Welcome to The Hurry-Up, which runs Sunday through Thursday, serving as your last stop for recruiting news and notes nightly. We'll recap the day as it happened and preview the days ahead while keeping our ear to the ground on the Ohio State recruiting scene.
PREVIEWING STATE TITLE GAMES
Four Ohio State commitments from their 2015 recruiting class will vie for state championships this weekend, which started tonight in Columbus with Joe Burrow and Trae Williams' leading Athens against Toledo Central Catholic in the Division III matchup (currently in progress). The Bulldogs (14-0) are testing their mettle against an experienced and playoff-tested Fighting Irish (12-2) squad that relies heavily on a ground-it-out running attack anchored by Toledo commit and first team All-State selection Ramon Miles. Defensively, the Irish are led by the state's co-Defensive Player of the Year, linebacker Colin Kaucher and first team All-State lineman Christian Ward. 2016 linebacker Zach Sandwisch, a transfer from Elmore, is a player to keep an eye on from Central as well.
Friday morning at 10:00 a.m., Jerome Baker, Justin Layne and Dontez Rash lead the explosive and undefeated Bengals of Benedictine (Cleveland) against Kettering Alter in the Division IV final. Baker, the state's co-Defensive Player of the Year, will face a tall task trying to contain first team All-State quarterback Dusty Hayes and fellow first-teamer Nick Coleman, a senior who's committed to Notre Dame.
The Friday night game will feature Division II two of the state's top players regardless of position as Nordonia and Cincinnati La Salle do battle. Nordonia is paced by Ohio State commitment Denzel Ward, who stars at wide receiver and defensive back for the Knights. Ward's quarterback, David Murray, was named the Division II co-Offensive Player of the Year, and the Knights (14-0) will line up against the other winner, La Salle (13-1) running back Jeremy Larkin.
Saturday afternoon, the Division I title game between Lakewood St. Edward and Huber Heights Wayne will wrap up the year of prep football starting at 3:00 p.m. Ohio State pledge Alex Stump will not play for the Eagles (12-2) as he recovers from a lisfranc injury, but there's still plenty of talent for the Warriors to worry about across the field. Notre Dame commit Shaun Crawford, Kentucky verbals David Dowell and Andrew Dowell and quarterback Brett Kean — a South Florida commitment — will do their best to keep Wayne All-State quarterback D'Mitrik Trice and his top receiver Ahmad Wagner at bay. Wagner, at 6-foot-7 and 190 pounds, is a dangerous matchup for anyone. On defense, Michigan commitment Tyree Kinnel leads the Warriors.
JARED MAYDEN STILL LIKING OHIO STATE
Ohio State received a second visit from Sachse, Texas 2016 cornerback Jared Mayden II this past weekend. The country's 8th-ranked corner, Mayden has twice paid his own way to Columbus, a sure sign that he's seriously thinking about Ohio State. The Buckeyes and the Oregon Ducks are the two teams in his top five that are not in his home state.
"My visit was good," Mayden said about the trip to Columbus. "The atmosphere was amazing. It compared really well with Texas A&M in crowd noise and the fans. The best part was definitely just getting to hang out with the coaches and the players."
Mayden is being recruited by Ohio State's Chris Ash, and he says it's likely the Buckeyes will stay in his top five when he cuts his list down again in February. He will take visits to each of his top five (Rice, TCU, Texas A&M and Oregon) before he decides which teams will be eliminated.
SNEWS ON SNELSON
As it was requested by a few different folks last night, here's the situation on American Heritage wide receiver Dredrick Snelson, the explosive teammate of Torrance Gibson. First, he's back on the market officially.
I've decided to decommit from the University of Miami & Open back up my recruitment, I still have the utmost respect for the program.
— Dredrick Snelson Jr. (@D_Snelson2) December 3, 2014
Second, yes, there's some interest in and from Ohio State. In fact when the rumors that Snelson was going to decommit from Miami started about a month ago, the common thought was that a quick flip to Ohio State would ensue. Here's the catch: much like a majority of high school athletes, Snelson's physical abilities are steps ahead of his off-the-field maturity and the Buckeyes are hoping to see development in that area before aggressively pursuing the 6-foot-1, 190 pounder. Right now, Ohio State hasn't offered and they are keeping close watch on the situation because they love his game. Miami, Florida, Notre Dame, USC, Clemson and a host of others have offered already.
BUCKEYES MAKE TOP 10 FOR TEXAS SAFETY
Top 10 lists are not usually noteworthy, that's the truth. However, Nacogdoches, Texas 2016 safety Brandon Jones isn't your run of the mill defensive back. At 5-foot-11, 185 pounds and running a 4.32-40 yard dash, it's not really surprising that Jones has offers from Ohio State, Alabama, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Texas A&M and basically anyone else in the Top 25 of the national polls. Jones' top ten is a who's who of college football.
As of right now these are my Top 10 Schools! pic.twitter.com/XYq5keWnwj
— Brandon Jones (@BlessedJones33) December 2, 2014
While Texas A&M appears to be the favorite, he's talked in the past about visiting the Buckeyes and Chris Ash is working hard to make sure that happens.
DIVISION V AND VI ALL-STATE TEAMS ANNOUNCED
As we've done all week, let's take a look at the next round of All-Ohio football teams. We've showcased Division I-IV earlier this week and tonight we'll examine the Division V and Division VI teams and any potential Buckeye targets.
In Division V, St. Clairsville's Brendan Ferns was named first team All-State after an incredible junior year for the Red Devils. In Cincinnati, Prince Sammons, the two-way lineman for Hills Christian Academy was honored as the state's co-Defensive Player of the Year, although Ferns not being selected for that award is perhaps more shocking.
Division V | Division VI | Division VII
HASKINS JUNIOR HIGHLIGHTS
Dwayne Haskins, Jr. and the Buckeyes have been linked for some time now and although it's uncertain if he'll be their guy in 2016, there's no doubt about how talented the Maryland native is.
