High school football: Buckeye's Nick Bostic losing heft but still has heart

Senior left guard/inside linebacker/philosopher Nick Bostic defines winning not by the final score of Buckeye football games, but by the amount of effort put forth during them. As the sixth-seeded Bucks (8-3) prepare to travel to No. 3 Rocky River (8-3) for a Division III, Region 10 quarterfinal playoff game Friday at 7 p.m. — the Pirates beat Buckeye 23-12 in the Great Lakes Conference championship game in Week 10 — Bostic and most of his teammates are still undefeated in that regard. "At the beginning of the year I told the guys I didn't care if we went 0-10 as long as we developed a bond, stuck together and left everything on the field," Bostic said. "I told them I'd rather do that than go 10-0 and not play the right way. "Some guys didn't like that, especially at the time. The other day (senior) Jacob Lowry came up to me and told me he was mad when I originally said that, but that he gets it now." Most Buckeye seniors get it now because they've come to understand what Bostic, a team captain who carries a 4.52 grade-point average and plans to study biomedical engineering before going to medical school and becoming an orthopedic surgeon, knew all along: The true joy is in the journey. "Nick is the most intelligent player I've ever known, on and off the field," fellow inside linebacker Cam Stout said. "He's just so smart. He can see the game better than most people I know. When a play is developing, he's able to catch onto it very quickly. "Nick is a very aggressive person. But to go along with his aggression, it's his intelligence. He outsmarts the opponent. He knows how to turn bigger opponents and get them out of the way rather than using sheer force." Bostic, whose weight has dropped to 185-190 pounds due to the rigors of the season, ranks third on the team with 73 tackles, including 25 solos. He has two sacks among his five tackles for loss and a fumble recovery. At guard, he's helped Ben Barnes rush for 1,190 yards and 15 touchdowns and Kaymen Marshall pick up 569 yards and six TDs on the ground. When asked about anything regarding the Bucks, he responds not with a few words or sentences, but in interesting, heartfelt paragraphs. "Ben Barnes has been one of my best friends since elementary school," he said. "He's a great kid from a great family. I love blocking for him because he enjoys it so much and he's so grateful. I'd rather put a smile on Ben's face and see him happy than succeed myself. I'm happy when he's happy. "You can put in all the plays you want and do all these trick plays, but at the end of the day it's who wants it more." When the Bucks not only want it but definitely need it, it's no secret they're going to run behind Bostic and 6-2, 282-pound sophomore left tackle Ben Midea. "I love Ben," Bostic said. "I've been able to take him under my wing a little bit this year and make him mad. He's such a happy kid. He's a great kid. He always puts a smile on my face whenever I'm next to him. "The coaches have a lot of faith in me and Ben. That's always been (head coach Greg) Dennison's thing. We might not run the most complicated offense in the world, but we believe in what we do. We're going to live and die with what we do." A three-year starter, Bostic played guard as a sophomore, moved to center as a junior and went back to guard as a senior. Often battling players 40 or 50 pounds heavier, he's learned to use quickness and leverage to succeed. "He just does everything right," Dennison said. "He has good leverage all the time. He knows all the assignments and helps the whole line. "With Nick leading the way, we're going to run behind him. And (Midea) is our most powerful lineman. It's one of the reasons we put those two next to each other." As well-spoken as he is off the field, Bostic doesn't say more than is necessary on it. That's because he's too busy dissecting opposing offenses or defenses. Plus, on the defensive side, there's rarely time to get a word in edgewise when playing next to the constantly whooping-it-up Stout. "I'm not a talker on the field," Bostic said. "That's why I love playing next to Cam. He's the polar opposite. He doesn't talk trash, but he gets up in your face and lets you know when you've done something. When I lay a hit, the kid will look at me, I'll look at him and then I'll just walk away." When it comes to laying hits against Rocky River, the primary focus will be brothers Tommy and Johnny Bebie. Senior Tommy, a three-star recruit who has committed to play linebacker at Wake Forest, is listed at 6-1 and 200 pounds. Junior Johnny is 6-0, 185. Both look much bigger in pads, both hit hard on defense and both run hard on offense, which was evident in the Pirates' win over the Bucks two weeks earlier. "We've just got to go back to our basics and execute the fundamentals of football," Bostic said. "We have to stop the Bebie brothers. They're two of the most physical players we've gone against this year, but we're going to be more physical this time around and do the small things right." Bostic, who hopes to attend Case Western Reserve University and play football, vows to do everything in his power to extend his high school career, but he won't let the final score determine how he judges his performance or that of his team. "I love everything about Buckeye football," he said. "At the beginning of the year it felt like this would never end, but time flew by. It's do or die now. If we win, I'll be thrilled. If we lose, I'll still be happy if everyone gave it everything they had. But if I'm coming off that field and haven't given it everything I've got, I'm going to be pretty teary-eyed and heartbroken." Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4046 or rnoland@medina-gazette.com. Follow him @RickNoland on Twitter.