Tag: <span>Bill Edwards</span>

Bill Edwards Wittenberg Tigers History

Bill Edwards – Wall of Champions

Bill Edwards – Wall of Champions

From player to coach to sports administrator, William M. “Bill” Edwards spent a lifetime in the sports arena, mostly with football.  Along the way he posted some outstanding achievements.  And he also rubbed elbows with some of Massillon’s greats.  Here is his story.

Edwards was born in Massillon on June 21, 1905.  Although he attended school in his formative years, he dropped out following the eighth grade at age 14 to work in the mines in East Greenville in order to help support his family.  However, he did play three years of football for the semi-pro Massillon Maroons, which won the Ohio championship in 1921.  Then, in 1922 he left the mines and decided to return to school, enrolling in Washington High School as a freshman.

High School

It’s unknown if football is what brought him back to school.  It’s also unknown if it was Coach Dave Stewart that drew him back in.  It might be that Paul Brown, his classmate, exerted some influence.  But it also might have been Tink Ulrich.  In any case, he made an immediate impact during his first year and held down a starting linebacker position throughout his time at Massillon.  He was big and he was powerful and a thorn in the side for any opposing runner.  Edwards was also adept at kicking extra points, punting and kicking off.  By his third year he added fullback to the list.  A local newspaper reported that as a ball carrier “he was never brought down by a lone defender.”  He also hated wearing a football helmet, since it bothered his ears.  So, many times he just didn’t.

Bill EdwardsIn 1922 the Tigers finished 10-0, outscoring their opponents, 379-28.  With popular acclaim in vogue at that time, Massillon declared itself state champion.  During the season, Edwards kicked 13 PATs, just missed a drop-kick field goal, and against Warren recovered a fumbled punt snap in the end zone for a touchdown.  He was also instrumental in helping his team to a 24-0 victory over Canton McKinley.  But his big moment came against Cleveland Shaw when he drop-kicked an extra point with 27 seconds remaining in the game to give his team a 7-6 victory and keep the winning streak alive.

Edwards played left tackle on offense, blocking for stellar running back “Dutch” Hill, but he really excelled at linebacker on defense.  “On the line the work of Salberg and Edwards stood out prominently.  This pair of tacklers stopped many a Canton drive.” (Massillon Evening Independent).

In his sophomore year Edwards was named team captain, a first at Massillon for an underclassman.   Having been shifted to center and lining up alongside Carl “Ducky” Schroeder”, the team fashioned an 8-2 record.  Edwards shared kicking duties that year and kicked eight PATs.

In 1924, his junior season, Edwards was again named team captain and played with quarterback Paul Brown.  He was also a teammate of running back Elwood Kammer.  Both of these players would later coach Massillon.  In spite of outscoring their opponents 320-28, the Tigers finished 8-1, with the loss coming to Youngstown South 1-0 via forfeit when Stewart took his team off the field while challenging several referee calls.  During the season Edwards kicked 38 PATs and caught a touchdown pass.  He was also most likely the leading tackler (defensive records weren’t kept).

With his high school career over and the proud owner of a 26-3 team record and three wins over McKinley, Edwards looked forward to the next level.  But he looked back at three outstanding years as a Tiger.  In fact, the all-time Massillon High School football team, which was selected in 1958, noted that Edwards was the “Greatest Tiger of them all.”

He also played some basketball at Massillon, again teaming with his friend, Paul Brown.

Bill Edwards 1925 Massillon Washington Basketball Team. Paul Brown

Bill Edwards is pictured in the front row, third from the left.  Elwood Kammer is to his right and Paul Brown (black shirt) is to his left.  Coach Dave Stewart is in the second row, behind Brown.

By the time his senior year rolled around, Edwards was twenty years old, too old for Ohio high school football.  So, he enrolled in Kiski Prep, located in Pennsylvania, as a scholarship player before returning to Massillon for the second half of the school year.  There he received his diploma, and prepared for the collegiate level.

College

The first stop as a college player was Ohio State and the freshman team in 1927, where he roomed with Paul Brown.  He was also named captain.  But he left after the season for Wittenberg, joining six other former Massillon players, including Ducky Schroeder.

In his first year he kicked an extra point as time expired to help his team to a 7-6 victory over Ohio Wesleyan, which had beaten both Michigan and Syracuse.  The next two years he was named team captain and excelled at center.

Grantland Rice wrote, “Edwards is the best center in the nation, but I can’t name him All-American because of his team’s schedule.” Walter Eckersall did not overlook Edwards playing at a small college and named him to his All-America team.  He was also named to Sam Willaman’s All-American Team.

While at Wittenberg Edwards earned a bachelor’s degree (1931) and then attended a Master’s degree from Columbia University (1956) while coaching.

Coaching

With school behind him, Edwards chose a career path in the coaching world and had a laundry list of stops, including:

  • Bill Edwards WittenbergSpringfield High School (1931) – Assistant coach and history teacher.
  • Fostoria High School (1932-33) – Head coach. Produced an 8-2 record in year two, the school’s best mark in ten years.  His 1932 coaching offer from Fostoria was better than the offer he received from Massillon, which at the time was replacing Elmer McGrew.  With Edwards now out of the picture, the Tigers decided to go with Paul Brown.
  • Western Reserve University (1934) – Assistant coach.
  • Western Reserve University (1935-40) – Head coach, replacing Sam Willaman, who died suddenly. Compiled a 49-6-2 record.  Had three undefeated seasons.  Won five Big Four Conference championships (1935-38, 40).  Defeated Arizona State 26-13 in the 1941 Sun Bowl.  Coached future Cleveland Browns and New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick.
  • Detroit Lions (1941-42) – Head coach. Compiled a record of 4-9-1.  Taking over early in the season, moved the team from last place that year to third the next, before enlisting in the Navy prior to season’s end.  Bill Belichick was one of his players.  Bill would later name his son after Edwards, young Bill’s godfather.
  • Saint Mary’s Pre-Flight (1943) – Assistant coach, lieutenant commander, World War II.
  • Cleveland Browns (1947-48) – Assistant coach, tackles. Coached under Paul Brown.  Cleveland won the AAFC championship both years and was undefeated in 1948.  Coached tackle Lou “The Toe” Groza.
  • Vanderbilt (1949-52) – Head coach and athletic director. Compiled a record of 21-19-2.  Introduced the passing game to the passing game to the Southeast Conference.  Was named National Coach of the Week six times.
  • North Carolina (1953-54) – Assistant coach.
  • Wittenberg (1955-68) – Returned to his alma mater as head coach and athletic director. Replaced the single-wing offense with a pro-style passing attack.  Established Wittenberg as an annual contender for the Ohio Athletic Conference title.  Compiled a record of 98-20-4.  All-time Wittenberg winningest coach.  Unbeaten in 1962, 63 and 64.  NCAA College Division Poll Champion by the Washington Touchdown Club (1962 and 1964).  Won or tied for the Ohio Athletic Conference Championship seven times.  Coach of the Year (1963 and 1964).  Coached future Oakland Raiders quarterback Charlie Green in 1962-64.  The Tigers went 15-0-1 during that span.  During his three years, Green passed for 5,575 yards and threw 61 touchdown passes.  In 2002, Green was inducted into the College Hall of Fame.

During his career, Edwards received several coaching honors, including:

  • Ohio College Football Coach of the Year (1957 and 1962).
  • Two times American Football Coaches Associated College Division Coach of the Year (1962–1963).
  • National Association of Collegiate Athletic Directors Hall of Fame (1974).
  • Case Western Reserve Hall of Fame (1979).
  • Ohio High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame (1979).
  • Wittenberg Athletics Hall of Honor (1985).
  • Vanderbilt Hall of Fame (1986).
  • College Football Hall of Fame (1986).
  • Football Writers Association of America award for contributions to the game.
  • Massillon Wall of Champions (1994).
  • Massillon Tiger Football Hall of Fame (2019).
  • Honorary member of the American Football Coaches Association.

“Wherever I’ve been, from playing for Massillon High School to coaching college squads at Western Reserve, Vanderbilt and Wittenberg, I’ve had some wonderful experiences that I will always remember,” said Edwards.

“If I had it to do over again, I’d still be a football coach,” he said. “You know, I got as much out of coaching the kids as some of them say they got out of playing for me.  It’s a little tough sometimes to admit to yourself that one of your players has more humility than you do, or is a little more honest, but it happens.  If you teach a boy to compete, he will compete for the rest of his life.  Football coaches are educators who teach, among other things, discipline, loyalty, sacrifices for a common good, and cooperation to achieve a worthwhile goal.”

Paul Brown called him, “One of the greatest football players I have ever seen in high school or college.  Later he joined me on the Cleveland Browns and did an outstanding job.  The players admired, respected, and liked him.  He has been my lifelong friend and I cherish my association with him.  He has deserved every honor that has come to him.”  Other top-level head coaches also had great respect for Edwards.

Edwards left the coaching world after the 1968 season with 38 years on his resume, while leaving his mark at nearly every stop along the way.  He was simply a winner and rightly acknowledged throughout his career.  His overall head coaching record was 168-45-8, which included a 1-0 record in bowl games.  At time of retirement, he had the second-best winning percentage among active coaches with at least 100 wins and owned a commendation from President Richard Nixon for his achievements.

After coaching Edwards remained in Wittenberg as athletic director until 1973.  Wittenberg’s football stadium is named Edwards-Maurer Field in honor of both head coaches.  Also, the winner of the Wittenberg–Case Western Reserve football game receives the Bill Edwards Trophy.

Not bad for a former coal miner.

Post-Football

Edwards enjoyed hunting and fishing in retirement and spending time with wife Dorothy and their three children.  He died in Springfield on June 12, 1987, at the age of 81.

Bill Edwards Wall of Champions Plaque

 

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1924: Massillon 37, Warren Harding 0

HIGH ELEVEN BURIES WARREN 37 TO 0 IN ANNUAL FRACAS
STEWART’S BOYS SHOW POWERFUL OFFENSIVE DRIVE

Eleven wearers of the orange and black of Washington high school took their stations on the Central Steel Athletic field Saturday afternoon. And an equal number of gridders of the South Mill street institution, playing not as individuals but as a machine with the power of a massive steam roller, rushed, charged and attacked until another rival had been mown down and forced to succumb to the prowess of the orange and black.

That eleven which fell before the onslaught of the youthful Tigers was not a weakling in Ohio scholastic football circles, but the well drilled Warren outfit. Against the reputed fast and dashing attack of the Trumbull county gridders the orange and black emerged 37 to 0 victors, the most decisive defeat administered to Coach Sidney Jones’ eleven since 1922 when Massillon’s undefeated eleven ran rough shod over it.

Following closely in the footsteps of their versatile captain, Bill Edwards, the orange and black outplayed and outsmarted the visitors in every department; in skirting the ends, in passing, in crashing the line, on both offense and defense. Everything the red and white class warriors attempted the orange and black did better, in fact did better by that outstanding margin of 37 points.

From the time that Referee Stevenson blew his whistle for the initial kickoff it was evident that Coach David B. Stewart’s eleven was not to be denied and that the orange and black was well on the road toward removing another stumbling block to a most successful
season – blemished only by a forfeited game handed to Youngstown South in the steel town when the local athletic mentor withdrew his team from the field after tainted and biased officiating.

Youngstown South and Rayen high, also of the steel town, were two other elevens to hang defeats on the Trumbull county school, but neither of the victories was as decisive or by as large a score as that piled up here Saturday. South was the first to dent the Warren record, registering a 25 to 13 victory at Youngstown in a game in which the officiating, according to reports, was almost on a par in regards to biasness as that between Massillon and South. Rayen was winner by a 13 to 0 score, but even with the score in favor of the Mahoning county team, Warren played the better football but the breaks were against it.

