Youngstown Patricians The Youngstown Patricians were a semi - professional football team based in Youngstown , Ohio . In the 1910s , the team briefly held the professional football championship and established itself as a fierce rival of more experienced clubs around the country , some of which later formed the core of the National Football League . Origins . The football team was organized in 1911 by the Patrician Club , a men ' s organization connected to St . Patrick ' s Roman Catholic parish , on the city ' s south side . As sports historian Vic Frolund observes , the Catholic lay organization was designed " to advance the moral , social , and physical welfare of its members " . Nevertheless , by 1914 , the team associated with the Patricians Club had become a highly competitive enterprise that aggressively recruited some of the top athletic talent in the region . Shortly after the team ' s founding , its 18 players faced an eight - game schedule among other semi - professional and sandlot teams in Ohio and Pennsylvania . After scoring seven wins and one loss , the Patricians embraced a longer and tougher schedule of nine games . Faced with more experienced teams like the Canton Bulldogs , the McKeesport Olympics , the Pitcairn Quakers , and the Washington Vigilants , the Patricians increased their squad to 25 men and began to actively recruit well - established players . As Frolund writes : " Contracts were practically unheard of in the early days of the pro game . Consequently , a player could be with a different team every Sunday . His services were open to the highest bidder each week " . In this competitive environment , the Patricians managed to secure seasoned players including Ray Miller ( University of Notre Dame ) , Elgie Tobin ( Pennsylvania State University ) , Russell " Busty " Ashbaugh ( All - American mention at Brown University ) , and George Vedernack ( Carlisle ) . This power - house team was led by player - coach Ray L . Thomas , a former star athlete at Youngstown ' s Rayen School . Professional championship . Led by manager Joe Ormier and coach Thomas ( fresh from the West Virginia University football team ) , the Patricians entered the 1915 season with a confidence that was soon reflected in the local media . In October , when the " Pats " faced off with a rival club from Barberton , Ohio , one newspaper account stated : " It is no wonder the Patricians have aimed at the state titular emblem this season . With such a grand organization ; one that so admirably combines weight speed , courage , and sheer ability , it is even to their discredit that do not go in quest of the titular honors of several states or the country at large " . The article added : " The maroon and gray [ the Patricians ' colors ] need fear no professional football team " . The news report proved prophetic . That season , the Patricians won eight games and tied one . The most unexpected victory was a 13 - 7 win over the Washington , D . C . , Vigilants . As Frolund writes : " Over a span of nine years , the Vigilants had won 90 games , lost but three , and had one tie . The Vigilants had claimed the World ' s Championship of professional football since 1907 , defeating such teams as the famous Philadelphia Blues , Jersey City Pros , Harrisburg Giants , Altoona All - Stars , Maryland and New York Pros , New York , New Jersey , Boston , Reading , Pennsylvania , and Georgia " . As Frolund observes , the victory enabled the Patricians to lay claim to the World ' s Championship . The following season , however , the Patricians faced predictably tough competition as other semi - professional teams sought to challenge their unofficial but widely acknowledged championship . While the Patricians won a slim victory over the Washington Vigilants , they closed the season with a crippling 0 - 13 loss to the Columbus Panhandles . Their season record was a less - than - stellar 7 - 4 . Peak and decline . The Patricians entered the 1917 season determined to win back the championship title and assembled a powerhouse team that appeared equal to the task . The team featured five All - Americans . Standouts included Stan Cofall ( University of Notre Dame ) , Tom Gormley ( Georgetown University ) , Franklin " Bart " MacComber ( Illinois ) , Gil Ward ( Notre Dame ) , Jim Barron ( Georgetown ) , and Freeman Fitzgerald ( Notre Dame ) . Ernest " Tommy " Hughitt , while at the same time playing for a team in Buffalo , moonlighted as a quarterback for Youngstown . The opening contest of the 1917 season was against Jim Thorpe and his Canton Bulldogs . The game , which took place at Canton ' s Wright Field , drew a crowd of 7 , 000 fans . As Frolund notes , player - manager Thorpe , " who very seldom played a full game , played every minute of this one " . He adds that the Bulldogs won a narrow victory in a contest where " the lineups read like a who ' s - who of post - graduate football , circa 1917 " . As sports historian Keith McClellan writes : " Although the Canton Bulldogs gained 168 yards with their rushing attack and passed for an additional eighty - two yards , they could not cross Youngstown ' s goal for a touchdown . The Youngstown defense was outstanding whenever Canton threatened to score . Howard ' Cub ' Buck ' s drop kick from the fifteen yard line in the first period produced the only points of the game . Three times , Bart Macomber tried to tie the score with a field goal but failed each attempt . Canton won 3 - 0 " . McClellan adds that the game was characterized by " head - to - head competition " between the teams ' two centers , Robert Peck ( Youngstown ) and Ralph " Fats " Waldsmith . According to McClellan , legendary Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne listed Peck " as the best center for the first quarter of this century " . In the wake of this narrow defeat , the Patricians secured a victory over the Ohio Tigers , with a score of 14 - 6 . In another contest with the world - champion Bulldogs later that season , however , the Patricians suffered a devastating loss of 13 - 0 . Canton achieved this victory without the help of Thorpe , who was sidelined by a leg injury . Worse yet , the Youngstown team lost several of its brightest stars , including Cofall , to the Massillon Tigers . Sports historian McClellan observes that " a season that began with such high hopes ended with an unseasonable snowstorm and a modest 4 and 3 record " . Meanwhile , the wave of recruitment that came with America ' s entry into World War I , along with a flu pandemic that led to restrictions on travel and large gatherings , temporarily slashed the ranks of the nation ' s professional and semi - professional teams . Legacy . The Patricians ' effort to regroup under coach - manager Thomas unraveled in the wake of a 27 - 0 defeat at the hands of the Massillon Tigers on October 5 , 1919 . Yet , Patrician alumnus Russell " Busty " Ashbaugh ( football coach of Youngstown ' s South High School and father of Notre Dame standout Russell " Pete " Ashbaugh ) headed up a semi - professional team in Youngstown that fared well in regional contests . As Frolund notes , a team that was to be managed by another Patricians alumnus , Elgie Tobin , received a National Football League franchise , which had a schedule laid out for the 1922 NFL season . The project collapsed without explanation , and the team never played . While the area saw a brief revival of semi - professional football in the 1970s , with the organization of the Youngstown Hardhats , the Patricians club — at least during its peak years — was the closest that Youngstown would come to producing a nationally competitive professional football team . Hughitt went on to the Buffalo professional football club , where he played from 1918 to 1924 . During his time in Buffalo he won two state titles , and nearly won two NFL titles ( 1920 and 1921 ) as the team ' s coach and quarterback . Much of the rest of the team ended up with the brand - new Cleveland Panthers in 1919 ; thanks in large part to their connections to Hughitt , the Panthers played primarily New York - based teams .