Tag: <span>Weirton WV</span>

Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1945: Massillon 24, Weirton, WV 6

Tigers Lambast Weirton 24 To 6 In Gridiron Thriller
18,000 Watch Massillon Lads Conquer Tough Foe In Spectacular Finish

By FRED J. BECKER

The Tiger is on the prowl again.

He’s tough, courageous and fights his best when the chips are down. He’s never learned the meaning of the word defeat – and doesn’t intend to. He’ll bear a lot of watching between now and the end of next November, will this Massillon jungle king. Take a look at him and memory flashes back to other days. Yes sir, the Tigers has come of age again.

It you’ve had any doubts about Augie Morninstar’s 1945 Washington high school football tam they must have been dispelled like mist before a hot sun Friday night if you were among the 18,000 or more wildly shouting fans who jammed Tiger stadium to watch the orange and black sink the Red Riders of Weir high, Weirton, W. Va., 24 to 6 in one of the greatest football battles ever staged on the Tiger stadium gridiron where some memorable conflicts have taken place in years gone by.
Tigers Deliver When Chips Are Down
Two great, finely-coached and hard fighting schoolboy aggregations, who pulled out all the stops and played for keeps battled it out to a finish in one of the most sensation-packed contests ever witnessed here.

The final score was 24 to 6 with the Tigers holding a three touchdown edge but the score doesn’t begin to tell the true story of that shindig or the raw courage and intestinal fortitude those lads displayed or – and this is what is all important – how those Massillon Tigers turned on the steam and went to town once the chips were down and they had to score points if they were going to win or keep a vicious, never-say-die aggregation of warriors from the West Virginia banks of the Ohio river from going back home with a victory over the orange and black – their most cherished dream and something they had failed to accomplish in three previous Massillon visits but something they believed they had a chance to do last night.
A Flock of Heroes
There were a lot of heroes out at Tiger stadium Friday evening. Carl Hamill, veteran Weirton coach, brought to Massillon what is probably his greatest team in 17 years of coaching at Weir high school. It was big. It was fast and it was smart in football strategy. It never quit trying and it might have won had it been able to match the skill and fighting spirit Augie Morningstar’s lads uncovered last night.

Heroes? Yes, a lot of them. Weirton had a flock of them – and so did Massillon. If you’re looking for Red Rider heroes, how about Bill Paclisso, Ken Bricker, Dominic Brown, Joe Enrich, Ed Gretchen, Joe Herman, and James Mauley? They can play on anybody’s football team.

And then if you’re looking for heroes wearing the orange and black take everyone of those Tigers who got into last night’s ball game. Ever last one of them earned a niche in Massillon’s football Hall of Fame but if you want to nominate a lad who really gave an outstanding exhibition of playing, pick Jack Zeller, that dark haired Tiger end.

He played a lot of football last night – and how! But so did Captain Fred Bonk, Gene Krisher, Tom Brooks, Merle Darrah, Bob Waltz, Tony Uliveto, Jim Young, Bill Ceckler, Virgil Edie, Bert Webb, Bob Richards, Gene Zorger, Alex Giloff, Mickey McGuire, Dan Byelene and Gene Yost.

Bernie Green also was playing a lot of football until the officials ruled he got into more or less of a fistic argument with Bill Herman of Weirton and chased them both to the bench early in the second quarter. And then the Tiger reserves who finished out the argument also proved they had something that is going to make them quite valuable before the season is over.
Sensational Fourth Quarter
Considering only the score one might think the Tigers had things pretty much their own way but the opposite is true. Until the Tigers unleashed a sensational scoring spree in the fourth quarter to tally three touchdowns in less than five minutes the game was a ding dong battle with neither team holding a decisive edge and the ultimate outcome very much in doubt.

Scoring a touchdown in the opening period when the nimble-footed Bert Webb tore off a nifty romp of 42 yards, the Tigers held a 6-0 lead until near the close of the third period when the Red Riders finally executed a brilliant forward pass and an equally brilliant lateral for an overall gain of 45 yards and the touchdown that knotted the score at six all.

Then it was that the Tigers really dug their cleats into the sod and went to work and the opening of the fourth period saw Massillon touchdowns come so rapidly the fans were still gasping for breath hours after the game was ended. The first Tiger set of counters in that spectacular scoring spree came on an unbroken march of 66 yards. That was the clincher – the touchdown that won the game.

But just to make it a certain Massillon victory the orange and black nailed two more scores to their victory banner – one on a brilliant piece of grand larceny by Gene Zorger and the other on a spectacular pass interception, and run of 65 yards by Jack Zeller with his teammates bowling over Red Riders as if they were match sticks.

Zorger had better stay away from Wierton. If he ever gets into that town they are sure to slap a warrant on him for highway robbery. And his theft of the ball right from a Weirton players hands and a 35-yard romp for a touchdown was something beautiful to behold and will be talked about for a long time to come.
Rivals Evenly Matched
The statistics show you just what kind of a ball game it was and what tough battling took place. If the statistics don’t convince you, take a look at the Tigers. You’ll see a few black eyes, cut lips, skinned faces and other marks of battle. It was that kind of a game, tough, rough and no quarter asked. Some of the Weirton boys, too, may be carrying around a few reminders of last night’s duel. At least they’ll be a long time forgetting about the kind of tackling and blocking the Massillon lads showed them. That Tiger tackling and blocking was really something to feast your eyes on.

Both teams made 12 first downs. The Tigers tried 12 passes and completed five for 64 yards. They had two intercepted. The aerial-minded Red Riders with Dominic Brown doing most of the tossing and Ken Bricker, brilliant end, most of the catching, attempted 23 passes. They completed nine for 110 yards and had two intercepted, one bringing a Tiger score.

The Tigers had a gross yardage from all plays of 286, and a loss of 20 for a net gain of 266.

Weirton had a gross yardage of 303, and a loss of 65 for a net gain of 238, giving the Tigers the edge in net yardage. The Tigers were set back 89 yards on penalties, once late in the game for half the distance to the goal, amounting to 34 yards, when the officials tagged Bill Piper for unnecessary roughness. Weirton lost 50 yards on penalties.

A picture of things to come was unfolded early in the game when Richards and Webb cut loose on two beautiful reverses for substantial gains after Massillon had received. But Weirton plugged the holes in its line and stopped the Tigers on the 11.

But the Red Riders couldn’t move either and Bill Paolisso punted to Webb who was downed on Weirton’s 42. On the first play the clever little Negro ace dashed through a hole at right tackle on a reverse after taking the ball from Gene Zorger and then cutting back sharply to his left raced 42 yards and across the goal line for Massillon’s first touchdown. It was a corking good run and not a Weirton player laid a hand on Webb, so well did his interference and blocking function. Virgil Cocklin missed the try for extra point from placement.

Those six points looked mighty big but Weirton began to threaten soon after and took the ball on the kickoff and marched it right down into Massillon territory. A Paolisso to McClelland pass put the pigskin on Massillon’s 10 but McClelland fumbled when tackled and Bernie Green covered for the Tigers. Morningstar’s lads had to fight with everything they had but they succeeded in keeping the Red Riders bottled up the rest of the quarter.

The visitors were still punching away in the second period but Zeller halted their march by intercepting a pass and running it back to the Weirton 37. That stopped the invaders for a few minutes but they never quit trying and they lost a touchdown late in the period when Brown heaved a perfect toss into Gretchen’s hands but Gretchen, with a clear field ahead, couldn’t hold the ball. Weirton lost some of its offensive strength when Bricker was forced out because of an injury.

But he came back in the game in the third period and the Hamill crew went all out in a desperate and what proved to be a successful bid for a touchdown.
Pass And Lateral Bring Score
Brown intercepted a pass thrown by Bob Richards on Weirton’s 47. On the first play Zorger dumped Brown for a three yard loss but Brown gained his revenge quickly. On the next play he faded back and heaved a nifty pass right into Bricker’s waiting arms. It was good for 15 yards and then as Bricker was tackled he lateralled to Joe Herman, Weirton substitute center, and Mr. Herman quite speedily galloped over the remaining 30 yards and across the Massillon goal for Weirton’s touchdown and the first points tallied against the Tigers this season.

