Selected to play in the 75th annual Ohio High School Football Coaches Association North-South Classic, Huelskamp, Luthman and Minnich are part of a area contingent numbering 19 chosen to play in the nation’s longest running high school football all-star event. The small school game (Divisions IV-VII) is slated for a noon kick, while the big school game (Divisions I-III) follows at 4 p.m. on April 25 at Massillon’s Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.
»RELATED: Saturday’s high school roundup, scores
The Classic has previously been played at Welcome Stadium and Ohio Stadium.
Huelskamp (running back), Luthman (offensive line) and Minnich (defensive line) are part of the South’s small school squad that includes Valley View lineman Justin Bromagen, Coldwater linebacker Russell Klosterman and Springfield Shawnee lineman Josh Lange.
While no area small schools have a coach in the game, there is a local link. Former St. Henry, Penn State and Pittsburgh Steelers All-Pro offensive lineman Jeff Hartings is a South assistant coach. Hartings is the head coach at Worthington Christian High School in Columbus. His son Lucas is a South quarterback.
Franklin (lineman Nick Back, quarterback Braden Woods and kicker Bryan Thacker), Northmont (receiver Jazz Keys and lineman Breant Kendall), Xenia (linemen EJ Wilson and Gavin Gerhardt), Greenville (linebacker John Butsch and defensive back Marcus Wood) and Fairfield (defensive back Sawiaha Ellis and linebacker Phoenix Porter) are well represented on the South’s big school roster.
Middletown linebacker Cheikh Fall and St. Marys Memorial lineman Blake Kanorr will also appear.
Franklin’s Brad Childers and Greenville’s Bart Schmitz are South assistant coaches.
All players will be recognized at a luncheon Thursday (Feb. 6) that kick-starts the annual OHSFCA Clinic in Columbus.
The three-day event, tabbed “America’s Greatest Football Clinic,” features several notable college head coaches including PJ Fleck (Minnesota), Tom Allen (Indiana), Luke Fickell (Cincinnati) and Jeremy Pruitt (Tennessee). Ohio State’s Ryan Day opens Day 2. Other key speakers include Ohio State co-defensive coordinator Kerry Combs and Cincinnati defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman.
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