Ivory Benjamin Archives - MassillonTigers.com

1957: Massillon 25, Canton McKinley 7

November 16, 1957September 12, 2020
by Eric Smith

Massillon Dazzles Bulldogs With Air, Ground Attack And Herculean Defense
Tigers Boast Lots of Stars As They Get Revenge Before 22,000 Fans

By CHARLIE POWELL

Desire plus blocking plus tackling.

That was the formula for success – the sweetest victory of the 1957-football season. The formulators were those supercharged peerless Massillon Tigers.

That 25-7 triumph they ran up over old rival Canton McKinley Saturday afternoon was the salt of the earth. Scrumptious…fetching…masterful…sensational…terrific…great.

These and many more superlatives are needed to tell the story of the lion-hearted lads who beat McKinley. And how they beat them!

They ran through, over and around the erstwhile state champs. They kept the Bulldogs gasping with a whale of a passing attack. And they added insult to injury with a rugged defense that on only three occasions allowed more than nine yards.
* * *
YES, IT’S OUR turn to howl and rightfully so today the city of champions is living it up.

Getting revenge for those last two setbacks, the Tigers struck for four touchdowns and one extra point.

Something like 22,000 fans saw an awesome offense which powered to 234 yards on the ground and 125 in the air; a net of 359. McKinley made 212 yards on the ground with an 83-yard gainer on an end-around giving the Bulldogs, who failed in their only two aerial attempts, their biggest lift. The Tigers hit on nine of 14 passes and carved out 16 first downs to McKinley’s seven.

And it could easily have been more than an 18-point difference at the finish.

Leading by 18-0 late in the first half, the Tigers saw an electrifying 26-yard pay dirt prance by Ivory Benjamin erased by a penalty. Late in the third period, with the score at 18-7, the blazing Bengals were pounding at the touchdown door when a fumble cost them the ball at the Bulldog 10.

Outside of the 83-yard gallop by End Charley Reeves, the closest the host team got to the Tiger goal was the 23. The first time they had the ball the Bulldogs went on the march from their own 40 and they got down to the 23 before a field goal attempt failed. Consider it a break that they got past the Tiger 43.

From that point, with fourth down and four yards to go, sub Dave Sitzman went back to punt. It was a low pass from center and Sitzman dropped the ball but picked it up and was able to move 21 yards before being grassed.
* * *
BEFORE BENJAMIN’S second period jaunt was called back it looked like the Tigers were headed for a fourth touchdown of the half. End Clyde Childers got behind the McKinley secondary at the 21 but the pass was thrown short and Reeves, racing toward his own goal, leaped high into the air for an eye opening interception that momentarily slowed up the orange and black express.

A mental lapse cost the Tigers a shutout as Reeves, finding a hole off the right side, simply outran would be tacklers. After he got past the line of scrimmage there was nobody in front of him as the defenders on the left side were “suckered” to the opposite side of the field.

So there you have it. Massillon had a big statistical advantage and with a break here and there might have punched out a six or seven touchdown margin.

But nobody is beefing. Beating McKinley by one or 41 doesn’t make much difference.

We would have settled for even a one-point win Saturday.

McKinley was no slouch. Some coaches, players and fans rate them on a par with Cleveland Benedictine, only team to up-end the Tigers this year. That the Bulldogs were a bunch of hard-hitters will be attested by the Tigers.

The Canton club, whose only previous loss was inflicted by Warren, gave ground begrudgingly. They were in there battling all the way. But the odds were too great.
* * *
COACH LEE TRESSEL moved his backs like chessman. Halfbacks ran from both left and right posts and fullbacks ran from halfback slots. Five different boys threw passes with one of them, Halfback Corky Pledgure, getting off the first of his scholastic career.

Defensively, the Tresselman certainly lived up to their reputation. Offensively, a major factor was the blocking by the linemen.

The coaches knew the weak points of the Bulldogs and the Tigers concentrated on those spots.

The highly cherished victory was the eighth in nine games for the Tigers and No. 30 for Massillon in the long, colorful series. McKinley has won 27 but only twice in the last 10 meetings. The win snapped a 25-game win string for the Bulldogs at friendly Fawcett stadium.

Still very much alive and kicking are Massillon hopes for a state championship.

The official Associated Press poll will include Thanksgiving Day games – meaning the local boys could get a big assist from Cleveland St. Ignatius.

If Benedictine loses to St. Ignatius in the senate championship fray Nov. 28, Massillon apparently would have the inside track on the gonfalon.

The Tigers really played like kings Saturday. They virtually ran the Bulldogs off the premises.

One big reason was the whirling dervish named Ivory Lee Benjamin.
* * *
THE BULLDOGS found out why Massillon thinks so much of the mercury-footed
co-captain.

He scored the first touchdown of the game, capping an 80-yard drive with a 17-yard foray that really was a beaut. He sparked the drive with runs of 11, 3 and 20 in that order.

In the second stanza he ran for 11 and Gene Stewart passed to Ronnie Williams for
22 yards to help put the pigskin on the McKinley 26. From that point Ivory came up with the best individual effort of the sunny afternoon.

He hit off left tackle and turned on the gas, spinning away from three red-shirted defenders and the last 10 yards he was strictly on his own. He began dragging tacklers with him at the 10 and the last five yards it looked like practically the whole McKinley team was trying to pull him down. He fought his way in but a clipping penalty was called at the 15.

His other long run was for 23 yards in the third quarter. On that one he was aided by Dave Dean’s fine fake.

Benjamin again led the Tiger leather-luggers as he racked up his 17th touchdown of the year and made 96 yards in 14 carries. That’s an average of 6.1 yards per try.
* * *
FOR THE ENTIRE season Ivory accounted for 1,564 yards with 1,138 of that total coming on 146 trips with the mail.

Scott Kanney averaged 6.4 yards in seven tries while Anthony and Dean, who will be back next year, averaged 5 yards each.

Co-Captain Chuck Beiter was slowed by a leg injury but the Tigers got a hard- nosed effort from the senior fullback. He averaged 3.5 yards a try.

In the passing department the Bengals staged on of their better productions.

The nine completions were good for 125 yards and two touchdowns. The receivers worked their way into the clear and the passers, Anthony, Joe Sparma and Gene Stewart, threw the ball on target – and at the right time.

McKinley had Tiger fans on edge shortly after the tussle got under way. Massillon received, gained eight yards in three plays, and had to punt with Sparma’s short, wobbly boot going out of bounds at the Bulldog 40.

After making one first down the hosts got to the 43 before going into punt formation. It was at this point that Sitzman picked up the low pass from center and ran right for 21 yards to the Tiger 22.
* * *
THE MASSILLON defense got tough and three plays later McKinley had lost a yard.

With the ball on the 23, McKinley tried a field goal at 5:40.

Guard Jesse Chenault’s boot from the 32 just missed. The ball struck the crossbar and fell harmlessly to the turf in front of the goalpost.

Apparently all this served as a shot in the arm to Massillon’s spirit.

The Tigers showed class and precision as they marched 80 yards. Benjamin started the ball rolling with an 11-yard sweep and then winged off 20 yards after he picked up three and Scott Kanney churned for five.

A sideline pass, Anthony to lanky Clyde Childers, was good for 20 yards and Tiger followers were blowing their top as the ball moved to the 17.

Then Benjamin, tearing out of the grasp of tacklers twice, showed his heels and went into the end zone standing up at 2:40. Sophomore Jim Hershberger’s placement on the extra point try sailed to the left but everybody from Tigertown was happy indeed.

And it wasn’t long until the Tresselmen again had their rooters raving.

Hase McKey kicked off twice. His first went out of bounds and on the second, the twisting leather hit at the 27 and as a couple of McKinley players watched helplessly, end Al Pierce came in to cover.
* * *
IT WAS MASSILLON’S ball on the Bulldog 25 and the Tigers were off to the races.

Benjamin fumbled and recovered for a gain of one, Beiter picked up three, Anthony hit Benjamin on a short running pass for three, Benjamin got some sharp blocking and went for five, Anthony rammed for six and Beiter came back with two as the first period ended.

On the first play of the second canto Dean got three and a first down before Sparma, on an option play to the left, just had room to get over the final stripe. At 11:16 Hershberger’s kick was wide but few fans were worrying. It was 12-0.

After the kickoff McKinley made one first down as Bob Kettlewell and Bob Cook collaborated for 12 yards but at the 43 the red and black was forced to punt.

Defensive end Leaman Williamson, a tower of strength for the Tigers all season, barreled in to block Sitzman’s kick and second string defensive tackle John Donat pounced on the pighide at the McKinley 40.

Another touchdown play was pulled off by the Bengals as Sparma, given beautiful protection, threw down the middle to Anthony, all alone at the 23. Mark chugged in at 7:08 and still it was 18-0 as a bad pass from center ruined the extra point try.

There was no further scoring the first half but late in the second chapter the Tigers were pounding hard.
* * *
STEWART THREW like a pro to Williams for 22 yards and Benjamin, cutting back off the left side, fought his way for 11 yards before the same kid zipped 26 yards – but to no avail.

McKinley’s score in the third period came after an exchange of punts. On the first Massillon series Kanney got off a 20-yarder but at the McKinley 40 Sparma had to punt with Jordon Fronimo being smeared at the 13.

Cook gained two and Fronimo two before Reeves carried on an end-around. He had just enough room to get through the right side and was gone. Sub back John Fontes made it
18-7 at 4:20.

That was McKinley’s last chance to stand up and cheer.

After the kickoff Benjamin got loose for 23 yards and Dean, on a dive play off the right side, blasted for 13 before a fumble gave the Bulldogs possession at their 10.

After an exchange of punts in the final round the Tigers added another clincher. They used air and ground maneuvers to go 65 yards with the choice bits being a 15-yard pass from Anthony to Childers, an 11-yard pass from Anthony to Benjamin and a 12-yard jaunt by Kanney.
* * *
THE DRIVE WAS climaxed at 2:20 when Williams made a terrific catch of a Sparma pass in the end zone. This time McKey tried the extra point and made it. Five plays later Massillon’s revenge victory entered the record books.

Jubilant Massillon players and fans cut loose as soon as it was over. Coach Tressel was carried from the field and the Tiger locker room, close to 30 minutes afterward, was a mass of hysterically happy humanity.

Besides Childers, Beiter, Williamson, Williams, Getz, Benjamin, Stewart, Anthony and Kanney, the seniors are Harold Slabuagh, Joe Brownlee, Tom Heine, Pete Heimann, Al Slicker, Paul Lawson, Noah Taylor, Jesse Steele, Dan Swartz, Maury Snavely, Jim Cook, Bobo Hagan, Roger Reese, and John Halter.

The summary:
MASSILLON
ENDS – Childers, Williams, Hagan, Zorn, Mitchell, Wood, Steele, Pierce, Snavely.
TACKLES – Slabaugh, Slicker, Brownlee, Halter, Donat, Karrenbauer.
GUARDS – Heine, Heimann, McKey, Bendar, Taylor, Cook.
CENTERS – Williamson, Swartz.
QUARTERBACKS – Getz, Sparma.
HALFBACKS – Benjamin, Pledgure, Anthony, Allen, Snively, Lawson, Clark, Stewart, Hershberger.
FULLBACKS – Kanney, Beiter, Dean, Reese.

McKINLEY
ENDS – Reeves, Bowes, Tolson.
TACKLES – Swimmer, Patterson, Guedel.
GUARDS – Chenault, Bender, Connor, Rossetti.
CENTERS – Bridges, Hodge.
QUARTERBACKS – Cook, Sitzman.
HALFBACKS – Fronimo, Kettlewell, Fontes.
FULLBACKS – Martin, Turner.

Massillon 6 12 0 7 25
McKinley 0 0 7 0 7

Massillon scoring:
Touchdowns – Benjamin (17-run), Sparma (2-run); Anthony (40-pass); Williams (10-pass).
Extra points – McKey (placement).

McKinley scoring:
Touchdown – Reeves (83-run).
Extra point – Fontes (placesment).

STATISTICS
Mass. McK.
First downs, rushing 11 7
First downs, passing 5 0
First downs, penalties 0 0
First downs, total 16 1
Yards gained, running plays 254 235
Yards lost, running plays. 20 23
Net yardage, running plays 234 212
Passes attempted 14 2
Passes completed 9 0
Passes had intercepted 1 0
Yards gained passing 125 0
Total yardage, running, passing 359 212
Number of kickoff returns 2 4
Yardage, kickoff returns 24 77
Average length of kickoff returns 12 19
Number of punt returns 1 0
Yardage, punt returns 19 0
Average length of punt returns 19 0
Number of punts 4 5
Total yardage on punts 100 137
Average length of punts 25 27
Number of penalties 4 2
Yards lost on penalties 50 10
Number of fumbles 4 1
Own fumbles recovered 2 0
Ball lost on fumbles 2 1

History

1957: Massillon 33, Akron Garfield 0

November 8, 1957July 8, 2017
by Eric Smith

Tigers Defeat Akron Garfield 33-0
Presidents Removed From Unbeaten; Now It’s Beat McKinley!

By CHARLIE POWELL

A fancy aerial barrage that produced seven hits in 11 tries, the nimble feet of flyboy Ivory Benjamin and a defense that just wouldn’t stop for a second wind.

These were the three essentials the Massillon Tigers added up to a 33-0 scuttling of Akron Garfield before 8,919 shivering fans at Tiger stadium Friday night.

