TIGERS FINE
FANS THRILL AT POWER OF LINE
Blocking
with the precision reminiscent of the best days of yore, the
The
attendance was the smallest of the season, but was surprisingly good
considering the rain and was indicative of how the stands would have bulged had
good weather prevailed.
It
was a vicious, point thirsty Tiger that Coach Bud Houghton and his assistants
trotted out on the soggy gridiron last night, and fans stood up and applauded
loudly as the Massillon youngsters, blocked and tackled, handled the ball with
better timing and clicked as they never before did this season.
This
The
From
the time the Tigers grabbed the kickoff and marched 49 yards to the Latin
nine-yard line, it was evident that a new machine had been tuned up for the
orange and black. Even though the first
drive failed, and sputtered when a fumble three plays later gave Latin its only scoring opportunity on the
They
had the power, the force to roll back a seven and eight-man line tossed at them
by Latin and their drive through the center of the visitors’ forward wall led
by young Chuck Holt, looked like the plunges that Glenn Williams produced 10
years ago.
Holt
apparently is the answer to Houghton’s offensive problem, for he is just the
type of crusher that is needed at fullback, and Fred Blunt who prefers cutting
his capers from the right halfback spot, did a good job of it there last night.
Holt
stood out, because it was his first performance as a starter. There wasn’t a standout in reality for the
other members of the backfield, Bob Graber and Fred Cardinal, and the linemen
were in the game up to their neck, offensively as well as defensively, and the
holes they ripped in the Lion’s den made it far easier for the ball carriers to
gain ground than on previous nights when the blocking was a bit spotty.
The
Tigers threw everything but the goal posts at their opponents on the sweeps and
tacklers were felled as red woods are cut down out where the west ends.
The
Massillon eleven was superior in every department of play last night and not
only shoved six touchdowns over the Lion goal, three of them in the last
quarter, but rolled up 16 first downs to Latin’s two and gained 402 yards
rushing to Latin’s 34. Latin’s two first
downs were made on completed forward passes, the only department in which the
visitors held the edge in yards gained.
They made 33 yards to the Tigers 18 but they only completed three of 12
passes to two of seven for
From
the start it was evident the Latin boys were out to gamble, and gamble they did
when they threw the wet ball from behind their goal the first time they got
their hands on the slippery leather.
They had hoped to catch
The
Lions time and again pitched from deep in their own territory and did their
very best to make a game of it to the very end despite discouraging pass
interceptions and blocked punts.
The
game produced more than one thrill as Joe De Mando
blocked one punt, Bob Kanney another, and Blunt,
Graber, and Junior White got away to long touchdown jaunts. Then there were the fumbles that stopped both
teams at intervals, a dribble by Graber that bobbed right back up into his
arms, a loss by Dick Adams after a brilliant run that had him heading for the
open field when the ball slipped out of his arms like a greased pig.
There
might have been other touchdowns ,too, with a few
ifs. Twice denied touchdowns in the last
30 seconds by the rules, the Tigers had the ball on the one-yard line with
first down coming up when the game ended.
Only
the Tiger passing game fell short last night but it was not a fair test,
considering the wet field and slippery ball.
If the passing improves next week at the same rate as the running
attack, the orange and black will be in good position to play host to
Herb
Eisle, the Latin coach, was very complimentary after
the game and hurried to the Tiger dressing room just as soon as he had given
his boys the once over and found none seriously hurt.
“You
have another fine team here in
Eisle isn’t certain how this year’s Latin team compares with that of last
year’s eleven which took a 64-0 beating here.
The 1940 team only lost one other ball game, and the Lions came here
last night with a victory string that was severed at 10 games.
Two
movie cameramen, reportedly from
The
Tigers had something for them all to look at last night – even though it was
little more than straight football. The
fancy stuff can come later and will now that the eleven has gained the
confidence essential to a green team.
The
local eleven looked like the orange crushers of state championship years as
they pushed the Lions around the first period, and even though they failed to
score, they were causing trouble all the time.
Their
first successful drive began when Graber pulled down Dick Brown’s pass on his
41 and got back to the Lion 36. Two
plays gained but three yards as the lion’s stiffened with eight men on the
forward wall, so Graber appropriately tossed to Cardinal for a first on the
19. Holt and Blunt took two smacks at
the line and moved the ball to the five-yard stripe. Graber knifed his way a yard short of the
goal and Holt took it over. Holt tried
to hurry his point after touchdown and kicked the ball low and to the side.
