Final Standings

	P	W	L	T	Pct
Merit Table
Massillon Tigers	7	7	0	0	1.000
Shelby AC	10	8	1	1	.889
Akron AC
Other Teams
Columbus Panhandles	2	2	0	0	1.000
All-Stars
Columbus Barracks
Marion
Franklin AC (Cleveland)
Lorrain AA
Fremont
Lima AA
Royals
Canton Crescents
Crestline AA
Mansfield AA
Cuyahoga Falls
Akron North Ends
Western Pennsylvania Teams
Canal Dover Giants
Pittsburgh Lyceum
Sharon Buhl Club

Results

Date	Home Team		Away Team
24.09.1904	Massillon Tigers	57	Canal Dover Giants (W.PA)	0
	Week
07.10.1904	Massillon Tigers	56	Franklin AC (Cleveland)	6
09.10.1904	Columbus Panhandles	32	Columbus Barracks	0
09.10.1904	Lorrain AA	54	Fremont	0
09.10.1904	Shelby AC	48	Akron 2nds	0
09.10.1904	Heidelberg University	85	Lima AA	0
	Week
16.10.1904	Massillon Tigers	148	Marion	0
16.10.1904	Columbus Panhandles	21	All-Stars	0
15.10.1904	Shelby AC	29	Marion	0
	Week
23.10.1904	Massillon Tigers	44	Lyceum AC (Pittsburgh, PA)	0
23.10.1904	Royals	0	Canton Crescents	0
	Week
30.10.1904	Akron AC	0	Shelby AC	0
	Week
05.11.1904	Massillon Tigers	28	Shelby AC	0
	Week
13.11.1904	Massillon Tigers	63	Sharon Buhl Club (PA)	0
13.11.1904	Shelby AC	32	Lorrain AC	0
13.11.1904	Crestline AA	33	Mansfield AA	0
13.11.1904	Franklin AC	10	Cuyahoga Falls	0
	Week
20.11.1904	Cuyahoga Falls	6	Akron North Ends	0
20.11.1904	Massillon Tigers	6	Akron AC	5

Report

Massillon Tigers won the Ohio League Championship in 1904 with a 7-0-0 record (Wins-Losses-Ties), triumphing 6-5 in darkness in the Final game on Thanksgiving as the Akron Athletic Club’s kicker’s attempts to tie the scores with a last-minute conversion failed from a difficult angle. Akron had scored a touchdown (then worth five points) in the dying seconds despite the Massillon players protests that the scorer had been carried over the line, or that there was an illegal forward pass earlier in the move.

Massillon had racked up huge wins against the other opposition, including a 148-0 win over Marion, which consisted of 26 touchdowns and 18 extra-point kicks. The match on thanksgiving against Akron was the unofficial Championship game, and a tie would have ensured a share of the Championship for Akron.

Massillon Tigers, Shelby AC and Akron AC had on their squads at least half their players who were full-time paid professionals, as the Ohio League moved to full professionalism for the first time. Matches were also played against teams from Western Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh Area) that also provided Professional, or Semi-Professional Football Teams.

References

Bibliography

[1] Professional Football Researchers Association (2011) “The Tigers Pounce Again” The Early History of Professional Football. pg. 199-208. PFRA Publications. Connecticut.

Newspapers

[2] Anon. (1904) “Tigers win again Victorious” Massillon Evening Independent, October 24 1904, pg. 5 [Internet] Available from: https://newspaperarchive.com/massillon-evening-independent-oct-24-1904-p-5/ [accessed 18 August 2020]

[3] Anon. (1904) “Hard” Sandusky Evening Star, October 10 1904, pg. 7 [Internet] Available from: https://newspaperarchive.com/sandusky-evening-star-oct-10-1904-p-7/ [Accessed 18 August 2020]

[4] Anon. (1904) “Mighty: Michigan was scored against” Sandusky Evening Star, October 17 1904, pg. 7 [Internet] Available from: https://newspaperarchive.com/sandusky-evening-star-oct-17-1904-p-7/ [accessed 18 August 2020]

[5] Anon. (1904) “Heavy Ohio State put it onto Case Heavily” Sandusky Evening Star, October 24 1904, pg. 7 [Internet] Available from: https://newspaperarchive.com/sandusky-evening-star-oct-24-1904-p-7/ [accessed 18 August 2020]

[5] Anon. (1904) “More surprises in the Foot Ball World Saturday” Sandusky Evening Star, October 31, 1904, pg. 7 [Internet] Available from: https://newspaperarchive.com/sandusky-evening-star-oct-31-1904-p-7/ [accessed 18 August 2020]

[6] Anon. (1904) “Tigers win again Victorious” Sandusky Evening Star, November 14 1904, pg. 7 [Internet] Available from: https://newspaperarchive.com/sandusky-evening-star-nov-14-1904-p-7/ [accessed 18 August 2020]

[7] Anon. (1904) “Yale won Great Game from Old-Time Rivals” Sandusky Evening Star, November 21 1904, pg. 7 [Internet] Available from: https://newspaperarchive.com/sandusky-evening-star-nov-21-1904-p-7/ [accessed 18 August 2020]

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Sean Douglas of the Dublin Rebels (Irish American Football League).

About this document

Researched, compiled and written by Enda Mulcahy for the

Irish North American and World Sports Archive

Last Updated: 12 August 2020

(c) Copyright Enda Mulcahy and Eirball 2020

You are free to copy this document in whole or part provided that proper acknowledgement is given to the authors. All Rights Reserved.