Chuck Holt Archives - MassillonTigers.com

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

1942: Massillon 13, Erie, PA East 6

November 13, 1942June 17, 2017
by Eric Smith

TIGERS RUN INTO A SURPRISE AT ERIE

(Special to The Evening Independent)

ERIE, Pa., NOV. 16 – A scrappy Erie East high band of Warriors gave the highly-touted championship Massillon Tigers quite a “surprise party” here Saturday afternoon. But the Ohioans managed to eke out a 13 to 6 decision on a snow-covered field before a scant gathering of 6,000 fans.

It was as close a call to defeat that the Tigers have had since they began their streak in 1937 that has seen them go through 52 games without a defeat, although a Mansfield tie mars the 1941 season.

There was a reason why they should enjoy only a seven-point advantage when hostilities were ended on Saturday.

There were seven good reasons – the East high forward wall, which consistently broke through the Massillon offense to spill ball carriers for sizable losses.

Tigers Have Edge In Statistics

However, class told and the Tigers held a decided edge in ground gaining. The Ohio backs being especially adept at skirting the ends. In the net yards rushing department the Tigers picked up a total of 156 yards as compared to 31 for East.

And speaking of statistics they pretty well tell the story.

The Tigers rang up 11 first downs against nine for the Warriors. They batted .500 in pass completion’s, connecting on four out of eight attempts for 80 yards, while Warrior passes were the rule rather than the exception as the Hydemen tossed 19, completing only five for a gain of 78 yards.

But of course, there is a story behind the story buried deep down in the statistics. There you’ll find that Massillon fumbled on six occasions – and on six occasions there was a Warrior atop the ball when the pileup was finally untangled.

And you’ll find also that East’s John Swanseger, complied a punting average of 43 yards against a 39-yard average by Massillon’s Romeo Pellegrini, and to make the story complete it should be added that one of Swanseger’s punts that rolled out of bounds on the Tiger four-yard line set the stage for the East score.

Those two items were the factors chiefly responsible for the surprising showing of the Hydemen, who were supposed to be just another team with eleven guys named “Joe” in the lineup. Then too, it was figured that East would be a good game to rest up the regulars for the coming Canton McKinley clash this weekend. East didn’t like that idea and put up a battle.

Tigers Score Early

The two touchdowns by the Massillonians came before East shook off a bad case of what appeared to be stage fright or a recent accurate facsimile.

The first one came about three minutes into the first canto—in fact it was on the sixth offensive thrust of the game.

An exchange of kicks that saw the Warriors finally wind up with the ball in their possession set the state indirectly.

Several running plays failed to solve the Massillon defense and Swanseger faded back of the 50-yard line and chucked one downfield only to have it intercepted by Fred Cardinal, Massillon quarterback, who returned it to the East 30.

The Tigers tried a pass that was grounded. Then Pellegrini, sophomore flash, who was one of the game’s offensive stars, lost four yards at right end. On the next play he dropped back and tossed a pass to Fullback Charles Holt that was good for 24 yards, when Holt reversed his field on the East 13 and romped over. A sneak through the line from place kick formation was smashed by the Warriors as the Tigers strove for the point after touchdown.

Steals the Ball

A smart play by Karl Paulik, Massillon right tackle, set up the Tigers’ second touchdown. Paulik “stole” the ball from the grasp of an East runner on the Warriors’ 29-yard line and after a Pellegrini to Willmot pass had picked up nine yards, Holt went into action.

Aided by an eight-yard jaunt by Keve Bray, Holt moved the ball up to the one-yard stripe and it was only a formality for him to smack the line for the score.

Cardinal sent a placement kick through the uprights for the extra point.

(Next line unreadable)

The recovery of a Massillon fumble by Frank Barnowski, East right end, on the Tigers 10-yard line, set in motion the Warriors’ touchdown drive in the second period.

A five-yard penalty and a grounded pass stalled the Warriors before they even got started. But (name unreadable) dropped back and tossed a pass to Klimow, who ran to the Massillon 15 for a first down. Grunzel lugged the leather to the 10 on the next play. However, a five-yard penalty set the Hydemen back again.

But Dellnski was still in the game as the Tigers found out a moment later when he ripped around right end behind perfect blocking and shook off a couple tacklers. (unreadable text) Then Klimow pranced across the goal for the score on the next play. (try for extra point text unreadable)

That’s the story of the scoring but there was plenty of action in this ball game beside the touchdown moments.

Lose Ball On Fumbles

For instance in the third stanza with the aid of a 15 yard-penalty the Tigers marched to the East 28, but there Pellegrini fumbled and Klimow pounced on the leather for the Warriors, who also aided by a 15-penalty for Massillon drove to the Massillon 36 where the attack stopped when Bray intercepted an East pass.

After one of Swanseger’s punts had rolled over the goal line later in the third period, the Tigers started on their 20 and using power alone, as only the Tigers can, battered their way to the 30 as the period ended.

Several seconds later Bray fumbled and the Warriors covered on the East 31.

