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
TIGERS BEAT BULLDOGS TO WIN STATE TITLE MASSILLON TEAM ENDS UNDEFEATED SEASON BY TAMING OLD RIVAL 6-0
Bob Glass Plunges Over Canton Goal From Three-yard Line in Third Period To Score Only Touchdown of the Game; 12,000 See Battle
By LUTHER EMERY
The Tigers are champions! Champions of Stark County! Champions of Ohio! Only two teams can challenge their title, Steubenville and Sandusky. Both have refused post season games. The Tigers are champions.
The role of David and Goliath was re-enacted Saturday afternoon before 12,000 fans who crowded Lehman stadium, Canton to the corners, when the Tiger eleven, picked from an enrollment of 1,100 rose up and slew the Canton Bulldogs selected from a school of 5,000.
Waited Four Years for Victory Four years, Massillon fans had waited for that moment and when fullback Bob Glass, in the third quarter, poked his 176 pounds through the Bulldog line for the one and only touchdown of the game, pandemonium broke loose in the Tiger stands and a shout went up that could be heard miles away. A disappoint sigh followed a moment later when Jake Gillom was hit hard in an unsuccessful left end sweep for the extra point, but it mattered not in the end, for those six points were sufficient to beat Canton and victory was what Massillon fans had been waiting for.
They swarmed out of the bleachers at the end of the game, kept their hands on the horn button the eight-mile stretch to Massillon, fell in behind the Tiger band as it marched down Lincoln Way and shouted and blew horns again with delight as the band marched round and round the public square.
Their Tigers were champions. The county championship was their first in 11 years. The undefeated season was their first since 1922 and it was their first state championship in 13 years.
It was the 14th knot the Tigers had tied to the Bulldog’s tail since 1909, five more than Canton and most pleasing of all it conquered the jinx Lehman field has been to Massillon teams. Never before had a Massillon eleven won on that gridiron.
Game Hard Fought It was a battle from start to finish, the Tigers glorious in victory, the Bulldogs gallant in defeat.
Old grads scratched their heads afterward and wondered if the scrap had ever been duplicated. It was a vicious game, charged with an undercurrent of bitter rivalry that electrified teams and spectators.
Never did the Bulldogs play as they did Saturday. Oak Park and Steubenville beat Canton, but Oak Park and Steubenville didn’t play the same team the Tigers defeated Saturday. It was a fighting eleven super charged with the pointing of Coach Jimmy Aiken and the latter at the conclusion of the game, heaped words of praise on his boys. “They even surprised me,” he said, “I never saw them fight that way before.”
Cold figures even game the Bulldogs an edge in offense. They made more first downs, gained more yards from scrimmage and staged the longest sustained drive, 75 yards, but the Tigers, playing a conservative game, braced when the Bulldogs ripped into dangerous territory and repulsed both of its attempts to score.
The eight-man line did it. Massillon fans booed when Coach Brown yanked his second stringers and put in his first string men to stop New Philadelphia’s goal line thrust two weeks ago. He did it for experimental purposes with an eight-man line. It turned back New Philadelphia and it beat Canton Saturday, turning the Bulldogs back twice, once on the seven yard line and once on the three-yard stripe.
Tigers Capitalize on Break Favored to win by two or three touchdowns, the Massillon eleven took no chances with the slippery ball and treacherous field. Denied a touchdown in the opening minutes of play when Jake Gillom was downed two inches from the goal the Massillon team capitalized on its second break of t he game early in the third period when Charley Anderson, alert and steady, pounced on Sabin’s fumble on the 21-yard line. Jake lugged the leather around right end for three yards and Dutton drove through for two at left tackle. Then the ball was given to Glass. It was only the fifth time in the game that he had been given the pigskin.
He plowed through for five yards and a first down on the Canton 11. Again Glass took it and this time went four yards forward to the seven-yard line. Dutton hit his left tackle for two and it was third down with the ball on the five-yard line and four yards needed for a first down. Glass was the logical choice and he bored at the Canton line again and put the ball on the three-yard line; fourth down, three yards to go for a touchdown and the Canton secondary hugging the line of scrimmage.
What to do was Quarterback Howard Dutton’s problem. He had faced the same problem earlier in the game and thought he would cross the Bulldogs up by sending Gillom through right tackle. The strategy had failed. He decided to shoot Glass through the center once more on a power play and called upon every man to give that extra energy necessary for this one big push. It was a perfect play. Glass’ line charged and the Tiger ball carrier pumped his feet into the ground and drove his way over the goal by a foot.
