The Daily Standard
Sports Preview
The Western Buckeye League gets its season started on Friday after the opening week of non-conference play.
For the local members, Celina and St. Marys, it's a week with the hope to bounce back from suffering Opening Night losses.
The challenge, though, will be formidable for each team.
After opening the season at St. Henry in the programs' first ever varsity meeting, Celina heads to Auglaize County to face perennially tough Wapakoneta at Mercy Heath/Wapak Ford Field.
Celina's Cohen Harter (10) battles with St. Henry's Jack Huelsman for the ball. Harter had two interceptions in last Friday's season opener.
Celina had some positive things come out of its 31-7 loss to St. Henry. Cohen Harter had two interceptions in the first half to stop two Redskin drives. The game was scoreless for the first 23 minutes of the game before St. Henry scored on a Jack Huelsman 76-yard punt return at the end of the first half, which sparked the Redskins to add 24 straight points in the second half before Noah Tallmadge avoided the shutout with a score in the final five minutes.
Parker Wynk threw for 125 yards in his varsity starting debut for Celina, but was sacked three times and threw an interception that resulted in a 45-yard return for a touchdown. Carson Weitzel had three receptions for 65 yards in late game action with Parker Bertke rushing for 24 yards and making five catches for 27 yards. Wapakoneta, fresh off winning a fourth-straight WBL title last season, opened with a 28-7 win over Oregon Clay in Wapakoneta last Friday. Coach Travis Moyer's Redskins are 34-2 in league games since 2021.
The Redskins have worked a balanced offense more over the years after being a run-heavy team. Last week Wapak had 279 yards of offense with a very-balanced 141 yards rushing and 138 yards passing.
Caleb Moyer, the coach's son, has been a key contributor at quarterback in his career, earning the league's Offensive Skill Player of the Year award after passing for over 2,100 yards and 17 touchdowns and rushing for 684 yards last season.
Last Friday against Clay, Moyer was 9-of-11 passing and rushed for 44 yards and two touchdowns. Moyer has his favorite receiver back as well in Kaden Page, who had over 1,000 receiving yards last season. Page had four receptions for 110 yards and a touchdown last week.
Running back Jarrett Mullen had 78 yards on seven carries and a touchdown.
The Wapak defense came up big with two interceptions and a fumble recovery against Clay, resulting in a plus-three in turnover ratio.
St. Marys opens play at Grand Lake Health System Field against Bath after having a struggle in a 35-6 loss at Galion last Friday.
The Tigers limited the Roughriders' vaunted run game last week, holding them to just 131 yards and avoided a shutout in the final minute of the game on Caleb Schmidt's seven-yard score with 37 seconds remaining. St. Marys had possession for over 27 minutes, but managed six points. Schmidt rushed for 93 yards to lead the team.
Meanwhile, Bath had an explosive opener in beating Indian Lake 50-21 on the strength of 614 yards of total offense.
After taking over in 2023 after the Wildcats went 0-10 the season before, Frank Russell has had the Wildcats on the upward trend. After winning four games his first season, Bath was 6-6 and won a playoff game last season.
One of the key reasons for the success is quarterback Zach Welsch, who dominates with both the run and pass. Last Friday, Welsch was 18-for-26 for 401 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 144 yards and three scores.
Mikey Hale had 253 all-purpose yards and scored three touchdowns. Justin Clark had seven receptions for 175 yards and three touchdowns.
The rest of the WBL schedule includes Shawnee traveling to Kenton, Ottawa-Glandorf hosting Defiance and Elida playing host to Van Wert.
The high school football season has begun and with it comes our initial numbers to analyze.
Over the previous 16 years, the Western Buckeye League had a record of 85-75 (53%) in their opening games of the season, and a 6-4 mark last season. This year saw the WBL take a slight step back, compiling a 5-5 record in the opening week.
Over those same 16 years, the Midwest Athletic Conference has won 69% (110-50) of its non-conference games during the initial week of the season and went 8-2 last year. Another 8-2 mark this year will bring that percentage up a bit.
Non-conference play is often a good indicator of how a league as a whole will do in the computer points. In the WBL, losses by St. Marys and Celina could hurt the league in the long run, though they are balanced by the wins by Defiance and Bath. As for the MAC, last year's Delphos St. John's upset of Lehman was of great value for the league, but the opposite result will not help the league this season.
