Tag: <span>John</span>

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1964: Massillon 34, Altoona, PA 18

Tigers ‘Owned” Lion Defense In 34-18 Win

Altoona Coach Lauds Massillon’s Blocking

By STEVE HAPANOWICZ

A few years ago when the Green Bay Packers ruled the professional football roost, Coach Vince Lombardi made it a point to play to the opponent’s strength, beat him at his own game.

The Massillon Tigers played to the Altoona, Pa., strength, a tough defensive line, and overpowered the Mountain Lions on the ground for a 34-18 victory Saturday night in as an exciting a ball game as the 16,109 fans present at the weekend’s colorful inter-state game will see this season.

Not since 1954 has anyone scored 34 points on the Mountain Lions and the bulk of the credit belongs to the center of the Tiger offensive line, guards Larry Larsuel and Tom Whitfield and center John Muhlbach.

“THEY OWNED US down the middle in the second half,” said Altoona Coach Earl Strohm, headman of the Lions now in his 11th year at the Pennsylvania football
power house. The veteran coach was especially impressed with Larsuel, terming the senior all-county and all-state guard “a real good football player.”

Trapping the Altoona defensive line, the Tiger trio opened up holes for halfbacks Brock Herring and Bob Hewitt and fullback Jim Lawrence who played one of the best games of his career. Herring scored 4 touchdowns one of them a 37-yard run where he bolted through a hole and past the Altoona secondary before it realized what was happening.

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

Lawrence scored once, but the 186-pound senior was the Tigers’ bread-and-butter man getting yardage in crucial situations and faking beautifully when he wasn’t carrying the ball. Lawrence carried 22 times for 166 yards averaging 7 yards per carry. All told the Tigers rolled up 340 yards on the ground, with Herring carrying 19 times for 137 yards and a 7-yard average.

While the Tigers ground out the winning score, Altoona hit a porous Tiger pass defense with 9 completions in 19 attempts for 216 yards including 2 touchdowns of 62 and 42 yards.

Lion quarterback Dick Frasca connected on 8 of those to show Massillon fans one of the best high school passers seen this year. He also turned receiver on the last scoring effort taking a pass from halfback Buddy Geis, his best receiver, and stumbling into the end zone from 15 yards out for the final Altoona score. It was a 42-yard play. Frasca will be back next year when the Tigers go to Mansion Park in Altoona for a return match.

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

MASSILLON SCORED its first touchdown with 2:01 left to play in the first quarter when Herring went over from the 6 to cap a 56-yard drive in 8 plays.

The Tigers took a 12-0 lead in the second quarter when Herring went 9 yards to climax a 10-play, 64-yard drive highlighted by a Herring 14-yard gain and one of 13 yards by Hewitt. There were 7 minutes and 12 seconds left to play when Herring scored as Lawrence faked into the line, complementing quarterback Steve Kanner’s deft ball handling.

Altoona got back into the game as Frasca hit end Dave Thompson with an 11-yard pass and Geis with a 42-yard pass play up the middle, the shifty Geis lugging to the 14. Mike Reid, the Altoona 225-pound fullback just returning to offensive action and still slowed by a knee injury picked up 2 yards and halfback Dick Beard 5. On the following play Reid fumbled after being hit about the one, the ball squirting into the end zone where Mike Grove, the Altoona center, recovered for the touchdown.

Altoona tied it up with 4:51 left in the 3rd quarter when Frasca hit Geis with a 24-yard pass at the Massillon 38. Geis went down the east sideline the 38 yards for the score on a play covering 62 yards, bringing the better than 2,700 Altoona fans, who accompanied the Lions to their feet.

The score was set up when Altoona drove from its own 24 to its own 45 where with 3rd and 10 the Lions were called for holding. Massillon chose to accept the penalty making it 3rd and 25 instead of 4th and 10 and a punting situation coming up. With 3rd and 25 Frasca hit Geis with the 62-yard pass play.

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

MASSILLON BOUNCED back, starting a 74-yard drive with Lawrence going over from the 3 with 11:19 left to play in the fourth quarter. The Tigers picked up the extra points when quarterback Dave Sheegog lateraled to Herring just as he was about to hit the ground. The score put the Tigers ahead 20-12.

