On a sunny Fall afternoon, just a few days before the official Halloween date and Trick-or-Treat in the Village of Swanton, the Swanton Lions Club presented the Halloween Hoopla for residents and visitors from all around Northwest Ohio. The Halloween Hoopla has long been the family social event of the Fall season, packing Main Street with bouncy houses, pedal carts, dancers and, of course, children, as well as adults, dressed for the festive occasion.
Everyone was treated to free hot dogs from Benfield Wines, doughnuts and cider from the Swanton Fire and Rescue Department, popcorn from the Lions Club, and candy from the many downtown businesses that lined up on the sidewalks. You could also step into the Swanton Board of Education building and decorate your own delicious sugar cookies. A disc jockey filled the area with great music and the dance troupe performed their traditional version of the classic Michael Jackson video “Thriller”.
The Swanton Lions would like to thank all who were involved in creating and organize this great event, including the local businesses, the Swanton Police Department, the Swanton Village Public Works Department and the Village of Swanton Administration. The Club will now turn their attention to their Giving Tree Program for the upcoming holidays.
Click on the link above to access phots from the Halloween Hoopla . Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded for NO CHARGE courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website and the Swanton Lions Club.
For the final time in his illustrious 39-year career, Chris Lyons directed the Evergreen Marching Vikings onto the turf at Pifer Field.
Click on the link to access photos from the halftime show featuring the Delta and Evergreen marching bands. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and an be downloaded for NO CHARGE courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.
It took 40 years, approximately 400 games, and even two overtimes, but the Evergreen Vikings team finally qualified for the OHSAA football playoffs with an instant classic 27-21 victory at Pifer Field over NWOAL rival, the Delta Panthers. Delta entered the contest with a 6-3 record, but most importantly, having won all three of their non-conference games which provided Evergreen much needed computer points to reach the post season.
Early on, the Vikings took control, jumping out in front on two Bryce Bolger touchdown passes, the first a 37-yard strike to Colton Robertson followed by a 25-yard completion to Will Ruetz. Alex Mossing converted both extra points to give Evergreen a 14-0 lead. Delta responded with a 3-yard run by Landon Lintermoot and a Brody Roth PAT to pull the Panthers within 14-7 after one quarter.
There was no further scoring in the game until approximately halfway through the fourth quarter when Lintermoot went over from 2-yards out and the extra point tied the game at 14-14. Late in the contest, the Panthers drove down inside the 10-yard line and faced a third down and three yards to go with just 10 seconds left on the clock. Delta was positioned to either push the ball into the end zone or, falling short, attempt a field goal by the sure-footed Roth. However, disaster struck when they fumbled the ball with the Vikings recovering, essentially sending the game into overtime.
Delta took the ball first in the extra session and scored in four plays on a 7-yard run by Richard Flores III to take a 21-14 lead. It took Evergreen six plays, the last an 8-yard rush by Max Mossing to tie the game at 21 all. By rule, the Vikings took possession again and scored on an 8-yard scamper around the right side by Robertson. After the PAT attempt was blocked, Evergreen held a 27-21 advantage. The Panthers picked up a quick first down but were then stuffed by Isaiah Pasco and the rest of the Viking front line on four straight rushing attempts setting off a wild celebration by the Evergreen faithful.
The Delta offense racked up 404 total yards with 342 of that coming on the ground, but was hampered by four lost fumbles. Lintermoot carried the ball 31 times for 122 yards and two touchdowns. Victor Martinez had 82 yards on seven rushes and Marcus Nagle ran 10 times for 72 yards. Panther quarterback Emric Freiss was 3 of 8 for 62 yards.
Evergreen had a balanced offense with 180 yards in the air and 142 yards on the ground for a total of 322. Bulger had 13 completions on 26 attempts with two touchdowns and one interception. Robertson hauled in eight passes for 108 yards and one touchdown. Max Mossing led the ground attack with 57 yards on 13 carries. Robertson ran five times for 34 yards and Bolger picked up 31 yards on 12 carries.
Delta finishes the regular season with a 6-4 overall record and 3-4 in the NWOAL. The Panthers qualified for the 13th seed in Region 18 of the OHSAA Division V football playoffs and will travel to Creston to meet the 4th-seeded Norwayne Bobcats at 7:00 pm this Friday, November 1st. Evergreen also finishes the regular season with a 6-4 record overall and a 4-3 record in the league, good for a third-place tie with Archbold. The Vikings qualified for the 13th seed in Region 22 of the OHSAA Division VI football playoffs and will travel to Hamler to face fellow NWOAL foe, the Patrick Henry Patriots at 7:00 pm this Friday, November 1st.
