Every weekend in the fall, thousands of high school football times line up and take their shot at prep glory. The Sunday morning Prep Tracker is your final stop for the names, numbers and scores that mattered to Ohio State's recruiting efforts.
BURROW CONTINUES HOT STREAK, FINDS HIMSELF ATOP #SCTOP10
Joe Burrow has had his season well documented in this time slot throughout the fall, and with good reason: he's had an amazing, bordering on preposterous, senior season. After Friday night's seven touchdown performance in a 52-20 win against DeSales (Columbus), Burrow now has 58 touchdowns on the season compared to only one interception. Those numbers, as ridiculous as they are, will no longer be what gets Burrow noticed thanks to his appearance at the top of the ESPN "Top 10" plays list this weekend. The video, shot by friend of the program and Rivals.com analyst Marc Givler, has taken on a life of its own.
Burrow and his Bulldogs, now 13-0 on the season, led only 19-14 midway through the second quarter, but took a 39-14 win into halftime as the future Buckeye and his teammates erupted for 20 quick points. As the game concluded, Burrow finished 22-28 for 302 yards with four touchdowns passing, 5 carries for 135 yards and two scores on the ground and the aforementioned receiving touchdown. The effort impressed DeSales head coach Ryan Wiggins.
“We knew the quarterback was impressive coming in," Wiggins told the Columbus Dispatch. "I surely didn’t see anything he couldn’t do,” Wiggins said. “He gashed us on those two long TD runs (58 and 41 yards) early in the game and eluded a whole bunch of tackles to either make plays or avoid getting caught for them.”
DENZEL WARD, NORDONIA KEEP ROLLING
Nordonia and Buckeye commitment Denzel Ward advanced to the state semifinal with another big win on Friday night. The Knights, the second-seeded team in Division II, delivered early-and-often against top-ranked Midview in their 52-14 win. Now 13-0, Ward and his teammates will prepare for Mayfield, who knocked off Bedford 34-32.
Ward was held in check for most of the night, but still finished with two touchdown receptions of 36 and 14 yards and six total catches. Ward now has caught 53 passes this season and scored 19 touchdowns, dominating week-in and week-out on both sides of the ball. He could be the most underrated Ohio State commitment in the 2015 class.
BAKER, LAYNE LEAD AS BENGALS BOUNCE BAY
When you're a high school football team with the talent that Benedictine has, the game can seem easy from time-to-time. The top-seeded Bengals, who had to learn to play without Jerome Baker as the Buckeye commit sat out with a high-ankle sprain earlier in the year, go in to the playoffs healthy and on a roll. On Friday night, against Bay, it was the combination of Baker and Dontez Rash that proved impossible to defend. The duo collected 330 yards rushing on the night, from standard offensive sets and from the wildcat, whatever was necessary to create mismatches. Bay head coach Ron Rutt told Cleveland.com the combination was as good as advertised.
"It's a tough combination to stop for sure. They come right at you," Rutt said Friday night. "They have a good line. Those guys give them some good lines to run through and they're fast."
Baker agreed that the "wildcat" helped create an advantage for the Bengals. It opened him up for a 77-yard touchdown jaunt in the first quarter. He also couldn't help but think about how his team at Benedictine has not only been shaped by the past, but is shaping the future.
“(The wildcat) just switches things up. You don’t know if I’m going to get the ball or Dontez," Baker shared. "Anyone of us gets the ball, we can just take it to the house. It’s fun and defense really has to expect me and ‘Tez. It feels amazing. To see all the alumni here, they’re excited as us. I’m leaving my legacy. We’re all leaving our legacy, the whole team. Coach Schaefer always said to leave our legacy. I’m leaving my legacy in the right direction.”
TORRANCE GIBSON ONE GAME CLOSER TO ANOTHER TITLE
In 2013, Torrance Gibson and his American Heritage Patriots were champions, winning the state title in Florida and putting a target on their jerseys in 2014. After struggling early in the season, dropping a pair of games on what is one of the country's toughest schedules. On Friday, the Patriots dominated again, topping Naples Lely 43-13, and Gibson, playing only a half, was sensational.
