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1942: Massillon 33, Steubenville Wells 13

October 16, 1942June 17, 2017
by Eric Smith

EXCITING GAME THRILLS 18,300

Largest Crowd of Season Moans And Applauds As Steubenville Outplays Massillon Eleven First Two Periods

By Luther Emery

An inspired Steubenville football team, guided by a capable son of Massillon, outplayed the Washington high Tigers for two periods here Friday evening, while 18,372 hearts pounded, but succumbed to its own spent efforts to absorb a 33-13 beating, its first of the season.

The initial loss was far from disgraceful. The Big Red gave Massillon fans what they have wanted to see, a ding dong battle with the decision hanging in the balance and for the first time since the Tigers were defeated by New Castle, Pa., in 1937, they trailed at half. It was 7-6 at intermission.

Big Red’s First Half

Points and first downs were all in the Big Red’s favor the first two periods, and though a fumble cost Massillon a touchdown in the opening period, the Tigers were fortunate to as much as score thereafter in the half. It took a 15-yard penalty for unnecessary roughness which nullified a loss of 15 yards on an attempt to pass, and moved the ball into position for their only score of the first half which came with 25 seconds left to play.

It was a poor first half as far as the Tiger brand of football was concerned, but it was a brilliant first half for the Big Red and an exciting one for fans of both teams as hopes flared and faded with fumbles and pass interceptions.

The Tigers began to find themselves in the last five minutes, but not until after the Big Red’s No. 1 player, Johnny Stojack, and the best to set foot on the local gridiron this fall, was carried off with injuries.

A Great Player

Stojack, who scored the Stubbers first touchdown, and gained practically all of the yards on the ground, was a bear as well on defense and played his heart out for his coach and team.

He returned to the game thrice after being hurt, but was only a shadow of the athlete who slashed through the Tigers the first period and a half.

Had he and Guido Mastroianna escaped injury and been able to have stuck out the entire contest, Massillon physicians would have found themselves overrun with heart cases today—the score would have been too close for comfort.

The star end and halfback, however, couldn’t stand up under the pounding and had to give way to substitutes who were far inferior to them in point of performance. An x-ray will be taken of Stojack’s shoulder today, but it is not believed serious. Mastroianna may have sustained one or more damaged ribs.

Here the Tigers had an edge. Their condition was superior and they had better replacements, two items that had a big influence on the score, and extended their undefeated string to 48 games.

It was evident from the opening kickoff that Brinker had the Big Red flaring. They raced out of the huddle and over the ball in a business like way and took off with the center snap so eagerly that they were frequently penalized for being offside. They were beating the Tigers to the first yard of turf, however, and when this is going on, you can expect an occasional offside penalty.

The Massillon attack, on the other hand sputtered under what appeared to be a poor selection of plays the first two periods, and poor ball handling had the team in the hole time and again.

The Big Red set up a 5-4-2 defense when the Tigers came out of the huddle, but jumped two men into the line just before the ball was snapped on single-wing plays thereby confusing the local players and at the same time massing the defense to face the ball carrier.

When the Tigers threw from punt formation, the Big Red secondary stayed put, and had men spread all over the field to guard against the aerial attack.

Once the locals began concentrating on a ground attack inside the Big Red tackles, they began to move, and soon had Steubenville on the defensive.

Changed Cleats

A change of cleats between halves may have contributed to the improved offense. The Tigers wore their short cleats the first two periods, and had a hard time standing up. Everyone worked feverishly in the dressing room during intermission to make the change over to long cleats and players had firmer footing the last two periods.

It was a big relief to Tiger fans to see their team finally begin hitting on all eleven and launch sustained drives that carried them into the promised land.

With the Big Red showing signs of weakening the last few minutes of the first half, most Massillon fans felt the Tigers would come through the last two periods, but few expected the score to mount to 33 points.

But with the exception of a couple of long passes over the heads of a second string Massillon backfield that produced a touchdown in the fourth period, the Big Red showed nothing the second half. They had packed all of their energy into the first two periods and when the Tigers came out after intermission to take the kickoff and march 56 yards to a touchdown, the collapse was complete.

Where the Big Red made seven points to Massillon’s six and rolled up six first downs to Massillon’s four the first half, the Tigers made 10 first downs to the Stubbvers two the last two periods and 27 points to their six.

The second half offensive gave the local team what margin it enjoyed in the statistics. First downs were 14-8 and the net gain in yardage was 344 to 233.

“Now maybe they will believe me,” was Coach Elwood Kammer’s comment after the game. “They were definitely the best team we played this year and if you don’t think it was hard going out there, look at these kids.”

The youngsters were emerging from the coach’s room at this moment and as each came out of the door, he swallowed a conditioning pill.

There were limps, bruised lips, weak wrists and skinned faces, nine names were on the casualty list with orders to report for physical examinations and possible treatment Saturday.

Big Red Suffered, Too

The same condition existed in the Big Red dressing room where Brinker and his assistant made hasty examinations of players and wondered whether several would be able to carry on next week.

When you think back over the first half, you wonder whether the Tiger team will be able to stand up under the battering it has been absorbing at the hands of heavier opponents this year. When you recall how the lines fairly rattled when they clashed as each eleven sought to push over the first touchdown, you realize why both squads bore visible marks of the struggle.

The play during the first half was terrific, with breaks figuring in nearly every series, which resulted in the ball changing hands most of the time without a punt. In fact the Tigers punted but once the entire game.

The Tigers were first to threaten, and would have scored were it not for an unfortunate fumble. Keve Bray put the locals in position when he intercepted Stojack’s pass that had been deflected by Weisgarber, on the 26-yard line. A five-yard penalty and two plunges by Holt gained a first down on the 14 and Holt smashed his way to the five on the next play where he fumbled and Stojack covered for the Stubbers.

That got the Big Red hopped up and though they were in poor position to do anything offensively on the next series, Roush intercepted a pass for them after they punted out and it looked like the Steubenville teams of 10 years ago as the Tigers rolled back to their 10-yard line. A 25-yard pass, Stojack to Percy Brown figured in the march and the Big Red appeared off to the races as Stojack in two attempts crossed the goal. But the ball was called back the second time and the Stubbers drew a five-yard penalty. The officials made up for it on the next play, however and gave the Big Red a first down on the Tiger one yard line for unnecessary Massillon roughness.
Call what followed, “The Siege of Stalingrad.” The Tigers imitated the gallant Russian defenders as they throw back the Big Red invasion and four ball carrying attempts for a net loss of five yards.

Threat Stopped

The eight man Massillon line bounced back everything that came its way and refused to budge. Brown was hurled at the center. He couldn’t gain an inch. Stojack took a crack at the middle. He got half a yard. Brown was tossed at the center again. He went down on a knee as he piled in for the loss of half a yard. Stojack was turned loose around his right end. Keve Bray sifted through and nailed him for a five-yard loss and the Tigers took over. They were doing nicely too, until Holt fumbled again on the 24-yard line and Johnny Chadnock covered for Steubenville.

Fred Cardinal had an opportunity to put on the feed bag when Stojack’s pass came his way, but in his anxiety to head for the oats bin he dropped the ball with a clear field ahead. Stopped in the air, Stojack took to the ground and on the next play a fake reverse, raced around right end for a touchdown. The shout that went up from the Steubenville stands was enough to roll the Ohio river. Mastroianna calmly kicked the extra point and the Tigers for the second time this season – trailed.

On the first play after the kickoff, the inspired Stubbers were given another lift when Roush intercepted Graber’s pass from punt formation on the Tiger 44. But Stojack was also injured on the play and the peppery Stubbers had an immediate relapse.

Brown tried to pass but Graber intercepted on his 38 and the door of the Tiger cage was open. Graber passed to Tom Jasinski for a first down on the Stubber 34 and the ball was advanced five more yards when Steubenville took a time out to get Stojack back into the contest. Graber fumbled and Holt covered for a loss of 17 yards. The Tigers were thrown back 15 more yards when Graber couldn’t find a receiver for his pass, but it did not count for the Big Red was charged with unnecessary roughness and penalized 15 yards, giving the Tigers the ball on the 28-yard line. Bray circled left end for nine yards and Holt took it to the 10. Stojack was again taken from the game with injuries. On the next play Holt plunged over the touchdown and the Tiger fans let loose a roar that must have been heard in Canton. Holt was thrown back when he tried to plunge the extra point across.

Only 55 seconds remained of the half and it closed two plays after the following kickoff.

Touchdown Parade

The second half was a Massillon parade most of the way, with the two most sensational plays, touchdown runs by Chuck Holt, called back because of penalties.

It was a tough break for Chuck. He went 51 yards on the one effort, but the officials tagged a penalty of illegal use of the hands on one player on the three-yard line and the Tigers drew a 15-yard penalty. They went over just the same.

On another occasion Graber tossed a 20-yard pass to Holt who juggled the ball on the 30-yard line, finally caught it and ran the rest of the way, only to have the effort nullified by an offside penalty. In this instance as well, the Tigers did not surrender the ball until they had crossed the goal.
The Massillon sails were set right after the kickoff of the third period. Fred Cardinal nearly got away but was tossed on his 44. Carrying the ball five consecutive plays, as the Tigers worked inside the Big Red tackles, Holt put the pigskin on the 21-yard line. The Big Red looked for Holt again, but his time Bray came around his left end behind good blocking and carried to the five-yard line where he was hauled down from behind while slowing up to give his blockers an opportunity to finish the job ahead. Holt was over in two plays and the Tigers had taken the lead. Graber ran the extra point across outside right end and the score was 13-7.

The next time the Tigers gained possession of the ball they marched to another score. It was a drive of 56 yards with Holt and Bray carrying to the 12-yard line. There they drew a five-yard penalty, but Holt more than got it back as he carried to the eight-yard line and Bray circled his left end for a touchdown. The Stubbers stopped the first bid for the extra point, but were offside. On the second attempt, Graber went over to boost the score to 20-7.

Holt’s 51-yard no touchdown run followed the next Steubenville series. After the penalization for illegal use of the hands, the Tigers were given the ball on the Big Red 18. Holt went to the one-yard line and Dallas Power took over. Holt kicked the extra point and it was 27-7.

Score On Second Backfield

Kammer sent three new faces into his backfield to make the change in the ball carrying department complete. Weisgarber blocked a Steubenville punt and the Tigers covered on the 36. The second string backs moved the ball to the two-yard line where they lost it on downs. The youngsters held, but were tagged with roughing the kicker, and the Big Red was given a first down on its 10-yard line. Throwing from behind his goal, Brown pitched to Bill Snyder for 38 yards and a yard short of midfield. On the very next play he fired to Dick Roush, who caught the leather on the 30 and went the rest of the distance for Big Red’s second touchdown.

An attempt to kick the extra point failed.

Kammer sent in his first string backs again and Holt immediately took the kickoff and raced back to the Big Red 48 before being downed. The Tigers drew a 15-yard penalty for clipping on the play, however and lost the ball on Bray’s fumble. Graber got it back on an intercepted pass and the locals were on the march again. Came the beautiful no count, catch by Holt followed by a five-yard penalty for offside that set the locals back to their own 45. Another five-yarder for too many times out pushed them back to their 40, but a 39-yard pass, Graber to Jasinski, gained a first down on the Big Red 20 and the backs alternated carrying the ball to the one-yard line where Graber went over for the final points of the game. On the first play after the kickoff, Graber intercepted Brown’s pass and got back to the Big Red 25 but the game ended before another play could be run off.

Thrilling

Massillon Steubenville
Willmot le Snyder
Edwards lt not readable
R. Wallace lg not readable
B. Wallace c not readable
Weisgarber rg not readable
Paulik rt not readable
Jasinski re Mastroianna
Cardinal qb Chadnock
Graber lh Stojack
Bray rh Roush
Holt fb Brown

Score by periods
Massillon 0 6 21 6 – 33
Steubenville 0 7 0 6 – 13

Substitutions – Massillon: Kanney, Power, Gibson, Pellegrini, Mastriann, Williams.
Steubenville: Gregory, Watkins, Mike, Parisi, Quattrone, Wagner, White.

Touchdowns – Holt 2, Bray, Graber, Power, Stojack, Roush

Points after touchdown – Graber (carried), Holt (placekick), Mastroianna (placekick)

Referee – Jenkins.
Umpire – Graff.
Headlinesman – Rupp.
Field Judge – Boone.

Game Statistics
Tigers Big Red
Total First Downs 14 3
Yards Gained by Rushing 266 127
Yards Lost by Rushing 18 16
Net Yards Gained by Rushing 248 111
Net Yards Gained by Passing (a) 96 122
Forward Passes Attempted 10 14
Forward Passes Completed 4 4
Passes Had Intercepted 2 4
Number of Punts 1 1
Average Distance of Punts (b) 24 24
Yards Punts Returned 18 0
Number of Kickoffs 7 2
Number of Fumbles 4 2
Times Ball Lost on Fumbles 3 0
Number of Penalties 9 10
Yards Lost by Penalties 78 56

MASSILLON SENDS STREAK TO 48
IN 33-13 TRIUMPH

Steubenville Succumbs After Leading at
Half, 7 to 6

MASSILLON, OH., Oct. 16 – Trailing at half time, the Massillon High Tigers, undefeated since 1937, struck back in the two final periods to trounce a fighting Steubenville Big Red eleven, 33 to 13, before 18,372 fans here tonight.

It was Massillon’s 48th straight game without defeat.

Paced by John Stojack, hardest driving halfback seen in Tiger Stadium in four years, Steubenville led Massillon, 7 to 6, at half time.

Stojack repeatedly raced through the Massillon defense, finally scoring on a 23-yard jaunt off right tackle. Guido Mastrioanni, left end, kicked the extra point and the visitors took a second-quarter lead of 7 to 0.

