Senior Tackle: Cade Stover returns to Ohio State, deals with humbling defeat

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. This week, Stover looks back on a humbling defeat and talks about his most recent visit to Ohio State

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This last week of football was one of the toughest Friday-night games I have had in my four years of high school.

Simply put, we took it on the chin against Orrville, losing 57-21. It’s a hard and humbling loss, but the first person to blame in a loss like that is me. I didn’t play the way I should have, and despite still having a fairly good offensive night, it’s on me as the leader of my team. We did not get the job done, but I do give a lot of credit to Orrville, they had a great game plan and executed well. We didn’t.

It’s humbling when you get beat like that, and I will do whatever I can to make sure it doesn’t happen again. I am making this week the most intense grind yet for our team, because that’s my job. I need to set the example. I have all the faith in the world in my teammates that we can turn this around and make something positive out of the season. Just need to taste one win to get on the right track, and this Friday against Mount Vernon is a great time to turn it around.

As I stated last week, I went to the Ohio State and Rutgers game on Saturday in Columbus, my first time visiting the school in a while. Being there in the stands as just a common fan is a great feeling, and it’s something I loved doing growing up. But being there knowing that next year you will be able to suit up in the Scarlet and Gray? That is something impossible to simulate and kind of difficult to explain.

This was my first game there as a commit, and though it may not seem different to go to a game as a recruit or a commit, take it from me, it was a different feeling I can’t describe in words. It was just a rush of emotion and passion for the city and the program. To know that I’m a part of that future? Wow.

Saturday morning when I first arrived, I went into the Woody Hayes Athletic Center to say hello to people, and from there I went to the Blackwell Hotel where the team stays on Friday nights during the season. A very cool part of the trip? Walking onto the floor of St. John’s Arena packed full of people for the Skull Session. Each week a different player and a coach speak to the crowd before home games, getting everyone pumped up and ready for the game. From there we went to go eat, then into the stadium and then to our seats for the game. The weather wasn’t great, but you kind of forget that when you see the fans that come out and support everyone. I can’t wait to be a part of it.

This week on the farm was a wet one, as it was around most of Ohio, I think. When it rains this much there is not usually much to do outside, so my Dad and I took Sunday to change oil and change brakes in the cars and just stayed in the garage. It seems like whatever we do, though, there is always one unusual thing that usually happens. We found one of our bulls that was out with the female cows had an abscess in his ear, so Dad and I had to put him in the barn to work on him through our cattle chute. 

As you can imagine, that is a huge struggle. His neck is so massive that he can’t fit into the head lock of the chute so we can hold him still to work on him. We had to lure him close with grain, and then we got a halter on his head. Then it was up to me to hold his head back while dad lanced the abscess in his ear. I tell you, every day I feel like I’m doing something most people wouldn’t understand. It was a success though, and he feels much better with that out of his ear and his manner is back up.

I know next year I’ll be running out of the tunnel at Ohio Stadium, but I realize that these are the times I will remember and miss for the rest of my life. 

Thank you all for reading. See you next week. As always, Go Bucks.