Click on the link above to access photos from the game. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded fore NMO CHARGE courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.
The Swanton Bulldogs concluded their 2024 football campaign with a 39-0 loss to the Patrick Henry Patriots at home. Swanton finishes their season with a league record of 0-7 and 0-10 overall. Patrick Henry ends the regular season with a record of 8-2 and 6-1 in the NWOAL, good enough for second place behind the Liberty Center Tigers. The Patriots qualified for a home state playoff game next week against the Evergreen Vikings.
Click on the link above to access photos from the night including the game, band and cheerleading. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded for NO CHARGE courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.
Photo: Marquise Zalecki hauls in a Lucas Wilson pass for a long gain
After reaching the OHSAA Girls Soccer District Championship match for the first time in school history, the Evergreen Lady Vikings added to their storied season with a thrilling 1-0 victory over fellow NWOAL rival, the Delta Lady Panthers, and punched their ticket to the DV Regional Semi-Finals next Tuesday in Port Clinton. The match, held at Evergreen High School’s Pifer Field, had the 4th-seeded Lady Vikes as the “visitors” on the scoreboard to the 1st-seeded “home team” the 2024 NWOAL Champion Lady Panthers. Evergreen had reached this unprecedented level after a 2-1 win over the 2nd-seeded and perennial power Archbold Lady Blue Streaks.
Despite a regular season loss to Delta back in September, the Lady Vikings played with confidence and showed no signs of being intimidated. Late in the first half, freshman sensation Addison Gleckler out maneuvered the defense in front of the Panther goal and fired a shot high into the back of the net at the 11:16 mark for the game’s only score. “You give her a little space and you’re in trouble. She takes a step and a hard shot is coming,” Ott remarked on Glecker’s game winner.
For the rest of the half and well into the second, the teams battled back and forth with no clear advantage by either side. However, as Viking coach Jacob Ott knew, the Lady Panthers had earned their lofty seeding and would not be going down easily. “We knew they had some great forwards and they were going to come out firing. We talked about it at halftime that we just had to play our game,” said Coach Ott explaining his team’s second half strategy. “We didn’t want to change our game plan just because of the score and that’s exactly what we did.”
In the final 20 minutes, the Delta offense was relentless in putting pressure on the Evergreen defense and goalie Ellie Nash. The Viking defenders harassed the Panther shooters into many missed or weak shot shots on goal and Nash was aggressive in guarding the net, intercepting several centering passes inside the box. “Our defense, they really don’t get the credit they deserve. Those back four, all seniors, they’re out to prove a point their last year and they showed that tonight. They deserve all the credit in the world. They’re strong defenders and the can take on anyone,” said Ott.
Coach Ott also acknowledged the contributions of Lady Viking soccer teams that came before this championship group. “We’ve got to give some credit to the teams of the past. They built a great culture here at Evergreen. We don’t always get the respect that we deserve but we proved that today, that we deserve some respect,” he said.
The history making victory was the 13th of the season for Evergreen against five losses and two ties. The Lady Vikings will now travel to Port Clinton to face the Columbus Grove Lady Bulldogs at True-Lay Stadium. Game time is 7:00 pm on Tuesday, October 29th.
Click 0n the link above to access photos from the match. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded for NO CHARGE courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.