The Tigers then lashed back. After an exchange of intercepted passes Massillon started from its 43. Capt. Chuck Holt culminated the advance by smashing left guard from the 9-yard line. Holt missed the extra point when he bucked the line. The half closed a minute later with the Stubbers in front 7 to 6.

Previous to the invaders’ touchdown the Tigers held for downs on their 1-yard line. Steubenville finally ended up on the 6-yard line.

In the third quarter the Tigers reeled off three touchdowns while the Stubbes were checked without a threat. Starting from their 44, the Tigers took the lead when Holt shot over from the 1-yard line. Graber ran over the extra point and the Tigers jumped ahead, 13 to 7.

The Tigers then started another march from their 44 with Right Halfback Keve Bray circling left end from the 8. Graber ran around right end for the 20th point.

A 52-yard drive ended the third-period scoring. Substitute Dallas Power went over from the 2 on a quarterback sneak. Holt converted and Coach Elwood Kammer’s club led 27 to 7.

Both teams registered six points in the final stanza. A series of aerials produced the second Steubenville touchdown. Standing on his 49-yard line, Percy Brown, fullback, pitched a long heave to Right Halfback Dick Roush, who dashed over unmolested.

With the score at 27 to 13, the Massillon first-string backfield again was inserted. On fourth down Graber drove off right tackle from the one, making the final score 33-13.

MASSILLON 33
STEUBENVILLE 13

History

1942: Massillon 34, Alliance 0

October 9, 1942June 17, 2017
by Eric Smith

GRABER RETURNS PASS 97 YARDS

With Steubenville Coach In Stands, Massillon Eleven Runs Most of Its Plays From Punt And Spread Formations

By Luther Emery

The Alliance Aviators turned out to be zero fighters Friday evening as the Washington high Tigers held them scoreless before a record Alliance crowd of 10,000 fans while running and passing five touchdowns over the goal for a 34-0 victory.

It was the Tigers 47th game without a defeat and the first loss of the season for Alliance which had previously leveled three opponents in a row.

Alliance Made More First Downs

A screwy game statistically, you would never guess from a look at yardage gained and first downs made by the two teams that the winner would hold a 34-point advantage.

But that was the way it was. Alliance made more first downs than the Tigers, 12 to 9, and gained a net total of 150 yards from scrimmage, but could show narry a point for its efforts while the Tigers collected 34.

All can be explained.

The Tigers scored on long runs and touchdown runs do not count as first downs even though the ball carrier travels more than 10 yards.

Score On Long Runs

Four of the Tigers five touchdowns came on long jaunts and as a result do not show in the first downs. Likewise, two of the touchdowns do not show in yards gained from scrimmage because they were scored on a blocked punt and an intercepted pass. Together they totaled 135 yards.

Then too, Alliance rolled up more first downs than the Tigers and gained a sizeable amount of yardage against the Massillon second team but could not score because Coach Elwood Kammer sent in this first team – not so much to deny the Aviators a touchdown, but more for the opportunity to test the regulars in an eight-man line.

The Tigers won, and in so doing found the bomb of the Aviators a dud.

Alliance was expected to give the Tiger varsity more of a game than was in evidence last night, but the Tigers, quickly taking the initiative struck early, built up their score and fooled around the rest of the game.

In fact the local eleven ran most of its plays from punt formation and a wide spread that it used for the first time this season.

The Tigers deployed the width of the field on their spread and Bob Graber had himself a picnic in deep punt formation, running and passing all evening.

It only took two plays to get the first touchdown. Graber pitching to Tom Jasinski for 18 yards on the spread formation and Keve Bray ripping around his left end for the last 25 on second down.

A 76-yard march produced the second with Graber tossing to Bray for the touchdown, and Holt kicking the extra point.

The third was chalked up with the same lightning rapidity as the opening score. The Tigers received at the start of the second half and Chuck Holt got away for a touchdown as he brought the kickoff back to midfield. Graber took it to the 27 and tossed a pass from there to Don Willmot who went the rest of the distance.

Score On Breaks

The last two touchdowns came on breaks which the Tigers converted into points. Vernon Weisgarber got his big hands in the way of one of Dick McClure’s punts and the ball sank in the chest of Fred Cardinal who only had 35 yards to run to reach the promised land.

Graber got milk and honey later too in the fourth quarter in the longest run of the year when he went up in the air on the goal line to haul down McClure’s pass and ran approximately 97 yards to score. Bob Wallace put the finishing touches to the last tackler with a neat bit of blocking near midfield. The run was executed almost as perfectly as that made by Graber after intercepting a pass against Lincoln Nebraska a week ago.

Both touchdowns came when the Tigers were messing around trying to polish up their punt formation passing and end sweeps. The first ream had sufficient power and skill to handle the Aviators without difficulty. Not so with the second team.

It was against the seconds that the red and blue gained most of its ground, and twice the Tiger regulars had to rush in to shame the youngsters for not holding.

The Aviators had a first down on the five-yard line on one occasion, were inside the 10-yard line a second time, and were down to the 14 a third time, but couldn’t get the ball over. This burst of offensive power, however, took place in the last period when the Tiger regulars were on the bench and the Aviators didn’t like it a little bit as Coach Kammer sent in his first team when the goal line was threatened.

Good Blocking

The Tigers long runs for touchdowns can be attributed principally to another demonstration of great blocking by the ball carriers teammates.

The blocking as a whole was good and made possible Grabers long touchdown dash with an intercepted pass.

There’s a brother act in the Tiger line that is worth watching too. Barney and Bob Wallace time and again broke through Friday evening to throw Alliance runners for losses. Dick McClure, who did most of the passing especially came in for this punishment. Always rushed, he had to pick out his receivers quickly, or pick himself off the ground.

While the Tigers as a whole remained strong last night their glaring weakness was the second team line. In previous games this year the second stringers usually were able to play opponents first teams after the varsity had managed to wear them down a bit.

Not last night. The Aviators could do little offensively with the first team, but just as soon as the second team took over the Aviators moved. In fact the Tigers only had the ball in their hands three times the entire fourth quarter and on one of these occasions they punted on first down.

Maybe one of the reason why they were content to perform from a punt and spread formation last night was the fact that Howard Brinker, former Massillon junior high and now head football coach at Steubenville, was in the stands.

Coach Kammer didn’t want to give “Brink” anything to take back to show his Big Red team which plays here next Friday evening.

Alliance Gains on Passes

Discounting two long runs made by Aviator backs against the Tiger second team, the forward pass was Alliance’s most effective weapon as far as ground gaining was concerned, but it backfired at the goal line when one pass was intercepted for a touchdown and another for a touchback.

The Aviators gained 118 yards and lost 57 trying to carry the ball for a net gain of 61 yards from rushing. Considering that two runs against the second team totaled 69 yards you can see that Alliance lost more than it gained from rushing the rest of the game.

In passing, however, the Aviators connected eight times in 21 attempts for 98 yards. The Tigers intercepted four passes. The local eleven completed four passes in 11 attempts for 81 yards and had two intercepted. The 81 yards added to a net of 163 yards from rushing gave the Tigers a net gain of 244 yards for their evening’s work.

Fans saw something in the way of good punting last night too. McClure got off the first one, a 74-yarder that sent the Tigers back deep into their own territory. In the fourth period Graber duplicated the stunt by catching the Alliance safety man off guard and kicking the ball 72 yards.

It was raining on both occasions, but the moisture didn’t appear to hamper the operations at any time.

The Tigers sent the Aviators into a tail spin ere fans had settled in their seats. Alliance took the kickoff, and when two plays only advanced the leather to the Tiger 22, McClure punted high to his own 43. On the first play Graber, throwing from spread formation, pitched a beauty to Tom Jasinski who caught the ball just past the line of scrimmage and ran to the Alliance 25. The locals wheeled Bray around left end on the next play and all he had to do was run behind the superb blocking thrown up in front of him. Holt carried the extra point across.

Recovers Kickoff

The Tigers recovered the next kickoff when the ball was driven off the chest of an Alliance player and back into the hands of Dave Edwards who covered on the Alliance 49. The drive extended to the (information unavailable) where Graber punted into the end zone.

Alliance gained its only first down of the period when Geltz plunged for eight yards after McClure had made four. But the Tigers plugged the hole in the left side of the line and forced Alliance to punt.

The quarter ended with the score 7-6. Getting the ball on the 24-yard line, the locals launched a 76-yard drive. Holt and Graber carried to the 11-yard line and when Holt was tossed for a yard loss, Graber threw to Bray for the touchdown. Holt placekicked the extra point.

Nothing of any importance took place the rest of the period and the half closed at 14-0.

Holt nearly got away on the kick-off that opened the second half. He was hauled down on the 50 after exploding right through the middle of the Aviator team. Graber nearly got away but was pulled down from behind on the 37. On the next play he fired the ball to Willmot for a touchdown. Holt’s kick was low.

Graber nearly got loose again when he ran from his own 32 to the Alliance 30 but an Alliance player ticked him on the heels from behind in a desperate tackle. The ball was moved to the 11-yard line where the Tigers tried to pass their way across, failed and were held for downs. McClure tried to punt out but Weisgarber half blocked the ball and it fell into the arms of Cardinal on the 35-yard line. He powered his way down the sidelines behind good blocking for a touchdown and Holt kicked the ball out of the park on a successful attempt for the extra point.

With the second stringers taking over, Alliance gained ground. Passes from McClure to Faulkner and Hahlen took the ball to a first down on the seven-yard line. The Tiger regulars took over, stopped three running plays with a net gain of three yards and Holt intercepted a pass behind the goal on fourth down to end the threat.

Graber got off a booming kick to the Alliance eight-yard line and the Tiger second team went back into the game. But Alliance came down the field, again on long runs by Geltz and McClure and a 15-yard penalty against Massillon that gave the Aviators a first down on the 10.

Again, the first team took over, threw the Aviators back, and when McClure tried to flip the ball over the line on a short pass, Graber pulled it down and ran 97 yards for a touchdown. Holt again kicked the extra point, and the Tiger subs took over once more. Geltz and McClure ran the ball back to the Tiger 13 where the second stringers stopped the threat without the aid of the varsity. Henry Mastriann plunged for a first down and the game ended as the Tigers punted back to midfield.

It Was 34-0

Massillon Pos. Alliance
Willmot le D. Hahlen
Edwards lt Pegler
R. Wallace lg Iannotti
B. Wallace c Andreanni
Weisgarber rg Gempler
Paulik rt J. Hahlen
Jasinski re Faulkner
Cardinal qb McClure
Graber lh Ulbrecht
Bray rh Castiglione
Holt fb Geltz

Score by periods:
Massillon 7 7 13 7 – 34

Substitutions: Massillon: Power, qb; Yelic, rt; Turkall, rh; Kanney, lg; Schuler, rg; Oberlin, le; Gable, re; Williams, c; Gibson, rt; Pellegrini, lt;
Mastriann, fb; Bamberger, rt.
Alliance: Zink, Thomas, Mayer, Skillern, Grimes, Hardy, Dickey.

Touchdowns – Bray 2, Cardinal, Graber, Willmot.

Points after touchdown – Holt 4 (one plunge, three placekicks).

Referee – Mackey.
Umpire – Rupp.
Headlineman – Boone.
Field judge – Klocker.

Game Statistics
Tigers Alliance
Total First Downs 8 13
Yards Gained by Rushing 178 118
Yards Lost by Rushing 10 17
Net Yards Gained by Rushing 168 101
Net Yards Gained by Passing 81 98
Forward Passes Attempted 11 21
Forward Passes Completed 4 8
Passes Had Intercepted 2 4
Number of Punts 3 6
Average Distance of Punts (b) 39 36
Number of Kickoffs 6 1
Average Distance of Kickoffs 30 30
Number of Fumbles 0 2
Times Ball Lost on Fumbles 0 0
Number of Penalties Against 5 2
Yards Lost by Penalties 35 10

10,000 WATCH AVIATORS LOSE FIRST OF YEAR

Tigers Roll to Touchdown in 2 Plays
After Getting Ball

ALLIANCE, OH., Oct. 9 – Massillon’s mighty Tigers chalked up their fourth straight victory here tonight as they routed the Alliance Aviators 33-0. A throng of 10,000 saw Alliance suffer its first loss in four games.

The Tigers scored their first touchdown in two plays after gaining possession of the ball in the opening quarter. A pass from Graber to Jasinski picked up 20 yards and Keve Bray ran 20 more on a sweep.

A 15-yard aerial toss from Graber to Bray brought a second period touchdown. Holt placed kicked goal. In the third frame Graber passed 20 yards to Willmot for another counter.

The victory extended mighty Massillon’s unbeaten steak to 47 games. Cardinal recovered a partially blocked Alliance punt and returned 25 yards to score and Holt placed kicked goal.

In the fourth quarter when Alliance was threatening the Massillon goal line, Graber erased the threat by intercepting a pass from McClure on the Massillon 5 and rumbling 5 yards to the promised land. Holt’s placement made it 33-0.

ALLIANCE MASSILLON
D. Hahlen LE Willmot
Pegler LT Edwards
Iannotti LG R. Wallace
Andreanni C B. Wallace
Gempler RG Weisgarber
J. Hahlen RT Paulik
Faulkner RE Jasinski
Skillern QB Cardinal
Ulbrecht LH Graber
Castiglione RH Bray
Geltz F Holt

Massillon 6 7 13 7 – 34

Touchdowns – Bray 2, Willmot, Cardinal,
Graber

Points after touchdown – Holt 3 (placements)

Substitutions – Massillon: Oberlin, Tongas, Bamberger, Gibson, Williams, Turkall, Yelic, Kanney, Mastriann, Power, Schuler, Gable, Ilsch.
Alliance: Zink, Thomas, Mayer, Grimes, Hardy, Dickey.

