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The
first game of what is considered American football was
played between Rutgers and Princeton in November of
1869, with Rutgers winning by a score of 6-4. The game,
at both the college and high school level, remained
pretty much confined to the East for some years after
that, but gradually started to spread across the rest of
the country. By the late 1880s football had made its
way to Ohio, where a few college teams were starting to
play the new game.
The
first high school football game in Ohio, in fact, the
first high school game in the Midwest, was played
between the oldest public high school in the state,
Cleveland�s Central High School, and the newest high
school, Cleveland�s University School, which had been
open for barely six weeks. The game was played on
October 25, 1890, and was won by University School by a
score of 20-0. Football gradually spread throughout the
rest of the state as interest in it grew. For example,
Massillon High School (now known as Massillon
Washington) played its first interscholastic game in
1893, Canton High School (now Canton McKinley) staged
its first game the following year, and Fostoria High
School kicked off its interscholastic program in 1896.
By the turn of the century most public schools in the
state, as well as some private and parochial schools,
were also fielding teams.
Before
we get much further along in our story of Ohio�s high
school football champions, it should be mentioned that
the game being played back in those earliest days had
little resemblance to the game we now watch every
weekend during the Fall. Football was all very new -
and very basic - back then. There was no high tech
equipment, no fancy scoreboard in a stadium for upwards
of 20,000 people, the players had no uniforms to speak
of, and coaches were not yet �invented.� The football
field was just that, a field, hopefully pretty flat and
open (although one college in the South in the early
1900s actually had a large oak tree sitting in the
middle of its football field just short of the 50-yard
line), on which a gridiron was laid out with crushed
chalk. If you wanted to watch the game you just stood
along the sidelines, or pulled your horse drawn carriage
up to the edge of the field. This �seating arrangement�
could cause a problem or two, as games were often
interrupted after a touchdown or field goal when fans
ran out onto the field to congratulate their team.
There was no passing either; the forward pass was not
legalized until 1906 and did not gain wide acceptance
until almost 1920.
Nor was
there anything like a statewide poll ranking the best
teams. However, even if just two teams are playing, one
usually has to be known as the best. That first game in
Cleveland, for instance, was known as a �game of the
championship series,� the championship being that of the
city of Cleveland. It stands to reason, therefore,
that a best team in the state would eventually be named,
and that occasion first came about in 1895. However,
when something like this is done for the first time, the
method used can seem to be just a bit �unusual� when
compared to how it is done today. The naming of that
first state high school football champion is a case in
point. On November 23, 1895, in the final game of the
season, University School defeated Cleveland Central by
a score of 14-0. University School�s record stood at
4-0-0, while Central slipped to 3-2-1. However, Central
was declared the champion of the state of Ohio, the
first team so named. By the standard then used, a
distinction was made between University School, a �prep�
school, and Central, a �high school.� University School
was considered to be the �prep� champion of northern
Ohio, while to Central High went the title of �high
school� champion of the state.
Saying
that Central High was �declared� the state high school
football champion is the key here. As mentioned, there
were no polls, and certainly no statewide playoffs, at
this time. If a sportswriter or group of them said that
a team was the state champions, then they usually were
unless someone came along to challenge it. Quite often,
too, a school that felt that its team was the �king of
the hill� often issued on open invitation to any team
from around the state that wished to challenge it on the
gridiron for the state championship. This quite often
resulted in some exciting last minute, end of the season
games to settle the issue of who was the state�s
champion that year. For all practical purposes, this
system of a popularly declared state football champion
remained in effect until the era of the AP and UPI
polls, which began in 1947.
For
about the next 10 years following Cleveland Central�s
state championship in 1895, those teams named as state
champion are not what we would consider household names
in the current era of Ohio high school football. In
1896 Sandusky High School (5-0-0) was named state
champion. No team was declared state champion in either
1897 or 1898, but 1899 saw the state�s first football
�power� named champion, with the honor going to Oberlin
High School. At this time the city of Oberlin was a
hotbed of high school and college football, with both
Oberlin High School and Oberlin Academy among the
state�s better schoolboy teams, while the Oberlin
College eleven pretty much dominated the state�s college
ranks. (The legendary John Heisman, a Cleveland native,
was the head coach at Oberlin College in the early
1890s.)
The
year 1900 was interesting for the fact that three
different schools claimed to be the state champion.
Cleveland Central defeated Columbus North, 6-0, in
mid-November. Since North was considered the champion
of southern Ohio, Central (4-1-1) felt that this win
gave them the right to claim the championship for the
whole state. However, both Oberlin High School (5-0-1)
and Youngstown Rayen (4-1-1) were also claiming to be
state champions. Much arguing went on back and forth,
especially between Oberlin and Central, who had played
to a 5-5 tie earlier in the season. It was eventually
decided that all three teams would share the state
championship.
A
similar situation occurred the next season, when Rayen
and Toledo Central shared the title. In 1902, Fostoria
High School (8-0-1) was declared the state champion, the
opening round of what would prove to be the first great
dynasty in Ohio high school football. Kenyon Military
Academy of Gambier, Ohio, was named the state champion
for 1903, while Toledo Central claimed the title in
1904. No team was named the state�s high school
football champion for 1905, but the following season
would see the arrival of the state�s first truly
dominating team, the Redmen of Fostoria High School.
The
Fostoria football team played only eight games in 1906,
winning seven, but dropping a 19-8 decision to Oberlin
Academy. Even so, Fostoria was still declared the state
champion that season. In 1907 they repeated as state
champions, but it was again a team from Oberlin that
ruined an otherwise perfect season. The Redmen finished
with an 8-0-1 record, with only a 5-5 tie with Oberlin
High School keeping the Redmen from enjoying a perfect
season.
In 1908
Fostoria again won eight games, including a 110-0
victory over Defiance, but a 14-5 loss to another top
team of the day, Cleveland�s East High, prevented the
Redmen from winning a third consecutive state title. As
it was, no team was awarded the championship that
season. In 1909, Massillon High School interrupted
Fostoria�s run of state titles by winning it�s first,
posting a record of 9-0-1 in the Tigers� first true
winning campaign.
