Canton McKinley Archives - Page 7 of 9

1950: Massillon 33, Canton McKinley 0

November 18, 1950July 6, 2017
by Eric Smith

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

By LUTHER EMERY

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

State Champions

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

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

Score by periods:
Massillon 6 7 0 20 33

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

History

1949: Massillon 6, Canton McKinley 0

November 19, 1949June 28, 2017
by Eric Smith

Tigers Blast Bulldogs 6- And Claim State Title
Massillon Gridders Battle Big Canton Team To Standstill

By LUTHER EMERY

Massillon today hailed the Washington high school champions of Ohio as fans still recounted and praised the deed of the gallant orange and black team in its 6-0 victory over Canton McKinley at Fawcett stadium Saturday afternoon in what was one of the most bitter and hardest fought contests in the 55-year-old series.

Fifty-four games have been played since the schools first met in 1894 and the Tigers’ triumph Saturday whittled the McKinley advantage for the series to one game. Massillon has now won 24, Canton 25, while five ended in tie scores.

“Still champs!” were the words chanted by Tiger supporters as they milled around the stadium after the game and headed for Massillon in what seemed to be an endless horn blowing parade.

The defensive battle – a direct opposite of the offensive duel the teams were expected to wage – was marked by hard play from the opening kickoff until the final gun.

No one was certain of victory until the final gun sounded.

Tiger fans nervously watched the seconds, which seemed like hours, being ticked off by the clock, wondering if the Tigers could preserve the six-point lead they had gained in the third quarter.
* * *
CANTONIANS were under the same tension, only the clock seemed to be moving too fast for them as each second meant less time for their Bulldogs to catch up with the Tigers. The Bulldogs never did, and as hearts pounded like tom-toms in accompaniment to the heat of battle, the gun sounded, ending hostilities and signaling an outburst of enthusiasm such as only a traditional rivalry of this kind can develop.

Fans leaped the walls and made a race for players, hoisting them to their shoulders. Other members of the team grabbed Coach Chuck Mather and carried him out. The parade of victory had started and the locker room rang with enthusiasm as fans swarmed in to extend greetings.

The Tigers deserved all honors heaped upon them for they had just conquered a heavier opponent and had in the eyes of Massillonians and most sports writers present retained the state championship that was voted them after their 21-12 defeat of the Bulldogs in 1948.
* * *
EVERY MEMBER of the squad shared in the glory, but Irvin “Ace” Crable, was given the biggest pat on the back for having scored the only touchdown of the game and for having prevented a Canton McKinley touchdown with a hard driving tackle that caused Louis Mariano, the Bulldog ace, to fumble on the four-yard line where End Don Slicker promptly pounced on the ball for Massillon.

It was the Bulldogs’ only threat of the game, but would have meant a tie score or possibly a Canton victory had Crable not caught the hard running Canton halfback.

In scoring the only touchdown, Crable set some sort of a record for himself for he was the only Tiger to cross the goal line a year ago. He scored all three of Massillon’s touchdowns in the 1948 finale.

Congratulated after the game “Ace” modestly replied, “I couldn’t have done it without the help of the other 10 guys.”

The touchdown came like a bolt out of the blue. Somehow or other Massillon fans felt that sooner or later one of their backs would break through – they had come close so many times, with just a tick by one Canton player stopping what would have been long touchdown runs. But the hopeful fans feared for the worst for there seemed to be one Bulldog always left to get the ball carrier when a runner was on the loose.
* * *
THE PAYOFF came on the 35-yard line with fourth down coming up and three yards needed for a first down. The play was called by Quarterback Don James as the Tigers elected to carry the ball instead of punt. It was handed off to Crable who shot through his left tackle and streaked for the north sideline. Don Slicker threw the key block on Don Killins of McKinley and not a hand was laid on Crable as he raced for pay dirt with the roar of 23,000 fans ringing in his ears.

Then came the try for the extra point. It was won and lost Canton games on occasions in past years and older Massillon fans, remembering these one point decisions, were apprehensive when the wind blew Jerry Krisher’s boot wide of the cross bars. It was a good kick. The ball had started out all right but insufficient allowance had been made for the strong gale.

It was only the middle of the third quarter and few folks had expected the six points to stand, but they got bigger and bigger as the game grew older and stood imposingly on the score board as the second hand completed its last circuit.

The Bulldogs, in fact, never made a serious threat to tie the score. Only once did they get over the 50-yard line, thereafter a fourth period effort moving the ball to the 38 where the Tigers braced, threw them backward and forced them to punt with six and one-half minutes remaining to be played.
* * *
THOSE LAST six and one-half minutes were the ones that seemed like time eternal.

The Tigers took Palumbo’s short punt on their 27 and marched the ball up the field with Don James tossing to Don Slicker for a first down on his 38 and Jacobs fumbling forward and recovering for another first down on his 49. The Tigers charged forth to what would have been another first only Gene Laps was charged with holding and a 15-yard penalty set them backward. Even so Crable nearly got away on a fake kick, the last man again getting him. Jacobs, with a minute and 50 seconds of the game left, was forced to punt. Rogers returned the ball 10 yards to his 25. The Bulldogs moved forward to a first down on their 41, smartly running the ball out of bounds each time to stop the clock.

They had a minute left now. Quarterback John Rogers tried a pass to Killins that Slicker knocked down. Fifty-five seconds remained. The Canton quarterback tossed a screen pass to End Elijah Lipkins that gained three yards and he ran out of bounds to stop the clock with 34 seconds left to play. Rogers threw another pass that Joe Gleason knocked down and the clock showed 30 seconds to play and fourth down coming up.

In another desperation pass, Rogers tried to hit Killins again, but Slicker tipped the ball and Jacobs cutting over, caught it and brought it to midfield. It was all over for McKinley for only 15 seconds were left, and James following out the orders of Coach Mather took the pass from center, held it and kept backing up until the gun sounded, ending the game.
* * *
WHEN THE FIRING was over, the Tigers, much to the surprise of fans, were the stronger team. Canton, heavier and deeper in reserve strength was expected to wear down the Tiger Massillon team, but the Bulldogs were getting up slower than the local boys after fourth period scrimmages, with one or two being injured on almost every play.

None was seriously hurt, however. In fact, Jim Reichenbach, Tiger guard, possibly received the hardest blow of anyone, a rap on the head early in the game. He did not regain his senses until near the end of the contest, sitting out the greater part of the last three periods on the bench and in the locker room.
* * *
WHIILE the Bulldogs only got by the 35-yard line once during the game, the Tigers were playing in Canton territory much of the time. They crossed the midfield stripe twice in the first quarter but didn’t get far. Early in the second quarter, however, they marched to the 19 where Jacobs missed getting a first down by inches and Canton took over.

At this point the Bulldogs launched their only prolonged drive of the day, as they reeled off four first downs in a row before Mariano shook himself loose for the 18-yard jaunt that left only Crable between him and the goal line. His fumble of the ball when tackled viciously by Ace, ended the threat and before the quarter was over the Tigers had again carried the ball over the 50 and were down to the 25-yard line on a first down when a desperation pass with 32 seconds left was intercepted by Don Killins in the end zone.
* * *
THE MASSILLON gridders took the kickoff at the start of the second half and starting from their 25, whereas Jacobs almost got away, marched to the Canton 25 where Crable lost the ball on a fumble with what appeared to be a clear field ahead of him. Petroff covered for Canton.

Jim Schumacher covered a Bulldog fumble on his own 46 that set off the Tigers’ touchdown drive. Johnson toured left end for seven yards and Jacobs made it a first down around right end on the Canton 42. Jacobs went for three and Johnson raced well for a first down only to have the ball called back and the Tigers penalized five for offside. Johnson and Jacobs gained nine yards and with the ball on the 35 and fourth down coming up with three to go, Crable broke through for the touchdown.

The Tigers got into Bulldog territory once in the fourth quarter but were stopped on a
15-yard penalty holding and forced to punt.

But while the Tiger offense was reeling off a net gain of 279 yards the teams’ defense was surprising everyone by holding the Bulldogs in check and limiting them to the net sum of 166 yards, fewer than most of the locals’ opponents registered during the season.

Coach Mather and staff devoted considerable time to their land and air defenses and both proved successful. A big hunk of credit should be given to the three line backers, Dick Shine, Ray Lane and Joe Gleason, who worked behind the forward wall composed mostly of Don Studer, Jerry Krisher, Jim Reichenbach, Jim Schumacher and Clarence Johnson. When Reichenbach was injured in the first half of the contest, Leland Stanford replaced him.

Slicker, teaming in the secondary with Crable and Jacobs, did a good job on pass protection, with the latter two each intercepting a Canton pass to take the ball away from the Bulldogs.
* * *
MATHER USED only a few substitutes. Aside from his usual exchange on defense, Mike Turkal and Glenn Tunning got a shot at defense, and little Gene Laps took over for the injured Reichenbach and did a whale of a job bumping the heavier Bulldogs out of the way.

The locals came up with several new plays, including a flake kick and a delayed trap with Crable carrying the ball, and a pass by Johnson off a reverse, all of which worked for sizeable gains. They only attempted six passes, completed three and had two intercepted.

As shown by the statistics they beat the Bulldogs at almost every turn, making 14 first downs to eight, out gaining them both on the land and in the air, and had a slightly better average for punting, 34 yards to 32 yards, for their two punts. The Bulldogs punted six times.

They held Canton’s two offensive starts, Mariano, and Sam Parks, well in check. Mariano got away to a couple of 18-yard runs but his average for the day was 5.7 while that of Parks was only 2.3.

Leading ground gainer, of course was Crable who averaged 8.5 yards per try and made one beautiful 32-yard return of a punt in which he reversed his field to outrun every Cantonian save Rogers who made the tackle. Crable carried the ball 16 times, while Jacobs had it 19 times and averaged 4.2 yards per try. His best run came on a 34-yard jaunt, the first time he carried the ball. Johnson had a five-yard average for the five times he carried the ball. It would have been much better, except that twice he had good gains called back because of offside penalties. James carried the ball on a quarterback play, the first time it was tried this season, and gained five yards. He also took it on the last play of the game, to finish with an average of two yards.

The start of the game was delayed for several minutes when Coach Mather got into an argument with officials over the coin toss. The officials grabbed off Massillon co-captains and held the toss without Mather’s knowledge. Canton won the toss and chose to receive. The Tiger co-captains forgetting about the high wind, chose to defend the west goal because they considered the east goal their lucky goal line. As a result the Bulldogs had all the advantage at the start, receiving with Massillon kicking into the wind. Krisher saved the day by getting off a booming kick and Mariano helped out by fumbling the ball long enough to enable the Massillon backs to get down and nail him to the turf without a return.

As it turned out, it was all right for the Tigers had the wind to their backs at the end of the game. But Mather still argued the officials were wrong for holding the coin toss without saying anything about it to him or without asking him who was his captain. He naturally would have advised his captains to defend the east goal and kick with the wind.
* * *
THE TIGER victory spoiled another possible undefeated record for McKinley’s coach Bup Rearick but with nine victories and a loss he still has possibly the best record of any high school coach in the state over his period of coaching years.

Bup has only lost one game a year since taking the gridiron helm at McKinley.

Canton missed a possible undefeated season by one tackle and that of Irvin Crable and yet on the same last man tackle basis, the Tigers could just as well have won by three or four touchdowns – considering the number of times local ball carriers were felled by the last Bulldog between the runner and the goal line.

Massillon Tigers proclaimed this year’s Canton team as the toughest aggregation they faced all season. “No doubt about it,” local players commented in the dressing room after the game. The thought Parks and Mariano to be hard runners and were particularly complimentary to the hard play of Henry Palombo, Ernest Ghezzi and Tom Weber, Canton linemen.

Our Champs

MASSILLON
ENDS – SLICKER, GLEANSON, Studer.
TACKLES – KRISHER, SCHUMACHER, Tunning, Stanford.
GUARDS – SHINE, REICHENBACH, Laps.
CENTERS – PATT, Turkal, Vliet.
QUARTERBACK – JAMES.
HALFBACKS – JACOBS, JOHNSON, Lane, Grier.
FULLBACK – CRABLE.

McKINLEY
ENDS –KILLINS, LIPKINS, Mozzacco.
TACKLES –GHEZZI, WEBER.
GUARDS – PALOMBO, JIM KOSTAS, John Kostas, Gelal, Wildes.
CENTER – PETROFF.
QUARTERBACKS – ROGERS.
HALFBACKS – PARKS, MARIANO, Popoff.
FULLBACKS – STOSIC.

Score by periods:
Massillon 0 0 6 0 6

Touchdown:
Massillon – Crable.

Referee – Brubaker.
Umpire – Russ.
Field Judge – Lindsay.
Head Linesman – McPhee.

Statistics Of The Game
Mass. McK
First downs 14 8
Passes attempted 6 10
Passes completed 3 4
Had passes intercepted 2 2
Yards gained passing 49 45
Yards gained rushing 274 150
Total yards gained 323 195
Yards lost passing 7 0
Yards lost rushing 28 29
Yards lost punting 9 0
Total yards lost 44 29
Net gain offense 279 166
Times punted 2 6
Average punt (yards) 34 32
Yards punts returned by 49 21
Times kicked off 2 1
Average kickoff 43 57
Yards kickoffs returned by 22 1
Fumbles 4 2
Lost ball on fumbles 2 2
Times penalized 4 5
Yards penalized 30 33

History

1948: Massillon 21, Canton McKinley 12

November 20, 1948June 28, 2017
by Eric Smith

Tigers Beat Bulldogs 21-12 To Win State Championship
Massillon Gridders Outclass Heavy Canton Eleven All The Way

By LUTHER EMERY

The old adage “ox cannot lick tiger” was proved conclusively again Saturday afternoon in Tiger stadium before a crowd of 22,000 spectators as the Washington high school Tigers defeated the Canton McKinley Bulldogs 21-12 to win the mythical Ohio high school football championship. Today still found Massillonians and students celebrating the fruits of victory.

Hats off to Chuck Mather and staff and their Tiger football players! Battling against tremendous odds in weight they out generaled and out charged the McKinley Bulldogs as they sped to their ninth victory in 10 games, their first victory over Canton since 1943 and their first state championship since that same year.

Rolling to touchdowns in three of the four periods, and narrowly missing a couple of others, the Tigers demonstrated to the spectators their right to claim the state title as they handed the vaunted McKinley team its first loss of the season. The Bulldogs were ranked No. 1 in the Ohio scholastic football poll last week and Massillon No. 2. The order should be reversed this week.

It was asking a lot and it took hearts on the part of the Tiger players to overcome the 15-pound per man weight advantage of the Canton team, but the Massillon gridders played courageous football and dented the anatomies of the Bulldogs as they beat the Cantonians to the charge.

Just for example, little Bill Morrow a 153 pounder was pitted against 200 pound John Kostas and moved him around at will most of the afternoon. And there was Pat Ebbert , 155 pounds, getting a head start on every defensive play, smashing through the center of the Bulldog line from his line-backing position to stack-up McKinley ball carriers.

Booster Club
Rally Tonight

Bob Willison, president of the Tiger Booster club, has called a meeting of all Booster club members for 8 o’clock tonight in the Washington high school auditorium to celebrate the Tigers 21-12 defeat of the McKinley Bulldogs Saturday and the winning of their first state championship since 1943.

Coach Chuck Mather will be present at the meeting and will show motion pictures of the game.

In fact, a couple of pinch-hitters, Ebbert and Irvin Crable were most important cogs in the Tiger victory. Pat went in to fill limping Jack McVey’s shoes on defense and Crable replaced the injured Clarence Johnson at right halfback and roared to all three of the Tigers’ touchdowns.
* * *
BUT YOU couldn’t pick any two guys out of Saturday’s game and say they carved the bacon. Give credit to the whole team, and to Capt. Al Brown, who played his heart out in what was the greatest game of his three years of football, and who fell hysterical on the sidelines when removed in the last minute of the contest. Al and the other seniors wanted to have a victory over Canton McKinley written in the records of their high school athletic careers and they gave their all to accomplish it in their last chance Saturday. That goes for Mike Takacs, Bill Paul, Ben Roderick, Joe Jones, McVey, Jack Houston, Jack Hill, Art James, Eddie Bush, Jim Campbell, Chuck Crone and other seniors who didn’t get into the contest, but who wound up their high school football careers with the defeat of Canton and the winning of a state championship.

No wonder hysteria broke loose in the Tiger dressing room after the game. It began when substitutes at the crack of the final gun streamed from the bench to the playing field to embrace other members of the squad and join them in hoisting Coach Mather to their shoulders and carry him to the dressing room. You could hardly get into the room as fans streamed in – proud fathers to congratulate their sons; Boosters with broad smiles and hoarse voices; old alumni, including many former Tiger players now in college; as well as former Massillon men who are coaching in other cities and who arrange their schedules so that they can be home for the annual Canton-Massillon classic. Signs reading “state champs”, printed in advance, were hoisted immediately in the dressing room to resounding cheers.

