Tag: <span>R.C. Arrington</span>

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1943: Massillon 39, Youngstown Rayen 0

Tigers Wallop Rayen 39 To 0 For Ninth Straight Win

LAST DUEL BEFORE McKINLEY CONTEST

Regulars Score Three Touchdowns And They Are Pulled Out With Second And Third Stringers Carrying Burden In Cold Battle

By FRED J. BECKER
Independent Sports Editor

And now, ladies and gentlemen, girls and boys, sit back, take an aspirin tablet or two, take a good long drink of H2O (that’s about all there is for us these days) and try to keep your nerves under control if you can. The main event that you’ve been awaiting for nine long weeks is only five days away.

The preliminaries are over, the big show is moving on to the set and next Saturday afternoon it will have its premier and its finale all within the space of a few hours.

It’s the Same Old Picture

It will be a battle between 22 youthful warriors out on a chalk line gridiron, fighting out their hearts to bring victory to their colors. On the sidelines will be 22,000 of more frenzied spectators, nerves strained to the breaking point, shouting encouragement to the band of gladiators they want to emerge victorious.

Yes, it’s the same old picture the same old setting and the same old rivalry that has come down through the years. It’s the annual football clash between the Tigers of Washington high school and the Bulldogs of Canton McKinley. Ohio’s schoolboy classic of the gridiron.

Play At Fawcett Stadium

This year it will be staged at Fawcett stadium, Canton and this year, as in years past, the warriors of the two schools come to the end of the trail with hopes high and with a determination that the school they represent shall hold the crown of champion when dusk settles over the torn sod of the battleground next Saturday night.

For one team a cherished ambition will be realized. For the other it will be a heart breaking, dismal windup, the bursting of a bubble they had hoped would stay intact to the finish. Seldom does a Massillon-Canton game end in a tie.

Once again these two old scholastic foes of the gridiron come to the end of a long, hard journey rated as the outstanding teams in Ohio. This year both enter their 10th and final tussle of the season with undefeated records. Of the two the Tigers own the best, they have won nine in a row. The Bulldogs have won eight and have a 13-13 tie with Warren to mar an otherwise perfect slate.

Both teams hurdled their final obstacles last week. The Bulldogs completed their final task before the Tiger encounter last Thursday night barely nosing out a determined Mansfield team 12 to 7. Two Canton touchdowns in the closing minutes of the fourth period saved the Bulldogs from their first lacing of the season.

The Tigers completed their final assignment before testing the bite of the Bulldogs last Saturday on a snow covered gridiron at Tiger stadium by defeating Youngstown Rayen 39 to 0 for their ninth victory in a row while 5,000 shivering, teeth chattering fans braved a cold, wintry blizzard to watch their favorites run rough shod over a beefy but rather awkward opponent from Mahoning County.

Saves Regulars

As was expected the game proved a rather easy task for Coach Elwood Kammer’s youthful pigskin chasers. Scoring in every quarter they rolled up six touchdowns and three points after touchdowns, hitting pay dirt twice in each the first and second periods and scoring lone markers in both the third and fourth.

As far as keeping his regulars in good physical condition, the game worked out fine for Kammer. His starting lineup contained only eight of the Tiger first stringers, the other three remaining on the sidelines throughout the encounter.

After the Tigers had scored their third touchdown early in the second period, Kammer pulled all his regulars out of the encounter and sent them into the clubhouse, the second team doing the battling the rest of the day, giving way to the third stringers a minute or two before the final gun. Every Tiger in uniform got a chance to have his nose pushed into the snow that covered the field.

Rayen furnished but little opposition to the orange and black. The Youngstown lads were quite hefty but they failed to show a thing until late in the fourth quarter when Jack Pickering, a pretty fair sort of halfback and Rayen’s offensive star, brought his comrades to life by taking a Massillon punt on his 23 yard line and racing it back 60 yards to Massillon’s 17 before being pulled down from behind by Bob Richards, Tiger guard. It was the longest single individual gain of the day and the only reason young Mr. Pickering did not make it a touchdown was because he appeared to be so fagged out he could hardly put one foot ahead of the other in the final stretch.

After Pickering enlivened his mates with his spectacular dash, the Youngstown outfit made a determined bid for a touchdown and almost succeeded. They finally worked the ball to Massillon’s three-yard line with a first down coming up but they lacked the punch to put it over, the Tigers ganging up on them and repelling Rayen’s four attempts to score.

Luke Scores Early

It did not take the Tigers long to tally their first set of counters. The Tigers received and an exchange of punts gave Massillon the ball on Rayen’s 39. On the first play the orange and black did a clever bit of ball handling and when it was all over Wilmer Luke had scooted down the sideline for 39 yards and a touchdown. Bob Wallace took the ball from center, tossed it to Romeo Pellegrini for what looked like a reverse, and then Pellegrini uncorked a lateral to Luke who had come around from his end post and the lanky colored boy tucked the leather under his arm and neatly picked his way through the visitors for a nifty bit of running that did not end until he was back of Rayen’s goal line. Mastriann’s placekick was good for the extra point.

A few minutes later another Tiger touchdown was in the making. Tom Jasinski punted to Pickering who was hit hard by Pellegrini just as he was picking up the ball. Pickering fumbled and Luke covered on Rayen’s 24-yard line. Then on another one of those triple passes Wallace, Mastriann to Pellegrini, Romeo skirted right end for six. On the next play Wallace, “Crazy Legs” they call him now, dashed around his left end and never stopped until he had planted the ball back of Rayen’s goal line. It was an 18-yard dash. Mastriann again made good on the conversion.

The third Massillon touchdown was on the way when the first quarter ended. Jasinski took Moses Garcia’s punt on Massillon’s 30 and ran it back nine yards to the 39. Pellegrini on a reverse hit right tackle for five and then Wallace went on another rampage, this time around left end for 27 yards to Rayen’s 29-yard line. Pellegrini from punt formation cracked through the line for eight and Mastriann made it a first down to Rayen’s 18 as the quarter ended.

Pellegrini stumbled and fell on the first play of the second quarter, losing six yards. He then pitched a strike to Luke who was chased out of bounds on Rayen’s five yard line. Pellegrini made two at the line, Mastriann went to the one through left tackle and Pellegrini scored on the next play.

After the kickoff Kammer pulled his seven regulars and sent in the remainder of the second team to help Luke, Richards and Wilbert Pedrotty who had done a good job with the varsity. Luke replaced Don Willmot, Richards was in for Bill Gable and Pedrotty filled Glenn Keller’s shoes.

With the regulars in the club house, enjoying a hot shower, the second team went to work on the visitors and chalked up Massillon’s fourth touchdown before the second quarter ended.

Blocked Punt Brings Score

Vic Turkall punted to Adrian Castella who was downed by Bob Clark on Massillon’s 37. Pedrotty tossed Armando Rossi without gain and Richards crashed through to floor Casetlla for a 16-yard loss. Castella then dropped back to punt but Don Sedjo rammed through to block the kick. As the ball sailed across Rayen’s goal Bob Heltzel grabbed it for the touchdown. Turkall’s place kick was good and boosted the score to 27-0.

A Rayen fumble led to Massillon’s fifth set of counters soon after the third period opened. Dick Walschlag dropped the ball and Pedrotty covered on Rayen’s 30. Wilbert Webb attempted a pass to Pedrotty which failed. Sedjo hit for three and Turkall passed to Clark for 9 to Rayen’s 18. A pass from Turkall intended for Luke missed fire and then Webb missed the ball on a lateral losing 10. Turkall, however, wiped out this loss by pitching a pass into Luke’s arms and the Massillon end went over for a touchdown. The gain covered 28 yards.

Soon after the fourth quarter opened, Pickering staged his thrilling 60-yard run and the Tigers had their chance to show how rugged they were by successfully repelling Rayen’s
only real bid for a touchdown.

By this time Rayen was gambling desperately on passes in an effort to score. Pickering was doing most of the tossing and seldom hitting a receiver. He did, however, hit one receiver and it meant another touchdown for Massillon. The receiver happened to be Sedjo and he raced 50 yards for the score.

It happened near the end of the game. After getting the ball on Massillon’s 48 through a punt, Pickering dropped back and cut loose with a pass.

The ball landed squarely in the waiting arms of Sedjo who was standing on the 50 and with a clear field ahead the Massillon fullback romped 50 yards unmolested for the sixth and final Tiger touchdown.

Massillon’s third team took over after the kickoff. Pickering completed three passes, all to Stan Grosshandler, before the game ended but Rayen was still far away from a touchdown when the gun sounded.

The statistics show Massillon made 12 first downs to five for Rayen. The Tigers attempted 22 passes, completed six for 102 yards. Rayen tried 23, completed five for 51 yards and had five intercepted.

The Tigers had a gross yardage from all plays of 263 and a loss of 46 for a net yardage of 217. Rayen had a gross of 85 with a loss of 28 for a net of 57 yards.

Bulldogs Next

Massillon – 30 Pos. Rayen – 0

Luke LE Hunyadi
Arrington LT Burnett
Tonges LG Cappuzzello
Williams C Schan
Richards RG J.Degennaro
Berger RT Conroy
Jasinski RE Galose
Pedrotty QB D.Degennaro
Pellegrini LH Pickering
Wallace RH Tabachino
Mastriann FB C. Bruno

Score by quarters:
Massillon 14 13 6 6 – 39

Touchdowns: Luke 2, Wallace, Pellegrini, Heltzel, Sedjo

Points after touchdown: Mastriann 2 (place kick),
Turkall 1, (place kick).

Substitutions – Massillon: Webb, Ielsch, Belch, Sedjo, Turkall, Profant, Clark, Heltzel, Cicchinelli, McGuire, Weeks, Prine, Matako, Millar, Bonk, Rouhler, Stevens, Makowski, Paulson, Slussler, Green, Kelly, Edie. Rayen: Surbrick, Dios, Maltbie, Garcia, Nicklas, Labozan, Chimento, Markawitz, Wolshaf, Julian, Russi, Castella, Dickey, Fox, Gosshandler.

Referee: Lobach. Umpire: Shafer.
Headlineman: Murphy. Field judge: Brown.

Statistics
Tigers Rayen
Total first downs 12 5
Yards gained by rushing 161 34
Yards lost by rushing 46 28
Net yards gained by rushing 115 6
Forward passes attempted 22 23
Forward passes completed 6 5
Yards gained by passing 102 51
Total net yardage rushing
and passing 217 57
Passes had intercepted 0 5
Number of punts 10 5
Average distance of punts 27 19
Number of kickoffs 6 2
Average distance of kicks 40 34
Number of fumbles 1 3
Times ball lost on fumbles 0 2
Number of penalties against 5 4
Yards lost by penalties 35 30

Big Program for Tiger Boosters

The final meeting of the Tiger Booster club before the Massillon-Canton game next Saturday will be held in the Washington high school auditorium this evening at 8 o’clock.

It will be one of the most important of the year and should prove to be one of the most interesting.

It will be an open meeting and all Tiger fans are invited.

Coach Elwood Kammer will not attend tonight’s meeting. The Tiger coach never attends the meeting before the Canton game.

Officers for the coming year will be elected. The Tiger swing band of Washington high school will be on hand to furnish music and the recently organized Massillon chapter of the Society of the Preservation and

Encouragement of Barbershop Quartet Singing in America will make its first public appearance.

R.C. Arrington
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1943: Massillon 46, Canton Timken 0

Tigers Score 7 Touchdowns To Trounce Timken 46 – 0

EIGHTH WIN FOR LOCAL GRIDDERS

Flashy Aerial Attack In First Half And Brilliant Running Attack In Second Gives Orange And Black Wide Margin Over Cantonians

By FRED J. BECKER
Independent Sports Editor

Rolling up seven touchdowns three of them within the space of a little more than four minutes at the start of the third quarter, the Washington high school Tigers Friday night buried Canton Timken under a 46 to 0 score at Tiger stadium as a crowd of nearly 10,000 watched Coach Elwood Kammer’s youngsters chalk up their eighth straight victory of the season in their final night encounter of the 1943 campaign. The conquest of Timken equaled exactly the 46-0 drubbing the orange and black handed Akron St. Vincent’s in the third game of the season and which, until last night, had been the highest total made by Massillon against any opponent.

While the Tigers were making merry at the expense of Canton Timken another game of interest to Massillon fans was taking place in eastern Stark County where the Canton McKinley Bulldogs were humbling the Alliance Aviators 31 to 0. It was McKinley’s seventh triumph in eight starts; the only blot on the Bulldogs’ record being a 13-13 tie with Warren defeated 20 to 0 a week ago by Massillon.

Capacity Crowd Is Certain

The Tiger and Bulldog meet in two weeks in their annual rumpus at Fawcett stadium, Canton, and already a capacity crowd of more than 22,000 is assured. Practically every ticket already has been sold.

In defeating Timken 46 to 0 Coach Kammer’s lads failed to equal the score made by McKinley against the same team, the Bulldogs trimming the Timkenites 54 to 12 early in the season and in conquering Alliance 31 to 0, the Bulldogs outstripped the Tigers who three weeks ago were able to edge the Aviators by only a 12-0 margin.