For the
next half dozen years the Fostoria Redmen pretty much
owned the state as far as high school football was
concerned. Under head coach Lawrence C. Boles, who had
been guiding the Redmen since �07, Fostoria regained the
state championship in 1910 despite a 2-0 lost to Findlay
in an otherwise great 8-1-0 campaign. In 1911, coach
Boles� team finally did what it had come so close to
doing in the past, posting a perfect 10-0-0 season to
win another state title. (Akron Central High School,
8-0-1, shared the state crown with Fostoria that year.)
If the
Fostoria fans liked the 1911 season, then they must have
been truly overjoyed with the results of 1912, a season
that was literally one for the record book. The Redmen
won all eight of their games, and all by shutout, making
it 14 consecutive shutout victories. For the season
they outscored the opposition 596-0 (twice scoring more
than 100 points), one of the most dominating seasons in
the history of high school football in the U.S. Adding
not a little, but a lot, of icing to its championship
cake, Fostoria was also named the national champion in
1912, the first in a long line of Ohio teams to be so
honored.
Fostoria�s bubble temporarily burst in 1913, as the team
dipped to 5-3-0, but no state champion was named that
season. In 1914 and 1915 the Redmen were coached by
George M. �Red� Trautman, his only two years directing
Fostoria�s football fortunes, but he made them count.
In 1914 the Redmen, 10-0-0, posted their third perfect
season out of the last four. This was another shared
championship, however, as Bellaire High School (9-0-1)
and Lisbon High School (9-0-0) were also accorded state
championship status. In 1915, with a 0-0 tie with
Columbus North as the only blemish on their otherwise
perfect 8-0-1 season, the Redmen again captured the
state championship.
For the
next nine years the center of Ohio high school football
would shift to the state�s extreme northwestern corner.
Toledo Scott High School reigned as state champion in
1916, 1918 and 1919. (Strangely, there was no state
champion named in 1917, while there was one in 1918,
even though most teams had at least half of their games
cancelled due to the great Spanish Flu epidemic.) That
1916 title was shared with Massillon Washington, even
though Scott High School was also declared the national
champion that same season.
The
Bulldogs lost their state championship crown in 1920
(shared by Canton McKinley and Cleveland East Tech), and
no champion was declared for 1921. However, the
Bulldogs came back even stronger in 1922 and 1923.
Going 19-0-0 those two seasons, not only were they named
state champions (sharing the honor with Massillon
Washington in �22 and East Cleveland Shaw in �23), but
each season Toledo Scott was also named the national
champion. (East Cleveland Shaw also shared in the 1923
national championship.) And, unlike today, Scott High
School won those national championships on the
gridiron. In 1922 the Bulldogs defeated the team from
Corvallis (Ore.) High School, 32-0, and in 1923 defeated
both Washington High School of Cedar Rapids, Iowa,
24-21, and Columbia Prep of Portland, Oregon, 20-17, to
earn the national title.
While
Scott High School did not win either the state or
national championship in 1924, those two championships
did not leave the Glass City. Scott�s archrival, Waite
High School, went 10-0-0 and was named both the Ohio and
the U.S. champion that year.
Over
the next 24 years before the advent of the AP and UPI
polls, two teams would rise to dominate Ohio high school
football. In 1924 and 1925, Paul Brown was the
quarterback of the Massillon Tigers, leading his team to
a record of 15-3. Good, but not nearly as good as his
record would be when he returned to the school in 1932
as the Tigers� head coach. Taking over a team that had
been just 2-6-2 the year before, coach Brown led the
Tigers to a 5-4-1 record in 1932, 8-2-0 in �33 and 9-1-0
in �34 � and then they got really good. From 1935 to
1940, Paul Brown�s Massillon Washington Tigers posted a
record of 58-1-1, going a perfect 10-0-0 in five of
those six seasons. That record earned for the Tigers
six consecutive state championships and four national
titles (1935-36-39-40).
As we
know, Paul Brown was just getting stated on his
brilliant coaching career. After leaving Massillon he
took on his �dream job� as head coach of the Ohio State
Buckeyes, where in his second season he led the Buckeyes
to a national championship. After serving in the
military during WWII, Brown became the head coach of the
newly established Cleveland Browns, winning
championships in each of his first five seasons, four in
the All American Football Conference and one in the
NFL.
One of
the truly great coaches and innovators in the game of
football, and the only coach in U.S. history to ever win
national championships at the high school, college and
professional levels, in 2001 Student Sport
Magazine named Paul Brown the �Coach of the Century.�
Massillon�s success did not end with the departure of
Paul Brown. Playing for new coach William �Bud�
Houghton, the Tigers went 28-1-1 from 1941-1943. The
Tigers were named state champions in both �41 and �43,
giving Massillon eight titles in nine seasons.
The
second of the two great teams at this time were the
Lions of Cleveland�s Cathedral Latin School. Playing
for the legendary Herb Eisele, who had been the coach of
the Lions since 1928, Latin had pretty much dominated
Cleveland area football. In early 1937, coach Eisele
signed an unprecedented 10-year contract to coach
football at his alma mater, and the Lions got even
better. From 1943 to 1947 the Lions won a record five
consecutive Cleveland city championship Charity Games,
putting together a string of 38 straight games without a
loss (36-0-2). In 1944, 1945 and 1946 the Lions added
state championships to their trophy case, giving Latin a
total of four state titles (1927) in its history. The
Lions are one of only two non-public schools (Kenyon
Military Academy being the other) to win a state title
over the first 62 years in which a state football
champion was named.
