The Massillon Tigers didn’t have a letdown a week after defeating Greater Catholic League power Elder. The Tigers rolled up 465 total yards Friday, defeating the Mansfield Tygers 55-0 at Arlin Stadium to improve to 3-0.
Like a week ago, when the Tigers intercepted the Elder quarterback six times, the defense had sticky fingers. The Tigers picked off three passes against the Tygers (1-2), all of which eventually led to touchdowns.
First-year Massillon head coach Tom Stacy said he has never coached a team that intercepted nine passes in a two-game stretch.
“We have a good secondary,” said Stacy. “We’re also going to see some good quarterbacks. Ignatius has a real good quarterback, and I’m sure Mentor’s is going to be a good challenge. But our secondary is solid. We were able to see that in the 7-on-7’s this summer.”
Senior defensive back Neil James started the interception party by picking off a Justin Greene pass at the Tigers’ 24-yard line on the opening possession of the game. The Tigers then marched 76 yards on eight plays, scoring on a six-yard pass from quarterback Bobby Huth to senior receiver Trey Miller on a quick slant. Kicker Steve Schott’s extra point made it 7-0 with 6:09 remaining in the opening period.
“There are a couple of guys who are playmakers I look to,” said Huth, who finished 11-for-14 for 140 yards and two touchdowns. “(Brett) Huffman, (Zack) Vanryzin and those guys. You get them the ball, and they can make things happen.”
The Tigers’ Troy Ellis kept the party going by intercepting Greene’s next pass attempt at the Tygers’ 25 yard line. Ellis returned it to the 3-yard line, setting up a Lanale Robinson one-yard touchdown run with 5:54 remaining in the first quarter.
Ellis, however, was forced to leave the game in the third quarter with an apparent leg injury, but Stacy said he doesn’t believe it is serious. The biggest interception, however, came just before the half.
With the Tigers holding on to a commanding 24-0 lead with less than three minutes to go in the half, senior defensive end Antonio James nailed Greene just as he was about to release the ball. It floated into the arms of Emery Saunders at the Tygers’ 45-yard line, and he returned it for a touchdown to make it 31-0.
The offense, led by Brian Gamble, also hit on all cylinders. Gamble rushed for 109 yards on 11 carries and added three receptions for 60 yards. He also returned a kickoff for 39 yards and scored a 22-yard touchdown early in the third quarter.
“The line was great,” said Gamble, who left the game after the first possession of the third quarter. “They were blocking really well, and I did what I could to see the hole and go through the hole. I haven’t really been catching a lot of passes in games, but in practice I have been. Tonight, I had a couple of catches. It felt really good.”
Gamble played a major part in two of the Tigers’ first-half offensive touchdowns. He carried for 51 yards on four carries in the opening drive.
Gamble also set up another Tigers touchdown by hauling in a 28-yard Huth pass at the Tygers’ 9-yard line.
Two plays later, Huth rolled left and found receiver Vanryzin in the corner of the end zone from seven yards out.
Gamble also set up another Huth touchdown as he hauled in a 28-yard pass on the sideline at the Tygers’ 9-yard line. Two plays later, Huth rolled to his left and connected with a wide-open Vanryzin in the corner of the end zone.
The Tigers finished with 261 total yards in the first half.
It didn’t get much better for the Tygers in the second half. On top of Gamble’s 22-yard touchdown run, the Tigers also scored on an 18-yard run by Robinson and a 47-yard run by K.J. Herring.
If there were any doubts about the legitimacy of the Tigers, both Huth and Gamble believe those were answered. Both believe the Tigers are back to the level they are used to playing at.
“The tradition is definitely back,” said Gamble. “It was a good win. It was good to finish somebody after letting Elder get back in the game.”
“We’re back for sure,” Huth added. “We believe we are a great team. We can go a long way if we stay focused.”
“Merrily We Roll Along” was the Massillon Tigers theme song Friday night at Tiger stadium
Sweeping up and down the gridiron like one of the dread German panzer divisions of World War II, gobbling up more real estate than the great glacier during the ice age, the Orange and Black downed Mansfield 46-16
* * *
WITH 11,574 fans watching the Tigers netted 442 rushing yards and 26 first downs on a tidal wave of power football, which brought them their second win in three games. It was Mansfield’s first loss in a like number as the Washington high eleven gave the Richland county aggregation something to remember them by in the last scheduled game between the two long-time rivals.
Senior wingback Mark McDew had his finest game as a Tiger, grabbing off 208 net yards in 17 tries for a 12.3 average and, scoring four touchdowns and three conversions. The kid with the educated feet thereby grabbed off the team scoring lead.
Senior tailback Jim Smith reeled off 116 net yards in 22 tries for a 5.3 average putting him well ahead of his total last year at this time, and scored his first touchdown of the season plus a conversion. Another senior, quarterback Marc Malinowski, averaged 7.4 yards for 11 carries off a total of 81 yards and scored on TD, a conversion and passed for six extra points.
The Tigers tried hard to hit the 50-point scoring mark for the first time since 1965, but once again ran afoul of long penalties and fumbles. For the six and seventh times in three games, the offense put the opposition in position for touchdowns with bobbles.
As it was, for the second consecutive week the Tigertowners gave Coach Bob Seaman his highest scoring mark in his three seasons here. * * * “I THOUGHT the whole offense did a helluva job!” Seaman enthused. “McDew, Smitty, and Malinowski all ran well. I thought our blocking was good, especially guards Gary Harig, George Whitfield and Dave Couto cutting defenders down on the sweeps.”
Did Seaman think – as did Mansfield mentor Gary Prahst – that McDew’s 91-yard TD romp on the option play right after Mansfield’s first score in a rather long first period and 87-yard second half kickoff runback were turning points?
“They sure were nice! Seaman explained.
He thought another key was Smith’s fumble on the Tiger 18 in the first quarter, which set up Mansfield’s first score. Mike Autrey’s fumble on his own 48, also in the first period didn’t help.
“Our offense gave them two touchdowns,” he said. “I’m as unhappy as anybody about it.”
Dave Hoy picked off the ball when Smith couldn’t find the handle on Malinowski’s attempted option which bounced along the ground as a result of the Tiger signal-caller’s being hit just as he was ready to let fly. The Mansfield march was capped by quarterback Mark Smith’s fake to tailback Merrill Wittmer and two-yard run through the center with 7:07 left. A bad pass from center snarled Hugh Mask’s converions kick but Massillon was off-side and Smith ran the conversion. * * * MIKE SANDS recovered the second fumble. Tom Nixon, Mansfield tight end converted from a tackle, combined with Smith for a 21-yard pass-run play to the one. After a motion setback, Smith hit Nixon in the center of the end zone with 2:47 left in the welcome frame. Smith’s attempted a pass for the conversion, broke out of a trap and ran the center for the two points.
Both of the Tigers’ first period scores were by McDew. Malinowski faked to Smith and ran left end for the conversion after McDew’s long romp with 6:47 left.
Taking over after the punt, the Tigers’ marched 84 yards for their second score with 28 seconds left. McDew skirted left end from the eight with Smith going left over left guard for the 16-16 score.
After the Tigers had moved 71 yards following a second period punt, McDew got the call again and dashed between the left end and tackle from three yards out with 33 seconds left. He added the conversion on Malinowski’s pass to the right flag.
Two plays after McDew’s jazzy runback of the second half kickoff, Smith rammed over left guard with 11 minutes left. Malinowski passed to McDew in the left side of the end zone for a 32-16 Tiger lead. * * * ANOTHER 71-YARD drive culminated early in the goodbye canto with Malinowski going through the center from the one. Smith missed the run for the conversion.
The Orange and Blacks’ final tally came after a bad Mansfield punt which landed two yards ahead of the line of scrimmage at the Tygers’ 26. McDew ended the march going between the right end and tackle from the six with 3:04 remaining. Malinowski pitched to Smith who threw to McDew in the center of the end zone for the final brace of points.
Seaman thought the first quarter knee injury re-occurrence which felled Duane Hill, Mansfield’s All-Ohio end candidate, hurt the Tygers. Prahst felt his defense – not his offense – was to blame.
Seaman thought that because Mansfield was so far behind in the second half and couldn’t run the play action pass the WHS eleven was able to change its coverage effectively. He explained that Mark Smith was ducking back inside on pass attempts making it hard to catch the quarterback. Prasht said his team was exhausted after the game whereas Massillon was helped by its two-platooning.
