Future Buckeye Seibert comes up big in state title win

CANTON, Ohio -- Cincinnati (Ohio) La Salle kicker Jake Seibert might be the best prospect in the nation at his position in the 2020 class. Seibert once again proved why he is considered right at the top of his class on Thursday night, hitting late field goals of 43 and 38 yards to help cap a state championship for the Lancers. La Salle took down Massillon 34-17 to win the program's fourth state championship in the past six seasons.

Seibert's clutch kicks in the fourth quarter, gave the Lancers breathing room down the stretch.

"That's what I do, I prepare for it all season," Seibert said after the game. "The line was able to hold up and it's just like another PAT for me pretty much."

It wasn't as easy as it might have looked, however. Seibert suffered an injury last week in the state semi-finals but was still able to go through with his kicking duties as well as his role at wide receiver where he led the team in yards on Thursday night.

"I actually had a groin strain," he explained. "I wasn't really able to fully swing my leg. Luckily I had a lot of adrenaline going so I could kick those field goals. The plan was to warm up and see how I felt, but I was hurting a lot at the beginning of the game. I didn't practice all week, we just took it real slow during the week and I was able to come out and play."

The groin strain limited Seibert on kickoffs as La Salle decided to have him squib kick all evening. But the field goals were full go, even without much practice in warm ups. Seibert was perfect on the evening, making both field goal attempts and all four PAT's.

"I only attempted a couple of like PAT's before the game," he said. "Like I said, I just had a lot of adrenaline going during the game and I just didn't think about the pain. I'll worry about that tomorrow."

At the high school level, kickers never really know if they are going to get a chance to contribute so having a chance to seal a state championship win with a couple of field goals is a dream come true for guys like Seibert.

"It was definitely a blessing," he said. "I heard a couple people say the game was going to come down to special teams and it definitely did at the end."

Seibert's heroics carried over to the offensive side of the ball as well, a couple of clutch third down catches to keep scoring drives alive were as big early as his field goals were late.

Don't look for Seibert to end up in Brian Hartline's receiver room in Columbus, however.

"I heckle coach Hartline about that sometimes," Seibert said with a laugh. "Just a little bit though."