Throwing two touchdowns and rushing for one, Gibson sat out the majority of the second half as he nurses a gimpy ankle.
| Player | CLASS | Pos | HIGH SCHOOL | OPPONENT | RESULTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JOE BURROW | 2015 | QB | Athens (The Plains, OH) | DeSales (Columbus, OH) | Won 52-20. Burrow accounted for seven scores |
| TORRANCE GIBSON | 2015 | QB | American Heritage (Plantation, FL) | Lely (Naples, FL) | Won 43-13. Gibson ran for a 51 yard touchdown and threw for two scores. |
| ALEX STUMP | 2015 | WR | St. Edwards (Lakewood, OH) | Westerville (Westerville, OH) | Won 41-0. Stump did not play. He's out for the season with a foot injury. |
| AJ ALEXANDER | 2015 | ATH | Lake Braddock (Burke, VA) | Springfield (Springfield, VA) | Won 27-24. Alexander did not play as he recovers from a torn ACL. |
| RASHOD BERRY | 2015 | ATH | Digital (Lorain, OH) | Did Not Play | Season finished. |
| GRANT SCHMIDT | 2015 | OL | Roosevelt - 03 (Sioux Falls, SD) | Did Not Play | Season finished. |
| KEVIN FEDER | 2015 | OL | Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, NJ) | Paramus Catholic (Paramus, NJ) | Lost 18-17. Paramus scored with 22 seconds left to knock off Don Bosco Prep. |
| LIAM MCCULLOUGH | 2015 | OL (LS) | Kilbourne (Worthington, OH) | Did Not Play | Season finished. |
| JOSH ALABI | 2015 | DL | Cass Tech (Detroit, MI) | Saline (Saline, MI) | Lost 30-15. |
| JASHON CORNELL | 2015 | DL | Cretin Durham Hall (St. Paul, MN) | Did Not Play | Season finished. |
| DRE'MONT JONES | 2015 | DL | St. Ignatius (Cleveland, OH) | Did Not Play | Season finished. |
| JEROME BAKER | 2015 | LB | Benedictine (Cleveland, OH) | Bay (Bay Village, OH) | Won 35-7. |
| NICK CONNER | 2015 | LB | Scioto (Dublin, OH) | Olentangy (Lewis Center, OH) | Lost, 41-29. Conner did not play as he recovers from a leg injury. Season finished. |
| JUSTIN HILLIARD | 2015 | LB | St. Xavier (Cincinnati, OH) | Archbishop Moeller (Cincinnati, OH) | Lost 21-0. Season finished. |
| CARLTON DAVIS | 2015 | DB | Norland (Miami, FL) | Did Not Play | Season finished. |
| JAMEL DEAN | 2015 | DB | Cocoa (Cocoa, FL) | Clewiston (Clewiston, FL) | Won 26-21. |
| TYLER GREEN | 2015 | DB | DeMatha (Hyattesville, MD) | Good Counsel (Olney, MD) | Won 24-20 to win second straight WCAC title in Maryland. |
| JOSH NORWOOD | 2015 | DB | Valdosta (Valdosta, GA) | Did Not Play | Season finished. |
| DENZEL WARD | 2015 | DB | Nordonia (Macedonia, OH) | Midview (Grafton, OH) | Won 52-14. Ward scored two (36, 14) touchdowns in the victory. |
| ERIC GLOVER-WILLIAMS | 2015 | ATH | McKinley (Canton, OH) | Did Not Play. | Season finished. |
| JONATHON COOPER | 2016 | DE | Lincoln (Gahanna, OH) | Did Not Play. | Season finished. |
| TYLER GERALD | 2016 | OL | Sciotoville (Portsmouth, OH) | Did Not Play. | Season finished. |
| KIERRE HAWKINS | 2016 | ATH | Maple Heights (Maple Heights, OH) | Did Not Play. | Season finished. |
| GEORGE HILL | 2016 | RB | Hubbard (Hubbard, OH) | St. Vincent-St. Mary's (Akron, OH) | Lost 26-23. |
| DANNY CLARK | 2017 | QB | Washington (Massillon, OH) | Did Not Play. | Season finished. |