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Looking Back at the
OHSAA's Football Championships - No. 2
A centennial moment - Polls
By Timothy L. Hudak
Sports Heritage Specialty Publications
4814 Broadview Rd.
Cleveland, Ohio 44109
www.SportsHeritagePublications.net
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The
wire services � Associated Press (AP), United Press
International (UPI), International News Service (INS) �
began doing a weekly poll of college football�s top
teams in 1936. The idea of doing this with the state
teams, in our case Ohio, finally took hold in 1947. No
longer would a school be able to simply �declare� itself
state champion, or challenge any other school to play
them to decide the issue. Now, a poll of sportswriters
and broadcasters from around the state would decide the
issue based on their expertise. Although this would
eliminate a lot of exciting late season match-ups, it
did add some much needed organization and stability to
the state championship process.
The
International News Service put out its state football
poll for only a few years, before merging with United
Press International. However, it was mainly the
Associated Press whose poll determined the state champ,
while the United Press International also put out a
state football poll from 1953 until about 1971.
Whether
or not this was the best way to determine the state
champion can be endlessly debated, but it was the system
in use from 1947 thru 1971. In part because of some of
the flaws that were seen in this system (for example,
teams locked into league schedules or playing all of
their games against local opposition, etc., often felt
that they were �penalized� in the poll for not playing a
more varied schedule), is why we now have the playoffs
for determining the state football champions.
Since
the team from Cleveland�s Central High School was named
the first state champion back in 1895, every team
recognized as the state football champion had come from
a city in the northern half of the state. From 1934 to
1946 the titleholders were centered even closer to the
state�s �north coast,� coming as they did from either
Stark or Cuyahoga County. Little would change in this
regard during the first 20 years of the �poll era.� In
fact, during those years the teams from Stark County
would have a virtual lock on the state championship,
much to the dismay of some who thought otherwise (and
thus adding more fuel to the growing playoff fire).
When
the final rankings came out that first poll season of
1947, the Magics of Barberton High School were sitting
at #1 � the only time that the Magics would win a state
football championship. Following in order from 2-10
that year were Elyria High School, Canton McKinley, Cathedral Latin, Columbus West,
Hamilton Public, Warren Harding, Salem High School,
Upper Sandusky and Toledo Libbey.
In 1948
Chuck Mather took over as the head football coach at
Massillon Washington. Mather was not Paul Brown
coaching under another name, but you probably would have
had a hard time convincing the Tigers� opponents that
Mr. Brown was no longer in Massillon. Coach Mather got
off to a faster start than even the great coach Brown
had enjoyed. With a record of 9-1-0, the Tigers were
named state champions in Mather�s first season of 1948,
after having been out of the top spot for the five
previous years. Their lone loss had been a 14-7 defeat
at the hands of #7 Alliance.
The
Tigers would go on to reign as Ohio�s top schoolboy
football team for the next six seasons, five of them
under the direction of Chuck Mather, the only coach in
state history to lead a team for at least six seasons
and win a state title each time.
In 1949
the Tigers again finished 9-1-0, but that lone defeat
was not enough to cost them their top billing in the AP
poll. That loss, a 16-12 decision, came at the hands of
Mansfield Senior High School, which had been voted #1 in
the INS poll, but only came in second in the AP
balloting. In 1950 the Tigers took no chances, and no
prisoners, as they posted a perfect 10-0-0 season to win
a third consecutive state title, as well as being named
the national champions. In 1951 Massillon slipped to
9-1-0, this time a 19-13 loss to Warren Harding costing
them a perfect season. Nonetheless, the Tigers were
again ranked #1 in the AP poll to claim a fourth
consecutive state championship. Warren Harding finished
seventh.
The
1952 and 1953 seasons probably rank right up there with
1935 and 1936 in Massillon football history. Two
consecutive perfect 10-0-0 seasons, two consecutive
state championships (ranked #1 by both AP and UPI), and
two more national titles.
The
Tigers cruised through most of the 1952 campaign, but in
week #5 they again came up against the Alliance
Aviators, this time led by their great quarterback, Len
Dawson. Even though Dawson sat out practice all week
with a sore left shoulder, come game day he gave the
Tigers almost more than they could handle. However, it
would be a couple of second half kickoff returns for
touchdowns that would save the Tigers this day.
Massillon led 14-7 at the half and was on the receiving
end of the second half kickoff. The Tigers� John
Francisco took the ball four yards deep in his own end
zone and returned it all the way for a 104-yard score
and a 21-7 Massillon lead. Len Dawson brought the
Aviators right back to make it 21-14, but on the ensuing
kickoff Lee Nussbaum returned the ball 77-yards for
another Massillon TD. Len Dawson would add a third
touchdown for Alliance on a short run, but that would
end the scoring, leaving Massillon with a heart pounding
27-21 victory.
The
1953 season would see the Tigers even more dominating.
While the offense averaged 40 points per game, the
defense only allowed one team to score more than seven
points, with the team�s lowest margin of victory being
21 points. Chuck Mather�s team rolled to its 17th
state title and seventh national championship.
Tom
Harp replaced Chuck Mather in 1954, Mather going on to
the college ranks as the head coach at Kansas
University. Harp�s Tigers stumbled in week three,
suffering a 19-7 set back at the hands of the Alliance
Aviators. However, they rebounded to win their last
seven games and gain a seventh consecutive poll
championship, finishing first in both the AP and UPI
polls. The �Tiger Tamers� from Alliance finished
second.
In 1955
and 1956 the Massillon Tigers would relinquish their top
spot in the polls to Stark County neighbor and archrival
Canton McKinley. Under the direction of coach Wade
Watts, the Bulldogs were unstoppable both seasons as
they outscored the opposition by an average score of
44-5. In 1955, the Bulldogs� 13-7 victory over
Massillon in a driving snowstorm cost the Tigers a state
title as they finished second in the polls to McKinley.
In 1956, McKinley scored 490 points and no one was
exempt from their scoring onslaught, which they proved
by drubbing Massillon 34 to 7 in the season finale.
In 1957
the state championship momentarily left Stark County
when Cleveland�s Benedictine High School won its first
state title as coach Augie Bossu�s Bengals dominated
both polls.
