TIGERS WHIP BULLDOGS 34-6
33rd
Straight Victory
Parade to 33rd Straight Victory
After Scored Upon First Time This Season
MASSILLON, O., Nov. 16 –
They still have the nation’s best scholastic football team living here, as
Massillon Washington’s
Tigers, a dream come true, today added another glowing chapter to the
remarkable gridiron history of the city.
Smashing the Bulldogs, 34-6,
in their 45th meeting, the Tigers recorded their 33rd
straight victory.
It was their tenth and final
triumph of the season and brought a sixth consecutive
Also, it was the sixth
victory in a row over the Bulldogs, who haven’t won since 1934, and nine
seniors closed their schoolboy careers with the distinction of never having
been in a losing game.
Not since October of 1937,
when
A howling crowd of 22,00 – at least – sat through bitter cold to pay tribute to
Paul Brown’s splendid machine.
Not even the presence and
advice of Jim Thorpe, Mr. Football himself, could help the Bulldogs today.
They were in the game during
the first half, but were helpless before the blocking might of the Tigers in
the final periods.
Thorpe, hero of the great
The Bulldogs held a 6-0 lead
for a few minutes in the second period after having become the first team to
cross the Tigers’ line since the 1939
Athie Garrison, McKinley’s splendid back, scored on a 33-yard gallop to
boast his scoring total for the season to 152.
He leads the state.
But a great play by Tom
James and Horace Gillom soon tied the score and, when
Ray Getz booted the first of four extra points, the Tigers left the field at
half time holding a 7-6 advantage, and they weren’t bothered after that.
Gillom added another spectacular touchdown in the second
half, and he was joined by Getz, James and Herman Robinson.
Two touchdowns came in each
the third and fourth periods.
The first part of the
opening period was fairly even, but the Tigers drove to the
But, on the third play of
the second period, a maneuver went haywire and a wild pass from the
Matt Brown, Tom Harris and
Garrison worked to the 33 and then came the touchdown.
Breaking over his left end,
Garrison cut back, picked up the interference that formed in a few seconds and
ran over the line unmolested.
Neal Rubin came in to try
for the point, but his effort was low.
The tying touchdown was the
thriller of all thrillers.
With first down on their 45,
the Tigers decided on a pass.
Fading back to his 35, James
fired a tremendous forward to his right.
Gillom, leaping over the head of Brown on the
Canton 25, tipped the ball with one hand, caught it with the other, stiff-armed
Brown, broke loose from Ed Snyder and hot-footed down the sidelines for the
score. Getz booted the placement and the
Bulldogs, although they wouldn’t show it, were licked.
Some 30 seconds later, Gillom almost scored again.
He intercepted a Harris pass on the
Gillom’s tremendous second half kickoff forced the Bulldogs into a hole. Garriosn returned
deep from his end zone out to his 20.
In five plays
Eighteen plays later,
Getz lateraled to James, who
lateraled to Blunt, who lateralted to Robinson, who fired a forward pass to
Gillom, standing alone in the end zone.
Getz kicked and the score
was 21-6.
Gillom’s mighty catch of a James’ pass sparked the next touchdown, in the
fourth period. This time, a spread
formation, featuring a triple lateral, brought the ball to the 9, from where
Getz ran left end for a touchdown. Getz
again was right and it was 28-6.
James’ 61-yard rush though center enabled the scoring of the last
touchdown. Robinson climaxed the show by
taking a pass away from three
There was one big difference
between the teams. That was blocking.
WASHINGTON –
34 McKINLEY – 0
Robinson L.E. Chabek
Wallace L.G. K.
Williams
Appleby C Beck
Russell R.G. Sirk
Broglio R.T. Smith
Gillom R.E. Pickard
Kingham Q Snyder
James L.H. Harris
R. Getz R.H. Garrison
Blunt F Brown
Substitutions:
P. Getz, rg;
Adams, rh; Hill, lg;
Oliver, lt; Armour, le;
Fuchs, c.
Canton – Staudt, re; Winters, le; Rubin, re;
Hooper, lh;
Crider, lh; Pappas, lg; Conroy, lg; Parshall, lt;
Chessler, rg;
C. Williams, lg.
Touchdowns – Garrison, Gillom 2, James, Getz, Robinson.
Points after
touchdown – Getz 4 (placement).
SATISTICS
First downs 14
9
Yards gained rushing 276 146
Yards gained passing
121 59
Yards lost, net 11
17
Passes attempted 6
19
Passes completed 4 7
Passes intercepted by 2 1
Yards lost on penalties 25 6
Tigers, Trailing For First
Time This Year,
Prove Title Claims
Take Advantage Of McKinley Defect To Score Touchdowns That
Give Coach Brown His Greatest Team
A true champion is one that
can overcome all conditions, and Massillon’s terrific Tigers were still perched
on the Ohio scholastic football throne today because they proved to the
complete satisfaction of 22,000 shivery fans that they had the spirit and
ability to stage a comeback after being scored upon for the first time this
season.
