Sistersville Football 1930–39

A Decade of Growth

From the early struggles under Coach Bill Metzger to the historic unbeaten season of 1939 under Coach Gene Hester. This decade saw the arrival of future national championship coach Floyd "Ben" Schwartzwalder and culminated in the first perfect season in school history.

View Seasons
Sistersville Tigers Football Team 1930s

1930 (4-5) & 1931 (6-3)

Coach: Bill Metzger
1930 Season (4-5)
OpponentUsThemResult
Harrisville60W 1-0
Moundsville1214L 1-1
Williamstown*013L 1-2
Cameron140W 2-2
at St. Marys714L 2-3
Tyler County713L 2-4
Cairo200W 3-4
Buffalo (Putnam)440W 4-4
Magnolia067L 4-5

* at New Martinsville (night game)

Players: Gene Neely (Capt.), Springer, Ralph Carmichael, Joe Doig, Bob Sutton, Bill Cummings, Tom Sexton, Donald Doig, June Thompson, Rodney Miller, Earl Smith, Bob Boyles, L.K. "Turk" Sine, Joe Nessif, Clarence Hissom, Harold Ankrom, Jack Kepner, Gene Miller, Robert Knapp, Ralph Mendenhall.

1931 Season (6-3)
OpponentUsThemResult
Harrisville250W 1-0
at Moundsville727L 1-1
Wheeling Central267W 2-1
Cameron206W 3-1
W. Monongah622L 3-2
Williamstown120W 4-2
Tyler County190W 5-2
Hundred487W 6-2
at Magnolia1332L 6-3

1932 (6-3) & 1933 (6-3)

Coach: Bill Metzger
1932 Season (6-3)
OpponentUsThemResult
at Woodsfield, Oh256W 1-0
Moundsville044L 1-1
Wheeling Central70W 2-1
at Cameron014L 2-2
W. Monongah166W 3-2
Williamstown60W 4-2
at Tyler County60W 5-2
Hundred196W 6-2
at Magnolia07L 6-3

Players: Bob Bell, Charles Kehrer, Ralph Mendenhall, William Archer, Wayne Furbee, Jack Kepner, Roy Stetson, Jack Springer, Don Doig, Harold Smith, George Keller, John Smith, Bob Boyles, Bob Ward, F. Stetson, Allan May, Robert Rustemeyer, O'Dell Stewart, Warren Cummings.

1933 Season (6-3)
OpponentUsThemResult
Woodsfield, Oh380W 1-0
Salem*510W 2-0
Cameron033L 2-1
at St. Marys613L 2-2
Williamstown73W 3-2
Hundred340W 4-2
Tyler County270W 5-2
Harrisville200W 6-2
at Magnolia612L 6-3

* First night game at Alumni Field (later Core Field)

Players: Springer, Kehrer, Conway, Archer, Boyles, Kepler, Stetson, Ward, Doig, Smith, Stead, Zellers, Skaggs.

1934 (5-4-1) — A New Coach Arrives

Coach: Floyd "Ben" Schwartzwalder
Game Results
OpponentUsThemResult
Woodsfield, Oh1913W 1-0
at Benwood Union052L 1-1
Tanner190W 2-1
at Parkersburg726L 2-2
St. Marys00T 2-2-1
Wellsburg012L 2-3-1
at Tyler County140W 3-3-1
Williamstown70W 4-3-1
at Harrisville480W 5-3-1
Magnolia032L 5-4-1

1935 (5-5) — Schwartzwalder's Final Season

Coach: Floyd "Ben" Schwartzwalder
Game Results
OpponentUsThemResult
Woodsfield, Oh130W 1-0
Tyler County136W 2-0
at Parkersburg048L 2-1
Salem200W 3-1
Pennsboro130W 4-1
at Wellsburg044L 4-2
Pullman310W 5-2
at St. Marys07L 5-3
Williamstown*1226L 5-4
at Magnolia021L 5-5

* at New Martinsville

1936 (7-2-1) — A Historic Milestone

Coach: Gene Hester
Game Results
OpponentUsThemResult
Warwood00T 0-0-1
Woodsfield, Oh206W 1-0-1
at Linsly Institute726L 1-1-1
at Tyler County590W 2-1-1
Williamstown196W 3-1-1
Pennsboro186W 4-1-1
Harrisville1912W 5-1-1
at Calhoun County620L 5-2-1
St. Marys216W 6-2-1
Magnolia*2013W 7-2-1

1937 (5-3-1) & 1938 (3-5-1)

Coach: Gene Hester
1937 Season (5-3-1)
OpponentUsThemResult
at Warwood018L 0-1
Williamstown250W 1-1
Normantown460W 2-1
Linsly Institute1327L 2-2
Bellaire St. John's136W 3-2
Tyler County60W 4-2
Calhoun County1313T 4-2-1
at St. Marys60W 5-2-1
at Magnolia020L 5-3-1

Players: Harry Buchanan, Charles Buchanan, Bill Tuttle, Brown, M. Deuel, Dale Stillwagner, Cunningham, W. Cline, Nelson Brown, Earl Stillwagner, Robert Knowlton, F. Todd, Sine, George Pryor, D. Hess, Willis Rush, Jack Miles, Sammy Cooper, C. Poole, Bill Bull, R. Piatt, George Heinlein, Archie Deuel, Jack Morford, B. Stewart, A. Soliday, L. Spence, Paul Gist, W. Powell, B. Williamson.

1938 Season (3-5-1)
OpponentUsThemResult
Salem126W 1-0
Cameron120W 2-0
Linsly Institute033L 2-1
Williamstown320W 3-1
at Tyler County06L 3-2
at Moundsville033L 3-3
Point Pleasant67L 3-4
St. Marys66T 3-4-1
Magnolia021L 3-5-1

Players: Bill Tuttle, Ernest Flanagan, E. Sine, Harry Buchanan, Charles Buchanan, Ed Kehrer, D. Hess, George Pryor, Bernard Mehrley, P. Hill, S. Cooper, K. Stewart, G. Kann, B. Keitch, W. Rush, Dale Stillwagner, N. Meredith, B. Powell, E. Slider, C. Fox, Paul Simms.

Coach Hester carried by players after unbeaten 1939 season

1939 (9-0) — First Unbeaten Team in School History

Coach: Gene Hester
9
Wins
Perfect record — zero losses, zero ties
2nd
State Ranking
Selected second behind Charleston in all-class rankings
#1
Small School
Top-ranked small school in the state
1939 Game-by-Game
OpponentUsThemResult
Ravenswood130W 1-0
Williamstown266W 2-0
Bridgeport336W 3-0
Tyler County380W 4-0
Moundsville127W 5-0
Point Pleasant270W 6-0
at St. Marys137W 7-0
Pullman330W 8-0
at Magnolia136W 9-0

The Decade at a Glance

A summary of Sistersville Football's records and coaches across the 1930s.

4-5
1930
Coach Metzger
6-3
1931
Coach Metzger
6-3
1932
Coach Metzger
6-3
1933
Coach Metzger
5-4-1
1934
Coach Schwartzwalder
5-5
1935
Coach Schwartzwalder
7-2-1
1936
Coach Hester
5-3-1
1937
Coach Hester
3-5-1
1938
Coach Hester
9-0 ★
1939
Coach Hester
1939: First unbeaten team in school history. Sistersville was selected second behind Charleston by the state sports writers association in all-class rankings and was the top-ranked small school in the state.