‘Aerial circus’
on
tap in Tigertown
By CHUCK HESS, JR.
Independent Sports
Editor
Will the Tigers get their “Aerial Circus” cranked into high
gear?
Will they be quicker than a Cleveland East team which could
be the most agile the
These were the two questions uppermost in the mind of
THE TIGERS
(0-2) and the Blue Bombers (1-1) will square off tonight at
“It would be awfully embarrassing to lose with Brown
watching,” Currence stated.
There are expected to be about 10,000 fans on hand to watch
the Tigers and to watch Brown lauded at halftime when the stadium will be
officially renamed in his honor. The
Tiger Swing Band will present a special show in his honor.
“Quickness will play a big part in the game,” Currence said, “and there’ll be a lot of footballs in the
air – as long as it doesn’t rain.”
East has a junior end named Myron Hockett
who causes Currence cause for concern.
“I DON’T believe we have
a receiver as quick, but Sam George is pretty quick,” Currence
said. “Hockett
seems to have the moves. Their coach,
Joe Pledger, told me Hockett
is also a big-time basketball prospect as well as a football prospect. He’s one of the best receivers I’ve seen.”
Currence said senior quarterback
Ricky Holman also likes to throw to junior tight end Charles Radford and senior
wingback Steve Reeves.
“He also catches well,” Currence
said. “He’s an excellent kid – a two-way
man. He also plays in the secondary with
Holman.”
Five Bombers go both ways, including two other offensive
backfield men – senior tailback Darnell Duncan and senior fullback Tony
Jones.
Senior center Juan Pope also plays a defensive end slot.
“EAST THREW more than
they ran last week against Warren Reserve,” Currence
warned. “Our secondary hasn’t been
tested yet because of the wetness. I
think our boys are pretty good pass defenders.
They won’t meet anybody better than Holman.”
The Bombers drop back and give Holman maximum protection,
according to Currence.
“He throws the out-cut pass as well as any high school boy
“I’ve ever seen,” Currence said. “He can duck out of trouble and I’ve seen him
throw 30 to 40 yards off the wrong foot while running. He also throws the in-cuts well and is a
threat with the keeper.”
Currence expects East to try the bomb to Hockett
and short ones to the talented receiver if the Bombers get inside the 25-yard
line.
East likes to run isolation and counter plays off their fullhouse-I as well as rollout for Holman to run with the
backs running.
“A BIG question with East
is who is injured,” said Currence. “Joe hasn’t told anyone but I suspect the
tailback is hurt. Why else would they
run Holman off a fullhouse-I and not run the
tailback.”
Pledger reported in Thursday’s
Evening Independent that he would hold injured players – now well – out of
Friday’s games and would also not open up his offense. This is to prepare for
the opening of the East Senate League campaign next week.
“I think he would like to have a victory over
He expects Pledger to do some
innovating defensively because he changed his coverage twice against Lakewood
St. Edwards when Currence coached in 1974 and
1975. The Tiger skipper won both games.
“Because of East’s quickness the Tigers’ run and shoot
offense will get its best to date,” Currence said.
DURING THE week stadium
groundskeeper Paul Ford has filled holes with dirt so Currence
hopes for dry weather. Otherwise the game
could be a battle of the mud bowl.
Currence has been in contact with
the Cleveland Browns this week to find out to where to buy a tarp. The stadium had one but it wore out.
To win tonight Currence said the
Tigers must execute in games as it does in practice. He feels the ball handling has improved this
week except for Tuesday. The Tigers
haven’t had a wet ball to work with but have used old ones on which it’s hard
to get a grip.
“It would be great if we could score the first touchdown,” Currence said. The
morale has been good. It hasn’t been all
drudgery as you might think it would be after two losses, although we were
really down after last Friday. That loss
hurt worse than the first loss.”
Currence had a similar problem at
“I KNOW we’ve got the
talent to win,” Currence said. “We’ve just got to get some experience.”
