1953: Massillon 41, Toledo Waite 2

Tigers Defeat Toledo Waite Indians 41-2
Long Runs By Traylor And Homer Floyd Upset Early Charge of Foe

By LUTHER EMERY

A bruised Tiger football team will return to Massillon today after winning a rough and tumble football game played at Toledo Waite Friday evening by a 41-2 score.

It was the roughest game in which the Tigers have participated in years, and there was scarcely one among the 31 participating players who did not display some scars of the scrap.

Linebacker Willie Longshore was released from the hospital after having stitches taken in a face wound. Bruce Schram had a tooth broken and quite a few of the boys displayed split and bruised lips from flying elbows caught during the melee.

It was the kind of game that caused Coach Chuck Mather to remark after the contest, “We have made our last trip to Toledo.”

Mather and most Massillon fans thought the Waite players went out of their way to maul Tiger players, and the last play of the game probably would have resulted in several players of both teams being thrown out for mixing it up had not time expired.
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IT ALL may have been the result of Waite’s attempt to rise to the occasion and drive out the invading Tiger. Certainly the Indians were a spirited lot. They had pointed for the game, held more than the usual amount of pep rallies and were full of the old go get’em when they rushed out of their dressing room with a roar to warm up for the contest.

They carried the fight to the Tigers the first period and throttled the Massillon offense, while doing some ground gaining of their own.

Had they elected to play that type of ball the entire game we feel they would have made a better showing. Instead, once Massillon got to the front, the Indians seemed to concentrate more on personal exploits more common to the wrestling mat and paid less attention to football. The result only ended in more and more Tiger touchdowns. It probably could have ended in a rout had not Mather elected to substitute rather than chance any more injuries to regulars. As a result all 31 boys who made the trip to Toledo, got into the game.
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THE CONTEST was played in near freezing temperatures which seemed doubly cold because of a high wind. The weather cut down the crowd, estimated at 8,000, several thousand short of capacity.

The victory was the Tigers’ eighth of the season and their 21st in a row. It was Waite’s second loss of the season, the Indians having previously been beaten only by Toledo DeVilbiss, 15-14.

The heavier Waite line played havoc with the Tiger forward wall the first quarter, and frequently got into the Massillon backfield to throw ball carriers for losses.

The Tigers just seemed to feel them out, however, and once they found they could ambush the Indians with traps and flank plays, the complexion of the game quickly changed.

As a result, all of the touchdowns were scored by Johnny Traylor and Homer Floyd, each crossing the Waite goal three times, on long runs.
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THE TIGERS scored two others that did not count when the ball was called back because of penalties.

Crisp blocking freed the ball carriers for many long runs and brought words of praise from the Waite fans and newsmen, who liked Massillon’s downfield blocking.

The locals had too much team speed for the heavier Indians.

Waite had a couple of fast runners in Lyle Veler and John Curtis, who gained most of the Indians’ yards. They were principally responsible for the 12 first downs made by Waite to Massillon’s 11.

However, the locals gained 412 yards from scrimmage to Waite’s 200.
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THE TIGERS failed to complete a pass that counted. Every time they had a successful completion a penalty was called. One of them was a peg to Jim Letcavits for a touchdown. They were credited with seven official tries. Waite threw 14, completed one for seven yards, but had three interceptions by the alert Massillon secondary.

The Indians threatened a couple of times during the game but were never able to get the ball over the goal line.

They made a serious bid in the first period by covering a Massillon fumble on the 15. A five-yard penalty for being in motion helped the Tigers stop the Indians who wound up attempting a field goal that was short and wide of its mark.

The local gridders got their first T.D. the first time they took over the ball in the second quarter.

