Tiger tailbacks, defense
keys to rout
By CHUCK HESS, JR.
Independent Sports
Editor
It was a nice try,
fellows – sliding the Tiger down a wire just prior to the kickoff, to be cremated
by flames from the scoreboard horse’s mouth – but it wasn’t about to turn out
that way.
The Orange and Black
had a terrific Friday night! In fact
you might say it was devastating!
* * *
AN
ESTIMATED crowd of 10,000 saw
the Tigers boot the “House of Horrors” myth right out of Harding stadium and
into the Ohio River which surges by Steubenville.
Of the 26-0 victory
over the Big Red, Washington High Assistant Coach Nick Vrotsos said, ‘This was
the most gratifying of any here since I joined the staff.” The native of Martins Ferry – just down the
stream a bit – has seen seven since he came to Massillon in 1958.
When going over the
latest list of Tiger assets, you could mark them off as follows:
Item 1 – Tailbacks Willie Spencer and Larry
McLenndon gaining 352 of the Orange and Black’s 378 net rushing yardage. Spencer, the All-American conference’s
leading rusher and scorer, gaining 193 yards in 20 carries – including 114 in
10 lugs in the first half – and tallying two touchdowns; McLenndon picking up
159 yards in nine tries and two TDs; both boys doing this while playing a lot
of defense along the way.
Item 2 – An offensive line, led by guards Bruce
Christoff, Randy Heck, Dan Guiffre and Scott Graber and center Steve Studer,
snaring the opposition slicker than a mousetrap pinions an unsuspecting rodent
– a tribute to the coaching of Vrotsos.
Item 3
– An all-around defense tighter
than the purse strings on Jack Benny’s pocketbook, resulting in the Tigers’
fourth shutout in six tries and only 126 total yards for the Big Red.
* * *
“USING
TWO TAILBACKS certainly helped
us, our line blocked well, we defensed them real well and I thought
quarterbacks Scott Dingler and Kevin Westover looked good,” head Coach Bob
Commings said. “We had more depth and that
hurt Steubenville.”
By winning the
Tigers moved to a 5-1 season record and took over third place in the
All-American conference at 1-1. The
defending league and Ohio Class AAA state champions should have picked up
valuable ground in both the Associated Press poll and the Ohio High School
Athletic association’s computer ratings.
While handing out
praise for top performances, a great deal should go to 139-ound Steubenville
senior quarterback-defensive back Mike Mavromatis. He perhaps more than any other epitomized the courage and guts of
a team which took an unmerciful pounding, but time and again came back for
more.
“He’s a great
kid! A real competitor!” said
Commings. Mavromatis was about the
hardest guy to bring down the Tigers have run up against this year, but men
like end Bob Stephan and linebacker Mike McGuire were equal to the task.
There were no scores
in the first quarter even though both teams got close with the Tigers’ effort dying
on the Steubenville 18 after Spencer had landed on a first play Big Red fumble
on the Steubenville 32. An offside
penalty and a fumble on a pitchout set the Tigers back to the 33.
A 25-yard pass-run
from Mavromatis to halfback Herm Davis on the ensuing series didn’t help the
Big Red as Mavromatis was thrown from the Tigers four to the 19 on fourth down
by Spencer who then took off over right tackle for 43 yards to the Steubenville
46 to start an 81-yard, five-play drive.
After offside and motion penalties – the last of which nullified his TD
– Spencer went over left tackle from the 21 on second and 14 with 8:54 left in
the second canto.
* * *
DINGLER’S
KICK was wide right.
Davis intercepted a
pass on the Steubenville six and Hannon picked off a Big Red aerial on the
Massillon 28 to thwart further first-half scoring.
Hannon ran back the
second half kickoff 24 yards and McLenndon set sail over right tackle on the
next play for 57 yards and a TD with the help of a downfield block by
McGuire. The score came with 11:26 left
and Spencer followed around with a right end for two more counters.
