2024 Northern Buckeye Conference

Who wins the NBC in '24?

  • Oak Harbor

    Votes: 19 65.5%
  • Eastwood

    Votes: 4 13.8%
  • Genoa

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Otsego

    Votes: 1 3.4%
  • Maumee

    Votes: 3 10.3%
  • Fostoria

    Votes: 1 3.4%
  • Lake

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Rossford

    Votes: 1 3.4%

  • Total voters
    29
Not really. They have been the kings of average/consistent. Had a above average year in 13-14, good year in 14-15, then hit 4 straight years of average again. Then had the studs the last 4 years and were good. Now they are gone.
Gotcha. I don't pay much attention to basketball and was under the impression they were a consistently good program.
 
I agree with you to an extent. Having a program is number one. Facilities, especially having an indoor facility where you can host offseason stuff, are big for attracting kids who might open enroll to your program. It's like recruiting without actually recruiting.
But why open enroll? We live in Perrysburg to the west, why the hell would we send our daughter to Rossford? Growing up in Gibsonburg, I can’t imagine having an issue with what we have now. Lake is to the east, they have incredibly nice schools and sports facilities as well. Northwood also has fairly new schools and a nice turf football field.
 
But why open enroll? We live in Perrysburg to the west, why the hell would we send our daughter to Rossford? Growing up in Gibsonburg, I can’t imagine having an issue with what we have now. Lake is to the east, they have incredibly nice schools and sports facilities as well. Northwood also has fairly new schools and a nice turf football field.
You hearing anything else about the NBC going to 10 schools?
 
Speaking of facilities:

Okay, well, since it's a slow time of year... what do you rank the stadiums in the league? Again, just stadiums, not full facilities. For small school football, I really think the NBC schools all have great places to watch games. No one in the league has anything to be ashamed of as the schools all do a nice job with keeping up their facilities. This is just a ranking for fun and all of the crews that take care of these places should take pride in the fine jobs they do at their schools.

1)Rossford: I thought this place was cool before the renovations because I really like the uniqueness of the stadium. I've heard people say they hate sitting on the same side because of the creek on the visitor side, but I think that adds to the character. The creek through the back and the neighbors setting up football game watch parties all just add to it for me. I wish they could field a better team year in and year out, this place would be rocking.
2) Fostoria: I'm taking the fact that it is located in Fostoria out of the equation. I guess I just have a love for old stadiums. There's a lot of history there and they did a great job with the renovation recently. The new field looks really good. Like above, this place used to be electric when Fostoria was winning, even back in the not so distant past of the Hyde days.
3)Lake: I like how close it is to the building, giving it almost a small college feel to get in. I also like that there is no track. Not to mention they're the Lake Flyers and have airplanes flying over the stadium almost non stop.
4)Maumee: I've never seen a game here, I admit it, so I'm ranking this off of casually passing by. The entrance sticks out to me and gives it a stadium feel that the rest of the league doesn't have.


...and now there is a big gap

5) Eastwood: I'm going off of the recent past rather than just at this moment. The playing surface was always great here when Jerry Rutherford was the coach. Add in the deer stand in the back endzone and you get a little character. I'm sure that is a cool spot to enjoy a game.
6) Oak Harbor: These last 3 were hard to rank as they're all pretty simple. There aren't a lot of thrill to OH's stadium but when you're winning, it's lends itself to a fun environment for a hometown football game. Being in a small town, the OH experience just feels like good ole fashioned small town football.
7) Genoa: The home stands are nice. The buildings around the field for entrance, concessions, and the restrooms just feel randomly placed. The field looks like crab grass, but the lighting is up to par.
8) The playing surface looks nice and they do a great job painting up the field. The stands are a bit outdated and the lights are pretty dim. This is another pretty typical small school venue.
 
I heard LB and PC
While I think team wise both of these schools make sense, distance wise they do not. If just PC joined, the bus trip from PC to Otsego is well over an hour. If just LB joined, the drive from Oak Harbor to LB is over an hour. If they both joined, that bus ride from PC to LB would be brutal.
 