It was a perfectly executed bit of football strategy and caught the Tigers with their guard down. Bricker’s attempted place kick was wide and the game was all tied up at 6-6 and ready for its flaming and dramatic conclusion.

It was not long in coming.

The Tigers received. Bricker kicked off to Webb who returned to the Massillon 34 behind some good blocking.

It was now or never for the orange and black and they proved their mettle by turning loose an offensive display that rocked the Red Riders to their heels as they clipped off 66 yards without a break.

Zorger was stopped without gain. Webb lost one and was hurt, giving way to Mickey McGuire. McGuire immediately hurled a perfect strike into Captain Fred Bonk’s arms for 15 yards and a first down on Massillon’s 48. Then Mickey raced wide around left end for four more. On the next play McGuire faded back to pass. He had trouble locating a receiver and it looked as if he was going to be tossed for a sizeable loss. But Mickey ducked a Weirton tackler and then spied Jack Zeller out in the clear. He rifled the ball to Jack and when the Red Riders caught up with Jack and nailed him he had covered 18 yards and lugged the leather to the Weirton 29. McGuire fumbled but covered for a gain of five. Richards rammed through left tackle for four. Edie on a quarterback sneak made it first down on Weirton’s 13 as the quarter ended.
McGuire Scores
On the opening play of the fourth quarter McGuire again unlimbered his pitching arm and tossed a strike to Bob Richards and the ball was on Weirton’s three yard line, six inches from another first down. Edie tried another quarterback sneak but they nailed him without gain. Then McGuire plunged through a hole at left tackle and smashed across the goal line for the second touchdown to put Massillon back into the lead. Cocklin again failed in his placement attempt.
That, touchdown started things off in a big way.

Weirton received and McClelland was dumped on his 35. The Red Riders were supposed to be quite adept with the T formation and had used both it and a single wing during the evening. This time they went into their T and it brought them a big headache – it also gave Zorger his chance to play burglar – legitimately.

Brown took the ball from center and dropped back. As he did so Zorger smashed through the center of the Weirton line and bore down on Brown. The next instant Brown was without the ball. Zorger had it and was streaking like lightning for the Weirton goal 35 yards away. He made it as an amazed Weirton team tried to comprehend what had happened. Zorger’s feat proved that alertness pays off in football. Zorger saw the ball in Brown’s out-stretched hands and simply took it away from the stunned Red Rider. Richards was stopped in an attempt to plunge through the line for the extra point but the Tigers were on pretty solid ground with a lead of 12 points.
Zeller in 65 Yard Romp
The fireworks, however, were not yet over. Once again Weirton received. Brown began to toss passes. His first one fizzled, the next one went to Bricker for six yards. And then the next one went to Jack Zeller. That wasn’t part of the Weirton strategy but young Mr. Zeller just happened to be at the right spot at the right time. He was that way all night. Well, the ball nestled into Zeller’s arms on Massillon’s 35 yard line and Jack took off from there in a hurry. He darted down the west sideline and as he did so his teammates ganged up on Red Rider players with a vengeance. Red jerseyed lads from West Virginia could be seen sailing in all directions as the Tigers cut a path for Zeller who gathered speed as the way was opened for him.

He was 65 yards away from Weirton’s goal when he intercepted the pass and when he finally stopped he had covered those 65 yards and planted the ball back of Weirton’s goal line for Massillon’s fourth touchdown. Quite a run and what blocking! Once again Cocklin failed to kick the extra point.

The steam was pretty well taken out of the Red Riders by this time but they battled gamely in a desperate attempt to score again. They were held well in check, however, and with several minutes remaining Coach Morningstar shoved in his reserves and they shellacked the Red Riders with the same slam bang tactics the varsity used.

With seconds remaining the Red Riders were still trying to score and Brown uncorked another long pass to Bricker but Dave Dowd, hit Bricker so hard he dropped the ball on the Massillon 30 where the Tigers recovered it and then were in possession of the leather when time expired.

A Story Book Thriller
MASSILLON 24 Position WEIRTON 6
ZELLER left end WALASZCYK
GREEN left tackle GAIN
WALTZ left guard LEWIS
DARRAH center KAMENSKY
BROOKS right guard OVINGTON
KRISHER right tackle MAULEY
BONK right end BRICKER
EDIE quarterback D. BROWN
WEBB left halfback PAOLISSO
RICHARDS right halfback HEILMAN
ZORGER fullback GARAN

Score by quarters:
MASSILLON 6 0 0 18 24
WEIRTON 0 0 6 0 6

Touchdowns:
Massillon – Webb; McGuire; Zorger; Zeller.
Weirton – Herman.

Substitutes:
Massillon – McGuire, rh; Cocklin, rh; Uliveto, lg; Giloff, fb; Ceckler, lt; Byelene, lh; Yost, qb; Bishop, re; Young, rt; Johnson, let; Dowd, c; Piper, lg; Gotshall, fb; Chovan, lh; Tomasevich, rt; Schumacher, lg; Angstadt, rg.
Weirton – Herman, c; Enrich, fb; McClelland, le; Gretchen, re; Cleslak; rh; Ferrart, c; Morton re; (last line of names unreadable).

STATISTICS
Mass. Weirton
Total first downs 12 12
Yards gained by rushing 322 193
Yards lost by rushing 20 65
Net yards gained by rushing 202 128
Forward passes attempted 12 23
Forward passes completed 5 9
Yards gained by passes 64 110
Total net yardage 266 288
Passes had intercepted 2 2
Number of punts 5 5
Average distance of punts 27 33
Number of kickoffs 5 2
Average distance of kickoffs 36 42
Number of fumbles 5 3
Times ball lost on fumbles 2 3
Number of penalties against 6 6
Yards lost by penalties 89 50

Fred Bonk
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1942: Massillon 26, Weirton, WV 6

HOLT AND BRAY CARRY THE MAIL

Massillon Backfield Men Lug Leather For Many Yards While Graber Throws Strikes To Jasinski And Willmot

By Luther Emery

They came, they saw, but they did not conquer. Several thousand football fans of Weirton, W. Va., their hopes high for victory, wended their way home from Tiger Stadium, Friday evening disappointed but not all disgruntled with the performance of their high school football team.

They were part of a crowd of 16,632 fans who saw the Red Raiders badly beaten 26-6 by a superior Massillon eleven, but they found satisfaction in their six points, the first scored against the Tigers this season and the first ever made against Massillon by a Weirton team.

A Capacity Crowd

The crowd which from all indications will go down in the 1942 records as one of the largest of the season, was treated to football de-luxe as only seen in Massillon and the Weirton team and band had much to do with it.

The Red Raiders, noticeably on edge for the contest which they considered their greatest opportunity to beat Massillon, scrapped from the opening gun to the final whistle and kept apace, with the Tigers in scoring the second half.

They tossed laterals, combination laterals and passes and otherwise tried to give the spectators their money’s worth, even though it was evident after the middle of the second period that they couldn’t wrap up a victory for their loyal hometown followers.

The Weirton band was all they said it would be, an organization that is developing rapidly and which will be remembered as one of the best to set foot in Tiger stadium this year.

Though Weirton scored six points the second half, as many as the Tigers could tally, it wasn’t enough and did not make up for the trouncing they received the first two periods, when the Massillon eleven played the game for “keeps.”

Fine First Half

The Tigers seemed to do everything right the first half, but the backfield sputtered the last two periods and couldn’t get coordinated for more than the one touchdown drive.

Do not forget that a shifting Weirton defense had something to do with Massillon’s troubles. “It was doggone tough trying to figure out what to do,” said Coach Elwood Kammer after the game. “The way they ganged up on us made it tough for the ball carriers.”

