Northwood to join SBC-River
Volume 3 Issue 3
Another puzzle piece has been moved in the high school realignment saga. The Northwood Rangers have been voted into the Sandusky Bay Conference-River Division.
Northwood is leaving the Toledo Area Athletic Conference where they have been members since 2000. The TAAC has gone under constant restructing with a revolving door of members over the last decade. One of the biggest factors being the lack of football playing schools in the conference. The TAAC features three affiliate members from Williams County (Edon, Hilltop and Montpelier) for football along with Northwood and Ottawa Hills. That is only four conference games. Cardinal Stritch is bringing back 11-man football this season but it seems the damage has already been done.
Another key factor was that of the non-11-man-football schools in the conference. Emmanuel Christian, Maumee Valley Country Day and Toledo Christian (along with Cardinal Stritch) are all private and have been dominating the conference in sports. Northwood has been left behind due to them being a public school district. This leaves the TAAC with no clear path forward. At this point it is unlikely they bring in another member like Delta, Evergreen or Swanton. It is also a mystery where Ottawa Hills may end up and what happens to the affiliate members of the conference.
As for the SBC-River, this brings the total number of schools in the division to eleven. Northwood joins Danbury, Fremont St. Joseph, Gibsonburg, Hopewell-Loudon, Lakota, New Riegel, Old Fort, Sandusky St. Mary’s, Tiffin Calvert and Woodmore. For football the division will be Gibsonburg, Hopewell-Loudon, Lakota, Margaretta, Northwood, Tiffin Calvert, Willard and Woodmore. Northwood will be one of the biggest schools in the division each year.
Northwood is clearly an outlier in the conference in terms of geography, although they have shared a conference with some of these schools before. Northwood and Danbury were both members of the TAAC together from 2000-18. Northwood also were TAAC members with Gibsonburg from 2011-18 and Tiffin Calvert from 2014-16. Going back the Suburban Lakes League, Northwood and Gibsonburg were members together from 1986-00, Lakota from 1996-00 and Woodmore from 1986-00. You can also trace Northwood’s membership with some SBC-River schools back to the Lakeshore Conference (1963-72) and Lakeshore Conference 2 (1979-fall of 85).
The SBC-River gives a home to a Northwood school that has struggled to find a stable conference to call home. Northwood was founded after the former Olney Township high school was dissolved once the village became incorporated in 1963. Northwood started out in the Lakeshore Conference from 1963-72. They then joined some small Michigan schools across the border to form the Michigan-Ohio Border Conference from 1972-81. Then simultaneously they were in the Lakeshore Conference 2 from 1979 to the fall of 1985. From 1986-2000 they were a part of the Suburban Lakes League. Then in 2000 Northwood joined the TAAC to face schools more their size and that is where they have remained since.
Be sure to follow high school conference realignment news because this shifting landscape is surely not over.
Leading Updates
Trevor Harris (Waldo/Marion Pleasant) restructures contract with Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Notable Game Updates
On January 14th Grace VanSlooten (Toledo/Notre Dame) had 19 points in an Oregon win over Arizona.
On January 14th Will Vorhees (Columbus Grove) had 19 points in an Indiana loss to Maine.
On January 15th Vince Williams Jr. (Toledo/St. John’s) had 24 points in a Grizzlies win over the Warriors.
On January 15th Zavier Simpson (Lima/Lima Senior) had 14 points and 15 assists in a Motor City loss to College Park.
On January 17th Ivy Wolf (Minster) had 17 points and 8 assists in a Dayton win over George Washington.
On January 17th Zavier Simpson (Lima/Lima Senior) had 26 points in a Motor City win over South Bay.
On January 18th Keith Jordan (Toledo/St. John’s) had 35 points in a Breidablik loss to Afltanes.
On January 18th Demajeo Wiggins (Holland/Springfield) had 16 points and 10 rebounds in a Szolnok win over ZTE KK.
On January 19th Kendall Carruthers (Holland/Springfield) had 30 points in a St. Francis-PA loss to Long Island.
On January 20th Jamiya Neal (Toledo/Rogers) had 17 points and 9 rebounds in an Arizona State win over USC.
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Just For Fun
Lakeshore Conference (1963-1972)
Danbury Lakers (1963-72)
Elmore Bulldogs (1963-68) (Now Woodmore)
Grand Rapids Pirates (1967-68) (Now Otsego)
Green Springs Bobcats (1963-69) (Now Clyde)
North Baltimore Tigers (1969-72)
Northwood Rangers (1963-72)
Norwalk St. Paul Flyers (1967-68)
Otsego Knights (1967-72)
Ottawa Hills Green Bears (1967-72)
Westwood Warriors (1963-66) (Now Bowling Green)
Woodmore Wildcats (1968-72)
Woodville Warriors (1963-68) (Now Woodmore)
Lakeshore Conference 2 (1979-fall 85)
Danbury Lakers (1979-fall 85)
Fostoria St. Wendelin Mohawks (1982-fall 85)
Hopewell-Loudon Chieftans (1979-fall 85)
North Baltimore Tigers (1979-fall 85)
Northwood Rangers (1979-fall 85)
Ottawa Hills Green Bears (1979-fall 85)
Seneca East Tigers (1979-fall 85)