Bellevue defeated Vermilion to win the Bay Division title for high school football in Ohio. The coaches got into a heated argument during the handshake line, which resulted in a player being forcibly thrown to the side.
It did not reflect well on either program.
However, the high school football team that lost took issue with the winners because the winners didn’t go easy on them during the fourth quarter. They are the ones who caused the postgame incident.
Bellevue defeated Vermilion.
Established in 1870, Bellevue High School enrolls ~560 students in Grades 9-12. It is located in the small town of Bellevue, Ohio, approximately halfway between Toledo and Cleveland. Vermilion High School enrolls ~620 students in Grades 8-12. It is located closer to Cleveland than Toledo.
The two schools are separated by about 32 miles. The latter traveled to the former on Friday for the Northern Ohio Conference Bay Division Championship game in the OHSAA. Vermilion entered at 7-2. Bellevue entered at 6-3.
In the end, it was the Redmen who prevailed as the victors. They defeated the visiting Sailors by a final score of 28-7.
Scoring started early with a flea flicker on the first drive of the game.
Bellevue ultimately pulled away with a pair of touchdowns in the second and third quarters. Vermillion could not come back from a 21-7 deficit and ultimately allowed a fourth touchdown during the fourth quarter.
Even if the score does not reflect the chaos, there were a lot of flags and unusual circumstances throughout the game. Tensions ultimately boiled over after the clock hit zero.
The high school football coaching staffs exchanged words AND shoves.
As is customary, players met at the 50-yard-line to shake hands. As did the Ohio high school football coaches.
However, the coaches from Vermillion took issue with the coaches from Bellevue. The Redmen decided to put some of their second- and third-string players into the game. But they did not take their foot off of the gas.
The eventual division champions threw a few deep passes with their backups in the game. That apparently did not go over well with the Sailors coaching staff. They let their opponent know.
What started as some initial chirping back and forth escalated to pushing and shoving. A player tried to step in and break up the altercation. He was forcibly thrown to the side. The coaches kept yelling.
Lessons are always learned this should of never happened pic.twitter.com/xUARMEGzZN
— BELLEVUE REDMEN FOOTBALL Ohio 🏈 🏈 (@BrianRosian) October 24, 2026
Although it is not a great look for either program, it reflects poorly on the losers. Not only did they fail to lose with class, they took issue with their opponent because it did not take it easy on them. That’s lame. If you don’t want them to score, don’t let them.