By Dan Weber NKyTribune sports reporter
It’s part holiday, part family get-together, part neighborhood feud, and a big part of Kentucky’s high school football history.
It’s Leo Gilligan and O.W. Davis, Stan Steidel and Bob Miller, Pat Uebel and Bob “20 Grand” Davis, John Wooden and John Schaar, Bob Demoss and the Dougherty and Sutkamp Brothers.
It’s the Greendevils and the Tigers playing on the only two natural grass fields left in Northern Kentucky.
It’s a 50-yard line re-titled “O’Fallon Avenue” for this game.
It’s the “Battle for the Paddle,” at least it’s been that since 2007 in a series that began 97 years ago.
It’s Bellevue-Dayton, installment No. 150, this Friday night at 7 at Dayton’s O.W. Davis Field in a renewal of Kentucky’s most-played high school football rivalry.
Louisville’s original two high schools – Male and Manual – have been playing longer, since 1893 to the 1926 start for Bellevue and Dayton. But Campbell County’s urban river communities cared about the game so much, they’ve played it twice a year in 51 of those seasons, giving them a 150-139 edge in games after the teams play this season.
Dayton won the schools’ first-ever KHSAA football title in 1966 under Ray King but Bellevue won it twice more, in 1977 and ’79 under Bill Baldridge and Fred Bernier.
Dayton won the first game, 12-0, back in 1926. But Bellevue leads the series, 97-49-3.
Since 2000, Bellevue has won 26 of the 34 games but Dayton has won four of the last five.
The head coach at Dayton, Jesse Herbst, a Dayton alum, Class of 1990, has a family – father, mother and two brothers – who are all Greendevil alums.
Bellevue’s first-year head coach, Chad Montgomery, is a 2001 Bellevue grad with a wife, mother, brother and sister all Bellevue alums. But his father is a Dayton alum and speaking of crossing O’Fallon Avenue, Montgomery is the first-ever head coach of both Bellevue and Dayton, coaching the Greendevils from 2011 to 2018, when Herbst succeeded him.
For much of this information, we can thank Bellevue’s unofficial sports historian and 30-year coach and teacher Mike Swauger. And yes, Mike and brothers Bud and Gary all played football for Bellevue, where Mike ended up coaching football, baseball and was head coach in basketball for 23 years.
Mike’s favorite memory of the series has Dayton in a starring role in Bellevue’s 1977 state championship year when in the opener, with the game tied 0-0 late in the fourth quarter and Dayton driving against the defending state runner-up, Bellevue defensive end Scott Parr intercepted a lateral and ran it all the way back for the game-winning TD in a 6-0 victory that would get Bellevue headed to a 13-1 season and its first state title.
How close are these two programs? How about this close. With 138 boys in four high school classes, Dayton is No. 221 in enrollment among Kentucky’s 289 high schools. With 127 boys, Bellevue is right behind at No. 222.
Together . . . and separate. Bellevue and Dayton. Hanging in there with the demographics working against them. The towns are as vibrant as ever with all sorts of new businesses and housing for folks who like the river views and great location.
But with the newcomers not having as many school-age kids, the two Class 1A programs hang on, especially Bellevue in a bounce-back season for a Tiger program that didn’t have enough players to finish out the final two games in an 0-7 season in 2022. The last game played? A 46-0 loss to Dayton.
And yet here they are, the Tigers with a 3-3 record (including a forfeit over Eminence for playing an ineligible player) and the Greendevils 2-4 after a tougher schedule going into this district seeding game. Dayton would seem to be the clear favorite with a 22-6 loss to Ludlow, their one common opponent that beat Bellevue, 56-14.
Bellevue is ranked ahead of eight 1A teams in the KHSAA’s RPI ratings, Dayton is three spots higher.
Not that comparative scores are always a great indicator here. Or even head-to-head comparisons.
Look at the last year these teams played twice – in 2019. Dayton won the first game, 36-12, that season only to have Bellevue bounce back to win the second, 21-12.
