'06 OH WR Armand Robinson (Miami of Ohio signee)

[osugrad21]

Dispatch

8/25

Player won’t let football define him
Reynoldsburg’s Robinson maintains the right attitude
Thursday, August 25, 2005
Mark Znidar
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Years ago, Armand Robinson came to the conclusion that football would never define him.

After sitting out the entire season as an eighth-grader with a broken ankle, he didn’t try out the next two years at Reynoldsburg.

Robinson’s decision had nothing to do with the coaching staff, teammates or the game itself.

"Everybody was asking me about that," Robinson said. "I just watched college football and the NFL on television. I can’t really give a reason for not playing. I just never thought about it. I know that my freshman year I thought they had too many running backs. Now, I love football."

Last season, everyone found out what the Raiders were missing when Robinson caught 42 passes for 826 yards and nine touchdowns.

By the time the college summer camps ended, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Minnesota and Miami University had offered him scholarships and Michigan State and Cincinnati said offers might be pending.

Personal questions tend to embarrass Robinson.

"I just want Reynoldsburg to make the playoffs and have a really good season," he said. "I don’t want the colleges to get into my head, but they’re still in the back of my mind. It’s a great experience, but it can be stressful."

Raiders coach Woody Underwood said that with Robinson, what you see is what you get.

"Armand is a stand-up guy and makes the right choices," Underwood said. "It’s just that football was never a priority in his home. Football is icing on the cake for him. Academics are the most important thing in that family."

Sister Allaina Robinson, a senior on the Reynoldsburg tennis team, can vouch that her mother, Emilie, keeps track of her children’s grades more than their athletics. Older brother Michael is on academic scholarship at Ohio State.

"Armand and I find ourselves motivating each other," Allaina said. "If we have a lot of homework, we’ll say, ‘Let’s sit down in the living room and turn off the TV and concentrate. That way we’ll both get our work done and do it better.’ "

Armand has a 3.0 average taking advancedplacement classes. On the football field, the 6-foot-1, 192-pound receiver does it better than most others, too.

"You hear the term gamer, and Armand is that kind of player," Underwood said. "He’s one step faster than the person chasing him. If he’s tired — and he plays almost every down because he’s a safety and cornerback on defense — he’s still fast."

Robinson’s numbers as a junior are more impressive because the Raiders lost five practice days as penalty for holding unauthorized workouts under previous coach Kerry Hodakievic and that Underwood wasn’t hired until July 17.

"And our quarterback, Lance Lasker, had just transferred from Kansas City," Robinson said. "Coach came in so late that our offense was pretty simple. We ran a lot of ‘you go deep’ plays and fades.

"This season, we’ve got our plays down. We also have more plays. Lance has a nice arm. But I don’t care how many times we throw. We can run all the time as long as we win games."


mznidar@dispatch.com

[osubucksfan2]

im bout to go out of town but I went to his game today vs. Pickerington Central and Armand caught a 15-20yard TD pass (i had bad seats lol) and at a KEY point in the game when it was 13-7 Pickerington Armand got an Interception. but our offense sucks and we couldnt score at all and we lost 28-7.

Game 1: 1 TD 1 INT

[osugrad21]

Scout $ (Duane Long)

8/26

Armand has offers from Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Carolna and Miami of Ohio. He says he is hearing from tOSU but not as much as before.

[osubucksfan2]

yea His favorite school is Definately NORTH CAROLINA. Its between OSU and NORTH CAROLINA and if OSU doesn't offer (they probably won't unless he has a spectacular season) then its UNC all the way.........

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

rivals.com$

8/29/05

Robinson had 7 catches for 77 yards and a TD as Reynoldsburg lost to Pickerington 28-7.

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

rivals.com$

9/14/05

Robinson still has offers from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Miami of Ohio, and North Carolina. He is looking at all four schools and will be scheduling official visits. Miami(OH) and Michigan State are his favorites because they are recruiting him as a wide receiver.

[NavyBuck]

I saw Armand play against Lima Central the week before last. He has good size and skills, but did not really stand out to me. I can see why he is being recruited as a DB. The best looking prospect to me on the Reynoldsburg side was Lance Lasker, the QB. That definitely will not be his position in college, but he is a good sized kid with some good wheels.

