Ohio High School Football 2007 Preview: Lancaster

Lancaster, Ohio is a city of about 35,000 people approximately 30 miles southeast of Columbus. Lancaster High School is the only high school in the Lancaster City School District. The school was founded in 1849. The first location was at the corner of Broad and Mulberry streets. This building was known as the North Building. Because of increased enrollment, the school opened the South Building to accommodate the new students. Enrollment continued to increase, necessitating a move to the corner of Mulberry Street and Pearl Avenue. In 1960 the school board selected a new location for the school on Granville Pike. The older buildings had been deemed fire hazards by the State Fire Marshall. Construction of the new building began in 1961. It was completed in 1963. This is the current location of Lancaster High School

The Lancaster High mascot is the Golden Gale, which is personified by Taz, the Looney Tunes Tasmanian devil character. Their colors are blue and gold.

Lancaster High School Football

2006 was a good year for the Lancaster High football team. They went undefeated during the regular season, winning ten games in a row. Among these season games were two shut outs against Logan and Parkersburg South. On November 4th the team played against Gahanna, a team that they had defeated 34-3 during the season, in the Division I Regional Quarterfinal. This time Gahanna won the game, beating Lancaster 33-28.

A DVD, The Road to 10-0, featuring the highlights of the 2006 undefeated season is available for purchase by calling 654-5628.

Notable Lancaster Football Alumni

After playing in as a linebacker for the Golden Gales, Bobby Carpenter attended Ohio State University. In 2006 he was drafter by the Dallas Cowboys with the 18th pick in the first round of the 2006 NFL Draft. Carpenter comes from a football family. His father is the head coach at Lancaster High School, his younger brother, Jonathan, plays at the University of Cincinnati, and his brother, Georgie, is a running back for the Lancaster Gales.

Former Gale Rex Kern also graduated from Lancaster and went on to attend Ohio State University, where he was a quarterback for the Buckeyes. From there he went to the NFL and played defensive back for the Baltimore Colts and the Buffalo Bills. In May 2007 he was voted into the College Football Hall of Fame with an induction the following December.