West Orange’s Simon leads Ohio State football to national title victory

West Orange native Cody Simon was a big part of the Ohio State University football team’s amazing season.

Simon, a 6-foot-2, 235-pound graduated senior linebacker, posted a team-high eight tackles to help the eighth-seeded OSU Buckeyes to a 34-23 win over No. 7 University of Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff Championship game on Monday night, Jan. 20, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. Simon was named the Defensive Player of the Game.

It was the ninth national championship for the Buckeyes who ended the season at 14-2.

Simon, who had 11 tackles and two sacks when he was the Rose Bowl Defensive Player of the Game in the 41-21 CFP quarterfinal victory over previously-unbeaten and top-seed University of Oregon on New Year’s Day, finished the season with a team-high 112 tackles in 15 games played.

Simon is a graduate of St. Peter’s Prep in Jersey City, He was ranked No. 98 overall in the nation, No. 6 in the nation among linebackers and No. 1 in the state overall in the Class of 2020, according to 247sports.com.

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