It was an outpouring of spontaneous enthusiasm such as this city hasn’t seen in a long time and a deserving recognition to a great team.
The classy Tiger gridders were into the game up to their necks every minute, but as it turned out, they had the victory all the way. They controlled the ball, rolled up more yards, made more first downs, scored more points, gave Canton McKinley but two scoring opportunities both of which the Bulldogs cashed in on, and they were hammering at the red and black’s goal line all afternoon, narrowly missing two other touchdowns, one by a step and the other by a trip.

As Dave Stewart, who himself coached Washington high to a state championship in 1922, said after the game, “That’s one of the finest Massillon teams it has been my privilege to see.” Dave came over from Sharon, Pa., for the contest.
* * *
MOST OF all the victory was a tribute to the coaching of Chuck Mather and his assistants, Paul Schofer, Carl Schroeder, Lauri Wartiainen, and Dave Putts, who have scouted McKinley every game, who figured out the Bulldog’s weaknesses and how to take advantage of them both on offense and defense.

They met Canton’s vaunted power with a four-man line which looked like a five-man line with Ebbert as a crashing line backer, who got a head start on most every play.

They went through the Bulldog defense through the execution of reverses and trap plays that drew the red and black out of position and permitted ball carriers to get into the secondary time and again.
* * *
THE TIGERS won without the ball carrying services of Clarence Johnson, their leading ground gainer of the season who has averaged almost three more yards per try than McKinley’s John Colceri, who likewise was unable to lug the leather because of injuries. Johnson got in only to kickoff a couple of times and boot the Tigers’ three points from placement.

McKinley undoubtedly would have had more offense with Colceri in the backfield, but whether he would have made any difference in the outcome of the game is a subject for folks to debate the next 12 months of the year.

The breaks of the game were fairly even. The Tigers recovered two McKinley fumbles and intercepted on pass, but the Bulldogs got the biggest break of all when Ben Roderick after leaping high in the air to snare a pass, came down with a foot out of the end zone that cost the Tigers a fourth touchdown.

The local gridders lost what might have been a couple of others when in the second quarter with the ball on the 13-yard line, Crable tripped over Jack Hill’s foot on a statue play and fell with an open field ahead of him on his left flank. Again in the third period he picked up a bounce fumble of his own and ran 25 yards to the McKinley 17 where he was ticked on the leg by a Canton tackler that threw him just enough off balance to cause him to stumble and fall. No one was between him and the goal posts.
* * *
THOUGH STATISTICS were 18 first downs to 11 in the Tigers’ favor and yards gained 317 to the Bulldogs’ 185, the outcome was hanging in the balance until the Tigers’ scored their third touchdown with only one minute and 36 seconds left to play.

The air was tense when the Bulldogs struck back after each Massillon touchdown to match the Tiger’s goal line efforts, and Massillon fans grew uneasy while Canton partisans’ hopes were buoyed as Quarterback John Rogers pitched a fourth-down touchdown pass to End Elijah Lipkins to bring the score to 14-12.

Coach Mather sent in his offensive substitutes but before doing so wrapped a big arm around Capt. Brown. “Al, you gotta hold that ball. Anytime Canton gets it we might lose this game. You gotta go all the way, Al, all the way.”

Here the Tigers demonstrated their greatest courage of the game. Against a suddenly inspired McKinley team they took the kickoff on their own 20 and methodically pounded all the way to their third touchdown. They used up six minutes and 47 seconds in the drive, and crossed the Bulldog goal with only a minute and 36 seconds remaining to be played.

That last touchdown drive was a clear cut demonstration of the championship caliber and determination of the Massillon team.

There were those at the half who thought Bulldog power and weight would surely be a deciding factor before the end of the contest, but in the Tigers final march to points, they actually beat the Cantonians down to their size and appeared the stronger team at the final gun.
* * *
DESPITE the hard play of members of both teams, none was seriously injured. Members of the local eleven came out of the contest in as good a condition as they entered it.

Dick Jacobs took as hard a beating as anyone, and several times was the victim of a pileup that knocked the wind out of him.

Both teams were strictly offensive minded all afternoon and as a result each punted only once. The Bulldogs in their desperation to catch the Tigers were thrown back once on fourth down when they failed to make yardage on the Tiger 39. But on another occasion while back in their own territory and 11 yards needed for a first down, they caught the Tigers napping and fired a long pass that started them on the way to their second touchdown.
* * *
THE TIGERS appeared tense when the game got underway. They won the toss and elected to receive, but the Canton kickoff bounced around through the Massillon team and Capt. Brown fumbled on his first attempt to pick up the ball. When he finally did get it, Canton tacklers were upon him and he was downed by Mariano on the two-yard line.

Massillon folks breathed heavily, but Al on second down got out to his 13 for a first down which at least gave Jacobs some room to punt when the Tigers gained only seven yards. Dick, booting against the wind, got the ball to his 39-yard line where it rolled dead.

Then the Tigers got a break that made up for Al’s fumble of the kickoff. Mariano, on first down fumbled and old reliable Mike Takacs pounced on the ball for the Tigers.

The Tigers launched their first touchdown march. After Brown got but two yards at right end, Hill dropped back and shot a long pass that Ben Roderick took to the Canton 38. Jacobs came right back to circle his right end for another 13 yards and a first down on the Canton 25, McKinley took time out but it did no good, for on the next play Jacobs again wormed through for a first down on the Bulldog 12. Crable got four, but Brown failed to gain. Then the Tigers came up with their double reverse that has thrown other opponents out of position this season. It worked perfectly and Crable, led by a wave of blockers, cut to his left and raced down the sideline for six points. Johnson went into to blast over the extra point.
* * *
THE BULLDOGS took the kickoff and came roaring back for six points themselves. With Mariano and Tony Ranalli doing most of the leather lugging, they started from their 33 and 12 plays later were on the one foot line as the quarter ended.

Came the second period and on the first play, Rogers bucked the ball through center for six points. Ernie Ghezzi tried to kick the extra point but missed and the Tigers led 7-6.

The Massillon gridders took the kickoff and struck back into Bulldog territory. Starting from the 34, Jacobs went for 10 yards and a first on his 44. When two plays gained but a yard, Hill pitched the ball to Jacobs for a first down on the McKinley 44. Brown went through on the next play for another first on the 32 and Jacobs on a trap went on to the 20. Hill lost four yards when a play backfired, but Jacobs went to the 13. With third down coming up and three yards to go, the stage was set perfectly for a statue play. The entire Bulldog team was sucked out of position, but in the handoff, Crable tripped over Hill’s foot and fell for a seven-yard loss. Not discouraged Hill shot a pass to Roderick in the end zone on fourth down that Ben took in a leaping catch, but when he came down his foot was out of the end zone and the Tigers had lost a touchdown.
* * *
McKINLEY took over on the 20 and got by the midfield stripe before Crable intercepted Rogers pass on his own 31. Three plays later the Tigers had a first down on their own 45 and when two plays only gained five yards, Brown passed to Eddie Bush for a first down on the Canton 22. The Tigers thought a double reverse might fool McKinley more than a forward pass in the final seconds but Crable was caught as the half ended.

McKinley received to open the third period, Mariano making a great return of the kickoff and almost getting away to take the ball to the Tiger 48. Three plays gained seven yards and the Bulldogs tried to run the ball on fourth down. The Tigers were equal to the occasion, however and Ranalli was thrown before he could make the necessary yardage.

Taking the ball on their own 39, Crable went for eight yards and Brown made it first down on the Canton 43. Crable dribbled the ball but picked it up and got to the Canton 17 where the safety man barely ticked his foot enough to throw him off balance and he fell with an open field ahead. The Bulldogs threw the Tigers back two yards on the next four plays and took over on the 19. The locals held and forced Mariano to punt. Jacobs caught the ball on the run and made a fine 22-yard return to the Canton 23-yard line. Roderick was stopped without gain, but Crable was turned loose for a touchdown and Johnson kicked the extra point to make the score 14-6.

Canton took the kickoff and assisted by a 15-yard penalty and a 10-yard run by Mariano got to its own 42 where Rogers’ fumble was recovered by the Tigers. On fourth down, Brown got loose for a first down on the Canton 21, but the Tiger attack was stopped again by the Bulldogs who took over on their 24 and began a touchdown drive of their own. They got up to their 44, where they were stopped cold for three downs. Behind by eight points, they gambled on fourth down with 11 yards to go and won. Rogers shot a long pass to Louis Scrimo who got to the Tiger 29. Mariano immediately got loose to the six-yard line and the Tigers put eight men on the line of scrimmage. The Bulldogs failed twice on line plays and a pass was batted down. On fourth down, however, Rogers tossed quickly over the line of scrimmage to Lipkins for the red and black’s second touchdown. Ghezzi again failed to kick the extra point and the Tigers led 14-12.
* * *
EIGHT MINUTES and 23 seconds of the game remained to be played when Mariano kicked off to Massillon. Brown brought the ball back to his 20 and the Tigers began their determined and deliberate 80-yard touchdown march. Crable went for six yards and Jacobs moved for 18 to a first down on his 44. Crable made two and Brown bulled his way to a first on the Bulldog 43. Jacobs got eight yards at center and then piled through for three more and a first on the Canton 32. Crable made eight at left tackle and t hen was freed through center for a first on the McKinley 19. Hill, Crable and Brown carried to another first down on the nine-yard line.

The Massillon captain struck for five more to put the ball on the four-yard line and hit again only to have the ball called back and the Tigers penalized five yards and back to their nine for being offside.

That didn’t stop Brown. Mather had said, “all the way” and that’s the way it was going to be. He smashed through for four yards and on the next play Crable ran his right end for the final touchdown of the game.

Johnson missed his first try for the extra point but Canton was offside so he booted it over in a second attempt to bring the final score to 21-12 with a minute and 36 seconds remaining to be played.

Krisher kicked off to Canton’s Sam Parks who came back to his 31. Rogers tossed to Scrimo for a first down on the 50, but another attempt was grounded and he was hit hard by a flock of Tiger tacklers for a 13-yard loss when he tried another pass. He tossed one to Scrimo on his 42 as the last seconds of the game expired.

State Champs

MASSILLON
ENDS – RODERICK, HOUSTON, Slicker.
TACKLES – KRISHER, TAKACS, Jones, Schumacher, A. James, Campbell.
GUARDS – MORROW, REICHENBACK, Paul, Ebbert.
CENTER – McVEY.
QUARTERBACKS – HILL, D. James.
HALFBACKS – JACOBS, CRABLE, Johnson, Bush, Crone.
FULLBACKS – BROWN, Shine.

McKINLEY
ENDS – WEBER, LIPKINS, Mozaco.
TACKLES – GHEZZI, O’BROVAC, McCullough, Scrimo, Ripper.
GUARDS – JOHNS and JIM KOSTAS, Byers.
CENTER – PUCCI.
QUARTERBACKS – ROGERS, Prandine.
HALFBACKS – RANALLI, MARIANO, Parks.
FULLBACKS – STOSIC, Palombo.

Score by periods:
Massillon 7 0 7 7 21
McKinley 0 6 0 6 12

Touchdowns:
Massillon – Crable 3.
McKinley – Rogers; Lipkins.

Points after touchdown:
Massillon – Johnson 3 (placekicks).

Referee – Titus Lobach.
Umpire – C.W. rupp.
Head Linesman – Verlin Jenkins.
Field Judge – Ralph Shafer.

Statistics Of The Game
Mass. Canton
First downs 18 11
Passes attempted 6 6
Passes completed 3 3
Had passes intercepted 0 1
Yards gained passing 59 52
Yards gained rushing 285 164
Total yards gained 344 216
Yards lost 37 31
Net yards gained 317 185
Times punted 1 1
Average punt (yards) 20 32
Times kicked off 4 3
Average kickoff (yards) 47 51
Yards punts returned by 22 0
Yards kickoffs returned by 39 70
Times fumbled 1 2
Lost ball on fumble 0 2
Times penalized 3 1
Yards penalized 25 2

INDIVIDUAL
MASSILLON
Carried Gained Lost Net
Brown 22 105 1 104
Jacobs 11 90 10 80
Crable 17 112 10 102
Hill 3 3 5 -2
Roderick 2 1 0 1
_____ _____ _____ _____
TOTALS 55 311 26 285

CANTON
Mariano 16 93 1 92
Ranalli 11 46 0 46
Rogers 5 11 0 11
Stosic 4 18 3 15
____ _____ ____ ____
TOTALS 36 168 5 164

History

1947: Massillon 0, Canton McKinley 14

November 22, 1947June 27, 2017
by Eric Smith

Canton McKinley Too Strong For Tigers, Wins 14-0
Massillon Gridders Go Down Fighting Before Heavier Bulldog Eleven

By LUTHER EMERY

The Washington high Tigers were putting their grid togs in moth balls today after having sustained their fourth defeat of the 1947 campaign in the season’s finale with Canton McKinley Saturday afternoon before an overflow Fawcett stadium crowd of more than 24,000.

The Bulldogs outmanned the Tigers to win 14-0 but the latter went down fighting after a series of disheartening breaks cut short their every offensive effort. It was the 25th triumph for McKinley in 52 games between the schools. Massillon has won 22 and five ended in tie scores.

The Tiger defeat wrote new modern history for a Massillon football team. It was the first time since 193 that a team had lost four games in a season; it was the first time the Bulldogs had ever succeeded in beating the locals in five games played at Fawcett stadium, and it was the first time a Tiger team had failed to score at least one touchdown in 20 games.

Yet the Massillon gridders gave a better account of themselves Saturday afternoon than most Tiger fans had expected. Out weighed both on the line and in the backfield, they forced the Bulldogs to fight for every yard, gave ground stubbornly, and never gave up until the final gun ended hostilities.

McKinley was distinctly the better team and nobody will try to take any glory away from the red and black for the triumph. It only made one more first down than the Tigers, which were nine to eight, but the net yardage was 243 for Canton to 103 for the local team.
* * *
THE BULLDOGS scored twice, the first time in the closing minutes of the first period when John Colceri scampered around right end for the last four yards and the second when Slippery Ray Hamilton eluded a Tiger substitute and raced 15 yards over the locals’ goal in the opening minutes of the fourth period.

The Bulldogs were stymied on three other occasions inside the 20-yard line while the Tigers made but one serious bid, that coming in the second period when Clarence Johnson fumbled and lost the ball on the Canton five-yard line.

The Tigers pinned their offensive hopes on the forward pass, but Coach “Bup” Rearick had anticipated the Massillon bombing attack and had drilled his team all week in aerial defense. As a result McKinley intercepted more passes than the Tigers completed, the interceptions halting the locals’ offense on no fewer than seven occasions.

Even so, the Tigers passing attack was a constant threat, and better thrown passes on two occasions would have scored Massillon touchdowns for the receivers were in the open.

However, McKinley likewise had an opportunity to score two touchdowns via the same route but muffed the opportunities when the receivers dropped the ball.
* * *
IN DEFEAT, the Tigers produced two outstanding players Saturday in Co-Captains Earl Johnson and Morrie Eberhardt. Their performances were an inspiration to fans in the stands, both friend and foe alike. It was Eberhard’s best game of his scholastic career which ended with the expiration of the fourth quarter. It was also the last for Earl Johnson, Ronald Willaims, Paul Olenick, Julius Wittmann, John Badarnza, Gene Schludecker, Bill Edie, and Eddie Farrie. The other 25 members of the squad will be back again next fall.

The Tigers who had predicted their offense on an open brand of football found a slippery field awaiting them when they arrived in Canton despite efforts to protect the gridiron with a tarpaulin. Pools of water flooded portions of the field which for the most part was greasy.

The team emerged from the game without serious injury, Williams getting a cut on the forehead and Ben Roderick a charley horse. The same could not be said for the Bulldogs, whose center, Ed Pucci was the victim of an unfortunate accident in the second quarter which resulted in a fracture of the left leg. He was carried from the field. The accident occurred during a scramble for a Massillon fumble which McKinley covered on its
five-yard line to end Massillon’s only serious scoring threat.

The game as a whole was cleanly played.

Bulldog luck prevailed from the start when the red and black won the toss and elected to receive. Clarence Johnson kicked off and Hamilton returned form his 13 to the 30 where he was tackled by Earl Johnson. When three downs netted only six yards, Hamilton kicked to Dick Jacobs who was tackled without return on his 38.
* * *
TWO INCOMPLETE passes and a three-yard running play forced Jacobs to punt on fourth down to the Canton 15-yard line. The Bulldogs charged back to score their first, first down of the game on a 16-yard run by Hamilton, but the Tigers braced and held on the next series forcing Hamilton to punt. He kicked to the 17-yard line where the ball rolled dead, and Jacobs returned the kick when three plays netted nothing. Hamilton catching the ball on the Tiger 45 and returning to the 35. The Bulldogs launched their first touchdown drive from this point. Eli Popa hit for a yard and Rogers flipped a pass over the center to Nick Stevenson who got to the 17. Hamilton picked up three and Wetzel in two drives reached the six-yard line. Wetzel and Hamilton had only made a yard each when Colceri entered the game as a substitute. On the first play he was tossed a lateral and he went around right end standing up. Hamilton carried over for the extra point and the score was in McKinley’s favor

Jacobs brought the kickoff back to the 32 and made a brilliant catch of Hill’s pass for a first down on the Bulldogs 39-yard line just as the first period ended.

