Inspired Mansfield Team Upsets Tiger Gridders 16-12 Massillon’s String Of Victories Snapped At 10 Consecutive Games
By LUTHER EMERY
Augie Morningstar was the toast of Mansfield today and rightfully so, for his Mansfield Tygers scored their first victory in 14 years over the Washington high Tigers here Friday evening before a nose counted crowd of 19,773 spectators.
The defeat dashed Massillon’s hopes for an undefeated season, left the state championship up in the air for a wide open scramble, and snapped the local team’s own victory streak at 10 consecutive games.
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It does not mean the Tigers are completely out of the championship race. All of the state’s major teams with the exception of Canton McKinley have suffered one setback, and most teams still have four games yet to play.
It does mean that the Massillon gridders to attain any recognition whatsoever, must dig in as they did after their only loss last year to Alliance and clean up on the rest of the slate.
“It does you good to lose once in a while,” said Massillon Coach Chuck Mather after the game, though the look of disappointment on his face told that he wanted to win it the worst kind of way. “Losing makes you appreciate winning, all the more. We will start all over again,” he said.
The Tiger coach had nothing but praise for Morningstar’s Tygers and said they rewarded their fans for the support and spirit accorded them the past week.
That spirit was reflected in the general play of the visiting team, which beat the Tiger line to the charge a greater part of the evening and who did most everything right.
The play of the local eleven was considerably different. It lost the ball three times on fumbles, one placing Mansfield in position for its first touchdown and the other two coming in the clutch in the fourth quarter with Mansfield ahead and only minutes left in play. A 15-yard penalty for clipping when Mansfield was trailing 12-7 which set the locals back to Mansfield’s eight didn’t help matters either.
In fact, this particular play was the turning point of the game, for the next time the visitors got the ball they drove and passed their way to the game winning touchdown.
On the other hand, Mansfield had a good chance to go ahead in the third quarter when a Tyger secondary man dropped a Massillon pass with a clear field ahead of him. The ball was in his hands and he had nothing to do but run but he failed to hang on to it. * * * MANSFIELD scored the first points of the game early in the first quarter, when A.C. Jenkins, power running fullback, bulled his way through for the last yard on a 26-yard march that began when Walter Maurer covered Clarence Johnson’s fumble.
The Tigers took the following kickoff, were well on their way to six points when the period ended and got them on the first play of the second quarter when Ace Crable circled his right end for the last 12 yards on a pitch-out. It was a drive of 65 yards.
The locals scored the next time they got the ball too, when Mansfield fumbled in midfield while attempting to punt on fourth down. It took only three plays to go the 50 yards, Crable reeling off 15, Johnson 26 and Jacobs the last nine. Both of Jerry Krisher’s attempted placekicks went wide of the uprights while Mansfield made good on both of its extra points.
Leading by 12-7, at half-time, there were few in the stands but who thought Mansfield would win the game if it could score the next touchdown. It did. * * * THE TIGERS made two bids to score before Mansfield struck. Immediately after the kickoff the locals drove to what would have been a first down on the 16-yard line, but a 15-yard penalty for clipping spoiled the effort and they eventually surrendered the ball on the 19. Their next bid took them to the eight but a clipping penalty nullified the gain and put them clear back on their own 31 from which they were forced to punt.
Mansfield saw it was time to strike and strike it did. Getting the ball on their own 37, the visitors opened the fourth period with a devastating passing attack. Don Cline hurled the ball to Jack Bargahiser for 23 yards and a first on the Tiger 40. Esker Jordon gained three and Cline flipped another to Ed Demyan for a first down on the Tiger 22. Tucker made seven yards on two tries and on third down, Cline found his mark in Bargahiser behind the Tiger goal and hit him for six points.
The Tigers took the kickoff and although Crable was stopped without a return, he almost got away on a left end sweep the next play and ran to his 47 before being downed. Mansfield braced and held for downs, however. So did the Tigers and with time fleeting they gained the ball in midfield. Jacobs fumbled on the first play and the alert Maurer pounced on the ball to regain it for Mansfield. Again the Tigers held but when Mansfield punted, Crable fumbled the ball as he attempted to pick it up with the hope of getting away and Demyan covered on the Tiger 14-yard line.
The game was all but over then. Mansfield played it smart, taking as much time as possible on each play while the seconds were ticked away. The Tigers eventually gained the ball on downs on their own seven, but when Don James dropped back behind his goal to hurl one desperate pass, he couldn’t find a receiver and when he tried to run, was swarmed over by Mansfield players and downed behind his goal for a safety and two points.
The Tigers booted the following free kick only four yards with the hope of recovering but Mansfield took over and the gamed ended two plays later. * * * THEREIN you have the touchdown plays which led to the Tigers’ first loss of the season and Mansfield’s first victory in 14 years of competition with Massillon teams. The locals have won 10, and three games have ended in tie scores.
It was the third time since 1937 that Mansfield has played the role of spoiler to end Tiger victory streaks, and on two previous occasions, just as last night, came into the game as the underdog.
Russell Murphy’s 1937 team gained a 6-6 tie to end an undefeated string of 21 in a row when Paul Brown was coach here. The 1941 team coached by Paul Snyder put a kink in a chain of 38 straight victories with a 6-6 tie against a team coached by Bud Houghton. Mansfield muffed opportunities by missing the points after touchdown. Last night it did not miss. * * * THE TIGERS kept Tucker, Ohio’s fastest high school back pretty well bottled up, but had trouble stopping Jenkins and Jordon who swept through center on a fake lateral that looked much like one introduced by the Forty-Niners in the All-American conference two years ago.
Inability to stop Cline’s passing in the fourth quarter, however, led to the locals’ downfall. Second guessing the Tigers’ offense, it appears that after scoring their second touchdown in the second period they would have done better to have continued carrying the ball instead of tossing passes for they had Mansfield on the run at this stage of the game.
The game was a hard fought contest with players of both teams showing the effects of the contest. Morningstar feared his star guard Tom Weaver may have sustained a fractured hand.
Jacobs, Jim Reichenbach and Crable were shaken up considerably, as was Ronald Patt. Crable, a marked man, played a whale of a game under these conditions. Injuries hampered Jacobs throughout the last half and Reichenbach got in for only a few plays because of an injured leg.
Statistically the teams were about even.
First downs were the same, each, but the Tigers had an edge in net yards gained, 239 to Mansfield’s 197. But they still pay off on points.
Tigers Defeat Mansfield 27-0 In Rough Football Game 21,000 Spectators See Massillon Team Score In All But One Period
By LUTHER EMERY
The Washington high Tigers whipped Mansfield 27-0 here Friday evening in a bruising battle that left a bad taste in the mouths of a lot of people.
The Tigers scored in three of the four periods and the game ended with the 21,000 fans, largest crowd of the season, squaring off in a booing contest that sounded like a Florida hurricane. Here Massillon again won but only because it had more fans in the stands.
While the ethics are not of the best, booing is an outlet for a fan to show his displeasure at incidents in a game, and last night’s chorus of raspberries developed when the heated tempo of the game reached into the stands and afflicted the fans with a fever comparable to that displayed on the field where punching was going on in the pileup and rough treatment in general was meted out.
Mansfield started it after the Tigers had scored their third touchdown. The price was heavy for both sides. Massillon lost its fleet halfback, Al Brown, who was removed with a sprained ankle that may put him on the shelf for several weeks, while two 15-yard penalties in a row, one following Brown’s injury, put the ball on the one-yard line in position for the Tigers’ fourth touchdown.
The local team was not without sin and drew an unnecessary roughness penalty of 15 yards for playing tit for tat. When the game was finally over, one Mansfield player, Quarterback Harry Osbun had to be carried from the field, and Fullback Charles Jenkins was helped off by his teammates. * * * THE OFFICIALS, seeking to keep the game under control, tossed out a player of each team while inflicting the penalties.
“I was sorry it ended that way,” Mansfield Coach “Augie” Morningstar, a former Tiger gridder and coach of the 1945 Massillon team, said after the game. “I started yanking players, trying to hold them down, but didn’t get them out soon enough.”
Washington high Coach “Bud” Houghton who had Morningstar as his line coach in 1941, was bitter after the game as he left to take Brown to the Massillon city hospital for X-ray pictures of the injured ankle. “I still believe as I did last year; that we should scratch Mansfield off the schedule,” he said. “We run into this every year.”
As events turned out, Houghton would have been wise to have pulled his star performers after the 20-point lead and saved them for games to come. Fortunately Brown was the only local gridder seriously injured. His loss would be a serious blow to the Tigers in weeks to follow.
The victory was Massillon’s fifth of the season and the third in a row over a former member of the Massillon coaching staff. Steubenville and Alliance, coached by Howard Brinker and Mel Knowlton, respectively, both former coaches in the local system were defeated during the previous two weeks. The defeat was Mansfield’s second in six games, the team having lost to Springfield last week after beating Fort Wayne North, Cleveland East, Sandusky and Portsmouth in a row. * * * THE TIGERS continued to show improvement last night which is the most heartening part of their performance this season. While their defense was fooled a couple of times by Mansfield, they never permitted the visitors to get nearer than the 20-yard line, and they limited their ground work to 150 yards gained. Thirty-nine were gained passing.
The locals’ offense on the other hand rolled up 298 yards on the ground, 73 in the air and with better judgment would have produced five touchdowns instead of four. They lost one in the second period when with inches to go on fourth down and the ball two yards short of the goal; they tried a lateral on an end sweep that boomeranged and gave Mansfield the ball.
The Tigers however were by far the superior team and made fewer errors than in past weeks.
Had their passes worked earlier in the game they might have made a rout of it for Mansfield appeared vulnerable to forwards, and Massillon failures were largely the result of inability of the passer to get the ball to the receivers who had no difficulty freeing themselves in the open. * * * MANSFIELD used many defensive variations in attempts to stop the Massillon running attack, but Brown, Dick Jacobs and Clarence Johnson moved more consistently than at any time this season and were forced to punt only once during the evening.
Brown got off the longest run, a 59-yard jaunt that was shortened in the official count because of a 15-yard clipping penalty.
Mansfield presented a hard runner in Tommy Tucker, a scat back who almost got away twice before he was trapped along the sidelines.
The game started off as though the objective was a test in generosity, when the teams began fumbling into each other’s hands, but it certainly did not end that way.
A poor punt, partially ticked by a Massillon player after the kickoff gave the Tigers the ball on the Mansfield 44, but Clarence Johnson fumbled on the 22 and Mansfield covered.
After an exchange of downs Mansfield fumbled and Jack McVay pounced on the leather to get Massillon the ball on the visitors’ 23. That act sparked the Tigers into action and they surged forward with Brown and Clarence Johnson lugging the leather most of the time in a march that ended with the latter going over from the one-yard line. Gene Schludecker kicked the extra point and the Tigers led 7-0. * * * NEITHER TEAM scored in the second period though the Tigers passed up two golden opportunities. They marched the ball from their own 34 to the visitors’ two-yard line where with inches needed for a first down they lost the ball as Clarence Johnson was thrown trying a sweep off a lateral on fourth down. They moved again to the 18 where they lost the leather on an intercepted pass with some 15 seconds of the half remaining to be played.
They came out in the third quarter in a business like manner, took the ball on the kickoff on their 37. They marched 63 yards with John Badarnza sneaking it over. A 31-yarder by Brown and a 19-yard dash by Jacobs were the longest runs in this series of advances. Jack Hill tried to run with the ball for the extra point when he received a high pass from center, but was thrown before he could cross the goal line, leaving the Tigers in front 13-0.
Taking the ball away from Mansfield, when the latter tried for yards after the kickoff only to lose the ball on downs, the Tigers marched from their 49 to the 24 where Jack Hill pegged a touchdown pass to Ben Roderick who caught the ball on the five-yard line and managed to keep inside the side stripe until he got over the goal. Schludecker booted the 20th point and the decks were cleared for action. Each team gave the other the ball on a fumble and that did not help matters any. Neither was it soothing when the Tigers lost 12 yards on one hitch and the ball on another while trying to pass. * * * MANSFIELD did not like it when the ball was called back after left Halfback Osbun had made a beautiful run to the Tiger 17 but the officials said both sides were off-sides and their word stood. Then Osbun was tackled so hard on the next series that he fumbled and the Tigers recovered. Brown immediately ran from his 32 to the nine-yard line, but a clipping penalty moved the ball back to the 40. Brown went to the 25-yard line on the next play and was knocked out in the pileup. He was removed from the game. A 15-yard penalty for unnecessary roughness put the ball on the 11-yard line. Badarnza tried to pass to Jacobs but the ball was beyond his reach. In the melee that followed a Mansfield player was put out of the game and the visitors were penalized to the one-yard line.
The chorus of boos, which began when Brown was knocked out rose in a huge crescendo as the referee stepped off the penalty yard by yard.
Badarnza bucked the ball over for the touchdown and Schludecker again kicked the extra point to bring the score to 27-0.
The scoring was over, but not the booing nor the roughing, for on the following kickoff the Tigers were charged with unnecessary roughness and drew a 15-yard penalty. That gave Mansfield a chance to join in the booing. The game ended with Joe Miller passing to Jenkins who was tackled so hard on the 20 by Sophomore Fred Grier, that he did a complete somersault in the air and came down with a thud that knocked him out momentarily. Osbun was kayoed on the same play and had to be carried from the field while Jenkins was helped off on the shoulders of teammates. There was no cheering from either side, just a general booing between rival fans. None of the Mansfield players was believed seriously injured, however though Morningstar, after the game, said his team was “touched up quite a bit.” Fifth Victory MASSILLON POS. MANSFIELD Johnson LE Demyan Jones LT Paetch Morrow LG Jim Miller Olenick C Russell Houston RG Keiser Wittmann RT Logan Roderick RE V. Weaver Badarnza QB Joe Miller Jacobs LH Osbun Brown RH Gregorio Johnson FB Jenkins
10,000 See Tigers And Mansfield Battle To 12-12 Tie Massillon Has Ball On Three-Yard Line When Clock Runs Out of Time
By LUTHER EMERY
Eleven men and a clock beat the Washington high Tigers to the goal line at Mansfield Friday evening and the Massillon team had to be contented with a 12-12 tie.
