Jake Hite doesn’t want to miss a thing this June.

The recent graduate of Lake Catholic has had enough of missing out on things in June in previous years to last him a lifetime.

As Hite and his Blue Team teammates prepare for this weekend’s News-Herald Senior Bowl, presented by Hooley House, Hite is soaking up every ounce of practice time, moments with his new teammates and — well — just everything in general.

That’s because each of his past two Junes — both in 2020 and 2021 — Hite was pretty much idle as he recovered from two hip surgeries.

“Ever since I saw the first article in the paper for this game, I wanted to be part of it,” Hite said. “I talked to my brother, Ryan, about it. I wanted to be part of this.”

Hite is one of two marquee-level specialists in this year’s Senior Bowl, which will be played on Friday, June 17 at Mayfield’s Wildcat Stadium. Joey DiLalla, a recent West Geauga graduate, is the punter and kicker for the White-clad team.

Hite was the Division IV district kicker of the year, named by the Ohio Prep Sports Writers Association, while DiLalla was named Division III All-Ohio by the OPSWA.

“I’m excited. I think we have a good team,” DiLalla said. “We’re going to do good things. I think we’re going to come out with the win.”

He’ll be playing one last game with West G teammates Danny Stewart, Lucas Sadler and Torry Stazzone.

“It’s great. I couldn’t be happier to play with them again,” he said.

DiLalla became the all-time leading scorer in West Geauga football history this past season. He hit nine field goals as a senior, including a season-best 46 yards. But his range goes well beyond that.

DiLalla also averaged 40 yards per punt, pulling off an impressive double duty.

Hite was the big-legged kicker for Lake Catholic the past handful of years. He has a career-long of 55 yards in field goals, and also punted 46 times this past fall with a 41-yard average.

This is likely the best one-two punch of kickers and punters in Senior Bowl history, especially considering the players in question do BOTH equally well.

“I love doing both,” said Hite, who has committed to John Carroll, where he will focus on punting. “I wanted to do all three in high school (kickoff, punting, extra points), to be as big of a part of the team as I could both on and off the field.”

DiLalla has committed to Mount Union, where he will focus on kicking. He recently finished his high school career rated four stars by the prestigious Kohl’s kicking camp.

“Being a four-star kicker was such a big accomplishment for me,” DiLalla said after earning the ranking. “Through my high school years, I’ve broken records and won many awards. This four-star ranking is showing all my hard work and success. It was crazy for me to be ranked so high, but I think I have proved myself to my community. This is just another way to prove that I am the real deal.”

The offensive weaponry in this year’s Senior Bowl is off-the-charts good. There are big-arm quarterbacks on both teams including West G’s Danny Stewart on the White team and Benedictine’s C.J. Yarboro on the Blue team.

The skill set at receiver is chock full of high-end talent. White boasts John Carroll commits Gage Sullivan (Kirtland), Torry Stazzone (West G) and J.P. Germano (Kenston), as well as Euclid’s Claishon Ivory, just to name a few. Blue has the likes of Benedictine’s Brandon Boyd and Marvin Conkle, Mentor’s leading receivers Mikey Norwood and Sam Kish, and All-Ohioan Rick Coleman (Harvey).

A lot of touchdowns are forecasted come Friday night.

But will DiLalla and Hite be in their coach’s ear to let them try a field goal from long range?

Don’t count that out.

After all, both have the leg to ‘wow’ the fans.

“I wouldn’t complain if I got that chance,” DiLalla said of booting a NH game record kick.

“It’s going to be fun,” Hite said. “Honestly, I just want us to win as a team. It’s not a one man show. I’m excited to see how it goes, but if they do (want a long field goal), I’ll be ready.”

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