Presumably Elida will have a new week 1 opponent as the home-and-home with Toledo Rogers will be completed. I don't see them wanting to renew that.So in 25 St. Marys picks up ML. Celina picks up St. Henry.
Any other changes? Wapak sticking with TSJ or is that 1 year as well?
Thought I heard Bath/New Bremen was done after this year too.Presumably Elida will have a new week 1 opponent as the home-and-home with Toledo Rogers will be completed. I don't see them wanting to renew that.
Bath may have a new week 1 opponent. Not sure if the series against New Bremen is being extended beyond its current 3-game series.
Shawnee's 2024 game against LCC is their fourth in a row. It's a nice local game. Not sure if it's a 4-game series or continuing.
I think I heard Wapak-SJJ was a one-year deal, but no idea if that's true.
That SM/ML series isn't set in stone right now still from what I've been told.So in 25 St. Marys picks up ML. Celina picks up St. Henry.
Any other changes? Wapak sticking with TSJ or is that 1 year as well?
Don't have any detailed info, just saw a post that Wapak won two scores to zero, Moyer to Page had a couple big plays, and their defense was good. It was a Wapak post, so little info and nothing on Coldwater.Does anyone know how the Wapak-Coldwater scrimmage went? Or any other scrimmages with WBL teams.
So Celina scrimmaged 3 teams Friday but I only saw the one against Bellefontaine. It’s a scrimmage so everything is to be taken with a grain of salt, but Celinas defense looked really solid, especially up against St Clair. They were able to get to him multiple times and made some good stops. They’re very fast. Offense looked alright, not as great as the defense. Strong oline, but the wide receivers aren’t as athletic as last year. Though there’s one you’ll probably hear a lot, mr Wes Greber. Quick qb with an arm, and a pretty good senior running back that they’ll probably lean on a lot. We’ll see how they pair up against coldwater Friday. Bellefontaine didn’t look as good as they were last year. Seem a lot younger, but Tavien is Tavien. They had a good d line and a pretty good receiver taking the place of Riley Neer this year. Can’t remember his name. Always hard to tell how a team will be from the first scrimmage though. They each scored once on varsity in the 20 plays they had. Excited for this week because this weeks scrimmages are actually played like a real game and not just glorified practices. We’ll be able to see a little more.Does anyone know how the Wapak-Coldwater scrimmage went? Or any other scrimmages with WBL teams.
I just found the whole Wapak/coldwater scrimmage on hudl. Click hereDoes anyone know how the Wapak-Coldwater scrimmage went? Or any other scrimmages with WBL teams.
St. Marys has no contract in place to play Marion Local.So in 25 St. Marys picks up ML. Celina picks up St. Henry.
Any other changes? Wapak sticking with TSJ or is that 1 year as well?
@hdvhsmgr ?St. Marys has no contract in place to play Marion Local.
wapak has a couple pretty good running backs...The Hometown Stations football previews are out. Some have already been posted, but here's all of them so far. The only ones missing are Defiance and Kenton which I recall is how it usually goes. Link to the videos are each schools name below.
Bath - 11 seniors. Zach Welsch QB (third year QB), RB, and WR all return. Seems like an experienced Bath squad aiming for a winning record this season.
Celina - returns 12 starters, lost a lot from last year's final four team. Expectations are high to continue to stay atop the WBL with a target on their backs.
Elida - has had back-to-back 4-0 starts only to falter later in the season. Sr QB Ryan McGue is back from last year's injury, star RB Etzkorn graduated, expect to lean on their defense as a strength again.
Ottawa-Glandorf - graduated 12 starters, return 10 starters (6 on offense, 8 on defense). A lot of focus on the rough past couple seasons and a motivation to right the ship.
Shawnee - New coach, Shane Wireman, looking to turn around the Indians program which is coming off an 0-10 season. 12+ returning starters and 9 seniors on this team. Speed may be a strength of this team with some star track players at WR/CB.
St Marys - A veteran team. 16 returning starters (9 on offense) and 22 seniors total. Jacob Kessler, a running back last season has transitioned to QB.