“We’re not anywhere as bad as the score indicated,” he concluded. “Smith and McDew are fine runners. It’s too bad they (Massillon coaches) didn’t give someone else a chance to run earlier.
The game closed out Massillon’s current home stand. The Tigers’ will open All-American conference play next week at Alliance.
INDIVIDUAL RUSHING Mansfield Player Att. Net Ave. Wittmer 16 44 2.3
Tigers Roar Over Mansfield A Good Team Effort Says Coach Seaman
By CHUCK HESS, JR.
Togetherness – a great plus for any football team – paid off for Massillon’s Tigers Friday night before 11,868 at Tiger stadium.
The Bengals roared to their third straight win without a loss in the young gridiron season by a 28-0 count over the Mansfield Tygers off what Washington high Coach Bob Seaman termed a “good team effort.”
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In handing the Tygers their second loss in a row after an opening win, the Obiemen settled a score. The Mansfield eleven of Gary Prahst had battled the Seaman pride to a pointless finish last year in Mansfield, stopping a 30-game Tiger win skein.
It was the second straight shutout for a ferocious bunch of felines who were really hitting the opposition again. Only scores against the Orange and Black this year were when the pigskin was intercepted twice on opening night by Akron East.
The defensive secondary – juniors Mark McDew, Marc Malinowski and Bert Dampier – blanketed Mansfield receivers, limiting an air game that had collected 435 yards in the Tygers’ previous 2 outings to just 64 this time out. * * *
THE FORCE UNIT, spear-headed by senior linebackers Co-Captain Ron Ertle and Hoyt Skelton hitting with power, was tough when it had to be.
The Bengals found that when the bypass route was closed, the direct path through town was effective. Mansfield effectively threw up a roadblock in front of bulldozer No. 1, junior tailback Jim Smith, so bulldozer No. 2, senior fullback Reggie Moore got the call. For 86 yards in 14 tries, a touchdown and a conversion.
Neither lost yardage but Smith was held to his lowest total to date with only 55 on 10 tries as the Tyger defense either prevented Smith from getting around the corner for any distance or forced quarterback Trevor Young to keep the pigskin on the option. Smith bruised his shoulder early in the game but Moore and Young made up the slack.
A by product of the effectiveness of the inside game with its good blocking from tackle to tackle was the faking by Smith, Moore and the Bengals’ other senior fullback Bill Simon to make Young’s play dangerous enough that he was able to score 2 TD’s, a conversion and pass for another 2-pointer even though a broken play was involved.
A pat on the back is also in order for the reserves under the field generalship of Marc Malinowski. They scored the final touchdown, * * *
IF THERE WAS any disquieting note about the game it was that Mansfield had 67 plays to the Tigers’ 50, meaning that the Obiemen were not able to interrupt the Mansfield play continuity with consistency. However, the Tigers remained tough when their goal line was threatened.
Fullback Dave Phillips, a block-busting senior, was called on several times by Prahst in crucial third and fourth down situations and got the necessary yardage. Phillips, who was reported not ready to play with ankle and shoulder injuries, gained 60 net yards in 16 attempts.
It appeared that Friday’s contest was going to be a repeat of last year’s tilt as the teams battled through the first quarter without denting the others’ goal line. Massillon lost the ball on downs on the Mansfield 14. The Tygers had to punt from Massillon’s 36.
The Tigers’ first score came at 5:05 of the second stanza after a 12-yard punt runback by Russ Fenton, a 15-yard right side off tackle romp by Moore and a 42-yard pass-run combination from Young to junior wingback Mark McDew on the same side.
On third down from the 3, Young faked to Smith through the middle and romped over the right side. Following a delay penalty, Young passed to Moore to the right for 2 more points. * * *
AFTER THE ensuing kickoff Mansfield got another drive going aided by a 34-yard Dave Hallabrin-to-Duane Hill pass as Hill, a 6-3 senior split end, leaped up between 2 Tiger defenders for a catch. But Massillon end Tim Richards turned a Mansfield pass into a fumble on second and 10 from the 21 and McDew intercepted a pass on the 5, killing the drive 2 plays later.
Most of the second half was played in Mansfield territory as the Tigers recovered 2 fumbles and intercepted a pass. Simon, junior tackle, Ernie McGeorge and Skelton covered one bobble on the Mansfield 34 early in the third quarter. Richards picked up another on the Tyger 26 and Skelton intercepted a pass at the start of the fourth quarter on the Massillon 30, but the Benglas ran into an illegal use of the hands penalty on the Tyger 29.
Young scored on the fifth play after the initial miscue on a broken play, going through the center on first down form the 3 with 6:04 in the third period after an offside penalty. A conversion pass to Moore was low.
Smith had set up the score with a 15-yard right side option, just stepping out on the 19.
The second recovery led to another third period score after 7 plays. McDew took a pitch to the left after Young had faked to Smith again through the center and scored from the 3 on fourth down at 2:32. Young’s counter keeper left made it 22-0. * * *
THE RESERVES took over after a Mansfield punt late in the goodbye canto and marched 49 yards in 6 plays. The big plays were Malinowski’s 22-yard romp to the Mansfield 17 and 11-yard trek to the 3.
Moore got the TD behind the second line on first down from the 3, going off right tackle at 1:05. Malinowski’s conversion pass to junior wingback John Hodgson was incomplete.
Next week’s foe will be cross-county rival Alliance, as Tiger stadium is invaded for the fourth consecutive week.
Bengals’ Streak Ended But All Isn’t Lost Mansfield Plays Familiar Role As Massillon Spoiler
By CHUCK HESS, JR.
The Massillon Tiger is a proud creature by tradition. He is not prone to put his tail between his legs and slink away in the face of adversity. Instead, he bares his fangs and fights back all the harder.
The Bengals have come back 3 times before after having win streaks stopped by Mansfield to win state titles. The scoreless contest Friday night before 10,000 at Arlin field in Mansfield need not be the end. It can be the beginning of another string of Orange and Black conquests. * * *
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THE 30-GAME win streak stretching back to 1963 and starting with a 38-0 win over Mansfield is gone. But the unbeaten skein is still there.
Paul Brown’s 1937 Bengals had a 20-game affair ended via 6-6 entanglement with Mansfield but went on to an 8-1-1 season and a state title. Bud Houghton’s 1941 Obiemen had a 38-game string stopped 6-6 by Mansfield but went on to a 9-0-1 season and a state title, winning 13 more games before bowing in the 1962 finale under Elwood Kammer.
Chuck Mather’s 1948 team won a state championship with a 9-1 record and his 1949 squad, after having a 10-game streak stopped 16-12 by Mansfield, went on to a 9-1 season and a state title. His 1951 team and Tom Harp’s 154 units won crowns with 9-1 records. Leo Strang got one with a 10-1 slate in 1960.
For Mansfield, which will start its league season against Fremont next week, its effort Friday could send the Tygers on to a Buckeye conference title.
“This is the greatest team effort I’ve ever seen from any team in the country,” Gary Prahst, Tyger mentor, said. “We’re real happy. We consider it a win. I thought our team was just an average one going into this game. But this will make us. Massillon is a great team!” * * *
MASSILLON COACH Bob Seaman said, ‘We had enough yardage to win – 50 more than last week – but 20 less points. We did a good job both offensively and defensively. Mansfield played a good game. They shut us off when they had to. Their pursuit killed us.”
Seaman wasn’t one to offer alibis but when a team has only one first string back in top condition, its attack is somewhat blunted. Quarterback Craig Maurer was on the sidelines with an ankle injury. Halfback Greg Evans is scheduled for surgery on a knee injury Monday in Massillon city hospital. Halfback Tommy James played with his hip still sore from an injury. * * *
MANSFIELD’S tailback and top scorer, “Butch” Jefferson also was out with an ankle sprain.
“With him we could have gotten outside better,” Prahst said.
The Tigers out-gained Mansfield 190-95. Neither team threw much, missing on 3 passes each. Mansfield intercepted 2 Tiger aerials both late in the game.
“We gained 143 yards the first half and seemed to be moving the ball well so I felt we didn’t have to throw,” Seaman explained.
“We had planned on throwing the ball more but our defense held them. (We didn’t want to take any chances throwing the ball),” said Prahst. * * *
BECAUSE NEITHER team threw often, a lot of time was used up as the Obiemen’s Will Foster and Mansfield’s Floyd Davis and Mike Swarn took turns pounding the tackles and guards for short yardage. There were almost no long punt returns as Massillon’s Jim Krenzer and Mansfield’s Dave Hallabrin took turns putting their opponents in the hole.