The rest of the game was a see-saw affair with the Warriors countering almost punch for punch with the Tigers.

The halftime show by the Massillon band was featured by the Tigers’ strip tease routine as the band provided a musical backdrop.

This alone would have brought down the stadium roof with applause if stadiums had roofs.

Not Comforting

Massillon – 13 Pos. East – 6
Willmot le Santi
Edwards lt Perantoni
Bob Wallace lg Katoski
Williams c Kelleher
Weisgarber rg Mahon
Paulik rt Burek
Kanney re Baruowakl
Cardinal qb unreadable
Pellegrini lh Swanseger
Bray rh Dellnsky
Holt fb Grunzel

(Rest of information here unreadable)

Statistics
East Massillon
First Downs 9 11
Yards Gained Rushing 78
Yards Lost Rushing 17
Net Yards Gained Rushing 31 156
Forward Passes Attempted 19 8
Forward Passes Completed 5 4
Forward Passes Intercepted 0 2
Yards Gained by Forward Passing 78 80
Lateral Passes Attempted 0 1
Yards Gained by Lateral Passes 1 0
Punting Average (from scrimmage) 43 39
Total Yards Kicks Returned
Fumbles 1 6
Own Fumbles Recovered 0 0
Rest of information is unreadable

History

1942: Massillon 34, Toledo Waite 14

November 6, 1942June 17, 2017
by Eric Smith

INDIANS’ PASSES DAZZLE THRONG

Visitors Make More First Downs Than Massillon But they Pay Off On Points, So Tigers Stretch Undefeated String to 51 Games

By Luther Emery

The war drums of the Toledo Waite Indians were still ringing in the ears of the Washington high school Tigers today as they looked at the statistics and wondered how they ever escaped being ambushed in last night’s game at Tiger stadium.

A crowd of 16,621 fans looked on amazed as the Indians outgained the Tigers from scrimmage and rolled up more first downs, but lost 34-14. It was Massillon’s 51st consecutive game without a defeat.

Waite Expected to Spring Upset

Jack Mollenkopf brought Waite to Massillon, convinced that the Tigers were ripe for a trimming. He had planned to ambush Massillon with a passing attack that had been developed but not entirely uncovered this season until last night’s battle.

He, too, knew that he had a better team than most people had credited him with, and most of all, a team that wouldn’t quit.

Having carefully studied and scouted the Tiger team, Mollenkopf thought he was all set to spring the biggest upset of the 1942 football season and might well have done so with the assistance of good luck and the fulfillment of a few “ifs.”

Take out the blocked punt that produced the third Massillon touchdown, remove a couple of costly Waite fumbles, and substitute completed passes for two “touchdown” passes, one of which was dropped by the receiver and the other intercepted by a Massillon gridder, and you might well have had a tie score. On the other hand, the Tigers too can play the “if” game, and from their viewpoint they might have won by more points had they 10 seconds more time left in the first half which ended with them in possession of the ball, first down and goal to go on Waite’s one yard line.

Mollenkopf Ambushed

Mollenkopf admitted that while he had set a trap for Massillon, he was ambushed himself by the throwing of Romeo Pellegrini, who replaced the injured Bob Graber at left halfback.

“I never knew that little fellow could throw so far,” the Toledo coach said after the game as he ground a crust of bread between his fingers at the dinner table. “I never knew Massillon to throw from the left, either. I was fooled there.”

The play-by-play account shows that Pellegrini completed passes of 57, 51, 14, and 15 yards for touchdown. In fact it was the first time this season that the forward pass developed into a potent scoring weapon for the Tigers, and it was well it did, for they did not run the ball over once last night. Their fifth touchdown was the result of a blocked punt.

Some of the things that Mollenkopf figured on were correct. The Tigers were ripe for some trouble and have been getting riper since their defeat of Steubenville. They have two games to go, both Saturday afternoon contests – Erie East next week and Canton McKinley two weeks hence. The locals should begin coming up again, and it is hoped the rebound will be too much for both Erie East and McKinley.

In Waite the Tigers found a better than average team that had been underestimated by most fans, and possibly the players sensed this same feeling of superiority.

Better Waite Team Than 1941

“It is a far better team than I had last year,” Mollenkopf confided after the game, “and we would have done a lot better this season had it not been for several unfortunate breaks.”

The Toledo coach was especially proud that his team did not quit on him, and it was one of few teams that have not folded under Tiger pressure.

The Indians were battling just as hard at the end of the game as they were at the start, and were on their way to a last minute touchdown, when an intercepted pass ended in a safety that gave them two points.

It has been three years since the Tigers have had to explain their victory to readers of the statistical column. From yards gained and first downs you would have thought Waite a certain winner. The Indians made 14 first downs to the Tigers 10 and gained 259 yards to the Tigers 230 yards but Massillon converted its yardage into scores instead of first downs to win 34-14.

