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. 5, Eastmoor Academy
Qualification
19 players from Eastmoor Academy have been listed on 59 Ohio State rosters.
HB Archie Griffin (1972-75) the only two-time Heisman Trophy winner. The Buckeyes won four Big Ten titles, won the 1974 Rose Bowl and went 3–0–1 in The Game. Ohio State was 40–5–1 with No. 45 on the team.
Along with the Heisman's in 1974 and 1975, Griffin was honored with a long list of awards. He was the team's MVP twice (1973, 1974), captain twice (1974, 1975), All-American twice (1974, 1975), Big Ten Conference's MVP twice (1973, 1974), All-Big Ten three times (1973, 1974, 1975), the Maxwell Award (1975), Chic Harley Award twice (1974, 1975), UPI Player of the Year twice (1974, 1975), the Walter Camp Foundation Player of the Year twice (1974, 1975) and The Sporting News Man of the Year (1975).
Griffin's records per The Ohio State Team Guide:
• 1972: Set a then OSU single-game rushing record with 239 yards against North Carolina. Rushed for 867 yards during the year, then a freshman record.
• 1973: Became the first OSU sophomore to rush for 1,000 yards (1,577) and was named to a first-team spot on the UPI All-America team. Winner of the Chicago Tribune’s Silver Football as the Big Ten Player of the Year.
• 1974: Rushed for a then-school record 1,695 yards and was a unanimous All-America choice. Won the Heisman Trophy, a second-consecutive Silver Football and was the UPI and WalterCamp player of the year.
• 1975: Made college football history by winning his second Heisman Trophy. Again chosen by UPI and Walter Camp as Player of the Year. A consensus All-America selection.
• Holds NCAA records for 100-yard games (33) and consecutive 100-yard games (31).
• Held NCAA record for most average yards percarry-6.13
• Held NCAA career rushing record at conclusion of his career and he still ranks 11th in NCAA annals with 5,177 yards.
• The only player to lead OSU in rushing four consecutive years.
• The only player to start four Rose Bowl games.
• Ohio State’s career-rushing leader with 5,589 yards.
After his playing days, Griffin was inducted into the Varsity O Hall of Fame (1981), College Football Hall of Fame (1986) Rose Bowl Hall of Fame (1990), National High School Hall of Fame (1996), was the first recipient of the the B1G's Ford-Kinnick Leadership Award in 2011 and was named to the All-Century Player of the Rose Bowl in 2014. Oh yeah, in 1999, Ohio State officially retired Griffin's No. 45.
At Eastmoor, Griffin was All-Ohioan at fullback. He was also the captain of the football, wrestling and track teams. The Bengals selected him in the 1st round with the 24th pick of the 1976 NFL Draft.
S Ray Griffin (1974-77) helped the Buckeyes win four Big Ten titles and won the 1977 Orange Bowl over Colorado. In 1975, his interception set-up Ohio State's game-winning touchdown in The Game. He was the team captain, an All-American and All-Big Ten player as a senior in 1977.
Griffin first arrived on campus as a running back, but was switched to the secondary. He was known as a great tackler and amassed 82 stops in 1977. He also had a dramatic 65-yard touchdown after he took a lateral from Nick Buonamici on an interception against Indiana. The Bengals selected Ray Griffin in the 2nd round of the 1978 NFL Draft.
In high school, Griffin was an All-Ohioan at halfback. He led the City League in scoring and averaged 6.1 yards per carry as a senior.
DB Michael Guess (1976-79) the captain of the 1979 team was also named an All-Big Ten player three times (1977, 1978, 1979). He tied an Ohio State record when he had 3 interceptions against SMU in 1977. Guess started an impressive 33 games during his time in with the Buckeyes. As a senior, he had 50 tackles and led the team with 4 INTs. He also had 23 punt returns for 279 yards (long of 59) in his final season.
The Bears selected Guess in the 6th round of the 1980 NFL Draft. He ended up playing in the Canadian Football League for one season for the BC Lions.
During one game at Eastmoor, Guess returned two punts for touchdowns, intercepted two passes and recorded 16 tackles.
FB Dionte Johnson (2004-07) The son of Buckeye great Pepper Johnson was a powerful and bruising blocker who also could get the Buckeyes the tough yards. Ohio State won three Big Ten titles with Johnson clearing the way for the running backs. The team also went 4–0 in The Game. He was captain of the 2007 team and was named to the Academic All-Big Ten team three times (2005, 2006, 2007). You may know that the Johnsons are one of three father and son combos (Herbstreits and Davidson) to be name captains at Ohio State. Something you may not know is that Johnson's godfather is Ohio State All-American Keith Byars.