Jake Gillom was tackled viciously as he unsuccessfully tried to sweep left end for the extra point.
In the lead by a slim six points and nearly half the ball game yet to be played, the Tigers remembered the counseling of their coaches who told how a great undefeated Massillon team in 1915 was whipped 7-6 by Canton on an intercepted forward pass.
A conservative game was ordered by General Dutton, as he scrapped his forward pass which has been 50 percent of the Massillon offense this season.
Canton Scares Fans Relying on a running attack, the Massillon eleven set about to successfully protect its lead, but not without one big scare that carried the Bulldogs to the seven-yard line.
It was toward the close of the third period that Canton got a break somewhat similar to that which paved the way for the Massillon touchdown.
Stopped on their own 40-yard line when Pete Ballos in an almost super human effort dove over Eddie Molinski and tackled Charley Anderson for a two-yard loss just when it appeared Charley would get loose, the Tigers were forced to punt. Big Don Scott smashed through and threw himself at the ball just as it left Dutton’s toe. He blocked the kick and pounced on the ball, back on the Tiger 25-yard line. It was McKinley’s big moment and it appeared the Bulldogs would make the most of it when Bill Adams passed to Jack Young for a first down on the Tiger six-yard line.
Tigers Check Advance Massillon went into its eight-man line. Sabin whirled off tackle but failed to gain. Adams tried to circle left end but he too was stopped without gain. Here the period ended and the crowd at the west-end of the field which got more breaks than both teams together for most of the play was in that section of the lot, had a chance to see the Bulldogs’ make their last desperate onslaught.
Sabin tried to carry again, but this time the Massillon eleven moved in on him and set him down for a one-yard loss. It was evident that McKinley could not gain through the Tiger line. A pass was the only thing left, for it was fourth down. Risoliti faded back and threw toward the left corner. Two Tigers were there to bat down the ball, but Schultz slipped, the ball hit the ground and the Bulldogs’ last thrust was repelled.
The Tigers took possession of the ball and hammered their way to three consecutive first downs and would have had another had not a 15-yard penalty for holding stopped the effort. In that last march, Dutton again demonstrated his generalship. The ball was on the 28-yard line, it was fourth down and a yard to go. To control the ball and consume time was his bet. He couldn’t afford to punt and give Canton the ball furthermore the kick might be blocked. He gambled and taking no chances, carried the leather himself, right through left tackle to a first down.
Two long runs by Ballos and Sabin put Canton in the ball game again and brought the pigskin to the 30-yard line where the Bulldogs went into a spread formation and Risoliti passed to Scott to the 15-yard line, but Canton was offside on the play and punted on fourth down. The Tigers drove back from their 20-yard line and were traveling past midfield at the final gun.
Players Exhausted After such desperate goal line stands and smashing offensives, it was no wonder that the teams at the end moved somewhat in slow motion like the fatigued boxer who can hardly lift his arms dangling at his sides. It was no wonder that Ed “Echo” Herring, who entered the game in the last two minutes nearly got away twice and it was no wonder that when the final gun released the tension and brought relaxation that several players of both teams crawled up the steps to their dressing rooms on hands and knees, completely exhausted from their efforts.
That is why the game ranks with the greatest Canton-Massillon games ever played – a swift moving panorama filled with hard football capably officiated and dramatic in excitement and color.
Massillon won because it had the better team, not as superior Saturday as many Tiger fans had wagered, but still good enough to beat the Bulldogs who in one afternoon had climbed to super heights.
Massillon won because it had the stronger defensive team and because it had the punch when it needed it. The breaks were even, but the Tigers capitalized on theirs while the Bulldogs failed.
While statistics show the Bulldogs made more yards from scrimmage and more first downs than the Tigers, the conservative game of the local eleven checked its own offense. Only three passes were attempted. Two were completed for gains of seven and two yards while one was batted down.
Canton used a shovel pass to success and gained 33 yards. Two passes were intercepted and six others batted down or grounded.
Tigers Get Kickoff That both teams were in there to hand out punishment was evident from the start. Capt. August Morningstar won the toss and elected to receive, defending the east goal.
