14 12
Passes completed 3 2
Had passes intercepted 3 2
Yards gained passing 103 13
Yards gained rushing 348 116
Total yards gained 451 129
Yards lost 26 14
Net yards gained 425 115
Times kicked off 7 1
Average kickoff (yards) 42 48
Yards kickoffs returned by 21 84
Times punted 0 6
Average punt (yards) — 32
Yards punts returned by 5 —
Fumbles 2 2
Lost ball on fumbles 2 1
Times penalized 10 3
Yards penalized 60 35

History

1950: Massillon 23, Warren Harding 6

October 27, 1950July 4, 2017
by Eric Smith

Washington High School Defeats Warren Harding 23-6
Tigers Find Panthers Tough Defensively And Touchdowns Hard To Get

By LUTHER EMERY

Strange things happen in football, and because of the uncertainty Massillon fans for two periods Friday evening clung to the edge of their seats wondering if it was the night when one of those fearful upsets would blast their Washington high school Tigers out of the running for the state championship. But it turned out not to be so and the local gridders through a second half assault smashed their way to a 23-6 victory over a stubborn Warren Panther for their seventh straight triumph of the season.

All was not rain that dampened a large portion of the crowd of 12,571 fans who turned out for the spectacle. Those who sat under the roof, about 99 per cent of whom were Massillon fans, were wet from perspiration as they heaved and puffed with the Tiger football team as it tried to make headway on the visiting eleven.

As ‘twas said – strange things happened; from the first four plays of the game one would have expected the Tiger score to have approached three figures, so easily did Massillon register its initial touchdown. It took the Tigers just four plays to get over the Warren goal after the kickoff, Freddie Waikem getting the last 30 yards after only one minute and 27 seconds of the game had expired.

From there on the going was rough, brother, and you can say that again.

The touchdown represented the only score of the first half, and plenty of Massillon spectators were uneasy when the teams went to the dressing rooms at intermission. And to add to their worries, Tiger Drum Major Russell Mowery, missed catching his baton when he tossed it over the goal post (in itself an ill omen). The witches and bones trotted out in the band show helped to cast a spell over the minds of the skeptical who kept saying to themselves, “this is the night.”

The Tiger football team, however didn’t see what went on between halves. Members were too busy in the dressing room charting the weak spots in the Warren line for a second half assault, and when they came out for the third period, they smashed across for 10 points the first two opportunities they had to carry the ball. Fortunate they did, for Warren had one in the bag that turned out to be the most sensational play of the game, a pass into the flat from Don Stroup to Dennis Pardee who raced 72 yards down the sideline to score. He did it alone and it seemed as though every player in the Tiger lineup slid off his pants before he finally shook himself free.
* * *
HAD THAT touchdown come at the start of the third period instead of the fourth there’s no telling how the game would have wound up. As it was it served no other purpose than to give the visiting rooters an opportunity to release some of their enthusiasm for the Tigers had the game pretty well sacked by that time.

As expected the Panthers threw up a stout defense against the Tigers. They fell apart only once – at the start of the game when the locals raced to their first score. Otherwise it was slam-bang all the way with a sturdy, hard charging line turning back several other Tiger bids to score and throwing Massillon ball carriers for a total loss of 60 yards. Howard Glover, end, and big Bob James were hard to move, the former giving Quarterback Freddie Close a hard time on several occasions when he attempted to pass.

Nevertheless the local team had the advantage in the statistics, marking up 14 first downs to Warren’s four and gaining a net of 322 yards to Warren’s 169 yards.

The visitors did not show any great amount of offense, their ground attack gaining only 87 net yards and their pass offense 82 yards. They might have shown to better advantage in their aerial game had the ball been dry. As it was the slippery leather made it tough on both passers and receivers.
* * *
CLIFF STREETER for instance dropped a fourth period pass from Close that undoubtedly would have resulted in another Massillon touchdown. The ball skidded through his arms on the three-yard line.

On the other hand big Cliff made the catch of the evening in the second period when he hauled in a 51-yard pass from Bob Howe on the 17-yard line. It didn’t get the Tigers anything, however for Warren braced and threw the local team back to the 32.

The victory was not only the Tigers’ seventh of the season but was also their third straight Ohio conference triumph. They are the only undefeated eleven in the conference at the present time.
* * *
THE TIGERS’ last touchdown was one too many for Jerry Krisher, place kicking artist of the local team. Jerry went into the game with nine in a row. He got the first two to make it 11 but the ball sailed wide of the uprights on his third attempt.

However, he kicked a field goal in the third period, the first that he has attempted and the first field goal scored by a Massillon team since Jack Clendening booted one against Akron South on Oct. 14, 1929. Freddie Close put the ball down on the 18-yard line for Krisher’s boot. Jerry now has kicked 33 points after touchdowns out of 38 attempts. He had kicked 26 of the last 27 before he missed last night.

The way the Tigers took off after the opening kick it looked as though they would have a field day last night.

Ernie Russell brought Santti’s kickoff back to his 28 and Waikem immediately took off for a 19-yard run. One more block and he would have traveled the distance. On the next play Russell went to the opposite side to sweep the left end for 21 yards and put the all on the Warren 32. Bob Howe tried a right end lateral but gained only two yards. The visitors evidently had marked him as the man to stop. On the next play Waikem went up the middle on a quick opener and was over the Warren goal before most fans knew who had the ball.
* * *
NEITHER TEAM did much offensively the remainder of the period, though the Tigers twice got over the middle of the field only to be stopped by the Panther defenders.

Howe’s 51-yard peg to Streeter started a definite threat in the second period, but it ended with Russell being thrown for a six-yard loss and Waikem a 12-yard loss as Warren appeared to find a defense that could cope with the Massillon sweeps. Neither team threatened the remainder of the period.

After being dressed down by their coach between halves, the Tigers scored the first time they got their hands on the pigskin in the third period. They kicked off to Warren to start the quarter and forced the visitors to punt back, Pardee kicking out of bounds on the Massillon 37.

The local team overcame a five-yard offside penalty as it drove to a first down on its 48 with Howe doing most of the lugging. Howe and Russell picked up six and nine yards respectively to get the ball down to the Warren 37, where Waikem cracked for four, Howe for nine and Russell for eight. That put the leather 16 yards short of the goal and Howe made everybody from Massillon feel more comfortable when he circled his right end for the remaining 16. Krisher kicked the extra point and it was 14-0.
* * *
WAREEN was stopped after the kickoff and a fine punt return by Russell put the ball on the 30, where the Tiger halfback needed some help by Jim Reichenbach, Jim covering Ernie’s fumble.

Close gambled and pitched the wet ball to Wilfred Brenner for a first down on the 13. When the next three plays gained but five yards, Krisher placekicked his field goal to put the local team ahead 17-0.

The fourth quarter was getting along toward the halfway mark when Stroup tossed a pass into the flat to Pardee. It almost amounted to a long lateral, and Pardee after shaking off two Tiger tacklers set sail for the sideline. He was hit time and again, but Tiger tacklers slid off and he went 72 yards for Warren’s touchdown.

Pesanelli who kicked a field goal last week to beat Alliance was sent in to try for the extra point but missed the conversion.

The Tigers received on their 38 and marched 62 yards for the final touchdown of the game with Waikem and Howe doing most of the ball toting, but Russell going over for the last two yards and the six points.

