Tag: <span>Earle Bruce</span>

Massillon vs. McK - Throwback (Large) History

1965: Massillon 18, Canton McKinley 14

Tiger Rally Repels Bulldogs 18-14
Real Champs Fight Back!

By CHUCK HESS, JR.

“That’s the mark of a real champion!”

Those words might have been uttered by a Massillon football fan. They might have been pronounced by a Washington high school coach. They might have been written by this reporter.

But they weren’t. That’s why they mean so much more today to one of the most terrific bunch of boys ever to wear the famous orange and black garb of the Tigers.

Following the Bengals’ 18-14 come-from-behind victory over Canton McKinley Saturday at Fawcett stadium in Canton before a standing-room only crowd of 22,326. Jim Smith, coach at Lake high school in Hartville, uttered the words which lead off this story. He paid the supreme compliment to the Obiemen through veteran assistant Carl (Ducky) Schroeder.

Program Cover

* * * * *
THE TIGERS convinced one outsider that they deserve to wear the Ohio high school crown. And maybe they convinced more around the state. Whether they did or not cannot be known until Tuesday when the final wire service polls come out.

But the Brucemen convinced all the Tiger fans watching at Fawcett that they deserved to wear a second straight crown. Any team which can be down 14 points at half time to a fired-up, superbly coached, hard-hitting team like McKinley and come back to win -–for the third time this season—certainly deserves to be called a champion.

The other 2 times the Orange and Black turned the tide was against equally tough Steubenville and Warren teams. This trio of feats will be etched in the memories of the Tiger faithful forever.

The 1965 season truly saw a superb team effort on the part of the players. Each did his part. Each came to the fore time and again during a 10-game slate, which had more pressure-packed moments than an old-time movie serial.

The win Saturday gave Massillon an undefeated season in 10 games, 28 consecutive victories, 9 in a row over McKinley and a third straight title in the All-American high school football league. The Bengals have not lost a league contest since the circuit’s inception in 1963.

For Coach Earle Bruce it was a 43rd straight unbeaten game, counting the August all-star game. He now has a 3-1 record at Fawcett, having split 2 games there with Canton Timken while at Salem.
* * * * *
FOR THE thousands of fans who watched via television Saturday, it must have been like seeing a replay of an old movie on the late-late show for this year’s game came close to being a carbon copy of last year’s. The Tigers beat McKinley 20-14 at Tiger stadium in 1964.

This time, however, the WHS eleven started its comeback earlier, not waiting for the last quarter to roll around. Quarterback Dave Sheegog, playing in his final high school game, got his mates started with a 24-yard run-back of the second half kickoff to his 34-yard line.

The Tigers moved in for a score in 11 plays, finally getting their deadly, ground-gobbling, time-consuming offense into high gear. “Sweet Walter” Lemon, another senior, picked up 16 yards in 5 plays on the drive with Sheegog and junior Tommy James also in on the effort.

The touchdown came after a first down procedure penalty had set Massillon back to the McKinley 39. Sheegog handed to James on the trip up the middle and “the Scooter” was “Gone With the Wind.” He cut back to his left and scurried for payoff territory, arriving with 6:05 left in the third period. A fumble nullified the conversion attempt.

With almost 6 precious minutes chopped off the clock in the scoring soiree, McKinley attempted to get a drive going following the kickoff. But 3 plays later it was “TJ for the TD” again.

Bulldog quarterback Larry Haines attempted a pass with second down on his 33. James intercepted on the 40, went down the left sideline and scored with 5:14 remaining in the period. Another fumble aborted the conversion try.

The Bengals forced a punt on the next series as linebacker Paul Marks threw Haines for a 10-yard loss on third down. Sheegog ran back 31 yards with the boot to the McKinley 24. But a penalty and 2 incomplete passes halted the drive on the 24.

It looked as if McKinley were about to come charging back. Their outstanding fullback Larry Clayton went booming off right tackle for 28 yards to the Massillon 48 with Paige making a desperation tackle to save a score. Four more plays put the pigskin on the 35.