Johnson fired a long pass that had a bit too much arch and was too slow reaching Jacobs who was 10 yards behind any Canton player. The Bulldog secondary, however had time to get to the ball and bat it down just as it was about to nestle into Dick’s hands. On the next play, Popa intercepted Hill’s pass on the 18 and McKinley moved the ball to his 44 where Eberhardt broke through to smear Rogers on a handoff and covered the fumble on the Bulldog 39. Hill tossed to Earl Johnson for a first down on the 10-yard line. A second pass was incomplete. Clarence Johnson bored through to the five-yard line where he fumbled when tackled and Hamilton covered for McKinley. Pucci fractured his left leg on this play. Having gained but six yards in three downs Hamilton kicked to Jacobs who came back to the Canton 42 on a six-yard return. The Tigers were thrown back a yard in three tries and Jacobs kicked out on the Bulldog 25.

The Bulldogs got back to the 45 where Hamilton was forced to punt, the ball going out on the Tiger seven. The Tigers rushed back to their 33, but a pass over the line was intercepted by Nick Stevenson who got back to the 28. The Bulldogs had time left in the half to toss but one pass and it was grounded, so the half ended with Canton leading 7-0.
* * *
THE TIGERS were penalized 15 yards on the second half kickoff to their own seven-yard line. Hill attempting to pass on second down was bottled up and ran with the ball to a first on his 26. Wetzel intercepted Hill’s pass on second down and got back to the Massillon 14, but the Tigers braced and took the ball on the nine where the Bulldogs’ fourth down pass was dropped by Nick O’Brovac for what might have been a touchdown.

Their offense stopped again by McKinley, the Tigers punted to the 33 and the Bulldogs got back to the 21 where the Tigers braced and held again. Here they executed their best play of the game when Hill tossed into the flat to Roderick and the latter pitched a lateral to Brown who raced down the sideline to the Canton 42. The last Bulldog tackler managed to tick Al enough to cause him to lose his balance and fall, otherwise he would have went the route. Clarence Johnson got loose on the next play and ran to the Canton 20 where he was caught from behind, but the threat ended when Stephenson intercepted Hill’s second down pass on the 16. The Tigers only yielded three yards on four downs and Hamilton punted to Brown who fumbled the ball, picked it up, but was thrown without a return, on his 34 as the third quarter ended.

Colceri intercepted Hill’s third down pass and got back to the Tiger 35. The Tigers were penalized five yards for too many times out and Hamilton went for a first down on the 15. On the next play, he circled his left end for a touchdown, and Colceri carried the ball over for the extra point.

On the first play after the kickoff which Johnson brought back to the 33, Hill passed to Earl Johnson who caught the ball along the sideline and nearly broke away before he was tackled from behind. He fumbled going down and McKinley covered on it own 48. A 15-yard clipping penalty set the Bulldogs back, but aided by a 47-yard dash by Hamilton they moved the ball to the Tiger 12 where the locals threw them back and took the ball on the 13.

A 15-yard penalty on McKinley for unnecessary roughness moved the ball forward for the Tigers but Popa took it away from them when he intercepted Hill’s pass on his 45. The Bulldogs got back to the Massillon 36 where Paul Olenick covered Hamilton’s fumble, but the Tigers were thrown backward trying to pass and Canton took over on fourth down on the 18-yard line. Once more the local team rose to the occasion and stopped the red and black on the 12 but the game ended three plays later with the interception of Clarence Johnson’s pass.

The Tigers’ record for the season shows six victories and four defeats. Other losses were administered by Cleveland Latin, Warren, and Barberton.

McKinley wound up the year with nine victories and a one point loss to Canton Lincoln, that beat the Bulldogs out of the state championship claim. As it is Canton Lincoln is Canton city champion, McKinley is Stark county champion and possible runner-up to Barberton for the state title.
Hopes Crushed
MASSILLON POS. McKINLEY
E. Johnson LE O’Brovac
Eberhardt LT Austin
Williams LG John Kostas
Olenick C Pucci
Houston RG Jim Koslaw
Wittmann RT Warren
Roderick RE Stevenson
Hill QB Rogers
Jacobs LH Wetzel
Brown RH Hamilton
C. Johnson FB Popa

Score by periods
McKinley 7 0 0 7 14

Substitutions: Massillon – Takacs, fb; Badarnza, qb; Resh, lh; McVay, c; Morrow, lg; Farris, rg; Studer, le; Schludecker, le.
McKinley – Colceri, lh; Byers, g-c; D. Weber, g; Ghezzi, g; Moreno, fb.

Touchdowns:
McKinley – Colceri; Hamilton.

Points after touchdown:
McKinley – Hamilton; Colceri (carried).

Referee – Lobach
Umpire – Brubaker.
Head Linesman – Jenkins.
Field Judge – Shafer.

History

1946: Massillon 6, Canton McKinley 6

November 23, 1946December 26, 2017
by Eric Smith

Tigers Battle Canton McKinley Bulldogs To 6-6 Tie
Local Gridders Knot Count With Only Five Minutes Left To Play

By LUTHER EMERY

A brilliant 71-yard return of a kickoff by Halfback Gene Zorger, and a mighty lunge over the center of the line by Quarterback Paul Cary, rammed a touchdown right down the throat of the Canton McKinley Bulldog Saturday afternoon to gain a 6-6 tie for the Washington high Tigers in the last five minutes of their 51st meeting.

The Canton Bulldog was still wagging his tail over a 78-yard touchdown dash by Ralph Pucci, great McKinley right halfback, when the Tigers struck back in sudden fury that repaid the Bulldogs for all they had meted out just two minutes earlier.

To the capacity crowd of 22,000 fans, Pucci’s touchdown had looked like the payoff to the terrific defensive struggled that had been waged by the lines of the two teams for three and one-half periods.

They gasped when Zorger grabbed the following kickoff on his 20-yard line and raced toward the Bulldog goal.

“Go, go, go!” Massillon fans were shouting as Zorger did a tight rope walk along the sideline, stiff-arming and side-stepping when he had room. His teammates were timing their blocks well and felling Bulldog players as they came in to make the tackle. At the
50-yard line it was Zorger all alone with two Bulldogs closing in from an angle. He leveled off and made a run for it but stepped out at the nine just as a Bulldog player lunged at him and eventually brought him down on the four.
* * *
CANTON FANS who a moment before were in ecstasy over what appeared certain victory in this half century of bitter and traditional rivalry were completely stunned, while Massillon fans were gulping in amazement.

But the ball still wasn’t over. It was nine yards short of the goal and a big, stubborn, strong McKinley line stood between the Tigers and the Promised Land. It had turned back Massillon’s best efforts all afternoon and this was the final test.

It was the final test for the Tiger linesmen too and they moved into their positions in grim determination. Cary handed the ball off to Alex Giloff, who rammed his way forward three yards. It was now on the six. Then he slipped it on a quick opener to Zorger who butted through to the two.

It was a case of power from now on. Cary selected the strongest play in the Tigers’ offensive repertoire, the smash off right tackle, and carried the ball himself. He virtually threw himself atop the pile of struggling lines. They went forward then backward. There was a roar from the Massillon side of the field, where fans thought he had gone over, but Referee Titus Lobach said no and the ball was placed on the turf with its nose almost touching the goal line. Cary elected to try it again. This time there was no doubt about it. The ball was passed. The lines came together with a rattle. The Tigers hit the harder, the Bulldog forward wall bent and Cary rode on top of it for a touchdown. That was it – 6-6.
* * *
THERE WERE anxious moments left as Cary attempted to kick the extra point from placement with Dan Byelene rushed in to hold the ball. He missed, half topping his kick, just as Pucci had missed two minutes earlier when he sent the ball spinning to the side of the uprights.

And there you have all the scoring in the ball game – all of it in the space of two minutes. What a fitting climax it was for one of the greatest games ever played in the 52 years of rivalry between high schools of the two cities, and what a splendid finish for the 15 senior members of the squad, 12 of whom participated in the melee, to tie a team that had entered the game a 13-point favorite to win.

It was likewise a tribute to the coach of “Bud” Houghton and staff who patched up a Massillon line which had been weak all season defensively, and made it strong.

On defense they moved Tom Brooks from guard to left end, where he played a whale of a game. They took Morrie Eberhardt from left end and inserted him at right tackle; Tony Uliveto was moved from left to right guard, and Gene Krisher from right tackle to left guard. And there you have the realignment of the defensive forward wall that thrice threw the Bulldogs back in the first half and kept them entirely away from their goal in the last two periods save for the one time when Pucci broke away around the right side for his long touchdown jaunt.

It was a personal triumph for Zorger and Cary. A year ago the former was a mediocre fullback. He came back this year as a right halfback to become a runner-up for scoring honors in the county, second only to Pucci. Cary rushed into the game when little Al Brown was knocked out one play after the opening kickoff of the second half and played more minutes of football than he did all season. You will remember he started the year as the Tigers’ first string quarterback, but an injured knee in the second game of the season with Canton Lincoln put him out of action to such an extent that he only carried the ball twice thereafter until Saturday. But he ran the team smoothly and had the necessary drive to ram over the Tigers’ one touchdown.
* * *
THAT HE DIDN’T make the extra point was no more of a disappointment to Tiger fans than was the kick that went wide of the uprights for Pucci. A 7-6 defeat would have been hard for either team to have swallowed, and if you want to be downright impartial about it, the performance was deserving of a tie.

Anyway you look at it, statistically or otherwise, the two elevens battled to a draw as represented by the score. Massillon fans like to think of their Tiger team as being in a little the better physical condition at the end than the Bulldogs. It appeared that the locals were, for they picked themselves off the ground quicker in the closing stages of the contest than did McKinley and yet the Bulldogs made three of their first downs and gained 66 yards after the Tiger score.

It was an even battle from the standpoint of clean play too, perhaps the cleanest in the history of the years of competition. Only three penalties were called, all five-yard violations for mechanical errors rather than for infractions of rules governing unclean play.

It was an even battle as far as ball carrying was concerned. The Bulldogs had more chances to score, but their chances with the exception of Pucci’s successful run, were the result of Tiger fumbles and misplays, and not out of their ability to carry the ball into Tiger territory. In fact only twice during the entire contest did the red and black succeed in moving the ball from their own territory across the 50-yard line and into Tiger land. Once was on Pucci’s long run. The other was on the last series of plays of the game when they intercepted a Massillon pass on their own 47 and executed a forward pass into Tiger territory that had no more than been completed when the gun cracked ending the contest.

The Bulldogs lost two of their scoring opportunities on fumbles and a third when the Tigers rose up and held them for downs.
* * *
THE TIGERS, who crossed the 50-yard line four times during the afternoon, likewise lost possible touchdown bids through fumbles and intercepted passes. They barely got over the mid-stripe twice in the first quarter when forced to punt. But at the start of the second half they carried from their own 35 to the Bulldog 22 where they lost on a fumble. Another mid-stripe effort came on Zorger’s fourth period kickoff return that led to Massillon’s touchdown. The locals got the ball in Canton territory on two other occasions in the second half, as a result of breaks, lost it once on an intercepted pass and forfeited it on downs on the 22-yard line, on the other occasion.

Many had expected a great offensive game Saturday. It turned out to be just the opposite – a defensive contest featuring two hard hitting lines.

The Tigers couldn’t find a hole in the Bulldog forward wall, and only once did the Massillon line crumble, and permit Pucci to break through. It was a great finish for Seniors Jim Young, Tom Brooks, Tony Uliveto, Gene Krisher ,Gene Yost, Substitute Dave Dowd and Junior Morrie Eberhardt, who comprised the defensive forward wall. Young had a particularly difficult assignment. Not only did he have to be on the lookout for ball carriers but he likewise had the job of jamming in McKinley’s fine end, Nick Stevenson to keep him from going out after passes. You didn’t see him catch any until the last play of the game, did you? And Stevenson has been about one-half of the Bulldog offense this year. In fact the Bulldogs only worked two passes all afternoon. Their other effort was a 22-yard loss to Sterling Winn in the fourth quarter.

Statistically the teams were even. Each made seven first downs. Canton out gained the Tigers’ from scrimmage for a net total of 243 yards to 142 yards, but this figure does not include Zorger’s long kickoff return and a second fine run from kickoff by Brown. Add returns of punts and kickoffs to the net yardage made from scrimmage by the two teams and you have them winding up with exactly the same total, 270 yards.

While a tie score is always an unsatisfactory way of settling a game which is played for the expressed purpose of determining which is the better team, it was in general received with enthusiasm by Tiger fans, whose team had been cast in the role of underdog for the contest. One only had to visit the dressing rooms of the two elevens to see which group was the more satisfied with the outcome. The Canton dressing quarters were quiet, but there was a hum of activity in the Massillon locker room as fathers of players and fans rushed in to congratulate the athletes on their performance.
* * *
THE LOCAL team was no entirely satisfied with the tie. It was out to win, and with such a determination that it caused many Massillon fans to pull out large handfuls of hair, when on fourth down, 45 seconds to go, and five yards needed for a first down, it elected to try a pass instead of play it safe and punt. The pass was intercepted by McKinley, which tried four plays before time ran out.

It was not the first time during the contest that the Tigers had gambled. They stuck their necks out in the second period when needing a yard to go on fourth down and still back on their own 31-yard line they elected to carry the ball. Brown tried it the hard way too, a sneak through center. There wasn’t anything sneaking about it though, but somehow or other he managed to worm and squirm for that one yard that made it first down.

Fans of both cities who do their second guessing with the word “if” had enough instances to talk about in this game to work up a good case of lock jaw.

“if we hadn’t blown two scoring opportunities on fumbles in the first half we might have won,” some Canton fans were saying.

“If it wasn’t for our own fumbles and misplays you wouldn’t have had those scoring opportunities,” Massillon fans countered.

“If a Massillon blocker would have seen the Canton safety man coming in from the side, Al Brown would have gone for a touchdown in the first period,” was another Tiger argument. Other local fans also saw Jack Zeller standing loose in the safety zone in the fourth quarter with no Canton player around him but the Massillon passer didn’t spot him and threw to a teammate who was well covered.
* * *
SOME CANTON fans also believe their team relaxed momentarily after Pucci’s touchdown run which made possible Zorger’s brilliant dash after kickoff.

Maybe the Bulldogs did, but whenever and wherever the game was discussed Saturday night and Sunday, by fair-minded folk, second guessers included, they usually wound up with the conclusion that it was a great contest, that the teams played on even terms and that the score was quite representative of their performance.

The Tigers finished the game in fairly good physical condition and without any serious injuries. Though he still didn’t know the score at the end of the game, Brown became rational in the locker room and was apparently O.K. when he left the stadium. Cary, removed in the last two minutes when he aggravated his injured knee, was able to dance around on it at the football frolic Saturday evening.

Houghton Will
Speak Tonight

Coach “Bud” Houghton will discuss the Canton game tonight at 8 o’clock at the Y.M.C.A’s open house program.
Houghton and his staff will be guests of the Y’s Men’s club at a dinner meeting prior to the open house. No Booster club meeting has been scheduled for tonight but Boosters and all Massillon football fans are invited to the free open house party.

Giloff’s nose got in his way as it has done most every game this season and was freshly pealed. Otherwise the squad was in fairly good shape.

Briefly replaying the game, it went like this. Capt. Merle Darrah won the toss and the Tigers elected to receive. They carried the ball just over the midfield stripe when they were forced to punt. They stopped Canton and got the ball again on a punt on the 33, losing some 18 yards on the exchange. Brown broke loose and ran to the 50. He had a blocker to take out the Canton safety man, the last player between him and the goal, but the blocker either did not see the Bulldog tackler or couldn’t get a good head on him. The ball was only moved three yards beyond the center of the field when the locals again punted to the Canton 28.
* * *
PUCCI made Canton’s first first down on a 15-yard run, but the Tigers braced thereafter and forced Canton to punt to the 20. Brown fumbled and Stevenson covered for McKinley on the Tiger 20. The locals turned back four Canton ball carrying attempts and took over the leather on their 15. An exchange of punts wound up with the Tigers having the ball on their 20. They moved to a first down but Pucci intercepted Brown’s pass and got all the way back to the Tiger 16. On the next play Bill Wetzel fumbled on the 13 and Brown was Johnny on the spot to cover the ball. The Tigers were tossed backward and the Bulldogs carried their punt back to the 23. Three plays only gained two yards and Tony Uliveto pounced on Pucci’s fumble to again end the threat. An exchange of punts wound up the first half activities.