Carl Hamill, the Weirton coach, was complimentary of the Tigers performance. “You have a good team,” he said. “We figured you had a couple of ends who could catch the ball and we tried to set up a defense for them, but they caught it anyway. I like to see boys fight for the ball the way they do. A couple of the passes they caught in the first half really hurt us.”

The Tiger gridders for the most part emerged from the game in fairly good condition. Fred Cardinal, Karl Paulik, and Barney Wallace sustained charley horses and Don Willmot twisted an ankle. None of the injuries is believed serious.

The hats were off to Keve Bray and his performance made you wish that some others would do well to harvest a few boils. Keve didn’t have a chance to practice this week, because of boils in each armpit. They were lanced only Thursday, but when the Tigers trotted out for the kickoff, Keve was at right halfback as usual. Despite his boils, he played a fine game and his hard running and pass reception produced two touchdowns and helped to account for others.

Rivaling Bray for ball carrying ability, was Capt. Chuck Holt, who slam-banged his way through the Red Riders’ line for many a long gain.

Bob Graber, though he gained little ground carrying the ball, had his fun throwing strikes at the Tiger ends and backs. He had himself a big first half.

As a blocker, Cardinal hits to kill. In fact he smacked himself right out of the game with a series of hard smashes that aggravated an old shoulder injury and put him on the sidelines.

Line Gets Jump

The Tiger line, for the second straight game got the jump on its heavier opponent and moved Weirton backward most of the evening.

Football games are won and lost on the line, so the Massillon trenchmen get their share of credit for the 26 points, even though they did bulge sufficiently to allow Weirton’s Ted Bouyoucas to knife through for the first points scored against them this season.

Out of the score came the revelation that the Tigers can take it, and hand it back – for they bounced right back to score their fourth touchdown of the game early in the fourth quarter, and were driving for another when the end came.

There were no flukes connected with any of the Massillon touchdowns. They worked hard for them. An 80-yard march with Holt carrying that last 34 yards, produced the first. An 85-yard drive got the second, with Bray sweeping in the last 15; a series of passes from Graber, produced the third, Bray gathered a short peg over the line for the points and a 48-yard march got in the fourth and final score, Graber carrying the leather across from the five-yard line.

One For Weirton

Weirton commanded the ball most of the time in the third quarter in its march from the Tiger 42-yard line where a Red Rider came up with Graber’s fumble. The visitors had everything but the book of rules to get them over the hump and into the promised land. Once Cardinal intercepted one of Pete Ziniach’s passes to stop the threat, but Massillon was offside and the penalty gave Weirton a first down on the Tiger 29. Pete Ziniach poured a screen pass to Frankie Wypasek for a first on the Tiger 17, only to have Ted Bouyoucas tossed for a 10-yard loss on the play. That seemed to end another Weir threat. Interference was called on a pass that gave the Riders a first down on the Tiger 16 and nullified Bouyoucas’ loss. Ziniach managed to use the screen pass successfully again as he pegged the ball to Dickie Glover, sub halfback, and the latter got to within nine yards of the goal. He moved it two yards nearer and Bouyoucas lugged it over with room to spare.

It took the visitors 12 plays to get the touchdown, with passes accounting for most of the yardage. In the five ball carrying attempts the Riders gained 14 yards and lost 11.

It was the first time a Weirton team has been able to cross the Tiger goal. The Red Riders were trimmed 48-0 in 1940 and 6-0 last year.

The statistics show the Tigers just as superior as the score. They made 31 first downs to the Riders six and gained 414 yards to their opponents’ 103 yards. Of the 414 yards, 131 were made on eight completed passes while the visitors gained 26 yards on six completed passes.

The Massillon passing attack was brilliant the first half with Graber throwing as though he had his toe in the pitcher’s box and Tom Masinski and Don Willmot making almost impossible catches. Graber threw 14 times the first half and completed eight. The Tigers didn’t gain a yard with their forwards the last half though they managed to complete one for no gain.

Improved Performance

The hard hitting performance of the local team the opening periods showed considerable improvement over their play in the opening game against Cathedral Latin a week ago. Running from both T and single wing, the Massillon eleven smashed viciously at the visitors and ball carriers were accorded good interference. In the early moments Bray gained large sections of territory on sweeps around his left end and Holt pounded the tackles for more yards. The hammering drew the Red Riders’ secondary in and opened the way for a second period passing attack.

Going into the second half 20 points to the good, the Tigers began experimenting with passes in an attempt to improve this weapon. The visitors, however, came back fighting too and the Massillon attack fizzled out. The blockers began missing their blocks and passes were either intercepted or grounded. Then came Weirton’s opportunity and the Riders capitalized.

Coach Kammer started the same team that swung the axe on Cathedral Latin last week.

The Tigers got off to a jittery start, “shades of the 1941 game,” when Holt fumbled the kickoff, but the ball rolled back of the goal, where he went down on a knee, picked it up and then came out to the five. The ball was dead when he covered it behind the goal, however, so the Tigers started their march from the 20.

Holt gained nine yards and Bray put the leather on his 44 with a left end sweep. Two five yard penalties pulled the Tigers out of a hole after the Riders apparently had them stopped. A first down on the Weir 43 set the Massillon team in motion again, but three plays only gained eight and one-half yards. With fourth down coming up and a yard and a half to go, Holt exploded inside right tackle and raced over the goal. He tried to plunge the extra point across but failed.

Another Touchdown

Weirton took the kickoff but had to punt back to Graber who returned from his 15 to the 29. Bray raced around his left end on a lateral for a first down on the Weir 34. He was in the clear, but got bottled up along the sideline. It was a run of … yards. Holt followed it up with a 10-yard gallop and a penalty for defensive holding brought a first down on the 18. Graber and Cardinal moved the ball up three yards and Bray grabbed off the rest of the distance on a sweep over the goal. Holt plunged for the extra point.

The Tigers had to overcome two penalties to score their third touchdown. They started from the 30 when Graber returned a punt from that point to the 45, but were ticketed 15 yards for unnecessary roughness. A pass to Bray advanced the leather to the Weir 47 and Cardinal sneaked through for a first on the 33. Graber passed from there to Holt for a touchdown, but it was nullified with a 15-yard penalty for clipping. Jasinski made up the loss by going over the heads of four Weir secondary to snare a pass on the 10, and another flip to Bray got the six points. Holt kicked the extra one. A pass to Tyre Gibson gave the Tigers a first down on the Weir 10-yard line when the half ended.

The locals did not threaten the third period, and you have already been given the sequence of plays that led to Weirton’s touchdown.

A poor Weirton punt that went nearly straight up in the air gave the Tigers their last scoring opportunity. Getting the ball out of bounds on the Weir 48, Holt raced 24 yards, and cooperating with Graber, moved it to the five-yard line where Graber took the leather over. Holt’s attempted kick for the extra point bounced off the goal posts.

The Tigers second team played the last half of the fourth period and the youngsters had just succeeded in getting a first down on the Weir 46 when the game ended.

Sweet Victory

Massillon Pos. Weirton
Willmot LE Zgurski
Edwards LT Wargacki
R. Wallce LG Cimino
B. Wallace C Ostovich
Weisgarber RG Mestrovic
Paulik RT Battista
Jasinski RE Wypasek
Cardinal QB J. Ziniach
Graber LH Rojak
Bray RH Bouyoucas
Holt FB P. Ziniach

Score by periods:
Massillon 13 7 0 6 – 26
Weirton 0 0 6 0 – 6

Substitutions – Massillon: Williams, c; Power,qb; Gibson, rh; Kanney, lg; Profant, c; Mastriann, fb; Oberlin, le; Gable, re; Schuler, rg; Yelic, rt; Berger, lt; Pellegini, lb.
Weirton: Daugherty, le; Pulaski, lt; Paris, rg; Grasso, c; Troia, lg; Remenar, rt; Ross, qb; Glover, lh; Kamarec, fb; Collette; Sawchak.

