RALLY IN

SECOND HALF

BRINGS WIN

JOHN ADAMS IS DEFEATED

26 – 0 IN GRID TUSSLE

NOT all lessons are taught in the classroom. The gridiron at Massillon field Saturday afternoon furnished the setting for a lesson to the orange and black football team of Washington High school that will not be forgotten. It should have a lasting effect. And it taught quite forcibly the folly of over confidence.

Playing an important role as instructors were members of the John Adams high school football team of Cleveland here for their first athletic engagement with a Massillon scholastic team. The visiting Clevelanders eventually were defeated 26 to 0, thus tacking on the record of the orange and black its fourth straight victory in five starts. But even though they were walloped John Adams’ husky gridders in 24 minutes imprinted deeply in the minds of Coach John H. Atkinson’s boys that to become too well satisfied with one’s ability with an almost total disregard for what the other fellow may be able to do generally means a swift and disgraceful tumble.

The local team Saturday was able to ride on to victory because it took to heart in the second half the lesson it had been taught during the first two periods when its exhibition of how the great autumnal pastime should be played was terrible to say the least. Having paid the price of its folly in the first half the orange and black came out for the start of the third quarter a different aggregation and soon inaugurated an attack that rolled up three touchdowns in the third period and produced the fourth and final set of counters in the fourth chapter.

Two things were responsible for Massillon’s poor showing in the first half when John Adams was able to hold the contest to a scoreless tie despite the fact that play was continually in the visitors’ territory. The first and biggest thing was that spirit of over-confidence which had woven its way into the orange and black camp.

VISITORS TACKLE HARD

The other was the fierce and deadly tackling of the John Adams gridders whose defense in the first 24 minutes of play was the stiffest the orange and black has been called upon to face this year.

Few teams have ever come to Massillon and shown a better brand of tackling than the John Adams team exhibited Saturday. It seemed to be coached largely to play a defensive game for its offense was woefully weak and cumbersome. From the start however it looked as if the scoring of a touchdown would break the back bone of the Cleveland defense but it took Massillon over two quarters to hang up that first touchdown and from then on John Adams faded rapidly out of the picture.

The Massillon team Saturday looked little like the smooth working machine which ripped Akron South to pieces the week before, inflicting a 36 to 0 defeat. Had it been John Adams would have been routed early and the score much larger than it was. But the orange and black machine Saturday, for two periods at least, resembled a worn out old lizzie rattling along on one cylinder and about to expire with every cough of its sputtering engine. But the old machine was fairly well repaired between halves and made the grade with room to spare.

John Adams brought a big, husky squad of lads to Massillon who seemed determined to hold Massillon’s scoring activities as near zero as possible. But it was as poor on offense as it was good on defense and never had a chance to score. It made only one first down, that coming in the fourth quarter and never got beyond Massillon’s 45-yard line. But its defense nearly wrecked the show.

POOR PLAYING

In the first half Massillon lacked its customary punch on offense. Its plays were slow in getting started, its interference was bad and the line was continually out charged by the Clevelanders who busted through like a pack of wolves. Even such a fleet footed ground coverer as Captain Bill Price couldn’t get out of his tracks before being nailed by a flock of hard tackling yellow and maroon clad warriors.

And how those Cleveland boys could talk. They nearly talked the orange and black out of the game. At first the local lads were bewildered. Then they began to get mad and see red and the more red they saw the poorer became their play. But all this was changed when the second half began. The same Massillon men were back in the lineup but they were playing a different game.

The game, so far as Massillon was concerned, did not really begin until the start of the third quarter. The contest was slowed up and marred by frequent penalties inflicted on both teams but Massillon was the worst offender. The second half was not so bad but during the first half after nearly every down the eagle eyes officials plastered a penalty on one of the two teams.

A penalty cost Massillon one touchdown in the third quarter. Other penalties, while not actually snatching away points, at least halted more than one march that might have been successfully concluded with a touchdown.

RALLY IN THIRD QUARTER

The third quarter was the best of the four and produced some thrilling dashes, two resulting in touchdowns. Massillon received to start the second half and after being tossed for a 10-yard loss McConnell punted out of bounds on Cleveland’s 20-yard line. Adams punted right back and the exchange of kicks netted Massillon about 30 yards, the orange and black getting the ball on John Adams’ 40-yard stripe. Fulton tore off eight yards around right end on a double pass and McConnell hit the line for a first down.