They started from the 20 after Waite’s fruitless field goal attempt and went 80 yards for the marker, even overcoming a 15-yard penalty for illegal use of the hands. A fancy run of 44 yards by Floyd advanced the ball from the 23 to the 33. John Francisco got away for a nice jaunt to the 18 and Traylor broke through left tackle, cut wide and swept down his left side line to score. Tom Boone kicked the extra point.
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A 29-YARD RUN by Traylor from a statue for a first down on the Waite 11 set up the next touchdown. A motion penalty put the ball back on the 16, but Traylor got it all back on a left end sweep for a touchdown.

The half ended with the score 14-0.

The Tigers scored quickly in the third period. They kicked off and stopped the Indians forcing them to punt. The ball went out of bounds on the Massillon 32. Traylor made a yard at left end and Floyd raced 67 yards on a trap play to score. Boone’s extra point boosted the total to 21-0.

The Tigers got the ball on the next kickoff when the ball bounced off the chest of a Waite player and Andy Stavroff covered on the 40. Aided by a 15-yard penalty, the locals got down to the 30 where Floyd on a trap, shot through the middle of the line, then cut to his right and raced 30 yards for the touchdown.

The Indians had a chance to score later in the period but Curtis let a perfect pass from Jim Heider slip through his arms with no one between him and the goal posts.
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THE TIGERS struck from the 40 for their next touchdowns. They got it at that point when a pass from center was bobbled by Heider on fourth down. After a futile attempt by Crescenze to pass, Floyd again trapped his opponents and did a tight rope walk along the sideline to score.

The third period ended 34-0.

Only once in the fourth quarter did the locals cross the Waite goal, largely because of Mather’s flow of substitutions.

Eddie Fletcher got them the ball when he stopped a Waite drive that had reached the
10-yard line by intercepting a pass on the five. Floyd romped for 16 yards and then Traylor cut around his left end for 79 and a touchdown.

The Tigers failed to score again, though Traylor and Boone both let what might have been touchdown passes slip through their arms, while Fletcher was called back after going half the length of the field on an intercepted pass for a touchdown. The officials ruled clipping on the play.

Waite got its only two points while Roy Johnson was quarterbacking the Tiger team. They threw him behind the Massillon goal line.

The game ended the Massillon-Waite series. The teams are not under contract for next year and judging from Mather’s mood after the game, they may not meet again.

MASSILLON
ENDS – Lecavits, Boone, Lorch, Lopez, Maier, Lentz.
TACKLES – Schram, Dean, Williams, Woolley, Hill.
GUARDS – Agnes, Eaglowski, Holloway, Shilling, Gardner.
CENTERS – Fisher, Fletcher, Grant.
QUARTERBACKS – Crescenze, Porter, Johnson.
HALFBACKS – Traylor, Francisco, Longshore, Byrd, Fromholtz, Stavroff, Stone.
FULLBACKS – Floyd, Boekel.

WAITE
ENDS – Turner, Durham, Schlegle, Lynn.
TACKLES – Derr, Veres, Croak, Martin.
GUARDS – Mylnek, Corns, Pounds.
CENTERS – Scott, Hatmaker.
QUARTERBACK – Heider.
HALFBACKS – Veier, Curtis, Thompson.
FULLBACKS – Kneisley, Canty.

Score by periods:
Massillon 0 14 20 7 41
Waite 0 0 0 2 2

Touchdowns:
Massillon – Traylor 3; Floyd 3.

Points after touchdown:
Massillon – Boone 5.

Safety – Waite.

Officials
Referee – Kolopus.
Umpire – Gill.
Head Linesman – Seitz.
Field Judge – Earich.

STATISTICS
Mass. Waite
First downs 11 12
Passes attempted 7 14
Passes completed 0 1
Had passes intercepted 0 3
Yards gained passing 0 7
Yards gained rushing 412 193
Total yards gained 412 200
Yards lost 41 43
Net yards gained 371 157
Times kicked off 8 1
Average kickoff (yards) 34 55
Yards kickoffs returned by 7 67
Times punted 4 8
Average punt (yards) 38 34
Yards punts returned by 51 10
Fumbles 6 5
Lost ball on fumbles 3 1
Times penalized 11 11
Yards penalized 105 100