Senior Tackle: Cade Stover keeps winning, still giving back to Lexington
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 Cade Stover will share all of the ups and downs of his senior year with Lettermen Row in this weekly journal.
After another great weekend of football, we sit at 5-4 after beating Madison in a 42-16 win. It feels great to have our record over .500 after the way the season started.
We played great as a team and finally started the game off fast. I am happy to say that I’ve reached the 1,000-rushing yard mark on the season. I owe a ton of thanks to our offensive line. They’ve been making massive holes, and it’s made my job a lot easier, especially in the recent weeks.
After the game on Saturday morning, I went out to the local bakery and bought each of my lineman two donuts and some chocolate milk. They need to get something in return for their dirty work, right? They don’t get enough credit for all they do. I think they enjoyed them since the donuts were all gone very quickly. Especially Preston, our center — I think he ate them faster than any person has ever eaten two donuts before. It feels good to give back, even if it’s just something small.
This coming week is a big game for us because we need to win to keep our spot in the playoffs. This week we play Canton South, a team we have never played before. We are excited, focused and ready to go grab another win. It’s Senior Night, so I know it will be a special night for me and the other seniors on our team.Â
As the season gets closer to ending, I find myself thinking more about football and what playing here at Lexington has meant to me. This past summer I had the pleasure of hearing about a boy in the junior high school with a severe disability; he has no function in his arms or his legs. After getting to know him, I learned that he is a very smart kid and he loves football.Â
With some help from my Mom we set up a date where he could come on the sidelines of the football game, which we did last weekend. Last Thursday I went down to the junior high and ate lunch and spent a class period with him, and getting to know him better was nothing short of great. He is so positive, so smart and like I said, a huge football fan. I dropped him off a No. 8 Lexington jersey like I wear so he could wear it to the game. I think he had a great time and enjoyed it. He may not see it yet, but he is already a role model to me and I will always be a fan. There’s something really inspiring about who he is, because he could have reasons to complain but focuses on the positives instead.Â
Football aside, I spent this last weekend like I spend most of them. Saturday I spent most of the day getting the grain dryer ready to run. The dryer is pretty much what the name implies.
We put the corn out of the field into the wet bin. From there, the corn goes through the dryer where it is heated and then cooled so the moisture of the corn is right where it should be. On Sunday I spent the whole day in the combine cutting corn with my best friend. Kyle ran the grain cart and Dad drove the semi.
It always is a great time doing what we love. Thanks for reading again Buckeyes fans. See you next week.
Go Bucks.
