2025 Northern Lakes League...both divisions

F

FremontKeith

Well-known member
Time to focus on the upcoming season. Your defending champions are AW in the Buckeye, and Clay in the Cardinal. The Cardinal division will have a new champion this year as Clay is moving to the Buckeye and Springfield is moving to the Cardinal.

2025 divisions....
BUCKEYE
Anthony Wayne
Findlay
Perrysburg
Toledo Whitmer
Sylvania Northview
Oregon Clay

CARDINAL
Holland Springfield
Napoleon
Bowling Green
Sylvania Southview
Fremont Ross

Let's hear it. What do you think? Who's up, who's down. And what about Liberty Benton coming into the Cardinal in 2026??
 
 
I’ll take Whitmer for the Buckeye. People will be surprised by how good the Sophmore quarterback back is.

I am completely blank on the Cardinal side.
 
BUCKEYE

Whitmer and Perrysburg are the top dogs, lots of talent and good up and coming QBs

Findlay is in limbo, they’ve been average with a top QB. Now they’re just average

AW and Clay lost a lot of talent, will be interesting to see if they can replace it and still find success. AW will be fine, Clay probably not

Northview… lol

CARDINAL

Napoleon, BG, and Southview lost their bright spots on an already shakey roster.

Springfield had a lot of talent, but can they finally capitalize in an easier division?

Ross… it’s your time to shine

Liberty-Benton would likely be playing for the league title against Ross if they were in the league this year
 
Upside said:
Is he on the basketball team? They are having a pretty good year. Do you think they are back on the upswing at Ross?
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I haven't been to a bball game this year. I do know they have some decent size for once, including a 6'8" kid. Having said all of that, they lost last night at Napoleon...
 
419Jester said:
I’ll take Whitmer for the Buckeye. People will be surprised by how good the Sophomore quarterback back is.

I am completely blank on the Cardinal side.
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He is a very solid player, and has a coach now who can really elevate his game IMO.

I think Whitmer has a chance to run the table in the NLL this year given the losses at most of their direct competition

Springfield could really surprise some people in the lower level, their non-varsity squads were all very competitive and their 8th grade team ran through the league. Going to be dependent a lot on how the team responds to the new coach, though he has history with the team and district, so they may not need much adjustment
 
Just watched WTOL discuss the Liberty Benton to the NLL report, and they brought up a point I never thought of: The NLL changed to 2 8 team leagues of small and lit schools.

This is really interesting considering there are a lot of talented smaller schools that would love to be in a conference with D1 schools and not have to play them

Who would be the 4 other teams that join in the Cardinal?
 
shakenbake said:
Just watched WTOL discuss the Liberty Benton to the NLL report, and they brought up a point I never thought of: The NLL changed to 2 8 team leagues of small and lit schools.

This is really interesting considering there are a lot of talented smaller schools that would love to be in a conference with D1 schools and not have to play them

Who would be the 4 other teams that join in the Cardinal?
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The catholics and Lima. Just give it time. It’s almost a puzzle piece match.
Lima
Central
SJJ/NDA
SFS/SUA
 
shakenbake said:
Just watched WTOL discuss the Liberty Benton to the NLL report, and they brought up a point I never thought of: The NLL changed to 2 8 team leagues of small and lit schools.
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It's 2 divisions of 6, not 8.
shakenbake said:
This is really interesting considering there are a lot of talented smaller schools that would love to be in a conference with D1 schools and not have to play them
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I bet that there are no (zero) "talented smaller schools that would love to be in conference with D1 schools and not have to play them."
shakenbake said:
Who would be the 4 other teams that join in the Cardinal?
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They do not exist.
 
chs1971 said:
It's 2 divisions of 6, not 8.

I bet that there are no (zero) "talented smaller schools that would love to be in conference with D1 schools and not have to play them."

They do not exist.
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In this they discuss that 16 is the number they’re going for, and this is step 1. They talk about adding smaller schools rather than do what everyone else thinks would be wait for the catholic schools.

