When it was gut‑check time, the Tigers laid it on the line against Cincinnati Moeller Saturday night in The Repository Game of the Week.
The unlikeliest of heros ‑ a second‑string fullback ‑ led the top‑ranked Tigers to a 20‑15 win over perennial pain‑in‑the‑neck Moeller.
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Junior fullback Dave Hodgson broke a 74‑yard trap play that hit Moeller like a sledgehammer as the Tigers defeated the Crusaders for the second year in a row in front of 13,102.
“I never would have expected (Hodgson) would be the guy that decided this game,” Massillon head coach Jack Rose said. “Dave has some speed. It was an unbelievable run.”
Beating Moeller finally gave Massillon the “L” it has been searching for: Legitimacy.
“It seems like we haven’t gotten a lot of respect lately,” said Rose, whose players noticed they were 6‑3 underdogs in The Repository.
“I think they deserve it,” Moeller head coach Steve Klonne said. “Rankings are rankings and they don’t mean a thing unless you play like the No. 1 team in the state come the playoffs.”
The win against No. 7 Moeller will assure Massillon of keeping its No. 1 ranking by the Associated Press. Depending how Massillon’s opponents did over the weekend, the win should help the Tigers in their quest to break Cleveland St. Ignatius’ computer‑point record of 450.45 last year. The Tigers should have close to 300 with two weeks left to play.
The victory all but assures Massillon of a playoff spot, too. It didn’t come easy, though.
It was a game of momentum swings and emotional highs and lows.
When it looked like Massillon fans would have to sit through the final two minutes of torture and possibly watch one of those famous Moeller comebacks, the Crusaders ended that nightmare.
Massillon’s Eric Lightfoot punted to the Crusaders with less than three minutes to play. However, Moeller’s Tony Hamilton had already fumbled away one punt in the first half.
He did it again when the gamer mattered most.
“I really feel sorry for the play,” Klonne said. “It happened to him twice. We win as a team and we lose as a team. We had a lot of mistakes.”
Moeller fumbled the ball five times and lost three of those. The two teams combined for eight fumbles in a constant mist.
Not rain, snow, nor a brick wall could have brought down the 5‑foot‑8, 180‑pound Hodgson.
Hodgson took the trap handoff, which had been very successful against Moeller all night, broke three tackles near line of scrimmage, and outran Moeller to the end zone.
“I’m the second‑string fullback,” Hodgson said, “there wasn’t anything or anyone that was going to stop me once I got going. I really had myself believing I could run through a brick wall.”
Massillon didn’t do itself any favors as soon as the game started. On the first play from scrimmage, Tigers’ tailback Christian Morgan fumbled at the Massillon 14.
Moeller took a 6‑0 lead when Tom Pucke scored from a yard out. The PAT was blocked.
“That’s not the kind of start we had in mind,” Rose said.
Massillon then put together an 11~play‑drive that stalled at the Moeller 49. After a Massillon punt, the Crusaders had the ball in their own 5. Three plays later, Massillon defensive back Josh Kreider picked off a Ryan Cooper pass at the. seven and took it in for the first Massillon score. Josh Hose’s PAT gave Massillon a 7‑6 lead.
Massillon took a 13‑9 lead when the Tigers silenced a gambling Moeller defense that sent defensive ends almost every play. Massillon quarterback Ben Hymes, sprinted to his left, and handed off to tailback Elijah Blake, who took the sprint draw play 35 yards for the Tigers’ TD. That drive took Massillon all of 28 seconds to go 73 yards.
Moeller’s Pucke also had field goals of 32 and 45 yards that made the score 13‑12 Massillon at halftime. He nailed a 46 yarder that had plenty of distance in the fourth.
“I have to give our defense a lot of credit,” Rose said. “They won this one.”
The Massillon defense held Moeller to 240 total yards, 96 in the second half.
“We shot ourselves in the foot a lot,” Klonne said. “Massillon deserves credit. They were opportunistic.”
at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium Cincinnati Moeller 6 6 0 3 15 Massillon 7 6 0 7 20
Mo ‑ Price 1 run (kick failed) Ma ‑ Kreider 10 interception return (Hose kick) Mo ‑ FG Pucke 32 Ma ‑ Blake 35 run (run failed) Mo ‑ FG Pucke 45 Ma ‑ Hodgson 74 run (Hose kick) Mo ‑ FG Pucke 46
Tigers Defeat Barberton 28-0 Before 13,000 Fans Three Players Hurt In What May Prove To Be A Costly Victory
By LUTHER EMERY
The Washington high school Tigers chalked up their eighth triumph in nine games before 13,000 fans in Tiger Stadium Friday evening, as they defeated the Barberton Magics 28-0, but it was a costly victory, for three Massillon regulars were removed from the game with injuries that may slow them for next week’s bread and butter game with Canton McKinley high school.
The three injured were Jack McVey and Clarence Johnson, regular center and right halfback, respectively and Ben Roderick, who plays left end and right halfback.
Johnson and McVey sustained leg injuries while Roderick suffered a hip bruise. The three injuries bring to four the number of cripples on the Tiger team, for Jack Houston, regular right end has been hobbling around all week on a leg injured in last week’s game with Toledo Waite high school.
Coach Chuck Mather and Dr. Merle Singer, are hoping none of the injuries will be serious enough to keep the boys out of next week’s all important contest, but as Dr. Singer said after the game, “You just can’t tell the extent of the injuries now.”
Coach Mather used 43 players in the contest and the free substituting had everyone confused including the players, fans and himself, but a lot of boys managed to get in their lick and may become better football players some day because of it.
The free substituting undoubtedly held down the score, which gives the lie to first downs, for the Tigers only made six to Barberton’s 11 while gaining 244 yards to Barberton’s 180.
It was a screwy and uninteresting game for the most part with play frequently interrupted because of penalties and substitutions. The officials walked off 75 yards against the Tigers, and twice penalized the locals for having too many players on the field. * * * THE TOUCHDOWNS, all of them, were, on the other hand, of a sensational variety and furnished most of the excitement. Capt. Al Brown, who had done a lot of long running this season, got two on runs of 55 and 21 yards, Irvin Crable scored on an explosion run of 19 yards through center and Bill Morrow pulled a Notre Dame stunt by scoring the first points of the game as he snared Mark Scarr’s lateral to Bob Yoak and went 46 yards for his only points in his three years of varsity competition. He was perhaps the happiest “kid” in the dressing room after the game for a touchdown is a touchdown to a backfield man but to a guard it’s a TOUCHDOWN.
While the Tigers frequently bogged down offensively, the shining light in their performance last night was the work of their defense. They tackled harder than at any time this season and gave the opposing ball carriers a heavy shoulder when brining them to earth.
The defensive spirit of the team reached its peak in the second quarter when the cats bristled over a 15-yard penalty that gave Barberton a first down on the Massillon three-yard line. Bob Confer on first down took it to the one, but thereafter there was no Magic in the Barberton attack. In three plays the visitors were thrown back 25 yards to their 26-yard line where the Tigers took over.
Barberton had but one other touchdown opportunity, that on a Tiger pass thrown short in the flat. Mike Kulcsar had a chance for an easy interception with a clear field ahead of him, but he bobbled the ball and dropped it.