Statistics
Mass. Warren
First downs 14 4
Passes attempted 8 12
Passes completed 3 3
Had passes intercepted 0 1
Yards gained passing 74 82
Yards gained rushing 306 97
Total yards gained 382 179
Yards lost 60 10
Net yards gained 322 169
Times kicked off 5 2
Average kickoff (yards) 51 47
Yards kickoffs returned by 29 108
Times punted 4 6
Average punt 9yards) 21 27
Yards punts returned by 21 6
Times fumbled 6 4
Lost ball on fumbles 0 1
Times penalized 5 3
Yards penalized 25 15

History

1950: Massillon 56, Mansfield 6

October 20, 1950July 4, 2017
by Eric Smith

Tigers Defeat Mansfield 56-6 For Sixth Victory
Alert Massillon Team Capitalizes On Series Of Breaks To Beat Foe

By LUTHER EMERY

A snarling band of Washington high school Tigers wreaked vengeance in Mansfield Friday evening and brought home a gratifying 56-6 victory over the only team that beat them last year.

It was the Tigers’ sixth straight victory of the season and Mansfield’s third loss of the year.

The game was more bitterly fought than the score would indicate. Don’t let it fool you. The overflow crowd of 14,000 or more fans received plenty of thrills during the first two and one-half periods until Mansfield, victim of two consecutive bad breaks in the third period opened wide the gates and the Tigers poured through with touchdowns to victory.
* * *
THIRTY-FIVE of Massillon’s points went over the goal line in the last 18 minutes and breaks, which cost Mansfield a second touchdown, provided two for the Tigers.

‘Twas well Mansfield did open the doors, for the Tigers were not sharp themselves. At least Coach Chuck Mather and many of his fans didn’t think so, and although Massillon looked the stronger team most of the evening, without the smiles of lady luck, the margin of victory would not have been so great and there would have been no drippings for fans to feast on today.

Ray Lane capitalized on two breaks for the Tigers, grabbing a fumble out of the air on one occasion in the third period and racing 16 yards to score and intercepting a pass and running it back 40 yards into pay dirt for the local team’s eighth and last touchdown of the game.

Covering of a Mansfield fumble on the six-yard line put the locals in position for another of their touchdowns and intercepted passes by Chuck Vliet and Bill Stoner helped set up two more.

The blow that killed Mansfield came in the third period. Up to that time the Tygers had been giving the local team a hard time and the score was 21-6 in Massillon’s favor when Halfback John Auer broke through the center of the line and raced 96 yards for what looked like a touchdown until the ball was called back and Mansfield penalized for being offside. On the very next play John Todd smashed through for 12 yards but the ball squirted from his hands when hit by a Tiger tackler, and popped into the outstretched arms of Lane. He knew what to do with it and was over the Mansfield goal in a leap and a bound. Thus instead of the Tiger lead being cut to one touchdown, it soared to a three touchdown lead.
* * *
MANSFIELD was finished then and there. The Tygers lost spirit and the local team found it easier to score and by the end of the game, Mansfield was a badly beaten team.

It was the first time this season that the breaks had come Massillon’s way, and for the defensive platoon it must be said that it had much to do with making many of the breaks.

The defensive team actually grabbed the honors last night. Without its hard and sturdy tackling and alert pass defense, the game would have been much closer, for the Tiger offense found it hard to go all the way.

The team would click for one, two or three first downs, only to be snuffed out by the Mansfield defense. It gained 334 yards, 85 by passing and lost 39 for a net sum of 295 yards, while Mansfield was held to a net gain of 119 yards of which 52 were made by passing. First downs were 10-4 in favor of the Tigers.
* * *
THE TIGERS had a hard time completing their passes, partially because of poor receiving. Mansfield fared little better with its passing and had five passes intercepted, a figure which should have reached eight or 10 had Massillon players had a little more glue on their fingers. Where Massillon completed five of 15 passes; Mansfield completed but four of 23.

Apparently Coach Augie Morningstar had picked passing as the Tigers weakness, for he kept throwing all evening even though his team was meeting with a little more success in this department than it was at carrying the ball.

The hard hitting Mansfield running attack that looked good here last year, was missing completely. Save for two quick opening thrusts by Auer, the ball carriers had little to be happy about.

Jerry Krisher added eight more points after touchdown to boost his current string without a miss to nine. He has now kicked 24 of his last 25 attempted points from placement. His season’s total is 31 of 35, though he has actually scored 32, having run over an extra point in the opening game of the season.

Jerry missed the uprights once against Latin and Alliance and twice against Canton Lincoln.
* * *
THE TIGERS had to cross the Mansfield goal twice before they scored a legal touchdown. They first time they got their hands on the ball they began a march from the Mansfield 47. On the third play from scrimmage, Ernie Russell went 34 yards to score but the ball was brought back and the Tigers penalized five yards for being offside. Bob Howe tried to pass to Streeter but overthrew his mark. Freddie Waikem dashed 47 yards to the two-yard line and Howe went over for the six points. Jerry Krisher kicked the first of eight consecutive points after touchdown.

The locals were on their way to their second touchdown with a drive that began on the Mansfield 43, when the first period ended. Running hard, Freddie Waikem overcame a five-yard offside penalty to run the ball to the 28. Russell moved it up 16 yards in one attempt and Bill Stoner took it the last 13 on a sweep around his right end.

The Tigers had a chance to score later on in the second quarter when they recovered a fumble on the Mansfield 19, but they eventually fumbled themselves, losing the ball on the 10. They forced Mansfield to punt, however, and Russell ran the ball back well to the Tyger 34. A 15-yard pass from Close to Streeter and a seven-yard run by Howe put the ball on the 12 where Waikem wiggled through to score.
* * *
MANSFIELD capitalized on one of two opportunities to score in the closing minutes of the period. The Tygers covered a fumble on the Massillon eight, but on the first play Joe Gleason intercepted one of Benny Garbetta’s passes and came back eight yards. With less than a minute to play, Close tried to catch Mansfield asleep and tossed a pass that Darce Shasky intercepted and ran back to the 14 before being downed. The Tigers held for three downs, but on fourth down Auer passed to Lee in the end zone for what proved to be Mansfield’s only score of the game.

Mansfield’s bid to narrow the score came in the halfway mark of the third period when Auer raced 96 useless yards for what looked like a touchdown until the ball was called back and Mansfield penalized for being offside. There followed the first of Lane’s two contributions and the Tigers led 28-6.

The locals kicked off but before Mansfield could get beyond its 39-yard mark, Vliet hauled in one of Carbetta’s passes and raced back to the 24. Russell went for four and Waikem for 14. Howe in two plunges went the remaining distance and with Krisher’s boot it was 35-6.

The fourth quarter was well under way when Jack Strobel covered a Mansfield fumble on the six-yard line. Russell was over in two attempts and the score mounted to 42-6.

Two more touchdowns were chalked up in rapid order. Stoner set up the first when he intercepted Robert Matthews’ pass and raced back to the Mansfield 29. On the first play, Close pegged the ball to Streeter for the touchdown. Mansfield again received the kickoff and when attempting to pass, Lane intercepted the ball and committed larceny by running it back for another six points.