Only lineup change will see junior Marc Longshore
playing some defense and doing some specialty work and senior Van Jones
starting at safety, now fully recovered from a shoulder injury.
Senior defensive halfback Bill Henderson had the flu
Wednesday. Senior defensive tackle Jesse
Toles banged his elbow again Thursday. He had an infection.
Senior defensive tackle Randy Laase
sprained a knee Thursday. Senior Mike
Hardwick would replace Laase as the kickoff man and
junior Mark Namanny at the tackle position.
Should
Brown sees Tigers
win first 16-6
By CHUCK HESS, JR.
Independent Sport
Editor
The “Big D” was in charge Friday night, but it wasn’t
The “Tiger Claw” and Blue bomber defenses battled with
plenty of malice before 11,273 at the official recognition night for the
renaming of Tiger Stadium to Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.
WITH BROWN on hand the
Washington High gridders fought back in the fourth
quarter to a 16-6 win over Cleveland East.
It was the first win for the Tigers after two shut-outs. East drops to 1-2.
Brown had coached Tiger footballers on the same gridiron from
1932-1940.
“I think my kids outplayed
East was called for 13 penalties (140 yards).
TIGER CHIEFTAIN Mike Currence said, “I think East outplayed us except for the
fourth quarter. I think we wanted it
worse than they did. Coach Pledger has a very experienced ball club. I’m glad of the way our kids hung in there.”
“The officials made some good calls tonight and they made
some nobody saw. Our offensive line let
us down.”
Currence gave a lot of credit to
the East defensive line.
“They were just quick as could be,” Currence
said. “We couldn’t get around the
end. Senior Juan Pope is one of the best
defensive ends we’ve seen. Junior tackle Hammond Ford kept getting in there.”
THE QUICK East pursuit
cut off the perimeter game for the Tigers and put plenty of pressure on Tiger passers. They completed no passes in 11 tries.
Meanwhile, the “Tiger Claw” defense made only one
mistake. That was when East senior quarterback Ricky Holman scored around right end from 39
yards away with
The conversion kick was wide left.
The TD had been set up when the Tigers failed to cover the
punt on the kickoff following a second quarter safety and the Bombers got the
ball down on
The Tigers won the game on a pair of fourth quarter
touchdowns.
JUNIOR FULLBACK Jerry Shafrath scored on his first effort of the night, a
three-yard run up the center, with
Shafrath ran for 46 yards without
a loss on seven carries in the final canto.
The “Tiger Claw” defense had picked up the ball on a bad
fourth down snap on the last play of the third stanza. Punter Tony Jones was tackled on the East
three-yard line by end Dave Engler and linebacker
Kurt Walterhouse, both juniors.
Halfback Billy Henderson got the Tigers under way on their
other touchdown drive by intercepting a pass on the East 43. A personal foul call on East put the ball on
their 27.
On second down on the 20 – after an illegal shift penalty –
sophomore Rich Cleveland ran for the TD with
MASSILLON WAS first to
hit the scoreboard. After running out of
downs at the East seven in the first quarter and negating a 25-yard Cleveland
run which put them there, the Tigers held East on three downs.
Jones dropped back to punt, with the ball on the 13. Center
Juan Pope snapped the ball over Jones’ head and out of the end zone with
East got socked with a personal foul and encroachment
violations in the second quarter and had third down on the 11. Holman was chased into the end zone by
seniors Jesse Toles, a tackle, Anthony Grizzard, a monster back and co-captain and junior end
Frank Sweterlitsch.
Holman intentionally grounded the ball with
The Tigers lost the ball on downs on the East 25 in the
second quarter and were snuffed out by the clock at the Bomber 30 at the
expiration of the second half.
The only other Tiger threat came near the end of the game
when a short kick by Jones after a high snap went out of bounds at the East
28. But two Tiger passes fell incomplete
and then a Brent Offenbecher to Shafrath
handoff missed connections and East recovered at the 33.
