Countdown to Football: Van Buren

VAN BUREN 2025 Record: 5-5 (4-4 BVC)Head Coach: Ethan Percer, third year (8-12 at VB, 28-60 overall)KEY GAME: Sept. 26 at home, with McComb. The 2024 game with the Panthers became a bit of a crossroads crisis for Van Buren, which was 3-2 heading into this game and coming off solid wins over Arlington (21-14) and Riverdale (48-0). On a wet, sloppy field in a game that saw 22 penalties, 11 punts and seven turnovers, Van Buren made enough big plays to threaten three times but could not put the ball in the end zone and lost 7-3. A win would not only have ended a nine-year losing streak to McComb, it also would have gotten Van Buren into the playoffs. This year, the game is at Van Buren, the Black Knights will be back at home after a rugged four-game road swing, and it's a good bet a pretty big senior class will be looking to turn the tables this season.INTERESTING FACT: With the way the schedule sets up this season, the Black Knights might want to change their nickname to the Van Buren Vagabonds. Van Buren does open the season with a home game with Fostoria. But the Black Knights won't have home field advantage again until the second half of the season, when they host McComb on Sept. 26 after four straight road games at Leipsic, Pandora-Gilboa, Arlington and Riverdale. Schedules change every season, but balancing home and away sites is not always easy. McComb, for example is on the road for its first four games and five of the first six. Arlington on the other hand, opens on the road, then is home for four straight games and five of the next six. And Vanlue, playing an independent schedule, has an interesting schedule with two home games, then three road games, then four more games at home.MAGIC NUMBER: 0.9662. That's how close – not even one whole point – Van Buren was from making the playoffs last season. The Black Knights 5-5 record earned them 6.5400 points in the Harbin Rankings that determine playoff pairings. Margaretta's 4-6 record earned 7.4163 points and the 16th and final playoff spot in the Division VI, Region 22 rankings. Van Buren has been to the OHSAA playoffs often, but there was a time when even the best-ever Black Knights' teams failed to qualify for post season play. During a 21-game winning streak, Van Buren posted perfect 10-0 records in 1988 and again in 1989. At the time, though, there were five divisions, not seven, and only the top four teams in each region qualified for the playoffs. Van Buren finished sixth in the Division V, Region 18 computer rankings in 1988, and fifth a year later. Five years after Van Buren's 21-game unbeaten run, the OHSAA expanded the playoffs from five to six divisions. Five years after that, the number of regional qualifiers was expanded from eight to 16. 2025 SCHEDULEDate Opponent Home/AwayAug. 22 Fostoria H 29 Leipsic* ASept. 5 Pandora-Gilboa* A 12 Arlington* A 19 Riverdale* A 26 McComb* HOct. 3 Arcadia* H 10 Ada* H 17 Elmwood* A 24 Liberty-Benton* H*Blanchard Valley Conference games