Touchdowns: Holt, Bray 2, Graber, Bouyoucas.

Points after touchdown: Holt, 2 (placekick and plunge)

Referee – Graf.
Umpire – Schill.
Headlinesman – Hazelwood.
Field Judge – Boone.

MASSILLON WHIPS WEIRTON, 26 TO 6

Runs Unbeaten String to 45 as Graber Stars in Passing Role Before 16,632

MASSILLON, O., Sept. 25 – The Massillon Washington Tigers piled up a 20-point lead at halftime and then coasted to a 26-6 victory over the Weirton (W.Va.) High Red Raiders here tonight before 16,632 fans in Tiger Stadium.

In running their unbeaten string to 45 games, the Tigers relied on their ace passer, Bob Graber, who spiced the Massillon offense with a fine exhibition of throwing. The Tiger passer pitched perfect strikes which accounted for two touchdowns.

The Tigers faced a spirited West Virginia attack in the last half. It was all Weirton in the third period. Taking advantage of a fumble by Graber, Weirton drove 42 yards in nine plays. Then Ted Bouyoucas, right halfback, crashed center from the seven for the Raiders only six-pointer.

The Massillon club again hit pay dirt in the final quarter. A 68-yard drive culminated when Graber, running from punt formation, raced off right tackle from the six-yard line.

Aided by two Weirton offside penalties, the Tigers took the opening kick-off and marched 80 yards for their first touchdown. Chuck Holt, speedy fullback, climaxed the drive by knifing through right guard for the last 35 yards.

After receiving the kick-off Weirton picked up only three yards and punted out on the Massillon 31. The Tigers then proceeded to duplicate their first scoring advance. Fine running by Bray produced the marker. Off the T formation he raced 35 yards to the Red Raiders’ 29 and then from the 18, cut around left end for the six-pointer.

Weirton Fans Disappointed

The game belonged in the same category because it was interesting throughout. The outcome, of course, was a great disappointment to the Weirton fans, a majority of whom came here confident of victory. Weirton was well represented at the game.

Particularly pleasing to the Massillon fans was the passing demonstration put on by the Tigers during the first half. As one interested spectator put it.

“I thought Weirton was going to do the passing. Where are some of those 50 and 60 yard passes we’ve been hearing about?”

It was during the Tigers’ aerial show that it was reported that the St. Louis Cardinals were thinking about signing Bob Graber as a pitcher. He certainly pitched that ball last night.

MASSILLON – 26 WEIRTON W.VA. – 6
Willmot LE Zgurski
Edwards LT Wargacki
R. Wallace LG Cimino
B. Wallace C Ostovich
Weisgarber RG Mestrovic
Paulik RT Battista
Jasinski RE Wypasek
Cardinal QB J. Ziniach
Graber LH Rojak
Bray RH Bouyoucas
Holt FB P. Ziniach

Substitutions – Massillon: Tongas, llg; Williams, rg; Kanney, rg; Power, qb; Pellegrini, lh; Gibson, rh; Mastriann, fb.
Weirton – Daugherty, le; Pulaski, lt; Ferielli, rg; Troia, rt; Glover, rh.

Touchdowns – Graber, Holt, Bray 2, Bouyoucas.

Points after touchdown – Holt 2.

Chuck Holt
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1941: Massillon 6, Weirton, WV 0

Blunt Registers Only Touchdown
19,500 Fans Pack Stands to See Massillon Capture 34th Straight Victory in Thrilling Football Show At Tiger Stadium

By Luther Emery

Washington high’s victory record of 33 consecutive games, hung in the balance at Tiger Stadium Friday evening while 19,512 fans gasped, but by the narrow margin of six points and six inches, the string was lengthened to 34 at the expense of Weirton, W.Va., and the Tigers congratulated themselves for escaping unscathed.

Program Cover

The six points represent a tremendous effort by the veteran Massillon fullback Fred Blunt when he carried the ball over the Weirton goal from the eight-yard line in the third quarter for the only touchdown of the game and Massillon’s only serious threat. The six inches represent the scant margin by which Weirton missed two touchdown passes in the last minute.

The Great Show

So the Tigers won 6-0, a thrill packed victory that was commensurate with the thrilling performance by the Weirton and Tiger bands that made your spine tingle with patriotism and love for a country in which people of all races and nationalities will rub elbows and rise as one in a salute to America.

You asked for them, and you are going to get them – close scores. There will be no parading out of the gates at the end of the half this year – there was none last night.

Right down to the last five seconds the teams battled and the result hung in the balance to the very last play. Massillon fans were glad to settle for six points, though Coach “Bud” Houghton and his staff had hoped to win by two or three touchdowns, even though they did truly respect the ability of the enemy.

Weirton Passes Just Miss the Mark

Twice in the last minute, once with five seconds remaining to be played, Weirton nearly scored touchdowns. With slightly better passing it would have succeeded, for its men sneaked beyond the Tiger secondary and there was nothing left to stop them.

But Kevie Bray, who played a fine defensive game all evening, leaped high in the air to pull down one of Guido De Veechis’ long passes. Six inches higher and he couldn’t possibly have reached it and it would have been an easy catch for Pete Zinaich, Weir quarterback. Again with only time left to run a play, a pass to Kraina was a bit short. Had he caught it, he too, would have crossed the goal.
It was the first time since the Washington high Tigers’ 6-0 defeat of Canton McKinley in 1935, that Massillon fans have been pulling for the timekeeper to shoot his gun.

Tiger football lovers have been accustomed to seeing the kill in the first quarter, and have turned out in record crowds despite their protests of large scores.

Things will be more interesting from a rivalry standpoint this season, judging from last night’s game, and the stands should be crowded most of the season, with neighbors and opponents bringing their dollars, hoping to be on hand when the Massillon record ends.

But this year’s Tiger team is going to take a lot of hammering before it ever goes down. Last night’s games was the first for 10 members of the starting lineup, and although there were noticeable weaknesses, they were not flaws but what can be corrected with more attention and experience.

There’s the making of a good team there and don’t sell them short. “We learned a lot tonight,” Coach Houghton said after the game, “and we will be out to change things around next week.”

Faults Easy To Correct

Most noticeable was the weakness of the secondary against passes, poor ball handling, partially accountable to uncertain passing from center, and jittery fingers.

The coaches should have no great difficulty overcoming all three and when they do – watch the score mount.

The ball handling caused frequent interruptions in the timing that were just sufficient to throw the offense off balance. Coach Houghton had seen it coming. He expressed the belief as early as Monday that his team was going a bit stale. Apparently it reached its peak a week ago and had been sliding backward since. “That one will do us all a lot of good,” he said.

The Tiger team was under more pressure last night than any eleven in the history of Massillon. It had a record to maintain, a record of 33 consecutive victories that had helped net six straight state championships. It had to perform before the largest opening night crowd in Tiger football history and 10 of the 11 men in uniform had never before started a game.

Teams Gunning for Them

The players knew too that with the loss of 10 of their 1940 starters and their entire coaching staff every team on the schedule would point to overthrow them. These conditions, too, may have been part of the cause for jittery fingers that lost the ball four times on fumbles and slowed the offense with bobbles before the ball carrier could pick up his blockers.

But the Tigers got by last night and beat a toughie, too. A team that lived up to the prediction of being one of the hardest marks on the schedule.

The Red Riders were high for the game. They tackled fiercely and hit hard, and on the admission of their own coach are a vastly improved ball team over that of last year. “We have spirit this year,” said Carl Hamill. “Of course we wanted to win badly and we nearly got our touchdown with those last minutes passes, but we don’t mind losing to you. I think both teams are good teams and are the kind that will improve as the season ages.”

The game produced what the Siegfried and Maginot lines were supposed to do in this second World War. It was a battle between two defensive bulwarks that would smear gains with counter attacks that frequently ended in net losses.

