Dunlap, Jerry

 

Jerry Dunlap – (2004)

Despite missing most of the season opener due to a thumb injury and much of a game later in the year due to a bruised leg, Jerry Dunlap enjoyed a sensational senior season at Admiral King.

In that season opening 13-0 win over a Parma Normandy team that made the playoffs the previous fall, Dunlap carried the ball only 5 times but gained 60 yards. Against Brunswick, a team noted as one of the best defensive teams in the Cleveland area, Dunlap sped 81 yards down the west sideline to give King its first score with just over 3 minutes gone. The Admirals went on to win 38-14. In the Buckeye Conference opener, Jerry scored both touchdowns in Kings 23-14 win over defending co-champion Fremont Ross. In a 54-0 win over Elyria, Dunlap set the school rushing mark for a game, 225 yards, and did it in only 17 carries!

Dunlap dazzled on defense too, with a 54-yard return of a pass interception for a touchdown. The Admirals completed a 153-0 domination of three consecutive opponents by defeating Marion Harding, 48-0. It was in that game that Jerry sustained a leg bruise in the opening minutes, but not before scoring on a 26 yard run with less than three minutes gone.

Fans filled George Daniel Stadium to capacity for the Sandusky game, and they enjoyed a classic that is still talked about over 20 years later. The Blue Streaks clinched at least a tie for the Buckeye Conference crown with a thrilling 29-21 victory, but Dunlap delighted the huge crowd with 149 yards in 16 carries, including touchdown runs of 75 and 9 yards.

The Admirals rebounded from that tough loss by beating a team with only two losses coming into the game, Findlay, 27-14. Dunlap picked up 204 yards rushing, enabling him to set 3 new records – a career record of 2,137 yards rushing and season marks of 1,260 yards rushing and 9.4 yards rushing per game, a record that still stands today, as does another of Dunlap’s marks, an average of 14.6 yards rushing attained in a win over Lorain High.

Dunlap wound up as the second leading scorer in Lorain County in 1982 with 120 points, only eight points shy of the leader. He was the runaway scoring champ in the Buckeye Conference with 84 points, 34 more than the runner-up. Dunlap was duly honored as the Buckeye Conference Back of the Year.

Among the honors bestowed upon Jerry were, Buckeye Conference Player of the Year, Buckeye Conference First Team, and UPI First Team All-Ohio. When Jerry Dunlap left AKHS he owned 11 school records in football.

As a track star, he was an integral part of the record-holding 1600 meter and 400 meter relay teams.

Attending the University of South Carolina on a football scholarship, Jerry continued his excellence on the gridiron by being named Football Player of the Year his freshman year. Over a three-year period he was ranked second in the nation in punt-returns, and; showed great athletic ability by playing on offense and defense. For his senior year, Jerry elected to attend Youngstown State University, bringing him closer to home; and, affording him the opportunity to play for Coach Jim Tressel. His standout performances brought him All-Valley Conference honors.

From 1989 thru 1991 Jerry played in the Canadian Football League with Calgary, British Columbia, Ottawa, and Hamilton, thereby distinguishing himself as one of the city’s greatest football players.