Even though the orange and black won by a lopsided score it was not without battle, because the Warren gridders, cheered on by a delegation of about 700 followers, 350 of whom, including the Warren high school band, made the trip in a special train and the others in automobiles, gave fight for every inch of ground gained by the orange and black.

But rather dissatisfied with the manner in which his team had defeated New Philadelphia by a 20 to 7 score, and in anticipation of a hard battle with the Warrenites, Coach Stewart had sent his squad through a series of hard practices during the past week and the results were forthcoming. The wearer of the orange and black moleskins performed far better than at any time this season.

On offense the forward wall of the locals opened large gaps in the Warren line for the line charges of the orange and black. Off tackle plays and end runs went off with better snap, the carrier of the oval being afforded far better interference and protection than that given at the Tuscarawas county seat a week ago. Only in its aerial attack did the local eleven fall behind in its showing of a week ago, but two passes out of 10 being completed for a total gain of 46 yards.

The fact that Warren was white-washed is sufficient to say of the defense of the locals. In the personage of Zahnow, Warren has one of the fastest and flashiest halfbacks in that section of the state while Horner and McKee are two dependable line plungers and the former is an accurate hurler of the forward pass, but none of the trip shone to advantage as may be ascertained from the fact that but three first downs during the entire 60 minutes of strife were registered by Warren, one coming on a forward pass and the other when Mckee broke loose for gains of 12 and 13 yards.

That Massillon possessed driving power is shown by the fact that 15 times was the 10-yard chain moved with the orange and black in possession of the ball. Three of these first downs came in the first period, five in the second, four in the third and two in the final.

Captain Bill Edwards continued to stand as the tower of orange and black strength. In addition to kicking a field goal from the 25-yard line, four goals after touchdowns, the East Greenville lad encountered a new duty, that of punting and it must be said his kicking was equal to his play in other departments. He played the same bang-up defensive game that is characteristic of him, while on offensive any play through center was good for a decided gain for Bill had an opening there big enough to drive a truck through.

But the orange and black leader had 10 others closely following him and the play of King, the colored halfback, was most outstanding. He skirted the ends with an abundance of speed and his smashes at the line were with the force of a pile driver. Twice he plunged through the line across the goal for sets of counters. As has marked his play in previous game, his running of interference was excellent and on no occasions did he fail to get his man out of the play.

A poor punt paved the way for Massillon’s first touchdown shortly after the game started. Baker was called back by the visitors’ pilot to punt, but the oval rolled off the side of his shoe to the opposite side of the field where W. Price covered on the 35-yard line for Massillon. A series of line plunges brought two first downs and placed the ball on the three-yard line. Borza was held and King advanced the ball to the half- yard line. On the next play the dusky back plowed his way through for a touchdown and Edwards kicked goal.

In possession of the oval on the 39-yard line, King heaved a pass into the waiting arms of Jimmy Price, who raced 27 yards to the two-yard line before being downed. On the next play Kammer pile drove through for the only set of counters in the second period. Edwards missed goal.

In the third period after Baker had punted to Price who was downed on the 36-yard line, King made 18 yards and a pretty run around end. Kammer made seven yards in two plunges and Price five on a double pass and it was first down on the four-yard line. Warren held Kammer twice, but wilted under the driving of King and another set of counters went up for Massillon. Edwards added the extra point.

Hise got into the scoring column early in the fourth period when Hunter attempted a pass from his own 16-yard line. Hise intercepted the heave and easily raced across the line. Edwards booted goal. A few minutes later Grant recovered a Warren fumble on the
22-yard line and after Warren held for three downs, Edwards dropped back and booted a goal from placement.

An intercepted pass by Brown paved the way for the final touchdown. Catching the ball in midfield Brown made a return of 25 yards before being downed. A short pass, Grant to Leroy, netted a first down and placed the ball within the 10-yard zone from where Kammer registered his second set of markers. Edwards kicked goal.

Warren had three occasions to score but in none did it have the punch. In the second period Sennes standing on the three-yard line, muffed a throw from Horner and Warren lost the ball on downs to Massillon. Again in the third period an opportunity went amiss. Price’s punt was blocked and Sennes covered for Warren on the 20-yard line. Three plunges at the Massillon line netted six yards, while a short pass from Horner to Zahnow failed to complete a first down by inches.

The third period offered another chance when two first downs, one coming on a 12-yard off tackle run by McKee, brought the oval to the nine-yard line but the chances went glimmering for Zahnow fumbled on the next play and Weidman recovered for Massillon.

So Long, Warren!
Massillon – 37 Pos. Warren – 0
W. Price LE C. Polena
McCarthy LT Baker
Hise LG Braunberns
Edwards C Davis
Halco RG Thompson
Weidman RT Billings
Thomas RE Sennes
J. Price Q Hunter
King LH Horner
P. Smith RH Zahnow
Borza F McKee

Score by periods:
Massillon 7 6 7 17 37

Substitutions:
Massillon – Kammer for Borza, Grant for P. Smith, Gump for W. Price, Agler for Thomas, Define for J. Price, Brughs for Weidman, J. Smith for Hise, J. Price for Define, Borza for Grant, Grant for Borza, Hise for J. Smith, Weidman for Brughs, Leroy for King, Brown for J. Price, Agler for Thomas, Spencer for Weidman, Fulton for Gump.

Warren – Consider for Braunberns, Braunberns for Consider, Shaw for Horner, Consider for Braunberns, Beach for Thompson, Shaw for Davis, Yont for Shaw, L. Polena for C. Polena.

Touchdowns – King 2, Kammer 2, Hise.

Goal from field – Edwards.

Points after touchdown – Edwards 4.

Referee – Stevenson, Kent.
Umpire – Michaels, Akron.
Head Linesman – Shaeffer, Akron.

Time of periods – 15 minutes.

Putting A Damper
On Warren’s Hopes for Victory

FIRST PERIOD
Baker kicked off to J. Price who returned the ball 15 yards to the 20-yard line. J. Price made one around left end and King five around the opposite side. King plunged for six and a first down. Zahnow threw J. Price for a two-yard loss. Warren smothered King’s end run and Massillon lost two more. Smith punted the ball over the head of Warren’s safety man and the ball rolled over the goal line for a total distance of 70 yards. It was Warren’s ball on the 20-yard line.

McCarthy held Zahnow to a one-yard gain. Horner made five around right end after which Baker punted to J. Price on Massillon’s 45-yard line. King hit the line for two. Borza was thrown by Sennes for an 11 yard loss. Smith punted out of bounds on Warren’s 42-yard line. On the first play Thompson was offside and Warren received a five-yard penalty. Horner was held but on a double pass Zahnow made six around right end. Baker’s punt skidded off the side of his foot and W. Price covered the ball on Warren’s 35-yard line.

J. Price hit left tackle for three and King plunged for eight and a first down. Four line plunges by King and Borza netted 11-yards and another first down. Borza hammered the line for five and J. Price went around left end for seven and another first down. The ball was on the eight yard line. Warren stopped Borza but King crashed through the line to the half-yard line from where he carried the ball across on the next plunge. Edwards kicked goal.
Score: Massillon 7, Warren 0.

King made a 27-yard return of Baker’s kickoff to the 30-yard line. J. Price was held but on the next play he made three through center. Smith punted 40 yards to Hunter on his own 38-yard line. After Horner lost a yard, Baker kicked to J. Price who fumbled, Edwards covering the ball for Massillon on his own 20-yard line. King hit off right tackle for five and Borza gained 14 around right end as the period ended. It was Massillon’s ball on its own 39-yard line.
Score: Massillon 7, Warren 0.
SECOND PERIOD

Kammer replaced Borza. In three plunges Kammer made seven yards, after which Smith punted. Edwards downed the ball on Warren’s 19-yard line but on the play McCarthy was offside and Massillon received a five-yard penalty Smith again punted, Thomas downing Hunter on the 24-yard line. Horner lost one and Zahnow made four around left end. Baker booted to Smith on the 45-yard line. J. Price made nine off left tackle. Kammer was held but on his second try made three for a first down. King hurled a 12-yard pass to
J. Price who ran to the two-yard line before being downed. It was a total gain of 39 yards. On the first play Kammer crossed the line. Edwards try for goal failed.
Score: Massillon 13, Warren 0.

Baker kicked off to Smith who was downed on the 21-yard line. King hit for six and Kammer hit for an equal number of yards in two plunges. It was a first down. J. Price made five. Warren covered Kammer’s fumble on the 41-yard line. McKee went around Massillon’s right end for 12 yards for Warren’s first first down of the game. Horner and McKee made four yards. On an attempted pass Massillon’s line charged Horner so fast his pass went out of bounds. An apparent touchdown for Warren went glimmering when Sennes let a pass from Horner trickle through his hands on the three-yard line. It was Massillon’s ball on the 26-yard line.

Price made four and King two. Six yards off tackle by price gave Massillon a first down. On a bad pass from center, Massillon lost 10. Grant made five after which Price punted to Warren’s 38-yard line. Hunter made two and Horner was held to no gain on a double pass. Price returned Baker’s punt 10 yards to the 45-yard line. King was held and a pass failed. Kammer made one and Price punted out of bounds on Warren’s five-yard line. Horner kicked to Grant on the 30-yard line. Define replaced J. Price. An attempted pass was grounded. Define lost 13 yards when he muffed the pass from center as the period ended.
Score: Massillon 13, Warren 0.

THIRD PERIOD
J. Price returned the kickoff to the 25-yard line. Borza and Price gained three and a pass was incomplete. Price’s punt was blocked, Sennes covering for Warren on the 20 yard line. McKee hit the line for thee and Zahnow gained three in two attempts. A pass Horner to Zahnow was completed but Warren lost the ball on downs by a few scant inches. After Price was held Edwards punted to midfield. The left side of Massillon’s line smothered Hunter for a one-yard loss. Horner shot a pass to Zahnow which netted 12 yards and a first down.

Another pass was grounded. Another Horner-Zahnow pass was good for six. Horner gained three around right end. McKee broke through for a 12-yard gain and it was Warren’s ball with goal to gain on the nine-yard line.

Coach Stewart sent Hise and Weidman into the fray, replacing J. Smith and Brughs. On the first play Weidman recovered Zahnow’s fumble and Warren’s hopes of scoring were obliterated. Kammer plunged for one and Edwards again booted to midfield. A pass failed but on the next attempt Zahnow snatched the oval out of the air for a nine yard gain. Edwards covered Horner’s fumble.

Price made nine around left end. Horner was injured on the play and carried from the field. He was replaced by Shaw. Kammer made two and a first down. Grant gained two. A forward was incomplete. Edwards booted out of bounds on the five-yard line. After two passes had failed, Hunter kicked to Price on the 30-yard line. King spurted around left end for 18 yards. Kammer made three and Price added five on a double pass. Kammer plunged for four, carrying the ball to the four-yard line. It was first down. Two tries by Kammer netted but a yard and a half. On the next play King shot through the line for a touchdown. Edwards kicked goal.
Score: Massillon 20, Warren 0.

Edwards’ kickoff went over the goal line and it was Warren’s ball on the 10-yard line. A pass to C. Polena was good for six yards. Two more passes failed and Baker kicked to Kammer in midfield as the period ended.
Score: Massillon 20, Warren 0.
FOURTH PERIOD
Price lost three and Edwards kicked to Hunter on the 20-yard line. Hunter was thrown for a three-yard loss and on the next play Hise intercepted a pass and romped across the goal line. Edwards kicked goal.
Score: Massillon 27, Warren 0.