And so Garfield hopes for an undefeated season were sent sailing into the regions more familiar to Sputnik and Muttnik.
* * *
IT WAS MASSILLON’S seventh victory in eight starts and its sixth straight without defeat in the series while the loss was the first after eight consecutive wins by the Presidents. Thus the Tigers maintained their status of never having lost to an Akron team since South turned the trick by a point back in 1931.

And now we of Tigertown – for that matter people throughout the entire state – await with mixed emotions the biggest battle of the year.

Nobody needs to be reminded that the most pompous pigskin hoe down will send the Tigers against the ancient, fierce rival from Canton McKinley.

A week from today with Fawcett stadium as the setting the Massillon-Canton supremacy will be determined for the 62nd time.
BEAT McKINLEY!
You will hear that cry all hours of the day…and if you aren’t a dyed-in-the-wool Tiger rooter you’d better get used to it.

BEAT McKINLEY…nothing else matters for awhile.

More than one big prize may be the stake as far as the Tigers are concerned.

A victory over McKinley would be sweet revenge for the 1955 and 1956 reversals but much, much more important – a win could lead to Ohio’s scholastic championship.

Top-ranking Cleveland Benedictine beat John Adams 28-7 last night and off that performance it would appear that the Clevelanders failed to increase their prestige much, if at all. But don’t do any betting.

Benedictine will be idle next week. It has one game left – with St. Ignatius for the city championship – after the state title is decided.
* * *
THE TIGERS were anticipating a rugged time with Garfield but it was strictly no match.

Garfield was completely out-played. Its offense was confined to a mere net of 56 yards and its defense failed to ruffle the running of the swivel-hipped Benjamin or a passing attack that clicked off 126 yards.

The smallest crowd to watch a varsity encounter at the stadium in many a moon may not have gotten much warmth out of the action but there was plenty of goings-on to warm the hearts of Massillon fans.

Benjamin hiked his touchdown total to 16 for the season as he scored three times. He sparked, then capped, a short drive from one yard out, sped 46 yards on a sweep and showed his heels on a 58-yard pass play.

He carted the swinehide 18 times for 96 yards and snagged four passes for 102 yards.
* * *
THE OTHER touchdowns were made by the lanky end, Clyde Childers, on a four-yard pass play (Mark Anthony tossed both TD aerials from a halfback position) and third string fullback Ken Dean, who went in from two yards out. Sophomore Halfback Jim Hershberger kicked the three extra points.

That was not all: one other touchdown was made against the team which in eight previous tilts had allowed only four six-pointers, but both were nullified by penalties. Quarterback Bob Getz hit Childers on a 39-yard play wiped out by a backfield-in-motion call.

Officially, Getz threw one incomplete pass while Anthony had a perfect 4-for-4 mark and Sparma completed three of six.

To add to it all, punters – due to the wind which flew in all directions – had a rough time with one Garfield boot going only five yards and another eight yards in reverse. Both teams lacked 11 players on the field on two occasions and on one kickoff the ball was held for a left-footed kicker but the actual kicker was right-footed.
* * *
ROGER REESE, the ace linebacker, was called upon to handle the Tiger punting chores after Childers split a toe in a pre-game warm-up. Roger averaged over 24 yards on three kicks while Garfield’s Bob Price averaged over 28 yards on seven boots.

The Tigers played without the injured Chuck Beiter and Gene Stewart, while the Prexies lost Halfback Lou Rizzo in the second period and Quarterback Joe Rossi early in the final canto.
While Corky Pledgure, Anthony and Dave Dean gave Benjamin some fine backing on attack, Massillon’s defensive stickouts were Leaman Williamson, Joe Brownlee and Reese.

Garfield gained 84 yards on 33 rushing plays and Tiger defenders threw the invaders for losses totaling 28 yards. Massillon gained 195 yards and lost 33 on 45 running plays.

Tiger Coach Lee Tressel thought the Massillon defense made the big difference.
* * *
“I THOUGHT Garfield had a better club than last year. We were not as sharp offensively. But they are not a poor defensive team.”

“Those passes and Ivory’s running pulled us out.”

The crowd, which began leaving after the Tigers jumped on their lead to 27-0 with 3:37 remaining in the third period, brought home attendance for the year (six games) to 80,953.

This was below the 86,170 for seven games in 1956 but a bit higher than the 76,963 admissions for seven games the previous year.

The first time Massillon got the ball last night it racked up six points, thanks to a nifty
58-yard pass play. Anthony pitching and Benjamin catching.
* * *
GARFIELD had to punt after receiving the opening kickoff with the ball being grounded at the Tiger 31. A clipping penalty against Massillon and then a 5-yarder against Garfield for an illegal substitution set the oval on the 35. Benjamin, Kanney and Pledgure moved it to the 42 from where Anthony tossed a short running pass to Benjamin.

Ivory grabbed the throw on the 49 and took off. At the Garfield 35 he cut away from two would-be tacklers and at the five steamed past the safetyman. Hershberger came in to boot the extra point and the Tigers were in the van at 7:37.

Garfield received, again had to punt and this time the Tigers went on the prowl at the Prexy 36 as Price’s kick went “up the shaft” and landed only five yards past the scrimmage line.

Short runs by Benjamin, Anthony, Dean, Pledgure and Kanney plus a 10-yard pass, Sparma to Pledgure, moved the local boys to the enemy one. However, on fourth down at the four that many Garfield players “ganged up” to stop Benjamin at the three.
* * *
EARLY IN the second period the teams swapped fumbles. Cornerman Al Pierce pounced on Price’s bobble at the Garfield 39 and again the orange and black utilized short-yardage plays. Sparma twirled to Benjamin for nine yards and Ivory, Anthony and Dean kept pounding off the tackles to set the stage for a second score.

From the four Anthony threw the running pass again. Childers made a nice over-the-shoulder catch in the end zone, Hershberger converted and it was 14-0 at 6:29.

Neither side mustered anything resembling a threat the rest of the half.

A pass interception by Reese after Jerry Mitchell deflected the pitch by Rossi, put Massillon in position for its third TD.

Reese was downed at the Prexy 34 and a 12-yard pass, Anthony to Benjamin and a 10-yard bang off the right side by Dean helped advance the ball to the one before Benjamin dived across behind Tackle Harold Slabaugh. At 6:25, Hershberger again converted.
* * *
GARFIELD was forced to punt again after the kickoff and Jim Snively returned to midfield. Pledgure gained four at left tackle before Benjamin counted again.

This time Ivory took at pitchout, cut around the right side, broke in the clear at the 25 and outran two Garfield boys to the end zone – a 46-yard gallop. At 3:37 Hershberger’s kick placement sailed low of the bar but the orange rode high, 27-0.

The fourth quarter touchdown came on a 39-yard foray after the Getz to Childers pass from the 39 was vetoed by a penalty. Big gainers in this movement included Anthony’s
11-yard sweep and his pass to Benjamin good for 11-yards.

From the two Dean drove off right guard for the score at 6:05. Hershberger’s kick was partially blocked.

After that tally Coach Tressel began to substitute and before the game was over, 45 players including 23 seniors, saw action.

The summary:
MASSILLON
ENDS – Childers, Williams, Williamson, Hagan, Zorn, Mitchell, Oliver, Wood, Steele, A. Pierce, Snavely.
TACKLES – Slabaugh, A. Slicker, Brownlee, Halter, Donat, Karrenbaurer, Bordner, Lane.
GUARDS – Heine, Heimann, McKey, Taylor, Bednar, Perry, J. Kasunick, Cook.
CENTERS – Williamson, Swartz, Shilling, Reese.
QUARTERBACKS – Getz, Sparma, Kocher.
HALFBACKS – Benjamin, Pledgure, Anthony, Snively, Clark, Garcia, Young, Allen, Hershberger.
FULLBACKS – Kanney, Dean, Morrow.

AKRON GARFIELD
ENDS – Lupori, Younger, Blouir, Grasso.
TACKLES – Wiseman, Hicks, Piurkowski, Valatka.
GUARDS – Rekettye, Hollendoner, Capatosta, Black, Sabatino.
CENTERS – Smith, Phillips.
QUARTERBACKS – Rossi, Luperi.
HALFBACKS – Rizzo, Miskar, Price, Rich, Salchek.
FULLBACKS – Arshinkoff, Trusa.

Score by quarters:
Massillon 7 7 13 6 33

Touchdowns – Benjamin 3, Childers, Dean.
Extra Points – Hershberger (placements).

STATISTICS
Mass. Gar.
First downs, rushing 8 4
First downs, passing 5 0
First downs, penalties 0 0
First downs, total 13 4
Yards gained, running plays 195 84
Yards lost, running plays. 33 28
Net yardage, running plays 162 56
Passes attempted 11 7
Passes completed 7 1
Passes had intercepted 0 2
Yards gained passing 126 2
Total yardage, running,
Passing 268 58
Number of kickoff returns 1 6
Yardage, kickoff returns 30 53
Average length of kickoff
returns 30 8.8
Number of punt returns 3 7
Total yardage on punts 75 202
Average length of punts 24.9 28.8
Number of penalties 5 3
Yards lost on penalties 45 35
Number of fumbles 3 4
Own fumbles recovered 2 2
Ball lost on fumbles 1 1

History

1957: Massillon 30, Barberton 0

November 1, 1957July 8, 2017
by Eric Smith

Tigers Take Magic Out Of Barberton 30-0
Benjamin Romps For Three Touchdowns, Averages 17 Yards

By CHARLIE POWELL

It’s an exception rather than the rule when somebody in a Massillon Tiger jersey puts on a one-man show.

There was an exception Friday night and that “somebody” was the flashy fireball named Ivory Lee Benjamin.

The kid with dash, daring and 300-horsepower legs gave Tigertown fans a treat and Barberton the treatment as he sparked the Bengals to a methodical 30-0 victory over the not-so-magic Magics before some 7,000 chilled rooters at the Barberton stadium.

He pranced to pay dirt three times on runs of eight, 41 and 56 yards. Well, actually four times, but a 43-yard trip was made null and void by a penalty.

He toted the pighide 13 times and wound up with a gain of 225 yards. He caught one pass for four yards, intercepted on enemy pass and made quite a few stops on defense. He now has made 13 touchdowns.

Any wonder why we say he was a one-man wrecking crew?
* * *
BENJAMIN LEFT the Barberton fans buzzing. A few may have kept right on talking about him after they went to sleep.

After the show produced by the Tiger co-captain and left halfback was concluded, Barberton’s general mentor, Junie Ferrall wasn’t about to go into the whys and wherefores of the battle.

He just kept shaking his head and repeating, “That Benjamin…just too much Benjamin.”

Well, Mr. Ferrall, as you know and we all know, he couldn’t have done it all by his lonesome.

How about that line which opened holes you could have engineered a battleship through? How about the timely running of Scott Kanney, who was filling in at fullback in place of the injured Chuck Beiter? How about that fine ball-handling in the backfield? How about that defense which limited the Magics to 65 yards on the ground?

There were two big reasons why the Tigers didn’t do more damage.
* * *
ONE – THE BARBERTON quarterback, Bob Mobley, whose faking, running and passing antics kept the defenders off balance all night. Two – the fact that the Bengals began to rest on their laurels once it appeared evident they could move the ball and Barberton couldn’t.

Anyway you looked at it, the Tigers put their sixth victory of the season in the record books.

It was Massillon’s ninth straight win in the 21-game series, which has now seen the Tigers cop the duke 17 times.

And now in 1957 two remaining – unbeaten Akron Garfield and once-beaten, Canton McKinley.

The loss was the fifth in eight starts for Barberton, which will end the season against Roger Bacon high at Cincinnati next week.
* * *
COACH LEE TRESSELL summed things up this way:

“As a whole we moved the ball pretty well. Ivory looked real good. So did Scott (Kanney) and Leaman (Williamson).

“That Mobley was something. He kept us guessing, as we thought he would. Although our pass defense allowed seven completions, we weren’t hurt too much. But between their passing and the running of Burroughs (Bob) we had enough to worry about.”

Kanney averaged over 12 yards a carry and tallied a first period touchdown on a 17-yard blast up the middle. The other Tiger TD was made by speedy Jim Snively, who zoomed 50 yards on a punt return to add icing to the cake in the last quarter.

Williamson made tackles in wholesale lots and blocked a punt.

Mobley, a southpaw slicker, ran the Barberton team with plenty of nerve. The junior standout handled the ball like a pro, hit on five of 10 passes, caught two aerials, intercepted one Massillon forward and ran five times for 17 yards.
* * *
BURROUGHS, a 215-pound sophomore, who is built like a tank, churned through the line 15 times and averaged over three yards a clip.

All told, the host team connected on seven of 16 aerials but failed to offset the crunching ground attack of the Orange and Black.

With Benjamin averaging 17-yards per carry, Massillon had a net rushing gain of 347 yards.

Total yardage was Massillon 351, Barberton 136.

Yet the Magics had the ball for 49 running and passing plays and Massillon was limited to 33 rushing-passing attempts.

But like Ferrall said, “Benjamin was the big difference.”
* * *
IVORY HAD Tiger fans roaring in the first three minutes of the game. The Bengals received and started to roll from their own 19.

The first Time Benjamin carried he went 15 yards. Then he whizzed for 36 and 31 to help set up his own touchdown from the eight-yard line with only two minutes and 48 seconds elapsed.

