WR Dane Sanzenbacher (Official Thread)

[utgrad73]

Sanzenbacher Heart

Brandon Saine :osu: didn't do much in tonight's playoff game (and he will explode in one of their playoff games). Still Piqua wins 33 - 14, but not without first seeing the Fighting Irish play their hearts out.

I think the real story here is the heart that the Irish showed this game and all season long. Two back to back city championships, a 22 game winning streak, two Irish Knight trophies, one Division II State Championship. The Irish and Dane certainly kept my heart pumping.
Sr WR Dane Sanzenbacher :osu: has more heart and natural ability than any player I've ever seen. He went for about 200 yards tonight in receptions, intercepted another setting the Irish up for a key drive and TD, blocked two PAT's, and ran for a TD while playing QB. A pretty good night under the lights. A very good season for an inspiring player and young athlete.

Dane :osu: and the Irish have made this Toledo area football fan very proud.
I can't wait to see Dane and Brandon as team-mates. :osu: I can't wait to see Dane work his Magic for the Buckeyes and show more of that heart that his fans have come to know these past two seasons.

I'm proud of the all the Fighting Irish and the way they played this season. Thank's for the great season. Thanks for showing us your heart. Thanks for getting mine to beat a little bit faster.



Go TCC Irish. :osu: Go Bucs.

 

[OSUBuckeye4Life]

He went for about 200 yards tonight in receptions, intercepted another setting the Irish up for a key drive and TD, blocked two FG's, and ran for a TD while playing QB. A pretty good night under the lights. A very good season for an inspiring player and young athlete.

 

[RB07OSU]

Sanzenbacher looked amazing tonight and was just all over the place. His explosiveness is impressive and he looks like a great slot candidate. He also looked pretty darn good on defense but his future is on offense.

 

[Buckskin86]

Article published Saturday, November 4, 2006

Piqua slams Irish in Division II playoff

By STEVE JUNGA
BLADE SPORTS WRITER


The marquee matchup may have been "Dane versus Saine," and that meeting of future Ohio State University football teammates did not disappoint last night as Central Catholic met Piqua in a first-round Division II playoff game at Lake Stadium.

But it was a supporting cast member who basically stole the show in this game and Hemmed up fourth-ranked Central's chances of repeating as state champion in a 33-14 Indians win before a crowd estimated at 5,200.

Piqua junior quarterback Justin Hemm entered stage right and, by game's end, deserved to be taking bows after dazzling the Fighting Irish defense.

"He's outstanding, and he's been doing that all year," Piqua coach Bill Nees said of Hemm. "Everybody knows we have Brandon [Saine], but we're fortunate that teams can't focus 100 percent on him because Justin is an outstanding player in his own right."

Hemm ran 15 times for 159 yards, including a 13-yard first-quarter touchdown, and completed 8-of-11 passes for 147 yards and three TDs, all to wideout Phillip Collier on strikes of 18, 39, and 54 yards.

"We gave it our best shot," Irish coach Greg Dempsey said. "It didn't work out, and obviously it's disappointing. Our goal was to win a state championship again, and we came up short. But we have a lot of great memories and a City championship to remember the season by."

For his part, Sanzenbacher - the hero of last year's title run (nine TDs, six interceptions in the playoffs) - was brilliant in his Central finale.

The OSU wideout recruit caught 12 passes for 195 yards, ran one yard for Central's second TD just before halftime, returned an interception 35 yards, and blocked an Indians' extra-point kick.

"He was great," Saine said of Sanzenbacher. "When he got in the open field, it was hard for our defense to even come close to stopping him. It's amazing knowing that I get to play with a caliber of athlete like that."

But Sanzenbacher's heroics were not enough.

"We knew it was going to be tough, whenever it ended," Sanzenbacher said of his final prep game. "But I'm proud of everybody, and I love all these guys. We fought our hearts out, but [Piqua] came out with a good game plan, and that's just the way it fell."

The Irish (9-2) started well, marching 74 yards for a TD on the game's first possession. Paul Jacoby scored on a two-yard run with 7:04 left in the first quarter.

Piqua (9-2) answered immediately.

Collier returned the ensuing kickoff 41 yards to the Irish 35. Three plays later, Hemm scored his TD just two minutes after Central's score.

"Their quarterback is a great player," Dempsey said. "He really makes things happen. Everybody focuses on Brandon Saine, but [Hemm] really makes that offense run. They do a great job of using him. There were times where it looked like we had him wrapped up, and he made a play."

That first score was enough to get Piqua, which did not punt in the game, off and running. The Indians tallied twice in the second quarter, with Hemm finding Collier on the 18 and 39-yard TDs.

"When we went to the spread, a lot of times the middle of the field was wide open," Hemm said. "That was good, and their linebackers were flying out hard, so I was able to step up and run."

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061104/SPORTS12/611040493/-1/SPORTS

 

[rpbuckeye]

Great Dane

Dane was the best player on the field last night IMO. He was all over the field and he continues to play at a faster football speed than his posted 40 times would indicate. Congrats from a Knight on a great HS career and I cannot wait to see Dane go on to have a Gonzo type role at tOSU. GO BUCKS!!!

 

[utgrad73]

Dane and Saine as Team-mates

"He was great," Saine said of Sanzenbacher. "When he got in the open field, it was hard for our defense to even come close to stopping him. It's amazing knowing that I get to play with a caliber of athlete like that."

Nice words coming from someone of Brandon's caliber.