The furthest the Orange and Black got into Mansfield territory was the 29 after a 20-yard run by Foster. But time ran out in the first half.
Mansfield got to the Massillon 28 with 25 seconds left in the game. Swarn’s field goal attempt was wide left.
The Tygers had gotten there largely through the efforts of Shawn Madison, defensive halfback. He intercepted a 32-yard pass by Foster to 6-7 tackle Mike Sherrett on a tackle-eligible play and ran back to the Massillon 37.
Tigertown quarterback Kevin Henderson tried a desperation heave to sophomore halfback Mark McDew, taking Evans’ place, on the game’s final play. But halfback Jeff Koroknay intercepted the 28-yarder. * * *
THE TIGERS had 2 costly 15-yard penalties. Both came in the second quarter. One set the Tigertowners back to their 42 from the Mansfield 43 when it looked like the Bengals were gaining momentum. The other put them on their own 16 with 1:50 left. Both were clipping infractions and came after good runs.
Twice Mansfield fumbles rolled ahead up to 8 yards and were recovered by the Tygers for first downs. Once, however, tackle Tom Houser picked up a bobble on the Massillon 42 to stop a thrust by Mansfield which got out of its own territory only once in the first half and got no further than the Tiger 37 in the second, except on the pass interception.
Massillon got out of its homeland only once in the second half, but 3 of 4 times it had the ball in the first.
Next stop for the Tigers on the road schedule, which has 2 games remaining, is Hartshorn field in Alliance next Friday.
The Bengals’ record is 2-0-1, Mansfield’s is the same.
OFFICIALS Referee – Stan Orzech (Cleveland), Umpire – Clyde Newell (Westlake). Head Linesman – Bill Holzwarth (Louisville). Field Judge – Andy Moran (Berea).
Attendance – 10,000
STATISTICS Massillon Opp. First downs – rushing 10 7 First downs – passing 0 0 First downs – penalties 0 2 Total first downs 10 7 Yards gained rushing 200 117 Yards lost rushing 10 22 Net yards gained rushing 190 95 Net yards gained passing 0 0 Total yards gained 190 95 Passes attempted 3 3 Passes completed 0 0 Passes intercepted by 0 2 Yardage on passes intercepted 0 18 Times kicked off 1 1 Kickoff average (yards) 32.0 26.0 Kickoff returns (yards) 0 38 Times punted 0 7 Punt average (yards) 31.2 35.0 Punt return (yards) 0 13 Had punts blocked 0 0 Fumbles 2 5 Lost fumbled ball 0 1 Penalties 3 1 Yards penalized 35 15 Touchdowns rushing 0 0 Touchdowns passing 0 0 Touchdowns by interception 0 0 Miscellaneous 0 0 Total number of plays 34 32
They hung the Tiger in effigy but he didn’t stay dead long!
Somebody draped a Tiger dummy in front of a sign in the Massillon dressing room at Tiger stadium where all would be sure to see it. The pre-game message warned the Bengals that Mansfield’s Tygers were untied and unscored upon in 2 games.
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The defending state champs got the message all right and romped to a 38-12 victory over Mansfield before 12,377 fans, the season’s second-largest turnout. The Obie-men thus got by the third roadblock along the “Tiger Turnpike to Victory.”
The victory was Earle Bruce’s 36th straight, counting last month’s All-Star game. It was the 21st in a row for the Washington high eleven, 21st straight at home, eighth straight against Mansfield and brought the Bengal-Tyger series to 27-2-4.
It was one of those nights which drew a real team effort offensively and defensively. It would be unfair to cite any one boy as having been better than any other.
* * * * * A PLEASING omen was signs of the Tiger passing game, heretofore rather tame, coming to life. Two touchdowns came via the aerial route from quarterback Dave Sheegog to split end Rick Paige.
The Tigertowners dominated the statistics with 11 first downs to Mansfield’s 8, 187 net yards on the ground to 86, 72 to 57 in the air and a total of 259 to 143. The Massillon defense threw Mansfield for 40 minus yards in the rushing department, thanks to some fine gang tackling and pursuit, while the Tigers lost only 12. Mansfield gained 64 yards of its ground total while the Bengal reserves were in during the final quarter.
Most of the Tigers’ running was to the outside. The middle of the Mansfield defense was hard to break, because of guys like Bob Westerfield, Eli Marsh and Arnold Swope, filling in for ailing middle guard Bon Ruckman, who played only offensive center.
It was a game of breaks with Massillon picking up 3 of 6 touchdowns after 2 bad fourth down snaps from center and a punt fumble. Mansfield capitalized on a fumble and intercepted pass.
Because of the several breaks the Tigers made for themselves, they weren’t forced to make any sustained drives for TD’s. Three of the 5 times they attempted it the Bengallanders got no further than the Mansfield 40-yard line.
* * * * * THE TIGERS scored the first time they got their hands on the ball. With second down and one on their own 41, Tommy James broke through on a counter trap to the left and raced to the Mansfield 22, just missing going all the way.
On the next play Sheegog hit Paige cutting towards the end zone flag with “Ramblin Rick” grabbing the ball on the 10 and racing the rest of the way with 8:37 left in the first quarter. A misplay in the Bengal backfield prevented a conversion.
On the next series, Mansfield drove to the Massillon 43 and was forced to punt. Sheegog gathered to the pigskin on his 7, cut to his right and raced 93 yards for a score. He had some fine blocking along the way. The tally came at 4:45. Junior quarterback Craig Maurer passed to junior fullback Will Foster for 2 extra points.
Mansfield came back after the kickoff and a punt when Dan Coe fell on a fumble on the Bengal 28. A 15-yard face mask penalty followed. Then the Tigers appeared to have the Tygers stopped on the 18 on fourth down. But quarterback Harry Waldman bootlegged left and tossed to end Chris Alexander in the end zone with 1:06 left. A pass to end Dan Arnett on the conversion attempt was incomplete and the scoreboard read 14-6.
Massillon got a 21-yard runback by Sheegog on the ensuing kickoff and started a 65-yard TD jaunt with 50 seconds left in the welcome frame. A pass interference penalty kept the drive going.
Three plays into the third quarter with third down, 8 on the Mansfield 49, Sheegog hit Paige on the button hook left on the Tyger 30 with Rick sprinting the remainder of the distance for the Bengals’ third TD with 11:02 remaining. A pass to Lemon for the intended conversion was incomplete.
* * * * * ON FOURTH DOWN on Mansfield’s 2nd following series, Junior Parr dropped back from the 12 to punt. A bad snap ended in Parr being crushed to the earth on the 3 by Terry Manson.
He busted off left guard on the next play for a score with 3:01 lit up on the scoreboard. Manson also tried the conversion but was brought down short of the mark with the score remaining 26-6.
On fourth down in the next series, the snap went past Parr into the end zone. Dave Whitfield, theTigers’ right defensive end, smashed into Parr in the end zone after the Tyger punter had retrieved the pigskin. It bounced loose and the other end, “Wild Bill” Williams, pounced on it for the score. With 1:17 left Bill Pearch’s conversion kick was wide left.
Mansfield got the only score in the third stanza. Tom Osgar, a defensive back, grabbed off a Maurer pass on the Massillon 45 and raced back to the 38.
Seven plays later, Mansfield had its second and last touchdown. Parr went over right tackle from the half-yard line at 3:13 on second down. He had run 15 yards to the 2 and another 1 1/2 on the 2 plays previous. Paul Marks intercepted Waldman’s conversion pass.
* * * * * MASSILLON’S LAST score came when Mansfield fumbled Rick Healy’s punt on the first play of the last quarter. The ball bounced off a safetyman’s hands at the 20 and rolled to the 7 where Loren (Stretch) McGuire wrapped his long frame around it. Foster ran to the one and then into the promised land off left tackle on the next play with 10:57 left. Pearch’s conversion kick was blocked.
Nobody came close to scoring after that.
Bruce commented after the game. “I’m pleased at our performance because we beat a tough team. We got a lot of breaks, Mansfield isn’t that bad. Our defense was good this week. We were hitting, not catching.”
A youthful Gary Prahst said of his Mansfield eleven, “We gave them 4 touchdowns. We didn’t play good. But I don’t want to take anything away from Massillon. They’re good. Sheegog is excellent.”
Prahst felt this loss would not hurt the morale of his team which starts Buckeye conference play next week. He said he had thought his team would be able to move the ball against Massillon easily but couldn’t. When asked about the poor punt centers, Prahst said his boys weren’t nervous but had had that trouble before.