EAST –
6
Ends – Campbell, Sutton, Robison, Crumpton,
Edwards, Avery, M. Hockett.
Tackles – Wilkerson, Randleman, McGlothan,
Dye, Ford.
Guards – Dunham, Martin, Strothers, Hughs, Mack.
Centers – Pope, F. Jones.
Quarterback – Holman, Jackson.
Halfbacks – K. Hockett, Johnson,
Fullbacks – T. Jones, Terrell.
Ends – George, Chovan, Pringle, Engler, Sweterlitsch, A. Longshore, Clendening, Furnas.
Tackles – Tournay, Daniels, Laase, Toles, Dennison, DeOrio, Namanny, Stuck, Kovacsiss, Matie.
Guards – Lauber,
Hauser, Berquist, Baus,
Jones.
Centers – Ramsey, Lutz.
Quarterbacks – Traylor, Offenbecher.
Halfbacks – Harper, Carpenter, Grove,
Hickey, Wilkerson.
Fullbacks – Cleveland, Shafrath,
Nagle.
Middle guards – Dorsey, Holman.
Linebackers – Border, Walterhouse, Sweterlitsch, Dottavio.
Defensive backs – Grizzard, M. Longshore, Jones, Letcavits,
Punter – Westover.
Place kicker – Hardwick.
East 0 6 0 0 6
SCORING SUMMARY
M – Safety (East center
snapped ball out of end zone);
M – Safety (Ricky Holman, East, illegally grounded ball in end zone);
E – Holman, 39 run (kick failed);
M – Jerry Shafrath, 3 run (pass failed);
M – Rich Cleveland, 20
run (kick failed).
OFFICIALS
Referee – Craig Smith.
Umpire – Merle McConkey.
Head Linesman – Charles Flohr.
Field Judge – Randy Manuella.
Back Judge – Steven Kromer.
ATTENDANCE –
11,273.
GRIDSTICK
Mass. CE
First downs rushing 9 (numbers
First downs passing 0 missing)
First downs penalties 0
Total first downs 9
Yards gained rushing 215
Yards lost rushing 36
Net yards gained
rushing 179
Net yards gained
passing 0
Total yards gained 179
Passes completed 0-11
Passes intercepted by 2
Yardage on passes
Intercepted 13
Times kicked off 3-53.3
Kickoff returns (yards) 61
Times punted 6-33.5
Punt returns (yards) 5
Had punts blocked 0
Fumbles 3-2
Yards penalized 7-75
Touchdowns rushing 2
Total number of plays 49
Total time of possession
‘Proud day’ for Brown’s
family
By CHUCK HESS, JR.
Independent Sports
Editor
“This is a proud day for my family. ‘Thank you.’”
With those words Paul Brown, the pride of Tigertown, Friday night acknowledged two standing ovations
and other plaudits by the fans and officials of the school at which he taught
and coached in the thirties.
Brown was presented with a plaque by Lee McCauley, who had
been chairman of the Massillon Jaycees’ “Paul Brown Week” festivities here in
June.
L.C. YOUNG, superintendent
of
Brown received the first of his standing ovations when he
and Mrs. Brown and others involved in the special halftime at the
Tiger-Cleveland East game walked down the west sidelines during the Tiger Swing
Band’s fanfare at the beginning of the intermission.
The other standing ovation came when he addressed the crowd.
“I spent many happy days here,” Brown said. “It was the best job. I think I did more good and got more backing
than anywhere in the country.”
He thanked the fans on behalf of his players, coaches and
the public who helped him gain the honor of having the stadium named after him.
“I ALSO want to give Lute
Emery a public thank-you,” said Brown.
“He helped us tremendously in controlling the spirit and thoughts of what
we were doing – trying to be the best in everything I’m a very fortunate man.”