Offense Ragged In Spots

While they rolled points against Timken almost at will, once they got started, the Tigers last night were rather ragged in spots, particularly early in the contest and their performance indicated they still will have to improve if they hope to take the Bulldogs into camp in two weeks. In smearing Timken the orange and black registered its second victory of the season over a Canton opponent, having defeated Canton Lincoln 15 to 0 in the season’s opener but the triumph over a Canton foe they desire and Massillon fans want them to score is still to be registered and the Bulldogs will be as always, the toughest foe the Tigers face. The orange and black will have to have a much sharper and better functioning offense than it showed against Timken if it hopes to avenge the 35-0 shellacking McKinley plastered on Massillon a year ago.

The Tigers last night scored touchdowns in every quarter, one in the first, two in the second, three in the third and one in the fourth. Penalties robbed them of at least two others and an offense that bogged down when it was most needed prevented them from scoring several others.

Every member of the Tiger squad saw action last night, the second stringers taking over after the score had mounted to 39 to 0 early in the third quarter and the third team relieving them in the fourth period and finishing the game.

It had been expected all week that Timken would attempt to turn back the Tigers with a forward passing attack but instead it was the Massillonians who went in for aerials in a big way. The Tigers, particularly during the first half, kept the air filled with footballs and cut loose with more passes than they have attempted at any other time this season.

All told the Bengals attempted 25 passes, completing eight for 224 yards, an average of 28 yards for each successful heave. Timken intercepted one Massillon aerial. The visitors tried only seven aerials and completed none with the Tigers intercepting three.

Stonewall Defense

As usual Coach Kammer’s aggregation displayed a stonewall defense, effectively smothering all of Timken’s attempts to score. It was not until late in the fourth quarter with the third team in the game that the visitors were able to work their way inside Massillon’s 20 yard line, getting as far as the 17 before they were stopped. It was the only time Timken made any serious threat to score.

Standing our prominently on defense last night was big Bob Williams, Massillon center, who plays a tackle position on defense, steadily improving in every game Big Bob last night turned in his best job of the season as he smeared Timken ball toters with his deadly tackling. The balance of the Tiger forward wall also played good ball, but had its troubles with Angelo Sanchez, Timken’s ace backfielder and probably the most versatile ball lugger the Tigers have seen all season.

Sanchez was easily Timken’s outstanding star. On offense he piled up a lot of yardage on the Tigers by his clever running and his defensive play, particularly against Massillon’s ball carriers kept the Tigers from running the score close to the century mark.

Just to show you how well Massillon’s defense functioned, Dick Arrington, husky Negro tackle, at one time in the third quarter became the fifth man in the Timken backfield. Charles Neago, Timken fullback, received the ball from center on what apparently was to have been a reverse play. Arrington crashed through the Timken line and was in Canton’s backfield in a jiffy, so fast that Neago thought he was the Timken back who was to take the ball and turning shoved the ball into Dick’s hands. Arrington was so surprised by the sudden turn of events that before trying to get under way he was brought down by Timken tacklers.

The Tigers customary good blocking was not up to its usual efficiency last night and several times what might have been long Massillon gains were wiped out because Timken tackles were pushed rather than knocked out of the way.

Tigers Hold Big Edge

The statistics give the Tigers a big edge over the Timkenites with Massillon making 16 first downs to eight for Canton. The orange and black gained 224 yards on seven passes and 361 yards on rushing with a loss of 21 yards on rushing for a net gain on both passing and rushing of 564 yards. Timken made 160 yards rushing and had a loss of 32 for a net gain of 128 yards. The blue and gold failed to make a yard on passes.

The Tigers waded into scoring territory early in the contest but rather ragged playing kept them away from pay dirt until about the middle of the period.

Timken received and Sanchez, on a reverse, hoofed it 15 yards through the Tigers for Timken’s first first down, carrying to the Massillon 47 but here they were stopped and big Calvin Moore punted to Pellegrini on his 20. A Wallace to Pellegrini to Jasinski lateral with Tom skirting his left end made nine but another lateral from Wallace to Willmot with Willmot heaving a long pass intended for Jasinski failed. Wallace then plunged for a first down and Pellegrini heaved a long pass to Jasinski for a 41 yard gain to Canton’s 28. Tom’s good catch of the ball featured the play. Mastriann and Wallace picked up another first down to Timken’s 18 and Wallace skirted left end for seven more but here the attack bogged down and Timken held, finally taking the ball on its 15.

Pellegrini paved the way for the Tigers first touchdown when he intercepted a pass thrown by Timken’s George Stan on Massilon’s 35 and ran it back to the 50 before being forced out of bounds. Five plays later the Tigers had their first touchdown.

Mastriann made four at the line and Wallace in two dashes made it first down to Canton’s 40. Pellegrini’s pass intended for Willmot was incomplete but Romeo then pitched a long one to Jasinski that connected for 40 yards and the first Massillon counters. Tom took the ball on a good catch just over the Timken goal line. Mastriann missed on an attempted placekick.

Just before the first quarter ended Moore punted out of bounds to Massillon’s 40-yard line. Once gain Pellegrini attempted to hit Willmot with a pass and once again connections failed.

Eighty Yard Touchdown Play

Then on the first play in the second quarter, Pellegrini from punt formation sought to find a Massillon receiver out in the open but before he could find one he was nailed for a 20 yard loss being downed on his 20. But his loss was wiped out on the next play when Romeo, trying another pass, pitched a strike into Captain Bob Wallace’s hands on a 15 yard heave and the Tiger leader raced down field for 65 yards and Massillon’s touchdown. The overall gain was 80 yards and the touchdown came after three plays. Wallace took the pass out in the open and had clear sailing until near the goal line when he neatly sidestepped a lone Timken tackler and pranced unmolested into the end zone. Turkall, sent in to placekick, missed fire and the score was 12 to 0.

The Tigers missed another touchdown a bit later after gaining the ball on Timken’s 35 when Wallace partially blocked one of Moore’s punts; Mastriann getting the ball on the 40 and being downed on Timken’s 35. Pellegrini tried three passes and none worked when Massillon receivers were unable to hold the leather. Then on a fake punt formation, Glenn Keller took the ball from Jasinski and raced around right end for a first down. Another first down with Wallace making nine on one dash took the ball to the 10 but here the Tiger attack once again bogged down and Pellegrini was stopped in his tracks when he attempted to lug the ball over the one yard line on fourth down.

Timken was checked and Moore got away a good kick to Pellegrini who took the ball on his 48 and ran it back to Canton’s 46. Once again the Tiger offense functioned and in three plays the Tigers had chalked up their third touchdown.

Pellegrini passed for another seven and then pitched another strike to Wallace who raced 17 yards to Canton’s 23 before being overhauled. Again Pellegrini pitched a strike, this time to Jasinski and big Tom took the ball in the southeast corner and raced over for the score. Mastriann’s placekick was good boosting the count to 19.

The start of the third quarter, however, saw Massillon’s offense at its best and the Tigers rammed over three touchdowns in a hurry, two of them in the first two minutes of the period with the third coming after four minutes and 15 seconds of play.

Forsaking passes and resorting to the running game, the Tigers almost ran the Timkenites out of the park as they chalked up the three quick touchdowns.

Touchdowns Came Quickly

Massillon received and in two plays the Tigers moved 60 yards for a touchdown. The Tiger first stringers were still in the game with the exception of Keller who had been replaced by Wilbert Pedrotty and Bill Gable who gave way to Dick Richards.

Alonzo kicked out of bounds on Massillon’s 40. On the first play Pellegrini raced round right end and down to Canton’s 43. Then Wallace dashed around right end and into the clear, scampering all the way down the field on a pretty run for Massillon’s fourth set of counters. Mastriann’s successful placekick added the extra point.

In jig time the Tigers were back for another touchdown. Canton received and on the first play Arrington found himself a member of the Timken backfield as Neago handed him the ball. Dick was downed on Canton’s 35. Mastriann made six at the line and Wallace raced around left end and down to the Canton five before being forced out of bounds by Sanchez. The dash was good for 24 yards. On the next play Mastriann tore his way through the Timken forward wall for the touchdown. His attempted placekick, however, failed.

Once again Timken received and this time Wallace did the kick off. Bob’s boot, however, went only nine yards before going out of bounds, Canton getting the ball on Massillon’s 49. Williams, Richards and Arrington chased Sanchez toward his goal, finally nailing him for a 17 yard loss and Moore then punted, the kick being partially blocked by Larry Berger. Pedrotty got the ball on the 50.

Pellegrini made one at right end and then picked up 28 yards on his next effort, being chaed out of bounds on Canton’s 21. Once again Wallace turned loose his speed and dashing around left end went the remaining 28 yards for the sixth Massillon touchdown and the third in less than five minutes of play in the third quarter. Mastriann converted for the extra point and then Kammer sent in his entire second team.

The second stringers scored one touchdown but lost two others on penalties.

Early in the fourth period Vic Turkall intercepted a pass tossed by Neago on Massillon’s 29 and the second team moved toward pay dirt. Turkall, Don McGuire and Bertrus Webb raced the ball to Canton’s 10 with Webb clipping off a 40 yard run through left tackle, getting to the 10 before being forced out of bounds.

Penalties Halt Scoring

On the next play McGuire dropped the ball but Turkall picked it up and dashed across the line only to lose the points when the ball was called back and Massillon penalized 15 for offensive holding. But the Tigers roared right back with Turkall clipping off 17 to put the ball on the three from where Webb rammed through the line for what looked like another touchdown but once again the ball was called back and Massillon drew a five-yard penalty for offside.

Then Tomsho intercepted Pedrotty’s pass. Timken failed to get anywhere and Lucas punted to Turkall who was downed on Timken’s 20. Turkall heaved a pass to Wilmer Luke good for 11 yards and another to Pedrotty for five. Then Webb, on a neat bit of running, raced 16 yards around left end to Canton’s seven from where Turkall crashed through right tackle and over and this time the touchdown counted. Turkall made good on his placekick for the extra point, boosting Massillon’s total to 46 where it remained.

The entire third team took over at his stage and Timken carried the ball from its 40 to Massillon’s 17 before the game ended, the Tiger third stringers holding at his point and gaining possession of the ball as the final gun sounded.

Statistics
Tigers Timken
Total first downs 16 8
Yards gained by rushing 361 160
Yards lost by rushing 21 32
Net yards gained by rushing 340 128
Forward passes attempted 26 7
Forward passes completed 8 0
Yards gained by passing 224 0
Total net yardage rushing
And passing 564 128
Passes had intercepted 1 3
Number of punts 3 7
Average distance of punts 26 30
Number of kickoffs 8 1
Average distance of kicks 23 15
Number of fumbles 1 4
Times ball lost on fumbles 0 4
Number of penalties against 6 5
Yards lost by penalties 40 25

R.C. Arrington
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1943: Massillon 20, Warren Harding 0

Tigers Score Three Touchdowns

AERIAL ATTACK IS DECIDING FACTOR

Massillon Gladiators Record Seventh Straight Win And Inflict Worst Defeat Of Season On Trumbull County Outfit

By FRED J. BECKER
Independent Sports Editor

A snarling Tiger, thirsting for blood, clawed three man-sized chunks out of a bunch of Presidents at Warren Friday night, missed out on two others by scant margins and today had once again established itself as the king pin of Ohio scholastic football.

Traveling through the air on the brilliant execution of aerials and ripping through on the ground for steady and substantial gains, the Washington high school Tigers last night, before a capacity crowd of 10,000 howling fans in Harding stadium. Massillon, defeated a never-say-die Warren G. Harding football team 20 to 0 for its seventh straight victory of the 1943 season and its most important triumph of the campaign.

PASSES BRING THREE TOUCHDOWNS

Three times did Coach Elwood Kammer’s stalwarts drive though and over the Presidents for touchdowns, two of them coming directly on passes, the third being the result of a long and brilliantly executed overhead attack. On two other occasions the Tigers struck deep into enemy territory but missed touchdowns, being robbed of additional points largely through their own actions rather than Warren’s defense, although the defensive play of the Presidents was determined throughout the ball game, even though the eastern Ohio lads were not able to successfully turn back the deadly thrusts of a vengeful and victory bound Tiger.

In conquering Warren for the seventh straight time since 1937, the orange and black last night became the second team this fall to take the measure of the Presidents and the first team to run up a total of 20 points on Jesse O. Beck’s aggregation. Warren’s only previous defeat before its engagement with Massillon came in its third game of the season, a 13-0 loss to Youngstown East.

OUTSHINE BULLDOGS

And in subduing the hard fighting and inspired Warren outfit, the Tigers did something which Canton McKinley’s Bulldogs failed to do. The Cantonians three weeks ago met those same Presidents on the same field the Tigers played them on and were lucky to come away with a 13-13 tie. The Presidents that night showed the Bulldogs they were not the big guys they thought they were.

