Ohio State Football Forum

Ohio State Football Forum

Ohio State football fan talk.

Countdown: 12 Days Until Ohio State Football

Matt Gutridge's picture
August 19, 2019 at 6:15am
14 Comments
Upper Arlington

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. 12, Upper Arlington

Qualification

15 players from Upper Arlington have been listed on 42 Ohio State rosters.

DE Simon Fraser (2001-04) captain of the 2004 team and earned Academic All-Big Ten honors three times (2002, 2003, 2004). Ohio State went 40–11 with Fraser on the team and won the 2002 National Championship, 2004 Fiesta Bowl and 2004 Alamo Bowl.

All-Ohioan for Upper Arlington as a junior and senior, the Golden Bears won the 2000 state championship, also played basketball and track. Made it to the state championship in the shot put as a junior. Today, Fraser is a doctor and practicing medicine in Columbus.

DE/OL Tim Schafer (2002-06) started his Buckeye career as defensive end, but was switched to offensive guard in 2005 when Kirk Barton and Steve Rehring were unable to play due to medical reasons. Schafer played in the last six games of the 2005 season. Was Alex Boone's back-up at left tackle for the 2006 season.

All-Ohioan as a senior and a three-year starter at Upper Arlington. The Golden Bears won the state title during his junior season. Schafer was a two-year starter on the basketball team and made it to the regional finals his senior season. 

Upper Arlington Buckeyes
No. POS PLAYER YEARS OHIO STATE CAREER HS CAREER
86 DE BRENDAN DONOVAN 1972 Made the roster for 1 season, did not play. Nothing listed.
1 P DAVID McKEE 1977-78 Had 29 punts in 1977 and averaged 35.2 yards per punt. Did not have a punt in 1978. Averaged 38.8 yards per punt and 4-4.8 seconds of hang-time at UA.
88, 91, 69 DT WILLIAM WILSON 1979-81 Played 1 game for 30 seconds during his time in Columbus. Nothing listed.
99, 39 LB/FB MARK PFISTER 1982-85 Injuries kept him off the field, had an ulcer, knee sprain, 2 shoulder separations, and a hand injury. All-Ohioan as a linebacker and UA went 28–4–1 with him on the team.
72 DT MIKE MACHINSKY 1983 Did not see the field during his 1 season on the team, his dad, Francis, was a starting tackle for OSU's 1954 National Championship team. All-Ohio and All-District tackle, 3-year player on defense, part-time player on offense.
82, 20 WR TIM HALLER 1984-86 Did not see the field during his 3 seasons on the roster. Nothing listed.
39 TE JOE HAZELBAKER 1990 On the roster for 1 season, did not play. Nothing listed.
20 WR CHAD CACCHIO 1997-00 Walked-on in 1996, earned a scholarship in 1999, played in 31 games. 2x Academic All-Big Ten (1997, 1998). Played football and baseball.
29 FB/ HB JESSE KLINE 1999-02 Played in 16 games and had 2 carries for 5 yards. 2x Academic All-Big Ten (2000, 2001). All-Ohio FB as a junior, missed much of his senior year with a hamstring injury, but still ran for 1,100 yards and 15 TDs.
79 OL MICHAEL STAFFORD 1999-02 Walk-on who earned a scholarship in 2001, started 4 games in 2002. Won a conference and regional championship in 1997.
75 DE SIMON FRASER 2001-04 See above. See above.
58 LB JOE BRADLEY 2002-03 Walk-on who played in 5 games. Was listed in the 2004 Media Guide, but was not on the roster as of 9/8/04. All-District LB and went 15–0 and won the state title as a senior.
99, 92, 68 DE/OL TIM SCHAFER 2002-06 See above. See above.
44 HB MATTHEW JOHNSON 2004 On the roster for 1 season. Nothing listed.
33 WR FRANK EPITROPOULOS 2012-14 Red-shirted in 2012, caught 1 pass for 6 yards, his dad (John) and uncle (Ernie) played for OSU, transferred to MSU and had 1 tackle for the Spartans. Played WR, DB and P for UA. Two-time 2nd Team All-Ohio
Back To School

Upper Arlington is located in Franklin County and is currently in the Ohio Capital Conference. The team competes in Division I, Region 2. The Golden Bears went 5–5 last year. 2015 was the last time the team made the playoffs. UA traveled to Pickerington Central and defeated the Tigers, 27-17, in the first round. They lost to Hilliard Davidson, 17-10, in the second round.