The long shot touchdown passes to Willmot and the other two pegs to Cardinal and Holt, don’t show in the first down column through all covered more than 10 yards. The yardage is figured I, however and there’s just nothing you can do about trying to explain why Waite gained more yards except to say that the Indians had a good defense and a tough defensive end in Harold Raether.

The Tigers only gained 73 yards lugging the ball last night and made 173 yards with their passes, which is better passing than they have done at anytime this season and poorer running.

A Fine Passer

Waite’s passing attack was the fanciest thing seen here in a forward pass way for several seasons. You can give most of the credit to straight-shooting Joseph Horvath and if Uncle Sam needs a grenade thrower to clean out machine gun nests, Horvath has our recommendation. He pitched so accurately that he seldom missed his mark and most of the night did all the throwing to the same man, Paul Hrabovsky, Indian quarterback.

They worked pass after pass all evening, connecting for three of 17 yards, 22 yards and eight yards, in the series that led to their first touchdown, and completed two more, one for 32 yards and another for 11 in the second touchdown march. Mixed in the latter effort was an 18-yard toss to Raether.

Second guessers might accuse both teams of a poor selection of plays at intervals during the game. Waite, for instance advance the ball to the Tiger 25-yard line on passes in the third quarter, then ran four consecutive ground plays for a net loss of 13 yards. The Tigers at one time worked into Waite territory, then with only two yards necessary for a first down, wasted two attempts trying to pass and were forced to punt.

The Tigers pushed over two touchdowns before Waite could score. Midway in the first period, when Waite was pressing its secondary to stop Tiger ball carriers, Pellegrini raced back and fired a long pass over the heads of the Indians’ safety to Willmot, who had to wait for the ball to float into his arms. He still had time to go the rest of the route for 51 yards. The pass changed the complexion of the game, for only two plays before, Willmot went high in the air to spear one of Horvath’s passes that had touchdown written all over it, for Hrabovsky had gotten behind Willmot and would have went for the works had not the latter left his feet to haul in the leather and return 29 yards to his 49-yard line, from where the Massillon touchdown pass was completed. Cardinal kicked the extra point that followed to give the Tigers a 7-0 lead.

The local team struck back quickly for a second touchdown when Pellegrini kicked off and covered Howard Schatzke’s fumbled return on the Waite 41. Pellegrini ran to the 26 and Holt plunged to the 15 but a 15-yard penalty for holding put the Tigers back momentarily. Here the old Statue of Liberty was hauled out of the bag, and Bray, taking the ball from Pellegini, ran 22 yards to the 20-yard line. Holt plunged for a first down and Pellegrini tossed to Cardinal for the rest of the distance. He again kicked the extra point to bring the score to 14-0.

Waite Comes Back

Waite took the following kickoff and did not stop until it crossed the Massillon goal. A poor kickoff went out of bounds on the Indians’ 49. Lamoreaux was thrown for a six-yard loss, so Horvath began tossing to Hrabovsky, once for 17 yards, again for 22 yards which brought a first down on the 18-yard line, and another for eight yards. A five-yard penalty for off-side gave the Indians a first down on the Tigers’ four-yard line and here the Massillonians bristled in good old fashioned spirit. Louis Smith hit for three yards, but the ball still remained on the one-yard line after the next two plays. Waite didn’t shift on fourth down, however, and with a quick opening play, Horvath broke through for the touchdown. Richard Wandtke was sent in to hold the ball for the attempted kick but fumbled it and the Indians lost the point.

The Tigers scored their only touchdown of the period on a blocked punt. Horvath intercepted Pellegrini’s pass on the seven-yard line after the Massillonians had carried the kickoff deep into Toledo territory. Horvath tried to punt on first down, but Barney Wallace got his face in the way of the ball, blocked the punt and Chuck Holt scooped up the leather and ambled over for the score. Cardinal’s kick for the extra point was wide.
The Tigers tried for another in the period and nearly got it. Time expired as Pellegrini tossed to Bray for 23 yards and a first down on the one yard line. Waite was offside. The Tigers had the choice of the ball or the penalty. They took the ball, which meant the half was over. Had they taken the penalty, Waite would have been penalized which would have placed the ball on the 19-yard line and there would have been time left for one play.

The fans didn’t understand the ruling and thought the officials had wasted precious seconds, conferring with the Massillon players which caused time to expire before the ball could be put in play again. As a result they let out a big boo when the arbitrators walked off the field. The ruling was explained during intermission.

Scoreless Third Period

Neither team scored in the third quarter, Waite advancing he greatest distance, reaching the Massillon 25-yard line on one occasion.

The Tigers got in motion early in the fourth period, however and passed and ran their way 88 yards. A 17-yard toss to Cardinal moved the ball into position for a 15-yard toss to Holt for the touchdown. Cardinal booted the extra point.

The last score came shortly after when Pellegrini again caught the Waite secondary asleep and tossed the ball to Willmot for 56 yards and a touchdown. Willmot caught the ball on the 15-yard line, which means the leather traveled approximately 56 yards through the air, since Pellegrini was almost 15 yards behind the line of scrimmage when he fired. Holt plunged the extra point.