From
1958 to 1964 the championship hardware spent most of its
time back in Stark County, but those teams were
beginning to loose their tight fisted grasp on the state
title. Alliance finished atop the AP poll in �58, but
shared state honors with UPI winner Marion Harding. In
�59 and �60 Massillon Washington took first place in
both polls, but in 1961 Niles McKinley gained the top
spot in the UPI poll, while Massillon again grabbed top
honors in the AP poll. In 1962 a powerful Toledo
Central Catholic squad took top honors in both polls,
while Niles McKinley did likewise in �63, with Massillon
back on top in �64.
In 1965
two big changes occurred with the polls. The first was
the dividing of the schools into two classes, AA and A,
based on enrollment. For the first time, the smaller
schools around the state, put into Class A, would now
get the recognition due them that the bigger schools,
Class AA, had been pretty much keeping to themselves.
The
second change was that the center of Ohio high school
football, at least as far as the �big school� Class AA
was concerned, began a gradual, but prolonged, shift to
the south.
For the
moment, however, in 1965 it was still �business as
usual� in Class AA as Massillon Washington gained the
top ranking.
In
Class A in 1965 it was time for some real celebrating by
some of the state�s smaller schools, as teams that had
never before even dreamed of making the top ten, much
less being named �State Champion,� finally had a well
earned day in the sun. The honor of being named the
first Class A State Champion went to Dover St. Joseph
High School, while the following schools rounded out
that first Class A top ten: Marion Catholic,
Millersport High School, Hartville Lake, Hanoverton
United, Johnstown-Monroe, Fairport Harbor, Lancaster
Fenwick, Frankfort Adena and Portsmouth Notre Dame.
Over
the next four seasons many of the same teams that had
made the first Class A top ten would repeat. While no
school repeated as Class A champion during those years
(Marion Harding, 1966; Portsmouth Notre Dame, 1967;
Newark Catholic, 1968, Norwalk St. Paul, 1969), this
repetition of top ten entries only further fueled the
call for some kind of a state football playoff system.
Getting
back to Class AA, the Stark County hold on the poll
championship came to a decisive halt in 1966 when
Columbus Bishop Watterson High School finished first in
both the AP and UPI polls. The Columbus area then
seized the poll championship by the throat with the
arrival of those great teams from Upper Arlington High
School to close out the decade.
The
Golden Bears of 1967-1970 are some of the greatest teams
in Ohio high school football history. In 1967-68-69 the
Golden Bears put up identical 10-0-0 seasons, finishing
first in both polls all three seasons. In 1970 the
Bears again had a perfect season, 10-0-0, but failed to
convince the media experts voting in the polls that they
were still the state�s best big school football team.
The nod that year went to another 10-0-0 team, the
Massillon Tigers, with Upper Arlington finishing what
had to be a very disappointing second. Disappointing
not because of how they played, but because they were
still undefeated � yet dropped a place in the polls.
The Golden Bears finally lost a game in early 1971, but
not before extending their phenomenal win streak to 42
in a row.
That
1970 season saw yet another change to the polls when the
schools were further divided into three classes � AAA
(big schools), AA (mid-size schools), A (smallest
schools). This further breakdown of the classifications
made it possible for more schools to participate in the
glories of high school football by making the polls even
more relative to schools and their size. The Class AA
poll champion for 1970 was New Lexington High School,
and the Class A title holder was Portsmouth Notre Dame.
The
1971 season would be the last in which the state
football champions were determined by the polls. The
polls would remain and are still with us, but with the
coming of the OHSAA sanctioned playoffs, that format
would now be used to determine the official state
football champions. The final poll state champions
were: Class AAA � Warren Harding, Class AA �
Steubenville Catholic Central, Class A � Marion
Pleasant.
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Looking Back at the
OHSAA's Football Championships - No. 3
A centennial moment - Playoffs
By Timothy L. Hudak
Sports Heritage Specialty Publications
4814 Broadview Rd.
Cleveland, Ohio 44109
www.SportsHeritagePublications.net
As has been mentioned, the system of using the wire
service polls to determine the state football champions
was much better than what had previously existed, but
the poll system also had its faults and detractors.
Some schools continually garnered poll votes because
they were �supposed to be good,� whether or not they
actually were as strong as their record might indicate.
The same could be said for a team with a winning
�reputation.� Regional biases also occurred in the form
of some members of the media, intentionally or not,
favoring their local teams, conferences and coverage
areas. On the other hand, those teams, conferences and
areas without a direct representative among the media
voters tended to suffer accordingly from a lack of
recognition. For example, Cleveland area fans were
especially sensitive to being shortchanged in this way,
as no doubt were others, and the smallest schools were
left out of the equation altogether, no matter how good
they might have been.
This situation, then, led to the third and final phase
of state football championship determination, the
playoff era that began with the 1972 season. To be
technically correct, the playoffs actually began in
December of 1971, when the board of the OHSAA voted to
establish a football playoff system to determine the
state champions. Using the poll nomenclature, all high
schools were divided into the three recognized classes
of AAA, AA and A, based on their enrollment, with each
Class subdivided into four regions. An early
computerized system developed by Jack Harbin assigned
point values to each school in an attempt to
mathematically determine a team�s strength and that of
its opponents. At the end of the regular season, the
team with the highest point total in each region
qualified for the playoffs. In those earliest days of
the playoffs, therefore, only 12 teams from the entire
state qualified for post-season play - three classes of
four regions each - with only one school from each
region able to qualify. This system remained unchanged
from 1972-1979.
In 1980 the categories of the schools were renamed from
�Class� to �Division,� and were increased in number from
three to five, with Division I representing the biggest
schools, down to Division V for the smallest. Each
division was still broken down into four regions, but
now the top two schools in each region qualified for the
playoffs, for a grand total of 40 schools now eligible
for the post-season. In 1985 a further expansion of
eligible schools took place when it was decided that the
top four schools in each region would make the playoffs,
doubling the number of qualifying schools to 80. In
1994 a sixth division was created, adding 16 more
schools to the state football tournament.