The defensive play of Bill Paul and little Eddie Bush, were outstanding contributions to the Tiger victory. Both socked their opponents regularly and helped to set them back for losses. The Tigers will need that kind of hard hitting next Saturday if they hope to tame the McKinley Bulldogs. * * * THE LOCALS only completed two of eight passes but with better receiving could have made good on 50 percent of their throws. One of the passes was a 42-yarder from Al Brown to Don Studer that moved the ball into position for the last touchdown of the game. It put the ball on the Barberton 19, and Irvin Crable went through like a rifle shot on the next play for the remaining distance.
Brown’s 55-yard run for the second touchdown was the prettiest piece of footwork seen all evening. He was given a lot of good blocking, but he likewise had to run right over three Barberton tacklers while doing a right wire walk along the side line to keep from going out of bounds.
Barberton presented a smooth running team, that might have caused the Tigers some difficulty on one or two nights this season, but which went up against the locals when the latter were at their best defensively.
The Magics early in the game confined their efforts to running the ends, but ball carriers were frequently tossed for big losses, especially after the second period 15-yard penalty that was slapped on the local team for defensive holding. It appeared to arouse the Tigers to play a better brand of football. It also irked Coach Mather, who argued long and hard with the officials over the decision, contending the penalty should have been five yards and first down. The penalty for offensive holding is 15 yards.
Local fans also didn’t like a 15-yard penalty slapped on the local team for unnecessary roughness when tackling a Barberton passer and throwing him back on his own five-yard line. He still had the ball when downed. * * * THE FIRST period was nearly half over before the Tigers scored their opening touchdown. The locals for the second straight week elected to kickoff after winning the toss. The Tigers stopped Barberton on its first series of plays and the latter halted the locals on their own 40-yard line. Then on third down and the ball on the 46-yard line, Scarr attempted to pitch out a lateral to Yoak. Morrow came busting through from his guard position to grab the ball and run unmolested for a touchdown. Johnson placekicked the extra point.
The Tigers scored the next time they got the sphere, with Brown going 55 yards for his sideline run on the first play from scrimmage. Johnson again kicked the extra point.
Neither team threatened in the second quarter until Barberton got a Tiger punt on its own 41 and began a drive which with the aid of 20 yards in penalties brought a first down on the Massillon three. * * * CONFER hit center for two, and then the Tigers got mad. Stimac was tossed for a nine-yard loss, Confer for a nine-yard loss and Cain on an end around play for a seven-yard loss to end the threat and gain the ball for the locals on the Massillon 26-yard line.
The Tigers’ third touchdown came the first time they got the ball in the second half. Jacobs brought a Barberton punt back to his 46, Johnson ran to the Barberton 35 and Jacobs and Brown produced another first down on the Magics’ 21. Brown went through for the remaining distance and also kicked the extra point.
The drive for the last touchdown began late in the third quarter from the Massillon 28 and ran into the fourth period. Brown and Dick Shine, who replaced the injured Johnson, carried to a first down on the Tiger 39. There Hill pitched a lateral to Brown who drifted back and fired a long pass that Studer caught on the 19. On the next play Crable went through for the final points of the game and Krisher kicked the extra point. Neither team threatened again.
Points after touchdown: Massillon – Johnson 2 (placekicks); Brown (placekick); Krisher (placekick).
Referee – George Brown. Umpire – George Ellis. Head Linesman – Lawrence Gilboy. Field Judge – R.E. Petrequin.
Statistics Of The Game Mass. Barb. First downs 6 11 Passes attempted 8 18 Passes completed 2 5 Had Passes intercepted 1 2 Yards gained passing 59 28 Yards gained rushing 185 152 Total yards gained 244 180 Yards lost 2 65 Net yards gained 242 113 Times kicked off 6 0 Average kickoff (yards) 48 — Yards kickoffs returned by — 59 Times punted 2 6 Average punt (yards) 19 29 Yards punts returned by 49 0 Fumbles 2 1 Lost ball on fumbles 2 0 Times penalized 9 2 Yards penalized 75 20
Tiger Gridders Whip Toledo Waite In Deep Mud 19-7 Massillon Team Scores First Three Times It Gets Hands On The Ball
By LUTHER EMERY
The Washington high school Tigers beat Jupiter Pluvius and the Toledo Waite football team 19-7 before 12,000 dripping fans in the Lucas county city Friday evening to score their seventh victory in eight games.
Qualifying as worthy seamen for the way in which they sailed their ship of victory around the Toledo ends, the Massillon gridders triumphed against odds as great as those overcome by President Truman in his ballot box sweep last Tuesday.
On a dry night, they could have named their score, as far as we are personally concerned, but it was a wet night and the word cannot properly describe it.
In fact you have to feel kind of sticky and wacky, with mud oozing from your shoes hair hanging around your ears and clothes faded on your underwear, to get into the spirit of this little ditty.
The Massillon gridders wanted a dry field. They feared what would happen on a wet gridiron and they didn’t dare give thought to a quagmire such as developed before the game was more than a few minutes old.
Waite evidently wanted a wet field, and Jupiter Pluvius was on its side, for the rain poured and poured, but the tarpaulin that could have been rolled over the gridiron was left beneath the grandstand where tarpaulins shouldn’t be. * * * THE TIGERS were magnificent as they overcame Waite’s 20 or more pound average per man to push over three first half touchdowns, (that’s as many times as they had the ball) while holding the Toledoans to one – a questionable score that came after the end of the second period.
The locals made two touchdown efforts the second half, and both were called back for violations, one of the two nullifying a brilliant 54-yard run by Capt. Al Brown for what would have been his third touchdown of the game.
He was also part loser on the other when he ran from his 13 to the Waiter 37 where he pitched the ball out to Clarence Johnson who went the rest of the distance. Handkerchiefs were thrown all over the field on this play. To start with, Waite was offside and the officials said Brown’s attempted lateral to Johnson went forward. They ruled the one infraction cancelled theother and the ball went back to the 13.
The Tigers as a whole played it safe the second half, punting once on third down and not chancing tricky ball handling.
The game was the rough and bruising affair it was expected to be and at times almost threatened to turn into a free for all. It was virtually impossible to identify players, by number, face or otherwise, and most of the time they looked like someone emerging from a clay massage or models for a plaster cast. They staggered around blinded by mud, and with the supply of towels exhausted, officials eventually used their red handkerchiefs to wipe the ooze from the eyes and mouths of members of both teams so that they could see in which direction to run. * * * THOUGH it was muddy from the start, the Tigers scored their three touchdowns the first three times they got the ball when the mud was only ankle deep and ‘twas well they did for they found it hard to move in the later stages of the game when it looked as though they were running around on stumps.
The difference in statistics was not as great as the score, and yet it could just as well have read 31-0 instead of 19-7. First downs were the same, 10 for each team, and the locals only gained 201 yards to Waite’s 189. Because of the slippery ball, both teams feared to throw and only three passes were attempted all night, the Tigers trying one and Waite two. None was completed.
Some idea of what might have happened on a dry field was unfolded in the first period and a half when the Massillonians rolled to their three touchdowns. It took only three plays to get the first score.