But why open enroll? We live in Perrysburg to the west, why the hell would we send our daughter to Rossford? Growing up in Gibsonburg, I can’t imagine having an issue with what we have now. Lake is to the east, they have incredibly nice schools and sports facilities as well. Northwood also has fairly new schools and a nice turf football field.
Why open enroll??? First of all, all of TPS is within a 15-20 drive to get to Rossford. I dont think we have to re-hash why a family might want to head to a suburb vs a city school. Secondly, Perrysburg is a fine district, but it is also HUGE. Got a kid that's a decent player with aspirations of playing a varsity sport? He/she may not make the cut at Perrysburg. Meanwhile, he/she could likely start and thrive at Rossford or Lake or Maumee. There are kids that spend their entire childhoods on travel teams, personal workouts, etc.....then they get to HS (AW, Perrysburg, Whitmer, Springfield, etc), and they get cut because its uber-competitive. 80 kids going out for 15 roster slots on a baseball team at AW, for example. I could see why a family might take a look at a smaller district, if their goal is to have their kid experience all the positives that varsity sports offer over simply playing club.
 
You hearing anything else about the NBC going to 10 schools?
I haven't heard anything lately. To FNL1's point, Port Clinton is the domino that needs to fall.
While I think team wise both of these schools make sense, distance wise they do not. If just PC joined, the bus trip from PC to Otsego is well over an hour. If just LB joined, the drive from Oak Harbor to LB is over an hour. If they both joined, that bus ride from PC to LB would be brutal.
Understandable, however from what I've heard this essentially ends the need for non-conference games which makes it easier. It's not like you'd be going to Findlay all the time with 10 teams in the league. Eastwood's 2023 schedule would have been something like this for instance...

H - Ottawa Glandorf (1-9)
A - Port Clinton (3-7)
H - Liberty Benton (9-1)
H - Lake (2-8)
A - Maumee (5-5)
H - Rossford (1-9)
A - Fostoria (3-7)
A - Otsego (4-6)
H - Oak Harbor (10-0)
A - Genoa (7-3)

The NBC would have had the # 4, 5, 7 & 9 seeds in Region 18 last season. Really strengthens the league in football and truly all sports with those additions
 
Why open enroll??? First of all, all of TPS is within a 15-20 drive to get to Rossford. I dont think we have to re-hash why a family might want to head to a suburb vs a city school. Secondly, Perrysburg is a fine district, but it is also HUGE. Got a kid that's a decent player with aspirations of playing a varsity sport? He/she may not make the cut at Perrysburg. Meanwhile, he/she could likely start and thrive at Rossford or Lake or Maumee. There are kids that spend their entire childhoods on travel teams, personal workouts, etc.....then they get to HS (AW, Perrysburg, Whitmer, Springfield, etc), and they get cut because its uber-competitive. 80 kids going out for 15 roster slots on a baseball team at AW, for example. I could see why a family might take a look at a smaller district, if their goal is to have their kid experience all the positives that varsity sports offer over simply playing club.
If you pull your kid out of Perrysburg or AW for that reason, then you should simply move out of these towns. No point in paying these taxes and home prices to not take advantage of the school district.
 
Speaking of facilities:

Okay, well, since it's a slow time of year... what do you rank the stadiums in the league? Again, just stadiums, not full facilities. For small school football, I really think the NBC schools all have great places to watch games. No one in the league has anything to be ashamed of as the schools all do a nice job with keeping up their facilities. This is just a ranking for fun and all of the crews that take care of these places should take pride in the fine jobs they do at their schools.

1)Rossford: I thought this place was cool before the renovations because I really like the uniqueness of the stadium. I've heard people say they hate sitting on the same side because of the creek on the visitor side, but I think that adds to the character. The creek through the back and the neighbors setting up football game watch parties all just add to it for me. I wish they could field a better team year in and year out, this place would be rocking.
2) Fostoria: I'm taking the fact that it is located in Fostoria out of the equation. I guess I just have a love for old stadiums. There's a lot of history there and they did a great job with the renovation recently. The new field looks really good. Like above, this place used to be electric when Fostoria was winning, even back in the not so distant past of the Hyde days.
3)Lake: I like how close it is to the building, giving it almost a small college feel to get in. I also like that there is no track. Not to mention they're the Lake Flyers and have airplanes flying over the stadium almost non stop.
4)Maumee: I've never seen a game here, I admit it, so I'm ranking this off of casually passing by. The entrance sticks out to me and gives it a stadium feel that the rest of the league doesn't have.


