One of worst opening losses
for Tigers
By CHUCK HESS,
JR.
Near misses on offense and
poor defensive field position caused by offensive errors cost the
The
It was one of the worst
opening game defeats in
* * *
TO MAKE MATTERS
AWORSE FOR Seaman, it was one of his
best friends who defeated him. Mentor
Coach Dick Crum has been close to Seaman since the 2 were assistants at
“Close is only good in
horseshoes,” Seaman said. “Two or 3
times we had someone almost break away.
We dropped passes with wide-open spaces ahead of us. There were only 12 yards
difference in the total offense.
We put the ball everywhere but in the end zone.”
Spitting out words angrily,
Seaman continued, “The turning point was our fumble on the 2-yard line in the
third quarter. Another was the 15-yard
penalty when the ball was centered over the punter’s head in the first
quarter.”
The first reference was to a
63-yard third quarter drive by the Tigers, which fizzled when Tailback Jim
Smith tried to go off left tackle on third down from the 3-yard line and lost
the ball when met by a host of
The second reference was to
the fourth down play from
* * *
HAD THE
The only other time the
Tigers came close to scoring was on a punt runback by Mark McDew
for 38 yards to the Mentor 19 in the third quarter, one of the times when a
Massillon runner almost got loose but the drive ended on 2 incomplete passes,
one just out of tight End Tom Robinson’s hands in the right corner of the end
zone.
It appeared Malinowski might get free on a 32-yard romp in the fourth
quarter but was dropped on his 43. Smitty just missed getting loose on a long scoring jaunt
earlier.
The Tigers offense sputtered
badly, apparently suffering from a lack of blocking. Seaman preferred not to comment on this until
seeing game films which he was to do at 10 a.m. today. Smith netted 95 yards in 29 carries but he
and the other backs have to have some help.
“Malinowski
having to go both ways took a little sharpness out of our offense,” Seaman
commented. Safetyman Bert Dampier
strained an ankle in the first period and didn’t return to the game.
* * *
OTHER
OFFENSIVE difficulties put the
defense behind the 8 ball. “We had darn
poor field position on all 3 of their touchdowns,” Seaman said. “I think the defensive team did a good job.”
Malinowski who had trouble with his kicking early in the game when the ball
slipped off the side of his foot, was able to get a
punt only from the end zone to the
It was Galbos
and Bistarkey who did most of the night’s damage to
the Tigers, picking up 66 and 70 yards in 18 and 14 tries respectively.
Galbos sneaked through the center with 2:01 left in the second canto. Duane Derrick’s kick was wide.
Early in the fourth quarter
Center Kim Cocklin got off a bad snap which sent Malinowski deep into his own territory to kick on the run
from the end zone ending the drive.
Summing it all up, Seaman
said, “We didn’t get a good break except the one early in the game and we
didn’t capitalize on that one. I thought
we hit pretty well and I think
Crum thought a big factor
was, “We quick kicked 3 times. It got us
off the hook and put
He also cited penalties
which set the
Individual Rushing
Player Att. Lost
Malinowski 5 0 56 11.2
Smith 29 7 95 3.3
McDew 4 0 16 4.0
Player Att. Lost
Galbos 18 11 66 3.7
Bistrakey 14 2 70 5.0
Derrick 2 0 20 10.0
Ends – James, Burkhart, Wancho, Lunceford, Dyke.
Tackles – Hathy, Weizer, Schuldt, Horn, Ryczek.
Guards – Kovacs, Hauserman, Hemberger, Lawson, Yeary.
Centers – Alexa and Harrold.
Quarterback – Galbos.
Halfbacks –
Williams, Kastning,
Markovich.
Fullbacks – Matsko, Derrick.
Ends – Dampier, Engler, Robinson, Harris, Shumar,
Stoner, Conley.
Tackles – Laase, McGeorge, Midgley, Doll.
Guards – Whitfield, Hout, Harig, Couto.
Center – Cocklin.
Quarterbacks – Malinowski, Fromholtz.
Halfbacks – Smith, McDew, K. Autrey.
Fullbacks – M. Autrey, Streeter.
MENTOR 0 7 0 12 – 19
Touchdowns:
Bistarkey
(2-yard run(,
Extra points: Derrick (kick).
Referee – Howard Wirtz.
Umpire – Harvey Hodgson, Jr.
Head Linesman – Bill
Makepeace.
Field Judge – Bud Shopbell.
THE
GRIDSTICK
First downs rushing 7 12
First downs passing 1 4
First downs penalties 1 0
Total first downs 9 16
Yards gained rushing 185 201
Yards lost rushing 16 39
Net yards gained rushing 187 102
Net yards gained passing 19 36
Total yards gained 186 196
Passes completed 3-11 8-11
Passes intercepted by 1 1
Yardage on passes
intercepted 0 10
Times kicked off 1 4
Kickoff average (yards) 34.0 36.5
Kickoff returns (yards) 58 8
Punt average (yards) 5-17.4 5-43.2
Punt returns (yards) 47 0
Had punts blocked 0 0
Fumbles 2 2
Lost fumbled ball 2 1