Looking at the picture from
the
Even Paul Brown, coach of
the Tigers, admitted he was worried just a little when Athie
Garrison skirted left end for 32 yards and a touchdown. That fine bit of running by the Bulldog star,
put the Tigers in a hole for the first time this season and gave Brown an
opportunity to learn whether he was going to have the greatest team since he
took over the Massillon reins in 1932.
The Tigers supplied the
first part of the answer when Tom James, with the wind to his back, tossed a
long aerial to Horace Gillom who went 25 yards for a
touchdown with only 45 seconds of the first half remaining. When Ray Getz kicked the extra point he
enabled the jubilant Tigers to leave the field with a one point lead.
If the Bulldogs had been
playing more alert football, the Tigers probably would have gone scoreless in
the first half and the psychological effect on
Playing a safety position,
Garrison, who must be credited with a note worthy performance, made the mistake
of trying to intercept the ball instead of batting it down. The ball went through his fingers and into
the hands of Gillom who packed it across the goal
line. The play was obvious from the
start as only a few seconds remained before the half time gun would have ended
Instead, the Bulldogs
suffered a blow from which they were unable to recover throughout the last
half. Forced to punt against the wind at
the opening of the third period, the Bulldogs saw
That gave the Tigers a more
comfortable margin but not a lead that was impossible for the Bulldogs to
overcome. But the state champions for
the sixth consecutive year resorted to another aerial play that McKinley should
have broken up but didn’t. When Getz ran
deep with the ball, two Bulldogs were close on his heels but failed to nail him
before he had tossed the ball to Herman Robinson who quickly heaved it to Gillom. The latter
made a beautiful catch in the end zone.
Incidentally, that
particular play had been tried by
Gillom again was on the receiving end of an aerial that gave
Failure of three McKinley
backfield men to cut down Robinson on a pass play gave
Massillon completed only
four passes, but three of them went for touchdowns and the other one paved the
way. That, in a few words, is the story
of the Canton-Massillon game of 1940.
The Tigers played
championship ball against a team that refused to give up until the final
gun. But the Bulldogs were playing a
rival that Coach Brown after the game labeled as “the greatest team I’ve had
the pleasure of coaching.”
The Tigers have been famous
for their precision and they committed few mistakes yesterday despite
conditions which made ball handling doubly hard. They tackled, blocked, ran and passed in a
manner that leaves no question as to their championship ranking.
TIGER STADIUM, MASSILLON,
Nov. 16 – Massillon’s famed Washington High Tigers laid undisputed claim to
their sixth Ohio scholastic football championship here this afternoon by
turning back their traditional rival, McKinley High school, before a record crowd
of 22,000 fans.
The score was 34-6.
By winning
The victory also helped
At game time it was
announced that the stands were filled to capacity and that the crowd would
exceed 22,000.
Matthew Brown, fullback, was
named acting captain for McKinley, Gillom and Getz,
right end and right half respectively, were serving as co-captains for the
Tigers.
McKinley won the toss and
elected to defend the south goal.
In the initial kickoff
Garrison booted the ball over the Tiger goal line and it was brought out to the
20. Advancing the ball seven yards in
three tries Gillom punted on the fourth down. Brown fumbled but Garrison recovered on the
McKinley 34.
McKinley began to roll when
Harris clicked off three yards around right end and Brown rammed 15 yards to a
first down through right guard. An
offside penalty on
Brown picked up three at
center. A pass, Harris to Garrison,
accounted for 16 more yards.
Massillon made it a first
down on its own 30 with Blunt, James and Getz finding holes in the McKinley
line. On the next play James cut through
right tackle for another first down on the
Blunt picked up nine yards
in two tries through the line and then Getz skirted left end for a first down
on the McKinley 39. A four-yard smash by
James through left tackle and a
six-yard drive through center by Blunt gave
Bulldog 29.
McKinley
Line Stiffens
Here the McKinley stiffened and the rambling Tigers
found it tough going. Blunt picked up
two at center and then two more thrusts at the line were stopped. McKinley took the ball on the 29 when a pass,
James to Gillom, was incomplete.
Brown picked up four at
right end and then McKinley lost the ball on Garrison’s fumble, which was
recovered by Appleby. Blunt hit center
for two as the quarter ended.
