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LB Luke Roberts (Transfer to Harvard)

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2011 Eagle-Gazette Defensive Player of the Year: Lancaster's Luke Roberts
Nov. 24, 2011
Written by
Vince Nairn
The Eagle-Gazette Staff

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Lancaster senior Luke Roberts is the Eagle-Gazette 2011 Defensive Player of the Year. Roberts was first-team All-Ohio Capitol, first-team All-Central District in Division I and has verbally commit to Ohio State. / Matthew Berry, Jess Lanning/Eagle-Gazette

Luke Roberts

Position Linebacker

Height, weight 6-3, 225

School, year Lancaster, senior

Notes 118 tackles, 19 tackles for loss, five sacks
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LANCASTER -- Luke Roberts came into his senior season with Lancaster with high expectations and hopes of a long playoff run.

What he received was a 10-week life lesson that will help him as he moves on to college football.

The Golden Gales were ravaged by injuries and finished a disappointing 5-5, but Roberts had a stellar season. The Ohio State recruit had 118 tackles -- 19 for loss -- and five sacks in being Lancaster's unquestioned leader. He is the Eagle-Gazette's 2011Defensive Player of the Year.

"Luke was a three-year starter for us, which is an extremely rare accomplishment," Gales coach Rob Carpenter said. "The Lancaster football program will miss his tenacity and work ethic."

With the way the season went for the Gales, simply staying on the field for all 10 games would have been an accomplishment for Roberts.

Lancaster started 2-0 and looked strong before losing eight starters to season-ending injuries in the next four weeks. By season's end, 13 starters had combined to miss 67 games.

But Roberts was not one of them. He played every game, usually on both sides of the ball. In the preseason, Roberts volunteered to play fullback in addition to linebacker, and the Gales needed him more at both positions as the season went on and seemingly every player around him suffered an injury.

Roberts contributed more than 500 yards and nine touchdowns to an offense that struggled mightily at times.

"It was a little bit harder playing both ways when I had to play offense," Roberts said. "But I just wanted to be out there as much as I could."

At one point, Roberts was the lone healthy player out of the Gales' four captains. With his injured teammates missing at practice, Roberts continued to step up as a leader. He never blamed anyone for the team's poor record or used injuries as a scapegoat.

No matter how frustrating the year might have been, Roberts always tried to keep everybody positive and focused.

"I just wanted to lead the best way I could. We weren't doing great. It was tough," Roberts said. "At no point did I feel any pressure to stay healthy. There's enough pressure in the game already."

On the field, Roberts showed why his coaches rave about his work ethic. Roberts was in constant pursuit of the ball carrier whenever he was on the field, and he was rarely denied. He starred on a defense whose depth was tested all season.

Roberts bettered his stats from 2010 and grasped the concepts that don't appear in the box score.

"Luke had an outstanding year for us on defense," Carpenter said. "He really improved his pass coverage."

Roberts will enroll at Ohio State in January so he can be eligible for spring practice. Through an unexpectedly difficult season, Roberts said he received an important lesson in what happens when life does not go as planned.

"This season was tough," Roberts said. "It wasn't exactly what we were expecting. We thought we'd be a lot better. We faced more adversity than any Lancaster team in a long time.
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http://www.lancastereaglegazette.co...Roberts?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Frontpage|s
 
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Lancaster's Roberts optimistic about Meyer, wants Fickell to stay
Written by
Bryan DeArdo
The Eagle-Gazette Staff


LANCASTER ? Nearly five years ago, Lancaster senior and Ohio State recruit Luke Roberts watched as Urban Meyer?s Florida Gators routed the Buckeyes 41-14 in the BCS national championship game.

Now, Roberts will get his chance to win a national championship for Meyer at Ohio State.

Roberts, who will enroll at OSU in January, was recruited by Luke Fickell this past fall. While Roberts is excited to play for the two-time national champion coach, he also hopes that Fickell is retained in some capacity.

A linebacker, Roberts also hopes to be coached under Mike Vrabel, a former Buckeye and three-time Super Bowl champion who was hired by Fickell prior to last season.

?I?m excited about the opportunity to play for Coach Meyer. I haven?t talked with (Meyer) yet, but I hope to either tonight or tomorrow,? Roberts said. ?I want to find out the kind of man that I?m going to play for, but he seems like a really respectable guy and he obviously knows how to win.?

A player that was first recruited by Jim Tressel and later signed after Fickell was named interim coach, Roberts hopes that Meyer has the same morals and values that OSU?s two previous coaches possessed.

?(Tressel and Fickell) are great men of character and are men of integrity. I hope that Coach Meyer is able to bring that to the table,? Roberts said.

Roberts? optimism to play for Meyer and desire for Fickell to remain on the coaching staff were shared by the several other commits that Roberts spoke with on Monday.

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http://www.lancastereaglegazette.com/article/20111128/SPORTS/111128008
 
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OSU-bound Roberts chosen as second-team All-Ohio selection
Nov. 29, 2011
Written by
Bryan DeArdo
The Eagle-Gazette Staff

Monday was quite an eventful day for Lancaster senior and Ohio State recruit Luke Roberts.

Less than an hour after Urban Meyer was introduced as OSU's next coach, Roberts was named a second-team All-Ohio performer.

Roberts, who was the catalyst for the Golden Gales defense this past season at linebacker, was a special mention All-Ohio choice last year.

"It's been a big day after finding out about Coach Meyer and being honored by being an All-Ohio selection," Roberts said. "I don't know a lot of guys that are fortunate enough to be recognized as one of the top players in the state, so I'm very happy to be named to the team."

Roberts was also happy to continue Lancaster's glittering reputation as a program that produces top-tier talent.

"We've had a lot of talented players come though here, and I know that there will be more good players to come through the program. It's nice to be recognized for my efforts and to represent my school," Roberts said.

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http://www.lancastereaglegazette.com/article/20111129/HSSPORTS01/111290314
 
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Lancaster's Roberts remains committed to Buckeyes
Dec. 21, 2011

LANCASTER -- Lancaster senior Luke Roberts will remain committed to Ohio State despite the school's one-year bowl ban, he said Tuesday.

Roberts, a three-star recruit according to Rivals.com, still plans to graduate in January and enroll early at Ohio State.

As for the severity of the penalties against Ohio State, which include being banned from a bowl game and the Big Ten championship game next year and the loss of nine scholarships for the next three years, Roberts said he didn't know what they would be.

"I had started to believe that it wouldn't be too bad," Roberts said Tuesday via text message. "But deep down I kind of assumed they would get a ban."

Roberts accumulated 118 tackles and five sacks last season for the Gales after verbally committing to the Buckeyes in July.
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http://www.lancastereaglegazette.co...ancaster-s-Roberts-remains-committed-Buckeyes
 
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