Tigers Have Scare
But
Beat Alliance 24-12
By CHUCK HESS, JR.
The
most irritating thing to a feline is a thorn in the paw. And for the Massillon Tiger there’s no thorn
sharper than a Mel Knowlton-coached Alliance high grid team.
But
as their namesake will work incessantly to rid himself of a thorn, so the
Massillon Tigers kept at it at rain-soaked Harshorn stadium in Alliance Friday
night until they had clawed out a 24-12 victory. The Bengals’ third win in a 4-game slate, marred only by a tie,
meant the first step on the road back towards a third straight state title.
* * *
WITH THE MEAT of their schedule coming up in the 6 remaining weeks, the Bengals must
not falter now. A loss coupled with the
tie would lessen their chances.
Friday’s
contest was typical of Knowlton, the former Tiger quarterback. He put the Bengals’ pass defense to a tough
test before the 8,000 fans despite the constant rain.
And
the Bengal secondary had its troubles against the tricky play-action
passes. However, most of the aerials
completed were of the short flat variety.
None-the-less, they helped Alliance out-gain Massillon 263 yards to 243
and loosened up the Obiemen to help the Aviators’ running game.
However,
Massillon had the best of it on the ground 233-79. Co-captains Tommy James, playing both halfback slots, and
fullback Will Foster did some great off tackle and trap running with the help
of good blocking. The Bengals got only
10 yards in the air to the Aviators’ 184.
The
Bengals were helped in their victory by a big break in the fourth quarter. Midway through, punter, Harley Dickinson was
roughed on fourth down. That, coupled
with another 15-yarder for unsportsmanlike conduct on Knowlton following a
hotly debated encroachment penalty on Alliance, gave Massillon first and 10 on
the Alliance 30.
* * *
MASSILLON was temporarily set back by a 15-yard illegal use of the hands
penalty. Two plays later junior
halfback Bill Simon took a pitchout on second and 16, started right, found his
way clogged and cut back to the left behind fine blocking and went 35 yards to
end the night’s scoring with 2:49 left.
A pass to sophomore end Jim Smith on the conversion attempt failed.
“The
penalties helped put the icing on the cake,” Tiger Coach Bob Seaman said. “Our kids held-up to a tough challenge
well. The roughing penalty hurt us,”
Knowlton said. “There was no reason for
it. That killed us because they had to
punt.”
Alliance
opened the scoring at 5:13 of the first quarter. The Tigers had moved from the Aviator 31 to the 24-yard line
following a punt snap, but lost the ball on downs.
Five
plays later Zupanic faked a handoff and jumped a second and 9 pass from his 35
to end Finis Dailey who scampered 60 yards straight through Massillon’s
secondary for the score. Zupanic
couldn’t get another jumper off on the conversion try.
Massillon
had a drive fizzle at the Alliance 27 after a pass interception by Cliff
Banks. Punter Jim Krenzer’s daring
2-yard sneak on fourth down at the Alliance 46 had kept the foray going.
* * *
THE ORANGE and Black got the equalizer with 5:06 left in the first half when
Foster went over left guard from the one on third and 5 after an 11-play,
61-yard drive featuring the running of Foster and James. A Craig Maurer to James pitchout failed for
the conversion.
The
Tigers’ made it 12-6 when safety John McFadden returned the second half kickoff
85 yards up the center and cut it to the left side. James missed the conversion on a pitchout to the left.
A
14-yard runback by Dale Gallion gave Massillon the ball on its 34 after
Alliance was stopped on the Massillon 49.
The Tigers marched the distance in 8 plays with Foster and James doing
most of the advancing. On first down
from the 17, Maurer faked inside and handed to James who swept left for the
tally at 4:32. Maurer tried to pass to
Simon for the conversion with no success.
