Warren G. Harding 2024

3- Delbert Ferguson.jpeg


We are officially three days away from Warren G. Harding’s 2024 football season opener against Canton McKinley!

Today’s “legend of the day” is Delbert Ferguson, who wore #3 during his playing days as a Raider.

After winning their first 14 games of the 2002 football season, Harding lost a 21-19 heartbreaker to Cincinnati Elder in the OHSAA Division I state championship game. While that loss was tough to take, the overall spirit in Raider Country remained alive and well, especially with a solid class of 2004 ready to take over as seniors the next year.

On December 20, 2002, word got out that Ferguson was transferring from Youngstown Ursuline over to Harding for his senior year, which added even more fuel to the fire in the class of 2004. At the time, his 3,352 career rushing yards ranked third in Fighting irish history (now, it ranks 6th) while his 44 touchdowns ranked 2nd (currently ranks 5th). That includes his 280 rushing yards & 5 touchdowns that he racked up as a freshman in Ursuline's 49-37 victory over Coldwater in the 2000 OHSAA Division IV state championship game.

However, with the presence of an already-seasoned tailback in Richard Davis (1,448 rushing yards in 2002 & 17 touchdowns in 2002; went on to rush for 965 yards & 21 touchdowns in 2003) and the eventual emergence of then-junior Jonathan Richardson (went on to rush for 563 yards & seven touchdowns in 2003), Ferguson was never asked to carry a heavy load on a deep Harding roster that was even more loaded at the wide receiver position (Mario Manningham, Pete Sparks, Thaddeus Walker, Jonte Stroud, Joe Phinisee, etc.).

In fact, this picture of Ferguson delivering a mean stiff arm during Harding's 45-21 triumph over Canton McKinley pretty much illustrates the dominance of their '03 squad, which would eventually be ranked as high as #2 in the entire country by both the USA Today and Sporting News. Unfortunately, in the midst of what was developing into the signature performance of his already-injury proned season, Ferguson broke his femur, the largest bone in the human body, in a week 9 road game against Massillon. At the time of his exit, he had 12 carries for 58 yards in the game. That gave him a final season total of 84 carries for 390 yards and three touchdowns.

Despite suffering the catastrophic leg injury that brought his senior season to a hault, Ferguson would go on to continue his academic and athletic career as a linebacker for the University of Cincinnati. The Bearcats need nearly two extra days to win the recruiting war over Washington State, who made a last-minute surge for Ferguson on the night of National Letter of Intent Day, which took place on Tuesday, February 3, 2004. Ferguson would go on to process his paperwork two days later.

Unfortunately, Ferguson's injury history led to limitations in his college career as he finished with it with 17 tackles (8 solo). However, that was over the course of a five-year period, which allowed him to earn his degree from UC on Saturday, December 13, 2008.
 
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We are officially two days away from Warren G. Harding’s 2024 football season opener against Canton McKinley!

Today’s “legend of the day” is Kay'Ron Lynch-Adams who wore #2 during his junior & senior seasons as a Raider.

"Speed... Kills... First down!"

In the early days of EA Sports' "Madden" video game franchise, the aforementioned phrase was often uttered by the late, great football coach-turned legendary sportscaster John Madden. Years later, all who watched Lynch-Adams suit up for Harding, whether it was on the gridiron or on the track (minus the "first down" part), would echo the same sentiments about him as Madden did for NFL players throughout his broadcasting career.

With the speed that he possessed, Lynch-Adams wouldn’t have to wait long in his varsity football career to make his presence felt. In week 4 of his sophomore season in 2016, part of his 7-carry, 101-yard effort against Austintown Fitch was his career long 79-yard touchdown run down the sideline. That put the cherry on top of the Raiders' 35-0 downing of the Falcons. Seven weeks later, he proved that his skillset was also suited for close games as he broke off a 76-yard touchdown run in the third quarter of Harding's first round playoff game against Brecksville-Broadview Heights. The score proved to be crucial as the Raiders escaped the shootout with a 56-48 victory.

After finishing his sophomore season with 92 carries for 516 yards and four touchdowns, Lynch-Adams would nearly triple that production as a junior in 2017 as he eclipsed the 100-yard rushing mark in six games en route to compiling 1,392 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns on 197 carries. In addition to topping that effort with 233 carries for 1,686 rushing yards (4th highest single-season total in school history) and 8 touchdowns as a senior 2018, he also hauled in the 4th longest touchdown pass in Harding history (tied with two others) when he took a screen pass from quarterback Elijah Taylor and raced 84 yards for a touchdown. Once again, a big score of his proved to be the difference maker as the Raiders held off the Golden Bears 21-14. His efforts resulted in 1st Team selections in the All American Conference (Red Tier), Trumbull County, and Northeast Inland District while he also took home 3rd Team All-Division II honors.

