Rockets, Redskins face off in OH’s final SBC game

By: 
Yaneek Smith

Since 1986, Oak Harbor has been a member of the Sandusky Bay Conference.
For the last 37 seasons, the Rockets have won their share of league football titles and made noise in the postseason.
But the team is moving on to what it believes will be greener pastures following this season and will join the Northern Buckeye Conference. (Oak Harbor was one of the founding members of the SBC in 1948 and stayed there until 1972 when it left for the Suburban Lakes League 14 years later.)
The NBC will have the ideal number of eight schools with the addition of the Rockets, which is welcoming Maumee and saying goodbye to Elmwood and Woodmore. The other NBC schools are Eastwood, Fostoria, Genoa, Lake, Otsego and Rossford. (There have been some rumors that Liberty-Benton and Port Clinton might want to join the NBC in the near future.)
“For me, personally, I think the NBC offered us an opportunity to join a very stable league with Maumee and us coming in,” said Oak Harbor Coach Mike May. “It made sense for us, geographically, and (having) the same-sized schools; we play a lot of NBC teams in the non-conference. I think the stability of the league is impressive.”
This Friday’s matchup with the Redskins will be the final SBC game for Oak Harbor. The teams are going to play each other in the future to preserve the rivalry, much like the Rockets did with Genoa when Oak Harbor was in the SBC and the Comets were in the SLL and then the NBC.
The Rockets are 7-1 and 3-0 in the conference while Port Clinton is 5-3 and 2-1 in the SBC. Oak Harbor is ranked seventh in the Division V, Region 18 standings with 11.86 points and the ‘Skins on the outside looking in at No. 17 with 6.65 points. (The top 16 teams make the playoffs.)
“I feel really good about where we are. The kids are enjoying the game; the camaraderie is excellent. I think it’s shown for the last two games, and we were down seven points in both games,” said May. “Our kids are playing with a lot of confidence and that’s huge with high school football.”
The only defeat for the Rockets was a 28-25 loss to Genoa in week two. Oak Harbor dominated its next four opponents — Rossford, Woodward, Bowsher and Vermilion — and rallied to defeat Huron 29-28 in overtime, and Edison 28-14. (In the win over the Tigers, Michael Lalonde connected with Carson Ridener for the two-point conversion to win the game.)
In the last two weeks, the Rockets’ offensive line wore down Huron and Edison, opening holes for Ridener and Dalton Witter.
Scott Smith is the center, Garrett Lindsay and Jacob Ridener are the guards and Zach Clune and Giving Bolyard are the tackles.
“I think that’s been the key to our victories the last few weeks,” said May. “We’ve had guys rotating in at tailback, but the one thing that’s been consistent has been our offensive line. I think we’ve been able to wear down our opponents.”
In the win over the Chargers, Lalonde completed 16-of-21 passes for 144 yards and three touchdowns; Witter carried the ball 26 times for 145 yards and a score; Jaqui Hayward caught eight passes for 61 yards and Hayden Buhro had three receptions for 53 yards and a touchdown.
Carson Ridener had 142 yards and a touchdown in the win over the Tigers; Lalonde completed 17-of-27 passes for 160 yards, two touchdowns and an interception; Buhro caught six passes for 57 yards and Hayward caught six passes for 54 yards and a score.
Since losing 49-0 to Perkins on Sept. 2, Port Clinton has gone 4-1 and outscored its opponents by a combined 217-56. The lone blemish was a 13-7 loss at the hands of Edison, a game the ‘Skins nearly won at the end after getting into the red zone. The four wins have come by at least 31 points.
The three-headed monster of quarterback Cam Gillum, running back Dagan Meyers and wide receiver Adam Thorbahn are all playing well for Port Clinton.
May, who has a 10-4 career record against the ‘Skins, talked about the rivalry.
“When it comes to Port Clinton week, there’s a little more focus, a little more excitement during the week,” he said. “Kids look forward to that game for quite some time.”
Oak Harbor won the SBC Bay Division twice and is in line to win it again. The Rockets also won five league titles before the SBC expanded in ‘16.
During its time in the SBC, Oak Harbor has qualified for the postseason 11 times, won 15 playoff games and three regional titles.
Today, the SBC has three divisions —Lake (big schools), Bay (medium-sized schools) and River (small schools).
The addition of the former Northern Ohio League schools like Bellevue and Sandusky, to name a few, created the Lake Division and kept Oak Harbor, Edison, Huron, Port Clinton and Willard together in the Bay Division. (Vermilion is in the Lake Division for all sports except football, and Margaretta is in the Bay Division for all sports except football.)
Oak Harbor has had some great games over the years — in the regular season and the playoffs — competing against Perkins, Margaretta and Clyde in the playoffs dating back to the ‘90s.
“Talking to (Edison coach) Jim Hall and (Huron coach) Sam Hohler before the game, it hadn’t hit us that we’re leaving,” said May. “We’ll miss competing against those teams and those coaches, but we look forward to competing in the NBC.”

Category:

The Press

The Press
1550 Woodville Road
Millbury, OH 43447

(419) 836-2221

Email Us

Facebook Twitter

Ohio News Media Association