Tigers Win Thriller From Alliance
Massillon
Gridders Triumph 13-0;
Erase Old Jinx
For Coach
It was another heap big scare, m’am, and Massillon
was mighty glad it won.
There was good reason for rejoicing in the Tiger camp;
the Tigers could point to their third victory in a row, the Alliance jinx was
something of the past and Coach Lee Tressel’s personal winning skein had
reached 37 games.
The Aviators, mainly on their longest sustained
drive of the night, which came late in the third period and fizzled out on the
first play of the final quarter, were like so many previous Alliance
combines. They simply gave all they had
before bowing 13-0 before 7,819 paid fans at Mt. Union College stadium.
But what they had wasn’t enough, thank goodness.
Massillon parlayed first and fourth period marches
into its 28th win in 33 meetings with Alliance clubs. Fancy prancing Ivory Benjamin dashed into
pay dirt twice and teamed with hard-nosed Mike Hershberger and the two
line-busters, Chet Brown and “Chuck” Beiter, to give the Tigers the advantage
when it came to moving that pigskin.
That the ground attack was the big difference was
evident in that for the second time this season Massillon enjoyed a statistical
edge. Just take a look.
Massillon, 13 first downs to Alliance’s 10, 270 net
yards gained to 173. One Tiger aerial
connection made 14 yards while the vaunted Aviator air game went ker-plunk.
* * *
ALLIANCE TRIED
eight passes and not one settled into the arms of the intended receiver. But four times it was not fault of the
passer, sophomore Walt Zingg.
This boy Zingg really threw the oval around but his
efforts were in vain.
For instance, in that third quarter march Zingg’s
flings could have put the host club back in the old ball game. Twice his receivers raced behind the Tiger
secondary and were practically all by their lonesome when the pass
arrived. But on both occasions the
aerials were dropped.
Then after the drive ended, the Tigers had to punt
and early in the spine-tingling final frame the Aviators went to work
again. After Mike Hershberger got off
one of his fine punts, this one 53 yards to the Aviator 10, the Mel
Knowlton-coached crew advanced to their own 43 and once again one of their
receivers dashed behind the secondary.
Again the ball was right there but again Zingg’s toss was missed.
* * *
THE ORANGEMEN
then applied the clincher. A march of
81 yards, featuring Beiter’s
35-yard caper up the middle, was capped when Benjamin
whizzed around the right side for the final 13 yards.
The goalposts came down and the thumping in
Massillon hearts eased considerably.
What happened after that, except for the celebrating, was anti-climatic
– even the fact that end Clyde Childers was required to kickoff three times.
Thus the Alliance jinx which made Paul Brown, Chuck
Mather and Tom Harp its victims, went down the drain. And responsible was a green gang of fighters who licked a scrappy
band of veterans.
Coach Tressel, enjoying one of his happiest hours,
wouldn’t try to pick out any standouts.
“We are improving, our tackling was better and our
downfield blocking looked good again.
However, we have some more tough ones coming up. They are all rough…I mean it…but I believe
we can hold our own if we continue to improve,” he said.
Tressel was a little peeved because of a second
quarter let down but he explained the boys may have been tiring. However, apparently they got their second
breath after stopping Alliance’s one big push of the night and as the last
drive that iced the verdict was marked by crisp blocking and some hard running.
* * *
THE TIGER COACH
was high on the Alliance team. He
singled out halfbacks Timmy Johnson and Gary Wilson, who were particular thorns
on inside running plays, and also paid a tribute to Zingg, a passer of “real
promise.”
Johnson and Wilson accounted for 167 yards between
them but their fast and shifty dashes failed to overshadow those of the four
lads who carried the brunt of the Orange attack.
Benjamin zipped 92 yards in 14 carries with his
touchdown coming on nifty runs of 25 and 14 yards, Hershberger made 76 in 16
trips, the improving Beiter gained 70 in five carries and Brown toted seven
times for 31 yards.
Their runs were made possible by a mobile line that
handled its job mighty fine. There were
no standouts – everybody played hard and smart.
The game was less than two minutes old when guard
Tom Meldrum jumped on a fumble at the enemy 49 – and Massillon was on its way
to its first touchdown.
Hershberger and Benjamin gained three and five,
respectively, before the former, twisting away from two would-be tacklers on a
sweep to the left, picked up 14 yards to the 27. Brown got a yard, Benjamin fought for five and Hershberger
fumbled and recovered for a four-yard deficit before Benjamin got on his horse.