...and now there is a big gap

5) Eastwood: I'm going off of the recent past rather than just at this moment. The playing surface was always great here when Jerry Rutherford was the coach. Add in the deer stand in the back endzone and you get a little character. I'm sure that is a cool spot to enjoy a game.
6) Oak Harbor: These last 3 were hard to rank as they're all pretty simple. There aren't a lot of thrill to OH's stadium but when you're winning, it's lends itself to a fun environment for a hometown football game. Being in a small town, the OH experience just feels like good ole fashioned small town football.
7) Genoa: The home stands are nice. The buildings around the field for entrance, concessions, and the restrooms just feel randomly placed. The field looks like crab grass, but the lighting is up to par.
8) The playing surface looks nice and they do a great job painting up the field. The stands are a bit outdated and the lights are pretty dim. This is another pretty typical small school venue.
Speaking of facilities:

Okay, well, since it's a slow time of year... what do you rank the stadiums in the league? Again, just stadiums, not full facilities. For small school football, I really think the NBC schools all have great places to watch games. No one in the league has anything to be ashamed of as the schools all do a nice job with keeping up their facilities. This is just a ranking for fun and all of the crews that take care of these places should take pride in the fine jobs they do at their schools.

1)Rossford: I thought this place was cool before the renovations because I really like the uniqueness of the stadium. I've heard people say they hate sitting on the same side because of the creek on the visitor side, but I think that adds to the character. The creek through the back and the neighbors setting up football game watch parties all just add to it for me. I wish they could field a better team year in and year out, this place would be rocking.
2) Fostoria: I'm taking the fact that it is located in Fostoria out of the equation. I guess I just have a love for old stadiums. There's a lot of history there and they did a great job with the renovation recently. The new field looks really good. Like above, this place used to be electric when Fostoria was winning, even back in the not so distant past of the Hyde days.
3)Lake: I like how close it is to the building, giving it almost a small college feel to get in. I also like that there is no track. Not to mention they're the Lake Flyers and have airplanes flying over the stadium almost non stop.
4)Maumee: I've never seen a game here, I admit it, so I'm ranking this off of casually passing by. The entrance sticks out to me and gives it a stadium feel that the rest of the league doesn't have.


...and now there is a big gap

5) Eastwood: I'm going off of the recent past rather than just at this moment. The playing surface was always great here when Jerry Rutherford was the coach. Add in the deer stand in the back endzone and you get a little character. I'm sure that is a cool spot to enjoy a game.
6) Oak Harbor: These last 3 were hard to rank as they're all pretty simple. There aren't a lot of thrill to OH's stadium but when you're winning, it's lends itself to a fun environment for a hometown football game. Being in a small town, the OH experience just feels like good ole fashioned small town football.
7) Genoa: The home stands are nice. The buildings around the field for entrance, concessions, and the restrooms just feel randomly placed. The field looks like crab grass, but the lighting is up to par.
8) The playing surface looks nice and they do a great job painting up the field. The stands are a bit outdated and the lights are pretty dim. This is another pretty typical small school venue.
Homerism aside.....I think Rossfords setting is one of the best in all of the Toledo area, and arguably one of the nicest in NW Ohio. Its beautiful. A creek that runs parallel to the playing field, green lawns, some trees, a bridge, a hill, and a bowl setting. Not too big, not too small. I'll add something to the "same side" thing......at Rossford (and nowhere else really), the gate, the concession stand, and restrooms are all within about a 50-75 ft of your seat, for both home and vistors. If you get a decent parking spot, youre sitting about 100-200 ft away from your car. At almost all other places, as a visitor you usually have to hike all the way around a field to get to the visitor stands, only to have to hike back to the restrooms/concessions, leave at the end of the game. To me, Rossfords is incredibly compact and convenient. There is no mingleing of fan bases. Rossford sits to one side of the bleachers, the visitors to the other. No probems. Another added plus: easy access to "high up" seating that offers much better sightlines than many visitor stands that are too low and too far back from the field.
 
If you pull your kid out of Perrysburg or AW for that reason, then you should simply move out of these towns. No point in paying these taxes and home prices to not take advantage of the school district.
Good luck finding a $300-$400k house available in Rossford. Theyre all in Perryburg and AW.
 