* * * * *
THEN SHEEGOG intercepted another pass on what McKinley Coach Ron Chismar called the key play of the game. Massillon then drove 76 yards in 13 plays for the winning score. Most important about this drive was that it clipped 8 minutes off the clock allowing too little time for McKinley to rebound. This was about the umpteenth time that the Tiger trademark of 1965, possession ball, had paid off. It couldn’t have come at any better time.

Lemon, Sheegog, Foster and James all had a hand in the assualt. Lemon had an 8-yard run, Sheegog a pair of 8’s and Foster an 11.

It was Foster who came up with what Bruce thought was the key play and so did all of the Tiger fans. Massillon had fourth down on the 17. Sheegog was about to be trapped on a pass-run when (name unreadable) out a low clothes line. Foster made a swan dive on the 9 and came up with the ball. Umpire Tony Pianowski immediately signaled a legal catch.

Foster blasted through the middle to the 3 and over, off left tackle, in successive plays with 2 minutes remaining. Sheegog tried to hit Paige for the conversion but Rick couldn’t hold it.

But the heart-throbs weren’t to stop. McKinley, showing the great stuff it is made of, continued to fight, moving the kickoff to the 29 after a 23-yard runback by Mathews to the 25.

With third down on the 27, Haines hit end Ed Hinton on the 39. Then Haines faded to pass, slipped and went down on the 29 with Mike (Big Boy) Sherrett on top of him.

* * * * *

THE NEXT PLAY saw Haines fade again. This time Marks picked off the fourth McKinley pass of the day, more than in any other game for the Tigers. Massillon took over on the Bulldog 46 and ran out the clock.

Unlike in the second half, McKinley was in command in the first period. Hopped up like a horse on loco weed, the Pups rammed away for 2 quick TD’s before the startled Tigers knew what had hit them and it looked as if an upset were in the making.

Half Fred Mathews was the star here. He ran the opening kickoff back 44 yards to the Massillon 48. Although there is no intent to play down a fine performance by Mathews, it has to be stated that a couple of Tiger defenders slipped in the mud just about the time they were going to haul Mathews down.

He picked up 40 more yards on the drive, the payoff coming on a 32-yard pass-run combination with Haines on the propelling end. The down was third and the time remaining 9:40. Greek-born George Fronimo booted the extra point soccer style in stocking feet.

The Tigers got a 20-yard runback to the 30 by Sheegog. But then disaster struck Sheegog, passing into the teeth of a strong wind, saw his aerial hold up short. Mathews hauled down the errant toss on the McKinley 35 after a frantic effort by Paige to bat it away and
hot-footed it to the Massillon 43 for 22 yards on another fabulous return. Eight plays later the Bulldogs had their second score and it looked like curtains for the Bengals.

* * * * *
WITH CLAYTON carrying the ball 5 times and picking up 25 yards, the Bulldogs got their next TD with 4:15 left in the welcome frame as Haines sneaked in from the one. Fronimo again connected on a conversion kick.

Mathews had a key third down pass reception for 6 yards on the Tiger 21. Clayton brought the ball to scoring distances by bursting through the center on successive plays to shake off tacklers and travel from the 21 to the 3.

Sheegog ran back the kickoff to the Massillon 34, a distance of 24 yards. But on the first play, Bill Knucklos recovered a Bengal fumble on the Massillon 37.

The Brucemen then stopped the Bulldogs’ drive on the Massillon 32 and the Pups got into Massillon territory only once the rest of the game.

The remaining seconds of the first period and all of the second were a standoff. McKinley had the ball for only 9 plays in the second canto. Massillon’s deepest penetration was to the 21 just before the half ended.

The Obiemen had 2 drives going, one for 6:30 and the other for 4:15. Junior “monster” back Ron Muhlbach intercepted a pass to start one thrust. The Tigers failed to make it once on a fourth down play and got bogged down by 3 procedure penalties the other time.

Chismar said after the game that he thought Massillon had a “great football team.” He said the difference between the 2 halves of play was Bruce’s throwing ‘junk” at the Bulldogs in the first half and playing his normal game in the second.

* * * * *
BRUCE confirmed Chismar’s statement about using a lot of odds and ends in the first half. He felt that his team did a better job of rushing the passer in the second half, which helped cut down on the effectiveness of the Bulldogs’ passing.

When asked what it was he said at half time to fire up the Tigers, Bruce replied, “Go Get them!” He added, “That old Massillon tradition of coming back is hard to beat.”