Finally, in 1999 the number of qualifying schools was
again doubled when it was determined that the top eight
teams in each region would play for a state
championship, for a grand total of 192 teams.
The AP polls are still with us. In the pre-playoff days
the polls provided us with what is known as the
�mythical� state champion, because the title had not
been decided on the field of play. With the coming of
the playoffs the question as to who is the best can now
be decided on the gridiron. However, it is very natural
to ask just how accurate the current polls are. Are the
teams ranked #1 in the polls really the best in their
division? The answer to that is: only sometimes. Of
the 143 teams that have finished first in the AP polls
in their respective class/division since the playoff era
began in 1972, only 47, or 33%, have lived up to that
lofty rating by also winning the playoff championship.
In no year has every poll winner gone on to also win the
playoff title, and in a few seasons none of the poll
champions were able to also take home a playoff title.
The playoffs have also served to vindicate the ability
of many teams. It goes without saying that many teams
in Divisions III-IV-V-VI would probably have never
received the credit due them had it not been for the
playoffs. The same can, to a lesser degree, be said for
the entire city of Cincinnati. Not one Queen City team
was ever named a poll champion, in any class, in the 25
years of the poll era. In fact, no Cincinnati team had
ever been named state football champion since champions
were first declared back in 1895. All that, however,
has changed with the coming of the playoffs. In the 34
years of the playoffs (thru 2005), Cincinnati teams have
taken home a total of 19 state championship trophies.
Whether you hail from a small school or a big city
school, the playoffs have certainly made it a level
playing field and truly allowed the cream to rise to the
top.
While every school in the state has not qualified for
the football playoffs, almost all of them have. Of the
713 schools that support a football team, approximately
610 have at one time or another enjoyed the excitement
of post-season play. Some have made this trip just
once, and one school made the most of its singular
opportunity. In 1974, the Truckers of Norwalk High
School fell behind Louisville St. Thomas Aquinas 10-0
early in the second quarter of the Class AA final. The
Truckers regrouped, and over the next two quarters ran
off 20 unanswered points to lead 20-10 heading into the
last quarter of play. St. Thomas made it a 20-17 game
early in the fourth quarter, but midway through the
period the Truckers� John McCarty scored on a 12-yard
touchdown run. That TD sealed Norwalk�s 27-17 victory,
giving the Truckers a Class AA state championship in
their only playoff appearance to date.
At the other end of the championship spectrum are the
powerhouse, dynasty teams. These are the teams that
have dominated their division, or divisions in some
cases, for a number of years before finally
relinquishing what looked to be a strangle hold on the
championship trophy.
The first of these great playoff teams comes from one of
the relatively new schools in the state. Archbishop
Moeller High School opened its doors in September of
1960, and fielded its first varsity football team in
1963. From the get-go the Crusaders were winners for
coach Gerry Faust, losing only 14 games in their first
10 seasons, while twice posting perfect 10-0-0 records.
Moeller first qualified for the Class AAA playoffs in
1973 and 1974, but lost its first round (semi-final)
game each time. It would be a completely different
story over the next ten seasons.
In 1975 the Crusaders posted another 10-0-0 regular
season record, but this time their success would carry
over into the playoffs. In the finals against Lakewood
St. Edward, the Crusaders held on for a 14-12 victory
and their first state championship. In 1976 it was more
of the same - another perfect regular season and a
second straight Class AAA title. In 1977 coach Faust�s
boys successfully completed the hat trick. After
posting a fifth consecutive undefeated regular season,
the Crusaders dominated Toledo Central Catholic 42-14 in
the Class AAA semifinals. It would not be as easy
against Canton McKinley in the finals, but the Crusaders
got the job done by a score of 14-2.
The Crusaders� win streak was halted at 37 in the second
game of the 1978 season. That loss, to Cincinnati
Princeton by a single point, 13-12, not only cost the
Crusader�s another perfect season, but it also kept them
from making the playoffs. But in 1979 coach Faust had
his team back on track as the Crusaders again went 12-0
to win another state title.
In
1980, the first expansion of the playoffs meant that a
team now had to win three playoff games in order to take
home the top prize. Not a problem for the Crusaders,
who posted their first 13-win season and took home the
Division I championship hardware with a 30-7 victory
over Massillon Washington. In 1981 the Crusaders were
again perfect � until the last game. This time, in a
rematch of their 1977 title game encounter with Canton
McKinley, it would be the Bulldogs coming out on top, as
they handed the Crusaders their first shutout since
1972, 13-0. Moeller, now playing under coach Steve
Klonne, bounced right back in 1982 by posting a perfect
13-0 season and winning another Division I
championship. The Crusaders lost first round playoff
games in both 1983 and 1984, but in 1985 they
successfully regrouped to win their seventh state
championship.
From 1975-1985 the Crusaders had won seven Class
AAA/Division I state football titles, and had been named
national champions five times. The run was now over,
but the standard had been set.
While we normally identify a state power with an
extended run of success like that enjoyed by Moeller in
the �70s and �80s, that is not always the scenario.
Take the example of Benedictine High School. A power in
the Greater Cleveland area for more than a half century,
the Bengals are the only team to win a playoff
championship in every decade that the playoffs have been
held.
Under legendary coach Augie Bossu, the Bengals first
qualified for the playoffs in 1973, and promptly won the
Class AA state title. It would take Benedictine seven
years to return to post-season play, but then they would
win back-to-back titles, in two different divisions. In
1980, the Bengals handed Hamilton Badin its first loss
of the season in winning the Division III title game,
9-3. The next year, having moved up to Division II,
coach Bossu�s defense scored two touchdowns as the
Bengals overcame Trotwood Madison�s early 7-0 lead to
come away with a 28-7 championship game victory.
Over the next 15 seasons Benedictine would qualify for
the playoffs seven times, but the Bengals would have to
wait until 1996 to win their fourth state championship,
a 14-3 victory over Columbus DeSales in the Division III
final.