* * *
THE WHIRLING
dervish who plays left half for the Bengals took the ball on a double reverse –
which caught the Aviators with their defenses down – and veered to the
right. Blocking was near perfect and
Ivory had it comparatively easy the last 15 yards of his
15-yard gallop.
He was knocked for a loop but in the end zone and with six and a half
minutes remaining in the panel, the Tigers were in front 6-0.
It was still six to zero after Davie Richardson’s
placekick hit the crossbar and bounced back.
The rest of the quarter was meaningless other than
Johnson’s 18-yard run but the hosts made two more first downs as the second
round got under way. However, the Tigers
knuckled down and finally end Attlilo Giovanatto had to punt from the Massillon
48.
The Tigers moved to their own 49 before Hershberger
got off another terrific punt and another exchange of punts followed. The last time Alliance had possession in the
first half Zingg tried three passes.
One was almost intercepted by Benjamin, and two others were too far for
the intended receiver.
Tressel’s halftime talk must have been a honey.
The Tigers came out loaded for Aviators. Except for a 15-yard foray by Beiter the
yards were ripped off in short chunks as the Orangemen took the kickoff and
moved from their own 16 to the 39.
* * *
BOB RINEHART
the smooth quarterback, then hit on his only completion with Benjamin the
catcher. The play was good for 14 and
the fourth first down of the march but then the boys ran out of gas. On a delay, Hershberger was nailed for a
five-yard loss by linebacker Bob Miller and Beiter was held for no gain before
Rinehart took to the airlanes again.
The first went to Benjamin at the 25 but it looked
like Ivory tried to run before he made the catch. On fourth down Rinehart twirled into the end zone and the throw
was just a shade too far for Dick Brenner to reach.
Alliance was fired-up again. It was Johnson, then Wilson to the Tiger 43
before an end dropped a Zingg aerial in the clear at the 20. The host team went to the ground again and
Wilson on two smashes gained 23 to the 20.
Alliance stands were roaring but another Zingg pass was dropped and
Johnson got only two and Wilson three.
Then on fourth down Zingg couldn’t find a receiver in the open and ran
to his right. Chet Brown got a firm
grip on Zingg’s jersey, wouldn’t let go and Massillon took over at its own 13.
Chet and Ivory picked up a first down but in three
more plays the Bengals gained nine and Hershberger punted. This time his kick sailed 53 yards and dead
on the 10.
And man, the Aviators had Tiger fans on the edge of
their seats once again.
That same pair, Johnson and Wilson, carried the mail
to the 32 and after the next two plays made eight, a Zingg pass was dropped for
the fourth time.
* * *
THEN EVERYBODY
was expecting the Red and Blue to go for the first down. It was fourth and about a yard and a half at
the 43 but the Aviators punted.
Giovanatto lofted one 38 yards to the Massillon 19
and the Tresselmen got sharp to apply the clincher.
Chet Brown twice wriggled loose for 12-yard pick-ups
as the invaders moved to the Aviator 43 before Beiter came through with his
35-yard jaunt. Beiter cracked the middle
and almost went the distance but was brought down from behind at the
eight. A Rinehart toss was short but
Benjamin skirted right-end, smartly cut away from a couple defenders, and went
into the end zone standing up.
Richardson’s placement at 1:02 made Massillonians real happy.
Childers had to kickoff three times after the field
was cleared of fans who walked off with the goalposts. Massillon was offside on the first; the
second went out of bounds. Then kicking
from his own 35, the lanky flanker sent one clear down to the Alliance
five. Johnson ran it out to the 27 and
on the second play from scrimmage guard John Heimann intercepted a Zingg pass
and two plays later the final gun sounded.
STATISTICS
Mass. Opp.
First
downs rushing 12 10
First
downs passing 1 0
First
downs by penalties 0 0
Total
first downs 13 10
Yards
gained rushing 278 180
Yards
lost rushing 22 7
Passes
attempted 6 8
Passes
completed 1 0
Passes
had intercepted 0 1
Yards
gained passing 14 0
Net
yards gained 270 173
Times
kicked off 3 1
Average
kickoff return -5 16
Yards
kickoff returned by -5 49
Average
punt (yards) 42.5 36
Yards
punts returned by 0 9
Had
punts blocked 0 0
Times
lost ball on fumbles 0 2
Penalties 5 2
Yards
penalties 35 20