Lansing State Journal from Lansing, Michigan • Page 61

STATE JOURNAL (Laming, Mich.) Sunday, Oct. 16, 1955 61 1955 tate Team One of Best tjaritaes End Notre Darn? Winning Streak, 21-7 1 '-W 'v l.Uv 'I nV' -i v--'- -VN 1 -li By GEORGE ALDERTON (Journal Sports Editor) Michigan State ducked and dodged the football thunder Notre Dame shook from the sky and survived to post a 21 to 7 victory that plainly branded these 1955 Spartans among the university's great. It was more than the thunder of the Fighting Irish song that State had to avoid as 52.007 spectators sat and alternately shuddered and cheered as two talented teams walloped away at each other. Hurtling Irishmen and yard-eating forward passes came Staters way Saturday, but the Spartans fired back with even more power and endurance in this slashing struggle. In toppling the Fighting Irish and their 1 1 -game winning streak.

State established itself among the good teams -of the best in its recent glistening gridiron history. Stroke After. Stroke Notre Dame, known for its fight-back gameness, found a green-shirted opponent that not only wouldn't quit, but' piled on stroke after stroke until the Notre Dame stronghold fell. Michigan State scored first, going home in the second quarter to be the first in four games to cross Notre Dame's goal, only to see the Irish come right back to match the seven points by halftime. Somebody said Notre Dame wasn't known for losing'in the second half, but the Blue and Gold standard dipped Saturday.

It was the third and fourth period touchdowns 'that separated Spartans from the like boys from the men. One rib-rocking, hell-for-leather assault that carried 80 yards in nine plays must have proved even to 'the Notre Dame players who was who this time. It stood at 14-7 when the Spartans locked up the victory. This third time 'it was a different approach. The Spartans let Notre Dame make two mistakes to their one (fumbles, that is) and the fatal stroke fell.

If Notre Dame had hopes of evening the score, or perhaps beating the Spartans in any knuckles-down, hats-of pitched battle in the waning moments, they withered in the fury of State's blasting power inside the Irish 1 6-yard line. i Notre Dame fumbled to State, State fumbled to Notre Dame, and then the Irish repeated. They got out of the tank once, but the second time Earl Morrall pushed over a touch down and wrote this game into the records for the Spartans and their "thousands of admiring sons and daughters to fondle in their reveries for a long, long time. It is trite to say this was a team, victory. Coaches and players modestly those words.

But anyone who didn't turn to 25-year-old Gerry Planutis, State's fullback, as per naps the greatest difference in the two teams, avoids the facts. This army veteran who handed four years to his country before he came to college, was State's most dependable ground-gainer, and a defensive tower that harried, hunted and hurt the Irish who came his way when they had the balL He bolted and caromed through the middle of Notre Dame's line for 91 yards on 20 carries, forcing the South Benders to pull in their flanks and tighten their inside men so the way was opened for slashing tackle charges and end runs by Clarence Peaks and Walter Kowalczyk, his halfbacks. Planutis even set up the third touchdown, recovering the fumble at Notre Dame's threshhold. Difference today was that State's attack had the weapons and the know-how 'when a touchdown prospect bright ened. The Spartans nearer missed a chance.

Morrall, at quar-. terback, used his capable tools like an engineer toppling a wall. Behind sound line blocking, headed so often by Captain Carl (Buck) Nystrom, he called on his backs for lance like stabs inside and outside the tackles. Once in the massed Notre Dame defense, Morrall catapulted over the goal line himself from one yard out Game Statistics There aren't 1 4 points showing in the game statistics. There really were only seven yards separating them, and Notre Dame had that edge, 374 to 367.

And in first downs the Irish also held upper hand, .22 to 1 7. Refusal to be held wfien opportunity beckoned, sheer strength and skills, poise, and expert manipulation of players by Coach Duffy Daugher ty and his staff accounted for the 1 4-point bulge. No fluke, no luck, no preference of the gods who may rule over college-boy sports it was sound, courageous football smartly applied that did it to these Fighting Irishmen this day! Notre Dame had as many individuals, slightly less capable, who stood out PICKING EM UP With a Udder ia tow, Spartan speedster Clarence Peak ball ahead for eight yards in Michigan SUte's first' toochdown drive. (State Journal photo) 'Flat' "Michigan Gets by Northwestern WildcatsD ominatePlay I THE STATE I In Losing 'Wolverines Come to Life Early and Late To Score Fourth Victory By LAD SIXVG ERLENTJ (Journal Sports Writer) ANN ARBOR. Oct 15 Michigan won another football game.

Its fourth or the season ana lu second in the western conference, here Saturday afternoon. 4 Northwestern was the victim, 14 to 2, but It would be hard to convince the crowd of 76,703 that the wolverines were the powerful team that last week ranxea tne oesi in uie nation. It was a typical WUdcat-Wol verine fracas, with lowly North western, yet to win a game, dominating play for all but a few minutes early In the action, and Jim Morse, Paul Hornung and Don Schaefer were backs who accounted for 1 9 1 yards of Notre Dame's ground gains. Dangerous at all times, they tested State's defense at all places on the field. Hornung, the quarterback, besides running for 52 yards, completed II of 19 passes for 125 yards.