History

1942: Massillon 40, Lincoln, NE 6

October 2, 1942June 17, 2017
by Eric Smith

GREAT BLOCKING BEATS LINCOLN

Ball Carriers Given As Fine An Exhibition Of Downfield Blocking As Has Ever Been Seen Here; 15,819 Fans Stand Up and Cheer

By Luther Emery

Ox cannot lick Tiger.

This was proved convincingly to 15,819 fans who saw the Washington high Tigers outspeed and outfight a heavier Lincoln, Neb., high school team here Friday evening to extend their undefeated string of games to 46 with a rousing 40-6 victory.

There was fear in more than one Massillonian’s heart when the towering Lincoln players took the field, packing from eight to 10 more pounds per player than the Tigers.

Speed Excells Weight

The fears were justified in the first period, when Lincoln covered a Massillon fumble inside the 30-yard line and charged back after being stopped once, to score on a well executed forward pass that had the Tigers trailing 6-0 at the end of the quarter.

Then lightning struck with the suddenness of the jungle cat and it was evident to all that the superior speed and fight of the Massillonians could more than offset the weight advantage held by the visitors.

The Tigers were mad and even that isn’t saying it. Any fan who thought they might fold, folded under his own astonishment when the locals grabbed the kickoff following the Lincoln touchdown and in three running plays, tied the score at 6-6. Keve Bray lugged the leather over in a jaunt to the sidelines then a reverse of his field for 30 yards, on the opening play of the second period.

Holt was thrown back when he tried to lug the ball over for the extra point, but it mattered not as the final score shows, and the Nebraskans might well have turned to corn huskin’ the rest of the game as far as football was concerned.

The Lincoln defense collapsed completely after the touchdown and it was one steady parade of touchdowns through the heralded Nebraska forward wall from there on in.

Lead of 20-6 At Half

The Tigers drove 58 yards for another the next time they got the ball, with Chuck Holt bouncing over for the last six inches. Then came the third and final Massillon touchdown of the half, an 85-yard return of an intercepted Lincoln pass by halfback, Bob Graber. Brother, you can watch the ball carriers, our eyes are on the blockers from now on in.

Members of the Tiger team convoyed Graber, those 85 yards just like Uncle Sam protects his transports. All Bob had to do was run down the side line, and run he did. One tackler came after him just as he intercepted the ball. Wham, and Keve Bray removed him from his path. Fifteen yards down the sidelines, another Lincoln tackler boomed in, you could hear the thud in the stands when Tom Jasinski knocked him out of the play. Graber found another tackler awaiting him at the 50-yard stripe. Chuck Holt almost cut him in two. At the 35-yard line the last Lincoln player cut across the field to make the tackle. Bob was running a straight line, three feet in from the sidelines. He slowed up a bit, when up came Bob Wallace with a leveler that gave Graber a clear path the rest of the way. The stands roared for once the blockers were getting the same share of glory as a ball carrier. Old high school players who were stars in their day, like “Swig” Thomas bounced right out of their seats. “Never saw anything like it.”

Graber’s Run Is Longest

Massillon’s mighty Tigers, state title claimants the last seven years continued to prowl with a 40 to 6 win over Nebraska’s state champs from Lincoln – the 46th straight game without defeat for the Stark county powerhouse. Bob Graber, Massillon back, intercepted a pass and raced 80 yards for the week’s longest touchdown run.

It was a clear out demonstration of what good, hard blocking can do.

In fact the Tiger offense began to improve just as soon as Fred Cardinal, their regular blocker, got into the game. Dallas Power started in his place and did just as good as could be expected, considering that he has worked most of the time with the backs of the second team, and was not sufficiently timed with the first team backs. His blocking showed to better advantage when he was working with the second team than when he was on the first string eleven, and he laid some beauties into his opponents.

The 85-yard touchdown run by Graber, gave the Tigers a comfortable 20-6 lead at the end of the first half and fans leaned back in their seats the last two periods to enjoy the game with greater assurance of victory.

Lincoln Flashed “T”

Lincoln shot the works, forwards off laterals, spinners, and sneakers off the “T” formation, but the visitors lacked the speed to cope with the local eleven. Their best weapon was the forward pass and they had a fine thrower in Gene Kirkendall, who completed five throws for 87-yards, but his team lost more yards than it gained on running plays and as a result showed but two first downs in the summary, one in each half, against the Tigers 18 first downs, nine in each half.

The Tigers gained 380 yards by rushing, only lost one yard, and completed two passes for gains of 36 yards. They completed another for a touchdown but it was not allowed because Don Willmott, the receiver, was offside on the play.

To the spectator, the game was far better than the 40-6 score would indicate. The powerful first quarter, alone paid its dividends in interest and enthusiasm and the band show at the half would be a cinch in Madison Square Garden.

To the Massillon fan, the Tiger football team has doubled in improvements with each succeeding game, and in the opinion of Coach Elwood Kammer, it will have to double again in order to take the measure of Alliance high next Friday evening. Kammer trying to conceal his joy of victory after the game, got his players into a huddle and reminded them that a Youngstown newspaperman last week picked Alliance to win the Stark county championship this year.

At the other end of the stadium, in the Lincoln dressing room, players and coaches were trying to figure out what had happened. “We don’t know,” one of the players remarked, and he was sporting about it.

No Alibi For Defeat

Noticing his disappointment, we ventured the suggestion that it isn’t easy to ride all night in a railroad coach and play football the next day.

“No, that didn’t have anything to do with it,” the game youngsters replied, “we are not going to use that for an alibi, we were beaten good, and that’s all there is to it. But we didn’t quit, did we? I know I didn’t,” and the abrasions on his nose, forehead, and cheek certainly testified to that.

The visitors were sporting about the whole affair, and admitted that this venture into Ohio football, was considerably different from the two occasions years ago, when they knocked Toledo Waite loose from the Ohio pedestal when the Maumee gridders were ruling the Buckeye football throne.

The whole story seems to be that the Massillon eleven last night actually showed the type of football it is capable of playing. The Links, with a big, strong and heavier forward wall, thought they could stop the Tiger running attack with a six-man line, so they deployed five men in the secondary in 2-2-1 fashion to guard against passes. The latter worked fairly successful, but the six-man line wasn’t equal to the task as was clearly demonstrated when the Tigers roared back in three plays after the Lincoln touchdown to tie the score. Occasional passes were thrown, and even though only two of them worked, they were effective from a strategic standpoint in that they forced the Lincoln secondary to stay back, and thereby opened the way for the running attack.

The Tigers were in a hole most of the first period, and though they pulled themselves out, a bad punt or a bit of bad judgment got them in again and helped to open the way for Lincoln’s touchdown.

On the second play of the game, Holt fumbled and Bob Patton of Lincoln flopped on the ball on the Tiger 32. You could almost get a ping out of the tense anxiety in the stands, but on fourth down, Graber ended the threat when he snared on of Kirkendall’s passes on the 17-yard stripe.

Lincoln Scores First

Then and there Lincoln showed signs of not being any too strong defensively, for the Tigers marched up the field to the Lincoln 43. Then with fourth down coming up and a yard needed for a first down, Graber punted and the ball slanted off his foot and out of bounds on the 35-yard line. The Links gained 10 yards on an exchange of punts and got the ball on their 45. They went to work and made Massillon hearts sink as they moved deeper and deeper into Tiger territory. Kirkendall worked a pass to Roger O’Donnell for a first down on the Tiger 35-yard line, but three more downs only gained five yards and it was fourth down and five to go. Everybody in the park seemed to know a forward pass was coming and so did the Tigers, but this fellow O’Donnell has the fightin’ Irish in his blood and he took off over the heads of the Massillon secondary to pull in the leather and stiff arm one-two-three tacklers before going over the goal in a heap. He went down in a thud with a Massillon player on top of him, but there’s no denying he made it and everybody in the stands asked the same question, “Is this the night!”

They felt a little better when Patton’s attempted kick for the extra point was wide of the upright for they saw the possibility of a 7-6 defeat removed, but still neither team had been thoroughly tested and it was only the first period.

Coach Kammer was concerned too, for he sent Cardinal, his first string blocker, into the lineup, to muster all the strength possible for this next thrust.

Maybe the Tigers didn’t need Cardinal. Maybe they could have done it without him, but what followed was legalized mayhem on the football field.

Cardinal got the kickoff and went back 20 yards to his 36. Holt’s blockers exploded a bomb in the middle of the Lincoln line and he raced to the visitors 46, a dash of 18 yards. Graber tried to pass but it didn’t connect, so he turned again to the running attack. This time he carried the ball and went 16 yards to he Lincoln 30. There the quarter ended.

Bray Ties It Up

Now it was Keve Bray’s turn to show what he could do and did he do it? He came around left end like the Broadway limited and cut back through the middle of the field to go over with room to spare, a 30-yard run that tied the score. An attempt to plunge the ball over failed.

The Tiger defense bristled and stopped Lincoln after the kickoff with a one-yard gain in three plays. Kirkendall kicked to the Massillon 42, and the Tigers were on the loose again. Holt banged to the Lincoln 34 and Graber, almost stopped twice, ran to a first down on the Lincoln 34. Thus in five running plays the Tigers had made four first downs and a touchdown.

Graber pitched to Willmot for what looked like a touchdown but Willmot got a head start on the ball and was offside, so Graber turned around and threw it to Bray for a first down on the 19.

Holt and Bray put the leather on the six-inch line and Holt carried it over, for the touchdown and Cardinal for the extra point.

The two teams took turns intercepting passes after that, but Graber got in the last lick on the brilliant 85-yard dash you have already been told about.

Just to show they had no intention of letting up, the bloodthirsty Tigers scored the first time they got their hands on the ball in the third period. Lincoln received the kickoff, and failing to make more than five yards, punted to Graber who came back to his 33. Graber and Holt smashed for 12 and a 20-yard pass to Jasinski, placed the leather on the Lincoln 38. Graber and Cardinal carried to the 22 and the whole left side of the Lincoln line was torn apart as Graber circled right end for the touchdown. Holt kicked the extra point.

Tiger substitutes were steaming into the game the rest of the way as they made two touchdowns. They marched 58 yards with Gibson and Henry Mastriann doing most of the lugging. The latter plunged over from the 12-yard line for the score. His attempted kick for the extra point was blocked, but Jasinski was on the alert, picked up the bouncing ball and lugged it over to hoist the score to 34-6.

The final touchdown came on another 53-yard drive, with Gibson running 15 yards to the 35, then 21 yards to the 10, nine yards to the one-yard line, where Romeo Pellegrini took it over.

Coach Kammer cleaned his bench of substitutes the last period, giving every boy an opportunity to play.

Game Statistics
Tigers Lincoln
Total First Downs 18 2
Yards Gained by Rushing 380 19
Yards Lost by Rushing 1 83
Net Yards Gained by Rushing 379 -64
Net Yards Gained by Passing (a) 36 87
Forward Passes Attempted 18 39
Forward Passes Completed 2 5
Passes Had Intercepted 3 6
Number of Punts 4 1
Average Distance of Punts (b) 34 42
Number of Kickoffs 8 2
Number of Fumbles 2 0
Times Ball Lost on Fumbles 1 0
Number of Penalties Against 2 6
Yards Lost By Penalties 20 45

Great Victory

Massillon Pos. Lincoln
Willmot le Kremarik
Edwards lt McKay
R. Wallace lg Means
B. Wallace c Galter
Weisgarber rg Lee
Paulik rt Patton
Jasinski re Fox
Power qb O’Donnell
Graber lh Kirkendall
Bray rh Valencia
Holt fb Glenn

Score by periods:
Massillon 0 20 7 13 – 40
Lincoln 6 0 0 0 – 6

Substitutions – Massillon: Cardinal, qb; Yelic,rt; Kanney, lg; Pellegrini, lh; Gibson, rh; Mastriann, fb; Williams, c; Oberlin, le; Gable, re; Tongas, lg; Schuler, rg; Berger, lt; Fulton, rh; Turkall, lh; Profant, c; Bamberger, re; Adams, qb; Kiefer, fb; Keller, le;l Richards, lg; Cicchinelli, rg; Luke, le; Parsetti, lh; Belch, rt; Ilsch, lt.
Lincoln: Becker, rt; Epp, lt; Jacobsen, rh; M. McDermott, re; J. McDermott, lh; Mulder, rg.

Touchdowns – Bray, Graber 2, Holt, Mastriann, Pellegrini, O’Donnell.

Points after touchdown – Holt 2 (kick and plunge), Jasinski (carried), Cardinal (carried).

Referee – Lobach.
Umpire – Graf.
Headlineman – Rupp.
Field judge – Long.

The Greatest Show On Earth! That’s Massillon Grid Extravaganza

By Jeff Schlemmer

You will pardon, I hope, the many rave notices on Massillon high school football which appear on these pages.

There is one real reason for them. The Massillon Tigers and the Tiger band make up the greatest football show in this part of the country, and until there is evidence to the contrary, the greatest football show in the nation.

This great spectacle is coming to an end, of course. All such spectacles are nearing the end for the duration. I fully believe I am doing Akronites a favor by urging that they see the Massillon show at least once before the season’s end.

The diminutive Tiger gridders who beat the Lincoln Neb. giant Links Friday night 40-6 represented the best coordinated, most precise ball club seen around these parts in years.

Forty-six games have gone into the books since Massillon last lost. That defeat was by new Castle in 1937. No Ohio team has beaten the Tigers since 1934. And this is 1942!

Elwood Kammer is the third head coach the Tigers have had in three years. Paul Brown was the originating wizard behind the “Massillon system.” When he went to Ohio State, Bud Houghton took over and became the “miracle man of 1941” with he undefeated team.

Now comes Kammer up from the junior high level to head the Tiger football squad and in three games he has proved to the most critical fans that this year’s team, lacking big name stars, is playing better football than its predecessors for as far back as memory can be stretched.

Long ago we exhausted our supply of superlatives in describing George “Red” Bird’s band. To go into that subject now would only be to say the greatest tribute paid it is that other high school bands try to copy its every move and every feature…and none comes close.

