Tag: <span>Bob Grier</span>

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1950: Massillon 62, Cleveland Cathedral Latin 0

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

By LUTHER EMERY

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The line-up and summary:

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

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

Score by periods:
Massillon 0 27 14 21 62

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

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

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

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

Jim Reichenbach
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1950: Massillon 46, Canton Lincoln 0

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

By LUTHER EMERY

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Score by periods:
Massillon 19 7 7 13 46

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

Points after touchdown:
Massillon – Krisher 4 (placekicks)

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

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

Jim Reichenbach