From
www.phsbigredsfootball.com
The Official web site for Parkersburg Big Reds Football
Its only 17 State Titles for Parkersburg
Parkersburg High School has added a 17th state football championship – without playing a game.
While it was well know that the 1911 PHS team went undefeated there was no state championship playoff or even a declaration of a state champion with supporting evidence – until now.
Thanks to supporting evidence from Spalding’s 1911 Official Foot Ball Guide (also titled the Official National Collegiate Athletic Association Football Guide), the PHS team can now lay claim to the West Virginia State Championship Football Title for that season.
On page 251 of the very detailed and complete book, PHS is declared undisputed state champion for that year. The book was found in the University of Michigan library. The book featured scores and rundowns on virtually every college and high school team in the country as well as All-American and All-Conference teams.
The following is the excerpt from page 251 of the book concerning PHS football.
“Parkersburg (W.Va.) High School – The team annexed the undisputed title of state championship during the season of 1911. The eleven completed its schedule of ten games, defeating every opponent by decisive scores. Only once during the season was Parkersburg’s goal line crossed. The strongest contenders for championship honors from each section of the state were defeated by the high school team, as well as two claimants for the Ohio state championship.”
There is even a Parkersburg team picture on page 276 of the book along with a team picture of the high school team from Sistersville.
The football season of 1911 was the last year that touchdowns counted five points and only three downs were allowed to make 10 yards for a first down. It was the same year Jim Thorpe, Pop Warner and the Carlisle Indians upset mighty Harvard on Thorpe’s three field goals. Considered one of the greatest college football upsets of all time.
Parkersburg was coached by B.B. Cooley and led by legendary Earle “Greasy” Neale, who dropkicked three field goals, 16 extra points and caught seven touchdown passes from quarterback Glenn Allen, who went on to play at West Virginia University.
They beat their Alumni 3-0, then traveled to New Martinsville to win 11-0 despite a hidden ball under the jersey trick by the home team. Then came a 24-0 win over Company A of the National Guard, a 17-0 win over Athens followed by successive victories over arch-rival Marietta by scores of 5-0 and then 6-0. The only points allowed during the entire season came in a 12-8 win over northern panhandle power Wheeling. That was followed by a 9-0 triumph over Charleston, a 6-0 victory over Athens and a 45-0 win over Clarksburg WI.
Other key players in 1911 for PHS, which did not officially become the Big Reds until 1915, were Dutch Lehman, Don Berkenstock, Harold Harvey, Chaarles Penwell and Raymond “Dutch” Neale (Greasy’s brother).