The game of football in the late teens and 1920s was nothing like it is today, especially  small town athletic club and high school football. All players played both offensive and defensive positions. The ball was snapped at the spot of the tackle. There were no inbounds hash marks.   This created interesting sideline formations and difficult acute angled field goal attempts.  The ball was more round in shape making passing difficult.   However, the round shape of the ball encouraged the use of drop kicking, an element of the game no longer present today.  Fields were frequently rough, often without grass, muddy, and badly marked.  Games were played during daylight since field lighting was not available for evening events. Conditioning was limited to learning the formations for offense and defense, tackling, running interference, and scrimmaging.  For home games, high schools picked their own referees, which resulted in fights and games being protested. The independent athletic clubs and high school teams scrimmaged each other and against mill teams. Players bought their own equipment.  Most local boys worked in the steel mills or coal mines. High school schedules were usually better organized and predictable.  The independent Athletic Clubs that represented Follansbee varied from year to year. They frequently organized their games based on the availability of local fields and opponents. Their success depended upon being sponsored by businesses such as pool halls.

In Follansbee, football and baseball games were played at Pastime Park and Duquesne Street fields.  During the city’s early era, Duquesne Street field was also known as Glass House Field or Bush Field.   It was located just south of present Duquesne Street.