Stevens High School Alumni are some of the proudest in the nation.  It is our hope to highlight alumni and teams of decades' past on this page.  Check back periodically for articles, alumni updates, and recognitions.  If you are interesting in donating to the Stevens Football Program for equipment, training tools, or other item specific requests, please contact us.

The 2011 edition of the Stevens Cardinals football team marks the 120th anniversary of the sport at Stevens High School. It was back in 1891 when Stevens played three games, all against Windsor High School with the last one on Thanksgiving Day. A scheduled game against Vermont Academy was canceled due to illness to several Stevens players. To put the age in perspective, the game of basketball was invented just one month after the Stevens football team first took the field.

It would be another 25 years before Moody Park was created with Monadnock Park and Barnes Park following in later years. Stevens played their early home games on the high school grounds. The gridiron was laid out on a field behind the high school. When the auditorium and gymnasium were added to the school, the football team played at the Bluff Grounds until moving to Monadnock Park. Reporting on an 1891 game played before 200-300 spectators, the Claremont Advocate newspaper noted, “the contest was watched with considerable interest, notwithstanding the fact that only a few understood the game.” Football fans of today would likely show the same interest if able to see one of those games. The flying wedge formation, later banned, was widely used at the time, and game accounts show both Windsor and Stevens used it constantly. A first down required the ball to be moved five yards in three downs, and it had to be done without the forward pass, which was 15 years from being adopted. Touchdowns were four points, while field goals were five.

Since those early games back in 1891, Stevens football has played nearly 1,000 games with state championships in 1906, 1911, 1933, 1945, 1954, 1962, and 1968.-Wayne McElreavy

Where are they now?

Ever wonder what happened to players of football past?  We touch base with past alumni who played on the field at Monadnock Park on Saturdays or the turf at Barnes Park on Friday Nights.  We hope you enjoy this series as we hope to expand it during the coming months.

Can you identify number 75 in this photo from the 1990 football team?  Several players from this senior class are participating in the alumni football game.

In this photo from 1967, the Cardinal players, family and fans make their way up the hill from Monadnock Park after defeating Pinkerton, 30-0.  Times have sure changed as Pinkerton currently educates 3,325 students and Stevens enrolls 635.







This newspaper ad appeared in a 1923 edition of the Claremont Daily Eagle rewarding the first man making a touchdown with a $10 sweater free.  If that were the case this year, Zach Fitzherbert would be the lucky recipient, mothballs included.  Provided by Wayne McElreavy. 

Past Cardinals playing collegiate football

Nate Duford Graduated from Stevens:  2008 College:  Maine Maritime Year:   Senior Major:  Power Engineering Technology Height: 5'11" Weight: 174 Position: Wide Receiver

Josh Duford Graduated from Stevens:  2008 College:  Plymouth State University Year:   Senior Major:  Childhood Studies Height: 5'10" Weight: 182 Position:  Wide Receiver

Matt Day Graduated from Stevens:  2009 College:  Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Year:   Junior Major:  Undeclared Engineering Height:  5'10" Weight:  225 Position:  Fullback

Maple Sugar Shrine Bowl Players

The following players were selected to participate in the annual Shrine Game during their respective Senior year at Stevens.  We hope to have a "Where Are They Now?" update on many of these players as the season progresses.