For his career at Harding, Lynch-Adams ranks inside of their all-time top five in carries (504- 3rd), rushing yards (3,544- 4th), and rushing touchdowns (35- 5th). The speed that made him productive on the football field also made him lethal on the track as at the 2018 Austintown Regional Championship Meet, he anchored the 2nd fastest 4x100 time in school history when he combined forces with teammates Jamel Anderson, Theran Hargrove, and Sterling Frazier to clock a time of 42.12.

After spending the first two years of his collegiate career at Rutgers University, Lynch-Adams transferred to UMass ahead of the 2021 NCAA football season. In his fifth game, he suffered a season-ending injury vs. Toledo, which eventually led to him being granted a medical redshirt. After showing some positive signs in his first couple seasons as a Minuteman, his breakthrough came in 2023 when he rushed for 1,157 yards and 12 touchdowns on 236 carries. In addition to becoming just the second UMass player in history to eclipse 1,000 rushing yards in a season, his efforts earned him selections on the All-Independent Team by both Phil Steele and the College Football Network.

On December 2, 2023, Lynch-Adams originally declared for the 2024 NFL Draft. However, after careful consideration, he opted to enter the NCAA's transfer portal on December 12. After being hosted by Michigan State on Monday, April 22, 2024, he verbally committed to the Spartans the next day. A month later on May 19, 2024, he received his bachelor's degree from UMass.

In a total of 48 career games in his college football career to date, Lynch-Adams has rushed for 1,888 yards and 16 touchdowns while also hauling in 35 catches for 288 yards and one touchdown. He'll now look to put the exclamation point on his career as a sixth-year graduate transfer for the Spartans.
 
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We are officially one day away from Warren G. Harding’s 2024 football season opener against Canton McKinley!

Today’s “legend of the day” is Lynn Bowden, who wore #1 during his senior season as a Raider.

Over the last month, I was informed that many people were looking forward to seeing "who Worm was gonna pick" each day for this countdown. The daily antipation made my takes even more interesting to present to you all. As a result, I tried even harder to give you the best, most thorough analysis every day. Hopefully, I at least met, if not succeeded, your expectations of the standard that I set with my commentary.

Unfortunately, as far as "anticipation" is concerned, the bad news is that you all knew who would be representing the #1. Every last one of you did, which only speaks even higher volumes of the greatness of Bowden as a Raider. Now, you're probably thinking that all I want to do is talk about his statistics. That's false, but let's get that part out of the way...

To date, there have been four performances in Harding history when a player rushed for six touchdowns. While the first of which was done by the late Tommy Perry against Akron South back in 1966, the other three were made by Bowden during his senior season against Massillon on 09/09/2016, Howland on 10/28/2016, and Chardon on 11/11/2016. In total, he entered the end zone with his legs a school record 36 times that season.

In the Chardon game, he also racked up 368 rushing yards (2nd in school history) while he adding a touchdown pass to give him a total of seven for the game, a school record that was eventually tied by Dalys Jett against Massillon in 2021. Speaking of Massillon, the aforementioned 2016 matchup also saw Bowden rush for 282 yards, which ranks 5th in school history. In fact, in the 88-game history between Harding and Massillon, he has accounted for the most total touchdowns ever in the series with 11 in just two matchups

In total, Bowden rushed for 100+ yards in 21 career games, a school record that he shares with Maurice Clarett, while he stands alone with nine games of over 200+ rushing yards. That includes a record five times in his junior season of 2015. In the process of setting (you guessed it) that record as well, he posted the third highest single-season rushing yardage total in school history with 1,901.

Now, before you assume, "Bowden was just a quarterback who only ran the ball," that would be false as his 2,232 career passing yards ranks fourth in school history behind Elijah Taylor (4.400 from 2018-20), Clayton Waite (2,937 from 1986-88), and Jett (2,472 from 2021-22). On top of that, he was also known for finding guys in the end zone as he ranks second all-time for passing touchdowns in both a season (19 in 2016; tied with Alex Engram's 2003 season) and career (28). His 88 career total touchdowns also includes a 90-yard kickoff return against Massillon in 2015, a 75-yard kickoff return vs. Brecksville-Broadview Heights in 2016, and a 77-yard punt return against Cleveland Heights in 2016.

