(8-17-22) For over 100 years and 99 meetings…TFriday night will see another Defiance vs Napoleon football game…in one of Ohio’s longest running high school football rivalries.
- Fun facts from the Defiance-Napoleon series – Crescent-News
Napoleon leads the series with a 54-43-2 edge over Defiance. What makes this game special the two neighbors are not in the same conference. For the Bulldogs, members of the Western Buckeye League, it is the only non-league game they play. Making it special during the last couple of years is playing the game on Thursday, a day ahead of Ohio’s Friday night lights.
From the 1916-17 Napoleon Yearbook – The Buckeye
1916 Napoleon Football Team
1915 marked the 1st season the Wildcats had a football team, but they did not play Defiance. The 1916 team would play them twice.
From the Crescent-News article today – Notable games from Defiance-Napoleon
The first game played in the series was on Nov. 11, 1916, a matchup that saw the teams play to a 6-6 tie. Here’s how it was described in The Crescent-News back then:
“Playing an up-hill battle against a single file touchdown which Napoleon made early in the game, and finally pushing across a touchdown of their own, only to lose the deciding goal kick when one of their players grounded the punt-out, Coach Showalter’s crew of High school footballists yesterday came home from Napoleon without a decision from Napoleon High. The score was 6 to 6.
“Defiance relied mainly on the open style of football which has brought them victory in most of their games this year. Without the help of Wissler, the season’s quarterback who is now out of the game, the open formations worked better than many of the supporters who accompanied the team expected. Defiance gained more yards than Napoleon, and it was only the failure to take advantage of scoring opportunities that prevented them from coming off victorious.”
Just 19 days later, the two teams met again on Thanksgiving Day, this time with a winning result for the Bulldogs by a 7-0 margin. In front of between 500-600 spectators at Defiance High School.
How how close are the two schools?
2021 – Defiance wins River Rock trophy with 7-0 win over Napoleon
WTOL – You Tube Video
Did you know?
Defiance has played Van Wert more times then it has Napoleon and has a record of
| vs. Van Wert | (55-47-4) |
Defiance Overall Records up to the 1916 game
| Season | Overall Record | Offense | Defense | Coach | |
| 1901 | 0-4 | 10-2.5 | 74-18.5 | RH Sutphen | |
| 1902 | 3-3 | 105-17.5 | 105-17.5 | Harvey Stevens | |
| 1903 | 5-3-2 | 180-18.0 | 53-5.3 | Lionel Shaw | |
| 1904 | 4-2-2 | 188-23.5 | 47-5.9 | Lionel Shaw | |
| 1905 | 4-3-1 | 154-19.3 | 87-10.9 | Lionel Shaw | |
| 1906 | 2-3 | 56-11.1 | 20-4.0 | Coach Darner | |
| 1907 | 0-3 | 0-0.00 | 63-21.0 | Coach Caris | |
| 1908 | 1-2 | 5-1.7 | 122-40.7 | Glenn Rath | |
| 1909 | 3-3 | 98-16.0 | 66-11.0 | Glenn Rath | |
| 1910 | 4-3-1 | 123-15.4 | 58-7.3 | Glenn Rath | |
| 1911 | 4-3 | 145-20.7 | 69-9.9 | Glenn Rath | |
| 1912 | 3-5 | 89-11.1 | 116-14.5 | Coach Goldnetz | |
| 1913 | 8-1 | 204-22.7 | 39-4.3 | F.S. Kitson | |
| 1914 | 5-4 | 152-16.9 | 128-14.2 | F.S. Kitson | |
| 1915 | 5-5 | 245-24.5 | 113-11.3 | F.S. Kitson | |
| 1916 | 2-4-3 | 58-6.4 | 126-14.0 | Coach Showalter |
Stateline Sports Network 