The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
D-I recruits anchor North line
Baer, Spoth aiming to lead Rangers to turnaround season
Minnesota assistant Joe Haraysmiak rose to his feet and his eyes widened as Ryan Baer entered the coach’s office at North, ducking underneath the low door frame as he did so.
Leaning over to North coach Shawn Dodd, the assistant coach from the Golden Gophers marveled at the 6-foot-6, 310-pound freshman lineman standing before him.
“Coach,” Haraysmiak said to Dodd. “That is one big human being.”
Minutes later, Haraysmiak gave a full football scholarship offer to the massive lineman who had never played a minute of varsity football.
There are likely to be a lot more similar stories to that at North over the next few years, with Baer (now a sophomore) and Ethan Spoth (a 6-foot-4, 305-pound junior) causing college coaches from across the nation to flock to Stevens Blvd. to see the two main cogs of the Rangers’ gigantic offensive line.
North is coming off a 2-8 season. Goals are high this fall, with the Rangers eyeing a Division II, Region 5 playoff position and contention in the rugged Western Reserve Conference.
If those goals are going to be realized, a lot will depend on that huge offensive line, bolstered by the Rangers’ two bigtime Division I football recruits.
“This could be the best offensive line I’ve ever had,” said Dodd, including his coaching stops at Euclid, NDCL and Gilmour prior to taking over at North. “It’s certainly the biggest.”
Right at the forefront are Baer and Spoth, cemented in as the team’s starting guards. Add in center Gabe Siupinys (511, 285) and tackles Josh Barzel (5-11, 265) and Ryan Volk (6-2, 270) and the Rangers have size up front no one else in The NewsHerald area can match.
“It relies on us,” Siupinys said of the line’s importance to team success. “If we don’t play well, the whole team is not going to play well. If we do and we can run the ball, we’re going to be successful.”
Because of the high-profile guards, a slew of bigtime college programs have come to North on recruiting trips, among them Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan, Michigan State, Iowa, Purdue, Akron, Ball State, Ohio, Pitt and Iowa State.
Dodd said LSU and California have called about Spoth and Baer, but have yet to visit.
Spoth has offers from Kent State, Toledo and Bowling Green, while Baer’s list is comprised of Minnesota, Iowa State, Kent State, Toledo and Bowling Green.
“It’s really cool,” Spoth said of the recruiting spotlight. “It’s awesome to be talking to all these schools and visiting them all. Going to camps and seeing their communities has been awesome.”
Said Baer, “It’s great. You have to stay humble with it. We’ve got to come out and show why we got (the offers and attention).”
Surprisingly, the offers have come despite limited
“This could be the best offensive line I’ve ever had. It’s certainly the biggest.” — North football coach Shawn Dodd
game film on either player.
Spoth got some action as a freshman, but was injured (knee) in the seasonopener last year and didn’t play again.
Baer logged minutes on the freshman team last year, as Dodd and his staff “didn’t want to rush his development.”
Dodd said more offers will flood in when schools have game film at their disposal.
“They pass the eye test and are weightroom junkies,” said Dodd of Spoth and Baer. “They’re highcharacter kids, too. They check off every box. They just have a lack of game film.
“Once they get game film, they’re going to get offered by everybody. The sky is gonna be the limit for these two guys.”
Spoth bristles at the thought of sitting out nine of the 10 games last season. The only thing that stings worse is the 2-8 record the Rangers accrued, a harsh slap of reality after the team went 6-5 and qualified for the playoffs the previous season.
There’s a lot of optimism around the program this year. The offensive coordinator (Brian Biegei) is new, bringing with him a Flexbone type of offense. Also new is the defensive coordinator (Eric Sek).
The Rangers are ready to put it on the line — literally.
With high-profile recruits Spoth and Baer leading the way, the Rangers would have it no other way.
“We’re really looking forward to this,” Spoth said.