Countdown to football: Fostoria

2024 Record: 3-7 (2-5 NBC)Head coach: Derek Angelone (2nd year, 3-7)KEY GAME: Sept. 12, at Oak Harbor. A year ago, Fostoria opened Northern Buckeye Conference play with Genoa, which had a 6-5 overall record and finished in the middle of the NBC pack. This year the Redmen open league play at Oak Harbor, which swept unbeaten through the NBC and didn't lose a game until matching up with Division V state runner-up Liberty Center in the regional semifinals. It's a daunting test for Fostoria. But the roster numbers were good last season, the Redmen finished well by winning two of their last three games, and Angelone and his staff will have three nonleague games to align and adjust personnel before going up against one of the premier teams in the league.INTERSTING FACT: Due to a rotation in league schedules, Fostoria's week to week lineup will be much different this season. Genoa and Otsego, the teams Fostoria faced in weeks one and two of the 2024 NBC season, have been rotated into the week 9 and 10 slots this year. Moving up into weeks four and five are Oak Harbor and Eastwood. Oak Harbor went 7-0 in the NBC last year and 12-1 overall; Eastwood lost just 31-27 to Oak Harbor, and was 11-2. Fostoria made another change in the schedule, replacing Bowling Green in week 2 with Port Clinton. BG is a Division III-size school that was 6-5 last season. Port Clinton is in Division V, the same as Fostoria, and is coming off a 3-7 season in 2024.MAGIC NUMBER: 100-0. The big dogs in the Northern Buckeye Conference – Oak Harbor and Eastwood – did a number on Fostoria last season, combining to outscore the Redmen 100-0 in back-to-back games, with Oak Harbor wining 49-0 and Eastwood 51-0. It's been a slow but steady rebuild for Fostoria, which has followed an 0-9 record in the COVID year of 2020 by going 1-8, 2-8 and 3-7 the past two season. The continuation of that progress might well be reflected in how well the Redmen can close that gap when they go up against the best in the league again this year. FOSTORIA2025 SCHEDULEDate Opponent Home/AwayAug. 22 Van Buren A 29 Port Clinton HSept. 5 Woodmore A 12 Oak Harbor* A 19 Eastwood* H 26 Lake* HOct. 3 Maumee* A 10 Rossford* H 17 Genoa* A 24 Otsego* H*Northern Buckeye Conference games