Coach Kammer sent in his second team, and Waite soon was knocking on the Tiger door. Horvath tossed to Hrabovsky for 32 yards, and another for 11 yards put the ball on the Tiger 25. A peg to Raether advanced it to the seven and the Massillon first team went in. That made too many times out and the Tigers were penalized five yards to the two, from which Louis Smith exploded for the touchdown. Another attempt for the extra point was muffed.

The Indians still were not stopped. The next time they got the ball they struck back, Horvath tossing to Hrabovsky for 34 yards and nine yards. He tried to pitch for the touchdown, but Sam Yelic hauled to the leather on the one-yard stripe and began to run with the ball. He was tossed behind the goal for a safety and two points for Waite. The game ended before the Tigers could kick out.

Still Winners

Massillon Waite
Willmott le Collins
Williams lt V. smith
R. Wallace lg Lehman
B. Wallace c Kimpon
Weisgarber rg Foster
Paulik rt Westenkirchner
Jasinski re Raether
Cardinal qb Hrabovsky
Pellegrini lh Horvath
Bray rh Lamoreaux
Holt fb L. Smith

Score by periods:
Massillon 14 6 0 14 – 34
Waite 0 6 0 8 – 14

Substitutions – Massillon: Power, Fulton, Oberlin, Gable, Schuler, Tongas, Profant, Turkall, Yelic, Kanney, Mastriann.

Touchdowns – Willmot 2, Holt 2, Cardinal.

Points after touchdown – Cardinal 3 (placekicks), Holt (carried)

Safety – Yelic (two points for Toledo).

Referee – Slutz.
Umpire – Boone.
Headlineman – Harlow.
Field judge – Rupp.

Statistics
Mass. Waite
First Downs 10 14
Yards Rushing 72 103
Yards Lost Rushing 16 34
Net Gain Rushing 57 69
Yards Passing 173 190
Total Net Gain 230 259
Passes Attempted 14 19
Passes Completed 6 12
Times Punted 4 3
Average Punt (yards) 32 34
Times Kicked Off 6 3
Times Penalized 9 4
Yards Penalized 65 20
Fumbles 3 4
Lost Ball on Fumble 0 3

History

1942: Massillon 32, Warren Harding 0

October 30, 1942June 17, 2017
by Eric Smith

WEISGARBER HAS LARGE EVENING

Crowd of 13,467 Fans Sees Tiger Lineman Throw Warren Runners For Four Losses In A Row; Graber Injured

By Luther Emery

The Washington high Tigers ran their undefeated string to 50 games Friday evening in a slugfest with Warren Harding high in Tiger Stadium that ended in a 32-0 triumph for the Tigers and injury to their triple threat halfback, Bob Graber.

There is news to both, but at this stage of the season with Canton McKinley only three weeks away, injuries are more important to the Massillon fan’s eyes, and that’s why so many flocked into the Tiger dressing room after the game.

Sprained Ankle

Graber sustained a severe sprain to his left ankle, while tackling Warren’s fine fullback, Tony Marcarello, in the fourth quarter. An examination after the game failed to reveal any broken bones, but x-ray pictures will be taken today in order to thoroughly establish the extent of the injury.

Graber’s injury was the climax of the roughest and toughest game played in Tiger Stadium this year in which players more than once appeared to lose their temper. Only one penalty was called for unnecessary roughness, that when a Warren player was caught slugging, but throughout the evening, players showed a willingness to pile on.

The crowd of 13,467 even warmed up to the temper of the game, and several times booed the fisticuffs.

Tigers Not In Form

Still showing a tendency to fumble, and giving a poor exhibition of forward passing, the Tigers were not in form last night. They played, good hard football the first half, when they established their superiority over the visiting team and toyed with Warren the rest of the way, throwing pass after pass but only completing two out of 13 attempts for the small gain of 29 yards.

Thirty-two points as a whole are enough for any game, but the Massillon gridders did not appear to be point hungry last night. The drive they exhibited early in the game, faded the last half, and injuries immediately began to crop out.

The Tigers found in Warren just what they expected, a heavy but slow team. It may be the locals were themselves down the first two periods pushing the Presidents around. At least they looked as bad off and exhausted after the game as at anytime this season, though the only serious injury appeared to be to Graber’s ankle. Bob Wood, of Warren was carried from the field in the second half but only received a slight sprain it was revealed.

The Tigers crossed the Warren goal twice in the first period, and once in each of the remaining periods, and were denied a sixth touchdown because of a clipping penalty.

Warren threatened the Massillon goal but once, and then lost the ball on second down, when Bob Wallace covered a fumble on the four-yard line.
Vernon Weisgarber and Bob Wallace grabbed the limelight as linemen last night. The former, playing his third year of varsity football never gave a better exhibition than he did in the first quarter when he tossed Warren ball carriers for four losses in succession that totaled 21 yards. In addition he recovered a couple of Warren fumbles. Bob was battling hard throughout the night too and had a big share in the Tiger defensive line play.

