Bengals
Lose 2nd Straight
20-14
By CHUCK HESS,
JR.
Independent
Sports Editor
It may have gone unnoticed
in the wake of the unhappiness at Tiger stadium Saturday night. But the Massillon Tigers’ offensive unit
gave its best performance to date.
Defense had been the strong
part of the Bengals’ game heretofore.
But the WHS gridders were little match for a powerful Altoona, Pa.,
eleven, falling 20-14.
* * *
IT WAS THE second straight loss for the Bengals and the first home defeat since
1962. The Bengals had also not lost 2
contests or 2 in a row since 1962.
Their season slate now reads 3-2-1.
For Altoona, which stretched
its slate to 5-1 in administering the first out-of-state loss to the Tigers in
29 years, it meant the continuation of a win streak to 4 games. The Mountain Lions had lost both of the 2
previous games between the Buckeye and Keystone rivals.
Altoona’s success story was
written in superior line play and excellent ball-handling and deception in the
backfield. The Mountain Lions’ superior
weight opened up giant-sized holes in the Tigers’ defensive line. Quarterback Walter Beatty handed off and
flipped out with the skill of a Houdini, mixing his plays well to take
advantage of all of his backs. The
faking of halfbacks Phil Witherspoon and Greg Campbell and fullback Gary Madden
was perfect.
Seaman applauded his
backs. “I was well pleased with them,”
Seaman said. “They ran exceptionally
well. Simon (Bill) was 1,000 percent improved
and Maurer (Craig) is gaining confidence.”
* * *
SIMON, the left halfback, right half Tommy James and Fullback Will Foster
also had some big holes to go through – but not as many as the Altoona
backs. This time the Bengal runners
found the holes, something they had failed to do with regularity all season.
The Tigers almost threw more
passes Saturday night than they had all season, getting a touchdown via that
route for the second time this fall.
But Maurer also had an unfortunate bit of luck.
With the Tigers driving for
what would have been a tying touchdown with just over 2 minutes remaining in
the game and third and one on the Altoona 11, he and center Tim Senften miscued
and a fumble occurred. Foster was short
by inches through the center on the next play and Altoona had its victory,
although having to fend off the Tigers following a short punt and pass to split
end Jim Smith for 18 yards to the Lions’ 24.
For awhile the scene resembled a Chinese fire drill the Bengals out of
time outs and trying to get plays off quickly.
It was a game of other close
calls, too, with Mountain Lions being stopped by a gnat’s eyelash from scoring
in the first quarter after an 18-play, 76-yard drive all on the ground. Ron Ertle put the clincher to the Lions’
plans on the opening series by recovering Campbell’s fumble.
Campbell twice just managed
to bring down Tiger ball carriers seemingly on the way to scores. He caught James on the Altoona 7 after a
26-yard run in the third quarter. He tripped
up Foster on the Lions’ 20 after a 25-yard romp in the fourth.
* * *
THE TIGERS’ got the first score following a fumble recovery by Ron Muhlbach and
Earl Beiter on the Altoona 33 with 1:12 left in the welcome quarter.
A Statue of Liberty play had
gone awry. The Bengals got into pay
dirt 12 plays later with 8:33 remaining in the second stanza.
Foster, continuing his fine
second effort running, went in around right end on third down from the 3. He also got the conversion – one of the few
of the season – over right guard.
Altoona came right back
after the kickoff, going 68 yards in 10 plays with only the pay off maneuver
going overhead. Beatty hit Speacht on
the 5 with second down, 16, on the 17.
Campbell slipped between left guard and left tackle, a spot the Lions
picked on frequently, for the equalizing conversion.
The Tigers got into a big
hole on the next kickoff, which came from the Tigers’ 45 following a personal
foul stepoff. Safetyman John McFadden
slipped in the mud, went down on the one and the Orange and Black had to give
up the ball via a punt from the 24.
Both teams scored in the
third quarter. Campbell tallied first
for Altoona on a left pitchout on fourth down from the 3 following a 72-yard,
9-play drive on the opening series.