Adams kicked to Anderson, who headed up the alley but was tackled in a big pile up on the 29-yard line after a 19-yard return. Gillom made five at center. Glass hit for four and Gillom made it first down on the 42-yard line. Dutton picked up two yards and Gillom on a delayed buck only got one. Gillom barely picked up a scant three on a right end sweep and Dutton kicked a beauty out of bounds on the 14-yard line.
Ballos plunged for two yards, but when he tried to go through Buggs he was stopped without gain. Risolitie dropped back to punt and Don Voss broke through, blocked the ball and recovered it on the Canton nine-yard line. Dutton failed to gain on a spinner, but Gillom got five yards on a right end sweep. Dutton carried the ball to the one yard line and it was fourth down and a yard to go. Dutton decided to send Gillom to the right. Jake ran hard but the Bulldogs ganged him at the goal line. At first Referee Dave Reese raised his hands to signal a touchdown, but Head Linesman, Hummon said that the ball did not go over and when the pile was uncovered the nose of the sphere was two inches short of the chalk line.
That bolstered McKinley and temporarily upset the Tigers and the red and black got a break a moment later when Gillom fumbled Risoliti’s punt and Sabin recovered on the Canton 34-yard line. Massillon took time out. Ballos made four at left tackle and Sabin four at right tackle. Ballos plunged for a first down on his own 47. Adams made a yard at left tackle and Sabin three at right end. Third down and six to go and Gillom intercepted Adams’ pass on the 38. Gillom made three at center, but lost a yard at right end. Dutton lost two at right end. Dutton punted to Sabin, who slipped and fell after catching the ball on the 16-yard line.
Ballos made one-half yard at center. Morningstar charged through and put Ballos down for a three-yard loss as the quarter ended with the ball on the 13-yard line.
Second Period Risoliti kicked, Sabin downing the ball on the Canton 41-yard line. Gillom passed to Dutton for seven yards. Glass made a yard at center and Dutton bucked for a first down on the Canton 31-yard line. Scott knocked down Dutton’s pass intended for Anderson who was 10 yards in the clear. The pass, was short. Glass failed to gain. Gillom made six at right end. Fourth down and four to go and Gillom missed a first down by a yard on the 22-yard line and Canton took the ball.
Sabin found a big hole at right tackle and wormed through to a first down on his 38-yard line. Adams made five at left tackle and Ballos four at center. Adams got through for a first down on his own 49. Sabin made a yard. Risoliti’s pass to Ballos was grounded. The Tigers took time out. A shovel pass to Sabin gained a first down on the Massillon 40-yard line. Adams failed to gain. Sabin got through right tackle again for a first down on the Tiger 29-yard line. Ballos made four yards and the Tigers were penalized 15 yards when Molinski roughed Ballos on the play. It gave Canton a first down on the 12-yard line. Sabin hit right tackle for two yards. Sabin broke through the same spot for six yards and put the ball on the four-yard line. The Bulldogs needed but two yards for a first down and had two chances left. Ballos hit the line but failed to gain. He got barely a yard the next time and the Tigers took the ball on their own three-yard line.
Dutton kicked back to Sabin who carried from the Tiger 43 to the 32-yard line. Ballos made three at center. The Bulldogs tried a pass, but Canton was offside and a Massillon player interfered with the receiver. Risoliti tried to pass again but the ball was grounded. Sabin made five at tackle and Adams attempting to plunge for a first down was stopped with a one-yard gain.
The Tigers took the ball on their own 22-yard line. Dutton made two yards at right end. Glass picked up three. Gillom made a yard and there the half ended with the ball on the Massillon 28-yard line, fourth down coming up.
Third Period Glass kicked off to Sabin who fumbled but recovered on his 13. Ballos made four yards at right guard. Sabin swept right end for three yards. Sabin was given the ball again but he fumbled and Anderson and Buggs hopped on the pigskin on the Canton 21-yard line.
Gillom whirled around right end for three yards. Dutton made two at left tackle. Glass went through for five yards and a first down on the Canton 11. Glass plunged through left tackle for four. Dutton hit the same spot for two. Glass put the ball on the three-yard line. Glass went over for the touchdown. Gillom failed to make the extra point on a wide end sweep. Score: Massillon 6; Canton 0.
