Tigers Defeat Scrappy
Steubenville 26-6
Massillon Gridders Held To One Touchdown
In First Half Of Game
There will be good games and
there will be bad ones, Friday night’s 26-6 Washington high school victory over
Steubenville is classified in the latter category.
Coach Leo Strang’s Tigers,
despite hanging up their fifth win of the season and 18th straight
over three years, played “spotty ball.”
Yet for a team, which had three or four members of its regular unit missing
from most of the week’s practice sessions, the performance was passing.
The letdown following the
Alliance game came before 11,148 (paid) fans.
Actually it wasn’t until the
final play of the third period, when John Larson connected on an 18-yard scoring
toss to Chuck Royer, that the Tiger were lifted from the danger zone.
That touchdown and the
ensuing two-point conversion by Joe Heflin made it 20-0.
*
* *
THE BIG RED, now 1-2-1 in four starts, duplicated the scoring feat
with a 70-yard drive after taking the kickoff.
Quarterback Bill Hoyman rifled three aerial bulls-eyes during the drive
for 35 of the yards and climaxed it with a scoring pass to Len Terry from four
yards out.
While the Tigers’ offense
lacked its scoring punch the defense again stacked up the Steubenville ground
attack when the plot thickened and the Big Red threatened.
After the Tigers’ first big
drive of the game had been stopped inches short of the goal, the Big Red
rebounded by moving 72 yards to the Tiger 28 before the local defensive giants
rose up to cut the drive short.
The Washington high eleven
didn’t even manage its first score against Ray Hoyman’s club until 2:39
remained in the first half.
It took Art Hastings
recovering from muscle spasms in his right leg to inject a TD shot into the
Tigers.
After Bob Baker returned a
Hoyman punt to the Bengal 49, Hastings swung around his short side end for 34
yards to the Big Red 17 before being bounced out of bounds by Tom
Soboliwski. After three thrusts at the
line by Joe Heflin, Charlie Brown and Ken Dean had netted a first down on the
seven. Hastings again swept the short
side end for the score.
*
* *
THE TIGERS wasted little time duplicating the six-point first half
when they marched 63 yards for a touchdown after taking the second half
kickoff. Dean barreled home from near
the eight-yard marker after he and Hastings with a 31-yard sprint, had
positioned the score. The 12-0 lead
stood as the conversion attempt failed.
The Tigers then put the
contest away on the final play of the third period when Larson and Royer
covered 18 yards on a scoring pass play.
Baker’s punt return from his own 40 to the Big Red’s 38 and the line
busting of Martin Gugov and Brown set the touchdown up in four plays.
Joe Heflin added the
two-point conversion for a 20-0 margin.
The Big Red then combined its
lone six-point drive of the night after Lindsey had returned Dean’s kickoff to
the Steubenville 30.
Hoyman connected with
Soboliwski on the second play for 18 yards.
Several plays later he spotted Ken Potts for six yards. Len Terry then took the aerial play from
Hoyman hitting Barnes for 20 yards to the Tiger 18.
Hoyman again took charge with
an 11-yarder to Potts to inside the Tiger five. After two running plays gained a single yard, Hoyman and Terry
combined for the touchdown. A Hoyman
pass on the PAT attempt failed.
Failing to score after Jim
Houston grabbed an onside kick on the 50, the Tigers turned the ball over on
downs on Steubenville’s 20-yard marker.
*
* *
THE BIG RED couldn’t move and a short punt by Hoyman rolled dead
on his own 44.
Larson then hit three
straight passes, nine yards to Theo Bodiford, 10 to Hastings and the third of
25 yards to Bodiford who juggled the ball around before grabbing it while
waltzing into the end zone for the touchdown with only 37 seconds remaining.
Again the conversion attempt
failed as the Tigers tucked away their 21st straight win over the
Ohio River club.
*
* *
A FINAL HEAVE from Hoyman to Paul Cunningham covered 32 yards to
Washington high’s 33 as the game ended.
Statistically the Tigers
enjoyed nearly a two-and-a-half to one advantage in rushing yardage piling up
239 to 106. Passing the visitors chalked
up 91 to Larson’s 76. That cut the
total yardage difference of 315 to 197.
The Big Red made a go of it
in the first down department with 10 to the Bengals’ 13.
There was only one fumble,
that by the Big Red. Charlie Whitfield
grabbed it on Steubenville’s 41. The
Tigers’ drive which followed bogged down on the invader’s 22.
Foul play didn’t exist, at
least noticeably, as only 15 yards in penalties were assessed, 10 against the
Bengals, five against the Big Red.
The Big Red Coach Hoyman
ranks the Tigers as the best club they’ve met this year with Weirton as a
“close second”.
Strang wasn’t in a
conversational mood after the contest.
But he did pause long enough to size up the Big Red as “an aggressive,
hard hitting, hard fighting team, just like all Steubenville teams.”
As for the Tigers, Leo
received the type of performance he and the coaching staff had expected
following a week of practice attended by only a scattering of regulars.
For the future and the game
with Cincinnati Roger Bacon next Friday, Strang won’t know what to expect until
this afternoon when he huddles with the staff going over the coaching reports.
Bacon maintained its
undefeated mark Friday night mowing down Cincinnati Hughes,
40-0. Past wins have been over Cincinnati Withrow,
55-0, Cincinnati Walnut Hills, 33-0, and Cincinnati Taft, 28-6.
The Bacon eleven ranked 10th
in this week’s Associated Press football poll after ranking sixth the previous
week.
Chuck McMasters who played
all the way for the Big Red at guard and linebacker picked up four tackles and
added four assists.
For the Tigers Jim Houston,
Charlie Whitfield, Ed Radel, Lawson White, Richard Crenshaw, and George Demis
all figured heavily in the defensive tackles.
MASSILLON
ENDS – Royer, Ivan, Bodiford,
Anzalone.
TACKLES – Spees, Garman,
Crenshaw, Herbst, Brugh, Herndon.
GUARDS – Houston, White,
Willey, Radel, Whitfield.
CENTERS – Demis, Strobel.
BACKS – Larson, Baker, Null,
Heflin, Brown, Hastings, Gugov,
Kurzen, Schenkenberger, Dean,
Snively.
STEUBENVILLE
ENDS – Soboliwski, Potts,
Ray, Williams, Johnson.
TACKLES – Mazzaferro,
Schaeffer, Pyle.
GUARDS – McBride, Capper, B.
Simmons.
CENTER – Hulburt.
BACKS – Hoyman, Lindsey, Terry,
Barnes, Booth, Shernit, Stratton
Massillon 0 6 14 6 26
Steubenville 0 0 0 6 6
Massillon
scoring – Hastings (7, run); Dean 8,
run); Royer (18, pass from Larson);
Bodiford (25, pass from Larson)
Extra point – Heflin (run).
Steubenville – Terry (4, pass from Hoyman).
STATISTICS
Massillon Steu.
First downs – rushing 10 6
First downs – passing 3 4
First downs – penalties 0 0
Total first downs 13 10
Yards gained – running plays 256 117
Yards lost – running plays 17 11
Net yardage – running 239 106
Passes attempted 11 12
Passes completed 5 8
Passes had intercepted 0 0
Yard returned –
intercepted passes 0 0
Yards gained passing 76 91
Total yardage
running and passing 315 197
Number of kickoff returns 2 5
Yardage – kickoff returns 9 73
Yardage – punt returns 31 19
Number of punts 2 4
Number of penalties 2 1
Yards lost on penalties 10 5
Number of fumbles 0 1
Own fumbles recovered 0 0
Ball lost on fumbles 0 1