It was a bruising battle staged before some 10,000 fans, the largest crowd ever to see a football game in Mansfield and only 10,000 because no more could get into the park. Not Satisfied The Tigers today were not particularly proud of their showing, though they can salvage some satisfaction out of maintaining the record of a Massillon team never having been beaten by Mansfield.
It was the third tie score in the 11 years of competition between the teams, the other eight games having been won by Tiger teams.
The Tigers were not particularly pleased with the result for they felt they had the better team. The statistics bear them out, and they might have returned the victor had not Mansfield succeeded in staving off a last minute thrust until the grim old reaper cut off the time and put an end to the game with Massillon in possession of the ball on the Tyger three-yard line with three downs to make it in. Inopportune Penalties That was a tough break for the Tigers, but they didn’t get out the crying towels for they were victims of several tough breaks all evening.
They had Mansfield stopped on both of its touchdown drives when penalties moved the ball forward for the Tygers, and three of their own drives went amiss inside the 35-yard line, twice on penalties and once when the officials got balled up and only gave the local team three downs in a series instead of four.
Albeit, the game was a nerve tingler from a spectator’s stand point and the crowd loved it.
The Tigers, first to score, pushed over a touchdown late in the second quarter on a thrust by Alex Giloff from the one-yard line after a march of 31 yards.
Mansfield came out high in the second half to take the kickoff and drive 67 yards to the two-yard line where Kenny Horvath took it over. Brown Goes Over The Tigers roared right back with the following kickoff and did not stop until little Al Brown knocked himself out with a run of 55 yards to gain five and the second touchdown of the game, and Mansfield tied it up at 12-12 when it marched right back with the kickoff to send Ralph Majors scampering around Massillon’s right end in a journey to the Promised Land.
The score ended in a tie because neither team had a kicker. Brown had two chances to boot the first point after touchdown but banged the ball into the line of scrimmage on both attempts. Gene Zorger tried to carry it across after the second touchdown but was dropped before he could get over the goal line.
Ross Frisbee tried to placekick both of Mansfield’s extra points. One was blocked and the other was wide of the posts.
It has been a long time since Massillon fans have seen a more exciting game. Danger was written into every play, for Mansfield’s Majors was a slippery runner who pummeled his legs into the Massillon secondary time and again. On several occasions Massillon ball carriers also threatened to go the whole route. Defenses Crack What the first half lacked in scoring was more than made up the last two periods when the teams cracked each other’s defense and drove for touchdowns every time they got the ball until they got tied up into a 12-12 knot. Even then Massillon almost got another, for after Mansfield had succeeded in tying the score, Zorger took the kickoff and ran hard through the Mansfield broken field, only to be hauled down from behind on the Tygers 43.
It was rough and tough and a pre-game argument between coaches over the kind of sweaters to be worn, served as hype to members of the teams to rip it up on the field.
Coach “Bud” Houghton of Massillon was snorting prior to the game when he saw Mansfield wearing a sort of gold jersey. He protested to Coach Snyder of Mansfield that he thought they had an agreement that Massillon would wear black and Mansfield white. Snyder replied that this was all he had that his other clothes had not been returned from the cleaner.”
Houghton took a look at the light ball to be used and noted how well it blended into the color scheme of the gold jerseys. “Then we’ll wear orange,” said the Tiger coach, and the orange sweaters were promptly pulled out of the bags and put on. This made a difference in the numbers of players with those on the program which were given for the black sweaters. The Mansfield numbers were also twisted around.
The sweater incident following a previous argument over the selection of officials for the game, so riled Houghton that he at one time threatened never to take a team back to Mansfield again until such goings on are stopped. A lot of people who stood throughout the game because they were unable to get their seats will breathe an amen to that statement, but perhaps the situation will correct itself in future months when Mansfield completes its new stadium and a better understanding between coaches is attained. More Injuries Injuries, which have plagued the Tigers all season, again weakened the team at intervals during the game. Wittmann, Zeller, Al Brown and Junior Pedrotty all joined regulars Gene Krisher, Chick Cary and Gene Yost on the bench for periods Friday evening.
Wittmann sustained an injured ankle; Zeller had the skin laid open above is right eye during the first half, but re-entered the ball game after the wound was stitched. Pedrotty was bothered by a bad leg and Brown writhed in pain from a back injury. Apparently a vertebra was knocked out of place when he was thrown against a post just after crossing the goal line, on the Tigers’ second touchdown. The injury mended and he went back into the game in the closing minutes of the play and almost got away for another touchdown jaunt.
Neither team gambled with passes. The field was not muddy, but it was slippery and the ball was always wet and often greasy. The Tigers tossed but two passes and both were grounded. The Tygers tried two and had one intercepted.
First downs were 16-12 in Massillon’s favor and the locals gained 225 yards from scrimmage to Mansfield’s 175 yards.
Just how superior the offense of the two teams was to their defense is seen in the fact that the Tigers never punted all evening while Mansfield only punted twice. The one time the locals should have punted, they lost the ball on downs on their 35 by failing to gain a yard on fourth down.
The Tigers lost the ball a couple of times on fumbles but on all other occasions they did not have to punt because they always managed to march the ball down deep into Mansfield territory where it was not advisable to kick.
For the second time this season the Tigers won the toss and elected to receive. On their very first ball carrying effort they lugged the pigskin into Mansfield territory only to lose it on a fumble that Mansfield recovered on its own 48.
The Tigers only permitted Mansfield to hold it for one play, however as big Jim Young tore through and tossed Ollie Cline so hard he fumbled the ball. Young not only made the tackle but also covered the fumble. The Tigers marched the leather to the 20-yard line where a five-yard offside penalty set them back when otherwise they would have had a first down. As a result they tried to pass on fourth down, failed and Mansfield took over.
With Majors and Horvath doing most of the lugging the Tygers banged their way 55 yards to the Massillon 25 where they lost the ball on downs.
Massillon charged back and moved to a first down on the Mansfield 38. Then came the boner of the evening and one you seldom see in football. The local team got in one play before the end of the quarter as Zorger grabbed off two yards at left tackle. They only ran two plays the second period, Zorger making two yards on one and Byelene grounding a pass when the officials ruled the ball had been lost on downs. The lineman carrying the down marker, showed fourth down instead of third, on the pole and the officials failed to note the error. In fact it went by without any protest from the Massillon team until the halftime intermission when Houghton voiced his complaint.
The error cost the Tigers another down with the ball on the 33-yard line.
Mansfield was forced to punt on the next series and the Tigers lost the ball on their own 35 when they tried to carry it a yard on fourth down and failed to do so. Mansfield’s efforts ended with Merle Darrah intercepting Cline’s pass and running back to the Mansfield 31 before being tackled.
That sparked the Tigers to their first touchdown march. Giloff immediately whirled away to the 19-yard line. It took four downs to move it another 10. Then Giloff on a quick opener shot through for five more and Zorger went around his left end to the one yard line. It took two more cracks at the line for Giloff to get it over.
Brown missed an attempted kick for the extra point but Mansfield was offside. He tried it again and missed.
The Tigers forced Mansfield to punt after the following kickoff and had just made a first down on the Tyger 30-yard line when the half ended.
Mansfield didn’t wait to get rolling in the second half. Cline brought the kickoff back to the 31-yard line and in three plays, Majors and Horvath ran to a first down on their 47. Majors moved it up with another dash to the Massillon 33 and Horvath’s plunge combined with a five-yard penalty inflicted on Massillon for offside moved the leather to the 20-yard line. The Tigers had Mansfield stopped on the 13-yard line, but a five-yard penalty gave it a first on the nine. Horvath carried the leather four times in succession, going over on his last effort. Frisbee’s attempted kick for he extra point was blocked. Tigers Score Again Massillon took the following kickoff, Zorger carrying the ball back to his 40. Four successive first downs with Giloff and Zorger doing most of the carrying, took the ball to the 16. Brown staggered through center for 11 yards and a first down on the five. He then made an unorthodox but sensational sweep around his right end for a touchdown. Getting the ball, he started to his right but ran backward as three Mansfield tacklers bore down on him. He ran from the five back to the 20, where he turned on a burst of speed that caught the Mansfield gridders flat-footed. Running in a big arc, he went over for the touchdown, but was injured as he crossed the goal line and had to be removed from the game. Zorger tried to sweep left end for the extra point but was bottled up.
The six points in no way discouraged Mansfield. The Tygers rushed right back with the ball after the kickoff. Three successive first downs advanced it from the Mansfield 37 to the Tiger 30. The Tigers would have held for downs but again an offside penalty gave the Tygers the necessary extra yardage and they carried up to the five-yard line where Majors caught Massillon napping and swept his left end for a touchdown. Frisbee’s kick went wide of the goal.
Zorger took the following kickoff and nearly got away with it. He was down to the Mansfield 43 before being tackled. The Tigers moved the ball to the 23 where an offside penalty set them back. A fumbled lateral was recovered by Mansfield on the 36 but Majors fumbled for Mansfield on the next play and Bill Ceckler pounced on the leather for Massillon on the 35. Massillon was penalized five yards for delaying the game, but Brown got them back and more as he reentered the game and ran to the 15-yard line. Zorger took it up to another first down on the three and Brown was thrown without gain as the game ended.
Not Too Good Massillon Pos. Mansfield Zeller LE Henke Young LT Rondy Uliveto LG Richards Darrah C Wentz Brooks RG Gross Wittmann RT Boals Eberhardt RE Beard Byelene QB Frisbee Giloff LH Cline Zorger RH Majors Pedrotty FB Horvath
Brilliant Attack Gives Tigers 40-6 Win Over Mansfield Three Touchdowns Scored On Forward Passes; Webb And McGuire Rip Invaders
By FRED J. BECKER
The Tiger with the “I” is still a better football player than the Tyger with the “Y” and so the orange and black of Washington high school chalked up its fourth triumph of the 1945 scholastic campaign Friday night by plastering a 40 to 6 defeat on the Mansfield Tygers in another one of those knock down, drag out affairs at Tiger stadium with about 18,000 fans, a lot of them soaking wet, watching Coach Augie Morningstar’s Bengals put on display their smoothest and most productive offense of the season.
The Tigers really clicked last night and they ran the big, rugged invaders from Richland county right into the ground with a six-touchdown spree, three of them coming in a thrilling first quarter when the orange and black passed and ran the visitors off their feet in a brilliant burst of offensive power that had the big crowd in a wild frenzy of cheering. Mansfield Still Looking For Victory The Mansfield Tygers, with a record of four wins in five starts and a team of youthful giants that held a superior weight and height advantage over the Massillonians, thought this would be their year to trim the orange and black and they came here imbued with plenty of fighting spirit but for the 10th time in as many years they were to be disappointed.
They traveled back home last night defeated for the eighth time in those 10 battles with the local warriors. In the other two games, in 1937 and 1941, they were able to hold the Tigers to tie scores, the final count each time being 6 to 6. Plenty Of Torrid Talk The visiting Tygers talked a much better game last night than they played. In fact their verbal outbursts were so torrid Referee Titus Lobach several times warned them, and late in the duel tossed a Mansfield player out of the game for using profanity following a 15-yard penalty on the visitors for unnecessary roughness.
Because the weatherman kicked over the traces early yesterday evening and turned loose a drenching downpour that continued until 30 minutes before game time what would have been the largest crowd to see a game here this season was cut down at least 3,000 by inclement weather. Those who went to the stadium early were caught in a heavy shower but the rain ended at 7:30 and from then on the game was played in ideal weather.
Turning loose a dazzling forward passing attack that brought three of the six touchdowns and a running attack that clipped off big gains behind efficient blocking and interference, the Tigers iced the contest with a 20-point splurge in the first 12 minutes and then, with one exception, repelled Mansfield’s best efforts to score and added three more tallies during the final two periods.
Mansfield plunged and passed to its lone touchdown in the second period but was thoroughly checked after that by a sturdy and alert Tiger defense that outsmarted and outplayed the visitors’ big forward wall in a bruising battle.
The victory kept the Tigers in the undefeated class with four wins against two ties and sets the stage for their big battle next Friday night with the Warren Harding Presidents in Warren.
Scoring honors last night went to Bert Webb, flashy Negro halfback, who galloped for two touchdowns on dazzling runs and showed the invaders more speed than they have looked at all season, and Captain Fred Bonk who snagged two forward passes and raced for touchdowns. Jack Zeller chalked up another touchdown on a forward pass and Don McGuire rammed through the Mansfield line for his set of counters. Don by the way, did a lot of first class ball toting.
Although they had their bad moments and at times found the heavy Mansfield outfit hard to handle, the Tigers continued to play great defensive ball. Once again the entire orange and black forward wall handled its chore in a highly efficient manner with the hard and accurate tackling of Merle Darrah, Jack Zeller, Captain Bonk, Bernie Green and Tony Uliveto being outstanding. Tigers Hold Big Edge Although the first downs were 10 to 9 in favor of the Tigers, the orange and black piled up a big lead over Mansfield in yards gained. The Tigers had a gross of 385 yards with a loss of 27 for a net of 258. Mansfield had a gross of 211 with a loss of 10 for 201.