Glass kicked off to Adams who caught the ball on the 21 and brought it back to his 29-yard line. Ballos made three at left tackle. Ballos picked up two at right tackle. A shovel pass, Risoliti to Sabin netted a first down on the Canton 45. Ballos hit center for two yards. Morningstar batted down Risoliti’s pass and nearly intercepted. Adams lost a yard at left end. Risoliti kicked to Gillom who returned six yards to his own 32. Dutton made eight yards at left end. Anderson on an end around play was thrown for a two-yard loss by Ballos in a remarkable tackle. Glass got two yards at center. Scott blocked Dutton’s pass and recovered on the Tigers’ 25-yard line.
Sabin failed to gain at right tackle. Ballos drove through for five yards. Ballos failed to gain; Adams passed to Young for a first down on the six-yard line. Sabin failed to gain and Adams running from a triple reverse was stopped without gain as the third period ended with the ball still on the six-yard line.
Fourth Period It was third down and goal to gain. Sabin coming around the right side of his line was tossed with a one-yard loss, being hit hard by Buggs. Risoliti’s pass to Schultz hit the ground and it was Massillon’s ball on the seven-yard line.
For the only time during the game, Molinski hit center for three yards. Gillom picked up two and Glass rammed through left tackle for a first down on the 18-yard line. Dutton ran over Held for four yards and Glass followed the big Tiger lineman through for two more. Dutton hit to his right for three yards and it was fourth down with a yard to go. Gambling, Dutton carried again and easily made his yardage, a first down on the 29. Anderson picked up eight on a reverse around right end. Glass plunged behind Woods for three yards and a first down on the 40. Dutton barely missed a first down on a left end reverse. Gillom drove past midfield but the ball was called back and the Tigers penalized 15 yards for holding. It put the ball on the Massillon 37-yard line. Dutton made two yards. When Gillom failed to gain, Dutton wisely kicked out on the Canton 37.
Ballos was 15 yards to the Tigers 48. Sabin raced through for 13 more and first down on the Massillon 35. He was tackled by Glass, Sabin failed to gain and a check of time showed five minutes left to play. Adams made five yards on a shovel pass taking the ball to the 30-yard line. Canton tried a spread formation and a pass was completed to Scott who had hopped into the secondary, but Canton was offside on the play and was penalized five yards. Risoliti’s pass was grounded. Risoliti got off a pretty punt that went over the Tiger goal line by a couple of inches and Massillon took the ball on its own 20.
Herring substituting for Gillom, made one at right guard. Dutton made five at left tackle and Glass three more. Dutton kicked out on the Canton 40. Canton attempted a spread formation. Risoliti’s pass to Schultz was grounded. Sabin made five at right end. On the third down, old Jim McDew dropped back with Schultz and ended Canton’s hopes by intercepting Risoliti’s pass intended for the Bulldog left end. Herring made two yards and then raced around left end for seven more. Glass plunged for a first down on the Canton 44 as the ball game ended.
It would be difficult to pick an outstanding star on the Massillon team. The line from Capt. Morningstar on one end to Anderson on the other played a great game, while the backfield struck when a big push meant points.
Ballos A Great Player Pete Ballos was the outstanding performer offensively and defensively for the Bulldogs. Little Ray Sabin, played a fine game at halfback, gained many yards, but unfortunately his fumble in the third period was costly.
Both coaches relied on their first stringers to carry on. Coach Aiken didn’t make a substitution, while Coach Brown made two. He sent Mike Byelene in for one play in the second period when he took Dutton out to give him advice and he put Herring in Gillom’s place in the last two minutes of play when the first string halfback was exhausted.
There were no injuries on either team, something unusual for a Massillon-Canton game. Though hard played, it was cleanly contested with but few exceptions. Massillon was penalized twice for 30 yards; Canton once for five yards.
The game definitely closed the season for the Tigers. They will not play a post season game. The Massillon eleven had received an offer of $5,000 to meet New Castle at Youngstown, but the game fell through. Akron North’s championship ambitions having been blasted by Toledo Devilibiss Saturday, only two logical post season game contenders remain, Steubenville and Sandusky, and neither will play.
Quiet Saturday Night It was quiet in Massillon Saturday night. Students and townspeople trod the streets looking for a celebration but there was none to be found.
The only celebration was that staged by the Tiger band after the game when the young musicians climbed out their buses at the top of Lincoln Way East hill and marched through the business district, stopping at Lincoln Way and Erie to drill.
The football team dressed in Canton and returned to Massillon to have dinner at the Silver Maples. Exhaustion did not check the boys’ appetites and they were a happy bunch of fellows. Capt. August Morningstar lost no time getting to Referee Reese after the game. He wanted the ball and got it. He turned it over to Coach Brown who carried it around all evening like a pet poodle. The ball will be lettered and placed among the souvenirs.