When Brown coached here, Emery was a sports writer for The
Evening Independent. He is now the
editor.
The Tiger Swing Band’s presentation of “Theme From the Olympics” and “Sweet Georgia Brown” must have
really pleased Brown, who saw the band started here in 1938 by George E. “Red”
Bird. Watching Tom Ickes
perform as Obie must have also brought back memories
for Brown who found the Tiger skin used by the first Obie.
The presentations to Brown and Young were made after the
band formed “Paul” and “Brown” during the “Theme From
the Olympics” number.
The whole thing started from a block march toward the north end of the stadium. The band then broke into the formation of Brown’s names, first “Paul” and then “Brown”. The majorettes did a twirling routine with ribbons on their batons.
“SWEET GEORGIA Brown”
followed the presentation and featured a well-performed, tricky shuffle turn
from block formation and a trumpet octet.
The brass performers must have been exhausted after that because they
were blowing harder than a hurricane blasting at the coast of
In the octet were John Bach, Barb Shuck, Lisa Zook, Al Dean, Bob Corban, Ann Archibold, Scott Ickes and Patty
Smith.
The Tiger Swingsters
countinue to amaze the fans each week with their
marching and dancing dexterity and the manner in which they flood the stadium
with their big sound.
For the first time this season, the Tigers wore all-black
uniforms. When they came through the
pre-game hoop (“Hi P.B.” and “Go Tigers”) they were led by senior co-captain
and guard Mark Lauber.
There seemed to be a psychological battle going on prior to
the game, as neither team came out right away for the kickoff. Finally the Tigers made it first.
HEAD statistician Tom Persell wore a new orange leisure suit in the pressbox.
Cleveland East’s band was not on hand.
The Blue Bomber head coach, Joe Pledger,
explained that the reason he likes to run quarterback Ricky Holman as much as he
did Friday night is that Holman is a tremendous athlete and a durable one.
“If anybody can hurt you on a football field, he can,” Pledger said.
Because of East’s poor field position most of the night the
Bombers couldn’t throw as much as they normally do.
EAST’S REGULAR
punt-snapper was in during the safety and the poor snap that resulted in the
Tigers taking over at the 3-yard line. Pledger said the penalties hurt more than the kicking game
problems.
Pledger said he knew what Currence runs and East used to use the run-and-shoot, so
that helped them too.
Mike Currence, Tiger head coach,
related that he thought the problem on the snap signal which brought two
illegal shifts was noise from the fans.
The quarterback turns his head, he said and if he yells too forcibly he
will lose his mouthpiece and get a 15-yard penalty.
In the fourth quarter Currence put
sophomore Brent Offenbecher in at quarterback.
“I wanted to see if Brent could open it up for us,” Currence said. “We
had tried to open it up and couldn’t get the ball there. Bret Traylor was ‘off’ and pressured
hard. They were giving us the motion
pass. He has the arm, can take two steps
and hit that motion pass. I thought if
we could complete one we would take a little pressure off.”
CURRENCE thought the
offensive backs played a good game and that fullback Jerry Shafrath
ran harder in the fourth quarter than anybody else.
“You have to give him credit,” said Currence. “I’m hoping he’s healthy and ready to
go.” (Shafrath
had suffered a knee injury in the final pre-game scrimmage.)
A second-period delay penalty on East was called because the
officials had blown the ball dead, it was then fumbled, an East player ran with
it, fumbled it and another Bomber picked it up and tried to run with it.
East was not called for a roughing penalty against punter
Mark Westover later in the game because the Bomber player who hit him also hit
the ball.
Tiger senior guard and Co-Captain Mike Ramsey received a hip
pointer, but it was not believed to be serious.
His grandfather Russ, who is guardian of the pressbox
door, was quite concerned.
According to Mr. and Mrs. McCauley, with whom Brown and his wife sat, “The Old Master” was tickled with two safeties, saying it had been 40 years since he had seen two in one game.