Cardinal defensive back Brant Zemelka on Wednesday signed a National Letter of Intent to continue his education and football career at Tiffin University.
Zemelka, a first team all-county, second team all-Chagrin Valley Conference Valley Division and honorable mention all-district selection, chose Tiffin after visiting the school and developing a strong bond with the coaching staff.
“The whole time they seemed really interested in me,” said Zemelka, a 6-foot, 170-pounder. “From the start I liked the coaches and on my visit they all seemed really cool. I liked the town of Tiffin and once on campus it just felt right. They offer top of the line football facilities and great academic buildings.”
As a senior at Cardinal, Zemelka rushed for 195 yards and scored two touchdowns and recorded 59 tackles, including five for a loss, picked off a pass and broke up three others.
He was a three-year letterman and a two-year starter that also excels in the classroom, where he carries a 3.5 grade point average.
“They’ve told him they see him as an immediate contributor on special teams and he'd be a candidate to work into their defensive packages as the year progresses,” said Cardinal head coach Eric Cardinal. “He’s a very intense football player; a competitor.”
According to Coach Cardinal, Zemelka showed steady improvement during his career with the Huskies, especially when it came to calling out the defensive adjustments for the other defensive backs.
Zemelka, who hopes to major in Homeland Security and Criminal Justice at Tiffin, was recruited as a strong safety.
He’s looking forward to the opportunity to play college football but his main goal is to earn a degree.
“Besides getting my degree, I want to both better and improve myself on and off the field and hopefully help contribute to the up and coming program Tiffin has,” Zemelka said. “All in all, I’m just blessed to have this opportunity and couldn’t be happier about my decision.”
