Western Buckeye League Football 2019

H

HighSchoolFB45

Well-known member
Season just ended, but it’s never too early for predictions. Who do you think will be at the top? Who will have down years? Thoughts?
 
Last edited:
 
If Kenton's QB is back and stay healthy they will be good.

WIll be interesting to see if VW is a one year wonder.

Cannot sleep on Shawnee with that new coach and being able to draw around LIma (Shawnee is OE, right?)

Its time for Celina to step it up. I know they picked up Coldwater in a scrimmage next year which will be a good battle.


SM and Wapak will do just fine. THey may have to reach out a little further for week 1 games than normal but they will get a game and be at the top of the league come week 10
 
HighSchoolFB45 said:
St. Mary’s and Wapak are going to have to find new opponents because of Bellefontaine and Sidney moving to a new conference.
Click to expand...
That's not until Fall 2020. Bellefontaine is remaining in the CBC. Sidney joined the newly formed MVL. The MVL is going to a 9-game league schedule in 2020 like the WBL. 2019 will be a transition year, for football, where Sidney and other schools will honor their existing contracts. Once Fall 2020 hits, Bellefontaine will be Sidney's only out of league game during week one of the year (dropping SM) which cause and effect results in Bellefontaine being unable to play Wapak week one.
 
thavoice said:
If Kenton's QB is back and stay healthy they will be good.

WIll be interesting to see if VW is a one year wonder.

Cannot sleep on Shawnee with that new coach and being able to draw around LIma (Shawnee is OE, right?)

Its time for Celina to step it up. I know they picked up Coldwater in a scrimmage next year which will be a good battle.


SM and Wapak will do just fine. THey may have to reach out a little further for week 1 games than normal but they will get a game and be at the top of the league come week 10
Click to expand...

Kenton’s QB was a senior, but I heard his backup is a stud as well.
 
HighSchoolFB45 said:
Kenton’s QB was a senior, but I heard his backup is a stud as well.
Click to expand...

Thought so. Assume he got the snaps this year when the Sr was injured? Could be very valuable experience going forward. They really need to make some hay and beat CW in week 1 for those harbins.
 
Ottawa Glandorf was young this year - I feel they will be back - certainly in the top 5 of the league.
 
Defiance has a really good junior class. They should be pretty good next year. Hopefully this past year was the start of the program getting back to being like the Defiance teams of the late 90's and early 2000's.
 
I think the top of the league will be (high/low)
Wapakoneta (9-1/7-3)
- they bring back Kaeck, someone who can control a game by himself. They bring back 7 starters on defense. However they lost both of their corners, who is going to fill that void? Losing a senior leader like Erb will hurt, and they graduate their entire OL. How will the offense look?
St Mary’s(9-1/8-2)
- bring back plenty of talent, but graduate a lot of talented seniors. Kanorr will continue to solidify himself as one of the top linemen in the state. Howell and Schlosser are due for big years in the backfield.
Ottawa Glandorf(8-2/6-4)
- INCREDIBLY young last year. This could be a big year for them. OG could finish 3rd-4th in the WBL and still be one of the top teams in DV. I’m excited about this team.
Kenton(9-1/5-5)
- with that offense, two all Ohio caliber receivers in Cornell and Rush and a nasty defense, Kenton will complete.
The middle tier
Elida(7-3/5-5)
- this team will surprise people. They bring back Unruh, Spivey, Barnett, and Poe (however, I’ve heard rumors about Poe going to Wapak) on offense. The defense will he suspect, but with that kind of offense they could steal some wins from the top teams.
Shawnee(6-4/4-6)
- they lose Caprella and Ford, but the upcoming junior class is very talented. They also have a state championship coach.
Van Wert(6-4/4-6)
- brings back a lot, but also loses amazing players such as Place and Bagley. Question mark
Bottom tier
Celina(5-5/3-7)
- they lose their two best players in Schweiterman and Zizleman, and don’t seem to have much talent coming back. Celina seems to always compete, but this team doesn’t look promising
Defiance(5-5/3-7)
- I hate to say this after such a good year, but I think it was a one year wonder. That senior class was talented. Like Celina, a big question mark
Bath(1-9/0-10)
- they are Bath
 
Wapak seems to always have a decent offensive line so hope that it continues. Wish during the season Moyer would have gave Crow some snaps at quarterback during some of our more lopsided games. When up 3 or 4 touchdowns give your backup a few series to get him some experience. The defense will be ahead of the offensive at the start of the season and will have to win some games for us. Kaeck will be healthy when the season starts hopefully. Has anyone heard who is replacing Bellefontaine next year.
 