Prahst was exuberant over the play of Marsh, calling him “a real leader.”
Alliance comes to town next Friday for the Orange and Black’s fourth straight home game.
Touchdowns: Massillon – Paige 2 (23 and 49-yard passes from Sheegog); Sheegog (93-yard return); Manson (2-yard run); B. Williams (recovered fumble in end zone); Foster (one-yard run). Mansfield – Alexander (17-yard pass from Waldman); Parr (half-yard run).
Extra Points: Massillon – Foster 2 (pass from Maurer).
Statistics Mass. Opp. First downs—rushing 8 5 First downs—passing 2 3 First downs—penalties 1 0 Total first downs 11 8 Yards gained rushing 199 126 Yards lost rushing 12 40 Net yards gained rushing 187 86 Net yards gained passing 72 57 Total yards gained 259 143 Passes attempted 6 13 Passes completed 2 6 Passes intercepted by 1 1 Yardage on passes intercepted 13 20 Times kicked off 7 3 Kickoff average (yards) 50.1 47.0 Kickoff returns (yards) 43 149 Times punted 3 5 Punt average (yards) 42.0 38.1 Punt returns (yards) 116 0 Had punts blocked 0 0 Fumbles 3 2 Lost fumbled ball 1 2 Penalties 4 4 Yards penalized 60 39 Touchdowns rushing 2 1 Touchdowns passing 2 1 Touchdowns by interception 0 0 Miscellaneous 2 0 Total number of plays 46 57
OFFICIALS Referee – Howard Wirtz (Cincinnati). Umpire – Harvey Hodgson, Jr. (Massillon). Head Linesman – Bill Makepeace (Cincinnati). Field Judge – Jack McLain (Columbus).
A sparkling defense that held the Mansfield Tygers to a total of 46 yards while its offense sputtered along gave the Massillon Tigers a 26-0 victory before 9,500 fans at Mansfield’s Arlin field Friday night.
The Tigers’ third straight victory belonged mainly to the defensive line which bottled the Mansfield running attack, holding it to a minus 5 yards rushing and gave quarterback Kerry Dean little time to find and hit his receivers. The Mansfield quarterback threw 8 passes and completed only 3.
Massillon coach Earle Bruce could find little fault with his offensive line, which opened up large and frequent holes in the bigger Mansfield defensive line only to have the backs fail to hit the hole. The Tiger backfield also had problems hanging onto the ball, fumbling 5 times. On 4 of those occasions the Tigers lost the ball and had a drive stopped.
However, the backs did something right as the score indicates. Mostly they ground out yardage behind a line that fired out into a bigger opponent. The Tiger line earned the praise of Mansfield Coach Jim Dougherty who liked its blocking and speed.
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THE TIGERS didn’t score until the second quarter after the first period saw them lose the ball on a fumble at the Mansfield one-yard line after Tiger tackle Jim Binge recovered a Mansfield fumble on the Tyger 8. With the ball on the 1, Mansfield picked up 2 yards into the line. On second down Dave Hutchins, who punted 6 times for a 34-yard average, quick-kicked to Massillon’s 47 from the 3. Five plays later the Tigers gave up the ball on downs.
With a first and 10 on his own 31, Hutchins fumbled with guard Tom Whitfield recovering on the Mansfield 32. In 2 plays Massillon moved to the 20 as the quarter ended. On the first play of the second quarter, the Tigers fumbled and Mansfield recovered on its own 20.
With first and 5, after a Massillon offside, the Tygers were offside on the following play, the ball going to the 20. Following a 3-yard gain the Tygers decided to quick-kick on second down. Hutchins booted the ball but it struck his center who had backed up, the ball going 16 yards. Dougherty called this the turning point in the game.
With Edgar Herring, Jim Lawrence and Bob Hewitt taking short hunks of yardage the Tigers moved into the 2 in 7 plays from where Hewitt went over right guard for the score with 7:09 remaining. The extra point try failed as quarterback Steve Kanner was downed after a mix-up in the Massillon backfield.
Hutchins made a 46-yard kickoff return to the 50 and Mansfield moved to the Massillon 25 with the aide of a 15-yard roughing the kicker penalty. With fourth and 11 on the Tiger 25, Mansfield tried to pass but Dean was thrown for an 11-yard loss.
HERRING MADE a first down in 2 carries and with first and 10 picked up 20 yards on a double reverse to the 29. Here the Tigers got a break when Mansfield was called for piling on after Herring had gone out of bounds. The 15-yard penalty moved the ball to the 14. Three plays took it into the 4, from where with 4th and goal, junior quarterback Dave Sheegog sprinted around his right end for the touchdown making the score 12-0. The extra point try by Herring failed. The score came with 1:46 left in the half.
In the third quarter Massillon got to Mansfield 28 but fumbled away its first drive. The next time the Tigers got the ball the Tigers got to the Mansfield 18 on a 23-yard pass from Kanner to Herring but were called for clipping and lost the ball on a fumble on the next play.
The third time Massillon got the ball in the third quarter it started an 11-play, 56-yard drive that went into the fourth quarter for a score. Junior fullback Terry Manson had the longest run of the drive, an 11-yard gain. The score came on a 4-yard run by fullback Jim Lawrence for his first touchdown of the night. Manson scored the Tiger’s only extra points on a burst into the line.
The Tigers forced Mansfield to kick from its own 40. Hutchins lofted a 34-yard kick to Sheegog who with some tricky running returned to the Mansfield 29 for a 45-yard punt return. The last man between him and the goal tripped the shifty Sheegog.
On the first play from the 29, Kanner fired a strike to end Rick Paige in the end zone, but Paige in full stride, couldn’t hang onto the ball. He kept on going until he fell over a fence enclosing the end zone. Luckily, he wasn’t injured. Lawrence and Herring then drove the ball into the 3 from where Lawrence went inside his left end for the score. Paul Marks tried to kick the extra point, but the ball was partially blocked and didn’t have the distance.
MASSILLON safety man John Frieg intercepted a Mansfield pass on the Tyger 44 to give the Tigers another opportunity to score, but after picking up a first down, the threat ended with Hutchins intercepting a Massillon pass in the end zone on a 4th and 7 situation.
“The punt return was our best offensive weapon,” Bruce said half dejectedly after the game. And it was, with Sheegog getting off returns of 30 and 45 yards. “The defense played a great game,” the Tiger boss said singling out end Ed Franklin, for handling the Mansfield dealing defense, and brothers Tom and Dave Whitfield, Tom for his rushing the passer and Dave for his play, especially blocking on punt returns.
Mansfield coach Dougherty called the Tigers a “great team” because the “line fired out; they block well and have good speed.”
“That Muhlback is a heck of a ball player,” said Dougherty, shaking his head admiringly. “We played pretty good defense, but we couldn’t get our offense to move.” Massillon had the edge statistically, getting 17 first downs to Mansfield’s 3 and gaining 276 yards to the Tygers’ 46.
Touchdowns – Hewitt (2 yard run); Sheegog (2 yard run); Lawrence 2 (runs of 4 and 3 yards).
Extra points – Manson 2 (runs).
Officials Jim Langhurst (Williard) referee. Dom Ruggerio (Gibsonburg) umpire. John Mickley (Mt. Vernon) head linesman. Bill Holsworth (Louisville) field judge.
Statistics Mass. Mans. First downs—rushing 15 0 First downs—passing 2 2 First downs—penalties 0 1 Total first downs 17 3 Yards gained rushing 261 36 Yards lost rushing 8 41 Net yards gained rushing 253 -5 Net yards gained passing 23 51 Total yards gained 276 46 Passes attempted 6 8 Passes completed 2 3 Passes intercepted by 1 1 Yardage on passes intercepted 0 0 Times kicked off 5 1 Kickoff average (yards) 50.2 46.9 Kickoff returns (yards) 33 126 Times punted 1 6 Punt average (yards) 40 34 Punt returns (yards) 102 6 Had punts blocked 0 0 Fumbles 5 3 Lost fumbled ball 4 2 Penalties 5 4 Yards penalized 45 30 Touchdowns rushing 4 0 Touchdowns passing 0 0 Touchdowns by interception 0 0 Miscellaneous 0 0 Total number of plays 67 37
Tigers In Comeback Beat Mansfield 38-0 Bengals Mix Passes Into Power Football To Down Old Rival
By CHUCK HESS, JR.
Power football straight up the middle and a bruising defense.