Edwards again kicked over the goal line, Warren taking the ball on the 20-yard line. Zahnow lost four on a double pass and Kammer returned Hunter’s punt nine yards to the 40-yard line. Kammer made three. A pass failed. Grant was good for six yards. Hunter fumbled Edwards’ punt and Grant covered for Massillon on the 22-yard line. Two plunges by Price and Kammer gave Massillon a first down on the 12-yard line. In two tries Kammer made three. On the next play Hunter intercepted a pass on the three-yard line. Hunter punted, Kammer returning the kick 11 yards to the 19-yard line. Three plays netted but a yard and Edwards dropped back to the 25-yard line from where he booted a field goal.
Score: Massillon 30, Warren 0.

Warren was offside on the kickoff and was penalized five yards. On the next kickoff Gump was downed on the 29-yard line. Warren held for three downs and Edwards punted to Warren’s 45-yard line. Brown who had replaced Price intercepted a pass in midfield and ran 25 yards before being brought to earth. Kammer made two. A second try for a forward, Grant to Leroy, was good for nine yards and a first down on the nine-yard line. Grant made two and Kammer plunged across for the final set of counters. Edwards kicked goal.
Score Massillon 37, Warren 0.

Baker kicked off to Edwards on the 28-yard line. Grant made three but Edwards was thrown for a two-yard loss. P. Smith went into the fray for Grant and punted to midfield. Massillon was given a 15-yard penalty for clipping on the play. A short Warren pass was good for no gain as the game ended.
Score: Massillon 37, Warren 0.

Bill Edwards
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1924: Massillon 20, New Philadelphia 7

FORWARD PASSES HELP ORANGE AND BLACK TRIM
NEW PHILADELPHIA LOCAL TEAM WINS BRILLIANT TUSSLE BY 20 TO 7 SCORE

Before the largest crowd that has ever witnessed a high school football game in New Philadelphia, the orange and black eleven of Washington high, last Saturday afternoon defeated the Tuscarawas County gridders 20 to 7 at Tuscora park in a contest that was replete with gridiron thrills for a gathering of 5,500 frenzied spectators who hammed every available inch of space around the playing field at Tuscora park. Because it marked the resumption of athletic relations between Massillon and New Philadelphia after a lapse of several years and because of the interest created in the contest due to the rivalry existing between the two schools, the battle was a magnet to attract hundreds of persons from New Philadelphia and Dover and about 2,500 Massillon rooters.

The New Philadelphia team lost, but its supporters are not shedding many tears because its eleven put up a spectacular fight to stop the orange and black machine of Massillon. The Tuscarawas County lads fought like a pack of wild cats from start to finish and had it not been for the dazzling forward passing attack which Coach Stewart’s warriors uncorked, the score might have been a great deal closer.

It was the overhead attack that was largely responsible for two of the three touchdowns which the Massillon outfit scored. Except for one brilliant dash of 38 yards by Jimmy Price to score Massillon’s first touchdown, the orange and black was not very successful with its line plays and end runs, the New Philadelphia gridders throwing themselves into the battle with reckless abandon to stop the Massillon plunges.

But New Philadelphia’s defense to break up forward passes was not equal to the task of stopping the bullet like heaves of halfback King of Massillon and seven of the local team’s 11 attempts to gain ground by the air route were successful.

Despite the intensity of play and the fierceness with which both teams battled to win the game was exceptionally clean. The officiating was good and the spirited rivalry between the supporters of both teams made it a gala football event.

The New Philadelphia eleven, although defeated but once previous to Saturday’s conflict, was hardly rated strong enough to topple the orange and black from its lofty perch in the Ohio scholastic football circles but the Massillon fans who journeyed to the scene of the conflict were treated to quite a surprise when they saw the Tuscarawas County aggregation make the local team fight its hardest for every inch of ground.

Coach Stewart’s gridders were pitted against a team that had an unconquerable fighting spirit and possessed a determination to go down with colors flying. The game was nip and tuck during the first half and in the third quarter and at the start of the fourth the downstaters uncovered such a burst of strength that they actually outplayed the local team and threw quite a scare into the Massillon camp at the start of the last period by marching the ball right down under the local team’s goal posts where it stayed for quite a while until Paul Smith cut loose with a long punt to carry the oval back out of the danger zone.

New Philadelphia was in to win and the advance information of Massillon’s prowess did not shake the determination of the southerners to hand the orange and black a jolt if possible.

Massillon however, missed Vince Define, flashy halfback and punter. Vince was on the sidelines nursing an injured knee which may keep him out the balance of the season. With Vince in the game Massillon’s running attack might have been much more powerful although Jimmy Price and King cut loose with some nice gains. But it was in punting that Define was missed most.

Paul Smith and Grant, who did the kicking in Vince’s absence, did nobly but they did not measure up to Define whose ability to get his punts off quickly and for good yardage would have been of considerable help Saturday. Smith however, came back into the game to put the local team out of a really dangerous situation and during the last few minutes cut loose with two beautiful punts, one of 50 yards and the other of 70 yards.

There was however, one big thing lacking in Massillon’s offense. That was proper interference. The local team gained but very little ground Saturday on end runs compared with what it would have, had proper interference been furnished, the man toting the ball. Time after time the interference failed to get the New Philadelphia end out of the road or was turned back in such a manner that it spilled the Massillon man with the ball.

The defensive play of both teams stood out prominently. For Massillon Captain Edwards was a roving demon, romping all over the field to stop the New Philadelphia backs. He was given able assistance by McCarthy and Weidman, the two husky tackles, and King who smeared the New Philadelphia offensive time after time by his speedy charges. Zurker, New Philadelphia’s left end, was a big factor in the Tuscarawas County team’s defense, playing a whale of a game on the wing.

The bulk of New Philadelphia’s defensive work rested with Captain Mathias, a sturdy little ball lugger, and Cale. Mathias was New Philadelphia’s star, time after time carrying the ball on off tackle thrusts for considerable gains.

Massillon outplayed New Philadelphia quite decisively in the second and fourth quarters but the downstaters had the edge in the first and third periods. Massillon made 15 first downs, all but one of which were earned, while its opponents made eight, two coming through the medium of penalties.

New Philadelphia was the first to score, shoving across its lone touchdown in the first quarter when it captured a blocked Massillon punt. It was a fumble by Paul Smith that paved the way for the score. After catching a New Philadelphia punt Smith fumbled the ball on his nine-yard line where a New Philadelphia lad pounced on it.

The downstaters then worked the ball to the six-yard line before being held for downs. Grant dropped back to punt but the New Philadelphia line charged in on him like a flock of demons and blocked the punt, the ball bounding into the air and then nestling in the arms of right end Smith who stepped across the goal line for the touchdown.

This touchdown spurred the orange and black and early in the second quarter Jimmy Price tucked the oval under his arm and dashed around New Philadelphia’s right end and sped like the wind for a 38-yard dash to the New Philadelphia goal line for Massillon’s first touchdown. It was a spectacular run and the best of the game.

With the score tied the local team opened up its forward passing attack a little later with King heaving a pass to J. Price for 19 yards. Grant, on the next play, tossed the oval to King for a 26-yard gain, taking the ball to the six-yard line. Here Kammer was called into play and he carried the ball over in two smashes at the line.

New Philadelphia came out for the third quarter to show an unexpected burst of strength and kept the orange and black on the defensive throughout most of the period. But New Philadelphia’s best drive came at the start of the final period when with the ball on their 30-yard line the downstaters marched right through the orange and black to Massillon’s 17-yard line before being halted.

This march featured by the off tackle plunges of Mathias who ripped the Massillon forward wall wide open, carrying the ball beyond the mid-field. Then a 20-yard pass from Cale to Smith took the ball to the 17-yard line. Here the local team got down to brass tacks and Jimmy Price momentarily halted his opponents’ drive by intercepting a forward pass on his two-yard line.

Then Grant’s punt from behind his goal line was partly blocked and New Philadelphia covered on Massillon’s 12-yard line and opened another drive for the Massillon goal. But again danger was averted when Grant leaped high in the air on his goal line to pull down a pass. Then Paul Smith took Grant’s place in the lineup and pulled his team out of danger by cutting loose with a beautiful 50-yard punt that took the oval back to midfield.

Then King, after a 13-yard dash around end, opened up the forward passing attack with a heave to Jimmy Price for 19 yards, placing the ball on New Philadelphia’s six-yard line. Kammer made the touchdown but not until after he had made three smashes into the fighting New Philadelphia line.

Massillon was well on its way to another touchdown when the whistle blew, two successful passes by King having taken the ball deep into New Philadelphia territory.

King and Jimmy Price were Massillon’s offensive lights. Price had speed to burn Saturday while King’s best work was on the tossing end of forward passes. The dusky halfback shot the ball over the field with speed and accuracy and picked his men so well that New Philadelphia was hopelessly lost in its efforts to break them up.

The seven passes Massillon completed netted 106 yards. Three were grounded and New Philadelphia intercepted one. The downstaters completed four heaves for 55 yards while four were grounded and Massillon intercepted a like number.

The Old Punch

Massillon – 20 Pos. New Philadelphia – 7
W. Price LE Zurker
McCarthy LT Shear
J. Smith LG Mizer
Edwards C Gardner
Halco RG Haney
Weidman RT Pfaeffle
Thomas RE Smith
J. Price QB Mathias
King LHB Cale
P. Smith RHB O’Conner
Kammer FB Reger

Score by Periods:
Massillon 0 14 0 6 20
New Philadelphia 7 0 0 0 7

Substitutions:
Massillon – Grant for P. Smith, Hise for J. Smith, Gump for W. Price, Agler for Thomas, Thomas for Agler, W. Price for Gump, Borza for Kammer, Kammer for Borza, Gump for W. Price, P. Smith for Grant.

New Philadelphia – Gilgen for Pfaeffle, Pfaeffle for Smith, Togler for O’Conner, Smith for Pfaeffle, O’Conner for Reger, J. Cale for O’Conner.

Touchdowns – Kammer 2, J. Price, Smith.

Points after touchdown – Edwards 2, Cale 1.

Referee – Thellar, Oberlin.
Umpire – Howells, Sebring.
Head Linesman – Garrett, Centre.

Time of quarters – 15 minutes.

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1924: Massillon 74, Wellston 0

WELLSTON TAKES A 74 TO 0 TROUNCING FROM HIGH GRIDDERS
VISITORS FAIL TO HALT MARCH OF LOCAL TEAM

Illinois with “Red” Grange missing from the lineup very long wouldn’t be very much of a cinch bet to cop the Western conference championship and the Wellston high school football team without Harold Kruskamp, its captain and 175 pound halfback, could hardly lay claim to any recognition as a gridiron eleven. This Kruskamp is a wonderful athlete for a high school football team, a roving, stalwart giant of a lad who virtually carries the entire burden of offense and defense for his team.

But Kruskamp, powerful as he is, was not powerful enough last Saturday to stop the orange and black eleven of Washington high school singled handed and so the Jackson county boys were buried under a 74 to 0 score on the Central Steel gridiron by Coach Stewart’s huskies in their first autumnal entanglement with the Massillon aggregation. Wellston filling the date left vacant by the cancellation of Mingo Junction, did Massillon a favor by agreeing to come here from its haunts in southern Ohio but its boys returned home Saturday night a much wiser group of lads and with vivid recollections of how the grand old game of football is played in this neck of the woods where great scholastic gridiron teams are common rather than exceptional.

In paying to Kruskamp all the honor for Wellston’s efforts to stop the victory march of the orange and black is not slighting the balance of the team in the least. Wellston sent here an aggregation of clean cut boys, who played with all the skill they knew and fought to the last ditch but simply were not well enough versed in the rudiments of the autumnal pastime to cope with the powerful Stewart machine.

The Wellston boys, with only a handful of substitutes as compared with the long string of athletes Coach Stewart had available, played through 60 minutes of football, never asking for quarter once although after the first few minutes there was no question but that they were in for a terrific drubbing. Even Kruskamp, a very bull for punishment, at last began to find the pace set by Massillon a killing one and before the end of the game even his great strength began to filter away.

