Tag: <span>John Reed</span>

History

1940: Massillon 34, Canton McKinley 6

TIGERS WHIP BULLDOGS 34-6

33rd Straight Victory

TIGERS MUZZLE BULLDOGS, 34-6

Parade to 33rd Straight Victory After Scored Upon First Time This Season

By Alex Zirin

MASSILLON, O., Nov. 16 – They still have the nation’s best scholastic football team living here, as Canton McKinley must reluctantly admit.

Massillon Washington’s Tigers, a dream come true, today added another glowing chapter to the remarkable gridiron history of the city.

Smashing the Bulldogs, 34-6, in their 45th meeting, the Tigers recorded their 33rd straight victory.

It was their tenth and final triumph of the season and brought a sixth consecutive Ohio championship.

Also, it was the sixth victory in a row over the Bulldogs, who haven’t won since 1934, and nine seniors closed their schoolboy careers with the distinction of never having been in a losing game.

Not since October of 1937, when New Castle, Pa., turned the trick, have the Tigers suffered a defeat.

A howling crowd of 22,000 – at least – sat through bitter cold to pay tribute to Paul Brown’s splendid machine.

Not even the presence and advice of Jim Thorpe, Mr. Football himself, could help the Bulldogs today.

They were in the game during the first half, but were helpless before the blocking might of the Tigers in the final periods.

Thorpe, hero of the great Canton Bulldogs in 1915-21, was almost unnoticed.

The Bulldogs held a 6-0 lead for a few minutes in the second period after having become the first team to cross the Tigers’ line since the 1939 Canton team turned the trick.

Athie Garrison, McKinley’s splendid back, scored on a 33-yard gallop to boast his scoring total for the season to 152. He leads the state.

But a great play by Tom James and Horace Gillom soon tied the score and, when Ray Getz booted the first of four extra points, the Tigers left the field at half time holding a 7-6 advantage, and they weren’t bothered after that.

Gillom added another spectacular touchdown in the second half, and he was joined by Getz, James and Herman Robinson.

Two touchdowns came in each the third and fourth periods.

The first part of the opening period was fairly even, but the Tigers drove to the Canton 27 shortly before the gun. They lost the ball on downs at that point, but recovered on the 33 when Garrison fumbled and Gordon Appleby recovered.

But, on the third play of the second period, a maneuver went haywire and a wild pass from the Massillon center was captured by Frank Reale on the McKinley 37.

Matt Brown, Tom Harris and Garrison worked to the 33 and then came the touchdown.

Breaking over his left end, Garrison cut back, picked up the interference that formed in a few seconds and ran over the line unmolested.

Neal Rubin came in to try for the point, but his effort was low.

The tying touchdown was the thriller of all thrillers.

With first down on their 45, the Tigers decided on a pass.

Aerial Blitzkrieg

Fading back to his 35, James fired a tremendous forward to his right. Gillom, leaping over the head of Brown on the Canton 25, tipped the ball with one hand, caught it with the other, stiff-armed Brown, broke loose from Ed Snyder and hot-footed down the sidelines for the score. Getz booted the placement and the Bulldogs, although they wouldn’t show it, were licked.

Some 30 seconds later, Gillom almost scored again. He intercepted a Harris pass on the Canton 45 and reached the 14 before a side block and his own momentum drove him to his knees just as the gun sounded.

Gillom’s tremendous second half kickoff forced the Bulldogs into a hole. Garriosn returned deep from his end zone out to his 20. Canton couldn’t gain and James returned the ensuing punt 10 yards to the Canton 30.

In five plays Massillon had its second touchdown. The honor this time went to James, who had alternated with Blunt in bringing the ball to the 3. Getz was accurate and the toll was 14-6.

More Razzle Dazzle

Eighteen plays later, Massillon countered again. The break this time was a blocked punt by Russell that Blunt recovered on the Canton 43. James, Getz, and Blunt used straight football plays to come to the 17 and then the Tigers shot the works.

Getz lateraled to James, who lateraled to Blunt, who lateralted to Robinson, who fired a forward pass to Gillom, standing alone in the end zone.

Getz kicked and the score was 21-6.

Gillom’s mighty catch of a James’ pass sparked the next touchdown, in the fourth period. This time, a spread formation, featuring a triple lateral, brought the ball to the 9, from where Getz ran left end for a touchdown. Getz again was right and it was 28-6.

James’ 61-yard rush though center enabled the scoring of the last touchdown. Robinson climaxed the show by taking a pass away from three Canton guards on the 8 and cutting over the line. Getz finally missed ,but who cared?

There was one big difference between the teams. That was blocking.

MASSILLON CANTON
WASHINGTON – 34 McKINLEY – 0

Robinson L.E. Chabek
Henderson L.T. Reale
Wallace L.G. K. Williams
Appleby C Beck
Russell R.G. Sirk
Broglio R.T. Smith
Gillom R.E. Pickard
Kingham Q Snyder
James L.H. Harris
R. Getz R.H. Garrison
Blunt F Brown

Canton 0 6 0 0 – 6
Massillon 0 7 14 13 – 34

Substitutions: Massillon – Pizzion, f; Cardinal, rg; White, lh;
P. Getz, rg; Adams, rh; Hill, lg; Oliver, lt; Armour, le; Fuchs, c.
Canton – Staudt, re; Winters, le; Rubin, re; Hooper, lh;
Crider, lh; Pappas, lg; Conroy, lg; Parshall, lt; Chessler, rg;
C. Williams, lg.

Touchdowns – Garrison, Gillom 2, James, Getz, Robinson.

Points after touchdown – Getz 4 (placement).

Massillon-Canton
SATISTICS
Massillon Canton
First downs 14 9
Yards gained rushing 276 146
Yards gained passing 121 59
Yards lost, net 11 17
Passes attempted 6 19
Passes completed 4 7
Passes intercepted by 2 1
Yards lost on penalties 25 6

Tigers, Trailing For First Time This Year,
Prove Title Claims

Take Advantage Of McKinley Defect To Score Touchdowns That
Give Coach Brown His Greatest Team

BY HARRY YOCKEY
Repository Sports Editor

A true champion is one that can overcome all conditions, and Massillon’s terrific Tigers were still perched on the Ohio scholastic football throne today because they proved to the complete satisfaction of 22,000 shivery fans that they had the spirit and ability to stage a comeback after being scored upon for the first time this season.

Looking at the picture from the Canton angle, a weakness that was evident throughout the season defeated the Bulldogs. They just couldn’t throttle Massillon’s aerial attack and that, along with the Tigers’ tricky offense, spelled the difference.

Even Paul Brown, coach of the Tigers, admitted he was worried just a little when Athie Garrison skirted left end for 32 yards and a touchdown. That fine bit of running by the Bulldog star, put the Tigers in a hole for the first time this season and gave Brown an opportunity to learn whether he was going to have the greatest team since he took over the Massillon reins in 1932.

Tigers Take Lead

The Tigers supplied the first part of the answer when Tom James, with the wind to his back, tossed a long aerial to Horace Gillom who went 25 yards for a touchdown with only 45 seconds of the first half remaining. When Ray Getz kicked the extra point he enabled the jubilant Tigers to leave the field with a one point lead.

If the Bulldogs had been playing more alert football, the Tigers probably would have gone scoreless in the first half and the psychological effect on Massillon may have made a great difference in the outcome.

Playing a safety position, Garrison, who must be credited with a note worthy performance, made the mistake of trying to intercept the ball instead of batting it down. The ball went through his fingers and into the hands of Gillom who packed it across the goal line. The play was obvious from the start as only a few seconds remained before the half time gun would have ended Massillon’s chances of scoring. If the McKinley backfield had been playing deeper it could have prevented completion of the pass or at least nailed Gillom before he could slip away.

Fail To Stop Play

Instead, the Bulldogs suffered a blow from which they were unable to recover throughout the last half. Forced to punt against the wind at the opening of the third period, the Bulldogs saw Massillon take the ball on its 30-yard line, plough through for a touchdown and kick the extra point.

That gave the Tigers a more comfortable margin but not a lead that was impossible for the Bulldogs to overcome. But the state champions for the sixth consecutive year resorted to another aerial play that McKinley should have broken up but didn’t. When Getz ran deep with the ball, two Bulldogs were close on his heels but failed to nail him before he had tossed the ball to Herman Robinson who quickly heaved it to Gillom. The latter made a beautiful catch in the end zone.

Incidentally, that particular play had been tried by Massillon on numerous occasions during the season but Saturday marked the first time it paid off.

Gillom again was on the receiving end of an aerial that gave Massillon a first down on the Canton 10 and paved the way for the third touchdown. Garrison was running beside the Massillon star when he caught the ball but was unable to knock the ball down and didn’t nail Gillom until he had registered a 29-yard gain. Getz took the ball across on the next play.

Watch Robinson Score

Failure of three McKinley backfield men to cut down Robinson on a pass play gave Massillon its last touchdown late in the third period. The Bulldogs hit Robinson as he took the ball from James and, thinking they had knocked him out of bounds, watched him run 10 more yards across the goal line to have the officials signal a touchdown that meant little as far as a victory was concerned.

Massillon completed only four passes, but three of them went for touchdowns and the other one paved the way. That, in a few words, is the story of the Canton-Massillon game of 1940.

The Tigers played championship ball against a team that refused to give up until the final gun. But the Bulldogs were playing a rival that Coach Brown after the game labeled as “the greatest team I’ve had the pleasure of coaching.”

The Tigers have been famous for their precision and they committed few mistakes yesterday despite conditions which made ball handling doubly hard. They tackled, blocked, ran and passed in a manner that leaves no question as to their championship ranking.

MASSILLON STORMS BACK AFTER CANTON CROSSES GOAL FIRST

By JACK MAXWELL

TIGER STADIUM, MASSILLON, Nov. 16 – Massillon’s famed Washington High Tigers laid undisputed claim to their sixth Ohio scholastic football championship here this afternoon by turning back their traditional rival, McKinley High school, before a record crowd of 22,000 fans.

The score was 34-6.

By winning Massillon stretched its amazing winning streak to 33 games and its consecutive victories over Canton to six. It was the first defeat of the season for the Bulldogs who had won eight games and tied one.

The victory also helped Massillon move a step nearer an even split with Canton on the 45 games in which the two schools have been matched. The score now stands: McKinley 22, Massillon 20 and three games tied.

At game time it was announced that the stands were filled to capacity and that the crowd would exceed 22,000.

Matthew Brown, fullback, was named acting captain for McKinley, Gillom and Getz, right end and right half respectively, were serving as co-captains for the Tigers.

McKinley won the toss and elected to defend the south goal.

In the initial kickoff Garrison booted the ball over the Tiger goal line and it was brought out to the 20. Advancing the ball seven yards in three tries Gillom punted on the fourth down. Brown fumbled but Garrison recovered on the McKinley 34.

Bulldogs Begin Drive

McKinley began to roll when Harris clicked off three yards around right end and Brown rammed 15 yards to a first down through right guard. An offside penalty on Massillon advanced the ball five more yards, four of which were erased when Garrison was brought down short of the line in an attempt at left end.

Brown picked up three at center. A pass, Harris to Garrison, accounted for 16 more yards. Massillon took the ball when Robinson intercepted a pass from Harris on the Massillon 16.

Massillon made it a first down on its own 30 with Blunt, James and Getz finding holes in the McKinley line. On the next play James cut through right tackle for another first down on the Massillon 48.

Blunt picked up nine yards in two tries through the line and then Getz skirted left end for a first down on the McKinley 39. A four-yard smash by James through left tackle and a
six-yard drive through center by Blunt gave Massillon another first down on the
Bulldog 29.

McKinley Line Stiffens

Here the McKinley stiffened and the rambling Tigers found it tough going. Blunt picked up two at center and then two more thrusts at the line were stopped. McKinley took the ball on the 29 when a pass, James to Gillom, was incomplete.

Brown picked up four at right end and then McKinley lost the ball on Garrison’s fumble, which was recovered by Appleby. Blunt hit center for two as the quarter ended.

SCORE: McKinley 0, Massillon 0.

