Ranking Livengood's top 10 regular season wins

Editor's note: This is part one of a two-part series ranking the ten best regular season and ten best playoff wins for recently-retired St. Paul head coach John Livengood ahead of his OHSFCA Hall of Fame induction. Seven months after his retirement, St. Paul head football coach will be inducted into the Ohio High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame on June 14 at the Easton Hilton in Columbus. Livengood's teams were an impressive 310-87 (.781 winning percentage) over the course of his 33 seasons. That included 22 Firelands Conference championships, meaning his Flyer teams won the league for 67 percent of his years as coach. In the state playoffs from 1995-2023, the Flyers were 47-24 with eight regional championships, four state runners-up trophies and one state championship. Ahead of the HOF induction on Friday, the Reflector polled 20 former players and assistant coaches, and several alumni to rank the 10 best wins among the 263 regular season victories from 1991-2023. Below are the results in descending order: Honorable mention: St. Paul 41, Monroeville 14 (2023); St. Paul 28, Monroeville 7 (2020); St. Paul 30, SMCC 27, 3OT (2002); St. Paul 33, Monroeville 7 (1996); St. Paul 16, South Central 12 (1996). 10. Oct. 25, 2014 St. Paul 32, Mapleton 28 Playing for the Firelands Conference title in Week 9 for St. Paul was nothing new by this point. But it was for a Mapleton program it had beaten 17 straight times by a combined margin of 458-17. Yet it was the Mounties jumping on the Flyers for a 21-7 lead by the 1:30 mark of the first quarter, forcing them to chip away at the double-digit deficit. St. Paul did just that, scoring 27 straight points in 27 minutes to surge ahead and win its 16th FC title in 24 seasons under Livengood. Brad Smith totaled 209 yards and 4 TDs and Devin Smith had 131 yards and a TD as the Flyers (8-1, 6-0) held off the Mounties (6-3, 5-1) to kickstart a run to Week 15 and Ohio Stadium. 9. Oct. 9, 1999 St. Paul 21, Monroeville 14 Both teams entered this Saturday night matchup with identical (5-1, 3-0) records. And along with Mogadore, both were considered the class of their region as well. The Flyers led the game 14-0 after three quarters after an 88-yard TD run by Matt Smiley. But the Eagles scored twice to tie it, the last with 6:14 left, only to see Jordan Wangler return the ensuing kickoff 49 yards to the Monroeville 30. Six plays later, Bryan Pickens scored on a 6-yard run with 2:25 left, then Phil Rospert stopped Aaron Parker on a 4th-and-1 to seal the win — and leave many hoping for a rematch they got six weeks later in another unforgettable classic. 8. Sept. 20, 1991 St. Paul 27, Black River 22 The first of 310 wins was a big upset on the road at the time. It has only been enhanced over time. The Pirates had been 19-1 over the previous two seasons, while the Flyers were 9-14 over the past two-plus years coming in. Black River went on to finish 7-3 with six straight wins, and the Flyers were 4-6 in Livengood's first season as head coach. John Rossman threw touchdowns of 71 and 45 yards to Rob Shaw, and John Good added a 66-yard TD to give St. Paul a 20-0 lead it held onto. 7. Sept. 11, 2021 St. Paul 45, Edon 44 The game itself wasn't scheduled until about 2 p.m. Tuesday, and it ended up being an unforgettable shootout four nights later. In a game that produced 970 yards and 89 points, it came down to a safety for St. Paul, which scored 10 points in a 2:51 span to rally for the thrilling win while outlasting quarterback Drew Gallehue (516 yards, 5 TDs). in less than three minutes, Eli Fisher threw a 35-yard TD to Harley Stoll, ran in the two points, then the Flyers recovered an onside kick, only to fumble it at the Edon 2. That led to the safety for 10 quick points and the lead in less than three minutes — and it was all in the game's final seven minutes. 6. Oct. 6, 1995 St. Paul 24, New London 21 The Wildcats had beaten the Flyers in each of the previous two seasons — including by a 52-10 margin in 1994 — and this was a matchup of two 5-0 teams at Recreation Park. Tied at 14 at halftime, the Flyers got a 31-yard field goal from Ryan Baltes after a New London fumble in the third quarter, Both teams traded TDs the rest of the way. With a loss at Mapleton in Week 10, this win proved to be the anchor that carried the Flyers to their first-ever playoff appearance, as the 'Cats also finished 9-1 and reached the state playoffs as well. 5. Oct. 7, 2022 St. Paul 60, Edon 52 Down two running backs to injuries by halftime, the Flyers rode running back Quincey Crabbs to one of the top 50 performances in Ohio history. The senior ran for 408 yards and 5 TDs as his team also totaled 618 yards and 8 TDs in yet another wild shootout with the Bombers — this time more than two hours from home at the Indiana state line. Fittingly, a 99-yard scoring drive to go up two scores in the fourth quarter helped Livengood to a historic 300th win, making him unofficially the 17th coach in state history to reach the milestone number. 4. Oct. 28, 2016 St. Paul 14, Monroeville 8 For the first time in the history of the Firelands Conference and the surrounding area, two teams met in the first-ever 9-0 vs.9-0 game — and it was of course the rival Flyers and Eagles at Marsh Field. With both teams ranked in the top 10 in the state AP poll, The Flyers scored a TD, then recovered a fumble on the ensuing kick return. Quarterback Nick Lukasko then found Paul Pearce for a leaping grab in the end zone off the shoulder pad of an Eagles defender with 25 seconds left in the first half for the 14-8 lead. A scoreless second half was capped with a turnover on downs near midfield in the final two minutes. 3. Sept. 20, 2003 St. Paul 27, Monroeville 26 The Flyers jumped out to a 20-6 lead in the second quarter on a pair of Trevor-Strohm-to-Chris Opper TD passes. The Eagles then answered with two straight TDs to tie the game, only for Strohm to find Opper again on an 11-yard TD pass early in the fourth quarter. But Monroeville went down the field in the final minute and got a 29-yard TD pass with just one second left. However, the Eagles attempted a fake extra point on the conversion, which was snuffed out quickly to seal one of the all-time classics in both the series and FC history. 2. Sept. 6, 2008 St. Paul 21, Huron 14 For years, based on school sizes alone, this seemed like a fantasy matchup. The Tigers had been a perennial SBC contender and a successful playoff program in Div. IV-V for decades under Tony Legando. St. Paul denied Huron at its own 27 with under a minute left in a hard-hitting classic in front of a huge crowd, which proved not just a win for the playoff seeding, but a win for the Firelands Conference and the schedule misnomer that had hung over the program for many years. Eric Schwieterman ran for 103 yards and 2 TDs; threw for 75 yards, kicked a PAT and threw a 2-point conversion. 1. Sept. 18, 1992 St. Paul 42, Monroeville 41, 3OT The game itself is still arguably the most entertaining of the 33 seasons. The Flyers coughed up a 21-7 fourth quarter lead, and the Eagles scored on a fourth-and-goal from the 6 to possibly send the game into a fourth overtime — only for Billy Roth to block the PAT. Monroeville entered this game at Marsh Field riding a six-game win streak over the Flyers, its longest in the series. The Eagles had won 14 of the previous 17 years. This win flipped the rivalry, and set the tone for future success, including the first of 22 FC titles, and the first for the school since 1974. After the game, Livengood said, "I hope the team learns what it takes to win."