The accuracy of Massillon’s passing attack is shown by the fact the Tigers completed four out of five attempts for 119 yards with three of them producing touchdowns. Mansfield tried 17 passes, completed six for 90 yards and had one intercepted. Massillon punted but once during the game while Mansfield punted three times.
Once the Tigers gained possession of the ball they were hard to stop. They gained the leather three times in the first quarter and each time they roared to touchdowns.
Mansfield won the toss and received but a 15-yard penalty for illegal use of the hands checked them and Ollie Cline punted out of bounds on the Mansfield 44.
Wasting no time the Tigers went right to work and in nine plays had manufactured their first touchdown with Zeller going over after taking a beautiful pass from McGuire. McGuire To Zeller For Score Gene Zorger plowed through a big hole in the Mansfield line for nine and McGuire made it a first down on the visitors’ 28. Webb picked up six yards in two plays, Zorger hit for two more and then Webb made it a first down by inches on the 17. Zorger was stopped without gain and Webb was tossed for an eight yard loss. On the next play, McGuire ran far to his left and then lobbed a long pass to Zeller who caught the ball on the three yard line and steamed over for the touchdown. Gene Krisher’s place kick was low.
Heads up football by the Tigers paved the way for their second touchdown. McGuire kicked off but the kick was poor and the ball headed for the sideline on the Mansfield 48. Just before it went out of bounds Bill Piper lunged at the leather but could not hold it. However, he was the last man to touch it before it went out of bounds and it was Massillon’s ball.
Once again the Tiger scoring machine was set into motion. Webb ripped off seven through left tackle and then McGuire slashed through the same spot and by a nifty place of running picked up 20 yards before being downed on the 17. Webb picked up four yards through the line but Massillon was set back five yards for being offside on the next play.
Then Webb unlimbered his pitching arm for the first time during the game and hurled a neat strike to Captain Bonk who snared the ball right on the goal line and stepped across for Massillon’s second touchdown. It required six plays to move the ball 46 yards for the points. This time Krisher plunged instead of attempting a place kick and he rammed over for the extra point.
The big thrill and most spectacular run of the game was to come a few minutes later with Bert Webb doing the running and his teammates opening a path for him by some first class blocking.
Interference by Massillon with a Mansfield pass receiver gave the visitors a first down on their 40 but once again they were stopped and Cline got off a long punt that Webb picked up on his 18-yard line. Tucking the ball under his arm Bert headed for the west sideline and then suddenly darted back toward the center of the field running through the entire Mansfield team and out into the open with only Ralph Majors, Mansfield safety man, blocking his path. Webb Outruns Majors But Majors was not quite equal to the task of catching up with the fleet-footed Webb who outraced him in a wild dash for the Mansfield goal line. Webb went over standing up to complete a brilliant 82 yard dash for a touchdown. Krisher made it 20 to 0 by again plunging through the visitors for the extra point.
Although training 20 points the Tygers came back in the second period to take command of the game and they kept possession of the ball throughout most of the quarter, finally scoring their lone touchdown late in the stanza.
With Kenny Horvath, Mansfield’s ace speedster, Cline and Majors lugging the ball, the visitors pushed the Tigers around quite a bit and kept play largely in Massillon territory. Gaining the ball in midfield on a punt by Webb, which proved to be the only time the Tigers punted all evening, the visitors marched right down to the Massillon four-yard line before being halted. Two five-yard penalties on the Tigers for offside helped them to advance the ball.
The Tigers, however, gained possession of the ball on their four when Darrah nailed Otto Schmidt short of a first down but a fumble by Zorger, which was covered by Cline on Massillon’s 23 paved the way for the visitors’ lone touchdown. Once again Massillon was set back five yards for being offside and then Cline tossed a screen pass to Majors who was downed on the eight by Darrah. Cline’s next pass, intended for Majors, failed but the next time he connected on a neat heave to Harold Amsbaugh for a touchdown. Nick Gagich’s attempted placekick was wide.
Massillon received and marched 57 yards in eight plays for its fourth touchdown with a brilliant lateral from Zorger to Dan Byelene and a 38 yard run by Byelene paving the way for the tally. Lateral Sets Up Touchdown Webb took the kickoff to start the third period and was almost in the clear when nailed by Majors on the Massillon 43. Once again the Tigers took to the air and McGuire hurled a neat pass to Webb for a 21-yard gain. The Tigers, however, were set back 15 yards on the next play when the officials ruled Webb intentionally grounded the ball when he failed to find a pass receiver open; Zorger then went through right tackle and tossed a lateral to Beyelene who romped to the Mansfield 10 before being downed. Once again the Tigers were halted momentarily when they were penalized five for backs in motion but Zorger plunged from the 15 to the two and two plays later McGuire smashed through for the touchdown. Virgil Cocklin made good on his placement to boost the Tiger total to 27.
A fumble by Byelene after taking a Mansfield punt gave Mansfield another chance to bid for a touchdown. Dave Richards covered the fumble for Mansfield and a 33 yard pass from Majors to Amsbaugh put the ball on Massillon’s 23. Majors then attempted a pass which was intercepted by Darrah, who tossed a lateral to McGuire and Don raced all the way for a touchdown but the ball was called back and Massillon handed a 15 yard penalty for roughing the passer. This put the ball on the Massillon 20 but once again the Tigers stiffened. Two Mansfield passes were batted down and the third was intercepted by Darrah who ran it back to his 18.
This was the signal for Webb and McGuire to cut loose and they did in quick order. Webb raced around right end for 28 yards. Then McGuire steamed around left end for 20 yards and the ball was on Mansfield’s 28. On the next play Webb cut neatly through a hole outside of right tackle and raced unmolested for Massillon’s fifth touchdown. Cocklin’s attempted place kick was wide.
Again Mansfield drove down into Massillon territory after the kickoff and again the Tigers were equal to the occasion, holding for downs and gaining the ball on their 22. And again they started a touchdown march with Webb and McGuire knifing through for good gains and Webb and Bonk then teaming up to make good on a 52-yard forward pass for the touchdown. Webb To Bonk For Another Score Eight plays were required to move the ball 78 yards with Webb putting the clincher on the drive by tossing a pass to Bonk who took the ball on the Mansfield 30 and raced the remaining yards for the score. Webb went over for the extra point on a line plunge.
It was then Coach Morningstar decided his regulars had done a good evening’s work and sent in his second team to finish the combat.
Bob Richards was the only Tiger casualty last night. He was injured about the head late in the second period and was temporarily blinded but was recovering his sight rapidly later in the evening. Ollie Cline, Mansfield’s ace passer, was badly shaken up when tackled hard in the second period and did not play during the last half, Majors taking over the forward passing duties. Smearing The Tyger Massillon – 40 Pos. Mansfield – 6 Zeller LE Amsbaugh Green LT Beard Uliveto LG Richards Darrah C Emerson Piper RG Gross Krisher RT Boals Bonk RE Sinerson Edie QB Cline Webb LHB Taddeo McGuire RHB Majors Zorger FB Horvath
Referee – Lobach. Umpire – Ruff. Head Linesman – Long. Field Judge – Brubaker. STATISTICS Mass. Mans. First downs 10 11 Yards gained by rushing 266 121 Passes attempted 5 17 Passes completed 4 6 Yards gained by passing 119 90 Gross yardage 385 211 Yards lost 27 10 Net yardage 358 201 Number of kickoffs 7 2 Average distance of kickoffs 36 46 Average return of kickoffs 32 9 Number of punts 1 3 Average distance of punts 29 33 Average return of punts 27 0 Fumbles 2 3 Times ball lost on fumbles 2 1 Times penalized 9 4 Yards lost on penalties 65 50
Glenn Keller Dashes Over For Touchdown Inflicting First Defeat On Tygers; Goal Line Stands Feature Thrilling Battle
By FRED J. BECKER
There are no longer any Ohio scholastic football championship dreams in Mansfield.
The mighty Richland county Tyger was knocked off its lofty perch among the state’s undefeated teams Friday night by the mightier Tiger from Washington high school, Massillon, by a 6-0 count before a tense, shouting mob of nearly 10,000 in the Mansfield stadium.
The battle between these gridiron Goliaths was everything it was expected to be – hard fought from start to finish, nerve-tingling, spectacular and replete with brilliant individual performances – a game that had the spectators on the edge of their seats every minute and one which might have flared into a wild conflagration at any moment but, fortunately, did not. Players, Fans Keyed to High Pitch That ball game last night had plenty of explosive qualities but the fuse was never touched off. Keyed to a high pitch by days of preparation for this all-important contest, players on both teams went into action with a do-or-die spirit and the result was one of the hardest fought and most tensely waged battles seen on any gridiron in a long time.
The spirit which imbued the players of both aggregations also manifested itself among the spectators and many a heart throbbed harder and faster than it has for a long time and many a nervous system was on the verge of complete collapse. Players and spectators alike were rather limp and weak when the tumult of battle ended. Big Assignment For Tigers Coach Elwood Kammer’s once-defeated Tigers invaded Mansfield last night to tangle with a vicious, hard hitting, clever Mansfield Tyger that had chalked up 5 straight victories and had become Ohio’s No. 3 schoolboy aggregation. It was the second important game away from home for the Tigers, in as many Friday nights, their first invasion being a week ago when they traveled to Alliance and knocked off the Aviators 27-0.
Trotting out upon the gridiron last night was the greatest high school team Mansfield has fielded in many a year – a team that possessed individual stars galore, a team that had weight, speed, deception – in fact everything, a first class football outfit should have. It had proved its prowess by running rough shod over 5 opponents. In Mansfield it was hailed as a potential champion but standing in its path to that coveted honor was an old and respected opponent – the Tigers of Massillon – and the hurdle proved too big for the Richland county boys. So today their dream of a state title was shattered and they were back in the also ran class – a mighty good team but still not good enough to be a champion.
Mansfield’s hopes for a state crown were blasted by what is probably the greatest fighting team in Washington high school’s history – an aggregation of just about the most courageous and plucky lads any coach would ever want – a team that does not know the meaning of the word defeat. And in addition to all these lion-hearted qualities the Tigers have something else – they are getting better every time they take the field.
Four weeks ago this Tiger team ran into a great Cathedral Latin outfit from Cleveland and lost 6-0 after a torrid scrap. The Tigers looked rather bad in spots in that encounter but their fighting spirit was always in evidence. The following week they bounced back from that loss to trim Canton Lincoln 12 to 0. They showed improvement over their play against Latin.
The next week they took on Steubenville and forged a 19-6 conquest. Again they showed improvement. A week ago they trimmed Alliance 27-0 and again their performance was better than the week before.
But last night these sturdy, fighting Tigers were better than at any time this season and they were rewarded with their greatest victory of the campaign – a 6-0 victory over a hitherto unbeaten Mansfield Tyger. And those Massillon kids just had to be better than at any other time this season. Had they not they probably would have been on the losing end for an aroused Mansfield team, seeing an opportunity to knock over the Massillonians for the first time in 9 years shot everything in its arsenal in a desperate but futile try for victory. Tigers Catch Fire In a ding-dong battle that saw each team in a brilliant goal line stand in the first half – Massillon early in the first period and Mansfield just before the gun sounded the end of second quarter – the old rivals fought up and down the gridiron without any decisive results but late in the third period the Tigers caught fire and began a brilliant and steady march toward the Mansfield goal – a march that was to reach its climax early in the fourth period when the orange and black smashed through the Mansfield defense to score the game’s only points.
That touchdown decided the issue in Massillon’s favor but there were many hectic moments between that time and the end of the game as a desperate and still hard fighting Mansfield team fought its heart out in a last ditch but futile effort to cross the orange and black goal line.
A great Mansfield team went down to its first defeat, conquered by a greater Massillon team. That Tiger outfit really played football last night – every minute of the way. No greater performance could be seen anywhere than that given by the Tiger line. It really came through when the chips were down and every boy on that forward wall deservers a hero’s status today. It took a mighty fine line to stop Mansfield’s brilliant backs and its clever and deceptive ball handling and the Tiger forwards were that kind of a line last night.
True the Tiger line did not stop all of Mansfield’s offensive thrusts. No line is good enough to stop a guy like Mike Zivkoff, Mansfield’s speed demon, all the time but when Mike blasted his way by the Tigers first line of defense there was the secondary and it arose to the occasion every time it was called upon and brought the elusive Zivkoff to earth before he could get into the open where he would have been mighty hard to catch. This Tiger secondary also did a swell job of stopping Mansfield’s aerial attack, so swell in fact that the Tygers completed but one lone forward pass during the entire game.
Offensively the Tigers found it a mighty difficult task to gain ground consistently against the rugged Mansfield defense which successfully blocked all Massillon’s offensive efforts until that third and fourth quarter march which found the Tigers putting everything they had into a drive that was to pay off in a well-deserved victory.
But there was one lad in the Massillon lineup last night who sparked the Tigers to their great victory. Mansfield has its Zivkoff – and he’s a mighty sweet performer – but we’ll put our money on a dark haired, slightly built youngster by the name of Paul (Chick) Cary, a Tiger sophomore. Cary Sparks Victory March All season there has been talk about the potential brilliance wrapped up in this little, quiet spoken chap. However, it never flared into the open until last night but it came at a time when the Tigers needed it most and it paid off in a handsome dividend. It was Cary, who sparked the Tigers in their touchdown march. He’s a lot of football player, is this lad. If you don’t believe it just ask Mansfield. He was in the Tygers hair aplenty and his great offensive performance stood out head and shoulders over the best Mansfield could offer.
Fast and a hard runner, Cary time after time blasted his way right through the center of the Mansfield line for sizeable gains when carrying along 3 or 4 Tyger tacklers for several yards before being brought down. Cary went into the game in the first quarter replacing Vic Turkall when Vic’s bad ankle was wrenched again and he was forced to leave the game. And from then on he was poison to the Tygers.
