Tiger hopes hinge
on
game at
By CHUCK HESS, JR.
Independent Sports
Editor
If the Tigers don’t win this week it could be all over in
1976.
That was the word head Coach Mike Currence
had for the Tiger Touchdown Club at its weekly luncheon Monday at the Massillon
Club.
AFTER Currence
had finished it was announced that senior monster back and Co-Captain Anthony Grizzard had been selected by club members as their Hardnose of the Week.
At the end of the season the player with the most votes becomes the Hardnose of the Year.
“If we lose Saturday night at
Currence asked for more noise from
the fans at
But club members agreed they didn’t need noise such as came
from the student section last Friday night at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium when
Brown was speaking at half time. One
member suggested that a delay in the start of half time festivities had gotten
the students restless.
“Nobody has run up the middle on
CURRENCE is not sure what
the problem is with the quarterbacks. He
does know they are not getting the pass protection they should be getting. He asked members not to evaluate Bret
Traylor’s performance to date for that reason,
explaining Bret hasn’t been that far off in practice.
Members suggested various ways to cut down on fumbles such
as having players tape thumbtacks to their fingers or wear rubber thumb grips
or just toss the ball into the water bucket during practice. The first two suggestions are illegal and the
third is out because you can’t get a true grip on a wet ball, according to Currence.
13-8 victor over
By FRED GERLICH
Repository Sports
Writer
Tigers’ Coach Mike Currence will
have an awful lot of “player of the week” awards to hand out Monday as
The loss was the first in four games for
Red Dragons quarterback Curtis Rein threw a 28-yard pass to
end Mike Pizzano to get his club on the board with
Rein then snaked around left end for the two-point
conversion that put
Pizzano intercepted a Bret Traylor
aerial at the
But the Tigers’ defense held on both occasions, stopped
Paced by Richard Cleveland’s 122 yards in 17 carries,
The Tigers totaled 11 first downs to 10 for
After a scoreless first quarter, the Tigers were forced to
punt on their first possession of the second stanza.
Niles Ken Wiencek fielded the ball
at the Red Dragons’ 10-yard line, was smacked to the ground by a Tiger tackler
and coughed up the ball.
Then the
Currence called the win “a great
team victory”. “No other team in the
state could have come into
“But the community of
The Tiger fans unleashed a roar upon the Tigers’ initial
appearance on the field and didn’t let up until the final whistle, as there
were several thousand from Massillon who made the pilgrimage here.
On the Tigers performance, Currence
said, “We just made less mistakes tonight. We moved the ball against everyone we played
but mistakes have been hurting us until tonight. If Bret (Traylor) ever comes around to being
the type of quarterback we think he is capable of being, we’ll win some more
ball games,” Currence said.
Tiger –
Tigers
Offense
ENDS – Sam George (5-11, 165, Sr.); Rick Chovan (5-11, 171, Sr.).
TACKLES – Tim Tournay
(6-2, 270, Sr.); Tim Daniels (6-7, 230, Jr).
GUARDS – John Hauser (5-11, 211, Sr.);
Mark Lauber (6-1, 212, Sr.).
CENTER – Mike Ramsey (5-8, 180, Sr.).
QUARTERBACK – Bret Traylor (5-10, 159, Sr.).
HALFBACKS – Jay Harper (5-5, 160, Sr.).
Greg Carpenter (6-1, 188, Jr.).
FULLBACK -- Rich Cleveland (6-1, 180, Soph.).
Defense
ENDS – Frank Sweterlitsch
(6-1, 180, Jr.); Dave Engler (5-9, 180, Jr.).
TACKLES – Randy Laase
(6-5, 211, Sr.); Jesse Toles (6-0, 190, Sr.).
MIDDLE GUARD – Carl Dorsey (5-9, 185,
Jr.).
LINEBACKERS – Kurt Walterhouse (6-0, 170,
Jr.); Gary Border (6-0, 203, Sr.).
SECONDARY – Anthony Grizzard
(5-9, 168, Sr.); Randy Lash (5-8, 165, Sr.); Bill Henderson (5-9, 160, Sr.);
Van Jones (5-11, 155, Sr.).
Offense
ENDS – Mile Woodford (5-9, 160, Sr.);
Duane Thomas (6-0, 175, Sr.).
TACKLES – John Slwinski
(5-11, 185, Sr.); Mark Joseph (5-11, 197, Sr.).
GUARDS – Tom Golder
(5-9, 170, Sr.); John Blakely (5-9, 180, Sr.).
CENTER – Brian Williams (5-10, 185, Sr.).
QUARTERBACK – Curtis Rein (6-0, 180, Sr.).
HALFBACKS – Phil Chelsea (5-9, 158, Sr.);
John Virostko (6-0, 170, Sr.).
FULLBACK – Geoff Tabor (6-1, 205, Sr.).