Chismar commented on his passing in the second half by saying that broken patterns were involved when James intercepted for a TD and Sheegog pilfered to start the drive for the winning score.

“They wouldn’t have scored if it hadn’t been for that,” Chismar said.

Chismar, a fine sportsman, refused to say that the absence of speedster Darryl Rippey hurt. “Elbert Bradley did a fine job of filling in,” he said. “I cannot take anything away from him.”

Tiger defensive backfield Coach John Behling explained the reason for the Bengals’ trouble in covering passes in the first quarter. “The boys couldn’t hear their cover calls,” he said.

The Lineups. . .

MASSILLON – 19
Ends – Paige, B. Williams, McGuire, Gallion, Griffin.
Tackles – Hartley, Neago, Petroff, Sherrett.
Guards – Rose, Whitified, Kraft, Richards, Zorger.
Centers – Marks, F. Williams, Ehmer.
Quarterbacks – Sheegog, Doolittle.
Halfbacks – Lemon, James, Muhlbach, Smith, Healy, McFadden, McLendon.
Fullbacks – Foster, Manson.

McKINLEY – 14
Ends – Ring, Snell, March, Hinton.
Tackles, Scott, Adamski, Rushe.
Guards – Robinson, Hall, Nucklos, Shimek.
Centers – D’Antonio, McEwen.
Quarterback – Haines.
Halfbacks – Mathews, Bradley, Johnson.
Fullbacks – Clayton, Dickerson.

Score by Quarters:
Massillon ………….. 0 0 12 6 – 18
McKinley………….. 14 0 0 0 – 14

Touchdowns:
Massillon – James 2 (39-yard run and 40-yard pass interception return);
Foster (3-yard run).
McKinley – Mathews (23-yard pass-run from Haines);
Haines (one-yard sneak).

Extra points:
McKinley – Fronimo 2 (placekicks).

OFFICIALS:
Referee – George Ellis (Akron).
Umpire – Tony Pianowski (Cleveland).
Head Linesman – Branton Kirk (New Philadelphia).
Field Judge – Tom Ascani (Canton).

Attendance: 22,326

Statistics . . .

Statistics
Mass. McKin.
First downs—rushing 10 7
First downs—passing 3 3
First downs—penalties 0 0
Total first downs 13 10
Yards gained rushing 165 153
Yards lost rushing 2 29
Net yards gained rushing 183 124
Net yards gained passing 43 60
Total yards gained 226 184
Passes attempted 12 11
Passes completed 4 4
Passes intercepted by 4 1
Yardage on passes intercepted 42 27
Times kicked off 4 3
Kickoff average (yards) 45.0 49
Kickoff returns (yards) 65 63
Times punted 1 1
Punt average (yards) 40.0 29
Punt returns (yards) 28 0
Had punts blocked 0 0
Fumbles 1 2
Lost fumbled ball 1 0
Penalties 5 1
Yards penalized 25 15
Touchdowns rushing 2 1
Touchdowns passing 0 1
Touchdowns by interception 1 0
Miscellaneous 0 0
Total number of plays 38 31

 

Dave Whitfield
Massillon vs. McK - Throwback (Large) History

1964: Massillon 20, Canton McKinley 14

TIGER CHAMPS AWAIT CROWNING

State Title Assured By Comeback Victory Over McKinley, 20-14

By STEVE HAPANOWICZ

There’s no truth to the rumor the ABC Television Network has offered the 1964 Massillon Tigers mass employment as scriptwriters.

The network well might hire the Tigers because the Ohio State high school football champions came up with as great a finish to a perfect season as any scriptwriter could dream up in his wildest imagination.

Program Cover

Trailing 14-0 going into the fourth quarter of Saturday’s game against Canton McKinley, a game that had the state championship at stake, an undefeated season hanging in the balance, 22,685 emotionally charged fans watching in Tiger stadium and un-numbered thousands viewing on television, the Tigers staged one of the greatest come-from-behind victories any Massillon team has put together to win 20-14.

The Tigers, who led the Associated Press poll voting as the No. 1 team in the state most of the season, should be officially crowned state champs when the final poll comes out Tuesday.