Ably supporting little Chick were Co-Captain Glenn Keller who scored Massillon’s winning touchdown but who was knocked out in doing so and forced to leave the game, Bert Webb, another great little competitor if there ever was one who performed in great style in a defensive role and Junie Pedrotty, Keller sustained a severe bump on the back of the head as he lunged across the Mansfield goal and had to be assisted from the field. He was O.K. however, when the game was over.
On the line Co-Captain Bill Gable, Bob Heltzel, Fred Bonk, Jim Gibson, Dick Ielsch and Wilmer Luke distinguished themselves by their great playing. Gene Krisher, with his left arm in a cast because of a broken bone sustained in the Alliance game, played most of the contest but his injury reduced his effectiveness.
An injury forced Ielsch out of the contest late in the game and his place was taken by Bernie Green and here was another lad who distinguished himself in the short time he was in the battle. We’ll wager Mr. Green will be heard from again before the season is over. If statistics decided ball games then Mansfield would have won last night’s game but its’ points they pay off on and the Tigers had the points. Mansfield can have the edge on statistics if that’s any consolation to the Tygers. Mansfield Lead In Statistics The first half in particular saw the Richland county lads pile up a great margin on the orange and black in first downs and yardage. The battle, however, took on a more even aspect in the second half as the Massillonians more than held their own with their western Ohio foes.
Mansfield chalked up a total of 9 first downs to 5 for Massillon. The Tygers had a gross yardage of 211 with a loss of 23 for a net of 188 yards. The Tigers had a gross of 150 with a loss of 14 for a net of 136.
The Mansfield outfit tried 12 forward passes and completed but one for 5 yards. They were supposed to be exceptionally strong in this department but their ace passer, Ollie Cline, a slim Negro lad, was not hitting any bulls eyes last night. Massillon tried 9 passes and completed 5 for a total of 33 yards.
It was a game marked by numerous penalties as officials sought to keep the battle under control. Criticism of the officials was heard from both the Massillon and Mansfield camps and the penalties they inflicted halted marches by both teams on numerous occasions. Mansfield hired only 3 officials and the game again indicated that such a contest as the one last night needs 4 officials if it is to be properly handled. We believe they tried to do a good job and some of the lapses of which they were accused might have been averted had another official been on the field.
A total of 18 penalties were called by the officials, 5 against Massillon for a total of 70 yards and 10 against Mansfield for a 90 yard total.
Massillon fumbled 3 times and recovered twice. Mansfield had 5 bobbles and recovered 3 of them.
The Tigers’ march which brought victory to the orange and black started late in the third quarter and saw the Massillonians rushing the ball 47 yards without a break and across the Mansfield goal.
Bill Dent, Mansrfield back, punted to Bert Webb who took the leather and raced it back 18 yards to Mansfield’s 42. On the first play following the punt Massillon was penalized 5 back to the 47 for being offside. Tigers In High Gear Then the Tiger machine moved into high gear with Cary at the throttle. Cary smashed through the center of the line for 10 and came back on the next play for 4 more. Pedrotty slashed off right tackle and a first down on Mansfield’s 27.
Webb hit the line for 4 and Cary picked up another 4 but the officials ruled a Massillon back in motion and the Tigers were set back 5 yards. With second down and 11 to go Cary tossed a pass to Pedrotty for 6 yards. Webb skirted left end for 3 and then Cary lugged the leather right through the Mansfield team and down to the 13 yard line for a first down. He came right back with another smash good for 8 yards to put the ball on Mansfield’s 6 as the quarter ended.
It was second down coming up with 2 to go. Cary picked up one of these yards at right tackle and then Glenn Keller tucked the leather under his arm and running wide at left end behind good interference raced the remaining distance for the touchdown, going over in the corner of the field. He was hurt on this play and Alex Giloff replaced him. Cary’s attempted placekick was blocked by Dominic Musille and covered by Ivan Wallington, Mansfield left end.
Then began the most hectic period of the game as Mansfield turned loose everything in its bag of tricks in a final desperate effort to at least tie the score. Only the stout hearted playing of the orange and black prevented the Tygers from achieving their goal.
Late in the game Zivkoff ripped off a brilliant 19 yard gain that took the ball to the Massillon 22 from where the Tygers drove to the Massillon 6. But here Jim Hahn, hard hitting Mansfield fullback, fumbled on a smash into the line and Bob Heltzel pounced on the leather on Massillon’s 14 yard line and the Tyger scoring threat was erased.
Right at the outset of the game Mansfield opened up with a devastating running attack, spearheaded by the fleet Zivkoff, that drove the Tigers right back to the shadow of their goal line. But the Tigers had what it takes and repelled the threat. It was no new experience for Kammer’s lads. They have faced similar situations before.
This courageous Tiger stand was really the turning point of the game. Mansfield put everything it had in thus offensive thrust and when it was smashed by the Massillonians it proved to the Tygers that they were up against something they had never faced before this season.
The Tygers took a punt by Vic Turkall on their own 42 and marched it right down the field with Zivkoff, Cline and Musille steadily slashing their way through the Tigers’ defense. Finally Zivkoff made it a first down for Mansfield on the Massillon 4. Here it was the Tigers dug in and repelled the next 4 Tyger attempts to cover the coveted 4 yards. Tygers Halted On 4 Musille rammed through for 2 but Cline’s attempted pass to Johns failed. Zivkoff tried left end but was promptly tossed for a yard loss by Luke. Then Cline’s attempted short pass over the line fizzled and the Tigers took the ball on their own 4.
But the Tigers were to face a similar experience late in the second period. With 2 minutes to go before halftime Hahn fumbled and Cary and Gibson covered on the Mansfield 45. With fourth down coming up and still 6 yards to go, Cary dropped back and shot a beautiful pass to Webb who raced to the Mansfield 15 before being over-hauled. It was a gain of 25 yards and put Massillon in scoring position for the first time in the game.
Pedrotty picked up 3 yards at right tackle but with the clock fast running out, the Tigers took to the aerial game in an effort to score but failed. Cary attempted a pass to Luke which failed, then he tried another to Pedrotty. It also failed. On fourth down Cary tossed another to Luke who was in the end zone. The ball hit Luke in the stomach and fell to the ground. The Tiger end claimed his arms were pinned to his sided by a Mansfield player but the officials said they saw no interference and the scoring chance ended. Now For Warren Massillon, 6 Pos. Mansfield, 0 Zeller LE Wallington Ielsch LT Hartig Heltzel LG Majoy Bonk C McBride Gable RG Hemperly Gibson RT Marth Luke RE Johns Keller QB Cline Turkall LH Zivkoff Webb RH Adams Pedrotty FB Musille
Referee – Kreiger. Umpire – Compton. Head Linesman – McAfee.
Statistics Mass. Mans. Total first downs 5 9 Yards gained by rushing 117 206 Yards lost by rushing 14 23 Net yards gained by rushing 103 183 Forward passes attempted 9 12 Forward passes completed 3 1 Yards gained by passing 33 5 Total net yardage Rushing and passing 136 211 Passes had intercepted 0 0 Number of punts 6 4 Average distance of punts 40 31 Number of kickoffs 2 1 Average distance , kickoffs 19 53 Number of fumbles 3 5 Times ball lost on fumbles 1 2 Number of penalties against 8 10 Yards lost by penalties 70 90
Tigers Romp Over Mansfield 33-0, For Sixth Triumph
SECOND STRINGERS PLAY GOOD GAME
Early Passing Attack Sends Orange And Black Out In Front Early In Game; Massillon’s Hard Tackling Stops Visitors
By FRED J. BECKER Independent Sports Editor
As Tiger battled Tyger at Tiger stadium Friday night almost 14,000 fans left the battleground late in the evening convinced that the Tiger to string along with is the Tiger with an “i” in his name. That’s the Washington high school Tiger of Massillon gridiron fame and the toughest Tiger in or out of captivity to tame.
The weatherman was kind – no rain until the game was almost over and the Massillon Tiger was in fine fettle, so much so that he made mincemeat of the visiting Mansfield high school Tygers in a great display of offensive and defensive ability while chalking up Massillon’s sixth straight triumph of the 1943 campaign by a 33-0 score.
TIGERS SCORE IN EVERY QUARTER
Rolling up five touchdowns and scoring in every quarter, Coach Elwood Kammer’s aggregation Friday night gave another demonstration of power and resourcefulness which should at this date at least, establish them as the outstanding schoolboy aggregation in Ohio.
Although his regulars played as a team less than a quarter of list nights fry there was no question at any time of Massillon’s superiority over the Mansfield gridders who have as they only claim to fame the fact that twice within the last seven years they have been able to hold the Massillon Tiger to two tie scores, those games being played in 1941 and 1937.
Massillon’s second team played nearly the entire second half and this is the first time this season Kammer was able to give his regulars any considerable rest. Third stringers were manhandling the invaders when the game ended.
GREAT DEFENSIVE PLAYING
It was a game marked by some great defensive playing on the part of the orange and black, their tackling probably being the most vicious they have displayed all season, with Dick Arrington, Bob Williams, Bob Wallace, Glenn Keller and Don Sedjo rocking the Mansfield backs time after time with their teeth-rattling tackles.
As a whole the Tigers last night gave a thrilling exhibition of power and ability, probably their best of the season, and for once the record of first downs does not give a true picture of Massillon’s superiority over the Richland county lads. Massillon made 12 first downs while Mansfield had 10. This would indicate a rather close engagement, but it was anything but that with Mansfield only twice getting inside the local team’s 40-yard line and never being able to set up a scoring threat.
The figures, which really show Massillon’s decisive edge over Mansfield, are those covering the yardage gained. In this department the Tigers covered Mansfield more completely than a tent covers a circus. Kammer’s aggregation had a total gross yardage of 418 from all plays with a net loss of 35 yards, giving the Massillonians a net yardage of 318. Mansfield picked up 102 yards from all plays with a net loss of 25, leaving the visitors only 72 yards as their net gain.
With a dry field underneath and no rain coming from above, the Tigers took to the aerial game Friday in a big way, uncovering their biggest overhead attack of the season. They attempted 15 passes, completing seven, for a total gain of 175 yards, which is a pretty good forward passing mark. Mansfield attempted nine passes, completing only three for but 18 yards with Massillon intercepting two.
Offensively Captain Bob Wallace, Romeo Pellegrini and Henry Mastriann played their usual good games with Wallace continuing to show improvement as a ball toter. The boy is really beginning to turn on the speed and he has plenty of drive. Mastriann left the game early in the second quarter, having his bad side bumped again. Glenn Keller, in addition to carrying out his blocking assignments, also showed himself an adept ball lugger, scoring one of Massillon’s touchdowns.
SEDJO, TURKALL SHINE
Outstanding offensively for the second team was Don Sedjo, who replaced Mastriann at fullback, and Vic Turkall, whose running, passing and punting provided some of the highlights of the encounter. Sedjo may not be a very big lad but he has intestinal fortitude aplenty and lots of what it takes to smash his way though an opposing line.
Wearing tan uniforms against which it was hard to detect the ball, Mansfield displayed at times a deceptive ground attack but had only one man in the backfield who made any impression on the Tigers. He was Mike Zivkoff, a mighty fine ball carrier, who made the most of Mansfield’s gains. Mike would look good on any team. Bill Lewis, big, rangy end, distinguished himself by his excellent punting.
The Tigers having read quite a lot about Mansfield’s famous goal line stands this season, particularly against Springfield a week ago, decided that if the Tygers were tough that way there were other ways to soften them up and this they did in a hurry, uncorking a deadly forward passing attack that paved the way for two quick touchdowns in the first period and had Mansfield reeling against the ropes almost as soon as the battle began.
Those deadly Massillon aerials propelled by the accurate tossing arm of Romeo Pellegrini and some clever catching by Bob Wallace and Tom Jasinski punched big holes in the Mansfield defense early in the game and set up the Tygers for the knockout wallops which were to follow in the next three periods.
The brilliance of Massillon’s offense last night is best shown by the distances they traveled for their touchdowns. The first Massillon touchdown came on nine plays after an unbroken march of 55 yards. The second was engineered in one play and covered 74 yards. The third came on eight plays in which the Tigers traveled 56 yards without a halt. The fourth was chalked up on three plays and covered a march of 45 yards. The fifth took three plays and completed a march of 52 yards.
These figures show that once the Tigers gained possession of the ball they were really intent on going places, which they did, much to the delight of their Massillon supporters and to the dismay of more than a 1,000 Mansfield rooters who really thought their team was good enough this year to provide the Massillonians with an argument.
Kammer’s boys were out for blood last night and so Mansfield will have to wait at least another year before getting a chance to humble the Tigers.
SCORE EARLY IN GAME
The Tigers received the opening kickoff, taking the ball on their 45 and marching it right down the field for a touchdown in nine plays. Don Willmot received Bill Lewis opening kick and lugged the ball back from his 15 to the Massillon 45 before being downed. Willmot, by the way, was one of the major casualties in last night’s duel, sustaining a wrenched back.
Bob Wallace smashed through his left tackle on the first offensive play for 12 yards to Mansfield’s 44 before Russ McBridge pulled him down. Pellegrini hit through right tackle for six before McBride stopped him. Mastriann plugged through the center of the line for five and first down on Mansfield’s 32. Pellegrini ran wide at right end without gain, being stopped by Zivkoff. Mastriann made eight at the line but the play was called back and Massillon penalized five for backs in motion, putting the ball on Mansfield’s 37.
Pellegrini passed to Jasinski but Massillon was guilty of clipping and a 15-yard penalty took the ball back to the Tigers’ 49 yard stripe.