Massillon picked up nine yards on two plunges by Getz and Blunt before McKinley took the ball on its own 37 when Reale covered a fumble by James.

Here McKinley started a scoring drive that was climaxed by a 32-yard run around left end by Garrison. Perfect blocking by his teammates plus ability to evade tacklers in the open enabled him to cross the goal line standing up. Rubin’s place kick for the extra point was low. Score: McKinley 6, Massillon o

Garrison’s kickoff was taken by Gillom who was brought down hard on the Massillon 27. On the next play Snyder intercepted a pass on the Massillon 44. Brown was stopped at center and then made two yards on a short pass from Harris.

A beautifully placed punt by Staudt who entered the game merely to kick, set Massillon back on its seven yard line after Garrison had dropped a long pass from Harris. Gillom, standing behind his own goal line, punted 54 yards to Garrison who returned to the Massillon 45. After two tries at the line by Garrison and Brown and a short pass, Harris to Brown, had yielded nine yards Garrison punted out on the Massillon 20.

James made it a first down on the Massillon 31 on a dash around right end and a slash through right tackle. Three more plays by James and Getz gave Massillon another first down on the Massillon 45.

Gillom Scores On Pass

On the next play James faded back and heaved a long pass which Gillom picked out of the hands of Garrison on the 25 and then rambled on across the goal line to score. The ball traveled 55 yards. Getz place kicked for the extra point. Score: McKinley 6, Massillon 7.

Garrison returned Gillom’s kickoff over the goal line to the McKinley 20. Garrison, Brown and Harris were dragged down for small losses before Harrison punted to James who returned to the McKinley 30. Blunt picked up eight around left end on a deep reverse and then James made it a first down on the McKinley 17 at right end.

Blunt rammed center and cut back to reach the McKinley 5. James went over to score through right tackle and Getz place kicked the extra point. Score: McKinley 6, Massillon 14.

Kick Over Goal Line

Gillom kicked over the goal line and McKinley took the ball on its 20. Two plays short of 10 yards by Garrison and an offside penalty on Massillon gave McKinley a first down on its punt. His kick was partially blocked by Russell and Massillon took the ball on the McKinley 43.

Here Massillon started another scoring drive with James, Getz and Blunt alternating on off tackle smashes and culminating with a dazzling end around pass from Getz to Robinson to Gillom for a touchdown. Getz place-kicked the extra point. Score: McKinley 6, Massillon 21.

Garrison returned Gillom’s kick to the 27 and Brown picked up a yard at right end as the quarter ended. Score: McKInley 6, Massillon 21.

As the fourth quarter opened Harris passed to Garrison for eight. An offside penalty gave McKinley a first down on its 42. Two passes from Harris to Brown and Garrison gained six yards. Harris failed to gain and Staudt came in to punt out of bounds on the Massillon 30. James went back to pass and then elected to run for a first down on the Massillon 47. Blunt hit right guard for six.

James picked up eight yards at right tackle and then passed to Gillom for 29 yards and a first down on the McKinley 10. A 15-yard penalty put the ball back on the 25. On the next play James ran it up to the McKinley 10 and Getz skirted left end to score. Getz place kicked the extra point. Score: McKinley 6, Massillon 28.

McKinley made another scoring threat late in the fourth period when Staudt, called in for a punt, passed to Garrison who galloped 24 yards to the Massillon 27.

Massillon scored again in the closing minutes of play when Robinson took a pass from James on the McKinley 9 and went over for a touchdown. Getz failed to place kick.

M’KINLEY BOWS TO VAUNTED FOE IN SECOND HALF

Scores First Touchdown
And Then Collapses;
Massillon Denomination Complete

By JACK MAXWELL

Massillon’s mighty Tigers scaled new heights Saturday and today retained a domination of Ohio scholastic football that was almost incredible for its completeness.

Unleashing the full fury of a perfectly coordinated attack in the second half, the talented charges of Coach Paul Brown swept over a courageous but badly out classed McKinley High school team 34-6 at Tiger stadium in Massillon Saturday afternoon.

Accomplished before a capacity throng of 22,000 amid all the color that only a long and intense rivalry can produce, the triumph was a glorious one on so many counts that jubilant Massillon fans were consulting the records today to make sure they missed nothing in their prolonged celebration.

Unbeaten in 33 Games

The victory enabled the Tigers to clinch their sixth consecutive state championship, lengthened an amazing winning streak to 33 games, marked the sixth straight conquest of their most bitter rival and was the most decisive Canton defeat in the 45 contests of an inter city series that began in 1894.

Combining perfect timing, great blocking, deadly passing and spirited defensive play in a manner that was an eloquent tribute to the coaching genius of their mentor, the Tigers drew away with a four touchdown barrage in the second half after leading an aroused McKinley eleven on 7-6 at the intermission.

Although sub-freezing temperature and a chill wind made the role of spectator none too comfortable, the battle was fought under excellent playing conditions. A field that had been protected for nearly a week by a tarpaulin afforded secure footing and each team was able to use its full repertoire of plays.

Bulldogs Fight Stubbornly

Even though they suffered a setback of unforeseen proportions, the previously unbeaten Bulldogs of Coach Johnny Reed did nothing to disgrace the school or city, which they represented. On the contrary, they battled their hearts out from opening whistle to final gun, but their best simply wasn’t good enough.
McKinley fought the Tigers on even terms for the entire first half, and scored the lone touchdown made against Massillon this season on a scintillating 31-yard gallop by Athie Garrison in the second quarter.

The Bulldogs received a disheartening blow with 30 seconds left in the first half when a long pass from Tom James to Horace Gillom clicked for 55 yards and a touchdown.

When Ray Getz converted on an accurate placement, the McKinley gridders trailed 7-6 when they went to the dressing room at the intermission instead of holding command.

In the face of a Massillon onslaught terrific in its intensity, the Bulldogs never were able to reveal their true form in the second half and were on the defensive most of the time.

Pass Defense Vulnerable

A faulty pass defense that had been the major McKinley weakness all season made the difference between an extremely close duel and a lopsided Massillon victory. The Tigers attempted only seven passes, but of their four completed ones three went for touchdowns and the other advanced the ball deep into Bulldog territory.

As always, deception and crushing blocking were the twin keys to Massillon success. McKinley stopped the Tigers’ straight running attack frequently, but each time the danger seemed past the Tigers pulled a tricky reverse, a wide sweep behind a wave of interference or a pass to continue their drive.

Worst previous Canton defeats in the ancient rivalry were 24-0 in 1922 and 31-6 in 1929. Otherwise three touchdowns were the largest margin of victory for Massillon. Canton triumphed 44-0 in 1907 to inflict the most crushing defeat of the series in which Canton still leads, 22 wins to 20. Three games ended in ties.

Gillom And James Star

Achievements of the Tigers have come through teamwork, and yesterday’s victory naturally was a group proposition.

Yet Horace Gillom, brilliant Negro end closing a star studded scholastic career, and diminutive Tom James, another senior, were the spark plugs of a powerful machine.

Gillom caught three passes, two for touchdowns, averaged 46 yards on two punts and made tackle after tackle. James directed the offense in fine style, threw all but one of the completed aerials and broke loose repeatedly in the second half, once on a 61-yard gallop. He finished as the leading ball carrier in the fray with an average of 9.2 yards.

Fred Blunt carried the brunt of the offensive burden in the first half, and Ray Getz also reeled off several long runs in addition to scoring one touchdown and kicking four extra points in five tries. Jim Russell and Bill Wallace at the guards were defensive bulwarks and Herman Robinson, Gene Henderson, Gordon Appleby, Eli Broglio, and Dick Kingham all were superb. Only Blunt and Robinson return next year.

Garrison, Brown Sparkle

Heroic in defeat were Athie Garrison and Matthew Brown. Although watched closely by the Tigers, Garrison boosted his season scoring total to 152 points, drove with tremendous power and certainly must be labeled the greatest running back in McKinley history. He averaged 3.8 yards for 11 ball-carrying attempts.

Captain and field general, Brown was the heart and soul of the Bulldogs, both on offense and defense. He carried the ball 14 times for a 2.9 average, had a hand in most of the tackles and still was trying with might and main when the final seconds ticked away. Frank Reale, a rugged tackle; Ed Snyder, a sophomore quarterback, and Don Sirk, veteran guard, were other McKinley main stays.

McKinley forced the Tigers to punt after the opening kickoff and proceeded to institute a march that carried to the Massillon 16 before it was stopped by Robinson’s interception of Tom Harris’ pass.

Reale Recovers Fumble

On the third play of the second quarter, James fumbled and Reale covered for McKinley on his own 37. With a 14-yard pass from Harris to Brown as the big advance, the Bulldogs pushed to the Massillon 31. Garrison then sprinted around his left end, cut back behind deadly blocking and dashed for a touchdown. Neil Rubin’s place kick was low.

A few minutes later, James faded back from his own 45 and passed deep to Gillom, who was covered by Garrison. Garrison leaped to catch the ball but it slanted off his fingers into the hands of Gillom, who caught on the McKinley 25 and romped for a touchdown. Getz booted the conversion.

Massillon needed just four plays to stretch its lead in the first five minutes of the third period. James ran for 13 yards, Blunt for five and again for three, and James knifed through right tackle on a reverse to score. Getz’ place kick again split the up rights.

The third Tiger touchdown came after the Bulldogs had thrown back three running plays short of a first down on the McKinley 17, Robinson came around from left end, took the ball from Getz and started around the right end behind a wall of blockers. But he stopped short of the line, dropped back and shot a perfect pass in the end zone to Gillom, who made the catch unmolested.

A 29-yard pass from James to Gillom, and a 14-yard sprint by James that nullified a holding penalty set up the next touchdown early in the last quarter. Getz circled left end from the 10 for the tally and kicked the conversion.

After Garrison had twisted 24 yards on a screen pass to the Massillon 27, the Tigers braced and took the ball on their own 20. James smashed through right tackle and broke clear for 61 yards to the 19, where he was dragged down from behind by Garrison. Blunt and Getz were stopped, but Robinson took James’ pass away from three McKinley defenders near the sideline on the 9-yard stripe and went over for the last touchdown. Getz’ place kick was just a trifle wide.
McKinley Pos. Massillon
Chabek LE Robinson
Reale LT Henderaon
K. Williams LG Wallace
Beck C Appleby
Sirk RG Russell
Smith RT Broglio
Pickard RE Gillom
Snyder QB Kingham
Harris LH James
Garrison RH Getz
M. Brown FB Blunt

Substitutions for McKinley – Rubin, c; Staudt, e; Winters, e;
Chessler, t; C. Williams, t: Pappask g; Conroy, g; Crider, hb;
Hooper, hb; R. Brown, g; Parshall, t.
For Massillon – Pizzino, fb; L. Cardinal, t; Oliver, t;
F. Cardinal, g; Fuchs, c; Adams, hb; White, hb; Hill, g;
Holt, qb; Bray, e; Demando, e.

Touchdowns: Garrison, Gillom 2, James, Getz, Robinson.

Points after touchdown: Getz 4.

McKinley 0 6 0 0 – 6
Massillon 0 7 14 13 – 34

Referee – Dave Reese, Dayton.
Umpire – Verlin P. Jenkins, Akron.
Head linesman – Earl D. Gross, New Philadelphia.
Field judge – A.B. Long, Newark.

STATISTICS
Mass. McK.
First downs, rushing 13 5
First downs, passing 1 3
First downs, total 14 8
Yards gained, rushing 283 113
Yards gained, passing 123 78
Yards lost 25 18
Yards gained, net total 381 173
Passes attempted 7 21
Passes completed 4 10
Passes intercepted 2 1
Passes incompleted 2 9
Fumbles 1 3
Own fumbles covered 1 1
Own fumbles recovered 0 2
Penalties, yardage 30 0
Punts 2 6
Punts, average yardage 46 21.7

22,000 See Tigers
Win State Toga

Bulldogs Collapse After Trailing
By 7-6 Score At Half

By BOD EDDIOTT

MASSILLON, Nov., 16 – All the devastating power of Massillon high school’s brilliant football team exploded with every inch of its fury in the faces of Canton McKinley’s Bulldogs here today and the Tigers roared to an amazing 34-6 conquest in the 43rd renewal of Ohio’s bitterest scholastic grid fuel.