Liberty Center, Maumee, Rossford, Defiance, Ottawa Glandorf, Perkins, Port Clinton and Clyde are all possibilities. It’s a stretch now, but in 5 years it may be reality
 
shakenbake said:

In this they discuss that 16 is the number they’re going for, and this is step 1. They talk about adding smaller schools
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We were assured they would get to 16 when the new version of the NLL was announced. They reached 70% of their goal.

shakenbake said:
rather than do what everyone else thinks would be wait for the catholic schools.
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Former TRAC members deliberately left the catholic schools and do not want to rejoin with them. Why would anyone think the NLL is waiting for the catholic schools
shakenbake said:
Liberty Center, Maumee, Rossford, Defiance, Ottawa Glandorf, Perkins, Port Clinton and Clyde are all possibilities. It’s a stretch now, but in 5 years it may be reality
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No they're not.
 
chs1971 said:
We were assured they would get to 16 when the new version of the NLL was announced. They reached 70% of their goal.



Former TRAC members deliberately left the catholic schools and do not want to rejoin with them. Why would anyone think the NLL is waiting for the catholic schools

No they're not.
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So then this is the finalized NLL? Liberty-Benton was the last add on and they are at where they want to be for the next 5-10 years?
 
Getting the 12th member was huge. They can be content on 12 or just wait a few years to see how the area shakes up. Personally I'd love to see Tiffin and Sandusky get into the league and cap it off at 14 members.

As I mentioned before, they will no longer need to schedule TCL teams for the bye weeks in the Cardinal. Also having 6 per division now means only 2 crossover games.

The former TRAC members want nothing to do with the Toledo privates. That cut runs deeeeep. 10 years from now? Who knows...
 
shakenbake said:

In this they discuss that 16 is the number they’re going for, and this is step 1. They talk about adding smaller schools rather than do what everyone else thinks would be wait for the catholic schools.

Liberty Center, Maumee, Rossford, Defiance, Ottawa Glandorf, Perkins, Port Clinton and Clyde are all possibilities. It’s a stretch now, but in 5 years it may be reality
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I cant see LC ever willingly leaving the NWOAL.
 
I think this is a good move for both the NLL and LB. LB has long overgrown the BVC and a couple leagues that may have made sense, the NWOAL or the WBL, never sent and invite. So there really is few options. LB's going to keep growing I think so size isn't the issue. Now the next step will be LB has traveled great in the BVC, often helping the other small schools when they came to their schools. With the additional drive time, will the LB faithful still travel? I think one thing that schools really fail to recognize when creating leagues is distance, especially the weeknight games. Alot of these games are turning into "parents/ grandparents and a few die hards" and that's about it.
 
TheLibertyTiger said:
I cant see LC ever willingly leaving the NWOAL.
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From a modern day standpoint of it, it’s a bigger and better league, their athletes, athletics, and facilities will get more exposure, it’ll help them grow and become an even more attractive school to go to since there’s only 4 in the entire county.

From an LC standpoint, it’s a school build on tradition and football, and not wanting to change that. They could win league titles for an entire decade while outscoring teams an average 46.7 - 3.1 again and again, and still not want to leave Ohio’s oldest.
 
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shakenbake said:
From a modern day standpoint of it, it’s a bigger and better league, their athletes, athletics, and facilities will get more exposure, it’ll help them grow and become an even more attractive school to go to since there’s only 4 in the entire county.

From an LC standpoint, it’s a program build on tradition and football, and not wanting to change that. They could win league titles for an entire decade while outscoring teams an average 46.7 - 3.1 again and again, and still not want to league Ohio’s oldest.
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That’s a good perspective.
 
LC would be the 5th most likely school in the NWOAL to join the NLL in my opinion...and none of them are likely at all.

It was pretty clear that Defiance was the team they were hoping would fill spot 12 once Maumee jumped...I was kind of surprised they didn't join. No other team in the NWOAL would willingly leave for a league like the NLL IMO and there is no reason for them to jump.
 
The NLL is putting a bandaid on a bullet hole and anyone with any sense can see it. Sure the Cardinal is in fine shape, the Cardinal division has never been the issue, the issue will always be filling out the Buckeye. How long do people believe Northview will continue to allow themselves to be the punching bags? Clay swapping with Springfield in football does nothing for Clay and just appeases Springfield for a short while. Does the Cardinal division just continue to swap in a new sacrificial lamb to the Buckeye in football every 2 years now?
 
