Recruiting is said to be the lifeblood of college football. This series will countdown the top 100 high schools in Ohio that have provided the Buckeyes with football players. The rankings are based on how many times a player from each high school has been listed on Ohio State's roster between 1970 and 2018.

No. 94, Villa Angela-St. Joseph

Qualification

Five players from Villa Angela-St. Joseph have appeared on eleven Ohio State rosters. OT Richard Troha was the the first on a Buckeye roster. Troha played for Ohio State between 1968 and 1970 and was a captain during his senior season at St. Joseph. The other player to make the roster in the '70s was DT Robert Coan, he was on the 1973 roster as a freshman. Today, Coan is the defensive line coach at VASJ.

Safety Jeff Gottron (1982), center and guard Rod Smith (1989-1993) and LB Jim Kortovich (1999-2001) are the other three Vikings to have their names printed on an Ohio State roster. From Smith's senior bio, "...has worked to get into playing weight, a situation that has hindered his progress...played in 10 games for just 27 minutes last season..."Big Deal" is his nickname." At St. Joseph, Smith was a consensus All-Ohioan and was named to the USA Today All-America team.

Back To School

Villa Angela-St. Joseph High School is located in Cuyahoga County and participates in the North Coast League. The team currently competes in Division V, Region 17. In 1989, VASJ won the state title in football. The last time the Vikings made the playoffs was 2014. VASJ lost to Garaway, 28-35, in the first round. 

The school was "created" when Villla Angela Academy and St. Joseph High School combined in 1988. The "new" school kept the names and traditions of the original schools. Students attending VASJ go to the original St. Joseph High School building. 

Notable

The school has won state titles in seven sports. To go along with the football title, VASJ has won titles in boys' basketball (7), boys' cross country (4), softball (3), girls' volleyball (2), girls' basketball (1) and wrestling (1).

An interesting note about the boys' basketball team is that it is the only program in Ohio to win state titles in all four OHSAA divisions.

Famous Alumni

The school has produced some famous football players. Unfortunately, those players decided to go to schools other than Ohio State. Football players you may have heard of: Bob Golic, Mike Golic, Elvis Grbac, Desmond Howard and London Fletcher. Today, you can see Howard make a fool of himself on college football Saturdays as he prognosticates victories for his college alma mater on ESPN. If you would like to see Grbac, visit VASJ and ask for the athletic director.

Clark Kellogg and David Lighty played high school basketball as Vikings and both went on to play for Ohio State. 

Explanation of the Rankings
School "A" had 14 players appear 16 times on Ohio State's roster. School "B" had 11 players appear 20 times on Ohio State's roster. School "B" will have the higher ranking. Why? Even though school "B" has less players, those players played for more years. 

If two or more schools have the same number of appearances, the tie will be broken by the school with the highest average of roster appearances per player. If there is a tie in the average, the tie breaker will be the school with the most prominent Ohio State player. 

2,741 days since Ohio State has not defeated That Team.
184 days until The Game.

Are you a former player, graduate, live near or have something to add about today's featured high school? Please share your story with us in the comments. What makes the 11W community unique is the amount of great information everybody is willing to share.