Bellevue-Dayton Football Series (Bellevue leads the series 97-49-3)
Year
1926 Bellevue 12 Dayton 0
1926 Dayton Won
1927 Dayton 20 Bellevue 6
1928 Bellevue 0 Dayton 0
1929 Dayton 19 Bellevue 12
1930 Dayton 12 Bellevue 0
1931 Dayton 25 Bellevue 0
1932 Dayton 20 Bellevue 0
1933 Dayton 18 Bellevue 13
1934 Dayton Won
1935 Dayton 11 Bellevue 6
1936 Bellevue 31 Dayton 0
1937 Bellevue Won
1938 Bellevue Won
1939 Bellevue 7 Dayton 0
1940 Bellevue 19 Dayton 13
1941 Bellevue 26 Dayton 7
Bellevue 9 Dayton 0
1942 Bellevue 7 Dayton 0
Bellevue 27 Dayton 6
1943 Dayton 26 Bellevue 0
Dayton 21 Bellevue 0
1944 Bellevue 9 Dayton 6
Dayton 6 Bellevue 0
1945 Dayton 26 Bellevue 6
Bellevue 12 Dayton 6
1946 Dayton 34 Bellevue 0
Dayton 13 Bellevue 6
1947 Bellevue 9 Dayton 2
Bellevue 6 Dayton 6
1948 Bellevue 14 Dayton 12
Dayton 13 Bellevue 6
1949 Dayton 26 Bellevue 0
Dayton 46 Bellevue 6
1950 Bellevue 38 Dayton 6
Bellevue 58 Dayton 6
1951 Bellevue 46 Dayton 0
Bellevue 51 Dayton 13
1952 Dayton 7 Bellevue 0
Dayton 21 Bellevue 6
1953 Bellevue 14 Dayton 12
Bellevue 13 Dayton 7
1954 Bellevue 27 Dayton 0
Bellevue 45 Dayton 0
1955 Bellevue 12 Dayton 12
Bellevue 14 Dayton 0
1956 Bellevue 44 Dayton 7
1957 Bellevue 7 Dayton 0
1958 Bellevue 14 Dayton 13
1959 Bellevue 19 Dayton 0
1960 Bellevue 30 Dayton 0
1961 Bellevue 27 Dayton 13
1962 Bellevue 7 Dayton 0
1963 Dayton 33 Bellevue 0
1964 Dayton 41 Bellevue 20
1965 Bellevue 27 Dayton 0
1966 Bellevue 19 Dayton 14
1967 Dayton 20 Bellevue 7
1968 Dayton 33 Bellevue 20
1969 Dayton 8 Bellevue 6
1970 Dayton Won
1971 Dayton 6 Bellevue 0
1972 Bellevue 8 Dayton 2
1973 Dayton 8 Bellevue 0
1974 Bellevue 14 Dayton 0
1975 Dayton 15 Bellevue 6
Bellevue 22 Dayton 9
1976 Bellevue 13 Dayton 6
Bellevue 40 Dayton 6
1977 Bellevue 6 Dayton 0
Bellevue 35 Dayton 6
1978 Bellevue 15 Dayton 12
Bellevue 18 Dayton 0
1979 Bellevue 23 Dayton 6
Bellevue 30 Dayton 6
1980 Dayton 7 Bellevue 6
Bellevue 21 Dayton 6
1981 Bellevue 34 Dayton 16
Bellevue 42 Dayton 7
1982 Bellevue 21 Dayton 7
Bellevue 37 Dayton 0
1983 Bellevue 13 Dayton 7
Bellevue 26 Dayton 0
1984 Bellevue 13 Dayton 7
Bellevue 35 Dayton 13
1985 Bellevue 20 Dayton 14
Bellevue 8 Dayton 6
1986 Bellevue 12 Dayton 3
Dayton 20 Bellevue 0
1987 Bellevue 14 Dayton 6
Bellevue 42 Dayton 8
1988 Dayton 20 Bellevue 6
Bellevue 24 Dayton 6
1989 Bellevue 14 Dayton 0
Bellevue 7 Dayton 0
1990 Bellevue 14 Dayton 6
Bellevue 35 Dayton 26
1991 Bellevue 30 Dayton 0
Bellevue 21 Dayton 0
1992 Bellevue 35 Dayton 0
Bellevue 20 Dayton 6
1993 Dayton 16 Bellevue 7
Dayton 28 Bellevue 0
1994 Dayton 7 Bellevue 6 (Overtime)
Bellevue 14 Dayton 7
1995 Dayton 9 Bellevue 6
Bellevue 14 Dayton 7
1996 Dayton 13 Bellevue 6
Dayton 43 Bellevue 0
1997 Dayton 21 Bellevue 14
Dayton 7 Bellevue 0
1998 Bellevue 21 Dayton 13
Dayton 23 Bellevue 15
Dayton 31 Bellevue 6
1999 Bellevue 58 Dayton 0
Bellevue 20 Dayton 0
2000 Bellevue 48 Dayton 0
Bellevue 47 Dayton 7
2001 Bellevue 48 Dayton 6
Bellevue 21 Dayton 8
2002 Bellevue 13 Dayton 7
Dayton 16 Bellevue 13
2003 Bellevue 27 Dayton 0
Bellevue 39 Dayton 0
2004 Bellevue 14 Dayton 7
Bellevue 41 Dayton 12
2005 Bellevue 35 Dayton 14
2006 Dayton 20 Bellevue 19 (Overtime)
2007 Dayton 35 Bellevue 8 (1st Battle for Paddle)
Bellevue 20 Dayton 13
2008 Bellevue 33 Dayton 21
2009 Bellevue 56 Dayton 7
2010 Bellevue 46 Dayton 0
2011 Bellevue 17 Dayton 6
2012 Bellevue 58 Dayton 8
2013 Bellevue 64 Dayton 6
2014 Bellevue 61 Dayton 0
2015 Bellevue 42 Dayton 0
Bellevue 31 Dayton 0
2016 Dayton 14 Bellevue 13
Bellevue 7 Dayton 0
2017 Bellevue 47 Dayton 27
Bellevue 42 Dayton 40 (Overtime)
2018 Bellevue 49 Dayton 6
Bellevue 45 Dayton 6
2019 Dayton 36 Bellevue 12
Bellevue 21 Dayton 12
2020 Dayton 22 Bellevue 13
2021 Dayton 44 Bellevue 7
2022 Dayton 46 Bellevue 0