On the pay dirt foray he hit off the right side and went in standing up. It was almost a carbon copy of the plays that were good for 15, 21 and 36 yards. Soph Quarterback Joe Sparma tried the extra point but his kick sailed to the left.

After the teams exchanged punts and pass interceptions, Massillon was knocking at TD door again.

Defensive Halfback Jerry Mitchell pounced on a fumble at the 33 and in two plays the rambunctious Kanney covered the remaining distance. He shot through the left side for 16, then came back over the right side, found a hole, and went 17 yards with only one Barberton player getting a hand on him.
* * *
THIS TIME Sparma’s placement was low and to the right and it was 12-0 with 45 seconds remaining in the opening round.

Barberton bolted back and for a while it looked like the purple was going to tighten the issue.

With Mobley twirling to End Alan Cooksey for 19, Halfback March Ferguson gaining seven and John Howe, from kick formation, throwing to Mobley for 14, the Magics advanced to the Tiger 19.

Then the Magics were penalized 15 yards for holding and after Halfback Norm Spencer gained one, Joe Brownlee and Williamson decked Mobley for an 11-yard loss on a pass play. On fourth down Ferguson took off on a double reverse but slipped and fell as he turned the corner and Massillon had possession on the 43.
* * *
A MOMENT later Mobley intercepted a pass by Gene Stewart but the Tigers held and took possession at the 35. Kanney ripped off 17, then 17 more after Benjamin banged for 25 but time ran out and the score was still 12-0 at intermission.

Benjamin’s 41-yard jaunt to the Promised Land came after his 43-yarder was nullified. At the start of the second half Howe kicked dead at the 23 and the Tresslelmen rolled to the Barberton 43 before Ivory turned on all jets and outran Mobley to the end zone.

A backfield-in-motion penalty put the oval back on the 41. Sub Fullback Dave Dean rammed for seven before Benjamin made his second official trip to pay dirt. He slammed through the middle, was stopped momentarily at the Magic 38 and then was long gone.

On the PAT attempt the snap from center went astray and McKey, the kicker, picked up the ball and attempted to run across only to be stopped a yard short. And so it was 18-0 with 4:48 remaining in the panel.

There was no further excitement in that period.
* * *
EARLY in the final canto Barberton gambled and lost. With fourth and four at its own 44, the host club went in punt formation but Howe passed and it was a little too far for Mobley.

Massillon took over and after Sparma’s pass to Mark Anthony failed to hit the target, Benjamin again did a little hurrying. He found a hole at left tackle and steamed 56 yards to make it 24-0 at 5:40. McKey again kicked but the ball veered off to the right.

Following the kickoff the Magics were forced to punt with Howe booting from his 19, Snively fielded the ball at midfield and set sail down the west sideline. Behind a cordon of blockers he ran in a direct line until he got to the 15 where he cut away from one would-be tackler and continued on to touchdown land. McKey’s kick was partially blocked and that was the final 30 to zero.

Barberton proceeded to move from its own 27 to the Bengal 29 as three passes picked up 30 yards but the Magics needed time, a lot more than was left on the clock.

The Tigers came out of the fray in fairly good shape. End Maury Snavely sustained a broken nose and Stewart received a leg injury in the third period.

The summary:
MASSILLON
ENDS – Childers, Snavely, Williams, Mitchell, Wood, Steele, Pierce, Hagan, Zorn.
TACKLES – Slabaugh, Slicker, Brownlee, Halter, Donat, Karrenbauer.
GUARDS – Heine, Heimann, McKey, Perry, Taylor, Cook.
CENTERS – Williamson, Swartz, Reese, Shilling.
QUARTERBACKS – Getz, Sparma.
HALFBACKS – Benjamin, Stewart, Anthony, Pledgure, Snively, Lawson, Clark, Allen, Hershberger.
FULLBACKS – Kanney, Dean.

BARBERTON
ENDS – Bill Mobley, Skrabe, Dawson, Cooksey, Howe.
TACKLES – Thomas, Goletz, Memeth.
GUARDS – Smith, Mystovich, Alexandre, Tonoyitz.
CENTERS – Schenz, Velloney.
QUARTERBACKS – Bob Mobley, Blough.
HALFBACKS – Spencer, Ferguson, Hudgens, Luetig, Stanley.
FULLBACKS – Burroughs, Nemeth.

Score by quarter:
Massillon 12 0 6 12 30

Massillon scoring: Touchdowns – Benjamin 3, Kanney, Snively

STATISTICS
Mass. Bar.
First downs, rushing 13 5
First downs, passing 0 4
First downs, penalties 0 2
First downs, total 13 11
Yards gained, running plays 364 116
Yards lost, running plays. 17 51
Net yardage, running plays 346 65
Passes attempted 6 16
Passes completed 1 7
Passes had intercepted 2 1
Yards returned, intercepted
Passes 6 31
Yards gained, passing 4 71
Total yardage, running,
Passing 351 136
Number of punt returns 2 0
Yardage punt returns 63 0
Average length of punt
Returns 21 0
Number of punts 2 4
Total yardage on punts 52 135
Average length of punts 26.0 33.7
Number of penalties 7 2
Yards lost on penalties 65 20
Number of fumbles 2 4
Own fumbles recovered 2 3
Ball lost on fumbles 0 1

History

1957: Massillon 20, Warren Harding 14

October 25, 1957July 8, 2017
by Eric Smith

State’s No. 1 Team Falls Before 21,384 Fans After Second Half Surge Ties Score
Desperation Pass Wins For Tigers
Sparma-Childers Duo Puts Massillon Back In Running for Title

By CHARLIE POWELL

The pass was slightly wobbly.

The catch was miraculous, one you have to consider lucky.

But it was the best darn pass Massillon has seen for a long, long time.

It was unfurled by a gutty sophomore Joe Sparma by name, third string quarterback. He threw it some 46 yards and time ran out as it was in the air, for only four seconds remained when the play started.

The Horatio Alger was Clyde Childers senior, first string left end. This kid can do just about anything in big league fashion when he makes up his mind. He streaked past the secondary to the two yard line and as he saw the pigpelt wasn’t going to catch up to him, retraced his steps back to the four. Simultaneously he and Willie Jones, defensive halfback for the erstwhile state leaders, leaped into the air. Big Clyde stretched his 6 ft. 4 frame but managed to get only one hand on the ball.

His paw deflected the ball a bit and he jumped up again at the three-yard line.

He was more than a match for Jones this time. He latched his mitts on the ball – and by instinct, wheeled around and churned off the three most important yards of his young life.

Massillon 20, Warren 14,

Absolute pandemonium reigned at Tiger stadium. Like bees swarming to a hive, the fighting Tigers, their coaches and a couple hundred fans rushed toward the vicinity of the south goal where Childers, then Sparma, then Coach Lee Tressel were mobbed.
* * *
THERE WAS NO opportunity for an attempt at the extra point and for the moment, nobody was giving it much thought.

If you just gasped for breath and your eyes were glassy, you weren’t alone. If you screamed and yelled and raved and even shed a few tears of joy, you weren’t alone.

Today, perhaps you can’t remember what you said or did – but brothers and sisters, you aren’t alone.

The tumult and the shouting lasted long after the players got to the locker room. As it started to die down, the Tigers came back on the field, headed for the south goal and amid the din looked around for a football, an opposing team – anything. They wanted to try for the 21st point.

Nothing happened for a couple of minutes and back they went for the usual post-game prayer and then much more celebrating. Those who had been in the conflict viewed by 21,384 fans grew more tired. Those who watched from the sidelines worked up more than a sweat. They really whopped it up.
* * *
THE CELEBRATION was reminiscent of a blast following a state championship victory over arch-rival McKinley.

Out on the field and then in the officials’ room, Warren Coach Gene Slaugher, some of his assistants and a few fans, were showing their ire.

Their argument kept things around the big place humming long after most fans were homeward bound. They claimed that Massillon got an “extra minute” in the late stages of the battle.

They argued that the scoreboard timepiece after reaching the minute mark in the final period, showed 1:59 to go.

There was 2:35 remaining when Massillon got possession of the ball the last time. Time was out at 1:29 after a first down pass was incomplete and fourth down was coming up. After a pass from Halfback Gene Stewart to Halfback Ivory Benjamin made connections, they had to measure for a first down. Time was out at 1:09. The Tigers got the stick mover by a couple inches and here is what happened after that:
* * *
QUARTERBACK BOB GETZ threw a screen pass to Roger Reese, who was in at fullback. The ball was partially deflected by a Warren player but Reese caught the ball as he was falling. It was a six-yard loss back to the 44. At 0:40 Getz hit Childers on a seven-yard gainer.

Stewart passed again with the effort intended for end Ronnie Williams on about the 10. Three Panthers outfought Williams for the grab and the scoreboard read “0:04.”

Childers made the sensational catch and touchdown and just about everybody in the house went off their “rocker.”

Slaughter and others talked the situation over with the officials and Massillon coaches. It was brought out that through a quirk on the part of the scoreboard the figure one flashed back one while the last 59 seconds were ticking off.

However, the “one” was not showing with 40 and four seconds remaining.

Slaughter was a gentleman through it all. After being assured that it is impossible to set the time back, he asserted that he was not disputing “the honesty of anybody.”

When he first took up the argument he said he planned to lodge a protest regarding the matter. Later he iterated his statement, saying he was going to call H.W. Emswiler, commissioner of Ohio high school athletics, this morning.
* * *
LONG AFTER most fans were on their way home, Tiger Faculty Manager Roger Price manned the operating system for the scoreboard.

The time piece was started twice.

Instead of reading 0:59 the first time, the figure one flashed one and a minute and 59 seconds ticked off. But on the second test, everything went normal. After the board showed 1:00 it read 0:59, 0:58, and so on.

A mechanical malfunction.

Apparently Slaughter saw the light but still wasn’t entirely satisfied. The young,
good-natured mentor whose team lost a heart-breaker, laughed and remarked, “You’d
better get that thing fixed” as he turned and headed for the Warren team bus.
* * *
AFTER COACH Tressel, who was in bed all day Friday, (the flu bug is catching up to him) caught a second breath he commented:

“We were real good the first half and they were good the second half. They have a real good team. They moved the ball that second half. Our offense bogged down.”

“I thought our tackling was good all night. I guess the boys had the desire.”

He might have added that the Tigers appeared to be a tired bunch the last quarter. They were hitting hard – and getting hit hard.

While the offense shined the first half, it was the Orange and Black defense which came in for a giant bouquet the last two periods.

Late in the second period the local hustlers stopped a Panther bid at the nine. After Warren tied the score in the last stanza, the defensive units of both sides took charge.

After Tackle John Pietela’s placement made it 14-14 with 10 minutes and 20 seconds remaining, each team had the ball three series before the Tigers got it a fourth and
game-winning time.

Until Massillon gained possession the last time, neither team made a first down. All three times each was forced to punt.

With four minutes left, some fans sent up a howl as the Tigers punted from their own 40. It was fourth and one and apparently they were worrying about the time.
* * *
WARREN HAD to kick from its 39 and Benjamin returned from his 29 to the 38. Ivory and Jerry Allen made a first down at the Panther 48 before Sparma, with his pass receivers covered, was felled for a nine-yard loss. However, Benjamin zipped for nine on a
cross-buck and the Tigers still were in business.

With 1:40 left Stewart’s pass to Childers was too hot to handle but Benjamin took a throw from Stewart for 10 yards and the first down that set the stage for the big developments which gave the Tigers their fifth triumph in six starts.

The win surely will hike Massillon’s stock in the state grid polls. Undoubtedly, Cleveland Benedictine, which has been second after topping Massillon, will move into the No. 1 slot next week.

The championship race could turn out to be a lulu. Much will hinge on the Tigers’ remaining games with Barberton (there next Friday), Akron Garfield (here Nov. 8) and McKinley (at Fawcett stadium Nov. 16).

Massillon fans, used to seeing their team get behind in the first half, were gratified with last night’s early developments that gave the Orangemen the jump.

Warren received and after making two first downs, was forced to punt. The Tigers, for the first time this season, put on a punt rush and Bob Sims, Warren’s main threat in the ball carrying department, was forced to hurry his kick from the Panther 34.
* * *
THE PIGSKIN sailed out of bounds at the Warren 47 and the Tigers clicked on all cylinders. After Benjamin gained three, they pulled off a running pass good for 19 yards with Stewart doing the tossing and Benjamin the catching.

Benjamin, Stewart, Chuck Beiter, (who was slowed up by a pulled leg muscle) and Corky Pledgure carved out two first downs to plant the ball on the four.

From that point Benjamin, on a “belly” play, cracked off the right side and tallied standing up. Sparma came in and booted the PAT to make it 7-0 at 4:10.

Before the quarter was history, Massillon hit pay dirt again.

Again, Warren failed to get a first down after the kickoff and again Sims was hurried on a punting situation from the 29. This time the ball went out of bounds at the 42.

Benjamin got five, then came back on a smash through the middle for seven. A pass was incomplete and Benjamin made only one but on third down Stewart wound up again.

His pass went into the end zone where Childers made a fine over-the-shoulder catch. Hase McKey came in this time for the placement. He made it 14-0 at 1:48 and the joint was really jumping.
* * *
IN THE SECOND period the invading outfit, which had won its first six games, never threatened. The Tresselmen threw them for losses amounting to 25 yards.