But it is no wonder that Kruskamp began to weaken when one considers that he was 75 percent of his team’s offensive strength, carrying the ball three out of every four plays, doing all the punting and forward passing and 99 percent of its defensive strength making very nearly all of the tackles credited to his team.

Wellston was simply a one man team. True, Kruskamp was given some offensive assistance by Dando, quarterback, a fair line plunger and Bumgartner, a speedy little lad, who could be developed into a good man for end runs but it was always upon the shoulders of the stalwart Wellston captain that the burden of play fell.

Kruskamp ran the ends and hit the Massillon line time after time and any gains he made must be credited only to himself for he ran and plunged without interference of any kind. On defense he roved back and forth across the field, tackling with reckless abandon, jumping from his place in the secondary defense to a position on the line and then back again. They said before the game that Kruskamp was the whole Wellston team and it was right. With its captain out of the lineup they would be still trying to add up the score in Wellston. But put four or five lads on a team like Kruskamp with his ability to stand up under 60 minutes of terrific battering and always come up smiling and it might have been different.

But it was not altogether the weakness of the Wellston team that made Massillon’s second victory in a week go past the70 mark. The team which Coach Stewart trotted on the gridiron Saturday showed more real football than at any time this fall. It was a charging, ripping aggregation, that hammered its way across the Wellston goal line for 11 touchdowns.

It was a team that played well nigh perfect football. It was a bear on defense and its offense was dazzling, presenting an interference that was deadly in its attack and swept the Wellston lads out of the way like chaff in a wind. The orange and black without a doubt presented its best interference of the season and it was this that made possible the many long runs chalked up to the local team. Interference like that of last Saturday and the remainder of the teams on the Massillon schedule are due to have their eye teeth cut and find out the havoc that a charging set of 11 husky youths can wreak once they get under way.

But the victory was not without its cost. It resulted in the loss of Vince Define, backfield flash, for at least a week and maybe for the balance of the campaign. Define, in making a 50 yard dash through the Wellston team, twisted his knee, hurt early in the campaign, and was forced to hobble the last five yards to the Wellston goal line on one leg. The old injury was brought back when Vince side stepped a Wellston tackler.

The entire Massillon team played heads up football. The backfield men were unstoppable while running behind excellent interference, Price, Grant, King, Kammer, Brown, P. Smith and Borza making numerous spectacular dashes. On defense Captain Edwards, McCarthy and Weidman were the big noises.

It required less than a minute of play for Massillon to secure its first touchdown and it resulted from a bad play on the part of the Wellston center. The visitors received and after being held for downs on their 20 yard line Kruskamp dropped back to punt but the pass went over his head and rolled behind his goal line. Edwards and Thomas were hot after the oval but Thomas beat his leader to the ball and smothered it for the first set of counters.

The second touchdown was not long in coming. After Jimmy Price had run back one of Kruskamp’s punts 30 yards to Wellston’s 25 yard line Kammer hit the line twice for eight yards and then Vince Define tucked the oval under his arm and ran through right tackle for 18 and the score.

Another set of counters came before the quarter ended. Wellston was held for downs on its 41 yard line and with Massillon failing to gain Define punted. A penalty for holding put the ball on Wellston’s goal line and then Kruskamp punted. Define caught the ball on the visitors’ 30 yard stripe and with perfect interference ran for a touchdown.

Early in the second quarter after Kruskamp had been tossed for an 11 yard loss by Thomas he punted to Price who was downed on his 35 yard line. Define made a first down on a dash around right end and on the next play Kammer skirted right end for a 38 yard dash, taking the ball to Wellston’s 17 yard line. Price then grabbed a pass from King for a touchdown.

The fifth touchdown came after a march of 42 yards. Getting the ball on Wellston’s 42 yard line Smith tore off 20 around end and Borza and Kammer then smashed the line until Kammer took it over from the four.

At the start of the third quarter with many substitutes in the lineup Massillon took the kickoff and marched from its own 33 yard line on straight line plays and end runs for the sixth touchdown, Borza turning in one dash good for 19 yards and then four plays later Smith went through the line and over for the touchdown. Smith scored another touchdown a few minutes later after Brown had put the orange and black in position to score when he scooped up the ball after Grant had fumbled a punt and ran 23 yards before being tackled. Then a pass from Grant to Brown made nine and on a cross buck Grant made nine more. Smith then hit through right tackle from the eight yard line for his second touchdown, bringing the score to 46.

The quarter ended with the ball on Wellston’s 19 yard line and with most of the regulars back in the game a touchdown was not long in coming. Two plays took the ball to the 13 yard line but a 15 yard penalty on Massillon carried it back. Then Define passed to Gump for a gain of 23 yards and on the next play Kammer inserted his shoulders in the Wellston line and crashed over for the touchdown.

The next touchdown was due to a bit of spectacular running by King, Massillon’s Negro star. After Kammer had received a punt on Wellston’s 28 yard line King was called back for an end run. But the pass from Edwards was poor and went through King’s hands but he raced back, picked up the leather and zig zagging his way across the field ran 30 yards through the visitors for a touchdown.

Then came Define’s brilliant dash and his injury. Receiving a Wellston punt in midfield Vince streaked his way toward the visitors’ goal. Not a single Wellston player laid a hand on him so good was Define’s interference and so clever his dodging but as he reached the five yard line Vince stepped quickly to one side to elude a Wellston tackler and something in his knee gave way. Gamely he hopped across the remaining yards to the goal on one leg, falling to the ground back of Wellston’s goal line.

Then came the rather unusual, the local team played Wellston with only 10 men in the lineup. Coach Stewart had about used up all of his available backfield substitutes and while he was rearranging his lineup and taking care of Define the local team with 10 men lined up while Edwards kicked the goal. Edwards was then shifted to the backfield.

This gave Captain Bill a chance to break into the scoring for a short time later when a pass from King has been batted by one of the Wellston players Edwards grabbed the oval before it reached the ground and ran 25 yards for the final touchdown.

Wellston never came within 20 yards of Massillon’s goal line. The visitors made seven first downs, two of these coming on penalties as compared to 26 first downs for Massillon. The local team completed six out of 11 passes for a total yardage of 104. Wellston completed five out of seven passes for 37 yards.

Poor Wellston
Massillon – 74 Pos. Wellston – 0
Gump LE Darling
McCarthy LT Gettles
Reis LG Stevenson
Edwards C Pierpont
Halco RG Joseph
Weidman RT McCoung
Thomas RE Howell
J. Price QB Dando
Define LHB Kruskamp
King RHB Baumgartner
Kammer FB Pope

Score by quarters:
Massillon 21 15 12 26 – 74

Substitutions:
Massillon – Hise for Reise, Borza for King, P. Smith for Define, Grant for Price, Weymiller for Weidman, Brown for Kammer, J. Smith for Edwards, Agler for Thomas, Edwards for Hise, Williams for Agler, Herbst for Gump, Weidman for Weymiller, Brooks for Williams, Rudder for Herbst, Leroy for Borza, Kammer for P. Smith, King for Leroy, Agler for Rudder, Gump for Brooks, Define for Borza, Price for Grant, Rise for J. Smith, Crone for Hise, Hise for Edwards, Edwards for Define.

Wellston – Gearing for Bumgartner, Griffith for Darling, Worting for Griffith.

Touchdowns – Thomas, Define 3, Price, Kammer 2, P. Smith 2, King, Edwards.

Points after touchdown – Edwards 8.

Referee – Maurer (Wooster).
Umpire – Stevenson (Akron).
Head Linesman – Bast (Massillon).

Time of quarters – 15 minutes.

Bill Edwards
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1924: Massillon 77, Alliance 0

ALLIANCE BURIED UNDER A 77 TO 0 SCORE
MASSILLON HAS LITTLE TROUBLE SUBDURING RIVAL

With second and third string players in the line-up during most of the second and third quarter, the orange and black scholastic football team of Washington high school Saturday afternoon had nothing more than a good workout in its annual fracas with Alliance high on the Central Steel Athletic field, burying the eastern Stark county aggregation under a 77 to 0 score in the first contest of the year between county rivals for the scholastic gridiron championship of Molly Stark’s domains. It was the largest score to be made by Coach David B. Stewart’s man eaters this fall and probably the largest to ever be run up in a duel between Stark County opponents.

Had Coach Stewart been inclined to leave his regulars in the fray throughout the entire engagement it is hard telling how high the score would have mounted. Had he kept his first string warriors on the sidelines throughout the entire game and sent the second team in to face Alliance it might have been a close battle but even against the second and third string men Alliance was helpless.

Eleven touchdowns, eight points after touchdown and a perfect field goal by Bill Edwards from the 40 yard line accounted for the points credited to the orange and black. Against the weak east enders, who have not won a game this fall, Captain Bill Edwards and his huskies did about as they pleased. They smashed the line, ran the ends and threw forward passes with reckless abandon, so bewildering the Alliance lads that after the first few minutes of play they were swept off their feet and wilted so quickly that they furnished little opposition during the remainder of the game.

With orders from Harry Giltz, their coach, to show some fight against the powerful Massillon aggregation, the Alliance team started off with a bang and in the first five minutes of play showed more real form than it has at any time this year. Getting the ball beyond mid-field in their own territory the visitors opened up with a series of long forward passes that soon took the oval deep into Massillon territory.

Two successful passes, one of 37 yards and the other of 18, carried the ball to Massillon’s one yard line. This show of strength on Alliance’s part was surprising even to the handful of Alliance rooters who had made the journey to Massillon with the team. But with the ball on the one yard line and a touchdown almost assured Rodebaugh fumbled the ball as he shot into the line.

Then out of the midst of struggling players appeared tow-headed Bill Price, the stocky Brewster lad, who scooped up the oval on Massillon’s one-yard line and dashed 99 yards across the Alliance goal for the local team’s first touchdown. Bill covered the distance from his own goal line to that of Alliance with such speed that by the time he put the oval on the ground back of the visitor’s goal line he was at least 50 yards ahead of the nearest visiting player.

That touchdown took the heart out of Alliance and from then on the orange and black scored points almost at will, rolling up 21 to the first quarter, 20 in the second, seven in the third when substitutes played almost the entire period and 29 in the fourth when the regulars once more were on the job. After that first brief flash of form Alliance never again came near scoring. The visitors were kept far too busy trying to stop Coach Stewart’s speeding machine to think about making any points themselves.

While the victory served to indicate that the local school should for the third straight year annex the Stark County scholastic championship it also furnished Coach Stewart with an opportunity of looking over some of the material he will have available for next year.

The Massillon tutor sent 29 men into Saturday’s game and from the way all of the boys played the local school should not be in such a bad way for material in 1925 although quite a few of this year’s team will be lost by graduation and ineligibility.

Two youngster who showed to good advantage and who will be heard from quite a bit in the future were Gump and Agler, a pair of ends. Both are playing their first year of varsity football but they showed plenty of ability. Gump playing a defensive game that was hard to beat while Agler brought the crowd to its feet by his spectacular catching of forward passes. Both boys are tall and rangy.

The orange and black, besides displaying a good running and line smashing attack, also uncovered a forward passing game that was a beauty, five of the local team’s touchdowns resulting from nicely executed overhead heaves. The orange and black worked nine of 17 forwards for a total gain of 281 yards, the gains running from 70 to 10 yards. Alliance intercepted two Massillon passes while six were grounded.

Alliance completed five passes for a total gain of 111 yards while nine were grounded and two were intercepted by Massillon. The local team made 18 first downs to 13 for Alliance but six of Alliance’s first downs came through the medium of penalties inflicted on Massillon for offside play.