Price smashed through for three but McConnell was dumped for a four-yard loss. John Adams was still shining on defense but on the next play McConnell flipped a pass to Price and the Massillon captain dashed 27 yards and across Cleveland’s goal line for the first touchdown of the game. McConnell drop kicked for the extra point.

FOSTERS GREAT PLAY

John Adams received and punted but “Danger” Smith, the Massillon safety man, fumbled and Cleveland covered on Massillon’s 49-yard line. The visitors completed a pass for six yards but were destined to receive a shock on their next aerial attempt when Earl Foster dashed across the field, snatched the ball out of the air with one hand and raced by the entire John Adams team for 55 yards and the second touchdown. The youngster made a brilliant catch and a brilliant run.

By this time John Adams was beginning to find the pace a bit too fast. Near the close of the quarter an exchange of punts gave Massillon the ball on Cleveland’s 43-yard line. McConnell made five at the line and then passed to Foster for a 25-yard gain, punting the ball on the 14-yard line. “Danger” Smith hit the line for four. Bill Price made it first down, toting the leather to the four-yard line. McConnell took it to within one foot of the goal line on the next plunge and then Smith crashed through center for the third touchdown.

PRICE ON RAMPAGE

The fourth touchdown came early in the fourth quarter and was the result of a beautifully executed triple pass with Bill Price doing the running. Mauger covered a Cleveland fumble on the visitors’ 47-yard line. Then the triple pass sign was hung out for the first time during the game. Price grabbed the ball, circled Cleveland’s right end while most of the visitors were watching for the play to come around the opposite end and galloped 47 yards for the touchdown.

After that Coach Atkinson kept a steady stream of substitutes pouring on the field. John Adams also used practically all of its squad. Its boys for the most part were big and powerful and out weighed the local team. Price’s two brilliant runs and Foster’s long dash were the features of the contest. Defensively Sam Benson stalwart lineman, was the shining light. He played a whale of a game from start to finish.

Massillon lost a touchdown in the third quarter because of clipping by “Danger” Smith. Massillon had the ball on Cleveland’s 33-yard line and McConnell passed to Bill Price who made his way across the goal line unmolested but he was called back for the officials ruled Smith guilty of clipping a Cleveland player on the 18-yard line and Massillon took a 25-yard penalty, one of the many it received during the afternoon.

Potts, Massillon center, and Kubic, John Adams center, were injured and had to leave the contest. Potts received a kick in the head in the first quarter. Kubic was put on the shelf in the fourth when he went down under a pile of orange and black tacklers after taking a kick off.

Massillon made 15 first downs to one for Cleveland. It completed seven passes for 89 yards and nine failed while two were intercepted. John Adams worked four for 15 yards had two incomplete and one intercepted. Massillon lost 115 yards on penalties; John Adams 50.

Massillon carried the ball 44 times from scrimmage and gained a total of 184 yards. Of this number 104 were made by Price and 53 by McConnell.

Four Straight

Massillon – 26 Pos. John Adams –0

Gump LE Mandula

Benson LT Hindulak

Spencer LG Soukup

Potts C Kubic

D. Smith RG Marusa

R. Price RT Miller

Fulton RE Goss

McConnell QB Benis

Bast LHB O’Bell

C. Smith RHB Jamieson

W. Prise FB Kolesar

Score by quarters:

Massillon 0 0 20 6 26

Substitutions:

Massillon – Fox for Benson, Benson for Potts, Foster for Bast, Mauger for D. Smith, Hosso for Foster, Bickle for W. Price, Briggs for McConnell, Ott for Fox, Easterday for Spencer, Ressler for Fulton, Mathews for Gump, Ess for R. Price.

John Adams – White for Kubic, Dayton for Jamieson, Shafer for Benis, Kubic for Mandula, Schlaudeker for White, Hipple for Marusa, Allen for Schlaudeker, Dancheck for Soukup.

Touchdowns – W. Price 2, Foster, Smith.

Points after touchdown – McConnell 2 (drop kick).

Referee – Shafer, Akron U.

Umpire – Conner, Bates.

Head Linesman – Jenkinson, Akron U.

Time of quarters – 13 and 10 minutes.