Lance Phillips OG/LB/P
by: Wade Peery
School: Wellston Golden Rockets (6-4)(4-1)
Height: 6'2
Weight: 238 lbs
40-yard dash speed: 4.61 sec.
Bench press: 335 lbs. at Ohio State Powerlifting Meet in Kenton, Ohio last March. He also benched 185 lbs. 27 times at the Nike Camp in Blacksburg, Va on May 17,2003. This tied him for 6th best bench in the entire camp, which had around over 300 players attending it, according to Lance's father, Bo Phillips. Not bad for a guy who was wrapping up his sophomore year in high school.
Future plans: Lance figures to be one of the most highly sought after prospects, not only in Ohio, but nationally. Lance has already had an excellent career at Wellston, racking up 98 tackles as a freshman en route to earning 1st team All-TVC Ohio honors. He had 112 tackles last year, and also earned TVC-Ohio Player of the Year honors last year and TVC-Ohio Defensive Player of the Year honors. After his performance in the Nike Camp last May, he was tagged as the 5th best linebacker in the entire camp. Lance's father told me that the Virginia Tech coaches were present at this camp, but it was unclear how many and which coaches on their staff were there. Currently, he has received no scholarship offers but they will probably start pouring in later this year. He has received letters from just about every big time college football program you can think of, including Notre Dame, Stanford, UCLA, Michigan, Iowa, and Alabama, just to name a few. I spoke at length with Lance's father and he said they haven't currently planned any college visits. He does have a good idea of where Lance would like to go if they offer him. He has dreamed of playing for the Ohio State Buckeyes since he began going to their camps 7 years ago. Lance has attended the OSU football camp every year for the past 7 years. If the Buckeyes offer, then Lance will be wearing scarlet and gray, but if they don't, it's really wide open. Lance also was recently invited to San Antonio, where he will participate in the U.S. Army All-American combine. The combine features some of the top players nationally and will be held in the Alamodome on January 1st and 2nd. The recruiting process should be interesting and we will certainly keep you updated.
Best performance in 2003: 21-27 loss against Jackson Ironmen (19 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 1 interception, 2 fumble recoveries, long-snapper for placekicks and punts)
Reasons he should win: Lance is one of the top linebackers in all of Ohio, if not the country. The blitzing behemoth from Wellston has put up defensive numbers this year that are amazing(133 tackles, 35 for loss, 3INTs, 4 fumble recoveries). He keeps offensive coordinators up at night, thinking about the blocking schemes they will have to use to contain him. He is the type of player that can take control of a game because teams will double and triple team him and free up the rest of the Wellston defense. Opponents are so worried about Lance that they fail to execute their own plays properly. Not too many teams have been successful at stopping the 238-pounder, who has also been critical in the Wellston ground game. Lance has played offensive guard all season and helped to clear the way for Rex Herrold and a vicious ground attack that rushed for over 2,300 yards this season. This season Lance has stepped it up for the big games. He played brilliantly in the Jackson game against an Ironmen offense that is led by another POY candidate (Jared Humphreys). The Golden Rockets nearly pulled off the upset against a team that was ranked 3rd in their region headed into the Ohio State playoffs thanks to his spectacular game. Also, he had another excellent game in a losing effort against the Nelsonville-York Buckeyes (18 tackles, 3 for loss). Lance is the emotional and physical leader of this Wellston defense. He's the catalyst that helps to spark better play from his teammates. His dad made the observation that Lance is such a great linebacker because of his "intensity". This intensity that Lance brings to the field helps to fire the other players up in the locker room and helps them to pick up their play out on the field. Helping to get those emotional juices flowing is every bit as important as the statistics he has racked up. Not only does he play linebacker and offensive guard but he also long snaps for punts and kicks. Lance also punts for the Golden Rockets as well.
Reasons he shouldn't win: Much like the Heisman trophy, the Player of the Year Award is an honor that usually goes to a senior. Call me crazy, but barring injury, Lance will be back next year as a Gridiron Glory Player of the Year finalist. Since he'll have a shot at winning it next year, many would say that the talented seniors on the list,(Gregory, Johnson, Jenkins) deserve the hardware more. Critics will say that Phillips didn't lead his team to a conference crown and that despite his excellent individual performance, his team still got spanked by the Buckeyes of Nelsonville-York. Others will argue that there are games where Lance's performance dropped off tremendously, like in the Waverly game. That's being really picky, because only ran 20 offensive plays for the entire game. Even with a few subpar games, the Wellston native still managed to put up eye popping numbers.
Stat Log:
Week 1: Jackson(19 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 1 interception, 2 fumble recoveries, long snapped for placekicks and punts
Week 2: Minford(20 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, long snapped for placekicks and punts
Week 3: Waverly(6 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, long snapped for placekicks and punts, only 20 possible chances to make a tackle)
Week 4:Oak Hill(8 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 1 interception, long snapped for placekicks and punts, played first half only)
Week 5: Rock Hill(15 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, long snapped for placekicks, punted 6 times for 39.20yd average)
Week 6: Meigs (7 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, long snapped for placekicks. played 1st half only
Week 7: Belpre: (14 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 1 fumble recovery, long snapped for placekicks
Week 8: Nelsonville-York: 18 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, long snapped for placekicks and punts, 3 punts for 43.67 avg.
Week 9: Alexander: 11 tackles, 6 tackles for loss, long snapped for placekicks and punts, 2 punts for 48 yard avg.
Week 10: Vinton County: 15 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 1 fumble recovery, 1 interception, long snapped for three extra points, 2 punts for 35.5 yard avg..
2003 SEASON STATISTICS FOR LANCE PHILLIPS
Tackles 133
Tackles for loss 35
Fumble recoveries 4
Interceptions 3
Punts 15 punts, 40.87 yds
