Tigers Take Magic
Out
Of Barberton 30-0
Benjamin Romps
For Three Touchdowns,
Averages 17
Yards
It’s
an exception rather than the rule when somebody in a Massillon Tiger jersey
puts on a one-man show.
There
was an exception Friday night and that “somebody” was the flashy fireball named
Ivory Lee Benjamin.
The
kid with dash, daring and 300-horsepower legs gave Tigertown fans a treat and
Barberton the treatment as he sparked the Bengals to a methodical 30-0 victory
over the not-so-magic Magics before some 7,000 chilled rooters at the Barberton
stadium.
He
pranced to pay dirt three times on runs of eight, 41 and 56 yards. Well, actually four times, but a 43-yard
trip was made null and void by a penalty.
He
toted the pighide 13 times and wound up with a gain of 225 yards. He caught one pass for four yards,
intercepted on enemy pass and made quite a few stops on defense. He now has made 13 touchdowns.
Any
wonder why we say he was a one-man wrecking crew?
* * *
BENJAMIN LEFT the Barberton fans buzzing. A
few may have kept right on talking about him after they went to sleep.
After
the show produced by the Tiger co-captain and left halfback was concluded,
Barberton’s general mentor, Junie Ferrall wasn’t about to go into the whys and
wherefores of the battle.
He
just kept shaking his head and repeating, “That Benjamin…just too much
Benjamin.”
Well,
Mr. Ferrall, as you know and we all know, he couldn’t have done it all by his
lonesome.
How
about that line which opened holes you could have engineered a battleship
through? How about the timely running
of Scott Kanney, who was filling in at fullback in place of the injured Chuck
Beiter? How about that fine ball-handling
in the backfield? How about that
defense which limited the Magics to 65 yards on the ground?
There
were two big reasons why the Tigers didn’t do more damage.
* * *
ONE – THE BARBERTON quarterback, Bob Mobley, whose faking, running and
passing antics kept the defenders off balance all night. Two – the fact that the Bengals began to
rest on their laurels once it appeared evident they could move the ball and
Barberton couldn’t.
Anyway
you looked at it, the Tigers put their sixth victory of the season in the
record books.
It
was Massillon’s ninth straight win in the 21-game series, which has now seen
the Tigers cop the duke 17 times.
And
now in 1957 two remaining – unbeaten Akron Garfield and once-beaten, Canton
McKinley.
The
loss was the fifth in eight starts for Barberton, which will end the season
against Roger Bacon high at Cincinnati next week.
* * *
COACH LEE TRESSELL summed things up this way:
“As
a whole we moved the ball pretty well.
Ivory looked real good. So did
Scott (Kanney) and Leaman (Williamson).
“That
Mobley was something. He kept us
guessing, as we thought he would.
Although our pass defense allowed seven completions, we weren’t hurt too
much. But between their passing and the
running of Burroughs (Bob) we had enough to worry about.”
Kanney
averaged over 12 yards a carry and tallied a first period touchdown on a
17-yard blast up the middle. The other
Tiger TD was made by speedy Jim Snively, who zoomed 50 yards on a punt return
to add icing to the cake in the last quarter.
Williamson
made tackles in wholesale lots and blocked a punt.
Mobley,
a southpaw slicker, ran the Barberton team with plenty of nerve. The junior standout handled the ball like a
pro, hit on five of 10 passes, caught two aerials, intercepted one Massillon
forward and ran five times for 17 yards.
* * *
BURROUGHS, a 215-pound sophomore, who is built like a tank, churned through the
line 15 times and averaged over three yards a clip.
All
told, the host team connected on seven of 16 aerials but failed to offset the
crunching ground attack of the Orange and Black.
With
Benjamin averaging 17-yards per carry, Massillon had a net rushing gain of 347
yards.
Total
yardage was Massillon 351, Barberton 136.
Yet
the Magics had the ball for 49 running and passing plays and Massillon was
limited to 33 rushing-passing attempts.
But
like Ferrall said, “Benjamin was the big difference.”
* * *
IVORY HAD Tiger fans roaring in the first three minutes of the game. The Bengals received and started to roll
from their own 19.
The
first Time Benjamin carried he went 15 yards.
Then he whizzed for 36 and 31 to help set up his own touchdown from the
eight-yard line with only two minutes and 48 seconds elapsed.
On
the pay dirt foray he hit off the right side and went in standing up. It was almost a carbon copy of the plays
that were good for 15, 21 and 36 yards.
Soph Quarterback Joe Sparma tried the extra point but his kick sailed to
the left.
After
the teams exchanged punts and pass interceptions, Massillon was knocking at TD
door again.
Defensive
Halfback Jerry Mitchell pounced on a fumble at the 33 and in two plays the
rambunctious Kanney covered the remaining distance. He shot through the left side for 16, then came back over the
right side, found a hole, and went 17 yards with only one Barberton player
getting a hand on him.
