New era arrives for Oak Harbor

BELLEVUE — A new era for Oak Harbor's athletic programs is officially underway. The Rockets are the newest members of the Northern Buckeye Conference following their departure from the Sandusky Bay Conference, of which they were a founding member. And there's no time to waste — they plan on hitting the ground running. "We've got good kids; we've got good sports," Oak Harbor athletic director Dan Hoover said. "I attribute that to a lot of great coaches that work hard and do things the right way. Our kids know that when they go out for a sport, they have to put the time and effort in. I'm looking forward to it. I think it's gonna be a good fit for us for a long time." Oak Harbor, which won seven league championships in its final year in the SBC, brings back loads of talent across the board on its various sports teams. That's certainly true on the gridiron, where the Rockets went a perfect 5-0 in SBC Bay Division play and 10-2 overall in 2022. "It was absolutely critical for us, being fortunate enough to win the Bay and then get a taste of the playoffs," Rockets coach Mike May said. "As young as we were, I thought that was huge, and hopefully that'll carry over to this year." Oak Harbor took to the field Friday morning in Bellevue for an ironic scrimmage. They've met this time of year for more than a decade, but Friday featured a sort of overlap — Oak Harbor's departure meant a reconfiguring of the SBC's divisions, and Bellevue is the team that slid down to take the Rockets' SBC Bay Division football spot. "All the battles with the great coaches and the great teams, that's something we're really gonna miss," May said. "It's really all of them. Huron, such great games with, and Edison, Port Clinton. There's been a lot of great games through the years and good camaraderie for the coaches, so we're definitely gonna miss that." The Rockets will scrimmage Bowling Green next week before a home opener against Toledo Bowsher begins what might be the most dramatic season of newness that Oak Harbor has played. "We won the SBC, and now we're trying to turn around and win the NBC," junior quarterback Michael LaLonde said. SBC from the start The original Sandusky Bay Conference, founded for the 1948-49 school year, was as truly centered around the bay itself as it would ever be. Oak Harbor was joined by Port Clinton, Elmore, Genoa, Lakeside, Gibsonburg and Fremont St. Joseph. The Rockets stayed in the SBC through a number of shifts in its early years. Clyde joined in 1949 as PC and Genoa left. The Comets returned, and St. Mary Central Catholic entered, in 1950. In 1956, Genoa left again, and a year later, Gibsonburg and Lakeside's departures were countered with Tiffin Calvert's entry. In the 1960s, the league at various times included Carey, Lakota, Mohawk, Gibsonburg again, Margaretta, Huron and Fostoria St. Wendelin. Oak Harbor was a constant throughout. The Rockets departed in 1972 for the Suburban Lakes League, but they returned in 1986. For the next three decades, the SBC found its most stability as an eight-team league — Oak Harbor, Port Clinton, Perkins, Edison, Margaretta, Clyde, Huron and SMCC. "We were a school people had to look at and go, 'Wow, they've got good things going,'" Hoover said. "... The SBC was a really good league for us. I started in Oak Harbor in '87, and I went to Perkins, so I've always been an SBC guy. I think Oak Harbor in the SBC was a good fit, and the SBC has grown quite a bit, and that caused a lot of changes." New beginnings Oak Harbor's departure from the SBC was finalized in May 2021. That's the same time that Woodmore announced it'd be leaving the NBC for the SBC as the schools wound up swapping places. Woodmore came from the consolidation of Woodville and Elmore, which is fitting in this circumstance — Elmore, like Oak Harbor, was a founding member of the SBC. The Rockets left what had been a six-team SBC Bay Division for the stability of an eight-team league in the NBC, which also includes Genoa, Rossford, Maumee, Otsego, Fostoria, Lake and Eastwood. "(Eight teams) makes scheduling as good as it can be," Hoover said. "... We're happy with that. We're happy with the stability of the NBC." It won't all be new for Oak Harbor, which kept Port Clinton on the schedule