Football scout’s crunch time is here

October 23, 2018 at 12:00a.m.

Porter’s football service gears up for grand finales

BEAVER TOWNSHIP

The final two weeks of high school football’s regular season are most critical for Mark Porter and his ScoutingOhio.com service.

Five weeks of playoffs are equally as important as he gathers much needed player information for college programs that subscribe to his service.

Speaking to the Curbstone Coaches during Monday’s weekly meeting at Avion Banquet Center, Porter said he estimates that he and his wife, Stephanie, will travel nearly 25,000 miles by the time championship games are decided in each division.

Porter calls Stephanie his right hand with the service. Started in 2005, both have spent the last 16 seasons combing the state’s 44,825 square miles eyeing talent for approximately 100 colleges that subscribe to their service.

“Every college within a six-to-eight-hour radius, and there are about 90, subscribe to our service,” Porter said. “We’re like their grad assistant.

“We supply reports to schools in the Big Ten, Mid-American Conference and Big East, as well as Division II, Div. III and NAIA programs,” Porter said. “Kentucky is the only Southeastern Conference school and that’s because hometown native and Wildcats head coach Mark Stoops heavily recruits the state.

“Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell is from Perry High School in Canton,” Porter said. “With former YSU head coach Jon Heacock on his staff, they realize Ohio’s rich high school football tradition.

“Coach Campbell used us when he was the head coach at the University of Toledo and I guarantee if they weren’t with the Cyclones’ program, ISU wouldn’t be using our reports.”

Porter said his wife, who works as a physical therapist, has become so good that she tells him what he might have missed and who he should be looking at for his next report.

“Stephanie is definitely good at what she does, a real football scout that I would put up against anybody,” he said. “It’s doing the work and she does it really well. I will give her a list of who to look at and she beats the trail, many times finding a player that I might have missed or someone who has really stepped up their game.”

While Porter combs the entire state, his wife usually stays within an hour of their home and will visit teams playing in Akron, Canton, Cleveland and the Mahoning Valley.

His typical work week starts with Thursday games, usually in Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton or Toledo and concludes with Saturday night games.

He noted that eight local players in this year’s 2019 class have Division I offers or have made verbal commitments.

Three are from Cardinal Mooney: linebacker Luke Fulton, who has committed to Michigan State; offensive lineman Kyle Jornigan, a Purdue commit; and Cheriff Jamison, who has a handful of MAC offers.

Other local players hot on the recruiting trail include: running back Kayron Adams of Warren Harding, who has committed to Rutgers; Struthers running back-linebacker Willie Mitchell, who has an offer from Bowling Green State among other schools; and LaBrae tight end-defensive end Tyler Stephens, who is committed to Buffalo University.

Rounding out the local list is Girard quarterback Mark Waid, who is headed to Fordham and Boardman offensive lineman Tino Arcuri, who is weighing offers from Bowling Green, Air Force, Army and Navy.

Porter added that when he first started, he used to take in the atmosphere and watch the game but now focuses on the player.

“I’m all business now, like a surgeon focused on the task at hand,” Porter said. “I already know who I am looking at and what I am looking for.

“I use the last two weeks of the season to visit teams that won’t make the playoffs.”