The game started with Alliance receiving and after an exchange of punts the visitors opened up with a forward passing attack. Rodebaugh heaving a 35 yard pass to Siegenthaler to take the ball to Massillon’s 24-yard line. Then after gaining four on an end run Rodebaugh heaved another pass to Siegenthaler for an 18 yard gain, taking the ball to Massillon’s one yard one.

Then it was that Alliance fumbled and Bill Price came out of the melee to pick up the oval and race 99 yards for Massillon’s first touchdown. It was a sensational bit of playing. Touchdowns began to come thick and fast after that.

A few minutes later King ripped off a 25 yard gain around Alliance’s left end, putting the oval on the five yard line from where Kammer cracked open the Alliance line on a buck and carried the ball over. About this time Coach Stewart was pulling his regulars out and sending in substitutes but still Alliance was not able to stop the orange and black. Getting the ball on the 45 yard line after a punt Grant heaved a pass to Gump for 35 yards and then Kammer in two plunges carried it over for the sixth touchdown of the game.

With only one or two Massillon regulars in the game Alliance found itself able to check the local team during the remainder of the second quarter and for the greater part of the third. But things soon changed toward the end of the third period when Coach Stewart began sending his regulars back in.

The first half of the third quarter was largely a kicking duel until Bill Edwards got back into the game and the first thing Bill did was to block an Alliance punt and cover the ball on Alliance’s 15 yard line. That started a march for another touchdown, Borza and Grant making a first down in three plays and then Smith hit the line for the points.

In the fourth quarter Coach Stewart instructed his lads to open up and Alliance was buried under a flock of forward passes. Early in the final quarter Alliance held Massillon on the 30 yard line and Captain Edwards dropped back to the 40 yard mark and booted a perfect field goal for three more points. It was a fine bit of kicking.

Massillon received after that and on the second play King heaved a pass of 35 yards to Define who ran the remainder of the distance for a touchdown, the entire gain being 70 yards. A short time later Jimmy Price ran around Alliance’s left end for 20 yards and another set of counters.

Then the Define-Agler forward passing combination got in some work. Define heaving two passes to Agler within the space of a few minutes for two touchdowns. The first was good for 34 yards while the second was for 42 yards, Agler making a great catch of the second pass. He took the ball over his shoulder while running at full speed. It was one of the best plays of the game.

With but 30 seconds left to play Massillon tried hard for another touchdown but Alliance intercepted a pass just as the final whistle blew.

Poor Alliance
Massillon – 77 Pos. Alliance – 0
W. Price LE Lehnis
McCarthy LT Roth
Hise LG Shively
Edwards C Lindamood
Halco RG Byers
Weidman RT DeBee
Thomas RE Siegenthaler
J. Price QB Rodebaugh
King LHB McCallam
Define RHB Callbria
Kammer FB Bertilon

Score by quarters:
Massillon 21 20 7 29 77

Substitutions:
Massillon – Gump for W. Price, Agler for Thomas, Smith for Hise, Grant for J. Price, Brooks for Weidman, P. Smith for Define, Williams for Agler, Fulton for Gump, Storey for McCarthy, Borza for King, Brown for Kammer, Fricker for Edwards, Hise for Fricker, Crone for Smith, Weymiller for Brooks, Gump for Fulton, Rudder for Williams, Dewald for Storey, Spencer for Halco, Herbst for Rudder, McCarthy For Dewald, Weidman for Weymiller, Edwards for Hise, Reis for Spencer, Hise for Crone, Leroy for Brown, Define for Leroy, Kammer for Borza, J. Price for Grant, King for Smith, W. Price for Gump, Thomas for herbst, Halco For Weidman, Agler for W. Price.

Alliance – Newshutz for Callbria, Hartman for Newshutz, Furkow for Roth, Shoemaker for Byers, Myers for Shoemaker.

Touchdowns – J. Price 2, Kammer 2, Agler, 2, W. Price, Gump, P. Smith, Define.

Points after touchdown – Edwards 8.

Field goal – Edwards.

Referee – Maurer (Wooster).
Umpire – Schaefer (Akron U.).
Head Linesman – Michels (O.S.U.).

Time of quarters – 15 minutes.

Wellston High Scheduled
For Next Saturday

Wellston high, reported to have one of the strongest scholastic football teams in southern Ohio, will be here next Saturday to oppose the orange and black Washington high, W.G. Hopper, local faculty manager, announced today that he had closed with Wellston to fill the date left open by the withdrawal of Mingo Junction.

Wellston wrote here for a game and school authorities say the team has been very successful this fall and hope to give the local eleven a hard tussle.

Bill Edwards
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1924: Massillon 33, Akron South 20

HIGH GRIDDERS COME FROM BEHIND TO DOWN AKRON SOUTH 33 – 20
RALLY IN FINAL QUARTER BRINGS HOME THE BACON

Any football team that can spot its opponents to a 20 point lead in the first half and then come back and hand them an artistic drubbing the second half must have a superabundance of that fighting spirit so essential to a successful gridiron eleven. And that’s the kinds of spirit Coach David B. Stewart’s orange and black aggregation of Washington high school displayed last Saturday afternoon at Buchtel field, Akron, when it buried Akron South under a 33 to 20 lacing staging a rally in the last half that swept the Akronites off their feet.

South’s warriors brought a look of surprise and disappointment to the faces of hundreds of Massillon fans who had journeyed to Akron to see the game by running up a string of three touchdowns in the first two periods, one on a forward pass and the other two through costly Massillon fumbles, while holding the orange and black scoreless. This was entirely unexpected for South was not rated as very formidable but Massillon’s rather ragged play gave the Akronites their chance and they made the most of it.

To one not well acquainted with the fighting spirit of Coach Stewart’s team it would have looked like almost certain victory for South when the teams left the field at the end of the first 30 minutes of play. Even quite a few Massillon rooters were a bit shaky as to the outcome but soon after play began in the third quarter it became evident that Coach Stewart’s boys were fighting with their accustomed never-say-die spirit and hopes were raised when one touchdown was shoved across in that period.

But the real force of the Massillon attack did not have its offset until the final quarter when South began to wilt under the steady hammering of the Massillon backs and finally went under completely as the orange and black shoved across four touchdowns in the final period and romped off the field a winner by 13 points.

The fact that south was able to score 20 points in the first half made the contest an interesting affair to watch with quite a few spectacular runs, and plenty of good tackling. There is no disputing the declaration that the local team outclassed South’s sturdy eleven in every department of the game. But for those two costly fumbles in the first half and some rather ragged playing on the part of the Massillon contingent South probably would have been lucky to score and the game instead of being an interesting one would have developed into a one-sided contest with the only question being as to the size of the Massillon score.

South, however, must be given credit for putting up a plucky game. It fought from start to finish and only succumbed in the closing stages of the battle after having put forth its best efforts during the earlier part of the conflict to hold the orange and black back.

It was Jimmy Price, the Brewster lad, who furnished the real thrills for the Massillon fans. The Massillon pivot man almost won the game single handed for his team in the fourth quarter when, within the space of less than five minutes he twice dashed through the entire South team for touchdowns after runs of 55 and 61 yards. Both were sensational dashes and after that South’s fighting morale weakened quickly and the Massillon Tigers crashed through for two more sets of counters before the game ended.

Sharing honors with Price on offense was Kammer, the stocker line crusher, who battered the South line to bits despite the fact that he was in the contest with a bad leg. John Borza, another line smasher, also found quite a few holes in the South team for substantial gains. On defense the entire team played too football, holding South in check throughout most of the game. The tackling of Bill Price, brother of the fleet-footed quarterback, was a thing of beauty. South’s backfield men generally stopped in their tracks when Bill got his paws on them.

McCarthy and Weidman at the tackles also played good defensive games as did Hise and Reis. Bill Edwards, who started the game at fullback and then went back to his job at center in the second period, also was in the game up to his neck until the fourth quarter when the heat began to tell on him and he was forced to retire.

Coach Stewart started off with a substitute backfield, sending Grant to quarter, Smith and Brown to the halves and Captain Edwards to fullback, it being the Massillon leader’s first assignment to a backfield role. It was not until after South had scored its second touchdown that the Massillon coach shot in his regular backfield consisting of Price, Define, King and Borza and from then on South’s line got a battering that it will not forget for some time.

South’s first touchdown, resulting from a cleverly executed forward pass, did not cause much excitement among the Massillon fans but when the other two came as the result of Massillon fumbles, a wee bit of consternation began to trickle into the Massillon camp, to be dispelled by the rally in the last half.

Right at the start of the game, South broke through and blocked Smith’s first punt on Massillon’s 16-yard line. The local team held and South’s attempted field goal went wide. Then play for the most part was in midfield until South fumbled and South covered the ball on Massillon’s 40-yard line. After an exchange of punts Aultman heaved a 20-yard pass to Hardesty who let the ball nestle in his arms as he dug for the Massillon goal 30 yards away. He made it but Aultman failed to kick goal.

A few minutes later Smith grabbed the ball for a shot at South’s line. He fumbled as he hit the line and Arnett scooped up the oval and dashed 80 yards for another South touchdown. Aultman kicked goal.

It was then that Coach Stewart shot his regular backfield quartet into the fray. But while the regulars immediately proceeded to rip South wide open they could not score. The ball was kept in South’s territory until about the middle of the quarter when Define uncorked another costly fumble. This time Klipstine scooped up the oval and raced 75 yards for South’s third touchdown. Goal was again kicked by Autlman.

Twenty points behind, the orange and black began to show some speed and soon had driven through South by a series of line plays from midfield to the five-yard line. A touchdown seemed certain but after Borza in three smashes at the line had made only four yards King was given the ball on the fourth down and South stopped him dead in his tracks, getting possession of the ball.

In the third quarter with Kammer cracking the South line wide open the local team soon took the ball deep into South’s territory and Kammer finally went over for the first touchdown. Then the tide of battle turned. At the opening of the fourth quarter South punted to Jimmy Price who grabbed the oval on his 45-yard line and with almost perfect interference dashed through the entire South team for 55 yards and Massillon’s second touchdown.

A minute later Price was destined to again bring the crowd to its feet. On the first play after the kickoff with the oval on Massillon’s 39-yard line, Price slipped through South’s left tackle and streaked his way up the field almost unaided, outstripping the South gridders and running 61 yards for the third touchdown. This tied the score at 20 all and Captain Edwards put his team out in front by booting goal for the extra point.

South began to realize then that it was in for a beating. The Akronites could do nothing with Massillon’s defense and a bit later Andrew Halco made himself a hero when he covered a South fumble behind the goal line for the fourth touchdown. Aultman of South attempted a forward pass but the Massillon line dashed in on him so fast that he never had a chance to throw the ball which slipped out of his grasp, rolled across South’s goal line and was pounced upon by Halco.

King made the fifth touchdown a little later in a 12-yard dash through South’s left tackle. Another touchdown was in sight as the game ended. The orange and black had carried the ball to South’s four-yard line and Kammer had taken it to the two-yard line when the whistle blew.

Statistics of the game show that Massillon made 19 first downs to five for South. The Rubber city eleven made but two first downs in the first half. Massillon completed four forwards for a total yardage of 33 while South completed four for 76 yards, one bringing it a touchdown. Seven attempted Massillon passes failed while South had a like number grounded.

That Old Fight
Massillon – 33 Pos. Akron S. – 20
W. Price LE Hardesty
McCarthy LT Pesaric
Crone LG Huckwith
Hise C Wert
Weidman RG Hoopkins
Thomas RT Nickles
Grant RE Klipstein
Grant QB Aultman
Brown LHB Sloop
Smith RHB Arnett
Edwards FB Hench

Score by quarters:
Massillon 0 0 7 26 33
South 13 7 0 0 20

Substitutions:
Massillon – J. Price for Gant, King for Smith, Borza for Edwards, Edwards for Hise, Define for Brown, Hise for Crone, Agler for W. Price, Kammer for King, W. Price for Agler, Reis for Hise, King for Define, Grant for Borza, Hise for Edwards.

