Every weekend in the fall, thousands of high school football times line up and take their shot at prep glory. The Sunday morning Prep Tracker is your final stop for the names, numbers and scores that mattered to Ohio State's recruiting efforts.
WELCOME TO THE PARTY, FELLAS
Senior night is a special night for any high school senior. For Jerome Baker and his Benedictine teammates, the occasion was marked by a 26-7 win against Walsh Jesuit, but for Baker, the night was memorable for more than one reason. The game, Baker’s first as a Buckeye commitment, is just his third game back from injury and the win will help catapult the Bengals into the Ohio state playoffs and a share of their division championship.
Baker, lining up at quarterback in the second quarter, had a pair of runs culminating in a touchdown that gave Benedictine their first lead of the game, and they didn't look back. Cleveland.com was there, and has a video interview with Baker, who talked about his recent decision to flip to the Buckeyes.
Rashod Berry, the talented Lorain two-way standout, also had a big game in his first appearance as a Buckeye pledge. Berry had three catches for 81 yards and a touchdown on offense and was disruptive on defense as usual. The 6-foot-5, 245 pound Berry lined up at wide receiver, tight end and defensive end for the Titans as Lorain knocked off Cleveland Heights.
DEMARIO MCCALL GOES BANANAS
The superlatives to describe Demario McCall are running thin. No matter what words you choose — absurd, ridiculous, insane, remarkable — they all work. The tall order of explaining McCall's talent somehow became even more difficult after his Friday night performance.
26 carries. Six touchdowns. 445 yards rushing. The most rushing yards in a game in Lorain County history. McCall, playing quarteback, set North Ridgeville's single-season rushing record on his second touchdown of the game, a 92-yard run, and then followed that up with four more scores. Oh yeah, the Rangers lost 57-46. All the work, all the accolades – that doesn't matter to McCall if his team can't come away with the win. It's the fourth straight loss for North Ridgeville.
“As a team leader and team captain I’m not happy that we didn’t get the win, but I’m happy that I came out here and my team helped me do what I had to do,” McCall told The Chronicle-Online. “I have to thank my team for that.”
Ohio State continues to make McCall a priority in the class of 2016, and games like Friday night make that appear to be a no-brainer.
BURROW BOUNCES BACK
Last week, Ohio State 2015 commitment Joe Burrow had a slight injury scare. A twisted knee forced the Athens High School star to sit out the game's final three quarters and had an entire community holding its breath. Good news, Bulldogs fans, you can exhale. During his own senior night, Burrow was back in action and once again lit up the scoreboard.
"It was an emotional night, at the beginning," Burrow told Eleven Warriors. "After that it was ok, and my knee felt fine."
Fine might be an understatement. Burrow only had to throw 11 passes in Athens' 77-14 win against River Valley, but he completed eight of those attempts for 257 yards passing and six touchdowns. Effective to say the least.
BIG NIGHT FOR WEBER, PEOPLES-JONES
In the Detroit high school football scene, it doesn't get much bigger than Detroit Cass Tech against Martin Luther King. On Friday, the rivals squared off at Ford Field with a PSL title on the line. Two Ohio State targets, 2015 running back Mike Weber and 2017 wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones led the way as the Technicians rolled to a 39-7 win.
Detroit Cass Tech 2015 RB & Michigan commit Mike Weber (@mikeweber25): 11 carries, 188 yards, 2 TDs. 266 APY, 3 TDs. pic.twitter.com/3EGwCMdzih
— Branden Hunter (@JustCallmeBHunt) October 25, 2014
Detroit Cass Tech 2017 WR Donovan Peoples-Jones (@dpeoplesjones): 3 catches for 127 yards, 2 TDs. Stud! pic.twitter.com/DUO3pocJue
— Branden Hunter (@JustCallmeBHunt) October 25, 2014
Ohio State continues to have serious interest in Weber and Peoples-Jones, along with a number of other Cass Tech prospects.
KE'SHAWN VAUGHN DOMINATES
With the belief that Damien Harris is closer and closer to a Kentucky verbal, the Buckeyes are on the prowl for a 2015 running back and aside from the aforementioned Weber, one name to watch is Nashville's Ke'Shawn Vaughn. If his Friday night performance is indicative of what he's capable of, Vaughn may not be as much of a departure talent-wise as the star rankings would indicate.