Since �96 the Bengals have qualified for the playoffs
all but three times, and have advanced to the Division
III championship game three more times. In 2002 the
Bengals lost to Columbus Watterson, 28-7, in the title
game, but each of the next two seasons they took home
the championship hardware. In 2003, not even Kenton�s
great quarterback Ben Mauk could keep the Bengals from a
state championship, as Benedictine�s defense shut down
Mauk while defeating the Wildcats by a score of 12-0.
The next year it would be St. Mary�s Memorial losing to
Benedictine in the Division III final, 27-14, as the
Bengals took home their sixth state championship � the
third most titles in the state.
Benedictine may not win the title every season, but
there is a reason for that sign over the school entrance
that reads �The Home of Champions.�
Benedictine has shown that you do not have to be one of
the so called �big schools� to win championships, and a
school with one-third the number of boys as Benedictine
in some regards may possess the most successful playoff
era football team of all. Newark Catholic High School
has only 111 boys and plays in Division V, but the Green
Wave has practically made the playoffs their own
personal second season. In the 34 years that Ohio has
had the football playoffs, the Green and White has
qualified for the post-season an unbelievable 28 times.
Once they are in the playoffs, Newark Catholic is not
satisfied with just sticking around for the proverbial
cup of coffee. The Green Wave has advanced to the
championship game more times than any other school in
the state, playing for Division V honors a record 12
times. Over one eight year stretch, 1980 to 1987, they
advanced to the finals each season, winning five of
those eight championship games, including a then record
four in a row (1984-1987). The Green Wave has also won
titles in 1978 and 1991, tying them with Moeller for the
second most state championships at seven.
Beginning in 1985 another small school started its own
fabulous run of success, across two different
divisions. Playing in Division IV, the Versailles
Tigers steadily advanced through the playoffs each
season, finally making it to the championship game in
1988. They lost that one to Canton Central Catholic,
21-6. In 1989 the Tigers lost out in the semi-finals;
but, coach Al Hetrick�s team finally struck gold in 1990
when they defeated Loudonville, 29-26, in a very
exciting Division IV championship game.
The 1991 and 1992 seasons were off years for the Tigers
as they failed to qualify for the playoffs, but they
were hardly finished winning state championships. After
losing its season opener in 1993, Versailles won out
over the rest of the season to finish 13-1 and win its
second state title. The following year the Tigers moved
to Division V, where their win streak reached 27 in a
row as they won a second straight title. In 1995
Versailles was back again in Division IV. Another 14-0
season stretched their win streak to 41 in a row, but it
very nearly did not happen. In two of the three playoff
games leading to the state title game the Tigers won by
just a single point. In the Division IV championship
game that season, the Tigers had to battle Bellaire�s
Big Red through two overtime periods before finally
coming away with a 50-44 victory and their third
consecutive football championship. In 1996 Versailles
ran its win streak to 54 in a row before seeing it all
come to an end with a 26-14 defeat at the hands of
Marion Pleasant in the Division V title game.
Coach Al Hetrick�s Tigers have qualified for the
playoffs six of the last nine years. In 1998 they again
took top honors in Division V, and in 2003 and 2004 they
played for the title in Division IV. They lost in �04,
but in 2003 the Tigers took home state championship
trophy #6. Only four schools in Ohio have won as many
state titles as the Versailles Tigers.
If you measure success simply by state championships,
then the hands down winner in Ohio is Cleveland�s St.
Ignatius Wildcats. While the Wildcats have been a power
in the Cleveland area since the late 1940s, and playing
football for more than 90 years, they are a relative
newcomer to the world of Ohio playoff football. A
newcomer, yes, but hardly unsuccessful. The Wildcats
did not advance to Division I post-season play until
1988, but since then they have not missed a year,
playing in a state record 21 (thru 2008) consecutive
playoffs.
Once St. Ignatius did make the playoffs it looked as if
not only would they never leave, but that no one would
ever beat them. In both 1988 and 1989 the Wildcats won
all eight of their playoff games to win back-to-back
Division I titles, as well as the national championship
in �89. In 1990 they lost their first round playoff
game, but that proved to be merely a fluke. From 1991
thru 1995 coach Chuck Kyle�s Wildcats won 20 consecutive
playoff games, leading to an incredible five consecutive
Division I championships, perhaps the greatest playoff
era accomplishment to date. In 1993 and 1995, Coach
Kyle�s team also added two more national championships
to its trophy case.
The Wildcats� playoff win streak hit 23 in a row before
they were defeated by Lima Senior High School in the
1996 championship game, 38-30. The Wildcats continued
to make the playoffs each season, but did not return to
the Division I finals again until 1999. Led by
sophomore quarterback Nate Szep, starting his very first
varsity game in the Division I championship game due to
an injury to regular starter Bryan Panteck, the Wildcats
defeated a tough Huber Heights Wayne team, 24-10, to
earn a record eighth state championship.
In 2000, the Wildcats seemed destined to win another
state title when they were upset in the regional finals
by the Comets of Solon High School. In 2001 the
scenario was quite different. The Wildcats completed
the regular season at 6-4 and just barely qualified for
the playoffs on the very last day of the season. The
playoffs are often referred to as a second season, and
the 2001 Wildcats took full advantage of this fact.
Averaging just under 45 points per game, the Wildcats
destroyed some of the state�s top Division I teams along
the playoff trail. In the finals St. Ignatius even
manhandled Cincinnati St. Xavier, which had defeated St.
Ignatius during the regular season. The Wildcats made
it look easy as they defeated the Bombers in that title
game by a score of 37-6 to bring home an unprecedented
ninth state football championship.
From 2002 to 2007 victories were a bit hard to come by
for St. Ignatius, but they continued to make the
playoffs every year. In 2008, after an opening night
loss to Glenville the Wildcats ran off 14 consecutive
victories, culminated by a 28-20 victory over Cincinnati
Elder in the Division I championship game � the Wildcats
10th state title.