And now what, if any, bearing does the results of Warren’s two battles with Stark county’s most bitter and ancient rivals have on the coming Massillon-Canton tussle November 20? Well, that will be decided three weeks from now. The most important thing right now is that the Tigers accomplished what the Bulldogs failed to do.

The Tigers, whether any one appreciates it or not, have become a pretty well knit and coordinated ball club. They are today a sturdy outfit that plays as a well-oiled machine, with a determination to go places and with the ability to make that determination succeed.

They may not be an outstanding team, taken as a whole, but they are a darned good ball club and one that is going to be mighty hard to stop from here on out. The team that does stop them, if they are stopped before the curtain is rung down late next month, will have to play better football all the way than the Tigers do – and that’s something not one of the seven opponents conquered thus far has been able to do.

The Tigers defeated Warren last night because they were the better ball club. The statistics show it, without question, and the orange and black showed it out there on the field in such a convincing fashion that not even the most rabid Warren fan could deny it, even though the majority of them refused to give up hope until the fourth quarter when the Massillonians punched over their third touchdown.

There is one striking difference between Massillon football and the brand played by most any other schools. The Tigers have been taught to play the kind of football that pays dividends on the scoreboard. They have been taught to go out for points and to get them as quickly and as easily as possible. And they have been throughout the season and are today in splendid physical condition to withstand the rigors of grueling combat and believe me it is that superb condition which has been a deciding factor in bringing Tiger points and keeping opposing clubs away from pay dirt.

TIGERS HAVE COURAGE

Few are the teams in the country today with sufficient intestinal fortitude and brains to fling a forward pass the first time they get hold of the ball. But that’s just what the Tigers did last night, catching their opponents napping, and that brilliant and to Warren, unexpected attack, set up Massillon’s first touchdown early in the opening quarter and gave the Tigers the edge and put Warren in the hole so badly the Presidents were never able to get out of it.

That’s the kind of football the Tigers play and that’s the kind of football that pays off in victories.

The Tigers chalked up touchdowns in the first, third, and fourth quarters. They failed to score one in the second quarter, even though they marched the ball from their own 10 to Warren’s 10, without a break, only to lose out when in sight of Warren’s goal line. Again early in the fourth quarter they advanced the ball to the President’ five yard line, only to lose it because their offense failed to click just right.

Massillon played plenty of good football last night and defensively checked Warren’s offensive thrusts quite completely, the Presidents only once getting inside Massillon’s 20 yard line, that coming late in the fourth period. As usual the entire Tiger team performed excellently on defense with hard tackling stopping the Warren backs most of the time. The defensive play last night of Dick Arrington and big Bob Williams was beautiful to watch. Arrington, an outstanding defensive player all season, smeared Warren backs all over the lot throughout the entire game Williams likewise performed in a brilliant manner.

Offensively Captain Bob Wallace, Romeo Pellegrini and Henry Mastriann carried the offensive burden with Tom Jasinski and Don Willmot cutting in for a large slice of the glory by their brilliant catching of forward passes. It was Jasinski who was on the receiving end of the long aerial heaved by Pellegrini the first time the Tigers got hold of the ball and Tom’s nifty catch and long run set up the first Massillon touchdown. It was Willmot who was on the receiving end of two other passes that produced Massillon’s second and third touchdown. Both of them were cleverly executed aerials with Willmot looking like a DiMaggio in the outfield as he speared Pellegrini’s well-placed strikes.

BRUISING GAME

Out on the field the game was a bruising and hard fought battle. The Warren Presidents never gave up and the Tigers were never far enough ahead until late in the battle to relax even for a moment. The Presidents, even though they didn’t score, had sufficient offensive strength in such backs as Landres Williams, Don Spencer, and Ed Kvesich and a potential pass receiver in Leonard Corbin to make them a threat every time they had the ball.

The statistics, however, provide a convincing proof of Massillon’s superiority. The Tigers made 19 first downs to four for Warren. From scrimmage the orange and black had a net gain of 258 to 100 for the Presidents. The Tigers tried 12 forward passes, completing six for 106 yards, two of them directly for touchdowns, a third setting up a set of counters. Warren failed to complete on pass in six. Massillon intercepted three Warren aerials, the Presidents snagged two Tiger heaves.

Penalties several times checked the Tigers in their forward progress but for the most party they were able to overcome these setbacks and continue their victory march.

After bagging their first set of counters early in the game, the Tigers took command of the situation and while they picked up a lot of ground they really didn’t get going until the middle of the third quarter and then it was a bit of unnecessary roughness on the part of the Presidents that touched off a Massillon bonfire that was to envelope the eastern Ohioans and inflict on them the worst defeat they have suffered this season.

Henry Mastriann lugged the ball through the Warren line on a spinner and dashing toward the sideline had picked up 16 yards before being forced out of bounds. The Warrenites seemed determined to run Henry out of the ball park and probably would have had not a wire fence enclosure stopped them. But they ran the Tiger fullback right smack into the fence, even though it was far back from the sidelines. It appeared to all and mostly to the officials that such energetic action on Warren’s part was uncalled for and constituted unnecessary roughness, the play bringing a 15-yard penalty for the Presidents. The Tigers also did not like to have their fullback treated that way and from then on they literally tore the Presidents to shreds. Those Tigers are bad medicine, once they get riled up.

Warren received the opening kickoff, defending the south goal. Jasinski kicked out of bounds on Warren’s 47. Arrington had a lot to do with smearing three Warren thrusts at the Tiger line and when Williams fumbled on the third try, Dick was right there to pounce on the ball, the Tigers gaining possession on their 42-yard line.

BRILLIANT PASS

Then as the Tigers came out of their huddle, Pellegrini took the ball on a pass from Williams, faded back and cut loose with a long aerial. Down the field sailed the ball and hoofing it down the field to catch that same ball was big Tom Jasinski. The veteran Tiger end out-raced the entire Warren team, got into the clear ahead of Spencer, Warren safety man, turned, and there was the ball coming to nestle in his arms. Tom made a neat catch and hotfooted it toward Warren’s goal, being brought to earth on the five-yard line. It was a breath-taking play. The spectators gasped as the Tigers completed the aerial and so did the Presidents and they never quite recovered from the shock during the rest of the game.

With the ball on Warren’s five it required but two more plays to move it across the goal line. Wallace hit left tackle for two and Pellegrini raced around his right end for the remaining distance. Romeo added the extra point by again racing through the Warren team into the end zone.

After an exchange of punts Jasinski intercepted a Spencer pass on Massillon’s 10-yard line. Here the Tigers set in motion one of their most impressive offensive marches, carrying the ball 80 yards without a break but failing to score. Mastriann, Wallace, and Pellegrini on plunges and runs moved the ball through and around the Warren team in a steady march downthe field to Warren’s 10 before the attack bogged down. Then with fourth down coming up and six to go Pellegrini tried a pass but fullback Ed Kvesich intercepted the ball on his seven. The Tiger march had netted five first downs in a row. The half ended with Warren in possession of the ball on its 38.

Early in the third quarter Massillon gained possession of the ball on its 15 after a Spencer punt and this time moved 85 yards through the enemy without a halt for the second Massillon touchdown. Fourteen plays were required.

Pellegrini picked up six at right tackle and Wallace made it a first down to his 26-yard line. Pellegrini was tossed for a five yard loss but Mastriann on a spinner wheeled through right tackle and dashing toward the sidelines went to Massillon’s 38 before being rushed out of bounds and into the wire fence. The Warren tactics drew a 15-yard penalty for unnecessary roughness, putting the ball on Warren’s 47. Wallace picked up six yards at the left end and Mastriann smeared through right tackle for a first down on Warren’s 36. Wallace dashed around left end for 11 to the 25.

Mastriann hit the time for three and then Pellegrini lugged the leather wide around right end and raced 17 yards to Warren’s five on a pretty dash. Mastriann made three in two tries and then Wallace dashed around left end and over the goal line but Massillon lost the touchdown when the officials ruled a Tiger back was in motion. The five-yard penalty put the ball back to the seven but the Tigers were not to be stopped this time. Pellegrini pitched a perfect strike to Don Willmot who took the ball in the end zone for Massillon’s second touchdown. Mastriann added the extra point from placement.

JASINSKI ON JOB

Once again late in the third quarter Jasinski was the right man in the right place, intercepting another Spencer pass on his 15 and running it back to Warren’s 49 before being chased out of bounds. Wallace clipped off 14 yards at left end and then Pellegrini heaved a pass to Mastirann that netted a 20-yard gain and put the ball on the Warren 14. Pellegini scooted around right end and down to the Warren three for another first down. Mastriann went to the two-yard line as the third quarter ended.

Henry smashed the line again on the first play in the fourth quarter but once again a Massilon back was in motion and this time the five-yard penalty stopped a Massillon touchdown. With the ball on the seven, Pellegrini’s pass to Jasinski miss fired, Wallace made but two at the line and when Romeo sought to try another pass he found no receiver open and the Warren forwards charged through and drove him way back to his 20 where they floored him and took the ball.

A short time later Spencer was forced to punt and the Tigers got the ball on their 42 and this time they were not to be denied. In 11 plays they advanced the ball 58 yards and chalked up their third touchdown.

Pellegrini’s attempted pass to Wallace was knocked down by Spencer who missed an interception by the scantiest of margins. Mastriann, Keller, and Pellegini smashed ahead to a first down on Warren’s 28. Mastriann made two more at the line and then Wallace skirted wide around his left end and raced down to the nine-yard line before being run out of bounds. His dash picked up 16 yards. Pellegrini raced around his right end and over the line but once again the ball was called back and Massillon was set back 15 yards for clipping, putting the ball on Warren’s 22.

Wallace and Pellegrini picked up five and then Pellegrini heaved a pass to Jasinski who was downed on the 10 after a nine-yard gain. With fourth down coming up and 10 to go, Pellegrini calmly pitched another point getting strike to Don Willmot, the lanky Massillon end again making a perfect catch in the end zone for the third touchdown. Mastriann’s attempted place kick was wide but Henry sure put plenty of stuff into his kick, sending the ball clear out of the lot. It was a white ball and apparently the only one Warren had because the game was finished with a natural tan ball.

Warren made its best and only bid for a score in the closing minutes of the game. Landres Williams took Jasinski’s kick off and raced it back 31 yards to Massillon’s 39. Kvesich ripped off 16 yards on a pretty run to take the ball to Massillon’s 24. Three plays moved the ball to the Tiger 18, the first time Warren had been able to penetrate inside Massillon’s 20, but on the next play, Sedjo, who had replaced Mastriann, smeared Kvesich who took a short pass from Sepncer and Warren failed to make the necessary yards, losing possession on Massilon’s 15. The game ended a few plays later with Keller fumbling and Warren covering on Massillon’s 32 as the gun sounded.

SEVEN STRAIGHT

Mass. – 20 Pos. Warren – 0
Willmot LE Corbin
Arrington LT Bevan
Tonges LG Martin
Williams C Polena
Gable RG Sicuro
Berger RT Storz
Jasinski RE Marco
Keller QB Marcecillo
Pellegrini LH Spencer
Wallace RH Williams
Mastriann FB Kvesich

Score by quarters:
Massillon 7 0 7 6 – 20

Touchdowns: Pellegrini, Willmot 2.

Points after touchdowns: Pellegrini (run), Mastriann (placekick)

Substitutions: Warren – Abe, Williams, Aurand, Fritz.
Massillon – Belch, Heltzel, Jewell, Turkall, Luke, Sedjo.

Referee: Lobach. Umpire: Allison.
Healineman: Shafer. Field judge: Rupp.

MASSILLON – McKINLEY
FOOTBALL TICKETS

Washington High School Ticket Office

FOR MASSILLON
SEASON TICKET HOLDERS

One McKinley ticket for each reserved season ticket.
Not more than six tickets to be held by one customer.

MONDAY, NOV. 1
From 6 TO 9 P.M.
BRING YOUR RAYEN TICKET

Balance of tickets for general public, limit six to
a person, on sale Tuesday, Nov. 2, 6 to 9 P.M.

PRICE $1.10 a ticket

R.C. Arrington
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1943: Massillon 33, Mansfield 0

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)

Substitutions: Massillon – Luke, Belch, Sedjo, Heltzel, Turkall, Profant, Pedrotty, Webb, Clark, Ielsch, Richards, Cincchinelli, Stevens, Weekes, Slusser, Edie, McGuire, Rouhier, Green, Bonk, Matako, Millar, Makowski.
Mansfield – Jacobs, Dent, Hartig, Konjenovich.

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

R.C. Arrington
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1943: Massillon 12, Alliance 0

Alliance Handed 12-0  Lacing By Tigers In Muddy Battle

ROLL UP TALLIES IN THIRD QUARTER

Washington High Gridders Establish Themselves As Good Mudders By Winning Fifth Straight Game; Played in Torrent of Rain

By FRED J. BECKER
Independent Sport Editor

And now, ladies and gentlemen, you have every right to say that your 1943 Washington high school Tigers are a pretty fair country ball club.

