Oak Harbor too much for Maumee, Panthers lose for first time in 2024

Ben Kubicz threw for 221 yards in a 56-17 loss to Oak Harbor in Week 4. / Jeremy Schneider

By JEREMY SCHNEIDER

IMA SPORTS

Maumee was riding high after the first three weeks of the high school football season.

Oak Harbor came to town last week and dumped a cold bucket of reality on the Panthers.

The Rockets used four touchdowns in the second half to walk out of Kazmaier Stadium with a 56-17 win. They stayed perfect with a 4-0 record and a 1-0 record in the Northern Buckeye Conference while Maumee fell to 3-1 and 0-1.

“It’s hard to teach off a win because the kids feel good, you score a lot and all that stuff,” Maumee coach Evan Karchner said. “Right now, it’s a little bit of a reality check, and that’s life. Life’s going to throw you reality checks every once in a while, and you have to look in the mirror and say, ‘What did I not do? What can I go get better at?’

“Monday through Thursday, we’ve got to get better. We can’t just go through the motions.”

One of Karchner’s biggest concerns heading into the game was controlling the line of scrimmage. Oak Harbor broke through the Maumee line and consistently put pressure on quarterback Ben Kubicz. Conversely, the Rockets opened plenty of holes for quarterback Michael Lalonde and running back Carson Ridener.

Kubicz finished with 221 yards passing while completing 15-of-27 throws. Carson Graetz had seven catches for 125 yards.

The Panthers had 304 yards on offense, with only 49 coming on the ground.

Oak Harbor had 316 of its 446 total yards coming from the rushing game. Ridener had 154 yards on 15 carries with four TDs, and Lalonde added 69 yards and one score.

“If we’re going to win nine games, we’ve got to get better at some stuff,” Karchner said. “Oak Harbor exposed us on some things. I think it was good on our football team.

“We’re going to take those steps, watch the film and get better.”

As bad as the final score and some stats appear after the fact, the Panthers were battling throughout the first half. They trailed by a narrow 28-17 margin entering the break.

Blake Wagener’s 31-yard field goal opened the scoring, but Oak Harbor tacked on three unanswered TDs for a 21-3 lead. However, Cody Wulf scored a pair of touchdowns in the final four minutes of the half, and the Panthers held some momentum.

“We were there, we were battling at halftime,” Karchner said. “Last year at halftime, it was 35-0 and we couldn’t get in the end zone. We’re taking steps forward.

“Obviously, it’s disappointing, we’d like to be winning. But this is a good lesson for us.”

The Rockets received the second half kickoff, but they were held to a punt by the Maumee defense. The Panthers couldn’t do anything with their first possession, and on Oak Harbor’s second possession, Lalonde took the ball 60 yards to the house.

The score went from a potential 27-24 margin to 35-17.

Ridener had two TDs in the second half, including a 73-yard burst early in the fourth quarter.

The Panthers don’t have any time to feel sorry for themselves, with a trip to undefeated Eastwood coming up on Friday.

“Our first three games, we scored a lot of points and played good defense against some lower teams,” Karchner said. “I think we’re ready to take that next step and go beat a winning football team.”

Photo courtesy of Pride of the Panthers

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