It's officially high school football season in Ohio.
The season started on Thursday with several games across the state, including the first game of Ohio State commit C.J. Hicks’ senior season. Archbishop Alter fell to Kettering Fairmont, 16-7, but Hicks was all over the field.
On offense, he finished with 44 rushing yards and had a long run to set up Alter’s lone touchdown of the game. He also had a 73-yard touchdown run called back because of a penalty.
#Ohiostate commit CJ Hicks breaks it on his second carry of the game. pic.twitter.com/q6lBERGUFf
— Bill Kurelic (@Bill_Kurelic) August 19, 2021
On defense, Hicks finished second on his team in total tackles with 12. He also played on special teams and served as Alter's kickoff returner.
#OhioState LB commit @imcjhicks with a second half tackle for no gain. pic.twitter.com/KmIZqe7FBr
— Bill Kurelic (@Bill_Kurelic) August 20, 2021
After the game, “Captain Buckeye” told Buckeye Scoop he plans to attend every Ohio State home football game this season. Can’t question that man’s dedication to Ohio State.
A quick programming note: I will be at the Massillon vs. Pickerington Central game tonight to see Sonny Styles. I’ll have some updates/videos on Twitter if you don’t want to wait for the article. Meanwhile, Dan will be at Findlay vs. Anthony Wayne to watch Luke Montgomery.
247Sports releases top 100 2024 players
Time for everybody's favorite topic: Early recruiting rankings for players that are entering their sophomore seasons.
This week, 247Sports released its top 100 players for the class of 2024. The list will expand past the top 100 after the 2021 season.
A disclaimer was provided that this early into the players' prep careers, the list serves more of a watch list rather than concrete rankings. Nevertheless, Ohio State quarterback target Jadyn Davis landed at the top of the list. Davis visited Columbus twice this summer, and there is mutual interest on both sides.
247Sports explained its reason for ranking Davis the No. 1 sophomore recruit thus far.
Offseason in-person evaluations were a key reason Davis, who added 127 rushing yards, emerged as an early candidate for No. 1 in the class. His accuracy, consistency, release quickness, instincts, and advanced feel for the game at such an early stage make him an elite young QB prospect. Davis owns above average arm strength that should continue to improve as he fills out a frame that features good length. Davis has reported a noteworthy list of offers that includes Alabama, Georgia, Maryland, Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas A&M.
Other players who already have Ohio State offers that made the list are linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa (No. 10), defensive back Peyton Woodyard (No. 20), wide receiver Jeremiah Smith (No. 39), quarterback Adrian Posse (No. 67) and defensive back Marcelles Williams (No. 70).
Signing classes could expand
There hasn’t been enough change in college sports recently, right?
In the past few months, we’ve had name, image and likeness legislation, talks of an expanded college football playoff, and now, according to Sports Illustrated’s Ross Dellenger, expanded signing classes!
Right now, signing classes are capped at 25 players. According to Dellenger, a proposal is being discussed that would allow schools to sign additional players determined by the number of players each school loses to the transfer portal, although there would still be a hard cap of how many players each school could sign. The whole article is worth a read, but this excerpt explains how the signing class limits could change.
A compromise is finally emerging among a group of proposals. Under the plan, schools can sign 25 new players while gaining additional signee spots for every player who transfers out of their program—up to a certain limit. The extra spots would be based on the number of players who enter the transfer portal under their own volition and would be capped at a figure, such as seven.
For instance, a school that loses five players to the portal can sign 30 new players. A school that loses 10 players to the portal can sign 32 new signees, if the cap were seven. The replacement cap has not been finalized.
In fact, other proposals are being discussed as well, including one that simply increases the total signees to 30, 32 or 35. Another proposal, still being vetted, would require a school to use its 25 spots on high school players and would give a school an additional five to seven spots for transfers.
