Top linebackers in Ohio high school football in 2024

Yes it is that time of the year, high school football season. 
 
The coming weeks will be dedicated to presenting the individual breakdowns of the main position stars of Ohio high school football. 
 
We began with the quarterbacks, defensive linemen, running backs, edge-buffers and the wide receivers. Next up we find out about the linebackers. 
 
The lists created below have not been made to include all great football players from Ohio that the readers might know of. To talk more about the other candidates, to which fans of the 2024 lineup are waiting for the rest of the linebackers, tag SBLive OH on X or in Instagram at SBL Live Ohio. You can also supply TO player nominations to 
 
These lists were gathered before the initial week of the 2024 season
 
Maddox Arnold, Elder, senior 
 
Arnold stands 6-foot-2, 225 pounds, and has three stars on his precursor ranking, and is committed to Toledo. The previous year he was honorable mention all-state Division I when he armed his team with 87 tackles assisted with 8. Five tackles for loss and three sacks on the way to a 7-5 record for the Panthers. 
 
Grant Beerman, Lakota West, senior 
 
Beerman is a 6-foot-4, 225 pound, three-star prospect with 28 offers who plans on attending Purdue University. Last year, Beerman made 79 tackles, 12 tackles for loss and four sacks, forced two fumbles and helped the Firebirds to post an 11-3 record and reach the Division I regional final. 
 
Charlie Christopher, Uniontown Lake, senior 
 
Christopher the 6-foot-1, 220 pounder is a three star recruit with nine scholarship offering and is bound for Ohio University. At this time a year ago Christopher was second team All-State Division II as the Blue Streaks won nine of their games in 2004. 
 
Jake Swartzman, St. Xavier, junior 
 
Clapper is on the list of the 2026 prospects in the state. Listed at 6-foot-2, 196 pounds, Clapper has 22 offers, with Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oregon, and Penn State among them. Thus, he had 90 tackles, 2. Five sacks, three pass deflections and one interception in the fall of last year. 
 
David ‘Denim’ Cook, R&B singer, Bishop Hartley Senior 
 
Cook stands 6-4, 223 lbs and the three-star tight end has 18 scholarships and is bound for Pitt. Cook had 116 tackles, 22 for loss, and 15 sacks last season when the Hawks were 10-3. 
 
Conlan Dent is a senior at Bishop Ready High School 
 
Dent is 6-foot-2, 200 pounds and he was honorable mention all-state in Division IV last season when he recorded 115 tackles, three forced fumbles and four recoveries. Dent has been getting attention from some Division III schools. 
 
Senior football player at St. Edward, Nate Gregory 
 
Gregory is a 6-2, 225-pound free safety who was named to the Division I All-State first team last fall after the Eagles extended their string of state titles to three in a row. A Coastal Carolina commit, and a three-star player, Gregory had 63 tackles and 12 tackles for loss last year. 
 
Antwoine Higgins, Cincinnati Anderson high school, sophomore 
 
Among the, the crystal-ball rankings of the 2027 class for the state, Higgins stands tall for a 6-foot-3 215 pound athlete with a list of 18 scholarship offers including with Arkansas, Duke, Michigan, and Oregon among others. In assisting the Raptors achieve an impressive 13-2 record and advance to the Division II state semifinal, Higgins made 53 tackles, six tackles for lost and four passes broken up while making two sacks. 
 
Cincere Johnson, Glenville, junior 
 
Johnson is a 6-foot-3, 225-pound four star recruit with 17 offers on the table including FSU, ND, and Wisconsin. Last fall on the Tarblooders’ championship journey to their second straight Division IV state title Johnson collected 121 tackles, 24 tackles for loss, seven sacks and three forced fumbles. 
 
Cooper Josefczyk, Medina, senior 
 
Josefczyk, 5-foot-10, 192 pounds, was a second-team all-state selection last season Figure that he ended the regular season with 102 tackles and 15. 5 tackles for loss, four sacks, three fumbles forced and 2 interceptions. 
 
Eli Lee, Archbishop Hoban, senior 
 
Lee stands 6-foot-3 and 230 pounds and is ranked a three-star recruit, who will attend Ohio State University. Last season, Lee was a first-team all-state selection in Division II after accumulating 170 tackles, 11. This includes 5 sacks, two forced fumbles, two recoveries of a fumble and an interception that he took for a touchdown. 
 
Jake Lopinto, 12, guard, Licking Heights High School 
 
Lopinto was all-state honorable mention in Division II this past season when he recorded 114 tackles and two interceptions. Lopinto is 6 feet 215 pounds; he has eight offers, and he is bound for Robert Morris. 
 
Allama Iqbal, Forensic, 12 
 
Depicted as a ‘3-star’ prospect, McClellan has 22 scholarship offers with Missouri being his choice of college. The 6-foot-0. A sophomore linebacker/tight end who had 75 tackles, thirteen tackles for loss, four sacks, and one interception last season and was second-team all-state in Division I as the Bulldogs went 9-4. 
 
Vito McConnell, Massillon, senior 
 
McConnell is a 6-4, 215 pound three-star prospect who has committed to Miami University. In the previous year, he compiled 35 tackles, 14 tackles behind the line of scrimmage, 11 passes defensed, three interceptions and one sack on defense and added two rushing touchdowns in aiding the Tigers in capturing the Division II state championship. 

Storm Miller, Strongsville, junior 
 
He is a four star recruit and he has a total of 20 offers among which are Clemson, Ohio state, west Virginia and Wisconsin, Miller measures 6-foot-3 and weighs 220 pounds. For the previous year, obtaining third-team all-state for Division I, Miller made 81 tackles, seven tackle-losses, ten sacks, and three interceptions. 
 
Paul Nelson, Princeton, senior 
 
Nelson is six two 205, three star with 16 offers, committed to Indiana. He was first-team all-state in Division I last season when he accumulated 50 tackles and nine. 5 TFLs and 6 QB hurries against the Purdue Boilermakers. He then got only 5 sacks as the Vikings went on to compile a 12-1 record. 
 
Andre Parker Jr. , Princeton, third year 
 
Parker remains an appealing target at 5-foot-11, 190 pounds and holds 13 offers including from Michigan State, Pittsburgh and West Virginia. This 2026 three-star prospect, who is the son of the Vikings’ coach Andre Parker Sr. , recorded 68 tackles, nine TFLs, five sacks, and two fumbles forcings the previous year. 
 
Trey Rubinstein, Napoleon, senior 
 
Rubinstein stands 6-3, 195 pounds and is a three-star recruit who pledged to play at Kent State. In the previous season, he became a first-team all-state in Division III football and also the Northern Lakes League’s Defensive Player of the Year. 
 
Cam Thomas, Lakota West, junior , 
 
Having a list of 26 offers among them Michigan and Penn State, and ranked as a four-star recruit, Thomas is one of the best players in the 2026 class with 6’2 “, 217lb. Thomas ended the year with 12 tackles for loss, 9. Defensively, he registered 5 sacks, one interception and two forced fumbles last fall when the Firebirds registered an 11-3 record. 
 
Mikey Young, Sandusky Perkins – friend, senior 
 
Young is 6-foot-2, 205 pound three-star and he committed to the Harvard Crimson football team. In the previous year, he was honorable mention all-state in Division IV with having made 95 tackles and four sacks for the Pirates, a team that recorded 12-1 and came up to the regional final.