Waite received to start the game and Clarence Johnson kicked a long floater that held Waite to its own 14-yard line. Failing to make more than seven yards in three attempts, the Indians punted to Irvin Crable who was downed on his 45. On the first play from scrimmage, Dick Jacobs, who substituted for Crable, broke away to his 25-yard line Johnson hit through tackle for one and the Tigers ambushed the Indians as Jack Hill tossed a pitchout to Al Brown who scampered for the remaining 24 yards and the first touchdown of the game. The attempt for the extra point went bad when Hill couldn’t hold on to a low pass and fumbled the ball. * * * THE TIGERS SCORED their second touchdown the next time they came into possession of the pigskin. It began when Ben Roderick covered a Waite fumble after the Indians had marched the ball from their own 20 to the Tiger 43. Brown scooted 24 yards to the Waite 33. Three plays failed to gain a yard but on fourth down, Brown reeled off 24 yards to a first down on the Waite nine. Hill lost two yards in recovering his own fumble, but Johnson made it up on the next play when he was turned loose around his left end for a touchdown. Brown carried the extra point over to make the score 13-0, just as the period ended. The Tigers marched to their third touchdown the third time they got the ball. Dick Jacobs put them in position with a brilliant 41-yard return of a Toledo punt, to the 31-yard line. Brown went to the 18 around his right end on the next play and here the Tigers got a series of breaks that helped them on their way. They fumbled and Waite recovered, but Waite was offside and penalized five yards. Brown ran to a first down on the five-yard line and another offside penalty against Waite put the ball on the one-yard line. Brown smacked through right tackle with room to spare for a touchdown. Hill tried to sneak through with the extra point but failed.
Waite took the following kickoff on the 37 and marched the ball the remaining distance of the field for a touchdown. Once the Tigers had the Indians apparently stopped on the locals’ 40-yard line, but an offside penalty against Massillon started Waite moving again. Using power plays on off tackle smashes, the Toledo boys bulled their way to first downs on the 38-yard line, 23-yard line and 11-yard line against a weakening Tiger. Here the Tigers made the mistake of taking time out with only 35 seconds left to play. A five-yard penalty for offside advanced the ball to the six and another offside penalty put it down on the one. The Tigers went into an eight-man line. Steve Katich plunged into the Massillon line but was thrown back. Waite took time out. Thomas hit center for no gain and Waite again was given a time out when two substitutes entered the game. As Waite came out of its huddle time was again started and apparently the half had expired before the ball was passed to Quarterback Bill White who sneaked it over by inches.
Coach Chuck Mather and assistants rushed on to the field to protest the stopping of the clock when the two Toledo substitutes entered the game prior to the last play claiming the Toledo team had already used its timeouts and should have been given a five-yard penalty.
The officials did not allow the protest.
Ronald Bedee placekicked the extra point and that wound up the scoring for the game at 19-7. As it turned out there was no need for the second half, for neither team was able to get the ball legally over the other’s goal line and players contented themselves with ramming faces into the mud. * * * THE NEAREST the Tigers came to the Waite goal the second half was the 18-yard line but the effort ended when Waite covered a fumble by Roderick on a double reverse. Waite likewise drove to the Tiger 13 in the fourth period but also lost the ball on the 13. The game ended with the Tigers marching 40 yards to a first down on the Toledo 25.
The victory was the Tigers’ seventh in eight games and also ended a 10-game winning streak for Toledo Waite that began in the later part of the 1947 season. Undoubtedly the local eleven will receive at least a fourth place ranking in the scholastic football polls next week, for it was tied with Waite for fourth in this week’s Associated Press poll and was two notches behind the Indians in a rival news poll, all of which shows that football polls are no more accurate than those of the presidential variety.
Because the Waite stadium does not have a dressing room, Tiger players dressed at their hotel and returned to it immediately after the game.
We hate to think what the hotel rooms must have looked line after the local boys got through taking off their dirty togs. They did take one precaution to try to keep the place clean – they had house slippers with them so they would not have to walk through the hotel lobby and halls in their muddy football cleats.
Jack Houston, was the only local player removed from the contest because of injuries. He suffered a strained knee.
Coach Mather used fewer players than at any time this season, with only 20 boys getting into the game.
The Tigers have two games yet to play. Next Friday they take on Barberton in the local stadium and once again have an old score to settle in that encounter, for Barberton, the 1947 state champion, was one of four teams to tie the Massillon Bengal down last year.
After the Barberton game comes the traditional daylight clash with Canton McKinley to be played Nov. 20 in Tiger stadium.
Touchdowns: Massillon – Brown 2; Johnson. Waite – White.
Points after touchdown: Massillon – Brown (carried). Waite – Bedee (placekick).
Referee – Paul Landis. Umpire – George Meulich. Head Linesman – Forrest Fordham. Field Judge – Frank Toth.
Statistics Of The Game Mass. Waite First downs 10 10 Passes attempted 1 2 Passes completed 0 0 Yards gained rushing 201 189 Yards lost 8 11 Net yards gained 193 178 Times kicked off 5 0 Average kickoff (yards) 53 — Yards kickoffs returned by 0 70 Times punted 1 2 Average punt 29 38 Yards punts returned by 54 0 Times fumbled 4 4 Lost ball on fumbles 1 3 Times penalized 8 4 Yards penalized 40 30
Tigers Whip Warren 39-14 For Sixth Victory Of Season Passes And Long Runs Provide Thrills For Father’s Night Crowd
By LUTHER EMERY
Writing their scores both in the sky and on the ground, the Washington high Tigers romped through Warren Harding, high here Friday evening for a 39-14 triumph and their sixth in seven games before a small crowd of 11,000 fans.
Uncorking a potent passing attack for the first time, the Tiger gridders showed off before their dads who were seated on the sidelines and who at the end of the game wore grins on their faces as big as the numbers on their backs.
It was Dads’ night and a good night for the Massillon gridders to perform. Because it was Dads’ night, Warren was undoubtedly saved from a more humiliating defeat for Coach “Chuck” Mather, eager to give every boy a chance to show his Dad how it is done, swept his bench of players and used all 44 uniformed men in the game, the greatest number that has ever participated in a Washington high school game, as far as we have been able to learn.
The Tigers took Warren to the races, with Tiger backs getting off to long runs for touchdowns. The only sad part of it all is that it had to happen to a grand guy like J.O. (Heinie) Beck, Warren coach.
It was a game in which the statistics belied the score. You don’t chalk up first downs when a fellow covers 60 yards for a touchdown. You give him six points instead and as a result Warren had 11 first downs to the Tigers’ six.
The yards gained tell the truer picture, however, for here the local eleven rolled up 480 to Warren’s 251. * * * THE PANTHERS scored as expected, causing Coach Mather his only concern of the game. “If we could only keep somebody from scoring,” he moaned after the contest while the public address announcement of Canton McKinley’s 46-7 victory over Alliance was still ringing in his ears.
The Tigers came out of the game in pretty good shape, though Jim Reichenback and Dick Jacobs were touched up with injuries which were not believed to be too serious.