5-foot-11, 210-pounds and shifty, Vaughn rushed 21 times for 303 yards and four scores in Pearl Cohn's 39-29 win. Vaughn and his teammates advance to 7-2 on the year and he's a big part of their success: he's racked up 1820 yards and 30 touchdowns in 9 games.
| Player | CLASS | Pos | HIGH SCHOOL | OPPONENT | RESULTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JOE BURROW | 2015 | QB | Athens (The Plains, OH) | River Valley (Bidwell, OH) | Won 77-14. Burrow was 8-11 for 257 yards and six touchdowns. |
| ALEX STUMP | 2015 | WR | St. Edwards (Lakewood, OH) | Archbishop Moeller (Cincinnati, OH) | Won 24-10. Did Not Play. Out for season with injured foot. |
| AJ ALEXANDER | 2015 | ATH | Lake Braddock (Burke, VA) | T.C. Williams (Alexandria, VA) | Won 52-7. Did not play. Out for season with torn ACL. |
| RASHOD BERRY | 2015 | ATH | Digital (Lorain, OH) | Cleveland Heights (Cleveland, OH) | Won 32-14. Three catches, 81 yards and a touchdown for Berry. |
| GRANT SCHMIDT | 2015 | OL | Roosevelt - 03 (Sioux Falls, SD) | OFF | DNP |
| KEVIN FEDER | 2015 | OL | Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, NJ) | Bergen Catholic (Oradell, NJ) | Lost 10-3. |
| LIAM MCCULLOUGH | 2015 | OL (LS) | Kilbourne (Worthington, OH) | New Albany (New Albany, OH) | Won 34-14. |
| JOSH ALABI | 2015 | DL | Cass Tech (Detroit, MI) | Martin Luther King (Detroit, MI) | Won 39-7. |
| JASHON CORNELL | 2015 | DL | Cretin Durham Hall (St. Paul, MN) | White Bear Lake (White Bear Lake, MN) | Lost 27-21. Cornell had 18 tackles, seven tackles for loss and one forced fumble. |
| DRE'MONT JONES | 2015 | DL | St. Ignatius (Cleveland, OH) | St. Xavier (Cincinnati, OH) | Lost 24-10. |
| JEROME BAKER | 2015 | LB | Benedictine (Cleveland, OH) | Walsh Jesuit (Cuyahoga Falls, OH) | Won 26-7. One yard touchdown run and |
| NICK CONNER | 2015 | LB | Scioto (Dublin, OH) | Bradley (Hilliard, OH) | Won 13-7. |
| JUSTIN HILLIARD | 2015 | LB | St. Xavier (Cincinnati, OH) | St. Ignatius (Cleveland, OH) | Won 24-10. Hilliard had nine tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble against cross-state rival. |
| CARLTON DAVIS | 2015 | DB | Norland (Miami, FL) | Washington (Miami, FL) | Lost 28-14. |
| JAMEL DEAN | 2015 | DB | Cocoa (Cocoa, FL) | Atlantic (Port Orange, FL) | Won 45-0. Dean had three catches for 59 yards and a 44 yard touchdown grab. |
| TYLER GREEN | 2015 | DB | DeMatha (Hyattesville, MD) | Gonzaga (Washington, DC) | Won 28-20. |
| DENZEL WARD | 2015 | DB | Nordonia (Macedonia, OH) | Revere (Richfield, OH) | Won 34-13. Ward caught two touchdown passes and recorded an interception. |
| ERIC GLOVER-WILLIAMS | 2015 | ATH | McKinley (Canton, OH) | Boardman (Youngstown, OH) | Lost 21-13. EGW had 47 yards on 12 carries. |
| TYLER GERALD | 2016 | OL | Sciotoville (Portsmouth, OH) | Green (Franklin Furnace, OH) | Won 57-6. Did Not Play. Out for season with broken wrist. |
| KIERRE HAWKINS | 2016 | ATH | Maple Heights (Maple Heights, OH) | Euclid (Euclid, OH) | Lost 20-19. Hawkins scored once, on a ten-yard touchdown jaunt. |
| GEORGE HILL | 2016 | RB | Hubbard (Hubbard, OH) | Northwest (Canal Fulton, OH) | Won 41-10. Hill had another big night with 151 yards rushing and three scores. |
| DANNY CLARK | 2017 | QB | Washington (Massillon, OH) | St. Vincent-St. Mary (Akron, OH) | Lost 28-20. Clark was 15-22, 156 yards and a touchdown pass. |
