1932: Massillon 20, Wooster 7

CROWD OF 3,000 SEES WASHINGTON HIGH BEAT WOOSTER IN OPENING GAME
TIGERS FLASH NEAT OFFENSE IN WINNING LEAGUE CONTEST 20-7

By LUTHER EMERY

A green but peppy Washington high football team, underwent its first test successfully at Massillon Field last night, when it turned back a formidable N.E.O. league threat in the form of Wooster high school and crashed through for a 20-7 victory.

They played football last night and for that reason all hats were off today to the Washington high school boys. The 3,000 Massillon fans who gained admission to the field one way or another saw more offensive football last night than they were privileged to witness in any single Washington high game last year with the possible exception of the final encounter of the season with Canton McKinley high.

Offense Is Deceptive
Working spinners, lateral passes, end runs and off-tackle smashes, the Tigers crashed through Wooster for 10 first downs. Wooster by adopting the forward pass occasionally made the yardage nine times. In only one department of play did the Massillon team appear weak and that was in the forward pass. The locals tried passes three times but all were grounded by the Wooster secondary.

Wooster on the other hand made gains of 102 yards by use of the forward pass, having but three grounded by the Massillon defense.

With seven green men in the lineup, four of whom had never played varsity football before and three of them only portions of a couple of quarters, the Tigers uncorked an offensive in the very first period that signaled spectators they were going to see more football this year than in recent years.

Scores on Blocked Punt
The Massillon eleven in fact showed more ground gaining ability in the first period and a few minutes of the last quarter than it did at any other time during the game. Though the first drive did not net a touchdown, it did place the ball in position for Birkish to contribute his first bit to the team by throwing himself against the ball as Starr attempted to kick out of danger, the blocked punt rolling back of the Wooster goal line where Brunker dove for it as through it were a $5 gold piece and gathered it in where no one could steal it.

The Tigers might have scored through straight football had not Andy Heben bobbled a pass from center just long enough to be tackled before he could get by the line of scrimmage on an end run.

An intercepted pass by Knowlton followed by a 35-yard run in which the little quarterback knifed this way by the Wooster secondary paved the way for the Tigers’ second touchdown, while the third was scored by “Bo” Kester after an advance of 27 yards in which Kester and Knowlton were important factors.

Wooster’s score came on a well executed pass with Starr hurling the ball to Mullen for 15 yards and the latter running 55 yards for the touchdown.

The head linesman blew his horn for offside just as the pass, was thrown and the Massillon safety man apparently heard the horn, and hesitated knocking down the pass.

Gun Ends Wooster Threat
Wooster was well on its way to score in the closing period and probably would have carried the ball over the goal line were it not for the timekeeper’s gun. Getting the ball on the Massillon 35-yard line, the visitors threw forward passes and an occasional line play carried it to the two-yard line with first down and goal to gain when the game ended.

Once in the second period the Wooster gridders also had the ball within four yards of the Massillon goal when they forfeited it to the local team on downs.

The Tigers, on the other hand, played much of the fourth period in Wooster territory, losing the ball several times within the 20-yard zone. This in fact appeared to be the only outstanding weakness on the part of the Massillon team – lack of punch at the goal line. The team does not have a plunger with the drive of Glenn Williams, fullback of the past three years, but someone may develop that punch within the next couple of weeks.

Many Substitutes Used
Coach Brown tossed so many substitutes into the game in the last half that it was difficult to keep track of all the players. It was the fist game of varsity football for all the subs and though they were weak in stopping Wooster’s passing in the last quarter, they offered almost as sturdy a forward wall as the starting linesmen.

Kester and Knowlton proved to be the best ground gainers for the locals last night. The locals made two first downs after taking the kickoff as a result of gains on end runs, one on a lateral by Kester. The first real drive, however, started about the middle of the period when the Tigers got the ball on a punt on their 42-yard line and carried it back to the three-yard line where it was lost on downs.

Knowlton was the chief factor in the advance, spinners, through the right side of the Wooster line enabling him to twice get away for gains of 10 yards. The advance had its effect on the Wooster team, however, for Birkish broke through to block Starr’s hurried punt and Brunker was on the ball immediately for a touchdown. Krier’s attempted kick from placement missed the posts.