That ended the scoring, though the Tigers had another chance when Dick Woolbert blocked a punt and Mitchell fell on the ball on the Mansfield 32.

Victory No. 6

MASSILLON
ENDS – Murray, Zellers, Streeter, W. Brenner, B. Brenner, Corbett., Woolbert.
TACKLES – Strobel, Geiser, Gibson, Grunder, Schumacher, Mitchell.
GUARDS – Reichenbach, Gleason, Tunning, Moyer, J. Howe, Sapia.
CENTERS – Krisher, Dowd.
QUARTERBACKS – Close, Francisco, Khoenle.
HALFBACKS – Stoner, Russell, Grier, Lane, Waikem, Straughn.
FULLBACKS – Vliet, Howe, Nussbaum, Stewart.

MANSFIELD
ENDS – Guy, Diemer, Truax, Fowler, Ewers.
TACKLES – Monastra, Fidler, Lindsay.
GUARDS – Kent, Welker, Esbenshade, Kleer, Stauffer.
CENTERS – Maurer, Means.
QUARTERBACKS – Carbetta, Matthews, Pesano.
HALFBACKS – Shasky, Todd, Schluter, J. Dawkins, Auer.
FULLBACKS – Jordan, Lee, Ziegler.

Score by periods:
Massillon 7 14 14 21 56
Mansfield 0 6 0 0 6

Touchdowns:
Massillon – Howe 2; Lane 2; Stoner; Waikem; Russell; Streeter.
Mansfield – Lee.

Points after touchdown:
Massillon – Krisher 8.

Referee – Dr. Fred Heinold.
Umpire – Earl Gross.
Head Linesman – Elsaes.
Field Judge – Russ.

Statistics
Mass. Mans.
First downs 10 4
Passes attempted 15 23
Passes completed 5 4
Had passes intercepted 3 5
Yards gained passing 85 52
Yards gained rushing 249 84
Total yards gained 334 136
Yards lost 39 17
Net yards gained 295 119
Times kicked off 9 2
Average kickoff (yards) 49.2 51
Yards kickoffs returned by 43 167
Times punted 4 8
Average punt (yards) 43.5 30.5
Yards punts returned by 70 0
Times fumbled 3 3
Lost ball on fumbles 2 3
Times penalized 9 3
Yards penalized 65 25

History

1950: Massillon 29, Alliance 7

October 13, 1950July 4, 2017
by Eric Smith

Massillon 28, Alliance 7

By LUTHER EMERY

Yes, that’s the way it ended folks and Alliance’s “Beat Massillon” and “Remember ‘48’” campaign was buried in the turf of Mount Union stadium by a gallant Tiger team that was wired to top pitch by Coach Chuck Mather.

Lucky for Alliance the score was not higher, and lucky for Coach Mather he made an impromptu speech to his team a moment before the kickoff, when he said, “If you fumble or get a bad break, and forget it. Just set your mind on getting the ball back and doing better next time.”

Chuck must have sensed what was going to happen last night for his team received one bad break after another, lost the ball four times on fumbles, enough to have discouraged many a high keyed eleven, but roared right back and vanquished the foe.

It was not an easy victory. “This was our hardest game,” Coach Mather said after the contest. He can say that again. Alliance was stubborn, always dangerous with the forward pass and only because of a bad break, in which Candy Carroll dropped a pass with a clean field ahead, would have scored two touchdowns instead of one.

Because his team was up against its strongest opponent by far this year, Mather relied almost entirely on his starting offensive and defensive platoons, making few substitutions during the evening except a continual change of halfbacks to carry in plays.

The Tigers scored in every quarter, but they only got two points in the first when big John Borton was slammed down behind his goal line while trying to pass, seven in the second, seven in the third and 13 in the fourth. Alliance scored its one T.D. in the third period.

Save for bad breaks, Massillon might have scored two or three more touchdowns and Alliance one.
* * *
THE GAME, which most folks had expected to be a battle of offenses from the start, turned out to be very much a defensive contest much of the time with the Tigers punting four times and Alliance six.

Give the Massillon line most of the credit for the victory. The Tiger forwards out-charged their opponents, battered down much of Alliance’s ground work, and bothered Quarterback Borton so much that he had a hard time passing and several times was thrown for big losses when he couldn’t get the ball away before the Massillon linemen came banging through.

It is hard to pick a standout in this type of ball game, but the guy who pulled down the most praise from impartial observes was Capt. Jim Reichenbach for his great offensive and defensive line work. With Jim Schumacher out with injuries, Reichenbach went into the slot on defense. What a man! Don’t overlook Sophomore Jim Geiser, either, whose long arms were continually weaving around Alliance ball carriers, and throwing them for losses.

Jerry Krisher got in his share of licks, and then there was Tom Zellers chasing Borton back of the goal line for the safety, getting a hold on him while Krisher, Ray Lane, Chuck Vliet and Geiser all came crashing in to put him on the bottom of a big pileup. Allen Murray was in there several times to spill runners for losses and Joe Gleason and Jack Strobel got their share of tackles.
* * *
THE AVIATORS tested the line in the very early minutes of the game when they recovered a fumble deep in Tiger territory, but found themselves wanting for strength to puncture the goal line and lost the ball on downs.

That should have been the tip off but most fans so respected the offensive power of the Alliance team they believed the Aviators could still muster the strength for a sustained ground attack. They didn’t have it. They only gained 104 yards rushing and lost 65 leaving them with a net gain of 39 for their evening’s work.

The Tigers had the Alliance ball carrying aces, Candy Carroll and Henry Nicholson so bottled up that they seldom were able to advance the ball beyond the line of scrimmage and many times found themselves tumbling backward for losses. Candy got away for only two good gains, one for 15 yards and one for 27.

The Tiger offensive line on the other hand, so beat down the Alliance linemen that only one player was thrown for a loss all evening, and that for a yard. The Tigers on the other hand gained 280 yards on the ground.
* * *
LEADING Massillon ball carrying parade were Bob Howe, Freddie Waikem and Ray Lane. They ran hard right down their opponents’ throats – so to speak, for that’s the way the Tiger coaching staff had planned the attack. They gambled victory on a hard running attack to get their first scores and saved any passing or fancy dan stuff for the later stages.

Ernie Russell played the whole game though nursing a couple of injuries including a lame arm which might have been partially responsible for him fumbling a punt in the first minute of the game that gave Alliance a scoring opportunity.

Mather was glad for the words he had spoken about forgetting the breaks when this first minute bobble occurred. The Tigers had kicked off to Alliance to start the game and had thrown Alliance back three yards in as many ball carrying efforts. Borton got off a booming punt that Russell misjudged but tried to catch on his 25-yard line. The ball squirted from his arms and Ted Bates recovered for the Aviators. Carroll shook himself loose for one of his two good runs of the game as he circled right end to a first down on the eight.
* * *
THE TIGERS took time out to talk the situation over and then settled down to show Alliance which was the better football team. Four downs netted the Aviators but five yards and the Tigers took over on the three.
The local team was magnificent as it charged down the field from its own three-yard line as Russell went for 31 yards, Howe 14, and Waikem 15. Then hard luck again dogged the team. Howe broke through to the Alliance 11 where he fumbled the ball when tackled and Harold Gray recovered it for the Aviators.