A new feature was added Friday night when the G.A.B.S. made their debut. The G.A.B.S. are the girls’ auxiliary band salesmen corps, a group of 80 brilliantly uniformed girls from Washington high school, 79 of whom have a father or brother in the armed forces. The 80th had a brother in the service. He was killed.

Directed by Bernadine Bell, a teacher in the high school, with Norma Ackley as commander and Caroline Smith as vice commander, these girls sold stamps and war bonds to Friday’s crowd after having been beautifully introduced in conjunction with the band show.

What was the result? Well, they took only $1,200 in stamps to the stadium . They sold all $1,200 worth in a few minutes. In addition they sold $500 in bonds, without really emphasizing bond sales.

This was their first attempt. The G.A.B.S. will be a regular feature at the Massillon football show for the duration. Who can say this isn’t worthwhile?

History

1942: Massillon 26, Weirton, WV 6

September 25, 1942June 17, 2017
by Eric Smith

HOLT AND BRAY CARRY THE MAIL

Massillon Backfield Men Lug Leather For Many Yards While Graber Throws Strikes To Jasinski And Willmot

By Luther Emery

They came, they saw, but they did not conquer. Several thousand football fans of Weirton, W. Va., their hopes high for victory, wended their way home from Tiger Stadium, Friday evening disappointed but not all disgruntled with the performance of their high school football team.

They were part of a crowd of 16,632 fans who saw the Red Raiders badly beaten 26-6 by a superior Massillon eleven, but they found satisfaction in their six points, the first scored against the Tigers this season and the first ever made against Massillon by a Weirton team.

A Capacity Crowd

The crowd which from all indications will go down in the 1942 records as one of the largest of the season, was treated to football de-luxe as only seen in Massillon and the Weirton team and band had much to do with it.

The Red Raiders, noticeably on edge for the contest which they considered their greatest opportunity to beat Massillon, scrapped from the opening gun to the final whistle and kept apace, with the Tigers in scoring the second half.

They tossed laterals, combination laterals and passes and otherwise tried to give the spectators their money’s worth, even though it was evident after the middle of the second period that they couldn’t wrap up a victory for their loyal hometown followers.

The Weirton band was all they said it would be, an organization that is developing rapidly and which will be remembered as one of the best to set foot in Tiger stadium this year.

Though Weirton scored six points the second half, as many as the Tigers could tally, it wasn’t enough and did not make up for the trouncing they received the first two periods, when the Massillon eleven played the game for “keeps.”

Fine First Half

The Tigers seemed to do everything right the first half, but the backfield sputtered the last two periods and couldn’t get coordinated for more than the one touchdown drive.

Do not forget that a shifting Weirton defense had something to do with Massillon’s troubles. “It was doggone tough trying to figure out what to do,” said Coach Elwood Kammer after the game. “The way they ganged up on us made it tough for the ball carriers.”

Carl Hamill, the Weirton coach, was complimentary of the Tigers performance. “You have a good team,” he said. “We figured you had a couple of ends who could catch the ball and we tried to set up a defense for them, but they caught it anyway. I like to see boys fight for the ball the way they do. A couple of the passes they caught in the first half really hurt us.”

The Tiger gridders for the most part emerged from the game in fairly good condition. Fred Cardinal, Karl Paulik, and Barney Wallace sustained charley horses and Don Willmot twisted an ankle. None of the injuries is believed serious.

The hats were off to Keve Bray and his performance made you wish that some others would do well to harvest a few boils. Keve didn’t have a chance to practice this week, because of boils in each armpit. They were lanced only Thursday, but when the Tigers trotted out for the kickoff, Keve was at right halfback as usual. Despite his boils, he played a fine game and his hard running and pass reception produced two touchdowns and helped to account for others.

Rivaling Bray for ball carrying ability, was Capt. Chuck Holt, who slam-banged his way through the Red Riders’ line for many a long gain.

Bob Graber, though he gained little ground carrying the ball, had his fun throwing strikes at the Tiger ends and backs. He had himself a big first half.

As a blocker, Cardinal hits to kill. In fact he smacked himself right out of the game with a series of hard smashes that aggravated an old shoulder injury and put him on the sidelines.

Line Gets Jump

The Tiger line, for the second straight game got the jump on its heavier opponent and moved Weirton backward most of the evening.

Football games are won and lost on the line, so the Massillon trenchmen get their share of credit for the 26 points, even though they did bulge sufficiently to allow Weirton’s Ted Bouyoucas to knife through for the first points scored against them this season.

Out of the score came the revelation that the Tigers can take it, and hand it back – for they bounced right back to score their fourth touchdown of the game early in the fourth quarter, and were driving for another when the end came.

There were no flukes connected with any of the Massillon touchdowns. They worked hard for them. An 80-yard march with Holt carrying that last 34 yards, produced the first. An 85-yard drive got the second, with Bray sweeping in the last 15; a series of passes from Graber, produced the third, Bray gathered a short peg over the line for the points and a 48-yard march got in the fourth and final score, Graber carrying the leather across from the five-yard line.

One For Weirton

Weirton commanded the ball most of the time in the third quarter in its march from the Tiger 42-yard line where a Red Rider came up with Graber’s fumble. The visitors had everything but the book of rules to get them over the hump and into the promised land. Once Cardinal intercepted one of Pete Ziniach’s passes to stop the threat, but Massillon was offside and the penalty gave Weirton a first down on the Tiger 29. Pete Ziniach poured a screen pass to Frankie Wypasek for a first on the Tiger 17, only to have Ted Bouyoucas tossed for a 10-yard loss on the play. That seemed to end another Weir threat. Interference was called on a pass that gave the Riders a first down on the Tiger 16 and nullified Bouyoucas’ loss. Ziniach managed to use the screen pass successfully again as he pegged the ball to Dickie Glover, sub halfback, and the latter got to within nine yards of the goal. He moved it two yards nearer and Bouyoucas lugged it over with room to spare.

It took the visitors 12 plays to get the touchdown, with passes accounting for most of the yardage. In the five ball carrying attempts the Riders gained 14 yards and lost 11.

It was the first time a Weirton team has been able to cross the Tiger goal. The Red Riders were trimmed 48-0 in 1940 and 6-0 last year.

The statistics show the Tigers just as superior as the score. They made 31 first downs to the Riders six and gained 414 yards to their opponents’ 103 yards. Of the 414 yards, 131 were made on eight completed passes while the visitors gained 26 yards on six completed passes.

The Massillon passing attack was brilliant the first half with Graber throwing as though he had his toe in the pitcher’s box and Tom Masinski and Don Willmot making almost impossible catches. Graber threw 14 times the first half and completed eight. The Tigers didn’t gain a yard with their forwards the last half though they managed to complete one for no gain.

Improved Performance

The hard hitting performance of the local team the opening periods showed considerable improvement over their play in the opening game against Cathedral Latin a week ago. Running from both T and single wing, the Massillon eleven smashed viciously at the visitors and ball carriers were accorded good interference. In the early moments Bray gained large sections of territory on sweeps around his left end and Holt pounded the tackles for more yards. The hammering drew the Red Riders’ secondary in and opened the way for a second period passing attack.

Going into the second half 20 points to the good, the Tigers began experimenting with passes in an attempt to improve this weapon. The visitors, however, came back fighting too and the Massillon attack fizzled out. The blockers began missing their blocks and passes were either intercepted or grounded. Then came Weirton’s opportunity and the Riders capitalized.

Coach Kammer started the same team that swung the axe on Cathedral Latin last week.

The Tigers got off to a jittery start, “shades of the 1941 game,” when Holt fumbled the kickoff, but the ball rolled back of the goal, where he went down on a knee, picked it up and then came out to the five. The ball was dead when he covered it behind the goal, however, so the Tigers started their march from the 20.

Holt gained nine yards and Bray put the leather on his 44 with a left end sweep. Two five yard penalties pulled the Tigers out of a hole after the Riders apparently had them stopped. A first down on the Weir 43 set the Massillon team in motion again, but three plays only gained eight and one-half yards. With fourth down coming up and a yard and a half to go, Holt exploded inside right tackle and raced over the goal. He tried to plunge the extra point across but failed.

Another Touchdown

Weirton took the kickoff but had to punt back to Graber who returned from his 15 to the 29. Bray raced around his left end on a lateral for a first down on the Weir 34. He was in the clear, but got bottled up along the sideline. It was a run of … yards. Holt followed it up with a 10-yard gallop and a penalty for defensive holding brought a first down on the 18. Graber and Cardinal moved the ball up three yards and Bray grabbed off the rest of the distance on a sweep over the goal. Holt plunged for the extra point.

The Tigers had to overcome two penalties to score their third touchdown. They started from the 30 when Graber returned a punt from that point to the 45, but were ticketed 15 yards for unnecessary roughness. A pass to Bray advanced the leather to the Weir 47 and Cardinal sneaked through for a first on the 33. Graber passed from there to Holt for a touchdown, but it was nullified with a 15-yard penalty for clipping. Jasinski made up the loss by going over the heads of four Weir secondary to snare a pass on the 10, and another flip to Bray got the six points. Holt kicked the extra one. A pass to Tyre Gibson gave the Tigers a first down on the Weir 10-yard line when the half ended.

The locals did not threaten the third period, and you have already been given the sequence of plays that led to Weirton’s touchdown.

A poor Weirton punt that went nearly straight up in the air gave the Tigers their last scoring opportunity. Getting the ball out of bounds on the Weir 48, Holt raced 24 yards, and cooperating with Graber, moved it to the five-yard line where Graber took the leather over. Holt’s attempted kick for the extra point bounced off the goal posts.

The Tigers second team played the last half of the fourth period and the youngsters had just succeeded in getting a first down on the Weir 46 when the game ended.

Sweet Victory

Massillon Pos. Weirton
Willmot LE Zgurski
Edwards LT Wargacki
R. Wallce LG Cimino
B. Wallace C Ostovich
Weisgarber RG Mestrovic
Paulik RT Battista
Jasinski RE Wypasek
Cardinal QB J. Ziniach
Graber LH Rojak
Bray RH Bouyoucas
Holt FB P. Ziniach

Score by periods:
Massillon 13 7 0 6 – 26
Weirton 0 0 6 0 – 6

Substitutions – Massillon: Williams, c; Power,qb; Gibson, rh; Kanney, lg; Profant, c; Mastriann, fb; Oberlin, le; Gable, re; Schuler, rg; Yelic, rt; Berger, lt; Pellegini, lb.
Weirton: Daugherty, le; Pulaski, lt; Paris, rg; Grasso, c; Troia, lg; Remenar, rt; Ross, qb; Glover, lh; Kamarec, fb; Collette; Sawchak.

Touchdowns: Holt, Bray 2, Graber, Bouyoucas.

Points after touchdown: Holt, 2 (placekick and plunge)

Referee – Graf.
Umpire – Schill.
Headlinesman – Hazelwood.
Field Judge – Boone.

MASSILLON WHIPS WEIRTON, 26 TO 6

Runs Unbeaten String to 45 as Graber Stars in Passing Role Before 16,632

MASSILLON, O., Sept. 25 – The Massillon Washington Tigers piled up a 20-point lead at halftime and then coasted to a 26-6 victory over the Weirton (W.Va.) High Red Raiders here tonight before 16,632 fans in Tiger Stadium.

In running their unbeaten string to 45 games, the Tigers relied on their ace passer, Bob Graber, who spiced the Massillon offense with a fine exhibition of throwing. The Tiger passer pitched perfect strikes which accounted for two touchdowns.

The Tigers faced a spirited West Virginia attack in the last half. It was all Weirton in the third period. Taking advantage of a fumble by Graber, Weirton drove 42 yards in nine plays. Then Ted Bouyoucas, right halfback, crashed center from the seven for the Raiders only six-pointer.

The Massillon club again hit pay dirt in the final quarter. A 68-yard drive culminated when Graber, running from punt formation, raced off right tackle from the six-yard line.

Aided by two Weirton offside penalties, the Tigers took the opening kick-off and marched 80 yards for their first touchdown. Chuck Holt, speedy fullback, climaxed the drive by knifing through right guard for the last 35 yards.

After receiving the kick-off Weirton picked up only three yards and punted out on the Massillon 31. The Tigers then proceeded to duplicate their first scoring advance. Fine running by Bray produced the marker. Off the T formation he raced 35 yards to the Red Raiders’ 29 and then from the 18, cut around left end for the six-pointer.

Weirton Fans Disappointed

The game belonged in the same category because it was interesting throughout. The outcome, of course, was a great disappointment to the Weirton fans, a majority of whom came here confident of victory. Weirton was well represented at the game.

Particularly pleasing to the Massillon fans was the passing demonstration put on by the Tigers during the first half. As one interested spectator put it.

“I thought Weirton was going to do the passing. Where are some of those 50 and 60 yard passes we’ve been hearing about?”

It was during the Tigers’ aerial show that it was reported that the St. Louis Cardinals were thinking about signing Bob Graber as a pitcher. He certainly pitched that ball last night.

MASSILLON – 26 WEIRTON W.VA. – 6
Willmot LE Zgurski
Edwards LT Wargacki
R. Wallace LG Cimino
B. Wallace C Ostovich
Weisgarber RG Mestrovic
Paulik RT Battista
Jasinski RE Wypasek
Cardinal QB J. Ziniach
Graber LH Rojak
Bray RH Bouyoucas
Holt FB P. Ziniach

Substitutions – Massillon: Tongas, llg; Williams, rg; Kanney, rg; Power, qb; Pellegrini, lh; Gibson, rh; Mastriann, fb.
Weirton – Daugherty, le; Pulaski, lt; Ferielli, rg; Troia, rt; Glover, rh.

Touchdowns – Graber, Holt, Bray 2, Bouyoucas.

Points after touchdown – Holt 2.