Wooster showed its first offense in the second period when Taliaferro and Vitallo carried the ball from Wooster’s 45-yard line to the Massillon four-yard line where the ball was lost on downs. Massillon kicked back to the 26 and Wooster brought it back to the 15-yard line before again surrendering the ball on downs.

Knowlton gave the Tigers their second touchdown early in the third period when he snared Starr’s pass on the 35-yard line, midfield and cut to the east side, throwing the Wooster safety man off balance with a pretty side step as he raced over the goal. This time Krier’s placekick split the center of the posts for an extra point.

Wooster scored in the same period when Starr hurled a 15-yard pass to Mullen who took the ball on his own 45-yard line and ran 55 yards unmolested for a touchdown. Starr carried the ball over for another point. No more offense was shown by either team the remainder of the period.

Fourth Quarter Full of Action
The fourth quarter, however, was full of action, the Tigers once carrying the ball from their own 45-yard line to the Wooster 11-yard stripe and again advancing it another time from the Wooster 26-yard stripe to the six-yard line where a pass over the goal ended the threat.

Wooster’s last effort took the ball to the two-yard line with first down and goal to gain when the gun sounded. The Massillon ranks were filled with substitutes, however when this offensive was launched.

The attendance last night exceeded that of any home game last year. The bleachers were filled with spectators and a force of policemen kept the crowd clear between halves.

The Wooster band and the Washington high band were in the stands, while the drum and bugle corps of Massillon Post 221 drilled and played.

Lineup and summary:
MASSILLON Pos. WOOSTER
Lohr le Mullen
Birkish lt Campbell
Krier lg Drabenstott
Hoyman c Mathie
Schimke rg Sapp
Monroe rt Milham
Brunker re Fry
Knowlton qb Taliaferro
Kester hb Starr
Schrake hb Jolliff
Vitallo fb Foster

Score by periods:
Massillon 6 0 7 7 20
Wooster 0 0 7 0 7

Substitutions:
Massillon – Amic, fb; Heben, hb; Snavely, lg; Scott, rg; Bray, lt; Keller, re; Mansbury, hb; Brinker, le; Hutsell; Ripple; Silvis; Chovan.
Wooster – Hinderman, Zebra, re; Falvo, qb; Capolla, hb; Stoneburner, re; Heckbert, rt.

Touchdowns:
Massillon – Brunker; Knowlton; Kester.
Wooster – Mullen.

Points after touchdown:
Massillon – Krier 2 (kicks from placement).
Wooster – Starr (line buck).

Officials:
Referee – Jenkins.
Umpire – Wagner.
Head Linesman – Rang.

1928: Massillon 32, Wooster 0

ORANGE AND BLACK SHOWS STRONG ATTACK IN BEATING WOOSTER 32-0
WAYNE COUNTY TEAM OUTPLAYED IN EVERY QUARTER BY TIGERS

Like the Prodigal Son who went out to conquer the world, and returned as meek and humble as an overgrown schoolboy after being spanked by his smaller teacher, so the Washington high school football team returned to its home field Saturday afternoon, somewhat dubious as to the mood of the fans because of the poor showing in the first road game of the season, at Lorain Sept. 29.

But with nothing to lose, and everything in the world to gain, the youthful tigers this time accomplished what they set out to do, and smothered the troop of grid warriors from Wooster high under a 32 to 0 defeat.

No fatted calf gave its life to celebrate the triumph, the wearers of leather and moleskin contenting themselves by feasting on the glories of the victory, while Massillon fans, themselves surprised at the overwhelming score, stand ready to sing aloud the praises of the orange and black.

The team resembled the steam roller of old. A powerful offense that gained yardage at will, crashed through the Wooster line for a quintette of touchdowns that produced the team’s first victory of the year, and incidentally the largest score rolled up by a Massillon machine since the middle of the 1926 season.

Gaining on practically every means of offensive play with the single exception of the forward pass, McGrew’s gridders had the Wayne county team completely baffled and the only thing that saved it from an even more crushing defeat was the fouling of the orange and black eleven, which resulted in many penalties.