Warren, as expected, showed Massillon some offense in Marcarello, who is an A-1 fullback who drives hard and does not quit driving until his nose is on the ground.

The statistics show the Tigers only gained two more first downs than the Presidents, the total was 12-10, and rolled up 332 yards to 142 yards.

You can put it down in the book that most of Warren’s 142 yards were made by Marcarello. What Coach Elwood Kammer wouldn’t give for him now that Graber has gone lame?

Two Touchdowns, One Counts

You can give Keve Bray and Chuck Holt credit for gaining most of theTiger yards. They turned in the two prettiest runs of the evening. Keve’s counted. Holt’s did not. The former’s produced the last touchdown of the game, a 74-yard gallop on a deep weak side reverse that was accompanied with a screen of fine blocking. Bray took the ball off Romeo Pellegrini almost on the east side line, and then ran fast across the field toward the west side line. He followed the great circle route, had the speed to do it and outlegged the first couple of Warren players who caught on to what was taking place. At the 50-yard line he saw his blockers forming, so he cut over toward the middle of the field to gain their support and they cut down the Warren tacklers one at a time. He found himself still in good company when he crossed into the promised land.

There wasn’t any milk and honey served up to Holt on a near similar dash in the second quarter, but his run was just as spectacular. He intercepted Tony Marcarello’s pass on his own 20, and through his own power driving and some good blocking ran straight up the middle of the field for what appeared to be a touchdown. A clipping penalty was called on the Tiger 38-yard line, however, the touchdown was denied and the Tigers were set back to their 23-yard line.

Warren finished better than its reporters thought it would, but they don’t like the idea of winning moral victories, and are not classifying last night’s contest as such. The Tiger team had them guessing just as it had many Massillon fans confused when the firing was over. They wondered how an eleven so good the first period and a half could fade so badly the remainder of the game.

An analysis seems to indicate that the Tigers concentrated more on a pass rehearsal with a 19-point lead than it did on making more points. At least the offense bogged down once two and three throws were worked into a series.

One shining bit of defensive work loomed in the fourth period when the Presidents made their only bid. Marching from their own 39-yard line, they carried the ball with the assistance of two five-yard penalties to the Tigers’ 20-yard line, where Marcarello broke loose for a 15-yard gain, and planted the ball on the five-yard line with four downs to make it in.

Marcarello was thrown into the Massillon trench to start with but the Tigers refused to yield. Then Luke White was called upon to do his stuff. He went into the pileup on the eight-man line, but lost the ball in the scuffle, and when all of the bodies were exhumed, Bob Wallace was found clutching the ball on the four-yard stripe. This ended the threat.

Moving Day

The Tigers didn’t experience any difficulty moving the Warren beef the first period even though the local line gave away 24 pounds to the man. They did a good job of rendering lard on 265-pound George Bollas, a guard, and forced him out of the game at an early stage of the contest.

Throughout the first half, the local team beat the Presidents to the first foot of ground and hit them so hard at the start, it looked as through the score could be just as high was they wanted.

Warren was the victim of “jitteritis”, or something, and fumbled frequently. On the fourth play of the game, Marcarello fumbled, and Jasinski came up with the ball on the 25-yard line. Capt. Holt deployed his team the width of the field on a spread, and Graber instead of passing, chose to run with the ball and gained seven yards. Bray reeled off 10 around left end and Graber smashed through for the touchdown. Cardinal missed the placekick for the extra point. Two fumbles and an intercepted pass later and the Tigers got the ball on a poor punt on the Warren 33. Holt moved the ball up four yards and Graber, running from a T went to a first down on the 13-yard line. Bray dribbled the ball along four yards and then knifed through left tackle for the touchdown. Holt plunged the extra point over.

Don Willmot recovered Tom Brogdon’s fumble on the Tiger 36-yard line, to start the third touchdown series. Two plays had gained six yards when Holt broke loose and ran 45 yards to the 13-yard line. Graber went over for the touchdown. Holt missed the attempted kick.

The Tigers moved down to the Warren 13 the next time they gained possession of the ball, but surrendered it on downs.

The Presidents’ defense stiffened the third period and threw the Tigers back on the 25-yard line in the opening minutes of the second half. Bray hauled in one of Tony Marcarcello’s passes on the Tiger 44 and, fumbled when tackled, Bob Wallace pounced on the ball for Massillon. Graber passed to Jasinski for 12 yards, one of two passes worked by the Tigers all evening, and another first down. In two attempts Holt lugged the leather through a mass of humanity to the 33-yard line; then plunged to another first on the 13. In three plays Holt and Graber plunged to the one-yard line and Fred Cardinal took it over. He attempted to kick the extra point but it was wide of the uprights.

The final points came in the fourth period on Bray’s 74-yard run from a deep reverse.