Beezer70 said:
Wapak seems to always have a decent offensive line so hope that it continues. Wish during the season Moyer would have gave Crow some snaps at quarterback during some of our more lopsided games. When up 3 or 4 touchdowns give your backup a few series to get him some experience. The defense will be ahead of the offensive at the start of the season and will have to win some games for us. Kaeck will be healthy when the season starts hopefully. Has anyone heard who is replacing Bellefontaine next year.
Click to expand...

Crow won’t be the QB next year. Word has it that Merricle will be the QB. He was the backup sophomore year but he is such an athlete they moved him to get some playing time. He will be the best athlete on the field next year. Kaeck is getting surgery this offseason and is sitting out wrestling. Sucks for him, he was ranked as a top 5 wrestler in the state.
 
Divisional/Enrollment Breakdown

317 Wapakoneta (D-III)
313 Celina (D-III)
303 Defiance (D-III)
300 Elida (D-III)
294 Shawnee (D-III)
285 St Marys Memorial (D-III)

256 Van Wert (D-IV)
210 Kenton (D-IV)
210 Ottawa-Glandorf (D-IV)

191 Bath (D-V)

Only a few changes in the WBL. SM and OG both jumped up a division while Bath dropped. The map will probably have all the D4 schools in the same region and split the D3 schools - Defi, Elida, and Shawnee going North and Wapak, Celina, and SM going South.
 
I knew they'd been trending downward for a while now but it's kind of surprising to see Bath at the bottom of the league in terms of enrollment.

Crazy rebound happening at VW though! Remember not long ago they had slipped to D5? Now they're in the top half of D4 and threatening up get back to D3.
 
dhsdog06 said:
I knew they'd been trending downward for a while now but it's kind of surprising to see Bath at the bottom of the league in terms of enrollment.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately it's not just enrollment. Only 5 of their 20 sports teams finished in the top half of league play compared to 8 of their sports teams finishing in last place. Bath was probably last in the WBL all-sports standings, but I didn't see full standings released this year. The Bath football and boys basketball teams were a combined 1-32 overall this past year. I don't know the context as to why Bath is in such a down state of affairs, but I'd love to see them bounce back.
 
I remember some great Defiance-Bath battles in football in the late 90s into my time in high school in the mid 2000s. Sad for me seeing both at the bottom of the league now.

I don't want to be "that guy" and it's just as likely they level out in enrollment and get competitive again, but if Bath's enrollment continues to drop and they can't turn it around, would they eventually look at the NWC? Especially if the BVC poaches someone. I'd hate to see it come to that, I like how stable the WBL has been. It feels like we're one big, dysfunctional family at this point.
 
Bath - last in football, 9th in BXC, 8th in GXC, last in boys golf, 9th in boys soccer, 3rd in girls soccer, 5th in girls tennis, 7th in vball, last in boys bball, tied for 2nd in girls bball, last in boys swimming, 5th in girls swim, last in wrestling, tied for 7th in baseball, 3rd in softball, last in boys tennis, 6th in girls track and last place in boys track, last in boys bowling and 7th in girls bowling

Haven't lived in the Lima area in a good 15 years BUT what has happened to athletics at Bath????? No league titles this year and finished last in 8 sports (ALL boys sports).