But the Tigers did no damage as the Panther defense tightened and allowed only two first downs.

Massillon had to punt after Fullback Scott Kanney ripped for 11 as the third period got under way and Childers kicked dead at the Warren 30.

Warren went all the way with the pile-driving Sims featuring runs of 17 and 27 yards. Sub Halfback Larry Dotson scored from the four on a double reverse. He just made it past the final stripe on the fourth and four set-up. Pietela converted at 6:01.

Massillon received, had to punt, and the boot by Childers was grounded at the Warren 38.

On the last 10 plays the Panthers advanced to the Tiger 24 with the big gainer being a
10-yard pass play, Quarterback Joe Malone to Sims.
* * *
ON THE FIRST play of the last panel Dotson picked up five. Malone passed to Sims who fought his way to the seven. Halfback Bill Miller, who had a tough time shaking loose all night, swept the left side for five before hitting center for the touchdown at 10:20. Pietela’s perfect placement knotted the count and put everybody on pins and needles.

The statistics showed the closeness of the rip-snorter. Warren had 12 first downs, Massillon made 11. By rushing the Panthers gained 199 yards, the Tigers 145. Warren completed four of nine passes for 40 yards and the Tigers hit on seven of 16 for 108 yards.

Stewart completed three for 58 yards and on TD, Getz had two-for-two for 13 and Sparma got one only one pass – but you know what happened.

Benjamin, with 58 yards, was the leading ground gainer for the Bengals. Not to be overlooked were some timely jaunts by Beiter (who did not practice all week), Allen, Pledgure, Stewart and Kanney.

MASSILLON
ENDS – Childers, Snavely, Zorn, Hagan, A. Pierce, Mitchell, Dean.
TACKLES – Slabaugh, A .Slicker, Halter, Donat, Bronwlee, Bordner, Karrenbauer.
GUARDS – Heine, Heimann, McKey, Bendar, J. Kasunick, Cook.
CENTERS – Swartz, Williamson.
QUARTERBACKS – Getz, Anthony, Sparma.
HALFBACKS – Benjamin, Stewart, Allen Snively, Pledgure, Clark.
FULLBACKS – Beiter, Kanney, Reese.

WARREN
ENDS – Apple, Smith, F. Romig, Fowler.
TACKLES – Pietela, Rudolph, Johnson, Tutich.
GUARDS – Hammercheck, Thompson, Rieser, Windle.
CENTERS – Perfetti, Maggiano.
QUARTERBACKS – Malone, Brown.
HALFBACKS – Szuch, Miller, Jones, Dotson, DeCavitch, Warfield.
FULLBACK – Sims.

Score by quarters:
Massillon 14 0 0 6 20
Warren 0 0 7 7 14

Touchdowns – Benjamin, Childers (2).
Dotson, Miller.
Extra points – McKey, Sparma.
Pietela (2).

STATISTICS
M W
First downs, rushing 6 10
First downs, passing 4 2
First downs, penalties 1 0
First downs, total 11 12
Yards gained, running plays 145 204
Yards lost, running plays 20 26
Net yardage running plays 125 178
Passes attempted 16 9
Passes completed 7 4
Passes had intercepted 0 0
Yards gained, passing 106 40
Total yardage 233 218
Number of punts 6 6
Total yardage on punts 218 157
Average length of punts 27.2 26.1
Number of penalties 0 3
Yards lost on penalties 0 35
Number of fumbles 2 1
Own fumbles recovered 1 1
Ball lost on fumbles 1 0

History

1957: Massillon 7, Cleveland Benedictine 13

October 11, 1957July 8, 2017
by Eric Smith

Benedictine Overpowers Tigers 13-7

By CHARLIE POWELL

Mix speed and power and you have George Sefcik. For more power there’s Gary Hansley. Add a big, strong line that just wouldn’t quit and have the ingredients of a mighty fine gridiron team, possibly the best in the state of Ohio.

This team, the Benedictine high Bengals of Cleveland, ambushed the football fortress of Massillon before 14,488 fans in chilly Tiger stadium Friday night.

In beating the orange and black 13-7, on the strength of a 45-yard drive to pay dirt in the final period, here is what the giant-sized Benedictine high bunch accomplished.

Their first victory ever over a Massillon team; their fifth straight win of the current season; and at least runner-up ranking in the state poll.

Benedictine just might find itself perched atop the heap at the season’s close. If it doesn’t make the top, rest assured this history-making array will not be far off.

Right now many, many Massillon fans will agree that it is the cream of the crop. It beat a good ball club last night.
* * *
THE WORLD isn’t going to come to an end nor are the Tigers about to give up the game because of the loss which snapped a four-game winning streak. Not yet anyway, the season is not a complete failure. The Tigers have five to go, with Mansfield here next, followed by front running Warren, and they will have a few chances to salvage a great deal of satisfaction from all their efforts.

We are all hoping they will be in better physical shape than they were last night. The flu bug made its presence felt and our heroes had a number of bad “breaks” but certainly nothing is to be taken away from Benedictine.

On paper and on the field the team coached by Augie Bossu was in supreme command. The Tigers lost to a good team and they’re going to hit some more good ones before the finish. They should realize by now that any team on the schedule is capable of yanking the rug from underneath them.

Nobody was more upset over the defeat than Coach Lee Tressel, whose team appeared headed for the state’s showdown scrap against Warren.

Yes, quite a few things caused the Tigers’ downfall but Tressel wasn’t offering any excuses. He called the Clevelanders “big and strong with two fine backs and lots of determination,” and he told them so in their dressing room when he congratulated them immediately after the game.

“They had the desire to go along with all that equipment. We had a tough time trying to move them when we had the ball. They closed the holes fast. When we were on defense we were getting moved around by those big boys and there wasn’t much we could do.

“The tackling wasn’t good but I guess one reason for that was because they were so good,” he said.
* * *
TRESSEL didn’t bring up the physical condition of his charges but the Tigers were definitely sub-par.

Regular defensive end Bill Zorn was sidelined because of an injury suffered two weeks ago…Joe Brownlee, regular defensive tackle and Harold Slabaugh, regular offensive tackle, practiced only once all week because of illness, flu and a bad case of tonsillitis, respectively and yesterday afternoon Clyde Childers, the offensive left end and kicker, was sent home because of illness.

Brownlee and Childers were “in and out” most of the game while Slabaugh, apparently weakened by his illness, went most of the way on offense. To make mattes worse, an injury slowed up hard-nosed Chuck Beiter.

As we pointed out before, the ball took a couple of bad bounces against the Tigers and probably the toughest breaks were the fumble and the clipping penalty that thwarted a bid in the second period. After Benedictine went ahead in the first session the Tigers went on their prowl from their own 29. Beiter, Ivory Benjamin and Gene Stewart hammered at the enemy line to reach the Benedictine 25.
* * *
WITH TIGER rooters begging for a score, it was third down and one at that point. However, the ball was fumbled and when the whistle blew, Quarterback Bob Getz had covered the pigpelt at the 27. Hopes rose as Stewart flipped a running pass to Benjamin who raced 12 yards to the Benedictine 15. It looked like the Tigers were going all the way but a “hankie” was down on the grass and the clipping call ended that. Mark Anthony replaced Getz at quarterback and hit Benjamin with a short pass but Benedictine ganged up on the swivel-hipped star and the play netted only six yards, 14 short of a first down.

Had Benedictine not had runners the likes of Sefcik and Hansley the Clevelanders might have been easy pickin’s for the Massillon team. This pair gave the 1956 Tiger team fits but they were mild compared to the latest ones.

Benedictine gained 262 yards on land and in the air and Sefcik and Hansley accounted for 233 yards.

Sefcik, besides being a fast and shifty runner, is a deadly passer and long-distance punter. He carried the oval 20 times and gained 82 yards, hit on three of four passes for 32 yards, caught one pass himself for 14 yards and averaged 40 yards on three runs. Partner Hansley, a tank-like half-back, toted the mail 22 times and carved out 105 yards. And he caught the three passes thrown by Mr. Sefcik, who was paraded on the shoulders of happy teammates after the game was over.
* * *
THE BIG Benedictine line, which did a great job of containing theTiger attack except for some sensational runs by Benjamin, gave up 187 yards on the ground. Standouts of this line were Tackles Ron Skufca, 235, and Ted Zmarzly, 205 and End Stan Sczurek.

Benjamin almost drove the visitors crazy. In a truly outstanding performance, he ran like a man possessed, blocked well and was all over the field on defense. He personally accounted for all but 26 yards the locals made on the ground.

It was his tremendous 50-yard sprint in the third period that produced the lone Massillon six-pointer. He carried the pigskin 22 times and twisted and fought his way for 161 yards. He also caught a pass good for six yards.

Only other Tiger ground gainer of any degree was Gene Stewart who made 21 yards in seven trips. Because of his injury and the fact that Benedictine was “laying” for him, Beiter did not occupy too many ball carrying roles.

The team from the lakefront gave an early example of its blocking and running abilities.
* * *
THE FIRST time they had possession, the Bengals marched 67 yards to touchdownland. They digested two offside penalties, but got an assist from the identical penalty against the Tigers.

After the opening kickoff the Tigers had to punt from their own 41 and Childers, hurried on the play, booted out of bounds at the Benedictine 33. A penalty was called against the invading team after Sefcik had gained seven and three plays later he was forced to punt from the 47. The punt rolled dead on the four but Benedictine was able to keep the ball because the Tigers were off-side on the play.

Then Benedictine shifted to high gear. Sefcik and Hansley picked up 13 before Sefcik hit Hansley on an option pass for 13 and the blue-shirted boys were on their way.

Massillon stubbornly gave ground and after Benedictine reached the three, Sefcik hit the right side, did a dive and scored with 2:47 remaining in the quarter. His placement on the extra point try was blocked by line-backer Roger Reese but Benedictine led 6-0 as the Tigers were scored on first for the third straight game.
* * *
LOCAL FANS expected their favorites to come right back and they did only to see the penalty take the sting out of the attack.

The kickoff was returned to the Tiger 29 and on the last six plays of the first period the Orangemen advanced to the Benedictine 43. In the last minute of the second frame Benjamin darted around the right side twice for 17 and Stewart gained on to make it third and one at the 25. Then came the fumble, and the clipping penalty which combined to stall the Tiger attack.

Benedictine made only one first down in that second period as Massillon controlled the ball, thanks to the nifty running of Benjamin.

However, the Tigers couldn’t uncover a payoff punch.

Midway in the quarter Benjamin got loose for 25 yards after regaining his balance just past the line of scrimmage. He and Stewart took the oval to the Benedictine 29, and Tiger fans were calling for a tying TD but Benedictine braced and held, throwing Tiger runners for two losses totaling nine yards in the process.

A minute later the Clevelanders had to punt with Sefcik’s kick from the Tiger 39 rolling out of bounds at the 10. From the nine Benjamin again got on his horse, this time whizzing 45 yards before Jim Kubinski, Bengal end, who had a good angle, came in to make the stop at the Benedictine 42. However, Getz was thrown for an 11-yard loss and two more maneuvers designed for long-distance gains failed to change the score before intermission. Getz’s sideline pass to Beiter was good for nine yards and on the last play of the half the visiting team’s line was not caught by surprise and Benjamin, on a draw play, was downed after a yard gain.
* * *
A PUNT that was fumbled and one that was blocked gave Massillon a pair of opportunities in the third period but after the first kick, the Tigers failed to move.

From his own 15 Childers punted (after Sefcik had booted one 51 yards following the kickoff) and two Benedictine players had their hands on the swinehide before Benjamin recovered at the Massillon 40. But four plays later Childers was called on to punt again with Sefcik returning the 38-yard boot 10 yards to his 34. Benedictine made two first downs before a holding penalty stalled the drive and from the Tiger 45, Sefcik went back to punt.

This time middle guard Hase McKey, who apparently played one of his better games, broke through and blocked the kick. Guard Tom Heine recovered at midfield and on the next play Benjamin cut the gap to 7-6.

Given a couple of nice blocks, Ivory got around the right flank and turned on the gas. At the 15 three Benedictine boys had a shot at him but he shot pass one, cut away from the other two and went in for the score at 1:25. Sub Halfback Jim Hershberger came off the bench and calmly split the uprights to deadlock the count.
* * *
BENEDICTINE started from its own 43 after the kickoff and advanced 24 yards on the last three plays of the quarter.

On the first play of the final canto Hansley got off his longest jaunt, 23 yards, to place the ball on the Tiger 10. But the Tresselmen dug in and took over on downs at the four. Childers punted out on fourth down and Benedictine, starting from the Tiger 45, was not to be denied.

Hansley, the big gun once more, checked in a 22-yard foray for one of the three first downs and from the 13, Quarterback Ken Sprafka sneaked from two yards with his team needing at foot for a foot for a first down. Sefcik and Hansley carried to the one from where Sprafka sneaked across. Sefcik’s placement was on target and it was 13-7 with 4:37 remaining.

The Tigers gambled but their final series fizzled out at the 24 and Benedictine moved to the nine before time ran out.

Benedictine, using a nine-man line a good bit of the time limited the Tigers to a single first down during the second half. It came on Benjamin’s touchdown run.