They proved it Friday night in the mud and water at Tiger stadium when they defeated the Aviators of Alliance high school 12 to 0 for their fifth straight victory of the campaign, conquering not only a first class football opponent but the elements as well. Playing under the most adverse weather and field conditions any Massillon team has been called upon to face in a number of years Coach Elwood Kammer’s youngsters accepted their assignment with gusto and came through with flying colors.

Program Cover

SECOND STARK FOE TURNED BACK
In defeating the Aviators, the orange and black took the measure of a worthy foe that prior to last night had lost but one game in four engagements. The victory advances the Tigers, another milestone in their campaign to regain the Stark county scholastic championship they surrendered to Canton McKinley last November when defeated 35 to 0 the first Massillon reverse in 53 games.

Alliance was the second Stark foe to feel the sting of the Tigers’ attack, Canton Lincoln taking at 15 to 0 lacing in the opening game of the season. Canton Timken and Canton McKinley are the two Stark opponents still remaining on the Massillon schedule.

DOWNPOUR FLOODS FIELD

Very little, if any rain had fallen in Massillon for over a month prior to Friday but yesterday afternoon and night the heavens opened up and rain fell in torrents for at least eight hours, turning the Tiger stadium gridiron into a sea of mud and water. A drenching downpour fell steadily throughout the game.
Because of the weather, what would have been the largest home crowd of the season turned out to be the smallest to see the Tigers in action in five games. Less than 6,000 hardy souls braved the deluge to sit through a soaking downpour and watch the Tigers slosh to their triumph over the Aviators. Had the weather been dry a crowd of at least 18,000 would have been on hand. As it was only the most ardent and enthusiastic Massillon and Alliance supporters braved a thorough soaking and flirted with pneumonia to watch the contest.

Naturally when the heavens opened up Coach Kammer and his assistants were a bit worried as to how their charges would perform on a wet field. Their four previous games had been played under ideal weather conditions and on a dry and solid gridiron. But the Tigers showed their tutors they could deliver the goods in fair weather or foul. They proved themselves a first class aggregation of mudders as they smashed their way to a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter to sew up the ball game.

Because of the slippery condition of the field and the steady downpour the Tiger machine did not function with the smoothness it was expected to show and probably would have displayed had the footing been firm. But battling against the handicap of adverse weather and a stout Alliance team that was tough defensively from start to finish the Tigers recorded a notable achievement and earned the praises, not only of their coaches, but of the fans who sat in on the rain saturated contest.

ALLIANCE NEVER DANGEROUS

Alliance, weakened by the loss of Bill Rodgers, its triple-threat backfield ace, laid up with an injured knee cartilage since the East Liverpool game two weeks ago, was never dangerous in an offensive way, never moving the ball beyond the Massillon 40 and never threatening to get within scoring range. Bill Rodgers entered the game at the start of the fourth quarter but was in only long enough to get off a nice punt for the Aviators. Then Coach Leonard (Dutch) Hoppes called him back to the sidelines.

The Tigers dominated play throughout the game. True their offense did not function as it did against Steubenville or Akron St. Vincent’s but considering the conditions under which they played they did right well in their ground gaining and the poor footing and an unfortunate penalty cost them at least two touchdowns in the first half. It would have been interesting to see what would have happened had the battle been staged on a dry field.

The Tigers clear cup superiority over their enemies from the eastern end of Stark county is shown in the statistics. The Massillonians made 10 first downs to one for Alliance, that Aviator first down coming late in the game when the Tigers were ruled guilty of interfering with an Aviator pass receiver. Alliance never came close to moving the chain through its offensive punch.

Despite the steady downpour and the slippery condition of the field the Tigers handled the ball well and few fumbles were made. The Tigers tried nine forward passes and completed two for 39 yards. Alliance, with Jack Robinson taking the injured Bill Rodgers’ place as the passer, tried 10 aerial heaves, most of them to Frank Rodgers, Bill’s brother, and completed but one for five yards that completed pass being the one on which interference was ruled. Massillon intercepted on pass.

In the ground gained department the Tigers greatly excelled the Aviators, having a total gained yardage from scrimmage and passes of 230 with a loss of 30 for a net gain of an even 200. Alliance had a total gain of 27 yards and a net loss of 29, winding up with a minus two.

CENTER OF LINE SHINES

Probably the most outstanding part of the Tigers performance was its work on defense. Alliance has some first rate ball luggers in Jack Robinson, Ray Allcorn and Dick Seidner, who replaced the injured Rodgers, but the orange and black forward wall smothered them quite effectively, doing a thorough job of smashing most of Alliance’s attempts to gain ground through the line or around the ends. The Aviators’ line also distinguished itself, the Tiger backs finding the alert Alliance forwards hard to skirt or knock out of a play. The Tigers, however, did find one weak spot in the Alliance defense and they rammed through it with telling effect in the second half.

The center of Massillon’s line with Bob Williams at center and Julius Tonges and Bill Gable on the guards, played its best game of the season last night. Williams submarined the Alliance backs time after time and his tackling was a bright spot in the battle. Tonges and Gable were in mud and water and the ball game up to their necks. The balance of the line with Belch and Arrington on the tackles and Willmot and Jasinski at the flanks soaked up a lot of water but did a thorough job of stopping the visiting firemen.

Henry Mastriann continued to impress as a steady and excellent line plunger ripping the center of the Aviators’ line apart consistently for good gains. Captain Bob Wallace found the going rather tough but completed a number of nice gains and Romeo Pellegrini got away often enough to keep the Aviators constantly in hot as well as cold water, and his fine running was directly responsible for Massillon’s second touchdown. The muddy field made Glenn Keller’s blocking assignments rather difficult but he was in the ball game all the time and his recovery of an Alliance fumble set up the first Massillon points.
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Even the second team, which took over late in the fourth quarter, acquitted itself well in its initial test in mud and water.

ROUGHNESS QUICKLY HALTED

Somewhere along the way the Alliance boys must have gotten the impression that some tactics frowned upon by the rule-book would be necessary to get along with the Tigers. Anyway on the first two plays of the game the Aviators were handed two 15-yard penalties for unnecessary roughness. Frank Rodgers kicked off to Don Willmot to start the watery contest and Don lugged the leather back to his 33 before being stopped. The officials promptly stepped in and marched off 15 more yards because of roughness by Alliance.

Then Wallace skirted left end for 11 yards and some more Alliance high jinks were uncorked with the result that Captain Bob came up with a neat shiner under his left eye and Alliance soaked up another 15 yard penalty for roughness, taking the ball to the Alliance 24. Then Referee Earl (Monk) Gross stepped into the picture and from the stands it looked as if he delivered a short but very pointed lecture to the Alliance boys. From then on and through the remainder of the game they were nice lads, playing football as the
rule-book says it should be played.

The Tigers seemed to be on the way to an early touchdown but a break of the game, and the breaks in such a contest as last night are frequent and both good and bad, halted their march toward the Alliance goal. The break came when Pellegrini got away around his right end and out into the open only to slip and fall on the alliance 25 where the Tigers had to surrender the leather, having failed to make the necessary yardage.

Another Massillon march a few minutes later was sidetracked when the Tigers were set back 15 yards for holding. Late in the first quarter Allcorn got off a quick kick from midfield that turned into a good break for the Tigers. The ball struck one of Allcorn’s teammates and Willmot got it just beyond the line of scrimmage and lugged it back to Alliance’s 36. Mastriann sloshed through the center of the Aviators’ line three times and toted the ball to Alliance’s 23 as the quarter ended.

PENALTY COSTS TOUCHDOWN

Then came a break that really hurt the Tigers. On the first play of the second period Pellegrini tucked the leather under his arm and set sail around his right end, racing 23 yards down the sideline and across the goal only to lose the points when the officials ruled the Tigers guilty of holding, calling the ball back and inflicting a 15-yard penalty on the local boys, putting the ball on the Alliance 38-yard line. A Pellegrini to Jasinski pass made up this penalty and more, taking the ball to Alliance’s 13 but here the Tigers bogged down and Alliance took the ball on its own 10.

Allcorn punted but the ball went straight up in the air and out of bounds on Alliance’s 17. But once again the Tigers could not take advantage of the scoring opportunity and the Aviators stopped them on the 15. From here on until the end of the period play was confined within Alliance’s 40-yard line but the Tigers could not strike hard enough to get within sight of the visitors goal.

The Tigers got their one big break of the ball game at the start of the third quarter and it was the break that paved the way for their first points and victory.

Dick Arrington kicked off to Alliance and he kicked the ball straight down the field. Robinson got his hands on the ball but it slithered out of his fingers and Glenn Keller pounced on it on Alliance’s 15-yard stripe. And six plays later the Tigers hit pay dirt for their first touchdown.

Mastriann ramming through that weak spot in the Alliance line made a first down to the three in two plunges and then came back to make one more on his third attempt. Vic Turkall who had replaced Pellegrini at the start of the third period, picked up another yard to the two and Mastriann sloshed one more to the one. Pellegrini returned to the game and on the next play Captain Wallace lugged the leather over for the first Massillon touchdown. Mastriann didn’t get a chance to try for the point from placement. The ball slipped out of Pellegrini’s hands and Romeo picked it up and tried a forward pass that failed.

A short time later the Tigers were again knocking at the touchdown door and their knocks brought results.

65 YARD MARCH FOR SCORE

Gaining possession of the ball on their 35-yard line after Seidner had punted, the Tigers started a march of 65 yards for their second touchdown, two neat runs by Pellegrini featuring the unbroken advance. Seven plays were required in this 65-yard march.
Mastriann still plugging away at the weak spot in the center of Alliance’s line made 18 yards in two plays. Massillon received a five yard penalty for too much time out in the huddle but Mastriann picked up three of these in another line smash. Then Pellegrini let out all his sails and churned his way through mud and water wide around right end and down the field for 36 yards before Alliance dropped the anchor on him on the Aviators’ 16 yard line. It was one of the prettiest runs of the water-logged battle. Wallace hit off left tackle for six and Mastriann sloshed through the line for two. Then once again Pellegrinni launched another sailing expedition and this time he did all right and largely without any help from his teammates.

Fading far back Romeo nimbly picked his way through the mud, ducking would be Alliance tacklers here and there and finally cutting loose with a burst of speed that carried him by the entire Alliance team and across the goal line for Massillon’s second touchdown. This time Mastriann got a boot at the ball from placement but the attempt was wide.

From here on in Massillon had no more scoring opportunities and in the fourth quarter Kamer began pulling out his soaked regulars and substituting his second team and late in the game the entire second string aggregation was getting a chance to get its uniforms wet. Alliance, thwarted on the ground went to the air in a desperate attempt to score but got exactly nowhere on its aerial attack. It did however, register its only first down of the game late in the third quarter when the officials ruled Massillon interference on a pass play.

Massillon’s second stringers in the game when it ended were Turkall, Wilbert, Pedrotty, Bertrus Webb and Donald Sedjo in the backfield and Wilmer Luke, Dick Ielsch, Bob Richards, John Profant, Francis Cicchinelli, Larry Berger, and Bob Clark on the line.

Statistics
Tigers Alliance
Total first downs 10 1
Yards gained by rushing 101 22
Yards lost by rushing 20 20
Net yards gained by rushing 161 7
Forward passes attempted 9 10
Forward passes completed 2 1
Yards gained by passing 39 5
Total net yardage rushing
and passing 200 -2
Passes had intercepted 0 1
Number of punts 6 10
Average distance of punts 31 31
Number of kickoffs 2 1
Average distance of kicks 47 48
Number of fumbles 4 3
Times ball lost on fumbles 1 2
Number of penalties against 4 4
Yards lost by penalties 40 40

R.C. Arrington
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1943: Massillon 33, Steubenville Wells 6

Slashing Tiger Ground Attack Trims Big Red 33 To 6

LOCAL LADS SHOW POWER DRIVE

Entire Massillon Team Plays Brilliant Game With Wallace, Pellegrini And Mastriann Sparking Attack With Long Gains

By FRED J. BECKER
Independent Sports Editor

A dream of conquest that had been carefully nursed along for a month by the Big Red football team of Steubenville Wells high school today lay scattered in the dust and dead brown grass in Harding stadium in the eastern Ohio river city.

Striking with all the savagery of the jungle cat from which they get their name, the Tigers of Washington high school, Friday night chewed the Big Red into shreds and wiped out for another year, at least, Steubenville’s hopes of conquering the orange and black when they registered a very, very convincing 33 to 6 victory before a capacity crowed of over 7,000 howling fans jammed into Steubenville’s Harding stadium tighter than the OPA today would ever permit sardines to be rammed into a can.

Achieved Triumph the Hard Way

The Tigers achieved their triumph the hard way – by plunging and running through and over the Stubbers, by smashing great, gaping holes in their defense wide enough to drive a tank through, in short by simply smashing to smithereens any defense the Big Red thought it might have had and blasting to bits, so thoroughly, any idea the eastern Ohio gladiators had that they were the equal or superior of the Tigers that today all the Stubbers have to console themselves with as they nurse their bruises and shattered spirits is the thought that they were lucky the score was not higher.