When
a fumble stopped the next march on the 24-yard line, Joe De Mando
went to work and blocked one of Frank Tercek’s punts
to give the Tigers another chance from the 23.
The half was nearly over. In fact
the series began with only a minute and seconds remaining, but
The
third quarter saw Latin a beaten team.
The visitors chose to kickoff and the Tigers launched a march from the
35 that ended with Blunt circling end for eight yards and a touchdown. Pokey had set up the touchdown with runs of
12 and 14 yards.
There
was no further scoring in the period despite a 48-yard run by Holt from a pass
interception and a 30-yard sprint by Blunt, but the fourth quarter was a dizzy
one and had its reward in points.
Kanney got through to block Julius Suky’s punt, and
De Mando scooped up the ball on the 15-yard line and
raced over for the touchdown. Holt’s toe
made it 26-0.
Another
touchdown followed in a flash. Stopped
in efforts to gain ground, Tercek kicked out on the
31-yard line and Graber in two plays, was over.
Holt missed his try for point.
With
an entirely new Tiger team in the game the ball came into
Same Old Tiger
Armour LE Tercek
Paulik LT
Miller LG Rigot
Fuchs C Mazurowski
Hill RG Daley
Weisgarber RT Phillips
De Mando RE Paltoni
Cardinal QB Dillon
Graber LH Brown
Blunt RH Cusineau
Holt FB Sukys
Score by
periods:
Substitutions –
Latin: Winterich,
hb; Liston, t; Krairis, g; Vegis, hb; Corey, hb.
Touchdowns – Holt 2, Graber, Blunt, White, De Mando
Points after
touchdowns – Adams, Holt (placekicks), Adams (carried).
Referee – Jenkins
Umpire – Boon
Headlinesman – Brubaker
Field Judge - Graf
Tigers Score Easy Victory
By 39-0 Count
By Ivan Read
THE DELICATE wheels that make up the
A crowd of 11,220 rain-socked spectators watched the gallant
Then the Tigers roared into action in the second period and their well-timed blocking and deception produced glittering long runs and six touchdowns in the final 36 minutes.
For the first quarter the Clevelanders, clearly outmanned,
put up a grim battle, holding the count even and threatening within 20 yards of
the
Three minutes after the second period opened
Chuck “Zeke” Holt made the first touchdown over his right tackle from the three-yard mark.
A blocked kick late in the second quarter set the stage for
another Tiger opportunity.
There were two minutes to play when Don Armour jumped on Bob Dillon’s fumble on the Latin 22. Two tosses from Dick Adams failed to hit the target, but finally one by the same boy to Holt paid for 22 yards and a touchdown just before the half ended.
Hardly had the echo of the opening whistle of the second half faded away when Fred “Pokey” Blunt, on a reverse that started on the 12-yard line, took the ball back to the other side and behind a wall of interferers, reversed his field and carried on to a touchdown.
The fourth
Bob Graber produced the big thrill of the game when he dashed 23 yards through the entire Latin team for the fifth score.
The enthusiasm of the
Armour le Tercek
Paulik lt
Miller lg Rigot
Fuchs c Muzurowski
Hill rg Dailey
Weisgarber rt Phillips
Demando re Paltoni
Cardinal qb Dillon
Graber lh Brown
Blunt rh Cousinean
Holt f Sukys
Scoring by periods
Latin 0
0 0
0 - 0
Touchdowns – Holt 2, Blune, Demando, Graber, White.
Try-for-point – Adams 2, Holt
Subtitutions:
Massillon – Adams, f; Wallace, rg; Stout, c; Jasinski, re;
White, rh; Powers, qb;
Bray, re; Tongues, lt; Mastrianni,
f; Oberlin, rh.
Latin – Krairis, rg; Regis, rg; Gorey, qb; Galfidi, lh;
West, le; Reulbach, rt; Lansdown, rt.
Referee – Verlin Jenkins
Umpire – O.V. Boon
Head linesman – Carl
Brubaker
Field judge – C.J. “Honus” Graf