Western Buckeye League 2020

jonmoxon said:
How is 0-3 Wapak in front of 2-1 Shawnee and Celina, who beat them?
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You serious? Wapak had 6 starters and 20 players overall out against Celina and lost on a last second touchdown. Shawnee has a 6 point win against aforementioned Celina team and beat a (no offense) horrible Defiance team 7-0. If Shawnee beats Wapak this week, I’ll put Celina and Shawnee above Wapak.
 
HighSchoolFB45 said:
You serious? Wapak had 6 starters and 20 players overall out against Celina and lost on a last second touchdown. Shawnee has a 6 point win against aforementioned Celina team and beat a (no offense) horrible Defiance team 7-0. If Shawnee beats Wapak this week, I’ll put Celina and Shawnee above Wapak.
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Wapak has scored 17 points this year, worst in the WBL
 
Weren't the 20 players back this week? If a team is winless three games into a season, it should probably always be ranked behind a team it lost to.
 
WBL Week 4 Games

O-G (2-1) @ Bath (1-2)
Celina (1-2) @ Elida (2-1)
Kenton (2-1) @ Defiance (0-3)
Shawnee (2-1) @ Wapak (0-3)
St Marys (2-1) @ Van Wert (3-0)

Game of the week is in Van Wert. The only other game that seems particularly interesting is OG & Bath.
 
Regions

D3R10 - Defiance
D3R12 - Celina, Elida, Shawnee, St Marys, Wapak
D4R14 - Kenton, Van Wert
D5R18 - Bath, Ottawa-Glandorf

I think for the most part this is all the same from last year, with Kenton moving from the D4 southwest region back to the northwest region. And of course O-G was D4 last year and is now D5.
 
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As bad as we've looked, Defiance could actually compete or even win a playoff game, since Region 10 is as terrible in the middle/bottom as usual. Of the 10 teams currently winless or 1-2, none have beaten anyone with a win currently.
 
Another wild week in the WBL.

Week 4 Final Scores
O-G 20, Bath 17
Celina 21, Elida 17
Kenton 34, Defiance 13
Shawnee 9, Wapak 7
Van Wert 34, St Marys 28

Standings
4-0 Van Wert
3-1 Kenton
3-1 O-G
3-1 Shawnee
2-2 Celina
2-2 Elida
2-2 St Marys
1-3 Bath
0-4 Defiance
0-4 Wapak

The VW-SM game sounded like a great one. O-G-Bath was a tight game as well. Bath has gotta be one of the better 1-3 teams out there. VW vs OG will be a heck of a game next week. Elida continues to be a bit of a head scratcher for me as they apparently dominated OG and Bath, but lost to Celina. Maybe it is just that the league is all a lot closer than previous years. At any rate, Wapak losing to Shawnee and only mustering 7 points is... embarrassing. We're not at the end of the season yet, but it looks likely that the week 6 game between Defiance and Wapak will be the pillowfight of the season.
 
Yet another week of great, close games between everyone in a tight league. Except putrid Defiance.:rolleyes:
 
Week 5 Games

Bath (1-3) @ Celina (2-2)
Elida (2-2) @ Defiance (0-4)
Wapak (0-4) @ Kenton (3-1)
Van Wert (4-0) @ O-G (3-1)
St Marys (2-2) @ Shawnee (3-1)

It's a new week, but all eyes will still be on Van Wert with that big matchup against O-G. I'll be curious to see how the Bath/Celina game goes. I think probably the most deceiving game is St Marys at 2-2 vs Shawnee at 3-1. Unless Shawnee is just really under the radar, I'd be surprised if that game's as close as the records would indicate.
 
Van Wert picked a bad year to possibly have its best team in decades, since there will be no official WBL champion recognized.
 
Nash said:
Van Wert picked a bad year to possibly have its best team in decades, since there will be no official WBL champion recognized.
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Yeah, it is a bit of a shame but at least they get to play and we can see what they're capable of in playoffs. Van Wert has O-G up next. So we'll see if they keep their dominant streak up. And the only WBL teams they missed in the regular season due to this shortened slate are Celina, Kenton, and Shawnee. The only team that realistically might even challenge them is Kenton. There's a remote chance that VW and Kenton could meet up in the D4R14 playoffs. That'd be cool if it happens. Not that if any of that happens VW will be awarded the league trophy since it isn't being awarded this year, but they'd definitely be the unofficial champs with bragging rights.
 
Nash said:
Van Wert picked a bad year to possibly have its best team in decades, since there will be no official WBL champion recognized.
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Hold up on the best team in decades. The 2000 team had a couple D1 guys on it and were deep. Very good team though regardless.
 