Akron South – Larson for Nickles, Gossage for Hopkins, Neiddert for Wert, Kennedy for Aultman, Perkins for Kennedy, Durham for Klipstein, Sweet for Hardesty, McCoy for Hench, Aultman for Kennedy, Larson for Nickles, Hench for McCoy, Neiddert for Wert, Pesaric for Hopkins, Hopkins for Pesaric, Nickles for Pesaric.

Touchdowns – Hardesty, Arnett, Klepstein, Kammer, J. Price 2, Halco, King.

Goals after touchdown –Aultman 2, Edwards 3.

Referee – Kester (Mt. Union).
Umpire – Berger (Wittenberg).
Head Linesman – Waugh (Ohio Wesleyan).

Time of quarters – 15 minutes.

Bill Edwards

 

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1924: Massillon 0, Youngstown South 1

HIGH GRIDDERS OUTPLAYED SOUTH ELEVEN DESPITE OFFICIALS
LOCAL OFFENSE IN 4TH QUARTER CRUMBLES SOUTH

Despite the fact that they received the rawest deal that has ever been handed to a Massillon high school athletic team on a foreign field, the orange and black gridders of Washington high school last Saturday afternoon decidedly outplayed Youngstown South in that nightmare contest at Youngstown which was spoiled by the partial work of the officials and which finally resulted in Coach David B. Stewart calling his boys off the field and forfeiting the game to South. South was leading 19 to 14 at the time. Coach Stewart, no longer able to stand for the dirty treatment his players were receiving, took his team off the field.

This occurred in the fourth quarter with still seven minutes and 10 seconds to play and not merely a few seconds as Youngstown papers would have the public at large believe and South was weakening so rapidly that had the officiating been neutral the local team would have finished the game ahead. South was on its last legs, at that sage of the game. Massillon had just finished carrying the ball the entire length of the field for a touchdown and was well on its way to another, the touchdown that would have won the game, when the partial officials inflicted an entirely uncalled penalty upon Massillon and Coach Stewart waved his boys off the field.

South’s line was crumbling before the steady plunges of Kammer, Define and King like an egg shell. The Youngstown warriors were done and only the unfair and unsportsmanlike tactics of the officials saved the day for South, but it was no clean cut victory.

After Coach Stewart took his boys off the field, the crowd of about 7,000 fans started milling around the field. Among them were about 2,000 Massillon rooters but no near riot resulted as Youngstown papers declare. The Massillon fans, disgusted with the treatment accorded their team, hurriedly left the field. The fair minded Youngstown people, of whom there were many, also left the field without saying a word.

A mob of curious Youngstown spectators hung around the dressing room of the local team until a plain clothes officer rushed frantically into a nearby drug store and put in a riot call to the Youngstown police station for all the reserves and the flying squadron. His action probably made some rather near-sighted Youngstown people believe a near riot was pending but the near riot was created by the Youngstown fans who were soon dispersed once the police arrived on the scene.

The various charges lodged against Massillon fans, the actions of Coach Stewart and Youngstown’s view of the playing of the Massillon team can be contradicted in no uncertain terms but about the only comment that is necessary is that the account of the game which appeared in a Youngstown newspaper Sunday was the work of a writer who was just as biased and prejudiced as were the officials and who showed that he knew even less about football than the three alleged officials who attempted to handle the game, if that is possible.

Other high schools in the state know Massillon well enough to know that Massillon does not cry when it is beaten fairly and that it has always played the game on the level which is more than can be said for Youngstown South judging from the numerous protests lodged by other schools which have taken their teams to Youngstown for games and bumped into similar situations.

It was too bad that what would have been a rip roaring game of football between two evenly matched teams should have been entirely ruined by a set of incompetent and partial officials. South had a first class team that excelled Massillon when it came to forward passing but was greatly out played by the orange and black when it came to line plunging.

South scored a touchdown in the first quarter when after receiving a punt in midfield several forwards and a 15-yard run by Murphy took the ball to Massillon’s four yard line from where Murphy took it over.

Massillon went into the lead in the third quarter when on the second play Bill Price, tow headed end, scooped up a fumble punt and ran 35 yards for a touchdown. Edwards kicked goal and put the local team one point in front.

South’s second touchdown came entirely through the work of Head Linesman Thomas and Umpire McKay. South gained the ball in Massillon’s territory on a fumble and rushed it to the two-yard line with goal to gain on fourth down. Then South’s attempted forward was grounded behind its own goal line but Head Linesman Thomas penalized Edwards for alleged offside play and put the ball on Massillon’s one-yard line from where Collins squirmed over when officials let him advance the ball after being downed.

South’s third and last touchdown came on a long pass from Collins to Reese. It was good for about 30 yards and took the ball over Massillon’s goal line. Define failing to tackle Reese as he dashed across the line.

Then Massillon began to play football in earnest. On the kickoff Define ran the ball back to midfield and steady pounding at the Youngstown line by Define, Kammer and King carried the oval straight up the field without a break and across South’s goal line. Edwards kicked goal.

South again kicked off to Massillon and Define carried the ball back to midfield only to have it called back to the 20-yard line when Umpire McKay called a penalty on McCarthy for alleged holding. Then a 15-yard penalty was inflicted and it was at this point that Stewart called his team off the field.

Proper officiating would have made the conflict a great game. The South team played a fairly clean game. There were few unfair tactics for either team. Massillon made 13 first downs to 10 and Coach Stewart did not have to seek a loop hole to take his team off the field and avert the stigma of a defeat for had the officiating been right Massillon without a doubt would have won by at least one touchdown.

What a Farce!
Massillon Pos. Youngstown S.
W. Price L.E. J. Reese
McCarthy L.T. Moss
Reis L.G. Didams
Edwards C Fitzgerald
Halco R.G. Schuler
Weldman R.T. Bartholemy
Thomas R.E. Davies
J. Price Q.B. Bailey
Define L.H.B. Murphy
King R.H.B. Baker
Borza F.B. Collins

Score by quarter:
Massillon 0 0 7 7 14
South 6 0 7 6 19

Substitutions:
Massillon – Grant for Borza, Kammer for King, Hise for Reis, P. Smith for Define, King for P. Smith, Define for Grant, Grant for King.

South – Miller for Schuler, Ruth for Bartholmey, Moss for Schuler, Garr for Ruth, Baker for Reese, Leonall for Collins.

Touchdowns – W. Price, Kammer, Murphy, Collins, Reese.

Points after touchdown – Edwards 2, Reese.

Referee – Hart, Lafayette.
Umpire – McKay, Brown.
Head Linesman – Thomas, W. VA.

Time of quarters – 12 minutes.

It’s Time Authorities
At Youngstown South Wake Up
And Banish Their Home-Guard Officials
And Play Square

Youngstown South Saturday won a football victory from Washington high of Massillon at Youngstown by the forfeit route when David B. Stewart, athletic coach of the local school called his boys off the field in the fourth quarter with the score standing 19 to 14 in favor of South and seven minutes and 10 seconds to play. Partiality of the officials and their gross incompetency to handle a football game as it should be handled caused the withdrawal of the Massillon team. South is officially credited with a 1 to 0 victory over the local school.

But it is a victory without honor: a victory so tainted and so beclouded by the disgusting and plainly evident efforts of the officials to see that South won at any cost that no fair-minded lover of clean sports in Youngstown today can do anything but hang his head in shame that such a blot should be cast upon a school the size of Youngstown South.

Coach Stewart in calling his boys off the field when he did took the only action left for him. To have let the game go on in charge of the three persons who were attempting to officiate would have been an insult to his boys and a reflection upon the honor and integrity of the school he represents and the citizens of Massillon who demand that their boys take part in only athletics that are clean and above board.

In this action Coach Stewart was backed by high school authorities and Superintendent of Schools H.R. Gorrell, some 2,000 Massillon fans who had gone to Youngstown to see the game, and hundreds of Youngstown citizens, who becoming disgusted at the weak efforts of the officials to conduct the game as it should have been, joined forces with the Massillon delegation and began to cheer for the orange and black.

The officials were Hart, of Lafayette, referee; McKay, of Brown, umpire; and Thomas, of West Virginia, head linesman, all residents of Youngstown.
Officials Protested
Massillon authorities several days before the game protested the officials South had selected but South refused to change them and it was only after lavish promises from Principal Eaton of South and Coach Ashbaugh that Massillon consented to take its team to Youngstown for the game.

Massillon authorities were so fair minded in this matter and so desirous of giving the officials a chance to show that they were fair and competent that they did not make public any of the details of their controversy with South regarding the officials desiring if possible not to create any animosity against them in the minds of local fans who would attend the game.

But not so with Youngstown South, It’s officials immediately rushed into print in an effort to give Massillon a black eye for asking for competent and impartial officiating.

It was evident before the game that the officials were not as well versed in football as they should be. They were seen hastily perusing a rule book before they went on the field. But had they been only incompetent it would have not been so bad. But they were worse. One did not have to know about football to know that Massillon in plain English received a dirty deal.
Some Raw Deal
Here are some of the things the officials were guilty of:
Refusing to penalize South players for unduly roughing Massillon men.
Giving South its second touchdown by taking the ball away from Massillon when it was Massillon’s ball on its 20-yard line and giving South possession of the ball on Massillon’s one-yard line with four downs to make goal.
Use of profane language on the field during the progress of the game by Referee Hart.
Head Linesman Thomas giving South the ball on its eight yard line in the second quarter after a South man had blocked a punt by his own teammate on fourth down. It should have been Massillon’s ball.
Umpire McKay calling a penalty for holding on tackle McCarthy of Massillon in the fourth quarter after Define had returned a kick off 45 yards to midfield. It was after this penalty that Coach Stewart called his team off the field.
The work of Umpire McKay and Head Linesman Thomas was particularly glaring.
In the second quarter a South man went through Massillon’s line for a three yard gain. As he was tackled he dropped the ball but South instantly recovered. It was not a free ball. This happened on the first down and play should have continued with the second down coming. But Head Linesman Thomas ruled it a first down for South.
A short time later South was forced to punt. The ball hit a Youngstown man in the back and bounded back to South’s eight yard line. Referee Hart was about to give Massillon possession of the ball as he should. Out rushed Head Linesman Thomas to inform the official that a Massillon man had blocked the punt and Hart gave South the ball on its eight yard line.
In the same period Bill Edwards jumped into the air and batted down a South forward pass. In doing so he accidentally knocked over a South player. The two fell to the ground in a heap. As he lay on the ground the South player deliberately dug his foot into Edwards face. Head linesman Thomas was standing not two feet away. He saw it. Edwards protested but the Head Linesman “balled” out the Massillon captain and told him he was attempting to illegally tackle a South man.
In the fourth quarter halfback King of Massillon carried the ball for a gain of 14 yards. After he was tackled and on the ground two South players fell on him. Head Linesman Thomas saw what was coming and deliberately turned his back and walked up the field.
One for the Book
In the third quarter with Massillon ahead 7 to 6, South carried the ball to Massillon’s two-yard line. It was fourth down with goal to gain. South attempted a pass which was grounded behind its goal line and it was Massillon’s ball on its 20 yard line. But Head Linesman Thomas rushed in to inform the referee that Edwards had been offside. It was impossible for Edwards to have been offside on that play for he was standing back of his own goal line.

But the referee inflicted the penalty, placing the ball on Massillon’s one yard line giving South four downs to take it over. On the first play Collins went through the line but he was stopped before he reached the goal line. He was lying on top of a heap of players and as the Massillon line relaxed he squirmed over the line and the officials gave South a touchdown.

