Mineral Ridge’s Leigh set for Gators

Florida and Oklahoma, are coached by Urban Meyer of Ashtabula and Bob Stoops of Youngstown , respectively.

By JOHN KOVACH

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Persistence has paid off for Levi Leigh.

The Mineral Ridge High graduate will be playing in an NCAA Division I national collegiate football championship game.

A walk-on two years ago to the University of Florida football team, the Mineral Ridge High graduate will try to help the Gators (12-1) beat Oklahoma (12-1) Thursday in the BCS national championship game in Miami.

“This is something I wanted to be a part of for a long time,” said Leigh, a senior defensive back and special teams player who originally went to Florida as a walk-on to the track team, but with the hope of eventually making the football team. “My ultimate objective was to play football there.”

Leigh, a backup on three special teams, is hoping to get into the national championship game.

“There is a chance I could play [Thursday],” said Leigh, who is No. 2 on the depth chart on punt and kickoff return teams and the kickoff team. “I played the most this year on kickoff team coverage.”

Leigh (6-0, 205) missed the first three games of the season after tearing his lateral meniscus during summer practice in July. He had surgery on the knee, then bounced back to play in eight of the next nine games.

“Since the Tennessee game, I have played in every game except LSU,” said Leigh.

Florida and Oklahoma, coached by Urban Meyer of Ashtabula and Bob Stoops of Youngstown and Cardinal Mooney High, respectively, will be meeting for the first time.

“Both coaches are from Northeast Ohio. That is pretty cool,” said Leigh, who competed in the decathlon on the Florida track team for two years before shifting to football.

He was a member of the scout team last season and didn’t see any playing time.

Florida will be seeking its second national championship in three years under Meyer, whose Gators won their last national title on Jan. 8, 2007, with a 41-14 win over No. 1 ranked Ohio State and coach Jim Tressel in Glendale, Ariz.

Led by junior quarterback Tim Tebow who won the Heisman Trophy as a sophomore, Florida is coming off a 31-20 win over then-No. 1-ranked Alabama, 31-20, on Dec. 6 to win its eighth Southeastern Conference title.

Leigh is grateful that he got a chance to play big-time football.

“You have to prove yourself to do stuff here. It’s a privilege to play here. You have to earn it from the coaching staff,” said Leigh, the son of Bruce and Tony Leigh who is majoring in fitness and wellness.

While at Mineral Ridge, he was a member of the football and track teams under coaches Shawn Brown and Ron Toth, respectively, and was a three-time All-Trumbull County selection in track. He won a Div. III state title in the 110-meter hurdles as a junior.

kovach@vindy.com