Ohio's Highest HS Football Winning Percentages All-Time

4GX

Well-known member
Since this came up a few years ago, I've continued to track the records of Ohio high schools with the highest all-time football winning percentage; I believe that these records are current through this past weekend's games:

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Wyoming is now Ohio's all-time highest winning percentage team, if tie games are included in total games played; Wyoming has been Ohio's highest winning percentage team for some time now, if tie games are excluded from the total played-- but now, Wyoming has also surpassed Massillon Washington in highest winning percentage, if tie games are included in the total games played.

Note that some sports statisticians calculate winning percentage with tie games included in the total games played (with ties considered "not a win"), while others (e.g.- the NFL, for purpose of ranking its teams by winning percentage) exclude tie games from the total (i.e.- ties are considered neither a win nor a loss- and thus excluded from denominator of the winning percentage calculation).

In recent years, Canton McKinley has seen its all-time winning percentage falling fairly noticeably, Massillon Washington and Steubenville have been (roughly) maintaining their winning percentage at their historical levels, while Wyoming and (especially) Maria Stein Marion Local have been raising their winning percentages gradually over time; while Wyoming may be first in all-time winning percentage at the moment, if MSML continues to post 16-0 state championship seasons with the frequency that MSML has done over the last ~decade, it won't be long before MSML takes over the top spot from Wyoming.
 
 
Mogadore is at 712-286-22 after this weekend, which has them at I think 71.342?
That's good information-- I will slot Mogadore into that table, ahead of Canton McKinley (since Mogadore's record both with or without ties included now exceeds McKinley's)-- love that name, too-- and the nickname (Moggie)-- gotta have them in the (revised) list:

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Note-- with rounding, Moggie's winning percentage (excluding ties) is actually at 71.343%-- VERY close to MSML's 71.391%-- but still trails MSML's record (with ties included) by a fair bit (69.804% to 70.735%)-- still, very impressive for Moggie!

Also-- kind of interesting how FEW ties MSML has played over its history-- WAAAAY fewer than the other teams in this list (although that's partially to do with MSML having FAR fewer total seasons played)... Conversely, it's interesting how MANY ties Wyoming has played-- with ~40 fewer years of football than all of Massillon Washington, Steubenville, and Canton McKinley, Wyo has played MORE ties than any of them...
 
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ML has 8 ties, but none since 1984.
I'll update that information-- I had MSML with 7 ties, through 2020-- and (obviously) none since then-- perhaps my original data had an error-- but that small change would not change the Top Five All-Time rankings-- it's still:
1) Wyoming
2) Massillon Washington
3) Steubenville
4) Maria Stein Marion Local
5) Mogadore (replacing Canton McKinley)
 
That's good information-- I will slot Mogadore into that table, ahead of Canton McKinley (since Mogadore's record both with or without ties included now exceeds McKinley's)-- love that name, too-- and the nickname (Mogie?)-- gotta have them in the (revised) list:

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Note-- with rounding, Mogie's winning percentage (excluding ties) is actually at 71.343%-- VERY close to MSML's 71.391%-- but still trails MSML's record (with ties included) by a fair bit (69.804% to 70.735%)-- still, very impressive for Mogie!

Also-- kind of interesting how FEW ties MSML has played over its history-- WAAAAY fewer than the other teams in this list (although that's partially to do with MSML having FAR fewer total seasons played)... Conversely, it's interesting how MANY ties Wyoming has played-- with ~40 fewer years of football than all of Massillon Washington, Steubenville, and Canton McKinley, Wyo has played MORE ties than any of them...
Well it's Mogadore but some on here refer to the school and town as Moggie, not Mogie..just fyi
 

473 wins - 202 losses - 4 ties .699 That is what Columbus DeSales Website has for them 11th All Time in Win % . Seems there might be some schools ahead of them your numbers are missing.

 

473 wins - 202 losses - 4 ties .699 That is what Columbus DeSales Website has for them 11th All Time in Win % . Seems there might be some schools ahead of them your numbers are missing.