It will be tougher to roughly project how many teams from each conference will reach the playoffs this year, due to the switch by the OHSAA to only allow 12 teams per region into the postseason. The WBL averaged 5.25 teams in the top 12 in their regions in the last four years, including six teams last year. With a slightly worse Week One this year, it seems five to six playoff teams are a good prediction.
The MAC has fared better, averaging 6.50 teams in the top 12 in their regions between 2021 and 2024, including seven teams last season. This year's 8-2 mark in the opening week probably makes the expected number of MAC playoff teams this year to be six or more likely seven.
There are several intriguing games next week. St. Marys and Celina have difficult bounce back games against Bath and Wapakoneta, respectively. 0-2 starts are hard to overcome for WBL teams.
The 10 MAC teams face opponents who were a combined 7-3 last week. In games that are expected to be most interesting, Coldwater plays another difficult opponent in Clinton-Massie, while Fort Recovery travels to face Allen East.
The computer points for the entire state, and especially the four regions involving most area teams (Regions 10, 22, 24 and 28) can be found throughout the season at: user.nktelco.net/bdmonnin/football.htm
Winners: Wapakoneta, Defiance
Losers: Celina, St. Marys, Shawnee
Well under half (10 of 28) of the teams in this region won their opening game, so Celina, St. Marys and Lima Shawnee are in eleventh place despite losing. Celina has a tough bounce back game at Wapakoneta, as does St. Marys who hosts Bath.
Wapakoneta earned a potentially nice win over an Oregon Clay squad who won eight regular season games last year. Defiance perhaps had a more important victory as they defeated Napoleon by one point, avenging last year's one point loss in the River Rock rivalry.
Winners: Van Wert, Elida, Bath
Losers: Kenton, Ottawa-Glandorf
The teams in this region also won less than half (10 of 25) of their week one games. Again, this is good news for Kenton and Ottawa-Glandorf if they can get back on the winning track.
Van Wert plays Elida this week with the winner starting with a WBL win as well as getting an early high placing in the computer points. Lima Bath will either face a dispirited St. Marys team, or one that is out for redemption.
Winner: Versailles
Slightly over half the teams (14 of 25) won this week. Another win this week, against 1-0 Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy, should put the Tigers well into the Top 12 heading into MAC play.
Loser: Parkway
11 out of 26 teams won last week, making this a slightly below average region. Parkway has a good opportunity this week against Delphos Jefferson, though a win may not yield many long term-computer points.
Winners: Coldwater, Anna
Well under half (11 out of 27) of the teams in this region won last week, thus leaving opportunities for teams with a loss. Coldwater's win over Valley View should yield big computer points, while Anna's victory against Spencerville will likely be less valuable. Coldwater again has the potentially higher computer point haul available this week in Clinton-Massie, while Anna plays a young Fort Loramie squad.
Loser: Delphos St. John's
There were 14 winners and 15 losers in this region, where qualification for the postseason is projected to be quite difficult. St. John's earned most of their points last season from defeating Lehman. Without that win this year, as upset of Lima Central Catholic may be needed to reach the playoffs.
Winners: Fort Recovery, Marion Local, Minster, New Bremen, St. Henry
This region of 27 teams saw 13 earn a Week One win, with five of those victors being from the MAC. All five are at least slight favorites this week, and each win allows these teams to build up a buffer in the computer point standings that can get whittled away through the inevitable losses associated with conference play.
Four of these five MAC teams play opponents who won last week (New Bremen's game against Covington being the exception). There are several intriguing matchups this week, especially Fort Recovery at Allen East and Coldwater hosting Clinton-Massie. St. Henry travels to face always tough Archbold, while Minster hosts Columbus Africentric, who defeated Cincinnati Woodward 72-0 last week.
The teams had differing paths to winning their season openers last week.
The Falcons jumped out to a 28-0 lead against Waynesville to capture a 35-13 win. Tristen Trampler trampled the turf in Clarksville, carrying the ball 18 times for 258 yards and three touchdowns, including a 71-yard romp. C-M rushed for 338 yards as a team and held the Spartans to 237 total yards of offense.
Coldwater outlasted a tough Valley View squad. Quarterback Karsyn Homan rushed for 139 yards and four touchdowns, including the go-ahead score in overtime, and passed for 202 yards in the Cavaliers' 49-48 win.
NOTE: Due to travel distance for Clinton-Massie and fans, the start time will be 7:30 p.m.