McKinley elected to have the wind to its back to start the second half and accordingly kicked off to the Tigers. Brown almost got loose as he ran the kickoff back to his 35. He was knocked out on the next play in which Zorger advanced the ball 11 yards. Passes from Cary to Zeller and Eberhardt, the latter making a brilliant catch to take the ball out of the arms of two McKinley players, carried the pigskin to the Bulldog 22-yard line where Zorger fumbled and Sterling Winn covered for McKinley. Neither team threatened but McKinley started to roll late in the third quarter until Brooks stopped the forward movement by covering a fumble by Spera in a handoff to Ray Hamilton.

It didn’t gain the Tigers anything, however, and they had to punt. The Bulldogs got back to their own 44 on a pass from Spera to Winn, but Spera, trying to pass again, barely got the ball off his arm as he was tackled and Uliveto came up with the ball before it touched the ground. The Tigers moved down to the 28, where they lost the ball on downs. Zorger barely touching a pass on the 10-yard line on fourth down. Zeller at the time was loose in the end zone, but Cary didn’t spot him.

Canton took over and on the first play Pucci struck out through his left tackle for a 78-yard touchdown jaunt. Two or three Tigers got their hands on him, and Zeller tried to run him down but barely brushed his shirt as he dove at him on the 15-yard line. Pucci attempted to kick the extra point from placement but the ball was wide of the upright.

Canton kicked off to Massillon and Zorger caught the ball on his 20, headed straight up the field, and along the sideline to the four, where he was downed. It was ruled he had stepped out on the nine.

On fourth down, Cary went over for the Tigers’ six points.

Gene Schludecker, sent in to kickoff, boomed the ball out of the end zone twice. The Tigers were offside on the first kick and the ball was moved back five yards. Pucci touched it the second time as the ball bounded on the ground but it too rolled out of the end zone for an automatic touchback.

Neither team threatened any more.

Good Enough
Massillon Pos. Canton
Zeller LE Winn
Young LT J. Cobett
Uliveto LG W. Wetzel
Darrah C Bourquin
Brooks RG E. Cobett
Krisher RT O’Brovac
Eberhardt RE Stevenson
Brown QB Spera
Giloff LH Hamilton
Zorger RH Pucci
Yost FB W. Wetzel

Score by periods:
Massillon 0 0 0 6 6
McKinley 0 0 0 6 6

Substitutions: Massillon – Schludecker, re; Johnson, le; Cary, qb; Dowd, rt; Byelene, qb.
McKinley – Snyder, c; Houtz, g; Bourquin, qb.

Touchdowns:
Massillon – Cary.
McKinley – Pucci.

Referee – Lobach.
Umpire – Brubaker.
Head Linesman – Jenkins.
Field Judge – Shafer.

INDIVIDUAL BALL CARRYING
Times Yards Yards Av.
Massillon Carried Gained Lost
Brown 9 39 9 3.0
Giloff 10 15 2 1.3
Zorger 12 35 0 2.9
Yost 1 0 0 0.0
Cary 11 24 0 2.1
___ ___ ___ ___
Total 43 113 11 2.4

McKinley
Spera 5 13 0 2.6
Hamilton 9 21 0 2.3
Pucci 15 138 0 9.2
Wetzel 9 39 0 4.3
___ ___ ___ ___
Total 38 211 0 5.5

Statistics
Mass. Canton
First downs 7 7
Passes attempted 9 5
Passes completed 2 2
Had passes intercepted 3 1
Yards gained passing 29 32
Yards gained rushing 113 211
Total Yards gained 142 243
Yards lost 11 0
Net yards gained 131 243
Yards punts returned 34 27
Yards kickoffs returned 105 0
Net yards covered from
scrimmage and returns 270 270
Fumbles 4 5
Lost ball on fumbles 2 3
Penalties 1 2
Yards penalized 5 10
Times punted 6 6
Average punt (yards) 28 30
Times kicked off 1 3
Average kickoff (yards) 45 45

Thrilling Tie With Bulldogs
Closes Grid Season

By KEN HARTWICK

They refused to be beaten, and they weren’t beaten!

That, in brief, is the story of what happened at Tiger stadium Saturday afternoon in the 51st renewal of Ohio’s and perhaps the nations’ most intense and most widely-known scholastic gridiron rivalry.

Massillon’s Tigers were supposed to lose that game, but they refused to lose it – and they didn’t lose it.

Usually it is only in stories that an underdog team is able to escape defeat through sheer refusal to be defeated, but that happened in real life at Tiger stadium Saturday afternoon.

For a time the Tigers were beaten, but it was a very short time because, within two minutes after the Bulldogs scored their lone touchdown following more than 40 minutes of rugged but scoreless play, the Tigers fought back into a tie and the score was still tied when the game ended five minutes later.
* * *
IT TOOK, of course, more than just a refusal to accept defeat, but the Tigers had everything else that was needed. As a matter of fact, they were decidedly the better team throughout most of the game.

Their attack was more versatile, they were more willing to take chances, they appeared to have more stamina, they definitely had more confidence and they seemingly got stronger as the contest progressed.

Actually, if a couple of plays had gone just a little differently, the Tigers might easily have come out on top, but the Massillon fans, particularly those who had fearfully anticipated a decisive Tiger defeat, and present company is not excepted, were well satisfied with a tie.

The same thing can’t be said of the Canton fans. More confident of victory than at any other time in recent Massillon-Canton grid history, the McKinley followers reacted to the tie as through their team had suffered a defeat.

The tie was particularly crushing to those confident Canton fans who had given points in bets. It is very rarely that it is possible to get points from a McKinley follower in a bet on a Massillon-Canton game but this year a lot of Canton betters were more foolhardy than usual and gave as high as 13 points and took a financial drubbing as a result.

Certainly never again will it be possible to get points from a Canton better even if there ever should come a season in which the Bulldogs won all their games by large scores and the Tigers lost theirs which, of course, never will happen.

That not only the McKinley fans but also the McKinley players confidently expected to win was very evident to anyone who visited the Canton dressing room after the game.
* * *
THE GLOOM was so thick that it could have been cut with a knife as the Bulldogs took their showers and changed to civilian clothes in a silence that resembled that of a morgue.

Coach “Bup” Rearick said, “I’m satisfied,” when asked how he felt about the game, but the look on his face wasn’t that of a completely satisfied man.

The Tigers, particularly the seniors who have never had the satisfaction of beating a McKinley team, weren’t too happy over the outcome of the contest nor, on the other hand, were they as gloomy as their opponents.

The Massillon dressing room was filled with the usual after-the-game chatter as the Tigers took off their grid togs for the last time this season and on the whole the reaction of the players was good.
After all, hadn’t they just proved that thousands of Canton persons and, frankly, quite a few Massillon fans, can be wrong?
* * *
THE THING for which Saturday’s game will be remembered the longest will be the most thrilling two minutes in Massillon-Canton gridiron history.

Over a period of more than a half century the annual meetings of Tiger and McKinley football teams have provided a lot of thrills but none greater than those which came within the space of something like 120 seconds Saturday after noon.

The 41 minutes which proceeded that brief period and the five minutes that followed were to all intents and purposes merely the prologue and epilogue to the activity of the afternoon.

The guy who claimed that lightning never strikes twice in the same place was proved wrong with a vengeance in full view of the overflow of 22,000 persons who sat in on the happenings on the Tiger field.

Lightning did strike twice on that gridiron and it struck so rapidly that most of the fans were left stunned as a result.
* * *
IT WAS LIKE a bolt from the blue above when Ralph Pucci, undoubtedly the best McKinley player on the field on the first play attempted by the Bulldogs after a Tiger drive had been halted on the Canton 22-yard line, crashed through the Massillon forward wall and scampered 78 yards for a touchdown which sent the Canton crowd into a delirium of joy.

The cheering of the visitors didn’t abate when the Bulldogs’ try for extra point was unsuccessful, but it died to a whisper and was replaced by an even grater ovation from the other side of the field when Gene Zorger took the Canton kick on his own 20-yard line and all but got away from the entire McKinley team as he returned the ball to the Bulldogs’ nine-yard stripe before being pulled down.

The joy of the Massillon spectators knew no bounds when, on fourth down with the ball hardly more than two inches from the Canton line, Paul Cary crashed over for the touchdown which tied the score.

A total of only seven plays counting Canton’s attempt for the extra point produced all the scoring of the game and 99.9 per cent of the thrills.
* * *
THE HALF-TIME show given by the Tiger and McKinley bands ranked on a par with the game itself with both bands doing themselves proud in their final grid appearance of the season.

Undoubtedly the fact that neither team had scored in the first half made the show more enjoyable to all the spectators than would have been true if either club had enjoyed an advance at the recess.

Certainly the Tiger band’s “Study in Blues” seemed considerably better than when it was first presented at Youngstown a week earlier.

Maybe it was that the 24 senior members of the band were giving out just a little harder in their last football show that made the music a bit more jivey, the dancing a little more zippy and the entire show a great deal more enjoyable.

Certainly Majorette Mary Limbach and Obie put everything they had into their bit of jive which brought the show to a rousing finish, so much so, in fact, that Mary all but lost her hat at the end. Drum Major Warren Mathey contributed some fancy baton work. The drum soloist was Bill Drake and the cornet soloist was Andy Paul.

The Tiger band’s unannounced feature was, as though we didn’t know, a tribute to S. Earl Ackley who Saturday resigned as faculty manager of Tiger athletics after 17 years of service in that job.
* * *
IN PAYING tribute to S. Earl the band formed a large “A” as Bob Smith read over the P.A. system a brief eulogy to the retiring faculty manager. As the band sang “For He’s A Jolly Good Fellow,” Earl was presented with a fountain pen provided by the band in appreciation for his many services to the musical organization.

Expressing appreciation for the tribute, S. Earl told the crowd, “It has been a real privilege to be associated with Massillon athletics,” and expressed appreciation for the cooperation given to him.

Tribute also was paid to Jack Paramore who always will be remembered as one of the finest Obies in Tiger band history. His parents and brother presented him with a wrist watch.

The most noteworthy thing about the early part of the Tiger band show was the fact that Drum Major Mathey missed his baton when he tossed it over the goal post. It was his second miss of the season and gave him a season record of seven catches and two misses. He will be back next year to try to better that record.

The highlight of the show of the McKinley band was a routine in which the band went into formations resembling various musical instruments while the musicians who played those instruments moved to the front for a bit of fancy playing. Instruments featured included cornets, trombones and drums.
* * *
THE DAY OF the Massillon-Canton game traditionally is the day for flowers and, in keeping with tradition, majorettes of both bands were presented with bouquets, the Tiger majorettes getting orange chrysanthemums and the McKinley majorettes white mums.

The Massillon cheerleaders who kept the Tiger student section in an uproar all afternoon, presented the bouquets to the Tiger majorettes and in turn were given flowers by six girl students.

Director Orin “Dykae” Ford directed the show of the Tiger band despite the fact that he carried his right hand in a sling to protect a finger which was badly cut when struck by a piece of glass Thursday afternoon.

The band’s closing performance must have been a memorable one for “Dykae” because it brought to an end his first season as director of the Tiger swing band during which under his guidance the famed musical organization carried on in the same fine manner as during the preceding eight years when it was under the supervision of George Bird who created it.

“Dykae” incidentally, already is looking forward to next season and, in fact, already has written several of the shows which the band will do in 1947.
* * *
A PERMANENT record is to be made of all the shows done by the band this season. During its regular class sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday the band will make recordings of every show it did this year so that in future years it will be possible to hear just what the Tiger musicians did in 1946.

For some of the persons at the game the biggest laugh of the afternoon was provided by the reaction of some of the Canton fans to the statement made by Bob Smith, in his eulogy to Ackley, that the Massillon football program today is undoubtedly the outstanding scholastic grid setup in the nation.

The reaction of the Canton spectators indicated that they think that Canton’s setup is better which, to anyone who knows the facts, is a big joke. And we could furnish a lot of facts to prove it.
* * *
THE DAYS festivities got off to its usual colorful start as the Tiger and McKinley bands joined forces to play the national anthem as the flag was raised with R. Donald Stump, director of the Canton band, as conductor.

Immediately after the selection was played a sky bomb was exploded and from it floated a small American flag attached to a parachute.

It is doubtful if anyone had a bigger time at the game than Jack Paramore in his final appearance as Obie.

Among other things Obie served as guardian for a small scaffold in front of the Massillon student section from which hung a bulldog, and on one occasion he raced half way across the gridiron in pursuit of a Canton cheerleader who had attempted to remove the bulldog from its humiliating position.

Later Obie tore the bulldog to pieces after the McKinley team scored its touchdown.

The Tiger student section, incidentally, was particularly colorful as many of the students constantly waved orange and black crepe paper streamers.
* * *
AT A MASSILLON-McKinley game there are no impartial spectators, and that goes for person in the pres box. Usually sports writers try to act strictly impartial and not show any undue reactions to what happens on the field, but not when Massillon is playing McKinley.

On the day of the big game the press box workers are fans just like any of the other spectators and they react accordingly.

Saturday, for instance, the Canton sports writers and the others who wanted to see a McKinley victory had themselves quite a time when Pucci got away on his long touchdown run, but it was the Tiger followers among the newspapermen who got the last cheer, and cheer they did when Cary went over for the Massillon touchdown.

It also was the Tiger followers who appeared to be the most satisfied when the game was over and the post-mortems started.

The press box, incidentally, was well filled with writers representing many newspapers in this section of the state, but the number of newsmen was small in proportion to the number of photographers who were on the field during the game.
* * *
IT IS DOUBTFUL, if a Massillon-McKinley game ever attracted a larger battery of photographers. There were at least nine of them, that many being counted when they gathered in front of the coaches and captains of the two teams to take the traditional just-before-the-game pictures.

If one of the picture takers had taken a picture of the other picture takers taking pictures of the coaches and captains he would have come up with a much more interesting picture than the pictures that were taken by the picture takers. If you get what we mean.

Perhaps on a few occasions in the past there were more autos in and around Stadium park than on Saturday afternoon, but that is doubtful.

History

1945: Massillon 0, Canton McKinley 0

November 17, 1945June 20, 2017
by Eric Smith

Tigers And Bulldogs Battle To Scoreless Draw In Mud

Morningstar’s Warriors Hold Edge In Statistics, Twice Threaten To Score

By FRED J. BECKER

Last Friday was a swell day – lots of sunshine and a balmy temperature that made you want to be outdoors. Sunday was another fine day – bright sunshine and enough snap in the air to make it just right for a football game. But Saturday was a lousy day – positively lousy. And of course that had to be the day the Washington high school Tigers and the Canton McKinley Bulldogs got together at Fawcett stadium, Canton, to stage their annual football rumpus – the 50th meeting between the two schools since 1894.

And who won! Why the weatherman with his showers and overcast skies and the ankle deep mud that covered most of the Fawcett stadium gridiron. As far as the Tigers and the Bulldogs were concerned the weatherman’s soaking showers that turned the gridiron, shy of grass between the 25 yard lines, into a sea of mud and water put quite a check on their best offensive efforts with the result that neither team was able to score and this 50th meeting between Stark county’s traditional scholastic football enemies ended in a scoreless draw.
Five Victories and Five Ties
For the Tigers that 0 to 0 encounter with the Bulldogs gave them a unique record for the 1945 campaign – five victories against five ties – but it wrote into Massillon’s football history the chapter of another undefeated season for the orange and black. For the Bulldogs it was their second tie in 10 games with seven victories and a lone defeat at the hands of Warren Harding.

Despite the rain, which turned the gridiron into a mass of slippery mud and water this annual encounter between the Tigers and Bulldogs was fought with all the intense rivalry that has marked past battles and a capacity crowd of more than 22,000 partisan spectators braved a drizzling rain and murky atmosphere to be on hand for what has become one of the country’s outstanding schoolboy football games.
Typical Tiger – Bulldog Battle
Although the lads out their on the field, were put at a disadvantage by the elements and poor condition of the gridiron it did not keep them from battling their hearts out in true Massillon-Canton fashion. Soaking wet and covered from head to foot with a generous coating of mud after the first few plays the Tigers and Bulldogs battled it out in 48 minutes of intense warfare and then trudged off the field tired and dirty but with honors even as far as the score was concerned.

It was too bad the game could not have been played in good weather and on a firm, fast gridiron. A much different and much more spectacular encounter might have resulted for both the Tigers and Bulldogs were primed for Saturday’s melee and despite the handicaps they faced they still put on tap a performance that will rank with other Massillon-Canton McKinley football scraps for hard, determined fighting.

Faced with treacherous footing and a ball that was as slippery as an eel, neither team took many chances with tricky plays or forward passes. Straight football predominated throughout, both teams resorting to this type of warfare to guard against fumbles which would give their opponents a break and a scoring chance.