The Washington high band staged a colorful drill before the game and at the intermission. The young women drum majors carried large bouquets of yellow mums, the gift of Kester Bros. The Canton band likewise gave a fine exhibition.
Among the spectators was B.F. Fairless, president of the Carnegie-Illinois Steel Corporation who came from New York for the game.
There was a scuffle in front of the Canton bench late in the game that few Massillon fans could see. Jim McDew tackled Sabin hard and tossed him into the lap of Coach Aiken. Aiken shoved McDew off, rather roughly, the Massillon player throught and he and Anderson cocked their fists, but before anything came out of it other Tiger players pulled back their teammates and no blows were struck. It was only an outgrowth of the great tension of the game.
Massillon fans, unaccustomed to the Canton bleachers dropped many blankets on the ground. The McKinley management, however, had made provision for such instances and had men ready to pick up all fallen blankets and place them in a room in the Lehman school. At the end of the game, there must have been 100 in the pile. Blankets were returned as rapidly as identified.
The game will be played and replayed tonight at the Tiger Booster club meeting in the Washington high school. It probably will be the biggest meeting of the year. Plans also will be discussed for the annual football banquet Dec. 11 at the Republic Steel office building. Noble Kizer, Purdue coach will speak.
The Tigers Rule Massillon Pos. Canton Anderson RE Schultz Held RT Scott McDew RG Angelo Voss C Rice Woods LG Virdo Buggs LT Wortman Morningstar LE Young Dutton QB Risoliti Gillom LH Sabin Molinski RH Adams Glass FB Ballos
Referee – Dr. David Reese (Denison). Umpire – C.J. Graf (Ohio State). Head Linesman – J. M. Hummon (Wittenberg).
Game Statistics McKin. Mass. First downs, rushing 10 8 First downs, passing 1 0 First downs, penalties 1 0 Yards gained, rushing 151 143 Yards gained, passing 13 6 Yards lost 5 8 Yards gained, total 159 141 Passes attempted 9 2 Passes completed 1 2 Passes incomplete 6 1 Passes intercepted by 0 2 Punts 6 6 Punts, average yards 33 33 Punts blocked by 1 1 Punts returned by 11 10 Fumbles 1 1 Own fumbles recovered 0 0 Opp. Fumbles recovered 1 1 Kickoffs 1 2 Kickoffs, average yards 50 43 Kickoffs returned 11 20 Penalties 5 30
First Undefeated Season For Tigers Since 1922
By FRED J. BECKER Independent Sports Editor
Undefeated in 10 games, with a record of 483 points to their credit and only 13 scored against them, the Tigers of Washington high school today can lay claim to the scholastic football championship of Ohio. Few there are, who will dispute their right to be recognized as the best school boy gridiron aggregation within the borders of the buckeye state.
The crowning achievement to the most successful football season Washington high school has had since way back in 1922 came last Saturday afternoon at Lehman stadium, Canton, when the rampaging Tiger, hungry for just one more victory, smacked down its perennial enemy, the Bulldogs of Canton McKinley, 6 to 0, in one of the greatest scholastic contests ever witnessed by the 12,000 shouting fans who packed every available inch of space in the Canton enclosure and the hundreds of others who hung from windows in buildings, tree tops and telephone poles in the immediate vicinity of the battle ground.
When husky Bob Glass, 185-pound Massillon fullback, cracked through the center of the Canton line late in the third quarter and drove across the goal line for the touchdown that eventually brought victory to the orange and black he brought joy to the hearts of thousands of local fans who were in the stands and despair to the thousands of Canton supporters who had prayed and hoped that their beloved Bulldogs would be good enough to come through with another victory over the old enemy.
Won 10 Straight In 1922 Way back in 1922 a team of mighty Tigers, coached by David D. Stewart, now football tutor at Sharon, Pa., high school, roamed the scholastic gridirons of Ohio sweeping aside all opposition to travel undefeated through a 10 game schedule, winding up with a magnificent 24 to 0 conquest of Canton.
From 1922 until this fall Washington high has had some prosperous years on the gridiron and some that were quite lean but not until 1935 was it able to turn loose another football juggernaut able to sweep everything before it and finish unbeaten and untied.
