Another week of high school games brought another week of standout performances from Ohio State commits/targets worthy of being included in our Prep Tracker.
Two of us were on the ground once again to watch Ohio State prospects in high school football action on Friday, as I went to Hamilton to watch Buckeye commits Jyaire Brown and Tegra Tshabola play for Lakota West while Dan went to Pickerington Central to get a look at top 2023 target Sonny Styles.
Brown returns punt for touchdown
HAMILTON – Donning a pair of Ohio State gloves on each of his hands, four-star cornerback commit Jyaire Brown anticipated the punt in the second half of Lakota West's road contest with Hamilton Friday night.
Lakota West was already up multiple possessions, but Brown knew a big return was inevitable from looks he was getting earlier in the game.
Jyaire Brown returns a punt for a decent gain in the first quarter. pic.twitter.com/4w6mbQrCQn
— Garrick Hodge (@Garrick_Hodge) September 17, 2021
From midfield, the four-star cornerback made a defender miss, then was off to the races as he returned the punt for a touchdown. It was the biggest play of the night in his team’s 49-13 victory over Hamilton.
“I like it back there,” Brown said of returning punts. “I feel like it’s just me, I feel like if I get a couple blocks, I’m gone. I got it off the hop, I saw one person coming so I gave him a move, I took it right back up the gut straight to the touchdown.”
At his primary position, it was a quiet night for Brown, mostly because Hamilton’s offense is built around its running game. The 6-foot, 178-pound defensive back wasn’t targeted until the second half, and it resulted in a catch that went for a sizable gain.
“For me personally I feel like I need to do a better job of staying locked in the entire game and not getting too comfortable,” Brown said. “(Playing) offense helps a lot with my headspace. Offense, punt return, kick return, it helps me a lot with defense. I just have to stay locked in and not get too comfortable.”
On the offensive side of the ball, fellow 2022 Ohio State commit and four-star offensive lineman Tegra Tshabola rotated between left guard and left tackle for the majority of the night, helping create running lanes for his teammates.
“It felt great (to get the win),” Tshabola said. “I mean, we’ve been practicing all week and we finally get to come out here and play this game, it was a good reward after a hard week of practice.”
Brown attended Ohio State’s 41-20 win over Tulsa on Saturday, while Tshabola said he hopes to get back to the Shoe a couple more times this year after attending the Oregon game.
A quiet night for Styles, but that's OK
PICKERINGTON – Much like when Garrick went to watch Sonny Styles in Pickerington Central’s season opener at Massillon Washington last month, there wasn't a whole lot to see from the five-star safety against Hilliard Bradley on Friday night. The Jaguars rarely ran plays in his direction, leading to a mostly quiet night for the top Ohio State target, though he did make the game-sealing tackle on Hilliard Bradley's final possession.
Ohio State target Sonny Styles makes the game-sealing tackle in Pickerington Centrals 38-21 win over Hilliard Bradley. pic.twitter.com/uIIz7gaG8c
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) September 18, 2021
Styles did miss a few plays that he could have made in Friday's game. He only entered the game on offense in third-down passing situations, but had one pass come his way that he didn’t catch, though it was thrown slightly behind him. He also allowed runners to get outside him on the edge a couple of times, including on one short touchdown run, and he'll look to improve upon those mistakes as his junior season at Pickerington Central continues.
“Honestly, there were plays I thought I should have made,” Styles said. “I had a catch I dropped. I had a few plays I thought I should have set the edge better.”
Nonetheless, Styles was happy after Friday night's game because the Tigers earned a 38-21 win, bouncing back after suffering a 13-10 overtime loss in their rivalry game against Pickerington North one week earlier. And he was especially happy for two of his fellow Pickerington Central defensive backs, Isaiah Henderson and Rasheem Biles, as Henderson had two interceptions while Biles (who received his first Division I offer from Toledo on Saturday) had a pick-six against Hilliard Bradley.
“Them guys are great,” Styles said of Biles and Henderson. “Hopefully some schools start looking at them because they’re Division I guys for sure.”
Styles’ mostly quiet night on Friday won't change his standing as one of Ohio State's top targets – probably its No. 1 target – in the recruiting class of 2023, and Styles visited Ohio Stadium for the Buckeyes’ home opener against Oregon two weekends ago. More than 100,000 fans were in the Shoe for that game, and Styles was impressed with the atmosphere and enjoyed his visit even though the Buckeyes lost.
“Great atmosphere. Really enjoyed it. Got to hook up guys like (2023 offensive lineman) Luke Montgomery, (2023 safety) Caleb Downs,” Styles said. “Linking up with some of them guys, being able to talk to them, I think that was the biggest thing for me.”
The best of the rest
- Five-star 2023 IMG Academy linebacker Malik Bryant got into the end zone Friday night with a pick-six.
— IK YT (@Malik5Bryant) September 18, 2021
- Brown wasn't the only Ohio State defensive back target who made a big play in the return game this weekend. In addition to the long punt return below, Downs also scored a rushing touchdown out of the Wildcat formation in Mill Creek's 38-10 win Friday.
Mill Creek ATH Caleb Downs (@caleb_downs2) showing why hes one of the top prospects in the country for the 2023 class.
— Matt DeBary (@MattDeBary) September 18, 2021
Excellent night so far. @MCFootballCoach pic.twitter.com/UwMVy5NXW5
- TreVeyon Henderson's massive performance sat well with a certain priority running back in the 2023 class.
— Richard Young (@richardyoung239) September 19, 2021
