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One more win.
That's basically all Oak Harbor needed this season in order to get into the state football playoffs for the first time since 2007.
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Oak Harbor quarterback looks for room to run
around the left side in the Rocket’s 15-7 loss
to Genoa. (Press photo by Harold Hamilton/
HEHphotos.lifepics.com) |
“We wanted to make the playoffs, without a doubt,” third-year coach Mike May said. “We made great strides in the program this year. We were back competing for a conference championship and a playoff berth. To go into week nine and week 10 with all that on the table, it was good to get back to that level again.”
The Rockets have gone from finishing 2-8 in May's first season, to 4-6 last year and 7-3 this season. Oak Harbor finished 5-2 in the Sandusky Bay Conference, losing to playoff-bound SBC rivals Clyde (9-1, 6-1) and Huron (7-3, 5-2).
Ninth-ranked Clyde, the SBC champion, made the playoffs in Division III and Huron made it in Division IV. Fourth-ranked Genoa (10-0), the Suburban Lakes League champion, dealt the Rockets their other loss this season and is back in the Division IV playoffs for the fourth straight year.
Had Oak Harbor beaten Clyde, Genoa or Huron, it would have made the D-III playoffs. The Rockets finished No. 9 in the Region 10 computer ratings, and only the top eight teams in each region qualify for postseason play.
“We were leading Clyde in the fourth quarter,” May said of the Rockets' 26-17 road loss. “Our kids were competitive in every game. They never gave up. We had a great group of seniors who provided leadership, and they set an example for our younger kids coming up in the program.”
Columbus St. Francis DeSales, which edged out Oak Harbor for the No. 8 seed in Region 10, finished with a 5-5 record. The Stallions, however, played a schedule that would make most D-III coaches around the state cringe.
“Their schedule is brutal, no doubt about it,” May said.
The Stallions' five losses this season were to Division I teams Whitmer (9-1), Lakewood St. Edward (10-0) and Cincinnati LaSalle (9-1) and Division II New Albany (10-0). Their other loss was to St. Mary's (Mich.) Prep.
DeSales beat D-I Gahanna Lincoln (5-5), D-II Maumee (7-3) and defending D-III state champion Youngstown Cardinal Mooney (5-4). DeSales, which beat Cardinal Mooney 41-31 on Sept. 17, lost to the Cardinals 35-7 in last year's state championship game.
May said the Rockets needed the Stallions, who lost four regular-season games in 2009, to lose to Cleveland Benedictine last Saturday to have any shot of reaching the postseason.
“There were a number of teams we were looking at as far as getting second-level (computer) points,” May said. “We needed some help from a few teams. A couple of them didn't win, but DeSales was a big one. We figured they'd probably win, but we were hoping they would get knocked off.”
The Stallions, who have three state titles and five state runner-up finishes on their resume in 20 trips to the playoffs, beat Benedictine to secure the No. 8 seed.
The Rockets were rated No. 6 in Region 10 heading into last Friday's game against Sandusky St. Mary, but their 49-6 win over the struggling Panthers (1-9) didn't give them enough computer points to overtake Columbus DeSales.
The Rockets graduate 13 senior starters from this year's squad, but their junior varsity team went 7-1-1 this season and May is counting on the younger players to keep the program on the rise.
“They got a taste of it going into week nine and 10, still playing for a championship and a playoff berth,” May said. “I think our guys are hungry to get into the playoffs and I think we have some momentum to carry into the offseason.
"Obviously we have great tradition here at Oak Harbor. We want to be competing for championships and the playoffs every year. I think we took a big step toward that level of play and we need to keep heading in that direction.”
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