Good Defensive Team

The Tigers in all their championship years never looked better defensively than they did last night save for their forward pass defense. The line charged hard, tackled fiercely and held Weirton to a net gain of 24 yards for its 31 ball carrying attempts.

This line will absorb a lot of beating. It will be to the Tigers what a good pitcher is to a baseball team, and may be able to make up for the deficiencies of the offense.

Guido De Veechis was a good halfback. He was unable to play in the Tiger game last year because of injuries but was picked out at that time by Paul Brown in a scouting trip as the outstanding ball carrier on the Red Rider team. He ran hard and fast but was held to the low average of one yard per ball carrying attempt. Fans feared he might break loose at any moment, and he was just that dangerous, but the Tiger linemen never let him get away.

Weirton’s forward wall was almost as good. The Tigers gained more yards through it, a total of 126 in fact, but the Red Riders were on top of everything, were over-shifting to break up Tiger blocking assignments, were hopping seven men into the line most of the night and were high as a kite.

Weirton didn’t come to Massillon last night just to play a ball game and walk home with a sack full of dough. The Riders were here to win and they came closer to it than any team since New Castle last twisted the Bengal tail in the middle of the 1937 season. To be truthful it was the first time a Massillon team failed to score in the first half since the 1937 New Castle game.

It may have been smart football on the part of individual players but more than likely it was the result of careful planning by Coach Hamill, that the Red Riders appeared to know where the Tigers were moving all the time and what to do about it. The Massillon offense wasn’t new to them. They used virtually the same system themselves, and the fact that both teams were using the same plays may in some way account for the defensive work excelling their offensive efforts.

Bray Save the Day

To Bray, a lean junior assigned the task of backing up the line, goes credit for saving the ball game, for Massillon. Twice he leaped high to intercept Weirton passes within the shadow of his goal that had “touchdown” written all over them.

Early in the game he pulled down one of De Veechis’ passes on the 10-yard line. Had that one connected there’s no telling what the result might have been for it came on the Riders’ first series of plays.

Late in the game he made an even greater interception, after committing the unpardonable mistake of allowing the receiver to get behind him. Bray saved his skin with a leaping catch on the nine-yard line that would have been a sure-fire touchdown for Weirton.

Offensively neither team had anything to crow about. Weirton made three – touchdown bids, and the Tigers one.

The local team had the edge in punting and through two fine boots by Dick Adams, and a defense that seized the advantage, the Tigers worked themselves out of a hole they got into on a fumble by Bob Graber on the third play of the game.

It took a period and a half to do it, but a booming, 49 yarder grounded the pigskin back on the Weir 18-yard line and forced the Riders into their own back yard the rest of the half.

The Tigers never threatened the first half. In fact, if you want to know the cold truth, they only made one first down to Weirton’s three.

Massillon Offense Perks Up

In the second half it was a different story. The Tigers showed improvement from the start of the third period until their offense took on new strength. The blockers hit harder and a well-placed punt by Adams that went out of bounds on the Weir three-yard line put the Riders in a hole. J. Kraino punted out poorly to the 24, but Adams fumbled and Torchip flopped on the ball on his 24. R. Kraino fumbled on the next play, however, and the break this time went to Massillon with Chub Paulik covering the pigskin on the Weir 21. It set up the touchdown. White picked up two yards at left tackle. Adams passed over the goal, but in a second attempt tossed an accurate shot to Fred Cardinal who took the ball on the 15 and advanced to the eight for a first down.

With their backs to the goal, Weirton went into an eight-man line, three backing it up. The ball was snapped to Blunt, the Tigers charged, and right over right guard Pokey raced to pivot and whirl his way for the only touchdown of the game. Adams’ attempted kick for the extra point was blocked. Massillon fans would have felt a lot more comfortable in the closing stages of the game had the kick been successful, for the one point could have meant a lot had Weirton ever got over the Tiger goal.

The Tigers staged one other offensive effort in the last quarter, but only got to the 30-yeard line when Weirton braced and forced them to punt.

Next week the local eleven will face Marblehead, Mass., in Tiger stadium. Tickets for the game are now on sale at the high school ticket office. Marblehead opens its season this afternoon and two Tiger scouts, Jim Hollinger and Tom Evans, Lorin Andrews and Longfellow coaches, will be in the stands for the game.

A Close Shave

Massillon Pos. Weirton
Bray LE Torchip
Paulik LT
Miller LG
Fuchs C
Hill RG
Weisgarber RT
De Mando RE
Cardinal QB P. Zinaich
Graber LH De Vecchio
White RH J. Kraino
Blunt FB R. Kraino

Score by Periods
Massillon 0 0 6 0 – 6

Substitutions – Massillon Adams lb;
Weirton – Mest,?? g; Zgueski, e; E. Heaton, lb; Bouyoueas, qb; Garan, lb; and Haun, l.

Touchdown – Blunt

Referee – Slutz
Umpire – Gross
Head linesman – Schill
Field judge — Howell

Pokey Blunt
Massillon Tigers Black Letter Logo History

1940: Massillon 48, Weirton, WV 0

FIRST TEAM ONLY PLAYS HALF GAME

Record Breaking Stadium Crowd Sees Massillon Eleven Sweep Ends and Tackles For 41 Points First Half

By LUTHER EMERY

That’s settled, and rather convincingly too, the question as to whether Washington high is superior to Weirton, W. Va. The Tigers kicked dust in the Red Riders’ faces Friday evening as they swept their ends and raced outside of tackle to a 48 – 0 triumph.

Program Cover

It was convincing from the standpoint of the score and the fact that the second and part of the third teams played the entire second half. At the start of the third period, someone ventured the remark that Coach Brown had sent his first team off to a dance, but the Tiger coach insisted he had his entire club on the bench up to the very end if needed.

Weirton Satisfied

For what? The Massillon first team in two periods had demonstrated to the record breaking crowd of 18,300 that the Tigers were still Ohio champions as far as Weirton was concerned, and with the second team battling the visitors on slightly better than even terms, it was a cinch the rest of the way.

Weirton was glad to get out with 48 points. The Red Riders’ coach said so after the game, and through bruised and beaten more soundly than any Weirton team has been in Carl Hamill’s 12 years as coach at Weir high, the Red Riders came out of the defeat with two achievements on the credit side – that of having attracted more fans to Massillon than have ever seen a football game here, save a Massillon-Canton game, and that of taking home more money than Weir high has ever made in a single game and sufficient to make it possible to pay off a debt on its stadium lights this year.

Tigers Versatile

Coach Paul Brown put a versatile bunch of Tigers on the field last night. They tried everything, and even though everything they tried did not work, the fans applauded their efforts.

From the time Horace Gillom ran 49 yards for a touchdown on an end around play, the first half was a parade of touchdowns for the Massillon eleven. Gillom found the end of the rainbow a second time in the same period on a 19-yard run, and before the half was over, Fred Blunt had crossed the Weir goal twice. Tom James had reached it on a 27-yard jitter and Herman Robinson had gone 16 on a shovel pass, to roll up 41 points.
The second half produced a more balanced game, with the Tiger second stringers scoring a touchdown against the Weir first stringers in the third quarter, and then allowing the Weir second team to battle them to a standstill the last period.

Its hard to find something to get dissatisfied over when you run up 48 points on a supposedly “tough opponent”, but Coach Brown has a thing or two to say to his second team that will require more than two words when he gets going. He wasn’t at all pleased with the yannigans’ performance and indicates a shakeup is in the making.

The second team tried everything, and though its efforts at one time had only gained it second down and 49 yards to go, it kept on trying and put on an entertaining performance even though the ball moved the wrong direction because of penalties.

Coach Hamill, will probably have a thing or two also to say when he gathers his brood together Monday. There’s no doubt that his second team gave a better account of itself against the Tiger seconds than did the varsity, though allowance must be made for the latter, since they had gone through a terrific first half.