These are the characteristics of present day Massillon Tiger football. And the Bengals parlayed the combination into a 38-0 win over longtime rival Mansfield high school before a small crowd of only 9,116 at Tiger stadium Friday night.
It was a roaring comeback from last week’s defeat by Akron Garfield and gave the Bengals’ morale a big boost for their game with undefeated Alliance here next Friday. As Coach Leo Strang said, “There’s only one game on the schedule I’m worried about now Alliance. I’ll think about the rest of them after next Friday. I hope we are healthy for that one. We couldn’t use Perry (Will) tonight. He has a bruised hip. Lawrence (Jim) is in Kentucky due to a death in the family.”
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Perry is the Tigers’ first string short side end. Lawrence is the starting fullback. * * * LAWRENCE’S absence gave junior fullback Bobby Hewitt a chance to get back into the starting alignment where he was in the season opener. He took full advantage of the situation with some fine running, including scoring two touchdowns and a conversion.
He combined with senior tailback Terry Getz to do most of the Tigers’ ball-carrying most effectively. Time and again they broke through the Tygers’ defensive line thanks to some good holes opened up by Bengal blockers.
Getz scored only a conversion but was instrumental in all of the TD drives with his running and blocking.
He played his finest game of his career and Strang praised him for it. “He ran and blocked extremely well,” the WHS mentor said, “He was very valuable tonight. So was Hewitt. In fact, it was a fine team effort.”
Senior short side end Floyd (Duke) Pierce scored two touchdowns on passes. Senior quarterback Ron Swartz scored another.
The other conversions were by senior quarterback Tom Gatsios on the keeper and on a flat pass to Bill (Rabbit) Blunt from Swartz.
The Tiger offensive machine rolled up 297 yards to 153 for Mansfield. The rushing statistics were 241 and 70. Mansfield was able to get only 26 yards on the ground in the second half but 53 in the air to beat the Bengals in that department 85-56. Massillon led in first downs 10 to three.
In commenting on his charges’ running game, Strang said, “We worked all week on it and accomplished what we set out to do.”
Mansfield got out of its own territory only four times during the night while Massillon played in enemy land a good part of the time. One of the Tygers’ four advances beyond the 50 was due to a fumble recovery by end Art Gaverick in the second quarter. Mansfield got the ball on the Tigers’ 33-yard line but got only to the 25 thanks to the stout Orange and Black defense. * * * MANSFIELD LOST the ball on downs at the Massillon 35 in the third quarter and on the Tigers’ four in the final canto, the last failure being due to an incomplete pass. Mansfield had driven from its 37.
The only other long drive of the Tygers came in the second quarter. Senior cornerback Gardy Eckard intercepted a pass on his 15 to stop that one. Mansfield had started on its 25 and had progressed to the Massillon 40.
Had Mansfield’s passing been a little more on the target – the Tygers completed only five of 14 – Massillon would not have had a shut out. It had lapses several times on pass defense. But Mansfield receivers dropped passes while in the open. The Tigers secondary was playing in close at the time.
Massillon scored five of the nine times it got its hands on the ball. The Tigers wasted little time in getting started, scoring three touchdowns in the first quarter, two of them by capitalizing on Mansfield fumbles caused by crunching tackles inside Tyger territory.
GAME STATISTICS Mass East First downs, rushing 14 4 First downs, passing 4 3 First downs, penalties 2 0 Total first downs 20 7 Yards gained rushing 259 91 Yards lost rushing 18 21 Net yards gained rushing 241 70 Yards gained passing 56 83 Total yards gained 297 153 Passes attempted 9 14 Passes completed 4 5 Passes intercepted by 1 1 Times kicked off 6 1 Kickoff average (yards) 47.8 37.0 Kickoff returns (yards) 11 92 Times punte 0 1 Punt average (yards) 0 42 Punt returns (yards) 6 0 Had punts blocked 0 0 Fumbles 3 2 Lost fumbled ball 2 2 Penalties 2 6 Yards penalized. 17 70
Two Early Fumbles Hurt Cause Of Visiting Team “The first fumble hurt,” said Mansfield Coach Jim Dougherty, “The second killed us. We were beaten by a good hard-hitting, well-coached football team tonight. We missed our first team quarterback Willie Hawthorne, who is in the hospital.” (The senior signal-caller, leading Mansfield ground gainer, has a throat infection.)
PIERCE PICKED up the first Mansfield bobble on the Tygers’ 33. The Bengals took the ball on in staying on the ground. It took them five plays. They got help from a personal fouL penalty which put the ball on Mansfield’s 12.
After Hewitt had run from there to the three, senior quarterback Ron Swartz carried on two straight plays, finally sneaking over from the one with 6:47 remaining in the quarter. Getz ran the conversion.
Mansfield ran one play after the kickoff and then the second fumble occurred. Butch Hose grabbed this one off to give the Tigers possession on the 16. It took Massillon two plays to score this time.
Swartz ran to the 13. Hewitt took off around the left end and went in at 5:26. Getz failed to convert this time.
Late in the period the Orange and Black took over when Mansfield was forced to punt. The Tigers moved from their 38 – a distance of 62 yards – in seven plays with three first downs.
Getz and Hewitt took turns denting the Mansfield line. Hewitt ran the last two plays, from the 15 to the seven and then in, the last one around the left side at 11:13 of the second period. Swartz passed to senior wingback Bill Blunt for the conversion.
The Tigers had another chance, taking over on their 26 after stopping a Mansfield drive. The Tigers drove to the Mansfield 22, making good use of timeouts and running out of bounds to stop the clock. But Dwight McCollum intercepted a pass on his eight and returned to the 38 where the half ended.
Orange Takes Kickoff And Marches To Touchdown The Orange and Black took the opening kickoff of the second half and marched right down the field. They moved from their 34 to the Mansfield 20 in five plays with four first downs. Hewitt contributed a 23-yard run to help the situation.
On first down from the 20 Swartz hit Pierce for the score with nine minutes remaining in the third canto. Hewitt converted.
Near the end of the quarter Massillon took over on its 35 after a Mansfield fourth down pass failed to pick up enough yardage. It took WHS 10 plays and our first downs to score.
Runs of 14 and nine yards by Getz helped the Bengal cause. So did a 15-yard Mansfield penalty for a personal foul which put the ball on the Tyger 20, first down.
A few seconds later Massillon was set back from the six to the 15 for holding on first down. Then senior quarterback Tom Gatsios hit Pierce for the Tigers’ final tally at 0:06. Gatsuis converted on the keeper.
The Bengals failed to get out of their own territory in the final period.
MANSFIELD – 0 Ends – Gonzales, Prats, Fenderson, Swarn and Gaverick. Taciles – Williams and C. Coe. Guards – Cindrich and Jividen. Centers – Horvath and D. Coe. Quarterbacks – Dean and Dougherty. Halfbacks – Hutchins, Schnuerer, McCollom, Sewell, Harris and Marsh. Fullbacks – R. Parr and Lindsay.
MASSILLON – 38 Ends – Pierce, Jones, McAllister, Goodnough, Hose, Gilmore, D. Alexander and Franklin. Tackles – Lash, Morgan, Tarle, Miller, Binge, Passalacqua and Paul. Guards – Larsuel, Castile, Swisher, Paflas, Muhlbach, Rivera, Roderick, Rearick, T. Whitfield, D. Whitfield and Manson. Centers – Scassa, Frank and Rambaud. Quarterbacks – Swartz, Gatsios, Kanner and Freig. Halfbacks – Blunt, Getz, Rink, Eckard, Harris, Schenkenberger and Shanor. Fullbacks – Hewitt and Lemon.
Massillon 14 8 16 0 38
Touchdowns: Hewitt (13 and 7-yard runs); Swartz (1-yard sneak), Pierce (20-yard pass from Swartz and six-yard pass from Gatsios).
Points after touchdowns: Hewitt (run), Getz (run), Blunt (pass from Swartz).
Officials Referee – Jim Langhurst (Willard). Umpire – A.N. Smith (Elyria). Head Linesman – Russ Kemper (Cincinnati). Field Judge – Harvey Hodgson, Jr. (Massillon).
Bengals Roll Over Mansfield 42-6 Orange And Black Look Like Tigers Of Old In First Half
By CHUCK HESS, JR.
The Massillon Tigers put a big X in the credit side of their ledger Friday night in Mansfield. The Bengals trounced the Mansfield Tygers 42-6 before a crowd of just less than capacity – 11,500.