Ok-- I am open to correcting any mistakes-- but, if I read your data correctly (and interpret it)-- Columbus DeSales would slip into 6th place (behind Mogadore-- but ahead of Canton McKinley)... I don't think that changes the Top Five All-Time-- but it is certainly impressive-- and worth noting!
 
Wyoming hasn't lost a regular-season game since 2015, so it may still take awhile for MSML to make up the difference.

Wyoming also celebrated 100 years of football in 2018, but it seems like their total only goes back to 1931 (based on what OHSAA has listed).
 
Imagine if Massillon and McK didn't rack up Ls playing each other
Imagine if Massillon and McK didn't rack up hundreds of wins, focusing on football from the 1890's on, when no one else gave a shite about the sport-- so that they didn't START the process with a 30-50 year huge head start in high winning percentage over nearly every one else in Ohio.

I think I'd trade that one (possible) loss each year for the ~8-9 almost guaranteed wins that BOTH of those teams were accruing, when they were the first ones heavily focused on the sport, while schools like Wyoming were not even fielding a team.
 
Wyoming hasn't lost a regular-season game since 2015, so it may still take awhile for MSML to make up the difference.

Wyoming also celebrated 100 years of football in 2018, but it seems like their total only goes back to 1931 (based on what OHSAA has listed).
WOW. If that is accurate, maybe the person that started this thread should have done more research. 🤔
 
Imagine if Massillon and McK didn't rack up hundreds of wins, focusing on football from the 1890's on, when no one else gave a shite about the sport-- so that they didn't START the process with a 30-50 year huge head start in high winning percentage over nearly every one else in Ohio.

I think I'd trade that one (possible) loss each year for the ~8-9 almost guaranteed wins that BOTH of those teams were accruing, when they were the first ones heavily focused on the sport, while schools like Wyoming were not even fielding a team.
What a crock? Everyone knows your angle for this thread. 931! The most wins in Ohio high school football history—-The Massillon Washington Tigers🐅
 
Imagine if Massillon and McK didn't rack up hundreds of wins, focusing on football from the 1890's on, when no one else gave a shite about the sport-- so that they didn't START the process with a 30-50 year huge head start in high winning percentage over nearly every one else in Ohio.

I think I'd trade that one (possible) loss each year for the ~8-9 almost guaranteed wins that BOTH of those teams were accruing, when they were the first ones heavily focused on the sport, while schools like Wyoming were not even fielding a team.
Dang, someone sure got up on the wrong side of the bed - take a chill pill
 
Imagine if Massillon and McK didn't rack up hundreds of wins, focusing on football from the 1890's on, when no one else gave a shite about the sport-- so that they didn't START the process with a 30-50 year huge head start in high winning percentage over nearly every one else in Ohio.

I think I'd trade that one (possible) loss each year for the ~8-9 almost guaranteed wins that BOTH of those teams were accruing, when they were the first ones heavily focused on the sport, while schools like Wyoming were not even fielding a team.
And since the school was founded in 1899 and didn't start playing football for almost 20 years. So where does the 30-50 year advantage come from? Your imagination?
 
WOW. If that is accurate, maybe the person that started this thread should have done more research. 🤔
The person that started this thread used Wyoming's entire football record to compile the statistics-- no additional research was required on Wyoming-- Wyoming started playing football in 1930.
 
And since the school was founded in 1899 and didn't start playing football for almost 20 years. So where does the 30-50 year advantage come from? Your imagination?
Massillon Washington and Canton McKinley track games going back to the 1890's-- Wyoming started playing football in 1930-- that's a 40-year head start... Maria Stein Marion Local High School was founded in 1957, and started playing football in ~1960-- that is roughly a 70-year head start for Massillon Washington and Canton McKinley... presumably you understand the time difference between 1890 and 1930 and 1960.
 
And since the school was founded in 1899 and didn't start playing football for almost 20 years. So where does the 30-50 year advantage come from? Your imagination?
The school (Wyoming) did not start playing football until 1930.
 
