FB: Pre-poll era state football champions announced

From ohsaa.org

The Associated Press has released a listing of state football champions since 1947, and the Ohio High School Athletic Association conducted the first football playoffs in 1972. Until now, however, the year‐by‐year state football champions prior to 1947 had not been published in one place.

The explanation and list below is the work of OHSAA historian Timothy Hudak, who combined his own research with that of several other historians.

There were no polls, and certainly no statewide playoffs, in the earliest days of Ohio high school football. If a sportswriter, newspaper, or a group of them said that a team was the state champion, then that team usually was unless someone came along to challenge it.

Quite often, too, a school that felt that its team was the “king of the hill” issued an 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.

This system of a popularly declared state football champion remained in effect until the era of the AP and United Press International polls, which began in 1947.

The following list of state champions from 1895 to 1946 was compiled by various high school football researchers, most notably James Baker. It is the most complete listing of recognized state champions before the advent of the AP poll in 1947.

Listed after each team is at least one of the authorities that declared the team champion. Also noted are teams that are recognized as National Champion.

Ohio high school football state champions (popular acclaim), 1895‐1946
Year, team, W-L-T, authority
1895 Cleveland Central 3 2 1 JB, PD, TH
1896 Sandusky 5 0 0 JB
1897 None Named
1898 None Named
1899 Oberlin High School 4 1 0 JB
1900 Oberlin High School 5 0 1 JB, TH
        Youngstown Rayen 4 1 1 JB, PD, TH
        Cleveland Central 4 1 1 JB, PD, TH
1901 Youngstown Rayen 12 1 0 JB
        Toledo Central Unknown JB
1902 Fostoria 8 0 1 JB, DR
1903 Kenyon Military Academy Unknown JB
1904 Toledo Central Unknown JB, TH
1905 None Named
1906 Fostoria 7 1 0 JB, DR
1907 Fostoria 8 0 1 JB, DR
1908 None Named
1909 Massillon 9 0 1 JB, SL
1910 Fostoria 8 1 0 JB, DR, TH
1911 Fostoria 10 0 0 JB, SL, DR, TH
        Akron Central 8 0 1 JB, BJ, TH
1912 Fostoria 8 0 0 JB, DR, BT ‐ National Champion
1913 None Named
1914 Fostoria 10 0 0 JB, DR, SL, TH
        Bellaire 9 0 1 JB, SL
        Lisbon 9 0 0 JB, SL
1915 Fostoria 8 0 1 JB, SL, DR, TH
1916 Toledo Scott 10 0 0 JB, SL, TH, NSNS – National Champion
        Massillon Washington 10 0 0 JB, SL
1917 None Named
1918 Toledo Scott 6 1 0 JB, SL
1919 Toledo Scott 8 0 1 JB, SL
1920 Canton McKinley 8 1 0 JB, SL
        Cleveland East Tech 9 1 0 JB, SL, TH, PD
1921 None Named
1922 Toledo Scott 9 0 0 JB, SL, TH, NSNS – National Champion
        Massillon Washington 10 0 0 JB, SL
1923 Toledo Scott 10 0 0 JB, SL, TH, NSNS – Co‐National Champion
        East Cleveland Shaw 9 1 0 JB, SL, TH, PD, NSNS – Co‐National Champion
1924 Toledo Waite 10 0 0 JB, SL, TL, NSNS – National Champion
1925 Findlay 8 0 2 JB, SL, PD
        Steubenville 10 0 0 SL, TH, PD
1926 Steubenville 9 0 0 SL, TH, PD
1927 Cleveland Cathedral Latin 10 1 0 JB, SL, TH, PD
        Canton McKinley 9 1 0 JB, SL
1928 None Named
1929 None Named
1930 Lorain 10 0 0 JB, SL, TH, PD
        Steubenville 9 0 0 SL
1931 Steubenville Wells 8 1 0 JB, SL
1932 Toledo Waite 12 0 0 JB, SL, NSNS – National Champion
1933 Springfield 11 0 0 JB, SL
        Dover 10 0 0 JB, SL
1934 Canton McKinley 11 0 0 JB, SL, NSNS – National Champion
1935 Massillon Washington 10 0 0 JB, SL, NSNS – National Champion
1936 Massillon Washington 10 0 0 JB, SL, NSNS – National Champion
1937 Massillon Washington 8 1 1 JB, SL
1938 Massillon Washington 10 0 0 JB, SL, DRS
1939 Massillon Washington 10 0 0 JB, SL, NSNS – National Champion
        Toledo Waite 11 0 0 JB, SL
        Hamilton 9 0 0 JB, SL
1940 Massillon Washington 10 0 0 JB, SL, NSNS – National Champion
1941 Massillon Washington 9 0 1 JB, SL
        Martin’s Ferry 10 0 1 JB, SL, TH
        Mansfield 8 0 2 JB, SL
1942 Canton McKinley 8 1 1 JB, SL
1943 Massillon Washington 10 0 0 JB, SL
1944 Cleveland Cathedral Latin 10 0 0 JB, SL, TH, PD
        Canton McKinley 9 1 0 JB, SL
1945 Cleveland Cathedral Latin 9 0 1 JB, SL, TH, PD
        Toledo Waite 10 0 1 JB, SL
        Canton Lincoln 7 0 3 JB, SL
1946 Cleveland Cathedral Latin 9 0 1 JB, SL, TH, PD
        Lima Central 10 0 0 JB, SL

1947 – Associated Press state poll begins
1972 – OHSAA football playoffs begin

(Key: PD = Cleveland Plain Dealer, JB = James Baker, SL = Simon Lyons, TH = Timothy Hudak, DRS = Dickinson Rating System, NSNS = National Sports News Service, DR = Fostoria Daily Review, BJ = Akron Beacon Journal, BT = Boston Transcript)