‘Noble County Super Bowl’ Comes Early This Year
Epic Annual Battle to take place in Sarahsville Friday Night at 7 p.m.
By Jeff Harrison
The “Noble County Super Bowl” is usually reserved for Week 10 as the culmination of the regular season, but this year’s version of “Football Christmas” comes early for local fans as Shenandoah and Caldwell square off on the gridiron for the 57th time this week.
With the OHSAA going to a six-week regular season setup due to concerns over the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, athletic directors Eric Sholtis (Shenandoah) and Eli Svercek (Caldwell) wanted to make sure the Zeps and Redskins would meet regardless of what happens down the road.
Things will certainly be different when the game unfolds Friday at 7 p.m. in Sarahsville, with limited spectators wearing masks and observing “social distancing”; only the Zeps’ band in attendance; a shortened halftime; no pregame or postgame handshakes; and even a few on-field changes including the centers taking the football back to the huddle after each play.
What won’t change, however, is the intensity between the Zeps and ‘Skins as bragging rights for a year will be on the line.
It’s a series dating back to 1964 separated by one victory, with Caldwell currently leading 28-27 with one game ending in a tie. The ‘Skins collected five straight wins from 2012-16, but the Zeps have prevailed in each of the lasts three seasons (2017-19).
Last year, Shenandoah claimed a 14-6 win to cap an 8-2 regular season while Caldwell finished at 2-8. The Zeps qualified for the OHSAA Division VII, Region 27 playoffs where they lost to Waterford, 38-20.
Fans attending will be parking in different areas and seated on opposite sides of the field in an effort to keep people separated as much as possible in case contact tracing is needed in the event a positive COVID-19 test would occur.
For those unable to attend the game, Kaleb Graham Productions will live stream the game on kgp.tv/live (the cost is $20) starting around 6:30 p.m.
57th ‘Noble County Super Bowl’
(Caldwell leads 28-27-1)
1964 – Redskins 32, Zeps 0; 1965 – Redskins 22, Zeps 14; 1966 – Redskins 14, Zeps 6; 1967 – Redskins 20, Zeps 18; 1968 – Zeps 60, Redskins 0; 1969 – Zeps 14, Redskins 0; 1970 – Zeps 12, Redskins 6; 1971 – Zeps 14, Redskins 2; 1972 – Zeps 39, Redskins 8; 1973 – Zeps 19, Redskins 0; 1974 – Zeps 32, Redskins 28; 1975 – Redskins 26, Zeps 16; 1976 – Zeps 14, Redskins 0; 1977 – Redskins 25, Zeps 14; 1978 – Zeps 18, Redskins 8; 1979 – Zeps 8, Redskins 8 (tie); 1980 – Redskins 6, Zeps 0; 1981 – Redskins 19, Zeps 0; 1982 – Zeps 15, Redskins 8; 1983 – Zeps 6, Redskins 0; 1984 – Zeps 7, Redskins 0; 1985 – Redskins 42, Zeps 0; 1986 – Redskins 30, Zeps 0; 1987 – Zeps 15, Redskins 9; 1988 – Redskins 21, Zeps 6; 1989 – Redskins 27, Zeps 0; 1990 – Redskins 28, Zeps 7; 1991 – Redskins 41, Zeps 9; 1992 – Redskins 42, Zeps 8; 1993 – Redskins 28, Zeps 12; 1994 – Redskins 31, Zeps 21; 1995 – Redskins 32, Zeps 7; 1996 – Redskins 32, Zeps 6; 1997 – Zeps 27, Redskins 0; 1998 – Zeps 32, Redskins 21; 1999 – Zeps 29, Redskins 15; 2000 – Zeps 49, Redskins 35; 2001 – Zeps 34, Redskins 8; 2002 – Zeps 28, Redskins 0; 2003 – Zeps 41, Redskins 7; 2004 – Zeps 33, Redskins 12; 2005 – Redskins 40, Zeps 20; 2006 – Zeps 8, Redskins 5; 2007 – Zeps 30, Redskins 16; 2008 – Redskins 27, Zeps 0; 2009 – Redskins 37, Zeps 20; 2010 – Redskins 27, Zeps 0; 2011 – Zeps 20, Redskins 14; 2012 – Redskins 47, Zeps 16; 2013 – Redskins 35, Zeps 0 2014 – Redskins 39-6; 2015 – Redskins 22, Zeps 6; 2016 – Redskins 31, Zeps 30; 2017 – Zeps 50, Redskins 6; 2018 – Zeps 14, Redskins 6; 2019 – Zeps 14 Redskins 6.
