Tavien St. Clair looked the part of a future Ohio State quarterback on Friday.
The 2025 Ohio State commit passed the eye test and more in Bellefontaine’s 46-19 victory as he picked apart Sidney’s defense using hard counts, well-timed screen passes, precise throwing on the run and occasionally picking up a first down with his legs.
Nice throw on the run by St. Clair to set up Bellefontaines second touchdown of the day.
— Garrick Hodge (@Garrick_Hodge) August 18, 2023
Bellefontaine leads 12-6 with 2 minutes left in the first quarter. pic.twitter.com/kbvgiwwSKk
First passing touchdown of the 2023 season for St. Clair comes on an off-balance pass on 4th-and-9. pic.twitter.com/c3kstzS8jh
— Garrick Hodge (@Garrick_Hodge) August 18, 2023
In his first game of the 2023 season, St. Clair completed 28 of 36 passes for 314 yards with five touchdowns and 36 rushing yards on four carries. He broke Bellefontaine’s career passing touchdown record in the process, previously held by St. Clair’s current offensive coordinator, Jake Kennedy. Yet, after the victory, St. Clair was only focused on the plays he didn’t make.
“It felt good. Going 1-0 is always the main goal,” St. Clair said after the game. “To get the win was really important for us. With that being said, we have to get better. There’s some areas we can improve on for sure. Because our ultimate goal is to win the state championship. At the end of the day, a good performance by our team but some things we can improve on for sure.”
St. Clair was no slouch in his sophomore season at Bellefontaine, when he completed 208 of 294 passes (71%) for 2,453 yards with 25 touchdowns and just four interceptions. But Friday was the first time he took the field since committing to Ohio State on June 21. The promise of being a future Buckeye brings more attention and expectations.
“As always, it’s a blessing,” St. Clair said. “Some people from the outside think it would be a lot of pressure, but this is what I’ve wanted for a long time, so all eyes on me is okay with me. I think it just helps you be a better person. You’ve got to do the right thing at all times. That’s just the main thing.
“There are kids that will want to wave at you during the game, or after I’m done here, I’m sure kids will want me to sign their footballs. More comes with it. But at the same time, it’s a challenge that if you take on, it’s going to benefit you for sure because you have to be on your game every game or people will say things.”
St. Clair throws his second touchdown pass of the night with 10 seconds left before halftime, and he was pretty fired up about it. pic.twitter.com/bCe5pLiHWc
— Garrick Hodge (@Garrick_Hodge) August 19, 2023
Tavien St. Clair throws his third touchdown of the evening. pic.twitter.com/juubkjSt1z
— Garrick Hodge (@Garrick_Hodge) August 19, 2023
St. Clair camped at Ohio State multiple times over the summer, fine-tuning some aspects of his game while working with OSU quarterbacks coach Corey Dennis. When he competed in the Buckeyes’ yearly 7-on-7 tournament on June 21, the same day he committed to OSU, Dennis would check in with him after each game asking about the coverages he was seeing in the tournament. On Friday, St. Clair applied lessons taught to him by Dennis in leading his team to a season-opening victory.
“Taking over the game, being the man out there at all times,” St. Clair said of the biggest thing he learned from Dennis over the summer. “Eyes are going to be on me from now on for the rest of my life. It feels a little bit different when that type of pressure is on you. I’ve watched a lot of Ohio State highlights recently just to see what things work. And I’ll send them to my offensive coordinator and I’ll ask coach Dennis about what the play was there and how they manipulated the defense.”
Touchdown pass No. 4 of the night for Tavien St. Clair, his second of the third quarter.
— Garrick Hodge (@Garrick_Hodge) August 19, 2023
Strong opening night performance for the Ohio State commit. pic.twitter.com/n8heVczYkz
St. Clair now up to five touchdown passes on the night, this one throwing on the run. pic.twitter.com/NemjhsAqJx
— Garrick Hodge (@Garrick_Hodge) August 19, 2023
St. Clair has big expectations for himself and his team, saying they’d like to win a state title this year. And while his main focus is helping his high school teammates have the best season possible, he still has one eye on bettering himself for the day he arrives in Columbus.
“We talk a lot around here about getting 1% better,” St. Clair said. “So getting 1% better every day physically, mentally just so that when I make that transition to college football, it’s a little bit easier. It will also be easier for the coaches in college if I can kind of slow it down now.”
The 6-foot-3, 210-pound St. Clair said he plans on attending every Ohio State home game this fall. As the lone 2025 commit, he has taken the lead on peer recruiting to help build the Buckeyes’ ’25 class. St. Clair said he’s been in contact with numerous OSU targets in that class including tight ends Nate Roberts and Emaree Winston, cornerbacks Devin Sanchez and Dorian Brew, running back Bo Jackson and offensive lineman Carter Lowe. He added he plans to reach out to more offensive linemen in the future to “help get this class built.”
