Commitment! #BostonCollege received a verbal from Minerva (Ohio) St. Thomas Aquinas defensive end Joel Rich last night. #BCEagles #wearebc
— Justin Rowland (@JRowland_Rivals) June 30, 2012
Boston College continues to do work on the recruiting trail, this time picking up another defensive end. Joel Rich, a junior from Minerva, Ohio, has committed to the Boston College Eagles early Saturday morning. The 6-foot-4, 230 pounder plays for St. Thomas Aquinas and is a two star recruit via Scout. His only other offer is from Buffalo.
Rich, who will be joining fellow Ohio-ian Kevin Kavalec as the second defensive end of the 2013 class. That's not to say that FBS schools aren't interested in him. They just haven't offered him yet. According to reports Cincinnati, Northwestern and Duke have all watched him and expressed interest.
Rich certainly seems like the type of player that BC is shooting for. Rich has a 4.6 GPA in school right now, and is a big game tape studier. His high school coach sings his praises on the field as well
"He has eight sacks. That’s a lot for high school football," Budd said. "He’s double- and triple-teamed. We count on him for our pass rush because we don’t blitz much. Joel is so good at rushing the passer.
"He has 16 quarterback pressures, and he’s third on the team in tackles. You run to his side of the line, it tends to not work out well for you.
"When Lowell Klinefelter says he’s a man out there and ‘we don’t have an answer for him’ — that says something."
Rich helped Aquinas blank Klinefelter’s Central Catholic team 21-0 in a Week 10, make-or-break game for the Knights. Central came in averaging 350 yards of offense and 35 points. The Crusaders left with 55 yards and zero points for only the second time in the long rivalry.
Rich is the ninth recruit for the Boston College Class of 2013. Welcome to the Heights Joel!