The attack wasn’t entirely for naught, however, for on second down Borton dropped back to pass, found Zellers in his way and eventually was thrown behind his own goal line for a safety that gave the Tigers two points. And that’s the way the first period ended with Massillon leading 2-0.
* * *
THE SECOND QUARTER had a good start when Borton punted to Russell who returned a few yards to his 36. It set off a 64-yard touchdown drive. Russell and Fred Close made it first down on their 47. Waikem almost got away on a quick opener as he wormed his way to the Alliance 35 before he was downed. Russell and Howe picked up six yards and Waikem on another quick went to the Aviators’ 20. He hit for five more and with the ball on the 15, How was called on to run down the alley. He went over standing up for the touchdown and Krisher kicked the extra point, his 14th in a row.

Cliff Streeter intercepted a Borton pass immediately after the following kickoff and got back to the Alliance 46. The Tigers worked the ball to a first down on the 35 where they began fooling with passes and lost it on downs. Alliance rallied after stopping the threat and with a 27-yard run by Carroll and a pass that Russell trying to block tipped into the arms of Joe Zelasko, took the ball deep into Tiger territory. The half ended on third down with 13 yards to go and Massillon ahead 9-0.

It took an exchange of punts after the second half kickoff to get the Tigers going again. The half started as Bill Stoner brought Borton’s punt back nicely to his 39. Waikem and How took turns carrying the ball until they got it to the Alliance 27. There Close whipped the leather to Wilfred Brenner for a first down on the eight-yard line. Waikem came within a yard of going over and Lane took it for that yard and six points. Krisher’s placekick for the extra point made the score 16-0.
* * *
A SHORT TIME later, a 38-yard punt return by Stoner which saw him do some fancy sideline running got the ball deep into Alliance territory again. The locals moved it to the 15 where Russell fumbled, Alliance covering Borton’s punt and a 15-yard penalty imposed on the Tigers for clipping put the ball back on the Massillon 26 where after failing to gain they were forced to punt. Reichenbach got away a short kick that went to the Tigers 47 and on second down, Borton pitched a strike to Carroll for a touchdown. Nekites kicked the extra point. Score Massillon 16, Alliance 7.

Alliance took on new hope, but it was short lived for early in the fourth quarter the Tigers drove to the Aviators’ 22, fumbled and lost the ball. But Borton also fumbled on a handoff and Reichenbach pounced on the leather for Massillon on the Alliance 16. On the very first play, Waikem went over for a touchdown. Krisher missed the attempted placekick ending his string of 15 without a miss.

The fourth period was in the final five minutes of competition when the Tigers got their last score. Russell started the effort by intercepting Borton’s pass on the Alliance 40. Waikem and Russell ran for a first down on the 27 and Howe went to the eight on a draw play. It only took Lane one play to go over form that spot and he did it with a lot of hard running. Krisher started what may be another string of points by kicking the extra marker from placement.
* * *
ALLIANCE’S outstanding players were Borton, Warren Scholosser and Paul Jack. All three looked good on defense, Borton, it seemed getting a hand in almost every tackle, despite the bumping around he was given by Tiger blockers. He also booted some hefty punts for an average of 38.1 yards, the first of which virtually disappeared for a time in the darkness of the not too well lighted stadium. It was against the wind too and traveled approximately 60 yards in the air.

Had you been able to see across the field, you would have noticed Alliance was a badly beaten team at the end of the game. The contest was clean, but the Aviators were worn down by the hard charging of the Massillon line and were a tired lot at the end of the game.

No Massillon player was seriously injured. Streeter and Russell took a good bumping but appeared all right in a physical checkup after the game.

Statistics
Mass. All.
First downs 15 8
Passes attempted 10 16
Passes completed 3 5
Had passes intercepted 0 2
Yards gained passing 46 88
Yards gained rushing 280 140
Total yards gained 326 192
Yards lost 1 65
Net yards gained 325 127
Times punted 4 6
Average punt (yards) 28.5 38.1
Yards punts returned by 84 13
Times kicked off 5 3
Average kickoff (yards) 41.6 44.3
Yards kickoffs returned by 41 57
Times fumbled 3 2
Lost ball on fumble 3 1
Times penalized 4 0
Yards penalized 30 0

History

1950: Massillon 35, Steubenville 12

October 6, 1950July 4, 2017
by Eric Smith

16,175 See Tigers Beat Steubenville 35-12
Big Red Becomes First Eleven To Cross Goal Line Of Massillon Team

By LUTHER EMERY

Washington high school’s goal line is no longer uncrossed. The Big Red wave from down Ohio River way, rolled over the Massillon zero stripe twice Friday evening but it wasn’t enough to keep the Tigers from chalking up their fourth straight victory by a score of 35-12 before 16,175 fans, largest crowd of the season.

Just as expected, the Tigers ran into tough competition in Steubenville which not only became the first team to cross the Massillon goal this season but which actually out-scored the local team 6-0 in the second period.

The Massillon gridders were not at their best. Usually when a team does not look up to form, the opposition is part of the reason, and such was partially the case last night.

Steubenville gave ground stubbornly during most of the game and first downs came the hard way though the Tigers had an 18-6 advantage in this department.

But with all the spirited play on the part of the Big Red, the local team did not appear sharp. Blocking was not up to par and players did not appear to be on the alert in throwing their bocks, they picked the wrong man to throw the leather at and permitted tacklers to slither through to mess up the maneuver.

“I wasn’t at all pleased with the performance of the boys,” Coach Chuck Mather said after the game. “I didn’t think our blocking was a sharp as it should have been and too many times one or more players got mixed on assignments and blocked out the wrong man.”

The showing of the Steubenville team was no surprise to Mather. He anticipated trouble, found it and his warnings that Perry Jeter, fleet Big Red halfback was dangerous at all times were verified in the third quarter when the speedster ran 74 yards for Steubenville’s second touchdown of the game.
* * *
HONORS for scoring the first touchdown against Massillon this season went to Clarence Lawson, sophomore halfback, who sparked the Big Red touchdown drive of 88 yards in the second period. He went over from the one-yard line, where the ball had been placed as a result of a five-yard penalty on Massillon.

The Big Red showed the Tigers more offense and defense than they had seen all season, though the locals had the edge in this portion of the statistics, gaining 349 net yards, (the least made by the Tigers in a game this season) against Steubenville’s 155 yards.

Perry Jeter and Lawson furnished most of the Big Red’s punch.

The Tigers didn’t have an individual ball carrying star. Bob Grier scored three of the locals’ touchdowns, one from 22 yards out and the others on two and one-yard plays.

The Tigers used a pressing defense that caused many in the stands to wonder why the Big Red did not pass when the Massillon secondary was so near the line of scrimmage. The answer was furnished in the later stages of the game when the Big Red did most of its passing, none coming close to the intended receiver.

The Tigers tried 10 passes and hit on three for 78 yards. Two others were dropped by their receivers.
* * *
FORTUNATELY the locals came out of the game from what appeared to be no serious injuries. “We are thankful for that,” said Mather in the dressing room after a quick check of all players.

Fans groaned when they saw big Cliff Streeter sprawled out on the turf but it only proved to be a severe leg cramp.