For three years, prior to this fall, it bowed in defeat before the devastating attack of powerful Canton McKinley machines.
But this year Massillon came back into its own. A dashing gallant and courageous band of youthful gridiron giants stormed the heights to glory. When they started their campaign back in September they were aiming for an undefeated season but more than anything else they wanted to defeat Canton.
Every day on the practice field and in every game they played prior to last Saturday that thought was uppermost in their minds. “Beat Canton!” That was their goal and they achieved it. Now they are contest.
The young man who last Saturday watched the machine that he and two able assistants had fashioned through hours of hard work, crash through to its greatest triumph, was a football pupil under the coach who gave Massillon its undefeated team in 1922.
“Kids” Come Through That young man was Paul Brown, who has completed his fourth year as football tutor of the youthful Tigers and who Saturday saw the “kids” score their first victory over Canton since Jimmy Aiken was brought to the east end city from Toledo to pull Canton McKinley out of the football mire.
The game Saturday was the 25th in the series between the ancient scholastic rivals since 1909. Of those 25 battles 14 have been Massillon victories, nine have gone to Canton and two ended in ties.
Prior to Saturday Canton had won three straight times. The last beating a Tiger team administered to a Bulldog outfit was in 1931 by a 20 to 6 count, being the third in a row for Massillon. But from then on until this fall, McKinley reigned supreme, winning 19 to 0 in 1932, 21 to 0 in 1933 and 21 to 6 in 1934.
But the reign of the Bulldog was snapped Saturday and to Massillon at least, the 1935 Tigers of Washington high are the scholastic champions of Ohio.
The victory over Canton was a fitting climax to a brilliant season but it was not achieved without a struggle – a desperate struggle all the way in which individual brilliance and equally brilliant team play on the part of both aggregations made it one of the games that long will be remembered.
Thrills Aplenty Three great goal line stands, one by Canton and two by Massillon provided the great outpouring of fans with enough thrills to last them until another football season rolls around.
It was a break of the game that decided the issue in Massillon’s favor. A fumble by Sabin of Canton on McKinley’s 22-yard line paved the way for the Tiger touchdown march.
Earlier in the first quarter the battling Bulldogs stopped the Tigers inches away from the goal but this time the orange and black was not to be denied and steadily it marched toward the Canton goal never to be halted until Bob Glass plunged through for the points.
Canton fans probably will gain some measure of solace from the fact that a fumble paved the way for Massillon’s victory. But it was Massillon’s hard, clean tackling and the alert manner in which every member of the local team followed the ball that made it possible for the local lads to pave the way for that break and then cash in on it for all that it was worth.
Such breaks occur in every football game but they mean nothing to a team unless it has the punch necessary to put the ball back on an opponent’s goal line. The Tigers had that punch and that’s why they won.
Twice Canton was inside Massillon’s 10-yard line. Once it got there through a march that came after blocking a Massillon punt. The other time it reached scoring territory by a brilliant and steady 72-yard march down the field but neither time was Canton able to cash in on its opportunity. When disaster threatened those Tigers just dug their cleats a bit deeper into the frozen turf and tossed back the Bulldogs with ferocious charges and deadly tackling.
Massillon fans expected the Bulldogs to put up a sturdy battle and they were not disappointed. In fact the Bulldogs played their greatest game of the season. Followers of the sport who had seen Canton in action before last Saturday declared the Bulldogs Aiken trotted out against the Tigers played better football than at any time during the campaign.
Inspired Canton Team That was to be expected. Aiken, one of the shrewdest high school coaches in the state, knew how to prime his boys for the Massillon conflict and it was an inspired team that trotted out to meet the rough riding boys from Massillon. The 11 Canton boys who started the game were in there at the finish, not one substitution being made for the red and black. Massillon made three. Byelene was sent in for Dutton just as the second quarter needed but after the first play in the third the clever Massillon quarterback was rushed back into the fray. Near the end of the game Herring replaced Jake Gillom.
A few Massillon fans; probably, may be a bit disappointed because the Tigers did not win by a larger score. Days before the game some of he more enthusiastic Massillon supporters were predicting a local victory by two, three, four and even more touchdowns.
But in making their predictions they didn’t take into consideration this one important fact: never attempt to predict a Massillon-Canton game on the basis of what the two teams have done prior to that all-important contest. It just can’t be done with any degree of accuracy.