Although the game ended in a scoreless draw and supporters of the Tigers and Bulldogs must be content this year with a division of the spoils, there are still many who believe that on a hard, dry field the Tigers might have proved themselves superior to their old rivals. Even in the mud and water the Tigers impressed their followers by their hard driving offense and their stonewall defense which very effectively bottled up a much heavier and more powerful Canton McKinley outfit.

The game ended in a tie but the statistics once again favor the Tigers as they did in all their four other ties with the exception of that 6-6 encounter with Cleveland Cathedral Latin.
Statistics Favor Tigers
Statistics, however, do not win ball games but it is satisfying to know that the Tigers outplayed the Bulldogs last Saturday afternoon even though neither team scored.

In first downs the Tigers had a 10 to 7 advantage over the east enders.

In yards gained the Tigers also held a decided edge. Coach Augie Morningstar’s fighting youngsters had a gross yardage of 200 with a loss of 16 for a net of 184 while the Bulldogs had a gross of 143 with a loss of 20 for a net of 123.

Neither team took many chances with the forward pass. Massillon tried three and completed one for 12 yards. Canton completed one for four yards. Fumbles were at a minimum in despite the slippery going. The Tigers fumbled twice and both times lost the ball. McKinley also fumbled twice but recovered each time.

The Tigers dominated play in the first half and twice drove inside McKinley’s 15-yard line but each time the Bulldogs stiffened and checked the Massillon scoring threat. The Bulldogs held the upper hand throughout a large part of the second half but they made only one serious bid to score, that coming in the fourth quarter but the Tigers were equal to the occasion and took the ball away from the red and black on downs on the Massillon 19.
The Bulldogs might have become tough to handle in the third period when they completed a long forward pass that took the ball to the Tiger 20 but the play was called back and the gain wiped out because McKinley’s backfield was in motion.
16 Tigers See Action
Sixteen Tigers got a chance to soak up some of the mud and water that covered the gridiron while Canton McKinley made but two substitutions, Pete Spera at an end and Bob Jordan at a guard.

Alex Giloff started the game at right halfback for the Tigers but was hurt in the first period and replaced by Don McGuire. Steve Tomasevich and Tommy Brooks alternated at right guard. Jim Young went in at right tackle late in the game when Merle Darrah was hurt and Gene Krisher moved over to center. Jim Bishop replaced Captain Fred Bonk at right end with less than two minutes of play remaining. Dan Byelene was in the game a short time, replacing Webb for a few minutes.

Although the Bulldogs had two work horses in their backfield – Duane Fondren at left halfback and Ralph Pucci at fullback – who gave the Tigers plenty of trouble throughout the afternoon, the orange and black defense as a whole was magnificent throughout the entire game.

Fondren and Pucci ran and plunged their way for most of Canton’s yardage but they were slapped around plenty by the Tigers who gave another outstanding exhibition of brilliant defensive play and hard, accurate tackling.

Offensively the running of Bert Webb high lighted the Tigers’ bid to score. Although he had been in the hospital most of last week with a severe cold, Webb was by far the fastest man on the field Saturday and despite the sticky mud he ran the legs off the Bulldogs in addition to playing a stellar defensive game in the Massillon secondary. His speed several times enabled him to nail Canton ball toters who managed to smash their way through the line and seemed headed for plenty of yardage until Webb caught up with them and dumped them into the mud.

Sharing offensive honors with Webb were McGuire and Gene Zorger, both of whom hammered their way through the Canton line for many gains. Each of them broke loose for at least one long gain and they might have turned the tide of battle had they been on firmer footing.

The Tigers had plenty of fine blocking and interference for ball carriers Saturday with Virgil Edie doing a lot of fine blocking. Giloff also cut down his share of Cantonians while he was in the game.

The entire Tiger line from end to end played its usual stellar game. True the boys were so smeared with mud it was difficult to recognize them but this did not keep them from doing a good job of smearing the heavier and bigger Bulldogs.
Tiger Line Shines
Captain Fred Bonk, playing his last game for the Tigers, and Jack Zeller, starting his first game since he broke a toe three weeks ago, were in the ball game every minute, playing their usual steady and highly efficient game. Bernie Green, another senior, and Gene Krisher, sturdy junior, had a lot to do with stopping the bullet rushes of Pucci and Fondren while Tony Uliveto, a junior, played the entire game at left guard and turned in a fine afternoon’s work. Steve Tomasevich, a senior, and Tommy Brooks, a junior, handled the right guard berth in good shape and Merle Darrah, another junior, played his usual brilliant game at center until forced to the sideline late in the struggle with an injured leg.

Jim Young, a junior, who went to right tackle when Krisher took over Darrah’s duties at center, also got his share of tackles. In the backfield the game was the last for Webb, McGuire and Edie.

Fondren and Pucci were Canton’s outstanding ground gainers while Bill Messenheimer at left end, Bob Cobbet at left tackle and Clarence Snyder at right guard played fine defensive games.

With Saturday’s game a tie, the fourth played between the two old foes in 51 yards, the series stands at 24 victories for McKinley and 22 for Massillon. Saturday’s scoreless draw was the first played since 1926. Other ties occurred in 1913 when they battled to a 13-13 deadlock and in 1907 when the game also ended in a scoreless deadlock.

The Tigers made the first of their two bids to score early in the first quarter when after receiving the kickoff they reeled off four first downs in succession and drove to Canton’s 13 before being halted.

Zorger took Bob Lilly’s kickoff and raced it back to the Massillon 41. On a weak side reverse Webb picked up seven yards around left end before being run out on Massillon’s 48. Zorger then crashed through the line to Canton’s 48 for a first down. Webb came right back and skirted his right end for 11 and another first down. Meacham nailed Giloff without gain at left end but Zorger picked up three through the line and then Webb broke through left tackle and scampered to the Canton 27 for another first down. He picked up another two yards through the same spot and then Giloff reeled through left tackle and smashed to Canton’s 14 before being downed. This gave the Tigers their fourth first down in a row.
Bulldogs Held On 13
But here this Bulldog defense stiffened. Webb was thrown for a three-yard loss on another attempted weak side reverse and Giloff was stopped without gain but Zorger smashed through for give to get up to the 13 before being downed. With fourth down coming up and eight to go Webb was smeared for a five yard loss and the Bulldogs took over on their 17.

With Fondren and Pucci lugging the ball the Bulldogs smashed right up the field for a pair of first downs before the Tigers succeeded in checking them and Fondren punted.

The Tigers made little progress but Webb put the Bulldogs in a hole from which they never emerged during the remainder of the first half by getting off a quick kick for 56 yards to the McKinley nine yard line.

Fondren then gave the Bulldog fans something to cheer about when he clipped off a 20 yard gain before being nailed by Webb.

The Tigers braced and Fondren got off a poor punt that only went 13 yards before going out of bounds on the 50. Webb ripped off a five yard gain before the quarter ended and Zorger put the Tigers into scoring territory on the first play in the second quarter by streaking through right tackle and racing to the Canton 24 for a gain of 31 yards. It was a beautiful piece of footwork in the mud. McGuire and Webb picked up nine yards in three smashes but on the fourth down Webb was inches short of the required yardage and Canton once again stopped the Tiger scoring threat, taking over on its 14. Neither team threatened after that during the remainder of the quarter.

The Bulldogs, however, stirred things up in a hurry at the start of the third period. They received and drove into Massillon territory. Fondren then heaved a long pass which Meacham caught on the 20 where he was knocked out of bounds. McKinley rooters cheered lustily but their cheers died quickly when the officials called the ball back and slapped a five-yard penalty on the red and black for backs in motion. This forced the Bulldogs to punt.

A short time later they secured another break when Webb fumbled in attempting a double pass behind the line to McGuire and Messenheimer fell on the ball on Massillon’s 28.
Bulldogs Stopped
Hammering at the Tiger forward wall the Bulldogs picked up nine yards in three plays but on fourth down with one yard to go Tucci tried a quarterback sneak and was promptly buried in the mid by an aroused Tiger line. He gained an inch and the Tigers took the ball on their 19 to wipe out Canton’s most serious bid to score.

Several minutes later Webb carried a Canton punt back to his 32 and Mickey McGuire electrified the Massillon rooters by slamming through the line and racing 21 yards to Canton’s 47 before being tackled. This Massillon uprising, however, was short-lived. Webb fumbled on the next play and Sterling Winn covered for Canton on the Bulldogs 45.

After several punt exchanges the Tigers gained the ball on their 29. With the clock running out McGuire tossed to Zeller for 12 yards to complete one of the three passes attempted by the Tigers during the game. Webb hit the line twice, picking up nine yards and when the final gun sounded the ball was right smack on the 50-yard line in Massillon’s possession with the scoreboard still showing Massillon, 0, McKinley, 0.
The Windup
Massillon – 0 Pos. Can. McKinley – 0
Zeller LE Messenheimer
Green LT Cobbet
Uliveto LG Bourquin
Darrah C Lilly
Tomasevich RG Snyder
Krisher RT Winn
Bonk RE Stevenson
Edie QB Tucci
Webb LHB Fondren
Giloff RHB Meacham
Zorger FB Pucci

Substitutions:
Massillon – McGuire, rhb; Brooks, rg; Young, rt; Krisher, c; Byelene, lhb; Bishop, re.
McKinley – Spera, le; Jordan, lg.

Officials:
Referee – Reese.
Umpire – Lobach.
Head Linesman – Shafer.
Umpire – Brubaker.
1946 Schedule
Sept. 20 Cathedral Latin here.
Sept. 27 Canton Lincoln at Canton.
Oct. 4 Steubenville Wells here.
Oct. 11 Alliance at Alliance.
Oct. 18 Mansfield at Mansfield.
Oct . 25 Warren Harding here.
Nov. 1 Dayton Chaminade here.
Nov. 8 Toledo Waite here.
Nov. 16 Youngstown East at Youngstown.
Nov. 23 Canton McKinley here.
6 Big Home Games For 1946 Tigers
Washington high school’s 1946 football schedule, announced this morning by S.E. Ackley, faculty manager of athletics, calls for six home games with four battles on foreign fields. It also provides three new opponents for the orange and black next fall.

Schedule details were completed early today and the 1946 card was arranged through the combined efforts of Faculty Manager Ackley and W.G. (Bud) Houghton, head coach, who will take charge of the Tigers during spring practice after more than three years service in the U.S. Navy.

Coach Houghton returned to the Washington high school teaching staff several weeks ago, following his discharge from service, and since that time he and Ackley have been working together selecting the schools to appear on the 1946 schedule. Once agreements were reached with schools on dates, contracts for the games were negotiated by Ackley.

The six home games, which have been booked for next year will be standout attractions and two of them will be with schools not on this year’s slate. Toledo Waite, which has not been on a Massillon schedule since 1942, will play the Tigers here Friday night, Nov. 8. Waite this year has had an undefeated season and will play Canton Lincoln’s Lions at Canton Dec. 1 in a post season game.

Dayton Chaminade, which this fall became one of southwestern Ohio’s outstanding scholastic powerhouses, also has been scheduled for 1946, coming to Massillon Nov. 1.

Third new school to gain a place on the 1946 slate is Youngstown East and this game will be played at Youngstown, Saturday afternoon, Nov. 16, the week before the annual battle with Canton McKinley which in 1946 will be played here.

It will be the first time in several years that the Tigers have played a daylight encounter prior to the McKinley tussle but Coach Houghton desired at least one daylight encounter for his 1946 Tigers before they stacked up against the Bulldogs. He believes the daylight game will be of great value in preparing the Tigers for their all-important tussle with the east enders.

The 1946 season will start off with a bang on Friday night, Sept. 20, with Cleveland Cathedral Latin as the Tigers opening game opponent. The Tigers and Latin played a 6 to 6 tie in the Cleveland municipal stadium last Nov. 9 with more than 52,000 people in attendance.

Other home games next fall will be with Steubenville, Oct. 4. Warren Harding, Oct. 25, Dayton Chaminade, Nov. 1, Toledo Waite, Nov. 8 and Canton McKinley, Nov. 23. All are Friday night games with the exception of the McKinley clash.

The Tigers will take to the road Sept. 27, meeting Canton Lincoln at Fawcett stadium, Oct. 11 at Alliance, Oct. 18 at Mansfield and Nov. 16 at Youngstown East. All are Friday night games with the exception of the Youngstown East duel.
Statistics
Mass. McK
First downs 10 7
Yards gained rushing 188 139
Passes attempted 3 1
Passes completed 1 1
Yards gained passing 12 4
Gross yardage 200 143
Yards lost 16 20
Net yardage 184 123
Number of kickoffs 1 1
Average distance of kickoffs 48 38
Average return of kickoffs 19 23
Number of punts 7 9
Average distance of punts 28 26
Average return of punts 7.2 6.3
Times fumbled 2 3
Times ball lost on fumbles 2 0
Times penalized 3 6
Yards lost by penalties 15 30

History

1944: Massillon 0, Canton McKinley 27

November 18, 1944June 20, 2017
by Eric Smith

Smith And Pujazon Shine As Bulldogs Rip Tigers 27-0

LOCAL WARRIORS GO DOWN FIGHTING

Powerful And Speedy McKinley Eleven Tallies 4 Times In Annual Classic To Inflict Third Defeat Of Season On Massillon Gridders

By FRED J. BECKER
A golden anniversary in football but not so golden from a Massillon viewpoint was celebrated out at Tiger stadium Saturday afternoon when a power-laden Canton McKinley Bulldog outfit battered its way to a 27-0 victory over a Washington high school Tiger team that was on the short end in everything but courage.

And what courage those Massillon kids displayed!

The records will show in cold figures what will appear to be a rather lopsided victory for one of the most powerful aggregations ever fielded by Canton McKinley but the raw courage and fight those badly outmanned Tigers exhibited out there on the gridiron last Saturday afternoon will live long in the memory of the more than 21,000 fans who jammed Tiger stadium to witness this annual schoolboy classic, one of the greatest in the nation.

50th Anniversary Game
Team Captains & Head Coaches

Defeated But Not Outfought
Defeated, yes, but not outfought were those Massillon youngsters who had some apparent shortcomings all fall but lack of intestinal fortitude was not one of them. No football team in Massillon history ever fought their hearts out against greater odds than did those gallant little youngsters last Saturday.

In defeat they rose to their greatest fighting performance of the season and even though they lost they need not hang their heads in shame. They put up a brilliant fight against odds that were too great for them to overcome with sheer courage alone and they will always be remembered as the team that went into their season’s biggest game with everything against them and came out of it heroes in defeat.

Tigers Never Quit
Even partisan Canton McKinley fans who went wild with glee as their superb and powerful Bulldogs ripped their way to 4 touchdowns through the use of driving power and dazzling speed had to stop in the midst of their cheering to pay tribute to the great fighting spirit displayed by the Tigers. Those Massillon kids came out fighting at the opening whistle and they were still fighting their hearts out at the final bell, even though nearly all the breaks of the game went against them, breaks which would have taken the fight out of a team imbued with less fighting spirit than the Tigers possessed Saturday.

The victory is yours, Canton McKinley. You deserved it because you had the team – a great team in every way. We give you all the plaudits and praise that rightfully belongs to a victor. Your Bulldogs did a masterful job, a great exhibition of what a team can do when it is big, experienced and strong in every department with 2 such phenomenal performers in the backfield as Joe Pujazon and Hank Smith, All-Ohio scholastic performers without a doubt.

We gave you every credit, Canton McKinley, except this one – your powerful Bulldogs didn’t outshine our little kids when it came to courage – but courage alone could not win that ball game Saturday against a team like the Bulldogs – a team that packed too many guns and made the most of the power, speed and weight it possessed.

Last Saturday’s game marked the 49th combat between Massillon and Canton McKinley teams in the last 50 years, the first game having been played in 1894. McKinley’s triumph last Saturday now gives it a 2-game victory margin over the Tigers, the Bulldogs having won 24 of the 49 engagements with Massillon having won 22 while 3 others ended in ties.

That 27-o trouncing the Bulldogs inflicted on the Tigers was Massillon’s third defeat of the 1944 campaign, the orange and black this fall losing more games in a single season than any other Tiger team since 1932. Other outfits to conquer the 1944 Tigers were Cleveland Cathedral Latin 6-0 and Warren Harding 32-12.
Brilliant Bulldog Season
By defeating the Tigers Saturday in the golden anniversary classic Canton McKinley completed one of the most brilliant season’s in its history, winning 9 and losing but one, that to Warren Harding by a single point, 27-26.

A brilliant decade of Tiger football ran afoul of some bad breaks this fall and for the first time since 1934 an orange and black team finished far down in the list of outstanding Ohio scholastic outfits but the Tigers of 1944 need not feel too badly about this because the defeats they suffered were inflicted by aggregations which held great advantages over them in manpower, size and experience. In each of their 3 defeats they went down fighting before teams which excelled them in practically all departments of the game and the defeats would have been greater had not the Tigers possessed that superb fighting spirit which kept them in there battling to the finish, even though they were outclassed.

