The Hurry-Up: Malik Hartford Loves Ohio State’s “Family Atmosphere,” Buckeyes Offer No. 1 Overall Prospect in 2025, Brandon Inniss and Mark Fletcher Excel on National TV

By Garrick Hodge on August 29, 2022 at 5:30 pm
Malik Hartford
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Ohio State safety commit Malik Hartford is off to a strong start to his senior season. 

The four-star prospect has helped lead Lakota West to a 2-0 record early in the 2022 season, most recently dominating rival Lakota East in a 49-6 victory Friday. 

Hartford made his presence felt early by delivering a devastating hit on his team’s first kickoff of the night, stopping the returner in his tracks and setting up a long field for Lakota East. 

“We just came out and knew it’s a rivalry game, and we wanted to set the tone,” Hartford told Eleven Warriors after Friday’s game. “That’s what we did, and we continued to prosper throughout the game.” 

Hartford played both ways for the Firebirds and made several first-down catches at wide receiver. He didn’t see many plays come his way defensively, though, because Lakota East is a run-heavy team. 

Hartford was competing against a fellow Ohio State commit, Lakota East offensive lineman Austin Siereveld. But the pair set their friendship aside for just one week.  

“I personally had to shield it off this week,” Hartford said of not conversing with Siereveld for the entire week leading up to the game. “We weren’t buddies no more. We were playing football. But of course, we’re happy with each other, and we tell each other to get better every day.” 

You’ve heard of Buckeye-on-Buckeye violence in the NFL before, but Friday also humorously presented an opportunity for future Buckeye vs. future Buckeye action after things got chippy with Siereveld and Hartford later in the contest. After a play was over, Hartford continued to follow through on an attempt to strip the ball from Lakota East’s running back, which Siereveld took exception to. Using pure instinct to defend his teammate, Siereveld pushed Hartford off his running back, drawing a personal foul from an official. 

“I was on top of the pile at the end. I was trying to get the ball out,” Hartford said. “I guess he felt some type of way about that. He was trying to help out his teammate. That’s alright. It gets chippy. It’s football. I said, ‘C’mon Austin, don’t do that.’ And he told me the same shit back. But we dapped up after the game. We’re all good.”

Outside of drawing the amusing personal foul from a future teammate, Hartford had a pretty uneventful second game of the season defensively in his team’s victory, with the result being lopsided from the start. The same cannot be said for his first game of the season, in which Lakota West held on to beat St. Xavier 16-13. Hartford became a brief Internet sensation after delivering a violent hit to a wide receiver over the middle that drew many flags from officials, even though he led with his shoulder. 

“It was late in the game. The quarterback was looking one way, so I weaved one way,” Hartford said of the play. “I kind of wish I didn’t weave because then I would have picked the ball off. I came over and made a big hit, and the receiver made a great catch. The refs made a questionable call, but it is what it is. We won, so we’ll take it game by game.” 

Since committing to Ohio State in April, Hartford said he frequently communicates with the team's coaching staff. That was especially true after his hit made the rounds online, as several Buckeye coaches wanted to get the 6-foot-3, 175-pound safety’s thoughts on the play. 

“Coach Day was texting me about the hit. All the coaches were texting me about the hit,” Hartford said. “We just continue to keep our relationship tight. That’s what I love about Ohio State. It’s a family atmosphere. Some of the coaches asked me (about the play), but most of them thought it was pretty clean. They told me in college, you get a review. So they would have overturned it.” 

Hartford will be one of the many recruits attending Ohio State’s season opener against Notre Dame on Saturday. He said he’s lent his services to helping peer recruit Ohio State’s remaining targets in the 2023 class, primarily five-star defensive end Keon Keeley, who is expected to take an official visit to Columbus this weekend. 

“I try to recruit, but when it gets to be in the season, it’s a little difficult,” Hartford said. “I talk to a few players here and there.” 

Hartford is looking forward to taking in what will likely be one of the best atmospheres at Ohio Stadium this season. 

“I already know it’s going to be crazy,” Hartford said. “I think LeBron is going to be there, a few other celebrities will be there, so I’m just excited and ready to get up there. The Silver Bullets, I’m looking forward to them flying around. They have a great scheme that will allow them to prosper, and I can’t wait to see the guys fly around and make big plays.”

OSU offers Sanders Jr.

Ohio State offered the top-ranked prospect in the 2025 recruiting class on Sunday. North Carolina offensive tackle David Sanders Jr. received his OSU offer from offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson and offensive line coach Justin Frye after speaking with the pair this weekend.

Just briefly underway in his sophomore year, Sanders Jr. is already 6-foot-6 and 255-pounds. As you might expect from his No. 1 ranking in 247Sports’ early top 100 for 2025, he’s picked up no shortage of offers, accumulating 23 Division I offers. His offer list includes schools such as Georgia, Boston College, Duke, Florida State, Louisville, LSU, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, NC State, North Carolina, Ole Miss, Penn State, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia Tech and West Virginia. 

Inniss, Fletcher shine for American Heritage

2023 Ohio State commits Brandon Inniss and Mark Fletcher were in the national spotlight this weekend during the second game of their senior seasons.

Playing in a nationally televised game on ESPN2 Saturday, Inniss and Fletcher each helped American Heritage (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) to a 56-27 victory over Los Alamitos to improve to 2-0 on the season. Inniss, coming off an opening week where he had more than 200 receiving yards and two touchdowns, hauled in a touchdown catch late in the first quarter in the right corner of the end zone, then immediately threw up an O-H signal after scoring. 

Fletcher had a monster afternoon, running for 224 yards on 19 carries with two touchdowns. 

Both Inniss and Fletcher are expected to be in attendance for Ohio State’s season opener against Notre Dame Saturday. 

Umeozulu commits to South Carolina

As expected, four-star defensive end Desmond Umeozulu did not pick Ohio State when he committed Monday. 

The 2023 pass-rusher picked South Carolina instead, as Ohio State has set its sights on trying to land a trio of higher-ranked defensive ends in Keeley, Damon Wilson and Matayo Uiagalelei. 

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