17 replies to this topic

[Stafford]

Week one scores are in and there were some surprises as well as some "to be expected" results. For the sake of conversation, I am publishing my overall predictions for the WBL final standings. Feel free to comment (not hate) to my comments.

Week one is in the books. I've crunched some numbers and came to some conclusions. I hope you will add your opinion to this post.

St. Marys will finish 9-0 in the WBL. Sydney has at least one D I running back and they were able to shut them down and win easily.

Bath is just a bad football program right now. They will not win a game this year. Defiance, even though they beat Napoleon, will only win 1 more game - vs. Bath. Elida, wow, where to begin! They will win only 2 games this year and finish 2-7, 2-8.

Top teams in the WBL include St. Marys, Van Wert, Wapakoneta, Ottawa-Glandorf and Shawnee.

School, WBL record, Overall Record

#1 St. Marys, 9-0, 10-0
#2 Van Wert, 8-1, 9-1
#3 Wapakoneta, 6-3, 7-3
#4 Ottawa Glandorf, 6-3, 7-3
#5 Shawnee, 6-3, 7-3
#6 Kenton, 4-5, 5-5
#7 Celina, 3-6, 4-6
#8 Elida, 2-7, 3-7
#9, Defiance, 1-8, 2-8
#10 Bath, 0-9, 0-10

Edited by Stafford, 28 August 2018 - 03:01 PM.

[Maltese Falcon]

I would move Kenton and Celina up and the Van Wert outcome seems a bit ambitious, otherwise looks pretty good.

[Stafford]

Yea, that was a tough one between Celina and Kenton. I was surprised that Celina beat Versailles so soundly, and that Kenton lost to Coldwater that badly.

Van Wert is loaded. They have 16 or 17 starters returning from last year's team. They lost a few games by a score to go from 8-2 to 5-5. I am probably biased having grown up in VW Town.

I have to admit I don't know much about Celina or Kenton as well.

[Teddy Malone]

Bath - not any better?
Celina - nice win, program seems to be consistently better now for the last few years.
Defiance - great win but in terms of the outlook of the season, it probably wasn't as good as it looked.
Elida - wow, what a dud that game was against an 0-10 team last year. Killed momentum from last year.
Kenton - tough to tell anything about Kenton until week 2 since it always plays Coldwater.
O-G - nice win after last year but how good is Eastwood this year?
Shawnee - I think things are looking up.
St. Marys - team to beat.
Van Wert - could be Cougars's best season in a long time.
Wapak - not sure...probably down a bit but still formidable.

[Stafford]

Two games in the books and I need to eat some crow already! Haha. Updated listing below.

#1 St. Marys, 2-0, 1-0. This team is well coached and does not make mistakes.
#2 Wapakoneta, 2-0, 1-0. They sure took care of Van Wert last night.
#3 Defiance, 2-0, 1-0. Have we all underrated them?
#4 Kenton, 1-1, 1-0. Tough to tell when they play Coldwater 1st game. Perhaps underrated as well?
#5 Ottawa-Glandorf, 1-1, 0-1. They have already played the best team in the league.
#6 Shawnee, 1-1, 0-1. Wake up call for the Indians after handling Jefferson. They will continue to improve.
#7 Van Wert, 1-1, 0-1. I overrated them. They also played the 2nd best team in the league.
#8 Elida, 1-1, 1-0. Good way to start the WBL season with a win over Bath. Their young QB must continue to improve and mature.
#9 Celina, 1-1, 0-1. Layed an egg last night vs. Kenton. Again I don't know much about them.
#10 Bath, 0-2, 0-1. Young players need to keep working hard. They will be better, but I don't see any wins this year.

The league is like this: two really good teams at the top, a jumbled mess for spots 3-9 and then Bath at the bottom.

Let me know what you think.

Edited by Stafford, 01 September 2018 - 07:59 AM.

[Teddy Malone]

A little overzealous on Defiance I think...I'd maybe put it somewhere around 5-7. Although it is damn weird to see Defiance with the only other 2 undefeated teams. This is the first time since 2008 that Defiance has started off 2-0. Hard to argue with the top 2. So far Bath looks like the only inept team. Elida, Celina, & maybe Van Wert have had drastically different results in each of the first 2 weeks.

[Stafford]

Teddy: Yea I put Defiance there because they are 2-0. I think they will probably drift downward as the season progresses. I look for Elida to continue to improve because of their freshman QB. I was really surprised that Shawnee lost to Defiance after their offensive fireworks against Spencerville. Van Wert laid an egg at Wapak, but perhaps I underestimated the Redskins and overrated the Cougs.