Altoona couldn’t move the ball past the 47 on the next series and lost 2 yards on a 4th and 3 situation with the Tigers taking over on the 45. Lawrence made 11 to the 37 on the second play and on the 3rd play Herring bolted out of a quick opener up the middle for the score.

The Tigers drove 58-yard in 11 plays featuring a 24-yard run by Herring to score from the 7 with Herring cutting over center for the TD. Kanner’s pass to end Rick Paige for the extra points made it 34-12 with 1:26 remaining.

On the following kickoff, Paul Marks tipped the ball, which rolled only 2 yards and the Lions had it on the 42 since it did not travel the necessary 10 yards.

On the next play, Geis got the ball started around his right end, stopped and hit Frasca who had gone down the west side with a pass at the 15. Frasca was almost tripped up but stumbled to the 2 where he lunged into the end zone for the score. A kick by Reid failed and the game ended 34-18.

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

COACH EARLE BRUCE called the Mountain Lions, “a tough ball club, with the best passer we’ve seen, and a good receiver in Geis.” While happy with the victory, Bruce said the outcome would call for some “real analyzation” of the Tigers pass defense.

Based on the game movies, fullback Lawrence was named player of the week for his running and faking. Lineman of the week was guard Tom Whitfield with Larsuel the runner-up. Back of the week was Herring, followed by Lawrence and Paul Marks who made 9 tackles and 10 assists on defense.

ALTOONA – 18
Ends – thompson, Ellis, Steinbugl, Williams.
Tackles – Kaltenbrunner, Ebersole, Showalter.
Guards – Hobson, Jeffco, Phillips, R. Geis, Nedimeyer, Brenner.
Center – Grove.
Backs – Frasca, B. Geis, Andros, Lepore, Beard, Reid, Noonan, Russo.

MASSILLON – 34
Ends – Franklin, Gilmore, Williams, Paige, Goodnough, D. Whitfield, Garcia.
Tackles – Morgan, Binge, Rambaud, Croop.
Guards – Larsuel, T. Whitifield, Richards.
Center – Muhlbach.
Backs – Kanner, Sheegog, Pribich, Frieg, Hewitt, Herring, Manson, Conti,
Foster, Shanor, Marks.

Massillon ……………… 6 6 0 22 – 34
Altoona ……………….. 0 6 6 6 – 18

Touchdowns – Massillon: Herring 4 (runs of 6, 9, 37 and 7 yards);
Lawrence (3-yard run).

Altoona: Grove (covered fumble in end zone); B. Geis (62-yard
pass-run) from Frasca; Frasca (42-yard pass-run from B. Geis).

Extra Points – Herring 2 (run); Paige 2 (pass from Kanner).

Officials:
Referee – Harvey Hodgson (Massillon).
Umpire – Joe Romano (Mansfield).
Field Judge – Tony Pianowski (Cleveland).
Head linesman – Jack McLain (Columbus).

Statistics
Mass. Altoona
First downs—rushing 18 6
First downs—passing 0 8
First downs—penalties 0 0
Total first downs 18 14
Yards gained rushing 340 102
Yards lost rushing 0 2
Net yards gained rushing 340 100
Net yards gained passing 11 216
Total yards gained 351 316
Passes attempted 3 19
Passes completed 2 9
Passes intercepted by 0 0
Yardage, passes intercepted 0 0
Times kicked off 6 4
Kickoff average (yards) 36.6 48.75
Kickoff returns (yards) 82 85
Times punted 3 2
Punt average (yards) 41.3 33
Punt returns (yards) 9 0
Had punts blocked 0 0
Fumbles 1 4
Lost fumbled ball 0 1
Penalties 3 2
Yards penalized 15 20
Touchdowns rushing 5 1
Touchdowns passing 0 2
Touchdowns by interception 0 0
Miscellaneous 0 0
Total number of plays 55 51

John Mulbach
History

1900: Massillon 0 Canton Central 46

SCORE OF 46 TO 0
Massillon Eleven Fights in Vain Against Odds
TEAM IN POOR CONDITION

All the Members Were Not Present,
so Their Places Were Filled With Players who Never Worked with the Eleven Before
Other Football Matters and Sporting News Generally

The game of football, Wednesday afternoon, at the fair grounds, between the Canton and Massillon high school elevens, resulted in defeat for the latter by the score of 46 to 0.  The Massillon boys only decided at the last minute to go to Canton, and, as usual, when the time set for the departure drew near, the management of the team found that several players were missing.  A hasty round up was made, and a patched up team was at last gotten together.  The Canton captain won the toss up, and chose the ball and the west end of the field.