In the fourth quarter Coach Stewart came to the sideline to inquire of the referee the reason for a certain decision. The referee cut loose with a lot of profanity and immediately penalized Massillon 15 yards.
Another Fine Decision
The straw that broke the camel’s back came a few moments later when Umpire McKay called a penalty on McCarthy for alleged holding. He said the penalty took place on Massillon’s 20 yard line. A 15 yard penalty took the ball back to Massillon’s five yard line. Then Coach Stewart called his boys off the field.

A look of sheepishness crept over the faces of the officials as the Massillon team left the field. They were at a loss to know what to do. The South players gathered in little groups. They also were very quiet. They realized that what for them might have been a great victory had suddenly been turned into a dismal, flat failure. They knew that from then on no other outside team could come into Youngstown and be sure of a square deal.

Fair minded citizens in Youngstown should demand of Principal Eaton of South High school that he never again engage Hart, McKay and Thomas to officiate another game in which South participates. There are men in jail for doing less than that trio did Saturday.

MASSILLON BREAKS WITH SOUTH HIGH

Although no definite action had been taken early today by local high school authorities to sever athletic relations with Youngstown South following Saturday’s game at Youngstown it appeared quite evident that in the future no more athletic contests would be booked with South. H.R. Gorrell, superintendent of schools, this morning said that a meeting probably would be held soon to determine Massillon’s course of action.

South was quick to announce Saturday night that it had cut Massillon off its schedule but South was just a bit too slow for Washington high school authorities knew just about what action they would take the moment Coach Stewart called his team off the field.

Statements made in Youngstown Sunday that Youngstown Rayen had severed athletic relations with Massillon because of a rumpus occurring several years ago were denied today by local authorities who declared that Massillon and Rayen still maintained athletic relations.

Several years ago because of failure to get together on dates Rayen and Massillon did not schedule a football game. It has always been customary to play one of the Youngstown schools here and the other in Youngstown. But while Rayen and Massillon did not meet in football they still maintain basketball relations.

It was not known today whether the local school would take steps to officially notify South that athletic relations were severed or just completely ignore the Youngstown school in the future when athletic schedules are made up.

The following statement was issued today by Superintendent H.R. Gorrell:

“We are always sorry to have a game terminate as did the game Saturday. However, in view of the complaints entered following the game at Youngstown two years ago and repeated prior to this year’s game, we feel entirely justified in the action taken.”

“Games between schools that are hot rivals should always be handled by neutral officials who are acceptable to both schools. Massillon appreciates the good sportsmanship shown by the South team and student body.”

“It was made plain to the Youngstown South officials earlier in the week that the continuance of athletic relations between the two schools would depend upon the quality of the officiating at this game. That makes impossible therefore, games between the two schools for some time to come.”

Bill Edwards
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1924: Massillon 39, Athens 0

ORANGE AND BLACK BURIES ATHENS ELEVEN 39 – 0
STEWART’S LADS UNCOVER DEADLY AERIAL ATTACK

Football teams turned out by Athens high school may have been regular steam rollers down in that neck of the woods in which Athens displays most of its scholastic football ability but up in this section of the Buckeye domain – well that’s a different story. A few good scholastic football teams are turned out in this territory too as Athens learned to its sorrow last Saturday when it sent its high school eleven to Massillon to tackle Coach David B. Stewart’s Washington high school aggregation of man eaters in a big battle on the Central Steel field.

The Athens aggregation got a chance to look at a fairly good example of what a modern high school gridiron team should be like, that is when it was not being knocked off its collective legs by the fierce attack of Massillon’s orange and black clad demons. All of the foregoing probably is sufficient to bring out the fact that Washington high won. It did and quite convincingly by the rather top heavy score of 39 to 0 chalking up its second victory of the campaign, the first coming a week ago when Akron Central was turned back by a 34 to 0 count.

Early in the game it was quite evident that Athens was in for a neat drubbing – how bad depending entirely upon how ferocious Coach Stewart’s lads felt. The local team had heard quite a lot during the past week from its coach and other sources concerning the strength of Athens and its imposing gridiron record so the boys were about ready for most any kind of a game Saturday and they didn’t wait very long until they showed Athens what kind of a game they had been taught to play.

The fracas opened with a bang and the dust from the first kick off had hardly settled before King, Massillon’s dusky line crusher, ripped through the Athens team for a touchdown, after a series of line plays had carried the ball right up to the visitor’s goal post. After that there wasn’t much doubt as to which team would win. Athens put up a plucky game, fought so hard that many of its players were put out of commission, one with a fractured leg, but the best efforts of the southern Oho boys were fruitless against the steady and well drilled attack of the orange and black.

Massillon scored one touchdown in the first quarter, two in the second, one in the third and two in the fourth. Athens’ only look at the Massillon goal posts came from afar, somewhere in the neighborhood of midfield. The visitors really never threatened except late in the first quarter when two passes carried the ball to Massillon’s 20 yard line but there the advance came to a sudden and untimely ending when smothered by the orange and black.

There was no real outstanding star in Saturday’s fray for Massillon. All of the players, even the host of substitutes Coach Stewart shot into the melee, played bang up games. The backfield with Kammer, King, J. Price, Borza and Define bearing the brunt of the attack acquitted itself nobly while the line with Captain Bill Edwards playing his regular game of breaking up the enemy’s attack, was never swept off its feet by the visitors. P. Smith, who went into the game for King, did some mighty fine playing while Wademan starred on the line.

Probably the most noteworthy thing about Massillon’s victory was its deadly aerial attack. There have been some who in the past have said that the orange and black did not pay enough attention to the overhead attack. If they saw Saturday’s game they probably are convinced that Coach Stewart and his lads can execute a ground gaining aerial drive. The orange and black showed itself very proficient on the forward passing game, completing 10 or 16 heaves for a total yardage of 150.

Athens also depended largely upon the air route for its gains and worked six of 11 heaves for a total gain of 70 yards.

A forward pass, Define to Price, scored Massillon’s second touchdown in the second period while a line plunge by Kammer accounted for the second set of counters in this period. Kammer also scored the touchdown in the third quarter. He scored again early in the fourth period while King made the final touchdown after forward passes had taken the oval deep into Athens territory.
How High Gridders Mopped Up Athens

First Quarter
McKinley kicked off for Athens to Massillon’s 20 yard line. Define returned the ball 10 yards. J. Price gained one yard through center. On a fake formation, Define made 20 yards around left end but the ball was called back as time had been called. King made 2 around left end and Define made 4 though center. Athens was penalized 15 yards for holding, giving the orange and black a first down in midfield. Borza made another first down in two smashes at the line. Define tore through left tackle for 8 yards, and Borza ripped off left end, carrying the ball to the 16 yard line. Meighn was inserted into the game for Schmidt in an effort to strengthen the Athenian line. Define made 2 yards and Borza came back with consecutive gains of 2 and 5 yards, giving Massillon another first down on the 5 yard line. King carried the ball to the half yard line, and then took it over on the next play. Edwards attempt to kick goal was blocked.
Score: Massillon 6, Athens 0.

Edwards kicked off over the goal line and the ball was then put in play on the 20 yard line. McKinley made 3 yards through center. Wademan tossed J. Al Jove for a one yard loss. McKinley passed to J. Al Jove for 8 yards and a first down. Carmeicheal carried the ball through the center of the line for 11 yards and another first down. Two drives at the line netted another first down. Wademan threw H. Prichard for a 3 yard loss and an attempt to pass failed. McKinley failed to gain, and then punted to Massillon’s 30, J. Price returning 7 yards. Define fumbled the ball, but covered losing 15 yards on the play. King skirted right end for a 10 yard gain. Define then punted to Athens’ 20 yard line and Thomas dropped J. Al Jove in his tracks. An attempt through center failed and Wademan then tossed J. Al Jove for a 2 yard loss when the latter took the ball from McKinley on a cross buck. McKinley punted to Massillon’s 45 yard line, J. Price returning 10. Borza made 5 yards on two attempts and Define then hit through center for 4 more and first down. H. Prichard intercepted a Massillon pass on the 10 yard line. McKinley passed to J. Al Jove for 25 yards and made 4 through center on the next play. Carmeicheal failed to gain and McKinley again passed to J. Al Jove for another 22 yard gain, putting the ball on the 20 yard line as the quarter closed.
Score: Massillon 6, Canton 0

Second Quarter
Grant was substituted for Borza, who appeared to be weak in blocking passes. Athens attempted a pass but was blocked by Grant. McKinley made a yard through center and then passed to J. Al Jove for a 2 yard gain. Referee Maurer cautioned Athens for stalling. Edwards broke through the line and threw McKinley for a 10 yard loss as the latter was attempting a pass, giving Massillon the ball on the 28 yard line. Grant made 5 yards and Define then punted to the Athenian 40 yard line. The Massillon ends were going down fast under Define’s punts and J. Al Jove was dropped before he was able to get a start. Hughes went in for Meighn. McKinley passed to H. Prichard for a gain of 7 yards. Grant blocked an attempt to pass and McKinley failed to gain on a line plunge. He then punted to the 11 yard line and Define returned 15 yards. The orange and black were penalized 10 yards, placing the oval on the 16 yard line. Define punted to the 40 yard line and “Bill” Price dropped Prichard without a gain. McKinley made 2 yards through center and Prichard was stopped without again. Massillon was penalized 5 yards for being offside and Athens was given a first down. McKinley passed to Prichard for again of 5 yards, but Prichard fumbled the ball as he was tackled, and Grant covered for the orange and black on its own 30 yard line. King made 9 yards in two cracks at the line. H. Prichard on the bottom of the pile had to be carried from the field and received a fracture of his leg just below the knee. B. Prichard, his twin brother, took his place. On the next play “Jimmy” Price skirted left end for a gain of 44 yards carrying the oval to the 20 yard line. King went through center for 4, but Massillon was penalized 5 yards for being offside. King hit left tackle for 4 more, and Define went at the same spot for 3 more. On the next play he failed to gain. It was fourth down with the ball on the four yard line. Define dropped back, took the ball and started on a run along the left side of the line. He snapped a pass a short distance to Price who crossed the goal line as he caught the ball. Edwards added another point. Stewart sent a string of substitutes into the fray, P. Smith taking King’s position, Kammer for Define, Hise for Halco, and J. Smith for Reis. McKinley kicked to the 10 yard line, Smith returning the pigskin 30 yards to the 40 stripe. Agler took Thomas’s place and Gump went in for W. Price. Smith punted to the Athens 40. An attempt to gain through the line failed, and McKinley punted to P. Smith who was downed on his own 45 yard line. Price hit right tackle for 4 yards and then took a pass from Grant which netted 7 more and a first down. Price made 6 around left end, and then was relieved of his duties by Brown. Grant made 5 yards and a first down. Kammer added 6 more. A double pass failed to gain and Brown then passed to Agler for a gain of 15 yards, putting the mole skin on the 3 yard zone. On the next play Kammer carried the ball across for the third touchdown of the game. Edwards kicked goal.

Dewald took McCarthy’s place and Waymiller took Wademan’s tackle position. Edwards kicked to the 12 yard line and Al Jove was stopped without return. An attempt to break through the line failed and McKinley punted to mid-field, Smith returning 8 yards placing the ball on the 42 yard line as the half ended.
Score: Massillon 20, Athens 0.