Although Washington high school lost 3 games this fall it still had a great and shining record on the gridiron which no other school in Ohio can match and which very few throughout the country can equal. In 100 games played since 1935 the Tigers have recorded 93 victories against 5 defeats and 2 ties. Canton McKinley has inflicted 2 of these defeats winning 35-0 in 1942. Newcastle, Pa., handed the Tigers a 7-0 reverse in 1937 and Cathedral Latin and Warren Harding joined the list of Tiger conquerors this season. The 2 ties came in games with Mansfield’s Tygers in 1937 and 1941, both by 6-6 scores.

There is this one consolation for the 1944 Tigers and local supporters of the orange and black. The Tigers will come roaring back – and before very long – to avenge the defeats sustained this year. Just keep an eye on the Tigers for the next year or two and see what happens.

No two backfield stars laden with more power and speed than Joe Pujazon and Hank Smith put on display Saturday have ever been seen in action here. Operating behind a big and powerful forward wall that outweighed the Tiger line by nearly 20 pounds to the man, the McKinley stars had nothing to do but run and how they ran! This pair of Canton aces divided the scoring honors, each tallying twice.

There was nothing particularly deceptive about the Bulldog attack. For the most part one could tell what type of play the east enders were going to use. It was either Pujazon or Smith running off the tackles or wide to the right or left ahead of powerful interference which shook them loose for frequent and brilliant long dashes down the field.

Once Smith and Pujazon were out in the open it was a man-sized job to halt them. The Tigers for the most part did a great job of smacking them down with spectacular and fierce tackling but they just couldn’t catch them all the time.

Pujazon and Smith closed their scholastic careers against the Tigers in a blaze of glory and deserve plenty of praise for the brilliant performance they put on tap. Without them the Bulldogs, even with their great advantage in weight, would have been taken apart by the Tigers as they played Saturday but Pujazon and Smith spelled the differences between victory and defeat.

Aiding and abetting Pujazon and Smith were Herm Lombardi, who did a great job backing up the line, Bob Tucci, Bob Parks, Jack Belding and Jim Rawers, towering husky pillars of strength on the line. They were big and good, these fellows and they packed too many guns for the badly outweighed Tiger line which fought tooth and nail against them all afternoon and came off second best, simply because they did not have the weight and strength to battle on even terms with the rugged Canton gains.

In all the previous games the Bulldogs, in addition to the brilliant running of Pujazon and Smith, depended to a large extent on a highly capable aerial attack to score points but forward passing availed the Cantonians nothing Saturday. The Tigers saw to that by playing a strong defensive game against aerials, covering Canton receivers like a swarm of bees and rushing Pujazon so much he had no time to display the uncanny accuracy which had characterized his passing all fall. Thus the Tigers became the first team to bottle up the Canton air attack.

There were plenty of heroes in the Tiger camp Saturday. Every boy who got into the game distinguished himself by his fierce and courageous playing but the great work of Massillon’s sturdy co-captains Bill Gable and Glenn Keller stood out prominently. Few better exhibitions of defensive playing have ever been seen than that put on tap Saturday by tow-headed Bill Gable. He smashed McKinley interference and tackled like a demon all afternoon. Keller also did a great job of backing up the line and punting.

Others standing out prominently in the Tiger performance were little Francis Cicchinelli, 135 pound guard, who hit with the force of a 200-pound battering ram, Tom Brooks and Gene Krisher, sophomore linemen, Bert Webb, Don Sedjo, Junie Pedrotty and Don McGuire who spearheaded the Massillon offensive threats, and Wilmer Luke who did a grand job of covering big Jim Rawers, who all season had been on the receiving end of most of Pujazon’s passes. Jim didn’t catch any aerials Saturday.

Breaks of the game and one or two errors in judgment hurt the Tigers and set up at least 2 Canton touchdowns and also robbed the orange and black of some fine opportunities to score. Had these breaks been in the Tigers’ favor it might have been a different ball game, despite McKinley’s apparent great advantage.

The errors the Tigers committed were plain to be seen but they were errors which any team might make and the Tigers do not rate too much censure for these blunders. Those who are inclined to criticize might well stop and ponder for a moment what they would have done under similar circumstances, particularly in the heat of such a tense battle as that one was Saturday. After all the lads who made those mistakes are just kids and their errors might have gone almost unnoticed had they been on the winning end instead of the losing.

It’s easy to find flaws when things are not going your way.

The statistics show just how powerful a ground gaining outfit the Bulldogs were Saturday. They only shaded the Tigers 11 to 8 in first downs but that does not begin to tell the story.
Where Bulldogs Held Edge
Canton McKinley’s vast superiority is revealed in the yards gained, the Bulldogs finished their afternoon’s chores with a net yardage of 345 as compared to only 132 for the Tigers. The Bulldogs had a gross yardage of 366 with a loss of 21 while the Tigers had a gross of 163 with a loss also of 21.

The orange and black gained more yards through the air than the Bulldogs but tried more than twice as many passes as the east enders. Coach Elwood Kammer’s lads tossed 18 aerials during the progress of the battle, completing 6 for 74 yards and had 3 intercepted. Canton tried 7, completing 2 for 31 yards and had 2 intercepted. Pujazon, however, was not on the tossing end of either of Canton’s completed aerials. Smith tossed both of them, one to Harold McCoy in the second quarter and the other to Bill Messenheimer late in the game.

As had been the case so often this season the Tigers found themselves in a hole early in the game and had to wage a desperate but not too successful battle in an effort to keep the Bulldogs out of pay territory.

McKinley received and on the first play of the game Pujazon running wide around his left end broke into the clear and dashed 32 yards to the Massillon 26 before being pulled to earth. The Tigers braced and Pujazon took to the air, his first attempt to hit Rawers being batted down. On his second try, which was fourth down, he tossed a long one toward Rawers but Luke leaped high into the air and grabbed the ball instead of batting it down. This was the first costly Tiger mistake as Luke was tackled on his 6 yard line. Had the ball been batted down the Tigers would have gained possession on their 27 yard line.

Then a 5-yard penalty for offside did not help them and Keller punted from behind his goal line to Pujazon who came roaring back to the Massillon 30 before being halted by this same Keller.
Bill Gable dropped Smith for a loss of 6 but Lombardi crashed through the Massillon line and rambled to the 19 before being stopped. Pujazon made it a first down on the Massillon 17 but once again the Tigers stiffened and held. Then came the first of Pujazon’s 2 touchdown dashes. Taking the ball from center Joe faded back looking for a pass receiver. Finding none he set out toward the east side line and running like a scared rabbit dashed down the sideline and across the Massillon goal for Canton’s first touchdown. Several times it seemed as if a Tiger tackler would nail him but they all missed. Smith plunged across for the extra point.
Poor Judgment
The Tigers received and Keller ripped off a 15-yard gain through right tackle. Webb made 3 and Sedjo smashed for 6 but with third down coming up the Tigers gambled on a pass instead of a ground play and it failed. The decision to attempt to pass seemed like poor judgment, particularly at that stage of the game when their line plays were clicking.

Then with a yard to go it looked as if they were going to gamble on a plunge but Coach Kammer immediately sent in a substitute with instructions to punt. All season the Tigers have gambled on making that last yard on fourth down and all season they have lost. Kammer was not ready to give Canton the ball at midfield Saturday if he could help it.

Keller then punted and Pujazon was downed on the Canton 30. A short time later the Tigers got a break when Lombardi fumbled and Dick Ielsch pounced on the ball on Canton’s 20. The Tigers worked their way to Canton’s 25 and with fourth down coming up the locals took to the air and this time they ran into a bad break. McGuire pitched a perfect strike to Webb who was out in the open but the little Tiger halfback could not hold the ball and it fell to the ground. Had he held it, it might have resulted in a touchdown.

Early in the second quarter Keller had the experience of having a punt blocked for the first time this season. Bob Parks crashed through to block the kick and McCoy covered the ball on the Massillon 13.

A Canton chance to score, however, was wiped out when Korosedes fumbled on the second play and Cicchinelli covered on his 17. The Tigers offensive was checked and Keller then punted to Smith who was dropped in his tracks on Massillon’s own 47. Canton drew a
15-yard penalty for holding, putting the ball back on McKinley’s 41 but Pujazon tossed a lateral to Smith, and the dusky Bulldog flash broke into the clear and raced to Massillon’s 24 for a 35 yard gain. Pujazon made 8 in two plays. Lombardi fumbled but recovered and then Pujazon made it first down on the Massillon 12. Pujazon’s attempted pass to Rawers was batted down but Massillon was handed a 5 yard penalty for being offside. But once again the Tigers braced and took the ball on their 6.

Again Keller punted, Pujazon being downed on the Massillon 30. Two plays later he was injured and left the game. It was then Smith tossed a pass to McCoy good for 17 yards, taking the ball to the Massillon 8. Lombardi smashed for 3 and then Smith, running wide around his right end went over by a scant few inches for Canton’s second touchdown. Canton’s attempt to run the ball over failed and the Bulldogs were leading 13-0.
Tiger Bid For Score Fails
The Tigers, however, refused to concede a thing and late in the quarter again were within scoring distance when Korosedes fumbled and Brooks covered on the Canton 27. With time running out McGuire passes successfully to Gable for 7. A Keller to Gable pass failed and then Webb tossed to McGuire for 14 yards taking the ball to the Canton 6. Keller was turned loose on a dash at right end but was thrown for a 4 yard loss as the gun sounded, ending the half.

The Bulldogs threatened to turn the game into a rout in the third period by scoring twice in quick succession, their third touchdown coming on an unbroken march of 85 yards. Getting the ball on their 30 after a Keller punt the Bulldogs were handed a 15-yard penalty for clipping. Pujazon picked up 3 yards and then Smith turned loose another of his dazzling runs, breaking into the clear and streaking down the east side line to the Massillon 40 for a gain of 42 yards before being nailed by Gable. Pujazon and Korosedes picked up 6 in 2 plays and once again Smith went into high and this time raced around his right end to the Massillon 21 for 14 yards. Pujazon and Korosedes made 9 yards in 2 tries and then Pujazon tucked the leather under his arm and sprinted around his left end for 7 yards and the third Canton touchdown. Rawers placekicked the extra point. Just one play was needed for Canton’s fourth and last touchdown.

Once again the Tigers gambled in an effort to make a yard and first down and failed, the Bulldogs getting the ball on Massillon’s 49. And once again Mr. Smith went to town in a big way with the day’s most dazzling run for 49 yards and a touchdown.

Starting out around his right end, the Bulldog ace squirmed and fought his way into the open, shaking off a flock of Tiger tacklers. Then reversing his field he darted toward the west side of the gridiron and out sped the Tigers in a sizzling dash across the goal line. Again Rawers made good on his placekick to boost the Canton total to 27.
Not So Golden
Massillon, 0 Pos. McKinley, 27
Gable LE McCoy
Ielsch LT Tucci
Cicchinelli LG Belding
Heltzel C Lilly
Brooks RG Cobett
Krisher RT Parks
Luke RE Rawers
Keller QB Lombardi
McGuire LH Smith
Webb RH Korosedes
Sedjo FB Pujazon

Score by quarters:
Bulldogs 7 6 14 0 27

Touchdowns: Bulldogs – Pujazon 2; Smith 2.

Points after touchdowns: Bulldogs – Smith (plunge); Rawers 2 (placekick).

Substitutions:
Massillon – Clark, le; Gibson, rt; Turkall, lb; Pedrotty, fb; Giloff, qb; Cary, lh; Green, lt; Makowski, lh.
Canton – Meecham, rh; Bundy, fb; Lepore, c; Messenheimer, le.

Referee – Mobach.
Umpire – Gross.
Head Linesman – Brubaker.
Field Judge – Shafer.

Statistics
Mass. Can.
Total first downs 8 11
Yards gained by rushing 89 335
Yards lost by rushing 21 21
Net yards gained rushing 68 314
Forward passes attempted 18 7
Forward passes completed 6 2
Yard gained by passing 74 31
Total net yardage,
rushing and passing 142 345
Passed had intercepted 3 2
Number of punts 6 3
Average distance of punts 36 22
Number of kickoffs 2 6
Average distance, kickoffs 27 40
Number of fumbles 1 4
Times ball lost on fumbles 1 1
Number penalties against unreadable
Yards lost on penalty unreadable

Last Meeting Of
Tiger Boosters

The final regular Tiger Booster club meeting of the 1944 football season will be held this evening at 8 o’clock in Washington high school auditorium.

Coach Elwood Kammer’s report on the Tiger-Bulldog battle last Saturday will highlight the program.

The annual Tiger banquet and show will be held at Washington high school Tuesday, Dec. 5. Clark Shaughnessy, Pittsburgh Panther coach, will be the principal speaker.

History

1943: Massillon 21, Canton McKinley 0

November 20, 1943June 19, 2017
by Eric Smith

Tigers Wallop Bulldogs 21-0 For Undefeated Season

SPECTACULAR WIN GIVES MASSILLON 8TH STATE TITLE

Bulldogs Put Up Good Fight But Are Outclassed By Massillon’s Great Defensive Performance And Brilliant Offensive Plays

By FRED J. BECKER
Independent Sports Editor

Fame IS fleeting, is it not?

Well, yes, if you do not possess the necessary qualifications to keep your name in the headlines. No one hangs around at the top of any endeavor very long unless they are the best and can convince the rest of the universe that they are. And in this day and age it takes a lot of convincing, brother.

Now take “Football City” or should we simply say Canton, for instance. Canton and its McKinley high school accomplished a feat a year ago that carried the name of Canton around the world. And just less than a week ago our neighbor to the east found a place in the sun though an article published in a magazine of national circulation. But “Football City” held its place in the sun just four days. Today what is left of the ruins has been quietly interred in Fawcett stadium, Canton, turned in the space of two short hours last Saturday afternoon, from a gridiron to a graveyard.

Tigers Regain State Honors

The snows will fall and the winds will howl this winter over the final resting place of “Football City.” The interment might have been quiet but the thing that led up to it was anything but.

And so today Massillon and the rest of the universe proudly hail the mighty Tigers of Washington high, undisputed schoolboy football champions of Ohio for the eighth time in nine years and without an equal anywhere in the country. A happy city pays tribute to a group of boys, champions every one of them, who had what it takes to make good, who came though with flying colors when the chips were down.

Great Football Team

An overflow crowd of more than 22,000 spectators in Fawcett stadium Saturday afternoon saw a truly great Tiger football team administer a 21 to 0 lacing to the Bulldogs of Canton McKinley in a remarkable demonstration of football power.

It was Massillon’s 10th straight victory of the 1943 campaign and its first undefeated or untied season in three years.

There might have been some in that great crowd who doubted the Tigers’ ability to whip the sturdy Bulldogs before the game began, but there was not one in that gathering who was not convinced when it was over that they had just sat through a performance by a football team that through its brilliant display of power, courage and ability had very amply proved its right to lay claim to a mythical Ohio scholastic championship, or even a national title.

Once would have to hunt far and wide to find a team that could come close, let alone equal, the Washington high school Tigers of 1943. There was something else in that Tiger team this season beside power, courage and ability. It was spirit – Massillon football spirit – and that can’t be matched anywhere.

Last year Canton McKinley came to Massillon and defeated an injury riddled Tiger team 35 to 0 for its first victory over the orange and black in eight years. Saturday the Tigers of 1943 gained revenged for that reverse of a year ago. They proved once again that Massillon football is just a little different than any other football and they did it in a very convincing manner.

It was a great battle Saturday that clash between two undefeated schoolboy aggregations in an atmosphere of rivalry that has existed and grown steadily over a period of nearly 50 years. The Tigers entered that all important fracas with a string of nine straight victories. The Bulldogs came up to their final 1943 struggle with eight triumphs and one tie.

Statistics
McK Mass.
First downs, rushing 4 8
First downs, passing 5 3
First downs total 9 11
Yards gained, rushing 99 150
Yards gained, passing 99 101
Yards gained, total 198 251
Yards lost 15 21
Yards gained, net total 183 230
Passes attempted 14 14
Passes completed 7 5
Passes incompleted 6 7
Passes intercepted by 2 1
Punts 7 6
Punts, average yardage 25 37
Penalties, yardage 0 30
Fumbles 1 1
Own fumbles recovered 1 1

Stirring Contest

It was truly a battle of gridiron Goliaths. It was a stirring contest from start to finish, jammed with almost as many thrills as there were persons jammed into Fawcett stadium. It kept the spectators on the edge of their seats throughout and many a heart worked harder Saturday than it ever has before. Nerves were strained to the breaking point and it was not until the game was almost over that Massillon supporters became certain of a victory and Canton adherents gave up their hopes for a second straight triumph over the Tigers.

