OHC has leveled playing field  for the area’s small schools

Ten years after its formation, conference’s benefits still intact.

Mechanicsburg High School’s Joe Webb (39) is pursued by Southeastern’s Hunter Mickens during an Ohio Heritage Conference game at Mechanicsburg on Oct. 2, 2009. Mechanicsburg won 34-14.

Staff photo by Barbara J. Perenic Mechanicsburg High School’s Joe Webb (39) is pursued by Southeastern’s Hunter Mickens during an Ohio Heritage Conference game at Mechanicsburg on Oct. 2, 2009. Mechanicsburg won 34-14.

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By Michael Cooper, Staff Writer 7:39 PM Friday, December 24, 2010

Before the 2001 football season, former Northeastern High School football coach Jerry Wasserman had some words of wisdom about the Ohio Heritage Conference.

“It’s going to be a good league, but not just for football,” said Wasserman in the 2001 Springfield News-Sun football preview. “The OHC levels the playing field for all of the sports at the schools. It’s going to be a tight league and all of the teams are going to be loyal. The conference will draw great fan interest.’’

Ten years later, the coach’s words still ring true.

Every school has won at least 10 conference championships. West Liberty-Salem has won 47 overall, with at least three each season.

The Tigers are followed by Greeneview (27), Southeastern (24), Northeastern (21), Catholic Central (19), Mechanicsburg (14), Triad (11) and Cedarville (10).

A few programs have dominated in certain sports — Catholic Central in boys soccer (nine of 10 league titles), Greeneview in girls soccer (seven in a row), West Liberty-Salem in girls cross country (won all seven years there was a team competition), and West Liberty-Salem in girls basketball (won or shared seven of nine titles) — but in most sports, the league has been fairly spread out.

In boys basketball, every team has won an OHC title except Catholic Central and Mechanicsburg. Cedarville and Greeneview are the only football programs without a league title.

On the state level, the schools have produced three state champions — all in boys soccer — and 12 individual champions.

In football, Catholic Central, Mechanicsburg and Southeastern have all advanced to the regional finals.

“For a small school conference, we do pretty well until we run into the MAC (Midwestern Athletic Conference),” said Jim Murray, the OHC commissioner. “That seems to be everybody’s problem, not just us. The schools are the same size, but they’re just superior athletically.”

The OHC has had several strong teams make deep runs in other sports, including boys basketball, girls basketball, girls soccer, baseball, boys bowling and softball.

“We all get along pretty well, boys and girls both,” said Southeastern girls basketball coach Jim Lightle. “All the sports are competitive. It’s been fun to watch it grow.”

Enrollment, travel

Competition-wise, the league has been good in most sports.

But where it’s benefited the most has been enrollment size and travel expenses.

When the Kenton Trace Conference disbanded 10 years ago, schools like Blanchester and Clinton-Massie were growing. The same can be said about the Southwestern Rivers Conference and the Central Buckeye Conference.

With their opponents becoming bigger — in the old CBC, for example, Northeastern currently has 402 students compared to 847 at Tecumseh — the schools combined to make a league for small schools that has also accommodated travel concerns.

“The travel is easier with the OHC,” Lightle said. “It’s hard to change when you’ve been affiliated for so long. Looking back, it’s a good change because we’re with schools our own size and we’re competitive.”

The farthest trip is Triad to Greeneview, which takes a little over an hour. In the past, the schools were making long trips to Waynesfield-Goshen in the old West Central Ohio Conference, and Greeneview made a long trip to Blanchester in the KTC.

The decreased travel has led to more fans and more media coverage for the conference.

“Financially, most of us are in decent shape,” said Murray. “We’ve got good attendance at most athletic events. And we’ve had state champions.”

Contact this

reporter

at (937) 328-0365 or mcooper@coxohio.com.

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