MORE THAN A CENTURY! ROCKY RIVER HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL

There’s something about the start of a new school year that brings back a familiar rhythm to our community—school buses are back on the road, there are warm hellos for the crossing guards as kids walk to school, and, of course, the Friday night lights will soon be shining over the Rocky River High School football field. For generations of Rocky River families, fall has meant football, Friday night lights, and cheering on our Pirates.

The Rocky River football team has been taking the field for more than 100 years, experiencing spectacular championship seasons as well as years of struggle. Through it all, football has remained an important part of the school and our community’s history.

The team captured championships in 1920 and 1921, and the enthusiasm surrounding the 1921 season is wonderfully captured in The Pennant, the school journal:

“The village of Rocky River woke up about the first of October to find that they had a real football team in their midst. After kidding the Oberlin eleven into thinking that they had a good team, by letting them win a 41-1 victory, we turned around and put Bedford’s, Medina’s and South Euclid’s pride in a bag and drowned them in the river.”

Apparently, a little football trash talk was popular even back then!

The season continued with a big game against Berea on its home field. Rocky River came away with a 13–7 victory in what The Pennant described as the team’s first County Conference game of the season. Even more memorable was the crowd. The journal noted that the largest gathering of Rocky River supporters ever to watch the team traveled to Berea to cheer on the victorious squad.

More than a century later, the names, players, uniforms, and fields may have changed, but the excitement of a new football season remains familiar. Parents and grandparents who once cheered from the stands now watch another generation take the field. As another school year gets underway, it’s a reminder that some Rocky River traditions truly stand the test of time.

So dust off your maroon and white, find your spot in the stands, and get ready for another season of Rocky River football.

To explore the scores and history of Rocky River High School football, visit Four Seasons Football:

http://www.fourseasonsfootball.com/Ohio%20Web/Rocky%20River.htm

Happy Fall!

Your friends at the Rocky River Historical Society