Serving Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wood Counties
At this point in the season, Oak Harbor and Genoa have the potential to accomplish great things.
There's the opportunity for both teams to win the Northern Buckeye Conference title and make a run in the postseason. As of this issue going to print, Oak Harbor is undefeated, while Genoa has just one loss. Both won their conference openers.
Next up for the two teams is the Celestial Bowl, which pits the two Ottawa County schools against one another in what some would say is one of Ohio's finest rivalries. Separated by less than 12 miles via Route 163, the two blue-collar farming communities make for ideal rivals.
And now, with it being their third year together in the NBC following Oak Harbor's 37-year stint in the Sandusky Bay Conference from 1986 until 2023, it gives added importance to the game.
The Celestial Bowl has featured the likes of coaching legends such as Gary Quisno and Jim Firestone, star running backs like Kyle Nutter and Jake Lipstraw, and great quarterbacks in Michael Lalonde and Jake Plantz — among others.
The Rockets have won the NBC in each of their first two seasons in the league, but going for the trifecta, especially after the loss of the likes of Lalonde, Tyler Thompson and the Ridener twins — Jacob and Carson — will be a tall task.
Oak Harbor has actually won three straight games in the rivalry, the first being a 47-36 Division V playoff victory in 2022, which was the only time the teams have met in the postseason. The Comets had previously defeated the Rockets, 28-25, earlier that season.
And Genoa is better than it was last season after going 6-5 and losing in the first round of the playoffs to LaGrange Keystone, 49-21.
The Comets, since their 33-28 loss to Archbold in the opener, have been on a tear, defeating Bowsher 56-7, Huron 42-32 and Otsego 36-21 since then.
A week four win over the Knights was big as Genoa took an early punch before hitting back repeatedly and earning the victory behind Luke Clement, who rushed for 131 yards and four touchdowns.
"It was an awesome performance,” Genoa head coach Bill Fisher said. “There's a rule that the offensive line can help you get three to four yards, and sometimes more, obviously. Then it's time to do your thing. (Luke) has the ability to do that. He runs hard, runs low. He can run through tacklers. He has the ability to (turn) a would-be two-to-three-yard gain into five yards and more a lot of the time. He has a great combination of power and speed for the position.
“Then you have a guy like Alex Materni, who went for over 100 yards rushing. So it's tough to key in on just one guy when we are blessed to have another with rushing potential as well."
Oak Harbor started the season beating an old SBC foe in Huron, 52-46, in overtime, and since then has defeated Woodward, 45-14, Port Clinton, 35-20, and Fostoria, 49-6.
The Rockets sit atop the Division V, Region 18 standings with 7.33 points, and Genoa is fifth with 5.93 points.
In recent years, the likes of Jac Alexander, Clay Schulte, Tyler May, and Buddy Nuhfer perfected the three-wide, two-back set that the Rockets employed after previously running the Wing-T and I-formation earlier in Mike May's tenure.
Now, Oak Harbor, at least for this season, is getting back to its roots with an offense that would make Quisno happy. Quite simply, the Rockets are lining up and running the ball directly at the defense behind a great offensive line and three quality backs in Blake Nickel, Travis Bouyer, and Kason Marshall.
"Our offensive line has been playing well all season,” May said. “We have been without our All-Ohio player, Isaac Schulte, but we are hoping to get him back soon. The younger players who have stepped in have done a great job. We are fortunate to have three really good running backs. Blake and Travis have been getting most of the carries, and Kason typically goes into the game a little later to give us some fresh legs."
May, who is in his 18th season coaching the Rockets, talked about the rivalry, which has seen him win just five games in the battles between the two teams. That's a surprise considering the success he's had in Oak Harbor, which includes a regional championship, five conference titles (3 SBC; 2 NBC), and a 9-6 record in the postseason.
"Genoa always plays extremely hard against us and is always well-coached,” he said. “They have tough kids, year in and year out, that love to play football. My most memorable game was probably the playoff game in 2022 that we were fortunate to win. They had beaten us earlier in the season, and the playoff game was a high-scoring, entertaining game."
Fisher is in his fourth season coaching the Comets.
"It's an authentic rivalry,” he said. “It's been going on long before me. There are people within each community who only look forward to one game on the schedule. This is a big game for each team because if we win, we get the Celestial Ball back and potentially put ourselves in a position for a conference championship. If they win, they get to retire the trophy for having three consecutive regular season wins. We can't let that happen."
Celestial Bowl history
A man who helped retire the Celestial Ball twice was former Genoa coach Tim Spiess, who was an assistant coach from 2007 to 2011 and the head coach for two years after that.
His tenure included fellow legend Mike Vicars being the head coach during their first five years together, and the Comets lost in the duo's first game, which came against Oak Harbor in Quisno's final season coaching the team.
After that loss, Genoa went to win 48 consecutive regular-season games, claiming a regional championship and four league titles during that span while having several teams that might've been good enough to win a state title. Not bad considering the program had gone 9-41 in the previous five seasons.
"When Coach Vicars and I got there in 2007, we were more concerned with building a team than worrying about rivalries,” Spiess said. “We were still trying to refine our players. We had round pegs in square holes. Our first game (against Oak Harbor), we played well on defense on the first two series, and then we had two misalignments that led to two Oak Harbor touchdowns, and it was 14-0. Then lightning came with about eight minutes left in the second quarter, and the game was moved to Saturday.
“Oak Harbor had very little success on offense after that. Derrick Vicars had a pick-six, and we later had a first-and-goal (on offense) but couldn't score. When it was 14-0 and the lightning hit, the (Genoa) fans probably thought, it's the same old clowns, just a different circus. When we walked off the field on Saturday, we had parents hugging us and thanking us.
“I had just lost a game with two of Mike's sons on the team, and Mike and I were sick for Marcus and Derrick. They left a dynasty at Delta to do this. How excited the people were after the game … that motivated us to work even harder. Having a close game with an Oak Harbor team that was in the Final Four the year before, I thought, imagine how happy (the fans) will be when we win games. We found round holes for our round pegs, then square holes for square pegs."
Spiess is a fierce competitor, but a class act, too, and someone who has great respect for May, who had a tough start in his first two seasons coaching at Oak Harbor while facing some great Comet teams early in his tenure.
"I think Mike May came under some unfair fire early in his time in Oak Harbor,” Spiess said. “Mike and his staff were trying to figure out their (players') roles. The first game for us was a challenge, and the first game for Coach May (against us) was a challenge. We had a run, and that was punctuated with some pretty significant scores. I think in some of those games with us and Oak Harbor, there was just a talent gap (between the two teams).
"Mike May and (former Eastwood coach) Jerry Rutherford were such class acts. They were such great coaches, you always had to be prepared going against them."
Quisno remembers fondly his second game against Genoa, which came on the heels of a 2-8 season.
“We snuck by Genoa in a big game,” he said. “We used some unbalanced formations for the first time that caught them off guard, and Ken Biggert had a big game for us. I've always felt that win was a big catalyst in building the winning program we enjoyed then for years. The guys bought in even more after that. We finished 7-3 that year and lost the last game of the year against Gibsonburg by a field goal, which would have given us a share of the SLL title.”