To me, it's not about what Bowden did. It's how he did it. In the two seasons prior to his arrival in Warren, Harding posted a combined record of 6-13, which included two wins in 2014. Now personally, I believe that the laziest thing a fan or even journalist can say is that an athlete "single-handidly won a game" in a team sport. That said, while that remains a pet peeve of mine, I can say that in my 40 years of life, I've seen an awful lot of Harding games. I've never seen a player walk into a situation like the one that Bowden did in 2015 and change the entire atmosphere. His presence opened the door for his teammates, some of the same ones who struggled to find success in the two previous years, to shine bright under the lights.

When opponents left Harding's receivers in single coverage, Bowden found guys upfield with deep passes. When the opposition dropped too many guys back or overplayed the blitz, he'd take off running and zig-zag through defenses. It worked so well, the Raiders went a combined 19-6 from 2015-16. Whenever he was interviewed by the media, the first thing he did was praise his offensive linemen and credit his teammates for making big plays. For as much as his presence breathed much-needed life into the program, he never made it about himself. It was always about the team.

On January 4, 2017, Bowden verbally committed to the University of Kentucky to play wide receiver. In three years as a Wildcat, he hauled in 107 catches for 1,219 yards & six touchdowns. However, he's most remembered for his switch to quarterback midway into his junior year. In addition to going 29-of-62 for 330 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions in 2019, he pressed "Rewind" and treated the entire college football landscape as if they were Harding’s opponents as he compiled 1,235 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns on 151 carries (8.2 YPC). As a result, not only was he a Consensus 1st Team All-American in 2019, but he was also the recipient of the Paul Hornung Award, which is given to "the most versatile player in the country."

On April 23, 2020, Bowden was selected with the 80th pick of the NFL Draft by the Las Vegas Raiders. However, he'd go on to play his first two seasons in the league with the Miami Dolphins. He spent last season with the New Orleans Saints and is currently a free agent. In his 4-year professional football career to date, he has hauled in 39 receptions for 294 yards.

This concludes my “30-day Countdown.” I hope that you all enjoyed the trips down memory lane.

#BeatMcKinley
 
Worm02 said:
View attachment 63472

We are officially three days away from Warren G. Harding’s 2024 football season opener against Canton McKinley!

Today’s “legend of the day” is Delbert Ferguson, who wore #3 during his playing days as a Raider.

After winning their first 14 games of the 2002 football season, Harding lost a 21-19 heartbreaker to Cincinnati Elder in the OHSAA Division I state championship game. While that loss was tough to take, the overall spirit in Raider Country remained alive and well, especially with a solid class of 2004 ready to take over as seniors the next year.

On December 20, 2002, word got out that Ferguson was transferring from Youngstown Ursuline over to Harding for his senior year, which added even more fuel to the fire in the class of 2004. At the time, his 3,352 career rushing yards ranked third in Fighting irish history (now, it ranks 6th) while his 44 touchdowns ranked 2nd (currently ranks 5th). That includes his 280 rushing yards & 5 touchdowns that he racked up as a freshman in Ursuline's 49-37 victory over Coldwater in the 2000 OHSAA Division IV state championship game.

However, with the presence of an already-seasoned tailback in Richard Davis (1,448 rushing yards in 2002 & 17 touchdowns in 2002; went on to rush for 965 yards & 21 touchdowns in 2003) and the eventual emergence of then-junior Jonathan Richardson (went on to rush for 563 yards & seven touchdowns in 2003), Ferguson was never asked to carry a heavy load on a deep Harding roster that was even more loaded at the wide receiver position (Mario Manningham, Pete Sparks, Thaddeus Walker, Jonte Stroud, Joe Phinisee, etc.).

In fact, this picture of Ferguson delivering a mean stiff arm during Harding's 45-21 triumph over Canton McKinley pretty much illustrates the dominance of their '03 squad, which would eventually be ranked as high as #2 in the entire country by both the USA Today and Sporting News. Unfortunately, in the midst of what was developing into the signature performance of his already-injury proned season, Ferguson broke his femur, the largest bone in the human body, in a week 9 road game against Massillon. At the time of his exit, he had 12 carries for 58 yards in the game. That gave him a final season total of 84 carries for 390 yards and three touchdowns.

Despite suffering the catastrophic leg injury that brought his senior season to a hault, Ferguson would go on to continue his academic and athletic career as a linebacker for the University of Cincinnati. The Bearcats need nearly two extra days to win the recruiting war over Washington State, who made a last-minute surge for Ferguson on the night of National Letter of Intent Day, which took place on Tuesday, February 3, 2004. Ferguson would go on to process his paperwork two days later.