SCORE: McKinley 0,
Here McKinley started a
scoring drive that was climaxed by a 32-yard run around left end by
Garrison. Perfect blocking by his
teammates plus ability to evade tacklers in the open enabled him to cross the
goal line standing up. Rubin’s place
kick for the extra point was low.
Score: McKinley 6,
Garrison’s kickoff was taken
by Gillom who was brought down hard on the
A beautifully placed punt by
Staudt who entered the game
merely to kick, set
James made it a first down
on the
Gillom
Scores On Pass
On the next play James faded back and heaved a long
pass which Gillom picked out of the hands of Garrison
on the 25 and then rambled on across the goal line to score. The ball traveled 55 yards. Getz place kicked for the extra point. Score:
McKinley 6,
Garrison returned Gillom’s kickoff over the goal line to the McKinley
20. Garrison, Brown and Harris were
dragged down for small losses before
Blunt rammed center and cut
back to reach the McKinley 5. James went
over to score through right tackle and Getz place kicked the extra point. Score:
McKinley 6,
Gillom kicked over the goal line and McKinley took the ball on its 20. Two plays short of 10 yards by Garrison and
an offside penalty on
Here
Garrison returned Gillom’s kick to the 27 and Brown picked up a yard at right
end as the quarter ended. Score: McKInley 6,
As the fourth quarter opened
Harris passed to Garrison for eight. An
offside penalty gave McKinley a first down on its 42. Two passes from Harris to Brown and Garrison
gained six yards. Harris failed to gain
and Staudt came in to punt out of bounds on the
James picked up eight yards
at right tackle and then passed to Gillom for 29
yards and a first down on the McKinley 10.
A 15-yard penalty put the ball back on the 25. On the next play James ran it up to the
McKinley 10 and Getz skirted left end to score.
Getz place kicked the extra point.
Score: McKinley 6,
McKinley made another
scoring threat late in the fourth period when Staudt,
called in for a punt, passed to Garrison who galloped 24 yards to the
M’KINLEY BOWS TO VAUNTED FOE
IN SECOND HALF
Scores First Touchdown
And Then Collapses;
Unleashing the full fury of
a perfectly coordinated attack in the second half, the talented charges of
Coach Paul Brown swept over a courageous but badly out classed McKinley High
school team 34-6 at Tiger stadium in Massillon Saturday afternoon.
Accomplished before a
capacity throng of 22,000 amid all the color that only a long and intense
rivalry can produce, the triumph was a glorious one on so many counts that
jubilant Massillon fans were consulting the records today to make sure they
missed nothing in their prolonged celebration.
The victory enabled the
Tigers to clinch their sixth consecutive state championship, lengthened an
amazing winning streak to 33 games, marked the sixth straight conquest of their
most bitter rival and was the most decisive Canton defeat in the 45 contests of
an inter city series that began in 1894.
Combining perfect timing,
great blocking, deadly passing and spirited defensive play in a manner that was
an eloquent tribute to the coaching genius of their mentor, the Tigers drew
away with a four touchdown barrage in the second half after leading an aroused
McKinley eleven on 7-6 at the intermission.
Although sub-freezing
temperature and a chill wind made the role of spectator none too comfortable,
the battle was fought under excellent playing conditions. A field that had been protected for nearly a
week by a tarpaulin afforded secure footing and each team was able to use its
full repertoire of plays.
Bulldogs
Fight Stubbornly
Even though they suffered a
setback of unforeseen proportions, the previously unbeaten Bulldogs of Coach
Johnny Reed did nothing to disgrace the school or city, which they
represented. On the contrary, they
battled their hearts out from opening whistle to final gun, but their best
simply wasn’t good enough.
McKinley fought the Tigers
on even terms for the entire first half, and scored the lone touchdown made
against Massillon this season on a scintillating 31-yard gallop by Athie Garrison in the second quarter.
The Bulldogs received a
disheartening blow with 30 seconds left in the first half when a long pass from
Tom James to Horace Gillom clicked for 55 yards and a
touchdown.
When Ray Getz converted on
an accurate placement, the McKinley gridders trailed
7-6 when they went to the dressing room at the intermission instead of holding
command.
In the face of a
A faulty pass defense that
had been the major McKinley weakness all season made the difference between an
extremely close duel and a lopsided
As always, deception and
crushing blocking were the twin keys to
Worst previous
Achievements of the Tigers
have come through teamwork, and yesterday’s victory naturally was a group
proposition.
Yet Horace Gillom, brilliant Negro end closing a star studded
scholastic career, and diminutive Tom James, another senior, were the spark
plugs of a powerful machine.
Gillom caught three passes, two for touchdowns, averaged 46 yards on two
punts and made tackle after tackle.
