Steubenville's Travels (Or Lack Thereof)

I ran a query on my scores database for 2001-2016. 16x5=80 would be typical/average. Not surprisingly, teams with most home games:

114 - Steubenville
106 - Massillon Washington
104 - Warren Warren G. Harding
97 - Cincinnati Elder
96 - Barberton (?)
95 - Steubenville Catholic Central
92 - Niles McKinley
92 - Austintown-Fitch
91 - Canton McKinley
90 - Canton Central Catholic
90 - Zanesville
90 - Canfield
90 - Akron STVM

and the least? east tech?
 
and the least? east tech?

I had to filter off all the schools that have not played all 16 years...Fewest my records show:

46 - Akron Firestone
47 - Akron North
48 - Akron East
48 - Akron Garfield
54 - Akron Kenmore
55 - Cleveland Lincoln-West
57 - Cleveland East Tech
58 - Toledo Woodward
61 - Akron Buchtel
62 - Cleveland Glenville
64 - Cleveland Benedictine
64 - Columbus Bishop Ready
 
I had to filter off all the schools that have not played all 16 years...Fewest my records show:

46 - Akron Firestone
47 - Akron North
48 - Akron East
48 - Akron Garfield
54 - Akron Kenmore
55 - Cleveland Lincoln-West
57 - Cleveland East Tech
58 - Toledo Woodward
61 - Akron Buchtel
62 - Cleveland Glenville
64 - Cleveland Benedictine
64 - Columbus Bishop Ready

Good lord.

Some of them are barely averaging 3 a year.

No real surprises on that list though.

Thank you
 
Good lord.

Some of them are barely averaging 3 a year.

No real surprises on that list though.

Thank you

Firestone, Garfield, and East have not had a home non-conference game this century. Same for North, except they played Mooney at Buchtel in 2015, which I flagged as Home. Kenmore has had 2, vs Senate League teams.
 
Good lord.

Some of them are barely averaging 3 a year.

No real surprises on that list though.

Thank you

Benedictine jumps off that list like a bomb exploding. For them to accomplish what they have playing so many games in the road tells you exactly what kind of quality program they have. And to top it off, take a look at the road games they have played. They ain't playing dogs on the road. They are playing big time parochial teams on the road. My respect for that program just grew by leaps and bounds.
 
Did anyone happen to notice the irony here...5 of the 12 teams listed are Old All American Conference foes. Steubenville, Massillon, Warren Harding, Canton McKinley and Niles McKinley. This home game thing started back in the early 60's and became normal practice. In those days it was generally a 7-3 breakdown. With the quality of schedule these teams play I think it was felt that having that extra home game or two was needed. It's nice to see our brethren from Steub CC likes their home games as well.

It's likely because all these schools had and still have stadiums where they sell lots of tickets. I won't discount that factor here at all.

I don't blame a team with a 12,000-seat stadium for not wanting to sign a contract with a team whose stadium is only 3,000. And the team with the smaller stadium would rather trade a home game for cash.
 
I had to filter off all the schools that have not played all 16 years...Fewest my records show:

46 - Akron Firestone
47 - Akron North
48 - Akron East
48 - Akron Garfield
54 - Akron Kenmore
55 - Cleveland Lincoln-West
57 - Cleveland East Tech
58 - Toledo Woodward
61 - Akron Buchtel
62 - Cleveland Glenville
64 - Cleveland Benedictine
64 - Columbus Bishop Ready

Glenville, Benedictine, and Ready definitely stand out on this list. They have had lots of good teams. Glenville was one point away from a state title against Hilliard Davidson a few years ago.
 
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Glenville, Benedictine, and Ready definitely stand out on this list. They have had lots of good teams. Benedictine was one point away from a state title against Hilliard Davidson a few years ago.

You meant Glenville - Hillard Davidson

Glenville was not a surprise on the list. They have played 3 non-conference road games every year.

Benedictine was the surprise team on the list.

Ready has no home stadium, so perhaps that plays into why they made the list.
 
You meant Glenville - Hillard Davidson

Glenville was not a surprise on the list. They have played 3 non-conference road games every year.

Benedictine was the surprise team on the list.

Ready has no home stadium, so perhaps that plays into why they made the list.

The Bennies have always had a tough time finding games and when you have to plead for games you go on the road to get them. Not too surprising.
 
