100 Years of Football in the Berea City School District

THE EARLY YEARS

Football was played by northeast Ohio high schools (including Berea) as far back as the nineteenth century. But the teams were essentially clubs that came and went depending on the interest of students in a particular school year. In 1902, representatives from the various public schools in Cleveland formed an Athletic Senate: a committee to standardize rules and scheduling policies. This led to the creation of the Senate League in 1903. The Senate was the first true athletic conference in northeast Ohio and is still in existence today.

In 1918, the three largest suburban schools in the area—Cleveland Heights, Lakewood, and Shaw (East Cleveland)—joined with a preparatory academy, University School, to form the Quadrangular League. University School dropped out and was replaced by Rocky River High School in 1920. When Elyria and Lorain High Schools were added in 1928, the conference name was changed to the Lake Erie League. There have subsequently been many other changes to the lineup of member teams but the LEL, like the Senate, is still going strong.

Berea High played an independent schedule for two seasons, and then joined with several other schools to form the Cuyahoga County League in 1921. The County League changed members frequently as local school districts grew and new districts were created. For many years it functioned as a sort of “default” league for public high schools within Cuyahoga County that couldn’t find a home elsewhere. Despite its unsettled nature the County League survived for over 40 years. BHS won County League championships in 1923, ‘24, ‘27, and ‘28.
Meanwhile, Berea was outgrowing the old Central School building at the corner of Beech and Center Streets. In 1928, a new high school was constructed (cost: $650,000) at the corner of Bagley and East (now known as Eastland) Roads. The first game on the school’s own field was a 7-6 victory over Medina on September 28th. (Home games were previously played at Baldwin Wallace Field.)

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