Credit must be given to the Bulldogs for the great battle they made of it. Coach Herman (Bup) Rearick’s boys played and fought their hearts out but they just couldn’t match the fighting spirit and playing ability of Coach Elwood Kammer’s orange and black clad kids. The Bulldogs need not feel too badly about that because no one could have matched that old Tiger spirit last Saturday. You either have it or you don’t. Massillon had it, large gobs of it, and Canton simply couldn’t match it.

While Massillon rolled up 21 points on the red and black through three touchdowns, one in the third quarter and two in the fourth, the score hardly indicates the intense battle waged out there on the Fawcett stadium gridiron. The statistics show that the game was a much closer affair than the point total would lead one to believe.

It was a whale of a ball game with Canton always a distinct threat until after the Tigers had scored their second touchdown early in the fourth quarter. From there on Canton’s spirits began to droop and the Bulldogs became a thoroughly beaten outfit.

Both teams possess great offensive ability. Canton with a fine backfield composed of Joe Pujazon, Hank Smith, Tony Rotunno and Dick Kempthorn, was always a threat, loaded with offensive dynamite that might have exploded at any time. The only reason it didn’t was because the Tigers pulled the fuses and rendered the Canton dynamite harmless long before it had a chance to reach the explosive stage.

The Tiger backfield and ends put on an offensive display that was beautiful to watch and so daring at times that it simply stunned the pop-eyed spectators.

Tigers Shoot the Works

The Tigers knew before they went into the ballgame that Coach Kammer’s strategy called for them to gamble for points. They were instructed to shoot the works, to forget about playing a conservative game, to go all out for a convincing victory and haul out of their bag of tricks everything that was in it.

This they did. Massillon’s great backfield, and every one should be convinced by now that is a truly great backfield, of Captain Bob Wallace, Romeo Pellegrini, Henry Mastriann and Glenn Keller, gave a brilliant demonstration of offensive power. Wallace and Pellegrini slashed off tackle or around the ends in spectacular fashion. Keller blocked, ran interference and caught passes like a demon. And Mastriann – what a full back he is. There was nothing Canton possessed that could stop that boy Saturday. You can let your money ride on him anytime.

Out on the flanks Tom Jasinski and Don Willmot helped the Massillon offensive picture by some spectacular catching of passes thrown by Pellegrini who never gave a better demonstration of passing accuracy than he did Saturday. Canton went quite nutty over the passing ability of Pujazon and he is quite an adept thrower but good as he was Saturday, Pujazon was overshadowed by the remarkable performance given by Massillon’s swarthy, little backfield star.

And now we get right down to the meat of things, right down to where that ballgame was won by Massillon and where it was lost by Canton. Right down there, boys and girls, on the line, on that forward wall where we had a hunch, and so expressed it last week, the decision would be rendered.

Say what you want but you can’t get away from this one thing – that ball game was won by Massillon because its defensive performance so completely smothered the Bulldogs that they really never had a chance to get rolling. Their vaunted speed availed them but little because most of the time they were smacked and smacked hard by some energetic Tiger before they could really get under way.

Defensive Efforts Won Game

Massillon’s great defensive efforts won that football game, won it because the first two Tiger touchdowns resulted from Massillon’s great defensive playing and both touchdowns were scored by linemen. The first set of Tiger counters came on a blocked punt, the second on a pass interception behind the Canton line of scrimmage on a pass interception right in Canton’s own backfield.

There’s no disputing the fact that Massillon’s great line blasted the Bulldogs apart. The line, backed up by a secondary defense that never missed an opportunity to nail a Bulldog if he got that far, bottled up so completely every Canton offensive thrust that the Bulldogs didn’t have a ghost of a chance. The red and black never got inside Massillon’s 20 yard line.

All of the defensive qualities of Massillon’s team stood out prominently. Only two touchdowns were scored against the Tigers all fall. It did not take an expert to see that Massillon’s chances to climb back to the football throne rested largely upon its ability to stop opposing teams through its great defensive qualities and then hammer those same opponents into the dust through the assistance of a fine and dependable line.

All season we have watched two great linemen perform efficiently and spectacularly for the Tigers. They were Bob Williams and R.D. (Dick) Arrington. They are a great pair of football players and they proved it quite convincingly Saturday.

Arrington Is Star

It was Arrington who smashed his powerful and rugged body though the Canton line to block Joe Pujazon’s punt in the third quarter and gave Massillon it’s first touchdown. It was Arrington who smashed through into the Canton backfield to grab the ball when it was knocked from Pujazon’s hands as he was about to pass and then race 61 yards far in advance of every Bulldog pursuer for Massillon’s second touchdown. If that doesn’t make him one of Massillon’s greatest all time tackles then nothing will.

And who was it who smeared Canton ball toters all over the lot all afternoon, in as brilliant a display of defensive playing it has ever been any one’s privilege to see? No one else but Bob Williams, big tall husky Bob, another great football player, if there ever was one.

From the vicious manner in which he tackled and the speed with which he raced through Canton’s line one would never have known that on the very first play of the game he sustained a painful knee injury and that it bothered him continually, one time forcing him to take time out. You can put his name right up there with the rest of the Tiger immortals.

And then there was tow-headed quiet Bill Gable. He was in that ball game up to his neck all afternoon. It was Gable who was through the line when Arrington blocked Pujazon’s punt and grabbed up the ball and lugged it across the goal line. Put him on your list of heroes.

Then there was Julius Tonges. He was very much in that ball game too, and it was Tonges who hit Pujazon so hard when he attempted to pass, the ball popped right out of his fingers into the waiting mitts of “never-miss-an-opportunity” Arrington who a second later was scampering away for a touchdown.

And don’t forget Larry Berger and Dick Belch, who replaced him for a short time. They were in there all the way, ripping Canton’s line to shreds and tackling with real Tiger viciousness.

Secondary Plays Well

Wallace, Keller, Pellegrini, Mastriann, Willmot and Jasinski also covered themselves with glory, for their defensive performances. Those boys in the secondary had a big job on their hands. They knew Canton had speed and they knew Canton had a first class passing attack. It was their job to nail Canton’s speedsters if they got by the line and they did a few times. It also was their task to stop Canton’s aerial attack. They handled both assignments and handled them well.

Cantons’ backs, particularly Hank Smith and Joe Pujazon, were fast and shifty but never fast enough to get through the Tiger secondary. Pujazon and Gordon Cook, Bulldog right end, made a fine passing combination but Cook, who made some spectacular catches, seldom moved very far from where he caught the ball before being nailed by a Tiger and that Tiger most of the time was Pellegrini. Had Romeo missed, Cook several times might have been off on touchdown gallops but Romeo never missed. When he hit Mr. Cook the Bulldog pass receiver hit the gridiron with a thud.

The Tigers were that kind of a team Saturday. Heroes every one of them. And before we forget, wasn’t that some punting exhibition big, affable Tom Jasinski put on? He really laid the leather to the old pigskin Saturday and his punting was beautiful to behold, long, high, boots, several of which sailed over the head of the Bulldog safety-man. And don’t forget the artistic kicking performance of Mastriann who three times added points to the Tiger total by brilliant place kicks following touchdowns.

The statistics show that the Tigers excelled the Bulldogs in all departments of the game. The Tigers made 11 first downs to nine for Canton, not a wide margin but enough to show their superiority. Eight Tiger first downs came on rushing, three on passes. Canton made four on rushing and five on passes, holding a 6-5 edge on the Bengals at half time.

Each team tried 14 passes, Massillon completing five for 101 yards and Canton seven for 99 yards. The Bulldogs intercepted two Massillon passes, the Tigers intercepted one Canton pass. Seven of Pellegrini’s heaves failed while Pujazon missed on six of his.

Tigers Hold Edge

The Tigers made 150 yards on rushing to 99 for Canton. The Tigers lost 21 yards on rushing to 15 for Canton and Massillon had a net gain for all types of plays of 230 yards while Canton had 183. Each team fumbled once and recovered its own fumble. Jasinski’s six punts averaged 37 yards, giving him a wide margin over Pujazon who punted seven times for an average of only 25 yards a kick.

Massillon was penalized 30 yards, most of the penalties coming because of backs in motion. The game was very well handled by Dr. David B. Reese of Dayton as referee. Earl Gross of New Philadelphia, as umpire, and A.B. Long of Newark as headlinesman, and T.B. Lobach of Akron as field judge.

Neither team was able to hit pay dirt in the first half, Canton because it did not have the offensive power to get within striking distance, Massillon because luck was riding against it rather than with the Tigers. If breaks had gone the right way on three first half passes the local lads attempted and they most certainly all would have been good for touchdowns. Despite this the Tigers late in the second quarter stormed right inside Canton’s 10-yard line but failed to score because of a pass interception.

The breaks of the game decided the battle in Massillon’s favor but the breaks were well earned and were made by an inspired Tiger team that was always on its toes and never missed a chance to smear the Bulldogs. The breaks came through Massillon’s great defensive performance and were responsible for two touchdowns.

Then just to prove that they also had it in an offensive way the Tigers took the ball on their 18 and in 11 plays marched 82 yards without a stop for their third touchdown. That should convince Canton fans that the Tigers were just too good for their Bulldogs defensively or offensively.

Canton received and worked the ball from its 35 to Massillon’s 39 before the Tigers checked them. A 20 yard pass from Pujazon to Cook was responsible for most of the yardage.

The Tigers got the ball on their 20 following Pujazon’s punt but were held and then Jasinski booted the ball way down to Canton’s 22 on a beautiful kick. Canton made two first downs in a row on runs and plunges by Pujazon and Smith before the Tigers again checked them.

Touchdown Lost

Pellegrini took Pujazon’s punt and was downed on Massillon’s 12. Wallace, Mastriann and Pellegrini made Massillon’s first down of the game in three plays, going to the 26. Wallace on a reverse reeled off another first down to the 37. And then Massillon lost its first chance for a touchdown. Pellegrini dropped back to pass, was hit by a Canton tackler but got away from him and then cut loose for a long heave. Down the field, in the clear, was Don Willmot, but Don had slowed up just a trifle when he saw Pellegrini hit and the ball sailed over his head. Had he been just a few feet farther on he would have snagged the leather and it would have been a certain touchdown because no Bulldog was near.

Jasinski then punted and the Bulldogs came storming back on an 18-yard gain on a pass from Pujazon to Cook. Their spurt, however, was shortlived and Pujazon punted to Willmot who returned from his 22 to the 31 as the quarter ended.

The Bulldogs once again checked the Tigers and Jasinski punted to Canton and once again a Pujazon-Cook pass was good for 16 yards. Smith and Pujazon made another first down in three plays to Massillon’s 29 but this time the Bulldogs couldn’t do it, and they had to surrender the ball to the Tigers on Massillon’s 26.

Then another Tiger scoring opportunity was lost. Pellegrini on second down dropped back and heaved a long one down the center of the field. Ahead of the Canton safety man raced Jasinski and the ball nestled into his outstretched hands but Tom, generally a sure fire pass receiver, muffed this one. The ball dropped out of his hands and another touchdown chance went glimmering.

But this didn’t discourage the Tigers, particularly Pellegrini. On the next play he faded back and pitched a strike to Keller out in the flat. This one worked and it was good for 15 yards, taking the ball to Massillon’s 39. Once again Pellegrini faded back and once again he shot the ball to Keller out in the flat and this time it was good for 11 yards.

Pellegrini’s next one, a long heave to Jasinski, was incomplete. But Mr. Pellegrini is a hardy little soul who never gives up. Not in the least daunted he faded back on the next play, running far to his right. Racing down the left side of the field was Don Willmot. Pellegrini turned and heaved a long one, 27 yards it was to Willmot, who snatched the ball and raced 31 yards more before being brought to earth on Canton’s nine yard line by Pujazon. It was an overall gain of 58 yards.

Tigers Checked Again

This time it looked as if the Tigers couldn’t miss on a touchdown – but they did. Mastriann cracked right tackle for three to the six. Then the Tigers decided to gamble on another pass. Pellegrini threw a perfect pass, intended for Willmot out in the flat, but the ball never reached Don. Bob Swan, Canton guard, came from nowhere to spear the leather and race it back 16 yards to Canton’s 18 before being downed.

Pujazon punted after three plays had failed and Massillon took the ball on its 37 after an out-of-bounds kick. On the first play Willmot came around from his end to heave a long pass that was knocked down by Pujazon. Then Pellegrini went into action again and this time connected with Bob Wallace for a gain of 22 yards, taking the ball to the Canton 15. Pellegrini passed again, this time to Keller for four but his next attempt was intercepted by Pujazon on the Canton five. Canton attempted one line thrust before the quarter ended.

It didn’t take the Tigers long to convince everyone at the start of the third quarter that they were really going to town. Wallace took Pujazon’s opening kickoff on his 11 and raced it back 31 yards to the Tigers 42. He almost broke into the clear. A Massillon first down took the ball to Canton’s 31 but here the Tiger attack went into reverse for a bit, Wallace losing 11 at left end and Pellegrini being tossed for a five yard loss at right end. Then after a pass from Pellegrini intended to Wallace had been knocked down by Pujazon, Jasinski punted to Pujazon who dropped the ball but recovered it and was tackled on Canton’s 15. Williams and Keller halted Pujazon after a three-yard gain and Berger smacked down Smith for a loss of two.

Then it happened. With the ball on Canton’s 14 Pujazon dropped back to punt. As the ball was passed a flock of snarling Tigers tore through the Canton line. At least three of them bore down on the startled Pujazon who quickly tried to punt but the ball never got over the Canton line. Dick Arrington’s broad chest got in front of the ball and it hit him with a thud. Bounding off to Arrington’s right and toward the Canton goal. Like a hawk Bill Gable swooped down on it, picked it up and taking about three steps was over the goal line for the game’s first touchdown. Bedlam broke loose in the stands but Mastriann calmly kicked the ball between the uprights to add the extra point.

An amusing episode occurred a few minutes later. The officials asked Canton if it would grant a time out while Bob Wallace changed his pants. They just wouldn’t stay up any longer and the Massillon captain decided he had better have another pair. So while his teammates gathered around him on the sideline. Bob switched pants with another teammate.

Neither team threatened during the remainder of the third quarter and the fourth period opened with Massillon in possession of the ball on its 27 with second down coming up. Jasinski two plays later punted to Pujazon who returned eight from his 30 to his 38. Pellegrini knocked down a pass from Pujazon intended for Cook and then Arrington tossed Pujazon for a loss of five but this was nullified when Massillon was penalized five for being offside. Pujazon passed to Cook who caught the ball, then fumbled it. Keller fell on the leather but it slide out from under his body and Canton recovered on Massillon’s 40. Pujazon made five yards in two plays and then lightning again struck.

Mr. Arrington Again

Pujazon dropped back for another pass. As he lifted his arm he was hit hard by Julius Tonges. The ball flew out of his grasp and up into the air. When it came down there stood Mr. Arrington all ready to take it and set sail and he did just that. The Tiger colored star grabbed the ball and never hesitating set out at full speed for Canton’s goal line, 61 yards away. And he made it, leaving his pursuers far behind.

Once again Mastriann came through with a perfect place kick. Well, if Canton didn’t know they were beaten before that second touchdown they certainly did after it was recorded on the board.

After the kickoff the Bulldogs launched a desperate attack that took them from their 42 to Massillon’s 23 before they were checked and forced to surrender the ball to the Tigers.

Then it was that the local boys decided to show the east enders they could score through their own offensive powers and opened up with a march that did not end until the ball was planted back of the Canton goal. It took 11 plays and the march was good for 82 yards.

Highlighting the advance was a brilliant 43-yard dash off left tackle. Mastriann roared through again for a first down on Canton’s 23. Wallace skirted left end for two and Pellegrini passed to Jasinski for five. Wallace then raced around left end to the Canton 13 for another first down. Mastriann hit through right tackle for three and on the next play bucked and squirmed his way for 40 yards and a touchdown. He kicked his third goal from placement to give him a perfect day in this department.

Coach Kammer, his face wreathed in smiles, then waved his regulars off the field where they had done a swell job. The only substitution up to that time had been Dick Belch for Berger.

The second team went in and kicked off and the game ended before the Bulldogs could run off a play.

After it was over a group of Massillon fans and players hosted Kammer on their shoulders and carried him to the Tiger dressing room entrance. It was a fine tribute to a coach who has come a long way since he saw his first Tiger team smeared by the Bulldogs 35 to 0 a year ago.

Champions Again

Tigers – 21 Pos. Bulldogs – 0
Willmot LE Herdlicka
Arrington LT Tucci
Tonges LG Swan
Williams C Infantiedes
Gable RG Kurzinsky
Berger RT Belding
Jasinski RE Cook
Keller QB Kempthorn
Pellegrini LHB Smith
Wallace RHB Rotunno
Mastriann FB Pujazon

Score by quarters:
Massillon 0 0 7 14 – 21

Touchdowns – Gable, Arrington, Mastriann

Points after touchdowns: Mastriann 3 (placekick).

