I'm sure that there are many from different people that are more recent and back longer. I'm going to go with two during the times I played.

 

The first was during my sophomore year in the '93 season when we beat Bellevue both times and the last time for the playoffs. It had been quite a while since we had beaten Bellevue at that time, much less beating them both times when they still played twice at that time. I believe that was the first time that Dayton made the playoffs since 1971. The second game of that season was also Jason Skirvin's coming out party for varsity play as a freshman having a great game.

 

The second one involves the first game between the two the next season. It was 0-0 going in to overtime. Jason Leger ran in for a touchdown on the first play of overtime than kicked the extra point. Bellevue scored a touchdown on their drive and Ben Wilson missed the extra point. Bellevue went on to win the game that mattered that season for playoff purposes, but it was still a very memorable game.

I have a couple that I was part of as a Tiger that ended up being great games.

 

As a Frosh I was on the sidelines in 1985 watching the 2nd game of the season as they used to play twice. This game in particular featured some really nice players for both squads. Bellevue had QB Mike Roa, LB Kevin Apted and Noseguard Steve Trapp while Dayton had RB Lonnie Jourdan, LB Dennis Brock and QB Larry Workman. I just remember the final drive for Bellevue when they marched down the field 80 yrds with under 2 minutes to play and scored to win the game. Mike Roa did a great job of running and passing to WR Bobby Ferguson as they marched down the field. I remember a lot of quick outs to get out of bounds and Roa Moa scrambling for a lot of yards. I dont remember who scored the winning TD but it happened with like 20 seconds left. That was pretty exciting.

 

The other happened my Soph year in 1986 up at Dayton in our first game of the year. We had a strong Sr class and I fortunately earned the starting QB position that year. We ran a wide open offense and threw the ball a lot. Our starting backfield was soph FB Les Leicht 5'11 215lbs who could squat 500lbs at the time. Chris Hoop was our SR RB and Bobby Ferguson was our track star WR who I used to love throwing to on Friday nights. Dayton was led by Sr. QB Larry Workman who was an outstanding athlete and an awesome baseball player. Dewayne Meyer was a soph WR for Dayton who was pretty darn good and the Brock Twins roamed the field on the defensive side for Dayton. We busted the scoring open on a 55 yrd run by our FB Leicht who simply took the FB Buck handoff and bounced out to the left sideline and scored. Nobody wanted to get in that kid's way. It was a pretty even game throughout but the deciding TD came on a roll out pass into the endzone that I threw up and let Ferguson go up and get. He went in between two defenders and snagged it out of the air for the score. It ended up being enough and I remember walking off the field after the game getting yelled at by Dayton fans and having some of their players issuing threats. You gotta love the most hated rivalry in all of KY the Dayton/Bellevue rivalry.

 

Nice thread, brought back a lot of memories.

I like these threads - hope to see more of them with different teams.

I have no specific game memories, and I may have mentioned this before, but it's Dayton-related. When I was a kid, Ray King, who led Dayton their only state title in 1966, was my neighbor. One day I was walking home for dinner and noticed the Dayton Greendevils license plate on the front of his car, (as I remember, a small powder blue Plymouth, but I may be wrong on that.) I was impressed, not because I knew they'd won the state championship, but because in my 5 year old mind, Dayton was a LONG way away from Blossom Lane in Southgate. The last time I saw him I mentioned to him about the chills I got every time I saw his name listed among the state championship coaches on the KHSAA site. He acted like it was no big deal, but I know better.

I great memory for me was in 95 DHS had just suspended 15 players. Nobody in NKY gave DHS a chance because of the suspensions. The amazing part of this was with 13 players Dayton upset Bellevue in OT. Coach Smitty said that is when he realized how special the 97 class was.

 

2nd memory was in 96, the 2nd game was 43-0 in the second quarter. This is when i realized Dayton had a legitimate shot against Beechwood in the regional final (greatest playof game in NKY history).

I great memory for me was in 95 DHS had just suspended 15 players. Nobody in NKY gave DHS a chance because of the suspensions. The amazing part of this was with 13 players Dayton upset Bellevue in OT. Coach Smitty said that is when he realized how special the 97 class was.

 

2nd memory was in 96, the 2nd game was 43-0 in the second quarter. This is when i realized Dayton had a legitimate shot against Beechwood in the regional final (greatest playof game in NKY history).

 

I have to agree with you about the year with the suspensions for the first five games. The '97 class played a big role in that, I also believe that Matt Hundemer helped out a lot too as the quarterback. Matt was definitely a good leader.

Legend or Fact:

 

Back in the 50's possibly 60's, Dayton wore all green. They had a play where the SE would lie down in the grass, near the sideline. When the ball was snapped, the SE would jump up and run down field for a pass. Supposedly one year Bellevue was prepping for the play and thought they would be able to stop it. Dayton takes a guy off on a stretcher. They roll him off near the sideline. On the snap, he jumps up and runs downfield for a TD pass. One of many stories old coaches have told me.

In the '07 or '08 (can't remember). It was a major mud pit at Davis field. Bellevue had a good team that year and so did Dayton. It was a very close, hard-fought game by both sides. Towards the end of the 4th quarter, Bellevue throw a pass to Austin Kessen their WR. Austin was not a very big kid, but was able to make the catch, break a few tackles and score the go-ahead TD. It was a great game all around.

 

Here's a shout out to my boy A-K!!

I have to agree with you about the year with the suspensions for the first five games. The '97 class played a big role in that, I also believe that Matt Hundemer helped out a lot too as the quarterback. Matt was definitely a good leader.

 

 

Matt Hundemer was a phenomenal player for Dayton. His leadership was a very intrigual part of that season. He mentored Jerry Cline which led to a very good season for him the following year. Matt had a cannon and a was a great punter.

The 08 playoff game is the only one in this series I have ever attended... great game. Coach Eckstein kept his boys close all night ( wasn't supposed to), and they had a game winning long drive with about 30 seconds left to win it. Believe the score was like 20-18.

As a Bellevue person, my favorite memories in these games was every year that Bellevue beat Dayton. Regardless of how good or bad the game was or who played it always a great feeling to beat Dayton, as I am sure it is a great feeling for Dayton to beat Bellevue.

Matt Hundemer was a phenomenal player for Dayton. His leadership was a very intrigual part of that season. He mentored Jerry Cline which led to a very good season for him the following year. Matt had a cannon and a was a great punter.

 

I agree and believe that Matt was one of the best quarterbacks to play for Dayton.

Who was that really really good running back from Dayton in abuot 1995? I think his name was Jason? Possible went toThomas More or Georgetown?

I also seem to remember the late great Russel Madden scoring a few touchdowns as a freshman against the Devils ack in 1996.

Yes. Jason Skirvin. Thanks