Admiral King Vs. Lorain High – for the First Time

Louis Trotta and Carole Wasco pose
with "Harvey," the goat which is the
mascot for Admiral King High School.

Here's the milestone ad for the first ever football matchup between Lorain High School and the then brand-new Admiral King High School. The double-spread ad appeared in the Journal on September 21, 1961 – 53 years ago this past weekend.

The ad has a few interesting features. I had forgotten all about St. Mary High School predating Lorain Catholic High School. And there's plenty of well-remembered sponsor companies listed.

I miss the old Buckeye Conference, which dates back to the mid-1950s. It was a mighty conference, that's for sure, with both Lorain public high schools, Elyria, Findlay, Fremont Ross, Marion Harding, Mansfield and Sandusky.

Anyway, according to the Journal, a crowd of 8,000 watched the first matchup of Admiral King and Lorain High. Admiral King prevailed, winning 28-8.

I had also forgotten about Admiral King's mascot: a goat. A photo and caption (at left) that appeared on the front page of the Journal on the day after the game identified him as "Harvey."

I'm assuming that the high school named for Admiral Ernest J. King adopted the goat mascot as a tribute to the U.S. Naval Academy's football team, which has had a goat named "Bill" as their mascot for decades. (You can read about it here.)