Of course, teams don't necessarily won't to give a lot of money to a team that is going to beat them. I won't be shocked if Benedictine wins D2 this year.
 
I had to filter off all the schools that have not played all 16 years...Fewest my records show:

46 - Akron Firestone
47 - Akron North
48 - Akron East
48 - Akron Garfield
54 - Akron Kenmore
55 - Cleveland Lincoln-West
57 - Cleveland East Tech
58 - Toledo Woodward
61 - Akron Buchtel
62 - Cleveland Glenville
64 - Cleveland Benedictine
64 - Columbus Bishop Ready


Woodward was without a field for a time as their school was built new. They have held five games in 2021 and 2019. No football in 2020
 
I guess if you can bully everyone to come to your place then more power to you, but I think that would get awfully boring as a fan, and even a coach, to always play at the same location.
 
I been reading this thread and I have a couple of thoughts. Massie wanted a home and home Big Red said no and used the excuse that the Massie seating was too small. Then I thought about Kettering Alter they play all their games on the road because they do not have a football stadium. Home games are played at Kettering Fairmont most of the time, but because of scheduling, they have played at Centerville and Springboro to name a few. Every year they play a game against Fairmont and every year it is played at Fairmont Stadium.
 
Hopin.... great point. The rape story isn't even a story in so many places. If it happens (and it does everywhere in America) in a place of a mediocre football program it would have gotten little to no attention. Right here in good ole Ohio similar stories made 3rd or 4th page stories in the local section of newspapers.

About the travel.....if you can do it why not. The gate at those games allow Big Red to do things for the sports programs that most others cannot do. Without 7 or 8 home games, one of the best stadiums in Ohio still has grass. They just built a brand new beautiful visitors locker room along with freshman locker rooms. That have replaced both end zone stands along with an expensive fabulous new scoreboard. Not to mention a great gymnasium and natatorium. Most, if not all of this is not possible without gate receipts from football, levy passing voters and generous fans. Bottom line is those crying about our home games would do the same if they could. :wallbang:
When did Harding go back to a grass field ?? Its been turf for many years ??
 
When did Harding go back to a grass field ?? Its been turf for many years ??
When I played on harding field in 1991 it was grass then, I can’t remember when they went to turf… I remember them putting it in but not sure of the year
 
You know what I say…. SO WHAT, somebody has to play the most home games might as well be The Mighty Big Red…… if some local teams would step up it might be different.
 
You know what I say…. SO WHAT, somebody has to play the most home games might as well be The Mighty Big Red…… if some local teams would step up it might be different.
People love to hate on us for every little thing, maybe if they all had a rich heritage and a great athletic department then maybe they could have more home games…. It doesn’t matter what field you put the RED on they will play you to the max. Besides why wouldn’t people wanna come play at Death Valley…. We have one of the most awesome facilities around. Playing at Death Valley is an honor. DONT HATE THE PLAYERS HATE THE GAME??????
 
I guess if you can bully everyone to come to your place then more power to you, but I think that would get awfully boring as a fan, and even a coach, to always play at the same location.
Man, Steubenville AD must be brutal! They actually bully them to play in Steubenville? They don’t even make any money from it? They are acquiescing just so they don’t get a wedgie or their books slapped out of their hands?
 
Hopin.... great point. The rape story isn't even a story in so many places. If it happens (and it does everywhere in America) in a place of a mediocre football program it would have gotten little to no attention. Right here in good ole Ohio similar stories made 3rd or 4th page stories in the local section of newspapers.

About the travel.....if you can do it why not. The gate at those games allow Big Red to do things for the sports programs that most others cannot do. Without 7 or 8 home games, one of the best stadiums in Ohio still has grass. They just built a brand new beautiful visitors locker room along with freshman locker rooms. That have replaced both end zone stands along with an expensive fabulous new scoreboard. Not to mention a great gymnasium and natatorium. Most, if not all of this is not possible without gate receipts from football, levy passing voters and generous fans. Bottom line is those crying about our home games would do the same if they could. :wallbang:
This is strange….. the above is not my post.
 