History

1942: Massillon 38, Cleveland Cathedral Latin 0

September 18, 1942June 17, 2017
by Eric Smith

MASSILLON TEAM SHOWS PROMISE

Hard Blocking And Tackling Testifies To Training; Players Escape Serious Injury; Weirton Coming Next Week

By Luther Emery

Set it in big type – tell the boys in camp – the Tigers are going to be tough again this year – that you can count on them and George Bird’s band to do their part in keeping up the morale at home.

Both organizations demonstrated it Friday evening before 13,532 fans in Tiger Stadium – the Tigers, by defeating Cathedral Latin 38-0, and the band, by giving a superior exhibition complimentary to any professional organization. There is none other like it.

Score On Ground

Cutting down Latin tacklers with vicious blocks, the Massillon gridders laid a well planned ground attack to snare the Cleveland Lions and scored all six touchdowns by carrying the ball across the Latin goal.

It was the blocking of the Massillon team that signaled it as a possible future powerhouse. Linemen stood up the Latin defense while the backs romped through the holes. Out in the open, they were supported by blocks that sent the visitors tumbling backward, out of the path of the ball carrier.

Three complete teams were tossed at the visiting eleven by Coach Elwood Kammer, and only for the fact that second and third teams played the entire fourth quarter, the score would have been larger.

Latin Outcharged

Latin battled hard all the way, but was outcharged and overpowered by the local team, which earned every touchdown it made. Most sensational of all was the last of the game, when Tyre Gibson, substitute right halfback, running from the position that Pokey Blunt made famous last year, maneuvered around like a jeep until he beat the last Latin tackler to the goal.

The others were obtained the hard way. They smashed 70 yards with Bob Graber knifing through right tackle for the last four to get the opening score. The second came on a 36-yard drive that ended with Chuck Holt banging his way over from the two-yard distance. A 92-yard march got the third, with Holt picking up the last seven yards.

The fourth was produced by the Wallace brothers, Bob blocking a Latin punt and Barney scooping it up and dashing 18 yards to the promised land. The fifth followed an 80-yard drive with Keve Bray the contributing factor and he carried it the last 25 when he roamed through a big hole Don Willmot and Dave Edwards had opened for him at left tackle.

The Tigers clicked as well as they have in any opening night performance. Maybe it was because Latin wasn’t too strong – that at least had Coach Kammer wondering. “I’m not too sure,” he said. “We looked pretty good, but Latin didn’t look so good to me in spots either. Maybe that is why we looked good. Anyway, don’t judge Weirton, our next week’s opponent, by Latin. You are going to see a toughie when these West Virginians come to town and I want my boys to realize it.””

There were no serious injuries John Mazurowski, Latin center, suffered the only blackout, but even he recuperated in time to get back into the game the second half.

Kammer surveyed his players after the game and did not find any unusual bumps or bruises. These frequently do not show up for one or two days and the Tiger coach will know more Sunday just how well his team survived its opening duel.

Fortunately, those players who entered the game with old injuries, appeared to have come out of it in good condition. In fact, from the way they played no one could have guessed how much they have been babied in practice this season.

Gamble Works

The big gamble of the Massillon coaches worked to success. To scrimmage or not to scrimmage was the question that confronted them at the start of the practice season. They chose the latter – a radical departure from the procedure of former years when a player who emerged from the first practice session without a black eye or skinned nose was considered some sort of a sissy.

The Tigers practiced hard in their pre-game preparations for Latin – got in a lot of leg and machine work, and held light scrimmages – but nothing of the actual combat variety.

They got their first taste of action last night and liked it. It was the go signal for Coach Kammer, and if they block like that without body contact in practice, what will they do with more experience?

The tackling was good enough too. Few were missed – otherwise Latin would not show more yards lost than gained by rushing.

The visitors had a couple of backs in Raymond Rakar and Joseph Petkovic who might have done some good if the Lions line had been able to shake them loose, but they had to fight their way lone handed for the few yards they did manage to move beyond the scrimmage line. Between them they shared most of Latin’’ burden.

Gained with Passes

What ground Latin gained was covered in an aerial blitz the last period, that failed to produce anything more than 36 yards and a couple of first downs. The Lions tossed 11 of them, completed three and had two intercepted.

The Tigers aerial attack sputtered badly, but Bob Graber and Henry Mastriann managed to get four to receivers for 54 yards. Ten were grounded and three intercepted.

It was on the ground that the local team was best, despite the fact that Latin was using a tight defense, with a seven-man line and three backer uppers who sometimes worked only a yard behind the tackles and center.

This opened the way for passing but the throwers had difficulty getting the ball to the receivers and the latter sometimes had a hard time shaking themselves loose to get out in the secondary at all.

Tiger ball carriers lugged the leather 417 yards against the Lions, which is a good sized total in any man’s game. Their efforts at running and passing produced 16 first downs to Latin’s six, and their only punt was called back when Latin was offside.

Speaking of punting, Dick Brown, of the visiting team, showed how a football should be kicked. He laid his foot against the leather several times with tremendous force that sent the ball spinning for long distances. His best punt was 61 yards.

Quick Kicks Blocked

The visitors had a quick kick play that would have worked had its line not been badly outcharged. As it was, two of these were blocked, and one recovered by the Tigers.

It is too early to pick a star and not always the best policy. There actually wasn’t a one last night. Bray looked far better at right half than he did in the spring exhibition game, and appeared to get up more steam the longer he played. Where he hesitated the first couple of periods, he ran over them the third.

Pinch hitting for Bob Williams, regular center, who watched from the sidelines because of illness last week, Barney Wallace not only scored a touchdown, but knifed in several times to spill Latin ball carriers behind the line of scrimmage.

The peppy performance of the second stringers and the rapidity with which they shoved over a touchdown, was plenty pleasing to the Massillon fans, who are accustomed to seeing spirited performances by their teams.

The varsity maintained an old Massillon tradition the first time it laid hands on the ball by marching to a touchdown. After stopping Latin on the kickoff and getting the ball in midfield as a result of high punt, the Tigers went to work for the fans. It was what all had been waiting for. Bray and Graber lugged the leather 12 yards in two attempts and it was Capt. Holt the rest of the way. He powered his way for 16 yards in one effort to the four-yard line and Graber took it over.

Holt had two chances to kick it over, but missed both. The score mounted to 12-0 a couple of minutes later when Graber pulled in one of Rakar’s passes and ran back to the Latin 36 before Petkovic got him down. Cardinal gained nine by grabbing a pass in the flat and Holt banged through to the 17. Holt took it the rest of the way, a five-yard penalty helping and a pickup of Bray’s fumble moving the ball to the four-yard line, where the captain took it over.

The first quarter ended with the score 12-0 and it wasn’t long until the locals got in motion again. Frustrated once on the 12 by penalties, the Tigers roared back with a successful 92-yard march the next time. It was hard going most of the way, with a 17-yard dash by Graber, the feature number. Holt plunged over and kicked the 19th point. Tiger seconds played the remainder of the second period.

There was a lot of scoring the third period. Barney Wallace starting it when he scooped up a loose ball after brother Bob had blocked Brown’s punt, and ran 18 yards to score. Holt got the ball between the uprights on another placekick and it was 26-0.

The very next time the Tigers got the ball they maneuvered for a touchdown. The drive began on the Massillon 32, and a pass from Graber to Willmot, good for 17 yards helped to advance the pigskin. Bray applied the finishing spark when he raced 25 yards through the left side of his line, to score.

The last touchdown was Gibson’s scintillating run of 90 yards. Dallas Power convoyed him through the Latin line and T.Y. with the aid of some timely blocking did the rest.

A Real Start

Massillon Pos. Latin
Willmot le Brown
Edwards lt Rigof
R. Wallace lg Weimals
B. Wallace c Mazurowski
Weisgarber rg Marolt
Paulik rt Boerem
Jasinski re Patrizi
Cardinal qb Zoller
Graber lh Rakar
Bray rh Cousineau
Holt fb Petkovic

Scores by periods
Massillon 12 7 19 0 – 38

Substitutions: Massillon: Pellegrini, lh; Gibson, rh; Power, fb; Kanney, lg; Yelic, rt;
Profant, c; Oberlin, le; Bamberger, rg; Mastriann, fb; Schuler, rg; Ilsch, rg; Belch, lt; Berger, lt; Tongas, g; Adams, qb; Kiefer, fb; Keller, e; Richards, g; Cicchinelli, g;
Luke, e; Parsettie, hb; Turkall, hb; Gable, re.
Latin: Wagner, re; De Grandis, qb; Seavers, hb; West, rg.

Touchdowns: Graber, Holt 2, B. Wallace, Bray,
Gibson.

Points after touchdown – Holt 2 (placekicks)

Referee – Earl Gross.
Umpire – Carl Brubaker.
Headlinesman – Paul Harlow
Field judge – Nathan Lippie.

History

1941: Massillon 32, Canton McKinley 0

November 22, 1941June 10, 2017
by Eric Smith

DEFEAT CANTON BY 32-0 SCORE

Bulldogs Speared With Passes As Tigers Record New Margin of Victory Over Ancient Foe And Boost Record to 43 Games Without Defeat

By Luther Emery

Orchids to Bud Houghton and his Washington high Tigers.

The team that didn’t have a chance at the start of the season is still champion of Ohio, and you can write it in the records—seven consecutive state titles—undefeated in 43 games.

While 25,000 fans blinked with amazement the Tigers blasted their way to the seventh title in Fawcett stadium, Canton, Saturday afternoon, to knock Canton McKinley out of the picture with a 32-0 triumph, the largest margin of points on record for a Massillon team in a game with Canton.

Passes Baffle Bulldogs

Stunned by the suddenness of an unexpected aerial assault, the Bulldogs were never able to recover long enough to organize a protection against the Massillon air forces.

They had concentrated on stopping the Tigers by land and sea as evidenced by their refusal of the tarpaulin, but their gamble that Massillon could not use the air, backfired and the strategy went out with the exhaust.

Tiger coaches had anticipated it. They knew in their own hearts that the Massillon passing attack had not looked good all year, so they set out the past two weeks to improve it, did, and when the bulldogs tossed an eight-man line against them on the first play, and crowded the three-man secondary against it, the Tigers had the necessary weapons to fight with.

Passes Did It

Tail-backs Bob Graber and Dick Adams, just rared back and let fly, and far out in the Bulldog secondary, the receivers bobbed up to haul in the ball with little or no interference.

It was Graber to Fred Blunt for 37 yards and a near touchdown; Graber to Keve Bray for 12; Graber to Blunt for 36 and a touchdown; Adams to Bray for 32; Graber to Joe De Mando for 44; Adams to Bray for 34; Graber to Bray for 49; Adams to Fred Cardinal for 22; and Adams to Tom Jasinski for five.

There you have the list that shows the potency of the Tiger attack, nine completed passes in 17 attempts for one direct touchdown and 271 yards. While passes only accounted directly for one touchdown, they set up all the others and might have produced two more scores, had not the receivers lost their balance after working themselves in the clear in tremendous efforts to catch the ball.

That is one-half of the passing game.

The other half is the defense set-up by Houghton and his staff to stop the Bulldogs in the air. The Massillon coaches, using a 6-3-2 defense instead of their usual seven diamond, guarded the secondary carefully. They were willing to give the Bulldogs from two to three yards on the line as long as they could prevent any long shots. The strategy was successful. Canton hurled 27 passes but only completed 10, and only one of the 10 gained any great distance. Four passes were intercepted. The Bulldogs did gain considerable yardage on the ground, but only once did they get within scoring distance, that effort coming in the last minute when they lost the ball on downs on the nine-yard line.

The Tigers were in the pink. Smartly quarterbacked from the opening minute to the final gun; they surveyed their opponents’ weaknesses, and struck at the opportune moment.

Sweeps Bring Touchdowns

They showed no mercy with a vicious running attack once passes had placed them in a position to score, and in powerful sweeps, Keve Bray, John Hill, Joe De Mando, and Fred Cardinal would lead Graber, Blunt, and Adams to touchdowns. One by one, you could see the Bulldog ends and secondary chopped down as Tiger blockers cleared the way for their ball carrier.

Sweeps were the only weapon the Massillonians had on hand. The Bulldogs had so thoroughly concentrated on the off-tackle and spinner plays, that Capt. Fred Blunt, Chuck Holt, and Bob Graber found it next to impossible to move. Blunt, who has been the big ground gainer all season, was virtually stopped all afternoon, but he did get loose for one of the touchdown sweeps.

The Tigers, in their new defensive setup, prepared especially for this game, found Tom Harris, but Bulldog fullback, the hardest of the Canton ball carriers to bring down. Canton built its whole attack around him. He carried the leather 19 times and tossed most of the 27 passes. A spinner with Dominick carrying the ball was the red and black’s best ground gainer.

The Bulldogs used three different defenses going from an eight to a seven to a six-man line, but the Tigers outguessed them most of the way and tossed passes when the secondary was least protected.

You will be looking for heroes, but you need not hunt. Take all 11 of them into your arms. The linemen from tip to tip played fine football and every member of the backfield put in his contribution.

Bray’s Greatest Game

Don’t overlook Keve Bray; who played his greatest game; and don’t forget little Dave Miller, the 140-pounder who went in when Bob Wallace came out with an injury. The way he submarined when the Canton power drives were turned loose through center was terrific. Only a stout heart could do it. That’s it! That was Houghton’s first comment after being carried to the dressing room by his players. “They were a great bunch of goys. They fought their hearts out this afternoon.”

They did. They carried out the promise made by Capt. Blunt as he dashed out of the pre-game huddle and ran to the Massillon bench while his teammates took their positions on the field. “Don’t worry coach, we’re going to lick them this afternoon. We’ll win this one for you,” he said, and how!

Wow!