MASSILLON
ENDS – Childers, Williams, Hagan, Snavely, Mitchell.
TACKLES – Slabaugh, A Slicker, Halter, Donat, Brownlee.
GUARDS – Heine, Heimann, McKey, Bednar, J. Kasunick, Cook.
CENTERS – Williamson, Swartz, Reese.
QUARTERBACKS – Getz, Anthony.
HALFBACKS – Benjamin, Stewart, Pledgure, Clark, Allen, Hershberger.
FULLBACK – Beiter.

BENEDICTINE
ENDS – Sczurek, Kubinski, Kozlowski, Marek.
TACKLES – Skufca, Zmarzly, Grucza.
GUARDS – Baumbick, Kucera, See, Liederbach.
CENTERS – Kozlevchar, Coufalik.
QUARTERBACKS – Sprafka, Kradisley, Kubinski.
HALFBACKS – Sefcik, Hansley, Knapik.
FULLBACKS – Davis, Jasinski, Blasé.

Score by quarters:
Massillon 0 0 7 0 7
Benedictine 6 0 0 7 13

Scoring:
Massillon Touchdown – Benjamin
Massillon Extra point – Hershberger (placement)

Benedictine Touchdowns – Sefcik, Sprafka.
Benedictine Extra point – Sefcik (placement)

STATISTICS
Mass. Ben.
First downs, rushing 6 11
First downs, passing 0 3
First downs, penalties 0 1
First downs, total 6 15
Yards gained, running plays 220 226
Yards lost, running plays 33 6
Net yardage, running plays 187 220
Passes attempted 4 8
Passes completed 2 4
Passes had intercepted 0 0
Yards returned,
intercepted passes 0 0
Yards gained passing 15 52
Total yardage, running,
passing 202 272
Number of kickoff returns 3 2
Yardage, kickoff returns 51 32
Average length of kickoff
returns 17 16
Number of punt returns 1 1
Yardage, punt returns 5 10
Average length of punt
returns 5 10
Number of punts 4 3
Total yardage on punts 130 121
Average length of punts 32 40
Number of penalties 5 4
Yards lost on penalties 35 30
Number of fumbles 1 2
Own fumbles recovered 1 0
Ball lost on fumbles. 0 2

History

1957: Massillon 26, Steubenville 7

October 4, 1957July 8, 2017
by Eric Smith

Tigers Roll Over Steubenville 26-7
Bengals Come From Behind To Beat Fired Up Foe In Last Half

By CHARLIE POWELL

Fumbles, penalties, an intercepted pass and messed-up assignments on offense kept Massillon in a hole and Tiger fans in a tizzy the first half but the Bengals proceeded to give the Steubenville Big Red a football lesson as they kept their record unstained before some 8,500 fans at Steubenville’s Harding stadium Friday night.

A lesson?

Sure. Once they uncoiled the Tigers were definitely the superior team with a high-geared attack sparkling in a 26-7 romp for victory No. 4.

For the first time this season the Tigers found themselves on the deck but they regained their poise, cut loose an offense that had halfbacks Ivory Benjamin and Gene Stewart driving the Steubers mad and regrouped the defensive troops to slam the door oln the upset-minded Big Red.
* * *
A FUMBLE led to Steubenville’s touchdown which came with five minutes gone in the opening quarter. A 43-yard pass play set up the first Massillon touchdown, which helped bring about a 7-7 deadlock at intermission.

But the second half was all Massillon.

The Tigers reigned supreme, both offensively and defensively. A 27-yard scamper by Benjamin paved the way for the Tigers to break the tie early in the third heat and clinching TDs came in the first and last minutes of the final round.

Steubenville, its coaches and fans, were “up” for this battle you could write a book about.

The Steubers tried, tried hard, and for quite a few minutes the Tigers were sweating it out. But the classy, more experienced backs, the harder hitting blockers and the teeth-jarring tacklers were too much.

When it was all over the Bengals had chalked up 18 first downs to 11, on the ground gained 272 yards to 73 and the over-all picture showed Massillon with 339 yards, the Big Red with 150.
* * *
IN THE OZONE the Steubers made four more yards than they did on the ground as quarterback Jim Roach, a junior star-in-the-making, hit on four of seven aerials. The Tigers, with Bob Getz and Stewart doing the tossing, completed two of five and had two intercepted.

With Co-Captain Chuck Beiter bottled up in the middle, most of the running was put in the hands of Benjamin and Stewart and this duo was a dandy.

Benjamin winged his way to 163 yards in 16 tries while Stewart carted 11 times for 65. Mark Anthony, who shared the signal-calling role with Getz, pitched in with 26 yards in four trips as he added a spark enroute to the third touchdown.
* * *
STEWART checked in two touchdown runs, both on short gainers, Beiter tallied once from a yard out and Benjamin scored on a 29-yard glitter-sprint with only 15 seconds remaining in the contest.

It was a hard-played game and both sides came out with numerous bumps and bruises.

And this story would hardly be classed a complete one if we would overlook some of the decisions made by the men in the striped-shirts.

One of the most controversial ones of the night came after Stewart scored from the seven and Hase McKey kicked the equalizer in the second period. Childers then kicked off with the ball landing around the four and going into the end zone. Halfback Wally Neel of the Big Red picked it up and tried to run but Pete Heimann, Tiger guard, zoomed in and lowered the boom. Was it a safety or a touchback? The officials ruled a touchback because the impetus of the kick not Neel’s actions, carried the ball past the goal line.

Another one that had the fans buzzing happened a few moments later. Steubenville punted from its 34 and Leaman Williamson, rugged defensive end for the Bengals, blocked it with Tackle John Donat recovering at the five. But the Tigers, instead of having the ball, were called for defensive holding and penalized 15 yards with the Steubers getting a first down at the 49.

Tiger Coach Lee Tressel was not all together pleased with the game but commented that “The boys buckled down and played good ball after the first quarter.

“They hit hard, especially in the second half. Steubenville was just as tough as we thought. The next one will be another battle too.”
* * *
THE TIGERS were a confused lot at the outset of the game. Plays went haywire during their first series after receiving the opening kickoff and Steubenville was able to rip off yardage in short chunks very reminiscent of the 1956 Mansfield team. The Steubers got the ball on a fumble on Massillon’s third play and eight plays later and with only five minutes off the clock, the Big Red have seven points.

Stewart, taking off on a sweep, couldn’t find the handle and Rufus Simmons, Red end, came up with the ball on the Tiger 25.

The Tigers gave ground little by little before a 12-yard pass play, Roach to Weinman, helped put the oval on the eight. Al White and Ed Weinman went to the three from which point Halfback Dave Cunningham veered off left tackle and reached the Promised Land after being hit at the one-yard line. Roach sneaked across for the extra point and the local boys experienced something new – they were behind for the first time this season. And also it was the first TD scored through the Massillon line.

On the kickoffs Steubenville was keeping them short and on the ensuing one, Childers grabbed the ball on the 30 and was downed on the 34. A pass failed and Getz, keeping the ball after a mix-up in the backfield, was downed for a loss of a yard. Troubles still bounded the Tresselmen, it seemed, but an unrehearsed lateral play kept the Tigers from bogging down.

On third down Stewart struck off the right side and just as he was grabbed at the 31, he flipped the pigskin to Benjamin and Ivory scooted goal ward. After this 34-yard foray the Tigers appeared to be sailing a little easier but on the very next play Steubenville’s Neel made a terrific interception of Stewart’s pass in the end zone.
* * *
THE PASS was intended for Childers but Neel, leaping high, came down with the ball for a touchback. Starting from their own 20, the hosts had their fans clamoring for another score. White, Neel and Weinman turned the ends and George Hugus and Dave Cunningham hit the middle as the Big Red rolled to the Tiger 39 before the first period came to a close.

They might have gone all the way but with fourth and one at the 35 Neel tried the right side, and Williamson barreled through to toss the runner for a two-yard deficit. However, Steubenville got possession again three plays later as Benjamin muffed a pitch-out and fell down trying to recover. Dave Cunningham pounced on it for Steubenville at the 36 but again the orange nad black got tough.

On third down Corky Pledgure came up to smack Roach down with a 10-yard loss and he punted on the next play, his boot going out of bounds at the Tiger 14.

Thanks to a nicely executed pass play, the Bengals zoomed to their first score in seven plays. After Stewart and Benjamin made a first down at the 26, the former whizzed for 10 yards to the 36. Beiter gained four and Benjamin five as he just missed a first down. On the next play, a 43-yard pass hit the bullseye.
* * *
GETZ did the tossing and Childers the catching with Clyde pulling it in at the 30 and going down to the 12. A delay-of-game penalty against the Big Red moved it to the seven and from that point Stewart found a hole at left tackle and raced across standing up. Joe Sparma came in and they lined up for a placement but Sparma took a direct, but high pass from center and twirled into the end zone where Childers was all-alone on the left side. The tie score at 4:48 was followed by the play that will be talked about for a while.

Childers kicked off and the ball landed near Steubenville’s Neel around the four. He went back into the end zone to retrieve it but just before he got up to the final stripe Heimann brought him crashing to the ground. A touchback was ruled and the Steubers began operating from the 20.
They made three first downs, one on the ground, one on a defensive holding penalty and one on a 24-yard pass. The holding penalty was ruled when the host club stalled at the 34 and Roach punted. The ball didn’t go far, though, as Williamson blocked it and Center Dan Swartz recovered for the Tigers at the Steuber 25. However, the penalty gave the host team the ball on the 49 and on the last play of the half a reverse pass, Roach to Hugus, was good to the 36.
* * *
ON THE SIXTH play after the second half kickoff Williamson recovered a Big Red fumble at the Red 46 and a few minutes later Tiger fans were able to make plenty of noise.

Benjamin, on a sweep, banged for 27 yards to the 19 before Allen made three, Benjamin six, Stewart four (on a third and a foot situation), Benjamin five and then Stewart one for the tie-breaking touchdown. Hase McKey came in to boot the extra point to make it 14-7 about halfway through the quarter.

After the next kickoff Steubenville had to punt and at the end of the period the Bengals were well on their way to pay dirt again.

Benjamin fumbled Roach’s punt at the 30 but returned 16 yards to the 46. Beiter, Benjamin and Stewart got some running help from Anthony and Jerry Allen as the Tigers advanced for a clincher.

Before the end of the period Anthony, on option plays, ran twice for 10 yards and Allen inserted an eight-yard gain. On the first play of the last panel Anthony kept again for six and Benjamin got a yard for first and goal at the one.

Beiter then scored, hitting a maze of youthful gladiators on the right side, and it didn’t matter much when McKey’s placement went to the right.
* * *
STEUBENVILLE was forced to punt after the kickoff but got the pigskin back as Neel intercepted Getz’s pass intended for Ron Williams. Aided by a 31-yard pass play Roach to Weinman, a roughness penalty (piling on) against the Tigers and then an off-side call against the visitors, the Steubers planted the ball on the locals’ 12 before the Bengals stiffened.

Sub Fullback Tom Cunningham was held to a gain of two on a sweep. White dropped a throw from Roach and then Cornelius Clark broke up a peg intended for White in the end zone. On fourth down Toach hit White on a screen pass to the left but the receiver was stopped shy of the first down and with 4:08 remaining the only job the Tigers had was to run out the clock.

But they didn’t fool around.

Stewart swept the left side and was almost away for a real longie but the defenders had the angle and the hard-running righthalf was nailed after a 27-yard gain. Benjamin followed with a 12-yard run and then a 14-yarder. A clipping penalty was digested as Getz tossed to Benjamin for a gain of 24 yards to the 30.

Five plays later it was on the Big Red 29 with only 25 seconds remaining in the game. Benjamin dashed to pay dirt as a double reverse, with Ivory doing some heady running, completely fooled the Steubenville defense. McKey again kicked to the right on the conversion attempt.

After the kickoff, an onside try by Childers who downed the ball short of the necessary 10 yards, Steubenville had time for one more play, Roach went back to pass but a host of Tigers grassed him 15-yards back of the line of scrimmage and as the Red quarterback was hit, the siren signaled the Tigers’ fourth-straight win and Steubenville’s second loss in four starts.

Steubenville, which returned to the Tiger schedule after an absence of two years, has not beaten Massillon since 1931. The series now stands 18-2-1.

The summary:

STEUBENVILLE
ENDS – Simmons, Milosevich, Sizemore, Hutter.
TACKLES – Anderson, Lewis, Walton, Campbell, Speaker.
GUARDS – Gianamore, Farmer, Pierce, Deiderich.
CENTERS—Barren, Fisher.
QUARTERBACKS – Roach, Crossley.
HALFBACKS – White, D. Cunningham, Weinman, Neel.
FULLBACKS – Hugue, T. Cunningham.

MASSILLON
ENDS – Childers, Williams, Hagan, Snavely, Pierce, Dean.
TACKLES – Slabaugh, A. Slicker, Donat, Halter, Brownlee.
GUARDS – Heine, Heimann, Bednar, McKey, Taylor.
CENTERS – Swartz, Williamson
QUARTERBACKS – Getz, Anthony, Sparma.
HALFBACKS – Benjamin, Stewart, Allen, Snively, Clark,
Mitchell, Pledgure, Lawson.
FULLBACKS – Beiter, Reese, Kanney.

Score by quarters:
Massillon 0 7 7 12 26
Steubenville 7 0 0 0 7

Massillon scoring:
Touchdowns – Stewart (2), runs-7; Beiter run-1; Benjamin run-29.
Extra points – Childers (pass); McKey (placement).

