ICL History

Although no exact account of the beginnings of the ICL are known to this web site, the league began play in 1951, and was in existence for 54 years. Three of the original members were the Lowellville Rockets, the McDonald Blue Devils, and the North Lima Zippers. According to Zipper football programs from 1964 & 1968 the roster of ICL schools and year of joining included the Crestview Rebels (1957), Greenford Bobcats (1956), Jackson-Milton Blue Jays (1954 & 1967), Lowellville Rockets (1950), McDonald Blue Devils (1950), Mineral Ridge Ramblers (1961), North Lima Zippers (1950), and Western Reserve Blue Devils (1951).

The League was originally composed of seven Class A schools operating in Columbiana, Mahoning, and Trumbull Counties, and included competition in just three sports (Football, Basketball, and Track and Field). Championships were determined at both senior and junior high levels in all three sports. In 1968, the Western Reserve school had just completed its football field with lighting, becoming the fourth member of the league to do so.

In its 54 years of existence, the Inter-County League had 11 different schools crowned league champions. The league also had 2 state runner-ups (McDonald 1989, 1994) and 2 state semi-finalists (McDonald 1991, South Range 2005).

Previous League Champions
Schools	# of Championships	Last Championship
McDonald	17	1998
Mineral Ridge	8	2004
South Range	8	2005
Springfield	8	2000
Lowellville	8	2003
Canfield	3	1959
Columbiana	2	1984
Jackson-Milton	2	1981
Goshen Union	2	1957
North Lima	1	1965
Western Reserve	1	1989

Inter-County League Football Champions
Year	School	Coach	Year	School	Coach
1951	Canfield	Francis McAughlin	1979	Springfield	John DiRenzo
1952	McDonald	Andrew Golubic	1980	McDonald	Andy Golubic
1953	Columbiana	R. Berryman	1981	Jackson-Milton	Tony Vechiarella
1954	McDonald	Andrew Golubic	1982	Springfield	John DiRenzo
1955	McDonald	Andrew Golubic	1983	McDonald	Andy Golubic
1956	Goshen Union	Herb Gorby		Lowellville	Bob Schaffer
1957	Goshen Union*	Herb Gorby	1984	Columbiana	Larry Caffro
1958	Canfield	Bob Winterburn	1985	Mineral Ridge	Bill Hart
1959	Canfield	Bob Winterburn	1986	McDonald	Andy Golubic
1960	Lowellville	John Santillo	1987	McDonald	Andy Golubic
1961	Lowellville	John Santillo	1988	McDonald	Andy Golubic
1962	Lowellville	John Santillo	1989	Western Reserve	Bob Topoleski
1963	Mineral Ridge	Joe Rich	1990	Mineral Ridge	Lew Lowery
1964	Mineral Ridge	Joe Rich		South Range	Rich McClellan
1965	North Lima	Dick Rezek	1991	McDonald	Brian Fedyski
1966	Mineral Ridge	Joe Rich	1992	South Range	Rich McClellan
1967	Mineral Ridge	Joe Rich	1993	Springfield	Jeff Bruno
1968	McDonald	Bob Price	1994	McDonald	Brian Fedyski
1969	McDonald	Bob Price	1995	Lowellville	Rod Greenmyer
1970	McDonald	Bob Price	1996	South Range	Dan Yeagley
1971	McDonald	Dick Scarbrough	1997	South Range	Dan Yeagley
1972	Lowellville	Jack Geddes	1998	Mineral Ridge	Jim Papada
1973	Lowellville	Jack Geddes		McDonald	Andy Golubic
	McDonald	Dick Scarbrough	1999	Springfield	Doug Phillips
1974	McDonald	Dick Scarbrough	2000	Springfield	Doug Phillips
1975	South Range	Bob McNea	2001	South Range	Dan Yeagley
	Springfield	John DiRenzo	2002	Lowellville	John Protopapa
1976	Springfield	John DiRenzo	2003	South Range	Dan Yeagley
1977	Springfield	John DiRenzo	2004	Mineral Ridge	Shawn Brown
1978	Jackson-Milton	Tony Vechiarella	2005	South Range	Dan Yeagley

* 2005 Vindicator listed Canfield as league champion, while the 1964 & 1968 NL Zipper football program listed Goshen Union.

Junior –High Football Champions

1962 – Lowellville

1963 – Crestview

1964 – North Lima

1965 – McDonald

1966 – Crestview

1967 – McDonald

- Special thank you to Mr. Clark for providing league information.