Outplayed by the hard hitting McKinley squad, stopped at the 1-yard line by the McKinley defense in the second quarter, stopped again at the 14 and at the 3-yard line in the 3rd quarter, Massillon for better than 2½ quarters of the game was a toothless Tiger held at bay by a pack of angry Bulldogs.

BUT THEN the unwritten script began to unfold, putting junior quarterback Dave Sheegog in the starring role. Sheegog, 5’ 10”, 170-pounds, came into the contest on offense when regular quarterback Steve Kanner went out with cramps in his leg. The Tigers started to move with Sheegog at the controls and by the time the gun went off signaling one of the greatest mob scenes ever seen in the stadium, the Tigers were on top, with a brand new set of teeth that look like they will last another year.

There were other hero’s in the Tiger comeback that will rate as one of the greatest in Massillon football. Gene Biddle replaced the injured John Muhlbach at center in the second half when Muhlbach sustained a severely bruised hip; Jim Lawrence, who was the most consistent runner for the Tigers beside Sheegog, and Walt Lemon who took some of the pressure off Sheegog in the late stages of the drive with his running.

Determination and persistence paid off for the Tigers who kept the pressure on McKinley despite the 14-point deficit and wore down the Bulldogs. McKinley played almost the entire game without Ed Jones, the roving cornerback, in the “monster” defense and Larry Haines who broke a finger in the second quarter, but managed to come back and almost bring the Bulldogs into the lead with a drive in the wining second of the ball game. In the final analysis, Massillon’s depth told the story. The Tigers had Sheegog, Biddle and Lemon.

The Bulldogs broke on top with 5:32 left in the first quarter. Massillon took the opening kickoff and on the third play from scrimmage lost the ball on a fumble by Ed Herring on the McKinley 49. With Kalogeras banging into the line for consistent yardage and Fred Mathews picking up a 12-yard gain, the bulldogs took 11plays to get to the 9 from where Haines hit Emanuel Bradley all alone in the end zone for the first score. Guard Henry Vafides kicked the extra point to make it 7-0.

Sheegog fumbled the ensuing kickoff with the Bulldog’s guard Tom Bradbury recovering on the Massillon 19. Kalogeras picked up 15 yards on 4 carries. With a third and 9, Haines hit end Nick Roman with a pass but Roman was stopped inches short of the goal. With fourth and inches, Kalogeras plowed over for the score. Vafides kicked what was to be the Bulldog’s final point.

************

THE TIGERS MOUNTED one offensive more in the second quarter moving from their own 46 to the McKinley 1. A penalty against McKinley for grabbing a facemask gave the Tigers the ball at the Bulldog 10 with first down. Lawrence picked up a yard up the middle, Kanner sneaked out for 3 and Hewitt went 5 to the one. With fourth and 1 Lawrence went high into the middle of the line but McKinley replused him short of the goal.

The third quarter looked no better for the Tigers despite the recovery of 2 McKinley fumbles. On the second play from scrimmage following the kickoff for the second half, Willie Hall fumbled and end Wes Goodnough recovered at the Bulldog 23. Lawrence gained 6 yards in 2 carries and Herring 3. With the ball at the 14 the Bulldogs held Lawrence on a fourth and 1 to no gain.

McKinley moved the ball to the 21 when Will Hall fumbled and Massillon’s Tom Whitifield recovered on the 19. Lawrence picked up 6 to the 13 and another 5 to the 9. After a 2-yard loss, Bobby Hewitt carried to the 4. Lawrence gained a yard and on fourth and 3 Herring was stopped at the 2 by Mathews the last man with a chance to get him.

After moving to the 11, the Bulldogs punted, Romans’ kick coming to rest at McKinley 40. There were 3 minutes and 54 seconds left in the third quarter when the Tigers started their greatest comeback in many a year.

Hewitt picked up 2 and Kanner 3. Kanner left the game and Sheegog came in. Giving a sign of things to come, Sheegog picked up 10 yards on a roll out. Hewitt picked up 4 on a second down and with third and 6 Sheegog hit end Ken Gillmore with an 8-yard pass putting the ball on the 13 with a first down coming up. Lemon squirted off for 6 yards as the quarter ended. With second and 4, Herring went to the 4 and then to the one from where Lawrence scored the first touchdown at 10:11. The extra point run by Lawrence failed and the score stood at 14-6.