Massillon won – and that is all that is necessary. One of the greatest Tiger teams in local history conquered a worthy, hard fighting foe, an enemy that resisted stubbornly to the last and one that had its moments of greatness.
The Tigers received their stiffest test of the season Saturday – and they came through. Victory is the thing. Points are secondary. A triumph by six points is just as sweet as one by 20 or 30.
The Tigers conquered their old rival. They finished their season undefeated. They are as good, if not better than any high school football team in the state.
All the glory that comes to an undefeated team belongs to those stalwart lads and their coach, Paul Brown and his assistants, C. Widdoes and Hugh McGranahan.
CANTON WINS STARK GRID TITLE AS FORWARD PASSES DEFEAT TIGERS 21-0 MASSILLON UNABLE TO SOLVE BULLDOGS’ FINE AERIAL ATTACK
By LUTHER EMERY
A master passing attack that split the Tiger defense with its unerring accuracy carried the Canton Bulldogs through the air to a 21-0 victory over Washington high Saturday afternoon at Lehman field before a capacity crowd of 10,000 spectators.
In defeating the Tigers, the Bulldogs won their first Stark county title in years. From 1928 until 1932 they had not been able to beat either Massillon or Alliance. Canton was not emphasizing football.
Canton Now Stressing Football A year ago, however, Canton decided to stress athletics and with the appointment of Jimmy Aiken as coach began to build its football machine. It succeeded in defeating Massillon 19-0 but was deprived of a county title when beaten by Alliance.
Additional material was recruited for this year’s team and the Bulldogs blossomed out with the finest eleven that has represented Canton on the football field in 13 years. It won nine of its 10 games and Massillon and Alliance, Stark county’s two leading Class A teams were numbered among its victims.
Now that McKinley has finally won the Stark county title it seems destined to retain it for a long time and why shouldn’t it?
Canton Should Continue to Rule If Massillon, in addition to its own material, had Alliance, Barberton, Dover, New Philadelphia and Niles to choose from, it would have an even chance to defeat its own rival. The cities combined would have a population equal to that of Canton.
Sour grapes? Not exactly. It is a situation Massillon and Alliance will have to face year in and year out, for if McKinley continues to emphasize football at the present rate, an annual duplication of that which took place on Lehman field Saturday can be expected.
There will be an occasional off year when either Massillon or Alliance will wage a successful revolution but Canton with four times the talent to draw from should rule Stark county football in the future.
Massillon was simply outclassed Saturday as the Bulldogs set about to play their best game of the season. They did everything right and at the right time and played near perfect football. There wasn’t a bad punt. They fumbled but once and their great defense held the Tigers to one first down.
Passes Beat Tigers But had it not been for the great aerial attack of the Canton team, the game might have ended somewhere in the victory of a scoreless tie. That Massillon would not be able to score was clearly demonstrated from the start of the game to the final whistle, but it is a question if Canton could have scored without the aid of a forward pass in advancing the ball.
Accurate pegs helped put the Bulldogs in position for two of their three touchdown drives and nearly produced a fourth score when Huff stepped out of bounds on the one foot line after snaring a pass in the fourth period. It was fourth down with goal to go and so McKinley lost the ball.
The Tiger line put up a fine defensive game. It stopped Wilson Frye, McKinley’s ace ball carrier on most occasions and probably would have been even more successful had not the Bulldogs passing attack drawn the secondary back to a point where it was too many steps away from the line of scrimmage to be out of great value in backing up the forward wall.
Stop Touchdown Drives The line, however, made many a valiant stand during the afternoon when backed up to its goal posts. Three times it hurled back the Canton challenge, twice on the one foot line. However, the local forwards were out-charged by their heavier adversaries when on the offensive and this largely accounts for the Tigers inability to gain ground.
The Canton tackles and guards zoomed forth with the passing of the ball while the ends laid back and smeared the hard off tackle smashes which Massillon hoped would bring it victory.
Martin Gylog, who plays left end for McKinley on defense was in Henry Krier’s way all afternoon. Only once did Krier gain ground and that contributed to the Tigers only first down. Running from punt formation, he found a hole in the left side of the Canton line that yielded nine yards. McCants in two attempts made it a first down by plunging through center. Only two other gains of any consequence were made by Massillon players. Shrake on one occasion dashed through Canton’s right tackle for six yards while Dutton passed three yards to Lohr in the closing seconds of the game. Lohr fumbled after making the catch, however and Canton recovered as the gun ended the game. It was Massillon’s only completed pass in six attempts. Two passes were intercepted. Canton on the other hand completed nine passes in 18 attempts for a total gain of 146 yards.
