| San Francisco 49ers at Detroit Lions Game Statistics | 
| Date: October 21, 1956 Location: Detroit, MI | 
| Venue: Briggs Stadium Attendance: 55662 | 
| Weather: Smoke Haze Temp: 71 F Humidty: 64% Wind: 9 mph | 
| Score By Quarters | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco 49ersSF | 7 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 17 | 
| Detroit LionsDET | 3 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 20 | 
| Qtr | Team | Scoring Plays | SF | DET | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Detroit LionsDET | Bobby Layne 28 FG | 0 | 3 | 
| 1 | San Francisco 49ersSF | John Henry Johnson 2 run (Gordy Soltau kick) | 7 | 3 | 
| 2 | Detroit LionsDET | Don McIlhenny 3 run (Bobby Layne kick) | 7 | 10 | 
| 2 | San Francisco 49ersSF | Gordy Soltau 20 FG | 10 | 10 | 
| 3 | San Francisco 49ersSF | John Henry Johnson 1 run (Gordy Soltau kick) | 17 | 10 | 
| 3 | Detroit LionsDET | Bobby Layne 2 run (Bobby Layne kick) | 17 | 17 | 
| 4 | Detroit LionsDET | Bobby Layne 17 FG | 17 | 20 | 
| LINEUPS | ||
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco 49ers | ||
| Offense | ||
| 82 | LOE | Gordy Soltau | 
| 78 | LOT | Bobby Cross | 
| 74 | LOG | Bob Toneff | 
| 53 | C | Bill Johnson | 
| 75 | ROG | Ed Henke | 
| 79 | ROT | Bob St. Clair | 
| 84 | ROE | Billy Wilson | 
| 14 | QB | Y.A. Tittle | 
| 39 | LOH | Hugh McElhenny | 
| 22 | ROH | Joe Arenas | 
| 34 | FB | Joe Perry | 
| Defense | ||
| 77 | LDE | Bruce Bosley | 
| 73 | LDT | Leo Nomellini | 
| 72 | RDT | Bill Herchman | 
| 87 | RDE | Charley Powell | 
| 64 | LLB | Ed Sharkey | 
| 54 | MLB | Ed Beatty | 
| 55 | RLB | Matt Hazeltine | 
| 40 | LDH | George Maderos | 
| 23 | LS | Rex Berry | 
| 47 | RS | Dicky Moegle | 
| 57 | RDH | Paul Carr | 
| Detroit Lions | ||
| Offense | ||
| 87 | LOE | Dorne Dibble | 
| 76 | LOT | Lou Creekmur | 
| 66 | LOG | Harley Sewell | 
| 50 | C | Charlie Ane | 
| 60 | ROG | Jim Salsbury | 
| 75 | ROT | Ollie Spencer | 
| 84 | ROE | Dave Middleton | 
| 22 | QB | Bobby Layne | 
| 40 | LOH | Howard Cassady | 
| 42 | ROH | Don McIlhenny | 
| 26 | FB | Gene Gedman | 
| Defense | ||
| 78 | LDE | Darris McCord | 
| 70 | LDT | Ray Krouse | 
| 74 | RDT | Bob Miller | 
| 72 | RDE | Gil Mains | 
| 85 | LLB | Sonny Gandee | 
| 56 | MLB | Joe Schmidt | 
| 86 | RLB | Bob Long | 
| 25 | LDH | Jimmy David | 
| 24 | LS | Jack Christiansen | 
| 28 | RS | Yale Lary | 
| 20 | RDH | Bill Stits | 
| RUSHING | ATT | YDS | AVG | LG | TD | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco 49ers | |||||
| Hugh McElhenny | 14 | 119 | 8.5 | 61 | 0 | 
| Joe Perry | 6 | 37 | 6.2 | 33 | 0 | 
| John Henry Johnson | 8 | 34 | 4.3 | 11 | 2 | 
| Y.A. Tittle | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | 8 | 0 | 
| Detroit Lions | |||||
| Don McIlhenny | 13 | 104 | 8.0 | 30 | 1 | 
| Howard Cassady | 15 | 70 | 4.7 | 12 | 0 | 
| Bobby Layne | 6 | 30 | 5.0 | 7 | 1 | 
| Tom Tracy | 9 | 26 | 2.9 | 9 | 0 | 
| Gene Gedman | 3 | 14 | 4.7 | 6 | 0 | 
| PASSING | ATT | COM | PCT | INT | YDS | AVG | LG | TD | TS | YL | RTG | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco 49ers | |||||||||||
| Y.A. Tittle | 13 | 6 | 46.2 | 1 | 60 | 4.6 | 16 | 0 | 21 | 27.7 | |
| Earl Morrall | 6 | 2 | 33.3 | 1 | 28 | 4.7 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 9.7 | |
| Detroit Lions | |||||||||||
| Bobby Layne | 27 | 15 | 55.6 | 1 | 155 | 5.7 | 24 | 0 | 6 | 56.9 | |
| Don McIlhenny | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 39.6 | ||
| RECEIVING | NO | YDS | AVG | LG | TD | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco 49ers | |||||
| Billy Wilson | 4 | 44 | 11.0 | 16 | 0 | 
| Joe Arenas | 2 | 19 | 9.5 | 15 | 0 | 
| Hugh McElhenny | 1 | 13 | 13.0 | 13 | 0 | 
| Gordy Soltau | 1 | 12 | 12.0 | 12 | 0 | 
| Detroit Lions | |||||
| Dorne Dibble | 4 | 66 | 16.5 | 24 | 0 | 
| Dave Middleton | 4 | 47 | 11.8 | 18 | 0 | 
| Tom Tracy | 2 | 5 | 2.5 | 5 | 0 | 
| Gene Gedman | 2 | -5 | -2.5 | -2 | 0 | 
| Don McIlhenny | 1 | 21 | 21.0 | 21 | 0 | 
| Jug Girard | 1 | 16 | 16.0 | 16 | 0 | 
| Howard Cassady | 1 | 5 | 5.0 | 5 | 0 | 
| INTERCEPTIONS | NO | YDS | AVG | LG | TD | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco 49ers | |||||
| Ed Sharkey | 1 | 4 | 4.0 | 4 | 0 | 
| Detroit Lions | |||||
| Jack Christiansen | 2 | 33 | 16.5 | 33 | 0 | 
| PUNTING | NO | YDS | AVG | LG | BL | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco 49ers | |||||
| Earl Morrall | 4 | 150 | 37.5 | 41 | 0 | 
| Detroit Lions | |||||
| Yale Lary | 5 | 204 | 40.8 | 48 | 0 | 
| PUNT RETURNS | NO | FC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco 49ers | ||||||
| Joe Arenas | 4 | 6 | 1.5 | 5 | 0 | |
| Detroit Lions | ||||||
| Yale Lary | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Howard Cassady | 1 | 5 | 5.0 | 5 | 0 | |
| Jack Christiansen | 1 | 2 | 2.0 | 2 | 0 | |
| KICKOFF RETURNS | NO | FC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco 49ers | ||||||
| Joe Arenas | 3 | 67 | 22.3 | 24 | 0 | |
| Hugh McElhenny | 2 | 44 | 22.0 | 22 | 0 | |
| Detroit Lions | ||||||
| Howard Cassady | 4 | 87 | 21.8 | 27 | 0 | |
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