String Of 50

Massillon Pos. Warren
Willmot le Ecker
Williams lt Wood
R. Wallace lg Bollas
B. Wallace c Kujala
Weisgarber rg Sicuro
Paulik rt Horvath
Jasinski re Palchick
Cardinal qb T. Moarcarello
Graber lh White
Bray rh Barzak
Holt fb A. Marcarello

Score by periods:
Massillon 13 6 6 7 – 32

Substitutions – Massillon: Edwards, lt; Williams, c; Power, qb; Gibson, rh; Mastriann, fb; Yelic, lt; Kaney, lg; Pellegrini, lh.
Warren: Georges, le; Gillen, lg; Fisher, qb; Crowe, le; Brogdon, lh; Bevan, lt; Martin, rg.

Touchdowns – Graber 2, Bray 2, Cardinal.

Points after touchdown – Holt 2 (plunge and carry).

Referee – Lobach.
Umpire – Brubaker.
Headlineman – Jenkins.
Field judge – Shafer.

Statistics
Mass. Warren
First Downs 12 10
Yards Gained Rushing 327 136
Yards Lost Rushing 24 23
Net Gain Rushing 303 113
Yards Gained Passing 29 29
Total Yards Gained 332 142
Passes Attempted 13 16
Passes Completed 2 2
Had Passes Intercepted 2 7
Passes Incomplete 9 7
Times Punted 2 2
Average Punt (yards) 40 12
Yards Punts Returned 0 18
Times Kicked Off 6 1
Average Kickoff (yards) 51 54
Yards Kickoff Returned 24 88
Times Penalized 6 3
Yards Penalized 60 25

History

1942: Massillon 32, Mansfield 0

October 23, 1942June 17, 2017
by Eric Smith

CAPACITY CROWD WITNESS GAME

Approximately 9,000 Fans See Bob Graber And Keve Bray Pace Massillon Eleven In 49th Combat Without A Defeat

By Luther Emery

The Washington high Tigers played their poorest football of the season before 9,000 fans at Mansfield Friday evening and were paid the highest possible compliment for it.

They sputtered and they fumbled, and as they walked off the field with a 32-0 victory, their 49th game without a defeat, some Mansfield fans rejoiced, for they had expected to be beaten by as many as 72 points. No greater honor could be bestowed upon any team than to be a moral loser on 32 points.

Revamped Lineup

The Tigers were not at their best but neither were they their strongest. Their blocking quarterback, Fred Cardinal, sat on the bench the entire contest, two of the players, Don Willmot and Barney Wallace, were working on their nerve, and Tom Jasinski was put out in the second period for exchanging blows with a Mansfield substitute.

What the score doesn’t show is a touchdown that was not allowed because of the above mentioned fisticuffs, and the loss of six more points on a fumble at the goal line in the last 15 second.

But Mansfield has had a habit of winning its victories from Massillon the moral way and last night’s was no exception. It’s largely because the Tigers have entered every Mansfield game the heavy favorite only to find the Richland county team geared to top pitch, and ready to play its best brand of football for the season.

Only Team To Tie Tigers

Two of these so-called moral victories were credited to Richland county pigskin history in 1937 and again in 1941 when Mansfield tied the Tigers and on each occasion put a crimp in Massillon victory streaks. In fact Mansfield is the only Ohio eleven to get that near the Tigers since Canton McKinley whipped the local team 21-6 in the last game of the 1934 season.

In 1940 the Massillon eleven traveled to Mansfield, the favorite by 60 points, and wound up
in the 30’s just as it did last night. The Tyger fans rejoiced that their team had held Massillon to its lowest score thus far that season. Snyder had cooked up a right smart defense that foiled the best efforts of the great array of Tom James, Fred Blunt, Ray Getz, and Horace Gillom for the greater part of the first half.

Mansfield was riding in the clouds again last night and during the greater part of the first quarter it was the Tygers not the Tigers who were doing most of the ground gaining.

But lightning split the clouds in the form of Keve Bray ere the first quarter was about to end without a score, and the Tiger halfback raced 46 yards after taking a lateral pass, for a touchdown and Chuck Holt slam-banged his way over for the extra point that showed who was going to set the pace the rest of the game.

It took sensational ones like that to get scores last night – there was no fooling around with this Mansfield team, and the latter probably said the same about the Tigers when midway in the second period, Bob Graber dropped back into punt formation on third down with 15 to go, tucked the ball under this arm and ran 37 yards for a touchdown.

18 Points Last Half

That was enough for the half and the third quarter was well along before another 33-yard run by Graber was followed by a 14-yarder by Bray for the third touchdown of the game.

Fireworks were touched off to set up the fourth score as Bray lugged an intercepted pass 46 yards to the 19-yard line, from which it was put over in two plays with Chuck Holt carrying the ball.

The only forward pass completed by the varsity all evening, a 31-yard toss, Graber to Willmot, set up the final score of the game, with Bray lugging the leather the last five yards to the goal line.

Fumbles and interception of passes made the Tigers look bad. They lost the ball six times on fumbles and had two passes intercepted, which is kicking away a good many scoring opportunities. Since Mansfield also lost the ball several times on fumbles and pass interceptions it appears a wet ball may have been responsible for the loose ball handling. Though the field was not muddy and did not even appear soggy to the fans, it was like a sponge. Players had a hard time getting good footing, and this helped to throw off their timing.