Willie got the next
score with 6:54 left in the fourth quarter, capping a five play, 70-yard drive
with a 38-yard jaunt over right tackle, breaking a tackle in the process. A 17-yard, pass-run from Dingler to Thompson
down the center after a motion penalty set the stage.
Spencer missed the
conversion over left tackle.
The Tigers took over
on the Big Red 46 after a short punt.
Westover unloaded a 30 yarder to McGuire who jumped up between two men
on the 15 along the left side, grabbed the ball and continued to the four. McLenndon traversed right tackle with 4:22
remaining for six points.
* * *
HANNON
DIDN’T make the end zone for the
conversion but two minutes later hauled in a pass from his 22 to his end zone
to kayo Steubenville’s final threat.
Commings had yanked
the first team but put them back in again, drawing the ire of Steubenville
fans. However, he instructed his team
not to call time with the clock running out and the Tigers on the Big Red 10
after McLenndon had raced 64 yards around left end to the Steubenville 17.
With state
championships decided on polls, the shutout is a necessity.
“It went pretty much
as we expected as far as Massillon’s aggressiveness and power was concerned,”
Steubenville Coach Abe Bryan said.
“They just handled us out there.
We made some mental mistakes, but hit well. We went away from our game plan in the first quarter and really
blew it badly. Then we had to play
catch-up football. They have a fine
team. We are not physical enough and
must eliminate mistakes with our size if we are to beat the good teams.”
He concluded,
“Spencer played a great game and broke an awful lot of tackles when we had
clean sweeps.”
MASSILLON
– 25
Ends – Stephan,
Matie, McGuire, D. Edwards, Bodiford.
Tackles – Heath,
Weirich, T. Peters, Green, Shumar.
Guards – Christoff,
Heck, Graber, Guiffre, Mayles, Vogt, Keller, Balizet, Bash.
Centers – Studer,
Allman, Cocklin, McCabe.
Quarterbacks – Dingler,
Muhlback, Westover.
Halfbacks – W.
Spencer, McLenndon, Thompson, T. Edwards, Nussbaumer, Wonsick, Jackson, Weise,
Christie.
Fullbacks – Perry,
Hannon, Wood.
STEUBENVILLE
– 0
Ends – Gilliam,
Hill, Sims, Warren, Jarvis.
Tackles – Kalifut,
Bougard, Markakis, Hargrove.
Guards – Holmes,
Dorsey, Embry, Fahay.
Centers – Medley,
Nixon.
Quarterbacks –
Mavromatis.
Halfbacks – H.
Davis, Snyder, Alfred, Johnson, R. Snyder.
Fullback – Gray.
STEUBENVILLE 0 0 0 0 0
MASSILLON 0 6 8 12 26
SCORING
SUMMARY
M – Spencer, 21 run (run failed);
M – McLenndon, 57 run (run)
M – Sepncer, 38 run (run failed)
M - McLenndon, 4 run (run failed).
OFFICIALS
Referee – Milo
Lukity.
Umpire – Dr. Henley
Freeman.
Head Linesman – Sam
DiBlasi.
Field Judge – Jim
Murray.
ATTENDANCE – 10,500
THE GRIDSTICK
M
S
First downs, rushing 16 7
First downs, passing 2 1
First downs, penalties 2 1
Total first downs 20 9
Yards gained rushing 408 151
Yards lost rushing 30 54
Net yards gained rushing 378 97
Net yards gained passing 70 29
Total yards gained 448 126
Passes completed 4-7 2-13
Passes intercepted by 2 1
Yardage on passes intercepted 0 0
Kickoff average (yards) 5-49.0 1-42.0
Kickoff returns (yards) 25 97
Punt average (yds.) 2-36.5 6-35.3
Punt returns (yds.) 10 4
Fumbles (lost) 3(1) 1(1)
Yards penalized 7-55 3-25
Total number of plays 54 55