Avon Lake’s Trey Stross agreed to terms on a free-agent deal with the Houston Texans.

Stross started 12 games for Iowa last year, catching 31 passes for 414 yards and a touchdown. In his Iowa career he caught 73 passes for 964 yards and seven touchdowns.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

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 Trey Stross didn't exactly have the game he wanted individually, but as for his team - it was everything they wanted.

Stross caught one pass for nine yards, which helped seal a 24-14 victory Tuesday night and No. 10 Iowa solved Georgia Tech’s explosive triple option and Lake Catholic's Ricky Stanzi threw two early touchdown passes in the coldest Orange Bowl ever.

Temperature at kickoff was 49 degrees, and Tech’s offense was slow to warm up. The ninth-ranked Yellow Jackets averaged 35 points during the regular season, but their only score in the first three quarters came on Jerrard Tarrant’s 40-yard interception return.

The Hawkeyes (11-2) earned their first Bowl Championship Series bowl win, matched the school record for victories and could claim their highest final ranking since finishing No. 3 in 1960.

The Yellow Jackets were first in the nation in time of possession, second in rushing and 11th in scoring at 35 points per game. But they sputtered against an Iowa defense that held four bowl-bound teams to 10 points or less during the regular season.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Avon Lake’s Trey Stross and his 13th ranked Iowa Hawkeyes are off to their best start in 14 years, as they slipped past Arkansas State, 24-21 this afternoon at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa.

Lake Catholic’s Ricky Stanzi threw for a season-high 296 yards and three touchdowns, including a 33-yard TD pass to Stross to set the pace of their offense. Stross’ TD gave Iowa an early 7-0 lead, one they build to 21-7 before having to stave off a Red Wolves rally that brought it to within three, at 24-21 with 2:01 left to play.

“They stuck around, stuck around, stuck around and it almost bit us in the butt. But we got the job done,” Stross said.

Stross finished with four catches for 64 yards.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Avon Lake's Trey Stross caught four passes for 37 yards in Iowa's 27-17 win over Arizona, for the Hawkeyes' third-straight win on Saturday.

Freshman running back Adam Robinson rushed for a career-high 101 yards and two touchdowns and Iowa held Arizona to just eight first downs spoiling coach Mike Stoops’s return to Kinnick Stadium.

Ricky Stanzi added 205 yards passing for the Hawkeyes (3-0), but this win belonged to the defense. The Hawkeyes limited the Wildcats to 253 yards of offense—including just 94 in the second half—and 2 of 12 on third-down conversions, an impressive showing before next weekend’s Big Ten showdown at No. 5 Penn State.

Avon Lake's Trey Stross nabbed four passes for 69 yards in Iowa's convincing 35-3 win over Iowa State on Saturday.

Iowa has now won two straight in the series and five of the last seven.

Stross and the Hawkeyes are off to a 2-0 start and have won six in a row dating back to last November. They'll host Pac-10 foe Arizona this Saturday at Kinnick Stadium.

Iowa's defense forced six turnovers - five interceptions and a fumble.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Avon Lake’s Trey Stross caught three passes for 61 yards for Iowa as the Hawkeyes escaped with a 17-16 win over Northern Iowa. The game featured back-to-back blocks on two game-winning field goal attempts by Iowa State’s Billy Hallgren to seal the deal.

Elyria’s Danny Noble caught two passes for 18 yards for Toledo, as the Rockets were blasted by Purdue, 52-31 in West Lafayette, Indiana.

On Thursday night, Elyria’s P.J. Mahone and his Bowling Green Falcons took it to the Troy Trojans, winning 31-14 at Hoyt Perry Stadium. Mahone finished with eight tackles.

Also on Thursday, Amherst’s Alex Knipp led Ball State with 13 tackles on defense in its 20-10 loss to North Texas.

In Division II, Lake Erie College won a thriller in overtime, defeating Fairmont State University, 27-24. Brunswick’s Sean Bedevelsky threw the game-winning TD to Mentor’s Brandon James in the front right corner of the endzone in LEC’s home opener played at Jack Britt Memorial Stadium. Midview’s Scott Given was in on eight tackles, while Admiral King’s Cameron Bryant added four.

Notre Dame College of Ohio football will make its football debut on Sunday at 1 p.m. when they take on Hiram College on Korb Field in Lyndhurst.

