Senior Tackle: Cade Stover turns to family after impressive performance, frustrating loss

Ohio State commitment Cade Stover is set to embark on his final season of high school football and basketball at Lexington (Ohio) High School.

Lexington, a small town of just about 4,700 people near Mansfield, is a farm community that’s played an instrumental role in raising Stover, the country’s eighth-ranked outside linebacker. He committed to the Buckeyes in late April this year, picking Ohio State over Penn State, Notre Dame and 20 other schools. The 6-foot-4, 230-pound athlete is on the verge of becoming his school’s all-time leading scorer in basketball, and he will share all of the ups and downs of his senior year with Lettermen Row in this weekly journal.

Sometimes things don’t go as planned.

I’m extremely disappointed to say that we lost to our cross-town rivals, Ontario, last Friday night. We lost 14-7.

We gave good effort, but just need to clean up a few mental mistakes, stay on blocks and continue to play with a chip on our shoulders. That’s the only way to learn from a loss like this. My personal performance was very solid, as I had 29 tackles and also had five catches. With those kind of numbers, it should’ve been a good night. However, after a loss, no matter how good the individual performance was, you will have that sick feeling that you cannot get rid of until the next game.

I still have that now.

It won’t go away until hopefully we can get back on the winning track against Shelby this weekend. Shelby is a very good team with a lot of offensive weapons. We are excited for the challenge and will be ready to go Friday.

As disappointing as the loss was, being back on the field with the people that gave everything they had during practice and camp was everything you would expect it to be: Amazing. I love playing with my teammates.

Outside of football, this week is more of a normal week for me. It’s all about going to school, playing football and feeding cows. Sounds like a Chevy truck commercial, doesn’t it? Monday and Tuesday have been two of the hottest days this summer in Lexington. It’s been brutal, and though the heat is not that bad when you do not have to go to school in it, our high school has no AC. I am serious when I say that getting ready for school in the morning you have to make sure you pack an extra shirt because it gets so hot. Ohio State has air-conditioned buildings I hope. 

I look forward to nothing more after these days than my mother’s home-cooked meals. Every night when I get home there is a homemade meal waiting on the table for me and my family. That never fails to disappoint, and I know it’s something I am going to miss when I leave for school. Just sitting at the dinner table every night with my family talking about the day and things to come is what brings us so close together. We can talk openly and honestly about anything. I swear my little sister tells story after story, sometimes she talks so much I wonder how she even has time to eat. Gabby, my middle sister, always has something funny and very witty to say, and she never holds back either. So, dinner is always a good time. These are the times that have always helped me on bad days, where you think nothing can go right. Then you get home and realize that whatever you are upset about can wait and you will always know that your family will have your back. I’m very blessed that way.

In better news, the wait is finally over. College football is back this Saturday with some of the best teams in the country getting an opportunity to showcase their new stars and new teams.

If you say you love football, there’s nothing better than this, especially when it comes to turning on the Buckeyes game. I am very excited to watch the opener against Oregon State, and I wish I could be there. But I’ll be watching on TV and seeing the Silver Bullets flying around the field making play after play. Go get it done, Buckeyes.