Van Wert - graduated 14, return 8 starters on each side of the ball. Bristin Wise is the new Sr QB replacing the graduated Brylen Parker.
Wapak - 12 returning starters. some key losses from last season including their RB. Might be the most pass heavy Wapak team we've seen in decades, not that that's saying a lot.
I'm sure they do. My post was a recap of the football previews. In Wapak's football preview, they highlighted the loss of RB Knous and the Louisville-commit tight end was interviewed and he said they'll be passing more this season.wapak has a couple pretty good running backs...
Great info. I feel like they usually do preview Defiance. But I didn't even see one on the Toledo stations this year. WLIO gives some pretty good attention to Defiance, considering it was taken off cable TV here something like 15 years ago. The Lima News meanwhile, refuses to even mention Defiance in any WBL sports previews...The Hometown Stations football previews are out. Some have already been posted, but here's all of them so far. The only ones missing are Defiance and Kenton which I recall is how it usually goes. Link to the videos are each schools name below.
Bath - 11 seniors. Zach Welsch QB (third year QB), RB, and WR all return. Seems like an experienced Bath squad aiming for a winning record this season.
Celina - returns 12 starters, lost a lot from last year's final four team. Expectations are high to continue to stay atop the WBL with a target on their backs.
Elida - has had back-to-back 4-0 starts only to falter later in the season. Sr QB Ryan McGue is back from last year's injury, star RB Etzkorn graduated, expect to lean on their defense as a strength again.
Ottawa-Glandorf - graduated 12 starters, return 10 starters (6 on offense, 8 on defense). A lot of focus on the rough past couple seasons and a motivation to right the ship.
Shawnee - New coach, Shane Wireman, looking to turn around the Indians program which is coming off an 0-10 season. 12+ returning starters and 9 seniors on this team. Speed may be a strength of this team with some star track players at WR/CB.
St Marys - A veteran team. 16 returning starters (9 on offense) and 22 seniors total. Jacob Kessler, a running back last season has transitioned to QB.
Van Wert - graduated 14, return 8 starters on each side of the ball. Bristin Wise is the new Sr QB replacing the graduated Brylen Parker.
Wapak - 12 returning starters. some key losses from last season including their RB. Might be the most pass heavy Wapak team we've seen in decades, not that that's saying a lot.
That new Shawnee coach seems like he might be the real deal. It took him 1 year before Waynesfield had a winning record again and he didn’t look back after thatThe Hometown Stations football previews are out. Some have already been posted, but here's all of them so far. The only ones missing are Defiance and Kenton which I recall is how it usually goes. Link to the videos are each schools name below.
Bath - 11 seniors. Zach Welsch QB (third year QB), RB, and WR all return. Seems like an experienced Bath squad aiming for a winning record this season.
Celina - returns 12 starters, lost a lot from last year's final four team. Expectations are high to continue to stay atop the WBL with a target on their backs.
Elida - has had back-to-back 4-0 starts only to falter later in the season. Sr QB Ryan McGue is back from last year's injury, star RB Etzkorn graduated, expect to lean on their defense as a strength again.
Ottawa-Glandorf - graduated 12 starters, return 10 starters (6 on offense, 8 on defense). A lot of focus on the rough past couple seasons and a motivation to right the ship.
Shawnee - New coach, Shane Wireman, looking to turn around the Indians program which is coming off an 0-10 season. 12+ returning starters and 9 seniors on this team. Speed may be a strength of this team with some star track players at WR/CB.
St Marys - A veteran team. 16 returning starters (9 on offense) and 22 seniors total. Jacob Kessler, a running back last season has transitioned to QB.
Van Wert - graduated 14, return 8 starters on each side of the ball. Bristin Wise is the new Sr QB replacing the graduated Brylen Parker.
Wapak - 12 returning starters. some key losses from last season including their RB. Might be the most pass heavy Wapak team we've seen in decades, not that that's saying a lot.
