MICHIGAN HIGH
SCHOOL
FOOTBALL RECORD BOOK
All information copyright 2007 by
Ron Pesch
1317 Lakeshore Drive
Muskegon, Michigan 49441
Home: (231) 759-7253
Official football championships began in Michigan in 1899, when the University of Michigan and the Michigan High School Athletic Committee (a forerunner of the present MHSAA), sponsored an official championship game in Ann Arbor on Thanksgiving weekend. The first title game was played on old Regents' Field at the U of M in late November, 1899.
Research on those turn-of-the-century playoffs is incomplete, but it appears that championships were held from 1899 to 1905, inclusive. The finals from 1899 to 1904, inclusive, were played at Ann Arbor; the 1905 final was held at Ramona Park in Grand Rapids. Then the championships were abandoned until the first MHSAA playoffs were held in 1975.
Year - Final game score, Winning coach
1899 - Pontiac 6, Plainwell 5, Charles Stevens
1900 - Ishpeming 12, Orchard Lake Michigan Military Academy 5, William
Joliffe
1901 - Ishpeming 27, Kalamazoo 21, Dr. George Sweetland
1902 - Ishpeming 35, Benton Harbor 12, Dr. George Sweetland
1903 - Benton Harbor 22, Escanaba 0, Clayton Teetzel
1904 - Escanaba 16, Mt. Pleasant 5, John Woodhams
1905 - Ishpeming 17, Grand Rapids Central 5, Edward Perkins
1899 to 1901 - at Regents Field, Ann Arbor; 1902 to 1904 - at Ferry Field, Ann Arbor; 1905 at Ramona Park, Grand Rapids.
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