The playoffs have added five weeks to the high school
football season, but you will hear few, if any,
complaints from those schools that have qualified for
post-season play. In the big cities it is the
individual school where most of the excitement takes
place. However, it is a much different story for the
schools in some of Ohio�s smaller communities. There,
when the local team makes the playoffs it is like the 4th
of July and the Super Bowl all rolled into one.
Everyone in town gets behind the team, and it does not
matter whether the team is the first seed or the eighth,
just making the playoffs is all that matters. Of
course, they all hope � and expect � that their team
will go all the way to a state championship; but,
whether or not they bring home a state title, or bow out
in the first round, for as long as their team is in the
playoffs they are the local heroes and will remain so
until the next season rolls around, and perhaps beyond.
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Looking Back at the
OHSAA's Football Championships - No. 4
A centennial moment - National Champions
By Timothy L. Hudak
Sports Heritage Specialty Publications
4814 Broadview Rd.
Cleveland, Ohio 44109
www.SportsHeritagePublications.net
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It seems that every Fall the debate resumes: which state
has the best high school football? Many claim that
honor belongs to the Lone Star State of Texas, while
California, Pennsylvania, and Florida also have their
solid backers. However, the numbers tell it all, and
when you look at the numbers there can only be one
answer: OHIO.
National champions in high school football have been
named since 1897. At first this was not a yearly thing,
but since 1910 only the war years of 1917, 1944 and 1945
have passed without a national high school football
champion being named. These champions have come from 23
different states. Of the 128 schools (thru 2008) that
have been named, or shared, the title of national
champion, 27, or a whopping 21%, have come from the
Buckeye State. To illustrate how dominating a figure
that is, the state with the next most champions is
California with 16, while Texas has 15 and only two
other states can claim as many as ten national
champions.
Ohio�s national champions have not been limited to any
certain period of time. The first titleholder, Fostoria
High School, won its title back in 1912, while Ohio�s
most recent national champion, Canton McKinley�s
Bulldogs, grabbed top honors in 1997. In every decade
between those two years, a total of eight Ohio high
schools have been good enough to place national
championship hardware in their trophy cases. Leading
the way with a national record of nine titles is
Massillon Washington High School, followed by Cincinnati
Moeller (5), Toledo Scott (4), Cleveland St. Ignatius
(3), Toledo Waite (2), Canton McKinley (2), East
Cleveland Shaw (1) and Fostoria (1).
While each of these schools has had its own era of
national prominence, the fact that an Ohio school is
always somewhere near the top of the national charts is
the most telling evidence for the outstanding quality
and consistency of the high school football played in
the state. Furthermore, it is not just the so-called
big schools that have garnered this national acclaim.
Several of the teams from Ohio�s smaller school
divisions have been good enough to occasionally land on
the national charts as well, demonstrating that football
excellence in the state is not limited to just a few, or
to just one division.
Today we have what are called the �mythical� national
champions in high school football because the winners
are taken from the various nationwide polls, rather than
winning their title on the field of play. However,
believe it or not, in the earliest days of high school
football the national championships were actually
decided on the gridiron, and Ohio schools were in the
thick of it. From 1897-1927 a total of 16 games were
played that are today recognized as having been for the
national championship. Ohio schools were very involved
in these games, having played in ten of them. Our
record was a good one, too, as Ohio high schools posted
five victories and one tie, while losing just four
times.
The first national championship game took place in 1897,
when the team from Madison (Wisc.) High School defeated
North Tonawanda (N.Y.) High School by a score of 14-0 to
claim that first national championship. It would not be
for another seven years before another national champion
was named, and this, too, would be as the result of a
championship game. That game, played in Saturday,
November 5, 1904, would pit a couple of �neighbors�
against each other, Toledo Central High School against
Detroit Central High School. In this late afternoon game
the Toledoans scored a first quarter touchdown, but
missed the �goal kick� to leave the score at 5-0
(touchdowns were only worth five points back then).
Later in the first half the Detroiters recovered a
Toledo fumble and returned the ball 55 yards for the
game tying TD. The Detroiters made their goal kick to
take a 6-5 lead. That was how the game would end, one
in which the final ten minutes were �played in almost
total darkness,� there being no lights for the gridiron
in �05. (The first night game to be played under the
lights in Ohio would not come until October of 1929 in
Cleveland, when St. Ignatius defeated Holy Name by a
score of 24 to 7.)
In 1912, the Redmen of Fostoria High School under the
direction of their great coach Lawrence C. Boles, were
on their way to a third consecutive state championship,
and scoring points almost faster than the guy running
the scoreboard could post them. In their eight games
they would amass 596 points, for an unbelievable
average of 74� points per game, while yielding zero.
Twice they scored more than 100 points, defeating
Crestline High School, 131-0, and Prairie Depot by
103-0. When a game was arranged with Buffalo (N.Y.)
Central High School, one of the better teams in the
east, to decide the national championship, it was hoped
that the Redmen would finally face some stiff
competition.
New team, same score. It was not even close as the
Redmen�s vaunted passing attack destroyed the New
Yorkers by the team�s weekly average, 74-0. How good
was this Fostoria team that ran up one of the greatest
point differentials in national high school football
history? George Little, then the head football coach at
the University of Cincinnati and who had officiated at
several Fostoria games during the season, said that
Fostoria had the best passing attack of any team he had
ever seen (only six years after the forward pass had
been legalized) and that the Redmen could defeat the
majority of the college teams in Ohio.
Fostoria shared the national title that season with the
team from Oak Park (Ill.) High School, which defeated
the team from Everett, Mass., 32-14, in another national
championship game.
From 1916-1923, Toledo�s Scott High School possessed
quite possibly the most dominant high school football
team in the nation, during an era that saw the emergence
of several great high school teams around the country.
