2024 Trib HSSN Preseason Football All-Star Team: Elizabeth Forward’s Christopher Climes

By: Chris Harlan
Friday, July 26, 2024 | 1:20 PM

Christopher Climes works out with a professional soccer trainer, which wouldn’t seem unusual if the senior were a midfielder on Elizabeth Forward’s soccer team.

But he’s not. The 6-foot-2, 305-pounder is one of the top defensive linemen in the WPIAL, yet he credits a soccer background for some of his football success.

“I was a soccer player my whole life,” said Climes, a former youth player for Beadling Soccer Club. “When I got to high school, I knew football was my passion because I was bigger than everybody. So I was like, ‘I might as well put on the pads and hit somebody, I guess.’ ”

Climes left soccer behind in middle school, but he says those skills help him nowadays to sidestep a blocker or chase down a quarterback. He can do both with more athleticism than most guys his size.

A two-way starter at guard and defensive tackle, Climes earned first-team all-conference honors in the Interstate last season on both sides of the ball.

“I’ve never seen a lineman in high school who’s 6-2, 300 pounds, runs a 4.9 40, can dunk a basketball and bench press 400 pounds,” EF coach John DeMarco said. “And his work ethic is unbelievable.”

They likely won’t use him in the backfield, but DeMarco said his coaches even have discussed how he’d make a pretty good fullback. But they need him on the offensive line, and they run behind him often.

Defense is Climes’ specialty, and he had 18 sacks and 29 tackles for a loss last fall.

Nearly three dozen colleges offered Climes, who committed this month to Buffalo. He had 34 offers, which might seem like too many to remember.

“No, I remember every single one,” he said. “It’s incredibly humbling.”

An uncle played linebacker at Youngstown State, but Climes said he hadn’t imagined he’d play college football until recently. He got his first college offer last August, and many more followed.

“I didn’t really think, coming out of my freshman year, that I was going to make it past high school football,” Climes said. “I thought I was just suiting up to hit people. But I’m incredibly blessed and grateful for every coach that took a chance on me.”

Climes works out under the direction of trainer Mike Whiteman, the Riverhounds’ director of speed and strength. He connected with Whiteman through cousin Tessa Dellarose, a Brownsville graduate who plays soccer at North Carolina.

Many of the drills are universal, Climes said, like the days they work on speed with resistance bands or a treadmill. But he said there are different measures of quickness and athleticism in soccer.

“I’m his only football player that he’s ever trained,” Climes said. “I give all my credit to him.”

Climes’ highlight video is a montage of tackles in the backfield. He’s often bigger than the blocker across from him but shows balance as well as brawn.

“That’s the thing, his technique,” DeMarco said. “He can bull rush you, or he can go around you.”

One highlight shows Climes swim move past a baffled center for a sack. He has worked on improving his technique and found that surprising opponents with speed can be more fun than just using strength.

“That’s definitely the best feeling in the world when you don’t have to put hands on him,” Climes said with a laugh. “You’re just too fast for him.”

Christopher Climes

Elizabeth Forward

Senior

6-2, 305

OL/DL

Stars: Three (Rivals.com)

Committed to: Buffalo

Division I offers: Air Force, Akron, Bowling Green, Brown, Bryant, Bucknell, Colgate, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Duquesne, East Carolina, Eastern Michigan, Harvard, Holy Cross, James Madison, Kent State, Lafayette, Lehigh, Maine, Marshall, Mercyhurst, Miami (Ohio), Monmouth, New Hampshire, Ohio, Old Dominion, Penn, Richmond, Toledo, Villanova, Yale, Youngstown State

2023 statistics: 18 sacks, 29 tackles for a loss, 62 total tackles

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

Tags: Elizabeth Forward