Photo: Evergreen Lady Vikings – OHSAA District V Girls Soccer Champions
Player of the Year – Keely Culler – Sr. – Archbold
Coach of the Year – Debbie Culler – Archbold
First Team
Keely Culler – Sr. – Archbold Miley Gericke – Jr. – Archbold Ada Christman – Jr. – Patrick Henry Carys Crossland – Jr. – Patrick Henry Lexi Faber – Jr. – Swanton
Second Team
Kinley Curtis – Fr. – Swanton Lanae Manz – So. – Evergreen Libby Zeiter – Sr. – Liberty Center Johanna Tester – Sr. – Wauseon Aletha Fausnight – Sr. – Liberty Center Lexi Ripke – Jr. – Archbold Lissa Roesti – Jr. – Evergreen
First Team Specialists
Addi Zientek – Sr. – Liberty Center Bella McGuire – Jr. – Wauseon
During a break in the action of the Swanton/Evergreen football game last Friday night, the Evergreen community honored 90-year-old Tom Herr as it’s “Hometown Hero” for his service to his country in the U.S. Army. A small bio was read to the crowd from the press box as Tom stood in front of the grandstand alongside several family members. The bio read:
Thomas Ambrose Herr, affectionately known as “Tom Herr from Metamora, Ohio” or “Tomato Tom” to his Florida friends, is a long-standing local farmer who served in the United States Army in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Tom joined the reserves and served for a total of 10 years. His last year and a half of service time, he was moved to active duty for the Berlin Crisis. He was in the Tank Division and stationed in Fort Stewart, Georgia, when he came home during a three-day leave to purchase his first farm in his hometown in 1962. Since the 1890’s Tom’s family has been farming in northern Fulton County. Today, Tom is the Patriarch to his family in Fulton County that is now operating in its fifth generation.
Tom married his wife, Lynn in 1957 and together they had five children. They have 12 grandchildren and two of them went on to serve in the military. Tom has 10 great grandchildren, five of which are currently attending Evergreen High School (Braden, Riley, Brody, Jaret and Hayes Studenka).
A fun fact about Tom and his family is they have had a family member attend Evergreen Local Schools every year since 1970. To know Tom is to love him.
Photo Credit: Tina Studenka – (L to R): Riley, Jaret, Braden, Tom Herr, Hayes, Brody
Click on th link above to access photos from the pre-game and halftime activities from last Friday night’s football game. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded for NO CHARGE courtesy of the fultoncloumntymedia.com website.
The visiting Swanton Bulldogs made several critical errors including a short kickoff to start the game, a lost fumbled lateral deep in their own territory and a blocked punt recovered for a touchdown, allowing the Evergreen Vikings to put up 24 first-quarter points in a 45-0 NWOAL victory at Pifer Field on Friday night. After receiving the short kickoff, the Vikings scored within 1:35 on a pass 21-yard from Bryce Bolger to Will Johnson and led 7-0 after an Alex Mossing PAT.
Two plays after receiving the subsequent kickoff, Swanton mishandled a lateral pass, leading to a Mossing 34-yard field goal and a 10-0 Evergreen lead. After failing to advance the ball on their next series, the Bulldogs had their punt blocked by John Johnson and Brendan Holman scooped up the loose ball, walked into the endzone and gave the Vikings a 17-0 advantage. Before the quarter ended, Max Mossing dashed around the left end and went 55-yards for another touchdown, making the score 24-0 with 2:55 still remaining on the clock.
The Mossings added another seven points to the scoreboard in the second quarter when Max ran the ball in from 30-yards out and Alex kicked the extra point to go on top 31-0 as the half ended, triggering the running clock to start the second half. Colton Robertson hauled in a 52-yard touchdown pass from Bolger in the third quarter and Austin Gillen carried the ball in from one-yard out to end the scoring at 45-0.
The Evergreen victory improves their NWOAL record to 3-3 and their overall record to 5-4. This sets up a showdown next Friday when the Delta Panthers, sitting at 3-3 and 6-3, visit Pifer Field with significant state playoff computer points at stake in the final game of the regular season. Swanton moves to 0-6 and 0-9 and will entertain the Patrick Henry Patriots next Friday night.
Click on the link above to access photos from the game. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded for NO CHARGE courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.
Photo: Evergreen Band director Chris Lyons signals “Touchdown” as Viking Will Johnson holds the football in the end zone.
Led by the turbo-charged serves and killer spikes of Archbold senior standout Keely Culler, the Lady Blue Streaks made quick work of the Delta Lady Panthers with a 3-0 sweep in an OHSAA DV Girls Volleyball Sectional match. The 2024 NWOAL Cham[ions captured their 19th victory on their home court and will next travel to Oregon Clay High School on Tuesday night, 10/22 at 7:15 pm to take on the Swanton Lady Bulldogs. Swanton, which finished in second place in the league behind Archbold, defeated the Otsego Lady Knights 3-0 to reach the District Semi-Finals.
Click on the link above to access photos from the match. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded for NO CHARGE courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.
Photo: Archbold senior Keely Culler fires a rocket serve
Fulton County Ohio Media 