This furnished the only dark spot in the team’s play during the afternoon, and Coach Elmer McGrew took immediate steps to remedy the condition while the game was in progress by removing every player on his team caught by the officials violating the laws of the gridiron. These penalties, five of them, of 15 yards each, set back the youthful tigers several times when they were on the march to the Wooster goal line and had it not been for the loss of 100 yards through penalties the local team probably would have run up a much larger score.

Wooster showed nothing, scoring but two first downs. The orange and black forward wall outcharged the Wayne county gridders and either had them on the ground or running backward the greater part of the game. To the line goes a lot of credit for the victory. These seven youths who form the fortification for the backfield and whose praises are seldom sang, opened large holes for the ball carriers Saturday, and outplayed the Wooster gridders with such consistency that but one yard was lost from scrimmage by the orange and black, with the exception of a fumble.

The local team’s offensive strength also was helped considerably by the interference which protected the ball carrier. The interference Saturday was the best that has been given an orange and black ball carrier for several years, and is believed due directly to changes made by Coach McGrew in his backfield during the past week. Both Buttermore and Hollwager are good blockers, and carry the ball well. Hollwager looked good on off tackle dashes, while Buttermore, built like an old fashioned battering ram, showed an ability to lower his head, close his eyes, and drive through the center of the line mowing down the opposing team for several yards as he plunged along. George Hess and John Kester, the other members of the backfield who started the game, also gained their share of yards during the day, Hess gaining more yards than any of the other backs. Hess also ran the team well, mixing up his plays and showed a good example of unselfishness to the others when he permitted Buttermore to buck across a touchdown on two consecutive smashes at the line after the latter had placed it in position for scoring.

In defeating Wooster, however, the local gridders should not feel that they have accomplished a difficult task. It was Wooster’s third defeat in as many games this year, Barberton and New Philadelphia having previously knocked off the blue by scores of 45 to 7 and 6 to 0 respectively. The orange and black players should not get overconfident as a result of the victory, but should let the score give them confidence, sufficient to inspire them to fight all the harder for greater victories.

A game such as the one with Wooster Saturday should have been scheduled for the local team for the first of the season. Such a victory would have given the gridders the confidence necessary to carry on a successful season on the football field. But games cannot always be arranged as you would like to have them and to make the best of a difficult early season schedule, the team now expects to start in this week with Alliance where it left off Saturday with Wooster, and get the jump on Canton by taking the lead in the Stark county series.

Saturday’s game had its thrills and its sighs. The thrills came when Schnierle circled the Massillon right end for 28 yards and a touchdown and when Lewis, shortly after the kickoff in the second half stepped through Wooster’s right tackle for a pretty run of 45 yards and a touchdown. The sighs came when the orange and black’s goalward marches were stopped and set back by penalties. Penalties and an intercepted pass were the only things that kept McGrew’s team from scoring in the first period, when they made five first downs.

In the second period, however, the yards were clicked off with more regularity and by the time first half intermission was reached the Massillon team had not only scored its first touchdown of the season but had pushed across three additional sets of counters for a total of 20 points. During the first two quarters the local team produced 10 first downs, while as far as Wooster was concerned, first downs were as scarce as toes on a peg leg.

The youthful tigers started their first march to a touchdown shortly after the start of the second period, when Schnierle took Zapponi’s punt on his 40-yard line and carried it back to the Wooster 45-yard line. His run was largely made possible by Captain Potts who took two Wooster men out of the play in one dive. Hess made a yard on the next play and Hollwager tore through the line for three more, Wooster, however, was declared offside and Captain Potts took the penalty rather than the gain. Schnierle fumbled after a nice run on the next play and Wooster was again offside, but Captain Potts this time took the gain which gave the orange and black the ball on the 28-yard line. Kester hit left tackle for six yards, but Conrad broke through and tossed Hollwager for a two-yard loss. G. Hess made three yards and Kester five yards, but the ball was called back, both teams being offside. Hollwager then plunged through the line for a first down on Wooster’s 14-yard line. On the next play Buttermore rammed through the center of the line for 13 yards, carrying the ball to the one-yard line. He tried it again and placed the pigskin on the one-foot line and on the next play put it over. Schnierle drop-kicked the extra point.