Steubenville scoring:
Touchdown – D. Cunningham run-3.
Extra point – Roach, run.

STATISTICS
Mass. Steub.
First downs, rushing 16 6
First downs, passing 2 3
First downs, penalties 0 2
First downs, total 18 11
Yards gained, running plays 283 115
Yards lost, running plays 11 42
Net yardage, running plays 272 73
Passes attempted 5 7
Passes completed 2 4
Passes had intercepted 2 0
Yards returned, int. passes 0 -4
Yards gained, passing 67 77
Total net yards 330 150
Number of kickoff returns 2 3
Yards, kickoff returns 4 71
Average length of kickoff returns 2 23.6
Number of punt returns 2 0
Yardage, punt returns 11 0
Average length of punt returns 5.5 32
Number of punts 0 3
Total yardage on punts 0 100
Average length of punts 0 33.3
Number of penalties 6 4
Yards lost on penalties 60 20
Number of fumbles 3 2
Own fumbles recovered 3 1
Ball lost on fumble 2 1

History

1957: Massillon 19, Canton Lincoln 0

September 20, 1957July 8, 2017
by Eric Smith

Tigers’ Long Runs Beat Lincoln 19-0
Bengal Team Shows Improvement As It Chalks Up Win No. 2

By CHARLIE POWELL

Ah, but there was joy in Tigertown.

Reason No. 1 – the good warriors of Washington high turned back the challenge of Canton Lincoln for a prized hard-earned victory. Reason No. 2 – the failure of that “other” team from the burg to the east.

Yep, while Massillon’s explosive ball toters served as a hypo in the 19-0 conquest of the Lions here last night, the mighty McKinley Bulldogs ran into more than they could handle and their 21-game winning streak came to an abrupt end, 31-7, at the hands of a do-nothing-wrong Warren crew.

So there was plenty to laugh and talk about. In fact McKinley’s setback was just as much the center of conversation today as the Tigers’ second win in as many starts and their 12th in a row over a Lincoln team.

The noise from most of the 11,954 fans at the stadium last night was good noise every time Massillon scored or a member of the orange and black turned in a long run. But you should have heard the roar when the house heard the announcement that Warren was paddling the Bulldogs at the half.
* * *
RIGHT HERE and now let’s add a sober note: the Tigers will meet Warren here Oct. 25. Prior to that date they will face stern tests in Alliance, Steubenville, Cleveland Benedictine and Mansfield, in that order.

It will be out of the frying pan into the fire because Alliance comes here next week. Apparently, the Tigers have still a long way to go. Neither the offense or the defense are up to snuff in Coach Lee Tressel’s book. He said as much following last night’s fracas, a hard, cleanly played one on a soggy turf.

But don’t get Tressel wrong. Last night the Tigers played a good ball club. The Lions have plenty of size and speed and it will require them some time, also, to function without some ping in the motor.

If you didn’t before, you will know now that Lincoln was no push-over by looking at the statistics.

The Lions made 11 first downs to Massillon’s 10 and it was close in total net yards gained with the Tigers grinding out 211 to Lincoln’s 186. Lincoln completed three of seven passes for 39 yards while neither of two Tiger aerials clicked.

The offense smoothed out a little bit and Tressel said, “we didn’t make as many mistakes offensively but on defense there were more glaring errors.”

However, he quickly pointed out that Lincoln was a better team than Akron South. The Lions kept shifting their trenchmen and linebackers and 9 and 10-man lines frequently greeted the attackers.
* * *
THE TRESSELMEN sat on their lead after a pair of fancy dashes by Ivory Benjamin and Jim Hershberger’s place kick made it 13-0 at the half. With conditions as they were, they weren’t taking any chances by going to the air lanes.

The defense kept the goal line uncrossed after taking its belt up a notch on three different occasions. Three times the invaders had the Tigers with their backs to the wall with drives reaching the orange 3, 9 and 17-yard lines.

Lincoln controlled the ball most of the first, third and fourth quarters and the entire final period was played in Massillon territory.

But the break-away backs spelled the difference.

With less than two minutes gone in the second panel, Benjamin showed his heels on a
37-yard touchdown scamper. A few minutes later it was his 54-yard punt return that put the locals in business. They didn’t score that time as the bid ended at the Lion 13 but Al Pierce, the scrappy junior end, recovered a fumble and the Tigers had a second touchdown as Benjamin turned the right flank for the final 17 yards.

Sub Halfback Jerry Allen, one of the fastest boys on the squad, came off the bench early in the third period and inserted a 35-yard jaunt that paved the way for a 10-yard TD run by another sub Halfback, Corky Pledgure.

That was it. Massillon stopped a Lincoln bid at the nine just before the end of the period, then spent the rest of the game keeping the Paul Dellebra-coached outfit away from pay dirt.
* * *
ALTHOUGH the Tigers failed to muster more than one sustained drive, the blocking showed improvement over the opening game.

There was quite a few telltale downfield blocks on the long gainers by Gene Stewart, Benjamin, Allen, et al.

Mark Anthony went most of the way at quarterback and there was little difficulty in the timing and ball-handling departments. However, Chuck Beiter’s running was noticeably absent.

The muscular fullback carried only five times for 23 yards as Tressel gave him as much rest as possible. An oxygen mixture alleviated his asthma.

Benjamin, the club’s chief ground gainer, made 92 yards in 14 trips with the mail while Stewart netted 29 in three carries and Allen 36 in three. For Lincoln Saimes carried nine for 42, DeOrio 13 for 34 and Lyke 10 for 39.
* * *
THE CANTONIANS gave a display of their tight T offense after receiving the
game-opening kickoff. From their own 38 they marched all the way to the Tiger two as Vic DeOrio, George Saimes, Dick VanBethuysen, Jerry Pikna, Jerry Lyke and Tom Dinkins hit the inside.

A pass play, VanBenthuysen to end Gary Anderson, was good for 15 yards and all the runs did not gain more than five yards on any one play. Lincoln had four downs to make the last 11 yards but the Bengals repulsed the enemy and with 4:39 remaining in the quarter took over at the two.

Massillon’s blocking was conspicuous by its absence and the first time the Tigers had the pigskin and they were forced to punt. Dinkins punted right back with his boot going into the end zone. And from their own 20, the orangemen started to get serious.

After Beiter made one, Anthony sped for 10 on a keeper around the right side and on the first play of the second frame. Stewart hit off left tackle and picked up 18 yards with Saimes, the last man having a chance to get him, bringing him down on the 49. Anthony kept again, this time for 14 yards to put the ball on the 37 and then came Benjamin’s first touchdown which broke the ice.

Ivory hit over right tackle on a quick opener, went straight ahead for 10 yards, then veered toward the east sidelines. He stepped on the gas and easily outran his pursuers into the end zone. Sophomore Halfback Jim Hershberger came in to boot the extra point and it was 7-0 at 10:34.
* * *
THE VISITORS had to punt after gaining nine and Benjamin had the crowd roaring with his 54-yard return of the kick by Dinkins, Ivory fielded the ball at the 44, faked a reverse to Jim Snively, and with the help of some nifty blocking, sped to the Lion nine.

But four plays later the locals were on the Lincoln 13 as Lyke sifted in to nail Anthony for a six-yard loss and a bad exchange cost the locals a yard to offset three-yarders by Beiter and Benjamin.

After VanBenthuysen gained one, Lyke fumbled on the next play and Pierce’s recovery gave Massillon possession at the Lion 17. Center Dan Swartz recovered a fumble at the line of scrimmage following a mix-up in the backfield and on the next play the scoreboard figures changed to 13-0.

Benjamin skirted right end and went over standing up as Beiter’s block erased the last defender with a possible chance of stopping the shifty halfback. Hershberger’s kick was low and to the left and the score remained 13-0 with 3:35 left in the period.
* * *
LINCOLN RETURNED the kickoff to its 34 and after making one first down, stuck to the ground to run out the clock in the first half.

At the outset of the third quarter the Canton team was unable to check the Tiger attack.

They marched 71 yards after Snively returned the kickoff by Dinkins to the Tiger 29. Beiter, Benjamin and Stewart advanced the oval to the Lion 39 before Allen, on a sweep, came up with one of the better individual efforts of the night.

The junior speedster ran like a fullback, shedding tacklers right and left, after he got past the line of scrimmage.

Three times he appeared to be stopped but he buzzed to the four before being grassed. Following his 35-yard sprint, Anthony was thrown for a six-yard loss on a keeper but from the 10 Pledgure dashed across and once again it was a block by Beiter, which made the score possible. Hershberger’s kick was blocked by Anderson at 5:35 but it made little difference.

There was a lot of action crammed in the remaining time. The Lions received and went on the prowl with Saimes and Lyke hitting off the tackles effectively. From their own 42 the maroons moved to the Tiger nine. With the Bengals getting tougher by the minute, the Lions picked up only three yards after getting a first and 10 at the 12.

The locals had to punt out and Lincoln set up shop again, this time from the Tiger 40, shortly after the fourth stanza got under way. On the first play of the quarter Allen swept right end but was tripped up at the 18 after a nine-yard gain, otherwise he might have been long gone.

This time Lincoln moved to the Bengal 17 before tackle John Donat smacked Dinkins for an 11-yard loss. Consequently, when Lyke hit end Wilbur Billings on a 15-yard pass play the enemy lacked the necessary yardage for a first down.

Five plays later Anthony tried a jump pass. Lyke intercepted at the 24 but then fumbled and Tom Heine, Tiger guard, grabbed the ball out of the air on the nine and made like a fullback to the Tiger 22. A few moments later the Tigers had to punt and four plays later halfback, Cornelius Clark intercepted a pass by Dinkins and returned from the two to the eight. Sub fullback Scott Kanney picked up nine and Benjamin 11 as the tussle came to a close.

Apparently the Tigers came through without any serious injuries. They played without the services of end Bobo Hagan who has a badly sprained ankle.

MASSILLON
ENDS – Childers, Williams, Pierce, Snavely, Zorn, Mitchell.
TACKLES – Slabaugh, Slicker, Halter, Donat, Karrenbauer.
GUARDS – Heine, Heimann, Cook, Taylor, J. Kasunick.
CENTERS – Swartz, Reese, Williamson.
QUARTERBACKS – Anthony, Getz.
HALFBACKS – Benjamin, Stewart, Pledgure, Clark, Allen, Hershberger, Snively.
FULLBACKS – Beiter, Kanney, McKey, Dean.

CANTON LINCOLN
ENDS – Billings, Anderson, Dan English, Wetzel
TACKLES – Thewes, Caughey, McCoul, Shyrock, Thompson.
GUARDS – DePasquale, Baird, Paratore.
CENTERS – Knight, Olson.
QUARTERBACKS – Dinkins, Crowse.
HALFBACKS – VanBenthuysen, Saimes, DeOrio, Dave English.
FULLBACKS – Pikna, Wilson.

Score by quarters:
Massillon 0 13 6 0 19
Lincoln 0 0 0 0 0

Massillon scoring: Touchdowns – Benjamin 3; Pledgure.

Extra Points – Hershberger (placement)

STATISTICS
Mass. Lin.
First downs, rushing 10 10
First downs, passing 0 1
First downs, penalties 0 0
First downs, total 10 11
Yards gained, running plays 243 108
Yards lost, running plays 27 18
Net yardage, running plays 211 147
Passes attempted 2 7
Passes completed 0 3
Passes had intercepted 1 1
Yards returned,
intercepted passes 8 0
Yards gained, passing 0 30
Total net yards,
running, passing 211 186
Number of kickoff returns 1 4
Yards, kickoff returns 15 72
Average length of
kickoff returns 15 18.5
Number of punt returns 1 3
Yardage, punt returns 54 15
Average length of
punt returns 54 5.0
Number of punts 3 2
Total yardage on punts 104 44
Average length of punts 34.6 22.0
Number of penalties 4 0
Yards lost on penalties 30 0
Number of fumbles 3 4
Own fumbles recovered 2 2
Ball lost on fumble 1 2

History

1957: Massillon 33, Akron South 0

September 13, 1957July 8, 2017
by Eric Smith

Tigers Beat Akron South 33-0
Massillon Defense Outshines Offense In Football Opener

By CHARLIE POWELL

The jitters…missed…tackles…missed blocking assignments…fumbles…off-the-beam passes…he zigged when he should’ve zagged…all were evident as the Massillon Tigers blew the lid on a new football season at the stadium Friday night.

Very, very conspicuous also was a Tiger victory – their 11th straight opening triumph – with the count being 33-0 over an out-manned but scrappy Akron South team.

The better part of over 10,000 fans (9,621 paid) toasted the Tigers after they completely outplayed the enemy.

But the orange and black had to work, work, work every inch of the way in a maiden gridiron voyage that was just about as typical as any of them.

Despite the fact that they hit for five touchdowns, three of them by hurryin’ Ivory Benjamin, the home town boys were not too impressive. They simply were not a good offensive football team. Their longest sustained drive of the night was only 35 yards and they never made more than three first downs in any one series of plays but a mixture of long-distance strikes and a fairly soft South defense let them come home without being subject to too much pressure.
* * *
COACH LEE TRESSEL, whose team some time ago indicated that it was far better fixed defensively, had little to say about the offense.

“A look at the statistics reveals quite a difference but it really didn’t seem like we moved the ball that much,” he said.

