Jim France reflects on football memories before final game at James R. France Stadium

Manchester High School football players, coaches and fans will bid farewell to James R. France Stadium on Friday night when the Panthers host Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy in a Week 10 game.

CVCA (7-2, 5-1) is second in the Principals Athletic Conference standings behind Canton South (9-0, 6-0) and is headed to the playoffs.

Manchester (1-8, 1-5) is showing improvement after an 0-6 start to the season.

Playoff football was played on a regular basis at Manchester not long ago as the Panthers made 27 postseason appearances from 1989 to 2021.

Retired coach Jim France led Manchester to its first 25 playoff appearances and retired coach Jay Brophy guided the Panthers to their last two postseason trips.

France is the all-time leader in wins in Ohio high school football history with a 401-129-4 record in 49 seasons. He compiled a 398-122-4 record in 48 seasons at Manchester with stints from 1971-1984 and from 1986-2019. He stepped away from coaching football in 1985 to serve as the high school principal, a position he held through the 2019-2020 school year.

The Akron Beacon Journal caught up with France and asked the legendary coach to reflect on memories from coaching in the stadium that bears his name.

France, 80, never had a losing record at Manchester and guided the Panthers to 21 PAC-7 titles from 1989-2019. He led the Panthers to a 9-4 record and a Division V regional final in 2019.

The Panthers were also Division IV state runners-up in 1997 with a 12-1 record and Division V state semifinalists in 2013 with a record of 11-3 under France.

Here are comments from France:

Have you been able to see the Manchester football team play this season?

"Yeah, I have been to every game the last couple of years."

What are some memories that come to mind from your time as Manchester football coach at that stadium?

"There are probably a million memories that I can reflect on. The atmosphere of the stadium — it is not the most modern facility, but I like it that way. I like the grass. I don't think teams like to come there and play. I just think it is kind of a unique facility. There is some aura about the place that we had some advantage by the way the stadium was set up. We had a lot of interesting things going on with people in the neighborhood burning leaves. It is a unique place where I spent almost 50 years roaming around there.

"Some of the fondest memories are the great games that we had there. Having my family involved with the program was special. My son Jason coached with me for 29 years and played at Manchester. My son Jeff played there. My daughter Jennifer was a water girl. My grandkids [Jake, Jessica, JoJo, Janiece, Mallory and Jackson] have been involved with the program being ball boys or water girls. Of course, JoJo, my grandson, was an outstanding player there. My wife [Nancy] was our No. 1 fan. There are a lot of good memories about those relationships."

When did Manchester start playing games in the facility that is known as James R. France Stadium?

"I looked it up and the stadium opened in 1955 with Manchester getting a 36-6 win over Northwest. My first game there [as head coach] was in 1971 and it was a 21-0 win over Medina Highland.

"A quick story: When I first got there my first job was, I was taken out to this pole and they put a rubber mat down on the ground and gave me rubber gloves and rubber boots and I had to stand on that [and] pull the light switch for the lights for the stadium. When I did that, sparks and everything flew everywhere. I think they were trying to get rid of me quick. That is how bad the lighting in the facility was back then. One of the older assistants had that job for like 20 years, and as soon as I got there he made me do it. He was about 30 years older than me. He was like a father to me.

"Also, in the locker room there was a fireplace and that is basically how that was heated back in those days. They told me coach [Swede] Olsson, the guy before me, used to have wiener roasts and marshmallow roasts. There was like one shower in there and he had a safe in there that kids put their valuables in, but there was no back to the safe. The kids didn't know that. The scoreboard at the time had hands on it like a clock instead of showing the time with numbers like they do today. It was a big clock like a wrist watch. It was pretty antiquated."

What are some games that jump out in your memory?

"We beat Ursuline in the playoffs in 2013 with a field goal by Matt Eidom. They were highly favored to beat us. We beat them 19-16. Mason Hayes had a big game. That is one that stands out. Another playoff game is when we played [Lake County] Perry in 2010 and won 49-45. They were highly favored. Nick Peyakov threw for 369 yards and two touchdowns and Mark Noble ran for four touchdowns. The Orrville game [in 2018] when we recovered three onside kicks and Ethan Wright and Hunter Foster both scored four touchdowns that night. We beat Orrville [67-31].

"We played Mogadore in 2004 where the game started on a Friday, played a little bit, came back Saturday and then came back Sunday to play and finish the game. It was a game that took three days to finish because of storms. We did beat them [33-0 and Phil Partin scored four touchdowns]. A playoff game in 2005, we played Garrettsville Garfield and [they were 9-1] and we beat them 41-0. A regular-season game that sticks out is in 1991 when we played McDonald. They were undefeated and rated No. 1 in their division and we were undefeated and rated No. 1 in our division. We beat them 16-10.

"In 2017, we played CVCA in the last game of the regular season. The winner was going to be the outright league champion. We beat them 58-42. JoJo threw a touchdown pass to Ethan Wright to win the game for us."

France surpassed Bob Lutz for the No. 1 spot on the all-time coaching wins list in Ohio high school football history with the victory over CVCA on Oct. 27, 2017.

Who are some of the top players that you coached at Manchester in that stadium?

"Wow, I don't want to hurt anybody's feelings. That is tough to do. Going backwards in time, [three-time All-Ohioan] Ethan Wright would be one of the top ones. He was an athlete for us and played all over the field. He is playing at Cincinnati now. A kid named Bryan Dyser went to Toledo and played. He was a defensive tackle at 190 pounds. He is one of the better defensive tackles we have had. A kid named Eric Joseph was one of the tougher kids that we had. He was a running back and a linebacker. Nick Peyakov was one of better quarterbacks that we have had.

"We had a kid named Mike Combest one of the first years I was there. He played at Michigan State. He was about 6-foot-5 and 250 pounds and played offensive tackle. There have been so many players. We had a kid named Jeff Crabtree on the first team I coached there, and he was a really good running back. He became a dentist. A kid named Mike Cienlensky was a defensive back and tight end and played four years at the University of Maryland.

"Mark Lingruen, Leland Phillips and Mark Groza are kids that come to mind that played football at Akron. Mark Noble was another great one. He played running back and linebacker for us. He was MVP of the league in soccer and MVP of the league in football, and was very good at basketball. He walked on the Akron basketball team. The kids from the Dougherty family. The Forrets, the Soles, the Millers, the Bowens, the Pappas, the Schindewolfs, the Fosters and the Hoopers. There are so many players through the years. My son, Jason, was a pretty good quarterback back in 1989 when we started to get rolling. That team went 12-1. Ryan O'Dear is another good one."

Here are some more coaching nuggets about France:

∙ In 48 seasons as Manchester football coach, France compiled 44 winning seasons and four .500 seasons. His 1976 and 1981 teams won All-Ohio League titles before Manchester joined the PAC-7.

∙ France coached first-team All-Ohioans J.W. Robinson (outside linebacker) and Erik Garrett (offensive tackle-defensive tackle) on the 1997 Manchester state runner-up team. The 1997 Panthers team also featured Rob Adamson, Mike McElfresh, Aaron Helms and John Mick.

∙ Offensive tackle-defensive tackle Jake Hanzel and fullback-outside linebacker John Beavers led the 2013 Manchester squad to a state semifinal appearance as All-Ohio selections. That team also featured Mason Hayes, Dan Leemaster and Anthony Miltner.

Michael Beaven can be reached by email at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com and is on Twitter at @MBeavenABJ.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Memories before final Manchester game at James R. France Stadium