One school, so many leagues

The year was 1898, the place was a gridiron in Fostoria and the players ... well, it was kind of hard to tell one side from the other.One report, according to 'The Morning Republican,' said Findlay's players that day thought their ranks were being supplemented by some "unsuspected supporters."Not quite.Turns out that for that historic first football game between the two schools, both teams had chosen uniforms with a red and black color scheme.Bragging rights might have been the uppermost prize for that first football meeting. But officials decided to add an extra incentive, with the winning team getting to keep its colors and the losing team having to change.Thanks to a 15-12 victory, Fostoria's colors remain red and black to this day thanks to the outcome.Thanks to some quick thinking by Edna Bigelow, a member of the spirit squad who was tasked with forming a committee to pick new school colors, Findlay has since been blue and gold, the colors she blurted out after no one showed up for her hastily arranged meeting and she was cornered in the hallway the Monday after the game.That game back in 1898 began a historic rivalry between the two schools, who would go on to square off 75 times on the gridiron, including one 39-year stretch where they clashed every season from 1930-1968.While team colors were no longer an issue following that first matchup, bragging rights always were. So was league status with the Trojans and Redmen being rivals in three different conferences over the years. The first was the Trolley League, the second the Buckeye League and the third the Great Lakes League.Findlay and Fostoria have not been in the same conference since 2002, when both were members of the Great Lakes League. The GLL had been around since 1956, but folded after the 2002-03 school year following a topsy-turvy three-year stretch that saw 13 schools enter and/or leave the conference.The realignment and re-arrangement of athletic leagues is a hot topic once again, and Findlay is one of several Northwest Ohio schools on the move. A member of the Three Rivers Athletic Conference since the 2011, Findlay will be leaving the TRAC, along with Fremont Ross, Oregon Clay and Toledo Whitmer, and joining the Northern Lakes League beginning with the 2023-24 school year."Certainly, this is an exciting time for Findlay athletics joining an elite conference in the Northern Lakes League," FHS Athletics Director Nate Weihrauch said in April, after the Findlay Board of Education, by a unanimous 5-0 decision, voted to accept an invitation to join the Northern Lakes League."The NLL is one of the older conferences in Ohio and will bring stability for our district and community as we will once again compete against highly talented and powerhouse teams at all levels and programs. The community-based programs, travel, schedule, traditions, and existing relationships with the current NLL school districts will assist our community."From the start, here's a look at Findlay High's league and conference affiliation through the years:TROLLEY LEAGUE: 1919-1921LEAGUE MEMBERS: Findlay, Fostoria, Bowling Green, Tiffin, Lima Central, Lima South.NOTES: It was called the Trolley League because, well, because of trolleys. Rail tracks connected many cities and towns at the time and fans could often hop a ride on a trolley car heading to game.BUCKEYE LEAGUE: 1935-1954LEAGUE MEMBERS: Findlay, Fostoria, Bowling Green, Fremont Ross, Marion Harding, Sandusky, Tiffin Columbian, Tiffin Jr. Home.NOTES: Findlay beat the Tiffin Jr. Home 93-0 one year, the most points scored and largest margin of victory in FHS football history.BUCKEYE CONFERENCE: 1955-1987LEAGUE MEMBERS: Findlay, Elyria, Fremont Ross, Lorain Senior, Marion Harding, Sandusky, Lorain Admiral King, Mansfield Senior.NOTES: During its run, the Buckeye Conference was considered one of the premier athletic conferences in the state. The league produced some outstanding athletes, with Sandusky's Thom Darden (Browns), Ed (Browns) and John (Bears) Bettridge, Corey Croom (Patriots), Luther Henson (Patriots), Scott May (Olympic gold medalist, Chicago Bulls) and Orlando Pace (Rams, Bears) and Fremont's Bob Brudzinski (Ohio State, Rams), Rob Lytle (Michigan, Broncos), Derek Isaman (Ohio State) and Shawn McCarthy (Patriots) among the elite.Two Heisman Trophy winners came out of former Buckeye Conference school's, Fremont's Charles Woodson (1997) and Elyria's Vic Janowicz (1950). Findlay's Ben Roethlisberger was ninth in the Heisman voting in 2003. Starting in the mid 1960s, Findlay ran out a succession of Division I college quarterbacks in Harry Gonso (Indiana), Steve Woodruff (Yale), Keith Woodruff (Ohio University), Cliff Hite (Kentucky), Kurt Hippensteel (Illinois), John Veilhaber (Michigan State), Dave Wilson (Ball State), Steve Reichenbach (Toledo), John Kidd (Northwestern, punter) and Bruce Porter (North Carolina State, Ohio University). Andy Schramm (Michigan State), John Schramm (Arizona), Scott Duncan (Northwestern) and Jeff Bury (Purdue) were filling of D-I roster as well.BUCKEYE CENTRAL CONFERENCE: 1988-1995LEAGUE MEMBERS: Findlay Fremont Ross, Lancaster, Newark, Zanesville.NOTES: Five schools from four different district (Northwest, Southeast, Central, East) made up one of the most far-flung leagues in the state. Home-and-home scheduled ensured that any school official seeking mileage reimbursement was due a hefty check. Fremont Ross moved over the Great Lakes League in 1989, and when Newark said it was leaving the league the BCC folded.GREAT LAKES LEAGUE: 1996-2003MEMBERS: The GLL originally formed in 1956 and over the years included 15 different schools: Findlay, Fostoria, Bowling Green, Oregon Clay, Sylvania Northview, Port Clinton, Toledo Rogers, Toledo Whitmer, Napoleon, Lima Shawnee, Fremont Ross, Sandusky, Lorain Admiral King, Lorain Southview and Bedford, Mich. Findlay joined up in 1995.GREATER BUCKEYE CONFERENCE: 2004-2011MEMBERS: Findlay, Fremont Ross, Lima Senior, Marion Harding, Napoleon, Sandusky.NOTES: With the break-up of the GLL, six schools formed ranks to create the GBC. Teams played just five league games in football, but competition included two of the longest running rivalries in Ohio prep football history: Sandusky and Fremont Ross (115 years) and Fremont Ross and Findlay (98 years).THREE RIVERS ATHLETIC CONFERENCE: 2011-presentLEAGUE MEMBERS: Findlay, Fremont Ross, Oregon Clay, Lima Senior, Toledo Central Catholic, Toledo Whitmer, Toledo St. John's (boys only), Toledo St. Francis (boys only), Toledo St. Ursula (girls only), Toledo Notre Dame (girls only).NOTES: Due to financial problems, the Toledo Public School board of education was forced to close some schools, eliminate some varsity programs and cut junior high and freshman-level sports at others. That forced the private schools who were not in that bind — Central Catholic, St. John's, St. Francis, St. Ursula and Notre Dame — to seek other options athletically.The TRAC has been a solid eight-school league, although the private schools have dominated athletically, winning 135 of the 197 (68.5 percent) championship trophies handed out for winning or sharing league titles over the past 11 seasons.When Maumee announced it was leaving the Northern Lakes League though, the NLL, an eight-school collection of Division I and Division II-sized schools which had openly said it was looking to expand, sent invitations to Findlay, Fremont Ross, Oregon Clay and Toledo Whitmer. Lima Senior, likely because of its distance from the Toledo area, was not tender an invitation from the NLL either.Findlay, Fremont Ross, Clay and Whitmer have all accepted invitations to join the NLL, beginning with the 2023-24 school year. With 11 schools in the fold, the NLL is likely seeking other schools to create an even-numbered, two-division conference.