Insane92 said:
Hold up on the best team in decades. The 2000 team had a couple D1 guys on it and were deep. Very good team though regardless.
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And went 6-4.


Crazy how good the WBL was that year. Realistically, Defiance should have won state, just played their worst game against Buchtel who still needed OT to beat us. 4 others in the playoffs with Celina at 6-4 finishing 10th and Kenton at 5-5 finishing 9th.

Homestly haven't seen that much parity in the league again, until this year.


I hope Van Wert draws and destroys Napoleon in the playoffs. Knock those ***holes down a few pegs.
 
dhsdog06 said:
And went 6-4.


Crazy how good the WBL was that year. Realistically, Defiance should have won state, just played their worst game against Buchtel who still needed OT to beat us. 4 others in the playoffs with Celina at 6-4 finishing 10th and Kenton at 5-5 finishing 9th.

Homestly haven't seen that much parity in the league again, until this year.


I hope Van Wert draws and destroys Napoleon in the playoffs. Knock those ***holes down a few pegs.
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Definitely. It’s just funny how people have recency bias when it comes to “best teams” when the WBL is honestly down overall in recent years in talent.
 
Insane92 said:
Definitely. It’s just funny how people have recency bias when it comes to “best teams” when the WBL is honestly down overall in recent years in talent.
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So that discredits Van Wert averaging over 450 yards and 45 points a game?
 
Insane92 said:
Hold up on the best team in decades. The 2000 team had a couple D1 guys on it and were deep. Very good team though regardless.
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I didn't forget 2000. Finished with five losses, but just happened to catch lightning in a bottle for the playoffs. Before that...when was Van Wert's last league title? Without looking, was it 1987? Or somewhere in the 80s I think.


dhsdog06 said:
And went 6-4.


Crazy how good the WBL was that year. Realistically, Defiance should have won state, just played their worst game against Buchtel who still needed OT to beat us. 4 others in the playoffs with Celina at 6-4 finishing 10th and Kenton at 5-5 finishing 9th.

Homestly haven't seen that much parity in the league again, until this year.


I hope Van Wert draws and destroys Napoleon in the playoffs. Knock those ***holes down a few pegs.
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Buchtel was destroyed by eventual state champ Olmsted Falls the next week, so to me, that took a tiny bit of the sting away from that loss. I don't think Defiance would've necessarily won state that year. Its worst game of the season was probably barely beating 6-4 St. Francis in the first round at home when they missed a 2-point conversion at the end.
 
Nash said:
I didn't forget 2000. Finished with five losses, but just happened to catch lightning in a bottle for the playoffs. Before that...when was Van Wert's last league title? Without looking, was it 1987? Or somewhere in the 80s I think.




Buchtel was destroyed by eventual state champ Olmsted Falls the next week, so to me, that took a tiny bit of the sting away from that loss. I don't think Defiance would've necessarily won state that year. Its worst game of the season was probably barely beating 6-4 St. Francis in the first round at home when they missed a 2-point conversion at the end.
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The 2000 Defiance Team was very talented offensively. I think they beat VW something like 48-0 the last game of regular season. Their defense was ok but not great. I still remember the line to get into the home playoff game against St. Francis. They were lined up all the way out to Cleveland Ave. by the YMCA. The stadium was packed and some didn't get in until end of 1st quarter.
 
Nash said:
I didn't forget 2000. Finished with five losses, but just happened to catch lightning in a bottle for the playoffs. Before that...when was Van Wert's last league title? Without looking, was it 1987? Or somewhere in the 80s I think.




Buchtel was destroyed by eventual state champ Olmsted Falls the next week, so to me, that took a tiny bit of the sting away from that loss. I don't think Defiance would've necessarily won state that year. Its worst game of the season was probably barely beating 6-4 St. Francis in the first round at home when they missed a 2-point conversion at the end.
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True, but man. That Buchtel loss just hurt. So did Avon Lake in 01, throwing the pick in the end sone to lose to another great team there.

Neither team was 97, 01 for sure wouldn't have won state and 2000 may well have lost to Olmsted Falls anyway. Both were better than 03 who also had talent and had a nice run.

Ugh. Those 94-03 were the glory years for Defiance. And now we can't win a damn GAME.
 
The 2000 talk got me thinking about the WBL of old and man were 1989-2004 REALLY good and REALLY fun. Just look at the number of Final Four teams. Pre 89: St Marys 77, 78, Celina's runner up in 83.

Post 04: OG 09, Elida and Kenton (runner up) in 11, Kenton 13 and 14, St. Marys 18

From 89-2004:

89- Bath
90- St Marys (championship)
92- St Marys (championship), Bath
93- St Marys (championship)
95- Celina
97- Defiance (championship)
98- Celina
2000- Van Wert (runner up)
01- Kenton (championship)
02- Kenton (championship)
03- Kenton (runner up)
04- St Marys (runner up)

16 seasons, 6 schools combining for 13 regional titles, 6 state titles, and 3 title game losses. Compared to 9 regional titles and 2 title games before and after.

I'll say that an expanded playoffs likely helps through the 70s and 80s, but around 2005 the league just fell off and hasn't (probably won't?) bounce back since. I'm glad my schools years coincided not only with the best years the league has seen, but the glory days of Defiance football. It was a lot of fun to follow every week and outside of some horrible Elida and Shawnee teams of early 2000s there wasn't an easy game on the schedule.
 
I found it interesting in the Week 4 AP Poll, Kenton was the only WBL team that was "ranked." And they came in at 10th in D4. Missing altogether? Van Wert. :unsure:
 
ShoelessJoe said:
The 2000 Defiance Team was very talented offensively. I think they beat VW something like 48-0 the last game of regular season. Their defense was ok but not great. I still remember the line to get into the home playoff game against St. Francis. They were lined up all the way out to Cleveland Ave. by the YMCA. The stadium was packed and some didn't get in until end of 1st quarter.
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I think that game was 41-7. It was a playoff atmosphere as Van Wert probably thought it wouldn't make the playoffs with a loss, but went on to be state runner up while Defiance finished a great season as regional runner up in Division II. I know you know this, just stating it for effect. Defiance's band didn't go to the game as Van Wert brought in the Miami U band, if I remember correctly. Sadly, those days of long lines and die hard fans are gone. Even if Defiance got good again, the support will never be at the same level.
 
dhsdog06 said:
The 2000 talk got me thinking about the WBL of old and man were 1989-2004 REALLY good and REALLY fun. Just look at the number of Final Four teams. Pre 89: St Marys 77, 78, Celina's runner up in 83.

Post 04: OG 09, Elida and Kenton (runner up) in 11, Kenton 13 and 14, St. Marys 18

From 89-2004:

89- Bath
90- St Marys (championship)
92- St Marys (championship), Bath
93- St Marys (championship)
95- Celina
97- Defiance (championship)
98- Celina
2000- Van Wert (runner up)
01- Kenton (championship)
02- Kenton (championship)
03- Kenton (runner up)
04- St Marys (runner up)

16 seasons, 6 schools combining for 13 regional titles, 6 state titles, and 3 title game losses. Compared to 9 regional titles and 2 title games before and after.

I'll say that an expanded playoffs likely helps through the 70s and 80s, but around 2005 the league just fell off and hasn't (probably won't?) bounce back since. I'm glad my schools years coincided not only with the best years the league has seen, but the glory days of Defiance football. It was a lot of fun to follow every week and outside of some horrible Elida and Shawnee teams of early 2000s there wasn't an easy game on the schedule.
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One could say the WBL was the premier Division II league in Ohio in the 90s. St. Marys and Defiance both won state titles and AP poll titles in the same seasons, and in different years, St. Marys won two other state titles, Celina finished as AP poll champ twice and twice made the state semis, and St. Marys and Defiance finished as AP poll runner up if you include 2000 too, I think.
 
Nash said:
I think that game was 41-7. It was a playoff atmosphere as Van Wert probably thought it wouldn't make the playoffs with a loss, but went on to be state runner up while Defiance finished a great season as regional runner up in Division II. I know you know this, just stating it for effect. Defiance's band didn't go to the game as Van Wert brought in the Miami U band, if I remember correctly. Sadly, those days of long lines and die hard fans are gone. Even if Defiance got good again, the support will never be at the same level.
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I don't think many in Defiance even realize that while Napoleon is by far our biggest rival and most anticipated game, Van Wert is our most played opponent.

In fact, with all due respect to the rest of the league....they're one of the few I'd miss playing if we ever left. Lots of history, one of just a few roadtrips that don't suck for us.


2000 was indeed 41-7. 2001 was a great game though. 7-6, VW scored early and missed the point after and Defiance just couldn't get anything going at all until the final drive. That night a young team led by a sophomore quarterback grew up.
 
dhsdog06 said:
I don't think many in Defiance even realize that while Napoleon is by far our biggest rival and most anticipated game, Van Wert is our most played opponent.

In fact, with all due respect to the rest of the league....they're one of the few I'd miss playing if we ever left. Lots of history, one of just a few roadtrips that don't suck for us.


2000 was indeed 41-7. 2001 was a great game though. 7-6, VW scored early and missed the point after and Defiance just couldn't get anything going at all until the final drive. That night a young team led by a sophomore quarterback grew up.
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I would agree. VW has always had a great history with Defiance whether its Football, Basketball or here lately baseball.
 
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