It was the second straight win for the Orange and Black. It appears they’re now solidly back on the victory trail. Their record is now 4-3, putting them ahead of the .500 mark for the first time since Cincinnati Taft game four weeks ago.
After the game, cries of, “Beat Warren” could be heard from the Massillon players. The big game comes next week in the Trumbull county city. Warren is undefeated though tied by Mansfield.
For Mansfield it was a sad night. The Tygers dropped their fourth game of the season. They have won one and tied two.
Mansfield Coach Jim Dougherty closeted himself in his office at Arlin field after the game. He was unavailable for comment.
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The Bengal boss, Leo Strang, was jubilant. “We’ve got our conscience back now,” he said. “This was a big win.”
“A big question in the minds of the Tiger fans was why Washington high was able to score 34 points in the first half and only eight in the second. The answer is two-fold.”
First, Strang was substituting freely. “Any time you break up your normal lineup you have trouble,” Strang said. “That’s what happened when we had all those injuries earlier in the season.”
Second, Mansfield had the ball the majority of the last 24 minutes. And if you don’t have the ball, you can’t score.
“We looked like the Tigers of old in the first half,” Strang said.
“Strang also gave his scouting and spotting crews a big pat on the back for their jobs. Milan Chovan, Bob Johnson and Larry Lorton scouted the Tygers. Coaches Nick Cosos, Nick Vrotsos and Carl (Ducky) Schroeder were in the booth.
In hanging up their 34 points on the scoreboard in the first half; the Bengals scored every time they got their hands on the ball and were after another tally when the clock ran out. In the process, WHS converted two fumbles into touchdown. The Tigers also turned the trick in the third period. * * * THE TIGERS used 41 plays in the first half but got only 24 in the second. A tenacious Mansfield eleven just wouldn’t give up the ball. The Tygers had 34 plays during this time but only 20 before the intermission and failed to get out of their own territory until late in the second quarter.
A big difference in the ball game was Massillon’s passing. Senior quarterback Mike Koenig, back in action after being sidelined for four weeks with an injury, and junior signal-caller Ron Swartz completed eight of 14 passes for 165 yards. Added to 227 net yards on the ground, this gave the Tigers a 392 total.
Mansfield completed only three of 10 aerials for 44 yards. The Tygers had 196 net yards on the ground and a total of 240.
Massillon wasted no time in drawing first blood. The Orange and Black had a touchdown within six plays after getting the opening kickoff. Sophomore Jim Lawrence ran the kickoff back to the Massillon 48. He tripped there or he might have gone all the way.
Koenig went through the middle for 11 yards and a first down on the first play from scrimmage. The Tigers were off and running.
Three plays later junior wingback Bill Blunt went around left end on a reverse from the 37 on fourth-and-six. He ran all the way to the three, didn’t get a block and was tackled.
Getz went off tackle with 8:55 remaining in t he first quarter for the first touchdown. He swept right end for the conversion. * * * AFTER ONE Mansfield series, the Tigers took over on their 15 following a punt. They drove 85 yards in 16 plays with five first downs. Three times they held onto the ball on fourth down.
Koenig had an 18-yard romp around right end to start the drive. Lawrence finished it with a wedge from the one at 10:40 of the second canto. He missed on the conversion run.
During the drive Getz had runs of 15 and nine yards to help out. He got a first down with one and brought his mates out of a second-and-13 hole with another.
After forcing Mansfield to punt, the Tigers scored again in four plays. The Orange and Black took over on its 40. A pass interference penalty gave the Bengals a first down on the Mansfield 46. Lawrence4 went through the center for two yards.
Koenig then passed to McAllister for Massillon’s third score, a 44-yarder at 8:16. Koenig tossed to Blunt for the conversion and a 22-0 margin. * * * A MANSFIELD FUMBLE on the first play after the kickoff gave the Tigers the ball on the Tygers’ 16. Junior long side end Mike Jones recovered.
Five plays later Koenig sneaked in with six minutes remaining before the half. Koenig was unable to get rid of the ball on a pass try for the conversion.
Mansfield fumbled on the second play following the next kickoff. Senior linebacker Paul Fabianich hopped on this one on the Mansfield 43.
The Tigers tallied on the next play. Swartz now in the game, tossed to Blunt on the five. He made a great overhead catch and went on in at 4:40. Swartz tossed to Lawrence on the conversion try. But the first- year fullback fell down in the flat.
After the ensuing kickoff, Mansfield drove to the Massillon 26. But a fourth-and-two pass was incomplete in the end zone.
The Tigers then went to the air. Swartz passed four times to Blunt and once to Jones to get the Bengals to the Mansfield 19 where the clock ran out. Jones’ lone reception was good for 19 yards. Blunt’s catches were good for 12, 7 and 18 yards. The Bengals got five first downs in succession on this drive.
Mansfield’s third fumble came on a drive after the second half kickoff. Senior Co-Captain Ben Bradley of the Tigers hopped on the errant pigskin at his 32 from his middle guard spot.
The Bengals drove back to the Mansfield 34. Junior safetyman Willie Hawthorne intercepted a Swartz pass intended for junior wingback Graydon Eckard. But Mansfield fumbled two players later. Junior linebacker Tom Roderick made the recovery on the Tygers’ 17. * * * TWO PLAYS LATER, Swartz ran the left side option in at 2:25. Blunt made a beautiful catch in the corner of the end zone for the conversion, and Massillon’s scoring was finished for the night.
Mansfield took over on its 30 following the kickoff. Then came the Tygers’ only touchdown of the night. They covered the 70 yards in 10 plays with two first downs.
Senior halfback Frank Petty capped the drive with a six-yard sweep of right end with 9:50 remaining in the game. Senior quarterback Rich Poling had set up the score with a 21-yard rollout play from the 36 to the 15.
Senior halfback George Haag’s pass was incomplete on the conversion try.
Massillon lost the ball after two first downs following the kickoff. But Mansfield fumbled right back to them on the Tygers’ 28. Eckard made the recovery. However, the Orange and Black got no further.
Mansfield regained control and marched to the seven. But Eckard intercepted a pass in the end zone with five seconds remaining. One play later finis had been written to the Tigers’ seventh game.
A Big Victory’
MASSILLON – 42 Ends – Jones, McAllister, Franklin, Goodnough and Hose. Tackles – Clendening, Morgan, Profant, Mercer, Tarle, Miller, Fabianich and Franks. Guards – Castile, Geckler, Roderick, Rivers, Swisher and Mathias. Centers – Bradley, Scassa, Rambaud and Paisley. Backs – Koenig, Swartz, Lawrence, Eckard, Rink, Blunt, Getz, Toles, Kanner, Sullivan, Thomas, Pope and Davis.
MANSFIELD – 6 Ends – Payton, Prats, Backer and Bell. Tackles – Armstrong, Russell, C. Coe and Balcolm. Guards – Bucher, Winbigler, Jividen, Snyder and Potter. Centers – Cindrich and Prosser. Backs – Hawthorne, Lindsay, Poling, J. Coe, Dougherty, McDonald, Paar, Haag, Moore, Hutchins and Petty.
Massillon 8 26 8 0 42 Mansfield 0 0 0 6 6
GAME STATISTICS Mass. Opp. First downs – rushing 14 10 First downs – passing 6 2 First downs – penalties 0 1 Total first downs 20 13 Yards gained rushing 242 206 Yards lost rushing 15 15 Net yards gained rushing 227 196 Yards gained passing 165 44 Total yards gained 392 240 Passes attempted 14 10 Passes completed 8 3 Passes intercepted by 1 1 Times kicked off 7 2 Kickoff average (yards) 56.9 36 Kickoff returns (yards) 45 163 Times punted 1 2 Punt average (yards) 43.0 42.0 Punt returns (yards) 8 4 Had punts blocked 0 0 Fumbles 1 5 Lost fumbled ball 0 5 Penalties 3 2 Yards penalized 45 10
Bengals Claw Mansfield For 7th Win Blitzing Defense Limits Tygers To 84 Yards
By CHUCK HESS, JR.
The late Al Jolson had a pet phrase, “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.” The Massillon faithful in the group of 13,539 fans who sat in on the Tigers’ seventh game of the season Friday night at Tiger stadium found out Jolson had something there.
The contest was complete with the Tigers’ greatest defensive show of the season, some weird fumbles, side-of-the-foot punts, the Bengals behind for the first time this season, the unveiling of a toe the likes of Lou Groza and one of the oddest touchdowns in a long time.
