The Ohio Valley was in good attendance for the 2nd annual Massillion Combine, hosted by Next Level Football on February 19th. Having only 2 Ohio Valley natives participate a year ago, this years camp featured 30 athletes, representing 11 different OVAC schools from around the Valley. The combine packed in 137 High School athletes from 5 different States.
Jason Rine, Ohio Valley native and President of Next Level Football was impressed with not only the turnout of OVAC athletes, but their performances as well.
I’m really happy that we are able to have an event like this close to the Ohio Valley, and I’m even more proud at how the Ohio Valley kids represented themselves”
Rine joined Next Level Football in October of 2010 after a career at HighSchoolSports.net. With him, he brought the expertise of Ken Massey, professor at Carson Newman College, and mastermind behind the well known “Massey Ratings”.
Together, they created the Athletic Aptitude Test (AAT), a complex mathematical system used to rank athletes based on their age, height, weight, position, 40 time, agility shuttle, broad jump, and vertical leap. The scoring system ranks athletes on a 0-100 scale.
With the new ranking system in place, Rine was highly impressed with the AAT results of St. Clairsville freshman Michael Ferns. Out of 137 participants, Ferns ranked 7th with a composite AAT score of 75.3, top among Ohio Valley participants.
The 6 foot 3 freshman weighed in at 215lbs, running a 4.8 40 yard dash, 4.44 agility shuttle, 108 broad jump, and a 26.2 vertical leap.
Rine commented on Ferns,
If we’re going on raw physical potential, the sky is the limit… he has a tremendous upside. Considering he’s a freshman, he is extremely impressive.
Turning in another impressive Ohio Valley effort behind Ferns was Linsly junior Mark Dodd. Dodd, a 2 time Next Level Football participant ranked 8th overall at the combine. The 6 foot 2 Linsly prep turned in an AAT score of 73.6, running a 4.82 40 yard dash, 4.42 agility shuttle, 105 broad jump, and 29.3 vertical jump.
Rine commented on Dodd saying,
Dodd has a very impressive physical stature… he’s a very powerful kid. Linsly has a very nice off season program, and Dodd is a fine example of somebody who’s taken advantage of it. He was a tremendous kid to be around… very focused.
Another Ohio Valley product shined during individual drills with Linsly’s Ricky Jordan running an impressive 4.63 40 yard dash.
Once the combine broke into group drills, Rine was again pleased with the performance of two Ohio Valley athletes.
Linsly’s Haydon Stanley stood out at wide receiver during the 7 on 7’s running crisp routes and showing great athleticism.
Wheeling Central’s Erik Gompers made the most of his opportunity during 7 on 7’s by hauling in 3 touchdown passes.
The Massillion Combine kicked off the first of 17 scheduled combines for Next Level Football in 2011. You can get more information about Next Level Football by visiting their website at NextLevelFootball.com.
Ohio Valley Participants from the 2011 Next Level Football Massillion Combine (2/19/11)
Linsly
-Adam Jones
-Gabe Hill
-Ricky Jordan
-Mark Dodd
-Haydon Stanley
-Ryan Reithmiller
-Neil Patrick Drennan
Wheeling Central
-Gino Bianconi
-Erik Gompers
-Ian Yahnke
-Nick Naumann
-JT Nixon
-Julian Figaretti
-Seth Yost
-Brandon Gast
-Corey Bryan
Wheeliong Park
-DC Banks
-Joshua Dent
Bridgeport
-Cole Smelley
-MIke Dalto
Bellaire
-Charles Myers
-Logan Koshenka
St. Clairsville
-Michael Ferns
-Corey Kotopka
Shenandoah
-Shane Crum
Edison
-Shane O’Brien
Brooke
-Timothy Faulkner
-Raleigh Mason
Barnesville
-Tyler Fitzpatrick
Zanesville
-Lucas Howard
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