Thirty-three players were used in the game but many of them played only a few minutes.
* * *
THE FIRST period was seven minutes old when the Tigers chalked up the first of their five touchdowns. They lost the ball on a fumble on the kickoff but began rolling after an exchange of punts in which they got the ball on the Big Red 47-yard line. Freddie Close on first down hurled a fine 37-yard pass to Cliff Streeter who was nailed on the 10-yard line. Russell banged his way to the two and Bob Howe plunged it over for the score.

A poor punt after the following kickoff gave the locals the ball on the Big Red 40 and placed them in position to drive for another touchdown. Russell, running beautifully from a trap, went 24 yards to the 16. The Big Red dug in and was hard to move from there on. Grier banged for three, Russell four and Howe made it first down on the four. Howe hit again for two and Russell smacked center….. (NEXT LINES ARE UNREADABLE)

….ball most of the second period with its 88-yard touchdown drive. The Big Red got the ball through a punt on their own 12.

With Benny Bunch and Clarence Lawson doing the lugging, the visitors reeled off six first downs, principally on end runs to put the pigskin on the six-yard line. An off side penalty against Massillon advanced the leather to the one-yard line where Lawson went over for the first touchdown against the Tigers this year. Bunch’s attempted kick for the extra point was low. All of Steubenville’s first downs were packed into this one drive.
Score: 14-6.
* * *
THE TIGERS took the kickoff and aided by two passes, Close to Streeter for 16 yards and Close to Bill Stoner for 25, had the ball on the 19-yard line when the half ended.

The first time the local team got the ball in he second half it scored. A Steubenville punt went out of bounds on the Massillon 36, Grier ripped off 29 yards for a first down on the visitors’ 35 and Russell narrowed the distance by 13 more yards. Grier went around end for 22 and the score. Score: 21-6.

Steubenville was forced to punt after the kickoff, Stoner being downed with the ball on a short return on his own 45. It took a lot of hard driving to get to the goal.
* * *
THE TIGERS rammed over their final touchdown with less than a minute left to play in the fourth quarter. The drive started from the Massillon 35 where the local team took the ball on downs. Howe got away for a 37-yard run that moved the pigskin to the Big Red 28. Steubenville was penalized five yards and Freddie Waikem raced to a first down on the 15. Lee Nussbaum picked up six and Howe placed the ball on the four. Ray Lane narrowed the distance to two yards and Grier went over for the final points of the game.
Score: 35-12.

Jerry Krisher kicked all of Massillon’s extra points after touchdown, giving him a string of 13 without a miss. Unofficially it should be 14, since he had to kick one twice because of the Tigers being off side.

Today, 50 members of their teams and their dads were taken by the Tiger Booster club to Columbus to see the Ohio State-Pitt football game. They made the trip in private autos. A chicken dinner at Centerburg was on the schedule.

The line-up and summary:

MASSILLON
ENDS – W. Brenner, Streeter, Woolbert.
TACKLES – Gibson, Grunder, Strobel, Younker, Geiser, Mitchell.
GUARDS – Tunning, Reichenbach, Moyer, J. Howe, Sapia, Gleason, Laps.
CENTERS – Krisher, Dowd.
QUARTERBACK – Close.
HALFBACKS – Grier, Russell, Waikem, Nussbaum, Stoner, Khoenle, Francisco, Lane, Stewart.

STEUBENVILLE
ENDS – Gilliam, Jones, Fields.
TACKLES – Ruggieri, Linn, Yohn, R. Conkel.
GUARDS – Bodo, Suggs, Churchwell, Morrow.
CENTERS – Wells, Locust.
QUARTERBACKS – Medves, Wickham.
HALFBACKS – P. Jeter, Thompson, L. Jeter, Lawson.
FULLBACK – Bunch.

Score by periods:
Massillon 14 0 14 7 35
Steubenville 0 6 6 0 12

Touchdowns:
Massillon – Howe; Russell; Grier 3.
Steubenville – P. Jeter; Lawson.

Points after touchdown:
Massillon – Krisher 5 (placekicks).

Referee – Rupp.
Umpire – Brubaker.
Head Linesman – Grubbs.
Field Judge – Jenkins.

Statistics Of The Game
Mass. Steub.
First downs 18 6
Passes attempted 10 8
Passes completed 3 0
Had passes intercepted 7 0
Yards gained passing 78 0
Yards gained rushing 288 192
Total yards gained 366 192
Yards lost 17 37
Net yards gained 340 155
Kickoffs 6 3
Average kickoff (yards) 43.6 33
Yards kickoffs returned by 22 101
Punts 3 8
Average punt (yards) 38.3 25.3
Yards punts returned by 9 15
Times fumbled 4 2
Lost ball on fumble 2 1
Times penalized 6 3
Yards penalized 40 13.5

History

1951: Massillon 54, Akron South 13

October 5, 1950July 6, 2017
by Eric Smith

Tigers Repel Akron South Invasion 54-13
Sophomore Back Scores Six Touchdowns As Local Team Wins 18th In A Row

By LUTHER EMERY

The Washington high school Tigers found a new star Friday night as they rolled up their season’s largest score to smash Akron South high school 54-13 before 10,832 fans in Tiger stadium.

The new flash was Johnny Francisco, picked from the sophomore ranks, who raced to six of the eight touchdowns, with a brilliant bit of ball carrying.

His first score was a token one yard effort, but after that he delivered with runs of 22, 23, 8, 25 and 31 yards, to surprise even his sophomore teammates who had helped him dash his way to many touchdowns as a member of their team. He only carried the ball nine times – six touchdowns in nine runs – not bad. He also caught a 14-yard pass from brother Paul.
* * *
HIS PLAY in sophomore games earned him the honor of starting last night and he did so well the coaches just left him fill in for Bobby Grier, the regular left halfback, for most of the game.

Sharing the ball carrying spotlight with Francisco were Lee Nussbaum, fullback, and Tom Straughn. The former also became of age when he went 59 yards for one of the touchdowns and his 111 net yards represented the most made by any Tiger back. Francisco’s net total was 109 and that of Straughn 110.

Just as everyone had predicted and as the Tiger coaching staff had expected, South unleashed an aerial bombardment at the start of the game, that almost had Coach Chuck Mather calling out the civil air patrol to halt the invasion.

Certainly his Tigers had their troubles in a very exciting first half, when South twice led them 7-0 and 13-7. Only a gallant defensive stand kept the visitors from scoring a third touchdown in the second period which ended 27-13, while a fumble stopped them in the fourth quarter just a few yards short of the Tiger goal.

When a team’s passing attack is clicking there isn’t much you can do to stop it as the Tigers learned in the first half. Frequently they had good position on the South receivers, but football coaches will tell you a perfect pass can’t be stopped and that’s what happened.
* * *
THE VISITORS’ air raids were not nearly as effective the last two periods, however, largely because the passer was rushed and didn’t have the time to take the deadly aim with which he had previously hit his receivers.

All in all, however, South in rolling to two touchdowns and almost a couple more, gained 259 yards through the air, by completing 12 of 29 passes.

Fortunately the visitors were not nearly as effective on the ground, gaining but 40 yards in their ball carrying efforts.