For Steubenville it was the first defeat in four games; for the Tigers it was their fourth straight victory of the 1943 campaign and a demonstration of the growing power that has been theirs as each succeeding week rolls by.

Tigers Show Improvement

More than 500 Massillon rooters were among the more than 7,000 persons who witnessed the combat under ideal weather conditions. They saw an exhibition of slashing Tiger power that at times, to Steubenville players and fans, must have been awe-inspiring. For the thousands of Massillon fans who were unable to get to the scene of battle it can truthfully be reported the Tigers Friday night were a harder driving, harder hitting outfit than they have been at any time this season.

Their tactics were savage, to say the least, but clean. The chips were down once again and the Tigers last night were playing for keeps. As a matter of fact it seems the chips are down everytime the Tigers take the field and each time in four big engagements they have come through and each time they have looked better while fulfilling their pledge to keep Massillon football on top of the scholastic heap in Ohio and elsewhere.

The Tigers looked better Friday night in all departments of the game than they did in their exhibition a week ago against Akron St. Vincent’s with one exception – forward passing. Their aerial game did not click last night, only one pass good for 12 yards, being completed by the jungle cats. But they did not particularly need an overhead attack against the Big Red, not when their ground plays were working with such smooth and deadly precision.

As for Steubenville’s Big Red, it lived up to all the advance information received here except one thing. The Stubbers were reported to have a fast, hard fighting ball club. They did have. They also were reported to possess a deadly aerial attack. And they had that, their one and only touchdown being set up through a long forward pass. Steubenville’s defense was never touted very highly and last night against the deadly penetrating attack of the Tigers, it resembled a piece of Swiss cheese in which there are more holes than cheese.

In only one thing did the Stubbers not live up to advance information. That was in their backfield where they were said to have two guys – Captain Dick Roush and Louie Zuk, who were as fast as the wind, and Dick Fletcher, a line-cracking fullback. These boys may be every bit as good as they were hailed, but against the Tigers they failed to look impressive. The Massillon boys nailed them and nailed them hard. Roush and Zuk, nursing injured legs, might not have been up to par, but Fletcher was in good shape and showed his ability on a few occasions by dashing through the Tiger line for some good gains. But he never got too far away to cause the Bengals any worry.

Brilliant Powerful Offense

Displaying a brilliant offensive attack in which Captain Bob Wallace and Romeo Pellegrini, behind almost perfect interference that was beautiful to watch, ran wide through the tackles or around the ends for big gains and with Henry Mastriann cracking right through the heart of the Big Red line for substantial and consistent yardage, the Tigers five times rolled back the Stubbers and chalked up touchdowns. Three times Mastriann converted on placekicks and for once the orange and black seems to have a dependable lad for this job, a task which some day may mean the difference between defeat and victory.

To pick out an individual hero would be an almost impossible job and unfair to the other boys. They all played their heads off and their performance was what one has come to expect of a Washington high school football team. The line performed splendidly, ripping the Steubenville forward wall to shreds. Individually the players tackled like demons.
In the backfield Captain Wallace ran and plunged like nobody’s business. It was by far Bob’s best offensive exhibition. He had plenty of that old drive last night. Pellegrini was his usual brilliant self, ripping off long gains and scoring four of Massillon’s five touchdowns. Wallace scored the other. Mastriann continued to prove his worth, particularly in the second half when he seldom failed to gain when given the ball. He’s another boy who has plenty of drive.

And don’t forget the blocking and defensive work of Glenn Keller who led a lot of those sweeps around the ends until he was forced out late in the game with an injured arm. It was Wallace to the left, Pellegrini to the right and Mastriann through the line with such destructive success that the Steubenville boys will be dreaming about them for some time.

Then there was big Tom Jasinski whose punting last night was something to watch. Big Tom really put his foot behind the ball, several of his kicks going well over 50 yards.

Coach Elwood Kammer made nine substitutions in the backfield and line during the game and each and every boy did his part and did it well.

Argument About Ball

An argument between Kammer and Coach Bill Ellis before the game about the color of the ball to be used did not help the Big Red any, because it just made the Tigers that much more determined to mow’em down. A week ago Kammer had talked with Ellis by telephone about the ball and Ellis agreed it would be all right to use a white ball. Before the game last night he came to the Tiger dressing room and said a white ball was out. He wanted to use a dark brown ball. A rather heated argument ensued with a natural tan ball finally being decided upon.

The statistics show the Tiger superiority over the Big Red in everything except forward passing. The orange and black made 15 first down to eight for Steubenville. Massillon gaine 373 yards from scrimmage with a loss of 15 for a net gain of 358 yards. Steubenville gained 76 yards from scrimmage with a loss of 17 for a net gain of 59. Massillon tried nine passes and completed but one. Steubenville tried 20, 16 of them in the first half and completed seven, six in the first half, for a net gain of 140 yards. Each team intercepted three passes.

With Louie Zuk in the game, the Stubbers were a ways more dangerous through the air. This lad is really a passing wizard but the Tigers learned quite a lot in the first half when the Stubbers were going wild on passes and they practically erased this threat in the final two periods with the result that Steubenville’s attack subsided like a punctured balloon.

Steubenville received to open the game and threw a scare into the Tiger camp early when Ray Ensell, heaved a pass to Bill Snyder that brought an overall gain of 32 yards before Snyder was pulled down on Massillon’s 26. But then two Big Red passes were batted down and the Tigers took the ball on their 23. With Wallace dashing wide through left tackle, Pellegrini doing the same at right tackle and Mastriann plugging through the line the Tigers rushed the ball to Steubenville’s 49 before being slowed down. Here Jasinski punted but the Tigers got a break when the Big Red was guilty of roughing the Massillon punter and were penalized down on the Stubber’s 35. Pellegrini dashed wide through right tackle to the 17, Wallace scampered around left end to the 10 and then when it looked as if points were soon to be put on the board for Massillon, Pellegrini fumbled and Flectcher covered for the Big Red on its 10.

Ensell got away a quick kick but Massillon’s next bid was soon checked when Ensell intercepted a Pellegrini pass on his 41. But Pellegrini did the same thing for the Tigers, snaring Ensell’s pass on his 40 and lugging the ball back to the Big Red’s 46. The Tigers, however, were guilty of clipping on their 45 and a 15 yard penalty took the ball back to their 30.

But the first Massillon touchdown was in the making and in six plays the Tigers carried the ball 70 yards for their first score. Running behind beautiful interference Wallace and Pellegini skirted the ends for heavy gains.

First Tiger Score

Wallace breezed around left end for 11 yards to his 41. Pellegini whizzed around right end for 32 to Steubenville’s 27. Mastriann made two at the line and then Wallace racing down the left side of the field on a spectacular dash, got as far as the two yard line before being forced out. It was a 23-yard gain. Mastriann was stopped without gain and then Pellegrini, behind a wall of interference and a big hole at right tackle, went over for the first Tiger points. Mastriann’s placekick was good and the Bengals were out in front 7 to 0.

Zuk, because of a leg injury, did not start the game but Coach Ellis sent him into action after Massillon’s score and immediately the Big Red passing expert made his presence felt. Early in the second quarter he heaved a pass to Chadnock good for 15 to put the ball on Massillon’s 45. His next pass to Robinson was incomplete but then he flipped a long one to Snyder and before the dusky Steubenville end had been brought to earth he had gained 34 yards and carried the ball to Massillon’s 13, giving the Stubbers a distinct scoring threat. Here the Tigers dug in and Captain Roush gained six yards in three attempts and Zuk’s pass to Porter was incomplete. The Big Red was offside on this play and the Tigers refused the penalty, taking the ball on their seven. Pellegrini and Wallace in two plays carried the ball to Massillon’s 47 but here the attack was slowed and Jasinski then got off one of his fine punts, hoofing the ball over the goal line. With the ball on their 20, the Stubbers made a first down before Jasinski intercepted a Zuk pass on the Big Red’s 44. But Pellegrini’s attempted pass backfired. Roush intercepted and returning from his 35 to the 46.

Pass Aids Stubbers

A Zuk-Roush pass was good for 17 yards to the Tiger 38 but here the Bengals checked the enemy’s aerial game only to run into a bad break when they were penalized 15 for roughing the kicker, when Ensell punted. This gave the Stubbers a first down on the Massillon 28. Zuk tired a pass to Ensell, which failed, and then heaved one to Gillam good for five. Zuk’s next long heave to Snyder on the goal line was batted down but he was more careful on his next one, dodging Tiger tacklers until he found Chadnock out in the clear and rifling the ball to the Big Red fullback who carried it to Massillon’s four for a gain of 19 yards. Roush made two at the line, Fletcher was halted without gain but on the third play Roush went over for Steubenville’s first and only touchdown. Roe’s attempted placekick was wide.

In the second half two Steubenville fumbles, covered by the alert Tigers, paved the way for two Massillon touchdowns and definitely washed the Stubbers out of the ball game. They never got inside Massillon’s 20 in the last two periods and their aerial game bogged down with a thud.

Along with their ground gaining sweeps the Tigers introduced a new play in the last half which confused the Stubbers no end and resulted in a lot of fine gains through the line. With a flanker dropping far out on the end, Mastriann would take the ball and plunge through for hefty gains.

The Tigers reeled off two first downs after taking the kickoff to open the third period before they were stopped and Jasinski punted to the Big Red’s six yard line.

Fletcher, however, fumbled on the first Big Red play and Mastriann covered on the Stubbers’ 11 yard line. Pellegrini lost three on a reverse but Wallace picked up eight at left end. Mastriann on a spinner plunged to the two-yard line and then Pellegrini went off right tackle for the touchdown. Mastriann converted and the Tigers were out in front 14 to 6.

On the first play after Massillon kicked off to the Big Red, Chadnock fumbled on his 38-yard line and Julius Tonges pounced on the ball. Wallace running wide around left end, sailed down the sideline on a beautiful dash that did not end until after he had planted the ball behind the Big Red’s goal line. On his 38-yard sprint his final splurge to the Steubenville goal was helped by Jasinski who took out the last Big Red tackler between Bob and the goal line. Mastriann’s placekick was wide.

53 Yards in Six Plays

Shortly after another Massillon touchdown was in the making Zuk punted and Willmot was downed on his 47. Six plays later the Tigers had covered 53 yards and registered their fourth touchdown. Pellegrini made seven at right end. Mastriann picked up 12 in two smashed through the line. Wallace gained seven at left end and Mastriann through tackle went to the Big Red’s 12. Pellegrini zoomed around right end behind fine interference for the remaining distance and another touchdown. Mastriann’s placekick was good.

Massillon’s fifth and final touchdown came early in the fourth quarter and again the Tigers marched 62 yards without giving up the ball. It started when Willmot intercepted a pass and raced it back 33 yards to Steubenville’s 38. Wallace made nine at left end with Wilbert Pedrotty, who had replaced the injured, Keller, helping him along with a neat block. Pellegrini swept right end but Willmot was guilty of holding and incurred a 15-yard penalty, taking the ball back to the Stubbers’ 43. Mastriann and Wallace lugged the leather to the Big Red’s 22 in two plays. Two more plunges and Mastriann had marched to the 12.

A five-yard penalty for having a man in motion, set the Tigers back to the 17. Wallace made one, Pellegrini’s attempted pass to Mastriann failed but on the next play Romeo tossed the ball to Wallace for Massillon’s first and only completed forward. It was good for 12 yards to the four from where Pellegrini skirted his right end for the fifth Tiger set of counters. Mastriann was wide on his placekick.

Fletcher sparked a last-minute Steubenville drive but the Big Red failed to get beyond midfield and Zuk was vainly trying to connect on passes as the game ended.

A Big Night

Mass. – 33 Pos. Steub. – 6
Willmot LE Snyder
Arrington LT Barsuk
Tonges LG Roe
Williams C Lawrence
Gable RG Miller
Belch RT Schaeffer
Jasinski RE Porter
Keller QB Chadnock
Pellegrini LHB Ensell
Wallace RHB Roush
Mastriann FB Fletcher

Score by quarters:
Massillon 7 0 20 6 – 33
Steubenville 0 6 0 0 – 6

Touchdowns: Pellegrini 4, Wallace, Roush 1.

Points after: Mastriann 3 (placekicks)

Substitutes: Massillon: Berger, Heltzel, Luke, Ielsch, Pedrotty, Profant, Sedjo, Webb, Turkall.
Steubenville: Robinson, Hastwell, Zuk, Gillom

Referee: Cavanaugh. Umpire, Gannon,
Headlinesman, McFee.

Statistics
Tigers Big Red
Total first down 15 8
Yards gained by rushing 373 76
Yards lost by rushing 15 17
Net yards gained by rushing 358 59
Forward passes attempted 9 20
Forward passes incompleted 1 7
Yards gained by passing 12 140
Passes had intercepted 3 3

R.C. Arrington
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1943: Massillon 46, Akron St. Vincent 0

15,000 Watch Tigers

BRILLIANT ATTCK RIPS FOE APART

Orange And Black In Great Reversal of Form And With Deadly Passing Attack Smashes To Third Triumph And Biggest Win Of Season

By FRED J. BECKER
Independent Sports Editor

The only Tigers four-legged variety we know about are those we’ve seen in a circus menagerie. They’re big, power looking beasts arrayed in a sleek coat of orange and black with a ferocious twinkle in their eyes. They’re nice to look at but we have always been glad a sturdy cage of steel bars has separated us. We have never had a yearning to meet one out in the open.