For the fourth week in a row the Bengals stopped a here-to-fore undefeated and ranked team. This time it was Mansfield which felt the claws of the Tiger, 34-6.
It could have been an even higher score but for some breaks which didn’t go Washington high’s way. As Coach Leo Strang said, “We were bound to have a night like this one of these times.”
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* * * ALSO HAD Massillon been able to crack its offense into high gear in the first half, the story would have been different. “Our offense was rusty and listless,” said Strang. “Our timing was off, and we bobbled the ball all over the place.”
“Part of our touble stemmed from their stunting,” the Tiger pilot continued. “They seemed to be jumping into the right spots. It took us time to adjust to this, but when we did, we broke through well.”
In commenting on his defense Strang said, “It certainly helped make our touchdowns.” The Massillon defenders set up four of the five TD’s. “Red Dogging,” or crashing linebackers the Bengals held Mansfield to 84 yards on the ground and nothing in air. The Tygers had a minus five yards rushing in the second half. Massillon intercepted two of Mansfield’s five aerials and 62 yards on the ground caused the Tygers to lose.
While this was going on Massillon rolled to 321 yards rushing and 19 passing for 340 yards on offense. Quarterback Jim Alexander wasn’t as sharp as usual, completing only two of seven passes.
Part of Alex’s trouble was in the Tyger’s rushing him consistently and covering the deep receivers well. Outstanding defenders were the “floater” or “monster,” Jim Wareham, Middle Guard, Ron Keplinger, End Wendell Bell and Safety Bill Mitchell.
* * * THE TIGERS rushing of passers was a sight to behold. They covered receivers well. No single man was responsible for the fine defensive showing. They all helped out. The Bengal blitz also stopped many runs before they got started.
In all fairness to Quarterback Don Cole it must be mentioned that his favorite target, End Elroy Allen, was hobbled with an injured leg. Allen, had caught nine TD passes before Friday’s game. But with the rush the Tigers had on and their coverage of receivers, it is doubtful that even had Allen been in top condition, that this would have made much difference.
Mansfield got into Massillon territory early four times during the game, twice in the first quarter and twice in the second. They were stopped at the 47 once, the 33 and the 24-yard line.
The other invasion was when speedster Henry Weaver ran the opening kickoff back for the game’s first score. Showing why he was the state 100-yard and 180-yard low hurdles champ last spring. Weaver grabbed Co-Captain Ken Ivan’s second boot (the first went out of bounds) on the Tyger 12 and cut to his left down the sideline, outdistancing Massillon defenders, who underestimated his speed, for the score with only 15 seconds gone in the game. Wareham’s kick for the conversion was no good.
Tom Henson kicked off for Mansfield, making the third such boot in such a short time, something rarely seen. But for a fumble on the return, an even odder situation would have cropped up.
Bob Baker gathered in the ball on his 15 and started up the right side. He had clear sailing for a score. However, he was bumped hard at the Massillon 48 and the ball squirted out of his hands and across the sideline.
The Tigers got their first touchdown six plays later when Alexander passed to Ivan on the down-and-out pattern from the Mansfield six at 10:06 to put the cap on a 52-yard drive.
Fullback Fred Philpott paved the way for the score with a 35-yard jaunt around left end from the 45 to the 10. A last minute shove by Don Cole, who alternated with Mitchell at safety, knocked Philpott out of bounds.
* * * IT LOOKED as if trouble was brewing when Co-Captain Charlie Brown picked up only five yards on the next three plays. But Alexander and Ivan teamed up for the fourth down TD pass and the score.
Junior Will Paisley booted the first of four extra points for the Tigers to put Massillon in the lead 7-6. The kick was from the 15 due to a delay penalty.
Mansfield appeared to be off to the races again. Bill Mitchell, another speedster grabbed Ivan’s kickoff on the 14 and lugged the ball to his 22.
Weaver took off around right end with a pitchout and raced 26 yards on the next play for a first down. This was his next to last big run of the night. By the second half the Massillon defense had worn him to a frazzle.
Allen punted when Mansfield was halted three plays later, and Massillon took over on its 18. A 49-yard drive in nine plays and two first downs took the Bengals to the Tyger 33. A fourth down play failed to click and Mansfield took over.
The Tygers controlled the ball for two series during which Weaver had a fine 12-yard run off tackle, and Mansfield employed the “shotgun” or spread offense to no avail. The Tygers tried this maneuver several other times but could generate nothing off of it.
* * * RON SCHENKENBERGER, usually very sticky fingered, suffered the first of three fumbles, two of which proved costly, when Allen punted on fourth down. Schenk bobbled on his 21 just after the second period had started, but recovered and ran to the 27.
When this series fizzled on the 42, Alex dropped back to punt, but hit the ball with the side of his foot. The pigskin went out of bounds on the Mansfield 36.
The Tygers had the ball for three more series before they failed to make a first down. Massillon ultimately took over on its 32.
Six plays and two first downs later it was TD No. 2 for the Bengals, even though they were set back 15 yards for an illegal shift along the way. They also picked up 15 via the personal foul route.
The score came at 4:20 when Schenkenberger scored on a reverse from a backs-over formation, going from short to long side. The run was 52 yards. Paisley’s boot was good, the ball sailing clear over the north end zone bleachers.
Mansfield had the ball for practically the rest of the quarter with two exceptions. The Tigers got the ball on the visitors’ 49 after a punt, but Brown fumbled on the next play. Schenk fumbled a punt on his 26. John Brooks recovered on the 29.
* * * COLE TRIED to pass on the next play. But the aerial was picked off and turned to the Massillon 41. An illegal shift penalty, caused by poor timing kayoed another drive as the first half ended.
The Tigers were unable to score on a 44-yard drive from their 31 to the Mansfield 25 following the second half kickoff. The drive was stopped after 10 plays and two first downs.
Massillon had two opportunities in the series that got sidetracked. Schenkenberger was all alone on a reverse on second down from the 28 when the ball popped out of his hands, the Bengals losing 10 yards in the process.
Two plays earlier Philpott went through the center on third down from the 47. He was just about in the clear when a Tyger on the ground reached a hand back over his head and just managed to trip the Bengals’ leading scorer up.
Mansfield had two series and Allen went back to punt with the ball snapped from his 26. Charlie Whitfield and Willie Poole broke through to bring him down on the 17, not giving Allen time to punt.
* * * MASSILLON HAD its third score six plays and a first down later when Brown shot between the outside tackle and long side end from the three with 1:38 seconds remaining in the third canto. Charlie failed to score the conversion with a run between the tackles.
Mansfield had three more plays before the period ended, the opportunities coming after the kickoff. But Weaver was on the wrong end of a bad handoff, the ball was bobbled, and Joe Snively recovered on the Tyger 43.
Massillon started another drive. But an illegal shit penalty cost them again. After driving to the 13 in 11 plays and two first downs, the Bengals failed to pause one second and suffered the consequences. Set back to the 28 on third down and needing 28 yards to score, Alex tried to hit Ivan in the end zone. But the short side end’s diving try for the catch of the overthrown pass was in vain. A fourth down run was short.
The march, which started near the end of the third stanza, carried to midway in the fourth. The Tigers’ next tally was set up by a pass interception.
Snively hauled in a second down aerial on the Tyger 45. Before he was tackled he got down to the 25. He almost got loose for a score.
On the first play sophomore Wingback Bill Blunt, playing his first game, scored on a reverse. The time was 3:21. Paisley’s boot made the score 27-6.
* * * BUT THE WIERDEST touchdown possibly ever scored at the stadium was still to come. Allen dropped back to punt from his two near the end of the contest. The snap was bad. Poole came charging in at Allen. The senior end’s punt went straight up into the air. As it came down, Jim Ehmer tipped it toward his cousin Larry and Ivan. After a struggle for possession between the two, Ivan finally ran the ball over from the three at 1:36.
Paisley’s kick raised the tally to 34 and sent the Dad’s night crowd home happy as the Tigers got their seventh straight win of the season.
Mansfield Coach Bill Doolittle commented on the Tigers thusly after the game. “They’ve got a tremendous team. It’s very well balanced. They’ve got good running and passing. This makes it difficult to defense them. They’ve got too many ways to hurt you. We just couldn’t contain them enough.”
Lucky 7th Win
Mansfield Ends – Pratts, Allen, Beckwith, Bell and Baker. Tackles – Russell and Shasky. Guards – Atwater, bucher, Dunson, Henson, Potter and Winbigler. Center – Keplinger. Backs – Brooks, Cole, Mitchell, Phillips, Schroeder and Weaver.