[TiGgEr3]

Roughriders looked good tonight in their win. Van Wert using two QB's because of Place's what seems like bad shoulder is interesting.

http://www.michaelhi...e-past-cougars/

[Teddy Malone]

At the midway point of the season. Without looking at or remembering records, I realized I have a pretty clear cut order of teams:
1. St. Marys
2. Kenton
3. Wapak
4. Celina
5. Van Wert
6. O-G
7. Elida
8. Defiance
9. Shawnee
10. Bath

There will no doubt be surprise results in the final 5 weeks, but I don't see the top 3 losing to a team outside of the top 3, or Bath beating anyone. Defiance and Shawnee might be hard-pressed to beat anyone above 6 or 7. Maybe there's a little congestion from 4-6 or 4-7.

Edited by Teddy Malone, 21 September 2018 - 09:35 PM.

[TiGgEr3]

I think I'd make the case St. Marys and Celina are the top 2 teams in the WBL after tonight.

Riders roll to 70-29 win: http://www.michaelhi...homecoming-win/

[Stafford]

Teddy: I mostly agree with your picks. I have a few changes however. Here goes.

#1 St. Marys, 5-0, 4-0. I predict they will go undefeated and roll into the playoffs. They play Wapak week #10.

#2 Wapakoneta, 4-1, 3-1. Lost to Kenton in a low scoring game. They can play defense! I predict an 8-2 season.

#3 Kenton, 3-2, 3-1. They gave up a ton of points to St. Marys. (I know they lost their QB which was a factor on both sides of the ball). If QB is back and healthy they have a shot at 7-3.

#4 Celina, 4-1, 3-1. Only loss is to Kenton. They are quietly having a nice season. Still have Wapak and St. Marys on the schedule. Most likely a 7-3 season.

#5 Van Wert, 3-2, 2-2. They play Kenton this week. I see 6 or 7 wins.

#6 Elida, 2-3, 2-2. Wapak and St. Marys back-to-back! I put them ahead of Defiance because they beat them at Defiance. They have a shot at 4-6, but most likely 3-7.

#7 Defiance, 3-2, 2-2. They still have to play Celina, St. Marys and Wapak. I see 5-5 overall.

#8 Ottawa-Glandorf, 2-3, 1-3. They have Shawnee this week, and possibly 3 more wins for a 5-5 season.

#9 Shawnee, 1-4, 0-4. They have OG this week and a chance to win 3 more games for a 4-6 season.

#10 Bath, 0-5, 0-4. It can only get better for the Wildcats. Hope they give their coach some time to rebuild a once proud program. I see 0-10 record.

Edited by Stafford, 23 September 2018 - 10:17 AM.

[TiGgEr3]

Riders win 63-13 at Elida

http://www.michaelhi...bulldogs-early/

[Stafford]

Eight games are in the books and the playoff contenders are gearing up. Since the last update, the WBL championship is taking shape. My thoughts updated:

#1 St. Marys 8-0, 7-0. I still think they are the best team in the league. Week 10 game vs. Wapak will be for the Championship. I think they finish 10-0 and roll into the playoffs.

#2 Wapakoneta 7-1, 6-1. The Kenton game I am sure haunts them. They are playing well, but are they good enough to beat the Riders? They should finish 8-2. They probably make the playoffs even with a loss to St. Marys.

#3 Van Wert 6-2, 5-2. I felt this would be a good season for them, and after a couple of early season losses, they playing playing well. Big game at Celina Friday. They finish with Defiance. Win both and they are in the playoffs with a 8-2 record.

#4 Kenton 4-4, 4-3. Tough when you lose your QB (Rusty says he is back and healthy). They have Elida and Bath left, so I see 6-4 for them and a 7th place finish in the computer ratings.

#5 Celina 4-4, 3-4. They get Van Wert and Shawnee in the last 2 games. I think they go 5-5.

#6 Ottawa-Glandorf 4-4, 3-4. They have Wapakoneta and Elida left to play. They will beat Elida and finish 5-5.

#7 Defiance 4-4, 3-4. Their last 2 games are St. Marys and Van Wert. They will lose both and finish at 4-6.

#8 Shawnee 3-5, 2-5. They finish with Bath and Celina. Most likely beat Bath and lose to Celina. 4-6

#9 Elida 2-6, 2-5. They finish with Kenton and OG. Tough year for the Dogs as they finish 2-8.

#10 Bath 0-8, 0-7. They finish with Shawnee and Kenton. They have had a rough season and will finish 0-10.

I predict 4 teams make the playoffs: Div III Region 12 (Wapakoneta), Div IV Region 14 (St. Marys, Van Wert, Kenton).

Edited by Stafford, 20 October 2018 - 09:36 AM.

[Rusty Shackleford]

Kenton did not lose its QB - Sharp missed the second half of the St. Mary's game but has taken every snap since...

Just FYI

[Stafford]

OK, my mistake. I was under the impression he was injured and out. Thanks for the response.

[Rusty Shackleford]

No big deal - just wanted to let you know. A lot of folks were surprised he was able to get out there that quickly.

Nice job on the prediction roundup - well thought out & organized.

[TiGgEr3]

St Marys 42-0 over Defiance

http://www.michaelhi...ut-of-defiance/

[Stafford]

Thanks Rusty: As a long time watcher of the WBL, I feel like I have a good read on most teams most years.