Additional grief to the Wooster rooters came a few minutes later. Getting the ball on their own 35-yard line, the followers of Obie, marched 65 yards across the visitor’s goal line. Gaining possession of the ball as a result of a punt, Hess on the first play made nine yards. Hollwager followed with two yards, making a first down on Massillon’s 46-yard line. Kester dashed around left end for 14 yards, taking the ball to the Wooster 40-yard line. Buttermore plunged through for four yards but the orange and black was penalized 15 yards for holding. Schnierle picked up 14 yards on the next play on a run around end. Hess made two more and Kester then slipped through for a run of 16 yards, taking the ball to the Wooster 28-yard line. Hollwager made six yards on the first down and Hess then wormed his way through for a gain of 13 yards, being downed on the Wooster nine-yard line. Hess made four yards on his next attempt after which Hollwager carried the oval across. Schnierle’s kick struck the line of scrimmage.

The third set of points in the quarter were scored as a result of Houriet intercepting Strock’s pass on the 40-yard line and carrying the ball back to the 28-yard line, from which Schnierle took the ball across on the next play on a sweeping run around Wooster’s left end. He gave himself another point by kicking goal.

The big parade of the day, however, came in the second minute of the third period. Wooster had just made its first offensive threat which came to a sudden ending when Captain Potts intercepted Strock’s pass in midfield. Three plays and two penalties finally found the ball on the Wooster 43-yard line, from where Ike Lewis, sophomore quarterback, made a dash for a touchdown. It was the most spectacular run of the day. Getting started slowly, Lewis sidestepped a flock of tacklers until only the safety man was in his path to the goal. A quick change of pace got rid of him, and the Ike scampered across the goal. Again the try for point was low.

From then on Coach McGrew began refreshing his ranks with substitutes in order to give his younger players a taste of gridiron roughness. The result was that the youthful tigers after many threats, finally started on their last scoring march of the day that was realized only 38 seconds before the final gun was fired. It all started when Myers covered a Wooster fumble on the latter’s 26-yard line. Kester made three yards and Hollwager picked up six more. Buttermore then made it first down on the Wooster 14-yard line. On the next play G. Hess slipped through for eight yards, taking the ball to the six-yard line. Kester made a bid for a touchdown, carrying the pigskin to the one-yard line, from where G. Hess plunged it over. Malone’s attempted drop kick went wide of the bar by a few inches.

The orange and black made 17 first downs to Wooster’s two. Wooster completed two forward passes, one for a gain of 11 yards and the other for a loss of a yard. Massillon had two passes incomplete and Wooster six, while one of the local team’s passes was intercepted against three of Wooster’s. Wooster was penalized 35 yards and Massillon 100 yards.

The Washington high gridders gained 417 yards from scrimmage Saturday, divided as follows: G. Hess, carried ball 22 times, 123 yards; Schnierle carried ball six times, 67 yards; Kester carried ball 12 times, 67 yards; Hollwager carried ball 14 times, 61 yards; Buttermore, carried ball seven times, 28 yards; Lewis carried ball four times, 48 yards, and Worthington carried ball five times, 23 yards.

Lineup and summary:

Massillon Pos. Wooster

Schnierle LE Zapponi

Slinger LT Heye

Goodman LG Franks

Potts C Conrad

Blatz RG Cappola

Fisher RT Beach

Houriet RE Dahl

Hess QB Strock

Hollwager RHB Dalby

Kester LHB Kalkas

Buttermore FB Gohen
Score by periods:
Massillon 0 26 6 6 32

Substitutions:
Massillon – Mann for Slinger, Minger for Buttermore, Buttermore for Mann, Lewis for Potts, Potts for Fisher, Worthington for Houriet, Willison for Potts, Potts for Lewis, Lewis for Kester, Fisher for Potts, Potts for Willison, Pfister for Goodman, Mann for Pfister, Slinger for Minger, Houriet for Mann, Barrett for Lewis, D. Hess for Barrett, Kester for Worthington, McGinnis for D. Hess, Malone for Schnierle, Myers for McGinnis, Francis for Houriet, Toles for Buttermore, Wolfe for Hollwager.
Wooster – Drabanstatt for Franks, Richardson for Kalkas, Noscar for Beach, Franks for Drabenstatt, Drabenstatt for Dall, Haldeman for Zapponi, Paulmier for Richardson, Beach for Noscar, Noscar for Conrad, Zaugg for Dalby, Edwards for Drabenstatt, Holleran for Gohen.

