30 | OCTOBER 20 • 2022
A
very Gach is only a sophomore
in high school. But the 6-foot-
5, 265-pound Birmingham
Groves lineman already has attracted
the attention of big-time college football
programs.
He’s made unofficial visits this
season for games at Notre Dame, Ohio
State, Toledo and Michigan to see the
Irish play Marshall, the Buckeyes play
Wisconsin, the Rockets play Central
Michigan and the Wolverines play Penn
State.
Why were they unofficial visits?
Official visits can’t start until a football
player’s junior year in high school and
then, only five are allowed.
While Gach was at Ohio State, he
held a Heisman Trophy won by former
OSU star Archie Griffin, who won the
Heisman Trophy twice and donated one
to the university.
Gach has received scholarship offers
from Ohio State, Boston College, Toledo
and Central Michigan even though he’s
two years away from making an official
decision on where he’s going to college.
Last spring, Gach made off-season
unofficial visits to Michigan and
Michigan State. He was at Michigan
again Saturday (Oct. 15) on an
unofficial visit for the Wolverines’ game
versus Penn State.
Not bad and pretty heady stuff for a
young man who just turned 16 on Oct.
8 and has been playing football for only
three seasons.
“Yep, it’s all been surreal,” Gach said.
“Here I was on the field as a recruit at
Notre Dame and Ohio State. There were
105,000 people at the Ohio State game.”
What has Gach learned from the
game experiences and up-close looks at
Division I football players?
“I need to keep working hard to get
there,” he said. “Linemen are big and
fast at that level. Ohio State’s right tackle
on offense is 6-8, 350.”
While all the college recruiting has
gone in, Gach has stayed laser-focused
on his most important task at hand
this fall … helping Groves win football
games.
The Falcons were 4-3 overall and 4-2
in the Oakland Activities Association
White Division in mid-October as
they have rebounded from their
uncharacteristic 2-7 season in 2021
that ended their streak of eight straight
SPORTS
AMY GACH
Birmingham Groves lineman Avery Gach
has been at Notre Dame, Ohio State,
Toledo and Michigan football games
this season as a recruit.
Sophomore
Sensation
STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Avery Gach
rocks a Michigan
State football
jersey during a
recruiting visit in
East Lansing.
AMY GACH
University of Michigan
football coach Jim Harbaugh
visits with Avery Gach.