Massillon kicked off and after about two minutes of playing, Rackle, of Canton, had scored a touchdown, Canton also kicked goal.  Massillon now got possession of the ball on the kick off, kept it one down and then lost it on a fumble, Rackle again scoring a touchdown for Canton.  Goal was also kicked.  Canton scored one more touchdown before time for the first half was called.

The second half was a repetition of the first, only more scores were made.  The Massillon boys simply could do nothing but watch their county seat friends carry the ball over the line and kick goal.

Rackle and Van Horn, of the Canton team, had the wind knocked out of them several times, and the Massillon boys sustained some bad bruises, but no one was severely hurt.  Royer, of Canton, acted as referee.

The following is the line up:

C.H.S.                            Pos.                           M.H.S.
Strang                          Left End                             Bast
Cook                         Left Tackle                 Sonnhalter
Wagoner                    Left Guard                      Gorman
Slicker                           Center                        Benedict
Rex                           Right Guard           Young, Pierce
Fawcett                    Right Tackle                  C. Young
Reemsnyder                Right End                       Albright
Mahaffey                  Quarterback                  Wiseman
Rackle                     Left Halfback                    Goehler
Van Horn                Right Halfback                     Myers
Rob                             Fullback                      Schnierle

History

1900: Massillon 0 Canton Central 5

THE FIRST BATTLE
High School Boys Sturdily Breast the Blows

WEIGHT TELLS AT LAST
And the Youthful Knights of the Gridiron Go Down to Defeat Before the Hardy Men From the County Seat
‘Twas a Game with Many Fine Features
Other Athletic and Sporting News

The Canton high school eleven in a hotly contested game of football, Wednesday afternoon at the Massillon baseball park, defeated the Massillon high school team by a score of 5 to 0.  The game was scheduled to begin at 3:30 but it was nearly 4, when all the preliminaries, were arranged.  The Canton aggregation came in a special car, accompanied by many friends and admirers, among who were many ladies.  The Massillon school also turned out in force, and the cries of the rivals filled the air.

The toss up was won by Schnierle, the Massillon captain, who chose the west end of the field and the kickoff.  Canton, after making a small gain, lost the ball on a fumble by the quarterback.  Massillon, after a vain attempt to trample the Canton team into the ground, also lost the ball in the same manner.  The Canton team’s superior weight now began to tell on the Massillon line, and finally Rob was rushed across the line for a touchdown.

Massillon then kicked off, and held the Canton team for three downs, obtained the ball and by a good run by Wiseman advanced the ball ten yards.  J. Miller punted the ball far into the enemy’s territory just as time was called.

The second half was a hard struggle between the teams, Massillon trying hard to score, and the Canton boys working just as hard to prevent them, when time was called the Massillon team, was very near the Canton goal line.  The halves were of twenty minutes’ duration each.

The features of the game were the tackling of Young and J. Miller, and the end running of Wiseman.  Ray L. Markel, of this city, and Boyer, of Canton, were the referees.  J.M. Sarver acted as timekeeper.  The game was very free from objectionable slugging.  There were no accidents.

The teams lined up as follows:

C.H.S.                            Pos.                                       M.H.S.
Zollinger                       right end                                   J. Miller
Cross                         right tackle                                    Young
Correl                        right guard                                   Nother
Slaker                            center                                    Schnierle
Wagoner                     left guard                               Sonnhalter
and Gorman
Cook                          left tackle              Albright and F. Miller
Strang                           left end                       Bast and Oberlin
Mahaffey                   quarterback                                     Hipp
Van Horn                 right halfback                                  Myers
Rackle                       left halfback                               Wiseman
Rob                              fullback                                  M. Miller
Rex, Hudson,                  subs                                     Benedict
Snyder

Score:
C.H.S.                 5
M.H.S.                 0