Rutherford back to competing against Oak Harbor

Press Sports Editor
sports@presspublications.com

For years, Craig Rutherford competed against Oak Harbor.
Whether it was as a head coach, an assistant coach or a player, the Otsego coach, who was an assistant for one year at Anthony Wayne following his time coaching at Eastwood before taking over in Tontogany during the offseason, is facing the Rockets yet again.
Otsego is currently 4-1 and 2-0 in the Northern Buckeye Conference. The Knights find themselves ranked sixth in the Division IV, Region 14 standings with 7.25 points.
A win over a good team like Oak Harbor could vault Otsego much higher in the standings.
The Knights beat Fostoria, 41-7, last week, which followed a close win over Rossford, 20-19. The other victories were over Defiance Tinora (14-9) and Bowling Green (41-7). The loss came to the second-ranked team in Division V, Liberty Center, 37-7, last year’s state runner-up.
In the win over the Bulldogs, Otsego ran for 316 yards, led by running back Kris Kazmaier, who had 28 carries for 163 yards and a touchdown, and fellow running back Jake Limes carried the ball 10 times for 59 yards and a score. “It’s been fun to find ways to win. We came out strong against Bowling Green – a lot of things went our way, and then we had a tough game against Tinora, where we had to play hard in the second half to keep them out of the end zone,” said Rutherford. “Then we had the comeback win over Rossford, which was a fun one. It hasn’t always been how we’ve drawn it up, but we’ve found a way.”
The Rockets, meanwhile, have won every game by at least 35 points. This might be Oak Harbor’s first real test of the season.
The Rockets are currently ranked fourth in the Division V, Region 18 standings with 9.10 points, just 0.2 points behind a former Sandusky Bay Conference foe in Edison.
A win over the Knights would help Oak Harbor gain some valuable computer points.
Last week, the Rockets defeated Rossford, 55-6.
In the first quarter, Oak Harbor scored two touchdowns and led 13-0 after the first 12 minutes following a 75-yard touchdown run by Carson Ridener and a 67-yard touchdown run by Michael LaLonde.
The Rockets put the game away in the second quarter by outscoring the Bulldogs, 28-0, to take a 41-0 lead at the half. Ridener scored twice on touchdown runs (20, 38) while LaLonde connected with Tyler Thompson twice for touchdowns (34, 61).
LaLonde finished 8-of-10 passing for 261 yards and three touchdowns and rushed twice for 83 yards and a score; Ridener had three carries for 101 yards and three scores and Thompson caught five passes for 163 yards and two touchdowns.
“Mike May has built a really good program. They were in a great place when he took over, and over the last few years, he’s built it, and they found an identity,” Rutherford said. “They’re really disciplined; they’ve always got some big guys up front on the offensive and defensive lines, and they’re really athletic in the skill positions.
“Oak Harbor is always really disciplined, and they don’t make very many mistakes, and this year, it’s to another level,” he said. “Guys know where they need to be, that’s why they’re scoring so many points and the defense is playing really well.”
Oak Harbor coach Mike May talked about his team, whose next three opponents have a combined record of 13-2. “I feel pretty good about where we are right now. We have a good group of seniors that are doing a great job leading us; we have good practices, and one of the pleasant surprises has been our offensive and defensive lines. They have really gelled together on both sides of the ball,” May said. “We knew what we had with the skill positions, but there were questions with the lines. We’re really happy with their progress.
“The good thing for our team is our seniors – a lot of them are three-year starters. Carson Ridener is a four-year starter, and this group is probably mature beyond their years; they do a great job of keeping us focused. We’re trying to focus on each day, and they’ve really bought into that. Day in and day out, they’re focused and try to be a better football team each day.”
May, now in his 17th season leading the Rockets, talked about the Wing-T offense Rutherford has employed. “Craig’s a great coach, and I know they have a great staff that they put together. His teams are very disciplined,” said May. “They run the Wing-T to perfection; they don’t do a whole lot on offense, but what they do, they do well. “They’ll have a good, tough defense and be one of the most well-coached teams we’ll face all season. They’ll be solid in all three phases,” he said.
With Otsego, the Wing-T offense is running back by committee.
Limes, Kazmaier, Keeghan Hutton and Mason Kramer are some of the primary running backs, and Kaidyn Hutton is the quarterback.
“We’ve got a bunch of different running backs that we’ve been rotating in,” said Rutherford. “We’ve been able to spread the ball around a little bit – we just have to find ways to sustain drives.”
Last season, the Rockets beat the Knights, 41-7, in the second round of the playoffs and also won the regular-season matchup, 49-21.
Before that, the teams hadn’t played since 1985, when both were in the old Suburban Lakes League.