The boys ran for the goal line like a colt for the oats bin, as they fattened the Tiger scoring column with points. Most of the local team’s scores, were on long thrusts. Clarence Johnson went 31 and 60 yards for two of the touchdowns and snared a pass from Jack Hill good for 34 yards and a third score. Irvin Crable scored from 14 yards out and Al Brown got away for jaunts of 60 and 47 yards.
Warren was stubborn the first half and the visiting linemen fought hard to trap Tiger ball carriers. They could be moved easier the last two periods, however, when the Tigers did most of their scoring. The Warren touchdown drives were unleashed with the Tiger second stringers in the game, though the first team line was on the field when a third period five-yard pass produced Warren’s first touchdown. * * * THE RUNNING of the Tiger backs was some of the hardest of the season, but when Coach Mather grades his pictures he will probably find the overall performance of the team was below that of the Mansfield game.
There were many hard blocks, some weak ones too, and many instances of tacklers sliding off Warren ball carriers when a good shoulder might have brought the runner to earth.
With it all the Massillon gridders score was 14 points better than that made by Canton McKinley against Warren, but the Bulldogs on the other hand held the Panthers scoreless.
Most pleasant part of the performance was the improvement in the Tiger passing attack. The team completed seven of 10 attempts for 183 yards, and climaxed the aerial works by going 87 yards for the last touchdown in two pass plays.
Passes also figured in other touchdown drives. Jack Hill was given the best protection accorded him this season, affording him every opportunity to pick out his receivers. * * * HERB EDINGTON, the guy who ran the Tigers wobbly at Warren last year, was once again the offensive star of the visiting team, though Teammates Bill Bevan and Williams were close behind.
Edington churned up the turf with his hard running and actually exploded through tackle in the fourth quarter to score the visitors’ second touchdown from 14 yards out.
The Tigers rolled to a touchdown the first time they came into possession of the ball. Only a few seconds more than four minutes of the first period had expired when on fourth down and a yard to go, Clarence Johnson was given the ball on a double reverse. The Warren team was completely fooled as he raced around left end for 31 yards and six points. Jerry Krisher placekicked the extra point.
Warren got to the 20-yard line toward the close of the quarter, its deepest penetration of Tiger territory in the entire first half, but lost the ball on a fumble. The Tigers took over and after an exchange of punts, launched a touchdown drive from their own 31. With the help of a 33-yard pass to Johnson and a 19-yarder caught by Roderick, they advanced the ball to the 14-yard line from where Irvin Crable went over on a double reverse. Two Warren tacklers sensed the play, but were taken out of Crable’s path by some timely blocking. * * * THE TIGERS shot the works in the third period and scored every time they came into possession of the ball. It didn’t take two minutes to get the first when on the fourth play of the second half, Johnson burst through the Warren line to run 60 yards for a touchdown.
Al Brown followed with another 60 yarder the next time he came into possession of the ball, and with a 26-0 lead, Coach Mather began sending in a steady stream of substitutes who soon found Warren was a pretty tough bunch to handle. The Panthers shoved the second string line backward and rolled 65 yards to the seven-yard line where Coach Mather decided to give his first string line a try at a goal line stand. Two plays later the visitors had their first touchdown on Robison’s peg to Manyak.
Only one minute and 43 seconds of the third period remained but it didn’t take the Tigers that long to get their next score as they took the kickoff, moved to the 47 where Al Brown was released for a dash into pay dirt that brought the score to 32-7.
Warren marched right back with the kickoff from the Panthers’ own 45-yard line to the 14 where Edington broke away for the visitors’ second touchdown.
The Tigers final score came the last time they managed to gain possession of the ball. They stopped a Warren drive on their own 18, were penalized five for being in motion, then took to the air for two plays and a touchdown. Johnson took a lateral, dropped back and fired a terrific pass that Jack Houston caught on the Warren 34, where he was downed in his tracks. Hill rifled the ball the rest of the distance to Johnson, who scampered over for the Tigers’ last points of the game.
In beating Warren 39-14, the Tiger players accomplished one of their objectives – that of whipping the Panthers by a greater score than that made by Alliance in a pre-season practice game which Alliance won 12-7.
The local gridders will now turn their attention toward the invasion of Toledo Waite next Friday evening. The sophomores will go to Mansfield today for a scrimmage with Augie Morningstar’s youngsters. Smiles For Dads
Touchdowns: Massillon – Johnson 3; Brown 2; Crable. Warren – Manyake, Edington.
Points after touchdown: Massillon – Krisher 2; Johnson (placekicks). Warren – Bevan 2 (placekicks).
Statistics Of The Game Mass. Warren First downs 6 11 Passes attempted 10 17 Passes completed 7 10 Had passes intercepted 1 0 Yards gained passing 183 91 Yards gained rushing 297 166 Total yards gained 480 257 Yards lost 6 37 Net yards gained 474 220 Times punted 2 5 Average punt (yards) 33 35 Punts returned by (yards) 28 0 Times kicked off 7 3 Average kickoff (yards) 45 43 Kickoffs returned by (yards) 69 123 Times fumbled 2 4 Lost ball on fumble 1 1 Times penalized 7 2 Yards penalized 35 10
Tigers Whip Steubenville 34-21 Massillon Gridders Stave Off Late Surge By Big Red Gridders
By LUTHER EMERY
MASSILLON 34, STEUBENVILLE 21!
Read it, thank your lucky stars it ended that way and give Chuck Mather’s Tigers and Howard Brinker’s Big Red boys a pat on the back for having played one of the finest offensive football games seen in Tiger stadium in many a moon.
It was a game long to be remembered, a battle of touchdowns, with both teams too strong offensively for the other’s defense and each ready to take advantage of every break and scoring opportunity.
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Steubenville showed its power in the first two minutes by marching the ball from kickoff to the Tiger goal line, and the Tigers let the Big Red know they were not to be trifled with by tying up the count two minutes later.
That’s the kind of football you read about in story books and seldom see. But it was on display in real life before 18,000 fans in Tiger stadium Friday evening and what a game it turned out to be.
The Tigers were the better team on the field, on the scoreboard and statistically, but they were playing with dynamite when with a 27-7 lead they gave the Big Red an opportunity to light their fuses in the fourth quarter. The latter exploded with two touchdowns within four minutes of each other that had everyone on the seat’s edge wondering what was coming next. * * * IT WAS one of those games in which anything was apt to happen at anytime with breaks playing an important part in the scoring. Each team fumbled five times and only one of the 10 fumbles was recovered, that by Massillon. The visitors had their butter fingers the first half and the Tigers made the most of every break. In the last two periods it was the Massillon team that couldn’t hold the ball and the Big Red who seized the opportunity to turn the bobbles into touchdown drives.
Had the breaks only gone Steubenville’s way, the Tigers could easily have been the loser, for the Big Red was strong at the tackles and had speed and deception in the backfield of a caliber good enough to defeat most of its opponents this season.
However, the Tigers, despite a series of bad breaks which cost them two certain touchdowns, got help on a couple of others and emerged on the long end of the score. We believe the Tigers the better team, possibly by as much or more (unreadable….) between the two scores, but we also are certain that no one can toy with Steubenville this year and get away with it.
