AVON LAKE — For a school like Avon Lake, having a few players move onto college football every season is almost expected. That’s why Monday’s ceremony at the school was so special.

The Shoremen announced that five players from this team will be playing on scholarships next season at colleges from the East Coast to the Midwest — a school best.

"I’ve been involved in the football program at Avon Lake for 37 years and we’ve never had five scholarship players in one year," said head coach Dave Dlugosz, who just finished his 19th year as head coach. "We’re seeing five tremendous examples of all three proponents of our football program."

Brian Mihalik, who will be playing in April’s North-South game at Ohio Stadium, will play at Boston College, his father’s alma mater.

"Through the whole process he didn’t want to steer me in either direction but it ended up being the right choice," Mihalik said. "He’s excited and I’m excited."

A terror for opposing quarterbacks, Mihalik had 11 sacks in 2010 and also played tight end. The second-team All-Ohio selection also returned an interception for a touchdown against Shaker Heights in Week 2 and was one of the team’s captains along with the other four signees, which made it more special.

"It’s really exciting, it was a lot of fun," Mihalik said. "We’ve all tried to be leaders for the team no matter what happened."

Shoremen tackle Andrew Bohan, a third team All-Ohio selection, will be playing his football at Akron next year. The top lineman in Lorain County filled in nicely for Michigan recruit Christian Pace and helped pace the two-pronged running attack of Zach Johnson and Dontez Smith. Bohan will be joining Mihalik at the North-South game in April and is on the Ohio roster for the Big 33 game between Ohio and Pennsylvania. Bohan, a 6-foot-5 lineman, is fulfilling a goal by signing on with the Zips, a choice that he found relatively easy.

"It’s a little unreal looking back to years ago wanting to play football in college," Bohan said. "I liked everything they showed me. It was just a great fit, I felt comfortable down there."

Bohan, along with defensive back Peter Lancione was also named Academic All-Ohio. On Akron’s schedule every season in the Mid-American Conference East Division is Buffalo, where Bohan will face fellow Shoreman Ronnie Willoughby.

"It’s a little friendly rivalry in the MAC," Bohan said.

One of the county’s top receivers, Willoughby’s 40-yard dash time dropped significantly in the summer of 2009, putting him on the college radar when he timed out at 4.6 seconds and then caught nine touchdown passes in each of the last two seasons. Also a standout for the Shoremen basketball team, Willoughby was selected third team All-Ohio and is part of a solid recruiting class for the Bulls.

"I’m just happy that it’s all over. The recruiting process is so long," Willoughby said. "I’m excited to play college football."

Choosing the Bulls came down to being comfortable and having a chance at success.

"It’s like a big family out there," Willoughby said. "The coaching staff is very good … They’ve won everywhere they’ve been. This is the best recruiting class Buffalo has ever had so that went into it a lot."

The Shoremen had just three signings planned for National Signing Day last Wednesday, but two other players joined the party after the ceremony was snowed out and pushed back to Monday. Lineman Micah Charlton went on his visit to Georgetown College in Kentucky on Friday and fell in love with the campus right away. The first African-American co-captain for Avon Lake football, Charlton was happy to join his teammates as they all celebrated moving on to the next level.

"When I got to Georgetown I knew it was where I was supposed to be," Charlton said. "I know I made the right decision."

Charlton’s brother, Charles Howard, was killed in August of 2009, so his signing was done with a heavy heart and with memories Charles, who played running back for Elyria, on his mind.

"I know he would be proud of me so I’m just going to go to the next level and make him proud there," Charlton said.

Charlton was glad he was able to share the moment with his teammates because of the support they showed him through the hard times.

"When my brother died, my teammates became my brothers," Charlton said. "Every Friday night I would go out there and do it for him, so this is basically for him."

Last but not least was quarterback Trent Toy, who will play at Walsh University in Canton. Toy made considerable strides in his two years at the helm for Avon Lake and helped lead the Shoremen to two Southwestern Conference championships and 16 victories in two playoff seasons along with his fellow seniors.

"It feels great to know where I’m going to school," Toy said. "It’s nice to know where I’m going and to know I’m going to play football at the next level."

Even it they came on late in the process, Walsh stood out among the colleges who were interested in Toy.

"It ended up being really easy," Toy said. "Walsh stood out among all the schools. When I went there on my visit and met with my coaches it felt comfortable. It was a place I could see myself spending my next four years."

courtesy of Colin Wilson

Who needs National Signing Day anyway?

