Local teams struggle to find non-league games

Gas up the bus. It's going to be a long ride. In recent years, local football teams have struggled to find non-league games close to home. The problem is magnified in Week 4 of the high school football season. A vast majority of leagues throughout the state have started league play when Week 4 rolls around. The Sandusky Bay Conference Lake and Bay divisions don't start league play until later. "The pickings are slim," Perkins coach Jalen Santoro said. "It forces teams to travel and definitely hurts the gates when you have teams traveling from an hour or two away to play. And those are long trips to take to go play." The Pirates have gotten the long-travel feel up close and personal this season. Last week, Perkins drove 2 1/2 hours to Canal Winchester — south of Columbus — to take on Harvest Prep. Perkins left school early and had a walk-through at Capital University near Columbus. The 240-mile round trip was part of the exactly 500 miles Perkins drove for three non-league games in the first four weeks of the season. The Pirates had a 134-mile round trip to Bellville in Week 1 to face Clear Fork and 126 miles in Week 3 to the Glass Bowl on the campus of the University of Toledo to battle Toledo St. Francis. "There's definitely answers to making things easier scheduling-wise that can be found within the Lake and Bay divisions," Santoro said. "There's no reason teams in the Lake and the Bay can't find a rotation of crossover games. All schools are similar enough in size to where it should work. "And by rotation, I mean more crossover games — more than the two we have right now." Clyde faced two Toledo-area teams this year, making the hour-plus drive to take on Toledo Start and St. Francis. The Fliers went to Toledo Waite last year and Toledo Start in 2022 and 2023. In 2021, Clyde went to St. Francis and Toledo Scott. "It is very hard to get local games," Clyde coach Ryan Carter said last week. "We have been having trouble with this for years at Clyde. I think playing teams in our area has benefits that help all schools." Huron has had a revolving door when it comes to Week 4 games, facing four different schools over the last four years. Thankfully for the Tigers, they've been at home each time. In 2022, Huron hosted and defeated Division VII power Lima Central Catholic. In 2023, it was a win over Gabriel Richard from Michigan. In 2024, the Tigers defeated Dayton Dunbar in a Saturday afternoon game. Last week, Huron faced little resistance in a win over Division VII Ridgedale. "Local games in weeks 1-3 are not a problem for Huron," Tigers coach Sam Hohler said. "We just played Oak Harbor and Genoa, who are bigger schools and tough opponents. Week 4 is a real challenge. We do get Margaretta back on the schedule in Week 4 next year, which will be nice. "Because of the changes in the SBC and the playoff system, some schools are now open to playing us that were not previously." One school that has seemingly figured it out is Bellevue. This season, the Redmen have already defeated local opponents Clyde and Norwalk in SBC crossover play. Bellevue takes on another local, Perkins, this week. "The tough part of scheduling for SBC schools out of conference is the fact that every similar-sized program in the area is already in our conference," first-year Bellevue coach Alex Shepherd said. "There aren't any Division III-Division V schools that are close that aren't already in the SBC. "So unless you're able and willing to schedule a crossover team as an out-of-conference opponent, your local options are limited." Bellevue's other non-league games include a SBC crossover against longtime rival Tiffin Columbian in Week 8 and contests against Shelby and Wauseon. "Venturing out and playing teams from unfamiliar areas can give kids and communities a chance to see new venues and different programs around the state, which can be a good experience for players and fans alike," Shepherd said. "In the grand scheme of things, Ohio is fairly small. There are many states around the country that have 1-2 hour drives every week. Georgia, for example, requires you to play teams within your region, some of those being 3-4 hour bus rides regularly throughout the season. "By and large, we have it pretty good in Ohio when it comes to traveling." The way the schedule fell this year, Norwalk has been on the right end of the travel. The Truckers opened the season with a 1-hour, 20-minute drive to Toledo to take on Start. Norwalk then was able to stay at Contractors Stadium and host Ontario and Galion, which both had to make a 50-minute drive to Norwalk. After that, the Truckers had a short trip to Bellevue last week before an even shorter one to Edison this Friday. With the formation of the Northern Ohio Conference next season, Norwalk coach Keith Mora hopes things can change for the better. "We begin crossovers in weeks 4-6," Mora said. "It's not ideal, but I'd rather do that than find more non-league games. It would be nice to see with the formation of the new league the divisions going away and finding a way to play a true seven- or eight-game conference schedule." For some schools, things aren't getting any better. Vermilion opened this season at home against Margaretta before road trips to Firelands, Willard and Elyria Catholic. Next year, the Sailors will make the two-hour-plus drive to Johnstown, which is northeast of Columbus, to take on Johnstown-Monroe in Week 1. Vermilion will face Lorain Clearview in Week 3. "We have been fortunate to not have to travel extremely far for our non-conference games in recent years," Vermilion coach Bill DiFucci said. "That will change next year. We have had to secure new Week 1 and Week 3 opponents for the upcoming years. "The trip to Johnstown will be longer than we have traveled in recent years. However, the trip to Clearview is extremely short."