As a junior at Eastmoor, Johnson was the center for the Warriors. He was switched to fullback during his senior season and was an All-Ohioan. Johnson also won the Columbus City wrestling championship as a junior and played baseball and track. He was a member of the 4x100 relay team that won a regional title.
| No. | POS | PLAYER | YEARS | OHIO STATE CAREER | HS CAREER |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 45 | HB | ARCHIE GRIFFIN | 1972-75 | See above. | See above. |
| 56, 59 | OL | RONALD AYERS | 1973-76 | Played in 35 games during his career including 11 of the 12 his senior season. Saw time as both a guard and center. | All-Ohioan at tackle, played with Archie and Ray Griffin. Won awards in football, basketball and baseball. |
| 44 | HB, S | RAY GRIFFIN | 1974-77 | See above. | See above. |
| 46 | DB | DUNCAN GRIFFIN | 1975-78 | Played in 48 games with the Buckeyes and recorded 17 tackles as a senior. | Played TE and LB, was a great wrestler. |
| 62 | DT | ED MILLS | 1976-77 | Played in 3 games for 2 minutes during his career. | All-City in both football and basketball. |
| 12 | DB | MICHAEL GUESS | 1976-79 | See above. Captain in 1979, All-Big Ten in 1977, 1978 and 1979. | See above. |
| 17 | S | TIMOTHY GALLOWAY | 1979-80 | Played in 4 games for 3 minutes as a Buckeye. | Captain as a senior, was a 3-year starter in football and also ran track. |
| 39 | LB | ROBERT MANNING | 1981 | Had a total of 6 tackles in the three games (6 minutes) that he played during his only season on the roster. | Nothing listed. |
| 82 | LB | BYRON LEE | 1982-85 | Played in 45 games with 28 starts, was 3rd on the team with 72 tackles as a senior, was selected by the Eagles in the 7th round of the 1986 NFL Draft. | All-Ohioan at LB and earned letters in football, basketball and track. |
| 30 | LB | MIKE KEE | 1982-1986 | Missed his freshman season after a knee injury in the Ohio All-Star game, started in 9 of the 13 games his senior season. | All-Ohioan at linebacker |
| 48, 5 | HB | EVERETT ROSS | 1985-88 | Led the team with 29 receptions for 585 yards and 5 TDs in 1987, missed the 1988 season due to academics, selected by the Vikings in the 12th round of the 1989 NFL Draft. | All-Ohioan at running back. |
| 28 | S | ANTHONY WOODFORD | 1986 | Did not see the field in 1986. | Nothing listed. |
| 98 | WR | ALONZO SHAVERS | 1993-95 | Played in 10 games during his 3 seasons on the team. | Nothing Listed. |
| 24 | DB | CURTIS CROSBY | 1999-00 | Missed the 1999 season due to academics, played in 12 games for a total of 27 minutes in 2000. | Had 100 tackles, 12 PBUs and 2 INTs his senior year. |
| 7, 20 | HB | ROSHAWN PARKER | 2001-04 | Walked-on in 2001 after transferring from Ashland, had 4 career carries for 6 yards. | All-City and All-District honoree, played both DB and RB. |
| 49 | FB | DIONTE JOHNSON | 2004-07 | See above. | See above. |
| 32 | HB | DARRYL WOOD | 2011-12 | Walked-on and redshirted in 2011, did not have a carry. | All-City and All-District, recorded 98 tackles as a senior. |
| 28, 20 | DB | RON TANNER | 2011-14 | Academic All-Big Ten in 2012 and 2014. Played in 12 of the 15 games during the national championship season and tallied 8 tackles. | All-City, All- District and All-Metro, played S and QB and had 104 tackles, 3 INTs and 15 PBUs as a senior, also passed for 1,100 yards and 14 TDs. |
| 17 | CB/RB | DEVONTE BUTLER | 2013-14 | Walked-on in 2013, had 4 carries for 14 yards. | Played 4 sports, football, basketball, baseball and track. |
Back To School
Eastmoor is located in Franklin County and is in the Columbus City League. The team competes in Division III, Region 11. The Warriors went 9–1 in the regular season and qualified for the playoffs last year. They hosted Hillsboro and won, 34-14, then they defeated Hartley, 19-14, and Sheridan, 20-14. Eastmoor's playoff run ended to eventual state champ, Kenston, with a 40-7 loss in the state semi-final.
The football program was state runner-up in 2008.
Notable
Eastmoor has won three state titles...all of them in girls' track (2013, 2005, 2004).
The movie Speak, which starred Kristen Stewart, was filmed at Eastmoor in 2003.
Famous Alumni
Famous names you may know: Lynyrd Skynyrd drummer Artimus Pyle and jazz musician Michael Feinstein.
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.
2,830 days since Ohio State has not defeated That Team.
96 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.