The Mustangs faced perennially-tough Newark Catholic in Harrod in the season opener. Miles McDorman rushed for 207 yards and scored twice, incluing the game-winning five-yard run-in after the Green Wave scored. Quarterback Keegan Jones ran for one touchdown and passed for another.
The Indians started the Wes Wenning era in style with a 44-0 win over Ponitz Tech, holding the Golden Panthers to just 122 yards of total offense as Ponitz did not attempt a pass during the game. Reece Wendel rushed for 93 and scored twice. Alex Gaerke had three rushing touchdowns and was a perfect 7-of-7 passing for 89 yards. The Fort Recovery defense recovered three fumbles in the game.
Marion Local quarterback Brennen Hess prepares to take the snap from center Aaron Heitkamp.
The Flyers did not miss a step in their season opener after graduating many key players from last season, holding South Adams to just 80 yards of total offense in cruising to a 56-0 win for consecutive win number 65. Ben Meier rushed for 93 yards, ran for three touchdowns and caught another. Brennen Hess had an impressive starting debut at quarterback, passing for 163 yards with three touchdowns. Andrew Schmackers had two of the touchdown receptions.
Crestview won in a shootout against Parkway that was a battle of the running game. The teams combined for over 750 rushing yards and 11 rushing touchdowns. Braxton Leeth broke the school record by former Ball State player Briggs Orsbon with 408 yards on 29 carries and six touchdowns.
The Wildcats scored 22 unanswered points after spotting Fort Loramie an 8-0 lead to pick up the county line battle in Minster.
Carson Kaylor passed for 171 yards and a touchdown in his starting debut and rushed for 84 yards and two scores. Noah Schwieterman had five catches for 99 yards and added two interceptions on defense.
The Nubians opened their season with a 72-0 blistering of Cincinnati Woodward. Quarterback Josh Smith, who has verbally committed to Bowling Green at wide receiver, passed for 171 yards and six touchdowns in the win over the Bulldogs.
The Cardinals wrap up a two-game road trip this week with venture to Buccs territory after traveling to Paulding County for a 41-0 win over Wayne Trace in Week One.
Gavin Dicke rushed for 81 yards and two touchdowns and passed for another as the Cardinals tallied 335 yards of total offense and held the Raiders to 136 total yards.
The Buccs, who two years ago went 0-10 before going 3-7 and making the playoffs last season, lost a hard-fought 14-13 decision to Arcanum, missing an extra point that would have tied the tame.
Covington remains a run-heavy team. Jordan Miller rushed for 79 yards and a touchdown and quarterback Landin Cassell rushed for 77 yards and added a touchdown pass to lead the Buccs.
The Panthers put together a solid first game, only to be outdone by Crestview in a 62-41 slugfest in the opener in Rockford, the most points scored by Parkway since Aug. 25, 2023, in a 48-27 win at North Central.
Jake Booher broke Eddie Nichols' school record with 279 yards and three rushing touchdowns and added an 84-yard kickoff return touchdown as Parkway had 298 yards rushing as a team.
The Wildcats dropped their 10th straight game dating from last season in a 41-7 loss to Evergreen. Dean Trentman rushed for 52 yards and the lone Jefferson touchdown.
The Redskins got touchdowns on offense, defense and special teams in beating Celina 31-7 in the schools' first-ever varsity football meeting. Quarterback Charlie Werling rushed for 121 yards and ran in a two-point conversion while receiver/quarterback Landon Schwartz ran for one score and passed for another.
The Blue Streaks rallied from a 21-7 deficit to beat Genoa 33-28. Isaiahs Gracia's 20-yard interception return score with under eight minutes to play clinched the win. Ryder Ryan rushed for 114 yards and two scores while quarterback Jarrett Rufenacht added 94 yards on the ground to go with 87 passing yards.
Luke Booher, RB Parkway
Anderson Kramer, OLB St. HenryCelina at Wapakoneta
Bath at St. Marys
Defiance at Ottawa-Glandorf
Van Wert at Elida
Shawnee at Kenton
Clinton-Massie at Coldwater (7:30 p.m.)
Fort Recovery at Allen East
Marion Local at Crestview
Africentric at Minster
New Bremen at Covington
Parkway at Delphos Jefferson
St. Henry at Archbold
CHCA at Versailles
Anna at Fort Loramie
LCC at Delphos St. John's (1:30 p.m.)
Games begin at 7 p.m. unless indicated.
