Friday, August 25, 2000
Milford's Strief (6-8, 315) casts large shadow
GMC spotlight
By Carey Hoffman
Enquirer contributor
The largest shadow cast in the Greater Miami Conference this year belongs to Milford's Zach Strief.
Strief, a 6-foot-8, 315-pound offensive tackle for Milford, is the biggest man in the GMC and one of the league's top linemen.
“He's absolutely, in the 30 years I've been in coaching, the biggest kid I've ever coached,” Milford coach Bob Smith said. “I've seen some big kids on other teams that might be near his size, but they didn't have the athleticism Zach has.”
Smith said the numbers on Strief are legit — he was measured at Michigan State's football camp over the summer.
But Strief doesn't just dominate with his size. He's athletic enough to start at center for the Milford basketball team and moves well enough that Smith thinks he could be a quality defensive lineman in college.
“For a big kid, he really runs well,” says Smith, who said Strief runs a respectable 5.2 in the 40-yard dash. “He has excellent feet.”
Strief demonstrated his skills last year in a matchup with Lima Senior's 6-6, 280-pound high school all-American, Alphonso Townsend, who is now at Ohio State. Strief played both offense and defense and did so well Milford coaches have been sending that game film to college recruiters.
Besides going to Michigan State, Strief spent the summer attending summer camps at Notre Dame and Michigan, as well as the Nike camp.
He is considered a Big Ten-quality prospect.
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