I get it if enrollment is down but its probably down across the WBL as a whole (compared to 10-20 years ago). Whats the deal out at Bath these days? Grant it I haven't been in high school since the late 90s but Bath use to be a decent to good football program and always had very good softball, baseball, girls bball, etc.... Bath was also a relatively decent wrestling school not too long ago and now last place??? Seems like some coaches have jumped ship in a variety of sports too as of late.

What gives?

FWIW I don't know that I could ever see Bath leaving the WBL. They've been a member since the mid 1960s. Plus with over 400 kids total in the building they'd be significantly larger than anyone else in the NWC. Plus with open enrollment they COULD get city athletes from Lima. We all know how much the NWC loves Lima schools.
 
tucson said:
Divisional/Enrollment Breakdown

317 Wapakoneta (D-III)
313 Celina (D-III)
303 Defiance (D-III)
300 Elida (D-III)
294 Shawnee (D-III)
285 St Marys Memorial (D-III)

256 Van Wert (D-IV)
210 Kenton (D-IV)
210 Ottawa-Glandorf (D-IV)

191 Bath (D-V)

Only a few changes in the WBL. SM and OG both jumped up a division while Bath dropped. The map will probably have all the D4 schools in the same region and split the D3 schools - Defi, Elida, and Shawnee going North and Wapak, Celina, and SM going South.
Click to expand...
Well, got the regional predictions pretty much wrong.

D3R10
Defiance

D3R12
Celina
Elida
Shawnee
St Marys
Wapakoneta

D4R14
Ottawa-Glandorf
Van Wert

D4R16
Kenton

D5R18
Bath

No major surprises. Hard to guess - sometimes NW OH is paired with Cleveland/Akron and sometimes with Dayton. D3R10 stretches from Defiance to East Cleveland and Akron. Most the other divisions are pretty compact and feel like true regionals. D4R14, for example, has mostly northwest and north central schools with a few Akron/Cleveland area outliers. D3R12 certainly looks to be the toughest among WBL members in general not to mention the likely WBL favorites - SM and Wapak - are both in that region.
 
Posted on one of the other threads but got no results.
I am planing on making my first ever trip to Defiance for the opener.
How does everyone see this one playing out?
 
LICKING COUNTY FAN said:
Posted on one of the other threads but got no results.
I am planing on making my first ever trip to Defiance for the opener.
How does everyone see this one playing out?
Click to expand...

I'm having a hard time getting a read on Defiance this year, and I don't know a whole lot about Napoleon right now. Best I can tell you is, Defiance lost, from the roster I saw, 21 seniors from last year, and Napoleon lost 18. On field week 1, Defiance dominated the game in a 2 TD win, but the teams that finished the season were totally different and think Napoleon wins it in week 8-10.

As normal, it should a good one, and if I HAD to pick a winner right now, I'd probably pick Napoleon.

If you do come up, I'd try to get there early! Playing Thursday and being the only game in the general area, it's usually pretty crowded.
 
dhsdog06 said:
I'm having a hard time getting a read on Defiance this year, and I don't know a whole lot about Napoleon right now. Best I can tell you is, Defiance lost, from the roster I saw, 21 seniors from last year, and Napoleon lost 18. On field week 1, Defiance dominated the game in a 2 TD win, but the teams that finished the season were totally different and think Napoleon wins it in week 8-10.

As normal, it should a good one, and if I HAD to pick a winner right now, I'd probably pick Napoleon.

If you do come up, I'd try to get there early! Playing Thursday and being the only game in the general area, it's usually pretty crowded.
Click to expand...
Thanks.
I plan on being there very early.
Anything close by the stadium worth stopping to get a quick bite?
Reserve seating?
How much seating on the away side.
Though I want Defiance, I am guessing a seat near the top at midfield would be hard to get.
 
dhsdog06 said:
I'm having a hard time getting a read on Defiance this year, and I don't know a whole lot about Napoleon right now. Best I can tell you is, Defiance lost, from the roster I saw, 21 seniors from last year, and Napoleon lost 18. On field week 1, Defiance dominated the game in a 2 TD win, but the teams that finished the season were totally different and think Napoleon wins it in week 8-10.