Massillon’s victory was expected, but nobody looked for the disaster, which struck McKinley after the half time intermission.

As a shivering but thrilled crowd of 22,000 fans watched the peerless Tigers riddle every semblance of a defense the Bulldogs possessed, the charges of Coach Paul Brown completed their greatest season.

The victory was Massillon’s 33rd in a row extending over a four-year period. It was their sixth straight conquest of the Bulldogs and gave them their sixth consecutive undisputed state championship.

Mere words won’t suffice to tell of Massillon’s second half outburst, which netted four touchdowns and turned what looked to be an even game into one of the worst routs in the long Canton-Massillon rivalry.

For those Bulldogs of Coach Johnny Reed were tough for two entire periods. In fact, to an unbiased observer, it looked as if McKinley was the better ball club for almost half the game.

Still Champions

Score by periods:
Canton 0 6 0 0 – 6
Massillon 0 7 14 13 – 34

Tommy James
History

1939: Massillon 20, Canton McKinley 6

TIGERS BEAT BULLDOGS 20-6 TO RETAIN STATE CHAMPIONSHIP
CANTON GIVES LOCAL TEAM HARDEST GAME

Bulldogs Threaten Upset By Scoring One Touchdown And coming Close To Another; Slusser And Gillom Shine For Massillon

By LUTHER EMERY

A fighting band of red and black grid warriors played their hearts out at beautiful Fawcett stadium, Canton, Saturday afternoon but bowed 20-6 before the lightning thrusts of the Washington high Tiger.

The victory kept the state championship and the Stark county title in Massillon a fifth straight year and extended the Tiger winning streak begun in 1937 to 23 games.
Hardest Fought Game Since 1935
While 22,000 fans filled every inch of the stadium and sat on the slope at the northwest end, the Tiger and Bulldog elevens waged their hottest duel since the terrific game of 1935 when a 6-0 victory started the string of five straight triumphs the Tigers have recorded against their Canton opponents.

Keyed with a new spirit and equipped with a new double wing-back offense, the Bulldogs tackled and blocked as they never did before this season and played a brand of football that would have sent them into the game an undefeated team.

It’s tradition that the underdog plays over his head and the favorite tightens up in a Massillon-Canton game and that was what took place Saturday.
The Bulldogs were over their heads compared with past performances this season, but perhaps they were only playing the brand of ball of which they were really capable to producing.
Canton Changes Strategy
They adopted a first half strategy of consuming as much time in the huddle as possible to purposely delay the game with the hope of keeping down the score and possibly capitalizing on a break.

But when George Slusser crossed the Bulldog goal from the one-yard line in the second quarter and tossed a 21-yard pass to Tom James for another the Bulldogs, trailing 13-0, changed their strategy at halftime and came out to shoot the works in a do-or-die attempt to win.

Massillon fans who had eased back in their seats at the start of the third period feeling perfectly secure on a 13-point lead, were struck speechless when like a bolt out of the sky, Andy Marantides, game little Canton halfback, shot a 20-yard pass to halfback Matt Brown, who caught the ball over George Slusser’s head and ran another 21 yards for a touchdown.

What was apprehension became downright fear for Massillon fans when the Bulldogs came right back with another rush in which officials and the Bulldog backs carried the ball to the Tiger 15-yard line. Here the local eleven held for downs, thanks to a great job of pass defense work by Halfbacks Bob Foster, who batted down what looked like another perfect touchdown pass from Marantides to Brown.

Taking the ball on their own 15-yard line, the Tigers roared back with a drive to their own 49. There the Massillon linemen blasted a big hole in the Bulldog forward wall and on the slickest play of the day and a consistent ground gainer, Slusser took the ball from Bill Zimmerman on a fake spin and ran 51 yards for a touchdown. He cut hard to his right as he crossed the line of scrimmage and circled Bill Goodman, the McKinley safety man.

The touchdown eased the tension of Massillon fans, but the Bulldogs were not yet beaten. They wouldn’t quit as so many teams have done in the face of the Tiger charge, but came back fighting with another touchdown bid that would have reached the two yard line had not Halfback Goodman stepped out of bounds on the 30. It was the last scoring threat of either team and the game ended with the Tigers moving forward with the ball in midfield.
Tigers Had Drive When Needed
The statistics which favor Canton in first downs and Massillon in yards gained from scrimmage show little difference in both teams. Yet that little difference amounted to a big difference – the Tigers could get yards when needed, while the Bulldogs as in so many games the past season, moved the ball between the 20-yard lines but lacked the drive to put it over.

With a few ifs Canton might have gotten a tie out of it. Had not Foster been alert and timed his leap to a split second to knock down Marantides’ pass to Brown on the two-yard line, the Bulldogs would have had another touchdown. And they might have scored a third, had not Goodman walked the sideline in the last period after taking a pass from Marantides.

It was in the air that Canton gained most of its distance and what yards it made on the ground were gained around the Tiger ends.

Coach Johnny Reed gave his team a new double wing back offense for the game, hoping to spread the Tiger defense with the extra wing back and run fast breaking plays through the center of the Massillon line.

John Swezey, Red Henderson, Gil Pedrotty and Jim Russell, rose to the occasion, however and bottled up the Bulldog backs, while Horace Gillom, playing his greatest high school game, backed up the line with tremendous power. Swezey was particularly outstanding and the Tiger coaches were loud in their praise of his work after the game.
Slusser Best Runner
Offensively, Slusser, was the shining light for the Tigers. He gained more ground than any other player on the field, carrying the ball 22 times for an average of 7.2 yards, scoring two touchdowns and tossing the pass to Tom James for the third.

James and Foster also played good ball and because of his all around judgment Saturday, James will be first choice at calling signals next year. Foster gave an outstanding exhibition of pass defense work and was in on many a tackle.

Gillom’s punting was on a par with his great defensive play. He averaged 40.6 yards from scrimmage on his punts and kicked one ball 60 yards on the fly.

The Tigers had a series of plays with Gillom carrying the ball. They tried one on the second play after the kickoff, but when Horace fumbled when tackled, it was decided to play safe and continue the ball carrying to boys who were accustomed to lugging the leather.

Big Nick Rotz was outstanding on the Canton line. He was almost too strong for end Ray Getz to handle. Marantides was outstanding in the Bulldog backfield, doing most of the running and all of the punting and passing.

Still Champions
Massillon Pos. Canton
Getz LE Ryman
Pedrotty LT Reale
Russell LG Mack
Martin C Haines
Henderson RG Sirk
Swezey RT Rotz
Gillom RE Dugger
Foster QB Chabek
Slusser LH Marantides
James RH Goodman
Zimmerman FB Brown

Score by periods:
Massillon 0 13 7 0 20
Canton 0 6 0 0 6

Substitutions:
Massillon – Clendening, fb; Croop, lt; Blunt, rh.
Canton – Inman, le; Rubin, rt; Ryman, fb; Williams, qb; Stillianos, lt; Kopf, le; Verheyen, rg; Papas, rg; Kessler, lg.

Touchdowns:
Massillon – Slusser 2; James.
Canton – Brown.

Points after touchdown:
Massillon – Getz 2 (placekick).

Referee – Jenkins.
Umpire – Gross.
Head Linesman – Bacon.
Field Judge – Lobach.

Game Statistics
Mass. Canton
First downs 9 11
Yards gained rushing 248 111
Yards lost rushing 11 24
Net gain rushing 237 87
Yards gained passing 51 164
Total yards gained 288 251
Passes attempted 8 23
Passes completed 2 11
Passes incomplete 6 10
Passes intercepted 0 4
Times penalized 4 3
Yards penalized 40 15
Times punted 5
Average punt 40.6 23.6
Punts returned yards 0 42
Kickoffs 4 2
Average kickoff 28 48.5
Kickoffs returned yards 36 10
Fumbles 2 1
Lost ball on fumble 1 1

INDIVIDUAL BALL CARRYING
Massillon
Times Yards Yards Av.
Player Carried Gained Lost Gain
Slusser 22 159 1 7.2
Zimmerman 9 39 0 4.7
James 8 28 7 2.6
Foster 3 19 0 6.3
Getz 1 2 0 2.0
Clendening 1 1 0 1.0
Gillom 2 0 3 -1.5
____ ____ ____ ____
Totals 46 248 11 5.2

Canton
Marantides 19 58 3 2.9
Goodman 10 34 21 1.3
Brown 8 17 0 2.1
Chabek 1 2 0 2.0
____ ____ ____ ____
Totals 38 111 24 2.3

George Slusser
History

1938: Massillon 12, Canton McKinley 0

TIGERS BEAT BULLDOGS 12-0 TO WIN STATE CHAMPIONSHIP
CROWD OF 18,000 GETS THRILL AT MASSILLON DEFENSE ON GOAL LINE

Bulldogs Turned Back Three Times In Bid For Touchdowns; Snyder And Zimmerman Score For Massillon; Band Sparkles In Snappy Drill

By LUTHER EMERY

The Ohio scholastic football championship stays in Massillon for a fourth straight year and any of the 18,000 or more fans who saw the Massillon high Tigers put another twist in the tail of the Canton Bulldog Saturday will tell you here is where it belongs.

Two powerful offensive marches in the second period moved forward over the Canton goal to give the Massillon gridders a 12-point lead and they protected it with three gallant goal line stands in the second half that could never be surpassed for sheer courage and grit.

Four In a Row Over Canton
The 12-0 triumph was the 10th of the season for the Tigers, their fourth in a row over Canton McKinley, their 13th straight triumph and their 47th in their last 50 games. They were last beaten by Canton in the finale of the 1934 season and after undefeated years in 1935 and 1936, finally dropped a game to New Castle and were tied by Mansfield in 1937.

This fine record and the music and pageantry of Saturday’s classic is another reason why Massillon is recognized as the capital of Ohio scholastic football, even though the state has several other undefeated high school teams.

There was no doubt as to the Tigers’ superiority Saturday. They had three opportunities to score, all in the first half, made good on two and lost on the other on two unfortunate breaks.
Canton had three opportunities to score, all in the second half, but failed each time, because it could not penetrate a Tiger line that summoned super-human courage when forced back to its goal.
Praise the Line
Every credit is due the backfield but give extra praise to the linemen, who too often are forgotten when the praises of victory are sung.

The Massillon trenchmen badly out charged the Bulldog forward wall the first half. They stopped Canton’s famed Marion Motley, something no other team has done this year and they refused to back up any further when thrice the Bulldogs advanced the ball to within the eight-yard line.

Those three courageous goal line stands were the climax of the ball game. Massillon fans didn’t think they could do it and Canton fans couldn’t understand it, but the greatly outweighed Tiger linemen had 12 precious hard earned points to preserve and they smote down everything that came their way.

The Bulldogs did not have Motley to hurl into the Tiger forward wall on any of their touchdown bids. He was a party to the first march that began in midfield, but Lynn Houston tackled him so viciously on the 10-yard line that Motley left the ball game, never to come back again. Tip Lockard, who learned his first football at Longfellow junior high before moving to Canton, carried the ball to the three-yard line in two plays, but on fourth down Marantides tried to flip a pass over the center to Nick Roman and found Freddie Toles was where Nick should have been and Canton’s first touchdown effort ended with Massillon getting the ball on the 20-yard line.

The Bulldogs, who produced all the offense of the second half, charged back twice more in the fourth quarter. A pesky shovel pass, Marantides to Athie Garrison that sent the latter through the weak side, bothered the Tigers throughout the second half and was good for 23 yards and a first down on the Massillon eight-yard line.

Hope rose in the breasts of Canton fans and Massillon hearts beat heavy as the Tigers moved into an eight-man line to stop the threat.

