1922: Massillon 24, Canton McKinley 0

CANTON BOWS TO ORANGE AND BLACK, 24 TO 0

LOCAL ELEVEN ENDS CAMPAIGN WITH TEN STRAIGHT TRIUMPHS

Chalk up for Massillon another athletic triumph over its ancient rival, Canton. It happened last Saturday when the great orange and black football team of Washington high school vanquished its perennial foe – McKinley high, of Canton – 24 to 0 in the annual fracas between the two schools staged on the Pearl street gridiron before the largest crowd that has seen Coach David B. Stewart’s wonder eleven in action this fall.

Chalk up also for the local team a season finished without a defeat and a string of 10 straight victories over the strongest high school aggregation in Ohio. Massillon’s claim to scholastic championship honors of the Buckeye state became rivet bound Saturday when Coach Stewart’s lads trimmed the east enders. But in addition to their championship claims and their 10 straight triumphs the orange and black also established another record in that hectic duel. They registered the largest score that has ever been made in the history of athletic relations between Massillon and Canton since their resumption in 1912, beating by three points the 21 to 0 victory Massillon scored over Canton in 1919.

Coach Stewart’s lads said they would do it and they did even though they had to wait until the fourth quarter before they finally pierced the defense of the Canton eleven and scored their first touchdown. For three quarters the east enders fought with all their strength to hold the orange and black in check. And favored by the breaks they succeeded in halting Coach Stewart’s lads during the first 45 minutes of the struggle even though the local team several times was within the shadow of the Canton goal posts.

But in the fourth quarter Massillon’s attack found a vulnerable spot and when Captain “Tink” Ulrich, playing his last game with the orange and black smashed off Canton’s right tackle and ran 28 yards over the snow covered gridiron for the first touchdown, Canton’s fighting morale was broken and from then on the local team drove its steamroller through the east enders almost at will.

Canton Plays Hard

To Canton must be given the credit for putting up a stiff fight. In comparison Massillon held a big advantage. So much so that the east enders appeared defeated even before they stepped upon the battle field. But they showed a fighting spirit that fought with untold fury until Captain Ulrich made that first touchdown. Then it disappeared.

From the way it played McKinley appeared to realize that it could not defeat Massillon. But it hoped for a scoreless tie and that’s what it was playing for. Had it succeeded in bringing the game to an end without either team scoring it would have registered a moral victory for it would have accomplished something that no other team had been able to do all season.

But Canton’s hopes were to be blasted. After that first touchdown had been recorded the orange and black piled up three others in rapid succession and came very near scoring a fifth but for “Dutch” Hill who carried the ball to Canton’s one foot line late in the fourth quarter only to fumble it when tackled.

Snow Covers Field

The game was played on a snow covered field. It snowed steadily during the contest and a wintry wind which blew fiercely, numbed the hands of the struggling warriors and made it exceedingly difficult to hold the slippery oval. Under such conditions neither team was able to resort to an open attack. Straight football for the most part predominated although each team attempted several forward passes but none of them were completed.

Team Plays Well

Massillon had no outstanding hero Saturday. The entire team played brilliantly and kept on fighting manfully even though Canton had all the best of the breaks during the first three quarters. Those lads of Coach Stewart had been through too many heated battles before to lose heart in that final tussle. They just kept on plunging, waiting for their big opportunity and when Captain Ulrich brought it by his brilliant 38-yard dash the orange and black machine started off under full steam and never stopped until the whistle ended the big contest.

On the line the work of Salberg and Edwards stood out prominently. This pair of tackles stopped many a Canton drive. Pflug, Kallaker and Miller also were in the midst of every clash while the ends saw to it that few gains were made by the east enders or runs around the wings. On offense Ulrich, Hill and Define were Massillon’s chief ground gainers.

End Runs Gain

Massillon’s best attack Saturday was the end runs in which Ulrich and Define made big gains in the third quarter. Hill played consistently but until the fourth quarter could not gain much as the Canton defense, coached to stop him, watched the big fullback like a hawk. But Hill showed them his driving power by scoring three touchdowns in the last 10 minutes of play.