The Tigers sought to split Mansfield with a series of quick opening plays the first half but found the Tygers a stubborn outfit, hard to run through and hard to throw against. They kept five men deployed in their secondary and Graber wasn’t pitching accurately.

Carried Ball Well

The Tiger halfback was running hard, however, and time and again got loose for long gains. It was largely a case of long gains or none. You sat with your chin in your hands when two cracks at the line failed to dent the Mansfield forward wall, but the next moment you were on your toes, when somebody broke loose for 35 yards. Then perhaps all went for naught when the ball was lost on a fumble.

That in brief, was the trend of most of the game, though the Tigers managed to hang on to the leather sufficiently to cross the goal five times, and succeeded in keeping Mansfield behind the 40-yard line.

Long runs do not make a showing in first downs but they account for yardage in the statistics. That’s why the Tigers only made 10 first downs to Mansfield’s six; but on the other hand they had a net total of 300 yards from rushing and 87 more from passing against Mansfield’s net rushing gains of 103 yards and eight yards from passing.

Roland Schmidt, a sophomore halfback, who runs fast and with knees high gained most of Mansfield’s yards in the first quarter and gave the left side of the Tiger line and the backer uppers a series of headaches, before they finally got next to stopping him. He carried the ball for three first downs in three different series of plays the opening period, getting away once for a run of 17 yards. He didn’t do much the last three periods.

Three Sophomore Backs

Three members of the Mansfield backfield were sophomores, which looks as though Coach Snyder’s strategy is to come up with a good team once every three years. He started that way four years ago and wound up with last year’s Mansfield team. He has a flock of sophs and juniors on his squad this season.

One thing about the rules of football, a player can’t defend himself from the rage of an opposing player without being put out of the game.

A good example happened last night and because of it Bray is not credited with a 55-yard touchdown sprint, which would have been the longest run of the game.

While Keve was loping along near the 20-yard line, Jasinski removed the last possible obstacle from his path by nearly knocking Joe Parry, Mansfield guard, into the stands with a vicious shoulder block. Parry was first to swing and Jasinski punched back, and in so doing punched himself right out of the game.

The touchdown was not allowed. The ball was brought back to its original position on the Massillon 45-yard line and both players were put out of the game.

Both teams were equally guilty as far as the rules are concerned, but the penalty governing this type of infraction is far from being equal. The Tigers lost a touchdown, and one of their regular players. Mansfield’s only loss was a substitute player.

Fumble Costs Touchdown

The Tiger second team only played a few minutes last night, and a fumble robbed the youngsters of an opportunity to score. Two passes thrown by Romeo Pellegrini, one for 35 yards to Bill Gable and another for 14 yards to Henry Mastriann, put the ball on the five-yard line. Mastriann plunged to within a yard of the goal, but the ball was lost on a fumble on the next play and Mansfield recovered. The game ended before the Tygers could get going.

The first quarter was almost over and the Tigers found themselves being pushed around by Mansfield, when they cut loose with their first touchdown effort. Starting from his own 20, Graber raced 34 yards around his right end to he Mansfield 46. It looked as though he was loose for a touchdown, but a Mansfield player managed to tag him on the heel causing him to lose his balance and fall. On the very next play, Bray wheeled around his left end behind fine blocking, to pick up the remaining 46 yards and Holt plunged for the extra point.
On the second series of the second quarter, Bray made his fruitless touchdown run, and the ball was restored to the 45. Graber picked up 23 yards to take the ball to the 32, and when two more plays resulted in a net loss of five yards through a penalty, he dropped into punt formation. Instead of punting he ran hard to his right, then cut back to his left and crossed the goal with ease. Holt kicked the extra point and the score was 14-0 at the half.

The Tigers threatened once in the third quarter when they blocked a Mansfield kick on the 20-yard line but they only moved up a yard in four attempts and lost the ball. They stopped Mansfield, too, and Graber brought Lewis’ fine punt back to the Tyger 47. Grabbing a lateral pass he raced around end to the 14-yard line, for a dash of 33 yards, and Bray on the next play was turned loose through left tackle for the remaining distance. Holt missed his attempted kick for the extra point.

Three fumbles and two intercepted passes later, and the Tigers were in position to score their fourth touchdown. Bray grabbed Schmidt’s pass after the Tygers had reached the Massillon 40-yard line and raced to the 19 before he was thrown out of bounds. He turned end to the one yard line on the following play and Holt banged through for the touchdown, but missed the kick for the extra point.

A 29-yard pass from Graber to Willmot planted the ball on the 10-yard line and set up the last score. Power sneaked for five yards and Bray took it over. Holt’s attempted kick was wide of the posts.