 

[Wilson1]

Dane=TCC, he's a great football player.

 

[cchs07_tosu11]

He went for about 200 yards tonight in receptions, intercepted another setting the Irish up for a key drive and TD, blocked two PAT's, and ran for a TD while playing QB. A pretty good night under the lights. A very good season for an inspiring player and young athlete.

Don't forget a fake fourth down attempt where he punted out of the shotgun and pinned Piqua on the one yard line.

 

[utgrad73]

His High School career as a wideout is one hell of a highlight reel. I have the hook and ladder from last year's State Playoff game etched in my brain along will a few more.

 

[stowfan]

I got to see Dane play for the first time on the ONN replay. For months I have wondered why we recruited a 5'10" kid with 4.6 speed, or why did Ginn Sr. let the kid on the bus? What a mind changing performance Dane put in.

Reminds me very much of Gonzo in high school. I know Gonzo ran track and runs the forty much faster than Dane. Dane has the same gait and cuts exactly the way gonzo does. Dane also gets open and catchs anything that touches his hands, as Gonzo did.

IIRCC Mario Manningham is another player who has football speed rather than track spped. Dane could see the field next year. Bottom line, I was impressed!

 

[utgrad73]

Dane's Speed

Reminds me very much of Gonzo in high school. I know Gonzo ran track and runs the forty much faster than Dane. Dane has the same gait and cuts exactly the way gonzo does. Dane also gets open and catchs anything that touches his hands, as Gonzo did.

:osu:
I agree with the Gonzo like gait. Dane runs very efficiently and has a smooth gait. I've seen him run track and he has a couple of gears. He does seem to have a kick in the 400 m which is best event. He placed fourth at the State meet this past spring with a personal best of 48.6 sec. OSU commit Brandon Saine won the 400 (46.88 sec) as well as the 100 m (10.38 sec State Record). Dane does have great football field speed and he may improve his 40 time as he gets stronger and works with the sprinting coaches. IMO, we haven't seen his best speed yet. Most importantly, as you said he catches everything thrown at him - he earned the knickname locally as the "Spiderman". You saw what happens when you mix speed and good hands.

He will be exciting to watch at OSU as a WR and Coach Tressel may find his defensive skills are very impressive too.

 

[jwinslow]

coachBT (respected UM poster on GBW) passed along his thoughts from friday night:

As you probably already know Piqua handled central 33-14. But the star of the night was without a doubt Dane Sanzenbacher. Do not know his exact stats but he blocked Ex PT, had an int, double digt receptions and a TD rushing. smooth and fast, dane gave Piqua' secondary fits all night. IMO if he does not play WR at OSU, because of OSUs depth he could be one heck of a FS. he appears to have superior knowlegde and makes all the plays. Friend of mine on Central staff told me is so smart on field. He is also central's back up QB and has knowledge of entire game. Not sure he will ever be star at OSU but at minimum will be very good player. Saine did not have as good a night but there is not doubt about his talent level/potential. Central "held" him to under 100 yards for sure and am guessing more around 75 but again could be wrong. To me is more of track athlete playing football then opposite. Central kicked away from him and never got opportunity to show that speed. But I ggot there to watch some pregame and watched him warm up and maybe the fastest HS football palyer I ever saw. long power strides. And I have seen woodson, Ginn, RSmith, Peerless price, D Humphreys, Jeremy Lincoln and many others. He did score one TD on sort run. Paper just got here so here are Dane's numbers, 12 catches 195 yards, 1 int.

 

[utgrad73]

Dane as a Free Safety

IMO if he does not play WR at OSU, because of OSUs depth he could be one heck of a FS.

It would be great to see Dane play defense because of his ability and awareness on the field. If offense has too much depth then I hope that they put Dane to the test in '07 on defense. Either way, the Bucs win. He'll get the picks and he'll come through. He did it for two years at Toledo Central Catholic. He intercepted one in the Piqua game that eventually set up a score for the Irish. Piqua's Hemm also fumbled the ball and Dane recovered it on defense. It was ruled a downed play but watching the replay, it was a fumble. IMO, Dane plays defense as well as offense and will excel in whatever he does.

 

[Smooth Olaf]

Dane seems to be the kind of guy that by the time his senior year rolls around, previews of Ohio State games will read: "So-and-so is the star, but watch out for Dane. All he does is make plays."

 

[utgrad73]

Dane Makes the Plays

So-and-so is the star, but watch out for Dane. All he does is make plays.

I think the thing that you can come to appreciate about Dane is that no matter who was the star of the game, you will get a star performance from him. He has had his share of staring rolls for Toledo Central Catholic. He has also had his share of games that allowed someone else to shine. Maybe someone from St John's or Piqua captured the spotlight in the last couple of games of his HS career, but Dane maintained his superb level of play and showed his stuff. Everyone knows that football is a team sport. The guys behind the stars are the unsung heros. TCC has had a great run of 22 straight wins in two outstanding seasons with Dane and that wasn't all Dane making big plays. Although his stats are very impressive, he had a lot of help from players like Calhoun, Kleeberger, Jacoby, Dominiak, Bouyer, Hammond and a host of others this past season. Dane's play was focused around the team and how they looked and not centered on himself. I'm sure we will read more about him in the future as he adds more of his Sanzenbacher Magic in college play. I must say that I will miss seeing him on the field on Friday nights in Toledo; however, I will be more than compensated when I see Dane (and others) on the field on Saturday afternoons in Columbus.

:osu: Go Bucks