Marantides tried to skirt his right end but wound up five yards behind where he had started. The Bulldogs tried to cross the Tigers with another shovel pass, but this time Garrison was flopped without gain.
Toles Bats Pass Down
Marantides faded back and fired a long pass to the southeast corner of the field. Tony Fehn was out there trying to get it and got behind Toles, the defending halfback, but Freddie leaped at the right time and tipped the ball just enough to knock it out of Tony’s reach. It would have been a touchdown had he caught it. A Massillon fan was so elated at Toles’ deflecting the ball that he reached out over the guard rail, grabbed Toles and patted him on the back, until Freddie finally broke away and got into position for the fourth down.

Marantides tried the only thing he could, another pass, this one intended for Nick Roman, his lanky end, but the ball was batted down and the Tigers took it on their 14-yard line, six yards back from where Canton started.

The Bulldogs still weren’t through. Whatever kind of a “pep-hyp” Coach Johnny Reed shot into his boys between halves, was lasting and the closing minutes of the fourth quarter again found them knocking at the Massillon goal.

Two well executed passes, a 21-yard circus catch by Roman followed by a 33-yard toss to Fehn, gave the Bulldogs a first down on the Tiger five-yard line.

Here the Massillon forward wall gave its greatest demonstration of courage. Lockard smashed through center for three yards and put the ball on the two-yard line. He hit the same spot again, but little Bud Lucius, who covered himself with glory, submarined under the pack, grabbed all the legs he could get hold of and was found hanging on to one of Lockard’s when the pileup was finally untangled. Tip only advanced the ball a yard on the play but was within a yard of the goal with two downs still to make it in.

Again Lockard was given the ball. This time he tried to dive over the line, but Sophomore Gene Henderson rose up to meet his flying body and smite him down for a loss of one-half yard.

Still another down remained and the ball was only a yard and a half away. This time the Bulldogs sought to work a cutback with Garrison carrying the ball. The Tigers were not to be fooled, however and Athie was thrown for a one-half yard loss and the Tigers took possession of the pigskin. Horace Gillom punted out to the 20-yard line and when Marantides tried to pass on third down, Capt. Red Snyder hauled in the leather behind the goal for a touchback.

That is why Canton failed to make good on its opportunities.
Tigers Have Extra Punch
Where Canton dominated the offense the second half, but lacked the punch to cross the goal, the Tigers summoned the same extra courage and strength that enabled them to shove over two touchdowns the first half to collar and stop the Bulldogs in the last two periods.

It took only a few minutes after the kickoff for the Tigers to show they really meant business. Stopped after receiving the kick for a net gain of eight yards on three downs, Gillom lofted a beautiful high punt that Motley took on his 20-yard line. When Bud Lucius met him as soon as he caught the ball and single-handed flopped him for no return, it was evident that Motley was in for a bad afternoon. The Dogs couldn’t gain and punted back to Capt. Snyder, who returned 17 yards to the Canton 47. Slusser and Getz were tossed backward five yards in two plays and the Bulldog fans were jubilant.

Into his bag of tricks reached Capt. Snyder for what is known as a delayed deep weak side reverse. The ball sent to Slusser and he swept wide to his right. As he cut in toward the line of scrimmage, however, Slusser slipped the ball backward to Getz who swept hard toward the left. Getz just got up momentum when he bumped into Referee Dave Reese. The collision spun him around but he kept on going. Tony Fehn took after him but was leveled to the ground by Jim Russell. Motley tried to reach him, but found Toles in the way and when Nick Roman tried to down him, he was met by Earl Martin.

Getz was finally bumped out of bounds on the 18-yard line after a run of 34 yards. He probably would have reached the goal line had he not bumped into the referee. It was an error for which Referee Reese apologized not only once but many times after the game. But why blame him when 11 members of the Canton team and most of the crowd of 18,000 didn’t know where the ball was?

Slusser smashed for eight yards and Getz on a cut back, the same play that fooled Canton a year ago, ran to the four-yard line where he fumbled when tackled and of all players, Bill Lee, a former member of the Massillon squad recovered for Canton.

That ended the Tigers’ first threat and after an exchange of punts they came hammering back again. Snyder brought a punt back to the Massillon 44 from which point the march started. Getz, Slusser and Snyder in turn carried the ball to a first down on the Canton 45.

Getz lost a yard on a mouse trap, but on the next play caught the first pass thrown by Slusser for a gain of 17 yards and a first down on the Canton 27.

To the disappointment of those folks at the north end of the field, the quarter ended here. It took four hard smashes at the Bulldog line to get another first down on the Canton 14. Snyder had made it on his fourth try, but Canton was offside and a five-yard penalty advanced it a couple of yards nearer the goal than it otherwise would have been.

Slusser in two plays made nine yards and Zimmerman sneaked through for another yard and a first down on the Canton line.
Snyder Goes Over
Here the Bulldogs dug their cleats into the goal line and the Tigers summoned the extra courage and punch the Canton gridders could not collect in their second half efforts. It was Red Snyder three times in a row. He gained two yards and the first time, another yard the second and with the ball a yard short of a touchdown dug his head into the tummy of Emil Kamp, while his line moved forward to send him sprawling over the goal. A terrific roar went up from the Massillon stands. The Tigers were ahead 6-0.

They had the Bulldogs fooled completely on the try for point, but Slusser was off balance and couldn’t reach Snyder’s pass into the end zone. Nobody was near him.

Getz kicked off to Motley who got back to his 27-yard line where Toles met him solidly. Getz tossed Jackson for a nine-yard loss and after Motley had gained but two yards at right end, Getz broke through again to toss Roman for a 10-yard loss after he had taken a lateral from Motley.

Roman tried to cross the Tigers up and run the ball form punt formation with fourth down coming up and some 27 yards to go. He got back 23 yards but was dumped on the 31-yard line where the Tigers took over the pigskin. In four plays they failed to make a first down by a yard and Canton got it on the 22.

On the very first play, Motley was hit so hard that he fumbled and Toles was Johnny on the spot and covered the leather on the Canton 27.

Slusser shot his second pass of the day and Horace Gillom made a sensational catch between two Canton secondary for a first down on the 15-yard line.

It was slam-bang from there on. It was Snyder for four yards. Getz for three, Getz for two and Snyder for a first down on the four-yard line.

Getz tried a left end sweep but was downed without gain. Then came Bill Zimmerman’s big moment. The blocking halfback who seldom carried the ball, but sacrifices stardom and showmanship to help his fellow backs gain ground and the limelight took the ball on a sneak play and went through left guard with such momentum that he hurtled over the goal line with a yard or more to spare. It was his first touchdown and what a spot for it. When Getz tried to kick the extra point, the Bulldog line broke through to block the kick and the score remained 12-0.

In fact that’s where it stood the rest of the half and the game.

Garrison brought the kickoff after the second touchdown back to the 42-yard line and Tip Lockard broke through on a fake kick to carry the ball to a first down on the Tiger 46. It was the Bulldogs’ first, first down of the game and the first time they had penetrated into Massillon territory. The half ended three plays later with Canton in possession of the ball on Massillon’s 42-yard line.

The play was so one-sided the first half that few expected the Bulldogs to comeback with the offensive rush they showed the last two periods.
Massillon Protects Lead
Their ability to penetrate into Massillon territory immediately after the third period kickoff, kept Massillon in dangerous territory and when the Tigers did have the ball they were afraid to play anything but straight football. Canton knew that and moved its secondary close to the line of scrimmage. In possession of a 12-point lead, the Massillon eleven would not take any chances with forward passes and with the Bulldog secondary massed near the line of scrimmage, the ball carriers were unable to gain ground. Coach Brown had warned his team not to get reckless with passes unless it gathered a
three-touchdown lead.

Well, the Tigers never got that far ahead so they played it safe the second half and preserved their 12-point lead. Furthermore, their passer, George Slusser was forced out of the game in the third period when he was bumped in the head while tackling Motley head on. Zimmerman, Slusser and Toles were binged in a row by Motley, but only Slusser was injured seriously enough to force his removal from the game. He didn’t know what it was all about even after the final whistle. He’s all right today, however and he will be back again next year.

When Motley, in the second half began trying to butt the boys out of the ball game with his head, it spelled trouble for him.

He only got rid of Slusser, but binged Toles and Zimmerman badly. He barreled into Gillom too along the east side line and the Tiger end whispered into his ear that it had better be the last time.

But before Gillom could get revenge, Lynn Houston met Motley squarely on the 10-yard line. It was a terrific low tackle that the Bulldog ace never got over. He limped off the field and was lost to Canton for its three pointless drives.

The Bulldogs’ second half rush enabled them to tie the Tigers in the matter of first downs. Each team made nine.

The Massillon eleven out gained the Bulldogs rushing but Canton gained the most yards passing and totaled more yards from scrimmage than the local team, 174 to 146.

Gillom gave a beautiful exhibition of punting. Only a misplaced coffin corner kick that was only good for two yards, kept his average below that of Nick Roman. Gillom’s punts, however, were lofty and gave the ends plenty of time to get down under them. As a result only 13 yards were made by Canton in returning punts.

The Tigers received a 15-yard penalty once when Lucius dropped Marantides after the latter had signaled for a fair catch. Bud didn’t see the Canton safety man put up his hand as a signal.
A Clean Game
All in all, it was one of the hardest fought yet cleanest Canton-Massillon games ever played. The lines fairly rattled when they crashed together and yet not a penalty was called for unnecessary roughness, holding, clipping or roughing the kicker. The Tigers were penalized three times, for a total of 25 yards and Canton twice for 10 yards.

It would have been interesting to have seen how well the Massillon passing attack would have worked had the Tigers cut loose as they have in many other games this season. They only attempted two from scrimmage and completed both for a gain of 30 yards. A third one on a try for extra point was grounded.

Canton tried 18 passes of all varieties and completed nine for a gain of 106 yards. Many of these yards were picked up on a shovel pass from Marantides to Garrison or McFarland. The Tigers had set up a defense for just such a pass, but the Bulldogs didn’t run it at the same spot as in past games and shot it inside of Martin. The one time Garrison ran to the usual spot and that was near the goal line, Martin smeared the play for no gain.

Trying to pick an individual star is hardly justifiable to the other 10 boys on the team. Every fan had his favorite. The spectacular work of Lucius, 142-pounder and the smallest man on either team, had many tongues a wagging. Time and again he smashed through to drop Motley and other ball carriers for no gain and losses and frequently he was the first player down under punts.

But don’t overlook the other linemen, Bill Croop, for instance. He went into the game at Henderson’s tackle to give more weight to the Tiger line. He not only had the weight, but he played a brilliant game. Nothing came through his side and he helped in the softening up process.
Henderson Stops Lockard
Henderson was sent in for the last two goal line stands, however and the way he rose up to smite Lockard down in Canton’s last great effort must have caused some proud father to swell his chest and say, “that’s my boy.”

The Tiger line was like a stone wall. Jim Russell, Lynn Houston and Earl Martin smashed and tore with all they had in them. On defense Ray Getz played a great game and his ball carrying was of the best. He and Gillom caught the only two passes thrown by Slusser. Gillom and Toles were in the thick of the backing up and saw to it that no one got loose. Toles was hurt when Fehn got around him to snare a pass from Marantides for Canton’s third touchdown bid, but he was on the job two other times and intercepted one pass and knocked down another that had points written all over them for Canton.

Not a poor pass did Martin make all day and the performance of Slusser and Zimmerman inspires high hopes for next season, for both will be back.

As for Rocky Red Snyder, it was his last game and that’s one thing for which every Massillon fan is sorry and every Canton fan glad. It was the third straight year that Capt. Snyder had played every minute of the Canton game and the Tigers won all three years. He gained more ground than any other player, 62 yards, was never thrown for a loss and made most of them the hard driving way.

Only three substitutes were used by Coach Brown. George Fabian replaced Slusser in the third quarter and though he didn’t do much offensively played a good defensive game and intercepted a Canton pass near the goal line just as the game ended.

Henderson replaced Croop at the start of the fourth period and Bill McMichael, who had not played a minute since laid low by a charley horse at Alliance, Oct. 14, was put in with two minutes of the game to play.

How well the Tigers stopped Motley, the statistics show. He gained 35 yards and lost seven for the net total of 28. Lockard was the Bulldogs’ best ball carrier. He gained 33 and lost one for a total of 32. Getz with a gain of 41 yards was second only to Capt. Snyder.

