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Countdown: 90 Days Until Ohio State Football

Matt Gutridge's picture
June 2, 2019 at 9:05am
23 Comments
Portsmouth

Recruiting is said to be the lifeblood of college football. This series will countdown the top 100 high schools in Ohio that have provided the Buckeyes with football players. The rankings are based on how many times a player from each high school has been listed on Ohio State's roster between 1970 and 2018.

No. 90, Portsmouth

Qualification

Four players from Portsmouth have been listed on 11 Ohio State rosters. John Doll and Shad Williams were the first Trojans to be on the Buckeyes' roster. Williams earned All-Ohio honors in high school and saw significant playing time with the Buckeyes until an injury derailed his junior season. He battled Pete Cusick for playing time at defensive tackle. 

Norman and Scott Burrows were the last Trojans to make Ohio State's roster. Scott's last season was as a junior defensive tackle in 1981. Norman was a Buckeye for four seasons and played defensive back. One of his best plays for the Scarlet and Gray was a touchdown saving tackle that prevented a 98-yard kickoff return for Michigan. At Portsmouth, Norman was an All-Ohio quarterback and passed for 3,788 yards and 31 touchdowns.  

Back To School

Portsmouth High School is located in Scioto County and is a member of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC). The team currently competes in Division V, Region 20.  The Trojans went 7–3 in the regular season and made the playoffs last year. However, they were outscored 26-0 by Madison in the first round. This marked back-to-back playoff appearances for the program. 

Notable

Portsmouth has won four state championships in basketball (1988, 1978, 1961 and 1931). The basketball team has appeared in the Final Four 15 times.

Famous Alumni

Some names you may know: MLB baseball players Larry Hisle, Rocky Nelson, Al Oliver and Del Rice. Author Barbara Robinson, she wrote The Best Christmas Pageant Ever and opera singer Kathleen Battle.

Explanation of the Rankings
School "A" had 14 players appear 16 times on Ohio State's roster. School "B" had 11 players appear 20 times on Ohio State's roster. School "B" will have the higher ranking. Why? Even though school "B" has less players, those players played for more years. 

If two or more schools have the same number of appearances, the tie will be broken by the school with the highest average of roster appearances per player. If there is a tie in the average, the tie breaker will be the school with the most prominent Ohio State player. 

 

Top 100 Ohio High Schools
100 99 98 97 96 95 94 93 92 91
90 89 88 87 86 85 84 83 82 81
80 79 78 77 76 75 74 73 72 71
70 69 68 67 66 65 64 63 62 61
60 59 58 57 56 55 54 53 52 51
50 49 48 47 46 45 44 43 42 41
40 39 38 37 36 35 34 33 32 31
30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21
20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

2,745 days since Ohio State has not defeated That Team.
180 days until The Game.

Are you a former player, graduate, live near or have something to add about today's featured high school? Please share your story with us in the comments. What makes the 11W community unique is the amount of great information everybody is willing to share.

This is a forum post from a site member. It does not represent the views of Eleven Warriors unless otherwise noted.

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