Defense
ENDS – Joe Bezilla
(5-10, 175, Sr.); Ray Rashilla (5-10, 180, Sr.).
TACKLES – Joe Connell (6-0, 250, Jr.); Bob
Tenney (6-0, 225, Sr.).
MIDDLE GUARD – Marty Chance (5-8, 185,
Sr.).
LINEBACKERS – Tabor; Sam Giangardella (6-1, 210, Sr.).
SECONDARY – Ken Masciangelo
(5-9, 165, Jr.); Ken Weincek (5-9, 160, Sr.); Mike Pizzano (5-8, 160, Jr.); Virostko.
WEIGHT COMARISONS
Tigers
– offense (line 206, backfield 171, overall 193);
–
defense (line 188, secondary
161, overall 179).
– offense (line 179, backfield 178, overall 179);
–
defense (line 204, secondary
165, overall 190).
Series:
Tigers
– 12-4.
Points Scored
Tigers 330;
Points scored this year
Tigers 16;
Points allowed this year:
Tigers 22;
OFFICIALS
All-American Conference rules prohibit releasing
Officials’ names to the public before game
time.
Currence
warns:
beware
Bennies
By CHUCK HESS, JR.
Independent Sports
Editor
There’s one trouble with upset victories such as the Tigers’
effort at
“Cleveland Benedictine is tough,” said Tiger Skipper Mike Currence. “They won
48-0 over Painseville Harvey Friday. We must work hard to prepare for the
Bennies. We made too many offensive
mistakes at
AUGIE BOSSU’S team (3-1)
will face the 2-2 Tigers, who won their second consecutive game last Saturday
night, at
Saturday’s 13-8 All-American Conference victory over Niles
McKinley put Washington High into a tie with
After the
The Tigers’ great defensive effort started after Tabor had
picked up a John Traylor fumble in the first quarter. Linebacker Kurt Walterhouse threw quarterback Curtis Rein for an eight-yard loss to the
Several Obiemen halted Rein at the
Tigers’ 12-yard line on fourth down in the second stanza after
Co-Captain and monster back Anthony Grizzard
intercepted a pass at the
Grizzard, used for the first time
on runback teams, carried the pigskin 50 yards after a punt to the
TAILBACK PHIL Chelsea,
after battling the flu during the week, tossed a pass to halfback Mike Pizzano for 11 yards, dashed for 13 and then the Dragons
got the benefit of a disputed 15-yard late-hit penalty, for a first down on the
Tigers’ 38. Two plays later Pizzano took Rein’s pass at the one and stepped in for the
score with
Rein ran the end for the conversion and the fans had visions
of another
Pizzano intercepted a Traylor pass
on the
On second down from the 34, assistant Coach Nick Vrotsos
called a change in blocking assignments which enabled fullback Rich Cleveland,
who carried for 100 yards plus for a third straight game, to roll for 56 yards
to the Niles 10. But Traylor, while
trying to consume time with a keeper run, fumbled. Tackle Joe Connell recovered and rambled to
the 40 where Traylor knocked him out of bounds.
The Dragons took to the air, getting to the
THE
He threw only three passes, but one was a 12-yarder to end
Rick Chovan, who just eluded his defender in the end
zone in the second quarter. Mike
Hardwick was wide left on his conversion kick with the clock showing
Jay Harper, Cleveland and Traylor had set the score up with
14, 26 and 12-yard runs.
The Tigers’ first touchdown came with
Wiencek was lost for the remainder
of the game with a concussion.
IN HIS post game comments
Currence was happy with the Tigers’ perimeter attack
but unhappy that they couldn’t run up the middle as they did before, that
the fumbles continued and unhappy that the pressure on the opposing quarterback
wasn’t greater.
“They were tough up the middle,” Currence
said. “We kept trying and trying and
finally
“Our defense had the composure our offense didn’t have. When its fourth and one you have to have it
and if you don’t have it, you don’t have a great ball club.”
Currence was overwhelmed by the
fan backing.
“I’ve never gone to an away game and had the kind of support
we had,” said Currence. “The booster club outdid itself. I expect the same treatment every game.”
GRIDSTICK
M
N
First downs rushing 11 4
First downs passing 1 7
First downs penalties 1 0
Total first downs 13 11
Yards gained rushing 285 82
Yards lost rushing 29 28
Net yards gained
rushing 256 54
Net yards gained
passing 12 98
Total yards gained 268 152
Passes completed 1-3 14-23
Passes intercepted by 1 1
Yards on passes
Intercepted 0 4
Kickoff 3-42
2-58
Kickoff returns 42 35
Punts 4-32 4-44
Punt returns 50 0
Had punts blocked 0 0
Fumbles 3-3
5-2
Yards penalized 4-50 3-45
Touchdowns passing 1 1
Misc. touchdowns 1 0
Total number of plays 55 57
Total time of
possession 26:41