Unfortunately, Ferguson's injury history led to limitations in his college career as he finished with it with 17 tackles (8 solo). However, that was over the course of a five-year period, which allowed him to earn his degree from UC on Saturday, December 13, 2008.
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It’s been 20+ years so I’m going to share this. Back when Delbert Ferguson transferred from Ursuline to Warren, everyone jumped all over Thom McDaniels for “recruiting” Ferguson over to the Raiders, but I’m going to clear that up along with McDaniels’ name regarding that situation. McD absolutely did not recruit Ferguson. The real story is that a very prominent Ohio recruiting analyst and Buckeye fan was the impetus for the transfer. He and I exchanged frequent emails and he told me this directly as he viewed me as a pretty good “in” with the Warren program. I had friends on the staff and in the school. I’d give him tidbits/teasers only as I didn’t fully trust where my info would end up. Anyway, he was really big on getting Ferguson to Ohio State and he viewed McDaniels as a Buckeye guy, with pretty good reason (three recent McKinley players), and thought the transfer would solidify Ferguson to OSU, even though McD wasn’t really a Buckeye guy, IMO. He was more concerned with his players’ well being than sending kids to certain schools. There were also McD to OSU rumors around that time and this was a big topic of interest to him over emails. He made it happen through Mama Ferguson over multiple exchanges and the rest is history. I still have the email printed out in my folders of Ohio HS football/stats/recruiting stuff. No sense adding his name here. I shared this with my close Warren posters back then and anyone else who followed that guy can figure it out.
 
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First game for Matty Rich was a good showing of the potential he has going forward. A game against McKinley as a first year head coach and keeping it close is awesome. Matty Rich has the Raiders going in the right direction.
 
Damn. I had not heard about Paul.
He was a friend back in the day. I watched him play Football and BB as a preteen, and years later he and Dick Straham tried to get me to come to Findlay to play ball.
Too young. He never forgot where he came from. Salute Paul and God speed to your family.
 
Warren G. Harding-Akron Buchtel... Series Breakdown

Wins: WGH 10, Buchtel 1
All-Time Score: WGH 226, Buchtel 112

Most Points- Game
39 by WGH in 2009
35 by WGH in 2004
21 by WGH in 2003
21 by WGH in 2006
20 by WGH in 2006
20 by WGH in 2007
20 by WGH in 2023
19 by WGH in 1991
18 by Buchtel in 2005

Largest Margin Of Victory- Game
35 by WGH in 2004
25 by WGH in 2009
15 by WGH in 2003
15 by WGH in 2008
14 by WGH in 2007
8 by Buchtel in 2005
7 by WGH in 2006
7 by WGH in 2022
4 by WGH in 2023
3 by WGH in 1991

Most Rushing Yards- Game...
192 by Dan Herron (WGH) in 2006
136 by Ernest Pitts (Buchtel) in 2006
102 by Dan Herron (WGH) in 2005
100 by Dan Herron (WGH) in 2004
95 by Ryan Powell (WGH) in 2023
86 by Ryan Powell (WGH) in 2022
84 by Justin Hill (Buchtel) in 2023
82 by Aunre Davis (WGH) in 2007
72 by Mike Dorsey (WGH) in 2007
76 by Derrick Harvey (Buchtel) in 1991


Most Rushing Yards- Career (in series)...
430 by Dan Herron (WGH) from 2004-06

Most Rushing Touchdowns- Game (>1)
2 by Dan Herron (WGH) in 2006

Most Rushing Touchdowns- Career (in series)...
5 by Dan Herron (WGH) from 2004-06

Most Passing Yards- Game...
182 by Stevie Diamond (Buchtel) in 2023
180 by Jordan Miller (WGH) in 2009
163 by Stevie Diamond (Buchtel) in 2009
155 by Tahj Dent (Buchtel) in 2008
144 by Camara Dean (WGH) in 1991
131 by Drew mcKowan (WGH) in 2023
126 by Roger Matlock (WGH) in 2004
119 by Glen Campbell (Buchtel) in 2006
82 by Matt Straniak (WGH) in 2006
82 by Steven Parker (Buchtel) in 2009

Most Passing Yards- Career (in series)...
182 by Stevie Diamond (Buchtel) in 2023