Good Enough

Massillon Pos. Mansfield
Willmot le Burrage
Edwards lt Snyder
R. Wallace lg Geattle
B. Wallace c Snowland
Weisgarber rg Hatler
Paulik rt Guy
Jasinski re Lewis
Power qb Rachel
Graber lh Schmidt
Bray rh Zivkoff
Holt fb Boyce

Score by periods:
Massillon 7 7 6 12 – 32

Substitutions – Massillon: Gable, re; Williams, rt-c; Gibson, rh; Bray, le; Oberlin, le; Pellegrini, lh; Mastriann, fb; Schuler, rg; Kanney; Keller; Tongas; Bamberger; Profant; Yelic.
Mansfield: D. Musille, fb; Parry, lg; Zeller, qb; Miller, lt; McBride, Schafer.

Touchdowns – Bray 3, Graber, Holt.

Points after touchdowns – Holt 2, (plunge and kick).

Referee – Gross.
Umpire – Long.
Headlinesman – Boone.

Statistics
Tigers Mansfield
Total First Downs 10 6
Yards Gained by Rushing 316 107
Yards Lost by Rushing 16 4
Net Yards Gained by Rushing 300 108
Net Yards Gained by Passing(a) 87 8
Forward Passes Attempted 11 7
Forward Passes Completed 3 2
Passes Had Intercepted 2 2
Times Ball Lost on Fumbles 6 4
Number of Penalties Against 2 2
Yards Lost by Penalties 10 20

History

1942: Massillon 33, Steubenville Wells 13

October 16, 1942June 17, 2017
by Eric Smith

EXCITING GAME THRILLS 18,300

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

By Luther Emery

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

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

Big Red’s First Half

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

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

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

A Great Player

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Changed Cleats

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Big Red Suffered, Too

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

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

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

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

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

Threat Stopped

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

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

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

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

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

Touchdown Parade

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

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

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

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

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

Score On Second Backfield

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

An attempt to kick the extra point failed.

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

Thrilling

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

MASSILLON SENDS STREAK TO 48
IN 33-13 TRIUMPH

Steubenville Succumbs After Leading at
Half, 7 to 6

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

MASSILLON 33
STEUBENVILLE 13

History

1942: Massillon 34, Alliance 0

October 9, 1942June 17, 2017
by Eric Smith

GRABER RETURNS PASS 97 YARDS

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

By Luther Emery

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

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

Alliance Made More First Downs

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

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

All can be explained.

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

Score On Long Runs

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Score On Breaks

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

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

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

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

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

Good Blocking

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Alliance Gains on Passes

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

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

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

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

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

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

Recovers Kickoff

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It Was 34-0

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

Score by periods:
Massillon 7 7 13 7 – 34

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

Touchdowns – Bray 2, Cardinal, Graber, Willmot.

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

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

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

10,000 WATCH AVIATORS LOSE FIRST OF YEAR

Tigers Roll to Touchdown in 2 Plays
After Getting Ball

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

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

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

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

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

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

Massillon 6 7 13 7 – 34

Touchdowns – Bray 2, Willmot, Cardinal,
Graber

Points after touchdown – Holt 3 (placements)

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

History

1942: Massillon 40, Lincoln, NE 6

October 2, 1942June 17, 2017
by Eric Smith

GREAT BLOCKING BEATS LINCOLN

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

By Luther Emery

Ox cannot lick Tiger.

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

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

Speed Excells Weight

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

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

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

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

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

Lead of 20-6 At Half

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

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

Graber’s Run Is Longest

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

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

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

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

Lincoln Flashed “T”

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

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

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

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

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

No Alibi For Defeat

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lincoln Scores First

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

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

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

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

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

Bray Ties It Up

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Great Victory

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

By Jeff Schlemmer

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

History

1942: Massillon 26, Weirton, WV 6

September 25, 1942June 17, 2017
by Eric Smith

HOLT AND BRAY CARRY THE MAIL

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

By Luther Emery

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

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

A Capacity Crowd

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

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

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

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

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

Fine First Half

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Line Gets Jump

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

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

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

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

One For Weirton

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

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

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

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

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

Improved Performance

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

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

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

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

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

Another Touchdown

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

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

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

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

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

Sweet Victory

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

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

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

Touchdowns: Holt, Bray 2, Graber, Bouyoucas.

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

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

MASSILLON WHIPS WEIRTON, 26 TO 6

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Weirton Fans Disappointed

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

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

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

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

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

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

Touchdowns – Graber, Holt, Bray 2, Bouyoucas.

Points after touchdown – Holt 2.

History

1942: Massillon 38, Cleveland Cathedral Latin 0

September 18, 1942June 17, 2017
by Eric Smith

MASSILLON TEAM SHOWS PROMISE

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

By Luther Emery

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

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

Score On Ground

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

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

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

Latin Outcharged

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Gamble Works

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

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

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

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

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

Gained with Passes

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

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

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

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

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

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

Quick Kicks Blocked

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A Real Start

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

Scores by periods
Massillon 12 7 19 0 – 38

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

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

Points after touchdown – Holt 2 (placekicks)

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

Tag: <span>Chuck Holt</span>