The Hurry-Up: Jayden Ballard and Reid Carrico Fall Short, Kyle McCord Still on Fire, Dasan McCullough and Jakailin Johnson Will Play for Championships

Ballard, Carrico fall in title bouts

It was the final stop on the redemption tour. But both stories ended in agony instead of bliss this weekend for a pair of Ohio State commits.

Receiver Jayden Ballard and linebacker Reid Carrico each reached state championship games in 2019, but each future Buckeye fell short of bringing home a ring, Ballard and his Massillon Washington teammates fell to Cincinnati La Salle in the Division II final stop, 34-17, while Carrico and his Ironton program lost to Kirtland in the Division IV title bout, 14-7.

In 2020, Ballard and Co. got some revenge on Jaylen Johnson and the Lancers to reach Friday's state championship game against Archbishop Hoban, while Carrico and Co. squeezed past LSU running back commit Corey Kiner and Roger Bacon for a rematch with Kirtland in Saturday's state championship game.

Despite getting a home game for Friday's Division II contest – after the state championship games were moved from Fortress Obetz to Massillon's Paul Brown Stadium – Ballard and the Tigers lost out on bringing home another state title, falling in the championship game for the third consecutive season.

The 35-6 defeat to Hoban was Massillon's second title-game loss to the Knights in the past three seasons.

Ballard finished with 53 yards receiving on two catches, but that was more than one-third of the Tigers' offense as they were outgained, 350-136, according to The Independent's Chris Easterling. After Hoban took a 14-0 lead, Massillon bounced back to cut its deficit to eight, but the Knights railed off 21 unanswered points to put away their fifth state championship in six years.

Throughout the night, a player making big plays against the Tigers was Hoban defensive back A.J. Kirk, the younger brother of former Ohio State safety Mike Doss. Kirk, a 2021 Michigan State commit, was once recruited by the Buckeyes and held an Ohio State offer before the program stopped recruiting him.

OSU commit Jayden Ballard makes a man miss and fights into Hoban territory. pic.twitter.com/4EUkb8PXlU

— Northeast Ohio HS Sports (@NEOhsSports) November 21, 2020

#9 Out

— JB (@J_Ball21) November 21, 2020

In the Division V state title game on Saturday, there wasn't much better news for Carrico and his own Tigers in a 38-0 loss in the rematch against Kirtland.

After taking a 10-0 lead into halftime, Kirtland pounced on Ironton by scoring 28 unanswered points to put away its second consecutive state title. That included a 50-yard touchdown pass on a trick play to extend a 17-0 lead to 24 points in the third quarter.

Division V State Championship

3Q | 8:17
Kirtland Hornets - 24
Ironton Tigers - 0

Kirtland pulls out a little trickery, and it ends in a 50-yard TD pass from Mason Sullivan to Gage Sullivan.

Need a creative name for that play...@kirtlandsports @hornetstatcrew pic.twitter.com/QsQol2Y1Qd

— Northeast Ohio HS Sports (@NEOhsSports) November 21, 2020

Kirtland's defense overpowered Ironton, holding Carrico to just 30 yards rushing on 11 carries, which is only 2.7 yards per carry. Carrico tallied six tackles (four solo) from his Mike linebacker spot, but Kirtland outgained Ironton, 408-58, in total yards.

McCord remains on fire

Ohio State's five-star quarterback commit in 2021, Kyle McCord, has still not lost a game since Sept. 13, 2019.

He has himself to thank for that after this weekend.

McCord exploded for six first-half touchdown passes, including two touchdowns to St. Joseph's Prep (Philadelphia) teammate and fellow future Buckeye Marvin Harrison Jr., as McCord finished with 196 yards passing on 12-of-22 passing, and Harrison grabbed three catches for 88 yards in addition to the two scores.

2021 Ohio State commit @kylemccord16 threw for six touchdowns in the first half as No. 3 St. Joe's Prep (PA) won its 16th consecutive game.

The Hawks will be going for their third straight 6A state title next week. pic.twitter.com/AnmdFqI9ic

— Zack Poff (@Zack_Poff_MP) November 21, 2020

Those performances were good enough for the Hawks to extend their record to 5-0 this season with a 51-43 win over Souderton and put themselves in the PIAA Championship next weekend. McCord, Harrison and St. Joseph's Prep will be seeking their third consecutive 6A state championship in a matchup against Central York.

McCullough, Johnson advance to state title game

McCord and Harrison won’t be the only Ohio State commits playing for some hardware next weekend.

Both 2022 commit Dasan McCullough and 2021 commit Jakailin Johnson are also heading back to their state's biggest game of the season.

McCullough and his Blue Valley North (Kansas) teammates pulled out a 30-20 win over Olathe North this weekend, so they will be headed back to their third state title game in the past four years, a run that includes winning the championship in 2018.

McCullough made one of the game's biggest plays, coming up with a goal-line stand by stuffing an Olathe North run inches from scoring and popping the ball free to give the Mustangs a takeaway when they were trailing 14-10. The forced turnover paved the way for a momentous turn, as Blue Valley North went on to take a 17-14 lead and never trailed the rest of the way.

“That’s huge. That’s what you’ve got to do. It’s the name of the game: takeaways,” BV North coach Andy Sims told The Kansas City Star's Shaun Goodwin of McCullough's huge play. “And you’ve got to hang on to the ball.”

Blue Valley North punched their on Friday night to the @KSHSAA 6A State Championship.

'Lites from the @HyVee Game of the Week @BVNorthFootball | @CoachAndySims pic.twitter.com/xisli3qUaY

— Spectrum Sports KC (@SpecSportsKC) November 21, 2020

Johnson and his De Smet (St. Louis) teammates, meanwhile, had to hold off Fox in a defensive slugfest, as the reigning Class 6 state champions in Missouri pulled out a 13-0 win behind a defense that held Fox to just 179 total yards, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Joe Harris.

“We take pride in our defense,” De Smet head coach Robert Steeples told Harris. “We knew we had our hands full with the type of challenge that they presented us, and we were looking forward to that challenge, and that's exactly what we got. We had a lot of respect for them. Nobody was taken lightly.”

Buckeye Roundup

Here's a snapshot of all of the Buckeyes' commits who were in action this weekend, those who have opted out, those who have had their seasons pushed to the spring and whose seasons have wrapped up:

*Denotes playoff game