[osubucksfan2]

Armand was just offered by Cincinnati and the Northwestern coaches will come to reynoldsburg to watch Armand play Hilliard Davidson next Friday (9/30).

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

rivals.com$

9/23/05

Robinson is being recruited as a safety and wide receiver depending on the schools. Miami (OH), Cincinnati, North Carolina, Minnesota and Wisconsin have offered. Michigan State, West Virginia, Northwestern and Notre Dame have been calling. Robinson would like to play receiver in college, also says he has not been hearing a lot from tOSU.

[kingarmand1]

I haven't logged in to this site for a while and if i did i would just look at what you are saying about me. It amazing that you know all of this inside info about me LOL. On the season i have roughly 20 catches for 5 TD's. and on Defense i have 25 Tackles and 2 INT's. Im concentrating on my season right now so i havent got a chance to get into the recruuiting process yet.........

[NavyBuck]

Welcome Armand. I am from Reynoldsburg myself. I see the Raiders are only a point or so out of the 8th playoff spot, which isn't too bad considering.

You never know what is going to happen in recruiting. I remember talking to Marc Philmore when his best offer was Ball State. The next thing you know, here comes Northwestern. Good luck on the rest of the season and I hope you get the offers you want. UNC is not bad at all, though. Very good school and beautiful campus.

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

link

9/30/05

LAST FRIDAY -- Behind quarterback Lance Lasker, Reynoldsburg generated 418 yards of offense, including 330 rushing against Fremont Ross.

But it was the defense that set the tone with two goal-line stands. The more crucial came on fourth-and-goal at the 2 with the Raiders trailing 7-0 in the second quarter.

The Raiders stopped quarterback Aaron Opelt, and Lasker followed with a 3-yard touchdown run on the next series to cut their deficit to 7-6 at half.
"It was like a tennis match in the first half, but I think we wore them down in the second half," Underwood said. "They weren't quite as physical as I expected, took some risks and there was nobody there to catch our guys."

With 10 minutes left in the third quarter, running back Austin Wallace had a 72-yard run, setting up a 5-yard touchdown pass from Lasker to Armand Robinson as the Raiders went up 14-7 after Lasker ran in the conversion.

Lasker, who rushed 204 yards on 21 carries, had two more touchdown runs (60, 50 yards) in the fourth quarter.

"We have a lot of great talents on offense, and I know I'm a little biased, but I don't think they would have as much success without the defense that we have," Keefer said. "I believe it's the defense that keeps us in every ballgame."
Fremont Ross had (minus)-52 yards from sacks of Opelt.

At a glance

<SIDEBARTEXT>
NEXT GAME

REYNOLDSBURG at THOMAS WORTHINGTON

When: 7:30 p.m. Friday

Last meeting: 2004, Reynoldsburg 40-10

Thomas to date: Defeated West 42-0; lost 13-0 to Olentangy; lost 21-14 to Newark; lost 30-13 to Upper Arlington; lost 24-21 to Hilliard Darby

Top Cardinals: Randy Aun (DL), Jamar Davis (LB), Chris Dorka (QB), Dan Ford (WR), Tequan Givens (RB), Scott Monfort (RB), Andy Princehorn (WR), Anthony Santilli (G), Mike Shaw (OT), Zach Sjostrom (DL), Ryan Sparks (QB), Will Taylor (FB) and Josh Williams (DL)
LAST GAME

REYNOLDSBURG 27, FREMONT ROSS 7


Star: Lance Lasker, who rushed for 204 yards and three touchdowns on 21 carries and threw a touchdown pass to Armand Robinson
Key play: Lasker scored on a 60-yard run to give the Raiders a 20-7 lead midway through the fourth quarter.
Key stat: Reynoldsburg held Fremont Ross to 61 yards rushing and stopped the Little Giants twice inside the Raiders 10-yard line.</SIDEBARTEXT>

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Robinson had a 6 yard touchdown run in a 22-13 win over Westerville North....

[osugrad21]

Rivals $

10/30

Armand committed to Miami (OH) today. Best of luck Armand.

[wadc45]

Good luck to Armand at Miami...