One, of 40 yards to Morse, accounted for the Notre Dame touchdown. State's line, headed by Nystrom and Norman Masters, out-played the Notre Dame line. It was, as is so often the case, decided up there among the forwards. Morrall was a master again today, just as he has coma to often be. His handoffs to his backs, his faking, and his five completed passes in nine throws, put him up there among the good ones State has had running its teams in late years like Tommy Yewcic, who drove 400 miles to see the victory today, and Al Dorrow, who once engineered a 35-0 rout of Notre Dame.

Stirring QB Duel It was' a stirring sparring duel that Hornung had with Morrall, but the Spartans won it any way you may look at it The victory today not only snapped Notre Dame's winning streak since it started in the second game of 1954 (Purdue), but also gave Michigan State a 4-3 advantage in their re-born football series. And-State has won four of the last five. State opened significantly by winning the toss and taking the ball. Immediately they locked in offensive struggle, which was the. character of the whole game.

The Spartans went from their 13 to Notre Dame's 41, where a fumble stopped them. Notre Dame moved with equal dispatch to State's 24, where they returned the fumble. State tried a field goal from the 3 1 -yard line in the next onslaught but Dave Kaiser's kick was snort It should have been for it'was 48-yards long. The Spartans began their first touchdown drive just before the first period ended. Peaks made a 24-yard return of a punt to midfield.

Morrall whipped a pass to Peaks for a 2 1-yard gain. On three straight plays Planutis tore Notre Dame's middle for 1 0. Morrall on a keep play, ran 1 2 yards to Notre Dame's nine. It, took three slashes from there. Peaks slamming into right tackle from three yards out to score.

Planutis' converted point made it 7-0, to send the Spartan cheering section into a program-tossing celebration. They had scorcely sat down in the stand when Notre Dame, chiefly due to a 22-yard ramble by Schaefer, was on State's 22. A 15-yard clipping penalty, something that hurt the Irish twice during the game, helped stave off this assault Four passes failed the Irish. State swept back, with an (Continued on Page 64) the final- six minutes, when Michl www Daring Kick Helps U.M. To Victory By ROGER GOELZ ANN ARBOR, Oct 15 CP "We were flat all the way.

I'm glad it's gan awoke with a start -to tuck away the decision. It was Terry Barr, the Grand Kapids junior tall back who was the hero of the Army victory last week, that put the finishing touch to the stand of the game Wildcats over," said Michigan Coach Bennie Oosterbaan after his Wolverines downed a stubborn Northwestern with a sparkling 46-yard touch down run In the final five min utes. SCORE EARLY team today, 14-2. SSi-' if ws in. tr 4 In a quiet Michigan dressing room, Oosterbaan said Michigan played pretty much the same game Earl Johnson had scored for Michigan In the first five minutes of the tussle, after a recovered fumble and three plays from the 14-yard line.

From then until the it played last year when the Wol verines edged the Wildcats, 7-0. final six minutes the Wolverines were hard pressed to stave off gal' lant efforts of the Wildcat backs. Michigan's offense was flat the The line was good, but our offense was sluggish all day," he said. "Northwestern was a good team today. They threw a defense blocking was all but non-existent and the ball handling was poor.

us that hurt" The ball was lost three times on fumbles, and another one gave the Wildcats their safety In the second Oosterbaan credited halfback Tony Branoff with turning the tide quarttr. against the Wildcats. He said Just how Inept the Wolverines were in the first half is shown by in first Spartan TD try. (State Journal photo by Tom Tryon) Branoff 62-yard punt made while running in his own end zone early S-T-R-E-T-C-H End Dave Kaiser fails to snare pass 0 the statistics. They (hade only a total of .37 yards, 25 by rushing, lost the ball twice on fumbles, and in the fourth period, stopped North' western.

Branoff took a pass from center completed onlypne pass, and that Happy, Just eback Com Davey Sharper in Second was lost on one of the fumbles. But the alertness of Al SIgman. who recovered the early North western fumble, the three plays that netted the first score, Barr's While in the end zone, fumbled, picked up the ball, ran a few yards and kicked to the Northwestern 28. Northwestern's Lou Saban, making his first appearance in the Michigan stadium as head coach of the Wildcats, also praised Branoff quick thinking. "That one hurt" he PlainHappy, Says Jerry Half an hour after the game had great run, and the aroused play of the defense in two goal line stands.

