BEAVER TOWNSHIP — The oil change that Mark Porter finally squeezed in last Friday, before setting out on a 5-hour trek to Cincinnati, seemingly defined what has become known as this fall’s shortened high school football season.

The fact that it was nearly 2,500 miles overdue gives insight as to the focus Porter has maintained over the past six weeks.

This week, with the OHSAA football playoffs set to begin, don’t even ask if he has a spare moment to talk, even if it is between his game preparation and scheduling of games.

Currently in his 17th year as CEO of ScoutingOhio.com, a high school football scouting service that he founded in 2005, Porter told the Curbstone Coaches during Monday’s weekly meeting at Avion Banquet Center that the last six weeks have been the most unique for him and his wife, Stephanie, since his service went national.

“It has been helter-skelter and super-fast paced, to say the least,” Porter said. “I am trying to fit 100 pounds of notes and information into a 50-pound bag, and it just isn’t happening as fast or as smoothly as I would like. It is time-consuming, of course, if I want to do it right, and I want to do everything as concise as possible about each player that I am scouting.

“Stephanie has logged over 2,200 miles in her car as she remains responsible for the Akron, Canton and Cleveland areas while my odometer verified that I had, in fact, traveled over 7,200 miles prior to my oil change.”

Porter has over 80 NCAA Division I, II and III schools that subscribe to his service — he also has NAIA and NJCAA schools that are subscribers — and realizes their wants and needs as he combs the state’s 44,825 square miles to report on possible college talent that exists in Ohio.

“Last weekend, I traveled to Cincinnati to see Cleveland St. Ignatius play Cincinnati St. Xavier High School,” he said. “In a normal year, I would see St. Ignatius play in Cleveland during the regular season and then watch St. Xavier in the postseason, but I’ve lost four weeks to the regular season and every team qualifies for the playoffs this year.

“Between those two teams, there is a minimum of 15 prospects on which I will file a report. They will undoubtedly receive offers and I need to have all bios updated for those subscribing to my service. I have had to make longer drives on shorter notice but realize I must do that if I want to get the job done right.”

Porter said COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on all sports, but it’s still fun for both him and his wife.

“I cannot believe how much fun this still is for both of us,” he said. “When something is taken away from you, like football was in July and August, it shows how much you want and appreciate it, not because it is your livelihood but because the good football that is being played weighs heavily in a player’s decision-making process.

“Our scouting service has carved out its unique niche, and we’re very proud of the fact that it is hard to duplicate or start up from scratch. It took five or six years before coaches and their staffs were on board with my service, and it was tough gaining their confidence and trust. Now that we have that trust, we must continue to produce the best and most concise reports for their perusal.”

One thing the pandemic has done is it has forced collegiate programs to return to the traditional way of recruiting players.

“Colleges reverted back to old-school recruiting in that they watched a lot of film and called head coaches, then offered kids at an unusual pace,” Porter stated. “Those high school players good enough to look good on film and be offered were lucky they committed, either out of fear of the mass rush or what was happening at the time.

“They couldn’t show they grew, got faster or put on weight and to them, what is usually a frustrating process has become monumentally frustrating. They really had no outlet, like summer camps, to show their improvement since last year.

“Their stock was frozen until the first week of the season, at which point the process had frozen for them because college spots were essentially filled up.”

Porter noted that early recruitment was up exponentially over past years.

“We probably had a record number of recruits committed by September 1,” he said. “For the 2020-21 class, there were 106 committed whereas 112 were signed last year on the normal signing days in December and February. Another staggering number was that 315 students had an FCS, Division II and III offer by September 1.”

Porter said local players on which to keep an eye for 2022 include Jamel James (running back, Austintown Fitch), Dean Boyd (wide receiver, Ursuline), Brady Shannon, quarterback, Ursuline), Delshawn Petrosky (strong safety-free safety, Chaney), Mathew Reardon (wide receiver, Ursuline), Clive Wilson (defensive end, Chaney), Aiden Hall (wide receiver, Struthers), Cam Thompson (wide receiver, Boardman), Aidan Stephens (strong safety-free safety, LaBrae), Terence Thomas (wide receiver, Boardman), Beau Brungard (quarterback, Springfield), Karter Kellgren (offensive line, Poland), Dominick Foster (wide receiver, Warren G. Harding), Darius Humbert (linebacker, Chaney), J.R. Tellington (linebacker, Chaney), Elijah Taylor (quarterback, Harding), Jacob Kamperman (offensive line, Columbiana), Alex Goodrick (Hubbard), Cortland Love (defensive tackle-nose, Boardman), Devin Sherwood (quarterback, Fitch) and Jesse Likens (quarterback, JFK).

Those to watch in 2023 include Brian Frasco (offensive line, Ursuline), Jason Hewlett (wide receiver, Chaney), Broc Lowry (quarterback, Canfield) and Mason Ludwig (offensive line, East Liverpool).

Next Monday, Sean Guerriero, Springfield Tigers football coach will serve as guest speaker.