No one visioned a possible 28-17 Steubenville victory on the scoreboard anymore than did Massillon’s Chuck Mather after the Big Red had scored its third touchdown with five minutes of the game remaining to be played. * * * MATHER, with a 27-7 lead built up in the first two periods, was playing the part of a good fellow and allowing as many members of his team as possible to get in a period or two of football for experience which would also apply toward that letter M which is the goal of every varsity player. He used 25 in all and had quite a patched up lineup in the ball game when lightning struck twice within four minutes and the Big Red crept up to within six points of his team. There were long seconds and dark moments until Mather’s regulars could again take over and surge to their fifth touchdown and put the game on ice.
It takes a good team to do that and the Tigers’ comeback attests to the quality of the team even more than the 34-21 margin of victory.
Massillon fans were proud of their team for that. They liked the way their Tigers came right back after being swept off their feet to match Steubenville’s first period touchdown and make the visiting fans swallow their cheers and they liked the way they retained their fourth period calm when, with but a six-point lead and the possibility of another disastrous fumble turning victory into defeat, they drove 71 yards for their fifth and last touchdown.
It was considered a test game for the Tigers and they passed the examination by a sufficient margin so as to convince the skeptics of their ability.
Regardless of breaks, any team that can roll up 27 points on Steubenville in two periods this year is a good football team and we have an idea no other will bag that many against the Big Red in two consecutive periods the remainder of the season. * * * THE TIGERS were hitting and running hard. To pick out an outstanding performer from just watching the game would be an injustice to any boy. We’ll let Chuck Mather decide that from the pictures. All members of the starting backfield, Jack Hill, Clarence Johnson, Irvin Crable and Capt. Al Brown, ran well and each had a part in the scoring, while the line ripped openings in the Steubenville forward wall that the backs poured through for long gains.
They rolled up 489 yards from scrimmage which is more yards than any Massillon team has made in a single game since the middle of the 1943 season. Their improved passing attack gained 138 of these yards for them, while they got the remaining 351 on running plays. Steubenville made 322 yards, of which 80 were on passes and 242 on ball carrying. First downs were 18 to 12 in the Tigers’ favor.
Between them, Clarence Johnson of the local eleven and Gino Leilli, of Steubenville kicked seven off eight attempted goals which is some placekicking for high school boys. The only miss was Johnson’s second of five attempts. The ball went wide of the uprights.
The Steubenville backs, Harry Thompson, Nick Tsangeos, Bob Jones and Waddell Snyder, caused the Tigers no little trouble and Robert Beattie with a little better receiving would have had a good percentage of pass completions. He can toss the ball well and several of his pegs marked down as pass failures went directly into the arms of teammates.
The Steubenville ball carriers in fact caused trouble the very first time they came into possession of the ball. They brought the kickoff back to the 35-yard line and on the first play of the game exploded a bomb in the Massillon line that permitted Snyder to run to a first down on the Tiger 48. Next time he carried he made it to the 36 and just when it appeared the Tigers would stop this first threat, Beattie dropped back and fired a 27 yarder to Tsangeos for a touchdown. Leilli added the extra point and there was great joy on the Steubenville side of the field. * * * THE MERRIMENT was soon dispelled; however, when on the first play after kickoff, Johnson whipped a “Long Tom” to Crable who went all the way to the Steubenville 13 before he was hauled down from behind. It was a 59-yard effort. Brown sliced to the eight, but two more attempts by Brown and Crable gained but a yard leaving fourth down and the ball still seven yards from the goal. Johnson was fired through left guard for the touchdown and he kicked the extra point from placement to tie the score.
The Tigers got the first break of the game when Snyder fumbled the opening play after the kickoff and Ray Lane, Massillon linebacker, pounced on the ball on the Stub 21. Johnson took a short lateral and circled his right end to the eight. On fourth down Crable went over on a double reverse. This time Johnson missed the extra point and the score stood at 13-7.
Another break set the Tigers up for their third touchdown when Bill Paul pounced on Tsangeos fumble on the locals’ 46. The goal was still 54 yards away, but Hill slipped a pass to Johnson for a first down on the 37 and another to Crable took the ball to the 17. On a delayed trap, Brown went to the four-yard line and hit off right tackle for the remaining distance.
Steubenville came back from the kickoff with a drive that got to midfield when Takacs covered Tsangeos’ fumble which rolled back to the Big Red 36. When two plays failed to gain, Hill rifled the ball to Crable. Beattie managed to get in the way and partially block it, but as the ball was falling to the ground, Crable dove for it and came up with the leather in his arms and a first down on the 16. Crable picked up three and when Hill was bottled up trying to pass, he ran for it and went over the goal standing up for the Tigers fourth touchdown of the half.
The locals were knocking again when the half ended and had the ball on the Big Red five-yard line.
Neither team scored in the third period but each had the ball too close to their opponent’s goal for comfort. Steubenville got in position by covering Brown’s fumble on the Tiger 19. The Big Red marched to a first down on the Tiger seven, but here the local team held and took the ball away after four downs on the four-yard line. * * * A PARTIALLY blocked punt by Ronald Patt, sub center, gained the ball for the Tigers toward the end of the period on the Steubenville 48. Crable took a pass from Hill for a first down on the 30 and the Tiger quarterback tossed one to Ben Roderick for what would have been a first on the one-yard line, but the Tigers were declared in motion and were penalized five yards.
A 30-yard run by Snyder that put the ball on the 15-yard line set up Steubenville’s second touchdown. A fourth down pass to Bob Turrnetine put the ball on the five and two plays later Snyder went over for the touchdown.
Crable’s fumble, which Nick Tsangeos covered on the locals’ 49-yard line started Steubenville off on its last scoring spurt. Snyder and Jones lugged the leather to the 14 and Beattie’s pass to Turrentine provided a first down on the one-yard line. Jones went over for the six points. Leilli kicked the 21st and both Massillon and Steubenville fans had visions of a possible Big Red victory.
Mather sent his regulars back into the fray and the offensive unit operated as though it had no knowledge of the score. The boys started with the kickoff on the 29 and Johnson bulled his way through to midfield. He hit for nine more and Brown ambled to the 21. Crable went to the 18, then to the six and fourth down Brown circled his right end for a touchdown with only 33 seconds remaining to be played. By controlling the ball the last five minutes the Tigers had not only saved their game but had increased their margin of victory.
For the most part, members of the team emerged from the contest unscathed, and should be in good shape for the next week’s hot contest at Alliance.
Points after touchdown: Massillon – Johnson 4 (placekicks). Steubenville – Leilli 3 (placekicks).
Referee – Rupp. Umpire – Gross. Head Linesman – Boone. Field Judge – Jenkins.
Statistics Of The Game Mass. Steubenville First downs 18 12 Passes 13 13 Passes completed 6 5 Passes intercepted 0 0 Yards gained passing 138 80 Yards gained rushing 351 242 Total yards gained 489 322 Yards lost 20 7 Net yards gained 469 313 Times punted 1 3 Punts blocked 0 1 Average punt (yards) 36 10 Punts returned by (yards) 0 13 Times kicked off 6 4 Average kickoff (yards) 49 43 Kickoffs returned by (yards) 37 109 Times fumbled 5 5 Lost ball on fumbles 4 5 Penalties called on 9 1 Penalties refused by 0 1 Times penalized 8 1 Yards penalized 60 5
14,000 See Tigers win From Youngstown South 28-7 Massillon Gridders Beat Mahoning County Team For Third In Row
By LUTHER EMERY
A stubborn Youngstown South high school football team, was upset 28-7 by the Washington high school Tigers before 14,000 people here Friday evening and fans are still wondering how strong the Massillon team actually is.