Substitutions: Massillon – Belch, Sedjo, Profant, Pedrotty, Webb, Clark, Richards, Luke, Turkall, Heltzel, Ielsch.
Canton – Korosedes, J. Corbett, Harting, Parks, Bundy, Kistler.

Referee: Reese (Dayton).
Umpire: Gross (New Philadelphia)
Headlinesman: Long (Newark)
Field judge: Lobach (Akron).

Tiger Boosters To Honor Coach

Massillon football fans celebrated that 21-0 Tiger conquest of Canton McKinley far into the night Saturday but all the celebrating is not yet over.

There’ll be more tonight when the Tiger Booster club holds its final Monday night meeting of the season in the Washington high school auditorium at 8 o’clock. It will be an open meeting and all fans are invited.

Tonight it will be coach Elwood Kammer’s night and the Boosters will pay tribute to the Tiger mentor who has just closed his second year at the helm of the orange and black with a record of 19 wins in 20 games, 10 of them in a row this fall to again make the Tigers state scholastic champions.

“Kam” has done a great job and will be deserving of all the tribute paid him tonight.

George Bird also will have his Tiger swing band at the meeting.

History

1942: Massillon 0, Canton McKinley 35

November 21, 1942June 10, 2017
by Eric Smith

BULLDOGS WIN GAME WITH EASE

Tigers Completely Outplayed As Red And Black Rip Local Team To Pieces Last Half To Defeat Orange and Black First Time In Eight Years

By Luther Emery

Now Massillon knows how Canton McKinley, and all the Tiger’s other opponents have felt these last seven years.

Saturday it was the Massillon fans turn to sit in the stands and watch their Tiger team take a thorough 35-0 beating at the hands of one of the finest Canton McKinley teams ever to set foot on a Massillon gridiron.

Canton Keeps Edge in Series

For seven long years, the Tigers have been lashing the whip in Ohio gridiron circles. Saturday, in the closing game of the eighth year, they were on the receiving end, with none other than their old rival, Canton McKinley, administering a sound threshing in the 47th game to be played between the two elevens since 1894. The victory gave Canton 23 victories in the series, left Massillon with 21 and three have ended in tie scores.

The defeat was Massillon’s first in 53 consecutive games, a string that began in November 1937 after the Tigers had lost to a fighting New Castle team, 7-0. But one tie marred the victory chain, Mansfield holding the 1941 Massillon team to a 6-6 draw.

The defeat was Massillon’s first at the hands of Canton McKinley since the 21-6 paddling the local eleven received in 1934. That likewise was the last time an Ohio team had been able to subdue the terrific Tigers.

Reason For Celebration

So McKinley had reason to celebrate. For seven years the Bulldogs have watched the Massillon fans stream out on the field and parade behind their band after the game. Saturday it was Canton’s turn, and they so rejoiced at the triumph that the officials had to call the game, despite the fact that there was time left for one play.

The celebration went on into the night, carried through Sunday and will be resumed today when McKinley high practically declares a holiday to laud the achievement of their coach Herman “Bup” Rearick and his Bulldogs.

Massillon never knew a celebration such as the Bulldogs will be treated to. Victories have been so many for the Tigers the past seven years that they have been taken for granted by fans and students, and they accepted defeat with no more signs of emotion than exhibited in their triumphs.

The sympathy of the fans went to Coach Elwood Kammer and his Tiger team. It was the first losing game for the senior members of the squad, the first loss for Kammer as a high school coach.

There was no disgrace in losing to the Bulldog Saturday. He was terrific, and when animosities created with 48 years of rivalry are put aside in favor of common sense, the Tigers could have been beaten by no better opponent than their old Stark county rival, McKinley.

Canton reached its peak Saturday afternoon and played a near perfect game of football before the crowd of between 20,000 and 22,000 spectators. The Bulldogs scored five touchdowns, three points after touchdown, a safety, and had two other touchdowns called back because of penalties.

That set a new scoring record for the Massillon-Canton series, something no one even dared to dream about before the game.

Canton’s Day

It was McKinley’s day. Practically everything the Bulldogs tried worked, and it was one of those days when the victors were even opportunists, intercepting passes and being Johnny on the spot for fumbles.

It was anything but a day for Massillon. The only break the Tigers had was the weather. They wanted a dry field, and the footing was fairly firm. The rain stopped before they peeled the tarpaulin from the gridiron, and while the sod was a bit soft, it was anything but muddy. The Tigers got off to a poor start when a punt went straight up in the air on the 32-yard line, and in their anxiety they contributed 15 yards in penalties that left the Bulldogs but 17 to go in their first touchdown drive and they gave away 10 more yards on the red and black’s second touchdown jaunt.

A poor start was anything but what the Tigers had hoped for. Their strategy was to score as quickly as possible, with the hope of breaking down the Bulldog spirit so prevalent the last two weeks, and at the same time ease the pressure on four cripples who were pieced together with bandages in order to get them on the field.

The Massillon eleven was not badly outplayed the first half, though Canton from the start looked the stronger team and the eventual winner. Three five-yard penalties, one of which gave the red and black a first down on the Tiger five-yard line helped them to their first touchdown after a poor punt, and another five-yard penalty gave the red and black a first down on the 20-yard line in the second touchdown drive after the Tigers had only yielded seven yards in three attempts. The second touchdown came with less than a minute of the half remaining to be played.

The Tigers gained 88 yards t he first half, all by rushing, to 109 for Canton, 19 of which were made by passing.

It was in the second half that McKinley rose up in all its might to subdue the Tiger and knock him loose from his throne with a deluge of 23 points. Only a merciful gun kept the score from being any larger.

Nine of the points crossed the Tiger goal in rapid succession just when it appeared that the local team might salvage a scoreless third period out of the contest and 14 more were piled over a tiring but still scrapping Tiger team.

The Bulldogs victory throws the state championship race into an awful mess. In percentages, the Tigers have a better record than Canton, for the Bulldogs were tied by one of their own schools, Lincoln, and lost 21-13 to Steubenville, a team that Massillon whipped 33-13. The Big Red will put in a claim for a share of the title, and there probably will be a lot of shouting from several “podunks” that haven’t played anybody but that have finished the season with an undefeated record. Most sportsmen will say you have to beat the champ to win a title and Canton has the honor of being the first Ohio team to do it since 1934; but Steubenville will more than likely object, for the Big Red will boast that it is the team that beat the team that beat the champ and has a higher percentage of victories this season. Oh, well.

The statistics were all in favor of McKinley, 17 first downs to Massillon’s 10 and 304 yards gained in rushing to Massillon’s 166. In fact when you analyze the gains by quarters you find the Tigers seldom had the ball the last period and only tried two running plays the entire fourth quarter.

Though the local team carried the ball into Bulldog territory three times during the game they only threatened once. Their first march followed the Bulldogs, first touchdown, the Tigers striking back with a drive that moved from their 20 to the Bulldog 41, where Graber on third down with seven yards to go, tried to snap a pass over the center of the line to Bray, but Abe Aslanides intercepted on his 35 to end the threat.

The second march came the next time the Tigers got the ball and likewise started from their 20. They moved it to the bulldog 40 where they were forced to punt.

Fumble Ends Threat

The last effort, in the fourth period was their best. Starting with Chuck Holt’s interception of Earl Louck’s pass on the 39-yard line, they overcame a five-yard penalty to move up to the 28-yard line on passes. Bob Graber tossed one to Don Willmot who put a lateral into Fred Cardinal’s hands for a first down in midfield. Another fell into Tom Jasinski’s fingers for a first on the 34 and another to Cardinal took the ball to the 28. There Holt on a running play crashed through the weak side and raced to the 10-yard line. He appeared to have generated enough momentum to go over, but when bumped, the ball flew out of his hands and into the arms of Jack Crider, who got back to his 28 before being downed. No once could have lateraled it any better.

Everyone in the Massillon stands was hoping Chuckie would get the touchdown. With Graber useless as a runner because of an injured ankle, Holt shouldered the burden of the ball carrying. Twenty times he lugged the leather during the afternoon, often going three times in a row.

The rest of the running was left to Keve Bray, who carried the ball 11 times. Graber carried it but once. Bray gained more yards the first quarter than all of the Canton players together. He ran 46 yards in six attempts, while the combined first period yardage of the Bulldog backs was 29 yards.

Canton is heaping words of praise on Tony Dominick and Jack Crider for their great performances. Spear-headed by a fast charging line that knocked the Tiger forwards on their heels the last half, Dominick and Crider tore the locals apart the last half. Dominick ripped through center where all the courage of little Dave Edwards and Barney Wallace couldn’t stop him. Willie Crider slipped in and around the tackles bringing his performance to a peak with a 47-yard touchdown jaunt. Ernie Parks, the fleet-footed giant of the Bulldog backfield was held well in check. He only gained a net total of 36 yards in 12 attempts but his weight and elongated body helped to wear down the Massillon eleven that spotted the red and black 14 pounds to the man in weight.

There was no lack of courage on the Massillon line and it wasn’t any fun for 150-pound Edward , 140 pound Wallace, and 150-pound Bray to have 192-pound Bob Zimmer, 193-pound Parks, and 172-pound Dominick come pounding through the center of the Massillon forward wall. Coach Elwood Kammer occasionally relieved the Massillon lightweights and sent Bob Williams and Bob Kanney into the game for defense.

There was no lack of courage when fellows like Bob Wallace with a badly damaged leg; Graber with a sore ankle; Cardinal with two injured shoulders and a damaged foot; Karl Paulik with an injured shoulder; and Tom Jasinski with a charley horse would stay on the firing line against a heavy eleven in tip-top condition.

Took Defeat Gamely

The Tigers have no alibi to offer that anyone quit trying. They simply got the whipping that they knew was coming sometime or other and they took it, painful as it was, without a whimper. That was their answer to the question many have asked – how will Massillon take defeat? The Tiger Booster club will have an opportunity to give its answer Tuesday evening when it meets in the Washington high auditorium.

To recount the scoring plays, here is what happened.

The Tigers received, Cardinal getting the ball and coming back to his 20. Three plays gained eight yards so Romeo Pellegrini, who started in place of Graber, dropped back to punt. The ball went straight up going only four yards from the line of scrimmage, so Canton took over on the Massillon 32. Crider hit for two yards, but Massillon was offside and drew another penalty giving Canton a first down on the 22-yard line. With Dominick carrying the ball twice and Crider once, the Bulldogs moved up to a first down on the 10-yard line.

Three substitutes raced on to the field for Massillon, Graber, Bob Wallace, and Bob Williams. The Tigers were charged with delaying the game and drew another five-yard penalty giving Canton a first down on the fire-yard line. Dominick was stopped without gain, but he got four yards his next effort and went over on the third attempt. Crider’s attempted placekick for the extra point was wide.

The Tigers came back with a couple of offensive bursts that bogged down after passing the midfield strip and the Bulldogs finally took over when Graber punted over the goal. Here an 80-yard touchdown drive was lunched. After Crider had drive for two yards, Dominick in two attempts crashed a first down on his 32. Parks made nine yards, his best effort of the day, and Dominick picked up the rest for a first down on his 44. Two more plays and Dominick had another first on the Tiger 44. Crider hit for four yards, but the Tigers drew a five-yard penalty on the next play. Parks was tossed for a three-yard loss, but Crider made up for it by tossing a flat pass to him that netted a first down on the Massillon 32. Dominick got six yards in two attempts, but the Tigers with hopes of halting the Bulldog drive, were guilty of offside on third down and the five-yard penalty gave Canton a first on the 21-yard line. Dominick and Crider on two plays powered their way to a first down on the nine-yard line. Parks and Crider were held to a total of three yards but Crider crossed the Tigers up on third down and flipped a short pass to Dale Haverstock who got to the one foot line. It was only a matter of form for Dominick to crash through for the touchdown. Crider’s attempted placekick was blocked and the score was 12-0. Only seconds remained to be played, and the half ended two plays later with one Massillon pass knocked down and the second intercepted by Crider on the 34-yard line.

Canton Gets Safety

The Tigers stopped Canton drives twice in the third period before the Bulldogs finally scored on a safety. The first drive reached the 35-yard line after recovery of a Massillon fumble there. The second went to the six-yard line where the locals recovered a Canton fumble. Trying desperately to do something Graber twice passed from behind his goal. Once Haverstock missed a sure touchdown when the ball slipped through his hands as he tried to intercept it. Punting on third down, Graber was rushed by Zimmer, Bulldog quarterback, who blocked the ball and fell on it back of the end zone for an automatic safety that gave Canton two points.

The Tigers kicked out from the 20-yard line and Vic Wernet got back to the Massillon 48. Parks made a yard and then Crider went for the works in a beautiful dash through center in which he outran the Massillon secondary. Chuck Holt made a desperate effort to get him with a diving tackle on the five-yard line, but Crider faded away. This time Hank Smith was rushed in to sweep right end for the extra point and succeeded, bringing the score to 21-0.

The Bulldogs gained at will from there on in. They kicked off to Massillon, and on second down, Crider intercepted Graber’s pass and went for a touchdown only to have the ball called back because a Canton player clipped. It made no difference, for the red and black just powered their way right on through for 48 yards with Parks scampering around left center for the last seven and Crider pitching to Jasper Harris for the extra point.

The next one followed the Tigers best bid of the day when Crider recovered Holt’s fumble on the 10 and went back to his 28. It was first Dominick and then Crider, with the latter getting off one 32-yard run, until the four-yard line was eventually reached. Then Crider went over for the touchdown and Dominick place-kicked the extra point.

On the last play of the game, Bill Cook, sub center went 30 yards with a pass interception for a touchdown that didn’t count. Time expired during the run and the spectators poured on to the field. But McKinley was offside on the play. The Tigers would have taken a fine-yard penalty and there would have been one more play. The officials looked at the crowd and thought what’s the use. Massillon would have held the ball anyway, so they called the game.

Chain Is Cut

Massillon Pos. McKinley
Willmot LE Haverstock
Edwards LT Jordan
Kanney LG Wernet
B. Wallace C Lombardi
Weisgerber RG Schuster
Paulik RT Bell
Jasinski RE Harris
Cardinal QB Zimmer
Pellegrini LH Crider
Bray RH Parks
Holt FB Dominick

Score by periods:
McKinley 6 6 9 14 – 35

Substitutions – Massillon: Yelic, t; Williams, c; R. Wallace, g; Power, fb; Graber, lh.
McKinley: Aslanides, qb; Zufall, g; Hall, g; Garafolo, t; Tucci, t; Smith, hg; Thomas, hb; Schwalenberg, e; Cook, c; Loucks, fb; Rotunno,e.

Touchdowns – Dominick 2, Crider 2, Parks.

Points after touchdown – Smith (carried, Harris (pass from Crider), Crider (placekick).

Safety – Zimmer

Referee – Reese.
Umpire – Gross.
Headlinesman – Lobach.
Field judge – Long.

Statistics
Mass. Cant.
First downs 10 17
Line plays 32 58
Yards rushing 136 304
Yards lost rushing 9 6
Net gain rushing 125 298
Yards passing 47 31
Net yards gained 172 329
Passes attempted 12 8
Had passes intercepted 3 1
Passes incomplete 5 2
Fumbles 4 2
Lost ball on fumble 2 1
Times penalized 6 3
Yards penalized 30 25
Times punted 4 2
Punts blocked 1 0
Average punt (yards) 24 26
Yards punts returned 0 38
Kickoffs 2 6
Yards kickoffs returned 51 0

Booster Club Meets Tuesday

Massillon’s undefeated string of 52 games has been broken and that calls for all the more effort on the part of members of the Tiger Booster club.

The Boosters will not meet tonight, but they will gather Tuesday evening and will elect officers for 1943 as well as make plans for their annual banquet. It will be an open meeting. The pub

History

1941: Massillon 32, Canton McKinley 0

November 22, 1941June 10, 2017
by Eric Smith

DEFEAT CANTON BY 32-0 SCORE

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

By Luther Emery

Orchids to Bud Houghton and his Washington high Tigers.

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

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

Passes Baffle Bulldogs

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

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

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

Passes Did It

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

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

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

That is one-half of the passing game.

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

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

Sweeps Bring Touchdowns

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

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

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

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

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

Bray’s Greatest Game

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

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

Wow!

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

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

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

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

Great Punting Exhibition

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

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

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

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

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

Tigers Score Two More

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Still Champions

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

Score by periods
Massillon 6 12 0 14 – 32

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

Touchdowns – Blunt 2, Graber, Adams 2.

Points after touchdown – Graber, Holt (carried)

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

Boosters Have Open Meeting

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tag: <span>Canton McKinley</span>

Tigers Beat Bulldogs 21-12 To Win State Championship Massillon Gridders Outclass Heavy Canton Eleven All The Way

Tigers Beat Bulldogs 21-12 To Win State Championship
Massillon Gridders Outclass Heavy Canton Eleven All The Way