Prep Tracker: Joe Burrow, Damien Harris Dominate in Big Weekend for Ohio State Prep Targets

GREEN PLAYING THE ROLE OF LEADER

On Friday night, Ohio State commitment Tyler Green and his DeMatha teammates traveled to Philadelphia and took on De LaSalle-In-Towne. For Green, it was another disappointing loss as DeMatha lost 41-39, falling to 1-2 on the young season. A historically proud program struggling with a young team, Green is doing his best to keep a positive attitude. 

"We're a young team, but with a lot of talent, that's the situation," Green told Eleven Warriors. "As a team, we can take that one of two ways. First, we can let people tell you how great of a game you played, and that you fought to the end. Second, you can take the loss and get back to work on Sunday and work on the little things. We're going with the second option, we're getting back to work."

Green admits that as a senior, knowing his high school career is approaching its end, the losses are harder to swallow. 

"It is harder as a senior," he continued. "It makes the job a bit tougher than it could be, because I've got less time to make an impact. I've just got to stay positive and keep the positive energy on our team. I want my guys to know that we could be backed up against the goal line in the game, or life, and that I'm going to be there giving all I can when they look behind them."

The task now for DeMatha is simple, the route to the improvement not as easy. Green says there's one place it starts.

"We'll get better with better practices," he concluded. "It all starts, and ends, with practice. We'll play as well as we prepared."

Yes folks, this is a kid that gets it. 

Mike Rockstedt was in attendance Friday night and will have more on Green and some of his talented teammates on Monday.

GERALD "DOMINATES" EN ROUTE TO FIRST WIN

Sciotoville East has struggled in their first two games, to say the least. After being, well, thumped by a combined score of 90-13 in weeks one and two, the Tartans star offensive lineman Tyler Gerald bounced back in a big way in week three. The country's third-ranked guard in the 2016 class, Gerald stood out on Friday night.

"Tyler dominated," James Gifford, the offensive line coach at East told 11W. "Our entire team woke up a little bit, and we had a great week of practice. I think we ran for just about 300 yards, and most of them were behind Tyler."

What made the biggest difference in such a short span of time?

"We only played Tyler about 10 snaps on defense last night, and the weather was a bit cooler," he said. "I think we've been over-working him. I haven't graded him out yet, but I counted at least 15 'flat-backs.' The thing is, he could play division one anywhere as a tackle, but he's even better and likes the offensive line better."

According to Gifford, Gerald's graded out spectacularly in the early part of the season, even with the losses. In week one he was given a 109-percent grade, and in week two he finished at 103-percent.

DEZ FITZPATRICK BEGINS TO MAKE IMPACT

One of my favorite players in the 2016 class is Farmington, Michigan wide receiver Dez Fitzpatrick. As technically proficient as any wide receiver in the country, Fitzpatrick is still waiting on his first major offer, although he's got a handful of Big Ten and SEC opportunities in hand already. He was at Friday Night Lights in July with the Buckeyes and Ohio State's staff has been in touch with him since the summer. 

A transfer from Harrison High School, Fitzpatrick is off to a good start in his junior season, despite limited pass-catching opportunities. He had his biggest game of the young season Friday night against Avondale (Auburn Hills, Michigan) with six receptions and two scores in a 35-0 victory.

On the year, Fitzpatrick has five touchdowns on his 12 touches. He continues to be a prospect worth watching.

BURROW CONTINUES HIS ROLL

Yes, the competition he plays his subpar but the lines being put up weekly by The Plains, Ohio's Joe Burrow are downright Maddenesque. Friday night, in two quarters of action, Burrow was 10-14 for 224 yards and five touchowns. Athens High School toppled Vincent Warren 69-7, and Burrow, the Gatorade Player of the Year in Ohio as a junior, is surpassing last year's ridiculous season in every way in 2014. The only thing that could stop him at this point is his sitting out the second-half of games the rest of the way.

On the year, Burrow now sits at 41 of 51 passing for 939 yards and 14 touchdowns. He's thrown zero interceptions. 

DAMIEN HARRIS MIGHT NOT BE HUMAN

There might be a few players in the country having a better start to the season than Joe Burrow, but not many. One of them resides in Berea, Kentucky and happens to be one of Ohio State's most important remaining targets: Damien Harris. 

This weekend, Harris struggled a bit, allowing himself to be tackled without scoring a touchdown at least 13 times, finishing with 19 carries for 6 touchdowns rushing and 321 yards. Oh yeah, he also returned a kick-off 91 yards for a score, just for good measure. The nation's top running back prospect, Harris continues to stay remarkably humble considering his uber-numbers. Friday night he scored touchdowns of 50, 53, 58, 31, 43, 8 and 91 yards. 

In four games, Harris has now accumulated 1019 yards on 56 (56!!!) carries and scored 15 touchdowns. Is it any wonder he's such a priority for Ohio State and others?

CAN'T TEACH SPEED

Last week I talked with Jamel Dean and he said his knee was feeling good. Want proof? Check out this highlight.