Second half key
as
Tigers win 18-3
By CHUCK HESS, JR.
Independent Sports
Editor
If maestro Mike Currence can get
the Tiger offense to stop throwing in those discords, the
On Friday for the third time in five weeks, the
IT WAS the third straight
win for the 3-2 Tigers. Benedictine
dropped to
The Tigers squandered away two scoring opportunities in the
first half while the
But quarterback Bret Traylor scored twice and fullback Rich
Cleveland once in the second half to assure a Tiger victory. For the second consecutive week Traylor did
some fine passing and running to aid the
Traylor and fullback Jerry Shafrath
didn’t get together on a second period handoff at the Benedictine 27-yard
line. Guard Steve Tanner recovered on
the 32 and Traylor’s 16-yard run and
Halfback Mike Grove caught a Traylor pass on the Benedictine
20 in the first quarter and scored but a clipping penalty crossed it off the
book and two plays later the Obiemen were forced to
punt.
Halfback Jay Harper and Traylor had combined for a 33-yard
pass-run effort on the aborted drive.
Harper almost went the distance but was knocked out of bounds by
halfback John DiPaola on the Benedictine 25.
TRAYLOR HAD some more
trouble in the third period when halfback Ron Manning intercepted his pass at
the Benedictine nine but the Bennies, still suffering from poor field position
because of great Tiger defensive work, were forced to punt from their 16.
The Tigers took over on the Benedictine 43, Traylor hit
Grove with a 14-yarder and the
Anthony Grizzard came up with
another of his great punt runbacks (21 yards) at the start of the fourth
quarter and in five plays the Currencemen had scored
again. Rich Chovan
grabbed a Traylor pass for 15 yards, Harper ran for 15 and Traylor skirted end
for a 38-yard TD with
But Chovan couldn’t hang on to
Traylor’s conversion pass.
THE TIGERS drove from
their 27 in five plays after a punt for their final score. End Mark Pringle and Traylor combined talents
for a 46-yarder, Grove caught an eight-yarder and
Cleveland, the sophomore running sensation, went the remaining distance (seven
yards) with 4:58 left.
Grove’s conversion run was short.
Benedictine’s 25-yard field goal by junior Fran Szocs came after a second quarter punt. Terry Modzelewski
returned for 10 yards to the Massillon 46, halfback Bob Conwell,
who netted 77 yards in 17 carries, picked up 32 yards in two carries on the
scoring drive and Szocs kicked on fourth down with
8:28 left.
“We decided at halftime that we would have to throw to beat
Benedictine,” said Currence. “They’re just too big and strong. Their pursuit was great. That’s Augie and
that 6-1 defense. That middle
linebacker, Richard Saunders, was tough.”
Currence said that it was also
determined at halftime that the Tiger defense would have to turn things around
aggressively if they were going to win.
“IT TAKES a little bit of
success offensively for our boys to get rolling,” Currence
said. “It’s taken Traylor a little
longer to read the opponent’s defense. There’s so many options off of our defense.”
Currence saluted Frank Thomas, Jim
Letcavits, Gary Wells and Dale Walterhouse for a
terrific job of coaching the defense this year.
Besides the usual work of linebacker Kurt Walterhouse, tackle Jesse Toles, middle guard Carl Dorsey, monster back Grizzard, and junior tackle Tony Matie
did an outstanding job as Currence gave more players
a chance to participate.
“Benedictine blockers let us go the way they wanted us to go
and then the back went the opposite way,” Currence
said. “Their tackles are so big we
couldn’t see. Steve Tanner is very
tough. The Bennies hurt us on their
quick drive.”
Currence said for a Class AA
school, Benedictine is one of the toughest teams the Tigers have played.
“It was hard because we had poor field position,” said
Benedictine chief Augie Bossu. “At times we moved the ball good but we had
the good play to make and maybe were afraid to go for the big one. We also had to play catch-up ball after
awhile.”
Augie thought the right side of
his offensive line did a great job of blocking for Conwell. “We had a good defensive effort,” Bossu said. “It’s
hard covering the run and shoot sideline to sideline.”
BOSSU POINTED out that
when Grizzard was brought to the middle of the
defense the Benedictine backs didn’t pick him up.
“We went up against an excellent ball club tonight,” Bossu said.
Ends – Pringle, Chovan, Clendening, Sweterlitsch, A. Longshore, Engler.
Tackles – Tournay, Daniels, Laase, Toles, Namanny,
Baughman, Kovacsiss, Dennison, Matie.
Guards – Hauser; Lauber,
Berquist.
Center – Mike Ramsey.
Quarterback – Traylor, Offenbecher.
Halfbacks – Harper, Grove, Carpenter,
Hickey, Popovich.
Fullbacks – Cleveland, Shafrath,
Nagle.
Middle guard – Dorsey.
Linebackers – Border, Walterhouse.
Defensive halfbacks – Grizzard,
Lash, Henderson, Jones, Letcavits.
Punter – Westover.
Place kicker – Hardwick.
BENEDICTINE – 3
Ends –
Tackles – Tomba, Tanner, Tomba, Huedash, Dieninger.
Guards – C. St. John, DiPetro,
Dillard, Medovic, O’Neil, Armelli.
Center –
Quarterback – Georgenson.
Halfbacks – Conwell,
Clayton, Marino, Manning, DiPaola.
Flankers – Modzelewski,
Germano.
Middle linebacker – Saunders.
Kicker – Szocs.
Benedictine 0 3 0 0 3
SCORING SUMMARY
B – Frank Szocs, 25 field goal;
M – John Traylor, 1 run
(kick failed);
M – Traylor, 38 run (pass failed);
M – Rich Cleveland, 7 run
(run failed).
OFFICIALS
Referee – Steve Nagy.
Umpire – Chuck Hinkle.
Head Linesman – Tom Cleman.
Field Judge – Bob Hipple.
Back Judge – Don Fowler.
ATTENDANCE –
9,800.
GRIDSTICK
M B
First downs rushing 5 4
First downs passing 6 6
First downs penalties 0 0
Total first downs 11 10
Yards gained rushing 203 106
Yards lost rushing 34 50
Net yards gained
rushing 169 56
Net yards gained
passing 145 105
Total yards gained 314 161
Passes completed 6-17 9-23
Passes intercepted by 1 2
Yards on passes
Intercepted 30 17
Kickoff average (yards)
4-47
2-45
Kickoff returns (yards) 34 24
Punt average (yards) 3-34 9-39
Punt returns (yards) 48 7
Had punts blocked 0 0
Fumbles 2-1 4-2
Yards penalized 5-43 5-35
Touchdowns rushing 3 0
Total number of plays 60 66
Total time of
possession 26:30