15,000
Watch Tigers
BRILLIANT
ATTCK RIPS FOE APART
Orange
And Black In Great Reversal of Form And With Deadly Passing Attack Smashes To
Third Triumph And Biggest Win Of Season
By FRED J.
BECKER
Independent Sports Editor
The only Tigers
four-legged variety we know about are those we’ve seen in a circus
menagerie. They’re big, power looking
beasts arrayed in a sleek coat of orange and black with a ferocious twinkle in
their eyes. They’re nice to look at but
we have always been glad a sturdy cage of steel bars has separated us. We have never had a yearning to meet one out
in the open.
Now Massillon is the
habitat of another type of Tiger – two-legged variety – commonly known as the
Football Tiger. They turn him loose
about once a week each fall on what they call a gridiron and brother, when he’s
in the mood he’s just as ferocious as the four-legged variety must be when he’s
roaming the jungles. If you don’t
believe it drop a note to Akron St. Vincent’s high school where you probably
will be quickly informed that the only safe place for any Tiger – four-legged
or two-legged – is behind steel bars, at all times.
And they should know
for they tangled with the two-legged Tiger as recently as Friday night out at
Tiger stadium and the boys who tried to stop him will be a long, long time
recovering from the artistic mauling they took. The scars of their wounds will leave an imprint on the pages of
football history for years to come.
All of the above is
a preamble to the statement that the Tigers of Washington high school, in a
blood thirsty, savage mood, last night, ripped apart what had been touted as a
sturdy, formidable Akron St. Vincent’s football team 46 – 0 in an almost
unbelievable display of football ability that left a great gathering of at
least 15,000 frenzied fans pop-eyed and pinching themselves when it was over to
make sure that what they had just witnessed had been real and not a dream.
Third Straight Win
It
was Massillon’s third straight victory of the 1943 campaign and the biggest
crowd of the season sat in on the kill.
The two previous Tiger victories had not been impressive or
inspiring. They had been achieved in a
more or less ordinary manner by what appeared to be an ordinary football
team. The impression prevailed that if
those Tigers ever really got in the mood to go places they could.
Well the impression
was quite correct for last night the Tigers were in that kind of a mood and the
manner in which they manhandled the green and white clad Irish of Akron must strike
terror in the hearts of the opponents still remaining on the Massillon
schedule.
Those Tigers have
everything it takes to be a mighty fine football team. They showed it last night and when the chips
are down they’ll do to string along with.
And after that
convincing triumph is there any one round brave enough to say that scholastic
football as played in Akron has any right to be compared with that played in
Massillon? The Tigers Friday night
certainly made monkeys of we typewriter jockeys and a lot of others who for a
week had been predicting that St. Vincent’s had at least an even chance of
winning. But we don’t mind. The Tigers, by their none too impressive
showing in their first two games had paved the way for those predictions and
then thoroughly aroused that such a situation could exist went out and showed
what they really could do when faced with a possible defeat and the shattering
blow to Tiger prestige which would follow such a defeat.
The Tigers last
night looked and acted the part of a great football team. They did everything and did it right. Offensively they smashed through the sturdy
St. Vincent’s line and skirted the ends almost at will and they had something
else – a forward passing attack that clicked with amazing regularity and
precision.
Up until last night
the Tigers aerial attack had been almost nil.
They had completed but one pass in two games and that brought them
exactly nothing. But it was a different
story Friday night –quite a different story.
Seven touchdowns
were rolled up by Coach Elwood Kammer’s amazing lads and forward passes set up
or were directly responsible for four of them.
Two sets of counters were made on aerial heaves, two others were made possible
by successful passes, one came through rushing, one an intercepted pass and a
blocked punt paved the way for the other.
Defensively the Tigers were supreme. The invading Irish were inside Massillon’s
20 yard line only twice, getting the ball to the 15 in the second 2quarter by
recovering a Massillon fumble and in the fourth quarter getting as far as the
nine yard line through the help of a long forward pass.
For two weeks
Massillon fans have been waiting for Captain Bob Wallace to take off the wraps
and go to town. Bob this fall was moved
from the line to a backfield post and in the first two games the Tiger leader’s
offensive playing left a lot to be desired.
But last night young Mr. Wallace really took off the wraps and proved
that the Tiger coaches were right when then decided to shift him to the
backfield. On the strength of his
showing last night Wallace is a pretty fair man in a ball totin’ job. The Massillon captain ran the ends for big
gains, caught passes, and played quite a defensive game, blocking two punts,
one setting up a Massillon touchdown.