Massillon Ends – Ivan, L. Ehmer, Garland and Pierce. Tackles – Maglischo, Spees, J. Ehmer and Mercer. Guards – Clendenin, Whitfield, Poole, Radel, Paisley and Migg.e Centers – Strobel and Bradley. Backs – Alexander, Schenkenberger, Brown, Philpott, Blunt, Toles, Swartz, Dean, Snively, Baker and Getz.
Massillon Touchdowns – Ivan (six-yard pass from Alexander); Schenkenberger (52-yard run); Brown (three-yard run); Blunt (25-yard run); Ivan (three-yard punt return).
Conversions – Paisley 4 (place kicks)
OFFICIALS Referee – Bill Holzwarth. Umpire – Clarence Rich. Head Linesman – Jim Langhurst. Field Judge – Russ Kemper.
STATISTICS Mass. Mansf. First downs – rushing 12 6 First downs – passing 1 0 First downs – penalties 1 1 Total first downs 14 7 Yards gained rushing 330 146 Yards lost rushing 9 62 Net yards gained rushing 321 84 Yards gained passing 19 0 Total yards gained 340 84 Passes attempted 7 5 Passes completed 2 0 Passes intercepted by 2 0 Times kicked off 7 2 Kickoff average (yards) 45.0 44.0 Kickoff returns (yards) 47 129 Times punted 2 6 Punt average (yards) 26.0 27.3 Punt return (yards) 8 0 Had punts blocked 0 0 Fumbles 4 2 Lost fumbled ball 2 2 Penalties 5 5 Yards penalized 65 36
Call it luck if you like, but Washington high school’s injury riddled Tigers are still undefeated and well on their way toward a second successive Ohio scholastic football championship.
The Tigers proved once again Friday night, before over 12,000 fans at Arlin stadium, Mansfield, why they remain No. 1 week after week as they turned in a 16-6 victory over Mansfield’s Tygers, the 20th win in a row over a three-year period and seventh straight.
It took 48 minutes to decide the issue, but two key plays, one early in the first period, the second late in the third stanza, are what the fans recall most.
The first was Tiger Bob Baker’s 77-yard punt return for a touchdown, after he had fumbled the ball and picked it up, at the 9:30 mark of the opening quarter.
The second was Joe Snively’s recovery of Tyger Henry Weaver’s fumble on the locals’ four, moments before the end of the third period.
Had Baker not gone the distance and had Weaver not fumbled, Washington high would have had to rally to pull the decision out. It was hard enough as it was.
Coach Leo Strang summed up the Tigers’ situation precisely with a, “I don’t know who to play.”
Strang’s problems became compounded early last night when Linebacker, kickoff man and punter Ken Dean was injured on the kickoff following Baker’s scoring run. Dean didn’t play the rest of the first half.
Then Martin Gugov, after clicking for 26 yards on two carries in the second Tiger touchdown drive, re-injured his right knee. He didn’t play the rest of the way.
Trainer Walt Keller upon examining the knee after the game, said it didn’t appear to be too bad.
In the Mansfield dressing room, Bill Doolittle, in his first year at the Tyger helm, sized up his team’s performance as one in which “we learned a lesson.”
“We played one good half of football,” Doolittle said. “Against a team like Massillon, you have to play the whole game.”
“A few new wrinkles in our offense helped. Our second half defense was great,” Doolittle added.
What did he think of Washington high’s team?
“Massillon has a good club,” he replied. “That Hastings is a terrific player.”
That Hastings, to whom the Mansfield mentor referred, is Art, the big gun in the Tigers’ lagging offensive punch last night.
Playing possibly his best game of the year, the speedy fullback lugged the ball 25 times, picking up 133 yards. An eight-yard shot around his short side end on the opening play of the second period and his successful conversion gave the Tigers a 16-0 cushion with nearly the whole three quarters remaining.
Mansfield’s touchdown was only the fourth scored against the locals’ defense in seven games. It came on one of the weirdest plays of the season.
After Mansfield had drive to the Tigers’ 15 mid way through the third period on the running of Halfbacks John Brooks and Weaver and a 15-yard personal foul call, Dean busted through from his linebacker slot and dropped Quarterback Art Rainey on the 19. A sweep by Weaver around the left end netted a single yard for a third and 13.
* * * RAINEY THEN, after a fake to Weaver up the middle, handed off to Fullback Harold Phillips. Phillips, however, was trapped by Jim Houston behind the line. While under tackle he attempted a lateral to Brooks, following the play. The ball hit the ground, then bounced a couple of times right into Brooks’ hands. The scatback then continued around the right side and swept home for the touchdown. Over seven minutes still remained in the third period.
The conversion attempt by Weaver on a sweep to his left was broken up by Ken Ivan.
After Hastings returned Lee Beer’s kickoff to his own 41, the Tiger offense failed to move. Dean then booted to Mansfield’s 21 where Halfback Don Cole scooped the ball in and scooted to his 38.
Aided by a 35-yard pass play from Rainey to End Bob Norris, the hosts moved to the Massillon 15. A sweep to the right by Brooks moved the Tygers to the three with a first down.
* * * HERE THE TIGERS rose up, with the middle of the line smacking Weaver as he churned through. He fumbled and Snively dived over his teammates, recovering the loose ball on the Tiger four.
It marked the second time in the last two games in which the Orange has recovered an opponent fumble inside the five-yard line to curtail a scoring threat.
Mansfield netted only four yards on three tries after taking Dean’s kick on their own 45 to open the battle. Elroy Allen then booted to Baker.
Baker, who later bobbled three others, losing one, played with the ball from the 20 to 23 before finding the handle. Then, behind a perfect wall of blockers, the speedy Tiger safety stepped untouched 77 yards down his right sideline for the score.
Gugov went in behind his outside tackle for the two-point conversion and an 8-0 lead.
Mansfield, which didn’t gain a first down until late in the second period, failed to move again after Dean’s boot. Allen punted, again to Baker. This time Bob dropped it, then picked it up but was stormed by a host of Tyger tacklers and fumbled again. He then recovered on his own 26.
* * * WITH THE DEFT ball handling of John Larson and the running of Hastings spearheading the attack, the defending state champions marched 74 yards in 15 plays for the touchdown. The big yardage play was a 17-yarder by Gugov. Marty was then injured three plays later when he added the nine-yarder to Mansfield’s 41.
Hastings touchdown was his seventh of the year. He has now tallied 46 points. He finished with 86 last year.
After the next kickoff by Richard Crenshaw and punt by Allen when the Tygers failed to move, Baker fumbled again. This time Center Kay Hartman made the recovery for Mansfield on the locals’ 40.
Two plays later, however, Lawson White pounced on Brooks fumble to stop that abbreviated drive on Massillon’s 35. * * *
AFTER HASTINGS returned Beer’s second half kickoff to Mansfield’s 46 from his own 23, three successive five-yard illegal motion penalties were marched off against the locals setting them back to their own 39. Larson brought it back to the Mansfield 49 before Dean punted out of bounds on the losers’ 22.
The hosts then moved for their lone touchdown of the game. Covering 83 yards, after a five-yard penalty, in seven plays.
It was Mansfield’s third loss against two wins and a tie on the season. In the series with Washington high, the Ashland county eleven has managed only two wins and four ties in 24 attempts.
The game was a pleasant change for Mansfield from the 70-0 route suffered during the fruitless 1959 season. The 16-6 final was the closest the Tygers have come to upending the Orange since 1956 when the won, 14-6.
In first downs the clubs were even with 11 apiece. Massillon managed 195 yards rushing and 29 passing for 224 while the hosts combined 114 on the ground and 63 through the air for 177 total yards. * * *
THE TIGERS went into the game with seven players out of uniform. Theo Bodiford came up with a fever during the afternoon and didn’t dress. Bob Herring indicated he was ready to go but Strang wasn’t taking any chances. Charlie Whitfield didn’t see any action.
Joining these were Virgil Bukuts, still out with the knee injury suffered before the start of the campaign. Sophomores Ben Bradley and Ron Davis, and Junior Quarterback Jim Alexander.
Strang hopes most of the injuries will be healed by next Friday when the Tigers journey to Warren for the final road game of the season against the up and coming Panthers. Two years ago, the Panthers ruined Massillon’s bid for the state championship with a 6-0 victory. Last year Washington high atoned for the loss with a 38-8 slashing of Paul Warfield and company.
Last night Warren posted its third straight victory, ripping New Castle (Pa.), 40-7.
History 