Imagine if Massillon and McK didn't rack up hundreds of wins, focusing on football from the 1890's on, when no one else gave a shite about the sport-- so that they didn't START the process with a 30-50 year huge head start in high winning percentage over nearly every one else in Ohio.

I think I'd trade that one (possible) loss each year for the ~8-9 almost guaranteed wins that BOTH of those teams were accruing, when they were the first ones heavily focused on the sport, while schools like Wyoming were not even fielding a team.
I think you may find football more popular in the 20’s and 30’s than by far nowadays.
 
I think you may find football more popular in the 20’s and 30’s than by far nowadays.
Football in the 1890's was NOT that popular at all-- it was considered SO dangerous that many schools seriously considered banning the sport-- to prevent the frequent deaths that were occurring (due, amongst other things, to the lack of any protective equipment-- especially for the head). Baseball's popularity dwarfed football's popularity for ~100 years after the invention of both sports. The most popular sports in America in the 1920's and 1930's were:
1) Baseball (and it wasn't even close with #2);
2) Boxing;
3) Horseracing

Football was very unlikely to have even been #4 at that time. Baseball dominated the national sporting news, with professional teams in all of the most important cities-- while professional football was just getting started-- with "top level" professional football teams in such backwaters as Canton and Portsmouth, OH and Decatur, IL.
 
Imagine if Massillon and McK didn't rack up hundreds of wins, focusing on football from the 1890's on, when no one else gave a shite about the sport-- so that they didn't START the process with a 30-50 year huge head start in high winning percentage over nearly every one else in Ohio.

I think I'd trade that one (possible) loss each year for the ~8-9 almost guaranteed wins that BOTH of those teams were accruing, when they were the first ones heavily focused on the sport, while schools like Wyoming were not even fielding a team.

You should take the time to break down Mck and Massillon starting in 1930 and see if your hypothesis holds. Instead of just "imagining".
 
Professional and college football did such a poor job of keeping stats in the early years, it is hard to imagine high schools across Ohio and the rest of the country did. I always enjoy reading old newspaper articles of games, but even those are usually written like novels or
 
It would be interesting to see what these numbers look like in what ever you consider maybe the “modern” football era. Maybe from 1950 on when a majority of HS had a football team. I don’t know if winning games from 1890 - 1950 really carry much weight on the state of a program in todays standards. Especially if a team hasn’t won a championship in the playoff era😎.
 
Professional and college football did such a poor job of keeping stats in the early years, it is hard to imagine high schools across Ohio and the rest of the country did. I always enjoy reading old newspaper articles of games, but even those are usually written like novels or
For some reason my post got cut off.


Professional and college football did such a poor job of keeping stats in the early years, it is hard to imagine high schools across Ohio and the rest of the country did. I always enjoy reading old newspaper articles of games, but even those are usually written like novels or glorious stories, but often didn't even list rushing yards, lol.
 
Imagine if Massillon and McK didn't rack up hundreds of wins, focusing on football from the 1890's on, when no one else gave a shite about the sport-- so that they didn't START the process with a 30-50 year huge head start in high winning percentage over nearly every one else in Ohio.

I think I'd trade that one (possible) loss each year for the ~8-9 almost guaranteed wins that BOTH of those teams were accruing, when they were the first ones heavily focused on the sport, while schools like Wyoming were not even fielding a team.
Show us some tears 😢
 
Wyoming hasn't lost a regular-season game since 2015, so it may still take awhile for MSML to make up the difference.

Wyoming also celebrated 100 years of football in 2018, but it seems like their total only goes back to 1931 (based on what OHSAA has listed).
The person that started this thread used Wyoming's entire football record to compile the statistics-- no additional research was required on Wyoming-- Wyoming started playing football in 1930.
If Wyoming celebrated 100 years of football in 2018, and you stated they started their football program in 1930, what happened to the other 12-13 years? Am I missing something?
 
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