Ashland one of the greatest ever

[jbwill2]

Here's something of interest related to KY prep football...

 

The Student Sports National High School Football Record Book (published in 2001) has a section entitled "The 12 best high school football teams ever?" In it, 12 teams are listed and described (in no particular order). One of the 12 is Ashland from 1931. Ashland, coached by Paul Jenkins, went 10-0 and defeated teams from five different states. The team played undefeated Decator, Georgia for the Southern USA title, and won the game 85-6. Also of note, the program went 57 straight games without a defeat in six years.

 

Ashland is the only KY program listed in the top 12. Cincinnati Moeller from 1976 is one of the 12 teams mentioned.

 

On an unrelated matter, the record book also mentions that the highest-attended prep football game in history occurred in 1937. The game, between Chicago Austin and Chicago Leo, was played at Soldier Field, with an estimated attendance of 120,000! Yowza! Chicago Austin won 26-0, for what it's worth. I just thought that was amazing, especially when you consider it was played way back in 1937. I don't know what the population of Chicago was back then, but something tells me if you adjust for the population increase between 1937 and now, an equivalent attendance figure for today would be completely off the charts!

[mountainboy]

Thanks for that info about Kentucky High School history...I have had an opportunity over the last several years to visit and get to know Ashland's current head coach Leon Hart. He actually talked about that team and what a privilege it was to be at Ashland and how much support that town gives that team. I coach at a Central Kentucky High School myself, and have always appreciated Coach Hart and the city of Ashland for their support of Kentucky High School football.

[Ram]

I may be mistaken, but I think that 6 points in that game in 1931 was the only points that Ashland team allowed that year. It seems like I remember reading that. Ashland has had some great teams over the years, I understand they were the team to beat in the 30's, 40's, and 50's. I've heard and read a lot of good stories about those eras.

[3wishes]

I may be mistaken, but I think that 6 points in that game in 1931 was the only points that Ashland team allowed that year. It seems like I remember reading that. Ashland has had some great teams over the years, I understand they were the team to beat in the 30's, 40's, and 50's. I've heard and read a lot of good stories about those eras.

 

I believe you are correct, that was the only team to score on them that year.

[3wishes]

Also of note, the program went 57 straight games without a defeat in six years.

 

 

Why does Trinity have the record for most victories then at 50?

[DragonFire]

Why does Trinity have the record for most victories then at 50?

 

57 games without defeat in the olden days is not the same as 57 straight victories. I'm sure there were ties.

[DragonFire]

On an unrelated matter, the record book also mentions that the highest-attended prep football game in history occurred in 1937. The game, between Chicago Austin and Chicago Leo, was played at Soldier Field, with an estimated attendance of 120,000! Yowza! Chicago Austin won 26-0, for what it's worth. I just thought that was amazing, especially when you consider it was played way back in 1937. I don't know what the population of Chicago was back then, but something tells me if you adjust for the population increase between 1937 and now, an equivalent attendance figure for today would be completely off the charts!

 

I actually doubt it would be any higher. Might actually be lower. Chicago is one of the cities that was in decline for a good amount of the 20th century. In the 1930 & 1940 censuses, Chicago had close to 3.4 million residents, with 1940 being slightly higher. Chicago actually has less now, with an estimated 2.85 million. Chicago had declined in population in each census between 1950 and 1990 before finally getting a boost in 2000.

[jbwill2]

57 games without defeat in the olden days is not the same as 57 straight victories. I'm sure there were ties.

This is correct. Ashland did not lose a game during the 1926-1931 seasons (six consecutive seasons), but they did have some ties. Trinity's state record is for consecutive wins.

[jbwill2]

I actually doubt it would be any higher. Might actually be lower. Chicago is one of the cities that was in decline for a good amount of the 20th century. In the 1930 & 1940 censuses, Chicago had close to 3.4 million residents, with 1940 being slightly higher. Chicago actually has less now, with an estimated 2.85 million. Chicago had declined in population in each census between 1950 and 1990 before finally getting a boost in 2000.

Interesting... I would never have guessed.

[Ram]

Interesting... I would never have guessed.

 

Well if you think about it, the invention of the suburb changed a lot. Think about ever major city, Northern Kentucky for instance is a suburb of Cincinnati. How many people live there. How many suburbs does Columbus have. Scott County is a rapidly growing community, it's a suburb of Lexington.

[sidelinedoc]

I went to college in the suburbs of Chicago and I have to say that with all the land available to the Chicagoans, I understand why it continues to expand. I lived 30 minutes from downtown and it was perfect. While I lived there, the suburbs continued to move and populate further West and South and to my knowledge, they are still doing the same.

[Jim Schue]

Here's something of interest related to KY prep football...

 

The Student Sports National High School Football Record Book (published in 2001) has a section entitled "The 12 best high school football teams ever?" In it, 12 teams are listed and described (in no particular order). One of the 12 is Ashland from 1931. Ashland, coached by Paul Jenkins, went 10-0 and defeated teams from five different states. The team played undefeated Decator, Georgia for the Southern USA title, and won the game 85-6. Also of note, the program went 57 straight games without a defeat in six years.

 

Ashland is the only KY program listed in the top 12. Cincinnati Moeller from 1976 is one of the 12 teams mentioned.

 

On an unrelated matter, the record book also mentions that the highest-attended prep football game in history occurred in 1937. The game, between Chicago Austin and Chicago Leo, was played at Soldier Field, with an estimated attendance of 120,000! Yowza! Chicago Austin won 26-0, for what it's worth. I just thought that was amazing, especially when you consider it was played way back in 1937. I don't know what the population of Chicago was back then, but something tells me if you adjust for the population increase between 1937 and now, an equivalent attendance figure for today would be completely off the charts!

 

Interesting stuff. I thought the 120K figure seemed extremely high, with the capacity of old Soldier Field at about 74K, but they must've been stacking them wherever they could in the end zones for that game. The wikipedia entry on Soldier Field says that 123K is believed to be the record there. Another interesting factoid: Louisville Male participated in the very first game ever at Soldier Field, beating the aforementioned Austin High 26-0 in 1924!