Chuck Wins Every Round were all the Wolverines needed to keep a weak Wildcat team at bay. RUNNING PUNT One other play stood out 'and ended. State's Jerry Planutis, one of the game's brightest stars, sat in front of his locker. He hadn't showered, the lampblack smear was still on his cheeks, he was pale In 1st Auditorium Fight it came from the head and foot of the "old pro," Tony Branoff, as Northwestern was making its best bid for a score that would have put them in front Trapped in his own end zone on a fourth down punt situation on By GEORGE S. ALDERTON (Journal Sports Editor) Chuck Davey may be on the other side of the boxing hill, but it will take more than a youngster in the game like Bay City's Alan Kennedy to push him further down the road.

Davey, in his second "comeback" bout beat Kennedy decisively in 10-rounds last night The welterweight fight first sports event to be held in the Vet the first play of the last quarter, Branoff fumbled the pass from cen ter and was trapped. He ran wide could only have been done by a great player." OFFENSE OFF Saban said Michigan's line lived up to the Wolverines' rating as the No. 1 team in the nation. But he also said the Michigan offense was off." "We could have won this game If we had scored In the third quarter," he said. Northwestern, trailing only 7-2 at that time, launched a sustained drive with the passing arm of Dale Pienta and the driving legs of back Jerry Weber.

Starting on Its own 20, Northwestern moved to the Michigan six. Michigan's line, backed up by a fast-moving secondary, held the Wildcats and took over. BranofI made his running kick rnlnutes later and wrote finish to Northwestern's last big drive. Oosterbaan said Branoffs run-ring kick resembled a play practiced by Michigan. But he admitted, "you'll probably only see one of those a season." erans Memorial auditorium of the new Civic Center was a success for to his right cleared the charging Wildcats, and punted the ball on both 30-year-old Davey and the from fatigue and trembling.

Somebody asked him a question, and the senior fullback from West Hazelton, Pa, said, "Just say that I am happy, so happy I guess I can't think of another thing. Unity is what did it for us unity!" Embry Robinson, senior guard, who Intercepted a forward pass to keep Notre Dame under pressure near its goal line in the second half, was sorry about one thing. "You know." he said, "they didn't give me a chance to show 'em my halfback form! I grabbed the ball, started to run and some of those Notre Dame fellows grabbed me! I been practlcln' to show how I can run with that ball! I want to score promoting Capital City Sporting the dead run. It travelled over the safety man's head and rolled 62 yards. club.

gan in the first round. They both hustled the route, putting on a crowd-pleasing fight Davey, without losing a round During the afternoon Michigan in the action-filled, lively scrap, picked up $2,425.85 of the gross I 1 lt -v aBiaStEBsaaaBaaaSaiJ Kennedy, strong In every round rushed for 150 yards, but more than 100 of these came in the last six minutes. This brought the overall gain to 168 for the Wolver gate of $8,518 paid by the crowd of 3.232. Kennedy, getting 12 percent as compared to Davey's 37, drew only $866.37 for his whipping. until he began to tire near the finish, landed a right hand to Davey's head no more than half a dozen times, but while it snapped Davey's head it did not seem to ines, against 173 for Northwestern.

About the best that could be said Michigan threw only seven passes, and completed two. The first downs a touchdown!" for Kennedy was that he made a slow him. Davey simply out-boxed his 23-year-old rival. (Continued oa Page 65) (Continued oa Page SI) real try. But his efforts were largely wasted on Davey's elbows and In the curtain-raising prelimin gloves, while the winner scored ary, Lansing's Gary Luce, 145, won a split decision over Al Karpuk, cleanly in every round.

Kennedy seemed dismayed by Davey's south Major College Scores 145, of Saginaw. The verdict was unpopular with the crowd. paw style. Chuck mastered him, pushing and pulling his foe pff balance and peppering with a left Chet Wiley, of Detroit 142, had- John Rocha, also of Detroit 148, on the verge of a knockout as their hand that while It did no more damage than open a small cut un four-rounder finished. The won a decision for Wiley.

der an eye, amounted to a screen of leather. Davey' making his second "come Crowe Peele, former Intercollegiate boxing champion at Louisi back" appearance, looked much chigcnStila 21 21 13 7 13 Amy. 0 14 Pcrd3 20 ,14 nerlhrrexicra 2 zxtn 20 Georgia Tech. 12 20 bsa 14 Ravy 34 14 Yiltesva 7 PczaSfcta. 14 ana State, knocked out Mack Cox, of Detroit in 1:55 of the second faster and sharper than he did beat ing Pat Manzi in baginaw last Au gust.

He did not pack a wallop to cause the strong and eager Kennedy to waver, but he filled hte round of their scheduled' four rounder. Peele, fighting out of Baton Rouge and managed by Hec Xnowles who is Davey's former manager, stormed Cox and put him Continued ea Next Page Center. Here, Davey follows through after landing a right Jab oa his opponent's Jaw. (State Journal photo) face with gloves. STILL HAS IT Chock Davey (left) moved up another notch in his comeback attempt when he decisively decistohed Bay City's Alan Kennedy at the Veteran's Memorial Auditorium of the ClvU Davey suffered nothing 'more se rious than a nose trickle that be.