It was in this department that the Tigers excelled although they too made use of the forward pass at times. They gained 409 yards carrying the ball and 116 with the pass.
* * *
THE SHARPEST blocking of the season made it easier for the ball carriers to gain around than in past games. Francisco, for instance, seldom had a hand laid on him, a tribute to the blocking and also to his ability to set up his blocks and thread his way through the open field. Nussbaum and Straughn both ran harder and shook off many tacklers in making their yardage.

The Tigers did all of their scoring in the first three periods, seven points in the first, 20 in the second and 27 in the third. They couldn’t get the ball over in the fourth when Coach Mather was filling his ranks with substitutes. He used 40 players in all, as far as we could count, and we may have missed one or two along the way.

The game had its misfortunes. Big Jim Geiser was carried off the field with a bruised back muscle and Willing Longshore sustained what may be a cracked collar bone on the last play of the game.

The victory was the Tigers fourth of the season and their 18th in a row. They were last defeated by Mansfield in the middle of the 1949 season.
* * *
THE TIGERS won without the services of two of their biggest men, Glenn Tunning and Henry Ace Grooms who were hurt in the 13-7 squeeze over Steubenville last week. Grooms got in long enough to toss two passes just before the end of the game. Some friends who drove all the way from Brownsville, Pa., went home disappointed at not having seen him play more.

South didn’t wait long to show the Tigers what a forward pass looked like. On the first play Larry Boyer hit Jerry Ford for a 40-yard pass and a first down on the Tiger 37. Tony Roppolo pegged to Halfback Jess Campbell for another on the 24 and then found Boyer in the flat for a pretty toss that went the rest of the distance. The game was only two minutes and 47 seconds old.

The Tigers lost the ball on a fumble on their first ball carrying efforts but they got it back when Roppolo gambled on fourth down and failed to make yardage on the 35. Then the Tigers struck, the big blow being a 58-yard pass from Paul Francisco to Bruce Brenner who went to the South four before he was caught. Two plays later Johnny Francisco was over the goal and the Tigers had tied it up at 7-7.

The touchdown by no means broke South. The visitors came right back with Jim Gleasten intercepting Paul Francisco’s pass on his 37 and Roppolo tossing a five-yarder to Ford and another in the flat to Jess Campbell who took the ball on the 50 and went the rest of the way. Roppolo kicked the extra point the first time he tried it but South was caught holding and was penalized 15 yards. He missed the second attempt and his Cavaliers led 13-7.
* * *
THE TIGERS’ offense began clicking after this one. They took the kickoff on their 37 and Straughn raced to the South 32.

He overcame a five-yard penalty to lug it to another first down on the 22 and John Francisco hit around his left end for the rest of the distance.

Rubio also missed the kick which left the score tied at 13-13.

Though the half ended 27-13, South gave the Tigers a score toward the end of the period by passing the ball from its own 31 to a first down on the Tiger four. Here the locals dug in and stopped four ball carrying efforts to regain the ball before the end of the half.

The third period was a nightmare of points for the Tigers as they crossed the South goal four times. First it was Nussbaum racing 59 yards to score. Then came Johnny Francisco to wind up a 64-yard march with a 25-yard dash into pay dirt. Next it was Paul Francisco bucking the ball over from the one yard line after Straughn had been denied a 37-yard T.D. jaunt because of a penalty. A 14-yard pass from Paul to John Francisco had put the ball on the one yard for the former to get his points.

The final score was made as the third period closed after Weldon Younkers recovered Boyer’s fumble on the South 22. Two plays lost nine yards but John Francisco more than made up for them as he was shaken loose for 31 yards and six points.

Two Tigers, Chug-Chug Stewart, and Bobby Joe Johnson were not permitted to dress last night for having missed practice without a legitimate excuse.

Today 35 members of the squad were taken to Columbus to attend the Ohio State-Michigan football game.

MASSILLON
ENDS – Corbett, Keen, Gable, Brenner, Shilling, Climo, Sweasey.
TACKLES – Kraus, Youngers, Gibson, Strobel, Takacs, Chapman, Gumpp, Rubio, Geiser.
CENTERS – Roderick, Corral, Fabianich.
GUARDS – Milncek, Sapia, Grunder, Glinage, Moyer, Crone.
QUARTERBACKS – Longshore, P. Francisco, Misere, Dommer.
HALFBACKS – Khoenle, Traylor, J. Francisco, Straughn, Millar, Grier.
FULLBACKS – Vilet, Nussbaum, Grooms, Tasseff.

AKRON SOUTH
ENDS – Ford, Spicker, Johnson, Beesley, McLeod.
TACKLES – Litz, Carson, Vanatta, Skiles.
GUARDS – Robert, Anthony, Hickman, McGardy, Burton, Biettle.
CENTERS – Long, Sues.
QUARTERBACKS – Roppolo, Foster.
HALFBACKS – Boyer, Campbell, Williams, Gleasten, F. Ford, Sellers.
FULLBACKS – Doakes, Slappy, Gukic.

Score by periods:
Massillon 7 20 27 0 54
Akron South 7 6 0 0 13

Touchdowns:
Massillon – J. Francisco 6; Nussbaum; P. Francisco.
Akron South – Boyer, Campbell.

Points after touchdown:
Massillon – Rubio 6 (placekicks).
Akron South – Roppolo (placekicks).

Officials
Referee – C.W. Rupp.
Umpire – Tony Pianowski.
Head Linesman – Verlin Jenkins.
Field Judge – Joe Morbito.

STATISTICS
Mass. South
First downs 9 15
Passes attempted 13 29
Passes completed 5 12
Had passes intercepted 1 0
Yards gained passing 116 250
Yards gained rushing 409 40
Total yards gained 525 299
Yards lost 30 44
Net yards gained 495 255
Times kicked off 9 3
Average kickoff (yards) 39 40
Times punted 1 5
Average punt (yards) 40 45
Yards kickoffs returned by 20 55
Yards punts returned by 77 5
Times penalized 5 6
Yards penalized 25 60
Times fumbled 4 3
Lost ball on fumbles 2 3

History

1950: Massillon 62, Cleveland Cathedral Latin 0

September 29, 1950February 18, 2019
by Eric Smith

Tigers Defeat Cathedral Latin Lions 62-0
Massillon Team Rolls Up Season’s Largest Score To Win Easily

By LUTHER EMERY

The Cathedral Latin Lion, which lost its roar several years ago, and has never been able to get it back, was tamed by a touchdown happy pack of Washington high Tigers here Friday evening to the tune of 62-0.

A crowd of 13,384 fans saw Halfback Ernie Russell plunge over the Latin goal line on the first play of the second period for the first touchdown of the game after the two teams had battled to a scoreless tie the first quarter.

From that T.D. on to the end of the game, it was only a question as to how big the score would be, for the locals gained ground almost at will while stopping practically every Latin attempt to advance the ball.
* * *
THE STATISTICS tell the story better and briefer than all the words of explanation – 18 first downs to Latin’s 3; 545 net yards from scrimmage to Latin’s 53.

And yet with all the apparent one-sided performance, Coach Chuck Mather found plenty of errors in his team’s play and sufficient ragged performance at times to cause him to wobble all the more under the worry of things to come.

For example, had the Tigers been playing Steubenville, Alliance, Barberton or Canton McKinley, last night, they might have taken a licking in the first period from which they could not have recovered. It took them long enough to get their second wind as it was, but once they did, they rolled relentlessly against the Lions.