There were two periods of fierce football. Moore than the score indicates. An analysis of the game reveals long Tiger runs for touchdowns, mostly on passes and outside the tackles. The highly publicized ability of the Weir gridders to tackle did not materialize or the score would not have been as large the first half. The arms of the visitors’ skidded off Tiger pants as though the latter were greased.

Locals Hit Harder

The Massillon eleven hit harder last night than it did against Cathedral Latin which helps to account for ball carriers leaving a trail of tacklers sprawled over the ground on their end sweeps.

The blocking was great, and the line sliced the visitors’ forward wall as you would cut a watermelon, leaving large gaps for the ball carriers to amble through.

Weirton never expected as severe a beating, though some visiting fans confidentially admitted before the game that Massillon would win but not by many points.

Warren Tickets
On Sale Tonight

Tickets for the Washington high-Warren game, to be played here next Friday evening, will be placed on sale tonight at Rider’s. Warren beaten by Erie Academy last week, defeated Sharon 20-6 last night.

Weirton pinned its faith in its big line to stop the Massillon ground attack, and scattered five men in the secondary to break up the Tigers’ aerial maneuvers.

The Massillon gridders demonstrated that passing was only an accessory to their attack as they scored their first two touchdowns without tossing the ball. Once they decided to throw, they completed three in a row for 55 yards, then went haywire and grounded the next seven.

In possession of a comfortable lead, Brown, used the greater part of the second period to brush his varsity up on passing – and it didn’t look so good.

Discarding his running attack, James tossed pass after pass. He had difficulty hitting his mark. Three times an attempt was also made to work a pass off an end sweep, but this too failed when Herman Robinson, who throws the ball on the play, was unable to get it to receivers.

The Massillon second team, after scoring a touchdown at the start of the third period, played with the razzle dazzle the rest of the way, tossing shovel passes, lateral passes off forward passes, and almost everything you could think of.

Lateral Off A Pass

The prettiest working play of the lot was a forward pass from Dick Adams to Keve Bray, who tossed a lateral to Junior White. On the next play Adams ripped for a touchdown but it wasn’t allowed and the Massillon kids never saw the Weir goal line thereafter.

Weirton’s offense was stopped cold by the great Tiger line, and somewhat to the disappointment of many Massillon fans who had hoped the visitors could gain sufficient ground to make the game interesting from a competitive standpoint. The fans gave the Riders a big hand late in the first period when Capt. John Begola picked up 13 yards on an end around play for the first of the visitors’ two earned first downs. They didn’t make the 10 yards without the referee’s assistance again until the last play of the game, when an eight-yard pass coming on top of a gain of three yards in two ball carrying attempts, moved the leather up beyond the 10-yard marker. The gun cracked before it could be placed in play again and several thousand of the fans were on their way home and missed seeing it.

The hard running of Gillom and James, the pass defensive work of Robinson and Bill Wallace’s ability to prune off Weir runners behind the line of scrimmage were big lights in the Tiger victory.

James and Blunt also carried the leather well behind the almost perfect blocking accorded the Tiger ball carriers.

Statistics as well as the score tell the story of Massillon’s superiority. The Tigers made 19 first downs to Weir’s three and gained a net total of 400 yards to Weir’s 12.

For the first couple of minutes after the kickoff it didn’t look as though it would turn out that way. On the first play after the kickoff Ray Getz tried a spin at the Rider line but fumbled when hit hard and Frank Kazmerski, the Rifer center, covered on the Massillon 45-yard line. Two plays had only advanced the ball three yards when Robinson speared Johnny Janura’s pass to give Massillon the ball on the local’s 19-yard line.

Tigers Show Boom

Here the Tigers demonstrated themselves the superior team. They blasted a big hole in the visitors light tackle and James ripped through for 21 yards. “Horace, its your turn,” they said in the huddle, and when the big end turned on the steam on a sweep, Weir tacklers bounced everywhere. It was 49 yards and a touchdown, and Ray Getz kicked goal. Runs like that do something to a team and Weir never had as much pep thereafter.

The Tigers kicked to the visitors but they punted back to James when they couldn’t gain and little Tom was unable to gain, so fast did Begola come down after the ball. But on the first play from scrimmage, he started on his own 18 and raced back 23 yards to the 41 before being flopped to earth. Blunt did a jitterbug on the next run before the visitors got him on their 35. Robinson, Blunt and James put the leather on the 19, and it was left for Gillom to free wheel around left end for another touchdown. Getz kicked the goal and it was 14 – 0.

Janura got off a quick kick after the following kickoff that sailed over James’ head and rolled dead on the Tiger 24. On the next series of plays, James tossed his first pass, a beauty, to Getz, who made a spectacular catch, literally stealing the ball from two Rider defenders to carry to the Weir 44-yard line. It was a 33-yard gain. In two attempts, Blunt was hugging the leather on the 20-yard line. Robinson passed to Gillom on an end sweep. The pass was short, but a Weir secondary interfered with Gillom getting to the ball and interference was called, giving the Tigers a first down on the Weir four-yard line. Blunt took it over and Getz again kicked.

That was all for the first period. Early in the second quarter, the visitors’ had their only scoring opportunity when James fumbled George Wansack’s punt, Begola covering on the Tiger 25-yard line. There stocky Bill Wallace went to work and tossed Begola for a five-yard loss on an end around play, and when Wansack’s pass was far out of reach of the receiver on the next play, Coach Hamill substituted Janura for Wansack. Robinson again rose to the occasion, intercepted Janura’s pass, picked up blockers and ran back to the Weir 10-yard line before he was hauled down by Janura.

James made two yards, and Blunt in two attempts was over the goal. Getz missed his first attempted placekick and the score was 27 – 0.

A Punt For You

The Riders stopped the Tigers next time the locals got the ball, Gillom kicking a spiral that twisted its way for 53 yards over the Weirton goal. The Riders w ere offside, however, Weirton was penalized and the Tigers were given the ball on their own 45. Johnny Pizzino who had substituted for Blunt and Ray Getz got off to long runs that put the ball on the 27-yard line and James wiggled through the rest of the way. Getz kicked the extra point.

After an exchange of punts, James intercepted Janura’s pass in midfield and raced back to the 31. Gillom picked up another 15 and on third down, James shovel passed to Robinson who ran for the touchdown. Again Getz kicked goal, five out of six for him.

While the varsity played the entire first half with the exception of two substitutions, Pizzino and Oliver, not a one of the 11 starting players, entered the second half.

An entire second team started the third period, shoved over a touchdown quickly and then declared a holiday. The touchdown came after the Tigers had gotten the ball through a punt on the Weir 39-yard line. Pizzino and Adams made it first down on the 27, and Adams, Bray and Pizzino got another first down on the seven. Bray lost two yards on a sweep, but Adams cut through for a touchdown, digging in hard as he crossed the goal. Pizzino kicked the extra point making the score 48-0.

The second team shoved another over late in the third period but it was not allowed because of a penalty.

They threatened again in the fourth quarter, and Frank Erdley passed to Bray over the goal, but offensive interference was called, the Tigers were penalized 15 yards, and Weirton took the ball.

Except for a bruised left leg sustained by Pizzino, the Tigers emerged unscathed. The Red Riders though they took time out frequently, because of injury, escaped without any serious results. Walter Gelini, their giant right tackle, complained of a sore shoulder.

Tigers Again

Massillon Position Weirton
Robinson LE Stakius
Carinal LT Gelini
Wallace LG Babiak
Appleby C Kazmerski
Russell RG Canel
Broglio RT Lalich
Gillom RE Begola
Kingham QB Ziniach
James LH Janura
Getz RH Yoklic
Blunt FB Fabyanich

Score by periods:
Massillon 21 20 7 0 – 48

Substitutions: Massillon – Oliver, t; Pizzino, fb; F. Cardinal, g; P. Getz, g; Weisgarber, t; DeMando, e; Bray, e; Fuchs, c; Holt, qb; White, hb; Adams, hb; Dolmas, t; Hill, g; Erdley, hb; Power, fb.
Weirton – M. Battista, qb; Guatteri, g; Haun, t; Jones, c; Bouyouchas, t; R. Kraina, fb; Torchio, e; Volosin, fb; Wansack, hb; J. Kraina, fb; Francis, qb.