Then Pellegrini faded back and tossed a long pass to Tom Jaskinski, the big Massillon end outdistancing the Mansfield safety man to make a beautiful catch and racing to Mansfield’s two yard line before being pulled down. It was good for a gain of 47 yards.
Mastriann was called upon to crack the Mansfield line and scored a touchdown. His attempted place kick was wide.
Jasinski kicked off to Mansfield and the visitors threw their biggest scare of the night into the Tiger camp. Schmidt took the kick and on a pretty fake reverse steamed down the field to the Massillon 30 before being tossed. It was a beautiful run but went for naught when officials ruled a Mansfield player had been offside on the kickoff and called for another kickoff. That was the nearest the Tygers got to Massillon’s goal line all night, except just as the game ended.
It was late in the first quarter when the Tigers wracked up their second touchdown and again a beautiful forward pass was the scoring medium.
Lewis punted to Pellegrini who took the ball on his 15 and raced it back to the Massillon 26-yard line. Only one play was required to gain the score. Once again Pellegrini faded back and tossed a pass, a long one, which went right into the waiting arms of Captain Wallace, who had outrun the Mansfield safety-man. Wallace too the ball on Mansfield’s 40 and with a clear field ahead, ambled over the chalk lines and across Mansfield’s goal without a hand being laid on him. Pellegrini’s pass to Wallace covered 34 yards. Once again Mastriann failed to convert from placement.
It was here that Kammer began sending in his second stringers. Belch taking over for Arrington who had played a great game but who has been nursing a bad leg for the past two weeks. Mastriann had his side bumped early in the second period and Sedjo replaced him.
56 YARD MARCH
Massillon’s third touchdown came after a march and 56 yards about midway in the second period. Pellegrini took a Lewis punt on his 35 and ran it back to his 44. In eight plays the Tigers had their third set of counters. Arrington came back in the game and Pellegrini, running around his right end without interference, went for a first down to Mansfield’s 46. Sedjo smacked the line for six and Wallace scampered to Mansfield’s 21 on a brilliant dash only to lose the gain when a Massillon back was ruled in motion. The ball was called back and a five yard penalty put the ball on the visitors’ 45. But Captain Wallace was not to be denied his chance to run. Taking the ball and cutting through left tackle, Bob reversed his field, cut sharply to his right and raced down the field to the Mansfield 15 for a gain of 30 yards. Sedjo hit the line for five and Wallace made six at left tackle. Pellegrini on a reverse missed first down by inches.
Then Wallace grabbed the leather and running wide around left end dashed through an almost clear field for the remaining distance and the third Massillon touchdown. Vic Turkall who replaced Pellegrini after the touchdown made good on the kick from placement to boost the Tiger count to 19.
Five second stringers, Turkall, Sedjo, Dick Ielsch, Wilmer Luke, and Bob Belch were in the lineup when play was resumed in their third quarter and the regulars who started this period were soon pulled by Kammer, putting a complete second team on the field and these boys took care of the fireworks in fine shape until late in the game when they were replaced by third stringers.
Tom Jasinski paved the way for the fourth Tiger touchdown by making a beautiful catch as he intercepted a pass by McBride on the Massillon 45. Sedjo and Turkall combined to make life miserable for Mansfield and Keller applied the finishing touches to give Massillon its fourth touchdown in three plays.
Sedjo rammed through a big hole in the middle of the line for 11 yards. Then Turkall, running behind excellent interference and blocking raced through right tackle and romped down the field to the four-yard line before being pulled down from behind. Keller went around right end for the score. Turkall’s attempted placekick was blocked but Wallace picked up the ball and ran through the Mansfield team for the extra point, boosting Massillon’s total to 26.
TURKALL ON RAMPAGE
Turkall was the big noise in the Tigers’ fourth touchdown, which came about midway in the fourth quarter. Lewis punted to Vic who made a nifty return of 25 yards before being run out of bounds on Mansfield’s 47. Then he took the leather and carefully picking his way he raced around right end and down to the 19 yard line before being stopped, a gain of 35 yards on a fine run. Webb at left end picked up six yards and then Turkall once again threaded his way through right tackle and across the goal on a 13-yard dash. Three plays were all that were needed to tally the points.
Turkall made good on his placekick and Massillon was heading the procession with 33 points. Massillon’s third stringers took over after the kickoff and finished the game. Zivkoff and Lewis had lugged the leather to Massillon’s 25 as the gun ended the battle.
Mansfield’s best offensive showing came in the third quarter soon after Kammer sent his entire second team into the game. The Massillon lads hadn’t a chance to get their bearings before Zivkoff, Roland Schmidt and Dominic Musille romped through them to the Massillon 30 but the Tigers stiffened here and took the ball away from the visitors as the period ended. After that the second stringers were as complete masters of the invading Tygers as had been the regulars.
A Torrid Tiger
Massillon – 33 Pos. Mansfield – 0 Willmot LE S. Musille Arrington LT Komjenovich Tonges LG Schafer Williams C Miller Gable RG Parry Berger RT Eizel Jasinski RE Lewis Keller QB McBride Pellegrini LHB Zivkoff Wallace RHB Schmidt Mastriann FB D. Musille
Score by quarters: Massillon 12 7 7 7 – 33
Touchdowns: Mastriann, Wallace 2, Keller, Turkall
Points after touchdown: Turkall 2, (place kick) Wallace (run)
Referee: Lobach. Umpire: Gross. Headlinesman: Boone. Field judge: Shafer.
Statistics Tigers M’field Total first downs 12 10 Yards gained by rushing 242 34 Yards lost by rushing 35 25 Net yards gained by rushing 208 59 Forward passes attempted 15 9 Forward passes completed 7 3 Yards gained by passes 175 18 Total net yards rushing and passing 383 77 Passes had intercepted 0 2 Number of punts 5 7 Average distance of punts 36 40 Number of kickoffs 6 1 Average distance of kicks 34 47 Number of fumbles 1 2 Times ball lost on fumbles 0 1 Number of penalties against 8 2 Yards lost by penalties 50 20
Approximately 9,000 Fans See Bob Graber And Keve Bray Pace Massillon Eleven In 49th Combat Without A Defeat
By Luther Emery
The Washington high Tigers played their poorest football of the season before 9,000 fans at Mansfield Friday evening and were paid the highest possible compliment for it.
They sputtered and they fumbled, and as they walked off the field with a 32-0 victory, their 49th game without a defeat, some Mansfield fans rejoiced, for they had expected to be beaten by as many as 72 points. No greater honor could be bestowed upon any team than to be a moral loser on 32 points.
Revamped Lineup
The Tigers were not at their best but neither were they their strongest. Their blocking quarterback, Fred Cardinal, sat on the bench the entire contest, two of the players, Don Willmot and Barney Wallace, were working on their nerve, and Tom Jasinski was put out in the second period for exchanging blows with a Mansfield substitute.
What the score doesn’t show is a touchdown that was not allowed because of the above mentioned fisticuffs, and the loss of six more points on a fumble at the goal line in the last 15 second.
But Mansfield has had a habit of winning its victories from Massillon the moral way and last night’s was no exception. It’s largely because the Tigers have entered every Mansfield game the heavy favorite only to find the Richland county team geared to top pitch, and ready to play its best brand of football for the season.
Only Team To Tie Tigers
Two of these so-called moral victories were credited to Richland county pigskin history in 1937 and again in 1941 when Mansfield tied the Tigers and on each occasion put a crimp in Massillon victory streaks. In fact Mansfield is the only Ohio eleven to get that near the Tigers since Canton McKinley whipped the local team 21-6 in the last game of the 1934 season.
In 1940 the Massillon eleven traveled to Mansfield, the favorite by 60 points, and wound up in the 30’s just as it did last night. The Tyger fans rejoiced that their team had held Massillon to its lowest score thus far that season. Snyder had cooked up a right smart defense that foiled the best efforts of the great array of Tom James, Fred Blunt, Ray Getz, and Horace Gillom for the greater part of the first half.
Mansfield was riding in the clouds again last night and during the greater part of the first quarter it was the Tygers not the Tigers who were doing most of the ground gaining.
But lightning split the clouds in the form of Keve Bray ere the first quarter was about to end without a score, and the Tiger halfback raced 46 yards after taking a lateral pass, for a touchdown and Chuck Holt slam-banged his way over for the extra point that showed who was going to set the pace the rest of the game.
It took sensational ones like that to get scores last night – there was no fooling around with this Mansfield team, and the latter probably said the same about the Tigers when midway in the second period, Bob Graber dropped back into punt formation on third down with 15 to go, tucked the ball under this arm and ran 37 yards for a touchdown.
18 Points Last Half
That was enough for the half and the third quarter was well along before another 33-yard run by Graber was followed by a 14-yarder by Bray for the third touchdown of the game.
Fireworks were touched off to set up the fourth score as Bray lugged an intercepted pass 46 yards to the 19-yard line, from which it was put over in two plays with Chuck Holt carrying the ball.
The only forward pass completed by the varsity all evening, a 31-yard toss, Graber to Willmot, set up the final score of the game, with Bray lugging the leather the last five yards to the goal line.
Fumbles and interception of passes made the Tigers look bad. They lost the ball six times on fumbles and had two passes intercepted, which is kicking away a good many scoring opportunities. Since Mansfield also lost the ball several times on fumbles and pass interceptions it appears a wet ball may have been responsible for the loose ball handling. Though the field was not muddy and did not even appear soggy to the fans, it was like a sponge. Players had a hard time getting good footing, and this helped to throw off their timing.
The Tigers sought to split Mansfield with a series of quick opening plays the first half but found the Tygers a stubborn outfit, hard to run through and hard to throw against. They kept five men deployed in their secondary and Graber wasn’t pitching accurately.
Carried Ball Well
The Tiger halfback was running hard, however, and time and again got loose for long gains. It was largely a case of long gains or none. You sat with your chin in your hands when two cracks at the line failed to dent the Mansfield forward wall, but the next moment you were on your toes, when somebody broke loose for 35 yards. Then perhaps all went for naught when the ball was lost on a fumble.
That in brief, was the trend of most of the game, though the Tigers managed to hang on to the leather sufficiently to cross the goal five times, and succeeded in keeping Mansfield behind the 40-yard line.
Long runs do not make a showing in first downs but they account for yardage in the statistics. That’s why the Tigers only made 10 first downs to Mansfield’s six; but on the other hand they had a net total of 300 yards from rushing and 87 more from passing against Mansfield’s net rushing gains of 103 yards and eight yards from passing.
Roland Schmidt, a sophomore halfback, who runs fast and with knees high gained most of Mansfield’s yards in the first quarter and gave the left side of the Tiger line and the backer uppers a series of headaches, before they finally got next to stopping him. He carried the ball for three first downs in three different series of plays the opening period, getting away once for a run of 17 yards. He didn’t do much the last three periods.
Three Sophomore Backs
Three members of the Mansfield backfield were sophomores, which looks as though Coach Snyder’s strategy is to come up with a good team once every three years. He started that way four years ago and wound up with last year’s Mansfield team. He has a flock of sophs and juniors on his squad this season.
One thing about the rules of football, a player can’t defend himself from the rage of an opposing player without being put out of the game.
A good example happened last night and because of it Bray is not credited with a 55-yard touchdown sprint, which would have been the longest run of the game.
While Keve was loping along near the 20-yard line, Jasinski removed the last possible obstacle from his path by nearly knocking Joe Parry, Mansfield guard, into the stands with a vicious shoulder block. Parry was first to swing and Jasinski punched back, and in so doing punched himself right out of the game.
The touchdown was not allowed. The ball was brought back to its original position on the Massillon 45-yard line and both players were put out of the game.
Both teams were equally guilty as far as the rules are concerned, but the penalty governing this type of infraction is far from being equal. The Tigers lost a touchdown, and one of their regular players. Mansfield’s only loss was a substitute player.
Fumble Costs Touchdown
The Tiger second team only played a few minutes last night, and a fumble robbed the youngsters of an opportunity to score. Two passes thrown by Romeo Pellegrini, one for 35 yards to Bill Gable and another for 14 yards to Henry Mastriann, put the ball on the five-yard line. Mastriann plunged to within a yard of the goal, but the ball was lost on a fumble on the next play and Mansfield recovered. The game ended before the Tygers could get going.
The first quarter was almost over and the Tigers found themselves being pushed around by Mansfield, when they cut loose with their first touchdown effort. Starting from his own 20, Graber raced 34 yards around his right end to he Mansfield 46. It looked as though he was loose for a touchdown, but a Mansfield player managed to tag him on the heel causing him to lose his balance and fall. On the very next play, Bray wheeled around his left end behind fine blocking, to pick up the remaining 46 yards and Holt plunged for the extra point. On the second series of the second quarter, Bray made his fruitless touchdown run, and the ball was restored to the 45. Graber picked up 23 yards to take the ball to the 32, and when two more plays resulted in a net loss of five yards through a penalty, he dropped into punt formation. Instead of punting he ran hard to his right, then cut back to his left and crossed the goal with ease. Holt kicked the extra point and the score was 14-0 at the half.
The Tigers threatened once in the third quarter when they blocked a Mansfield kick on the 20-yard line but they only moved up a yard in four attempts and lost the ball. They stopped Mansfield, too, and Graber brought Lewis’ fine punt back to the Tyger 47. Grabbing a lateral pass he raced around end to the 14-yard line, for a dash of 33 yards, and Bray on the next play was turned loose through left tackle for the remaining distance. Holt missed his attempted kick for the extra point.
Three fumbles and two intercepted passes later, and the Tigers were in position to score their fourth touchdown. Bray grabbed Schmidt’s pass after the Tygers had reached the Massillon 40-yard line and raced to the 19 before he was thrown out of bounds. He turned end to the one yard line on the following play and Holt banged through for the touchdown, but missed the kick for the extra point.
