Greenfield Lineman Among State's Top Football Prospects

When Greenfield athletic director and head football coach Scott Otto first took one look at Josh Ruka last summer, he knew he had to get on the horn with his college coaching connections.

Otto, who is about to start his second season as the Hustlin’ Hawks head coach knows football talent and potential when he sees it, and he saw plenty of both in Ruka, who at the time was a 6-foot-5-inch, 250-pound offensive lineman.

"He has what (college recruiters) are looking for: the broad shoulders, the long arms, the good feet, he’s a good student and he’s a good kid," Otto said.

Ruka, now 6-6 and approaching 290 pounds, has parlayed those talents and potential into a Division 1 college scholarship to play football at Northern Illinois University and earn the distinction of being the fifth-ranked senior prospect in the state by Rivals.com.

"My coach basically helped me once he got here," Ruka said. "He just noticed me and said, 'I’m going to get that kid into college,' and that’s what he’s done so far. He’s been a great help. I wouldn’t be where I am if not for him."

Ruka has received seven scholarship offers and had inquiries from as many as 30 colleges since the start of last season. He committed to Northern Illinois in mid-June after attending a camp.

The giant senior, who has been playing football since he was a sixth-grader, said he liked the size of the campus and that it’s close to home.

Ruka’s varsity high school career started rather quietly. As a sophomore, he was called up to the varsity to play in a few games. But as a junior, Otto’s first at the helm, he started every game at right tackle and quickly showed what he is capable of.

"It doesn’t have much to do with me," Otto said. "It has to do with his work ethic, what he does in the weight room, what he did in the offseason, what he did on the field last year. You can have the greatest coach in the world, but he still got voted on by the other teams in the conference as first-team all-conference."

Why so special?

There are plenty of big, athletic kids across the state who can fortify an offensive line. So what is it about Ruka that makes him stand out over the rest?

“What makes him in my opinion the best lineman in the state is his feet,” said Otto, who believes more scholarship offers will come Ruka’s way, including some from Big Ten schools. “His feet are so good. Typically, a kid that’s so big and so tall shouldn’t have feet like he does. That’s what interested me when I first saw him.”

Otto called Ruka the best lineman he’s ever coached, which says a lot. When Otto was coach at West Allis Hale, he had the Greater Metro Conference’s lineman of the year in Robbie Ustruck one fall and coached Ricky Wagner, who is now a Badger.

“He’s as good as either of those guys,” Otto said. “He is not as athletic as Ricky was, but at this point, as a high school football player, he’s better than Ricky was. ... Ruka is aggressive. He gets after it.”

This offseason, in addition to the Northern Illinois camp, Ruka also attended camps at Michigan State and Wisconsin. He admits to struggling with pass blocking at the camps early on, because at Greenfield, he is mostly called on to run-block in the Hawks’ wishbone offense. He said he’ll improve on pass-blocking on his own if it remains low on his high school team’s priority list.

“I picked up some stuff from the Badger camp, picking up a medicine ball and kicking back my leg and doing the pass block routine,” Ruka said. “I try to use it whenever we do a pass play.”

As for this season, Ruka leads a Hawks team that has high expectations. After ending more than two seasons of winless football with a 3-6 mark last fall, Greenfield wants to win the Woodland Conference and make the playoffs for the first time since 2002.

Otto said Ruka would have a big hand in either should it work out that way for the Hawks.

"His goal should be to be as dominating as he possibly can," Otto said. "When we run that way, that whole (side of the line) should just cave in. He should be dominating football games. I don’t care if it’s Greendale, Eisenhower, Arrowhead. He has the skills to be a dominating football player."