The Early Years

Members of the 1895 Baltimore City College football team

In the mid-1870s, as American football gained popularity, Baltimore City College emerged as one of the first high schools in the Baltimore area to embrace the sport. This pioneering spirit led to a unique situation where, due to a lack of comparable high school teams, City College scheduled matches against collegiate teams like the University of Maryland, the Naval Academy, Mount St. Mary's University, Western Maryland College, and even Fort Monroe's soldiers. Despite a challenging 1895 season with a 3-13 win-loss record, including a significant defeat by Navy, enthusiasm for the team remained high. This passion was evident in 1896 when City College faced Gettysburg College, suffering a 50–0 loss but receiving robust support as they traveled to Hampton, Virginia, for a high school match. As football in high schools began to expand in the mid-1870s, City College occasionally played other high schools from neighboring states like Central High School (Philadelphia), a matchup featuring the second- and third-oldest public high schools in the country.

The first City-Poly game was played at Baltimore's Clifton Park in 1889, which marked the beginning of what would become one of the nation's longest continuous public high school football rivalries. From 1889 to 1900, City College dominated this rivalry, winning all 12 games during a period when these encounters were considered informal scrimmages. However, by 1918, Polytechnic and other local schools began to surpass City College in their game preparations. This shift was partly due to City College's downtown location, which limited their access to practice fields.

The Harry Lawrence era

Under the guidance of Head Coach Harry Lawrence, the Knights emerged as a formidable force, consistently defeating local rivals including Poly, whom they bested each year from 1934 to 1942. They also began facing out-of-state opponents, notably defeating Petersburg High School in 1936. The 1936 squad won all its games, but later lost the MSA title due to eligibility issues with a player. Despite beating McDonough High School during the season, the title was awarded to them. By 1940, Lawrence's coaching prowess had led City to an impressive 38-game undefeated streak and three MSA championships. In 1941, the undefeated Knights traveled to Florida to play Miami High School in the sweltering heat of the Orange Bowl stadium, a drastic change from their usual colder playing conditions, and suffered a loss. During World War II, Lawrence and assistant coach Otts Helms joined the military. Lawrence returned to coaching in 1947 at Bucknell University, where he mentored future City College head coach George Young). In 1950, Andy Defassio took over as head coach, with Robert Lumsden as his assistant. However, Lumsden soon moved to Polytechnic Institute, where he became a legendary coach.

The George Young era

George Young), who became head coach in 1959, brought significant changes. Originally a history teacher at City and an assistant coach at Calvert Hall College High School, Young emphasized discipline and academic performance. Young's summer training camps focused heavily on running and conditioning, contributing to his teams winning six out of eight games against Poly during the 1960s and securing six MSA championships. One of the most notable City-Poly games under Young’s coaching occurred on Thanksgiving Day in 1965 at Baltimore Memorial Stadium, drawing roughly 25,000 spectators. City triumphed over Poly with a score of 52–6, completing an undefeated 9-0 season and finished ranked No. 8 nationally by National Sports News Service (NSNS). Many coaches argued that the team should have finished the season ranked as high as No. 2 in the country, but the team was penalized for not playing at least 10 games and not playing in a state championship tournament.^[8] This game set a record for the highest points scored in the rivalry, and notable players like Sykes and Person advanced to the NFL. Kurt Schmoke, later Baltimore's mayor, was the quarterback.

The George Petrides era

The Knights on defense vs. Poly, 1994

George Petrides, a 1967 City College graduate, served as head football coach from 1975 until he retired in 2015.^[9]George Petrides, a 1967 City College graduate, significantly influenced the program during his 40-year tenure as head coach from 1975 to 2015. Under his leadership, the Knights achieved remarkable success, including a record 29-game winning streak and multiple MSA championships. Petrides’ 274 career wins ranks 8th all-time among Maryland high school football coaches. His contributions to the program is commemorated by the naming of the team’s stadium George Petrides Stadium at Alumni Field. Other former City College head football coaches include George Young, former general manager of the New York Giants and Harry Lawrence, former head football coach at Bucknell University.

Early years

Little is known of the first American football game between Baltimore Polytechnic Institute (Poly) and Baltimore City College (City) in 1889, except that a JV team from Poly met City, in Clifton Park and City emerged the victor. City continued to win against Poly through 1901, however in 1902, for the only time in history of the series no game was played; though, in 1931, an extra game was played to compensate.^[109] Between 1903 and 1906, City won the series, but the tide turned in 1907, when the first tie in the series occurred.^[110] The next year Poly scored its first victory in the rivalry.^[110]

1910s and 1920s

Poly dominated the series in the 1910s. The only year of the decade that City won was 1912,^[111] and between 1914 and 1917, Poly shut out City. Poly's streak continued through 1921, completing a nine-year winning streak, which City broke in 1922 with a 27–0 victory.^[112]

In 1926, one of the most famous City-Poly games was played. Prior to the game, the eligibility of City's halfback, Mickey Noonen, was challenged. A committee was formed to investigate Noonen's eligibility, but Noonen's father—frustrated with the investigation—struck one of the members of the committee. The result was that Noonen was not only barred from the team, but also expelled from the Baltimore City school system.^[113] In spite of Noonen's removal, the two teams met at the Baltimore Stadium with 20,000 fans in attendance. The game remained scoreless well into the fourth quarter. Finally, Poly's Harry Lawerence—who later became a coach at City—kicked a successful field goal from the 30 yard leading to a 3–0 victory over City.^[108]

1930s and 1940s

Future Baltimore mayor, Kurt Schmoke (#10), throws a pass at the 1965 City-Poly game

The 1930s ushered in a period of resurgence for the City team. Poly, which had dominated in the previous two decades, only picked up two wins in the 1930s.^[111] In 1934, Harry Lawrence, who had kicked the winning field goal against City in 1926, became the head coach at his former rival.^[114] Lawrence led City to a series of victories over Poly through the 1930s and early 1940s. In 1944, the game, which had been played on the Saturday following Thanksgiving, was moved to Thanksgiving Day. The change was the result of a scheduling conflict with the Army–Navy Game.^[115] The game remained on Thanksgiving Day for nearly 50 years.

Lumsden and Young: 1950s and 1960s

In the 1950s, Poly under its legendary coach, Bob Lumsden for whom Poly's football stadium is named, won five straight games against City and won 9 out of the 10 games of the decade. Lumsden finished with 11–7 record against City, when he retired as head coach at Poly in 1966. In 1962, Lumsden coached 9-0 Poly to the unofficial National High School Championship Game at the Orange Bowl in Miami against the Miami High Stingarees. Miami defeated the Engineers by a score of 19–7. However, Poly's fortunes changed in the 1960s, while City was coached by George Young. Young coached his teams to six wins over Poly and as many Maryland Scholastic Association championships.^[116] One of Young's most memorable victories occurred on Thanksgiving Day 1965 at Memorial Stadium, when undefeated City beat undefeated Poly 52–6.^[117]

1970s–present

Throughout the 1970s and well into the 1980s, Poly controlled the series. City lost a total of 17 consecutive games to Poly, before winning in 1987.^[108] Poly's dominance during this period is the longest winning streak in the series. In 1993, the Baltimore City public schools withdrew from the Maryland Scholastic Athletic association and joined the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association (MPSSAA).^[118] This change meant that the football season would end earlier forcing Poly and City to move their game from Thanksgiving Day to the first Saturday in November.