Most Passing Touchdowns- Game (>1)
3 by Roger Matlock (WGH) in 2004
2 by Jordan Miller (WGH) in 2009
1 by Rayshon Dent (Buchtel) in 2005
1 by Aunre Davis (WGH) in 2007

Most Passing Touchdowns- Career (in series)...
3 by Roger Matlock (WGH) in 2004

Most Receiving Yards- Game...
91 by Mario Manningham (WGH) in 2004
75 by Dominique Gray (Buchtel) in 2008
60 by Marvin Logan (WGH) in 2009
53 by Deen Franklin (WGH) in 2009
57 by Antonio Lovelace (Buchtel) in 2008
44 by Naujeat Jones (WGH) in 2022
41 by Jordan Owens (WGH) in 2007
40 by Dan Herron (WGH) in 2005
40 by Demond Hymes (WGH) in 2009
37 by Scott Manusakis (WGH) in 2009

Most Receiving Yards- Career (in series)...
127 by Mario Manningham (WGH) from 2003-04

Most Receiving Touchdowns- Game (>1)
2 by Dan Herron (WGH) in 2004

Most Receiving Touchdowns- Career (in series)...
2 by Mario Manningham (WGH) from 2003-04
2 by Dan Herron (WGH) from 2004-06

Longest Rushing Touchdowns
37 yards by Andrew ZItnik (WGH) in 2009
31 yards by Aunre Davis (WGH) in 2007
30 yards by Dan Herron (WGH) in 2004
20 yards by Dan Herron (WGH) in 2006
13 yards by Delbert Ferguson (WGH) in 2003
12 yards by Ryan Powell (WGH) in 2022
10 yards by Kyree Flowers (WGH) in 2008
7 yards by Justin Hill (Buchtel) in 2022
6 yards by Astron Whatley (WGH) in 1991
6 yards by Richard Davis (WGH) in 2003

Longest Passing Touchdowns
74 yards from Matt Straniak to Chris Rucker (WGH) in 2006
60 yards from Jordan Miller to Marvin Logan (WGH) in 2009
53 yards from Jordan Miller to Deen Franklin (WGH) in 2009
50 yards from Roger Matlock to Mario Manningham (WGH) in 2004
47 yards from Tahj Dent to Dominique Gray (Buchtel) in 2008
36 yards from Alex Engram to Mario Manningham (WGH) in 2003
35 yards from Camara Dean to Omar Provitt (WGH) in 1991
30 yards from Rayshon Dent to David Lewis (Buchtel) in 2005
30 yards from Steven Parker to Ernest Calhoun (Buchtel) in 2009
25 yards from Aunre Davis to Sergio Allen (WGH) in 2007

Longest Field Goals
30 yards by Alena Westover (WGH) in 2004
29 yards by Ernest Pitts (Buchtel) in 2005
27 yards by Alena Westover (WGH) in 2005

Longest Defensive/Special Teams Touchdown
81-yard fumble return by Johnny Adams (Buchtel) in 2007
41-yard interception return by Don Simpson (WGH) in 1991
32-yard interception return by Ben Penmon (WGH) in 2008
15-yard fumble return by Marlon Odom (Buchtel) in 2009
14-yard fumble return by Davion Rogers (WGH) in 2009

Most Sacks- Game
3 by Ian Vasil (WGH) in 2006
 
Warren G. Harding Football vs. the city of Akron
All-time record: 43-16-1
All-time score: WGH 1,396, Akron Opponents 654

Records vs. Akron Opponents (all-time score)...
10-1 vs. Buchtel (226-112)
3-1 vs. Central (58-53)
13-4 vs. East (345-157)
0-2 vs. Firestone (19-31)
2-3-1 vs. Garfield (91-44)
1-0 vs. Hoban (49-35)
3-0 vs. North (138-24)
8-2 vs. South (291-70)
3-3 vs. St. Vincent-St. Mary (179-128)
 
Glad to see my Jr High Golden Bears keep these junior high games to 1 TD against WGH. That 8th grade QB for the Raiders was impressive. Threw the ball 40 yards while rolling left. Also quick and tough to bring down.
If this game is in Youngstown next year it will at the refurbished field behind MLK elementary school ( Old North HS) New turf field and all weather track
 
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To any old time Warren fan the Panther on the side of this helmet should look familiar. This was our helmets at Perry from 1968 through the 1982 season. Since, they’ve gone to the black helmet with script Perry for the sides for 9 years, then to the elongated P that they still use. While gold is still a trim color, the football team hasn’t used it since 2009, but most other sports do. I’m also the team’s historian and played for the Panthers from 68 thru 70.
 
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