BENGALS CLAW INDIANS 39-7
Forward
Passing Attack,
But Fast
Get It Back
and Send Score Soaring
Ten thousand fans were
still thawing out today after shivering and stomping their feet through four
periods of near-freezing temperatures at Tiger Stadium, Friday evening, while
their Washington high football team was handing Toledo Waite a 39-7 beating to
stretch the Massillon undefeated streak to 41 games.
If
you have thawed out, you might chance continuing on with this story, but if you
are still chilly, turn away from the cold facts or you will start shaking all
over again.
What
a difference in the weather last night when compared with that of the Toledo
Waite game of 1940, and what a difference in the crowd. And yet last night’s turnout was almost as
remarkable.
A
year ago, 22,000 fans sat through a driving rain and 5,000 more peered through
the fences because they couldn’t get tickets to see a game that had been ballyhooed
for eight months, a grudge battle with undefeated rivals for the 1939 state
title pitting their perfect records against each other.
The
Tigers won that game 28-0 and are still undefeated. But Waite came to
A
high wind, and near-freezing temperatures made it downright cold, but the fans,
most of them, stuck it out to the last despite the fact that the result was a
settled issue by the middle of the third period.
It
was an inspired Waite team that met Massillon last night, eleven Indians who
fought tooth and nail the first half to ambush the Tigers, score a touchdown
the first period and uphold the beat traditions of Maumee gladiators with a
courageous display of defense that staved off two Tiger scoring threats in the
second period and left Massillon holding the slim edge of 12-7 at halftime.
The
game was in no sense secure when the third period got underway, but with the
mercury flirting with the low 30’s it didn’t take the Tigers long to put it on
ice in the third quarter with two rapid fire touchdowns.
It
was a game filed with the spectacular, long runs, and passes, what many fans
like and stayed to see.
It
stated off faster than the 35-mile an hour gale that howled through the stands
and made the light poles sway. Ere four
minutes had expired, each team had shoved over a touchdown and fans were
wondering what next was coming off.
It
took just three plays for the Tigers to get their’s. Junior White got off to a flying start by
returning the kickoff 41 yards to the Waite 37, then slipping to the 21 on the
next play, from which Dick Adams’ twisted his way for the touchdown.
That
was that and Massillon fans leaned back in their seats waiting for the kill,
but they themselves were about to be scalped as the Indians took the kickoff
and charged back with three rapid-fire passes, two over the line and into the
flat that brought a first down on the five-yard line. There Bob Albright rared
back and pegged the ball straight over the line to Harry Wright who took his
footsies off the ground for a moment to make the catch. When Dick Jensen kicked the extra point, the
Tigers found themselves trailing for the second time this year.
Sends Blunt In
None
was more concerned than Coach Bud Houghton, for he shoved his ailing captain,
Fred Blunt, into the game and the fur began to fly. It that’s the way colds effect Blunt, it
might be a good idea to blow a few bacteria his way every week. All he did was grab the ball on his 44-yard
line, and head for left end with Joe De Mando thundering
along in front to block out the last tackler, while “Pokey” did the whole 56
yards in one stretch. It wasn’t too
encouraging yet, when
For
some reason or other, however, the Indians tossed a couple away and quit
throwing. The Tigers apparently solved
the attack and set up a defense for it.
Not another pass did Waite complete after its touchdown. In fact but five more were attempted.
The
Indians had hard luck handling the ball.
They lost it four times on fumbles, and on three of the occasions the
Tigers were quick to seize the break and capitalize on it.
That
is not saying that
One
of these fumbles gave the local gridders a scoring
opportunity in the second period when they covered a Waite muff on the 28-yard
line.
Here
the Indians demonstrated their pluck and only yielded two yards on a pass and
three running plays.
But
that was only a sample of what they could do defensively. It wasn’t long after that a brilliant 31-yard
run by Blunt helped to get the ball to a first down on the Waite five-yard
line. Here the Indians came through with
a goal line stand that had
The
Indians must have played themselves out doing it however for along came the
third period and with Chuck Holt as the spearhead of the drive, the Tigers
marched from where they got the kickoff on the 18 to the Waite 16-yard line
where Holt tore through the left side of the Waite line to score. This time
Another
muff in the same period, this one by Jim Lamoreaux,
right halfback, was covered by George Dolmos, substitue tackle, and set the locals in motion for a
successful march. Holt plunged for a
first down on the 15-yard line and
De Mando covered a fumble by Beauman
on the 32-yard line in the fourth quarter to ring up points again. White and Holt hugged the ball to the seven
from where Graber took it over for six points and repeated on the attempt for
the extra point.
That’s all the
scoring there was.
Only twice did Waite
work the ball into Tiger territory, once on its successful touchdown series and
again in the last minute of the fourth period when Albright ran some 27 yards
to reach the
That
the Indians were thoroughly outplayed, is clearly shown by the statistics, 14
first downs to eight and a net total of 402 yards from ball carrying to 70
yards.
Coach
Houghton started a backfield with only one regular, Chuck Holt. As the game moved into the clutch, however,
the regulars one by one began to recuperate and take their places on the field. Fred Cardinal, Blunt, and Graber, all saw
service, but John Hill, and Don Armour are still on
the sidelines with injuries.
The
game was
Good First
Half
Bray LE V.
Smith
Paulik LT Jensen
Wallace LG Schick
Fuchs C Kives
Kanney RG Saam
Weisgarber RT Oatley
De Mando RE Wright
Power QB Links
White RH Albright
Holt FB Bauman
Score by
periods:
Waite 7
0 0 0 – 7
Substitutions – Massillon: Blunt, rh; Cardinal, qb; Dolmos, lt; Miller, lg; Jasinski, re; Willmott, le; Gibson, fb; Graber,
lh; Stout, c;
Waite: Collins, le; Atwood, qb; Raether, re; Cannon,lh; Milks, lg.
Touchdowns – Blunt,
Points after
touchdown –
Graber (carried), Jensen
(placekick).
Referee – Gross
Umpire – Boone
Headlinesman – Bachman
Field judge – Long