Oak Harbor football edges Port Clinton for outright SBC Bay Division crown

Port Clinton established a lead three times Friday in its quest to throw a wrench into the machine of its rival and climb into the postseason.

Oak Harbor erased the deficit on each occasion, capped by a 15-yard go-ahead touchdown from Carson Ridener midway through the fourth quarter of a 25-21 victory. The Rockets won all five games to take the Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division crown outright.

Six-seed Oak Harbor (9-1) plays host to Genoa (6-4) and quarterback Aiden Brunkhorst in Division V's Region 18 in the first round next week. Despite the loss, Port Clinton (5-5) squeaked in by rising a spot to 16 in the same region and travels to unbeaten Liberty Center.

"We started chunking plays," Rockets receiver Judson Overmyer said. "We started wearing on them. We broke a couple off and Carson got that touchdown. We knew it would be a dog fight. Week 10, rivalry. Punch for punch. They're trying to get into the playoffs and we're trying to win an outright league championship.

"In itself, this game means more. Add that to it, and it's the last regular season home game for the seniors at Rockets Stadium, everything adds up to make it so much sweeter. It means so much to us. The only people who believed this would happen were the ones close with us."

Dagan Meyers scored his second touchdown from 5 yards out for a 21-18 lead in the third quarter.

Oak Harbor ate up much of the fourth quarter with 10 plays before Ridener's score and another possession after. Port Clinton's Adam Thorbahn blocked Oak Harbor's fourth-and-2 punt and took over near midfield with 20 seconds to play.

Evan Hall notched a sack around the 35 on the final play. Hall returned after breaking his fibula and injuring his ankle in the second scrimmage.

"That was a big moment for him," Overmyer said. "To fight back and make a big play in as big of a game as it was."

Oak Harbor's Tyler Thompson returned a kickoff 65 yards for an 18-15 advantage at the half. Thorbahn caught a 20-yard touchdown pass from Cam Gillum just prior.

"We knew they'd do everything to keep the ball out of Jaqui's [Hayward] hands. The kick was outside the numbers. He tried to fall on it. He didn't get possession. He stood up, picked it up and he had a wall. Hayden [Buhro] blocked the kicker and it was off to the races.

"He's fast. Maybe not as fast as Hayden and Jaqui, but he's close to up there. He was an alternate on the state relay. He's stepped up big in situations he didn't expect to be in. Jaqui was out with cramp and he broke up a third-and-long pass against Huron.

"He has a chance here and there and he makes plays in those chances. To close the first half was huge with a play like that."

Overmyer caught a 4-yard touchdown from Mike Lalonde for a 12-7 lead in the second quarter.

"It was a rollout concept," Overmyer said. "Jaqui was on a flat route. Hayden ran a clear out. I was a deep out. I got behind and Michael threw a perfect ball right into my hands and I got two feet down. We'd played a sloppy game, unforced errors.

"To get that and calm down was big for us."

Buhro caught a 52-yard scoring pass from Lalonde as Oak Harbor immediately responded to a 3-yard touchdown run from Meyers as Port Clinton led 7-6 in the first quarter.

"We worked that play all week," Overmyer said. "Hayden split the safeties."

Both teams had 298 yards of offense. Oak Harbor rushed for 124 yards and Port Clinton 106, each on 28 tries.

Port Clinton ran 13 more plays than Oak Harbor at 61. Gillum completed 25-of-33 passes for 192 yards, including 101 yards on 13 catches for Thorbahn.

Meyers had 76 yards on 14 tries and Ridener had 76 yards on 16 totes.

"He's not flashy," Overmyer said of Ridener. "[His touchdown] shows how he plays. It was a hard, physical run. He bounced outside and showed power and speed on the same run. And he laid out for the pylon."

Lalonde completed 15-of-20 passes for 174 yards. Hayward and Ridener had five receptions apiece.

"There was a broken play," Overmyer said of Lalonde. "He scrambled left and scrambled right for 10 yards. He's 5-6 but he plays like he's 6-2. He's like a pit bull. It's great to have a sophomore making plays like that both ways, especially at quarterback.

"The throw to Hayden, he put that right over the top. He'll throw it right on a rope where it needs to be and it gets there right now. He has a big baseball background. He's a stud shortstop and pitcher."

Oak Harbor's seniors were freshmen when the team advanced to the state semifinals after an outright conference crown.

"We were blessed," Overmyer said. "To go on that ride with the varsity team and see what it takes. We knew what we had to do and how to handle adversity. We didn't want to be mediocre. We wanted to be a top team in the region and go out the same way we came in, winning the SBC."

The Rockets were 5-5 last season and 4-3 two years ago before the season was shut down after a postseason win because of the coronavirus.

"This was a team, we weren't projected to be here," Overmyer said. "To end on an eight-game win streak and win an outright championship in the last year in the league shows if you put the hard work in, you're going to get something out of it.

"It's a big showing of our culture and how we do things. Focus, fight, finish. It's on a sign as we walk out of the locker room. You hit it with your hand or your helmet. It's something we bought in to. Focus when it's hard, fight no matter what, and finish and leave no doubt."

Genoa beat Oak Harbor 28-25 in Week 2. The Celestial Ball trophy in the rivalry stays with the winner each season and is retired after three straight wins.

The Comets won the last two. The status of the trophy for a postseason matchup is uncertain.

Ridener, Hall and Dalton Witter missed the first game, and Overmyer left with an injury in the second quarter. Hayward suffered cramps and the quarterback position was unsettled.

"There's not many times you get a second shot," Overmyer said. "A rival in back-to-back games, at home, with even higher implications than normal. They're a good team. They're physical. They've got athletes. We had a few costly mistakes.

"Everyone is healthy and Jaqui and Michael are on the field at the same time. We're a much different team than we were eight weeks ago. This is the third new season. Everything changes and everybody gives you their best shot because it's life or death, win or go home."

Now, that sounds celestial.

mhorn@gannett.com

419-307-4892

Twitter: @MatthewHornNH

This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Oak Harbor football keeps coming back to beat Port Clinton