It was the last high school game not only for Snyder but for Toles, Lucius, McMichael and Houston. The other boys including the substitutes will be back again next year.
Band Gets Big Hand
There was color and humor to the game.

That Massillon band was given almost as big an ovation as the touchdowns. Canton fans were liberal in their applause of the Tiger musicians. They folded into a block like the bellows of an accordion and came out of it into an McK. They did the “Bugle Call Rag,” the “Lambeth Walk,” “Flat Foot Floogie,” and the “Parade of the Wooden Soldier,” to special dance steps that brought loud applause.

Assisting them in their performance was Pep Paulson as Obie the Tiger, who donned skirt and hat for the Flat Foot number. The band’s performance was concluded with the singing of “Alma Mater Massillon” by the fans and with their team 12 points ahead, they really made themselves heard.

The Canton band gave a military drill, forming McK, a ring, a large M and spelling Tiger. The bands were liberal with their music throughout the game.

Both schools presented acrobatic cheerleaders. The Massillon youngsters had more opportunities to cheer and do their flip-flops as a result of their team’s two touchdowns.

B.F. Fairless, president of the United States Steel Corp., was among those who sat on the Massillon bench. He made it his business to shake hands with Coach Brown after every goal line stand.

Nearly 10,000 words on the game were sent out form the press box over four telegraph wires. Station WHBC with Vic Decker at the microphone, also gave a play-by-play description to an unseen audience which undoubtedly numbered many times the thousands who actually witnessed the game.

The Tiger Booster club served the newspaper guests hot chocolate and sandwiches between halves. “That’s more than you get at most college games,” one Cleveland scribe announced.

A telegraph operator, who incidentally was from Canton, got so excited on one of the goal line stands that he spilled his hot chocolate over his instrument, shorted it, and had to send out a call for another.
Crowd Exceeds 18,000
Schools officials estimate the crowd was between 18,000 and 19,000. More inches per person were allowed spectators this year than two years ago, which accounts for the crowd not being as large as some of former years. However, if you include those standing on the hills and the usher force, the crowd probably reached 19,000.

As it was the field was dry, thanks to the thoughtfulness of those who had it covered early last week with a tarpaulin. The last strip was removed an hour before the game and nature cooperated by not drenching it with any more rain.

As a whole, the crowd was orderly and well handled – congratulations to Earl Ackley and Russell Zepp, to whom the Massillon-Canton game is one big headache. It is their job to look after the many little details and see that everything moves along without a hitch. It did and they can now breathe a sigh of relief.

The Massillon victory will be celebrated by the Tiger Booster club tonight. Coach Paul Brown will be present and will tell of preparations his team made for the game. Brown did not attend last week’s booster meeting since it is not customary for him to do so the week before the Canton game.

The booster will also discuss plans for their annual banquet, Dec. 12 at the Swiss club. Lou Little, Columbia university coach, will be the principal speaker.
Dramatic Finish
Massillon Pos. Canton
Toles LE Fehn
Lucius LT Kamp
Russell LG Rotz
Martin C Lee
Houston RG Prusser
Croop RT Mack
Gillom RE Roman
Slusser QB McFarland
Getz LH Goodman
Zimmerman RH Motley
Snyder FB Lockard

Score by periods:
Massillon 0 12 0 0 12

Substitutions:
Canton – Ondo for Mack; Savage for McFarland; Jackson for Goodman; Mack for Ondo; Marantides for Jackson; Garrison for Fehn; Zugrave for lee; Fehn for Garrison; Garrison for Motley; Lee for Zugrave, Savage for Garrison; Zugrave for Lee.
Massillon – Fabian for Slusser; Henderson for Croop; McMichael for Henderson.

Touchdowns:
Massillon – Snyder; Zimmerman.

Officials:
Referee – Reese (Denison).
Umpire – Jenkins (Akron).
Head Linesman – Graf (Ohio State).
Field Judge – Lobach (F. & M.)

Statistics
Mass. Canton
First downs 9 9
Yards gained rushing 137 98
Yards lost rushing 21 32
Net yards gained 116 68
Passes attempted 2 18
Passes completed 2 9
Passes intercepted 0 3
Yards gained passing 30 106
Total yards gained 146 174
Punts 6 4
Average punts yards 31 44
Punts returned yards 51 13
Kickoffs 3 1
Yards returned kickoff 23 50
Times penalized 3 2
Yards penalized 25 10
Fumbles 3 4
Lost ball on fumble 1 1

INDIVIDUAL BALL CARRYING
Massillon
PLAYER GAINED LOST TOTAL
Snyder 62 0 62
Getz 41 0 41
Slusser 24 6 18
Zimmerman 10 0 10
Toles 0 10 -10
Fabian 0 0 – 5
Totals 137 16 116

Canton
Motley 35 7 28
Lockard 33 1 32
Roman 20 8 12
Marantides 8 7 1
Goodman 2 0 2
Jackson 0 9 9
Totals 98 32 68

Tigers Showed Real Courage
Tough Break For Official
Little Bud Lucius Real Hero

By FRED J. BECKER
Independent Sport Editor

And what did you think of Saturday’s football game?

So do we.

And how about those three goal line stands in the third and fourth quarters.

Pretty nifty, eh ! Quite an exhibition of red-blooded courage, or something, if you ask us! Great opportunity there for some one with a pen that drips high sounding adjectives to write a thrilling story about how those Tiger kids, with their backs to the wall, three times repulsed a big, touchdown hungry foe. And how they repulsed them! What did you say Canton?
* * * *
One guy we really felt sorry for during that ball game was Dr. David Reese, Dayton dentist and former Massillon man who ranks as one of Ohio’s best football and basketball officials. It was unfortunate that he had to be in the way when Ray Getz, fleet-footed halfback, took the leather early in the first quarter and set sail for Canton’s goal. It looked like the perfect touchdown play and probably would have proved so had not that unfortunate collision between Reese and Getz occurred back of the line just as the Tiger flash took the ball on as brilliant a reverse play as we have ever seen.

Dr. Reese probably didn’t know that play was coming any more than Canton and one can’t blame him too much for being right in the middle of it. Look what it did to those 11 Canton boys. It certainly pulled them right away from the spot where Getz was going to run and had he not been slowed up momentarily by that collision Getz probably would have romped unmolested across the Canton goal. Bumping into the referee threw Getz off stride just long enough to permit Canton’s secondary to get its bearings and scamper back across the field to knock him out of bounds on the Canton 18-yard line.
* * * *
Despite that unfortunate occurrence we still believe Dr. Reese is the best qualified official available in Ohio to officiate at such an important contest as a Massillon-Canton battle. He knows the game from A to Z. He is absolutely impartial and he never lets the game get away from him. And don’t forget that officiating in such a contest as Saturday’s is a responsibility If you don’t believe it try it sometime. Dr. Reese has been referee in the last four Massillon-Canton shindigs and Massillon has won them all. The work of all the officials was first class and the game, as hard fought as it was, was remarkably free of dirty work.
* * * *
Dr. Reese said after the game that in all years he has been officiating he only has been bumped by players on three occasions. Two of them occurred here Saturday. The first was the collision with Getz, the other came a few minutes later when Fred Toles, on a wide sweep around end, smacked into the official. In case you don’t know it, Dr. Reese is a former Massillon high football and basketball star and while attending Denison University was one of the state’s outstanding football centers and basketball forwards.
* * * *
Better blocking, charging and tackling probably have never been put on display by any Tiger team than those Washington high lads showed Saturday. When they blocked out a Canton foe he stayed blocked out. Teeth shattering blocks is about as good a description for them as any. The tackling also was hard at all times and that orange and black line out charged the Canton forward wall so fast, especially during the first two quarters, that those in the stands thought the Bulldogs were spiked to the ground.
* * * *
And now a few words about the gentleman who has made all those Massillon victories over Canton possible. We mean Coach Paul Brown. We know we are covering a lot of ground and we may have to eat our words but somebody will have to do a lot of convincing to make us retract the statement that the Washington high school football mentor is the most successful coach, in either high school or college, in the state of Ohio. Any man who can turn out football teams such as the one which mopped up on the Bulldogs Saturday knows football from every angle and knows how to impart it to his athletes. We were for “Brownie” long before he was named coach at the local school and we’ve been for him ever since. He’s only a kid himself but he knows how to teach football – the kind of football that wins games. How long we’ll keep him here is a question. The Booster club might organize a vigilance committee to shoo away any strangers coming to town making inquiries about the Tiger mentor.
* * * *
But Brown is not alone in deserving credit for Massillon’s splendid scholastic football record over the last four or five years. Paul has instituted the system that produces the athletes you see romp over Canton McKinley each fall but he has been aided by some very capable assistants. Take those three gentlemen who spend their week days helping Brown coach the Tigers and then never see the team play a game until the final of the season, because they are out on the road scouting future opponents. We mean C.C. Widdoes, Hugh McGranahan and Fred Heisler. They not only do a lot of mighty fine coaching but they also know their business when it comes to scouting a future opponent.
* * * *
And then don’t forget the boys who are handling football in the junior highs. That’s where the Tiger stars of today were given their initial training and that’s where the future Tiger stars will come from. The junior high coaches are Elwood Kammer and James Hollinger at Lorin Adnrews, Bud Houghton and Roy Woods at Longfellow and Mel Knowlton and Francis Baxter at Edmund Jones. They are teaching their boys the football system Brown uses at the senior high school and it’s no wonder the boys know what it is all about when they get down to Washington high.
* * * *
Oh yes, we almost forgot – or did we – about that Tiger band. Did they march and play Saturday? What do you think? They’re the nuts and no fooling.

With Paul Brown turning out football teams and George Red Bird turning out bands what more could you want?
* * * *
And who would you nominate as the outstanding hero of Saturday’s game?

Well our vote goes to Bud Lucius, as game a little fighter as one would want to see. Weighing only 142 pounds, soaking wet, this little Tiger lineman was in the thick of every play. He was a decided pain in the neck to Mr. Marion Motley, Canton’s ace backfielder, all during the time Motley was in the game and when the big Negro limped off the field in the third quarter he probably was thinking anything but kind thoughts of Lucius and Lynn Houston. It was Houston who nailed him out in the open just when Motley thought he was going somewhere – said somewhere being in the general direction of Massillon’s goal line. And did you notice that in about 75 per cent of the pileups the last guy to be dug out from the entwined arms and legs was little Bud. No wonder those Tigers couldn’t be beat – not with a kid with that kind of fight in him in the line up.
* * * *
Those Massillon goal line stands were really beauties. Canton, after looking woefully weak in the first half, came out with a real display of fight and this combined with its great advantage in weight slowly but surely took its toll on the lighter Massillon team but the Tigers never quit fighting. They might have been pushed around a bit in midfield and they might have been mystified for a time by Canton’s shovel passes, the Bulldogs’ best play, but when it came right down to the point where the Tigers had to dig in and show their stuff to escape being scored upon they had what it takes and plenty of it. In fact they had so much that on the last stand inside the five yard line one almost gained the impression that Canton realized it couldn’t get the ball over that final white line and was ready to run up the white flag of surrender.

Rocky Snyder
History

1937: Massillon 19, Canton McKinley 6

TIGERS OVERPOWER BULLDOGS 19-6 TO CLAIM STATE TITLE STATE HONORS
GO TO MASSILLON GRIDDERS THIRD STRAIGHT YEAR
Orange and Black Surprises Canton Foe With New Offense Especially Prepared for a Slippery Gridiron; Wins by Decisive Margin

By LUTHER EMERY

The Washington high Tigers today laid claim to their third successive state scholastic football championship. Out of the thunderous ovation that greeted their 19-6 triumph over Canton McKinley Saturday afternoon on Lehman field, Canton came recognition. They had soundly trounced the undefeated team that would have been crowned with the mythical title had it beaten the Tiger.

But the Tiger was not to be beaten Saturday. It clawed and fought with cunning as it had never done this season and backed up a stubborn Bulldog over an icy gridiron for three touchdowns.