Now Massillon is the habitat of another type of Tiger – two-legged variety – commonly known as the Football Tiger. They turn him loose about once a week each fall on what they call a gridiron and brother, when he’s in the mood he’s just as ferocious as the four-legged variety must be when he’s roaming the jungles. If you don’t believe it drop a note to Akron St. Vincent’s high school where you probably will be quickly informed that the only safe place for any Tiger – four-legged or two-legged – is behind steel bars, at all times.

Irish Are Badly Mauled

And they should know for they tangled with the two-legged Tiger as recently as Friday night out at Tiger stadium and the boys who tried to stop him will be a long, long time recovering from the artistic mauling they took. The scars of their wounds will leave an imprint on the pages of football history for years to come.

All of the above is a preamble to the statement that the Tigers of Washington high school, in a blood thirsty, savage mood, last night, ripped apart what had been touted as a sturdy, formidable Akron St. Vincent’s football team 46 – 0 in an almost unbelievable display of football ability that left a great gathering of at least 15,000 frenzied fans pop-eyed and pinching themselves when it was over to make sure that what they had just witnessed had been real and not a dream.

Third Straight Win

It was Massillon’s third straight victory of the 1943 campaign and the biggest crowd of the season sat in on the kill. The two previous Tiger victories had not been impressive or inspiring. They had been achieved in a more or less ordinary manner by what appeared to be an ordinary football team. The impression prevailed that if those Tigers ever really got in the mood to go places they could.

Well the impression was quite correct for last night the Tigers were in that kind of a mood and the manner in which they manhandled the green and white clad Irish of Akron must strike terror in the hearts of the opponents still remaining on the Massillon schedule.

Those Tigers have everything it takes to be a mighty fine football team. They showed it last night and when the chips are down they’ll do to string along with.

And after that convincing triumph is there any one round brave enough to say that scholastic football as played in Akron has any right to be compared with that played in Massillon? The Tigers Friday night certainly made monkeys of we typewriter jockeys and a lot of others who for a week had been predicting that St. Vincent’s had at least an even chance of winning. But we don’t mind. The Tigers, by their none too impressive showing in their first two games had paved the way for those predictions and then thoroughly aroused that such a situation could exist went out and showed what they really could do when faced with a possible defeat and the shattering blow to Tiger prestige which would follow such a defeat.

Brilliant Passing Attack

The Tigers last night looked and acted the part of a great football team. They did everything and did it right. Offensively they smashed through the sturdy St. Vincent’s line and skirted the ends almost at will and they had something else – a forward passing attack that clicked with amazing regularity and precision.

Up until last night the Tigers aerial attack had been almost nil. They had completed but one pass in two games and that brought them exactly nothing. But it was a different story Friday night –quite a different story.

Seven touchdowns were rolled up by Coach Elwood Kammer’s amazing lads and forward passes set up or were directly responsible for four of them. Two sets of counters were made on aerial heaves, two others were made possible by successful passes, one came through rushing, one an intercepted pass and a blocked punt paved the way for the other.

Defensively the Tigers were supreme. The invading Irish were inside Massillon’s 20 yard line only twice, getting the ball to the 15 in the second 2quarter by recovering a Massillon fumble and in the fourth quarter getting as far as the nine yard line through the help of a long forward pass.

For two weeks Massillon fans have been waiting for Captain Bob Wallace to take off the wraps and go to town. Bob this fall was moved from the line to a backfield post and in the first two games the Tiger leader’s offensive playing left a lot to be desired. But last night young Mr. Wallace really took off the wraps and proved that the Tiger coaches were right when then decided to shift him to the backfield. On the strength of his showing last night Wallace is a pretty fair man in a ball totin’ job. The Massillon captain ran the ends for big gains, caught passes, and played quite a defensive game, blocking two punts, one setting up a Massillon touchdown.

Tigers Perform Well

But don’t forget the other three boys in the Tiger backfield – Romeo Pellegrini, Henry Mastriann, and Glenn Keller. They did all right – quite – all right. Pellegrini, who sparked the Tigers in their first two games by his long runs, went to pitching forward passes in a big way last night and he tossed plenty of strikes into the waiting arms of Tom Jasinski, Don Willmot and Wallace. Mastriann played his usual steady game, smashing through the Akron line for numerous gains and Keller was in there all the way doing a good job of blocking on offense and a fine piece of work on defense.

The same was true of the line. The forward wall ripped huge holes in the Irish defenses for the Massillon backs to ramble through and on defense they completely smothered Akron’s attempts to gain. A lot had been said about the speed of John Schlosser and Jim Wilhite, Akron’s two standout backs, once they got by the line of scrimmage.

Well maybe that’s true but last night the Tigers didn’t give them a chance to turn loose their speed. The Akronites were generally smothered long before they ever had a chance to get out in the open.

That sturdy Tiger line did its job in a most effective manner from Jasinski on the one flank to Willmot on the other. The Tiger ends really showed their worth last night. They got out in the open to receive Pellegrini’s accurate passes and their defensive performance was fine. Dick Arrington and Bob Belch and Larry Berger on the tackles, Julius Tonges and Bill Gable on the guards and Bob Williams at center were just too many Tigers for the Irish to handle.

It has always been said that Pellegrini could toss passes if he was afforded the right kind of protection and the receivers got out where they should be. Well Pellegrini got the right kind of protection last night and the receivers were where they should be and Romeo had himself a great time pitching strikes.

Tigers Score In Every Quarter

Massillon scored on touchdown in the first quarter, three in the second, one in the third and two in the fourth. Statistics readily show the Tiger superiority. Massillon made 15 first downs to seven for St. Vincent’s. The Tigers completed seven of 15 passes for 156 yards, two of which were good for touchdowns. Akron tried 16, completed five for 83 yards. Massillon intercepted four Akron passes while one Tiger aerial was intercepted by the Irish.

The Tigers had a net gain of 402 yards from all types of plays while Akron had only 83.

It took the Tigers a little better than eight minutes to ring up their first set of counters. Massillon received but was forced to punt and Schlosser reeled off a first down in three plays. Bill Latham, however, lost 15 on a bad pass from center and Russ Smith, St. Vincent’s little southpaw passer and kicker and a mighty game little kid, lost seven more on another bad pass. Then Wallace busted through to block Smith’s punt, the ball going to Massillon on Akron’s 17. The Irish once again checked the Tigers and held for downs, taking the ball on their 15. A 15-yard penalty for holding took the ball back to St. Vincent’s 3 and then Smith punted from behind his goal line to the Irish 43-yard line.

Mastriann Scores First

Here the Tiger machine began to function. Pellegrini swept around right end for nine, Mastriann plugged the line for six and a first down. He rambled through the Akronites for 11 more on the next play to put the ball on the 17. Again Mastriann hit for five and Pellegrini went for two. The Tiger fullback on a spinner drove to the Akron four yard line but the play was called back and a five yard penalty on Massillon for offside took the ball back to the 12. With second down and seven to go Pellegrini flipped a pass to Jasinski who was downed on the Akron one-yard line. Mastriann plunged once and it was a Massillon touchdown. He place-kicked for the extra point.

Early in the second quarter Mastriann fumbled and Akron covered on the Tiger 15-yard line. The Irish threat, however, was soon erased. The visitors could get nowhere, either by running or passing and Massillon took the ball on downs on its 15. Mastriann and Pellegrini engineered two first downs on line plunges and end sweeps and then Wallace took off the wraps and began to run. With the ball on Massillon’s 40, Wallace dashed wide around end and when he was brought down he was 20 yards closer to Akron’s goal, the ball resting on St. Vincent’s 40. Mastriann hit for nine and once again Wallace found a big opening at left tackle and scampered 23 yards to Akron’s seven before being halted by Smith. Once more Wallace hit the left side and this time he was stopped two feet from the goal line. On the next play he went over for Massillon’s second touchdown. Pellegrini passed to Willmot for the extra point.

Kammer began to send in some of his reserves but the Tigers were traveling under a full head of steam by now and there was no stopping them.

Akron received and on the first play after the kickoff Glenn Keller intercepted a pass from Schlosser in midfield and dashed 50 yards down the west side of the field on a beautiful run for the third Tiger touchdown. Pellegrini and Gable were among the Tigers who blocked out Akronites who might have stopped Keller’s goalward dish. Mastriann’s place kick was wide.

A 15-yard penalty for offensive interference cost Massillon a chance for another touchdown a bit later and Akron gained the ball but was forced to punt. By this time Kammer was sending in a steady stream of substitutes and at one time Wallace was back on the line with Williams shifted from center to tackle, but when Willmot intercepted Wilhite’s pass on the Massillon 20 the Tiger team went back to its original lineup. Pellegrini hit for 10 as the quarter ended and Mastriann opened the fourth with an eight-yard gain on a spinner. Wallace raced around right end for 18 to Akron’s 45. Mastriann hit the line for six but Pellegrini was tossed for a nine-yard loss. Then the Tigers dusted off the old Stature of Liberty play and Wallace grabbed the ball and raced wide around left end for 14 yards and a first down on Akron’s 34. A five yard penalty on Akron for delaying the game put the ball on the 29 from where Pellegrini and Jasinski again teamed up for another Massillon touchdown.

Jasinski and an Akron player made a bid for Pellegrini’s pass and the ball bounded into he air but when it came down Tom was there to grab it and scampered 15 yards for thescore.

Massillon’s entire second team went into the game and Akron threatened when Gauthler grabbed a long pass from Longville and raced to Massillon’s 16, before being stopped by Don Stevens. The Tiger regulars were rushed back in and they checked the Irish, taking the ball on Massillon’s nine. Pellegrini clipped off a first down. Wallace raced around left end for 18 to his 41 and then Pellegrini passed to Wallace for 15 to the Akron 44. Another Pellegrini to Wallace pass was good for 29 and the ball was on Akron’s 15 from where Pellegrini raced around right end for the seventh and final Massillon touchdown.

Nearly every member of the Massillon squad got into the game and all of them came out in good physical condition. Mastriann sustained a slightly injured hip and Keller had a slight cut inside his mouth.

Happy Tiger Team

It was a happy Tiger team that romped in the dressing room after the game. And they had reason to celebrate.

Coach Kammer, while highly pleased with the job his boys had done, was already thinking about something else – that something being next Friday’s game at Steubenville.

“The kids did all right tonight, “ said Kammer, “but don’t forget next week comes Steubenville and that’s going to be something different.”

Over in the St. Vincent’s dressing room Eddie Wentz, capable and affable coach of the Irish, sadly shook his head and wondered what kind of a blitz had struck his team.

“Gosh, I thought we had a better ball club than that,” said the Akron coach. “Those boys of mine seemed to be pretty badly scared out there for some reason and nothing seemed to work right.”

Well, Eddie, those Tigers were torrid enough to frighten most any foe last night.

And Tigers, keep’em frightened, particularly in Steubenville.

What A Tiger!

Massillon – 46 Pos. St. Vincent’s
Willmot LE Kil
Arrington LT Sovach
Tonges LG
Williams C Gaffney
Gable RG
Belch RT
Jasinski RE Gauthler
Keller QB Smith
Pellegrini LH Schlosser
Wallace RH Wilhite
Mastriann FB Latham

Score by quarters:
Massillon 7 20 7 12 – 46
St. Vincent’s 0 0 0 0 – 0

Touchdowns: Mastrainn 2, Wallace, Keller, Jasinski 2, Pellegrini,

Points after touchdown: Mastriann 2 (placekicks), Willmot (pass), Jasinski: (pass).

Substitutes: Massillon – Berger, Luke, Heltzel, Webb, Stevens, Pedrotty, Sedjo, Profant, Richards, Ielsch, Cicchinelli, Clark, Slusser.
St. Vincent’s – Kelly, Kertesz, Falkensten, Thorpe, Longville, Suscinski, Timma, Raff, Laterza, Cook, Mariola, Mald, Alburn.

Referee – Boone. Umpire – Rupp.
Headlineman – Graff. Field Judge – Shaffer.

Statistics
Tigers Akron
Total first downs 15 7
Yards gained by rushing 263 51
Yards lost by rushing 23 50
Net yards gained by rushing 246 1
Forward passes attempted 15 16
Forward passes completed 7 5
Yards gained by passing 156 82
Passes had intercepted 1 4
Total net yardage passing
and rushing 392 83
Number of punts 1 6
Average distance of punts 14 23
Number of kickoffs 8 1
Average distance of kicks 28 35
Number of fumbles 3 2
Times ball lost on fumbles 1
Number of penalties 7 4
Yards lost by penalties 65 30

R.C. Arrington
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1943: Massillon 13, Akron West 6

Tigers Fade Badly In Second Half But Trim West 13-6

GOOD FIRST HALF BRINGS TRIUMPH

Henry Mastriann And Romeo Pellegrini Shine Offensively As Local Team Scores Second Victory Of Season Over Rugged Foe

By Fred J. Becker
Independent Sports Editor

Whenever a task looks too easy beware!