Touchdowns: Gillom 2, Blunt 2, James Robinson, Adams.

Points after touchdown: Getz 5, (placekicks), Pizzino (placekick).

Officials
Referee – Lobach.
Umpire – Jenkins.
Headlinesman – Brubaker.
Field Judge – Wrobleski.

Massillon Crushes Weirton

TIGER 1ST TEAM RUSHED TO
41 – 0 LEAD AT HALFTIME

16,000 See Mighty Ohio Eleven Crush Pride of W. Virginia

(Plain Dealer Special)

MASSILLON, O., Sept. 20 – The famed juggernaut of Coach Paul E. Brown ran its football supremacy past the highly regarded Weirton, W. Va. eleven 48 to 0 to extend its victory string to 25 in succession.

With the first team compiling a 41 to 0 advantage in the fist half, Brown sent in an entire new team that finished up with a touchdown to treat the overflow crowd of 16,000.

Massillon started out in usual fashion by hammering over a score after several minutes. Horace Gillom, the Tigers’s All-Ohio end jogged across for the initial marker, on an end around play from the Weirton 49.

The second touchdown was an exact duplication of the first with the exception that Gillom was taxed with only a 25-yard sprint. After that touchdowns came easy, with Blunt zigging through the opposition for a pair and James and Robinson, finding the route for one each. Ray Getz’s educated toe was in top form as he split the uprights with five placements in a half dozen attempts. An interference penalty aided the locals considerably in ringing up the third touchdown in the first quarter.

After Tom James’ pass intended for Horace Gillom was broken up when a Wierton secondary man held his arm the Tigers received the ball on the 1 from where Pokey Blunt crashed over. A beautiful 75-yard run of an intercepted aerial by Herm Robinson led to the fourth touchdown shortly after the second period commenced. Two attempts at guard by Blunt from the 11-yard stripe ran the total to 27.

After 27 yards of twisting and turning, Tom James’ buck pass from the Weirton 12 to Robinson completed activities of the varsity.

The second half was an altogether different type of game, the Tigers mixing a series of lateral passes with their off-tackle smashes. It was the first time that the Tigers used the forward-lateral pass method in several seasons.

Weir-Massillon
Grid Statistics

Weirton Massillon
3 First downs 21
25 Scrimmage plays tried 47
59 Yds. Gained from scrimmage 336
19 Yards gained passing 86
0 Yards gained lateraling 52
78 Total yards gained 474
11 Yds. Lost from scrimmage 27
67 Net yardage gained 447
9 Passes thrown 20
2 Passes completed 8
1 Passes intercepted 4
0 Laterals tried 3
1 Fumbles 2
3 Fumbles recovered 0
10 Punts 4
367 Total yardage of punts 174
37 Yardage per punt 43
2 Penalties 7
20 Yardage lost from penalties 75
1 Kickoff 8

(How They Gained)
Weirton
Sp. G. L. N.G.
Begola 4 19 5 14
Januara 5 14 0 14
Volosin 6 12 0 12
Stakis 1 5 0 5
Ziniach 1 3 0 3
Fabyanich 1 1 0 1
R. Kraina 1 2 0 2
Wansask 6 3 6 0

25 59 11 48

Massillon
James 9 112 10 102
Blunt 6 61 0 61
Gillom 2 32 0 32
Pizzino 6 30 0 30
Adams 10 44 5 39
Bray 6 23 10 13
White 7 25 2 25
Holt 1 4 0 4
Robinson 1 5 0 5

47 336 27 309

Tigers Top Weirton
By 48 – 0 Count

Regulars In Action Only In First Half;
18,000 Watch Fray

By JIM SCHLEMMER

Weirton 66, Massillon 64! But don’t make a mistake about that score. That’s only the size of the rival bands.

The football score was 48 – 0, as Paul Brown’s Massillon high Tigers registered their 25th consecutive victory Friday night before 18,200 fans in Tiger Stadium.

The win was over a fine looking, well drilled, husky Weirton, W. Va., team, believe it or not. And it came so easily that Brown didn’t care whether his varsity players returned from their dressing room at halftime…and at no time during the entire second half did he use any but his second and third stringers.

Hoss Gillom, Massillon’s sensational Negro end, simply outraced the whole Weirton team for 39 yards and the first touchdown four minutes after the game was under way.

Minutes later on the same sort of play in which he comes around from right end to become the third ball handler in the backfield and the most important, Gillom outraced the West Virginians for 19 yards and a second touchdown.

The third came after a long pass to Pokey Blunt had been rules complete on the Weirton four-yard line because of interference. Blunt drove over for the score, and with Tom James holding and Ray Getz placekicking successfully after each touchdown the count was 21 – 0 as the initial period ended.

In the second quarter Herman Robinson intercepted Janura’s pass and returned 65 yards to set up the fourth touchdown, which Blunt made on a smash.

The fifith was manufactured by Johnny Pizzino who smashed for 10. Getz who raced for 26 and James who cut back from the eight-yard line to go over the goal line.

Getz failed to convert after the fourth touchdown, the first apparent mistake made by the Tigers during the game.

Still later in the second period James intercepted a Weirton pass and brought it back 17 to Wierton’s 30-yard line from where Gillom got 17 and James then passed to Robinson who scampered 10 for the sixth touchdown. Getz placekicked the 41st point seconds before the half ended.

With a 41 – 0 lead at halftime it was evident Brown might have sent his varsity regulars to a dance for the remainder of the evening, so far as their being needed was concerned.

The second stringers counted early in the third period on a smash by Dick Adams from five yards out and then closed the books for the night.

Twice later they went over for touchdowns which were ruled void because of penalties. A clipping charge offset a 13-yard touchdown run by Adams in the third and a pass from Ederly to Bray into the end zone on the last Massillon offensive thrust of the game was ruled no-count because of offensive interference.

But it is just as well. This affair was much more interesting than the 64 – 0 rout of Cathedral Latin last week because the Massillon subvarsity was on practically even terms with the fighting Weirton outfit during the second half.

The band competition was closer but honors as usual went to the Tigers. They featured a dance feature at the half, built around Madame LaZonga’s sixth lesson.

Before the Warren game next Friday night 3,500 additional seats will be built on the running track in front of the grandstands, bringing the capacity up to the 21,000 mark. Already the new Tiger stadium is inadequate to handle normal crowds – normal being in the 18,000 range.

Classy Ohio Grid Machine Scores Six Goals in First Half

Tigers Register 25th Straight Win On Home Field; Riders Fail to Make Scoring Threat

Massillon High school’s high-powered football machine, regarded as the best scholastic team in the nation, rolled over the Weir Red Riders in blitzkrieg waves in the Massillon stadium Friday night to win 48 to 0 before a throng of 17,500. The victory was the 25th straight for the Tigers.

The Tiger machine was everything it was pictured to be, displaying brilliant blocking and timing, elusive open-field running and swift driving. The Riders were left hopeless against the first team in the first half, but limited the second team to one touchdown in the last half.

The Riders were completely outclassed against the Tiger first team and never had a chance of scoring. The Weir secondary tackling bogged down, but the team as a whole put up a determined fight despite the overwhelming odds against them.

The Tigers mauled the Riders for three touchdowns in the first period, three more in the second and one in the third. Horace Gillom, versatile 194 pound end, scored the first two touchdowns on end-around jaunts of 49 and 19 yards. Fred Blunt scored twice, while Tom James, Herman Robinson and Dick Adams scored once each.

In the closing quarter the Riders’ second team played the Tigers to a standstill. That quarter indicated the possible strength of the two teams when they meet next year. The Tigers lose nine regulars and the two to be around for the 1941 team will be Fred Blunt and Herman Robinson, both colored.