I decided to look up something. I went all the way back to 1961 and counted all the regular-season games that Steubenville has played away from home. As many may have guessed here, it's not very many. Fortunately, it's all pretty easy to get if you just go to Roll Red Roll. Kudos to MANOWAR for keeping up a great web site:

http://www.rollredroll.com/results6180.htm

Anyway, here are the numbers from 1961. These are all ten-game seasons:

1961 - 2
1962 - 2
1963 - 2
1964 - 2
1965 - 3
1966 - 1
1967 - 3
1968 - 3
1969 - 3
1970 - 2
1971 - 3
1972 - 2
1973 - 3
1974 - 2
1975 - 3
1976 - 2
1977 - 3
1978 - 3
1979 - 3
1980 - 3
1981 - 2
1982 - 1
1983 - 2
1984 - 2
1985 - 2
1986 - 3
1987 - 1
1988 - 2
1989 - 2
1990 - 2
1991 - 2
1992 - 1
1993 - 3
1994 - 1
1995 - 3
1996 - 2
1997 - 2
1998 - 3
1999 - 3
2000 - 3
2001 - 3
2002 - 4
2003 - 3
2004 - 2 (1N)
2005 - 3
2006 - 3
2007 - 3
2008 - 3
2009 - 2 (1N)
2010 - 1 (1N)
2011 - 2
2012 - 2
2013 - 4
2014 - 1
2015 - 3
2016 - 2

Here are the totals is by decade:
61-70 - 77-23-0
71-80 - 73-27-0
81-90 - 81-19-0
91-00 - 77-23-0
01-10 - 70-27-3
11-16 - 44-16-0

So, in 56 years, that is 422 home games, 135 road games, and 3 games at neutral sites. That averages to 7.53571428 home games, 2.41071428 road games, and .053571428 games at neutral sites. In 560 games, it's slightly over 75% at home (420 would be exactly 75%).

This all started when I first looked up their road games more than two hours away. In 56 years, it's FIVE:

1995 Mansfield
1997 Chardon
1999 Chillicothe
2000 Chardon
2008 Columbus Watterson

Yes, this is a little more arbitrary. Where is the cutoff for two hours exactly? This does not count games in Akron, Canton, or Zanesville. Of course, this also does not count any road games when they were a member of a conference which included Massillon Washington, Canton McKinley, Niles McKinley, Alliance, and Warren Harding.

So, here are my questions for everyone else:

In the last 56 years, has anybody in Ohio played more home games?
Has anybody played a higher percentage of home games?
Has anybody went 56 years without ever playing a schedule of five home games and five road games?
Has anybody played only two seasons with four games on the road?

NOTE: The bold print indicates a repeating decimal. I like to be exact.
One aspect people don’t realize is a lot of local or regional teams from the early days, til just recently, did not have a facility that compared. It wasn’t like today where every community has a turf stadium, press box, reserved seats , parking, lights.
Harding Stadium has always been one of a handful of 1st Class facilities in Ohio let alone the local , regional area. Teams in a League started dropping out of Leagues to not play Big Red I.e. like the old EBL (eastern Buckeye league)
For a lot of the area teams it was a treat to play in a college atmosphere, with a 1st class view of the field, at night with good lighting.
To look at anything over that long a period is difficult. The Harbin system really made scheduling local teams a lot harder. It’s not really something Big Red planned from my understanding, but if it was to some extent there are no rules over that period of time.
I bet it would be nice to have a nice local league with nice facilities at each school for a large fanbase.. sometimes the region your school is in doesn’t give you that opportunity. Steubenville is a suburb of Cleveland or Cincinnati but is close to Pittsburgh, but not a lot of cross state games happened.
After leaving a All American League with big beautiful stadiums in the northeast it became harder and harder to find local teams that would play Big Red that had a stadium with more than 3 single-row bleachers in a old hayfield or re-claimed coal strip.
Things today where not the same back then before internet, television games. So the stadium and what was invested in it became the Rose Bowl to some teams.
Nothing is ever 100% as it seems. It’s usually somewhere in the middle.
Every decade has it affects , economy, funding, population and it’s hard to remember that things today where not always around.
I bet almost every school in the country has a few skeletons. Timing can be crucial in more things than a pass pattern.
 
I mean at the end of the day if they sell enough tickets and make enough money to offer generous stipend to come play there, teams will come.

I mean, might not be enough to attract Bishop Sycamore but its gotta be decent ;)
 
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