How the Massillon passes clicked. Fans who had seen the Tiger aerial game sputter all season couldn’t believe their eyes. All efforts to jam in the Tiger backs and receivers and keep them from getting into the open, failed, and you must give the linemen, Don Fuchs, Vernon Weisgarber, Karl Paulik, and Bob Wallace, plenty of credit for keeping the Canton linemen from sifting through while Graber and Adams picked out their receivers. The latter had plenty of time to throw, something they have lacked all year, and they tossed the ball as though they were shooting a rifle. And the receivers held on to it.

There was no dropping the pigskin. Everything that was close was caught and in most instances the receivers were beyond the secondary when they took the leather.

Because the passes were completed for long gains, the first down total is not commensurate with the 32 points. Each team made 11. Yardage gained tells the story better, 431 to 109.

The Tigers gained 189 yards on the ground and lost 29 for a net total of 160. Leading ground gainer for the Tigers was Dick Adams who gained 113 of the 189 yards himself. He made the longest run of the game, 59 yards and was hauled down from behind. He raced 26 yards for a touchdown on another occasion.

Great Punting Exhibition

And while you are still thinking in terms of heroes, don’t overlook the tremendous punting of Graber, especially the 51-yard boot from his nine-yard line that took the Tigers out of a hole early in the third quarter. Graber actually was behind his goal line when he kicked the ball. It soared 60 yards over the McKinley secondary.

The average of 43 yards per punt would be a compliment to any college kicker.

The Tigers scored in all but the third period. They got their first touchdown in the middle of the opening quarter, as you would expect by now – through passes, two of them in a row, a 12-yarder to Bray and a 36 yard toss to Blunt, who raced across the goal with no one near him. Graber was the thrower.

They scored two touchdowns in the second period. A 44-yard peg from Graber to De Mando took the ball to the Canton 15. Big Joe could have made the rest of the distance had he not lost his balance reaching out to catch the ball. He stumbled along for 10 yards before he finally went down in a heap. But it only took one play to get the remaining 15. Bray, Hill, and Cardinal blasted the right flank of the Bulldogs to pieces as Graber swept his end for the score.

Dick Adams’ 34-yard pass to Bray, set the stage for the third with a first down on the nine-yard line. And again Adams circled the right end for the touchdown while his teammates threw everything but the goal posts at Canton tacklers to clear each and every one out of Dick’s path.

Tigers Score Two More

The fourth touchdown came early in the fourth quarter after Canton had had a bit of an edge in the third period. A 49-yard peg from Graber to Bray produced a first down. The Tigers powered their way the rest of the distance through the most determined resistance put up by the Bulldogs all afternoon. Chuck Holt smashed his way for a first down on the one-yard line, but he couldn’t get it over in three attempts and came up fighting once when everyone piled on. It was left to Capt. Blunt to score and with everyone expecting another smash by Holt, Blunt circled his left end behind the same great blocking that had accompanied Graber and Adams and crossed the Bulldog goal.

The extra point that had previously been missed through two kicks from placements and an attempt to carry the ball, was made good this time by Graber who hammered his way through right guard.

The final Massillon score followed two completed passes, a 22-yarder from Adams to Cardinal, and a five-yard toss to Jasinski that took the ball to the 26-yard line. There Adams struck through a hole at right tackle opened by De Mando, Blunt, and Cardinal and behind fine blocking led by Hill and Holt, stepped 26-yards to the promised land. Holt went over for the 32nd and final point of the game.

The Bulldogs got on the march twice, once at the end of the first half, and once at the end of the game.

In their first half effort they moved the moved the ball from their 35 to the 18 where the gun ended play with fourth down coming up and a foot needed for a first down. Passes gained 19 of the yards.

At the end of the game they marched the kickoff back from their 36 and aided by a 38—yard pass, Tom Harris to Pickard, planted the ball on the 12-yard line for a first down. Four plays only gained three yards from there on, however and the leather was lost on the nine-yard line.

The game was officiated better than any we have seen this season including Big Ten contests. Dr. David Reese and his officials kept the contest moving, called only two penalties both against Massillon for being in motion. Canton took five yards on the one but refused the other penalty and accepted the down.

The game brought to a close the first year of Houghton as coach, and he did what none at the start of the season expected him to do, retain the state title for Massillon a seventh straight year.

Others may claim it. Martins Ferry, Mansfield, Toledo Libbey, but none has beaten the champ and if they analyze the record, they will join in the admission that Massillon is still on top.

Never before has a Massillon team beaten McKinley by as many points as Houghton and his Tigers rolled up on Saturday. Last year’s previous margin of 28 points was topped by four. Canton still has the high score for the series, however, a 43-0 walloping handed the Massillon team in 1907. The Bulldogs likewise have an edge in the series that began way back in 1894, but the Tiger team has whittled it down to a game now. Canton has won 22. Massillon 21 and three have ended in tie scores.

You could go on and on writing about the game, but why use all the metaphors this year. Seven of the 11 starters will be back next season. None was seriously injured.

Still Champions

Massillon McKinley
Bray LE Parks
Paulik LT Parshall
B. Wallace LG Zimmer
Fuchs C Cook
Hill RG Schuster
Weisgarber RT Smith
De Mando RE Pickard
Cardinal QB Williams
Graber LH Dominick
Blunt RH J. Harris
Holt FB T. Harris

Score by periods
Massillon 6 12 0 14 – 32

Substitutions – Massillon: Willmot, rg; Adams, lh;
Miller, lg; Power, qb; Edwards, rt; Dolmos,lt; Stout,c;
Gibson, fb; Jasinski, re; Robinson, le; White, rh;
Armour, le.
McKinley: Haverstock, le; Jordan, rt; Lombardi, lt;
Coulas, rt; Wernet, c; Simms, rh.

Touchdowns – Blunt 2, Graber, Adams 2.

Points after touchdown – Graber, Holt (carried)

Referee – David Reese (Dayton)
Umpire – Earl Gross (New Philadelphia)
Headlineman – A.B. Long (New Philadelphia)
Field Judge – Titus Lobach (Akron)

Boosters Have Open Meeting

Do you want to celebrate Saturday’s 32-0 triumph over Canton McKinley high school?

Then turn out at Washington high school tonight, Booster member or not, and let off steam. The club is holding an open meeting tonight to give every Massillon citizen, men and women, boys and girls, an opportunity to celebrate. The program starts at 7:30 p.m.

MASSILLON’S TIGERS turned Ohio’s most famous high school football rivalry into a shambles Saturday afternoon when they handed Canton McKinley’s Bulldogs a pitiless
32-0 larruping before 20,000 not too astonished customers at Canton’s Fawcett stadium.

The defeat was the seventh straight the Bulldogs have absorbed at the hands of their deadliest rivals. McKinley last whipped the Tigers in 1934 and recently they haven’t even been able to make it close in this traditional battle.

The triumph yesterday merely continued the amazing saga that is Massillon’s. The Tigers now have gone through 43 successive games without tasting defeat, their last setback having come at the hands of New Castle, PA., in 1937.

For William “Bud” Houghton the decisive Massillon triumph meant a great season in his first year as Paul Brown’s successor. The youthful Tiger mentor took a green eleven at the start of the current campaign and wielded it into a machine that won nine of 10 games. Mansfield tied the Tigers, 6-6, although badly outplayed by Massillon.

Yesterdays’ game was decided in the air, for on the ground, the Bulldog line showed up surprisingly strong.

But McKinley had no semblance of defense against the passes of Bob Graber and Dick Adams. The two Massillon passers had all the time they needed to get set and their receivers found no trouble at all in eluding the McKinley secondary defense.

The Tigers pitched 17 passes and completed 10 of them for the amazing total of 266 yards. To appreciate just how helpless the Bulldogs actually were against the Massillon passes, one had to see the game. Mere words won’t describe it.

On the ground, the Tigers had far too much speed for their rivals. The crisp, deadly blocking which has always marked Massillon play was still there, especially on two of the touchdown gallops.

McKinley equaled the Tigers in rolling up first downs, each team making 11, but still the Bulldogs failed to make a serious threat. McKinley outgained the Bengals rushing, 187 yards to 128 and completed eight of 24 passes for 69 yards.

McKinley put itself in a hole right at the start when its two safety-men played far too shallow on a punt by the Tiger’s Bob Graber. The boot went over their heads with the Bulldogs finally winding up on their seven-yard line.

MASSILLON VS. CANTON
Mass. Can.
First downs 11 11
First downs rushing 4 7
First downs passing 7 3
First down penalties 0 1
Net yards rushing 128 187
Yards gained passing 266 69
Total yards gained 394 256
Passes attempted 17 24
Passes completed 10 8
Passes intercepted by 2 3
Number of punts 5 8
Average of punts 43 31
Number of kickoffs 5 3
Fumbles by 2 1
Opponents’ fumbles recovered 1 1
Yards lost by penalties 5 0

History

1941: Massillon 39, Youngstown East 12

November 15, 1941June 10, 2017
by Eric Smith

Tigers Top Orientals In 8th Win

By Jim Allerdice
Repository Staff Write

MASSILLON – Capitalizing on four pass interceptions and a fumble, the Massillon Tigers defeated a rangy Youngstown East team 39-12 before 9,000 fans Saturday in their last 1941 appearance in Tiger stadium.

The big East team proved to be no breather for the Tigers, scoring more points and making more first downs than any Massillon opponent to date. Coach Bud Houghton kept his first team in the game until late in the final period to insure the eighth victory of the season.

The Youngstown team could get nowhere playing straight football but in the second quarter resorted to a passing attack which netted them 131 yards and both their touchdowns. Dunlevy heaved most of East’s 25 passes with Lou Gabriel doing some effective receiving.

The Tiger line again proved its worth by stopping the Oriental ball carriers cold while their own backs were able to pick up 319 yards. Blunt provided the most spectacular run of the day when he streaked wide around his own left end 64 yards for the third touchdown early in the second quarter.

Adams Scores Opener.

Bob Graber, a junior, played one of his best games, intercepting two passes to set the stage for touchdowns and scoring another himself. Chuck Holt, another junior back, was the first quarter hero, covering a fumble on the second play of the game to provide the break for the first Tiger touchdown. He also intercepted one of Dunlevy’s passes a few minutes later and twisted 29 yards for the second score.

As had been their custom the Tigers wasted no time in scoring. Holt recovered Wayland’s fumble on the East 24 and six plays brought the ball to the two from where Dick Adams took it through right tackle for six points. His kick for the extra point was no good.

Holt’s touchdown came shortly afterward when be intercepted a pass on the East 29 and went over. Adams converted.

Blunt Runs 64 Yards.

Massillon scored again early in the second quarter when Graber intercepted an Oriental pass on his own 36. On the next play Blunt swept end for his 64 yard run and Massillon’s 19th point. Holt made the extra point.

A moment later Graber intercepted another pass. Holt carried to the East 19 and a pass, Graber to Cardinal, took it to the one, where Cardinal hurdled the line for the score. Holt’s kick was no good.

The first Youngstown touchdown came as a result of a drive from their own 35. A pass, Dunlevy to Gabriel, was good for 24 yards and another pass to Gabriel in the march.

The Orientals showed their respect for the Tiger line by not trying to buck their way the remaining four yards. Instead they tried four passes, all of which were grounded, and Massillon took the ball.

East got it back a moment later, however, by covering Blunt’s fumble on the 12-yard line. This time the visitors were not denied. Dunlevy threw a perfect strike to Vicarel, who fell over the goal after catching the ball. Wayland was thrown back trying to carry the ball over for the extra point.

Neither team threatened seriously until the last half-minute of the fourth quarter, when Adams intercepted an East pass on the 39-yard line. The ball was moved up to the 30 where Adams threw over the secondary to Junior White, who caught it in the end zone. The game ended as soon as the Tigers completed their try for the extra point, Adams kicking it over.

The Tigers had the edge in statistics, making 12 first downs to East’s nine and gaining the net total of 343 yards to East’s 148. East made 131 of its net yards on forward passes, while the Tigers made 48.

The locals attempted nine passes and completed two while East tried 25 and worked 10 of them.

Robinson Gets In

The game marked the appearance of Herman Robinson, veteran left end, for the first time this season. He played the last couple of minutes but still favored the injured knee that has kept him on the bench all season.

Enough for the East-Massillon game. The fans have forgotten it already anyway. They are thinking of the tilt at Canton Saturday and so are the Tigers.

They will work out behind closed doors this week with all spectators barred from the field. The Massillon boys emerged from the East game without suffering any injuries, and John Hill, right guard, a contact man on practically every play will be O.K. for the McKinley game. He has been kept out of the last two games because of an injured leg, but it is strong as ever now.

The coaches broke up the squad into groups Sunday and each took a hike as a limbering up process. Serious workout for Saturday’s encounter will begin tonight.

It will be the 46th meeting between the teams since 1894. Canton has won 22 games, Massillon 20, and three have resulted in tie scores. The Tigers have won the last six encounters, a streak that started in 1935 after three years of domination by McKinley.

As the teams go into their final week of practice, the game looks like a tossup, despite the better showing made by the Tigers against two of four common opponents.

Both Tied Mansfield

Both teams tied Mansfield, Canton playing a scoreless tie, Massillon battling to a 6-6 score. The Tigers defeated Steubenville 58-0, Canton won 58-8. The Tigers defeated Warren 21-0, Canton lost to Warren 13-7, with breaks and blocking punts playing an important part in both games. The Tigers defeated Alliance 46-6, when the latter virtually quit in the second half, while Canton edged Alliance 18-13.

The game looks like a tossup despite the latter two scores, because scores frequently have meant so little in past Massillon-Canton game performances.

The Tigers looked like winners by half a dozen touchdowns two years ago, but they were glad to settle for a 20-6 triumph. Last year they trailed up to the last two minutes of the half when a well executed pass put them ahead 7-6. They eventually won 34-6, by routing the Bulldogs the last quarter.