But don’t forget the
other three boys in the Tiger backfield – Romeo Pellegrini, Henry Mastriann,
and Glenn Keller. They did all right –
quite – all right. Pellegrini, who sparked
the Tigers in their first two games by his long runs, went to pitching forward
passes in a big way last night and he tossed plenty of strikes into the waiting
arms of Tom Jasinski, Don Willmot and Wallace.
Mastriann played his usual steady game, smashing through the Akron line for numerous gains
and Keller was in there all the way doing a good job of blocking on offense and
a fine piece of work on defense.
The same was true of
the line. The forward wall ripped huge
holes in the Irish defenses for the Massillon backs to ramble through and on
defense they completely smothered Akron’s attempts to gain. A lot had been said about the speed of John
Schlosser and Jim Wilhite, Akron’s two standout backs, once they got by the
line of scrimmage.
Well maybe that’s
true but last night the Tigers didn’t give them a chance to turn loose their
speed. The Akronites were generally
smothered long before they ever had a chance to get out in the open.
That sturdy Tiger
line did its job in a most effective manner from Jasinski on the one flank to
Willmot on the other. The Tiger ends
really showed their worth last night.
They got out in the open to receive Pellegrini’s accurate passes and
their defensive performance was fine.
Dick Arrington and Bob Belch and Larry Berger on the tackles, Julius
Tonges and Bill Gable on the guards and Bob Williams at center were just too
many Tigers for the Irish to handle.
It has always been
said that Pellegrini could toss passes if he was afforded the right kind of
protection and the receivers got out where they should be. Well Pellegrini got the right kind of
protection last night and the receivers were where they should be and Romeo had
himself a great time pitching strikes.
Tigers Score In Every Quarter
Massillon
scored on touchdown in the first quarter, three in the second, one in the third
and two in the fourth. Statistics
readily show the Tiger superiority.
Massillon made 15 first downs to seven for St. Vincent’s. The Tigers completed seven of 15 passes for
156 yards, two of which were good for touchdowns. Akron tried 16, completed five for 83 yards. Massillon intercepted four Akron passes
while one Tiger aerial was intercepted by the Irish.
The Tigers had a net
gain of 402 yards from all types of plays while Akron had only 83.
It took the Tigers a
little better than eight minutes to ring up their first set of counters. Massillon received but was forced to punt
and Schlosser reeled off a first down in three plays. Bill Latham, however, lost 15 on a bad pass from center and Russ
Smith, St. Vincent’s little southpaw passer and kicker and a mighty game little
kid, lost seven more on another bad pass.
Then Wallace busted through to block Smith’s punt, the ball going to
Massillon on Akron’s 17. The Irish once
again checked the Tigers and held for downs, taking the ball on their 15. A 15-yard penalty for holding took the ball
back to St. Vincent’s 3 and then Smith punted from behind his goal line to the
Irish 43-yard line.
Here the Tiger
machine began to function. Pellegrini
swept around right end for nine, Mastriann plugged the line for six and a first
down. He rambled through the Akronites
for 11 more on the next play to put the ball on the 17. Again Mastriann hit for five and Pellegrini
went for two. The Tiger fullback on a
spinner drove to the Akron four yard line but the play was called back and a
five yard penalty on Massillon for offside took the ball back to the 12. With second down and seven to go Pellegrini
flipped a pass to Jasinski who was downed on the Akron one-yard line. Mastriann plunged once and it was a
Massillon touchdown. He place-kicked
for the extra point.
Early in the second
quarter Mastriann fumbled and Akron covered on the Tiger 15-yard line. The Irish threat, however, was soon
erased. The visitors could get nowhere,
either by running or passing and Massillon took the ball on downs on its
15. Mastriann and Pellegrini engineered
two first downs on line plunges and end sweeps and then Wallace took off the
wraps and began to run. With the ball on
Massillon’s 40, Wallace dashed wide around end and when he was brought down he
was 20 yards closer to Akron’s goal, the ball resting on St. Vincent’s 40. Mastriann hit for nine and once again
Wallace found a big opening at left tackle and scampered 23 yards to Akron’s
seven before being halted by Smith.
Once more Wallace hit the left side and this time he was stopped two
feet from the goal line. On the next
play he went over for Massillon’s second touchdown. Pellegrini passed to Willmot for the extra point.
Kammer began to send
in some of his reserves but the Tigers were traveling under a full head of
steam by now and there was no stopping them.
Akron received and
on the first play after the kickoff Glenn Keller intercepted a pass from
Schlosser in midfield and dashed 50 yards down the west side of the field on a
beautiful run for the third Tiger touchdown.
Pellegrini and Gable were among the Tigers who blocked out Akronites who
might have stopped Keller’s goalward dish.
