I posted this on Facebook a few weeks back & I got a pretty good response from people here in Warren. Of course, a good part of those were from former football players who disagreed with me, but it all made for a great convo. I'm looking forward to hearing from other posters on this topic.
Warren G. Harding
10. 2004 (8-3): Not as loaded as the other teams on this list, but Mario Manningham’s heroics made this a very fun year. Roger Matlock, one of the most underrated quarterbacks in WGH history, threw for 1,370 yards & 14 TDs. There haven’t been many QBs in WGH history with those numbers in a single season. The 30-26 victory over Cleveland Glenville is one of the greatest games that I’ve ever witnessed.
9. 1962 (9-0-1): I have to believe that if it wasn’t for a tie against Mansfield in the season opener, this team would have won WGH’s first ever state title. Massillon owned the poll era (24 AP Poll titles), but the Tigers lost to WGH 20-7. For the season, the Panthers outscored their opponents 382-37. A couple days back, I saw Warren1st speak very highly of this team, so he would have a lot more info on them then I do. I can only go by the scores, and this group was pretty dominant.
8. 2006 (9-4, Region 1 Runner Up): After losing both starting quarterbacks within the first two weeks, this team had every reason to quit on the season. Somebody forgot to tell them that as they won 5 of their last 6 games to make the playoffs. Their victims included two teams that were nationally ranked at the time (Cleveland St. Ignatius & Lakewood St. Edward). If it were not for a loss to a pass happy Mentor squad, the next two weeks could have been pretty interesting.
7. 1998 (8-2): 1998 was the last season in which only 4 teams per region made the playoffs. In week 8, Canton McKinley came back in the 4th quarter to defeat WGH 20-16. WGH finished 5th in the final Region 1 standings. In week 14, Canton McKinley won the Division 1 state championship game by 23 points.
6. 2003 (11-1, Region 1 Quarter-Finalist): This team entered the season ranked as high as #4 in preseason national rankings. For 11 consecutive weeks, they lived up to the hype. They were a heavy favorite to win the Division 1 state title. They were ranked #2 in the country before being upset by Lakewood St. Edward in the second round of the playoffs. In week 15, St. Eds lost to Cincinnati Elder in the Division 1 state championship game.
5. 2001 (11-2, Region 1 Runner Up): Having Maurice Clarett, the 2001 USA Today Offensive Player of the Year & “Mr. Football,” is enough for the hype by itself. One underrated fact about this team is that the defensive starters didn’t get scored on until week 6. In week 2, they gave Cincinnati Moeller their worst loss in school history (55-0). For the season, they scored the most points in WGH history (547) while only giving up 163 points. This season is “the one that got away.”
4. 2002 (14-1, Division 1 State Runner Up): In reality, 2001 was a more dominant team, but 2002 just knew how to win games. Eight of their fifteen games were decided by 7 points or less, but if the clock didn’t read “0:00,” you couldn’t take your foot off the gas on this group of Raiders. Just ask Lakewood St. Edward, who held a 16-15 lead over WGH with 0:19 left. With the St. Eds student section chanting, “OVERATED,” quarterback Mike Kokal threw a 47 yard bomb to then-sophomore Mario Manningham. After a spiked ball, Joe Spain entered the game and kicked a 39 yard field goal to send the Eagles home devastated. Cincinnati Elder’s 21-19 victory over WGH in the state title game still stings, but it didn’t take away from the fact that 2002 was a magical season.
3. 1974 (10-1, Class AAA Champions): They say that football players today are bigger, stronger, and faster than they’ve ever been. While that may be true as a whole, the overall team speed of the 1974 Panthers was something that’s rarely seen at the high school level. Despite the fact that opposing teams knew that WGH was going to run the ball, that didn’t stop them from compiling a school record 3,673 rushing yards in just 12 games. Their 33 point victory over Upper Arlington in week 12 is the 3rd largest blowout in the history of the Class AAA/Division 1 state championship game.
2. 1971 (10-0, Class AAA AP Poll Champs): Many fans say that “AP Poll titles weren’t won on the field,” but I beg to differ. I wasn’t around in 1971, but I know enough about the old days to know that WGH paid heavy dues back then. A football schedule that includes programs the likes of Massillon, Canton McKinley, and Steubenville would be extremely difficult today, but that was even more the case in the 70’s, not to mention that Warren Western Reserve & Niles were both state powerhouses back then as well. In 1971, WGH outscored those five opponents 114-33 and for the season, they outscored all ten of their opponents 322-41. The greatest teams shine in the biggest moments. The ’71 Panthers did just that.
1. 1990 (14-0, Division 1 State Champs): From 1988 to 1995, Cleveland St. Ignatius won 7 state titles. The only one that they didn’t win in that time span was in 1990, which as we know, was won by WGH. Speaking of “Iggy,” it’s highly debatable that if it wasn’t for them, Warren Western Reserve would have closed the book on their proud football history with a state title in 1989. Once the “westsiders” came over to WGH & joined forces with players the likes of Omar Provitt, Chancey Coleman, and Gary Aceto (I had to shout out my boy Aceto, lol), the ingredients for a state takeover were in place. As if it wasn’t enough that the wide receiver trio of “TKO” (short for Thomas Teco Powell, Kendall Richardson, and Omar Provitt) provided many nightmares for opposing defenses, the massive offensive line provided holes that you could drive a truck through. Did I mention that Myron Elzy was a 6’5, 260 pound was the starting fullback? It was all bad for the rest of Ohio in ’90. Long-time fans of Cincinnati Princeton are still having nightmares about Provitt’s performance in the state championship game.