1961: Massillon 12, Cincinnati Roger Bacon 0

Tigers Beat Tough Roger Bacon 12-0
Cincinnati Defeated First Time On Home Field In Three Years

By CHUCK HESS, JR.

CINCINNATI – The Massillon Tigers got what they came for. They beat Roger Bacon high school here Friday night and proved to the fans of southern Ohio that the focal point of high school football in the state is Stark County without a doubt.

For the second year in a row the Bengals shut out an outstanding Bacon eleven, this time 12-0, before an overflow crowd of 10,000 fans at Bacon stadium. It was the first loss for the Spartans on their home field in three years.

The bleachers on the north side of the field and both end zones were jammed. Fans were standing two deep around the perimeter of the field. A steep hill on the north side was packed with spectators.

Although his charges notched their sixth straight victory of the season and took a giant step toward a third straight championship, Coach Leo Strang was not all smiles.

* * *
“WE SHOULD HAVE scored more points for the yardage we gained,” the skipper said. “We played hard but we also made some mistakes. Bacon had a fine team.” The Tigers had a fumble at an inopportune time and were hurt by penalties.

The Tigers gained 374 total yards while holding Bacon to 159. Again it was a tremendous defensive effort by the entire team which was so important in the victory.

Bron Bacevich, Spartan mentor called the Tigers, “What we feel is the best high school team in the midwest and certainly one of the best in the country.” He continued, “We played as well as we could except we made too many errors. I was happy that this one was a clean hard-hitting game.”

The Tigers played possession football, grinding out the yardage on the ground with Charlie Brown doing most of the carrying. As last week, Brown garnered a lot of real estate between the long side end and outside tackle on the fake ridge play. He picked his opening well.

Brown gained 165 yards in 23 carries. This figures to an outstanding 7.2 yards per carry against a rugged defensive line which out weighed the Tiger blockers by at least a 10-pound average.

* * *
ALTHOUGH it’s tough to single out any one boy for opening up the holes, Long Side Guard Charlie Whitfield and inside Tackle Larry Strobel came in for a lot of praise from their area coaches.

The Tigers lost the toss again for the fifth time in six weeks so Bacon had the first opportunity.

The Spartans opened up a drive that carried from their own 28-yard line to the Massillon 42 where Safetyman Bob Baker hauled in an aerial tossed by Sophomore Quarterback Pat Case, intended for Jim Teed. The Tigers took over on their seven.

Bacon didn’t reach Massillon territory again until late in the final period. The Spartans opened up an aerial attack, which was stopped on the Bengal six.

The Tigers moved to their first score after Baker’s interception. It took the Bengals 20 plays to cash in with their first tally. They got six first downs in the 94-yard jaunt.

Brown carried on 12 of the plays. The big run was 21 yards from the Bacon 34 to the 13 on a second and three situation.

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BUT AN EVEN bigger play was a fourth down gamble on the Tiger 44. Massillon had one yard to get, Brown made three.

The final score came on a fake into the line and pitch to Fullback Fred Philpott who swept the short side from three yards out with 9:01 left in the second period. The Tigers caught Case playing too tight at cornerback and that was all they needed.

Philpott tried the same run for the extra two points, but this time Case played him right.

Bacon carried from its 25 to the 47 on the next series. Here their attack stalled and Case punted.

After another Massillon series failed to get the Tigers anything (unreadable) fumbled on first down, and the Bengals took over on the Spartan 33. The Tigers drove for another TD only to have it called back due to holding.

* * *
ON THE FIRST play after the fumble, Alexander hit Ron (Glue Fingers) Schenkenberger, senior Wingback, on the hook on the 25. Schenk carried to the five.

This was the first of several fine catches by the little toehead who is fast becoming a great receiver.

Brown went through on his pet play inside the long side end for the score. But the penalty nullified a fine run.

Set back to the 20 and stymied for two plays Alexander again tried to hit Schenk, this time down the middle on the “banana,” but Dan Westerbeck intercepted in the end zone. The half ended a few minutes later.

Massillon scored its other TD in the third period and controlled the ball so well that the Spartans had only two series in that canto.

The Tigers got their other score so quickly in the third period that the Spartans didn’t know what hit them. Baker ran the kickoff back from his 10 to his 40. Then came the score.

BROWN SHOT off the short side and with the help of a fine block by Center Ben Bradley scampered 60 yards for the six-pointer at 11:26. Philpott was caught on a pitch to the short side, and the conversion attempt backfired.

Then came Bacon’s only series of the quarter. The Tigers took over on their 27 after a punt with Brown doing almost all of the carrying. They got four first downs. A penalty in the middle of the drive nullified a long gain.

The Bengals took another gamble on fourth down in their own territory. But this time, with a two-TD lead, they could afford to tempt lady luck. Needing two yard from their 35 they called on Ken Dean. He got the deuce.

Schenkenberger made a tremendous catch while falling backward to help the drive move from the Bacon 43 to the 16.

Bacon put on a tremendous stand with its back to the wall and stopped Massillon with fourth and one from the seven.

The two teams exchanged fumbles in the last period. The Spartans bobbled on their 48. Massillon on the Bacon 37.

Bacon moved from its 33 after the Tiger fumble, to the Bengals’ 12 on a combination of passes and sweeps only to be stopped by the Tigers on a great stand in the shadow of their goal posts.

The Tigers took over and ran the clock out.

Nice Going

MASSILLON
ENDS – Ivan, L. Ehmer, Garland and Pierce.
TACKLES – Strobel, Spees and Mercer.
GUARDS – Clendenin, Whitfield, Migge, Poole and Radel.
CENTER – Bradley.
BACKS – Alexander, Schenkenberger, Brown, Philpott, Dean, Baker, Snively and Davis.

ROGER BACON
ENDS – Henninger, Tood and Plum.
TACKLES – Schmidt, Fein, Puiskamp and Workman.
GUARDS – Butts and Norton.
BACKS – Sexton, Anthony, Hobbin, Galiagher, Meyer, Westerbeck, Case and Fitzpatrick.

Score by Quarters
Massillon 0 6 6 0 12

Scoring
Touchdowns – Philpott (three-yard run);
Brown (60-yard run).

OFFICIALS
Referee – Harry Meyer.
Umpire – Jim Heieradurfer.
Head Linesman – Vic Kauffman.
Field Judge – Russ Kemper.

STATISTICS
Mass. Bacon
First downs – rushing 12 8
First downs – passing 5 3
First downs – penalties 0 0
Total first downs 17 11
Yards gained rushing 257 112
Yards lost rushing 3 6
Net yards gained rushing 254 106
Yards gained passing 120 53
Total yards gained 374 159
Passes attempted 8 6
Passes completed 3 4
Passes intercepted by 1 1
Times kicked off 3 1
Kickoff average (yards) 50 48
Kickoff returns (yards) 28 8
Times punted 1 2
Punt average (yards) 48 39
Punt return (yards) 0 38
Had punts blocked 0 0
Fumbles 2 3
Lost fumbled ball 1 2
Penalties 3 1
Yards penalized 35 5