Going into the game heavy favorites to win as they pleased, the orange and black gridders found themselves face to face with stiff opposition and a screwy assortment of defenses that often bogged them down offensively and stemmed the flow of points that had been expected to pour over the Youngstown goal.
Touchdowns were hard to get for the Tigers, but they did manage to shove over three in the second quarter after a scoreless first period, and added another in the fourth to match South’s only scoring effort of the game in the final frame.
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Twenty-eight points should be enough to satisfy most any fan, but Massillonians have been hungering for touchdowns for several years and one T.D. only whets the appetite for another and another.
Frankly South came out with more opposition than most folks, players included, had anticipated. After floundering around in their opener with Youngstown Ursuline, which they lost, the South boys have been improving each week, and last night’s showing was a better performance than a week ago when South whipped Boardman 20-0. * * * “THEY HIT HARD,” was the way several members of the Tigers team described the Youngstown eleven after the game, and the visitors did make the local team give ground frequently during the evening.
Statistics however were all in the local’s favor, 14 first downs to 11 and 434 yards gained from scrimmage to South’s 235. Then too, one goal line crossing and what would have been another, were nullified by penalties which set back the Massillon team and ruined both attempts.
Coach “Chuck” Mather, however, does not like opponents making 235 yards against his team. That’s enough to win an average football game and certainly calls for some intensive defensive preparations for Steubenville’s Big Red who invade Tiger stadium next week, undefeated and with one of the best early season offensive showings of any team on the schedule. After that game Massillon fans will know more about the strength of their team.
But don’t sell this Massillon team short. Mather hasn’t let any one combination in long enough to get acquainted, but there’ll come a time. He used 25 players last night.
The Tigers’ blocking looked better than it did a week ago against Canton Lincoln though there were instances when a missed block meant the difference between a small gain and a touchdown. There were also signs that the many clipping penalties charged against local players in Canton last week may have made them dangerously cautious. * * * THE TIGERS showed improvement in their passing department too, as they completed four of six attempts for two touchdowns and a total gain of 49 yards. The prettiest pass of all; a screen, from Jack hill to Don Slicker, good for 80 yards and what would have been a fourth period touchdown, didn’t count because of a clipping penalty.
South’s determined defense spoiled some of Mather’s plans to give more sophomores a taste of varsity competition before he attempts to tear down murderer’s row, but it looks as though the boys will have to wait a long time to get into a game what with Steubenville, Alliance, Mansfield, Warren, Toledo Waite, Barberton and Canton McKinley lined up for the next seven weeks of competition.
Nevertheless, 25 players got a chance to show what they could do against South, and some of them were in and out of the lineup continually throughout the evening.
Biggest improvement in the scoring department was the placekicking of Clarence Johnson for points after touchdowns. Prior to last night the Tigers had scored but three extra points in 11 attempts. Johnson, finally keeping his head down, booted all four chances through the uprights last night which brought a lot of joy to teammates, coach and fans. He can kick’em through all day in practice but in games has had a tendency to lift his head to see if the ball was going where he had aimed it. The result was the same as a raised head in golf—a topped ball—and most of Johnson’s boots prior to last night were just that kind. “Kick the ball, spit on the ground at the spot you kicked it before you look up,” Mather told Johnson in an effort to correct the fault.
He did last night and four points were the result. * * * PENALTIES and inability to coordinate their attack stymied the Tigers at intervals throughout the game, though they generally were able to move forward with the ball.
They were well on their way after taking the opening kickoff when they lost the ball in midfield on a fumble, South stopped them on their second attempt, but the third time they got the pigskin they launched a drive that swept 64 yards to a touchdown. The point parade actually got underway in the closing minutes of the first period when Irvin Crable brought a South punt back to his 36. The Tigers were up to the South 25 when the period ended and on fourth down and on the second play of the second period, Don James fired a floater to Crable who caught the ball in the end zone for the six points.
Scores came quicker after that and the Tigers scored touchdowns the next two times the came in possession of the ball. Their second set of points came on a 63-yard drive with Johnson running up the alley for 31 yards and the score. It wasn’t long thereafter until another 63-yard march moved to the eight-yard line where Hill fired the ball into the end zone to Jack Houston who caught the pigskin while running laterally with the goal line.
Most folks figured the Tigers would run South out of the stadium in the second half but ‘twas not so, and play was fairly even throughout both periods. South worked the ball as close to the Tiger goal line as the 25-yard line after taking the second half kickoff and the Tigers regaining the ball, got down to the three where a 15-yard penalty set them back and ruined the scoring opportunity. * * * THE FOURTH period was nearly a third gone before South managed to score. Starting from their own 23, the visitors ran and passed their way to the Massillon one-yard line where Angelo Danessa plunged it over on third down. A pass, Byrdy to John Guerriero, produced the extra point.
Six plays after the following kickoff the Tigers scored the last points of the game, Crable running the last 25 yards for the touchdown.
The running of Halfback Davis from the single wing and the passing of Sonny Friend and Davis were outstanding to the visitors’ offensive contribution.
While the game did not gain the Tigers any particular amount of prestige in state scholastic circles because of South’s previous showings, it served to give Washington high a 5-4 edge in football games played between the schools at intervals in the past 31 years. Prior to last night each team had won four in the series which dates back to 1917.
The Tigers were fortunate to finish the contest without serious injury to any player. Jack Houston was touched up a bit but the injury is not considered serious enough to keep him out of the lineup.
Score by periods: Massillon 0 21 0 7 28 South 0 0 0 7 7
Touchdowns: Massillon – Crable 2; Houston; Johnson. South – A. Danessa.
Points after touchdown: Massillon – Johnson 4 (placekicks). South – Guerriero (pass).
Referee – McPhee. Umpire – Brown. Head Linesman – Hodnick. Field Judge – Rainsberger.
Statistics Of The Game Mass. South First downs 14 11 Passes attempted 6 15 Passes completed 4 3 Had passes intercepted 0 1 Yards gained passing 49 93 Yards gained rushing 385 142 Total yards gained 434 235 Yards lost 36 20 Net yards gained 393 315 Times punted 2 3 Average punt (yards) 29 37 Punts returned by (yards) 31 13 Times kicked off 5 2 Average kickoff (yards) 47 39 Kickoffs returned by (yards) 35 70 Times fumbled 6 3 Lost ball on fumbles 2 0 Times penalized 6 4 Yards penalized 60 50 Penalties refused 2 1
18,000 See Tigers Beat Stubborn Lincoln Lions 25-0 Touchdowns Come Hard For Washington High In Hard Fought Game
By LUTHER EMERY
The Washington high school football team whipped Canton Lincoln 25-0 before 18,000 in Fawcett stadium Friday evening, but Massillon’s sizeable delegation scratched heads and wondered if the Tigers were really as strong as they thought they were while Coach “Chuck” Mather, the gleam gone from his eye, shook his head and said, “We were not sharp.”