Forty-three players were used by the Tiger coach, one short of four teams, with a rookie outfit scoring the last two touchdowns and an all sophomore eleven finishing the game.
* * *
THE PERCENTAGE of completed passes was poor, principally because of poor reception. Three touchdown passes were dropped by receivers as well as a couple of others. Only seven of 25 hit their mark to stay, and right here we might add that never was a passer accorded better protection than that given Quarterback Freddie Close last night. He had all the time in the world to chuck the ball.

The Lions last night were the Tigers’ third victim of the season and none of the three has been able to penetrate the locals’ defense for points. Only once did Latin get over the
50-yard line last night and then by only a couple of yards.

With Coach Mather using so many players, it was impossible to pick out an outstanding star or stars on the local team. Bob Howe bore the brunt of the offense and got away to some good gains, but every mother’s son who got into the contest did his part to roll up the victory.
* * *
IT WAS EASIER to select a Latin beacon. The individual was Peter Ghirla, quarterback, who captained the team, ran it, did the passing and punting – and what punting! Several times, while in the shadow of his goal posts, his toe drove the ball back to midfield. That he didn’t complete more than two passes was not his fault. He often hit his receivers who could not hold the ball.

Only once in the entire game did the Tigers punt and then it wasn’t exactly necessary for they had the ball on the 35-yard line with only a yard needed for a first down when they elected to kick the pigskin. They gambled and won on fourth down several times thereafter.

The locals showed improvement over their previous two games. They looked better both offensively and defensively, showed good downfield blocking, and handled the ball with greater confidence and tighter fingers. Fumbles were scarce, each team having a bobble and each losing the ball on it.
* * *
FORTUNATELY, the Tigers came out of the game in good physical shape. Early in the contest they were shaken up in several spots but all of the injured re-entered the game before hitting the showers.

Once again the scoring was well distributed among members of the team. Chuck Vliet and Howe each scored twice, while Bob Grier, Close, Wilfred Brenner, Cliff Streeter and Russell each found their way into the Promised land.

If Jerry Krisher keeps it up, he can earn himself quite a reputation as a place kicker. He booted eight without a miss last night, the one failure after touchdown coming when Close got a high pass from center and got up and tried to run with the ball. He was downed before he could get to the Latin goal.
* * *
WHILE THE TIGERS failed to score in the first quarter they launched a 54-yard march in the closing minutes of the period that put the ball in position for Russell to go over on the first play of the second period. Howe, Grier and Russell did most of the leather lugging in the drive. A 37-yard pass, Howe to W. Brenner who made a great catch and ran another 10 yards, brought in the second score. It was the prettiest catch of the game. Streeter covered a fumbled kickoff to get the locals in position for their third touchdown in little more than four minutes. Close pitched to Russell for 34 yards and a first down on the seven, and Close on third down, plunged through center for the score.

A fourth down run by Howe good for 14 yards, produced the Tigers’ fourth touchdown of the period, and the locals would have had a fifth had Streeter been able to hang on to Close’s pass behind the goal.

The third period was five minutes old when the locals scored again. This time Streeter held Close’s rapid pass of 23 yards and stepped over the goal for a touchdown. The successful pass climaxed a 57-yard drive.
* * *
A 38-YARD RUN on fourth down by Howe produced another touchdown in the third quarter and before the period was over the Tigers had driven another 42 yards for a first down on the nine-yard stripe. Two passes failed and Howe took the ball to the two-yard stripe. Grier plunged for the remaining two.

A nice return of a Latin punt by John Francisco to the Latin 40, got a team of second stringers off to the eighth touchdown of the game. A 10-yard pass to Bruce Brenner and some hard running by Vliet and Lee Nussbaum got the ball down to the 12 where Vliet went over in two attempts.

Ghirla was thrown on fourth down by a fast charging Massillon line when he tried to punt after the following kickoff and the Tiger rookies took over on the six-yard line. Vliet went over on third down on a left end sweep for the final score of the game.

The line-up and summary:

MASSILLON
ENDS – W. B renner, Streeter, Zellers, Murray, B. Brenner, Corbett, Millar, Tasseff, Allison.
TACKLES – Gibson, Grunder, Schumacher, Strobel, Younker, Kraus, Geiser, Rubio.
GUARDS – Tunning, Reichenbach, Gleason, Laps, Moyer, J. Howe, Crone.
CENTERS – Krisher, Dowd, Corral, Shilling, Martin.
QUARTERBACKS – Close, Francisco, Khoenle.
HALFBACKS – Grier, Lane, Russell, Stoner, Mlincek, Nussbaum, Waikem, Stewart, Straughn.
FULLBACKS – Howe, Vliet.

CATHEDRAL LATIN
ENDS – Horvath, Vosmik, B osway, Meglen, Ramsey.
TACKLES – Schwallie, Wright, Voytek, Kant.
GUARDS – Siwniski, Vosmik, Tunnio, Kollin.
CENTERS – Mathias, Walsh.
QUARTERBACKS – Ghirla, Collins.
HALFBACKS – Marko, Cardaman, DeFabio.
FULLBACKS – Engeman, DeFabio.

Score by periods:
Massillon 0 27 14 21 62

Touchdowns: Massillon – Russell; W. Brenner; Close; Howe 2;
Streeter; Grier; Vliet 2.

Points after touchdown: Massillon – Krisher eight (placekicks).

Referee – McPhee.
Umpire – Brubaker.
Head Linesman – Schaffer.
Field Judge – Gross.

STATISTICS
Mass. Latin
First downs 18 3
Passes attempted 25 14
Passes completed 7 2
Had passes intercepted 0 3
Yards gained passing 169 27
Yards gained rushing 389 64
Total yards gained 558 91
Yards lost 13 38
Net yards gained 545 53
Times kicked off 10 1
Average kickoff 9yards) 46.6 53
Yards kickoffs returned by 10 114
Times punted 1 8
Average punt (yards) 25 35.7
Yards punts returned by 49 0
Fumbles 1 1
Lost ball on fumbles 1 1
Times penalized 6 5
Yards penalized 60 35

History

1950: Massillon 46, Canton Lincoln 0

September 23, 1950July 6, 2017
by Eric Smith

15,000 See Tigers Defeat Canton Lincoln 46-0
Sharp Blocking Paves Way For Local Eleven’s Second Win Of Season

By LUTHER EMERY

The supremacy the Washington high Tigers have held over Canton Lincoln in football was maintained Friday evening in Fawcett stadium as the Massillon Bengals clawed their way to a 46-0 victory before 15,000 fans in what was probably the last game to be played between the two teams.

The Tigers have signed Cincinnati Elder in the Lincoln spot for the next two seasons and the Lions have intimated they are satisfied to drop gridiron relations for the time being after eight years of happy competition. The best the Lions could do in the eight years was hold the Tigers to a scoreless tie in 1945. The Massillon team won all of the other seven games.

The Tigers scored in every period last night to win their second game of the season in defense of the state championship they have held the past two seasons.

Touchdowns came somewhat harder, than they did against Akron Central beaten 49-0 in the opening game a week ago, but nevertheless Coach Chuck Mather found it possible to give 41 players an opportunity to get into the melee and three of the substitutes, Bob Grier, Bob Kkoenle and Chuck Vliet were able to score touchdowns against their Canton opponents.
* * *
THE MASSILLON gridders scored three times in the first quarter, once in each of the second and third periods and twice in the fourth. Lincoln never got near the Tiger goal.

