Year of the Quarterback: Justin Zwick was the biggest high school football transfer in 2 counties

EDITOR’S NOTE: Months of research led to a series, “Year of the Quarterback,” being presented in three waves. The first wave — 10 articles covering the volatile new world of the transfer portal — was published recently. This is the fourthstory in the second wave, which tracksthen-and-now journeys of 10 Stark County quarterbacks.

Ohio State quarterback Justin Zwick on the field against Florida during the BCS National Championship game at the University of Phoenix Stadium, Jan. 8, 2007, in Glendale Ariz.

Like chocolate in Hershey, football fills the air in Massillon, seldom as richly as on Nov. 23, 2002.

Around 3 o’clock in Columbus, Jim Tressel, sweater-vested son of a former Massillon coach, celebrated a roaring win over Michigan that sent Ohio State to a national championship game.

The aura wafted like a moveable feast to Akron, where two leathery towns shoe-horned into the Rubber Bowl to see Massillon fight Warren Harding in the Division I state semifinals.

Around 9 o’clock, a slugfest went to overtime.

Ohio State quarterback Justin Zwick gets a pass off against Marshall at Ohio Stadium, Sept. 11, 2004.

Tigertown itched for its first state playoff championship. Warren had just watched one of its own, Ohio State freshman Maurice Clarett, run over Michigan.

Justin Zwick spent the day in the eye of the hurricane, on the Ohio State bench as a prized freshman, a year removed from playing in the state semis for Massillon.

Third-year Ohio State quarterback Craig Krenzel had arrived without fanfare from Sterling, Michigan.

Zwick, in contrast, was “probably the most highly regarded quarterback to enroll at Ohio State in more than four decades,” according to Ohio State’s media guide.

Justin Zwick began career by winning OHSAA state championship with Orrville football

Zwick’s move from Orrville to Massillon stands as the most…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/quarterback-justin-zwick-biggest-high-101014789.html

Author : The Repository

Publish date : 2024-09-20 10:10:14

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