Once the Bulldog struck and like a surprise air-raid in the night, caught the Tiger off its guard and scored a touchdown while the latter was feasting on six easily earned points. That was in the first period.

From there on the Tiger played heads-up football and after an even first half, unleashed its power to score touchdowns in the third and fourth period and leave no doubt as to it being the better team on the field.

Overflow Crowd Sees Rout of Bulldog
An overflow crowd of between 12,000 and 13,000 strictly partisan fans, shivered and shouted as the two 175-pound lines smashed each other on a slippery field. The Massillon trenchmen hit the harder and the quicker and tore apart the Canton forwards for All-Ohio Bobby Glass and Red Snyder, the new found hero, to romp through.
Give the line credit. Its play was superb. Messrs. Fred Toles, Gus Peters, Bill MacMichael, Earl Martin, Lynn Houston, Junior Anderson and Don Snavely, were in the thick of the battle every minute. They held the Bulldog running attack to a net gain of 51 yards and drove back the Canton linemen when on the offense.

It was the last game for Anderson, Peters, Snavely and Glass and the victory was a grand diploma for each.

Snavely’s defensive work was superb. In the face of a severe and almost constant roughing, he made tackle after tackle to stop the charges of the Canton backs. Once he had to take time out because of an injured knee, but he shook out the kink and continued in the game was did every other Massillon player from the opening whistle to the finish. It was the second straight that the Tigers had played through an entire game without a single substitution.

33 Points against Canton
As for Glass, he had an honor that few other Massillon backs can claim, that of scoring on Canton in three successive years. He did it in 1935 when the Tigers won 6-0. He pushed two over in 1936 and Saturday he scored two more. In addition he kicked four points from placement. Thirty-three points against Canton in three years – that is his record.

But it was not all Glass in a ball carrying way Saturday as it had been so many times this season. The Tigers uncovered a new ball carrier in Snyder, that likable red head from the west side who is ready to try his hand at anything.

Red blocked all last year and all this year until a week ago when he carried the ball for the first time against Barberton.

He ran right over his interference then and fans shook their heads uncertainly. Not Saturday, Red was on his way like a streak of lightning and when his interference clogged he circled it and kept going. He carried the ball 31 times for an average of 4.3 yards on each play and in this average, even out shown Glass who in 32 attempts averaged 3.7 yards.

Bill Zimmerman who had confined his work of the afternoon to blocking, lugged the leather only once, in next to the last play of the game. He did not gain, but it mattered naught; he had turned in a great job of blocking as did Sammy Doroslov, the blocking quarterback.

Tigers Superior
The Massillon gridders were superior in every department with the exception of forward passing and punting. They out rushed the Bulldogs 252 yards to 51 yards and they made 13 first downs to Canton’s eight. The Bulldogs on the other hand, gained 152 yards from passing which included the touchdown pass of 70 yards and Charles Rotar averaged 47 yards on his punts compared with Bob Glass’ 34 yards. Rotar, however did virtually all of his punting with the wind at his back and kept the ball in the center of the field, while Glass punted only once with the wind and on virtually every occasion kicked it out of bounds. Because Glass hoisted the ball out of bounds, Rotar as safety man was able to return his punts only a total of 10 yards, while Snyder returned Rotar’s punts 40 yards.
While in the business of heaping praise on the Massillon team, the performance of one Canton ball carrier, Tip Lockard, should not be overlooked. Carrying the ball seven times, he gained 33 yards for an average of 4.7 yards, the best average of any ball carrier on the field.

Lockard, by the way, formerly lived in Massillon.

Did the Tiger coaching staff outsmart John Reed and crew?

That practice behind closed gates here last week meant on thing – a new offense. Yes, Massillon had worked on defense but Coach Paul Brown had also equipped his team with a new offense, a series of sharp cutback plays directed both inside and outside of tackle, especially useful on a muddy field. The theory behind it all was to get the Bulldogs moving one way, then suddenly dash the opposite direction, figuring the Bulldogs in their surprise would be caught flat footed in the mud and would not be able to shift back in time to stop the ball carrier. The theory worked time and again.

Score Touchdown Early
The new offense revealed itself the first time the Tigers came into possession of the ball and they marched 40 yards for a touchdown, Glass going over. Canton came right back with a dazzling pass, Biasella to Roman for 70 yards and a touchdown, and it looked like a great offensive game was in the making.

Better defensive play and great punting by Glass and Rotar staved off any further scoring the rest of the half. The Tiger power could not be denied, however, and two drives in the last two periods, one of 61 yards and another of 29 sealed the verdict. Glass and Snyder carried the ball over and Glass placekicked the extra point after the last touchdown.

It was the fourth time in five years that the winning team had scored three touchdowns. Canton made three in defeating the Tigers in1932, 1933 and 1934 and Massillon scored three last year.

The game was played in a flurry of snow. It was fluttering over the field when the two teams lined up for the opening kickoff. Snavely had won the toss and elected to defend the west goal.

Canton received. Glass toe dug heavily into the leather, the ball rode and the wind and the game was on. Lockard only came back to the 11-yard line. The Bulldogs made a daring play as Biasella tossed a pass that was grounded. Fearing a fumble, Rotar dropped back and booted the ball to his own 40 where it was grounded without return.

Tigers Score
The Massillon steamroller began moving. Revealing a new offense consisting of sharp
cut-back plays, Snyder and Glass ripped through the Bulldog line. On the very first play the red head rammed through for 14 yards and a first down on the 26. Glass smashed through for one yard; then nine. Snyder lost a yard but Glass hammered hard on fourth down and got his first down on the 12-yard stripe. Snyder picked up two, Glass got two more and then on his old pet lugged the leather straight down the alley for eight yards and a touchdown. A yawning hole was opened up for him and he went over with yards to spare. It was the same play Heine Krier used to score on the Bulldogs in 1934. Glass made one on it in 1935 too. His attempted kick for the extra point went wild.

Feasting on the six points, the Tigers were caught asleep immediately after the next kickoff to Lockard who got back to near the 30. A sleeper was trotted out to the opposite side of the field to catch a pass. The attention of the Massillon backfield was directed toward him and at the very instant the Bulldogs snapped the ball, Roman headed straight down the sideline, got by Doroslov who slipped as he stepped backward to block the pass. Roman caught the ball, cut sharply across the field and with fine interference scampered 60 yards for a touchdown. A sigh of relief was heard from the Massillon rooters when Fife’s attempted kick was wide of the posts.

With the score tied 6-6 the teams battled furiously the remainder of the period and throughout the second quarter.

Once the Tigers hammered down to the 15-yard line, but Kark broke through and tossed Glass for a five-yard loss to end the threat. It was the closest either team was able to get the remainder of the half. Rotar’s booming punts keeping the Tigers in safe territory throughout the second period.

Launch 61-yard Drive
The second time the Tigers got their hands on the ball in the third period they launched a 61-yard drive from their 39-yard line. Roughing of Snavely seemed to fire the Massillon team to the attack. Glass circled his right end for eight yards and Snyder picked up 11 more for a first down on the Canton 42. Glass hit for five and Snyder picked up seven for another first down on the 30. They took turns hammering Canton’s right tackle for four yards and Glass smashed for a first down on the 18.

Snyder ran hard and wide around his left end and got way down to the five-yard line but he slipped out of bounds on the 12. He smashed through to the eight and a first down by inches.

The going was hard from there and it seemed like the Bulldogs might stem the attack when they held Glass and Snyder to six yards in three downs. They massed their defense in the center probably expecting another thrust at the line, but Snyder had one play in the bag he had not used and he brought it out at the right time. His line shifted to the left and the backs to the right and Glass running hard, circled wide around in his right end, nearly the width of the field to cross the Canton goal. The pass from center rolled on the ground and the attempt for the extra point failed.

Fred Toles who waited until Saturday to play his best game of the season and only his second as left end and defensive right halfback, paved the way for the Tigers third and last touchdown.

It was early in the fourth quarter and the Bulldogs, making a desperate bid to catch up, flung a pass from their 27. Toles left his feet to snare the ball before it could get to the receiver and got clear back to the 19-yard line before being put down.

Snyder rammed for four and Glass carried to within a foot of a first down. They were looking for Glass to make that extra foot but instead Snyder took the ball and smashed straight through to the three-yard line in two attempts he went over for a touchdown and this time Glass sent a perfect kick between the bars.

On the following kickoff the Bulldogs made their longest sustained march of the day. Starting from their 20 after Glass had booted the ball out of the end zone, they tossed passes which mixed in with an occasional good gain by Lockard and Jack Barthel, carried the ball to a first down on the 16-yard line.

Motley grounded a pass behind the goal. Barthel failed to gain and the second pass in the series was intercepted behind the goal. It gave the Tigers the ball on their own 20.

On the first play Glass broke loose for the longest run of the day from scrimmage, a dash of 26 yards. The Tigers failed to make a second first down however and Canton took the ball on its 44 only to lose it when Biasella’s pass hit an ineligible receiver. The game ended with the Tigers still holding the ball.

Into the dressing rooms the two teams rushed, the Tigers beaming with victory, but white from the cold and fatigue of a hard game. They slapped each other on the back and got slapped by several close friends who poured into the dressing room after them. It was their third straight victory over McKinley. It enabled them to lay claim to their third straight Ohio championship. It was their third straight Stark county title and it was equal to eye for an eye revenge for the three straight defeats the Bulldogs had handed them back in 1932-34.

Someone stepped up with the remark, “Nice game, Fred, I knew you had it in you.”

“Yes, Freddy, why didn’t you turn that loose long ago?” said Wyatt.

But before Freddy could answer, Charley piped up, “Because I told him so; didn’t I, Freddy? Didn’t I tell you to hold everything until today?”

Freddy looked around to see if anyone was looking and nodded, yes.

Charley expects to finish school this year and would like to go away off somewhere and play football. He admitted he would like to have old Mike Byelene tossing the ball to him. “All I had to do was say, ‘Charley, jump,’ and Mike always had the ball there for me.” Mike is on the freshman eleven at Purdue.

The game was the last the two schools will play in Lehmans’ stadium. Canton expects to have its new stadium completed by next year. With the addition of temporary seats it will accommodate nearly twice the crowd that attended Saturday’s game.

A TASK WELL DONE, TIGERS!
MASSILLON Pos. CANTON
TOLES LE ROTAR
PETERS LT KAMP
MacMICHAEL LG RYAN
MARTIN C FIFE
HOUSTON RG MOTLEY
ANDERSON RT KARK
SNAVELY RE ROMAN
DOROSLOV QB BIASELLA
SNYDER LH BARTHEL
ZIMMERMAN RH FEHN
GLASS FB LACKARD

Score by periods:
MASSILLON 6 0 6 7 19
CANTON 6 0 0 0 6

Substitutions:
Canton – Long, e; Miller, c; Robertson, t.

Touchdowns:
Massillon – Glass 2; Snyder.
Canton – Roman.

Points after touchdown:
Massillon – Glass (placekick).

Referee – Reese.
Umpire – Finsterwald.
Head Linesman – Graf.
Field Judge – Jenkins.

Game Statistics
Mass. Can.
First downs rushing 13 2
First downs passing 0 5
Total first downs 13 8
Yards gained rushing 265 61
Yards lost rushing 13 10
Net gain rushing 252 51
Yards gained passing 0 152
Total yards gained 252 203
Passes attempted 1 15
Passes completed 0 7
Passes incomplete 1 6
Passes intercepted 0 2
Times penalized 1 3
Yards penalized 5 35
Times punted 5 6
Average punt 35 47
Returned punts (yards) 40 10
Times kicked off 4 2
Yards kickoff returned 19 36
Fumbles committed 2 1
Fumbles recovered 2 1

Ball Carriers Statistics
Player Times Gained Lost Av.
Snyder 31 131 1 4.3
Glass 32 131 12 3.7
Zimmerman 1 0 0 0
Lockard 7 33 0 4.7
Barthel 10 21 2 1.9
Fehn 4 7 8 -.2

Bob Glass
History

1936: Massillon 21, Canton McKinley 0

TIGERS BEAT BULLDOGS FOR OHIO SCHOLASTIC TITLE
Stands Well Filled At Noon For Scholastic Grid Classic

CANTON REPOSITORY AND THE CANTON DAILY NEWS CANTON, OHIO, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 1936

“How Many Of Those Massillon Boys Will Be Back Next Year?” Asks Coach Reed After Game

SEVERAL thousand persons were in their seats by noon and every available place was taken more than 30 minutes before game time. Scores of fans who had no tickets watched the game from a high bank south of the stadium and two daring boys braved the icy wind to see action from the upper limbs of a tree.

