Capital boasts linemen from Springfield

There is a rare situation on the Capital University football team’s offensive line this season, and two Springfield High graduates from New Middletown are part of it.

Adam Persing and Bill Giblin Jr. happen to form one of two sets of starting players who are from the same high school and also line up side-by-side on the offensive line.

Persing, a senior, plays left tackle right next to Giblin, a sophomore, who plays left guard.

Center Cory Dutcher and right guard Rodney Cyrus, both from Teays Valley High, also are paired side-by-side leaving only right tackle Chad Davis (Columbus Grandview Heights) by himself.

“We never really thought about it, but now that I think about it, only three different schools are represented on our offensive line,” said Persing (6-3 250), an All-American candidate and one of only two returning starters on the entire offense from a team that went 11-2 last year. “We never really thought about it, but now that I think about it, it is cool.”

The Crusaders also reached the NCAA Division III national quarterfinals last season and were ranked No. 3 in the country in the final polls.

Persing, who started all 13 games last year while Giblin (6-3 230) was learning the ropes as a freshman, were teammates on the Springfield team and offensive line for one season in 2003, before being reunited at Capital in 2006.

“He played but he wasn’t a starter when I was there, but he was on the team,” recalled Persing of Giblin’s playing status at Springfield. “In high school, Giblin switched between guard and tackle.”

Teammates and buddies
are reunited at Capital

The two side-by-side line mates, whose position coach is Alliance-native Mike Ancona, also are good friends.

“We’ve always been pretty good friends through the years,” Persing said. “When [Giblin] was a senior, he visited Capital and he really enjoyed it, and the fact that we were a solid program and I was here and he knew someone here and we were real good friends.

“And that he would have a chance to win a lot of games and compete for championship. We are actually neighbors right now. We live in apartments next to each other.”

Interestingly, Giblin actually entered preseason camp this year as Persing’s backup at offensive left tackle, but did so well that he was switched to left guard where he eventually won the starting job for the first game Sept. 1, which was a 13-0 win over Wittenberg.

“For the first week-and-a-half of camp, he was my backup. But he was doing so well they that they moved him to guard and he beat out the guys in front of him,” said Persing, who loves the fact that his buddy is playing right next to him.

“[His] coming in and playing next to me has been a real treat. We know how each other is thinking [about blocking] and we know what each other thinks. The chemistry is definitely there.”

Ranked No. 11 entering
today’s OAC opener

Persing is hoping that Capital can overcome its inexperience to achieve its seventh straight winning season under coach Jim Collins, who is in his 11th year with a 59-48 record to date.

The Crusaders (1-0), who were off last week, are ranked No. 11 in the country entering today’s Ohio Athletic Conference opener at Wilmington at 1:30 p.m.

“We are very young. We have four first-year starters on the offensive line. They are doing a good job, especially [Giblin]. He had to learn how to play guard on the fly. He knows how to learn and he takes it all in and is all ears,” said Persing, emphasizing that Giblin knows the game.

“Bill is very fundamentally sound. He is not the biggest kid. Actually he is smaller than I am, but he is only a sophomore. He has a lot of speed and does everything right.”

Persing also doesn’t consider himself very big. “I am really undersized for an offensive lineman even at the Div. III level. I make up for it with my speed and strength. I am very strong for my size,” said Persing, the son of Sally and Rusty Persing.

A history major, Persing is planning to graduate in May.

Giblin is the son of Bill and Debbie Giblin and is majoring in physical education.

XJohn Kovach covers college athletics for The Vindicator. Write him at kovach@vindy.com.