Evening star., 1946-12-16
Giants Great Fight Takes Edge off Bears Victory
HaIas Says Chicago
Wasn't 10 Points
Better Than n. Y.
BY a stoff Correspondent Of The s,ar

By Stoff Correspondent Of The Siar
NEW YORK, Dec. 1--we didn't
deserve to win by that score-we
aren't that good. When you stop
to consider that the Giants had no
tullbacks you can appreciate the
great job Steve Owen did keeping
his team in the game as long as
he did. Our gang played sweet
football, but we weren't that much
better than the Giants"
1t was George Halas speaking.
The Chicago Bears owner-coach,
while not detracting from his own
teams performance, was sincere in
saying the Bears didn't look or play
10 points better than the Giants
yesterday.
With their squad intact the
Giants could have won, but they
simply didn't have the manpower
to cope with their adversary. They
tried to carry on after two of their
best running backs, George Franck
and Frank Reagan, were hurt dur
ing the game. Bill Paschal, regular
fullback, saw no action, due to in
juries, and a fourth back, Merle
Hapes, was banned from the game
after disclosure of a gamblers at
tempt to Elk" the contest.
At that, the Giants great fight
against the Bears took some of the
edge off Chicago's 24-14 victory.
Bears Score Early.
Scarcely minutes after the open
ing kickoff the Bears had two
touchdowns, one unearned, and a.
14-0 lead. The Giants, with frankie
Filchock spearheading the attack,
rallied and tied it up at 14-all, but
thereafter New Yorkis was strictly
a one-cylinder offense. q
Franck gave the Bears their first
scoring chance in the early minutes
of play when he fumbled and Stu
Clarkson recovered on New York S
80. Sid Luckman pitched 81 yards
to Ken Kavanaugh under the goal
posts for the score A few minutes
later Filchock mistook the Bears
Dante Magnani for one of his re-
ceivers and the dark-haired half
back raced 38 yards to pay dirt. All
told, six of Filchocks 26 passes fell
into the hands of the enemy.
One Of the games most important
breaks, probably the turning point
as Coach Owen of the Giants said,
was 15-yard penalty for unneces-
sary roughness called on Jim White |
in the final period. 1t added mo-
mentum to Bear drive that ulti-
mately covered SO yards, planting
the ball on the New York 19-yard
stripe. Sid Luckman pulled sneak
play, spinning and following a mass
of interference all the way for a |
Frank Maznicki's 26-yard place
nent kick completed the scoring and
was the Bears insurance against a |
,ying touchdown in the waning min
ltes of the game.
Filchock's most costly interception
was the result of a bad throw caused
BY a pack of Bear linemen who hit
frankie as he turned the ball loose.
Ed holman and Ed Sprinkle were in
New Yorks backfield all afternoon
and constantly harrassed Filchock.
But the former Redskm was at his
best when pitching on the run.
Hits Liebel on 2-Yard Line.
His first was a bullseye to Frank
Liebel on the 2-yard line with Tom
Farris close enough to the receiver
to kiss him. The play covered a
total of 38 yards. His second and
final touchdown throw came in the
third period when he eluded a posse
of Bears long enough for Steve
to get loose in the end
zone. The Bears looked pretty fool
ish on that one.
Owen was rather glum in the
dressing room after the game, al
though proud of his line. He also
gave Filipowicz a pat on the back
for his pinch-running at fullback.
At the games end Owen was sizing
up his water boy for possible use at
fullback, so badly did he need talent.
If there was any reaction to the
gambling stories it was not apparent
in the dressing room. The players
dressed quietly and left quickly.
Filchock did not want to talk about
the gambling story, but Owen said
he was confident Frank was in
nocent. He said he would stand
behind Hapes. too, until his guilt
was proved.