A 29-yard pass from Graber to Willmot planted the ball on the 10-yard line and set up the last score. Power sneaked for five yards and Bray took it over. Holt’s attempted kick was wide of the posts.
Good Enough
Massillon Pos. Mansfield Willmot le Burrage Edwards lt Snyder R. Wallace lg Geattle B. Wallace c Snowland Weisgarber rg Hatler Paulik rt Guy Jasinski re Lewis Power qb Rachel Graber lh Schmidt Bray rh Zivkoff Holt fb Boyce
Statistics Tigers Mansfield Total First Downs 10 6 Yards Gained by Rushing 316 107 Yards Lost by Rushing 16 4 Net Yards Gained by Rushing 300 108 Net Yards Gained by Passing(a) 87 8 Forward Passes Attempted 11 7 Forward Passes Completed 3 2 Passes Had Intercepted 2 2 Times Ball Lost on Fumbles 6 4 Number of Penalties Against 2 2 Yards Lost by Penalties 10 20
Tigers Prove Themselves Better Team in Midfield, But Mansfield Defense Is Tough Inside the 25-Yard Line
By Luther Emery
All good things must come to an end and they did at Tiger Stadium Friday evening when an inspired Mansfield high school team beat the statistics to tie the Washington high school Tigers 6-6 and thereby halt the Massillon consecutive victory streak at 38 games.
It wasn’t as bad as it could have been, for the score could just was well read 7-6 either way, but neither team could make the extra point. So Mansfield for the second time in seven seasons puts an end to the Massillon streak with a tie score.
Ended Streak in 1937
The Tygers stopped a 21-game string in 1937 with a 6-6 tie and still have the distinction of being the only Ohio high school team to successfully tie a Massillon eleven since Canton McKinley twisted the Bengal’s tail in the finale of the 1934 season.
Twenty-two thousand fans and 3,000 others who mounted the hilltops after being turned away at the gate, saw each team score its touchdown in the second quarter, Mansfield first, then Massillon. They too, saw an infuriated Mansfield team hurl back threat after threat in the last half to maintain the tie with brilliant goal line stands.
Massillon hammered in Mansfield territory throughout the entire second half, losing the ball once on the 17-yard line, again on the nine, again on the one, again on the 29, again on the 24, and still again on the 22. Once in the second quarter the ball was surrendered on the Mansfield 16.
The Tigers moved easily enough in midfield, but once inside the 25-yard line, it was like banging into a stone wall. Two big ends, Joe Romano and Bob Winbigler, and a hard tackling secondary led by Bill Doolittle made life miserable for Massillon ball carriers, when they tried to gain ground in pay dirt.
Statistics and Points Differ
The local team complied an impressive quantity of yardage, 273 yards to Mansfield’s 58 and 16 and first downs to one, but statistics tell one story and points another. The Tigers offensive efforts were confined principally to territory between the 20-yard lines. They were stopped all but once by the withering Mansfield defense when they got inside the 10, and although it seemed as though they would just have to score a second time, they didn’t.
Mansfield too found the Massillon defense hard to penetrate. Only once did the Tygers work the ball into Tiger territory, but they got it there two other times on breaks. They could still be hammering away without denting the forward wall, but they called the right play at the right time in the second period and a screen pass, from Ken Krupp to Bill Doolittle that caught the Massillon line completely off guard, was good for 27 yards and a touchdown. Even then Bob Graber might have successfully made the tackle, had he not run over an official and thereby got blocked out of the play.
When the ball was snapped to Krupp, the Mansfield linemen moved forward, then stepped aside and allowed the Tiger linemen to charge through. Doolittle caught the pass only a few feet past the line of scrimmage, cut sharply to his right and headed down the sidelines with practically no one to stop him.
Doolittle tired to placekick the extra point and by a few scant feet the Tigers missed defeat. The ball was bar high, but too far to the right.
The Tigers charged back with a grim determination that made Massillon hearts swell with pride. Graber returned Duke Weber’s kickoff to his 37, and in three plays he and Holt took the leather to midfield. Fred Blunt on a deep weak side reverse raced to the 31-yard line and Holt smashed to another first on the 19 in three plays.
Adams Scores
A three-yard loss on a sweep by Adams was nullified when he tossed a pass to Joe De Mando for a first down on the nine-yard line. A five-yard penalty against Mansfield for offside advanced the ball to the four-yard line when Adams on the first play circled the right end for the touchdown. He too, tried to kick the extra point from placement but he topped the ball and it bounded under the uprights.
That’s all the scoring there was. Mansfield never threatened in the second half, and only once worked the ball into Tiger territory when Doolittle on a bootleg play, took the leather to the Massillon 45 for a gain of 10 yards and the visitors’ only first down of the evening. A pass interception ended the threat the very next play and the Tigers charged back with their final effort of the game that netted three first downs and took the ball to the 22 where a 15-yard penalty for intentionally grounding a pass ended any further hopes for victory. Mansfield wasted the last minute, consuming as many seconds as possible to keep the Tigers from getting another shot at the goal.
It just wasn’t a Massillon night and though Mansfield did not win the game, visiting fans took the score with the same enthusiasm as a victory and celebrated long into the morning.
The Tigers seem to like to get themselves into a hole at the start.
A poor pass from center on fourth down when Adams dropped back to punt gave Mansfield the ball on the Massillon five-yard line the second minute of play. Here the Tiger forward wall rose up with all of its might and the visitors were pushed back 10 yards to the 15 where Massillon took the ball on downs.
Clipping Penalty Helps Visitors
The teams exchanged punts, and Vernon Weisgarber broke through to smear one of the Mansfield efforts and gain Massillon the ball on the 25-yard line. The visitors stopped the threat on the 16 and when they punted out safely, a Massillon player clipped a Mansfield tackler before Graber could pick up the punt and the ball was given to Mansfield on the Tiger 27-yard line, the point where the clipping occurred. Doolittle tried a pass that failed, and then came the successful screen pass that produced the Mansfield touchdown and put the Tigers’ behind for the first time this season.
Mansfield prepared to attempt a field goal after the Tigers had tied the score at 6-6, but never was able to get into position for it. Prior to the game, a member of the visiting team spent his entire warm-up session practicing field goal kicking, and he got quite a few between the uprights.
Now and then you see a team defeated where the statistics were so overwhelmingly in its favor. That could easily have occurred last night. Seldom will a team outplay another by such a wide margin offensively and still salvage nothing more than a tie score.
The Tigers gained 250 yards by rushing to Mansfield’s 56 and lost 24 for a net total of 226 to Mansfield’s net total of 31. Forty-seven yards were gained by Massillon with the forward pass, through six completions in 12 attempts, while Mansfield completed none but its touchdown pass in seven attempts. The Tigers average 51 yards in punts to Mansfield’s 42 yards and had an edge in the kickoffs.
Scouted Thoroughly
It was evident the visitors had the Tigers thoroughly scouted. Their line was strong enough to permit good protection for the secondary and they apparently did not fear any reverses to the weak side. When the Tigers shifted to the left, Mansfield over shifted to stop the long dashes by Blunt and were fairly successful in doing so. Only a couple of times did he get away for substantial gains, the longest of these coming on a deep weak side reverse, a 19-yard run, when the Tigers were staging their only successful touchdown march.
Mansfield’s ace, Lightning Jones, didn’t do anything at all. He carried the ball but four times, lost 12 yards and gained three, for a net loss of nine yards for his evening’s work.
The nearest the Massillon team came to scoring a second time was in the third period when they took the leather 69 yards to the one yard line, where Adams was thrown for a loss when the whole Tyger team jammed up to stop his smash at right tackle.
Massillon looked impressive when they came out for the second half and marched the kickoff back to the Mansfield 17 before losing it on downs by a yard, but as has been said before in this writing, the goal line punch that would puncture the Mansfield defense just couldn’t be found.
Because of the record rolled up by Tiger teams the last four years, one almost loses sight of a couple of things the Tigers can be proud of. While Mansfield is rejoicing over tieing Massillon, the Tigers can boast being the first team to cross the Mansfield goal this season, as well as write a new record in the books for themselves – 39 consecutive games without a defeat more than 10 years ago. The Mansfield record, however, included several tie scores.
The tie score will serve to take a great amount of pressure off the Tigers who have been struggling to weld more links in the victory chain. They can start all over next week – and Warren should be an excellent place to do it.
Start All Over
Massillon Pos Mansfield Armour LE Romano Dolmos LT Arlin Wallace LG Weber Fuchs C Dietzel Hill RG K. Smith Weisgarber RT Butler De Mando RE Winbigler Cardinal QB Doolittle Adams LH Krupp Blunt RH Jones Holt FB A. Brandt
Champions Are Held Scoreless in 1st Quarter by Valiant Foe
(Plain Dealer Special)
MANSFIELD, O., Oct 25 – Massillon High School, scholastic football wonder team, stormed to another victory tonight by crushing a valiant Mansfield High eleven, 38 to 0, before a capacity crowd of 8,000 at Stadium Field.
Program Cover
The Tigers were held scoreless in the first period and to their lowest total of the season. But there was never any doubt about their superiority over the team they whaled last year, 73 to 0.
Two weeks ago, Alliance “held” Massillon’s boys, 40 to 0. The Tigers have yet to permit their goal line to be crossed.
Massillon crashed through with two touchdowns in each the second, third and fourth sessions. All were the results of long runs or passes.
The Tigers counted on the second play of the second period, Dick Adams going over. They marched 60 yards for the next one and Ray Getz took the leather across the line. He then kicked the point for 13-0.
Early in the third quarter, Massillon again drove 60 yards with Tom James sparking the march with several long runs. James finally scored from the 2 on a cut back. Getz’s plunge for point failed.
A 24-yard pass, Adams to Gillom, accounted for the next touchdown and Getz booted the point.
Long runs by Fred Blunt and Getz in the fourth quarter featured a 75-yard march, which gave the Tigers another score. Adams crossed the goal from the 1-yard stripe but Getz again failed to kick the point.
Adams marked up the final score on an 18-yard end run. Getz’s kick for the point was low.
Massillon made 17 first downs against six for Mansfield. Most of Mansfield’s first downs came on Martin Henke’s accurate forward passes to Bill Doolittle and Jim Templeton.
Held in First Quarter
Although soundly trounced Mansfield became the first team to make a first down before Massillon was able to chalk up one and also became the first eleven to force the Tigers to punt two successive times in a quarter – turning both of these tricks in the first period.
Massillon gained on its punt exchanges in the first quarter but it wasn’t until the final minute of the session that the Tigers were able to register a first down.
Then with fourth down and three yards to go on the Mansfield 38, Adams faked a punt and then shot through the line to the Mansfield 26. Gillom, on an end around play romped to the 14 for another first down as the period ended.
After the Tigers’ initial touchdown, Mansfield made two first down on passes, Henke to Doolittle, carrying the pigskin from the Mansfield 14 to the Tigers’ 38 only to lose the ball on a fumble. Massillon then marched to its second touchdown, with long runs by Gillom and James featuring the drive.
In the final quarter with three minutes left to play, Massilon’s second team went into action.
It’s The 30th
Massillon Pos. Mansfield Bray LE Romano Henderson LT Arlin Wallace LG Pecht Appleby C Dietzel Russell RG Weber Broglio RT Murray Gillom RE Winbigler Kingham QB Doolittle James – Adams LH Jones Getz RH Templeton Blunt FB Henke
Score by periods: Massillon 0 13 13 12 – 38
Substitutions: Massillon – Pizzino, James, F. Cardinal, White, Weisgarber, Hill, Oliver, Armour, Fuchs, De Mando, Paul Getz. Mansfield – Heilman, Birmelin, Lantz, Brandt, Kinkel, Pecht, Smith.
Touchdowns – Adams 3, Getz, James, Gillom
Points after touchdown – Getz 3 (placekicks)
Referee – A.N. Smith (Elyria) Umpire – J. Winters (Ohio Wesleyan). Headlinesman – Paul Harlow (Ohio Wesleyan)
STATISTICS Mass. Mans. First downs, rushing 16 2 First downs, passing 1 4 First downs, total 17 6 Yards gained, rushing 328 30 Yards gained, passing 61 95 Yards lost 21 46 Yards gained, net total 368 79 Passes attempted 12 14 Passes completed 4 9 Passes intercepted 1 0 Passes incompleted 8 4 Fumbles 0 3 Own fumbles recovered 0 1 Opp. Fumbles covered 2 0 Penalties, yardage 60 15 Punts 4 7
WEIRD DEFENSE SLOWS OFFENSE
Mansfield Arrangement Holds Tigers To Lowest Score Of Season; Brown’s Gridders Unable to Score First Quarter
By LUTHER EMERY
An unorthodox defense accomplished just what it was supposed to do at Mansfield Friday evening and 8,000 Richland county fans rejoiced at having held the Washington high Tigers to their lowest score of the season, 38-0.
Though the score was big enough, it wasn’t exactly a pleasant victory for Massillon nor an impressive showing from a Mansfield standpoint since the latter wound up the evening’s performance with a net gain of 18 yards.
Accomplishes Objective
But Mansfield accomplished it objective – that of holding the Tigers to a lower score than any other team this season, and was rejoicing about it today.
As you looked over the Mansfield alignment you had to add twice to make certain you didn’t have too many players in the lineup. For the most part, it was a 4-4-2-1, sometimes 4-3-1-2-1, and variations attained by hopping players in from the second line that placed six and seven in the first rank.
Mansfield gambled that this arrangement would yield three to five yards per play but would prevent long runs for touchdowns and long passes and thereby keep down the score. Coach Paul Synder had worked two weeks preparing the defense.