James directed the offense in fine style, threw all but one of the
completed aerials and broke loose repeatedly in the second half, once on a
61-yard gallop. He finished as the
leading ball carrier in the fray with an average of 9.2 yards.
Fred Blunt carried the brunt
of the offensive burden in the first half, and Ray
Getz also reeled off several long runs in addition to scoring one touchdown and
kicking four extra points in five tries.
Jim Russell and Bill Wallace at the guards were defensive bulwarks and
Herman Robinson, Gene Henderson, Gordon Appleby, Eli Broglio,
and Dick Kingham all were superb. Only Blunt and Robinson return next year.
Heroic in defeat were Athie Garrison and Matthew Brown. Although watched closely by the Tigers,
Garrison boosted his season scoring total to 152 points, drove with tremendous
power and certainly must be labeled the greatest running back in McKinley
history. He averaged 3.8 yards for 11
ball-carrying attempts.
Captain and field general,
Brown was the heart and soul of the Bulldogs, both on offense and defense. He carried the ball 14 times for a 2.9 average,
had a hand in most of the tackles and still was trying with might and main when
the final seconds ticked away. Frank Reale, a rugged tackle; Ed Snyder, a sophomore quarterback,
and Don Sirk, veteran guard, were
other McKinley main stays.
McKinley forced the Tigers
to punt after the opening kickoff and proceeded to institute a march that
carried to the
On the third play of the
second quarter, James fumbled and Reale covered for
McKinley on his own 37. With a 14-yard
pass from Harris to Brown as the big advance, the Bulldogs pushed to the
A few minutes later, James
faded back from his own 45 and passed deep to Gillom,
who was covered by Garrison. Garrison
leaped to catch the ball but it slanted off his fingers into the hands of Gillom, who caught on the McKinley 25 and romped for a
touchdown. Getz booted the conversion.
The third Tiger touchdown
came after the Bulldogs had thrown back three running plays short of a first
down on the McKinley 17, Robinson came around from left end, took the ball from
Getz and started around the right end behind a wall of blockers. But he stopped short of the line, dropped
back and shot a perfect pass in the end zone to Gillom,
who made the catch unmolested.
A 29-yard pass from James to
Gillom,
and a 14-yard sprint by James that nullified a holding penalty set up the next
touchdown early in the last quarter.
Getz circled left end from the 10 for the tally and kicked the
conversion.
After Garrison had twisted
24 yards on a screen pass to the
McKinley Pos.
Chabek LE Robinson
Reale LT Henderaon
K. Williams LG Wallace
Beck C Appleby
Sirk RG Russell
Smith RT Broglio
Pickard RE Gillom
Snyder QB Kingham
Harris LH James
Garrison RH Getz
M. Brown FB Blunt
Substitutions for McKinley – Rubin, c; Staudt, e; Winters, e;
Chessler, t; C. Williams, t: Pappask g; Conroy, g; Crider,
hb;
Hooper, hb;
R. Brown, g; Parshall, t.
For
F. Cardinal, g; Fuchs, c;
Holt, qb;
Bray, e; Demando, e.
Touchdowns: Garrison, Gillom 2, James, Getz, Robinson.
Points after
touchdown: Getz 4.
McKinley 0 6
0 0
– 6
Referee – Dave Reese,
Umpire – Verlin
P. Jenkins,
Head linesman – Earl D.
Gross,
Field judge – A.B. Long,
Mass. McK.
First downs, passing 1 3
First downs, total 14 8
Yards gained, rushing 283 113
Yards gained, passing 123 78
Yards lost 25 18
Yards gained, net total 381 173
Passes attempted 7 21
Passes completed 4 10
Passes intercepted 2 1
Passes incompleted 2 9
Fumbles 1 3
Own fumbles recovered
0 2
Penalties, yardage 30 0
Punts 2 6
Punts, average yardage
46 21.7
22,000
See Tigers
By 7-6 Score At Half
MASSILLON, Nov., 16 – All
the devastating power of Massillon high school’s brilliant football team
exploded with every inch of its fury in the faces of Canton McKinley’s Bulldogs
here today and the Tigers roared to an amazing 34-6 conquest in the 43rd
renewal of Ohio’s bitterest scholastic grid fuel.
Massillon’s victory was
expected, but nobody looked for the disaster, which struck McKinley after the
half time intermission.
As a shivering but thrilled
crowd of 22,000 fans watched the peerless Tigers riddle every semblance of a
defense the Bulldogs possessed, the charges of Coach Paul Brown completed their
greatest season.
The victory was
Mere words won’t suffice to
tell of
For those Bulldogs of Coach
Johnny Reed were tough for two entire periods.
In fact, to an unbiased observer, it looked as if McKinley was the
better ball club for almost half
the game.
Still
Champions
Score by
periods: