Western Buckeye League 2021

Defiance is one massive upset from making the playoffs.

Crazy to think that they came down to the final plays against Shawnee and Bath too, or they could be solid.

I don't see them winning either of the last 2 weeks, but honestly this season has been a success. The playoffs thing is just a product of an expansion that was far too big and a region that's horrendous, but still. If you had told me week 3 after 56-0 and 55-18 losses that they'd be a play or 2 here and there from sitting 5-3 after week 8 I would have called you crazy.
 
Big win for St. Marys tonight over Elida 42-7.

Riders got good push up front and were able to average almost 6 yards per against an Elida defense that was one of the stingiest in that department coming into the day.

 
Crazy to think that they came down to the final plays against Shawnee and Bath too, or they could be solid.

I don't see them winning either of the last 2 weeks, but honestly this season has been a success. The playoffs thing is just a product of an expansion that was far too big and a region that's horrendous, but still. If you had told me week 3 after 56-0 and 55-18 losses that they'd be a play or 2 here and there from sitting 5-3 after week 8 I would have called you crazy.
Meanwhile, Kline has Marion Pleasant at an all-time low. 1-7 now and hard to watch. 5 running clocks.
 
An eventful evening in WBL country. Some delays, some blowouts, overtime, and maybe some tighter scores than expected. VW and SM with blowout wins. I'm going to assume most of Kenton points came on the VW backups. It is tied for the most points Kenton has scored all season. I'm a bit surprised SM handled Elida as well as they did, nice win Roughriders. SM looks to be doing just fine in what some of us thought may be a transitional year. O-G and Shawnee was a defensive battle. I'm sure it was a hard fought game. Shawnee is one of those teams that's so close, but so far from turning the corner. They have an outstanding defense, but apparently an offense that just lags so far behind. Kind of reminds me of Michigan teams of the 2010's. Shawnee's a tough team, just not getting any help from their offense (Shawnee is averaging under 13 points scored per game). We also saw Defiance best Celina at the bottom of the league standings. We have a clear 8th, 9th, and 10th place team in the league. That's nice I guess considering how crowded the top/middle placements are in the WBL.

Probably the game of the week, Wapak at Bath, turned out to be a dandy. Senior night for the Wildcats and they started off in the lead and didn't let it up until overtime. Wapak had the ball first in OT and got into the endzone after 3 running plays. Bath got the ball next and on their very first play, fumbled the ball, Wapak recovered, and game over. Tough way to lose. I'm still really impressed with Bath's fight in this game and taking Wapak to overtime. This is a much better Bath team than people give them credit for. I hope they sneak into the playoffs. Wapak on the other hand, seems to be underperforming expectations. I'm still puzzled how Wapak scored 45 on Van Wert with a seemingly explosive offense but outside of that game they're barely scoring 30 points in a game. Wapak has a chance to blowout Celina next week and ends with Defi.
Yes, on the Kenton points. Kenton really never pulled their starters. Starting qb and running back played the whole game. VW was working subs in the 1st qrt.
 
Yes, on the Kenton points. Kenton really never pulled their starters. Starting qb and running back played the whole game. VW was working subs in the 1st qrt.
Kenton's QB is a freshman, not sure what their running back is but I wouldn't expect to see a freshman QB pulled in a blowout game unless he's at risk of getting hurt
 
Meanwhile, Kline has Marion Pleasant at an all-time low. 1-7 now and hard to watch. 5 running clocks.
Was Pleasant expected to be down this year? How has the program been recently? I have to admit I can remember when Pleasant was a regional title threat every year but haven't heard its name much at all in the last decade or so.
 
Was Pleasant expected to be down this year? How has the program been recently? I have to admit I can remember when Pleasant was a regional title threat every year but haven't heard its name much at all in the last decade or so.
Pleasant was in playoffs last 5 years. 2019 played week 12 and 2017 they played in Regional Finals. They haven’t won state in a while but they have been pretty darn good. This team doesn’t resemble any Pleasant team I have seen. Large senior class with 9-10 starters back on defense. They shouldn’t be 1-7 IMO.
 
Bath has good experienced talent, not surprised by the close game with Wapak. It was senior night for a handful that played as freshmen and many more as sophs. Outside of VW they have the talent to beat anyone. Unfortunately for them they will likely finish 5-5. But, Bath is a better than .500 roster.

Shawnee plays greats defense, obviously. However, they will never reach the top group in the league with their approach on offense.

Glad to see Defiance improving. They nearly beat a much more talented Bath team last week.
 
Pleasant was in playoffs last 5 years. 2019 played week 12 and 2017 they played in Regional Finals. They haven’t won state in a while but they have been pretty darn good. This team doesn’t resemble any Pleasant team I have seen. Large senior class with 9-10 starters back on defense. They shouldn’t be 1-7 IMO.

To be fair, they were 2-6 with a lot of blowout losses last year too. So it's not like this came completely out of nowhere. I'm sure Kline isn't doing much to make it better though.
 
To be fair, they were 2-6 with a lot of blowout losses last year too. So it's not like this came completely out of nowhere. I'm sure Kline isn't doing much to make it better though.
Yes I get that…. They played better teams last year IMO. The league was older. Teams this year are young except Pleasant. Two of the best kids were hurt the entire year last year and are playing this year too. To me it isn’t the 1-7 record. It’s the lack of discipline on everything. Kids missing practice and playing, etc.
 
Yes I get that…. They played better teams last year IMO. The league was older. Teams this year are young except Pleasant. Two of the best kids were hurt the entire year last year and are playing this year too. To me it isn’t the 1-7 record. It’s the lack of discipline on everything. Kids missing practice and playing, etc.

We totally understand the lack of discipline up here. We wouldn't have been all that great regardless, but it got old quick watching every drive that looked promising end with a turnover or multiple penalties. Wasn't always even holds either. False start, motion, etc. The mental stuff. Defense would make a stop, someone gets flagged for a late hit no where close to the play. Total momentum killers, especially for a team playing with a talent AND size disadvantage. And nothing was ever done to fix it.

Already this year I've seen one of the team leaders and better players benched for multiple fumbles in a half. And instead of just benching with no purpose, I watched Cooper walk off the field with the kid at half, having an open ended discussion, ended with coach patting him on the helmet and putting him back in the game. Same kid, who I know well off the field and definitely can have a bit of a hot head, a couple weeks ago made a huge tackle, gets up with the ball carrier in his face talking...and he let it go. Moved on instead of jawing back and getting flagged. Apparently the message was received.

There's still mistakes and still some at key points, but it's night and day already. So when it comes to that aspect, I totally get it and unfortunately it seems to be a trend with that coach. It's sad a great program and veteran players are dealing with it.
 
Got to get those stats for all league voting!

Kenton’s RB is a sophomore, they have a freshmen QB, a freshmen left tackle and a freshmen receiver. Beyond that a sophomore center, tackle and guard. Then another two sophomore receivers. So if you think it is about stats you are wrong. I would guess they have no body else at this point to put in.
 
Kenton’s RB is a sophomore, they have a freshmen QB, a freshmen left tackle and a freshmen receiver. Beyond that a sophomore center, tackle and guard. Then another two sophomore receivers. So if you think it is about stats you are wrong. I would guess they have no body else at this point to put in.
At what point does it make sense to keep your starting QB in a game when down 63-20 and he's getting hit by JV kids? At that point it's Kenton being Kenton trying to make score closer than the game was.
 
Here's the update where each WBL team is currently at in their region:

Rank - Team - Record --- Remaining Games

D3 R10
19. Defiance (3-5) --- (O-G, Wapak)

D3 R12
4. Wapakoneta (6-2) --- (Celina, Defiance)
5. St Marys Memorial (6-2) --- (Bath, Celina)
9. Shawnee (4-4) --- (Kenton, Elida)
17. Elida (4-4) --- (Van Wert, Shawnee)
26. Celina (1-7) --- (Wapak, St Marys)

D4 R14
3. Van Wert (7-1) --- (Elida, Bath)
24. Kenton (0-8) --- (Shawnee, O-G)

D5 R18
4. Ottawa-Glandorf (5-3) --- (Defiance, Kenton)
10. Bath (5-3) --- (St Marys, Van Wert)

Projected WBL Playoff Teams: Van Wert, Wapak, St Marys, O-G, Shawnee, Bath, Elida (bubble, needs an upset and some help)
 
Who do we think is winning the end of year awards in the WBL? Offensive/Defensive back of the year, along with lineman of the year.
 
Week 9 Final Scores
O-G 34, Defiance 0
Wapak 41, Celina 7
St Marys 28, Bath 0
Van Wert 41, Elida 7
Shawnee 32, Kenton 0

Standings
1. Van Wert -- 8-1 (7-1)
1. Wapak -- 7-2 (7-1)
3. St Marys -- 7-2 (6-2)
3. O-G -- 6-3 (6-2)
5. Bath -- 5-4 (4-4)
5. Shawnee -- 5-4 (4-4)
7. Elida -- 4-5 (3-5)
8. Defiance -- 3-6 (2-6)
9. Celina -- 1-8 (1-7)
10. Kenton -- 0-9 (0-8)

Week 10 Games
Bath (5-4) @ Van Wert (8-1)
Wapak (7-2) @ Defiance (3-6)
St Marys (7-2) @ Celina (1-8)
O-G (6-3) @ Kenton (0-9)
Elida (4-5) @ Shawnee (5-4)
 
A pretty uneventful night in the WBL. All of these games were over by halftime. And lots of goose eggs. Shawnee out-gained Kenton in total offense 359-32. :ROFLMAO:

Week 10 looks slightly more interesting. I think the most intriguing match-up is Elida vs. Shawnee. Both are in D3R12 and this is a must win for Elida. Elsewhere, Van Wert and Wapak will look to keep rolling and tie for the WBL crown. The Battle of Grand Lake looks to be another Roughriders victory. And lastly, Kenton will certainly finish 0 and 10 which is just quite the sight to see.
 
Ottawa Glandorf Defense has given up 7 points total in the past 3 games. Granted it has been against Celina, Shawnee, and Defiance. But still, this has been a great turnaround since weeks 1 and 2. Should see similar results next week at Kenton.
 
Big defensive show for St Marys last night being that they were missing Tanner Howell..........Bath was able to move the ball but it seemed that the Riders always had the answers at the right time.

 
Thought SM /Bath would be close due to each team plays to strength of the other. Howell being out is even more surprising it wasn't a tight game. Bath has to be really disappointed. The senior class talent never led to production on the field. No winning season in the league any year for their seniors (assuming a loss next week to VW). SM on the other hand is always gritty and tough.

Shawnee and Elida will be a battle next week. Should be a low scoring game with Shawnee edging the Bulldogs in nail biter.

Are there any injuries other than Howell from SM for any of the teams bound to make the playoffs? Key injuries late in the season can totally change the outcome of a game.
 
Shawnee and Elida will be a battle next week. Should be a low scoring game with Shawnee edging the Bulldogs in nail biter.
Yeah, from my understanding Shawnee is in win or lose. If Elida wins they are in also and could potentially have a trip back to Shawnee in week 11 if certain things fall in place
 
Yeah, from my understanding Shawnee is in win or lose. If Elida wins they are in also and could potentially have a trip back to Shawnee in week 11 if certain things fall in place

Shawnee is 9th right now. I can't see them getting back into the 8 to get a home game with a loss.

Now Elida winning could probably set up Elida @ St. Marys and Shawnee @ Wapak week 11 I'd things went right....
 
One more week to go, here's the update where each WBL team is currently at in their region:

Rank - Team - Record --- Remaining Games

D3 R10
19. Defiance (3-6) --- (Wapak)

D3 R12
2. St Marys Memorial (7-2) --- (Celina)
5. Wapakoneta (7-2) --- (Defiance)
9. Shawnee (5-4) --- (Elida)
18. Elida (4-5) --- (Shawnee)
27. Celina (1-8) --- (St Marys)

D4 R14
2. Van Wert (8-1) --- (Bath)
24. Kenton (0-9) --- (O-G)

D5 R18
5. Ottawa-Glandorf (6-3) --- (Kenton)
11. Bath (5-4) --- (Van Wert)

Playoff Locks: Van Wert, St Marys, Wapak, O-G, Bath, and Shawnee. Elida's on the bubble.
 
C
You'd give it to someone not from Wapak? How dare you! This is the Wapakoneta Buckeye League afterall.
Come on man it’s a forum both kids from Wapak having great years I would agree with Pratt don’t bring this woke culture here I have never said a bad word about other teams I’m from Wapak and follow Wapak so I normally talk about Wapak and hope to have great conversations about high school football but always have that one who turns it around
 
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