The theory was exactly the opposite from that used by Alliance in the Rubber Bowl, when the Tigers were held to the same number of touchdowns. Alliance ganged up with an eight-man line in an effort to choke off the ball carrier at the line of scrimmage.
Glad It Didn’t Rain
Had it been a wet night as Massillon fans feared it would as they drove under clouded skies to Mansfield, there’s no telling what would have happened. As it was Coach Paul Brown kept his first team in until the last three minutes of the game, although two of the regulars did not start and occasional substitutions were made throughout the first three periods. Tom James and Herman Robinson were the missing faces in the lineup. James, bothered by a sore ankle, was replaced by Dick Adams at left halfback, while Robinson, suffering from a cold, gave way to Keve Bray. Robinson never did get into the game but James played a third of it.
From a Tiger standpoint it was an ideal preparatory game for the all-important clash with Toledo Waite next week – providing no injuries develop from some of the hard knocks received by players.
Mansfield gave the local eleven an opportunity to meet a spread formation, and the Tigers put one on the field for two plays themselves. The Mansfield gridders too set an example as to what can be done when a team gets all fired up and sets out to do it.
The Mansfield boys tackled viciously. By concentrating their strength on the expected point of attack, and keeping the secondary well protected, they were able to gang up on Tiger ball carriers at times and toss them for losses. They succeeded best in the first period when they held Massillon scoreless and made the first, first down of the game, something else to glory about. They made the Tigers fight for every yard and only gave them two easy touchdowns, one on a long pass from Dick Adams to Horace Gillom and the other on an 18-yard sprint by Adams. They forced Coach Brown to call Tom James off the bench in the first half to direct the Massillon attack, and Tom proceeded to show the Tigers how all important he is to the Massillon team.
The Massillon offense which had sputtered around up to that point smoothed out and moved as in former games.
With Toledo Waite scouts perched all around and a Massillon victory very evident despite the stubborn Mansfield resistance, there was no particular reason for the Tigers opening up with all their cunning. They tried a few things out, but nothing new with the exception of a lateral off a spread formation, Gillom to Adams that failed once because of an offside penalty and a second time when Adams dropped the ball.
The Tigers, after the scoreless first period, crossed the Mansfield goal twice in each of the next three periods. Adams got three touchdowns, James, Gillom, and Getz one each, and Getz kicked the three extra points, despite a play prepared by Mansfield’s coach, Paul Snyder, through which one of his boys would jump up on the back of a Massillon lineman in an attempt to block the ball.
Mansfield Offense Weak
Mansfield had little in the way of offense except a passing attack that gained ground in the middle of the field but failed on the two occasions it took the ball into Tiger territory.
At carrying the ball Synder’s men had nothing. They were thrown back for a net loss of 15 yards for their rushing attempts. They did, however, complete 11 of 16 passes for a net gain of 33 yards. Dick Kingham pulled in the only interception.
The Tigers tossed 12 passes and completed four for 77 yards, one a touchdown pass.
The balance of power should be more equal next year, for Mansfield will have 10 of its 11 players back while Massillon will lose nine of its first 11. Martin Henke will be the only Mansfield player to graduate. The Tigers will lose all but Robinson and Fred Blunt.
The stands were filled with spectators and the crowd overflowed to the sidelines to occupy every spot of advantage long before the start of the game. All reserved seats were sold and gates were closed before the kickoff.
Massillon had a good delegation but was not represented in as great numbers as in other road games. All the Tiger spectators probably could be packed into three figures.
After being forced to punt the first two times they got their hands on the leather, the Tigers finally launched a touchdown drive in the last two minutes of the first period that carried on into the second quarter before Dick Adams on a cutback went through his left tackle for the touchdown. The attack began on the Mansfield 45, the Tigers gaining 25 yards on two exchanges of punts. Bray on an end around play, and Adams on a fake went to the 29-yard line and Gillom ran hard around his left end tot he 14. Adams planted it on the six and then cut through his left tackle for the touchdown. Getz missed the attempted kick for the extra point.
Mansfield Threatens
An exchange of punts after the kickoff set Mansfield in motion on a passing attack. Henke tossed one for 31 yards to Jim Templeton for a first down on his 44 and another peg to Romano, took the ball to the Tiger 41. Mansfield went into a spread, and Henke passed to Templeton who fumbled after catching the ball, Jim Russell recovering for Massillon on his 39. Gillom advanced the ball to the Mansfield 46, and James in two plays went 34 yards to the 12-yard line. James took the ball to the six-yard line and Ray Getz went over in two attempts and kicked the extra point.
Getting the ball on a punt after the third period kickoff, the Tigers launched a drive from their own 40 directed by James. It was hard going all the way with Blunt and James lugging the leather to the Mansfield 38. There James passed to Ray Getz for 22 yards and a first down on the 16. Three plays gained another first on the two-yard line and James went over. Getz missed the kick for the extra point.
A 15-yard penalty on Massillon for roughing the kicker, advanced the ball into Tiger territory for the second time of the game, but Henke fumbled and Lawrence Cardinal recovered for the Tigers on the Mansfield 49. Blunt, Adams and Getz advanced it to the nine-yard line where a 15-yard penalty was slapped on the locals for holding. It only paved the way for a long pass, Adams to Gillom, which the latter caught in the end zone for the fourth touchdown of the game. Getz kicked the point.
The fourth period was well underway before the Tigers could score again. They eventually started from their own 24 with Fred Blunt doing most of the leather toting and getting away to one sprint of 20 yards. The ball was carried to the five-yard line where Mansfield was penalized to within a yard of the goal for too many times out. Adams went over for the touchdown. Getz’s kick was wide.
The game was getting on toward the end when Kingham intercepted a Henke pass on the Mansfield 37. Adams shovel passed to Bray for a first down on the 18 and Adams went over for the touchdown on a smash through right tackle. Getz’s kick was again wide.
Statistics Of The Game Mass. Mansf. Net gain rushing 260 -15 Net gain passing 77 33 Total net gain 330 18 First downs 17 6 Passes thrown 12 16 Passes completed 4 11 Passes grounded 8 4 Passes intercepted 0 1 Lost ball on fumble 0 2 Yards penalized 80 35 Punts 4 7 Average punt (yards) 51 30
Massillon Is Held To 38 Points
Mansfield Registers Moral Grid Victory Over Potent Tigers
(Special To The Beacon Journal)
MANSFIELD, Oct. 26 – Mansfield’s Tygers, who stunned the Ohio scholastic football world back in 1937 by battling Massillon’s Tigers to a 6-6 tie, tossed in another mild upset at the expense of the perennial Buckeye schooboy champions here last night when they held Paul Brown’s powerhouse to its lowest point total of the season.
Breaking loose for 25 points in the last two quarters, after being held to a mere 13-0 edge at halftime, Massillon finally rolled to a 38-0 victory, but most of the praise went to the Tygers.
For the purposes of the records, the victory was Massillon’s seventh straight of the year, it’s 30th in succession since New Castle, Pa., whipped the Tigers in ’37, and it protected the Brown team’s uncrossed goal line.
Mansfield fielded an eleven composed of only one senior, with 10 sophomores and juniors completing the lineup. This team did little offensively against the Tigers. In fact, it ended the night with a net yardage of nothing by rushing as compared to Massillon’s 242 yards.
But the Tygers still managed to get credit for six first downs as compared to the Tigers’ 17. Massillon was hampered by being penalized 80 yards.
Mansfield held Massillon scoreless in the first quarter and accomplished some kind of a feat by forcing the Tigers to punt two times in a row.
Neither team succeeded in passing mid-field until late in the first period when the Tigers finally hit the Mansfield 14-yard stripe. Dick Adams, who scored three touchdowns in the game, got the opening tally on the second play of the second quarter.
Tom “Red” James, the Tigers’ fleet ball-toting ace, sparked a 55-yard drive for the second Massillon touchdown. Ray Getz hammered over the score, however, and place kicked the point.
A 73-yard sustained drive in the opening minutes of the third quarter ended with James scoring on a cutback through right tackle. Shortly afterward, Massillon covered a fumble on the Mansfield 49, “Pokey” Blunt and Getz moved the ball to the 9-yard line in two plays.
A 15-yard penalty set the Tigers back to the 24 so Getz shot a pass to Horace Gillom in the end zone for touchdown No. 4.
The fifth tally came after a 76-yard march, Adams galloping 13 yards for the counter. Dick Kingham, the Tigers’ quarterbak, intercepted a pass on the Massillon 47, Blunt worked the ball to the Mansfield 37, Adams passed to Bray for a first down on the 18 and then Bray swept wide around end to score.
TIGERS HELD TO LOW SCORE OF SEASON BUT TAKE 30TH TRIUMPH
Injured Tom James Sparks Attack But Dick Adams Is Leading Scorer
By SAM FOGG Repository Staff Correspondent
MANSFIELD – Held scoreless throughout the first quarter, Massillon’s Tigers drove over six touchdowns against a fighting Mansfield defense to achieve their 30th consecutive gridiron conquest 38-0 Friday night a Stadium field before a capacity crowd of 10,000.
The football magic of injured Tom James and Horace Gillom and the overpowering play of the Tiger line set in motion the smashing Massillon offensive machinery after a determined team of Mansfield juniors had stopped the attack in the early portion of the contest. The Tigers counted twice in each of the three final periods as Dick Adams accounted for three scores. Gillom, James and Ray Getz scored once apiece.
Massillon Attack Slowed
The Tyger defense ganged up on Massillon backs to slow the running advance more effectively than has any other Tiger opponent and held the Massillon total to a new low for the year. In the first half, the Mansfield line allowed only five first downs and the longest gain turned in by a Massillon runner was James’ sprint of 25 yards in the second quarter.
In turn, Massillon’s line stabbed through blockers to drag down Mansfield runners for constant losses and gave up but one first down in the contest. Led by Bill Wallace, Jim Russell, Dick Kingham, Eli Broglio and Gillom, the Massillon defense nullified the Tyger running attack with a net loss of 16 yards from scrimmage and was never forced back beyond the Massillon 40.
Gillom sponsored the first Massillon score after two Tiger efforts in the first period had been stopped without gain. Out kicking Martin Henke, Mansfield fullback, Gillom turned loose punts of 57 and 55 yards to force play into Tyger territory. Kevie Bray and Adams produced a first down on the Mansfield 29 and Gillom broke over tackle for 17 yards as the quarter ended. As play resumed, Adams picked up five yards, then slid over for seven yards and a touchdown.
Getz Makes Touchdown
Massillon again was halted and a short passing attack for Mansfield had gathered two first downs when James took the field. On the following play, Russell covered a fumble on the Massillon 42 and the Tiger ace went into action. He hammered four yards and Gillom piled for a first down on the Mansfield 46. James whipped through a huge hole at center for 25 yards and whisked off tackle to the Mansfield 6. Three plays later, Getz fought over for the final points of the half.
Massillon had possession of the ball twice in the third period and scored at each opportunity. James returned a punt to the Tiger 40, passed to Bray for four yards, ran for 13 more through tackle, passed to Getz on the 18 for 19 yards, smashed to the two-yard line on two attempts and drove over on a cutback to complete his performance for the night. The second score followed a 54-yard drive downfield when Adams pitched a 26-yard touchdown pass to Gillom in the end zone.
Midway in the final period, Massillon stopped the persistent short passing attack of the Tygers that resulted in nine completions in 14 attempts and drove 79 yards to score. Fred Blunt and Getz rolled for five sizable gains and placed the ball on the Tiger 19. Three plays after, Adams struck over right guard from the 6 for the fifth score and Massillon led 32-0.
Kingham Snags Pass
A moment later, Kingham waylaid a Mansfield pass to give Massillon the ball on the Tiger 37. Adams slipped a shovel pass to Bray for 19 yards and from the 18, Adams ripped through tackle into the end zone for the concluding points.
The Tigers gathered 17 first downs, 16 from rushing, and netted 368 yards, their accumulation of the season. Mansfield picked up one first down from rushing, one by penalty and four on passes that totaled 95 yards. From rushing they gained 30 yards but lost 46 to net 79 yards.
Two fine bands, the Washington High swing band and the Mansfield blue and red uniformed unit, combined their talents for flag raising ceremonies. At half time, the Massillon musicians again provided a colorfully thrilling show as they offered “Six Lessons from Madam LaZonga” and “Dixieland Band” numbers.
Tigers Held at Bay In Initial Period By Club
Coach Paul Snyder’s Aggregation Plays Inspired Ball Against Tigers
By CHARLES MARTIN, News-Journal Sports Editor
MANSFIELD HIGH suffered its second defeat of the season under the floodlights at Stadium field last night but the 7,200 spectators who watched the grid team lose were not disappointed.
Coach Paul Snyder’s Tyger gridsters tangled with the undefeated and untied Massillon juggernaut and put up their greatest battle of the year as they dropped a 38 to 0 decision.
Massillon invaded Stadium field sporting one of the most impressive records ever marked up by one of its teams and the Tygers were not supposed to do much in holding the score down.
But when it was over every fan praised the work of the Mansfield combine in limiting Massillon to six touchdowns.
To a few witnesses it might not have been impressive, but one look at the records should change their opinion.
The Massillon outfit had chalked up six straight wins before coming here and had averaged 58 points a game. In only one game – against Alliance – did the club score less than 48 points. Massillon beat Alliance 40 to 0.
Mentor Snyder saw his protégés play heads up ball during the entire contest. Not once did the Tygers let down as they turned loose one of the finest passing attacks unleashed this year.
Although they went down to defeat, the Tygers accomplished two feats no other team has against Massillon. Mansfield is the first aggregation to mark up a first down before the Tigers and the stout Tyger defense in the first chapter made Massillon punt twice in a row – something it hadn’t done before.