Mastriann’s place kick was wide.
A 15-yard penalty
for offensive interference cost Massillon a chance for another touchdown a bit
later and Akron gained the ball but was forced to punt. By this time Kammer was sending in a steady
stream of substitutes and at one time Wallace was back on the line with
Williams shifted from center to tackle, but when Willmot intercepted Wilhite’s
pass on the Massillon 20 the Tiger team went back to its original lineup. Pellegrini hit for 10 as the quarter ended
and Mastriann opened the fourth with an eight-yard gain on a spinner. Wallace raced around right end for 18 to
Akron’s 45. Mastriann hit the line for six but Pellegrini was tossed for a
nine-yard loss. Then the Tigers dusted
off the old Stature of Liberty play and Wallace grabbed the ball and raced wide
around left end for 14 yards and a first down on Akron’s 34. A five yard penalty on Akron for delaying
the game put the ball on the 29 from where Pellegrini and Jasinski again teamed
up for another Massillon touchdown.
Jasinski and an
Akron player made a bid for Pellegrini’s pass and the ball bounded into he air
but when it came down Tom was there to grab it and scampered 15 yards for
thescore.
Massillon’s entire
second team went into the game and Akron threatened when Gauthler grabbed a long
pass from Longville and raced to Massillon’s 16, before being stopped by Don
Stevens. The Tiger regulars were rushed
back in and they checked the Irish, taking the ball on Massillon’s nine. Pellegrini clipped off a first down. Wallace raced around left end for 18 to his
41 and then Pellegrini passed to Wallace for 15 to the Akron 44. Another Pellegrini to Wallace pass was good
for 29 and the ball was on Akron’s 15 from where Pellegrini raced around right
end for the seventh and final Massillon touchdown.
Nearly every member
of the Massillon squad got into the game and all of them came out in good
physical condition. Mastriann sustained
a slightly injured hip and Keller had a slight cut inside his mouth.
It was a happy Tiger
team that romped in the dressing room after the game. And they had reason to celebrate.
Coach Kammer, while
highly pleased with the job his boys had done, was already thinking about
something else – that something being next Friday’s game at Steubenville.
“The kids did all
right tonight, “ said Kammer, “but don’t forget next week comes Steubenville
and that’s going to be something different.”
Over in the St.
Vincent’s dressing room Eddie Wentz, capable
and affable coach of the Irish, sadly shook his head and wondered what
kind of a blitz had struck his team.
“Gosh, I thought we
had a better ball club than that,” said the Akron coach. “Those boys of mine seemed to be pretty
badly scared out there for some reason and nothing seemed to work right.”
Well, Eddie, those Tigers were torrid enough
to frighten most any foe last night.
And Tigers, keep’em
frightened, particularly in Steubenville.
What A Tiger!
Massillon – 46 Pos. St. Vincent’s
Willmot LE Kil
Arrington LT Sovach
Tonges LG
Williams C Gaffney
Gable RG
Belch RT
Jasinski RE Gauthler
Keller QB Smith
Pellegrini LH Schlosser
Wallace RH Wilhite
Mastriann FB Latham
Score by quarters:
Massillon 7
20 7 12 – 46
St. Vincent’s 0 0
0 0 – 0
Touchdowns:
Mastrainn 2, Wallace, Keller, Jasinski 2, Pellegrini,
Points
after touchdown: Mastriann 2 (placekicks), Willmot (pass),
Jasinski: (pass).
Substitutes:
Massillon – Berger,
Luke, Heltzel, Webb, Stevens, Pedrotty, Sedjo, Profant, Richards, Ielsch,
Cicchinelli, Clark, Slusser.
St. Vincent’s – Kelly, Kertesz, Falkensten, Thorpe, Longville, Suscinski, Timma, Raff,
Laterza, Cook, Mariola, Mald, Alburn.
Referee –
Boone. Umpire – Rupp.
Headlineman –
Graff. Field Judge – Shaffer.
Statistics
Tigers Akron
Total
first downs 15 7
Yards
gained by rushing 263 51
Yards
lost by rushing 23 50
Net
yards gained by rushing 246 1
Forward
passes attempted 15 16
Forward
passes completed 7 5
Yards
gained by passing 156 82
Passes
had intercepted 1 4
Total
net yardage passing
and
rushing 392 83
Number
of punts 1 6
Average
distance of punts 14 23
Number
of kickoffs 8 1
Average
distance of kicks 28 35
Number
of fumbles 3 2
Times
ball lost on fumbles 1
Number
of penalties 7 4
Yards
lost by penalties 65 30