The fact is the local eleven, with two of last week’s regulars sidelined, were not sharp and caught Lincoln on a night when the Lions were giving all they had in an effort to score their first victory over a Massillon eleven.
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Most fans expected a river of touchdowns from the Massillon team and it started that way when Al Brown romped 21 yards to score on the first play from scrimmage, but thereafter they were hard to get.
You can compile a lot of reasons why the score was not larger, penalties, injuries, and frequent substitutions, but likewise do not overlook the determination of the Lincoln team, which greatly out-weighed the Tigers from guard to guard and forced the Massillonians to rely on sweeps for their gains.
True the Tigers missed several touchdowns because of penalties and probably could have rolled up more points had Coach Mather elected to play his first stringers more, but with it all, the locals were not “high” so to speak, for the game.
“We tried to get them up there,” Mather said after the contest, “but we had a hard time getting coordinated for this one.” * * * WHAT’S MORE, the Tigers couldn’t get Lincoln lined up very often for a good punch. The Lion ends rambled around, and tacklers, according to the boys, frequently turned their backs on the Massillon interference just as the latter were throwing their blocks. This resulted in numerous clipping penalties which upset the locals’ offense and nullified a couple of fine runs for touchdowns.
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The boys, however, were not blocking with the same vicious precision that enabled them to walk away with Cathedral Latin 44-13 last week in their opening game of the season, and judging from Mather’s remark after the contest, “We’ve got a lot of work to do,” there will be some long sessions on the practice field next week. * * * DEFENSIVELY, the local team played a better game than it did last week against Latin. Whereas Latin gained 322 yards, Lincoln was held to 163. The Tigers actually gained more yards than they did against Latin, 352 to be exact compared with 332, but there wasn’t as much oats in the nose bag.
No doubt Mather made little effort to run up a large score, or else he would not have substituted so freely or experimented with some forward passes when his backs could have swept Lincoln off the field.
He used the contest to test a number of things as well as give a lot of boys a chance to get game experience and 31 of them profited because of it.
Statistically the game was as much in his favor as the number of points scored. The passing attack left much to be desired but the locals did manage to complete four of 14 for 90 yards and held Lincoln to one completion out of 12 attempts for 33 yards. Two Lion passes were intercepted. First downs were 16 to 6 /in the locals’ favor despite 90 yards lost through penalties. Lincoln wasn’t penalized a yard. In fact the officials only called two penalties on the Lions, both for being in motion, and the Tigers refused both. Twelve penalties were called on Massillon, Lincoln refusing four, including a 15-yarder. * * * THE WAY the game started off it looked as through the Tigers would make a runaway of it. They stopped Lincoln after the kickoff and Ray Lane broke through to block John Mallcheck’s punt which Roderick covered on the 21. On the first play Al Brown swept right end for a touchdown as Tiger blockers lowered the boom on would be tacklers.
The locals had to score their second one twice before they could keep it. Brown went 14 yards for it the first time but the ball was called back on a clipping penalty. Four plays later, Edie Bush swept his right end for the six points and Clarence Johnson booted the extra point from placement.
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That ended the scoring for the half with neither team threatening seriously. The Tigers once were down to the 15 but were set back on penalties while Lincoln in its only offensive outburst of the two periods, lost the ball on a fumble on the Tiger 27.
The third period was almost over before the Tigers could score again and then it took a blocked kick to do it. The locals marched the second half kickoff back to the Lincoln 10-yard line where the Lions took the ball away from them on downs. The Tigers held, however and when Mall check attempted to punt, Roderick broke through and blocked the ball. It rolled to the one yard line where Lincoln covered but it was fourth down and Massillon’s ball. Brown knifed through the left side of the Lincoln line for the touchdown to bring the score to 19.
On the first play of the fourth period, Brown went 63 yards for another touchdown which was not allowed because of a clipping penalty, and the Tigers were forced to punt, Don Studer getting off a beauty to the Lion 35. From this point Lincoln staged its best offense of the evening and moved the ball through a Massillon team filled with second and third string men to the 14-yard line where the drive petered out and the Tigers took over. A couple of passes thrown by Brown and Jack Hill helped take the ball to the 13-yard line where Johnson lugged it over on a reverse for the last points of the game. * * * THE VICTORY was the Tigers’ fifth over Lincoln in the last six years; one game that of 1945, ended in a tie score. The 25 points were four short of the 29-0 victory tabulated by the locals in 1946.
While the Tigers were not brilliant in victory, there were bright spots in their lineup. Coach Mather was pleased with the running of Capt. Brown and the defensive work of Johnson, “I felt they were outstanding in these departments,” he said after the game. “We can tell more once we have had a chance to look at the pictures.”
He was noticeably disappointed at the failure of some of his players to “tee off” when blocking Lion tacklers, for there were numerous instances when a good block would have turned a ball carrier loose for many more yards than he otherwise gathered because of a teammate’s mediocre effort.
The Tigers played the game without the services of two regulars, Mike Takacs, who suffered an attack of appendicitis and Irvin Crable, the sophomore flash, who failed to report for practice Thursday without notifying anyone, in violation of a strict coaching rule. He was in uniform, but his position was filled by Eddie Bush who was groomed for the spot during the former’s absence. Art James filled Takacs’ shoes.
After the game there wasn’t the hilarity in the Tiger dressing room such as greeted the conquest of Cathedral Latin last week. The boys knew they hadn’t played the brand of football they put out a week ago and were thinking it over among themselves.
However, they had their customary dinner after the game and returned to Massillon at midnight, ready for a weekend of rest before starting preparations for their third contest of the season next week with Youngstown South high.
Points after touchdown: Massillon – Johnson (placekick).
Referee – Russ. Umpire – Gross. Head Linesman – Hodnick. Field Judge – Schlemmer.
Statistics Of The Game Massillon Lincoln First downs 16 6 Forward passes 14 12 Passes completed 4 1 Had passes intercepted 0 2 Yards gained passing 90 33 Yards gained rushing 262 130 Total yards gained 352 163 Net yards lost 19 14 Net yards gained 333 149 Punts 2 5 Punts blocked 0 2 Average punt (yards) 41 22 Yards punts returned by 10 12 Kickoffs 5 1 Average kickoff (yards) 50 50 Kickoffs returned (yards) 25 77 Penalties called on 12 2 Times penalized 8 0 Penalties refused by 2 4 Yards penalized 90 0 Fumbles 1 4 Lost ball on fumble 0 1
Hard Blocking Tigers Smash Latin 44-13 16,000 Spectators See Massillon Gridders Get 25 Points First Period
By LUTHER EMERY
A rip-roaring band of Washington high school Tigers chased the proud Cathedral Latin Lions out of its stadium jungle Friday evening with a 44-13 pasting that rocked the Ohio scholastic football firmament.
Striking with lightning speed, the Tigers scored in the first 35 seconds on the second play of the game. The 16,000 shocked fans had hardly settled back in their seats before another marker went up on the board and by the time the first period was over the score read 25-0.
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Two more touchdowns in the second period and another in the first two minutes of the third only served to mount the score and raise the fever of the Massillon fans who like to see their opponents melted away with touchdowns. Latin scored in the second and third periods directly or indirectly through forward passes, the second coming when second and third stringers made up the Massillon team.