Massillon completely throttled the Tygers’ running attack and while Mansfield failed to penetrate inside the visitors’ 38, its aerial bombardment was causing considerable trouble.
After seeing their attack bog down in the initial stanza the Massillon players began clicking and pushed over two touchdowns each in the next three chapters.
Dick Adams, who scored three of the touchdowns, Tom James, Fred Blunt and Horace Gillom were the principal ground gainers once the Massillon outfit started moving.
Every one of the Tigers’ markers were scored on long marches, the longest coming in the fourth frame when they drove 76 yards after receiving a Mansfield punt.
Other touchdowns were chalked up on marches of 45, 62, 60, 49 and 37 yards.
Near the end of the first period Massillon opened up from the Mansfield 45-yard line. Two first downs placed the pigskin on the Tyger 14 as the chapter ended.
Adams, subbing for James, dashed through the right side of the Mansfield line on a cutback from the eight-yard line for the first tally. Ray Getz’ placement for the extra point was wide.
Mansfield found it impossible to chalk up gains through the heavier Massillon line and shortly after the next kickoff the club was on their way again.
The Tygers moved to Massillon’s 38 on the next kickoff with a passing attack and a fumble at this point was recovered by Jim Russell.
Three successive first downs put the ball on Mansfield’s one-yard line and Getz went around right and into pay dirt. His kick for the point split the uprights. And the half ended with Massillon leading, 13 to 0.
James, regular left halfback, came into the game to spark the Tigers’ to their next touchdown in the third. The club went 60 yards with James going over from the Mansfield two. Getz’ plunge for the point was stopped cold.
A little later Larry Cardinal, Massillon tackle, recovered another Mansfield fumble on the Tygers 49. Two first downs were registered and Adams passed to Gillom in the end zone from the Mansfield 24. Getz added the point from placement.
Adams climaxed Massillon’s 76-yard drive early in the fourth frame by scooting over from the Mansfield one, and he also added the final score after his teammates drove 37 yards. Getz’ two placements were low and wide.
Immediately after the last touchdown Coach Brown sent in his second team, but Mansfield was unable to get its aerial offense working in the remaining three minutes.
John Weber, junior guard and Martin Henke, played spectacular ball for the Tygers. Both were outstanding on defense. Every member of the team, however, turned in creditable performances.
Mansfield lost 15 yards from rushing plays, while Massillon was registering 260. The Tygers also held the edge in nearly every department.
Massillon gained 77 yards on passes to Mansfield’s 33. The Tygers did edge the winners in pass completions, 11 to 4. Gillom gave a brilliant demonstration of punting, averaging 51 yards. Two of his kicks traveled 66 yards. Mansfield averaged 30 yards on punts.
The Mansfield band strutted its stuff in its new uniforms for the first time before the game opened last night. Massillon’s swing band took over the stage during the intermission.
TIGERS BEGIN PREPARATION FOR WARREN PRESIDENTS BETTER THAN MANSFIELD
Massillon Team’s Lightning Thrusts Demoralized Mansfield Gridders In First Period Last Saturday And 73-0 Route Followed
By LUTHER EMERY
Having stripped the Mansfield Tyger of its stripes to the score of 73-0 here Saturday afternoon, the Washington high Tigers today turned their attention toward preparations for meeting a more formidable foe at Warren Friday evening.
The Presidents have won two games, defeating Cleveland Rhodes 7-0 in a mediocre performance in their season’s opener and smashing Erie Academy 19-0 last week with a surprising display of power. Both Teams Scouted Pierre Hill of Warren is priming for the Tigers just as Coach Paul Brown is pointing his team for the Presidents. Both coaches looked each other over last week and will busy themselves the next three days setting up a defense that each hopes will stop the other.
Warren will definitely outweigh the Tigers. The Presidents will put practically a veteran team on the field, built from a large squad that included 36 members of the 1938 club, among them Mackey Johnson, ace ball carrier, who you saw sprint for several long runs here last year.
Warren will be by far the toughest of the teams the Tigers have met to date. There’s no mystery connected with them as with Mansfield. In the latter instance, the mystery now seems to be, how did Mansfield Tygers ever beat Akron West 26-0.
Mansfield for two plays Saturday showed a promising charge that held the Tigers to two yards and for a moment caused one to believe that the Tygers might be as strong defensively as their no first down performance against Akron West had indicated. But when George Slusser slid off his left guard on a spin for what nearly amounted to a first down on the third play of the game, the Tyger defense was questioned and by the middle of the first period it was very evident that the Mansfield gridders lacked the power of stopping the Massillon football machine. Tigers Work Together The local Tigers played as a machine, doing everything well. They scored four touchdowns the first quarter and two more the second to command a 41-0 lead at the half. The first team didn’t play a second of the second half. The second team played on and one-half periods and the third stringers finished up the game, rushing five more touchdowns over the Mansfield goal Four other touchdowns were not counted when the ball was called back because of penalties and two additional ones were not allowed because the runner stepped out of bounds.
It was the Massillon Tigers third victory in the four-yard series with the Mansfield Tyger and by far the most convincing. In fact a Mansfield scribes scratched their heads in the press box here trying to recall when a Tyger team had taken as terrific a beating. Massillon fans at the same time debated whether this year’s team was as great or greater than the undefeated elevens of 1935-36 and ’38. Mansfield scribes said, “yes” without a moment’s hesitation and wondered what the score would have been had Paul Brown permitted his team to play the entire game.
From a spectator’s standpoint it was too one-sided to be interesting and yet no one could do anything about it. Coach Brown substituted his second and third teams trying to hold down the score and Coach Paul Snyder restocked his lineup in an effort to bolster it, but the rout continued and definitely so as the second and third teams produced their star performances. Blunt Pleases Fans “Pokey” Blunt caught the fans’ eyes with his fleet dashes, the best of which was a 51-yard touchdown sprint. Roscoe Clendening too got away for a long touchdown dash only to lose the points when the ball was called back and a penalty inflicted on the Tigers. Then there was Junior White, another ball carrier, and Bill Wallace, George Fabian and Larry Cardinal, hard hitting linemen.
As for the Tiger first team, it played as a unit. With Eli Broglio doing a capable job of filling the shoes of Jim Russell, left guard, who was ill, the veterans mouse trapped the Mansfield tackles, gained almost at will and played the entire first half without punting. In fact only once did the Tigers punt and that was a honey of a boot by George Kester, 57 yards from the line of scrimmage. All told, the Tigers made 17 first downs to Mansfield’s 5 and gained 522 yards from scrimmage, 165 with the forward pass. Deducting seven yards lost from scrimmage the Tigers finished the game with a net gain of 515 yards.
Mansfield had little in an offensive way. It threatened but once that in the early minutes of the second half when a series of passes and laterals advanced the ball through Massillon’s second team to the 20-yard line. Here the locals braced and Jim Moody intercepted Jim Le Munyon’s pass and dashed back to the Tyger 40-yard line before being downed. The Tygers had a weak running attack. Completely out charged by the Massillon linemen, they only gained 49 yards rushing and lost 23 leaving them the net gain of 26 yards for their whole afternoon’s effort. Sixty-two additional yards were gained through the completion of four passes.
Gene Henderson, was a bull on defense Saturday and time and again dumped Mansfield plays directed his way.
The Massillon linemen so badly out charged the Tyger forwards that the latter’s backs couldn’t get started. On the offense they opened big gaps in the Mansfield wall and the ball carrier followed a wave of interference through the opening. The blocking was vicious, with Bob Foster and Bill Zimmerman in particular leading the way in spilling opposing tacklers. Scoring Distributed Scoring was well distributed among the Tiger players. George Slusser, whose accurate arm accounted for most of the Tiger passes, made two touchdowns, one on a 25-yard run, Ray Getz scored two, one on a 33-yard pass and the other on a 12-yard dash around end in which two of the Mansfield secondary blocked each other out of the play.
Zimmerman crashed through for two on plunges and Clendening, George Fabian, Blunt, Dick Adams and White crossed the Mansfield goal once. Incidentally, Fabian showed great improvement Saturday over his play of a week ago.
Unleashing a lightning thrust that tends to demoralize the opponent, the Tigers took the kickoff and did not surrender the ball until they crossed the Mansfield goal. The drive started from their own 38-yard line. It took four downs to gain a first down, but from there on they came easy. A 26-yard pass from Slusser to Gillom put the ball on the 15-yard line. Slusser, Zimmerman and Slusser in that order, took the leather to the one-yard line where Slusser carried it over and Getz placekicked the extra point.
Mansfield couldn’t gain ground on the following kickoff so Howard Hershey punted out on the Massillon 47. Slusser put the ball on the mid-stripe and Getz on an end around play raced 19 yards. Gillom went six yard on an end around and Slusser ran the remaining 25 for the second touchdown. Again Getz kicked goal.
Zimmerman set the Tigers up for their third touchdown when he pulled down Le Munyon’s pass on the Mansfield 36. Slusser immediately fired a long one that Horace Gillom took and ran to the eight-yard line. Red James knocked himself out on the play as he threw a block into the Mansfield tackler. Zimmerman plunged the ball over the goal and Getz kicked his third straight point.
In the waning minutes of the period, Le Munyon tried to run from a fake punt formation on fourth down, but failed to gain and the Tigers took the ball on the Mansfield 33.
On the first play, Slusser shot the ball to Getz for a touchdown. Getz’s attempted kick for the extra point was blocked and the quarter ended with the score 27-0.
A poor punt that went out of bounds on the Mansfield 30-yard line set up another touchdown early in the second period. James whirled around left end to the 12-yard line and Getz circled right end for the touchdown. Zimmerman plunged the extra point across to bring the score to 34-0. Gillom Loses Six Points A 36-yard pass to Gillom produced another touchdown that was not allowed when the Tigers were penalized for holding. They eventually lost the ball on downs, but got it back on their own 43 through a punt. Zimmerman and Slusser alternated carrying the ball to the seven-yard line where Zimmerman took it over. Getz kicked goal and the half ended with the score 41-0.
Mansfield opened the third period with a burst of offense that carried the ball from its 35 to the Tiger 20-yard line. An intercepted pass ended the razzle dazzle threat, however when Jim Moody got his hands on the ball.
Mansfield recovered a Tiger fumble but was forced to punt, Blunt hauling the leather back to his 47-yard line after a 20-yard dash. Fabian found a big opening in the middle of the Mansfield wall and got to the one-yard line before being downed. He went over for a touchdown on the next play but both sides were offside and the ball was called back. Clendening was then given the oval and he crashed through for the points. An attempted pass for the extra point failed and the score stood at 47-0.
An exchange of punts ended with Blunt taking the ball to the Mansfield 32. It was hard going from there on in, but with Fabian bearing the brunt of the burden, the drive ended with him going over from the one-yard line. Kester tried to knife through for the extra point but failed.
Mansfield fumbled the following kickoff and Bill Wallace promptly planted himself on the ball on his own 49-yard line. Blunt, coming around end as though fired out of a cannon, raced 51 yards for the touchdown and Clendening plunged the extra point across.
A Mansfield punt gave the Tigers the ball on their own 44. After Clendening had gained three yards, Blunt whirled around end for a touchdown dash but the ball was called back to the 27-yard line where he had slipped out of bounds. Pizzino on the next play went for a touchdown but this time the Tigers were offside and were penalized five yards. Still not to be denied the points, Pizzino and Dick Adams advanced the ball to the five-yard line where Adams went over and Pizzino plunged for the extra point, to hoist the score to 67-0.
Losing the ball on downs after the kickoff on the Mansfield 46-yard line the Mansfield Tygers again were put on the defensive. Joe De Mando was blocked while attempting to snare a pass and interference was called giving the Tigers a first down on the Mansfield 22-yard line. There Junior White got up steam and crossed the Tyger goal for the last touchdown of the game. Pizzino hit a stone wall in attempting to buck the extra point across.
Don Armour intercepted a Mansfield pass to again set the Tigers in motion, but the gun ended their drive. No Congestion Saturday The improved handling of parking facilities and seating of spectators was as gratifying as the victory. There was little or no congestion in the drives leading to the stadium or in parking lots and ushers, more familiar with the seating arrangement, made fewer mistakes and showed spectators to their seats quickly. A reporter, intentionally trying to “crash” the gate to test the ticket takers and ushers, found himself turned back at every entrance. You must have a ticket to get into Massillon field and this is done as a protection to reserved seat holders.
A portion of the scoreboard failed in the early minutes of the game and timing had to be done on the field.
The visiting band and drum corps members formed an airplane in their drill, a low roll of the drums, indicating the roar of the motor. The Tiger band showed off a snappy drill, with the Beer Barrel Polka still the favorite of the crowd.
The Tiger band is swinging it again.
Points to Spare Massillon Pos. Mansfield Getz LE Miller Pedrotty LT M. Horvath Broglio LG Weaver Martin C White Henderson RG Henke Swezey RT Goettl Gillom RE Beer Foster QB Smith Slusser LH Hershey James RH Logan Zimmerman FB D. Templeton
Game Statistics Massillon Mansfield First downs 17 5 Passes attempted 12 22 Passes completed 6 4 Passes incompleted 6 14 Passes intercepted 0 4 Yards gained passing 165 62 Yards gained rushing 357 49 Total yards gained 522 111 Yards lost rushing 7 23 Net yards gained 515 88 Times penalized 7 3 Yards penalized 55 20 Fumbles 2 4 Lost ball on fumbles 1 1
Booster Club Meets Tonight
The Tiger Booster club will meet tonight at 7:30 in the school auditorium. Arrangements for chartering a special train to Warren will be discussed. The train is scheduled to leave Massillon at 5:30 p.m. arriving in Warren one-half hour before the game. Fans who intend to ride the train should purchase their tickets early. The Booster club needs 300 fares to guarantee the train.
History 
