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Opinion: We have the best football in the area

Saturday night, after his Mathews team opened its season with a win over Catholic Central, Bill Bohren said something to me that got me thinking — “Steubenville is the best football town in America.”

While I’m sure a lot of places, elsewhere in Ohio and in other football hotbeds like Texas and Florida, would probably claim their own town/city/area to hold that title, it’s hard to imagine another area that can say they love the sport more than the Ohio Valley as a whole.

Bohren, after all, is 88 and has coached more football than I can ever dream of simply watching, so, the former Big Red grid boss of the late ’70s probably has seen more than enough football towns to pass his judgment.

And, after spending two nights in Harding Stadium and three-straight on the sidelines, it’s hard to argue with his point, in fact, I’d expand it beyond Steubenville to include the entire area, as I’m sure each and every football town in the Valley was excited for the first kickoffs this weekend, and the ones to come this week on the West Virginia side of the river.

Another thing his statement made me think about is how fortunate we are to be football fans in this area. I’m not sure we consider that enough. Bohren’s statement affirms that it’s not like this everywhere.

I grew up in stadiums across the area on Friday nights as a kid, so admittedly I never really thought about it not being this way other places until now.

We shouldn’t take that for granted.

I’ve been lucky enough, not only to grow up watching games here, but to cover games here in this area for going on six seasons now with this opening weekend.

And, what a weekend it was.

Even though this is my sixth season, Friday night was my first experience in this capacity for a Big Red home game, as our correspondent, Ed Looman, has done a fantastic job covering the team pre-dating my time here, so when I’ve gotten to cover them, it’s been on the road, or in a photographer role during the playoffs.

As luck would have it, the first time he was not able to make it was the night Reno Saccoccia became the all-time wins leader in Ohio in front of a packed house.

I mean, back to Bohren’s remark, where else would you see people willing to park in a shopping plaza down the hill or literally anywhere a spot could be found and walk as far as it took for a football game? It’s hard to imagine many more places.

I’ve had a lot of really cool experiences the past several years, covering football and other sports, including a state championship and games on college fields — opening night at Harding Stadium undoubtedly is getting a spot on that list of cool experiences.

I didn’t grow up going to games in Steubenville, usually my trips to Harding Stadium as a youngster were when it was a neutral site for playoff games, and though I have covered Catholic Central home games and countless soccer matches, a Friday night Big Red game is just a different atmosphere.

I can imagine it’s as, if not more, electric an atmosphere than that of some college games.

Someone told me on Thursday when I told them I was covering the Big Red game the next night that I was “going to the pinnacle” in terms of high school football.

Hard to argue with them.

Also, congratulations to coach Reno on the accomplishment. He was gracious enough to spend a few minutes with me after the game and I’m appreciative of a few minutes on his big night.

Even though I did not grow up going to games here, I was well aware from a young age what a program Big Red has, as anyone in the valley is, and seeing that milestone first hand was something for this guy who grew up a fan of Ohio Valley high school football.

And, I’d be remiss if I didn’t say that it’s not just Harding Stadium, all of our teams have unique and exciting atmospheres that make Friday nights in the fall so enjoyable. I look forward to seeing them again.

Here’s to more memories in the best football area in the country the rest of the season.

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