McKinley couldn’t move the ball and punted to the Tiger 39 where the Tigers started a 9 play 61-yard drive. Sheegog picked up 6 yards and then hit Herring with a pass up the middle to the Bulldog 35. Lawrence gained 4 and Lemon 9 before Sheegog hit Lawrence with a pass at the 10. Lemon picked up 7 to the 3 and Lawrence 3 more.

Sheegog gained a yard to the 2 and with fourth and 1 Hewitt just made it over the goal line for the score. Sheegog tied the score at 14-all by scoring the extra points over the left side with 3:32 left in the game.

************

McKINLEY TOOK Paul Marks’ kick to the 12 and gained 6 yards in 3 carries. Roman punted to the Massillon 45 where Sheegog fielded the ball and returned it 33 yards to the Tiger 17.

Massillon missed connections on a pass and Sheegog gained 3 yards to the 14. With third and 7 Sheegog faked to Lawrence going into the line, kept the ball and went over right tackle. He broke into the clear only to be met by McKinley’s Ray Kinnard at the 3 and Mark Mathieu at the 1, but he just strained forward for the touchdown that put the Tigers ahead 20-14 with 54 seconds remaining.

But the ball game wasn’t over. With 48 second left on their own 24 the Bulldogs moved to the 42 on an 18-yard gain picked up by Haines. A halfback pass from Mathews to Hall picked up 8 yards and another pass from Haines to Mathews, the Bulldogs most dangerous runner, put the ball on the Tiger 24. On first down, Haines tried to hit Mathews with a pass inside the 5-yard line but Dave Whitfield deflected it and Mathews never had a chance for it with 11 seconds left. Mathews got another pass to move it to the 17. Thinking time had run out Massillon fans swarmed on the field, but with 1 second left to play, officials and 15 Massillon policemen cleared the field and McKinley tried one more play, Haines throwing the ball to center Jim Roman after being rushed by the Massillon defense.

Bedlam reigned for a long time on the field and in the Tiger locker room.

Coach Earle Bruce being congratulated in a packed office said, “I still can’t believe it.” Asked if he made any adjustments in the second half, Bruce replied, “No. Sheegog came through with flying colors. He’s a calm, cool and collected quarterback. We went with the quarterback keep off the inside belly series. Our game plan was to run the ball. We fumbled in the first half and didn’t in the second. Physically we came on in the second half.”

Asked if he thought the Tiger could come back while trailing 14-0, Bruce said. “You know, once you’ve come back, you always think about coming back,” Bruce said referring to the Niles game. “They just made mistakes in the second half. We made ours in the first half.”

************

FOR DON NEHLEN, who brought the Bulldogs up to contention for the state title after taking over a team that was 6-4 last year, it was a bitter defeat.

“Massillon didn’t beat us. We beat ourselves. Our mistakes beat us,” he said after the game.
“Sheegog was great for them, but Kalogeras was by far the best football player on the field. We just didn’t have quite the depth.”

Asked if his team tired late in the game, Nehlen said, “No, I don’t think so. You’d look that way too if you had your back to the wall like that. Let’s just say our daubers were down a bit.”

Nehlen was unhappy with the officiating.

“We recovered 3 of their fumbles, but we didn’t get the ball. None of the officials even looked at it,” he said.

Statistically, Massillon had the slight edge getting 215 yards to 214 for the Bulldogs and 10 first downs to McKinley’s 7. The Tigers got 158 yards rushing while McKinley had 156. In passing it was 58 for McKinley to 57 for Massillon. Massillon held the ball for 57 plays while McKinley had it for 51.

