{"id":145133,"date":"2021-08-24T03:58:05","date_gmt":"2021-08-24T08:58:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=145133"},"modified":"2021-08-24T03:58:59","modified_gmt":"2021-08-24T08:58:59","slug":"random-thoughts-strange-matchups-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2021\/08\/24\/random-thoughts-strange-matchups-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Random Thoughts: matches and more"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SCOTT TRUXELL\/<\/strong>independent sports editor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Opening weekend results, intriguing WBL games, two somewhat unusual matchups and more hot fall sports weather.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After one week<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Midwest Athletic Conference went 7-3 and the Western Buckeye League went 6-4 during the opening weekend of the 2021 high school football season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Northwest Conference went 5-3, but it was a rough weekend for the Green Meadows Conference, which went 2-6.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WBL<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friday is when WBL teams will open league play and there are a couple of intriguing matchups on the schedule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ottawa-Glandorf will travel to Wapakoneta with both teams trying to avoid an 0-2 start, while 1-0 Defiance travels to 1-0 St. Marys Memorial. Those two teams won defensive struggles last week, with 24 combined points in the two games. It won\u2019t be surprising to see a low-scoring game this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not common<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the more odd matchups on this week\u2019s football slate is Minster at Columbus Crusaders, a club team. The game will not count in OHSAA computer rankings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Crusaders play other club teams from around Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and Kentucky. This is what it says on their website:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCrusader high school football is a Christ-centered, athlete-focused, Division VII competitive football program with experienced coaches and state-of-the-art training programs and facilities. Players benefit from one-on-one instruction and opportunities to play early and often throughout their high school careers. Crusader coaches focus on preparing players for college-level football with the newest techniques and up-tempo offensive schemes. Crusaders compete against top high school and prep school teams throughout Ohio and the surrounding Midwest.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Crusaders are 1-0 after a 12-0 win over Tri-State King\u2019s Crusaders of Harlan, Indiana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then there\u2019s Coldwater\u2019s next opponent, Cincinnati Oak Hills, a Division I program. This will be the only non-Division I opponent the Highlanders will face all season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the way, Oak Hill is riding a 20-game losing streak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It seems like it\u2019s difficult for MAC teams to find non-conference opponents, mainly because of the conference\u2019s strong reputation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COVID-19<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don’t want to be a downer, but it’s almost a certainty that at least area one high school football game will be wiped out by COVID-19 this season. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week, at least six games were canceled statewide and at least a couple of games have already been called off this weekend. None of them were in the area, but the closest ones were in the Toledo area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, it’s just a matter of time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hot<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the forecast holds up, get ready for another hot Football Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t know about everyone else, but bring on cool crisp October nights. 55 or so at kickoff. That\u2019s much better than 82 with humid conditions at game time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, it would be nicer if it was cooler for the remaining outdoor fall sports \u2013 golf, soccer, tennis and cross country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As always, if you have thoughts or comments on any of the above subjects, feel free to email me at sports@thevwindependent.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent sports editor Opening weekend results, intriguing WBL games, two somewhat unusual matchups and more hot fall sports weather. After one week The Midwest Athletic Conference went 7-3 and the Western Buckeye League went 6-4 during the opening weekend of the 2021 high school football season. The Northwest Conference went 5-3, but it was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-145133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-01 12:10:29","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145133"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145133\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}