Alliance
used up the remaining time in the third period and a couple of minutes in the
fourth getting to the Massillon 3 where the Bengals stiffened and held
them. Twice in the series, Zupanic got
off fourth down passes on long yardage plays for first downs. One aerial went to halfback Bob Ramsey, the
other to end Al Thigpen.
But
disaster stuck in the next series.
Kenzer had to punt from the end zone with a bad snap. Halfback Ray Muniz fell on the loose ball at
the Tigers’ 21.
* * *
FIVE PLAYS later Ramsey went through the middle on second and 7 from the 8 with 6:39
remaining. A pass to end Emerson Young
for the conversion backfired.
Then
came the last score for the Bengals.
But
Alliance wasn’t through. A Tiger fumble
on their 40 recovered by junior Tom Ickes gave Alliance the ball on Massillon’s
45. Three plays later the clock ran
out.
Knowlton
thought his team was getting better each game.
Their performance against the Tigers brought Alliance the most yardage
gained by the Aviators this season.
They had gained only 53 yards in the air previously.
Seaman
said there were not drastic changes made at halftime. “We just blocked a little better and ran a little harder in the
second half,” he said. “And that run of
McFadden’s really kicked us off. He did
a real good job. He’s got guts.
* * *
HE CONTINUED “Simon got off a nice run on his touchdown. He cut back beautifully and got by the pursuit.”
Both
coaches thought the other had a fine football team.
The
Tigers journey to Riverside stadium in Niles next Saturday, where the Red Dragons
have been undefeated for 7 years.
Massillon puts its 31 game unbeaten streak on the line in an
All-American league contest.
MASSILLON – 24
Ends
– Liggett, Smith, Sterling, Kraft, Gallion, Griffin, Moyer, Richards.
Tackles
– Houser, Sherrett, Campbell, Snowball, Ricker, Turley.
Guards
– Neago, Russell, Porrini, Beiter, Hauenstein, White, Somogy.
Centers
– Senften, Kraft, Skelton.
Quarterbacks
– Maurer, Henderson, Young, Malinowski.
Halfbacks
– James, Simon, Fenton, McFadden, Muhlbach.
Punters
– Krenzer, Dickinson.
Fullback
– Foster.
Ends
– Dailey, E. Young, Thigpen.
Tackles
– R. Young, Johnson, Harshman, Andreani.
Guards
–Gaul, Thomas, McCoy.
Center
– Koch.
Quarterbacks
– Zupanic, Libis, Utterback.
Halfbacks
– Ramsey, Lear, Muniz.
Punter
– Sucacui.
Massillon 0 6 12 6 24
Alliance 6 0 0 6 12
Touchdowns:
Massillon – Foster (one-yard run);
McFadden (85-yard second
half kickoff return);
James (17-yard run);
Simon (30-yard run).
Alliance – Dailey (65-yard pass-run play from Zupanic); Ramsey (8-yard run).
OFFICIALS
Referee
– Octavio Sirgo (Canton).
Umpire
– Carl Spennard (Cuyahoga Falls).
Head
Linesman – John Cseh (Akron).
Field
Judge – Carl Emmerich (Cuyahoga Falls).
Attendance: 8,000
THE
GRIDSTICK
Massillon Opp.
First downs – rushing 11 8
First downs – passing 1 5
First downs – penalties 2 0
Yards gained rushing 233 114
Yards lost rushing 0 35
Net yards gained rushing 233 79
Net yards gained passing 10 184
Total yards gained 343 263
Passes attempted 3 18
Passes completed 1 10
Passes intercepted by 0 1
Times kicked off 5 3
Kickoff average (yards) 54.5 42.3
Kickoff returns (yards) 107 160
Times punted 1 3
Punt average (yards) 12.0 32.3
Punt return (yards) 45 0
Fumbles 2 0
Lost fumbled ball 1 0
Penalties 5 8
Yards penalized 45 60
Touchdowns rushing 3 0
Touchdowns passing 0 1
Miscellaneous touchdowns 1 0