As normal, it should a good one, and if I HAD to pick a winner right now, I'd probably pick Napoleon.

If you do come up, I'd try to get there early! Playing Thursday and being the only game in the general area, it's usually pretty crowded.
Click to expand...

Defiance wasn’t a different team. They started 4-2 and then faced the 4 best teams in the WBL, and they only lost to OG by two points. Defiance was a borderline playoff team. If they beat Elida ( who they lost to by 4 earlier in the season) and OG, they would have made the playoffs, especially in region 10, pound for pound one of the weakest regions.
 
LICKING COUNTY FAN said:
Posted on one of the other threads but got no results.
I am planing on making my first ever trip to Defiance for the opener.
How does everyone see this one playing out?
Click to expand...
Stop by their baseball facility if you want to see something goodm. Tommy H does a great job up there
 
HighSchoolFB45 said:
Defiance wasn’t a different team. They started 4-2 and then faced the 4 best teams in the WBL, and they only lost to OG by two points. Defiance was a borderline playoff team. If they beat Elida ( who they lost to by 4 earlier in the season) and OG, they would have made the playoffs, especially in region 10, pound for pound one of the weakest regions.
Click to expand...

I get all of that, and I know 6-4 puts them in. Those 2 collapses reslly were inexcusable.

I guess while I definitely didn't expect to win any of the last 3 games, it disappointed me HOW they lost. The offense was decent the first 6 weeks, against subpar competition, but still. To score 7 points in 4 games just disappointed me.
 
LICKING COUNTY FAN said:
Thanks.
I plan on being there very early.
Anything close by the stadium worth stopping to get a quick bite?
Reserve seating?
How much seating on the away side.
Though I want Defiance, I am guessing a seat near the top at midfield would be hard to get.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately around the school there's not much. Shoney's, but anything else you'd have to go into town for, with most being on the far northern edge...with the bridge out downtown. If you do manage to get downtown and are looking for food, I'd recommend Kissner's on the corner of Clinton and 5th. Family owned and operated for about a century, good food, really cool looking bar!

Away seating leaves a lot to be desired, and Napoleon will travel great, so there won't be much. Normally I'd say absolutely no problem finding a seat, but this is the one game a year lately that brings a guaranteed great crowd. Also believe most of the midfield seats are reserved for season ticket holders..
 
dhsdog06 said:
Unfortunately around the school there's not much. Shoney's, but anything else you'd have to go into town for, with most being on the far northern edge...with the bridge out downtown. If you do manage to get downtown and are looking for food, I'd recommend Kissner's on the corner of Clinton and 5th. Family owned and operated for about a century, good food, really cool looking bar!

Away seating leaves a lot to be desired, and Napoleon will travel great, so there won't be much. Normally I'd say absolutely no problem finding a seat, but this is the one game a year lately that brings a guaranteed great crowd. Also believe most of the midfield seats are reserved for season ticket holders..
Click to expand...
Hopefully I can get something up high so I can do pics and a game summary. If all else fails, I will just go down to the field and take pics.
 
Post Scrimmage schedules here if you know your teams schedule

Wapak
August 10th @10:30 at Coldwater
August 17th @10:30 vs Ashland
August 23rd @7:00 PM vs Minster
 
Last edited:
Defiance

August 10th 10 AM @ Bowling Green
August 17th 10 AM vs. Liberty Center/Fairview
August 22 6 PM vs. McComb
 
Below are 6 of the 10 WBL members football previews from Hometown Stations in Lima. I don't think the Bath, Defiance, Elida, or Shawnee ones have been published yet. Some interesting previews. Last year was near an all-time high for the WBL as a whole and I think this year will be a small step back for a lot of the squads. Lots of losses and inexperience among last year's top teams. I think the WBL is pretty wide open.

Kenton & O-G: Link
Van Wert & Celina: Link
Wapak: Link
St Marys: Link
 
Thoughts on the season so far? I’m surprised by Kenton’s 42-0 loss to Coldwater and how good Van Wert has looked. Other than that, the season is exactly what i thought it would be.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top