Lost Treasures: The Rayen School Tigers
In 1866, The Rayen School opened its’ doors to the first class of Tigers in the current Youngstown Board of Education building on Wick Avenue. Later in 1923, a new building was erected on Benita Avenue away from the downtown area and into the heart of Youngstown’s north side.
Rayen Stadium was built in 1924. The field was used as not only the home venue of Rayen but also for Ursuline and Youngstown State before Arnold D. Stambaugh Stadium opened in 1982. The Tigers returned to their home field for a contest against Akron East on September 30, 2006. The Rayen 30-20 win marked the first game at the stadium in twenty-four years.
Rich in football tradition, the orange and black won their first City Series Championship in 1928 by sharing the crown with South whom they played to a 0-0 tie in week ten. The Tigers finished the campaign with a 9-0-1 record. Their defense did not allow a single opponent to score over seven points in a game all year.
Rayen’s second league title also was of the sharing variety in 1932. This time the Tigers split the championship with Chaney and South. Rayen lost to Chaney, 7-6, in week nine but closed out the league schedule in week ten by defeating South, 25-7, to end up with a 7-4 overall mark and a three-way tie at 2-1 in the conference. The Tigers won their first City Series title outright the next season (1933).
Since the conference’s inception of 1927, the Tigers won fourteen championships including four consecutive titles (1932-35). Rayen won the last two league championships in 2005 (7-3) and in 2006 (7-3).
Tiger territory was defended by the likes of Ray L. Thomas and Russell “Busty” Ashbaugh in the early 1900s. Ashbaugh went onto star at Brown University where he earned second-team honors on sports writer Walter Camp’s All-American team.
A common future occupation at The Rayen School seemed to be to play defense in the NFL. So many great defenders donned the Halloweeen-colored uniforms including John Nocera and Terry Taylor. Nocera played on the same Iowa Hawkeyes team as East High graduate Bob Commings. The 6’1, 220-pound linebacker was selected by the Eagles in the sixteenth round of the 1957 Draft. Taylor was a 1984 first round choice of the Seattle Seahawks. The Southern Illinois cornerback picked off twenty-five passes in twelve professional seasons.
Craig Powell was a defender who left the opposition on their backs in the Steel Valley as well as at Ohio State. Powell was a three-year starter for the Buckeyes. The linebacker was chosen in the first round of the 1995 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns. A torn ACL during his rookie season limited him to just a three-year career in the National Football League.
Sam Crenshaw was a multiple sport standout. Crenshaw was an All-Ohio football and basketball player at Rayen. He played wide receiver for Joe Paterno at Penn State for his first three seasons. He made the switch to defensive back in his senior year where he blocked three kicks for the Nittany Lions.
During The Rayen School’s final years of existence, such athletes as Tomaz Hilton (WR – Cincinnati), Marquinn Davis (DL – Akron), Salvador Battles (QB – Kent State) and Gary Thornton (FB – Youngstown State) all signed with Division I programs.
Rayen won their final five City Series games in school history including a triple overtime, 13-12, thriller over Wilson on October 21, 2004. The Tigers lost their final football game in Uniontown on October 27, 2006 against Lake, 25-6. The school closed their doors for good after the spring semester concluded.
The moments that The Rayen School gave the area will never be forgotten by those who have a penchant for the past. When looking over the laundry list of contributors that have made this area into one of the hotbeds in the country for high school football one will always find a Rayen Tiger up near the top of that directory for decades to come.