Third Quarter
At the start of the second half, Wademan took Waymiller’s position. King went in for Brown, McCarthy for Dewald. Reis for Hise and Borza for P. Smith. Massillon kicked off to the 20 yard line, Al Jove returning 10 to the 30. McKinley made 6 through left tackle and B. Prichard got 3y around left end. Al Jove made 4 more and registered a first down for Athens. McKinley failed to gain through the line. He made y yard on his next attempt. A pass was grounded and McKinley then punted out of bounds on the Massillon 23 yard line. King made 8 around right end and Grant hurried a pass to Agler for 28 yards. Borza muffed a pass from center and lost 10 yards. Neil went in for Baker and Baker took Al Jove’s position in the backfield. Grant punted to the Athens 20 yard line, Baker returning 6. McKinley then returned the punt to mid-field, Kammer running the ball back 9 yards, before being downed. Two passes failed. With fourth down and 10 yards to go, with the ball on the 38 yard line, Borza shot around left end for 13 yards and a first down. H. Prichard intercepted Grant’s pass on the 22 yard line and McKinley immediately punted the oval to the Massillon 42 yard line, Kammer bringing the ball back 22 yards.

King made three yards through right tackle. Borza and Kammer hit the center of the line for 6 yards more and Kammer then made a first down through the same spot. Grant then hurried a pass to King that was good for 11 yards and placed the oval on the 15 yard zone. Borza made 6 yards through the line and Kammer 1. King made 4 around left end for a first down and Kammer carried the ball across on the next play. Edwards missed the kick. Meighn went in for Hughes and Define took Borza’s place. McKinley kicked to Define on the 5 yard line and Vince returned the ball 15 yards. He made 6 more on the next play and Kammer skirted right end for a 20 yard gain. Grant made 2 yards and time was called for McCarthy who injured his arm. Grant passed to Gump for a 15 yard gain as the third quarter ended.
Score: Massillon 26, Athens 0.

Fourth Quarter
W. Price took Gump’s place and Halco went in for McCarthy. Grant made 5 through right tackle. Edgeworth took Wandia’s place. Kammer made 10 yards on two bucks at the line. E. Al Jove intercepted a pass of Grant’s on the 30 yard line. McKinley punted to Athens 45 and Define returned 5 yards. King made 2 yards and Define 2 more on smashes at the line. Borza took the ball to the 1 yard line. Kammer fumbled and then covered without a gain. Kammer then took the ball across from the one yard line. Edward’s kick was blocked. Price took Kammer’s place in the lineup. McKinley kicked over the goal line. With the ball placed in play on the 20 yard line King made 9 through right tackle. Edwards made a poor pass, losing 10 yards. Define kicked to midfield and Baker returned 4 yards. McKinley punted to the 20 yard line. Define returning 15 yards. King lost 6 on a fumble. Define passed, 25 yards to Price, and on the next play duplicated the stunt for another 25 yard gain. Define passed to W. Price for 8 yards and then shot a pass to Thomas for 12 more. Price made 2 through center and King carried the ball across the line for a touchdown. Edwards added the extra point. Dewald went in for Wademan, P. Smith for Define, Williams for W. Price and Brooks for Thomas. Athens substituted Williams for J. Al Jove and Thompson for Carmeicheal. Brown for J. Price, Schmidt for Miller. McKinley kicked to Smith who returned the ball 25 yards. He made first down on the next play on a dash around left end. Grant’s pass was intercepted and the game ended with Athens in possession of the ball in mid-field.
Final score: Massillon 39, Athens 0.

Poor Athens
Massillon – 39 Pos. Athens – 0
W. Price LE Brown
McCarthy LT Baker
Reis LG Schmidt
Edwards C Wandas
Halco RG Miller
Wademan RT Benefield
Thomas RE E. Al Jove
J. Price QB J. Al Jove
King LH H. Prichard
Define RH Carmeicheal
Borza FB McKinley

Score by quarters
Massillon 6 14 6 13 39

Substitutions:
Massillon – Grant for J. Price, P. Smith for King, Kammer for DeFine, Hise for Halco, J. Smith for Reis, Agler for Thomas, Gump for W. Price, Brown for J. Price, Dewald for McCarthy, Waymiller for Wademan, Wademan for Waymiller, King for Brown, McCarthy for Dewald, Reis for Hise, Borza for P. Smith, Define for Borza, W. Price for Gump, Halco for McCarthy, J. Price for Kammer, Dewald forWademan, P. Smith for Define, Williams for W. Price, Brooks for Thomas, Brown for J. Price.

Athens – Meighn for Schmidt, Hughes for Meighn, B. Prichard for H. Prichard, Neil for Baker, Baker for J. Al Jove, Meighn for Hughes, Edgeworth for Wandas, Williams for E. Al Jove, Thompson for Carmeicheal, Schmidt for Miller.

Touchdowns – King 2, Kammer 3, J. Price 1.

Point after touchdown – Edwards 3.

First downs – Massillon 20.
Athens 7.

Time of periods – 15 minutes.

Referee – Thompkinson, Akron.
Umpire – Maurer, Wooster
Head Linesman – Bast, Massillon.

Bill Edwards

 

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1924: Massillon 34, Akron Central 0

HIGH GRIDDERS WALLOP AKRON CENTRAL
STEWART’S LADS UNCOVER HEFTY SCORING PUNCH

The orange and black colors of Washington high school waved in victory Saturday afternoon on the Central Steel field when the gridders of the South Mill street institution in their first test of the 1924 season administered a 34 to 0 whitewash to Akron Central, an ancient foe of the local school.

The decision attained by the orange and black standard bearers was clean cut and it was by thoroughly outplaying the Summit county eleven that Coach David B. Stewart’s squad made possible the piling up of 34 points on an eleven which but the week previous had lost to the highly touted Warren outfit by a 14 to 0 score.

As in teams of other years flaws in team play of the orange and black cropped out, but results of the Saturday fray were gratifying and indicated that the 1924 varsity when the season is brought to a close in November with McKinley high of Canton, will have attained a record in keeping with those garnered by squads of previous years and which have placed teams of the local school on a high plane in the Ohio scholastic ranks.

The orange and black veteran backfield showed it had the ability to play the part of a steam roller in crushing through its opponents line and skirting the ends. It also presented an aerial attack which in future games should prove an important factor in orange and black scoring. The entire backfield is exceptionally fast, faster than any the local school has had in recent years.

Although far from the form he displayed last season, Vincent Define , the Navarre lad, showed sufficient ground gaining ability against the Akronites to warrant the belief that he will be the same star of a year ago. Define, a dangerous triple threat man, was playing under a handicap Saturday, his leg injured in pre-season practice having kept him out of uniform for several weeks.

Probably more outstanding in the backfield than Define, was the work of Jimmy Price, orange and black field general and King, dusky warrior playing his first game for the local team although in the two previous seasons, he starred against local elevens for Wooster high. The Brewster youth used good judgment in running the team in addition to making several pretty runs in a broken field, one resulting in a touchdown. King’s speed gave him numerous gains around the ends, while he also proved to be a strong defensive player.

Borza and Kammer, the latter playing his first game as a regular, showed decided power in plunging the line. The play of Grant, alternating with Price at quarterback, was equally as good as in 1923, which proved him a brainy field general.

Massillon’s green line came through the test with colors flying. With Captain Bill Edwards and McCarthy as the only veteran linemen, the forward wall withstood the onslaught of the Akron plungers in a worthy manner, although at times it broke sufficiently long for an Akron attack to ring a first down or two. Of the linemen the work of Captain Edwards stood out above the others, the orange and black leader especially proving himself a bulwark of strength on defense.

That Ries, shifted from a backfield position, and Halco and Hise will earn their letters at guard positions was evidenced when on numerous occasions they broke through the visitors’ line to throw the runner for a loss. Weidman, a Navarre husky, playing his first scholastic game, showed well at tackle while McCarthy distinguished himself at the other tackle position. With more experience under fire Bill Price, brother of Jimmy, and Thomas should develop into two sturdy ends. J. Smith and Gump, linemen and P. Smith and Brown backfield candidates, also gave good accounts of themselves.

Standing head and shoulders above all others of the Akron eleven, was Captain Warren, big fullback. The wearer of the red and white was the only consistent ground gainer for the visitors and his defensive play was of high quality. Coach Blair’s eleven had a well-laid aerial attack with Harris serving as an excellent pivot. Several of Harris’ passes were good for substantial gains although they never brought the Summit County eleven to within scoring distance.

Penalties were frequent with the local eleven bearing the brunt of the penalties. In the first period, the only one in which the visitors held the orange and black scoring machine in check, a penalty prevented a score. With the ball on the 15-yard line Captain Edwards tried for a place kick. The oval went hurling through the air and over the crossbar but the score was not allowed as Ries was guilty of a mis-play and instead of Massillon gaining three points it was given a 15-yard penalty. This was the only instance in which a penalty served directly to prevent a score but a total of 145 yards which the orange and black was penalized proved a big difficulty to overcome. Four penalties were chalked up against the visitors for a total of 60 yards.

Massillon and the Centralites battled on even terms in the first period, although it was in this 15 minutes that Edwards booted a field goal only to lose credit for it when a local player received a penalty. The visitors opened their attack with a rush and after the initial kickoff Warren plunged through Massillon’s left side of the line for a first down. The two elevens battled in Akron’s territory most of the period but the orange and black was never able to advance the oval beyond the 15-yard line.

It was late in the second period that the orange and black sent across its first set of counters, a pass from Define to King bringing the marker. The march of Coach Stewart’s squad began on the Akron 34-yard line after Define had made a 23-yard return of one of McGowan’s punts. Plunges by King, Kammer and Define, netted a first down. Three more plays gave Massillon another first and ten with the ball on Akron’s 12-yard line. Define made a short pass over the line of scrimmage and King grabbed the oval and scampered eight yards for a touchdown.

A forward pass again reaped fruit in the third period, this time with Define on the receiving end. Massillon gained possession of the ball on the 33-yard line after the Akron safety man fumbled a local punt when tackled by Edwards. King ripped off a 13-yard gain and on the next play Massillon was given a 15-yard penalty. Then King stepped back and hurled a pass on a direct line into the waiting arms of Define and another orange and black touchdown was chalked up. Edwards kicked goal.

Touchdowns came more rapidly in the fourth period. On the first play, a double pass, Price aided by excellent interference skirted Akron’s left end for a 26-yard gain and a touchdown. The kick for the extra point was blocked. Shortly after a pass from Define to Price advanced the oval to the five-yard line from where Borza plunged across. Edwards booted for the seventh point. The same play that brought the orange and black the first touchdown of the period netted them their final, Define registering the points from the 21-yard line. Edwards kicked goal.

Although Akron failed to threaten the Massillon goal line 12 first downs were scored to the visitors’ credit against 16 for the locals. Massillon gained more consistently with the overhead attack than did the visitors, working six passes out of 20 tries for a total gain of 112 yards. The visitors were successful in five tries out of 14 attempts, gaining a total of 70 yards.

Starting Right
MASSILLON POS AKRON
W. Price le Frye
McCarthy lt Bee
Halco lg Rhulin
Edwards c Berry
Ries rg Gleasnes
Weidman rt Ferguson
Thomas re Cockan
J. Price q Pilakin
Borza lh McGowan
Krammer rh Sparks
Define f Warren

Score by periods:
Massillon 0 7 7 20 34

Touchdowns – Define 2, J. Price, King, Borza.

Points after touchdown – Edwards 4.

Substitutions:
Massillon – Grant for J. Price, J. Smith for Ries, Brown for Grant, P. Smith for Define, Ries for J. Smith, J. Price for Brown, Borza for Kammer, Hise for Halco, Kammer for Borza, Grant for Kammer, Gump for W. Price.

Akron – Harris for Sparks, Bittner for Bee, Miller for McGowan, Bee for Bittner, Berry for Spletser, Bittner for Bee, McGowan for Miller

Referee – Maurer.
Umpire – Thompkinson.
Head Linesman – Bast

Time of periods – 15 minutes.

Bill Edwards