In Division III action, North Ridgeville’s John McGraw scored a touchdown in Baldwin-Wallace’s 38-31 loss to Franklin at Berea. McGraw scampered from 9 yards out to score his first TD of the year, which happened to tie the game at 28 in the third quarter. He finished with 24 yards on six carries and he also caught four passes for 44 yards. Amherst’s Ryan Kish recorded a game-high 11 tackles on defense. Avon Lake’s Scott Nealon punted twice, averaging 42 yards a punt.

Midview’s Bobby Bott, a Division III All-American last season, helped 16th-ranked Case Western Reserve University get off to a good start, defeating Kenyon College, 33-21. The Spartans win is their 22nd straight regular-season victory and their eighth-straight season opening win. Bott recorded six tackles on defense and also returned a punt for eight yards.

Oberlin College lost to Washington and Jefferson, 35-9 in their opener. Amherst’s Shawn Chrapczynski recorded five tackles. Wellington’s Cory Kidd caught one pass for four yards and also punted eight times. Three of his punts were inside the 20-yard line.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Avon Lake's Trey Stross is coming home this college football season.

For the first time in his college career, Stross and the University of Iowa Hawkeyes invade The Ohio State University's Horse Shoe on Nov. 14, making his first trip back to Ohio to play football since graduating from Avon Lake in 2005.

"This will be the first time I get to go home and play in front of a lot friends and family," said Stross, who was red-shirted the last time Iowa played at Ohio State. "It'll be nice to have a little homecoming. It's definitely going to be a fun game."

Stross is back for his senior season and he hopes to finish his college career on a good note after battling injuries nearly every year in college.

"My career definitely hasn't been the fairy tale picture I had going in," Stross said. "Nobody can predict injury. It seems like every year I'd be doing real well and then I would have a hamstring injury or something to set me back."

This season, Stross is focused on remaining injury-free so he decided not participate in track and field after doing the high jump for two years.He had an indoor best of 6-foot-7 and outdoor best of 6-8, which ranks him 10th best in Iowa school history.

"I feel a lot healthier," Stross said. "My leg feels stronger. I'm not getting those tweaks or pulls like I used to."I didn't do track this past year to give me a whole spring and summer to get my leg stronger and in better shape so I can take the wear and tear of a football game."

Stross says his goal after college is what every football player dreams about.

"Going to the NFL is every player's dream when they play college football," Stross said. "You always want to keep on playing. Even with all my injuries, tweaks and bruises, I haven't lost that dream. Scouts say they need to see me stay healthy for a year so that's what I gotta do."

Iowa will open its season ranked among the nation's elite, having earned a position in the USA Today Coaches' Top 25 poll. The Hawkeyes are currently ranked No. 21.Iowa returns 16 starters from last year's team, losing eight starters.

It opens its season against Northern Iowa on Sept. 5 at Kinnick Stadium, which will be televised on the Big Ten Network.

Last season, Stross finished with 13 receptions for 109 yards and one touchdown in a injury-plagued junior season.His highlight was catching a six-yard touchdown pass in Iowa's 31-10 Outback Bowl win over South Carolina on New Year's Day.

The Hawkeyes finished with an 9-4 record and finished with a 20th ranking in the AP Poll, ESPN and USA Today poll.As a sophomore, he nabbed 16 passes for 272 yards, which included a career-high four touchdowns.

He had TD's against Indiana, Penn State, Northwestern and Western Michigan. The touchdown against Northwestern was a 53-yard diving catch that became ESPN's top play of the week.

The TD at Penn State was extra special because his grandma, a Penn State fan who hasn't been able to attend many games, was able to see him score at Beaver Stadium, despite while playing injured.Stross, who also grew up a Penn State fan, said his grandma always envisioned him scoring a TD at Beaver Stadium. It just happened to be on the opposing team.

As a red-shirt freshman in 2006, he played special teams and nabbed his first career TD pass against Wisconsin.He finished with 13 receptions for 189 yards.

At Avon Lake, he helped lead the Shoremen to a Division II Ohio State Championship in 2004 and three straight Southwestern Conference Championships.He was a Golden Helmet Award winner and two-time first team All-Ohio selection. He left Avon Lake with 100 receptions for 2,257 receiving yards, which includes 31 touchdowns.

He originally committed to play safety at Maryland, but his desire to play wide receiver in the Big Ten weighed out and he chose Iowa, who highly recruited him his senior year.

swalker@MorningJournal.com