Selling a house and moving a family is never simple, for many reasons.
Agreed, but the same goes for open enrolling. Paying the high cost of living on those suburbs to not take advantage of amazing schools is ridiculous unless you're sending your child to private school.

Good luck finding a $300-$400k house available in Rossford. They're all in Perrysburg and AW.
Exactly. You'd cut your mortgage significantly moving to an NBC district.
 
Agreed, but the same goes for open enrolling. Paying the high cost of living on those suburbs to not take advantage of amazing schools is ridiculous unless you're sending your child to private school.


Exactly. You'd cut your mortgage significantly moving to an NBC district.
One of the side effects is a significant drop in one's pinkie.
 
2) Fostoria: I'm taking the fact that it is located in Fostoria out of the equation. I guess I just have a love for old stadiums. There's a lot of history there and they did a great job with the renovation recently. The new field looks really good. Like above, this place used to be electric when Fostoria was winning, even back in the not so distant past of the Hyde days.
It had been a long time since I was at Fostoria's stadium before our school played there this fall. That stadium is awesome, especially with the updates to the turf, lights, and scoreboard. It feels like you're in a stadium from remember the titans. They seemed like they were great at hosting tournament games too
 
Who is the best coach that each school has had in the NBC?
Don Jackson and Tom Ferguson at Rossford, share the name on the RHS football stadium for a reason. Ferguson followed Jackson and over about a 35 year period, both had near equal success in winning multiple NLL titles and making post-season appearances.
 
Haha are those even debatable? It's all somewhat recent history with their successes
Otsego went to a state title game in the early 80's, I believe. I remember scouting them preparing for the playoffs in the early 2000's as a defensive coordinator in Central Ohio back when they were DIV. I think that was region 14 back then.

Genoa had some runs around that same time with Vicars.

Eastwood's is easy, their stadium is named after him.
 
Haha are those even debatable? It's all somewhat recent history with their successes
Somewhat recent with Otsego?

State Runner-ups in 1981. Regional finalists in 1985. League titles in 1981, 1985, 1987, 1990, 1992, 1993, 2000, 2005, 2020, 2021. Otsego was arguably the most consistent team in the Old SLL from 1981-2000. Playoff teams in 1981, 1985, 1987, 1990, 1993, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2017, 2020 (state semi-finalists), 2021 (Regional semi-finals).

Otsego: Dan Cocke won more league titles, but Matt Dzierwa was pretty good when he got his teams into the playoffs. I was fortunate to coach many years with both.
 
Otsego went to a state title game in the early 80's, I believe. I remember scouting them preparing for the playoffs in the early 2000's as a defensive coordinator in Central Ohio back when they were DIV. I think that was region 14 back then.

Genoa had some runs around that same time with Vicars.

Eastwood's is easy, their stadium is named after him.

Otsego went to a state title game in the early 80's, I believe. I remember scouting them preparing for the playoffs in the early 2000's as a defensive coordinator in Central Ohio back when they were DIV. I think that was region 14 back then.

Genoa had some runs around that same time with Vicars.

Eastwood's is easy, their stadium is named after him.
I agree but Eastwood is close with Craig and his dad both great coaches, and cocke and dzierwa both had a lot of success
 
Im hearing evergreen wants out of NWOAL so what if evergreen and LB joined?
why would Evergreen want to leave the NWOAL? They seem to have fit into the league nicely for decades. Like sized schools in reasonable geographic proximity. They even have similar demographics and socio-economics as everyone else in the league. As for joining the NBC, theyd be looking at over 1 hour commutes to Oak Harbor, Liberty Benton, and Fostoria. Over 45 mins to Eastwood, Lake, and Genoa. Closest would be Maumee and Rossford at 35 mins. If Im in the NBC.....hard pass on both LB and Evergreen. Just keep the league the way it is. Not sure why the urgency to expand; no signs or indications anyone in the NBC is looking to leave. Its a good fit for everyone. Hell, Elmwood should've never left. Id even argue that Woodmore was doing fine, overall, in the NBC.
 