To this we add that the statistics were deceiving. Before subtracting losses, the Tigers made 305 yards by rushing. But two runs by Benjamin accounted for half of that total.

Tressel was not satisfied with the quarterbacking and it looks like there will be a lot of work ahead for the trio which took their turns guiding the club last night. Starter Bob Getz, Mark Anthony and Joe Sparma had looked like fine passers in pre-season scrimmages but weren’t consistent in their first real test. Tressel found fault in the blocking department and answered “could be” when somebody reasoned that the offense might have been sharper had not injuries and sickness kept the team from practicing as a unit more often.
* * *
THE TIGER TUTOR smiled when the talk shifted to defense.
Anchored by the line-backing of Chuck Beiter and Roger Reese, the Tigers limited the Cavaliers to two first downs over land and a net total of 38 yards.

“We’ll know who did the jobs after we see the movies,” Tressel said.

It might be said, too, that the Bengals appeared to let down after clicking for two quick touchdowns…both gifts after South fumbled the ball away deep in its own back yard.

With only about two minutes gone, Benjamin scored the first of his three TDs. It came three plays after Reese recovered a fumble at the Cavalier nine.

Beiter, limited to light work because his asthma took the wind out of his sails early in the evening, tallied the second touchdown with just two seconds remaining in the first
period – eight plays after he had recovered a South bobble at the enemy 35.
* * *
THE SCOREBOARD timer showed only six seconds left in the first half when Benjamin winged his way 74 yards and clinching touchdowns were added in the third and fourth quarters – by Benjamin on a 10-yard run midway in the third frame and by Ron Williams, the big right end, on a 37yard pass play with Halfback Gene Stewart on the gunning end on the first play of the final stanza.

The final quarter was a real comedy of errors. Massillon had two passes intercepted but hauled in four South forwards.

Another look at the figures and we find that Benjamin gained 153 yards in 15 carries while Stewart lugged 10 times for 55 yards and Beiter seven for 54.

Corky Pledgure, who has been waging a battle with Stewart for the right half job, came up with the second longest jaunt of the evening when he raced 50 yards to the South 30 in the last quarter. However, the nice run was wiped off the books by an in motion penalty against the locals.

South was not the worst team ever to appear here. The Cavaliers got themselves in hot water right off the bat and never completely recovered. Otherwise, the battle that was predicted might have materialized.
* * *
ON THE THIRD play of the game Halfback Willie Gray fumbled, Reese recovered, and the Tigers had possession on the South nine. After Benjamin lost a yard on a sweep, Stewart came back with six at the middle and then on third down, Benjamin found a hole at right tackle and followed Beiter through and into pay dirt. Sophomore Hase McKey tried the extra point but the ball hit the left upright and bounced back.

South received again and made one first down before wingback Henry Adams, the team’s hardest runner, fumbled on a double reverse attempt. McKey covered the oval this time but after four plays picked up 19 yards, the Tigers lost the ball on an interception.

Bob Getz’s toss was short at the South nine and Rudy Bell, defensive halfback, grabbed the pigskin and returned to the South 34. Adams recovered his own fumble at the line of scrimmage before Quarterback Bill McFrey’s fumble was recovered by Beiter at the Invader 35.

Beiter made 21 yards on two runs and Stewart got four before a three-yard loss put the ball on the 13. Then Mark Anthony went to the air. With South converging on a short man, end Clyde Childers went deep and snagged the ball, fighting his way to the one from which point Beiter smashed over right guard for a score with only two seconds left in the quarter. McKey’s placement this time was low and to the right.

Massillon indicated that it was going to get tougher the first time the Tigers had possession in the second canto. From the 26 Benjamin got six and Stewart three before the slippery Ivory, helped by Tom Heine’s fine block, rambled for 27 to the South 38. But after Benjamin came back with two and Beiter lost four on a sweep, the ball went over to the blue and white clad forces again.
* * *
GETZ HIT Williams down the middle but after pulling a juggling act, Williams fumbled (after a 15-yard gain) and South recovered. South couldn’t move the Orange forward-wall and had to punt but the local lads relinquished possession again on another pass interception.

Then came Massillon’s best defensive performance of the night. As a pass, Johnny Williams to Adams, was good for 25 yards the visitors moved to a first and 10 goal situation at the five. Adams was held for no gain and Gray got three on a dive play, then the same lad was stopped at the line of scrimmage two more times and the Tigers assumed command at the two.

They moved out, with Beiter making 10 on a trap and Stewart nine on an off-tackle slant, and were on the 26 when Benjamin took it off the right side. Given nifty blocking, he hit the jackpot – twisting away from one defender and then giving another a hip. One Akron boy appeared to be catching up around the Cavalier 30 but Ivory just shifted into overdrive and went in unmolested. There were only six seconds remaining in the half when McKey booted the extra point to make it 19-0.

The Tresselman received the third period kickoff and advanced from their own 17 to the 47 but were forced to punt. During this effort Benjamin raced for 11 on an option play, for 10 off tackle and Beiter got 10 up the middle.
* * *
CHILDER’S PUNTED 41 yards to the South 12 and the Cavaliers got back to the 33 before fumbling again. This time Leaman Williamson, the defensive left end, recovered at the South 27.

Steward whizzed for 17 before Benjamin followed his blockers beautifully for 10 yards and his third six-pointer. At 4:33 Jim Hershberger, another sophomore kicker, came in to convert.

On the last play of the quarter Bill Woodard’s punt was grounded on the South 37.

On the first play of the final session the Stewart-Williams combination wound up the scoring. Stewart took the ball on a reverse and as he was hit, threw far into the right corner. Williams made a nonchalant catch at the two and stepped past the final stripe at 11:52. Hershberger again converted.

A lot could be said about the rest of the game but all the action was meaningless. Neither side could work up anything resembling a sustained drive. It was in this period that the Tigers intercepted four South passes – two by safety man Cornelius Clark, one by middle guard Noan Taylor, and the other by big Bill Zorn after Taylor had batted the ball.

Second and third stringers played most of the quarter.

The summary:
MASSILLON
ENDS – Childers, Williams, Snavely, Zorn, Hagan, Pierce, Mitchell, Dean.
TACKLES – Slabaugh, A. Slicker, Donat, Karrenbauer, Brownlee, Bordner.
GUARDS – Haine, Heimann, McKey, Taylor, J. Kasunick, Cook.
CENTERS – Swartz, Williamson, Shilling, Reese.
QUARTERBACKS – Getz, Anthony, Sparma.
HALFBACKS – Benjamin, Stewart, Pledgure, Snively, Clark, Garcia,
Young, Hershberger.
FULLBACKS – Beiter, Kanney.

AKRON SOUTH
ENDS – Toomer, Wims, Scott, Bell.
TACKLES – Woodard, Bioniarz, Slater, Ivey.
GUARDS – Green, Pearson, Burrell, Spencer.
CENTERS – Power, Nicolinio.
QUARTERBACKS – McFrye, Campbell, Williams, Carruthers.
HALFBACKS – Haynes, Owens, Stradwick, Smith, Gsellman, Bell, Gray.
FULLBACK – Adams.

Score by quarters:
Massillon 12 7 7 7 – 33
Akron South 0 0 0 0 – 0

OFFICIALS
Referee – Leo Less, Youngstown.
Umpire – John Russ, Youngstown.
Head Linesman – Ed Corsi, Shaker Heights.
Field Judge – Andy Moran – Berea

Scoring plays: Massillon
First period – Benjamin, 4-yard run; Beiter 1-yard plunge.
Second period – Benjamin 74-yard run.
Third period – Benjamin 10-yard run.
Fourth period – Williams (pass from Stewart), 37 yards.

Extra Points: Massillon – McKey (placement); Hershberger 2 (placements)

STATISTICS
Mass. Ak. South
First downs, rushing 11 2
First downs, passing 3 4
First downs, penalties 1 1
First downs, total 15 7
Plays 57 49
Rushing yardage 305 45
Yards lost, rushing 24 7
Net yards, rushing 281 38
Passing yardage 76 82
Total yardage 356 120
Passes Attempted 12 23
Passes Completed 4 5
Passes had intercepted 4 4
Fumbles 5 10
Own fumbles recovered 3 5
Punts 1 2
Punts, average 41 20
Penalties 7 2
Yards penalized 55 10

History

1956: Massillon 35, Akron Garfield 0

November 9, 1956July 8, 2017
by Eric Smith

Tigers Top Garfield, Turn To Bulldogs
Benjamin Leads Rout As Massillon Hands Presidents 1st Loss

By CHARLIE POWELL

BEAT McKINLEY!

This phrase will be emoted by more Massillon people the next seven days than any other two words in the English language.

BEAT McKINLEY. You heard it before last night’s victory over heretofore undefeated Akron Garfield became official. The enthusiasm and that cry was whipped up in fine fashion after the final gun.

With the scoreboard clock showing a minute and 36 seconds remaining and the Tigers out front by 35-0, which was the way it ended, a big sign, strung from wires between the light standards at the north end of the stadium and reading BEAT McKINLEY was unfurled.

After action ceased a small but spirited group of Tiger fans staged a brief pep rally.

Tiger followers including adults broke out their small BEAT McKINLEY banners. In a few short words they praised the charges of Lee Tressel and staff for another job well
done – then it was BEAT McKINLEY.
* * *
THE BIG ONE, the one the Tigers have been pointing to since that narrow loss to Mansfield, comes off here next Saturday afternoon. All seats have been sold. The gates will open at 12 noon and there will be standing room only. In the events to follow the Orange and Black will be out to avenge last year’s setback by pinning the defeat label on the powerhouse from the city to the east.

If the Tigers do it they should hit the jackpot. What could keep them from regaining that state championship?
BEAT McKINLEY!
Against Garfield before close to 10,000 fans including 9,381 paid, the Orangemen weren’t “up.” Undoubtedly the circumstances prevented them from getting too “high” even though the Presidents had only a couple of ties marring an otherwise perfect mark.

But the locals had more than enough to put the damper on the Prexies. Sparked by twinkle-toed Ivory Benjamin who got great support from Bob Rinehart, Chuck Beiter, Chester Brown, Larry Washington and a host of others, the attack was just about as sharp as any time previously this season. The defense was crisp as the night air.

If you like scythe-like blocking and some teeth-jarring tackling put together with some fancy running, you were satisfied.

True, there were times when it looked like the Garfield ball carriers might have been grassed back of the line of scrimmage or with little yardage to show for their efforts. You can’t have everything, can you?

After all, the Tigers held the invaders to a total of 161 yards – only 23 through the air. And the Prexies had been averaging over six yards per rush.

Coach Tressel couldn’t find much fault with the offense although he agreed that it looked like his charges would “never get started.” Garfield was threatening three times in the opening period but it was completely shackled after that. The Tiger mentor, whose team now has won eight, the last three in a row, had some warm words for the line play, the running of Benjamin, Brown and Beiter, and the ball handling of Rinehart, who completed two of his four passes, one for a touchdown.

The Tigers zipped to a net of 381yards on the ground with Benjamin making 182 in 16 carries, Beiter 63 in eight and Brown 50 in seven. Washington, who started in place of Mike Hershberger, lugged seven times for 26 yards and Rinehart ran a keeper once for 13 yards as Benjamin waylaid three men with a crunching block.
* * *
OF COURSE ball carriers would get exactly nowhere without blocking from the boys up on the line. In this department the local youngsters appeared to be in peak form.

And all this came about with Hershberger and guard Bob Brown watching form the sidelines. Hershberger could have played but Tressel wasn’t about to take an unnecessary chances. “We’ll need them next week,” he said.

Dave Richardson, who booted five extra points, tackle Dick Whitfield and sub tackle John Halter were banged up a little but all will probably be ready for the Bulldogs, who were to meet Akron South this afternoon.

Richardson converted after Benjamin tallied three times, Beiter once and end Clyde Childers, who was on the receiving end of both Tiger pass completions, once.

Actually Garfield was never in the running after the initial panel. Probably because of a good scouting job and a bunch of kids who weren’t going to let another loss interfere with their plans.

In all fairness to the Presidents it must be emphasized that had a couple of first quarter aerials not gone awry they might have been able to make an issue of it as many expected them to do. On the second play the first time Garfield got possession its sterling halfback, Sterling Shephard, passed from the Tiger 49. The Tigers were apparently worrying about Manzie Winters, the President’s pass catching star, and let the other end, Don Gibson, get in the clear at the 20.

Shephard probably thought Gibson was going to cut to his right but he didn’t and a
sure-fire touchdown play went with the wind. Two plays later Garfield had to punt but got the pigskin right back as Benjamin fumbled at the Tiger 21. Shephard moved seven yards to the Orange 14 and after Chet Brown and Pete Heimann tossed Fullback Nick Arshinkoff for a one-yard deficit, Massillon gained possession again as Beiter intercepted Shephard’s spread play pass at the six.

Three plays later, after Benjamin got loose from a 30-yard scamper from his own eight to the 38, the locals lost the ball on another fumble. This time it was Garfield’s ball at the Massillon 44.

With the help of a twisting 17-yard run by Shephard, the Prexies advanced to the Tiger 17. But on fourth down linebacker Roger Reese barreled in and smacked Shephard down for an 11-yard loss to end the thrust.