Last year’s 34 points were the most made by either team since Canton whipped Massillon 45-0 back in 1907. In all the years of rivalry, the victor has on but six occasions scored more than 21 points.

Each team has had five opponents cross its goal this season. Six touchdowns have passed over the Tiger payoff stripe, while Bulldog opponents have scored 10 touchdowns on them.

Five of the six touchdowns chalked up against Massillon were scored on passes. Only once was the ball run across, that coming on the return of a kickoff in the Marblehead, Mass., game. Canton has scored 268 points for the season to its opponents’ 66 points, while the Tigers have scored 282 points to their opponents’ 32.

Following is a record of Massillon-Canton rivalry since 1894 and the scores this year:

Year Massillon Canton
1894 6 16
1894 8 12
1895 0 6
1899 3 19
1899 4 9
1903 0 5
1903 0 8
1904 0 18
1905 5 12
1906 0 24
1906 0 28
1907 0 0
1907 0 45
1908 0 17
1908 12 6
1909 11 6
1909 8 2
1912 0 19
1913 13 13
1914 3 0
1915 6 7
1916 16 9
1917 7 6
1919 21 0
1920 0 14
1921 13 12
1922 24 0
1923 9 0
1924 6 0
1925 3 6
1926 0 0
1927 0 13
1928 0 7
1929 31 6
1930 14 6
1931 20 6
1932 0 19
1933 0 21
1934 6 21
1935 6 0
1936 21 0
1937 19 6
1938 12 0
1939 20 6
1940 34 6

Massillon won 20
Three ties
Canton won 22

Canton Record
McKinley 62, Timken 0
McKinley 26, Akron South 0
McKinley 26, Champaign, Ill. 6
McKinley 7, Warren 13
McKinley 59, John Adams 0
McKinley 18, Alliance 13
McKinley 58, Steubenville 6
McKinley 0, Mansfield 0
McKinley 12, Oak Park 28

Massillon Record
Massillon 6, Weirton, W.Va. 0
Massillon 28, Marblehead, Mass. 6
Massillon 39, Cathedral Latin 0
Massillon 46, Alliance 6
Massillon 58, Steubenville 0
Massillon 6, Mansfield 6
Massillon 21, Warren 6
Massillon 39, Toledo Waite 7
Massillon 39, Youngstown East 13

History

1941: Massillon 39, Toledo Waite 7

November 8, 1941June 9, 2017
by Eric Smith

BENGALS CLAW INDIANS 39-7

Toledo Gains Early Lead With Forward Passing Attack, But Fast Massillon Backs Get It Back and Send Score Soaring

By Luther Emery

Ten thousand fans were still thawing out today after shivering and stomping their feet through four periods of near-freezing temperatures at Tiger Stadium, Friday evening, while their Washington high football team was handing Toledo Waite a 39-7 beating to stretch the Massillon undefeated streak to 41 games.

If you have thawed out, you might chance continuing on with this story, but if you are still chilly, turn away from the cold facts or you will start shaking all over again.

Still a Remarkable Crowd

What a difference in the weather last night when compared with that of the Toledo Waite game of 1940, and what a difference in the crowd. And yet last night’s turnout was almost as remarkable.

A year ago, 22,000 fans sat through a driving rain and 5,000 more peered through the fences because they couldn’t get tickets to see a game that had been ballyhooed for eight months, a grudge battle with undefeated rivals for the 1939 state title pitting their perfect records against each other.

The Tigers won that game 28-0 and are still undefeated. But Waite came to Massillon last night with three victories in seven games including losses in its last two starts, and yet 10,000 persons stuck their chins out and took a worse beating from the weatherman than the Toledo football team received at the claws of the Tiger.

A high wind, and near-freezing temperatures made it downright cold, but the fans, most of them, stuck it out to the last despite the fact that the result was a settled issue by the middle of the third period.

Waite Pulls a Thriller

It was an inspired Waite team that met Massillon last night, eleven Indians who fought tooth and nail the first half to ambush the Tigers, score a touchdown the first period and uphold the beat traditions of Maumee gladiators with a courageous display of defense that staved off two Tiger scoring threats in the second period and left Massillon holding the slim edge of 12-7 at halftime.

The game was in no sense secure when the third period got underway, but with the mercury flirting with the low 30’s it didn’t take the Tigers long to put it on ice in the third quarter with two rapid fire touchdowns.

It was a game filed with the spectacular, long runs, and passes, what many fans like and stayed to see.

It stated off faster than the 35-mile an hour gale that howled through the stands and made the light poles sway. Ere four minutes had expired, each team had shoved over a touchdown and fans were wondering what next was coming off.

It took just three plays for the Tigers to get their’s. Junior White got off to a flying start by returning the kickoff 41 yards to the Waite 37, then slipping to the 21 on the next play, from which Dick Adams’ twisted his way for the touchdown.

That was that and Massillon fans leaned back in their seats waiting for the kill, but they themselves were about to be scalped as the Indians took the kickoff and charged back with three rapid-fire passes, two over the line and into the flat that brought a first down on the five-yard line. There Bob Albright rared back and pegged the ball straight over the line to Harry Wright who took his footsies off the ground for a moment to make the catch. When Dick Jensen kicked the extra point, the Tigers found themselves trailing for the second time this year.

Sends Blunt In

None was more concerned than Coach Bud Houghton, for he shoved his ailing captain, Fred Blunt, into the game and the fur began to fly. It that’s the way colds effect Blunt, it might be a good idea to blow a few bacteria his way every week. All he did was grab the ball on his 44-yard line, and head for left end with Joe De Mando thundering along in front to block out the last tackler, while “Pokey” did the whole 56 yards in one stretch. It wasn’t too encouraging yet, when Adams failed to carry the extra point across, for no one knew when Waite might connect again with its passes and take the lead.

For some reason or other, however, the Indians tossed a couple away and quit throwing. The Tigers apparently solved the attack and set up a defense for it. Not another pass did Waite complete after its touchdown. In fact but five more were attempted.

The Indians had hard luck handling the ball. They lost it four times on fumbles, and on three of the occasions the Tigers were quick to seize the break and capitalize on it.

That is not saying that Massillon did not deserve the victory. It was faster and more powerful. Had Waite hung on to the ball a little better however, and gotten away good fourth down punts, the Tigers would have had to have traveled a greater distance to get to the promised land, and consequently the score might not have been as large.

One of these fumbles gave the local gridders a scoring opportunity in the second period when they covered a Waite muff on the 28-yard line.

Here the Indians demonstrated their pluck and only yielded two yards on a pass and three running plays.

Here’s Real Stone Wall

But that was only a sample of what they could do defensively. It wasn’t long after that a brilliant 31-yard run by Blunt helped to get the ball to a first down on the Waite five-yard line. Here the Indians came through with a goal line stand that had Massillon fans worried at the half for they gave the Tigers but two yards on four running plays and took the ball away from them on the three-yard line.

The Indians must have played themselves out doing it however for along came the third period and with Chuck Holt as the spearhead of the drive, the Tigers marched from where they got the kickoff on the 18 to the Waite 16-yard line where Holt tore through the left side of the Waite line to score. This time Adams kicked the extra point and Massillon went to the front 19-7. And it was 25-7 shortly afterward when Holt broke through left guard again and dashed 51 yards for a touchdown. The Tigers had gotten the ball on a fumble just before Holt’s sprint. Vernon Weisgarber covered Bauman’s muff.

Another muff in the same period, this one by Jim Lamoreaux, right halfback, was covered by George Dolmos, substitue tackle, and set the locals in motion for a successful march. Holt plunged for a first down on the 15-yard line and Adams’ well thrown pass was snared in the end zone by Joe De Mando for the touchdown. Adams kicked goal and it was 32-7.

De Mando covered a fumble by Beauman on the 32-yard line in the fourth quarter to ring up points again. White and Holt hugged the ball to the seven from where Graber took it over for six points and repeated on the attempt for the extra point.

That’s all the scoring there was.

Only twice did Waite work the ball into Tiger territory, once on its successful touchdown series and again in the last minute of the fourth period when Albright ran some 27 yards to reach the Massillon 40.

That the Indians were thoroughly outplayed, is clearly shown by the statistics, 14 first downs to eight and a net total of 402 yards from ball carrying to 70 yards.

Coach Houghton started a backfield with only one regular, Chuck Holt. As the game moved into the clutch, however, the regulars one by one began to recuperate and take their places on the field. Fred Cardinal, Blunt, and Graber, all saw service, but John Hill, and Don Armour are still on the sidelines with injuries.

The game was Massillon’s last night attraction of the season, Youngstown East will play here next Saturday afternoon.

Good First Half

Massillon Waite
Bray LE V. Smith
Paulik LT Jensen
Wallace LG Schick
Fuchs C Kives
Kanney RG Saam
Weisgarber RT Oatley
De Mando RE Wright
Power QB Links
Adams LH Lamoreaux
White RH Albright
Holt FB Bauman

Score by periods:
Massillon 12 0 20 7 – 39
Waite 7 0 0 0 – 7

Substitutions – Massillon: Blunt, rh; Cardinal, qb; Dolmos, lt; Miller, lg; Jasinski, re; Willmott, le; Gibson, fb; Graber, lh; Stout, c;
Waite: Collins, le; Atwood, qb; Raether, re; Cannon,lh; Milks, lg.

Touchdowns – Blunt, Adams, Holy 2, De Mando, Graber, Wright.

Points after touchdown – Adams 2 (placekicks),
Graber (carried), Jensen (placekick).

Referee – Gross
Umpire – Boone
Headlinesman – Bachman
Field judge – Long

History

1941: Massillon 21, Warren Harding 0

November 1, 1941June 9, 2017
by Eric Smith

BLOCKED PUNTS WIN HARD GAME

Massillon Gridders Score Touchdowns In First Second and Fourth Periods To Win Important Game Before 10,000 Rain-Soaked Fans

By Luther Emery

The films are undeveloped and so is the Warren football team when it comes to matching the skill of the Washington high Tigers. They went over the Hill on a muddy road to a 21-0 victory Friday evening before 10,000 rain soaked, thrill choked fans in Warren Harding stadium and thereby surmounted one of the big obstacles in their bid for a seventh consecutive state championship.

It was Massillon’s 40th game without a defeat, and it was earned the hard way – by making breaks and taking full advantage of them. It was Warren’s first loss of the season.

Warren Had Drive and Power

Playing on a slippery field that after a few minutes made it practically impossible to identify players unless you could pick them out from their positions, the Tigers found themselves pitted against a spirited Warren team that had drive and power.

Don’t take anything away from Pierre Hill’s Presidents. In the rain and mud, they looked the best eleven the Tiger have faced this season and they were out to win.

Both teams had their minds set on victory. So high were they keyed that they literally jumped at each other the first quarter, leaping offside so often that the officials twice had to call them together and urge the captains to take it just a little easier to so as not to delay the game.

A Thrilling Game

To the folks who sat at home and followed the game by radio and special wire it must have been a thriller; to the fans whose faces were washed with rain all evening it was a killer-diller.

The boys played for keeps on both sides, but there was none of the episode of flying fists that so many fans had anticipated.

In fact fans who didn’t get tickets, were probably only too glad to stay home, while those who did, were so drenched and cooled off by the rain that they kept their hands in their pockets. There was no reason for anything otherwise and more grumbling was heard among Warren general admission patrons who paid 83 cents to stand ankle deep in mud at the ends of the field, than was voiced by anyone else.

It was a football game from start to finish, just as so many other Massillon-Warren games have been. The Tigers looked the smoother team and had more speed, but they couldn’t use it on the sloppy gridiron, fumbled frequently and had a hard time moving their heavier opponents who ganged them on the line of scrimmage because they knew a wet ball made passing practically prohibitive.

It was more of a game than the score would indicate. Only twice all evening did the Tigers actually carry the ball over the middle stripe – they got it in Warren territory on other occasions, through three blocked punts and punt exchanges. Likewise they were in the hold the greater part of the second period with their backs twice against the goal as a result of fumbles.

Tigers Seize Opportunities

The difference in the two teams was that the Tigers took advantage of their scoring opportunities while Warren lacked the power to shove across a touchdown and on one occasion showed poor judgment in accepting a penalty when a decline would have left them in possession of the ball on Massillon’s one and one half yard line.

Two blocked punts and a brilliant 80-yard run by Capt. Fred Blunt produced the Tigers three touchdowns.

The game was only a few minutes old when on the first exchange of punts, big Joe De Mando got his carcass in front of Charley Scarpaci’s punt on the 80-yard line and blocked the ball so hard that it bounded across the goal line. De Mando dove for the ball lost it, but Karl Paulik stretched himself across the leather for the touchdown. As offside penalty on the attempted point for touchdown put the ball on the one yard line where Chuck Holt banged through for the extra point.

The Tigers were fighting hard to hold their seven-point lead and Bob Graber had twice punted them out of danger when Fred Blunt suddenly electrified the fans with the feature touchdown run of the evening, midway in the second period that saw him shake himself loose from Don Byrnes, who almost nailed him for a five-yard loss, he ran 80 yards up the sidelines behind fine blocking, without another hand being laid on him. This time Graber rammed the extra point over to make the score 14-0.

The thrills weren’t over with yet, for the Tigers developed a bad case of butterfingers and Warren recovered two fumbles on the nine and 10-yard lines. Both times the vaunted Tiger line bristled like a Halloween cat and smashed the attempts of the Presidents to legislate a touchdown.

They were helped by a bit of poor judgment on Warren’s part on the second effort when Capt. Scarpaci preferred a second down on the five yard-line to a third down on the yard and a half line. He wound up by losing the ball, and it was Warren’s last serious bid.

Blocked Punt Again

A blocked punt by Bob Wallace in the fourth quarter that Massillon recovered on the Warren 16-yard line paved the way for the last touchdown. Blunt ripped around his left wing for eight yards and hit a man for a first on the three-yard line. Graber turned loose a power play at right tackle and carried the ball himself for the touchdown. He struck for the extra point.