Scott also has the distinction of having never lost a
national championship football game � and they played in
four of them, more than any other school in the country
In 1916, Coach Tom Merrell�s team put its 9-0-0 record
(which already included victories over teams from
Michigan, Pennsylvania and Illinois) on the line when it
traveled to Massachusetts via rail. There they would
take on Haverhill High School of the Boston area on
Saturday, December 9, before some 7,000 mostly local
fans � although a contingent of Scott loyalists had also
taken the train to Massachusetts for the game. The
weather was perfect for football, even if the warmer
temperatures of the early afternoon thawed an early
season frost, making the field just a bit slippery.
Scott took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter, then added
another six-pointer in the final frame to post its sixth
shutout of the season, 13-0, to claim its first national
championship.
In 1919 Scott High again really earned its national
championship. After playing, and defeating, a slate of
seven teams from around Ohio and Michigan, the Bulldogs
again traveled to Massachusetts, where it defeated the
team from Somerville High School, 13-0, for the right to
travel to the other side of the country to play for the
national championship. The Toledoans were supposed to
play the California champions from Long Beach, but that
game fell through at the last minute. Instead, they
journeyed up the coast to Everett, Washington, for a
game with that city�s team, one of the best contingents
on the west coast, if not the whole country. The
contest was a bitter struggle that ended in a 7-7
deadlock. Both teams shared the national title that
year, along with the team from Harrisburg, Pa. (12-0,
outscoring the opposition 701-0).
The following year Everett (Wash.) High School again
played a team from Ohio for the national title,
Cleveland�s East Tech High School. Unfortunately for
the Scarabs, it was a long trip that ended in a 16-7
defeat.
In 1923, Scott High School played host to the team from
Washington High School of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in another
game billed as being for the national championship.
Played before some 20,000 spectators at Toledo�s new
stadium, the locals were stunned as Cedar Rapids� Elmer
Marek scored 21 points within a 10 minute span of the
third period to tie the game at 21-all. But with just
36 seconds to play, Scotts� captain, Eddie Evans, booted
the field goal that gave Scott High School a 24-21
victory.
The season was apparently now over for Scott, until the
challenge came from undefeated Columbia Prep of
Corvallis, Oregon, which also wanted to play Scott to
decide the national title. That game, played on January
1, 1924, was a bit anti-climatic when compared to the
game against Washington High. After a slow start, in
which Scott led 6-0 at the half, the Ohioans poured it
on in the second session to come away with a 32-0
victory.
And this time there were no more challengers, the
national championship was theirs - almost. That same
year, Shaw High School of East Cleveland hosted the team
from Salem (Mass.) High School, the only undefeated team
in the Bay State. Before some 12,000 fans at Shaw
Stadium, the East Clevelanders handily swept aside their
visitors by a score of 26-0. Toledo Scott and Shaw are
recognized as co-national (and Ohio) champions for 1923.
In 1924 there was no recognized game for the national
championship, but if ever a team had earned that title
it was the team from Scott High School�s archrival from
across town, Waite High School. You will probably never
find a more truly national schedule than that of the
1924 Waite football team. Off their ten games, only
three were played in Ohio, the rest being composed of
teams from Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Tennessee,
Louisiana and Massachusetts. Waite no doubt clinched
the national title when they defeated two-time defending
champion Scott, 13-6, in their next to last game. They
then added an exclamation point to the season by
thrashing one-time national power, Everett (Mass.) High
School, in their season finale, 46-0. (Yes, strange as
it may seem, two high schools with the name �Everett,�
one from Washington and the other from Massachusetts,
were national powers at roughly the same time.)
After owning the national championship for three years,
1922-1924, Ohio fell out of the picture until 1927.
That year, undefeated state champion Cleveland Cathedral
Latin was challenged by the team from Waco (Tex.) High
School to play in Texas for the national championship.
The game was played on December 26. The Latins, not
having had their uniforms on for almost three weeks, and
not having practiced outdoors for that same period due
to the weather in Cleveland, held their own early in the
game. But eventually Waco�s superior size and
conditioning, and the sweltering 80+ degrees in Waco�s
Cow Palace Arena, finally got to the Clevelanders as
they lost the game, 44-12. In this, the last game
recognized as a national high school championship game,
Cathedral Latin became the only private school to play
for national honors.
The 1930s were anything but depressing for Ohio high
school football fans, as Ohio teams dominated the
national polls throughout the decade. In 1932, Toledo
Waite (12-0) won its second national championship,
sharing the title with the team from New Rochelle, N.Y.
In 1934 Canton McKinley went 11-0 to win its first
national championship. The next two years the Bulldogs�
archrivals, Massillon Washington, dominated the national
scene as Paul Brown�s Tigers posted back-to-back
undefeated seasons to capture consecutive national
titles. The Tigers came back to again post back-to-back
national championship seasons under Coach Brown in 1939
and 1940.
That championship posted by the Tigers in 1940 would
prove to be Ohio�s only national title that decade, but
in the early �50s the Tigers, now playing under head
coach Chuck Mather, were once again back at it. From
1948 thru 1953, Mather�s Tigers won 57 of 60 games,
adding national championships in 1950, 1952 and 1953.
Later in the decade, under the guidance of Coach Leo
Strang, the Tigers took home a national championship in
1959, and again in 1961.
From 1962 to 1975 Ohio would experience its longest
period, 14 seasons, without a national champion, but all
of that would come to a screeching halt in 1976 with the
emergence of the Cincinnati Moeller Crusaders under the
leadership of head coach Gerry Faust. Moeller won
national championships in 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980 and
1982, becoming only the second parochial school to do
so.
In 1989, Cleveland�s St. Ignatius Wildcats became only
the third parochial school to grab national honors, and
coach Chuck Kyle�s Wildcats repeated as national
champions in 1993 and 1995. For their efforts and
outstanding success the Wildcats were named the national
�Team of the Decade� for the 1990s by Student Sports
magazine
Ohio�s most recent national championship is owned by the
Bulldogs of Canton McKinley, Coach Thom McDaniels� team
taking the nation�s top spot in 1997.
With the outstanding caliber of high school football
that is yearly demonstrated throughout the Buckeye
State, it is only a matter of time before another Ohio
high school rests atop the national charts.
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