The crowd drew a record number of newspaper, radio and motion picture men who overflowed the regular press box and filled a new press box on the roof of the west stands. In addition to Canton and Massillon reporters there were representatives of all papers in Akron, Cleveland, Columbus, Coshocton and Wheeling.

Taking the field at the half, Canton band members formed the outline of a Bulldog’s head on the turf. At a signal from the drum major each musician scattered white paper clippings at his feet, leaving a picture that survived second half play.

In spite of numerous warning signs, a few fans considered the Canton-Massillon game an occasion for alcoholic celebration. There was much banter and one or two little encounters, but on the whole the crowd was orderly.

Not counting obvious comments about the probable winner, the greatest question before the game started was, “Do you think it’s going to rain?”

Some thought it would remain clear, some thought it would rain and others voted for snow. All were right, for a light rain which began in the second quarter turned to snow at the half and stopped completely before the third period opened.

Ohio’s greatest scholastic football game brought to an end one of the greatest strings of consecutive victories ever credited to a coach. The defeat was Coach Johnny Reed’s first in 45 games played during the last five seasons. He won 35 straight at North Braddock, Pa., before coming to Canton and getting nine more.

To Coach Paul Brown of Massillon the victory meant retaining the mythical state championship and boosting the record of successive wins to 20.

As soon as the classic ended Saturday afternoon Coach Reed began thinking of next season. One of his first questions to newspaper men was, “How many of those boys will be playing for Massillon again next year?”

Massillon barely missed getting two more touchdowns. In the second quarter Byelene’s long pass to Gillom would have been a score had Gillom held on to the ball. In the fourth period Anderson ran wide around his left end and was forced out of bounds on the one yard line, sliding diagonally into the end zone.

Rain and snow whipped by a stiff northwest wind failed to chill the enthusiasm of rival rooters. Massillon cheerleaders cooked up a special cheer for the occasion. It went something like this:
“California, Oregon,
Arizona cactus;
We play Canton
Just for practice.”

Don Scott, Canton quarterback who injured his collarbone in the Alliance game last week, was in the game just long enough to say he played. He entered the game halfway through the final quarter and protested vigorously when Coach Reed ordered him out one play later. Reed wanted him to play but couldn’t take any chance of serious injury.

Spectators at Canton – Massillon games are good natured. They need to be to keep their poise when ushers, as happened yesterday, blandly tell them the seats they bought are occupied by someone else. In the east stands no aisles were provided; every inch of space was occupied.

A serious tragedy was imminent after the game when thousands of persons tried to leave the field through gates, which besides being too small to accommodate the exodus were blocked by wooden railings. The railings finally were torn down.

In the fourth quarter when it finally became plain to even the most hopeful McKinley fans that this wasn’t their team’s day, a disconsolate bettor in Sect. K turned around and hospitably invited one and all to come to see him any time during the next two weeks. “I’ll be staying inside,” he promised, then added, “and it’ll be beans on the table for Thanksgiving.”

Urchins did a thriving business underneath the east stands picking up pillows, pocketbooks and automobile robes. No, Horatio Alger, they didn’t give them back to their owners, not unless the owner happened to get there first.

To the gentleman who tired to persuade everyone to sit down – “so all of us can see better” – and ended up by standing on tiptoe to see anything at all: It’s still a good idea.

GLASS TALLIES 15 POINTS FOR STATE CHAMPS
Leads Tigers to Decisive Victory Over Bulldogs and Grid Title

By Alex Zirin
(Plain Dealer Staff Correspondent)

MASSILLON, O., Nov. 21 – Trampling their foes into the frozen sod with a magnificent display of balance and power, the raging Tigers of Massillon Washington High School today retained the mythical Ohio scholastic football championship.

Outplaying Canton McKinley’s Bulldogs at every turn, outfighting and outwitting them, the Tigers triumphed, 21 to 0, before a colorful throng of 21,000 spectators.

Canton never had a chance and again it was Massillon’s turn to howl. The celebration started as the final gun popped and promised to last until the wee hours of the morning.

Tenth in Row
It was the tenth straight triumph of the year for the Tigers, who haven’t lost, incidentally, since they bowed to Canton in 1934. They closed with the amazing total of 443 points to fourteen for their foes.

Playing the role of the hero for the second straight year was stocky Bob Glass, who represents a coach’s dream of a fullback. Glass scored the touchdown that stopped the Bulldogs last year, 6 to 0. Today he ran wild, scoring two touchdowns and kicking three extra points.

Perfectly conditioned, despite the bear stories of injuries, Massillon opened and finished with the same eleven players. Canton, on the other hand, took a decisive beating and the Bulldogs were glad to settle for only three touchdowns. Glass scored his first tally in the second period on a 39-yard dash. The blocking that aided him was perfect. He went over again in the fourth period, after battering his way down to the 3.

Byelene Races 45 Yards
Mike Byelene, captain and passer deluxe, crashed into the scoring column in the fourth period when he grabbed Pete Fiore’s desperate pass and raced 45 yards unmolested down the sidelines. All three of Glass’ placement attempts were high boots that split the uprights. Some lucky fan made off with a football, refusing to throw it back after Bob’s second extra point. The cops tried to spot the fortunate gent but drew only a copious round of Bronx cheers for their efforts.

Incidentally, the police had their hands full all day. The first Massillon touchdown was the signal for an outburst of fist fights all over the stands. Feeling was intense. Officials stopped a battle between players before any punches could be tossed. Every seat was occupied and hundreds were forced to stand, their teeth chattering as a bitter wind accompanied by snow swept over the field.

Canton’s rooters were bitterly disappointed at the showing of their favorites. They simply couldn’t understand it. There is only one explanation Massillon had a vastly superior team this year. The Bulldogs showed none of the class expected of them. They, too, entered the fray with a record of nine straight triumphs over a slightly better grade of opponents. However, it was again proved that past performances mean nothing when these two aggregations come together.

Tigers Start Early
The Tigers were hot from the opening kickoff. Taking a poor punt on their own 40, they swept to the 22 before being stopped on downs. In this drive, Glass’ running and Byelene’s pass to Charley Anderson featured.

Two downs convinced Canton that the Massillon line was plenty tough and Jim Snyder got off a great punt to avert danger. But it was not long before Edgar Herring, a fleet halfback and Glass were again knocking at Canton’s goal door. This advance ended when Anderson narrowly missed Byelene’s pass. Massillon claimed interference, but it was not allowed. Again Canton tried the line and again had to punt.

Massillon had the ball on the McKinley 45 when period ended. On the first play Glass made the first down on the 48. Herring lost a yard but Byelene made 8. That set the stage for Glass. He burst through right guard, reversed his field and crossed the line standing up. The last man in his way, Barthel, was taken out by Warren Wyatt’s great block.

Fans Go Wild
The stands trembled as the Massillon rooters broke loose. It required the combined efforts of the police, reserves, coaches and subs to keep the more boisterous fans off the field. Twice more in the period the Tigers threatened, only to lose the ball on downs each time.

Canton changed tactics in third period, but its passes failed to click. Meanwhile Massillon refused to take any chances, playing careful running football.

The Tigers opened up again in the final period. Byelene whirled around left end for 5. Glass made 2 at center and then ripped through right guard for a first down on the 23, Herring scooted around end for 8 yards and the Massillon rooters were yelling for a touchdown. A fumble by Glass lost 5 yards, but Anderson made a leaping catch of Byelene’s pass a foot away from the sidelines on the 9-yard marker. But there the Canton line tightened and the Bulldogs finally got the ball on their 2. Snyder backed up to the boundary fence but was rushed and his punt went out only to the 16.

Glass Plows Over
There was no stopping Glass this time. In three crashes he went to the 3 and from there he whipped over right guard for his second touchdown.

Naturally Canton could do only one thing when it got the ball and that was to pass. But Massillon’s defense was too alert and when Byelene intercepted Fiore’s throw, there wasn’t a Bulldog within yards of him. He eased up and almost walked across the goal line. Save for one run of 40 yards by Ballos, the Bulldogs were stopped almost cold from scrimmage.

Anderson, who was supposed to be so badly hurt that he would never play again and Don Snavely, nephew of the former Shaw High coach, Jack Snavely, were outstanding on the line.

It can’t be said that Canton ever stopped trying but that wasn’t enough.

CANTON POS. MASSILLON
J. Snyder LE Gillom
Angelo LT J. Anderson
Fife LG Wyatt
Rice C Snavely
Motley RG J. Miller
Vierdo RT Peters
Rotar RE E. Anderson
Kamp Q Byelene
Ballos LH Herring
Barthel RH V. Snyder
Fiore F Glass

Massillon 0 7 0 14 21

Substitutions:
Canton – Long, re; Mould, re; Scott, re; Simon, c.

Touchdowns:
Massillon – Glass 2; Byelene.

Points after touchdown:
Massillon – Glass 3 (placements).

Referee – David Rees.
Head Linesman – C.J. Graf.
Umpire – W. Finsterwald.
Field Judge – Verlin Jenkins.

Time of periods: 12 minutes.

Massillon Whips Canton
Tigers Snare 20th Straight
Glass Celebrates Birthday By Getting 15 Points

By HENRY ANDREWS
(Times-Press Staff Correspondent)

MASSILLON, Nov. 21 – Somewhere in these United States there may be a better scholastic football team than Massillon High.

But the 18,500 persons who wedged themselves into Massillon Field this afternoon will doubt it. For they saw the “perfect team” on parade as Massillon marched to a 21-0 triumph over Canton McKinley in their clash for the state scholastic football title.

Win 20th Straight
Primed and geared for action, this Massillon eleven rolled up 15 first downs and 21 points to carve out its 20th straight victory. The Tigers cut down opposing tacklers with buzz-saw efficiency.

They were stubborn on defense, permitting Canton to get beyond the mid-field stripe but once and then in the final 10 seconds of playing. This was a Canton team, mind you, that had tallied 379 points in winning nine straight games this season.

Celebrates Birthday
Robert Lloyd Glass, Tigers fullback and the young gent who tallied the lone touchdown that beat Canton 6-0, in 1935, mounted to the heights again today as he scored 15 points – two touchdowns and three extra points.

Glass, who was celebrating his 19th birthday anniversary today, scored the Tigers’ first two touchdowns.

His first came early in the second period when he tucked the leather under his arm and pounded over his own right tackle for 38 yards with a horde of blockers clearing the path. Once into the clear, Glass had only Jack Barthel, Canton back, to pass for a touchdown. Barthel never had a chance as Guard Warren Wyatt of the Tigers cut him down with a scythe-like block.

Glass – But Not Fragile!
The 170-pound Tiger fullback, an iron man if ever there was one, scored again in the final period after five successive line plunges. He started from the Canton 16, where Massillon got the ball on a poor punt by Canton’s Jim Snyder.

Over center he went for five yards. He made one more at the same spot and then five at left tackle for a first down on the Canton five. Getting the ball for the fourth successive time, he carried it to the two-yard line. Then on the next play, he found a mile-wide hole at center and crossed the goal standing up.

Michael Byelene, Massillon quarterback who whips passes a la Carl Hubbell, accounted for the Tigers’ final score when he intercepted Carl Fiore’s pass and ran 35 yards for a touchdown, out-maneuvering Fiore in his run for the marker.

Iron Man Act
Coach Paul Brown of Massillon used the iron man act today, not substituting once. He didn’t need to. Each player more than filled his job. There were no individual stars, lest it be Glass, but even Glass had to have good blocking to do what he did. He got it.

