Lisbon senior Marcus Miller holds the Spaghetti Bowl trophy after the Blue Devils beat Leetonia, 41-21, on Oct. 17. (Morning Journal/Michael Burich)

LISBON — There will be another serving of the Spaghetti Bowl.

Lisbon and Leetonia agreed this week to continue the long-running football rivalry as a Thursday season opener beginning in 2026.

“That was the goal all along,” Lisbon athletic director Kyle Bing said. “Everyone wants it to happen.”

The teams have played every year since 1940, the longest continuous football series in Columbiana County. But when Leetonia announced it is leaving the Eastern Ohio Athletic Conference for the Northeastern Athletic Conference at the end of the school year, it looked like the Spaghetti Bowl played at Leetonia on Oct. 17 was the last one.

“We knew we were eventually going to work it out,” Leetonia athletic director Nick Sferra said. “We were at a standstill. Everybody had to settle down and have a conversation.”

Both schools kept talking to each other, even though it may not have seemed like it at one point.

“The lines of communication have always been open,” Bing said. “Both communities wanted it to happen and both schools wanted it to happen. It just took a little bit of time. People are stubborn, including me.”

One hang-up was the Week 1 date when Lisbon had signed a two-year contract to play Newton Falls. The Blue Devils were informed Newton Falls would not be coming to Lisbon in 2026.

The Blue Devils thought that would open the schedule to play Leetonia in the opener. As it turned out, Newton Falls called Leetonia about playing in Week 1.

“They kind of left us with a hole (in the schedule),” Bing said. “Ultimately the best would have been for them to stay another year, so could we fill those dates.”

“Newton Falls is playing Wellsville in the opener and everybody is happy,” Sferra said. “We get to keep the Spaghetti Bowl.”

Leetonia will play at Lisbon in a Thursday season opener on Aug. 20.

“We’re all happy to keep the tradition,” Sferra said. “Week 1 every year for the foreseeable future.”

Lisbon also will play Leetonia in all sports, including junior high.

The Lisbon and Leetonia junior high football teams will kick off the season on Aug. 19 in a prelude to the Spaghetti Bowl.

“The junior high game will be Wednesday and hopefully they’ll start coming to our (basketball) Tip-Off Tournament,” Bing said.

The Leetonia and Wellsville high school football teams will be playing in Week 3.

“Wellsville and Lisbon committed to playing us across the board,” Sferra said. “I think everyone else (in the EOAC) will eventually.”

Sferra said the move to join a conference to the north with smaller schools was made so Leetonia could be competitive.

“People were saying we are trying to be mean, but it comes down to numbers” Sferra said. “We have about 28 sixth-graders and 26 fifth-graders. Our football team is not going to be any bigger than 15 or 16 kids. We don’t want there to be bad blood, but we have to do what’s best for our kids.

“I’m trying to keep the peace. We all see what’s coming (number wise).”

Game notes

• The Spaghetti Bowl tradition started in 1977. For a few decades, it entailed that the losing team would serve the winning team a spaghetti dinner after the season. That part of the tradition has not existed for a while, but the teams do compete for a trophy currently.

Bing said he would like to bring back part of that tradition. He suggested one of the local community organizations hosting a spaghetti dinner attended by both teams the day before the game.

• Lisbon is still looking for a Week 9 opponent for the 2026 football season.

Bing said Martins Ferry and Cleveland East Shaw have reached out and the Blue Devils have talked with Crestline, but nothing has been decided yet.