Campbell missed the conversion on a sweep right. A 24-yard pass to Speacht and 24 and 10-yard
runs by Campbell highlighted the push.
* * *
MASSILLON drove back 61 yards in 7 plays featured by a 29-yard kick runback by
James, a 22-yard pass to split end Tim Moyer and the 26-yard right side, off
tackle slash by James which Campbell just was able to abort. James caught a pass into the right corner of
the end zone from Maurer on a fake to Foster.
James missed the conversion over left tackle.
Altoona’s winning offensive
came after Dale Gallion recovered a fumble on his 23 to halt a 44-yard
drive. Maurer had a pass pilfered by
Dave McGarth on the next play. Altoona
moved in from the 21 in 7 plays. Beatty
went through the center on fourth down from the one with 7:45 left in the
contest and then fumbled on the conversion attempt.
“This loss was mine,” Seaman
said later. “We threw after the fumble
recovery. That was a mistake. I got too hoggish. We should have stuffed the ball down their throats like we were
able to do all night.”
“This was a team victory,”
Altoona Coach Earl Strohm said. “The
kids did a job blocking. We had worked
against their stack defense all along.
We knew they didn’t pass much. I
told the boys this was our best chance to beat them. We knew this was their weakest team in the 3 years we had played
them, but they rank along with McKeesport and Pennsbury.”
A crowd of 15,810, largest
of the season, sat in after a heavy rain had let up one-half hour before game
time.
Ends – Conrad, McGrath,
Cochran.
Tackles – Clark, Traficante,
Askey, Potter, Parsons.
Guards – Carnicella, Kitt,
Nedimyer, Turchetta.
Centers – Thompson, Bosso.
Quarterback – Beatty.
Halfbacks – Witherspoon,
Campbell, Singer, Speacht.
Fullbacks – Madden, Launchi,
Tyler.
MASSILLON – 14
Ends – Moyer, Smith,
Liggett, Gallion, Richards, Griffin, Sterling.
Tackles – Ricker , Snowball,
Campbell, Turley, Sherrett, Neago.
Guards – Ertle, Beiter,
Hauenstein, Russell, Porrini.
Centers – Senften, Kraft,
Skelton.
Quarterbacks – Maurer,
Young, Henderson, Malinowski.
Halfbacks – James, Simon,
Fenton, McFadden, Staples, Evans,
McDew, Muhlbach.
Fullback – Foster.
Punter – Krenzer.
Altoona 0 8 6 6 20
Touchdowns:
Massillon – Foster (3-yard run); James
(2-yard pass from Maurer).
Altoona – Speacht (16-yard,
pass-run play from Beatty);
Campbell (3-yard run); Beatty (one-yard run).
Extra points:
Massillon – Foster 2 (run).
Altoona – Campbell 2 (run).
OFFICIALS
Referee – Jack McLain
(Columbus).
Umpire – Tony Pianowski
(Cleveland).
Head Linesman – Chet
DeStefano (Canton).
Field Judge – Ken Newlon
(Canton).
Attendance: 15,810
Massillon Opp.
First downs –
rushing 7 15
First downs –
passing 1 3
First downs –
penalties 0 0
Total first
downs 8 18
Yards gained
rushing 168 250
Yards lost
rushing 9 14
Net yards
gained passing 57 52
Total yards
gained 216 288
Passes
attempted 7 7
Passes
completed 4 4
Passes
intercepted by 0 1
Yardage on
passes intercepted 0 17
Times kicked
off 4 3
Kickoff
average (yards) 41.0
48.3
Kick returns
(yards) 68 39
Times punted 2 2
Punt average
(yards) 35.5
24.5
Punt return
(yards) 6 0
Had punts
blocked 0 0
Fumbles 3 5
Lost fumbled
ball 0 3
Penalties 7 2
Yards penalized 75 10
Touchdowns
rushing 2 2
Touchdowns
passing 0 1
Touchdowns by
interception 0
0
Miscellaneous 0 0
Total number
of plays 45 64