Statistics
Mass. McKin.
First downs—rushing 10 7
First downs—passing 4 2
First downs—penalties 1 0
Total first downs 15 9
Yards gained rushing 173 170
Yards lost rushing 15 14
Net yards gained rushing 158 156
Net yards gained passing 57 58
Total yards gained 215 214
Passes attempted 10 7
Passes completed 5 5
Passes intercepted by 1 0
Yardage on passes intercepted 22 0
Times kicked off 4 3
Kickoff average (yards) 46.5 53.3
Kickoff returns (yards) 62 27
Times punted 1 5
Punt average (yards) 34.0 30.6
Punt returns (yards) 52 0
Had punts blocked 0 0
Fumbles 4 3
Lost fumbled ball 2 2
Penalties 0 5
Yards penalized 0 40
Touchdowns rushing 3 1
Touchdowns passing 0 1
Touchdowns by interception 0 0
Miscellaneous 0 0
Total number of plays 57 51

McKINLEY – 14
Ends – N. Roman, E. Bradley, Ring, Chaney.
Tackles – Scott, Miller, Carpenelli, R. Kinnard, Dodd,
Frazier, Shaheen.
Guards – Spencer, Bradbury, Vafides, Ra. Spencer.
Center – J. Roman.
Backs – Haines, Mathieu, Mathews, Hall, Rippey. E. Bradley,
Kalogeras, Dunnerstick.

MASSILLON – 20
Ends – Gilmore, Franklin, Paige, Goodnough, Garcia,
D. Whitfield.
Tackles – Binge, Morgan, Rambaud.
Guards – T. Whitifield, Laursel, Zorger.
Centers – Muhlbach, Biddle.
Backs – Kanner, Sheegog, Herring, Hewitt, Lawrence, Frieg,
Pribich, Manson, Lemmon, Conti, Marks, Schenkenberger.

Massillon…………. 0 0 0 20 – 20
McKinley………… 14 0 0 14 — 14

Touchdowns – McKinley: Bradley (9-yard pass from Haines); Kalogeras (1-yard run).
Massillon: Lawrence (1-yard); Hewitt (1-yard run); Sheegog (14-yard run).

Extra points – Vafides 2 (kicks); Sheegog 2 (run).

Officials:
Referee – Tony Pianowski (Cleveland).
Umpire – Harold Rolf (Ironton).
Head Linesman – Joe Romano (Mansfield).
Field Judge – Russ Kemper (Cincinnati).

John Muhlbach
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1964: Massillon 16, Cleveland East 0

East’s Errors Help Tigers Win Opener 16-0

Manson Scores 2 TDs On 4th Quarter Plunges

By STEVE HAPANOWICZ

Lady Luck smiled on Massillon Friday night after 3 quarters of frustration and fumbles to give the Tigers a 16-0 victory over a good Cleveland East football team in the opener of the 1964 season.

The highly favored Tigers had more than they bargained for as the invading Bombers held them scoreless until late in the fourth quarter when the Tigers moved 80 yards, with the help of two 15-yard penalties, to the East 5-yard line only to lose the ball on downs.

East took over on its 5, and with second and 8, halfback Tim Lee fumbled on a mix-up in the backfield. Defensive end Wes Goodnough recovered for the Tigers on the 7-yard line with 4:39 left in the game.

Program Cover

Fullback Terry Manson, 5’9”, 188-pound junior, took it in to the 2 on the first try. Two smashes into the line didn’t get the ball over. It seemed like the Tigers would be foiled again. With fourth and 2, Manson plowed over for the score, the clock showing 2:18 left. Quarterback Steve Kanner added the extra points on a keeper.

Dave Paul kicked to the East 15 where halfback Bob Haynes brought it out to the 29. On first down East quarterback Ray Holliday fired a pass that linebacker Paul Marks intercepted at the 41 and ran back to the 1 with the aid of a key block by guard Tom Whitfield.

MANSON THEN went over from the one for the Tigers’ second touchdown with the clock showing 1:39 left in the game. Kanner again took the extra points over.

Coach Earle Bruce, making his debut as the Tiger coach after taking over from Leo Strang, whistled a sigh of relief when approached by newsmen in the Tiger dressing room after the game. Although glad that his team had won, Bruce was disappointed in its showing.

“We made too many mistakes—on our offensive assignments—and our blocking was terrible. Of course, we didn’t have the ball too often,” Bruce said before looking at the statistics sheet which showed the Tigers ran 47 plays to East’s 49.

“Then we threw one too many passes,” Bruce said referring to the first quarter when the Tigers moved the ball to the East 21. Quarterback Steve Kanner was smothered by the East line when he attempted to pass fumbling the ball and East recovering. The only other pass the Tigers tried came in the second quarter and it was incomplete.