That in brief describes the scoring plays but it only touches on the performance of a few of the players. Though mud and rain games usually result in two teams locking themselves in a grunt and groan match in the middle of the field, nothing of the sort took place last night and there were thrills every minute.

Never will you see a better punting duel than that put up in the second period between Scarpaci and Graber and there wasn’t a Massillon fan who wouldn’t have taken his shirt off his back and given it to Graber were it not for the fact that Graber had no need for two wet shirts.

Once Scarpaci punted dead to the one-yard line. The Tigers were battling to hold a seven-point lead then, and the seven looked small enough. In the fact of a hard charging Warren line, Graber fell back into the end zone and kicked the ball out to the 45-yard line where Larry Larson scooped it up and came back to the 34. The Tigers held, and Scarpaci again pointed his toe at the coffin corner and angled the ball out on the two-yard line. Once, more Graber dropped back and sent the ball spiraling from behind his goal to the 45-yard line, this time with no return. The next time Scarpaci kicked into the end zone, the Tigers got the ball on their 20, and Blunt came though for his 80-yard touchdown dash. After having seen their team in such deep trouble its no wonder the Massillon fans went nearly hysterical and drank large portions of raindrops as they shouted in glee.

Then there followed the brilliant goal line stands by the Tiger forward wall in which every man from one flank to the other had to do his everlasting best.

In Trouble Often

It seemed as though the local team would never get out of trouble. The first setback came when Blunt fumbled a none too good pass on the 33-yard line and the ball rolled back to the nine where Bill Lahto recovered for Warren. Tony Marcarello and Mike Georges wound up two attempts with exactly nothing gained and Don Armour and Blunt batted down passes behind the goal on the third and fourth downs to take possession of the ball.

Less than a minute remained to play, and the Tigers elected to carry the ball and not make any effort to gain ground, hoping to stall out the half. On the second play, however, Dallas Power, who was sent in as a substitute, lost control of the greased pigskin and Frank Superak recovered for Warren on the 10-yard line.

Scarpaci’s pass was grounded but Marcarello ran hard to the one and one-half yard line. Massillon was offside on the play, and Scarpaci took the penalty in preference to the ball which left him possession of the leather on the five-yard line. He picked up one yard at right tackle, but the Tiger linesmen stopped Marcarello in his tracks and knocked down his pass on fourth down. The half ended one play later.

For the most part, play in the third quarter was confined to the back yard of each team. Late in the period, however, Graber made a brilliant 25-yard return of Scarpaci’s punt to lug the leather past midfield to the Warren 38. Here the Presidents held, and for some reason or other the Tigers tried to run for seven yards on fourth down, and lost the ball on the Warren 43. Then it was the President’s turn to invade Tiger territory and they came over the midfield stripe to the Massillon 41, where Wallace broke through and partially blocked Scarpaci’s kick to take the ball on the Massillon 24.

At the outset of the fourth quarter the Tigers threatened when Blunt intercepted one of the eight passes attempted by Warren and raced from his 45 to the Warren 25. He fumbled on second down, Georges recovered for Warren to end the threat.

It’s Wallace again

On the following sequence of plays, Wallace broke through to block Scarpaci’s punt and set the stage for the Tigers third and final touchdown.

Statistically, the difference between the two teams wasn’t as great as the 21 points. Were it not for Blunt’s 80-yard dash, the number of yards gained from scrimmage would have been almost the same. The Tigers gained a net total of 167 to Warren’s net total of 81. Each team made three first downs, a penalty helping Warren to one of its trio.

Neither team tried a whole lot in the way of passing. Warren tossed eight and completed one for a loss of two yards, while Massillon’s two passing attempts were unsuccessful.

Warren held on to the ball far better than the Tigers and as a result did not get itself into difficulty because of fumbles. The Tigers had seven bobbles and lost the ball four times, while Warren had but one fumble and recovered.

With the exception of Don Armour, the Massillon gridders emerged from the game in good condition. He injured a knee early in the fourth quarter after having played a good defensive game. The extent of the injury could not be determined last night but it appears as though it might be serious.

Many Massillon fans are of the opinion that the Tigers would have run away with Warren on a dry field. Hazarding a guess at such a score would be second guessing and it must be remembered that a wet field also hampered the Warren offense, especially in the department of forward passing.

Warren packed a good wallop in its power plays and usually had men ahead of the ball carrier.

Joe De Mando who entered the game with a severe cold was brought home and placed in the city hospital, just to make certain that he would receive careful attention.

Well, the films will be mailed back to Warren again. The two rolls of movie film taken from Warren scouts when they attended the Cathedral Latin game here last month will be returned to Warren shortly.

The films were given back to Warren 10 days ago, but Warren mailed them back to Massillon again. L.F. Kemp principal of Washington high has them in his possession but will return them shortly.

Sweet Victory

Massillon Pos. Warren
Bray LE Georges
Paulik LT Superak
Wallace LG Byrnes
Fuchs C Kujala
Hill RG Kelson
Weisgarber RT M. Graham
De Mando RE Lehto
Cardinal QB McKinney
Graber LH Larson
Blunt RH Scarpaci
Holt FB Marcarello

Scores by period.
Massillon 7 7 0 7 – 21

Substitutions – Massillon: Adams, lh, White, rh; Dolmos, rt; Miller, lg; Armour, le; Kanney, rg; Jasinski, lt.
Warren: Palchik, le; Meholik, lt; Slak, rg; Ludwick, le.

Touchdowns – Paulik, Blunt, Graber

Points after touchdown – Holt three plunges

Referee – Brubaker
Umpire – Lobach
Headlinesman – Richardson
Field Judge – Allison

History

1941: Massillon 6, Mansfield 6

October 24, 1941June 9, 2017
by Eric Smith

22,000 FANS SEE THRILLING GAME

Tigers Prove Themselves Better Team in Midfield, But Mansfield Defense Is Tough Inside the 25-Yard Line

By Luther Emery

All good things must come to an end and they did at Tiger Stadium Friday evening when an inspired Mansfield high school team beat the statistics to tie the Washington high school Tigers 6-6 and thereby halt the Massillon consecutive victory streak at 38 games.

It wasn’t as bad as it could have been, for the score could just was well read 7-6 either way, but neither team could make the extra point. So Mansfield for the second time in seven seasons puts an end to the Massillon streak with a tie score.

Ended Streak in 1937

The Tygers stopped a 21-game string in 1937 with a 6-6 tie and still have the distinction of being the only Ohio high school team to successfully tie a Massillon eleven since Canton McKinley twisted the Bengal’s tail in the finale of the 1934 season.

Twenty-two thousand fans and 3,000 others who mounted the hilltops after being turned away at the gate, saw each team score its touchdown in the second quarter, Mansfield first, then Massillon. They too, saw an infuriated Mansfield team hurl back threat after threat in the last half to maintain the tie with brilliant goal line stands.

Massillon hammered in Mansfield territory throughout the entire second half, losing the ball once on the 17-yard line, again on the nine, again on the one, again on the 29, again on the 24, and still again on the 22. Once in the second quarter the ball was surrendered on the Mansfield 16.

The Tigers moved easily enough in midfield, but once inside the 25-yard line, it was like banging into a stone wall. Two big ends, Joe Romano and Bob Winbigler, and a hard tackling secondary led by Bill Doolittle made life miserable for Massillon ball carriers, when they tried to gain ground in pay dirt.

Statistics and Points Differ

The local team complied an impressive quantity of yardage, 273 yards to Mansfield’s 58 and 16 and first downs to one, but statistics tell one story and points another. The Tigers offensive efforts were confined principally to territory between the 20-yard lines. They were stopped all but once by the withering Mansfield defense when they got inside the 10, and although it seemed as though they would just have to score a second time, they didn’t.

Mansfield too found the Massillon defense hard to penetrate. Only once did the Tygers work the ball into Tiger territory, but they got it there two other times on breaks. They could still be hammering away without denting the forward wall, but they called the right play at the right time in the second period and a screen pass, from Ken Krupp to Bill Doolittle that caught the Massillon line completely off guard, was good for 27 yards and a touchdown. Even then Bob Graber might have successfully made the tackle, had he not run over an official and thereby got blocked out of the play.

When the ball was snapped to Krupp, the Mansfield linemen moved forward, then stepped aside and allowed the Tiger linemen to charge through. Doolittle caught the pass only a few feet past the line of scrimmage, cut sharply to his right and headed down the sidelines with practically no one to stop him.

Doolittle tired to placekick the extra point and by a few scant feet the Tigers missed defeat. The ball was bar high, but too far to the right.

The Tigers charged back with a grim determination that made Massillon hearts swell with pride. Graber returned Duke Weber’s kickoff to his 37, and in three plays he and Holt took the leather to midfield. Fred Blunt on a deep weak side reverse raced to the 31-yard line and Holt smashed to another first on the 19 in three plays.

Adams Scores

A three-yard loss on a sweep by Adams was nullified when he tossed a pass to Joe
De Mando for a first down on the nine-yard line. A five-yard penalty against Mansfield for offside advanced the ball to the four-yard line when Adams on the first play circled the right end for the touchdown. He too, tried to kick the extra point from placement but he topped the ball and it bounded under the uprights.

That’s all the scoring there was. Mansfield never threatened in the second half, and only once worked the ball into Tiger territory when Doolittle on a bootleg play, took the leather to the Massillon 45 for a gain of 10 yards and the visitors’ only first down of the evening. A pass interception ended the threat the very next play and the Tigers charged back with their final effort of the game that netted three first downs and took the ball to the 22 where a 15-yard penalty for intentionally grounding a pass ended any further hopes for victory. Mansfield wasted the last minute, consuming as many seconds as possible to keep the Tigers from getting another shot at the goal.

It just wasn’t a Massillon night and though Mansfield did not win the game, visiting fans took the score with the same enthusiasm as a victory and celebrated long into the morning.

The Tigers seem to like to get themselves into a hole at the start.

A poor pass from center on fourth down when Adams dropped back to punt gave Mansfield the ball on the Massillon five-yard line the second minute of play. Here the Tiger forward wall rose up with all of its might and the visitors were pushed back 10 yards to the 15 where Massillon took the ball on downs.

Clipping Penalty Helps Visitors

The teams exchanged punts, and Vernon Weisgarber broke through to smear one of the Mansfield efforts and gain Massillon the ball on the 25-yard line. The visitors stopped the threat on the 16 and when they punted out safely, a Massillon player clipped a Mansfield tackler before Graber could pick up the punt and the ball was given to Mansfield on the Tiger 27-yard line, the point where the clipping occurred. Doolittle tried a pass that failed, and then came the successful screen pass that produced the Mansfield touchdown and put the Tigers’ behind for the first time this season.

Mansfield prepared to attempt a field goal after the Tigers had tied the score at 6-6, but never was able to get into position for it. Prior to the game, a member of the visiting team spent his entire warm-up session practicing field goal kicking, and he got quite a few between the uprights.

Now and then you see a team defeated where the statistics were so overwhelmingly in its favor. That could easily have occurred last night. Seldom will a team outplay another by such a wide margin offensively and still salvage nothing more than a tie score.

The Tigers gained 250 yards by rushing to Mansfield’s 56 and lost 24 for a net total of 226 to Mansfield’s net total of 31. Forty-seven yards were gained by Massillon with the forward pass, through six completions in 12 attempts, while Mansfield completed none but its touchdown pass in seven attempts. The Tigers average 51 yards in punts to Mansfield’s 42 yards and had an edge in the kickoffs.

Scouted Thoroughly

It was evident the visitors had the Tigers thoroughly scouted. Their line was strong enough to permit good protection for the secondary and they apparently did not fear any reverses to the weak side. When the Tigers shifted to the left, Mansfield over shifted to stop the long dashes by Blunt and were fairly successful in doing so. Only a couple of times did he get away for substantial gains, the longest of these coming on a deep weak side reverse, a
19-yard run, when the Tigers were staging their only successful touchdown march.

Mansfield’s ace, Lightning Jones, didn’t do anything at all. He carried the ball but four times, lost 12 yards and gained three, for a net loss of nine yards for his evening’s work.

The nearest the Massillon team came to scoring a second time was in the third period when they took the leather 69 yards to the one yard line, where Adams was thrown for a loss when the whole Tyger team jammed up to stop his smash at right tackle.

Massillon looked impressive when they came out for the second half and marched the kickoff back to the Mansfield 17 before losing it on downs by a yard, but as has been said before in this writing, the goal line punch that would puncture the Mansfield defense just couldn’t be found.

Because of the record rolled up by Tiger teams the last four years, one almost loses sight of a couple of things the Tigers can be proud of. While Mansfield is rejoicing over tieing Massillon, the Tigers can boast being the first team to cross the Mansfield goal this season, as well as write a new record in the books for themselves – 39 consecutive games without a defeat more than 10 years ago. The Mansfield record, however, included several tie scores.

The tie score will serve to take a great amount of pressure off the Tigers who have been struggling to weld more links in the victory chain. They can start all over next week – and Warren should be an excellent place to do it.

Start All Over

Massillon Pos Mansfield
Armour LE Romano
Dolmos LT Arlin
Wallace LG Weber
Fuchs C Dietzel
Hill RG K. Smith
Weisgarber RT Butler
De Mando RE Winbigler
Cardinal QB Doolittle
Adams LH Krupp
Blunt RH Jones
Holt FB A. Brandt

Score by periods.

Massillon 0 6 0 0 – 6
Mansfield 0 6 0 0 – 6

Substitutions
Massillon: Graber, lh; White, rh; Jasinski, le.
Mansfield: Timmons, lg; Coudon, lh; Frankel, lh.

Touchdowns – Doolittle, Adams.

Referee – Jenkins.
Umpire – Wallace.
Headlinesman – Howell.
Field judge – Lobach.

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