That apparently was the case Friday night when the Washington high school Tigers stacked up against Akron West in their second engagement of the 1943 gridiron campaign at Tiger stadium. A crowd of nearly 10,000 saw the orange and black score its second straight victory of the season but the Massillon gridders were decidedly lucky to pull through with flying colors. They had a mighty close shave, one of those shaves that leaves the skin broken in many places and the only reason they are hailed as victors today is due to the fact that they played some real football in the first half when they tallied the points that brought them their margin of triumph.

For years there apparently has been no comparison between the type of scholastic football played in Massillon and that put on display in Akron. For years an Akron school has not been able to find a place on a Tiger schedule. This year because of wartime conditions and travel restrictions two Rubber City schools were given spots on the Massillon schedule and unless the Tigers are very careful they may regret it for a long, long time.

Real Test Comes Next Friday

And because of the narrow margin by which the Tigers conquered the West high Cowboys last night, an Akron school next Friday night will come to Massillon with better than an even chance of taking a fall out of the nationally famous Tiger football machine. That school will be Akron St. Vincent’s.

One of these days the public, in general, and the members of the Tiger team, in particular, are going to believe Coach Elwood Kammer when he makes the statement that his squad is going to face a formidable foe. A week before the opening game of the season against Canton Lincoln, the Massillon mentor declared that the Lions would give his ball club a whale of a fight. They did just that before succumbing to a second half Massillon drive that netted two touchdowns and a safety for a 15-0 triumph.??????

Kammer Calls Turn

All this week Kammer has been warning both fans and players that Akron West’s big, rugged outfit would be hard to beat. And once again he called the turn but this time it seems the Tigers very nearly beat themselves. Plenty of credit must be given the Cowboys for the game and spirited battle they waged against the Tigers but to this sideline observer it looked very much as if Tiger over-confidence in the second half, rather than Akron West ability, nearly proved the undoing of the Massillon gladiators.

Twice in the first half the Tigers smashed their way through the beefy Akronites to touchdowns. In those two periods the Tigers had accomplished what it took Akron St. Vincent’s an entire ball game to do last Saturday night when the Irish whipped the Cowboys 12 to 0. The touchdowns came without too much exertion on the part of the Tigers and when they entered the second half of the ball game they must have figured that they were facing something easy and turned off the steam.

Something happened at any rate for the Tigers put up a rather miserable performance during the last two quarters while Akron West came out fighting mad and displayed a determination that gave them the upper hand and enabled them to decisively outplay the Tigers, giving them the honor of being the first team in 1943 to score on the Massillonians, their touchdown coming on a short forward pass in the fourth period which found the Tigers grimly trying to hang on to the margin they had built up in the early stages of the battle.

The Tigers had an awfully close shave last night and they should learn quite a lesson from their experience. At least they should know now that it never pays to take an opponent too lightly. Over confidence has wrecked many a team on the threshold of victory and the Tigers, unless they profit by last night’s game, are going to lead once too often with their chin – and boom, they won’t have any chin left to lead with anymore.

Kammer all week apparently foresaw just what happened Friday night. His players were none to alert during practice sessions and try as they would, Kammer and his assistants could not snap them out of it. As late as Thursday afternoon the Tiger boss told his charges in no uncertain language what they were likely to face last night. It had some effect on the team in general during the first half for the Tigers looked like a much improved ball club in the opening two periods but the ease with which they gathered their two touchdowns must have done something to their mental attitude because their showing in the last half was just the reverse of the type of ball they had played in the opening chapters.

Watch Our For Irish

On the strength of their showing last night Akron West must have been a way-off form a week ago as Akron St. Vincent’s has a mighty powerful team. Probably a little of both is true and the Tigers had better be convinced right now that they are in for something more than a pink tea party next Friday night when Eddie Wentz leads his fighting Irish to Massillon. They are going to have to fight all the way without any letup, if they hope to conquer the Irish.

Although greatly outweighed, the Tigers possessed enough offensive ability in the first half to run around and through the hefty Cowboys for two touchdowns. Defensively they effectively checked all of Akron West’s offensive thrusts, even though the visitors’ offense was sparked by a pair of pretty fair ball toters – Jim Hamm and Chet Hayth. Sitting on the Akron bench out of the game with a twisted knee, was Wes Wassity, Akron’s ace backfielder, a fine passer and runner. Also out of the lineup was Bill Mohler, 240 pound tackle. One shudders to think what might have happened to the Tigers had Wassity been in the ball game, particularly in the second half when the Cowboys were high and the Tigers coasting along on the laurels they had amassed in the first half.

It required but six plays to register Massillon’s first touchdown in the opening period. The Tigers received and marched right down the field for 65 yards and their first points. It took only four plays to make the second touchdown in the second period after Massillon had gained possession of the ball on Akron’s 23 through a punt. Easy wasn’t it? – yes, almost too easy, thought the Tigers and then the roof fell in on them during the second period.

Fullback Henry Mastriann was the Tiger who scored both Massillon touchdowns. Halfback Romeo Pellegrini was the lad who set the stage for both sets of counters by a continuation of the brilliant open field running he displayed against Canton Lincoln a week ago. Mastriann did a splendid job of battering his way through the big Cowboy line for the two Massillon touchdowns and Pellegrin had just too much speed for the Akronites. But that, however, was in the first half. Neither boy could be shaken loose for any consistent gains in the second half and Pellegini finally was forced to leave the game with a gash under his right eye.

Dick Arrington who had played a whale of a game at tackle, also had to leave the contest when injured and neither Pellegrini or Arrington were in the battle when the Cowboys launched their successful touchdown thrust in the fourth quarter. Had they been, West might not have scored. But that’s wishful thinking now. The fact remains West did score and darn near upset the Massillon applecart because a none too alert Tiger team was not functioning anywhere like it did in the first half.

Pellegini Steps Off 47 Yards

Massillon received and Tom Jasinski took Jim Hamm’s opening kickoff and lugged it back to his 35 yard line before being stopped. Wallace smashed through left tackle for nine and Mastriann cracked open the left side of Akron’s line for five more and a first down in midfield, Wallace fumbled, recovered but lost five yards.

Then Pellegrini on a weak side reverse scampered wide around Akron’s left end and sailed down the east side of the field for 47 yards to the Cowboys’ two yard line before being brought to earth. It was a beautiful run with some fine blocking and interference on the part of Romeo’s teammates. Wallace smashed into the line, being stopped a half yard from pay dirt. On the next play Mastriann lugged the leather through his right tackle and into the promised land for the first Massillon touchdown. Arrington’s place kick was good and the Tiger machine was running in high, seven point to the good in a little over three minutes of play.

That the Cowboys were going to depend a lot on passes became apparent soon after they received the ball on the kickoff. One aerial attempt failed and they were stopped on the ground and Jack Wigley punted but Pellegrini fumbled —another bad trait which the Tigers were guilty of often during the game – and Jim Hamm covered for the Cowboys on Akron’s 46. Hayth tried a pass to Jim Hamm that was incomplete and Wigley made three at the line. In trying to get another aerial under way, Hayth failed to find a receiver open and was tossed for a 16 yard loss by Williams, Arrington and Tonges. Wigley then punted to Willmot who was tackled on his 42. Pellegrini tried a pass to Jasinski which was promptly intercepted by Jim Hamm who ran it back 20 yards to the Massillon 35 before being grounded by Richards and Keller.

Akron completed on pass for no gain and had another knocked down by Jasinski but when Wigley attempted another long heave to Jim Dew, the officials ruled Jasinski guilty of interference and the Cowboys were given the ball on the Tiger 15. West, in position to score, saw its passing attack flutter away along with a chance to tally points when Dew muffed a pretty pass from Hayth that would have given the Cowboys a substantial gain. Instead it cost them the ball on downs and they surrendered it on the Massillon 15. Massillon advanced the ball to its 48 yard line before the quarter ended, making two first downs along with a pretty 17-yard run by Mastriann.

West, however, checked the Massillon advance early in the second quarter and Jasinski punted to Akron’s 14 yard line. Arrington put a damper on West’s ground gaining hopes by crashing through and flooring Wigley for a 12 yard loss and Wigley then punted to his 23 yard line where the ball was downed.

Once again the Tiger offense set out in high gear and in four plays the Tigers had their second touchdown. Mastriann going over from the one yard line. Pellegrini made 17 yards in two thrusts through tackle. Mastriann cracked the line for five and then went over on the next play. Arrington missed the attempted conversion and the Tigers were ahead 13-0, sailing smoothly ahead on a calm and unruffled sea – so they thought! My, but what a storm blew up in the second half.

Tigers First Good Pass

Nothing much happened during the remainder of this quarter, except that it saw the Tigers connect for their first successful forward pass of the season. After Turkall, who had replaced Pellegrini, fumbled and recovered an Akron punt, Mastriann tossed a pass over the line to Willmot that was good for a first down. It was the only one the Tigers completed all evening.

Two fumbles, one by each team marked play early in the third quarter. Akron received and on the second play Jack Hamm, the little Hamm of the Hamm brother combination, fumbled and Arrington covered on Akron’s 38. But on the first Massillon play Mastriann fumbled when tackled, after a gain of 10, and Jim Dew covered on his 31 for Akron. That fumble was costly as it might have halted another Tiger touchdown march and from that point on the Tigers were never very ferocious. Another Massillon thrust was checked a bit later when after taking an Akron punt and reeling off a first down the Tigers were rudely stopped when Pellegrini was tossed for a 17 yard loss while trying to uncork a forward pass. It was on this play that he sustained the gash under his right eye and was forced to leave the battle.

The stage was set for Akron’s lone touchdown late in the third quarter. The Cowboys were forced to punt and Vic Turkall was in the safety spot. The ball struck the ground in front of him and bounced against his leg before he could grab it. Rice, Cowboy end, promply fell on it on Massillon’s 49 and the inspired Cowboys opened the drive that was to bring them their points.

Wallace knocked down a pass from Wigley, intended for Jim Hamm but Hayth connected on one to Jim Dew that was good for a first down, taking the ball to the Tiger 30. It was a short pass over the line but a beauty. Arrington was hurt on this play and was replaced by Belch. Then a series of line smashes gave West another first down when Jim Hamm dove over the center of the line on the fourth play to take the ball to the Massillon 19 as the quarter ended.

Massillon rallied at the start of the fourth and checked the Cowboys, taking the ball on downs on its 13. Jasinski, however, was forced to punt and Akron got the ball on the Tiger 46. A Wigley to Jim Hamm pass was good for nine and again Jim Hamm dove over the Massillon line for another Akron first down on the 34. Hayth had to leave the game a short time later because of a leg injury, being replaced by Prinkey. Wigley finding no Cowboy pass receiver open, tucked the ball under his arm and sailed around Massillon’s right end to the 20 before being nailed by Bob Williams on one of the best and hardest tackles on the game. The big Massillon center came from nowhere like a shot to stop Wigley.

Pass Brings Akron Score

After two line plays a Wigley to Jack Hamm pass filed but then Wigley heaved the ball to Stafford who took it on the Tiger five yard line where he was forced out of bounds. Jim Hamm plunged for two and then Wigley neatly flipped the ball over the Tiger line into Jim Hamm’s arms and Hamm was over for Akron’s touchdown. Wigley’s attempted place kick was blocked.

With the clock running out, Massillon received and this time held on to the ball long enough to make a first down to Akron’s 47. But then Mastriann fumbled but recovered with a loss of two but another Tiger first down to Akron’s 36 was recorded as the ball game ended.

Massillon made nine first downs, Akron seven. The Cowboys held a distinct edge in the second half, registering five first downs to three for the Tigers. Massillon punted four times, Akron kicked seven times.

Massillon completed one pass out of four for 13 yards and had one intercepted. The Cowboys tried 17 aerial heaves, completed five for 47 yards. The rest were incomplete. Massillon gained a total of 214 yards from all types of plays and lost 32 for a net gain of 182 yards. Akron gained 148 yards but had a loss of 55 for a net gain of 83.

Showing well on defense for Massillon were Arrington, who tackled hard until hurt, Richards, the little lad who replaced Bob Gable, benched by illness, Mastriann , Tonges and Williams. Berger also got into his share of plays. F. Azar, McCombs and George played strong defensive games for the Cowboys.

A Close Shave

Massillon Pos. Akron West
Willmot L.E. Dew
Arrington L.T. Knowlton
Tonges L.G. Gustely
Williams C F. Azar
Richards R.G. George
Berger R.T. McCombs
Jasinski R.E. Stafford
Keller Q.B. Jack Hamm
Pellegrini H.B. Wigley
Wallace H.B. Jim Hamm
Mastriann F.B. Hayth

Score by quarters:
Akron 0 0 0 6 – 6
Massillon 7 6 0 0 – 13

Touchdowns: Mastriann 2; Jim Hamm.