Canton never threatened to score. It did not once get inside Massillon’s 30-yard line. It made but two first downs during the entire game. Massillon smashed its attack like an egg shell, stopping Kirk and Johnson, Canton’s best backfield bets, time after time without gain. And Canton by no means placed a team of weaklings on the field. It had a big rangy aggregation of lads but they simply were outclassed by Coach Stewart’s well drilled team every man of which had a part to play and played it well.

19 First Downs

Massillon made 19 first downs, 11 coming in the last quarter. Three were registered in the first quarter, one in the second and four in the third. Penalties inflicted by the officials hurt the orange and black in the first half and several times kept them from scoring. The officials probably knew what they were doing but it looked as if more competent men could have been secured to handle a game so important as a Massillon-Canton clash.

In the first quarter Massillon worked the ball within Canton’s 30-yard line and was marching steadily through the east enders when a 15-yard penalty for holding spoiled its chance to score. Another 15-yard penalty before the quarter ended did not help Massillon’s chances any.

In the second quarter Ulrich grabbed a Canton punt and returned it for a gain of about 30 yards before he was tackled but the ball slipped out of his grasp and bounced right into a Canton man’s arms.

Breaks Favor Canton

Another unfortunate break in Canton’s favor came right at the start of the third quarter when Edwards kicked off to Kirk who fumbled and Edwards covered the ball on Canton’s 10-yard line. A touchdown seemed inevitable but after Hill had taken the ball to the five-yard line the officials ruled Massillon had been offside and the ball was taken back to the 15-yard line. Then Ulrich was thrown for a loss of 9 and on the fourth down Edwards dropped back to the 28-yard line to try a drop kick. Again fortune favored Canton for Bill’s kick was headed straight between the uprights but it struck the cross bar and bounded back into the field. Another inch and it would have gone over.

These breaks all helped to keep up Canton’s spirit and the east enders were beginning to have visions of holding the Massillon eleven in check when the fourth quarter opened. Ulrich and Define made several big gains around Canton’s ends ending up on the east enders’ 30-yard line. Then he went skimming around Canton’s left end for 20 talking the ball to the 10-yard line. Hill plunged into the Canton line three times and the ball was over for the third touchdown. Jamison had his eyes open also and when he covered a Canton fumble on the Canton 25-yard line he paved the way for another touchdown. Thomas took the ball to the 15-yard line and then Hill crashed into the Canton line and went over for his third touchdown.

Just shortly before the game ended, Broda attempted to punt from his 20 yard line but the pass was bad and he was downed on the 10-yard line and Massillon gained possession of the ball, it being fourth down when Canton tried to punt. Hill made 5 on his first plunge and was on his way to another touchdown when he was tackled near the goal line and fumbled. Reno covering for Canton. Canton punted but before Massillon could start a play the game ended.

A Clean Slate

Massillon – 24 Position Canton – 0
Potts LE Borda
Edwards LG Whipple
Kallaker LT Gibson
Roth C Huffman
Pflug RG Fellows
Salberg RT Reno
Jamison RE Dimino
Thomas Q Asboom
Borza LH Reiner
Mercer RH Kirk
Hill F Johnson

Score by quarters:
Massillon 0 0 0 24 – 24

Substitutions: Massillon – Ulrich for Mercer, Weirich for Potts
Rohr for Jamison, Boerner for Thomas, Miller for Kallaker,
Define for Borza, Jamison for Rohr, Potts for Weirich,
Shaidnagle for Pflug, Eschliman for Salberg, Hax for Ulrich.
Canton – Collier for Whipple, Meeks for Collier, McConnell for
Dimino, Farrell for Reiner, Arnold for Kirk, Valmer for Asboom.

Touchdowns: Hill 3, Ulrich.

Referee – Litick, Miami.
Umpire – Kumweiler, Zanesville.
Healinesman – Brannon, Wooster

Timers – Rider and Bietner

Time of quarters – 15 minutes