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3 3 | Friday, December 16, 20 16 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALT0N.com Kevin Nagel Sports Editor knagel@burlingtonpost.com Sports It w as in Grade 9 that Rourke set his sights on play ing NCAA Division 1 football. A standout with the Burlington Stam peders, he carried that over into high school. In Grade 11, he led the Holy Trinity Titans to an OFSAA Bowl title. He w as the top-ranked high school quarterback in Canada and the fourth-rated prospect in the country. But while Rourke heard that the competition w asn't as strong in Canada, the other top prospects from the Great White North signed on with Notre Dame, Penn State and the University of North Carolina. So Rourke, along with his m om and brother, moved to the football hotbed of Alabama for his senior year of high school. He showed that he could thrive against top high school competition by throwing a confer ence record 59 touchdowns while leading Edgew ood Academy to the state title. He w as intercepted ju st three times and racked up 3,779 passing yards in 13 gam es, despite rarely playing in the second half be cause the game w as well in hand. Again, schools contacted him but didn't follow up with any offers. "That w as probably the hardest time," he said. Rourke could have returned home where every school in Canada Nathan Rourke would have eagerly lined up to have him play for them. But that w as not part of his plan. "My childhood dream is to play in the NFL. Playing Division 1 gives me the best chance to do that," he said. "You don't see a lot of Canadian university players go to the NFL, maybe a lineman or a receiver, but for a quar terback.. .We don't even send quarterbacks to the C FL any more -- one guy in Calgary, but that's it. That's why I wanted to play in the NCAA." With no Division 1 offers last year, Rourke enrolled at Fort Scott Com m unity College in Kansas this fall. Not only did he experience living on his own for the "Connected to your Community " Long road leads to O hio Almost two years since leaving Holy Trinity to prove himself in the States, QB Nathan Rourke lands Division 1 scholarship with Ohio University By Herb Garbutt Oakville Beaver staff You can't blame Nathan Rourke for being a little skepti cal. For two years he had done everything he could to prove the doubters wrong. Schools had told him before that they liked the skillset of the 6-foot-2, 205-pound quarterback -- his ability to escape de fenders, his speed, his accurate arm -- yet when it came time to back it up with a scholarship offer, he w as left hanging. So when he was contacted by O hio University's offen sive co-ordinator and quarterback coach during Ameri can Thanksgiving, Rourke didn't get too excited. "I had heard that `you're on our ra dar' deal so m any tim es," he said. "The recruiting process is not som ething I look too favourably on. It's a tough process." Rourke became a little more opti mistic when the Bobcats contacted him again a couple of weeks later. This past weekend, he visited the Athens, Ohio cam pus and met with the coach ing staff. The school provided an in triguing scenario with its starting QB graduating and another pivot lost to injury. Rourke w as also offered the oppor tunity to start school in January. On Saturday, he discussed Ohio's offer with his par ents. Having all but made up his mind, he slept on it overnight and woke up feeling good about his decision. Before leaving Sunday, he told the coaches he was ac cepting their offer. For Rourke, it m arked the end of a long road. "It w as a huge relief," he said. "Obviously it was som ething I've wanted for a long time now. My family has gone to great lengths to help m e get here. To get this ju st show s it w asn't for nothing." kk It was a huge relief. My family has gone to great lengths to help me get here. To get this just shows it wasn't for nothing. PP Despite leading Edgewood Academy to an Alabama state title and setting conference passing records in 2015, Oakville's Nathan Rourke had to wait until this year to earn a scholarship. The top-rated Canadian quarterback in the 2016 recruiting class committed to Ohio University on Sunday. | photo by Gary Yokoyama - Hamilton Spectator. first time, he also experienced playing on a team with a losing record. After back-to-back undefeated seasons at Holy Trinity and Edgewood, Fort Scott went ju st 4-7. Still, Rourke led the conference with 2,367 passing yards and w as nam ed the first-team all-conference quarterback. "I w as in a lot more situations this year where we were being blitzed and I took more hits. I still had a good season. I've taken all the shots, See Ohio on pg. 34 V achon Insu ran ce G roup 200-5468 Dundas St. W, Toronto, ON 1-800-766-8662 vachoninsce.com A s independent insurance brokers, we have freedom of choice. S o should you. 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