for Week 3 in a non-league showdown. "Port Clinton and us both wanted to do that, keep that rivalry going," May said. "It's great for the communities. They love that." Genoa is a classic rival as the next town over in Ottawa County. Eastwood is Oak Harbor's most recent football opponent, having eliminated the Rockets in the Division V quarterfinals last fall, 24-20. "We've had some good battles with Eastwood through the years," May said. Rossford, too, had been a frequent matchup for the Rockets in non-league play. "A lot of these teams we've already played anyway, and a lot of them are our same size," May said. Where Oak Harbor used to spend the majority of league play driving to the east, the Rockets will now head west to compete in the NBC. "It hasn't (felt different) yet," May said. "I know it will when we get into league play. We're just trying to get better every day like everybody else." Gridiron goals What won't change as you travel from league to league in Ohio is the crown jewel of high school athletics in the state: football. Oak Harbor is well equipped to make a strong first impression on the NBC's fields. "Most of our people are returning, so we already have that chemistry going," senior center Scott Smith said. "That helps a lot." The Rockets' leaders in almost every statistical category return, with the exception of three-sport star Hayden Buhro's graduation at receiver. Michael LaLonde, a junior, enters another year as starter at quarterback and safety after throwing 18 touchdowns and making 84 tackles in 2022. Jaqui Hayward will be one of the most dangerous players in northwest Ohio as a senior after 28 total touchdowns last fall — he scored running, receiving and on kick and punt returns while totaling 1,847 all-purpose yards. That's just the start of extremely talented junior and senior classes for the Rockets. The Ridener twins Jacob (95 tackles, 15 sacks) and Carson (577 rushing yards) will be juniors. Garry Brooks is back after 82 tackles. Standout linebacker Travis Bouyer is still just a sophomore. LaLonde's basketball teammates Ethan Stokes and Jaxson Overmyer, both athletic receivers and defensive backs, are juniors, too. "We've got good leadership, good seniors, a solid senior O-line," LaLonde said. "We're juniors and seniors mostly, and everyone is meshing really well right now… The senior linemen are doing a great job, Evan Hall and Scott Smith, really pushing everybody." All of those players took part in the strong season Oak Harbor put together in 2022, where a Week 2 loss to Genoa was followed by nine consecutive victories, including in the first week of the playoffs against the Comets for some revenge. "We were very young last year, one of the youngest teams I've had," May said. Of course, last season can only be so instructive, especially when considering all that's new this fall. A home game against Maumee starts the seven weeks of league play in Week 4. The possible Eastwood revenge game comes on the road in Week 9. "We're just gonna play how we play," LaLonde said. "Play how we played in the SBC, be who we are, be the Rockets and just play hard." This is a group that's already done a lot of winning, and no matter what conference they're in or which direction they drive for their league games, they don't plan on stopping. "We just want to keep building and hopefully come in and have a strong showing in our first year in the league," May said. --- SBC Membership Timeline Danbury (Lakeside) 1948-1957; 2018- Elmore 1948-1958; Woodmore 2023- Genoa 1948-1956 Gibsonburg 1948-1959; 1963-1972; 2018- Oak Harbor 1948-1972; 1986-2023 Port Clinton 1948-1949; Port Clinton 1980- St. Joseph CC 1948-1986; 2016- Clyde 1949- St. Mary CC 1950-2014; 2016- Tiffin Calvert 1958-1966; 1972-1986; 2016- Carey 1958-1963 Lakota 1960-1972; 2016- Mohawk 1960-1962 Margaretta 1963- Huron 1968- Fostoria St. Wendelin 1968-1972; 2016-2017 Perkins 1972- Edison 1986- Vermilion 2016- New Riegel 2016- Old Fort 2016- Bellevue 2017- Columbian 2017- Norwalk 2017- Sandusky 2017- Shelby 2017-2018 Willard 2017- --- Oak Harbor 2023 Football Schedule Aug. 18: Bowsher Aug. 25: at Woodward Sept. 1: Port Clinton Sept. 8: Maumee Sept. 15: at Rossford Sept. 22: Fostoria Sept. 29: Otsego Oct. 6: at Genoa Oct. 13: at Eastwood Oct. 20: Lake