Serving Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wood Counties
Press Sports Editor
sports@presspublications.com
It should be a surprise to no one that Clay Schulte would go on to do great things in college.
A model student-athlete at Oak Harbor, the linebacker, who is arguably the one of the greatest players in the history of the Rocket football program, has earned a myriad of accolades playing for the Indianapolis Greyhounds, an NCAA Division II university.
For his efforts, Schulte was recently named the Great Lakes Valley Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year, and the D2CCA All-Super Region 3 Team Defensive Player of the Year.
He led Indianapolis to its fourth-ever 10-win regular season this fall, as well as a third consecutive playoff appearance and GLVC title.
Schulte had 100 tackles and 14.5 tackles for loss, which were good for second in the conference. He finished third in the GLVC in solo tackles with 57. The fifth-year senior also had four sacks, three interceptions and one fumble recovery.
“These last five years have been a lot of fun. I would say it’s been a dream of mine to play college football, and to have completed five years of schooling, getting my master’s, it’s been everything I’ve wanted in life so far,” he said. “I couldn’t have asked for a better time here.”
Schulte’s efforts helped Indy rank 19th in scoring defense, giving up 16.5 points per game.
“As a defense, we were always at least top-20 in the nation at stopping the run. That speaks to our defense over the last five seasons,” he said. “We had different pieces and were still able to do the same thing year in and year out.” The Greyhounds went 10-2 and 8-0 in the league before falling, 24-7, to No. 4 Grand Valley State in the first round of the playoffs.
This was the sixth season for coach Chris Keevers, who has done a stellar job leading the program. He has a 47-12 record, which included a 33-4 record in the conference.
Schulte, who is 5-10, 210 pounds, led Indianapolis in tackles last season, too, with 82.
Schulte is set to graduate with a master’s degree in business administration. He earned his bachelor’s degree last year. He talked about taking on an increased workload while being a collegiate athlete.
“It wasn’t too bad. We had a lot of resources to get stuff done,” he said. “After your freshman year, you figure out time management — school comes first.”
Schulte took post-secondary classes in high school, which he said helped a great deal. He was also a member of the National Honor Society and was a standout player in basketball and baseball.
“It prepared me a lot. Because of the courses I took in high school, it allowed me to come in as a sophomore in terms of credit hours in college,” he said. “The work ethic that was instilled within me from all the sports at Oak Harbor have helped me do what I have done today.”
Schulte’s signature game in high school came in 2019 when the Rockets defeated the reigning state champion Orrville Red Riders, 35-28, in a Division V regional final.
He was a force on both sides of the ball, carrying it 20 times for 199 yards and three touchdowns and caught the go-ahead score, a 67-yard reception from Jac Alexander, with 10:40 to play. The touchdown, which came on third-and-11 from the Oak Harbor 33-yard-line, materialized when Schulte caught the ball out in the left flat at the 43, eluded a defender and hurdled another around midfield before getting a key block from Gage Brough and racing down the sideline to make it 34-28 before Caleb Heintz kicked the PAT.
But the Rockets had to rally from a 21-7 deficit in the second quarter.
“He took over the game,” said Oak Harbor coach Mike May. “I don’t remember the exact score, I think it was 21-7, (but) when he came off the field (after Orrville) scored, he had a look in his eye that he was going to take over the game, and he did. We always knew what we were going to get his best from him every Friday, and we got his best in that game.”
May, who just completed his 17th season coaching the Rockets, did not hold back when talking about the greatness of Schulte.
“I think his work ethic and toughness set him apart. I never saw him take a play off in practice or a game,” said May. “He’s the toughest player I’ve ever coached.”
And it’s not an exaggeration, even with the likes of former Rocket greats like Jac Alexander, Josh Osborne, Michael Lalonde, Jacob Ridener and Roger Hamilton, among others, to say Schulte is the best to ever step onto the gridiron for Oak Harbor. He still holds three school records and was a force at running back and linebacker.
“In 29 years, I’ve coached a lot of really good football players,” said May. “He’s the best I ever coached.”
Schulte comes from an accomplished sports family. His father, Scott, who is from Delphos, is a 1994 graduate of Hillsdale College in Michigan and used to be the GLIAC’s all-time leading rusher. During the Chargers’ conference-championship season in ’92, he rushed for 1,582 yards and 16 touchdowns. He finished his career with 4,495 yards, still second in program history. Schulte was inducted into Hillsdale’s Athletic Hall of Fame in ’06. He made it to the final cut with the Miami Dolphins shortly after graduating.
Scott Schulte is a history teacher and the football team’s offensive coordinator.
Scott met his wife, Amy, at Hillsdale, and their first daughter, Hannah, was one of the greatest girls soccer players in the history of Oak Harbor’s storied program. She earned all-Ohio honors and scored 104 career goals, second in program history. Her sister, Effie, also plays soccer and basketball and has been part of two relay teams that have placed at state for the track program. The youngest of the group, Isaac, earned first-team honors in Division V at right tackle. The 6-2, 260-pound junior is a force on both the offensive and defensive lines.
Clay Schulte talked about what his father has meant to him.
“He played a big role (in my success). From everything he taught me, and all the lessons he taught me, and seeing what he did and hearing about what he did, he always pushed me to be the best version of myself,” he said. “We would do whatever was necessary to make sure it would happen. He made me stay the course and made sure I was doing the right things.
May, who has had Scott Schulte with him for the last 16 years, talked about the impact he had on Clay.
“I think Scott had a huge impact on Clay. Scott was a great player, and he spent a little time in the pros,” said May. “I think Clay wanted to replicate his success and Scott had Clay in practice and two-a-days ever since he was able to walk around. Scott was a big part of his success.
“Clay is everything you want in a football player. He was a tremendous leader because of how hard he worked,” May said.
It was another stellar season for the Rockets, who won their league consecutive league title (2 NBC, 1 SBC Bay), a program record, and advanced to the regional semifinals before losing a heartbreaker, 24-21, to perennial power Liberty Center.
In addition to Isaac Schulte, Lalonde, a quarterback, DE Jacob Ridener, RB Carson Ridener and K Fulton Krupp earned all-Ohio honors, and Tyler Thompson was given honorable-mention distinction.