Touchdowns – Buttermore, Hollwager, Schnierle, Lewis, G. Hess.
Point after touchdown – Schnierle 2 (drop kick).

Officials—Referee—Howells; umpire—Schnake; headlinesman—Walsh.

1918: Massillon 62, Wooster 0

MASSILLON HIGH SCORES 9 TIMES

Almost a point a minute was the score rolled up against the Wooster high school football team by the Massillon gridders, Saturday afternoon, on the Blues field, when Massillon defeated Wooster 62 to 0.

The score stood 27 to 0 at the end of the first quarter. Wooster held Massillon in the second quarter, but during the last half of the game the defensive line crumbled before the home team’s swift onslaught.

Massillon’s triumph was due to a remarkable showing of smooth and effective team work.

A big improvement was noticeable in the entire line, which played a brilliant game. Speed featured the work of the back field. Greenfelder, right halfback, made several spectacular 55 yard punts.

The young Tigers are in excellent trim to battle their ancient enemy, Canton high, which was defeated Saturday at Alliance, 33 to 6.

The Canton-Massillon high football game, scheduled for November 23, will be played at Canton.

Massillon – 62. Pos. Wooster – 0.

Wittman le Starn

Harrison lt Spangler

Kemp lg Armstrong

Ertle c Abler

Clay Tilton rg Van Ness

Oberlin rt Frank

Howells re Mitchell

Graybill qb Pringle

Thomas lh Morrison

Greenfelder rh Swigert

Archbold fb Walker
Touchdowns –Thomas 3, Greenfelder 2, Wittman 1, Tilton 1, Archb

1917: Massillon 20, Wooster 0

ORANGE AND BLACK DEFEATS WOOSTER IN EASY FASHION

Orange and black clad gridiron warriors of Massillon high school annexed their sixth victory of the season Saturday when they trounced Wooster high 20 to 0 in the Wayne county capital.

It was a Wooster fumble on the first kick off that put Coach Snavely’s gridders in position to score. Then it was a Massillon fumble which gave Archbold a chance to scoop up the ball and carry it across Wooster’s goal line. Massillon had carried the ball to within Wooster’s 20 yard zone when the fumble occurred.

Wooster received but was held for downs, punting to Thomas who was thrown in his tracks. The orange and black commenced another march toward Wooster’s goal, Thomas and Archbold ripping off two first downs in succession. Fulton missed a pass but, on the next play Thomas swung around right end for 20 yards placing the ball on Wooster’s 10 yard line from where Archbold carried it over for his second set of counters.

It was a forward pass in the third quarter that gave Massillon its third touchdown. A 10-yard heave, from Thomas to Fulton, who sprinted 50 yards after receiving the pass brought the third set of points.

Wooster was never dangerous, not once penetrating the orange and black’s 20 yard zone. Play during the greater part of the game was in Wooster territory. After running up 20 points Coach Snavely’s tossers played largely upon the defensive. Only straight football was used by the local crew, as the presence of Canton scouts on the sidelines made it necessary for the orange and black to cover up its pet plays which will be sprung on Canton in the big battle next Saturday.

Following is the lineup and summary.

Massillon High – 20. Pos. Wooster high – 0.

Wittmann le Silver

Cheyney lt Dudley

Taylor lg Himes

Ertle c Whitemyer

Harrison lg Spangler

Oberlin rt Long

Fulton re Green

Graybill qb Patdorf

Thomas lhb Morrison

Converse rhb Stutz

Archbold fb Miller
Touchdown – Archbold 2. Fulton.

Referee – Maurer.
Umpire – Jones.
Headlinesman – Smith.

Goals after touchdown: Thomas 2.