How many games since 2022 has Defiance lost by less than 5 points?WBL Week 1 Final Scores
Shawnee 33, Lima Central Catholic 19
St Marys 33, St Henry 14
Van Wert 48, Bryan 8
Elida 40, Toledo Rogers 0
Wapakoneta 35, Toledo St. John's Jesuit 21
Celina 55, Columbus South 7
Bath 14, New Bremen 17
Ottawa-Glandorf 6, Liberty-Benton 35
Defiance 34, Napoleon 35, OT
Kenton 35, Eastwood 38
WBL goes 6-4 in non-league play
Apparently, that Columbus south game was scheduled back towards the end of 2022 and it was said that they were the only team that was willing to travel. Idk, but I was also hoping for a better opponent. Looking forward to the rivalry game next week.A wild week one in Western Buckeye League non-league play.
Defiance-Napoleon... game of the week! Defiance got out to a commanding 15-0 lead. It started with a Napoleon fumble on their opening possession. Defiance's first touchdown was a pass from Gomez followed by the two point conversion. Napoleon then went three and out and Defiance put together a 9-play 56-yard drive to take the 15-0 lead. They both then traded touchdowns as it was a 22-14 Defiance lead going into the half, with Napoleon getting it into the end zone right before the half. Here's where things start getting wild. The second half opens with a quick Defi 3-and-out and Napoleon takes over. It was hard to follow along, but it sounded like it was a long, sustained Napoleon offensive drive into Defi territory, but then Defiance picks off Napoleon, runs it deep back into Napoleon territory, only for the Defi defender to be stripped and Napoleon regain possession, THEN Napoleon continues their already long drive. I think it was a 15-play 9-minute drive? And to top it all off... Napoleon came away empty on that possession lol. Defiance got the ball back and went three and out again. Napoleon's next possession results in a touchdown, 2-pt conversion is no good. The Bulldog lead narrows to 22-20. Defiance finally has their first successful offensive drive of the second half by driving to the Nap 25, but ends up turning it over on downs. Napoleon then gets it down into the red zone. They had a fourth and short with a little less than 1:30 left in the game. Defiance called a timeout. Napoleon was preparing for a field goal, but then Defiance jumped offsides giving the Wildcats a first down. Napoleon then got it into the end zone, 2-pt try is good this time, and Napoleon takes a 28-22 lead with just over a minute remaining. Defiance got the ball back, faced a 4th & 4 from midfield, and somehow Gomez bolted down the field for a 41-yd run not only getting the critical first down, but getting in the red zone. Defiance then punched it into the end zone with 18 seconds left, BUT they miss the PAT. So it's a tie ball game at 28-28. Going to overtime. Defiance got the ball first. Defiance got the touchdown, went for a 2-pt conversion, but the pass was broken up. 34-28 Defiance lead, Napoleon next up on offense. The Wildcats are also able to get a touchdown and are able to kick an XP to win the rivalry game. 35-34. A wild game. Defiance really thrived last season with two-point conversions, but it looks like their PAT attempts haunted them in this game.
Wapakoneta-Toledo St. John's Jesuit... Wapak had a 60-some yard touchdown drive on the opening possession of the game. QB Moyer ran it in from 3 yards out. SJJ offense didn't quite get going and Wapak blocked their punt. Wapak quickly converted with a 25-yd TD pass from Moyer to Page. SJJ again had the punt partially blocked on their next drive which set Wapak up with good field position. Wapak scored on a 22-yd pass from Moyer to Stauffer. It was all Wapak 21-0 at the end of the first quarter. SJJ came roaring back though. SJJ started their drive at their own 13 yard line, had an 18-play, 87-yard touchdown drive that wore down the Wapak defense. Wapak had a pretty good ensuing drive, including a 33-yard screen pass from Moyer to Page, but Wapak ultimately stalled out with a turnover on downs. I'm guessing Wapak doesn't have a long distance kicker this year. The next SJJ offensive possession, they got stuffed by the Wapak D and went out to punt, but had a FAKE! SJJ executed a fake punt pass for the first down. This again seemed to wear down the Wapak defense as SJJ pulled off a 13-play 74-yard touchdown drive. PAT was no good, so the score was 21-13 going into the half. That last SJJ was with like 15 seconds left in the half. They traded punts early on in the third quarter before Wapak put together a 6-play 54-yd touchdrown drive culminating in Moyer running it into the end zone. 28-13 Skins. That was the score at the end of the third. SJJ responded with a 45-yd passing touchdown, 2-pt conversion is good, and just like that the TItans have it back to 28-21. Midway through the fourth quarter, Wapak put this one away with another Moyer touchdown run to go up 35-21. As a whole, it did not seem like the Wapak pass game was as sharp as expected, I think there were a few wide receiver drops. Wapak pass defense also struggled a bit with coverage. Not a bad week one performance though.