Last edited:
why would Evergreen want to leave the NWOAL? They seem to have fit into the league nicely for decades. Like sized schools in reasonable geographic proximity. They even have similar demographics and socio-economics as everyone else in the league. As for joining the NBC, theyd be looking at over 1 hour commutes to Oak Harbor, Liberty Benton, and Fostoria. Over 45 mins to Eastwood, Lake, and Genoa. Closest would be Maumee and Rossford at 35 mins. If Im in the NBC.....hard pass on both LB and Evergreen. Just keep the league the way it is. Not sure why the urgency to expand; no signs or indications anyone in the NBC is looking to leave. Its a good fit for everyone. Hell, Elmwood should've never left. Id even argue that Woodmore was doing fine, overall, in the NBC.
I gotta agree I like the 3 non league games and 7 league games. I’m just passing forward from what I heard
 
why would Evergreen want to leave the NWOAL? They seem to have fit into the league nicely for decades. Like sized schools in reasonable geographic proximity. They even have similar demographics and socio-economics as everyone else in the league. As for joining the NBC, theyd be looking at over 1 hour commutes to Oak Harbor, Liberty Benton, and Fostoria. Over 45 mins to Eastwood, Lake, and Genoa. Closest would be Maumee and Rossford at 35 mins. If Im in the NBC.....hard pass on both LB and Evergreen. Just keep the league the way it is. Not sure why the urgency to expand; no signs or indications anyone in the NBC is looking to leave. Its a good fit for everyone. Hell, Elmwood should've never left. Id even argue that Woodmore was doing fine, overall, in the NBC.
The last time Evergreen had a winning record in football was 2010! In addition, I believe it's been 15 years since they won any league title in a boys sport (Basketball). I lived it and can confirm; Woodmore, Lakota, Gibsonburg and Elmwood all were taking massive hits to their athletic program by remaining in the SLL/NBC. Sure there were occasional bright spots, but overall it was difficult to convince kids to come out and play a sport where they'd lose to Eastwood & Genoa by 50-70 points. That's what led to a lot of the best talent transferring out of those districts, keeping any decent coach away from improving the program. Have to remember too, when football fails so do basketball & baseball where a lot of the same kids play all 3 sports.

I agree that the NBC isn't ideal, but what we need to understand is that the top teams in the NBC & NWOAL are playing really at historic levels for those communities. These weaker D5-D6 schools who aren't sports obsessed are just getting obliterated, and that's not ideal for extra curriculars because you'll lose interest.
 
The last time Evergreen had a winning record in football was 2010! In addition, I believe it's been 15 years since they won any league title in a boys sport (Basketball). I lived it and can confirm; Woodmore, Lakota, Gibsonburg and Elmwood all were taking massive hits to their athletic program by remaining in the SLL/NBC. Sure there were occasional bright spots, but overall it was difficult to convince kids to come out and play a sport where they'd lose to Eastwood & Genoa by 50-70 points. That's what led to a lot of the best talent transferring out of those districts, keeping any decent coach away from improving the program. Have to remember too, when football fails so do basketball & baseball where a lot of the same kids play all 3 sports.

I agree that the NBC isn't ideal, but what we need to understand is that the top teams in the NBC & NWOAL are playing really at historic levels for those communities. These weaker D5-D6 schools who aren't sports obsessed are just getting obliterated, and that's not ideal for extra curriculars because you'll lose interest.
Its sad that high schools are switching leagues simply because they aren't winning on a level playing field. I understand the disadvantages created by parochials, open enrollment, and big disparities in enrollment sizes that happen over time......but to shift leagues simply because youre not winning? Seems awfully soft and sends a piss-poor message. But hey....thats the culture of youth sports we've fomented. Its like pick-up ball anymore. Following the path of college football and basketball.
 
Its sad that high schools are switching leagues simply because they aren't winning on a level playing field. I understand the disadvantages created by parochials, open enrollment, and big disparities in enrollment sizes that happen over time......but to shift leagues simply because you're not winning? Seems awfully soft and sends a piss-poor message. But hey....thats the culture of youth sports we've fomented. Its like pick-up ball anymore. Following the path of college football and basketball.
I get what you're saying, but some of these schools reached a point where they could not reasonably compete in the league in almost every sport. Right now the tops of the NWOAL & NBC can compete with the big boys of the MAC, the past two years Liberty Center has knocked out Coldwater. We've just seen an incredible imbalance develop over the last 20 years because of this, and it's just proven to be too high of a hill to climb.
 
Top