The Cantonians put up a scrap, however as shown by the fact they forced the Tigers to punt four times, and both teams took quite a physical beating.

Players were limping out on nearly every play in the fourth quarter, with Lincoln suffering the most damage although the Tigers had a medical list that caused some worry to Coach Mather.

Bill Stoner, aggravated an old foot injury and Fred Waikem had a shoulder bumped. Big Jim Schumacher saw stars and retired to the bench with a headache from coming in contact with a Lion foot. None of the injuries sustained by either team, however, was considered serious.
* * *
THE TIGER offense was smoother last night than it was against Central and the ball was handled with stickier fingers. Quick opening plays and deep reverses proved to be the locals best weapons although two forward passes and one lateral were good for three touchdowns.

Principal ground gainers in the ball carrying department were Bob Howe, Ernie Russell, Ray Lane, Bob Grier and Lee Nussbaum. Waikem’s shoulder injury put him out of the game early so that he had little opportunity to show the Canton folks how he could run.

The Tiger ball carriers were accorded sharp blocking, lending additional backing to the statement of Coach Mather that this is one of the hittingest teams he has ever had.

The Tiger quarterbacks, Fred Close and Bob Khoenle likewise were given excellent protection on forward pass plays and had all the time in the world to pick out their receivers. They completed five of 16 attempts. The same could not be said however, for the protection accorded Capt. Jim Reichenbach on punting plays. He nearly had the ball blocked a couple of times.
* * *
THERE WERE vicious tackles too, but the one that brought the biggest ovation came at the end of the game when Clarence “Chug-Chug” Stewart tossed Vic Schoeppner, Lion ball carrying ace on the 10-yard line after a kickoff. The tackle may earn “Chug-Chug” a place on the eleven when the Tigers kickoff in the future. Built close to the ground, he can’t hit’em anywhere but low and that’s what it takes to stop a player when he has a chance to get up steam on a kickoff.

The Tigers had all the best of the statistics, making 15 first downs to Lincoln’s three and gaining the net total of 421 yards to Lincoln’s 57.

Despite the one-sided score, the Massillon eleven can still stand considerable brushing up and Coach Mather will proceed along these lines as he prepares for next week’s game here with Cathedral Latin which on a basis of performance thus far could prove to be a surprise package.

Lincoln proved its own worst enemy on many occasions last night when players failed to receive passes or muffed chances to intercept passes which all but knocked some of the players down. The Lions were jittery and in addition to the pass muffs they also gave the Tigers the ball three times on fumbles. With more glue on their fingers they could have made a much better game of it.
* * *
THE GAME was five minutes and five seconds old when the Tigers scored their first touchdown in a drive of 59 yards. With Bob Howe leading the attack the locals got to the Lincoln 42 where Howe tore loose and ran to the three-yard line before slipping out of bounds. Grier was stopped inches short but Close put it over on a quarterback sneak and Krisher kicked the extra point.

An intercepted pass by Russell who got back to the Lincoln 20, set the stage for the second score. Grier hit for six yards and Lane went the remaining 14. Krisher missed the extra point.
A 58-yard march produced the third score with only seconds left in the quarter. A deep reverse with Grier carrying, gained a first down on the 16 from which Close hit Cliff Streeter with a perfect pass for the touchdown.

A 42-yard march late in the second period ended with the only touchdown of that quarter, another pass, Fred Close to Streeter for 25 yards, gaining the six points. Krisher added the seventh from placement and the half closed with the Tigers leading 26-0.
* * *
LINCOLN, which kicked-off at the start of the game also booted the ball at the start of the second half and the Tigers never gave it up until they got over the Lion goal. They started from their own 29, used three first downs getting down to the Lion 21, where Grier circled his right end for the touchdown. Krisher booted the 33rd point of the game.

The Tigers got another drive going in the same period but after marching 50 yards with the ball, forfeited on downs on the Lincoln 10.

The Lions fumbled on the first play of the fourth period and substitutes Tom Straughn and Joe Sapia got on the ball for Massillon, on the Lincoln 26-yard line. Another sophomore, Lee Nussbaum ran the leather to the 10 where Khoenle tossed a lateral to Chuck Vliet for the touchdown. Krisher again kicked the extra point to make the score 40-0.
* * *
DICK WOOLBERT covered a Lincoln fumble on the Lion 44 to start the seventh and final drive. With Nussbaum leading the drive the Tigers moved to the two where Khoenle bucked it over. Krisher missed the kick for the extra point and the score remained 46-0.

The game produced one freak play we have never seen before. After the Tigers’ fourth touchdown, Krisher, in kicking off for Massillon barely touched the ball in that it merely trickled from the tee and hardly moved a yard. A Tiger player immediately pounced on the leather, but having failed to move 10 yards, it was not a free ball and went to the opponents at the point where it was touched and made dead by the Tiger player.

Lincoln was eligible to cover the ball or pick it up and run like any ball kicked off. Had neither team touched the ball, the officials said they would have called for another kickoff. Prior to that Krisher had been getting off some terrific kicks.

The line-ups and summaries:
MASSILLON
ENDS – W. Brenner, Streeter, Tasseff, Zellers, Bob Grier, Woolbert, B. Brenner, Murray, Martin, Corbett.
TACKLES – Gibson, Schumacher, Grunder, Geiser, Younker, Mitchell, Strobel.
GUARDS – Tunning, Reichenbach, Moyer, J. Howe, Sapia, Laps.
CENTERS – Krisher, Dowd, Shilling, Corral.
QUARTERBACKS – Close, Khoenle.
HALFBACKS – Waikem, Lane, Russell, Grier, Stoner, Straughn, Mlincek, Crone, Francisco.
FULLBACKS – Howe, Nussbaum, Stewart, Vliet.

LINCOLN
ENDS – Bush, Jarvis, Lombardi, George, Rich.
TACKLES – Groetz, Bleahu, Taylor.
GUARDS – Vega, Dent, Christian, Wilson.
CENTERS – Chismar, Bush.
QUARTERBACKS – Williamson, Hartzell.
HALFBACKS – Toy, Dogoli, Davis, Mottice, Keck.
FULLBACKS – V. Schoeppner, Crawford.

Score by periods:
Massillon 19 7 7 13 46

Touchdowns:
Massillon – Close; Lane 2; Streeter; Grier; Vliet; Khoenle.

Points after touchdown:
Massillon – Krisher 4 (placekicks)

Referee – Lindsay.
Umpire – Gross.
Head Linesman – Jenkins.
Field Judge – Russ.

Statistics
Mass. Lincoln
First downs 15 3
Passes attempted 16 13
Passes completed 5 2
Had passes intercepted 0 2
Yardsgained passing 68 9
Yards gained rushing 362 79
Total yards gained 430 88
Yards lost 9 31
Net yards gained 421 57
Times punted 4 5
Average punt (yards) 29.7 29.2
Yards punts returned by 12 18
Times kicked off 7 2
Average kickoff (yards) 41.8 30
Yards kickoffs returned by 10 85
Times fumbled 1 3
Lost ball on fumble 0 3
Times penalized 6 1
Yards penalized 50 5

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