COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Rossford’s Childress plans to play for Rockets

6/28/2014

Rossford lineman Nate Childress has verbally committed to the University of Toledo to continue his football career.

Childress, a 6-foot-4, 275-pound defensive end and tight end for the Bulldogs, was recruited by the Rockets to play on the defensive line, likely at tackle.

The Rossford standout, who will be a senior this fall, chose UT over six other Mid-American Conference schools that had offered him a scholarship — Akron, Ball State, Buffalo, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, and Western Michigan.

“It’s close to home, I can get a good education, and they have a good football program,” Childress said of his reasons for picking UT. “It all just added up for me. Was offered on Monday and decided Wednesday.

“I need to get bigger, faster, and stronger for the college level, and I need to get better at studying film to learn to go against college competition.”

Childress has run a 40-yard dash in 4.88 seconds and can bench press 225 pounds for 16 repetitions.

As a junior, Childress had 55 tackles, 3.5 sacks, 6.5 tackles for loss, caused three fumbles, and recovered three. He earned second-team All-Northern Buckeye Conference on both offense and defense as a junior.

A versatile three-sport athlete for the Bulldogs, he also started in the post on the basketball team and threw the shot put and discus plus ran sprint relays for the Rossford track team. He was NBC runner-up in both throws.

“He’s that perfect athlete you’re looking for both on the field and off the field with his work ethic,” Rossford coach Todd Drusback said. “I’m a big believer in multiple-sport guys, and he plays three.

“That was attractive to college coaches when they came in. He’s dealing with pressure situations constantly throughout the year because he’s putting himself in those situations.”

What else does Drusback believe made Childress attractive to MAC recruiters?

“No. 1, he’s 6-4, 275, so that obviously helps,” the coach said. “And he can move. He anchors our 400 relay team in track. He has good strength. All of those things put together with the intangibles [of leadership], and that’s what colleges are wanting.

“They want guys who can lead by example and do the right things, on and off the field.”

Contact Steve Junga at: sjunga@theblade.com, or 419-724-6461 or on Twitter@JungaBlade.