Tavien St. Clair showcased why he’s a five-star talent on Friday night.
The Ohio State quarterback commit opened his senior season in style, leading Bellefontaine to a 48-21 victory over Sidney while throwing for 275 yards and recording six total touchdowns with no interceptions.
“Up front, we knew they were going to throw some crazy things at us,” St. Clair told Eleven Warriors after the contest. “Delayed blitzes and different schemes and different fronts that we won’t really see the rest of the season. My guys up front did a great job for me being able to be comfortable. I think moving my feet is a big part of my game and that was on display tonight.”
St. Clair emphasized he hopes to make more plays with his legs this season and it showed Friday, with two of his six touchdowns coming on the ground. He tallied 64 rushing yards on the night.
Fifth total touchdown of the night for Tavien St. Clair and second rushing touchdown. pic.twitter.com/hpm2TutkBO
— Garrick Hodge (@Garrick_Hodge) August 24, 2024
The strong start wasn’t a surprise to anyone who watched St. Clair compete at an Ohio State recruiting camp, the Elite 11 or the seven-on-seven circuit this summer, as he took lessons learned from OSU coaches and applied them to his performance on the field.
The 6-foot-4, 215-pound quarterback is focused on racking up as many wins as he can for Bellefontaine in his senior season, but also knows his collegiate journey starts in January, when he’s expected to enroll at OSU.
In the meantime, St. Clair is continuing his efforts off the field helping Ohio State as a peer recruiter. Following offensive tackle David Sanders Jr.’s commitment to Tennessee, St. Clair consistently reached out to offensive lineman Jayvon McFadden, who committed to Ohio State on Saturday. He also says he’s been in frequent contact with four-star 2025 offensive lineman Micah DeBose, who Ohio State is hoping to flip from Alabama.
St. Clair says he reaches out to DeBose every other day despite his commitment to the Crimson Tide.
“Keep your eyes out for Micah DeBose,” St. Clair said. “We’ve been working on him as well. Be ready for that, because we’ve got some things cooking there. It’s about every other day, I’d say. I try to give him a little break every once in a while because I talk to him a lot, but I try to let him know ‘This is home for you.’ He loved it on his visit, so I’m trying to talk him into coming here and blocking for me.”
Just as he did a season ago, St. Clair said he’ll be at every home game for the Buckeyes this season and lend his peer recruiting talents to any key visitors OSU has on campus.
“I’ll be at every single one,” St. Clair said of his OSU home game visit plans. “I love being in The Shoe, there’s nothing like it.”
Phillip Bell down to two teams
Saturday could be a pretty exciting day for Ohio State fans. The Buckeyes will very likely start their 2024 season 1-0 with a convincing victory against Akron, and OSU could add another commitment to its 2025 recruiting class on the same day.
Four-star California wideout Phillip Bell told 247Sports he’s officially down to two schools ahead of his scheduled commitment Saturday: Ohio State and USC, the two teams believed to be the frontrunners for the standout wideout for months.
"With Ohio State, I really love the coaching staff,” Bell told 247Sports. “Coach (Brian) Hartline has produced multiple 1st round picks at receiver the last three or four years and that's exciting. Ryan Day is a great head coach, an offensive-minded head coach and they always have great quarterback play at Ohio State. You know every year there they're going to have a five-star quarterback running the offense and that's big for me."
With the decision less than a week away, OSU sits in a nice position to land Bell, who would be the fourth wideout in the current cycle if he chooses the Buckeyes.
Aiden Harris may visit OSU Saturday
A top defensive line target in the 2026 class could be in attendance Saturday for the Buckeyes’ season opener against Akron.
Four-star North Carolina prospect Aiden Harris, the No. 42 overall prospect in the junior class, told On3 he’s considering making the trek to Columbus this week, which would be his first time on campus since his April visit. Harris also told On3 that OSU has moved to the top of his recruitment.
Harris is the high school teammate of 2025 OSU defensive tackle commit Trajen Odom, who likely will also visit OSU this weekend.
