Ruckert scores on both sides of the ball in win

Ohio State tight end commit Jeremy Ruckert continues to be a jack-of-all trades for his undefeated Lindenhurst (NY) team. The 6-foot-5, 220-pound prospect scored a touchdown on both offense and defense on Wednesday night and once again handled the kicking duties in a 45-12 win over Connetquot.

"Coming in, the teams we had played before mostly ran the ball but this team came out and passed the ball almost every play," said Ruckert. "We really tested our DB's all week in practice to get them ready to go and our hard work paid off. We played a great game all around and it was a team win."

Ruckert made his impact felt from the opening kickoff. After booming the opening kick through the end zone, Ruckert caught a batted ball and walked into the end zone for a touchdown. He of course added the PAT.

"It was just kind of the right place at the right time," Ruckert recalled. "We were really stressing about getting a defensive touchdown before the game. We hadn't had one yet this season. I didn't think it was going to be that early, first play of the game five seconds in. It was just good to make that type of statement at the beginning of the game, that we were here to play."

Lindenhurst would roll to a 31-0 first quarter lead and Ruckert would add to his big night with a 29-yard touchdown reception and a 31-yard field goal. Being on the field for almost every snap can be exhausting, but the Rivals100 product wouldn't have it any other way.

"I'm just trying to enjoy it, I'm doing as much as I can to help my team win," he said. "It's my last year around here after four years. I've been playing varsity since I was like 14 years old. I'm just enjoying it and playing as much as I can because you don't get to come back and do this. Obviously I am moving to some pretty big things, playing at the next level and hopefully the next level after that, but you only get to play high school football once so I'm enjoying my senior year."

As Ruckert eyes a league title for his team, he is also keeping a close eye on things in Columbus. Ohio State's offense got off to a slow start but has shown improvement in recent weeks.

"Their offense is coming along," he explained. "I've been talking to coach Wilson a couple of times each week and he said he starting to just go with the flow now and you can see that the offense is putting up great numbers now. It's starting to come around and hopefully that will continue against Rutgers this weekend."

Ruckert has also been keeping in close contact with head coach Urban Meyer. The way Meyer recruited Ruckert and those close to him during the process was a big reason for his commitment to Ohio State. That relationship has continued and the coaches in Columbus are doing everything possible to make sure Ruckert is mentally ready to jump into the fray next summer.

"I got on the phone with him (Tuesday night)," Ruckert explained. "We've been talking once or twice a week along with coach Wilson and coach Schiano. I'm not enrolling early so they want me to get down there as much as possible in the spring, just watching practice and getting a feel for everything so I can be as ready as possible when I get there."

Ruckert will make his official visit to Ohio State in November for the weekend of the Michigan State game.