Not Avon Lake offensive lineman and top recruit Christian Pace.

Pace has been enrolled at The University of Michigan for about a month now. The 6-foot-4 recruit graduated high school early so that he could get accustomed to college life and the demanding workouts that are required of Michigan players.

"I won’t be trying to learn all these new things all at once I’ll be here for awhile," he said.

Pace knew he was making a tough choice by enrolling early, likely missing out on prom and graduation with his class, but he had bigger fish to fry.

"I made sure that Christian understood that when he made this choice that he understood that he’d miss some of that stuff," said Avon Lake coach Dave Dlugosz, who has had his share of Division I recruits over the years. "He said, ‘Yea, I’m going to miss my friends and everything, but I’m ready to take that next step. I’m ready to go on to the next level now.’"

Pace is also taking on the bigger challenge of making a position change. A right tackle in high school, Pace’s lack of length — for a Big Ten lineman — made him better suited to be a center. But he’s taking the challenge in stride.

"It’s going to be an interesting transition with snapping and everything, but I’ll play wherever they want me to," Pace said. "The center makes all the line calls and reads the defense and gives the O-line all the calls it needs but other than that, I’m basically coming in fresh to the position."

The transition may be easier than it sounds though. Pace was the unquestioned leader of the line in his senior year and has the ability to see the whole field as a play develops.

"He finishes blocks really well, he’s also an intelligent football player," Dlugosz said.

"Christian understands concepts, when you tell him ‘we’re running this blocking scheme,’ he will be able to visualize who everybody is supposed to block and how he fits into that scheme. So he ends up being like a coach on the field. He understands those things really well."

Dlugosz isn’t alone in that opinion, either.

"I’ve had coaches tell me that (Pace’s highlight tape) is the best they’ve ever seen, bar none, coaches throughout the country," he said.

Rivals had Pace listed as the No. 5 center recruit in the country. Scout.com has him at No. 11. He also received offers from Colorado, Indiana, Louisville, Michigan State, Northwestern and could have even joined teammate Dan Schneider at Pittsburgh.

But in the end, he chose the Wolverines from as many as 25 scholarship offers.
Pace said he was impressed with the whole coaching staff for the Wolverines, namely line coach Greg Frey. His final three choices were Northwestern, Stanford and Michigan, which reflected Pace’s desire to get a top-notch education.

Michigan coach Rich Rodrgiguez likes what Pace brings to the table.

"Christian’s very athletic, a hard-nosed kid, and he played at a good program," Rodriguez said on Wednesday.

Of course, being from Northeast Ohio, which is known to some as "Columbus North," Pace has taken some good-natured ribbing from friends and even his coaches for his choice of college, which is the biggest rival to The Ohio State University.

But Pace didn’t grow up as much of a Buckeye fan. He liked the Oklahoma Sooners.
"No real reason, I just liked them," Pace said. "I would pull for Ohio State in games, but now, well — not anymore."

By playing college football, Pace is carrying on a family tradition and a Shoremen tradition. Pace’s older brother, Ian played at Fordham University and is now a graduate assistant on the coaching staff of Bowling Green State University.

"He helped me so much," Pace said. "He just instilled in me the hard work characteristic."

Pace is the third Shoreman to play in the Big Ten in the last 5 years. Before him were Trey Stross (Iowa) and Andrew Means (Indiana).

"I’m honored that I got the opportunity to represent Avon Lake at the next level. It’s great because it draws attention to Avon Lake and it’s good for upcoming players," Pace said. "Our past teams that Trey and Andrew were on were really solid teams that played in two state championship games and that really drew attention to our program, and the more I can help getting Avon Lake noticed is good."

Courtesy of Colin Wilson

Avon Lake’s Christian Pace, an offensive lineman, has decided on his college football career, signing to play at the University of Michigan this fall.

He had quite a few schools interested in, including Iowa, Florida State, Wake Forest, Ilinois, Stanford, South Carolina, Kansas, Maryland, Northwestern, Michigan, Michigan State, Vanderbilt, Colorado, Pittsburgh, Louisville, Indiana, North Carolina State, Marshall, Ball State, Miami (Ohio), Bowling Green, Toledo, Buffalo, Kent State, Ohio University and Air Force.

swalker@MorningJournal.com