Canton Scores Early Canton scored in the first six minutes of the game. Krier bounced the kickoff to Jurkovic who was downed on the 18-yard line after a three-yard return. Three plays advanced the ball six yards and there followed two exchanges of punts that left Canton in possession of the ball on Massillon’s 46-yard line. On the very first down, Jurkovic passed 27 yards to Halter who was downed on the 19-yard line. Frye crossed up the Tigers and ran his right end behind beautiful interference for a touchdown. Frye carried the ball across for the extra point.
The Bulldogs got the Tigers in another hole early in the second period when Haas recovered a fumble on the Massillon 27-yard line. The red and Black hammered to the eight-yard line but here its attack failed and McCants batted down Jurkovic’s pass in the end zone. The Tigers got the ball on their 20 and punted back to their 46 when they failed to gain. Again Jurkovic faded back and shot a 31-yard pass to Halter for a first down on the 15-yard line and once again the Tigers rallied and knocked down a pass in the end zone to end the threat. The local team secured the ball on the 20 and Frye immediately intercepted Krier’s pass on the 35. Jurkovic once more hurled the ball to Halter for a first down on the 16-yard line. Three running plays only gained two yards, but on the fourth down Jurkovic shot the ball to Huff who caught it on the goal line and fell over for a touchdown. Jurkovic placekicked the extra point and it was 14-0 in favor of Canton. The half ended with the ball in midfield.
McKinley scored its last touchdown in the third period after being thrown back once by a tight forward wall. Abdulla started it when he intercepted Shertzer’s pass on the Massillon 46-yard line. Here the red and black showed its best running attack. Abdulla made four yards, Frye 13 and Abdulla 19 more for a first down on the 10-yard line. Frye wormed through for six yards and then the Tigers braced. Halter got a yard, Abdulla two yards, but a shuttle pass to Abdulla failed to gain on fourth down and Massillon took the ball.
Krier was hurried on the punt and kicked back to the 19-yard line. Again Canton attacked. Frye made two yards and Abdulla was turned loose for a 14-yard sprint to the three-yard line. Halter placed the ball on the one-half yard line and Abdulla carried it over. Huff’s placekick produced the extra point.
Tigers Make Only First Down Following the next kickoff Massillon made its only first down of the afternoon. Shrake brought the ball back to his 44-yard line. Krier made nine yards through right tackle and McCants plunged for a first down on the Canton 44-yard line. It was the first time in the game that Massillon was able to work the ball into Canton territory. There the attack ended, for Canton took the ball when Massillon clipped while the ball was in the air on a punt and a near touchdown resulted shortly thereafter. A pass to Huff made it first down on the Massillon 31. Frye after losing four yards was turned loose around his right end for a dash to the Massillon four-yard line. He was knocked out by McCants on the play, but continued to play after being revived. Halter was tossed by McCants for a six-yard loss. Lohr knocked down Jurkovic’s pass and Frigley gained but three yards at center, so Jurkovic stepped back and fired another pass at Huff who caught the ball on the one-foot line but stepped out of bounds, thus failing to make a touchdown. It was fourth down with goal to goal. Massillon took the ball and there ended Canton’s last threat.
It was the last game for four Massillon players, Bob Shrake, Fred Heisler, Carl Porter and Willis Monroe. All performed nobly, especially Heisler and Porter who played fine defensive games.
Against Massillon’s one first down, Canton made 15, three in the first period, six in the second, four in the third and two in the fourth.
Canton had 12 men on the field most of the afternoon. When it wasn’t an extra substitute it was Jimmy Aiken. The latter kept a steady stream of new blood flowing into his lineup throughout the last half of the fourth quarter.
Though bands do not win football games, Massillon can have the satisfaction in knowing that its musical organization performed every bit as good as the Canton band Saturday.
Both bands drilled on the field before the game and between halves and Myron McKelvey, Tiger drum major had it all over the Canton leader.
Lineup and summary: McKinley Pos. Massillon Huff LE Lohr Wyandt LT Birkish Gylog LG Porter Shopbell C Monroe Allen RG Snavely Haas RT Buggs Lancaster RE Heisler Jurkovic QB Shertzer Frye LH Krier Halter RH Shrake Frigley FB McCants
History 