* * *
THIS TIME Sparma’s placement was low and to the right and it was 12-0 with 45
seconds remaining in the opening round.
Barberton
bolted back and for a while it looked like the purple was going to tighten the
issue.
With
Mobley twirling to End Alan Cooksey for 19, Halfback March Ferguson gaining
seven and John Howe, from kick formation, throwing to Mobley for 14, the Magics
advanced to the Tiger 19.
Then
the Magics were penalized 15 yards for holding and after Halfback Norm Spencer
gained one, Joe Brownlee and Williamson decked Mobley for an 11-yard loss on a
pass play. On fourth down Ferguson took
off on a double reverse but slipped and fell as he turned the corner and
Massillon had possession on the 43.
* * *
A MOMENT later Mobley intercepted a pass by Gene Stewart but the Tigers held
and took possession at the 35. Kanney
ripped off 17, then 17 more after Benjamin banged for 25 but time ran out and
the score was still 12-0 at intermission.
Benjamin’s
41-yard jaunt to the Promised Land came after his 43-yarder was nullified. At the start of the second half Howe kicked
dead at the 23 and the Tresslelmen rolled to the Barberton 43 before Ivory
turned on all jets and outran Mobley to the end zone.
A
backfield-in-motion penalty put the oval back on the 41. Sub Fullback Dave Dean rammed for seven
before Benjamin made his second official trip to pay dirt. He slammed through the middle, was stopped
momentarily at the Magic 38 and then was long gone.
On
the PAT attempt the snap from center went astray and McKey, the kicker, picked
up the ball and attempted to run across only to be stopped a yard short. And so it was 18-0 with 4:48 remaining in
the panel.
There
was no further excitement in that period.
* * *
EARLY in the final canto Barberton gambled and lost. With fourth and four at its own 44, the host
club went in punt formation but Howe passed and it was a little too far for
Mobley.
Massillon
took over and after Sparma’s pass to Mark Anthony failed to hit the target,
Benjamin again did a little hurrying.
He found a hole at left tackle and steamed 56 yards to make it 24-0 at
5:40. McKey again kicked but the ball
veered off to the right.
Following
the kickoff the Magics were forced to punt with Howe booting from his 19,
Snively fielded the ball at midfield and set sail down the west sideline. Behind a cordon of blockers he ran in a
direct line until he got to the 15 where he cut away from one would-be tackler
and continued on to touchdown land.
McKey’s kick was partially blocked and that was the final 30 to zero.
Barberton
proceeded to move from its own 27 to the Bengal 29 as three passes picked up 30
yards but the Magics needed time, a lot more than was left on the clock.
The
Tigers came out of the fray in fairly good shape. End Maury Snavely sustained a broken nose and Stewart received a
leg injury in the third period.
The summary:
MASSILLON
ENDS
– Childers, Snavely, Williams, Mitchell, Wood, Steele, Pierce, Hagan, Zorn.
TACKLES
– Slabaugh, Slicker, Brownlee, Halter, Donat, Karrenbauer.
GUARDS
– Heine, Heimann, McKey, Perry, Taylor, Cook.
CENTERS
– Williamson, Swartz, Reese, Shilling.
QUARTERBACKS
– Getz, Sparma.
HALFBACKS
– Benjamin, Stewart, Anthony, Pledgure, Snively, Lawson, Clark, Allen,
Hershberger.
FULLBACKS
– Kanney, Dean.
BARBERTON
ENDS
– Bill Mobley, Skrabe, Dawson, Cooksey, Howe.
TACKLES
– Thomas, Goletz, Memeth.
GUARDS
– Smith, Mystovich, Alexandre, Tonoyitz.
CENTERS
– Schenz, Velloney.
QUARTERBACKS
– Bob Mobley, Blough.
HALFBACKS
– Spencer, Ferguson, Hudgens, Luetig, Stanley.
FULLBACKS
– Burroughs, Nemeth.
Score by quarter:
Massillon 12 0 6 12 30
Massillon scoring:
Touchdowns
– Benjamin 3, Kanney, Snively
STATISTICS
Mass. Bar.
First downs, rushing 13 5
First downs, passing 0 4
First downs, penalties 0 2
First downs, total 13 11
Yards gained, running plays 364 116
Yards lost, running plays. 17 51
Net yardage, running plays 346 65
Passes attempted 6
16
Passes completed 1 7
Passes had intercepted 2 1
Passes 6 31
Yards gained, passing 4 71
Total yardage, running,
Passing 351 136
Number of punt returns 2 0
Yardage punt returns 63 0
Average length of punt
Returns 21 0
Number of punts 2 4
Total yardage on punts 52 135
Average length of punts 26.0 33.7
Number of penalties 7 2
Yards lost on penalties 65 20
Number of fumbles 2 4
Own fumbles recovered 2 3