History of Stadium Field In the spring of 1923 a group of men got together to form a stadium committee whose sole intent was to build a stadium for the newly constructed Parkersburg High School. Those men included John S. Echols, President of the Board of Education, C.M. Martin, Sherman Dils, J.H. Biddle, C.T. Hitshaw, Herbert Smith, John Randolph, and Paul L. Summers. The committee was incorporated on July 14, 1923 and became known as the Parkersburg High School Corporation. The process of forming a corporation was necessary because the bonded indebtedness of the Board of Education was then at the peak permitted by law. Also serving on this committee was Fayette Smoot, H.L. Martin, Edward Doesch, H.R. Debussey and W.O. Holiday. The corporation leased the back campus from the Board of Education. It was impossible, according to the law of the time, for such a corporation to build any structure on land owned by a board of education. Therefore, the board had to turn over the land known as Stadium Field, on a lease to this corporation. The bonds were then released. The money for the bonds was to be recovered through football games and other activities held at the stadium. The stadium was the first of its kind (concrete) in West Virginia and must have been the first of its kind to be built for the use of tax-supported institution without the investment of a single tax dollar. The plans were to build one side of the stadium in 1923 and to build the other side the following year. The end of the U-shaped stadium was to be completed in the third year. When finally, completed it was to seat about 13,000 people. The end or bowl section of the stadium was never completed according to plans. The total cost of construction for the two sides was $104,000. In just one day after the meeting in which the stadium plan was revealed, a total of $33,000 worth of bonds was sold. In September of 1923 the first concrete was poured for the West stands of the stadium and on Oct. 4, 1923, the first game in the new stadium was played
The Coaches and What They Did In 1900 a group of Parkersburg High School students got together because they wanted to play football. With no support, no coach and only a willingness to play the then brutal, and sometimes fatal, game of football, the students organized their own team, purchased or made their own equipment, practiced on their own after doing chores and arranged games with whoever they could find. They played independent teams from surrounding towns like Athens and Marietta while trying to persuade groups of student-only teams to play. The first known coach was Henry Nelly. His 1902 team won five of eight games. A local football wizard around the turn of the century, Paul Lehman, volunteered to coach the group of high school students in 1903 and 1904. Lehman was for being the leader of the local independent team, the Parkersburg Athletic Club, which traveled around playing various other teams. He even formed his own team later, called the “All Mauds.” That 1903 team was captained by a 15 year-old freshman named Dick Hoblitzell, who would go on to play baseball with Babe Ruth and the Boston Red Sox in the world series. Carfer Comes Along to Play & Coach In 1904 a student named Boyd Carfer, came onto the scene. Carfer fell in love with the game of American football at an early age. Before he ever got to high school he was playing on the local independent PAC team. He was the player coach of the 1905 PHS team. In 1906 the team got the blessing and support of Professor C.W. Boetticher, the PHS principal, who declared only students would be allowed on this team. Boetticher also served as the “official” coach although it was Carfer who did all the work. From 1904-1907 Carfer was the team captain – a four-year feat which undoubtedly will never be repeated as it is unlikely a modern day freshman would never be given such an honor. He graduated as a 21-year-old senior, something which was allowed in those days. Twenty years later he was still considered one of the
1978. He retired with 178 wins in 23 years, nearly double the amount of the next highest PHS coach. He also had the most all-state selections of any coach. It’s Very Relative for Big Reds Success on the football field is not just singularly achieved at Parkersburg High School – it is passed down from generation to generation. Fathers, sons, brothers, uncles, cousins, nephews – the Big Red team has had its share of outstanding relatives – each one prouder than the one before to carry on the tradition that is PHS football. The list of all-staters at PHS who are related is long and glorious. There were the Barnums, the Earleys, the Johnson/Jenkins family and many more. But perhaps the most successful was the Phillips brothers – all four of them. It officially began in 1975 when Dave Phillips made first team all-state as a junior offensive tackle. The following year he was joined on the first all-state team by his junior “little” brother Larry Phillips, who was selected as a defensive tackle. That
least three games played by the high school student team in 1900, two against the Columbia Athletic Club and one against the Parkersburg Athletic Club Juniors. The 1901 team played at least two games each against the high school students from Marietta and Athens while the 1902 team played at least nine games although results could be found for only eight. The 1903 team played at least five games (with only one win and one touchdown scored) and was captained by a 15 year-old freshman named Dick Hoblitzell. The coach in 1902 and 1903 was Henry Nelly but the leaders and organizers of the team were the captain and manager. The 1903 manager was Jack Crist, who also played halfback. Early games were played at Stephenson’s Park and the City Park. Players had to furnish their own equipment and pay all their own expenses. In 1903 the PHS team wanted to play Cambridge but could not raise enough money to pay the way for the Cambridge team to travel to Parkersburg – which was the custom of the time for the home team to pay the way for the visiting team. A man who had officiated some of the PHS games the year before, Paul Lehman, coached the 1904 team with Hoblitzell again being the captain. Hoblitzell would go on to play first base for the Boston Red Sox when they won the world series a few years later with a pitcher named Babe Ruth, The team won five games and tied one out of nine contests. One of the loses was to Athens 16-0 when it was claimed the winners used four “ringers” (at end, guard, tackle and halfback) while another was 6-0 to Marietta Academy when that team used four members of the Marietta College squad to help secure the victory. Hoblitzell scored on an end run against the alumni but at the end of the season he announced he had been recruited to play for Marietta Academy in 1905. Little could be found about the 1905 high school team except that Boyd Carfer, a freshman, organized the squad, did the coaching and was the team captain. The team played to two scoreless ties against Marietta High School. From 1900 to 1906 some members of the high school team also played for the Parkersburg Athletic Club team (which traveled all over and played various teams, including colleges). Carfer and John Dudley were two such students. Plus, students were allowed to attend high school through the age of 21.