BY: JOE ARNOLD (LancasterEagleGazette.com) — LANCASTER — Jim Cordle remembers vividly the last time Ohio State played in a Rose Bowl. He watched as former Buckeye quarterback Joe Germaine engineered a game-winning drive that sent Ohio State to a 20-17 win against Arizona State.
Cordle has a chance to be a part of such football lore, as the offensive lineman and the Buckeyes — with a 27-24 overtime win against Iowa last week — clinched a spot in Pasadena for the Jan. 1 game.

“It’s obviously pretty cool to get back to the Rose Bowl,” he said. “You could tell last week that the atmosphere around here was different. Walking to the Skull Session, everyone was yelling ‘Rose Bowl’ and had roses. You could tell people really wanted the Rose Bowl. It’s so special for Ohio State.”

But Cordle, selected an offensive captain selected for last week’s game, isn’t overlooking the Buckeyes’ opponent this week. Ohio State will visit Ann Arbor to face Michigan.

Cordle said assistant coach and former player Luke Fickell addressed the team at practice and warned them against overlooking the Wolverines. Fickell was on the 1996 team that locked up a Rose Bowl berth but then lost to a sub-par Wolverines team in the season finale.

“It’s all good and well, but we have to forget about it for a week,” Cordle said of the trip to Pasadena. “It’s going to be my last regular season game. Riding up there on the bus will be crazy.

“I can remember dressing up for the game in Ohio State stuff when I was at St. Mary and watching it. Now I’m playing in it. It’s special.”
WHITE STEPPING AWAY

Former Lancaster golfer Allie White has decided to leave the women’s golf team at Ohio State.

White, a two-time state champion for the Gales, said she left the Buckeyes after the first two months of the fall season to pursue other interests. She still is enrolled at Ohio State.

“Golf is going to be kind of a summer thing,” she said. “I’m hoping to do some studying abroad and some other things that I wouldn’t be able to do if I was playing golf.”

White transferred to Ohio State in June when North Carolina, the school at which she spent her freshman season, changed coaches. She said the parting between her and the golf program was amicable.

“It’s not something I necessarily feel good about — stopping in the middle of something,” she said. “But in the overall scheme of things, it’s a good move.”
SIMONS HELPS BOBCATS TO TOP SEED

The Ohio University volleyball team is in a familiar situation. The Bobcats, by virtue of two wins against Bowling Green last week, won the Mid-American Conference regular season title.

Bloom-Carroll product Meghan Simons was instrumental in helping Ohio to its sixth 15-plus win season in the past seven years.

Simons collected 17 kills and finished with a match-high five blocks against the Falcons.

The Bobcats clinched the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye in the MAC Tournament, which began Tuesday and finishes Sunday at the SeaGate Centre in Toledo. Ohio is the defending tournament champion.
ROESCH GETS FIRST START

Fisher Catholic graduate Luke Roesch was on the floor as a starter for Nova Southeastern University’s season opener at Miami (Fla.) on Monday.

Roesch, a freshman forward, scored three points and grabbed two rebounds in his first collegiate game.

“The atmosphere was bigger than I expected,” Roesch said. “People were screaming, saying stuff. I loved that. That’s something I never had in high school.”

Roesch said between basketball, school and sleeping his days have little time for anything else.

“Sleep is a luxury,” he said. “But basketball is what I love to do.”

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