Then the Tigers went ahead as two long runs, one by Brown and one by Benjamin, paved the way. Benjamin ran twice for 12 before Brown, stiff-arming one, veering away from three and getting blocks from Whitfield and Childers, galloped 29 to the Garfield 35. Washington picked up three and Benjamin sped to the left – with Dick Brenner springing him loose with a fine block at the 33 – and rambled all the way standing up. Three minutes 27 seconds were left in the quarter when Richardson converted his first time.

The Akron array bounced back but to no avail. From the 32 they made three first downs to the Tiger 22 as an 18-yard jaunt by halfback Frank Misker and a 13-yarder by Shephard provided the spark. Shephard tried two passes and sub Lindsey Humphrey two but none made connections.
* * *
ONCE WASHINGTON batted the ball down, once three Tigers outfought two Presidents, once Shephard dropped a Humphrey toss on the 10 and on fourth down the latter’s heave overshot the lanky Winters. Thus it was Massillon’s ball at its own 40.

On the last two running plays of the period Benjamin made nine and Brown four. A penalty against Garfield helped put the oval on the Massillon 40 as the second frame got underway. Benjamin netted 12 in two carries, Brown boomed through tackle for 14 and Beiter went up the middle for eight before the latter tallied on a 26-yard run. The hefty junior, who has been playing both fullback and righthalf, shot inside guard, and cut to his outside and was only 10 yards from pay dirt before most everybody in the stadium knew who had the ball.

This score came with 10:01 left and less than five minutes later the Orange had their third.

Beiter rushed Humphrey on a punt from the Garfield 31 and the ball sailed out of bounds at the 35. Beiter sandwiched eight and nine-yard gains around a three run pickup by Benjamin and from the 15 Irvory scooted the rest of the way on a double reverse that worked to near-perfection. Only one hand touched him and he twisted away from that lone defender.

The rest of the first half was meaningless. But things livened a bit for the home side at the outset of the third period as another bad punt by Humphrey led to the Tigers’ fourth TD.

Massillon had to move only 30 yards this time. Benjamin, Brown and Beiter carried to the 19 before Rinehart unwound. His pass hit Childers on the 10 and the big boy got away from the last would be tackler after Benjamin had thrown a key block. It was 28-0 with seven and a half minutes to go in that stanza.
* * *
THE ORANGEMEN made a strong bid before the quarter came to a close. From their own 37 they rolled to the one as a Rinehart-to-Childers pass clicked for 21 yards and Benjamin inserted a 20-yard sprint. However, an offside penalty set them back to the six and on last down Rinehart was three yards short on a sneak.

The Prexies were deep in their own territory as the final stanza began and from the seven sub Wayne McFarland kicked out of bounds at the Garfield 38.

On the first play Benjamin struck off the right side and streaked to pay dirt.

After that Tressel made use of his second stringers and twice Richardson, defensive safety, stymied the visitors by hauling in passes.

Looking Sharp

MASSILLON – 35
ENDS – Brenner, Elavsky, Mitchell, Wells, Snavely, Childers, Hagan, Williams, Mays.
TACKLES – Whitfield, Mercer, Ortiz, Slabaugh, Brownlee, Bixler, Halter.
GUARDS — Meldrum, Heine, Heimann, Cook.
CENTERS – Krier, Kiplinger.
QUARTERBACKS – Rinehart, Getz, Reese, Dutton.
HALFBACKS – Benjamin, Washington, Pledgure, Richardson, Bivings.
FULLBACKS – C. Brown, Beiter, Dean.

AKRON GARFIELD – 0
ENDS – Winters, Hubbard, Gibson.
TACKLES – Wiseman, Flanders, Hicks, Truza.
GUARDS – Balca, Rekettye, Phillips, Capatosta, McFarland.
CENTERS – Blouir, Smith, Sabatino.
QUARTERBACK – Rossi.
HALFBACKS – Shephard, Miskar, Humphrey, Rogers.
FULLBACKS – Arshinkoff, Vic Rich.

Scoring by quarters:
Massillon 7 14 7 7 35
Garfield 0 0 0 0 0

Massillon scoring:
Touchdowns – Benjamin (3, runs of 32, 15 and 28 yards); Beiter (run 26 yards); Childers (pass 19 yards).
Extra points – Richardson 5 (placements).

STATISTICS
Massillon Garfield
First downs, rushing 17 9
First downs, passing 2 1
First downs, penalties 1 1
Total first downs 20 11
Yards gained rushing 401 159
Yards lost rushing 20 21
Net yards gained rushing 381 138
Yards gained passing 42 23
Total yards gained 423 161
Passes attempted 4 18
Passes completed 2 4
Passes intercepted by 3 0
Times kicked off 6 1
Kickoff average (yards) 43 54
Kickoff returns 9yards) 12 92
Times punted 2 7
Punt average (yards) 32.2 19.7
Punt returns (yards) 16 0
Had punts blocked 0 0
Fumbles 2 1
Lost fumbled ball 2 0
Penalties 6 9
Yards penalized 50 85

History

1956: Massillon 13, Alliance 0

September 28, 1956July 8, 2017
by Eric Smith

Tigers Win Thriller From Alliance
Massillon Gridders Triumph 13-0; Erase Old Jinx For Coach

By CHARLIE POWELL

It was another heap big scare, m’am, and Massillon was mighty glad it won.

There was good reason for rejoicing in the Tiger camp; the Tigers could point to their third victory in a row, the Alliance jinx was something of the past and Coach Lee Tressel’s personal winning skein had reached 37 games.

The Aviators, mainly on their longest sustained drive of the night, which came late in the third period and fizzled out on the first play of the final quarter, were like so many previous Alliance combines. They simply gave all they had before bowing 13-0 before 7,819 paid fans at Mt. Union College stadium.

But what they had wasn’t enough, thank goodness.

Massillon parlayed first and fourth period marches into its 28th win in 33 meetings with Alliance clubs. Fancy prancing Ivory Benjamin dashed into pay dirt twice and teamed with hard-nosed Mike Hershberger and the two line-busters, Chet Brown and “Chuck” Beiter, to give the Tigers the advantage when it came to moving that pigskin.

That the ground attack was the big difference was evident in that for the second time this season Massillon enjoyed a statistical edge. Just take a look.

Massillon, 13 first downs to Alliance’s 10, 270 net yards gained to 173. One Tiger aerial connection made 14 yards while the vaunted Aviator air game went ker-plunk.
* * *
ALLIANCE TRIED eight passes and not one settled into the arms of the intended receiver. But four times it was not fault of the passer, sophomore Walt Zingg.

This boy Zingg really threw the oval around but his efforts were in vain.

For instance, in that third quarter march Zingg’s flings could have put the host club back in the old ball game. Twice his receivers raced behind the Tiger secondary and were practically all by their lonesome when the pass arrived. But on both occasions the aerials were dropped.

Then after the drive ended, the Tigers had to punt and early in the spine-tingling final frame the Aviators went to work again. After Mike Hershberger got off one of his fine punts, this one 53 yards to the Aviator 10, the Mel Knowlton-coached crew advanced to their own 43 and once again one of their receivers dashed behind the secondary. Again the ball was right there but again Zingg’s toss was missed.
* * *
THE ORANGEMEN then applied the clincher. A march of 81 yards, featuring Beiter’s
35-yard caper up the middle, was capped when Benjamin whizzed around the right side for the final 13 yards.

The goalposts came down and the thumping in Massillon hearts eased considerably. What happened after that, except for the celebrating, was anti-climatic – even the fact that end Clyde Childers was required to kickoff three times.

Thus the Alliance jinx which made Paul Brown, Chuck Mather and Tom Harp its victims, went down the drain. And responsible was a green gang of fighters who licked a scrappy band of veterans.

Coach Tressel, enjoying one of his happiest hours, wouldn’t try to pick out any standouts.

“We are improving, our tackling was better and our downfield blocking looked good again. However, we have some more tough ones coming up. They are all rough…I mean it…but I believe we can hold our own if we continue to improve,” he said.

Tressel was a little peeved because of a second quarter let down but he explained the boys may have been tiring. However, apparently they got their second breath after stopping Alliance’s one big push of the night and as the last drive that iced the verdict was marked by crisp blocking and some hard running.
* * *
THE TIGER COACH was high on the Alliance team. He singled out halfbacks Timmy Johnson and Gary Wilson, who were particular thorns on inside running plays, and also paid a tribute to Zingg, a passer of “real promise.”

Johnson and Wilson accounted for 167 yards between them but their fast and shifty dashes failed to overshadow those of the four lads who carried the brunt of the Orange attack.

Benjamin zipped 92 yards in 14 carries with his touchdown coming on nifty runs of 25 and 14 yards, Hershberger made 76 in 16 trips, the improving Beiter gained 70 in five carries and Brown toted seven times for 31 yards.

Their runs were made possible by a mobile line that handled its job mighty fine. There were no standouts – everybody played hard and smart.

The game was less than two minutes old when guard Tom Meldrum jumped on a fumble at the enemy 49 – and Massillon was on its way to its first touchdown.

Hershberger and Benjamin gained three and five, respectively, before the former, twisting away from two would-be tacklers on a sweep to the left, picked up 14 yards to the 27. Brown got a yard, Benjamin fought for five and Hershberger fumbled and recovered for a four-yard deficit before Benjamin got on his horse.
* * *
THE WHIRLING dervish who plays left half for the Bengals took the ball on a double reverse – which caught the Aviators with their defenses down – and veered to the right. Blocking was near perfect and Ivory had it comparatively easy the last 15 yards of his
15-yard gallop. He was knocked for a loop but in the end zone and with six and a half minutes remaining in the panel, the Tigers were in front 6-0.

It was still six to zero after Davie Richardson’s placekick hit the crossbar and bounced back.

The rest of the quarter was meaningless other than Johnson’s 18-yard run but the hosts made two more first downs as the second round got under way. However, the Tigers knuckled down and finally end Attlilo Giovanatto had to punt from the Massillon 48.

The Tigers moved to their own 49 before Hershberger got off another terrific punt and another exchange of punts followed. The last time Alliance had possession in the first half Zingg tried three passes. One was almost intercepted by Benjamin, and two others were too far for the intended receiver.

Tressel’s halftime talk must have been a honey.

The Tigers came out loaded for Aviators. Except for a 15-yard foray by Beiter the yards were ripped off in short chunks as the Orangemen took the kickoff and moved from their own 16 to the 39.
* * *
BOB RINEHART the smooth quarterback, then hit on his only completion with Benjamin the catcher. The play was good for 14 and the fourth first down of the march but then the boys ran out of gas. On a delay, Hershberger was nailed for a five-yard loss by linebacker Bob Miller and Beiter was held for no gain before Rinehart took to the airlanes again.

The first went to Benjamin at the 25 but it looked like Ivory tried to run before he made the catch. On fourth down Rinehart twirled into the end zone and the throw was just a shade too far for Dick Brenner to reach.

Alliance was fired-up again. It was Johnson, then Wilson to the Tiger 43 before an end dropped a Zingg aerial in the clear at the 20. The host team went to the ground again and Wilson on two smashes gained 23 to the 20. Alliance stands were roaring but another Zingg pass was dropped and Johnson got only two and Wilson three. Then on fourth down Zingg couldn’t find a receiver in the open and ran to his right. Chet Brown got a firm grip on Zingg’s jersey, wouldn’t let go and Massillon took over at its own 13.

Chet and Ivory picked up a first down but in three more plays the Bengals gained nine and Hershberger punted. This time his kick sailed 53 yards and dead on the 10.

And man, the Aviators had Tiger fans on the edge of their seats once again.

That same pair, Johnson and Wilson, carried the mail to the 32 and after the next two plays made eight, a Zingg pass was dropped for the fourth time.
* * *
THEN EVERYBODY was expecting the Red and Blue to go for the first down. It was fourth and about a yard and a half at the 43 but the Aviators punted.

Giovanatto lofted one 38 yards to the Massillon 19 and the Tresselmen got sharp to apply the clincher.

Chet Brown twice wriggled loose for 12-yard pick-ups as the invaders moved to the Aviator 43 before Beiter came through with his 35-yard jaunt. Beiter cracked the middle and almost went the distance but was brought down from behind at the eight. A Rinehart toss was short but Benjamin skirted right-end, smartly cut away from a couple defenders, and went into the end zone standing up. Richardson’s placement at 1:02 made Massillonians real happy.

Childers had to kickoff three times after the field was cleared of fans who walked off with the goalposts. Massillon was offside on the first; the second went out of bounds. Then kicking from his own 35, the lanky flanker sent one clear down to the Alliance five. Johnson ran it out to the 27 and on the second play from scrimmage guard John Heimann intercepted a Zingg pass and two plays later the final gun sounded.

STATISTICS
Mass. Opp.
First downs rushing 12 10
First downs passing 1 0
First downs by penalties 0 0
Total first downs 13 10
Yards gained rushing 278 180
Yards lost rushing 22 7
Passes attempted 6 8
Passes completed 1 0
Passes had intercepted 0 1
Yards gained passing 14 0
Net yards gained 270 173
Times kicked off 3 1
Average kickoff return -5 16
Yards kickoff returned by -5 49
Times punted 4 5
Average punt (yards) 42.5 36
Yards punts returned by 0 9
Had punts blocked 0 0
Total fumbles 2 3
Times lost ball on fumbles 0 2
Penalties 5 2
Yards penalties 35 20

Tag: <span>Ivory Benjamin</span>