 Witness to countless baseball games in its 100 years of history, Bosse Field has also hosted over 500 high school football games. Shortly after the facility opened in 1915, Evansville high schools began using what is now the third-oldest baseball stadium in the country as their secondary or sometimes primary home field.
This arrangement continued mostly uninterrupted until the fall of 1971. With the closing of Rex Mundi and Central getting its new north side facility, no more games were scheduled at Bosse Field. In total, there were 552 games from 1915 to 1971.
Central is the team with the most games played at Bosse Field with 274. They also have the most wins, losses and ties with 154, 101 and 19, respectively.
Records of Evansville schools at Bosse Field
- Bosse (23-38-5)
- Central (154-101-19)
- Harrison (9-6-1)
- Mater Dei (26-24-2)
- Memorial (95-27-8)
- North (51-21-2)
- Reitz (27-24-4)
Several other high school football programs came into Evansville to play at the historic facility. Not counting Evansville schools, Boonville played the most games at Bosse Field (30). New Albany has the most wins (10), Boonville has the most losses (27) and Indianapolis Tech, Owensboro and Vincennes Lincoln have the most ties with two apiece.
Memorable games
Obviously, the first and last high school football games played at Bosse Field should be included on this list. The sport's debut at the facility was on Oct. 9, 1915, when Evansville High beat French Lick, 58-0. The prep sport's finale came on Oct. 23, 1971, when Jasper beat Memorial, 12-0. However, a curtain call came on Aug. 26, 2011, in a throwback game between Memorial and Belleville, Ill. The Tigers won, 21-19, in the first and only high school game ever played at the legendary field in the month of August.
Another memorable battle came on Oct. 18, 1929, when Central beat Bicknell, 7-6, in the first night game ever played in Evansville.
A series of postseason charity games were played at Bosse Field in 1930 and 1931. In '31, Bosse and Reitz each finished 2-1 in the city standings, initially sharing the title. Some clever businessmen and local boosters arranged a "city championship game" between the schools, which the Bulldogs won, 13-0.
1935 featured a couple interesting match-ups. On Nov. 15, a state championship game was arranged between Fort Wayne Central and Memorial at Bosse Field. The Tigers won, 13-0. Then, less than a week later, Evansville Lincoln battled Wendell Phillips High of Chicago for what was called the "Mythical Midwest Negro Prep School Championship." The Illinois squad won, 18-0.
On Sept. 15, 1939, Gary Emerson traveled south to battle Memorial, a game which the northern Indiana team won, 26-13. The two teams would go on to finish No. 2 and No. 3 in the state, respectively.
The following month, on Oct. 27, the Pocket Athletic Conference, in only their second year, highlighted their brand of six-man football action in a double header that featured Dale downing Francisco, 46-0, and Mount Vernon toppling Tell City, 18-6.
On Oct. 23, 1948, Central gave Lafayette Jefferson their first loss in three years.
Lincoln and Mater Dei helped to tear down some of the city's color barriers on Thanksgiving, 1949, in the first meeting between Evansville's "colored school" (as it was called in those days) and one of Evansville's "white" schools. The Lions defeated the Wildcats, 27-13, in front of 4,500 spectators.
Bosse Field was rededicated on Sept. 19, 1959 and saw Central squeeze by Owensboro, 13-12.
On Sept. 16, 1961, Muncie Central drove all the way to Evansville, only to be turned away by Reitz, 66-0, en route to the Panthers' undefeated, untied and unscored upon season.
And while there are no high school football games scheduled at the stadium during its centennial season, we at AlmanacSports.com just wanted to take a trip through memory lane and say thank you to Bosse Field. Here's to another 100 years!
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Dan Engler