The football program won its only state tournament title in 2000. Before OHSAA had the state tournament, Upper Arlington won three consecutive AP Poll Championships in 1967, 1968 and 1969. A big thank you to lectricbuck for the hot tip on the AP titles.

Notable

Upper Arlington has won 49 state titles. During the 1986-87 school year, the Golden Bears won a singe year state record four state championships (Boys' golf, girls' cross country, boys' swimming, baseball).

Probably not a surprise that UA's boys' golf has won 17 state titles (2006, 1999, 1993, 1992, 1986, 1985, 1982, 1981, 1977, 1974, 1972, 1969, 1968, 1965, 1960, 1956, 1941).

The girls' swim team has an impressive 12 championships (2017, 2016, 2015, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2003). Girls' cross country has six titles (1990, 1986, 1985, 1982, 1981, 1978), boys' swimming has three (1987, 1986, 1985), girls' lacrosse (2018, 2017), boys' baseball (1990, 1987) and boys' track (1939, 1937) have two and football (2000), girls' gymnastics (1995), girls' basketball (1988) and boys' basketball (1937) each have one.

Boys' and girls' water polo and boys' lacrosse are not sponsored by OHSAA, but Upper Arlington has won 11 championships in girls' water polo, 9 in boys' lacrosse and 6 in boys' water polo.

Famous Alumni

Famous names you may know: Actress and Ellen Griswold in National Lampoon's Vacation movies, Beverly D'Angelo, Hugo Award-winning novelist Lois McMaster-Bujold, Nobel Prize-winning astrophysicist George Smoot, ragtime artist Terry Waldo and the PGA player with the most major championships, the Golden Bear, Jack Nicklaus.

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...LOUISVILLE  99...URBANA 98...CAMBRIDGE 97...WARRENSVILLE HEIGHTS 96...COLUMBIAN 95...NEWARK CATHOLIC 94...VILLA ANGELA-ST. JOSEPH  93...AVON LAKE 92...DAYTON DUNBAR 91...STRONGSVILLE
90...PORTSMOUTH  89...MASSILLON PERRY 88...LAKEWOOD 87...AMHERST/MARION L. STEELE 86...WAPAKONETA 85...ROGER BACON 84...BEREA 83...WESTLAKE 82...COLDWATER 81...HOOVER
80...HOVER 79...READY 78...LAKE CATHOLIC 77...OLENTANGY 76...GROVE CITY 75...INDEPENDENCE 74...WESTERN RESERVE 73...GARFIELD 72...LAKOTA WEST 71...LOGAN
70...SOUTH 69...NORTHMONT 68...WESTERVILLE CENTRAL 67...MENTOR 66...FREMONT ROSS 65...HOWLAND 64...TOLEDO CENTRAL CATHOLIC 63...VALLEY FORGE 62..MEADOWDALE 61...MAUMEE
60...MARION PLEASANT 59...BRUSH 58...MIAMI TRACE 57...KENT ROOSEVELT 56...MARION FRANKLIN 55...LA SALLE 54...PIQUA 53...HAMILTON 52..TROTWOOD-MADISON 51...AKRON CENTRAL-HOWER
50...STEUBENVILLE 49...WALSH JESUIT 48...KENSTON 47...BEECHCROFT 46...MAYFIELD 45...BROOKHAVEN 44...PERKINS 43...ELYRIA 42...WOOSTER 41...ORVILLE
40...EUCLID 39...SANDUSKY 38...SOLON 37...PRINCETON 36...URSULINE 35...DUBLIN SCIOTO 34...BENEDICTINE 33...CARDINAL MOONEY 32...THOMAS WORTHINGTON 31...HILLIARD DAVIDSON
30...IRONTON 29...XENIA 28...ELDER 27...BOARDMAN 26...PICKERINGTON CENTRAL 25...ST. HENRY 24...SHAKER HEIGHTS 23...GLENOAK 22...ARCHBISHOP ALTER 21...LANCASTER
20...GAHANNA 19...COLERAIN 18...ST. XAVIER 17...DeSALES 16...WESTERVILLE SOUTH 15...ST. EDWARD 14...HUBER HEIGHTS WAYNE 13...WATTERSON 12...UPPER ARLINGTON 11
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

2,823 days since Ohio State has not defeated That Team.
103 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.

If you like Ohio high school football, or want to read about the best teams of the '50s and '60s, you should check out Tim Raab's book: Powerhouses of Ohio High School Football.

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

View 14 Comments