Time of quarters – 12, 10, 12 and 10.

1916: Massillon 52, Wooster 0

HIGH SCHOOL TOSSERS PLAY GREAT GAME AND SCORE ALMOST AT WILL

That crack orange and black eleven of Massillon high school will make the fans forget all about the brilliant performance of the 1915 team if it isn’t careful.

Coach Snavely’s youthful tigers showed some 2,500 odd spectators Saturday afternoon in a convincing manner that they are a great deal faster and have a better attack than last year’s crew, when they smothered Wooster’s high eleven under a 52 to 0 drubbing on the driving park gridiron.

Wooster high sent here a beefy aggregation of gridders and a big fullback, weighing nearly 190 pounds, who was a star when it came to ripping up the Tiger line for substantial gains. But beef played little part in the fracas and the plinging fullback—Carlton, captain of the Wayne county team—could not play the entire game himself.

Massillon’s attack both on offensive and defensive was so bewildering and puzzling to the visiting team that from the very outset it was evident it would not be able to weather the storm, although it did put up a plucky fight to halt the orange and black’s victorious march.

McLaughlin’s great generalship in directing Massillon’s team play, his brilliant running in a broken field and his accurate hurling of the forward pass; Thomas’ daring in skirting Wooster’s ends or dashing through the line; Stults’ heavy line plunging; Harrold’s fine work in receiving forwards, and the great defensive playing of Bischoff, Ertle and Zepp was too much for Wooster’s heavy aggregation and they wilted before Massillon’s attack.

It took the local team just one minute and 25 seconds to score the first touchdown. Massillon received. Two line plunges brought in the Wooster wingmen and then McLaughlin shot a forward to Harrold, which brought a gain of 50 yards. McLaughlin darted through left tackle on the next play and by some great dodging and running, gained 30 yards and the first touchdown.

Wooster received, was held and punted. Thomas skirted right end for a big gain of 40 yards and a minute later plunged through tackle for the second touchdown. The third touchdown in the quarter came after a series of line plays had brought the ball to the one yard line with goal to gain on the fourth down. McLaughlin shot into the Wooster line and hung up the third set of counters.

Wooster succeeded in holding the orange and black scoreless in the second quarter but in the third quarter a forward from McLaughlin to Bischoff for 12 yards scored a touchdown.

It was in this quarter that Carlton showed up well for Wooster. The big fullback, who last season was out of the game most of the time on account of injuries, hurled himself into the line time after time for big gains and he worked the ball within striking distance, but a Wooster man fumbled and Massillon recovered.

In the fourth quarter Massillon ran rough shod over the Wayne county boys. Four touchdowns and one goal were annexed. Stults placed Massillon in position to score by a 45 yard plunge through the line, McLaughlin taking the ball over on the next play from the two yard line. Shortly after that he scored again and a few minutes later shot a 20 yard pass to Harrold for a touchdown. McLaughlin made the last touchdown 10 seconds before time expired: He plowed through the line for eight yards.

WOOSTER WORSTED

Massillon – 52. Pos. Wooster – 0.

Harrold (c) le Wemer

Stoner lt Freck

Ertle lg Guoynes

Zepp c Fritz

Oberlin rg Morrison

C. Archbold rt Hickman

Bischoff re Imhof

McLaughlin qb Badtorf

Thomas lhb Bartel

Stults fb Carlton (c)

Converse rhb Stultz
Score by quarters:
Wooster 0 0 0 0
Massillon 20 7 0 25

Touchdowns – McLaughlin 5, Thomas 1, Bischoff 1, Harrold 1.
Goals – McLaughlin 4 out of 8.

Referees – Plott, of Otterbein; Fleming, of W. & J.
Umpires – Day, of Muhlenburg; Fleming, of W. & J.
Headlinesman – Copenhaver, of Heidleberg.
Timers – Coleman, of Massillon; Shuch, of Wooster.

Time of quarters – 12 minutes.

Substitutes: Massillon – Chayney for Stoner, Ertle for Bischoff, Stoner for Ertle, Underwood for Oberlin, H. Archbold for Converse, Fulton for Archbold. Wooster – Leib for Mo