FERRY HIGH'S FIRST FOOTBALL TEAM

Annie C. Tanks

From the Wheeling-Intelligencer,  Martins Ferry columns,
November 1899

	One hundred years ago, in November 1899, Martins Ferry High 
School fielded its first football team.  It was one of six teams in 
the Central Ohio Valley Scholastic League; the others were Bellaire, 
Wheeling, Moundsville, Wellsburg, Steubenville and Cathedral. (At 
that time only boys attended Cathedral High; girls went to St. 
Joseph's Academy.  Eventually they merged to become Wheeling Central 
Catholic High.)  It sounds highly organized, but at that time 
football as played in the high schools was just taking shape.  The 
schedules of the six schools did not mesh well.  Open dates were 
filled by amateur teams formed in some neighborhood, like the 
Bellaire Tigers, or recruited from boys who had dropped out of school 
and gone to work, like the Ferry Merchants, or formed among friends, 
like the Welsh Lads.
	Ferry High started out with the Bellaire Tigers on the first 
Saturday in November.  The Tigers scored a touchdown in the first 
half, but because they dropped the ball -- it is not clear what 
happened -- they were not allowed to try for the point after 
touchdown.  So the half ended with Bellaire in the lead, 5-0.  In the 
second half, Martins Ferry made it to the ten-yard line before 
turning the ball over.  The Tigers fumbled and Quarterback Luther 
Lewis pounced on the ball.  Ferry scored but missed the point after 
touchdown, so the game ended in a tie, 5-5.
	The next game was with Cathedral on the Island field.  
Unfortunately, the reporter forgot to include the score.  The third 
game was played at home on the Seabright field, ending in a victory 
for Ferry, 6-5.  For the fourth game, the Ferry Merchants showed up, 
but the high school team did not, much to the Merchants' 
disappointment.  The reporter scolded the high school team vigorously 
for their nonappearance.  The fifth game was eagerly awaited, for 
either Martins Ferry or their opponent, Steubenville, could claim the 
league championship.  To keep the crowd back in place, wire was 
strung all around the field.  Ferry trotted out on the field, and 
waited.  And waited.  This time it was Steubenville that failed to 
turn up and the championship went to neither.  Regretfully the high 
school found another Bellaire aggregation, the Buckeyes, for the 
closing game of season.
	The big squads of today were unknown at that time.  Ferry 
High's roster seemed to consist of eleven players; H. Smith, left 
end; R. Heaton, left tackle; A. Dickson, left guard; A. Smith, 
center; G. Heaton, right guard; A. Baker, right tackle; G. David, 
right end; T. Williams, right halfback; L. Lipphardt, left halfback; 
L. Lewis, quarterback; E. Drennen, fullback.  Without first names the 
players are difficult to identify, but perhaps someone can recognize 
a great-grandfather who played on Ferry High's first football team.