Last week, the Northern Lakes League completed the first football season under its new 11-team, two-division format.
Despite some awkward scheduling because of the odd number of teams — including crossover games with non-division games between league teams, and open weeks filled by nonleague opponents deep into the season — the NLL proceeded.
The net result was not perfect, but as it turned out, there were some definite pluses.
The Buckeye Division, with the NLL's larger six schools in terms of enrollment, saw a three-way tie for the championship, which was shared by 1956 original league member Anthony Wayne (8-2, 4-1), and two of the league's four newcomers — Findlay (8-2, 4-1) and Whitmer (7-3, 4-1) — which joined the league this year after exiting the now-defunct Three Rivers Athletic Conference.
“I think it provided a bigger depth of competition throughout the league,” AW coach Andy Brungard said. “The biggest adjustment from year to year will be the open week to fill in for the missing 12th team.”
Whitmer coach Ken Winters saw his program make a smooth transition.
“I thought the format worked well,” Winters said. “The combination of TRAC teams along with NLL teams made the league just as competitive if not more competitive than the TRAC, making it one of the premier leagues in the state.”
Findlay coach Stefan Adams agreed.
“I really enjoyed the new league,” he said. “I personally have loved the organization of the league and how it's set up. I had a good time meeting more good coaches and being able to see new places. This has been a positive experience so far.”
Perrysburg (7-3, 2-3), the 2022 NLL champion, was also very competitive as the fourth-place Buckeye finisher.
“I thought it went very well,” Perrysburg coach Dirk Conner said. “Players and fans got to be a part of a lot of close and meaningful games.”
As for the Cardinal Division, the schedule could not have worked out better, as Napoleon (5-5, 3-1) played at Southview (7-3, 4-0) last Friday in a Week 10 showdown for the title, which was won by the host Cougars in a tight 20-14 battle.
“Having the two divisions made for an exciting Week 10 in the Cardinal Division, and it is nice to be able to win an NLL championship,” Southview coach Steve Hardy said. “From our perspective, this season was exciting and challenging to get an opportunity to play all of the new NLL schools.
“However, I can see how the two-division layout as it currently is, may not be ideal for some of the other schools.”
Napoleon, the smallest NLL school in enrollment when the new NLL was formed (236 boys and 200 girls in grades 10-12), rose to the occasion in the Cardinal Division after on 0-4 start to its season, nearly winning the division title.
“The two divisions of the NLL allowed for better competition throughout the league race,” Napoleon coach Tyler Swary said. “The only thing that would truly improve things would be to add another team, or teams, to the league.”
Perhaps the biggest bonus to the new format was that, despite the Cardinal Division teams absorbing some lopsided crossover losses to big-school teams from the Buckeye Division, all five Cardinal teams earned berths in the Ohio High School Athletic Association playoffs, and nine of the 11 overall NLL teams qualified for the postseason.
In 2022, in its longstanding eight-team, alignment, only four of the NLL's eight teams reached the playoffs, with champion Perrysburg and runner-up AW getting in along with third-place Southview and Napoleon.
The only NLL teams not qualifying for the playoffs this year were Northview (2-8, 1-4) and Springfield (2-8, 0-5) from the Buckeye Division.
“Obviously this year didn't go well for us,” Northview coach Greg Silm said. “We are unfortunately not at the level of the top four schools in the NLL. I feel like, overall, there are four programs who are a long way ahead of a lot of the league, which makes the competitive balance in the upper division a little more difficult for schools like us.”
Beginning in 2025, because of enrollment changes, Clay will replace Springfield in the Buckeye Division for football.
“The only thing I have negative about the league is the competitive imbalance in the two divisions,” Springfield coach LaCharles Smith said. “I know the change is coming in 2025. I just don't understand how the rest of the sports at Springfield are in the lower division and football is in the upper division.”
Clay (4-6, 1-3), which struggled mightily during its 12-year run in the TRAC, got a bit of a reprieve this year in the NLL's Cardinal Division.
“While our season didn’t go as well as we hoped, we played some really meaningful, competitive games down the stretch of our season,” Clay coach John Galyas said of his Eagles. “We were able to restart some old rivalries, and continue some existing ones.
“We are really looking forward to being in the league long-term. It is pretty amazing that every team in our division qualified for the playoffs, and nine out of the 11 teams in both divisions qualified.”
Fremont Ross (4-6, 2-2) had been more competitive than Clay while in the TRAC, but never seriously challenged for a conference crown. The Little Giants' new home in the NLL Cardinal is a better fit.
“I really enjoyed the NLL,” Ross coach Chad Long said, “playing the three [Buckeye] division teams, and then dropping down to our division. I believe adding one more team to the Cardinal Division is key to balance out the conference. It is hard to play league games and then have a non-conference game in the middle of league play.”
Bowling Green (5-5, 0-4), the NLL's second smallest school (344 boys, 330 girls), fared well enough in non-division games to earn a Division III playoff berth.
“The new NLL setup created competitive football throughout the season,” said BG coach Josh Wade, who was recently suspended for Friday’s playoff contest. “I think one of the questions is determining when crossover games are played — all in a row or broken up. I thought it was a good first year for the expanded league.”
An indirect side benefit from the NLL's new alignment was that former member Maumee, an original member that had become increasingly less competitive in football in recent seasons, was able to compete on a more level playing field in its new home in the Northern Buckeye Conference.
The Panthers not only snapped a 34-game losing streak under first-year head coach Evan Karchner, but ended 5-5 overall (3-4 NBC), their first non-losing season since going 6-4 in 2017. In between (2018-22), Maumee had been 1-48 overall.
Further — because the NLL's expansion led to the demise of the TRAC, and consequently to the need for former TRAC members Central Catholic, St. Francis de sales, St. John's Jesuit, and Lima Senior to find new homes elsewhere — even that otherwise difficult transition for the teams left behind had a silver lining.
Central Catholic, now playing in the Michigan-based Catholic High School League's Central Division along with St. Francis and St. John's, continued its dominance as northwest Ohio's very best football team.
The Fighting Irish (10-0, 6-0), coming off a 15-1 Ohio Division II state championship season, enters the 2023 playoffs riding a 25-game winning streak as the state's top-ranked Division III team.
Although St. Francis struggled to a 1-9, 1-5 finish, and with the mid-season resignation of first-year head coach Charles Woolridge, the Knights' rival, St. John's (4-6, 2-4), managed to reached the Division II playoffs.
As for Lima Senior, after finding a new home in the City League, the Spartans (8-2, 6-0) won their first league championship since 1996, when they captured a Greater Miami Conference title leading up to their Division I state playoff championship.
Lima Senior captured the CL title in a Week 10 showdown last Friday against visiting Start (5-5, 5-1), winning 26-14.
These ripples caused by the NLL expansion were mostly positive in football in year one.
It remains to be seen, however, whether or not the changes will lead to long-term benefits for the schools involved, whether directly and indirectly.
First Published October 26, 2023, 4:05 p.m.