Lights burned late in Tigertown last night as fans sat up to replay the game over and over again. They hadn’t had so much to make whoopee over in several moons, for it was the Tigers’ first victory over Latin since 1942 and only once in nine years of competition, 1940, did they roll up as many points; it as 64-0 that year. Likewise the 44 points represented the largest Massillon score since the Tigers beat Alliance 44-7 in 1945.
It could have been larger, most everyone believes had Coach “Chuck” Mather desired to make it so, but he gave 31 members of his squad an opportunity to play in the game and there was a lot of happy faces and some proud moms and pops because of it.
Mather, who overnight became “Mr. Football” to Massillon fans, was just as proud of his team. “I was well pleased with the boys,” he said after the game, as he massaged the side of Jim Schumacher, who was touched up a bit, not seriously, in the game. “I didn’t expect them to win anything like that,” he continued. “But we must remember that this is only one. We must forget about it now. We have nine more to play, and I can’t call this a good football team until after Nov. 20.”
That’s about all the coach had to say. He and his assistants, Carl Schroeder, Paul Schofer, Lauri Wartianinen and Dave Putts, were too busy looking after the welfare of the players to make sure everyone was all right, to take time for lengthy conversations. * * * THE VICTORY maintained the Tigers’ modern victory margin over opponents on its schedule. Had Latin won it would have been the only team that could have boasted an even over-all record with the local school in the last 15 years. The Lions are now trailing the Tigers three victories to five with one tie score.
From the statistics you never would have believed the game so one-sided, all of which goes to show how surely touchdowns, not first downs win games. Latin excelled in first downs, getting 12 to the Tigers’ seven, and only trailed by 10 yards, 332 to 322 in yards gained.
But the Tigers ran the string out when they got going while the Lions, who roared loudly in midfield, only whispered when they got within scoring range.
Nevertheless the visitors’ ability to roll up 322 yards, will give Coach Mather plenty to talk about when he gets his team out for practice Monday in preparation for next week’s game with Canton Lincoln in Fawcett stadium.
Mather had feared his defense was a bit on the weak side, but likewise was almost as certain that his offense could score. It did – and how! In addition to the seven touchdowns made by the Tigers they had four others called back because of penalty infractions. They made good on one of the four but eventually lost the ball on the other three occasions; all of which again causes us to wonder why we ever go to the trouble of keeping statistics. * * * THE TIGER offense was predicated on hard blocking. Not for a good many years has a Massillon team spilled opposing tacklers downfield with the consistent precision of last night’s gridders.
The long runs of Sophomore Irvin Crable, Capt. Al Brown and Clarence Johnson were pretty to watch but they were made possible by the chopping down of a lot of human flesh along the trail to the goal line.
When they swept the ends they threw everything but the goal posts at Latin and had men ahead of the ball carrier on most every occasion.
With blocking of this type “twas no wonder the Tigers made four touchdowns in just five plays from scrimmage in the first quarter.
That must be a high school record, though nobody seems to know.
It went like this.
On the second play of the game, Crable went 49 yards to score. The next time the Tigers got the ball, Al Brown, on second down, went 61 yards for a touchdown and had Clarence Johnson to thank for nearly knocking the last Latin tackler out of the lot. The very next time the Tigers got the ball, Crable took the leather on first down and raced 55 yards on a reverse to score. And as though that were not enough, Latin fumbled after the kickoff that followed and the ball pounced in the air into the arms of Jack Houston who ran 22 yards to score.
So there you have it; four touchdowns with the Tigers only having run five plays from scrimmage. The boys will talk about this a long time. * * * STRUCK with this kind of dynamite “tis a wonder that Latin ever recovered sufficiently to give the locals any opposition at all in the last three periods. But it did.
In fact it must have made the Lions Coach feel pretty good to see them strike back and score touchdowns. In the second and third periods while holding the Tigers to two in the second and one in the third; admittedly this was made partially possible by wholesale substitutions in the Massillon ranks, but the Lions showed their spunk just the same and should be a better football team for it in future weeks.
The Clevelanders were hardly the football team they were in former years. With last year’s subs playing most every position and their best ball carrying threat Dominic Cardaman, sideline with injuries, they didn’t have the fire of some Latin teams we have seen in the past.
However, they were big enough, handled the ball deceptively and turned up a good ball carrier in John Nieser.
They were first to score in the second quarter as a well aimed pass off the arm of John Wise, floated into the hands of Charles Pulka who raced to the seven-yard line before being downed. The overall gain was 49 yards. It only took one play for John Nieser to get it over, and the Tigers were completely fooled by a bit of deceptive ball handling as the good Latin fullback raced over the goal line, entirely unmolested. * * * A 36-YARD reverse around left end by Johnson after Latin had lost the ball on downs, produced the local team’s fifth touchdown, and Capt. Brown carried an intercepted Latin pass back to the 17 to set up the seventh. Jack Hill fired the ball to Dick Shine for 22 yards and the points.
The Massillon gridders scored to the first two minutes of the third period after Art James recovered a Latin fumble on the 19-yard line. Line plays carried the pigskin to the one yard line where Hill tunneled through center for the touchdown.
The last touchdown of the game was scored by Latin in the same period when Wise tired a 44-yarder to Robert Jarzemba for six points. Shine fell down as he pivoted to cover Jarzemba, and the latter had no one to bother him in his catch or run. * * * BEN RODERICK was perhaps the most unfortunate player on the Tiger team. Twice he caught touchdowns one a 31-yarder in the second period and the other a 57-yard play in the fourth quarter, but neither was allowed because of penalties. Eddie Bush also went 17 yards for a touchdown in the second period which was not allowed. However, in this instance the Tigers scored two plays later on Hill’s pass to Shine. Al Brown also scored a second touchdown that did not count in the fourth period when he waltzed over from seven yards out, but the Tigers had two men in motion on the play and the score was rightfully denied.
Fortunately the local team emerged without any serious injuries. There were the usual bumps and bruises but from all indications no one was hurt badly enough to be kept out of action next week.
The uniforms worn by the Tigers only arrived one hour and 45 minutes before game time which caused a lot of hustle in the Massillon dressing room prior to the start of the contest as shirts had to be hastily fitted on players. That accounts for no numbers being listed in the program for Massillon players.
A Fine Start
MASSILLON POS. LATIN Roderick LE Putka Jones LT Hilinski Morrow LG Maruna McVay C Glowic Reichenbach RG Zoller Takacs RT Cooney Houston RE Lambert Hill QB Wise Crable LH Mullin Johnson RH Immarino Brown FB Nieser
Score by periods: Massillon 25 13 6 0 44 Latin 0 6 7 0 13
Substitutions: Massillon – Gleason, Streeter, Studer, Slicker, ends; DeWalt, W. Houston, Laps and Paul, guards; Art James, Mitchell, Schumacher and Stanford, tackles; Krisher and Kent, centers; Don James, Bush, Grier, Crone, Shine and Lane, backs. Latin – Jarzemba, Langowski and Trombo, ends; Clark, tackle; Marco and Jaskoe, fullbacks.
History 