Statistically the Buckeye team completely outclassed the Riders in every department of the game. They piled up 21 first downs to 3, gained 474 yards to 78, and intercepted 4 of the 9 passes thrown. It was the first time a team outscored the Riders on first downs since 1936 when Weirton engaged in a scoreless draw with Benwood Union, which piled up 10 first downs to 4 for the Riders.

To name an outstanding player on the Tiger first team, one would have to pick the entire team, which worked with flawless precision. But Gillom was the spark plug of the team on the offense as well as the defense. He did everything well.

Three Goals in 1st Period

The Tigers reeled off three touchdowns in the opening period in quick fashion. James took Kazmerski’s kickoff from the 10 to the 41. Getz, on the very first play fumbled and Walter Gelini recovered on Massillon’s 45. Januara James (unreadable text)

James took Januara’s punt on the 14 and returned to the 18. James reeled off 23 yards, while Blunt crashed through center and reversed his field for 35 more yards. Robinson, Blunt and James on three successive plays made it a first down on the 19-yard line from where Gillom duplicated his first touchdown feat by scoring untouched. The march totaled 82 yards. Getz’s toe again was accurate.

The Tigers’ third touchdown march started on the 24. Januara punted from his 22 to their 24 and on the play Massillon refused a penalty. James on two plays picked up 8 yards and after a five-yard penalty he tossed a 33-yard pass to Getz who was downed on the 49. Blunt on two plays gained 20 yards. On a triple reverse, Robinson tossed a pass to Gillom, which was missed but on the play Albert Yeklic ran into the receiver and the pass was ruled good. That interference of the passer gave the Tigers the ball on the 4-yard line from where Blunt went over on the first play. Getz made it 21.

Weir Pass Intercepted

The Riders got their first opportunity to score in the opening of the second quarter. James fumbled Wansack’s punt on the 25 and Begola recovered. This marked the nearest the Riders were to scoring. On the first play Begola, on an end around play lost 5 yards with Wallace making the tackle. Januara replaced Wansack and his pass was intercepted on the 20 by Robinson, who behind perfect blocking raced 70 yards before he was hauled down by Januara on the 10-yard line. On three tries Blunt went over from the one-foot line. Getz’s kick went wide.

Penalty Aids Tigers

A few plays after the kickoff the Buckeyes were on their way for the fifth touchdown. James returned Januara’s punt from the 20 to the 38. The Tigers were stopped for the first time and had to kick with Gillom’s punt going over the goal line, but on the play, Gelini was penalized 15 yards for clipping from behind, giving the Tigers the ball on the 44. Pizzino advanced the ball to his 45. James pass to Getz netted 18 yards, putting the ball on the 27. James went through center and reversed his field for the touchdown. Getz’s boot made it 34-0.

With but two second left in the first half, James shovel-passed to Robinson who scored the sixth touchdown while Getz made it five out of six placements and the score at halftime was 41-0.

Second Team Scores

Coach Paul Brown started his second team against the Riders at the start of the third period and they finished the game by scoring once against the Weir regulars in the third period, but were held to a standstill by Hamill’s second team in the closing quarter.

After an exchange of punts, Wansack’s second punt went short as it carried to the 39 opening the way for the only score of the last half. Dick Adams on a reverse gained 15 yards. Bray on an end around play got 5 and Pizzino made it a firstdown on the 7. Bray lost 3 with Kazmerski and Begola stopping him. Adams crashed through the center of the line for the score. Pizzino’s placement was good.

Adams scored once more in the same period, but the touchdown was nulled when one of his teammates clipped Kazmerski from behind. On the play Kazmersaki was hurt and had to be taken from the game.

Grid Sidelights –

Weir Grid Defeat
No Surprise To Fans;
Band Goes Modernistic

The Weir gridiron defeat was no surprise to the more than 2,500 Weirton fans at Massillon last night, but they were jolted out of their seats by the transformation of the Weir High band into a streamlined, precision-marching organization stripped of its outmoded formality. Well aware of what Massillon’s swing band was to present, the Weir band underwent a complete overhauling within a week’s time and as a result, its appearance yesterday won the acclaim of the entire stadium and was a worthy supplement to the Tiger swingsters.
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Led by Drum Major Harry Hovista and eight high-stepping, baton-twirling majorettes, the Weir band of 75 executed its letter formations and marched down the field to a faster and livelier tempo than ever before. Both sides of the field gave the band a rousing reception. The waltz to “Repasz Band” was well performed. They also played the W-L Swing and the Weir Pep Song. The band plans novelty maneuvers for future games. Emil Holz received much credit for the excellent performance last night.
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The Massillon swing band of 64 was unique in its presentation of music, quickened pace and jitterbug dancing on the field to their own accompaniment. The majorettes wielded $25 lighted batons in the blackout scene, one of the highlights of their six-minute halftime, show. The $400 Massillon Tiger impersonated Madame La Zonga and joined in the jiving with the band members and majorettes. One member of the Weir faculty brought along a stopwatch to clock the halftime show, but he became so excited by the music that he forgot to set off the watch. Several from here saw the band last week at Massillon and doubted that so much could be packed within a six-minute time limit, so they took the stopwatch along.
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The Weirton band will stick to its modernistic trend at games (only), but there’ll be no jitterbugging.
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Yesterday was a day of superlatives – the best scholastic football team in the country; the best scholastic swing band in the country; the largest football crowd in the country (high school or college); the biggest Weirton crowd ever to leave the city for a football game; the biggest out-of-town crowd ever to come to Massillon (except Dayton) – etc.
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The Massillon score was the biggest ever made against a Hamill coached team and the second largest in the history of Weir High. The biggest score registered was by Martins Ferry in 1924, 59 to 0, while under Hamill’s tenure the biggest score was 30-0 by the same school in 1936.
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There were 636 persons aboard the Lions special – 623 adults and 13 children. The crowd was in gay spirits going to and from the game and was not disheartened by the grid reversal. They had expected a Massillon victory and the score predictions ranged generally from 30 to 50 points. Calling the exact score was Virgil “Sammy” Troia, the local movie prodigy who’ll try to crash Hollywood next summer. The only fan to pick Weirton was Louis Levendorf, who has seen as many Weir grid games as any local follower. Louis’ prediction was Weir 6 points and Massillon 0.
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The attendance on the special train was the largest of any trip sponsored by the Lions. Last year they averaged 500 for each of the Fairmont and Johnstown games and had 320 last week to McKeesport. These trips are sponsored as a service gesture without thought of compensation.
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The 12-coach train left here on schedule but arrived in Massillon shortly after 8. The walk from the train spur to the stadium was longer than expected and even though the game was held up the excursionists still missed the first touchdown. Sam Wonkovich, however, didn’t miss anything. While the PRR staff was going through its customary slow-motion, dilatory paces, single-filing the crowd through one coach door, Wonkovich eased himself through a window and ran all the way to the stadium. The excursionists were burned up at having to walk after the game from the stadium to the downtown station. The distance was one mile, but to hear the hoofers (who missed the busses) talk it was at least five miles. The train’s departure was held up from 11:00 to 11:30. It arrived in Weirton at 2:30.
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The train concession was in charge of the Hi-Y club of which Clark Wiley is president. Last week the club made $32 and last night about $70.
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Massillon will probably get its biggest test on Saturday following Thanksgiving, when the Tigers clash with their traditional rivals from Canton McKinley. The Canton Bulldogs trounced Akron South, 57-12, last night.
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Last night’s crowd was officially estimated at 17,500, and last week’s at 17,000. The Weirton attendance was the biggest since the modern stadium was dedicated at the start of last season. Some estimates of yesterday’s game were as high as 20,000. But even the 17,500 is more than any college in West Virginia (including WVU) ever drew.
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The enrollment of Massillon High school is between 1400 and 1500. The Weir High school four-year enrollment is about the same.

Tommy James