News-Herald Senior Bowl: Kirtland contingent ready to lay it on the line together one last time
Jun. 12—Gage Sullivan, Mason Rus and Ramon Lescano have shared a tremendous ride over the years as members of the Kirtland football team.
The trio of standouts are excited to team up one last time in this week's News-Herald Senior Bowl, presented by Hooley House.
Sullivan, Rus and Lescano are all members of the White-uniformed team that is coached by a familiar face to all three young men. The team is coached by Kirtland alum and current Hornets assistant coach Rossi Santo.
Game time is 6 p.m. on Friday, June 17 at Mayfield's Wildcat Stadium.
"It's going to be a blast," Sullivan said, "Especially with Ramon. I won't be able to play with him ever again after this. Mason and I are going to John Carroll to play, but this is it with Ramon. It's going to be fun to play in the Senior Bowl with him."
All three players were clutch in recent years for the highly successful Kirtland program.
Rus was a first-team Division V All-Ohioan this past year after rushing for 1,998 yards and 26 touchdowns on offense, while also piling up 120 tackles and 24 TFLs on defense. He was named the winner of this year's Tony Fisher Award as the News-Herald's football player of the year.
Sullivan was a first-team Division V All-Ohioan as a receiver, catching 42 passes (from Lescano) for 881 yards and 17 touchdowns. He also ran for 331 yards and five scores.
Lescano was the Hornets' starting quarterback and also doubled as a lockdown cornerback on the defensive side of the ball.
The trio exited Kirtland with a 55-1 varsity record, including three state championships and a state-runner up finish.
"I'm excited about this game, especially since it's our last one together," Lescano said.
The trio also played together in the recent Ohio North-South all-star game, coming out on the short end of a 13-0 score.
"We want to bounce back in this one," Lescano said of the Senior Bowl. "We're going to be playing with some really good players."
Said Rus, "It's fun to play in these all-star games. You get to play with your buddies and meet other players from other schools who are really good, too."
Sullivan raved of Rus' ability to break through tackles at running back, while also delivering knockout hits on defense. He lauded Lescano for coming in as a first-year starter at quarterback this year and leading the team, as well.
"What makes Ramon so good is being versatile," Sullivan said. "He can throw and run. Very shifty. Good on defense, too."
As for himself, he hopes to make some big-time plays in the Senior Bowl.
"That's the plan," he said. "To showcase what I've got and leave it all on the field. I just want to go out and have fun."
Being able to play for Santo is exciting to the trio, too. They all know the legend of Santo as an All-Ohio player at Kirtland before graduating in 2009. And they've seen Santo as an assistant coach. This week is Santo's first head-coaching gig.
"I've always liked Rossi," Rus said. "He coached us when we were younger, too. He's a good mentor, a lot like Tiger (LaVerde). It's great to see him coaching in this game."
The Kirtland quartet — Sullivan and Rus to John Carroll, Lescano to Ohio State the major in marketing, and Santo as a coach — will all go their separate ways after this week's Senior Bowl. That's what makes this week so special to them.
It's one last go-around for a group of young men who have experienced extreme success together.
"I'm going to miss this a ton," Lescano said of playing organized football as a Kirtland Hornet. "It's going to be great this week to play with each other one last time."
