High school football: Lucas Gerding has become multi-faceted weapon for Highland

Lucas Gerding looked up to a lot of people when he was young and dreaming of playing varsity football at Highland High School, but two stood out. One was older brother Ethan, a 2018 graduate who starred linebacker for the Hornets. "I grew up watching Highland football," Gerding said. "I was a water boy, so I grew up watching those guys and wanting to be like them." The other was all-purpose running back Jake Rogers, a 2019 graduate who earned Gazette MVP honors as a senior and, as it turned out, left a perfect blueprint for Gerding to follow. More heavily involved in the run game than Gerding, Rogers rushed for 1,391 yards and 18 touchdowns while averaging 7.2 yards per carry, caught 19 passes for 353 yards (18.6) and six TDs, averaged 27.0 yards on seven kick returns with an 82-yard touchdown and, perhaps most impressive of all, averaged a whopping 23.4 yards with three scores on just 11 punt returns as a senior, earning him a scholarship to play at Bowling Green. He also had two interceptions. A running back through his sophomore year on the junior varsity, the 5-foot-10, 185-pound Gerding moved to slot receiver last year as a junior and immediately put up quality numbers. Gerding rushed 35 times for 358 yards (10.2 average) and three touchdowns while adding 25 catches for 447 yards (17.9) and three TDs as the Hornets went undefeated in the Suburban League American Conference and 13-1 overall in 2024. For good measure, he averaged 27.2 yards on five kick returns — opportunities were limited because Highland didn't give up many points — and 17.7 yards on seven punt returns, including a 64-yard TD. The 17-year-old, who carries a 4.5 grade-point average and scored 1390 on the SAT (93rd to 97th percentile nationwide), added three carries for 61 yards and one catch for 34 as Highland (1-0), which hosts Hudson (1-0) tonight in what figures to be one of its toughest games of the season, rolled to a 49-10 win over McDowell (Pa.) in its season opener. "Growing up I wanted to be like him," Gerding said of Rogers. "When I became a slot receiver my junior year, I texted him and talked to him about what it takes. He helped me out quite a bit." The reasons for Gerding's move to the slot were twofold. One, he's fast, has great hands, runs good routes and can break tackles after making a reception. Two, it was the best way for him to get on the field with classmate Casey Myser, who earned Gazette co-MVP honors last season after scoring a Medina County-record 46 touchdowns and accumulating 2,688 yards from scrimmage, already entrenched at running back. "We were trying to get our best 11 on the field, and he was certainly one of them," Hornets coach Mike Gibbons said. "He's almost like a hybrid running back/receiver. He's got great hands, great vision and is a very smart kid." Gerding, who is ideally suited to run jet sweeps, took to the position like a duck takes to water. "He's one of the smartest receivers on the team," said first-year varsity quarterback Grady Gibb, a senior who played with Gerding on the JV team as a sophomore. "He knows what he's doing and he makes all the catches. He's great after the catch, so I'm always trying to get the ball in his hands and let him do what he does." As good as Gerding is, his job is often made easier by all the attention opposing defenses pay to Myser. That's true whether he's running the ball or catching it, and he's happy to do either. "They knew I was athletic enough and shifty enough to play slot receiver, so they threw me in there," Gerding said of Highland coaches. "It took a while to get used to all the plays and everything, but it's a good fit for me, for sure." Whether he's returning kicks or punts, running jet sweeps or picking up yards after the catch — 270 of his 447 yards receiving (60.4%) came in that manner last season — Gerding is always trying to turn a decent gain into a big play. "Any opportunity I can get in the open field, it's always full on," he said. "I'm a big gap guy. That started with me playing running back and fighting for extra yards. I'm capable of breaking a tackle or two tackles or making guys miss with a juke move. I'm very versatile when I'm running the ball." Gerding, who bench presses 275 pounds and squats 465, would like to play football in college — he's heard from a number of Division III schools, a handful in D-II and several Ivy League institutions — and plans to major in engineering or business, but right now he's concentrating on the Hornets' game tonight against Hudson. "They're good," he said of the Explorers. "They're going to be a good challenge for us. They're a lot more technically sound, and they'll be ready for us. It's going to be a dogfight." Down the road, the Hornets hope to get a shot at county rival Wadsworth, which beat them on last-minute touchdown in their eighth-grade championship, and defending D-II state champion Avon, which eliminated them in the regional finals the last two years, but for now Gerding and his teammates are taking it one game at a time. "We talked about it all summer, how this is our last year and we have to make the most of it," Gerding said. "After this, we'll never get the chance to play together again."Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4046 or rnoland@medina-gazette.com. Follow him @RickNoland on X.