“I can’t make any comment on our offense until I see the movies. I can’t see how we made so many mistakes,” Bruce said.
* * *
ONE BRIGHT SPOT on offense was the running of Edgar Herring, 5’5”, 148-pound senior halfback who gained 120 yards in 16 carries, including a 42-yarder from the Massillon 26 to the East 32 in the first quarter. It was the longest run of the night.

While unhappy with the offense, Bruce was fairly pleased with the defense, which allowed East only 109 yards. “Anytime you hold a team to 109 yards without scoring, you’re not doing too badly,” he said.

“We have a lot of polishing to do so we can make that trip up to the Rubber Bowl,” the coach added. The Tigers meet Niles McKinley next Saturday night in Akron in a game that has already sold almost 20,000 tickets.

Bruce praised East, saying, ‘They looked good. They really hit out on our linebackers. They didn’t make any mistakes. Joe Pledger, (the 6-foot, 195-pound East fullback) is a good boy.” Pledger picked up 92 of East’s 109 yards in 20 carries.

For 24-year old Bob Madison who was making his head-coaching debut at his high school alma mater, the game was an auspicious start. Madison sounded like an old veteran mentor when asked to comment on the game. “What can you say about losing?” he asked. However, it was obvious he was pleased with his team’s showing. “We came close, closer than any other East team.”

THIS WAS THE third meeting of the 2 schools and the Blue bombers have yet to score against Massillon. The Tigers have racked up 120 points against East.

“They (Massillon) have to go a long way offensively,” Madison said. “Of course they were looking ahead, to a certain extent,” the Colgate University graduate said. “We didn’t plan anything special except the fullback over guard with wedge blocking, hoping we could get them early. Otherwise it was straight stuff.

Actually, we’ve only had 3 days to prepare for Massillon. We couldn’t get into the building on Labor Day to get ready. As for Pledger, he’s quite a boy. There’s nothing in northeastern Ohio, at least, that will come close to Joe,” Madison said proudly of his fullback.

The Tigers penetrated to the East 21 in the first quarter and to the 38 in the second, losing the ball both times on fumbles. The scoring was all packed into the last 5 minutes of the game.

Cleveland East – 0

Ends – Matthews, Mixon, Exodus Lett, Taylor, Capers.
Tackles – Johnson, D. Young, Finley. Fitzgerald.
Guards – Murzynski, Badgett, R. Young, Ballentine, Ivory.
Center – Weaver.
Backs – Holliday, Lee, Ellis, George, Pledger, Simmons, Haynes, Lindsey.

Massillon – 16

Ends – Goodnough, B. Williams, Gillmore, Franklin, Garcia.
Tackles – Morgan, Binge, Hartley, Stevens, Paul, Croop.
Guards – Larsuel, D. Whitfield, T. Whitfield.
Center – Muhlback.
Backs – Schenkenberger, Marks, Shanor, Herring, Manson, Kanner, Frieg, Pribich, Sheegog.

Massillon 0 0 0 16 – 16
Cleveland East 0 0 0 0 – 0

Scoring – Massillon – Touchdowns – Manson 2 (runs of 2 and 1 yard).

Points after touchdown – 2 (runs)

Officials – Harvey Hodgson, Jr. (Massillon); referee – Bill Makepeace (Cincinnati);
headlinesman – A.N. Smith (Elyria; headlinesman – Bob Strimer (Delaware) field judge.

Statistics
Cleve.
Mass. East
First downs—rushing 11 9
First downs—passing 0 0
First downs—penalties 2 0
Total first downs 13 9
Yards gained rushing 223 151
Yards lost rushing 21 41
Total plays 47 49
Net yards rushing 192 109
Passes attempted 2 7
Passes completed 0 2
Passes intercepted by 1 0
Yardage on passes intercepted 40 0
Times kicked off 3 1
Kickoff average (yards) 48 45
Kickoff returns (yards) 19 62
Times punted 2 4
Punt average (yards) 38 31
Punt returns (yards) 0 8
Had punts blocked 0 0
Fumbles 3 1
Lost fumbled ball 3 1
Penalties 4 5
Yards penalized 27 53
Touchdowns rushing 2 0
Touchdowns passing 0 0
Touchdowns by interception 0 0

John Mulbach