Jacob Treisch began playing football in fourth grade. When he was younger, he had a desire – like most football players – to be a ball carrier.
It didn’t take long for that to change.
“Once I started getting bigger, I accepted (that I would be a lineman). Now I love playing on the line,” said Treisch, the 47th winner of the Clinton County Vince Lombardi Down Lineman of the Year Award.
Treisch won the Lombardi Award block of granite at the 45th annual event held Monday at the Clinton County Fairgrounds Expo Center.
The other nominees were Conner Barton and Derek Davis of Wilmington, Tristan Hall and Nick Mess from East Clinton High School; Sam Brothers of Clinton-Massie; and James Peters and Matthew Grogg of Blanchester.
“When you are playing line, you basdically are in a one on one battle every single play,” said Treisch. “As an O-line, you have to play as a team, not as one person.
“It’s great to play for a school like Clinton-Massie where the coaching staff, the parents supported me all the way.”
Treisch, a 6-0, 280-pound center, is a two-year letterwinner for Massie. He plans to attend a technical school and major in computer science following graduate. Treisch said his interest in computer science comes from his father who is a computer engineer and his mother is an art teacher, giving him the creative aspect, he said.
Treisch scored a 25 on his ACT and is a straight-A student at CMHS. He is the 15th player from Clinton-Massie to win the award.
Wilmington has had 14 winners while East Clinton and Blanchester have had nine each.
Wilmington College head coach Bryan Moore was the keynote speaker for the event.
Eight football players, two offensive or defensive down linemen from each of the Clinton County high school teams, are nominated by their respective coaches for the honor. The winner receives a block of granite award.
The block of granite is in reference to Lombardi’s playing days as a lineman for Fordham University. The unit was so strong they were called “seven blocks of granite.”
The Lombardi Award is named after the legendary Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi, who died of the cancer in 1970. Clinton County started its version of the event in 1973 thanks to the efforts of former Wilmington News Journal sports editor Clarence Graham and local businessman, the late Harold Losey.
The program is made possible by the four high school athletic booster clubs, CMH Regional Health System, Beacon Orthopaedics and Drayer Physical Therapy, Wilmington Auto Center, NAPA Auto Parts, the Clinton County Agricultural Society and Red Dot Trophy.