Points after: Arrington (place kick).

Referee – Russell Rupp. Umpire – Boone.
Headlinesman – C.J. Graff. Field Judge – C.W. Rupp.

Substitutes: Massillon – Belch, Luke, Turkall, Profant,
Cicchinelli, Webb.
West – Rice, Bivington, Stafford, Prinkey.

Statistics
Tigers West
Total first downs 9 7
Yards gained by rushing 201 101
Yards lost by rushing 32 55
Net yards gained by rushing 169 46
Forward passes attempted 4 17
Forward passes completed 1 5
Yards gained by passing 18 47
Total net yardage rushing
and passing 182 93
Passes had intercepted 1 0
Number of punts 4 7
Average distance of punts 35 30
Number of kickoffs 3 2
Average distance of kicks 39 37
Number of fumbles 5 2
Times ball lost on fumbles 3 2
Number of penalties against 2 1
Yards lost by penalties 10 5

R.C. Arrington
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1943: Massillon 15, Canton Lincoln 0

Second Half Splurge

PELLEGRINI SCORES TWO TOUCHDOWNS

Washington High Football Team Scores Victory In First Game of 1943 Season Before Surprisingly Large Crowd Of Over 13,000

By Fred J. Becker
Independent Sports Editor

Rolling again are those Tigers of Washington high school. Kept away from pay dirt during the first two periods and rather badly jolted by a determined enemy offensive in the opening minutes of the battle, Coach Elwood Kammer’s young orange and black warriors came surging back in the final two periods Friday night at Tiger stadium to roll up two touchdowns, a point after touchdown and an automatic safety through the medium of a blocked punt to defeat a hard-fighting, courageous Canton Lincoln high team 15 to 0 in their opening combat of the 1943 scholastic football season before a crowd that passed the 13,000 mark.

Program Cover

It was a victory No. 1 in a string which Massillon’s young Tigers hope to roll up to 10 before the end of November and the start of a new series of triumphs which they hope will erase the memory of the Canton McKinley defeat last November when a Massillon streak that had mounted to 52 games without a defeat was snapped by a 35-0 Bulldog triumph.

Hard Fought Ball Game

It was a tough ball game from start to finish. Both teams put everything they had into it and not until the fourth quarter was well under way did the Tigers hold the upper hand and a margin sufficiently large to permit their supporters to take a free and easy breath. It was a well deserved victory for the Tigers and a defeat without disgrace for Junie Ferrall’s Lincoln Lions.

The lads from the city which annually produces Massillon’s biggest gridiron rivals fought their hearts out and the local lads will not meet many teams during the next two months able to match the Cantonians in defensive ability. A brick wall wouldn’t be much harder to dent than the defense which the Lions showed last night.

Those who witnessed the game know now that Coach Kammer was not just doing a lot of talking when he said the Lions would be about the toughest foe any Tiger team had ever been called upon to face in an opening engagement. The Lions proved Friday night that every word Kammer said was true.

Tigers Rough In Spots

They were hard to beat – mighty hard, in fact, and in chalking up a 15 to 0 triumph over the east enders the Tigers are deserving of a lot of credit. Only a hard-driving physically fit team could have turned the trick and the Tigers were that kind of a ball club last night. Sure they made mistakes, sure they didn’t complete one pass all night and both on offense and defense they were rough in spots but always remember that the Tiger team last night was one of the youngest to ever represent Washington high school, but they are youngsters with a mighty fine fighting spirit and now that they have had their baptism of fire they’ll be a better ball club and some of the mistakes made last night will not occur next week or in the weeks to come.

The Tigers very definitely have possibilities and they’ll get better as the season grows older.

A surprisingly big crowd, one which surpassed even the expectations of the Tigers’ most optimistic supporters, sat in on last night’s engagement and were treated to a really fine football game, a contest that was interesting all the way and a battle royal from the opening kickoff to the final blast of the referee’s whistle.

Two beautiful runs of 21 and 29 yards respectively by Romeo Pellegrini, a swarthy hard hitting junior, aided and abetted by splendid interference, brought home the bacon for the Tigers. Another two points were added on an automatic safety when quarterback Glenn Keller blocked a Canton punt, driving the ball back beyond the end zone.

There were no outstanding stars on the Massillon team last night. Every boy gave the best he had while he was in the game. The Tiger line acquitted itself in fine shape. It had a hard customer to handle in Captain Mike Rejina of the Lions, a big, bruising back who could run and plunge and around whom the Canton offensive was built but they stopped Mike before he got too troublesome, even though in addition to his running ability he proved himself to be a capable southpaw passer and kicker.

Pellegrini Shines On Offense

Pellegrini spearheaded the Massillon attack. He got away for a lot of fine gains and his two touchdown gallops were beautiful to watch. Defensively such boys as Capt. Bob Wallace, Bob Williams, R.C. Arrington, and Henry Mastriann performed in a highly creditable manner.

Although its forward passing attack failed to click, not one in seven attempts being good, the Tigers held a 12 to 6 advantage over the Lions in first downs. The Tigers gained a total of 203 yards while the Lions were held to 146 yards. Lincoln completed four passes out of 11 for 59 yards and had one intercepted. The Tigers fumbled five times, and recovered two.

The Lions, fortified by three practice games with other schools, began to get troublesome right from the opening kickoff and threw a big scare into the orange and black camp before being halted on the Massillon 10.

Early Lincoln Splurge

The visitors received, Arrington kicking out of bounds with the Lions putting the ball in play on their 35.

Right away Capt. Rejina and Jim Watson began to make life miserable for the Tigers and in a series of end sweeps and line smashes carried the ball deep into Massillon territory. It looked quite dismal for the Tigers for a few minutes but they managed to pull themselves together and repel the invaders on the Massillon 10 yard line. Then the Tiger offensive began to move and three first downs in succession carried the ball to Massillon’s 45 yard line.

Here the march slowed down and Pellegrini attempted a pass. It was intercepted by Watson on the Lions’ 35. This time, however, the Tigers stopped young Mr. Rejina and he was forced to punt soon after the second quarter began. His kick went out on the Massillon 34 but the Tigers couldn’t go anywhere and Tom Jasinski booted one to Rejina who was downed on his 44. Once again the Tigers held and when Cheyney attempted a pass Don Willmot snared it on his 27.

Here it was that young Pellegrini shifted into high and turned loose an exhibition of running that before the evening was over was destined to bring victory to the Tigers.

Lugging the leather on smoothly working reverses around his right side, Pellegrini stepped off gains of 14, nine, 15, and 18 yards to carry the ball to Lincoln’s 12 yard line. Here the Tiger march bogged down and was wiped out completely when Glenn Keller fumbled and a flock of Lions covered the ball on the visitors’ 17. After making a first down Rejina was forced to punt and once gain the Lions got a break when Pellegrini fumbled the kick and Bill DeGarmo recovered for Lincoln on the Massillon 30. Massillon, however, held and took possession of the ball a few seconds before the second quarter ended.

Pellegrini Hits Pay Dirt.

Massillon received to open the third period and after an exchange of punts set in motion the offensive thrust that produced the first Tiger points. Rejina punted out of bounds on the Massillon 47. Mastriann hit the line for four, then made it a first down. Keller made two and Wallace one before Pellegrini set sail for six before being forced out of bounds. Mastriann made it a first down on Lincoln’s 21. Here the Lions took time out to talk it over but on the next play Wallace flipped the ball to Pellegrini on another reverse and the Tiger halfback, with good blocking ahead of him raced around Canton’s left end for 21 yards and into the promised land. He scored the extra point on a dash through the line and Massillon fans began to breathe easier and tell each other that it was a pleasant evening after all, even though a bit chilly.

The touchdown put new confidence into the Tigers and they began to smack Mr. Rejina around quite lustily, so much in fact that he began to lose some of his effectiveness. A fumble by Vic Turkall gave Lincoln the ball on its 21 but set the stage for the safety. Rejina lost 10 on a bad pass from center and when he attempted to punt his team out of danger, Glenn Keller broke through and blocked the kick, sending the ball beyond the end zone and giving Massillon two points on an automatic safety.

Canton kicked from its 20 and Turkall brought the ball back to the Lions 45 as the period ended. With Pellegrini, Mastriann, and Wallace sparking the Tigers in a steady march toward the Canton goal the Massillonian’s soon were within striking distance of another score shortly after the fourth quarter opened. But with their goal line threatened the Lions put on a brilliant stand that shattered the Tiger march inches away from the goal line.

With the ball on Canton’s seven yard line, Mastriann plunged to the one-yard marker. He was stopped inches away from the goal on his next try only to see the ball go back to the six because the Tigers were offside. Wallace was tossed for a one yard loss but Mastriann made two on his next try and Pellegrini drove to the one yard line with fourth down coming up. Mastriann tried for the score but was smothered without gain by the aroused Lincoln Lion line.

Prize Play Of Game

Then Rejina punted from behind his goal line and here came the prize play of the game and Massillon’s second touchdown. Taking the ball on Canton’s 29, Pellegrini twice eluded tacklers who had a hold of him but couldn’t floor him. Then the Tiger speedster set sail to his left, racing toward the sideline as a wall of interference, that formed, as if by magic and which must have included every member of the Tiger team, completely blotted out the white jerseyed Lions and permitted Pellegrini to scamper the remainder of the distance unmolested for the touchdown. Wallace’s attempted place kick failed.

With practically all Massillon second stringers in the lineup the hard-to-beat Lions made one more serious threat to score late in the quarter. It came when Rejina tossed a long pass to Lessig who was pulled down on the Massillon 40 after an overall gain of 40 yards. Kammer rushed his first stringers back into the battle and on the first play Willmot intercepted a Rejina pass to erase the Canton threat. The game ended shortly after with Lincoln again in possession of the ball but not going anywhere.

There may have been some of us in Massillon who thought the Tigers would be a better club with more speed but Junie Ferrall, the Lincoln coach, thinks they have plenty of speed. Chatting in the Canton dressing room after the game Ferrall declared the Tigers were faster than any team his Lions played last year, even faster, he said, than Lorain, the only outfit to halt the Lions in 1942.

Calls Local Team Fast

“That Massillon team looked awfully good out there tonight,” he said. “They handled the ball exceptionally well and they were plenty fast.”

None of his boys sustained any serious injuries. They were a bit downcast because they had their hearts set on whipping the Tigers.

Over in the Tiger dressing room a jubilant scene was taking place as the happy Tigers celebrated their initial triumph.

Of course Kammer was not surprised at the fight put up by the Lions. He had seen just that kind of a game coming up for the past two weeks and he was glad his boys were able to emerge on top.

“You kids played a credible game tonight,” he told the boys, “but you need lots more work. We didn’t complete a pass and we need a passing attack that will function if our ground offense is going to get anywhere. Your good physical condition was a big factor in your victory.

Victory No. 1

Massillon – 15 pos. Lincoln
Willmot L.E. Lessig
Arrington L.T. Wilkins
Tongas L.G. Manly
Williams C DeGarmo
Gable R.G. White
Berger R.T. Robertson
Jasinski R.E. Heckaman
Keller Q.B. Martelli
Pellegrini H.B. Watson
Wallace H.B. Cheyney
Mastriann F.B. Rejina

Score by quarters:
Massillon 0 0 9 6 – 15

Touchdown: Pellegrini, 2

Points after touchdown: Pellegine, (plunge)

Safety: Keller

Referee: Gross; Umpire: Graf;
Headlinesman Long; Field Judge Rupp.

Substitutes: Massillon – Profant, Heltzel, Belch, Turkall, Luke, Parsittie, Sedjo, Pedrotty, Clark, Green, Richards, Cicchinelli, Ielsch.
Lincoln – Beatty, P. Permar, Hartline, J. Permar, Shriver, Hayden, Pelligrino, Kendig, Oberlin, Miller, Latimer.

Statistics
Tigers Lincoln
Total first downs 12 6
Yards gained by rushing 232 87
Yards lost by rushing 32 28
Net yards gained by rushing 210 59
Forward passes attempted 7 11
Forward passes completed 0 4
Yards gained by passing 0 59
Total net yardage rushing &
passing 210 118
Passes had intercepted 0 1
Number of punts 5 7
Average distance of punts 34 28
Punts blocked 0 1
Number of kickoffs 3 2
Average distance of kickoffs 24 32
Number of fumbles 5 0
Times ball lost on fumbles 2 0
Number of penalties against 2 2
Yards lost by penalties 20 20

Open Meeting For Tiger Fan

The Massillon Tiger Booster club will
hold its second meeting Monday evening
at 8 o’clock in the auditorium of
Washington high school. It will be another
open meeting and all Massillon football fans,
men and women are invited to attend.

Because the Tigers won the opening game
against Canton Lincoln 15 to 0 Friday night,
the Booster club gathering will have cause for
celebration and a rousing meeting is in prospect.

Coach Elwood Kammer will be on hand to
give the fans a detailed report on the opener
and to tell them something about the team’s
plans for the Akron West game here next Friday.

R.C. Arrington