Kenton-Eastwood... Don't have a whole lot of details here other than the scoring trend. Kenton struck first with a 72-yd touchdrown drive, followed by an Eastwood field goal. Kenton had the early 7-3 advantage. Eastwood then reeled off four touchdowns in the second quarter as the Eagles took a 31-14 lead into the half. Kenton then went on a run of their own with a massive comeback, scoring four touchdowns (the one right before halftime), two in the third quarter, and one in the fourth quarter. Kenton went back on top 35-31. However, the Eagles had some magic as they were able to score the game winning touchdown on a fourth down with 9 seconds remaining. Kenton rallied from 31-7 down, but ultimately fell short. Not exactly sure how Eastwood is expected to do this season, but seemed like a better than expected week one performance by Kenton.
Bath-New Bremen... this sounded like the most Bath game ever. NB got on the board first with a field goal. Bath was stuffed at the goal line on the 1 yard line on 4th & goal. Bath added their own field goal early in the 2Q to tie the game at 3-3. NB responded with a 60-yd TD pass to go up 10-3. And then late in the 2Q, Bath had another turnover on downs inside the NB 10-yd line. Bath did add another FG as time expired. So the halftime score was 10-6 NB leading. Bath had 4 red zone trips...... and only 6 points. Ouch. New Bremen pulled ahead with a 43-yd TD run to go up 17-6 in the 3Q. Bath responded with a 36-yd TD pass with a successful 2-pt attempt to cut the lead to 17-14. Bath had some opportunities in the fourth quarter, but wasn't able to get anything done. Bath falls in a defensive battle, tight game, where it seemed like they made quite a bit of errors. A disappointing start for a veteran Bath squad.
St Marys-St Henry... SM went up 12-0 with Mabry and Osborne rushing touchdowns. SM missed the XP on their first touchdown and then had an unsuccessful 2-pt attempt on their second touchdown. (As an aside, it seems like among WBL schools St Marys [and Defiance I guess] is consistently inconsistent when it comes to the PATs). St Henry got on the board in the 2Q with a touchdown run of their own and SM added another before half as the score was 19-7. There was no scoring in the third quarter, but St Henry got a touchdown at the start of the fourth quarter to make it 19-14. However, that resulted in back to back SM touchdowns by Mabry and Osborne. SM ended up handling SH 33-14. Osborne had 193 yards and 3 TD's, Mabry had 115 yards and 2 TD's. St Marys will no doubt lead the WBL in rushing again this season.
VW-Bryan, OG-LB, Celina-South, Elida-Rogers... Not much to say about these games as they were all blowouts. Van Wert rolled. OG may be the worst team in the WBL this season considering Kenton and Shawnee's week one performances. Elida and Celina really need to schedule better. Celina had no business as a defending state semifinalist scheduling Columbus South. I know it's a one-off arrangement, but I still hated it from the moment it was announced. Celina's better than that. Elida's series with Toledo Rogers is also hopefully over as Elida outscored Rogers 82-6 in that series. Not at all compelling games for these squads when you compare it to most the other WBL teams.
WBL goes 6-4. For me, Shawnee and Kenton surprised me. Defiance and Bath were a bit of a let down. Everyone else more or less took care of business as expected.
Fair, but this game was not much different than Celina’s week 11 romp over Hillsboro last year.Celina had no business as a defending state semifinalist scheduling Columbus South. I know it's a one-off arrangement, but I still hated it from the moment it was announced. Celina's better than that.