NLLBEST said:
The NLL is putting a bandaid on a bullet hole and anyone with any sense can see it. Sure the Cardinal is in fine shape, the Cardinal division has never been the issue, the issue will always be filling out the Buckeye. How long do people believe Northview will continue to allow themselves to be the punching bags? Clay swapping with Springfield in football does nothing for Clay and just appeases Springfield for a short while. Does the Cardinal division just continue to swap in a new sacrificial lamb to the Buckeye in football every 2 years now?
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Exactly.
 
NLLBEST said:
The NLL is putting a bandaid on a bullet hole and anyone with any sense can see it. Sure the Cardinal is in fine shape, the Cardinal division has never been the issue, the issue will always be filling out the Buckeye. How long do people believe Northview will continue to allow themselves to be the punching bags? Clay swapping with Springfield in football does nothing for Clay and just appeases Springfield for a short while. Does the Cardinal division just continue to swap in a new sacrificial lamb to the Buckeye in football every 2 years now?
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There is an obvious solution for this but everyone doesn’t want to see it 🤣🤣🤣 It’s simple bring the Catholics back and Lima. Put those in with AW, Perrysburg, Findlay and Whitmer. Evens out the divisions. 8 true big schools 8 mediumish teams. More competitive balance between teams.

But bring on the hate towards it. Even though it is a very logical next step.
 
419Jester said:
There is an obvious solution for this but everyone doesn’t want to see it 🤣🤣🤣 It’s simple bring the Catholics back and Lima. Put those in with AW, Perrysburg, Findlay and Whitmer. Evens out the divisions. 8 true big schools 8 mediumish teams. More competitive balance between teams.

But bring on the hate towards it. Even though it is a very logical next step.
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If that were going to happen Maumee would still be in the NLL and the TRAC would still exist. Perrysburg and Anthony Wayne apparently have a lot of power and aren’t afraid to wield it. PB and AW for Clay and Ross would’ve kept everyone except PB and AW happy and was constantly presented as the best option but those two refused and instead we have what we have now…
 
ToledoGuy said:
LC would be the 5th most likely school in the NWOAL to join the NLL in my opinion...and none of them are likely at all.

It was pretty clear that Defiance was the team they were hoping would fill spot 12 once Maumee jumped...I was kind of surprised they didn't join. No other team in the NWOAL would willingly leave for a league like the NLL IMO and there is no reason for them to jump.
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Exactly, every team in the NWOAL is a good fit and has been there for a long time. Plus where would they go besides to join much bigger schools? the GMC? :ROFLMAO:
 
NLLBEST said:
The NLL is putting a bandaid on a bullet hole and anyone with any sense can see it. Sure the Cardinal is in fine shape, the Cardinal division has never been the issue, the issue will always be filling out the Buckeye. How long do people believe Northview will continue to allow themselves to be the punching bags? Clay swapping with Springfield in football does nothing for Clay and just appeases Springfield for a short while. Does the Cardinal division just continue to swap in a new sacrificial lamb to the Buckeye in football every 2 years now?
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Yep...this is what I've been thinking for awhile...it won't be too long before the below schools split off and probably ask if Maumee wants to hop back in with them:

Bowling Green
Northview
Southview
Clay
Fremont
Springfield
Napoleon

Every other year, you're going to piss off Clay/Springfield/Ross...and Northview is already feeling the pain. Eventually, they'll all get in a room a realize they could have a better setup without AW, Whitmer, PBurg, and Findlay.
 
ToledoGuy said:
Yep...this is what I've been thinking for awhile...it won't be too long before the below schools split off and probably ask if Maumee wants to hop back in with them:

Bowling Green
Northview
Southview
Clay
Fremont
Springfield
Napoleon

Every other year, you're going to piss off Clay/Springfield/Ross...and Northview is already feeling the pain. Eventually, they'll all get in a room a realize they could have a better setup without AW, Whitmer, PBurg, and Findlay.
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They have Liberty-Benton. That's eight.
 
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