Canton, on the other hand, was crippled by the loss of the 205-pound Don Scott, who entered the game for but one play and then was mercifully substituted by Coach John Reed. The youngster, suffering from a fractured collarbone, had no license in the bruising fray. His loss was felt keenly by Canton. Even with Scott and all the king’s horses and the king’s men, Canton would never have stopped Massillon today.

The defeat was a personal blow to Coach Reed, who succeeded Jimmy Aiken at Canton this season. Reed-coached elevens had won 44 straight games up until today when the former North Braddock, Pa., mentor’s record was snapped.

Canton Out Played Throughout
Canton made but a net yardage of 38 yards from scrimmage and was held to three first downs.

Only time the Bulldogs eleven got beyond the midfield stripe was in the last 10 seconds when Barthel carried a Massillon kickoff to the Tigers’ 40 before being pushed out of bounds as the game ended.

Glass was Massillon’s outstanding ground-gainer, picking up 120 yards in 30 attempts – an average of four yards per try. Edgar Herring, Massillon’s fleet halfback, who played throughout the game although he was carried off the field at Barberton just a week ago with an injured ankle, gained 60 yards in 18 attempts.

Massillon Pos. Canton
Gillom le Snyder
J. Anderson lt Angelo
Wyatt lg Fife
Snavely c Rice
Miller rg Motley
Peters rt Vierdo
C. Anderson re Rotar
Byelene (C) qb Kamp
Herring lh Ballos
V. Snyder rh Barthel
Glass fb Fiore

Score by periods:
Massillon 0 7 0 14 21

Touchdowns:
Massillon – Glass 2; Byelene.

Extra Points:
Massillon – Glass 3 (all placements).

Substitutions:
Canton – Long, re; Moules, re; Scott, lh. Simon, lg.
Massillon – none.

Referee – Rees (Dennison).
Umpire – Finsterwald (O.S.U.).
Head Linesman – Gray (Ohio State).
Field Judge – Jenkins (Akron).

GAME FIGURES
Canton-Massillon statistics
Massillon Can.
First downs 14 3
Yards gained, scrimmage 238 69
Yards lost, scrimmage 38 31
Net yards, scrimmage 200 38
Plays from scrimmage 61 24
Passes attempted 15 7
Passes completed 6 1
Passes intercepted by 2 1
Yards gained, passes 93 13
Fumbles 2 2
Opponent’s fumbles
Recovered by 1 0
Yards lost, penalties 15 0
Average of punts 45 42
Yards gained,
returned punts 57 12

TIGERS RETAIN
OHIO SCHOLASTIC HONORS
BY LACING BULLDOGS
Record Crowd Of 21,000 Fans
Watches Massillon Win Easily
Over Traditional Rivals
SMASHING ATTACK SURPRISES CANTON
McKinley Eleven Loses First Game Of Season;
Glass Stars For Winners, Scoring Twice

By JACK MAXWELL

A truly great Tiger football machine representing Washington high of Massillon rose to the occasion on its home field Saturday, completely outplaying the Bulldogs of Canton McKinley while winning 21-0 and repeating as scholastic champions of Ohio, defending the title taken from the Canton school last year.

The contest was witnessed by a throng of 21,000, largest in the history of football relations between the two schools.

The game opened on a dry field but leaden skies fulfilled their promise late in the first half and rain, followed by sleet, made playing conditions more difficult for the remainder of the encounter.

The Massillon conquest stretched the winning streak of Paul Brown’s machine to 20 straight victories, as the Tigers have not been defeated since McKinley turned the trick in the finale of 1934, in which the setup was identically the same as that of yesterday’s duel. The result in that year was just the reverse however, as the Bulldogs emerged from that battle on the long end of a 21-6 score which gave them a leading claim to the state title for that season.

Canton Hold Series Edge
The Tiger win yesterday also brought the Massillon total to 16 for the inter-city series which started in 1894, Canton having been victorious 22 times with three games resulting in ties.

The defeat broke a winning streak for Coach Johnny Reed, who took over the Canton reins for the first time this fall. His string had reached 44 consecutive games with the Bulldog victory over Alliance a week earlier. Despite the loss yesterday, the McKinley season record of nine wins and one defeat definitely establishes Coach Reed as a success in his inaugural campaign in Canton.

The Bulldogs put up a game fight in defeat, but simply were opposed by a better ball club yesterday. A perusal of the statistics discloses that the Tigers had a wide margin of superiority in every department except punting, piling up 14 first downs to McKinley’s 3 and gaining 291 yards from scrimmage to 35. The greatest disappointment in the fracas from the standpoint of the followers was the manner in which their team’s line was
out-charged and out-fought by the Massillon front wall. Except for very brief flashes of form, the Red and Black running attack, which had rolled over everything in its way in previous tilts this season, did not function, largely through the failure of the linemen to clear even the semblance of a path for their ball-toters.

The Tigers completely upset pre-game dope by the manner in which they accounted for the greater part of their yardage. It was expected that they would rely chiefly upon their aerial game, since they had scored the majority of their touchdowns this season on passes. On the contrary, however, their victory yesterday was almost entirely the result of one of the most powerful ground attacks seen on an Ohio scholastic gridiron in recent years. None of the scores was made directly on aerials, although Mike Byelene, captain and ace tosser, connected on six heaves, four of which were snagged by Charles Anderson, star wingman of Coach Brown’s aggregation.

Glass Repeats As Star
The same Massillon performer who was the hero of the Tiger 6-0 defeat of the Bulldogs here last season proved their nemesis again yesterday. The boy in question, Fullback Bob Glass, unquestionably gave the outstanding exhibition of the contest. He scored the two touchdowns, the first of which came on a scintillating 37 yard run in the second quarter, placekicked all three extra points and was the spearhead of the Massillon attack throughout, seeming to be practically unstoppable on his thrusts through the McKinley line. In addition to his offensive activities, he also starred at right end on defense and on several occasions threw Bulldog ball carriers for losses.

Edgar Herring fleet halfback who had led the Tiger offense in their previous conquests, was stopped more effectively yesterday than he had been at any time before, but he eluded tacklers for nice gains several times. As aforementioned, Mike Byelene threw all of his team’s passes directed the machine well and threatened to get away around end at various junctures.

The entire Massillon line gave a colossal imitation of a stone wall on defense and gave the backs wide openings on many occasions. Don Snavely and Warren Wyatt were the standouts. Snavely played alert ball in backing up the line and put Canton in the hole when he covered Barthel’s fumble of a punt on the McKinley 11 yard line in the second period. Wyatt played in the Red and Black backfield a great part of the afternoon and spilled Carl Fiore when he went back to pass on two consecutive plays. Charley Anderson also put up his usual high type of ball at right end.

With their line infinitely superior, the Tigers were dominant from start to finish and only the determined defense of the Bulldogs inside of their 20 yard line prevented a complete rout. Time after time they staved off drives which deemed certain to produce touchdowns. In sharp contrast, McKinley never was in Massillon territory until Jack Barthel returned a kickoff 70 yards to the Tiger 20 on the final play.

After the opening kickoff, the Tigers started a drive which advanced them into scoring territory for the first time. Although the opening quarter, as was the entire contest, was played in Bulldog territory, Coach Brown’s combine failed to score.

After McKinley had held for downs on two occasions late in the first period, the Tigers crashed through with their first tally when there was apparently no danger. With the ball on the 37 yards stripe, Glass charged through right tackle, and with the aid of some beautiful blocking by his teammates, raced over for the touchdown.

The Reedmen came out following the halftime intermission apparently inspired with a new spirit and began to dig in and make the Tigers work much harder for their gains. Massillon’s powerhouse continued to function steadily, however, although the Bulldogs repelled all scoring threats in the period.

Early in the final quarter Glass’ plunges and a pass from Byelene to Anderson put the ball on the 1 yard stripe but McKinley gamely stopped the advance and took the ball on downs.

The Bulldogs’ escape from danger was short-lived, though, for Snyder got off his only poor kick of the contest at this point, as it went out of bounds on his own 16. Glass made the tally on five plunges, most of them off right tackle.

With the closing minutes of the game ticking away, McKinley then resorted to a desperate aerial attack in an effort to stave off defeat, but two passes were incomplete and Mike Byelene intercepted a third after an exchange of punts and dashed 32 yards for the final touchdown.

Barthel’s previously recounted return of the following kickoff ended the game.

No McKinley back could rightly be called an offensive star, as the opportunities for ball carrying brilliance were extremely limited.

Capt. Pete Ballos and Jack Barthel made the only two-substantial gains garnered by the Bulldog running attack. Ballos getting away for a 35 yard jaunt in the waning minutes of the first half and Barthel running the last kickoff 70 yards just before the final gun boomed for the offensive highlight of the contest from a Canton viewpoint.

Ballos, closing a scholastic gridiron career which has been one of the most brilliant in McKinley high history, battled every inch of the way yesterday and exhorted his teammates to do likewise throughout the encounter. He came up fast from his defensive post time after time to smear Tiger backs who had got through the first line of defense and played his heart out even after Massillon had apparently clinched the victory.

Carl Fiore, subbing for the injured Don Scott played a good defensive game, especially against the high-touted Washington passing attack.

Scott, regular Canton field general who incurred a fractured collarbone in making a touchdown against Alliance last week but who was expected to see extended action yesterday, took part in only one play of the tilt. Coach Reed decided before the game that Scott’s injury was too serious to warrant his performing and came to the conclusion that it would be better to weaken his team’s effectiveness than to risk permanent injury to his big quarterback and perhaps prevent a promising collegiate gridiron career. Reed’s insertion of Scott for a few brief seconds yesterday was a thoughtful gesture on the mentor’s part to give the boy the satisfaction of seeing service in his last game at McKinley.

Although Scott’s presence in the lineup undoubtedly would have caused his mates to make a better showing, both on offense and defense, it cannot fairly be said that his participation would have changed the result. The Massillon margin of superiority was so clearly evident that the ability of one player could not possibly have made the difference between victory and defeat.

The three Bulldog linemen who fought the hardest were also players making their final appearance in a Red and Black uniform, Chuck Rice, Jim Snyder and Joe Angelo. Rice climaxed a season of brilliant defensive work by backing up the front wall in stellar fashion. Snyder divided his time on defense between halfback and end and performed well at both posts. Although opportunities for flashing the particular ability for which he has become famous were few, that is his prowess for snagging passes, he starred yesterday in punting, a department which he was handling for the first time. His brilliant booting in the first half got the Bulldogs out of a bad situation time after time and he averaged 40 yards on eight kicks, one of which traveled 55 yards.

Angelo was the main bulwark in the middle of the line and had a hand in practically every play. Although Joe’s work has never been flashy throughout his two year high school football career, he has always been a dependable performer and yesterday he stood out when some of his teammates failed to reach their usual standard.

Too Much Glass
McKINEY Pos. MASSILLON
J. Snyder LE Gillom
Angelo LT J. Anderson
Fife LG Wyatt
Rice C Snavely
Motley RG J. Miller
Virdo RT Peters
Rotar RE C. Anderson
Fiore QB Byelene
Ballos LH Herring
Barthel RH Snyder
Kamp FB Glass

Substitutions:
McKinley – Long, e; Mould, e; Scott, e; Simon, g.

Touchdowns:
Massillon – Glass 2; Byelene.

Points after touchdown:
Massillon – Glass 3.

Massillon 0 7 0 14 21
McKinley 0 0 0 0 0

Referee – David Reese.
Umpire – R.W. Finsterwald.
Head Linesman – C.F. Graf.
Field Judge – Verlin Jenkins.

STATISTICS
McK. Mass
First downs, rushing 2 10
First downs, passing 1 4
First downs, total 3 14
Yards gained, rushing 61 211
Yards gained, passing 12 27
Yards lost 38 17
Yards gained, total 35 291
Passes completed 1 6
Passes incompleted 3 7
Passes intercepted 1 1
Punts 8 3
Punts, average yardage 40 40
Kickoffs 1 3
Fumbles 1 2
Own fumbles, recovered 0 2
Opp. fumbled covered 0 1
Penalties, yardage 0 15

Mike Byelene